Hey! Sebastián Lara here, also known as SkarmSteel on this forum and on the Pokemon Showdown! simulator.
When I started playing VGC I didn't have any idea of what to run until one of my friends helped me get to know the most common Pokemon in the metagame (that was back in 2012). The same thing has started happening to me when I help people teambuilding for VGC 2015, but the issue is that you can't build a team by just knowing the common Pokémon in the metagame, as when you try to build a team around them you'll often find yourself in the situation that each Pokemon can handle the threats they're meant to handle really well, but there's no synergy between the partners at all. So, to help all the starters to make the best team that they can, I'll ask your help for naming the most common archetypes, one by one, the Pokemon that you often see on them, and their pros and cons.
Section 1: Weather
These are possibly the most straight-forward archetypes in the VGC metagame; teams that utalize weather conditions as Speed Control methods, to power up moves, or for patching up weaknesses.
1) Rain
Common Pokémon:
Honorable Mentions:
Rain basically consists of two important things. One of them is the rain core that is made up of a Swift Swim Pokemon (usually Ludicolo though occasionally Kingdra) + Politoed (the only legal Pokemon with the ability Drizzle); and the second part consisting of Pokemon that work outside of rain and can deal with threats that the rain core doesn't appreciate.
Example:
Politoed + Ludicolo is the rain core, as Politoed provides Drizzle while Ludicolo has the Swift Swim ability, making it faster under rain and a really dangerous threat with amazing coverage between Ice Beam, Giga Drain and Scald. Thundurus handles Talonflame, which threatens Ludicolo, while Mega Metagross scares away the Mega-Venusaur which the Rain Core can't break. Hydreigon deals with Steel Types that would seek to use the rain to their favor, while Landorus-T threatens the other two fast weather conditions, Sun and Sand.
Common Mindset:
Rain players tends to be really offensive players, matching up with Rain's fast paced games. If you want to play Rain, try to exert as much offensive pressure as possible on the opponent so that if they make a mistake, or you predict a switch, you can gain a clear lead on your opponent.
However, you have to be careful! Rain team matches usually only last around six turns because either the opponent's team couldn't withstand the Drizzle, or you got soaked!
Pros:
Weaknesses:
Common Pokemon:
Honorable Mentions:
Sun, unlike rain, doesn't need a Chlorophyll Pokemon. It's really preferable given that Chlorophyl Pokemon are almost always Grass-types, which help against both Rain and Sand, two of Sun's natural weaknesses. Sun can also handle Trick Room teams better than Rain given that, as I said, it doesn't require a Chlorophyll Pokemon.
Sun consists of one Sun setter (running two compounds your Rock weaknesses, and is generally a bad idea) and a Rain check. From there, people build around those two with other Pokemon to handle as many uncovered threats as they can. Keep in mind, that Charizard, the most used sun setter, must have a lot of support, but the Pokemon that support it also should be supported by Charizard. Don't go using a Dry Skin Toxicroak with Charizard :P
Example:
Charizard-Y, the best Sun setter, nullifies the Water-Type presence that threatens Landorus-T. It also allows Charizard-Y to freely spam Heat Waves for tons of damage. Landorus-T, thanks to Charizard's Flying type, can also use Earthquake freely, resulting in massive spread damage. With Intimidate, Landorus-T suppress Pokemon like Mega-Kangaskhan, opposing Landorus-T, and any physical attackers besides Bisharp and Metagross before Mega Evolving, which Charizard can deal with anyway. Zapdos provides Tailwind support which can be crucial against Rain, and helps this relatively slow team put on more offensive pressure in general. Hydreigon can hit opposing Cresselia, the most common Trick Room setter in the metagame, for big damage while also damaging a lot of the Trick Room archetype Pokemon. Aegislash provides Wide Guard support and helps with the Trick Room matchup as well, while Conkeldurr further solidifies the Trick Room, Sand and Rain matchups.
Common Mindset:
Sun players usually lead with Sun in order to establish weather control as soon as possible. To do this, they also tend to Protect Charizard turn one when they Mega-Evolve to set up Drought. Good Sun players will try to keep Charizard alive as long as possible. This explains the crazy amount of supportive options sun teams often carry (Tailwind, Intimidate, Wide Guard, etc). Sun teams mainly deal damage with spread moves, so Sun players will often assume that opposing Pokémon like Aegislash and Swampert carry Wide Guard. At that point, they will often reveal their coverage / third move (usually Overheat, Flamethrower, Hidden Power, or Fire Pledge). When playing Sun you should be careful with revealing your third move on Charizard unless is completely necessary or you can get a large reward from doing so, as the third move on your Charizard can be the deciding factor to sway games in your favor.
Pros:
Common Pokemon:
Honorable Mentions
Let's all thank Serapis for this amazing sand article! n_n
Sand is one of the strongest archetypes in the VGC metagame for a reason. Sand Rush Excadrill poses as a big threat given that it has an insane attack stat and under Sand is one of the fastest Pokémon in the VGC metagame. Sand teams have shown a lot of success in events recently, both in Japan and in the USA.
Almost every single sand team has the exact same core of Tyranitar+Excadrill (sometimes this slot varies) and 4 Pokemon that support this core in both offense and defense.
Example:
This team might look familiar for a lot of you, given that is Aaron "Cybertron" Zheng's Sand team that he ran at US Nationals. Tyranitar, as Sand setter, provides a lot of natural coverage options with his Dark+Rock STABs, as well as it's two extra moveslots for team specific coverage. Landorus-Incarnate is not familiar to a lot of people, but the Sand Force ability makes it a perfect pick for Sand. Not to mention, its base 101 speed is also great for outspeeding the common base 100s. Salamence beats Mega Venusaur, Amoonguss, and any Grass type that is in the way of the Sand core, while also beating Fighting types which can really threaten Sand teams. Amoonguss can redirect attacks away from Salamence and Tyranitar, and given its amazing bulk and its Regenerator ability, it will stay on the field for a while. It's work in dissuading Trick Room with Spore is also important. Rotom-W gives Sand teams a way to beat opposing Sand and bulky Water types, while Aegislash gives the team another chance to stand against Trick Room if Amoonguss goes down and provides Wide Guard support; which is useful for Tyranitar, Salamence, Amoonguss and itself.
Common Mindset:
Sand is usually set up turn one to give your team the initiative, and start doing a lot of damage right off the bat. Sand is all about offense, but it has more defensive options than Rain and some Sun teams. A Salamence+Excadrill endgame can deal with pretty much anything, so try to keep them as healthy as possible (don't let either of them faint if you can avoid it) so you can seal the deal!
Pros:
Common Mons
Honorable Mentions
As Trick Room team, you naturally have a Trick Room setter, and at least two Trick Room attackers which the rest of the team is built around. Trick Room teams usually carry an answer for stuff outside of Trick Room; a faster mode consisting of Pokemon like Hydreigon or Landorus-T.
Depending on the Mega Evolution, Trick Room can have different weaknesses, so let's check out the different types of Trick Room teams now!
Example:
This team was made by yours truly. And i find it to be a bad team (sorta). Cresselia as Trick Room setter, provides a lot of bulk and support (like all Cresselia do) in moves like Helping Hand, Safeguard and Skill Swap. Scrafty provides the Intimidate support and the Fake Out support that Cresselia needs. Rhyperior is a really good combination with Cresselia, taking care of Pokemon like Heatran and other Steel Types. Hydreigon is the Pokémon that works outside of Trick Room, handling Pokemon like Charizard Y, Bisharp and Rotom-W. Mega Mawile is the mega of choice, which provides a lot of power and it's pretty slow. Last, but not least, Rotom-H handles fairy types, bulky waters, Amoonguss and can burn Bisharp which this team is pretty weak to.
Common Mindset:
A Trick Room oriented lead is preferred (this meaning, a Fake Out user or a redirection support user), but in some strong situations (example, Thundurus+Sylveon lead against Scrafty+Cresselia) you want to mix up your leads (Rotom-H can wall both of those). Under those 4 turns, you got to keep in mind your opponent: if he is in a awful matchup, he will try to burn those turns by excesively protecting/switching, while you get a lot of free damage and even KOs if you predict right, while if he does have an aswer for Trick Room, he'll use it against you, so have it considered on the team preview.
If your opponent does have an answer for Trick Room, don't set it up until you're 100% sure you can handle that Pokemon. A certain mental strength is needed to play Trick Room. Remember, you only have 4 turns since you set up. Use them to control the game!
Pros:
This section will be dedicated to stuff like Manual Speed control, gimmick archetypes that are skill based enough to make it here (no minimize archetypes, sorry), and the most important of all: regular teams that aren't based on weather or on other speed control that isn't Tailwind.
1) TailRoom
Common Pokemon:
Honorable Mentions:
TailRoom, as the name states, is a combination of Trick Room and Tailwind speed control options on the same team. This allows the team to choose the right speed control option for each specific opponent. For example, you can set up Trick Room while the opponent has the weather in their favor or is operating under Tailwind. Conversely, if the opponent doesn't have a clear speed control option you can set up Tailwind and start sweeping.
TailRoom has one Trick Room setter, one Tailwind setter, and then you chose your remaining Pokemon to work in one or both modes.
Example:
This was Juichi Sasaki's TailRoom team that he used at the Japanese Nationals. Gardevoir as Trick Room setter has amazing typing that synergizes well with Amoonguss. While talking about it, Amoonguss can use its Rage Powder to keep attacks away from Mega Gardevoir, protecting it while it sets its Trick Room. Under Trick Room, Amoonguss becomes a menace, having the fastest Spore in the game. Suicune, on the other hand, works as Tailwind setter, boosting the speed of Landorus-T, Thundurus, Heatran and Gardevoir, all of which work amazingly under Tailwind. Landorus-T provides Intimidate, while Thundurus completes the Double Genie core that's so popular in VGC. Heatran, can handle bulky Steel Types that Gardevoir can't beat (namely, Aegislash and Mega Mawile) and creates a pretty neat Fire/Water/Grass core with Amoonguss and Suicune.
General Mindset:
Ehh, can I call anything general here? TailRoom is so full of surprises that I can't really say. I can tell you the playstyle of your opponent will change depending on the team preview: if the opponent has a Tailwind user you usually lead with TR user+Support to set up TR as they set up Tailwind. Against opposing TR, you lead TR user+Support too, but you work on it in a different way. In weather, you lead TR pokemon+ something depending on what weather you're facing. Against teams that don't have a clear speed control option, lead Tailwind+Support.
Reports:
Pros:
Let's all thanks P3DS for this write-up!
Common Pokémon:
Honorable Mentions:
Perish Trap is one of the strongest archetypes around, however, it is the most difficult to master it and one of the hardest to make consistent enough to function in high level play. Don't let that put you off, however; a well built Perish Trap team can be extremely deadly. This archetype plays very differently to your standard battle, as you rarely attack while you try to stall out the Perish turns. Because of this, a lot of players disregard Perish Trap as "Un-Pokemon." However, Perish Song ignores Substitute, evasiveness, accuracy, semi-invulnerability (Like Fly), defenses and more. It can even bypasses Magic Coat and Magic Bounce. Perish Song also reveals the speed order of your opponent's Pokemon, giving you crucial information about the opponent's team. With Mega Gengar and Gothitelle becoming more available this generation, they can easily fit on teams as Semi-Perish cores, such as Politoed+Gothitelle in Rain. Although Perish Trap is good, you need to go all out with your techs on the team. Encore, Disable, Substitute, Swagger, Thunder Wave, Dark Void, Will-o-Wisp, Snarl, Intimidate, Rage Powder, Follow Me, Fake Out... all of these help let your trappers survive, and so the Trap survives as well.
Example:
This is Wolfe Glicke's Perish Trap team that he used to take 1st place at Massachusetts Regionals. It relies on bulk to hold out for the duration of Perish Song. However, he could flip the tables, with a strong Trick Room core of Scrafty, Gothitelle, Amoonguss and Politoed, so he could spread Spore, and Perish Song before he got hit by other moves. The slow Pokemon all had 0 speed IVs, and speed reducing natures, so if it came to a 2v2 situation with Perish Song, his Pokemon would usually be the slowest, and he could just stall out the Perish Turns.
Common Mindset:
Perish Trap demands a very smart player, and one who can maneuver the course of the battle in their favor. They must have a strong will, as a lot of players regard this archetype as unfair and skilless, and if online, they won't stop from letting you know. You must also be prepared to do what others would never do, in regards to techniques on the team, such as Swagger, Encore+Disable, Dark Void, etc. and how you go about playing. You should have an eye for detail, picking up on as much information as possible, such as turn orders from Perish Song, noticing that the Poke Balls used can affect the abilities of certain Pokemon (any Apricorn/Safari Ball pokemon cannot have their HA, and if it does, call a judge, because it is hacked) and more. Play intelligently with Perish Trap, and you will be rewarded for the effort.
Pros:
Common Pokemon:
Honorable Mentions
(eww.... choosing the common mons and the honorable mentions in Bulky Offense is SO tough)
Bulky Offense, as the name states, is the balance between damage output, speed, and bulk. This consist of basically a Mega Evolution whose stats are good looking in both offensive and defensive matters, a bulky Tailwind setter, 2-3 Pokemon that are like the Mega, good both offensively and defensively, and 1 hard hitter.
Trick Room Bulky Offense does also exist, but given that to transform a team from regular Trick Room to Trick Room Bulky Offense, you only need to move EVs around, it's really a different way of playing Trick Room. Trick Room Bulky Offense player's mentality does not dramatically change from regular Trick Room, so consider TR BO a part of Trick Room.
Also, Bulky Offense teams are way slower than other teams. They usually last around 8+ turns. Keep that in mind and prepare to not fight a battle, but rather, a war!
Example:
This is Josh Krieger's Oregon Regionals team. Venusaur as his Mega, was deal to take plenty of hits and beat Pokemon like Milotic, Suicune and Gastrodon, which Josh thought he didn't have an answer for otherwise. Zapdos is the Tailwind setter, handling Pokemon like Talonflame, Salamence.... and Talonflame, really (not to mention Mega Charizard Y). Blaziken was added to handle Mega Kangaskhan and Heatran, while Gyarados supported Blaziken, being able to handle Mega Salamence. Krookodile provided more Intimidate support, while not being 4 times weak to Ice, which this team was really weak to already. Krookodile also helps this team to break Cresselia and other Psychic types. To finish this team, Scizor was added to help with the Fairy issues, and to help against Trick Room which this team otherwise struggled with.
General Mindset:
I try to lead often with a Pokemon that has the advantage on the most possible scenarios and my Tailwind user (Zapdos), and try to get my Tailwind up as soon as possible. Then, I start to play this team like Hyper Offense: I know my Pokemon will be able to withstand a hit and 2HKO whatever threat I have at hand.
The most important thing about Bulky Offense is not losing momentum, given that Bulky Offense's main objective is reaching the good matchup in all the situations. You lose momentum by switching too much, but if you play it right, your opponent will switch out a lot too.
Also, with Bulky Offense, you don't need to bring your Mega Evolution all the time. You'll find yourself in situations that your Mega Evolution won't work more than other 4 Pokemon. Heck, sometimes Bulky Offense is perfect for Double Mega teams too!
Pros:
Common Pokemon:
Honorable Mentions:
(This was literally made using the PGL's page data, and i made myself sure to add every single common partner for the top 12, plus some Pokemon that have done surprisingly well in this kind of teams, such as Volcarona, Azumarill and Blaziken)
And finally, we get to one of the strongest non-weather archetypes, what i personally call "The Big 12". The Pokemon in this archetype are known for their amazing development on tournaments, as well as being the most powerful, bulky and versatile Pokemon in the metagame. The building is simplier than what it looks: one picks a Mega Evolution and try to cover as much of the metagame as possible, as well as having good synergy and accomplishing multiple roles such as Speed Control, taking hits, etc.
Example:
I KNOW, i know you must have seen a similar team structure while playing online. This is Riley Factura's Seattle Regionals team which i found to be the team that was perfect for describing this archetype. Kangaskhan as the only Mega Evolution says enough for itself, while the always present Genies Core makes yet another appeal on these teams. Heatran was most likely added to patch up the ice weakness the team had so far, while Sylveon has one of the strongest spread attacks in the entire game. Amoonguss was a supportive Pokemon meant to pair with the Power-up Punch Kangaskhan, while also taking hits from bulky waters and being able to hit fairies for super effective damage with Sludge Bomb.
Common Mindset:
“But every game’s like turn one Fake Out, Tailwind on Suicune
Rock Slide, Choice Scarf, prayin’ it’ll flinch soon,
We don’t care, we’re running Camerupt and ice creams.
But everybody’s like Prankster, Thunder Wave, spam it for the paralyse
Brave Bird, Heatran, tigers on their cloud feet.
We don’t care, like my Bibarel we’re Unaware.”
“And we’ll never be boring (boooooring)
We’re having fun just like we should,
Mega Kangaskhan just ain’t for us.
We’re more into stuff like Mandibuzz.
Let’s just say that I’m cooler (cooooler),
I’d even use a male Combee
And baby I’m cool, I’m cool, I’m cool, I’m cool.
Let me live that fantasy.”
- Zog.
Yep. I'm sure that this little song describes it rather accurately. Well, this archetype can give you some surprises, like a random Trick Room Gengar as you set the Tailwind, or a Ice Punch Kangaskhan destroying that Landorus you thought you could switch in safely, etc... but to be fair, if you ever play online, the people will most likely be using really generic sets. Identifying their strategy on Team Preview is important, but don't let your guard down: some players are smart enough to bluff this archetype and give you some surprises.
Pros:
Well, those are all the archetypes i could think of. Mentioning some cool ideas that didn't make it as archetype, but you could definitely work with them:
1) HailRoom
Well, i hope this article has helped you building your team to start your VGC career, or to guide you back to the basics if you have hit a writer's block and can't think of what you will use on your next challenge.
Remember, don't give up, and while you keep your cool, you'll be fine!
Wishing you the best of luck...
SkarmSteel
Credits
Grammar Checking
Serapis
Quality Checking
pyromaniac720
Serapis
Ace Emerald
P3DS
Perish Song Write Up
P3DS
When I started playing VGC I didn't have any idea of what to run until one of my friends helped me get to know the most common Pokemon in the metagame (that was back in 2012). The same thing has started happening to me when I help people teambuilding for VGC 2015, but the issue is that you can't build a team by just knowing the common Pokémon in the metagame, as when you try to build a team around them you'll often find yourself in the situation that each Pokemon can handle the threats they're meant to handle really well, but there's no synergy between the partners at all. So, to help all the starters to make the best team that they can, I'll ask your help for naming the most common archetypes, one by one, the Pokemon that you often see on them, and their pros and cons.
Section 1: Weather
These are possibly the most straight-forward archetypes in the VGC metagame; teams that utalize weather conditions as Speed Control methods, to power up moves, or for patching up weaknesses.
1) Rain
Common Pokémon:
Honorable Mentions:
Rain basically consists of two important things. One of them is the rain core that is made up of a Swift Swim Pokemon (usually Ludicolo though occasionally Kingdra) + Politoed (the only legal Pokemon with the ability Drizzle); and the second part consisting of Pokemon that work outside of rain and can deal with threats that the rain core doesn't appreciate.
Example:
Politoed + Ludicolo is the rain core, as Politoed provides Drizzle while Ludicolo has the Swift Swim ability, making it faster under rain and a really dangerous threat with amazing coverage between Ice Beam, Giga Drain and Scald. Thundurus handles Talonflame, which threatens Ludicolo, while Mega Metagross scares away the Mega-Venusaur which the Rain Core can't break. Hydreigon deals with Steel Types that would seek to use the rain to their favor, while Landorus-T threatens the other two fast weather conditions, Sun and Sand.
Common Mindset:
Rain players tends to be really offensive players, matching up with Rain's fast paced games. If you want to play Rain, try to exert as much offensive pressure as possible on the opponent so that if they make a mistake, or you predict a switch, you can gain a clear lead on your opponent.
However, you have to be careful! Rain team matches usually only last around six turns because either the opponent's team couldn't withstand the Drizzle, or you got soaked!
Pros:
- One of the fastest archetypes in the game, as well as one of the fastest gamestyles (games usually last 7 turn max).
- Rain has made Top Cut in almost every single Pokemon event since the BW era.
- Having Ludicolo's almost perfect coverage with it's Water+Grass+Ice moves makes it easy to patch up a team's offensive coverage.
- If you win the Weather War, Rain naturally beats Sand and Sun.
Weaknesses:
- Sun and Sand (Weather Wars): Sun and Sand will always be prepared for Rain, and smart Sun/Sand players will always try to keep their weather dominant on the field. If they maintain that control, you'll be taking nasty damage for 1-3 turns trying to reset the weather. Worst case scenario they eliminate your Politoed before you can even try to regain control of the weather.
- Trick Room: Trick Room will mess with some of the standard Rain Pokemon badly. Because Rain's Pokemon are usually pretty fast, Trick Room's speed reversing effects can be big trouble. Trick Room's playstyle is also really offensive, so watch out for those Trick Room teams!
- Opposing Speed Control: Namely, Thunder Wave and Tailwind. Thunder Wave and Tailwind are good against Rain because they take away your speed advantage. In the case of Thunder Wave, you actually find yourself at a speed disadvantage as even in the Rain your Swift Swim user is at -2 speed.
- The Sitrus That Got Away (Seniors 4th Place Georgia Regional)
- Sneaking Through Seattle (Masters 2nd Place Washington Regional)
- My First Regionals (Masters Top 16 SoCal Regional)
- No Substitute for Rain (9th Place Oregon Regional)
Common Pokemon:
Honorable Mentions:
Sun, unlike rain, doesn't need a Chlorophyll Pokemon. It's really preferable given that Chlorophyl Pokemon are almost always Grass-types, which help against both Rain and Sand, two of Sun's natural weaknesses. Sun can also handle Trick Room teams better than Rain given that, as I said, it doesn't require a Chlorophyll Pokemon.
Sun consists of one Sun setter (running two compounds your Rock weaknesses, and is generally a bad idea) and a Rain check. From there, people build around those two with other Pokemon to handle as many uncovered threats as they can. Keep in mind, that Charizard, the most used sun setter, must have a lot of support, but the Pokemon that support it also should be supported by Charizard. Don't go using a Dry Skin Toxicroak with Charizard :P
Example:
Charizard-Y, the best Sun setter, nullifies the Water-Type presence that threatens Landorus-T. It also allows Charizard-Y to freely spam Heat Waves for tons of damage. Landorus-T, thanks to Charizard's Flying type, can also use Earthquake freely, resulting in massive spread damage. With Intimidate, Landorus-T suppress Pokemon like Mega-Kangaskhan, opposing Landorus-T, and any physical attackers besides Bisharp and Metagross before Mega Evolving, which Charizard can deal with anyway. Zapdos provides Tailwind support which can be crucial against Rain, and helps this relatively slow team put on more offensive pressure in general. Hydreigon can hit opposing Cresselia, the most common Trick Room setter in the metagame, for big damage while also damaging a lot of the Trick Room archetype Pokemon. Aegislash provides Wide Guard support and helps with the Trick Room matchup as well, while Conkeldurr further solidifies the Trick Room, Sand and Rain matchups.
Common Mindset:
Sun players usually lead with Sun in order to establish weather control as soon as possible. To do this, they also tend to Protect Charizard turn one when they Mega-Evolve to set up Drought. Good Sun players will try to keep Charizard alive as long as possible. This explains the crazy amount of supportive options sun teams often carry (Tailwind, Intimidate, Wide Guard, etc). Sun teams mainly deal damage with spread moves, so Sun players will often assume that opposing Pokémon like Aegislash and Swampert carry Wide Guard. At that point, they will often reveal their coverage / third move (usually Overheat, Flamethrower, Hidden Power, or Fire Pledge). When playing Sun you should be careful with revealing your third move on Charizard unless is completely necessary or you can get a large reward from doing so, as the third move on your Charizard can be the deciding factor to sway games in your favor.
Pros:
- Charizard won't set sun before Mega Evolving, which can allow you to pressure Rain leads.
- Sun teams are really balanced, and they can hold their weight for a really long time.
- Sun attackers hit extremely hard, forcing the opponent to Protect or switch their Pokemon to avoid OHKOes. If the switches are predicted correctly, the results can be devastating.
- A Sun team's coverage is also really easy to complete: there are few things that can withstand Charizard's Fire+Grass coverage.
- Natural good matchup against Trick Room and some Rain teams.
- It's one of the most diverse archetypes. I mean, look above.
- Sun teams require a plethora of support options.
- Charizard is a really important piece for the team, and occasionally you'll be forced to play way too defensively in order to preserve it.
- Sun teams are naturally weak to Sand, and Rock Slide in general.
- The Tree Thing in High Heels (Georgia Regionals 6-2 Record) Made a lot of Pokémon make into the sun list.
- A Sight for Venusaur Eyes (Top 8 Georgia Regionals Report) (pretty sure the mods would have killed me if this report wasn't on the list :P)
- Burn It To The Ground (5th Place UK Regionals)
- Dancing In The Moonlight (Top 8 UK Regionals)
- Moonlight Sonata (Singapore Asia Cup Qualifier 1st Place Report)
Common Pokemon:
Honorable Mentions
Let's all thank Serapis for this amazing sand article! n_n
Sand is one of the strongest archetypes in the VGC metagame for a reason. Sand Rush Excadrill poses as a big threat given that it has an insane attack stat and under Sand is one of the fastest Pokémon in the VGC metagame. Sand teams have shown a lot of success in events recently, both in Japan and in the USA.
Almost every single sand team has the exact same core of Tyranitar+Excadrill (sometimes this slot varies) and 4 Pokemon that support this core in both offense and defense.
Example:
This team might look familiar for a lot of you, given that is Aaron "Cybertron" Zheng's Sand team that he ran at US Nationals. Tyranitar, as Sand setter, provides a lot of natural coverage options with his Dark+Rock STABs, as well as it's two extra moveslots for team specific coverage. Landorus-Incarnate is not familiar to a lot of people, but the Sand Force ability makes it a perfect pick for Sand. Not to mention, its base 101 speed is also great for outspeeding the common base 100s. Salamence beats Mega Venusaur, Amoonguss, and any Grass type that is in the way of the Sand core, while also beating Fighting types which can really threaten Sand teams. Amoonguss can redirect attacks away from Salamence and Tyranitar, and given its amazing bulk and its Regenerator ability, it will stay on the field for a while. It's work in dissuading Trick Room with Spore is also important. Rotom-W gives Sand teams a way to beat opposing Sand and bulky Water types, while Aegislash gives the team another chance to stand against Trick Room if Amoonguss goes down and provides Wide Guard support; which is useful for Tyranitar, Salamence, Amoonguss and itself.
Common Mindset:
Sand is usually set up turn one to give your team the initiative, and start doing a lot of damage right off the bat. Sand is all about offense, but it has more defensive options than Rain and some Sun teams. A Salamence+Excadrill endgame can deal with pretty much anything, so try to keep them as healthy as possible (don't let either of them faint if you can avoid it) so you can seal the deal!
Pros:
- Sand has a lot of offensive options, and can deal with a lot of the metagame.
- It's pretty fast, and with the right support it can handle Trick Room fairly well.
- It has an amazing defensive synergy.
- It's very versatile.
- Has a lot of power, and hits really hard.
- Has a good matchup against Sun, and a decent one against Rain if it can win the Weather War.
- The Sand core itself is entirely weak to Fighting types.
- Trick Room, if not handled properly, is dangerous for Sand.
- 5/6 Pokemon in the sand team lose to Politoed+Ludicolo in Rain.
- My Moth's Got The Powders (Top 8 Australia Masters Nationals)
- After You My Friend (28th Place SoCal Regionals)
- Bring In The Storm! (Indonesia Asia Cup Qualifier Top Cut)
Common Mons
Honorable Mentions
As Trick Room team, you naturally have a Trick Room setter, and at least two Trick Room attackers which the rest of the team is built around. Trick Room teams usually carry an answer for stuff outside of Trick Room; a faster mode consisting of Pokemon like Hydreigon or Landorus-T.
Depending on the Mega Evolution, Trick Room can have different weaknesses, so let's check out the different types of Trick Room teams now!
Example:
This team was made by yours truly. And i find it to be a bad team (sorta). Cresselia as Trick Room setter, provides a lot of bulk and support (like all Cresselia do) in moves like Helping Hand, Safeguard and Skill Swap. Scrafty provides the Intimidate support and the Fake Out support that Cresselia needs. Rhyperior is a really good combination with Cresselia, taking care of Pokemon like Heatran and other Steel Types. Hydreigon is the Pokémon that works outside of Trick Room, handling Pokemon like Charizard Y, Bisharp and Rotom-W. Mega Mawile is the mega of choice, which provides a lot of power and it's pretty slow. Last, but not least, Rotom-H handles fairy types, bulky waters, Amoonguss and can burn Bisharp which this team is pretty weak to.
Common Mindset:
A Trick Room oriented lead is preferred (this meaning, a Fake Out user or a redirection support user), but in some strong situations (example, Thundurus+Sylveon lead against Scrafty+Cresselia) you want to mix up your leads (Rotom-H can wall both of those). Under those 4 turns, you got to keep in mind your opponent: if he is in a awful matchup, he will try to burn those turns by excesively protecting/switching, while you get a lot of free damage and even KOs if you predict right, while if he does have an aswer for Trick Room, he'll use it against you, so have it considered on the team preview.
If your opponent does have an answer for Trick Room, don't set it up until you're 100% sure you can handle that Pokemon. A certain mental strength is needed to play Trick Room. Remember, you only have 4 turns since you set up. Use them to control the game!
Pros:
- Really offensive archetype.
- Good coverage.
- Decent bulk and typing on most of its members.
- All the Trick Room megas are ridiculously strong.
- Can deal with Rain and Sand.
- Most teams are relatively unprepared for Trick Room.
- Cresselia is the most bulky Pokemon in the metagame, and having it on your team means that you'll get a Trick Room up almost always.
- Can barely deal with Sun teams.
- Requires a lot of support.
- A lot of the Trick Room mons have awkward bulk, making them get KOd by common attacks even when they have good looking stats.
- Taunt shuts down many non Mental Herb Trick Room setters.
- Amoonguss is one of the most common Pokemon in the metagame.
- Good players will always have an answer for it.
- Trick Room has negative priority, making it harder to set up than other Speed control options
- Trick Room leads (Fake Out user+bulky TR setter) don't provide any momentum.
- It lasts 4 turns, and those can be burned pretty easily.
- Welcome To The New Extreme (Seattle 3rd Place and Madison 1st Place)
- Chesnaught Expecting This! (Senior 1st Place Missouri Regionals)
- Who Said I Had to Leave by Four (Virginia Regionals Top Cut)
- Ironi's A Tank (3rd Place Italian Nationals)
- The Unlikely Alliance (10th Place Arnhem Regionals)
This section will be dedicated to stuff like Manual Speed control, gimmick archetypes that are skill based enough to make it here (no minimize archetypes, sorry), and the most important of all: regular teams that aren't based on weather or on other speed control that isn't Tailwind.
1) TailRoom
Common Pokemon:
Honorable Mentions:
TailRoom, as the name states, is a combination of Trick Room and Tailwind speed control options on the same team. This allows the team to choose the right speed control option for each specific opponent. For example, you can set up Trick Room while the opponent has the weather in their favor or is operating under Tailwind. Conversely, if the opponent doesn't have a clear speed control option you can set up Tailwind and start sweeping.
TailRoom has one Trick Room setter, one Tailwind setter, and then you chose your remaining Pokemon to work in one or both modes.
Example:
This was Juichi Sasaki's TailRoom team that he used at the Japanese Nationals. Gardevoir as Trick Room setter has amazing typing that synergizes well with Amoonguss. While talking about it, Amoonguss can use its Rage Powder to keep attacks away from Mega Gardevoir, protecting it while it sets its Trick Room. Under Trick Room, Amoonguss becomes a menace, having the fastest Spore in the game. Suicune, on the other hand, works as Tailwind setter, boosting the speed of Landorus-T, Thundurus, Heatran and Gardevoir, all of which work amazingly under Tailwind. Landorus-T provides Intimidate, while Thundurus completes the Double Genie core that's so popular in VGC. Heatran, can handle bulky Steel Types that Gardevoir can't beat (namely, Aegislash and Mega Mawile) and creates a pretty neat Fire/Water/Grass core with Amoonguss and Suicune.
General Mindset:
Ehh, can I call anything general here? TailRoom is so full of surprises that I can't really say. I can tell you the playstyle of your opponent will change depending on the team preview: if the opponent has a Tailwind user you usually lead with TR user+Support to set up TR as they set up Tailwind. Against opposing TR, you lead TR user+Support too, but you work on it in a different way. In weather, you lead TR pokemon+ something depending on what weather you're facing. Against teams that don't have a clear speed control option, lead Tailwind+Support.
Reports:
- Eww... there aren't any reports in Nugget Bridge about god damn TailRoom
- Most TailRoom teams are Japanese btw
- Have a Japan traductor at hand, really
- http://d.hatena.ne.jp/mor1yama/20150617/1434545907
- http://d.hatena.ne.jp/barudoru/20150624/1435142306
Pros:
- TailRoom is usually unpredictable, making it hard to play around.
- TailRoom is the ultimate speed control option, allowing the team to have the speed advantage most of the time.
- TailRoom is fairly bulky and can handle a lot of threats.
- It can punish Protect with set up moves like Substitute, Swords Dance, Calm Mind, etc.
- TailRoom has a hard time dealing with original Trick Room, as their mons are usually too fast for heavy Trick Room.
- TailRoom Pokémon have awkward bulk and get KOd way more often than what they should.
- It requires a lot of time to perfect and play effectively with it.
- They need their Speed Control option up, given that most TailRoom Pokemon struggle to function without the speed advantage.
Let's all thanks P3DS for this write-up!
Common Pokémon:
Honorable Mentions:
Perish Trap is one of the strongest archetypes around, however, it is the most difficult to master it and one of the hardest to make consistent enough to function in high level play. Don't let that put you off, however; a well built Perish Trap team can be extremely deadly. This archetype plays very differently to your standard battle, as you rarely attack while you try to stall out the Perish turns. Because of this, a lot of players disregard Perish Trap as "Un-Pokemon." However, Perish Song ignores Substitute, evasiveness, accuracy, semi-invulnerability (Like Fly), defenses and more. It can even bypasses Magic Coat and Magic Bounce. Perish Song also reveals the speed order of your opponent's Pokemon, giving you crucial information about the opponent's team. With Mega Gengar and Gothitelle becoming more available this generation, they can easily fit on teams as Semi-Perish cores, such as Politoed+Gothitelle in Rain. Although Perish Trap is good, you need to go all out with your techs on the team. Encore, Disable, Substitute, Swagger, Thunder Wave, Dark Void, Will-o-Wisp, Snarl, Intimidate, Rage Powder, Follow Me, Fake Out... all of these help let your trappers survive, and so the Trap survives as well.
Example:
This is Wolfe Glicke's Perish Trap team that he used to take 1st place at Massachusetts Regionals. It relies on bulk to hold out for the duration of Perish Song. However, he could flip the tables, with a strong Trick Room core of Scrafty, Gothitelle, Amoonguss and Politoed, so he could spread Spore, and Perish Song before he got hit by other moves. The slow Pokemon all had 0 speed IVs, and speed reducing natures, so if it came to a 2v2 situation with Perish Song, his Pokemon would usually be the slowest, and he could just stall out the Perish Turns.
Common Mindset:
Perish Trap demands a very smart player, and one who can maneuver the course of the battle in their favor. They must have a strong will, as a lot of players regard this archetype as unfair and skilless, and if online, they won't stop from letting you know. You must also be prepared to do what others would never do, in regards to techniques on the team, such as Swagger, Encore+Disable, Dark Void, etc. and how you go about playing. You should have an eye for detail, picking up on as much information as possible, such as turn orders from Perish Song, noticing that the Poke Balls used can affect the abilities of certain Pokemon (any Apricorn/Safari Ball pokemon cannot have their HA, and if it does, call a judge, because it is hacked) and more. Play intelligently with Perish Trap, and you will be rewarded for the effort.
Pros:
- Matches can be very quick paced.
- Due to the speed of the matches, you can conceal a lot of moves on your team, making it useful in a Best of Three match.
- Perish Song ignores all status and bypasses substitute.
- Once the Perish Song is up, and the opponent can't switch, there is nothing that can stop it.
- Ghosts, especially Aegislash, as they can escape your trap, and deal super effective damage to your Trapper.
- Dark types, such as Bisharp and Hydreigon, are very annoying to deal with.
- Forces Switches are hard to deal with. Items like Red Card, along side the moves Roar, Circle Throw and Dragon Tail force out your trapper, and Roar bypasses even protect.
- Volt-Turn Pokemon, like Landorus-T, can escape the trap.
- Trick Room can mess up the turn order on Perish Song.
- Heavy Offense can shut down your team pretty hard.
- Most of all, Perish Trap is a very luck hating team. Crits, long sleep turns, freeze, confusion and paralysis give the opponent free turns that you can't afford.
- Taunt stops Perish Song, so be wary around Thundurus.
- As stated before, Perish Trap requires a lot of mental strength and a very pre-calculated playstyle to make it work in high level play.
- Wolfe Glicke's Perish Team (Interviewed by TheJustinFlynn)
- YT's 2014 Perish trap Rain team (A very strong team, that still lives up to this day)
Common Pokemon:
Honorable Mentions
(eww.... choosing the common mons and the honorable mentions in Bulky Offense is SO tough)
Bulky Offense, as the name states, is the balance between damage output, speed, and bulk. This consist of basically a Mega Evolution whose stats are good looking in both offensive and defensive matters, a bulky Tailwind setter, 2-3 Pokemon that are like the Mega, good both offensively and defensively, and 1 hard hitter.
Trick Room Bulky Offense does also exist, but given that to transform a team from regular Trick Room to Trick Room Bulky Offense, you only need to move EVs around, it's really a different way of playing Trick Room. Trick Room Bulky Offense player's mentality does not dramatically change from regular Trick Room, so consider TR BO a part of Trick Room.
Also, Bulky Offense teams are way slower than other teams. They usually last around 8+ turns. Keep that in mind and prepare to not fight a battle, but rather, a war!
Example:
This is Josh Krieger's Oregon Regionals team. Venusaur as his Mega, was deal to take plenty of hits and beat Pokemon like Milotic, Suicune and Gastrodon, which Josh thought he didn't have an answer for otherwise. Zapdos is the Tailwind setter, handling Pokemon like Talonflame, Salamence.... and Talonflame, really (not to mention Mega Charizard Y). Blaziken was added to handle Mega Kangaskhan and Heatran, while Gyarados supported Blaziken, being able to handle Mega Salamence. Krookodile provided more Intimidate support, while not being 4 times weak to Ice, which this team was really weak to already. Krookodile also helps this team to break Cresselia and other Psychic types. To finish this team, Scizor was added to help with the Fairy issues, and to help against Trick Room which this team otherwise struggled with.
General Mindset:
I try to lead often with a Pokemon that has the advantage on the most possible scenarios and my Tailwind user (Zapdos), and try to get my Tailwind up as soon as possible. Then, I start to play this team like Hyper Offense: I know my Pokemon will be able to withstand a hit and 2HKO whatever threat I have at hand.
The most important thing about Bulky Offense is not losing momentum, given that Bulky Offense's main objective is reaching the good matchup in all the situations. You lose momentum by switching too much, but if you play it right, your opponent will switch out a lot too.
Also, with Bulky Offense, you don't need to bring your Mega Evolution all the time. You'll find yourself in situations that your Mega Evolution won't work more than other 4 Pokemon. Heck, sometimes Bulky Offense is perfect for Double Mega teams too!
Pros:
- Good typing synergy between all the team members.
- Amazing coverage.
- Ability to take on all the metagame 1v1.
- They're difficult to wear down.
- Have good matchup against Rain archetypes.
- It's really difficult to keep momentum with Bulky Offense.
- Lack speed, and they rely on Speed Control most of the time.
- It's difficult to handle Sand and Trick Room with them.
- Complex teambuilding process in general.
- Lose to common Mega Evolutions like Kangaskhan or Salamence.
- No Brakes from Here! (10th place Oregon Regionals) (Venusaur)
- I Woke Up Like This! (Top 16 Missouri Regionals) (Metagross)
- The Boss You Can't Take Down (Top 32 Singapore Nationals) (Venusaur)
- No One is Safe From the R.E.G.I.S MK-V (Alpha Series Top Cut) (Venusaur+Metagross Double Mega)
- L'Anse-aux-Méduses (srsly Zach?) (2nd Place Missouri Regionals) (Metagross)
- Kings and Kahns (Top 4 Kansas Regionals) (Kangaskhan)
- Latios Takes Flight (Top 8 UK Regionals and Top 64 UK Nationals) (Kangaskhan)
- Well, i hope you get the idea with this link.
- The Mystical Powders (SkarmSteel's Bulky Offense team) (Venusaur+Metagross Double Mega)
Common Pokemon:
Honorable Mentions:
(This was literally made using the PGL's page data, and i made myself sure to add every single common partner for the top 12, plus some Pokemon that have done surprisingly well in this kind of teams, such as Volcarona, Azumarill and Blaziken)
And finally, we get to one of the strongest non-weather archetypes, what i personally call "The Big 12". The Pokemon in this archetype are known for their amazing development on tournaments, as well as being the most powerful, bulky and versatile Pokemon in the metagame. The building is simplier than what it looks: one picks a Mega Evolution and try to cover as much of the metagame as possible, as well as having good synergy and accomplishing multiple roles such as Speed Control, taking hits, etc.
Example:
I KNOW, i know you must have seen a similar team structure while playing online. This is Riley Factura's Seattle Regionals team which i found to be the team that was perfect for describing this archetype. Kangaskhan as the only Mega Evolution says enough for itself, while the always present Genies Core makes yet another appeal on these teams. Heatran was most likely added to patch up the ice weakness the team had so far, while Sylveon has one of the strongest spread attacks in the entire game. Amoonguss was a supportive Pokemon meant to pair with the Power-up Punch Kangaskhan, while also taking hits from bulky waters and being able to hit fairies for super effective damage with Sludge Bomb.
Common Mindset:
“But every game’s like turn one Fake Out, Tailwind on Suicune
Rock Slide, Choice Scarf, prayin’ it’ll flinch soon,
We don’t care, we’re running Camerupt and ice creams.
But everybody’s like Prankster, Thunder Wave, spam it for the paralyse
Brave Bird, Heatran, tigers on their cloud feet.
We don’t care, like my Bibarel we’re Unaware.”
“And we’ll never be boring (boooooring)
We’re having fun just like we should,
Mega Kangaskhan just ain’t for us.
We’re more into stuff like Mandibuzz.
Let’s just say that I’m cooler (cooooler),
I’d even use a male Combee
And baby I’m cool, I’m cool, I’m cool, I’m cool.
Let me live that fantasy.”
- Zog.
Yep. I'm sure that this little song describes it rather accurately. Well, this archetype can give you some surprises, like a random Trick Room Gengar as you set the Tailwind, or a Ice Punch Kangaskhan destroying that Landorus you thought you could switch in safely, etc... but to be fair, if you ever play online, the people will most likely be using really generic sets. Identifying their strategy on Team Preview is important, but don't let your guard down: some players are smart enough to bluff this archetype and give you some surprises.
Pros:
- Pokemon that are really solid enough to pull their weight alone, meaning that they don't need as much support as some other Pokemon
- Kangaskhan
- A wide variety of Pokemon that can work alongside the Mega Evolution you chose, mixing up your gameplan and making yourself a bit unpredictable.
- People are expecting this, so in bo1 sets like Battle Spot, surprise sets can... surprise your opponent.
- The team often has a really strong luck factor on its side, like Scarf Rock Slide from Landorus-T together with Thunder Wave (and even Swagger) from Thundurus. Having Lady Luck on your side is quite useful.
- People are expecting this.
- People are preparing for it.
- Offensive archetypes can exert a lot of pressure on this archetype, and usually when teambuilding you always leave a hole that a specific Pokemon can break. Face against it, and you're doomed.
- Lady Luck's feelings are rather unstable :P
Well, those are all the archetypes i could think of. Mentioning some cool ideas that didn't make it as archetype, but you could definitely work with them:
1) HailRoom
- What it consists of?
- Simple. It's like regular Trick Room, but with Abomasnow. Abomasnow's Snow Warning allows the Trick Room team to do damage every turn, while also breaking Focus Sash and making moves that don't usually KO do it. You can also build it with Mega Abomasnow for more offensive power!
- What it consists of?
- Breloom is one of the fastest sleep inducers in the game. Breloom under Tailwind hits ridiculous speed while also being able to put a lot of Pokemon to sleep. Breloom is generally supported by a Fake Out user, this being in most cases, Mega Kangaskhan or Liepard. Make them have happy dreams to make your opponent's life a nightmare!
- What it consists of?
- There are some Mega Evolutions, like Kangaskhan and Metagross, that can set up moves like Substitute, Dragon Dance, Power-up Punch, etc. You use your Mega Evolution paired with a Redirection support, like Clefable, Togekiss or Amoonguss, to let them get a free set up. Not to mention, but this strategy won last year's World Championships, so try it out!
- What it consists of?
- You know what ability Terrakion has, right? It has the ability Justified, which raises its Attack by 1 stage each time the Pokemon is hit by a Dark Type move. There's also a move called Beat Up, which is a Dark Type move that hits one time per Pokemon that there's left on your team. Do you get the idea? You use Beat Up against your own Terrakion to boost its already huge attack and deal crazy amount of damage with Rock Slide. There are a few Pokemon that gets this move, but the most destacated one is Whimsicott, which can support Terrakion in multiple ways and boost its attack stat to skyrocket levels!
Well, i hope this article has helped you building your team to start your VGC career, or to guide you back to the basics if you have hit a writer's block and can't think of what you will use on your next challenge.
Remember, don't give up, and while you keep your cool, you'll be fine!
Wishing you the best of luck...
SkarmSteel
Grammar Checking
Serapis
Quality Checking
pyromaniac720
Serapis
Ace Emerald
P3DS
Perish Song Write Up
P3DS
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