Legendary Pokémon

Some of you might know that I used to do a lot of competitive battling.

One thing that used to give me a lot of trouble was teambuilding. Most of my teams were very bad. One of the very few that was really good (at least by my low standards) has been posted by me on the forum, but it was not even really made by be on my own.

So I'd like to ask any competitive (or not so much) battler here:

What do you think of teambuilding?
Do you enjoy it?
Do you have any success?
What are your methods?
How do you usually approach team building?
What main points do you try to take care of?
Do you try to achieve some special synergy or do you just try to be careful about type match-ups and have counters for specific Pokemon?

Let's finally have some discussion here.



(yeah I just wanted to make my post number 1100 a good one)

I'm a competitive battler in terms of competing with my friends. I've actually never entered an actual tournament.

(06-03-2014 09:51 AM)GeorgeSlayer Wrote: [ -> ]What do you think of teambuilding?

I think teambuilding is the best part about Pokemon. It requires strategy and so it makes us think. It makes you strive to create that "unbeatable" team, therefore, it ignites your soul.

(06-03-2014 09:51 AM)GeorgeSlayer Wrote: [ -> ]Do you enjoy it?

I must say that I quite enjoy building different teams for different scenarios.

(06-03-2014 09:51 AM)GeorgeSlayer Wrote: [ -> ]Do you have any success?

I have some success. Unfortunately, my love for certain Pokemon that can work well together usually have a common weakness. For me, it's usually Ice type because of my love for Grass types and my insistence to always have at least one in my team at all times.

(06-03-2014 09:51 AM)GeorgeSlayer Wrote: [ -> ]What are your methods?

My Method: Get six Pokemon that you love and train them as you see fit. Then find items that compliment your choice of Pokemon and combine them with the appropriate moves.

(06-03-2014 09:51 AM)GeorgeSlayer Wrote: [ -> ]How do you usually approach team building?

Before I build a new team, I battle other teams and I study them. Then I try to create a team that has the best of all of them. (without copying them)

(06-03-2014 09:51 AM)GeorgeSlayer Wrote: [ -> ]What main points do you try to take care of?

1. Have at least 2 moves that are different from the Pokemon's type.
2. Save a Pokemon with a Fire type move if your opponent has a Scizor. (seriously, I've been seriously messed up by Scizor because I lost my Fire type early on in the battle)
3. Have moves like Taunt, Torment, and Heal Block.

(06-03-2014 09:51 AM)GeorgeSlayer Wrote: [ -> ]Do you try to achieve some special synergy or do you just try to be careful about type match-ups and have counters for specific Pokemon?

It all depends on the team. For example, my Double Battle team that consists of Chandelure (with Focus Sash), Avalugg (sturdy w/ Rocky Helmet), Sylveon (Pixilate), Slaking, and two random fast Pokemon is a team where all members have to work together.
Here's my battle plan. Send out Chandelure and Avalugg. (from my experience, many people target Avalugg first) Chandelure uses Trick Room. Avalugg uses Rock Slide or Avalanche (whichever is more appropriate). Within 2 turns, both should get knocked out. I send out Sylveon and Slaking. Sylveon's only purpose is to Skill Swap Pixilate to Slaking who then goes all out with Return, Earthquake, Shadow Claw, or Hammer Arm. Once they are both knocked out, Trick Room is usually over. Then I send out the fast Pokemon and finish up the sweep. However, if something goes amiss, I'm not completely vulnerable. (hence the two fast Sweeper Pokemon)

(06-03-2014 09:51 AM)GeorgeSlayer Wrote: [ -> ]Let's finally have some discussion here.

Discussion is always good.
I've done my part.

Thanks for taking the time to post grassdragon.

Yes, I too think teambuilding is a very interesting process, even if it is a lot of times quite tedious.

From my experience, a mistake that is quite often done is trying to counter almost everything and having good type synergy, but ending up having no actual game plan in order to win your games. At least I used to do this often, am I the only one?

(07-03-2014 06:50 PM)GeorgeSlayer Wrote: [ -> ]Thanks for taking the time to post grassdragon.

You're welcome!
Now, if we could just get the rest of these lazy people to post.

(07-03-2014 06:50 PM)GeorgeSlayer Wrote: [ -> ]From my experience, a mistake that is quite often done is trying to counter almost everything and having good type synergy, but ending up having no actual game plan in order to win your games. At least I used to do this often, am I the only one?

I've had many problems with this and I've battled people with this problem. It reminds me of the episode of the anime where Ash is in Snowpoint City and he's taking some class and he doesn't know the answers to the questions about the Pokemon but he's a good battler and then there's the guy who can answer every question but he can't battle at all.

Well that's not EXACTLY what I meant. I meant that I used to sometimes pay more attention to countering things than I did to having a way to win. What should be done is having a good game plan for your team, while also having a way to deal with most common stuff, either through direct counters or counterplay. ( because you can't really counter everything nowadays I suppose).


And yes, people are really lazy.

(09-03-2014 07:55 PM)GeorgeSlayer Wrote: [ -> ]Well that's not EXACTLY what I meant. I meant that I used to sometimes pay more attention to countering things than I did to having a way to win. What should be done is having a good game plan for your team, while also having a way to deal with most common stuff, either through direct counters or counterplay. ( because you can't really counter everything nowadays I suppose).

In my mind what I said agrees with what you said....of course sometimes I interpret situations differently....

Anyway my bad then.

Although we should both agree that Ash is a noob.

(10-03-2014 12:58 AM)GeorgeSlayer Wrote: [ -> ]Although we should both agree that Ash is a noob.

Yes! Ash is definitely a noob.
I like the theory that Ash's Pikachu is actually Red's and Ash is just borrowing it. Pikachu is too strong for it to be Ash's