How to create a decent team [V1.0]

Subsection 1: The SD-files

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STEP 1 : WHAT TYPE OF TEAM

Okay, before creating a team, you must decide WHAT KIND OF STRATEGY you plan to use. Here are some of the basic strategies...

The roles are...

Spiker
Annoyer
Baton Passer
Hazer
Sweeper
Tank
Heal Beller
PsuedoPasser
Other
A * means more than 1 role.
(Read section 2 for X-planations fer each role)

1.''Neutral''
Explanation : This is just the standard team of a few Paralyzers, and pretty much a few attackers. Most teams are based around this strategy. It may have a Safeguard, or maybe a Reflect/Light Screen or two. For the slightest bit of protection. This can vary heavily. All sorts of roles can be put in.

2.''PsuedoPassing''
Explanation : This is using the powers of Safeguard, Reflect and Light Screen. It protects you from all kinds of attacks. The setup should be 2-3 Reflect, 2-3 Light Screen, 1-2 Safeguard. This is my favourite type of team. Most of your pokemon having some way of recovering lost HP is indeed important. ^_^
Basic Idea of team roles : Annoyer, Annoyer, Hazer, Hazer, Heal Beller, Sweeper
(NOTE : ALL OF THE POKEMON NEED TO HAVE ONE OF THE 3 PSUEDOPASSING MOVES)

3.''ParaFusion''
Explanation : This is taking Paralysis to another level. By Paralyzing the opponent, them somehow forcing them to switch without using Roar-Whirlwind. And if they refuse, they get to hit themselves several times.
Basic idea of team roles : Annoyer, Annoyer, Annoyer, Annoying Hazer*, Healbeller, Sweeper/Other

4.''ToxicSpikeStorm''
Explanation : After putting down some spikes, you then poison their whole team but DON'T TRAP. Use Sandstorm and Toxic effectively, so you waste them away from normal poison (Strong poison if they decide to stay) and Sandstorm. Always keep a Ground type ready to fend off poison and steel types who can't get poisoned. Steels aren't affected by Sandstorm either. Most of the pokemon should have Toxic.
Basic Idea of team roles : Spiker, Annoyer, Annoying Hazer*, Annoying Healbeller*, Tank, Other

5.''Baton Passing Teams''
Explanation : These are very BP Based, and have at least a small continuing BP Process. It either has one target for BP Chains, or every pokemon has BP and it goes around in circles, like a web. These teams are every powerful, but are very weak to Hazers.
Basic idea of team roles for a BPing Chain : Baton Passer, Baton Passer, Baton Passer, Baton Passer, Baton Passer/Other, Sweeper/Other/Heal Beller
Basic idea of team roles for BPing Web : Baton Passer, Baton Passer, Baton Passer, Baton Passer, Baton Passer, Baton Passing Heal Beller (Only Celebi, really).

6.''Fun teams''
Explanation : These kind of teams are usually created for fun. They are usually consisted of many ''Other''s. This can vary heavily. It can be full of Trappers, like... x1372's wonderful team. =P. Or it can be Tank Filled. Or a gang of Sleep Talkers. When it comes to this, anything will do.

7.''Newbie''
Explanation : These teams are teams of one to no annoyers, and only sweepers with horrible movesets. Not much to do here.





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Step 2 : TEAM MEMBERS

Here, you have to decide WHO IS IN YOUR TEAM? Well, by choosing from a strategy above, the possibilities for each type of team is indeed large. Let's get into basics now...

THE ANNOYER
The annoyer always has a status inflicting attack, from Paralysis, to Poison, to Confusion. This depends on each team.

LANTURN - Surf, Thunderwave, Screech, Confuse Ray @Miracle Berry/Leftovers
Surf here is used as the primary attack. First, you confuse with TWave. You then Confuse them, and screech them. So that they will switch and ya get a free TWave.

Now, for a ''ToxicSpikeStorm'' annoyer...it's rather simple. Here's an example.

SKARMORY - Drill Peck, Steel Wings, Toxic, Sandstorm @Miracle Berry/Leftovers
DPeck and SWings are the attacks. Toxic Storm = Toxic + Sandstorm + Spikes. Skarmory's immunity to SStorm is nice.

Now, those 2 annoyers were special annoyers designed to annoy in special ways. However, here are 2 basic annoyers,

BLISSEY - Thunderwave, Softboiled, Seismic Toss, Reflect @Leftovers
EXEGGUTOR - Stun Spore, Psychic, Giga Drain, Moonlight @Miracle Berry

Well, as you can see, they Paralyze, and can heal. Not all annoyers have to heal, but it is a good idea. Also note, DON'T ATTACH MIRACLE BERRY ON BLISSEY. IT'S A WASTE..cuz it doesnt really fear PAR.

Now we've covered the annoyers...onto the rest.

Spikers...anything with spikes.

Baton Passer = Someone with BPable moves, such as Barrier, DT, Mean Look/Spider Web, Substitute, Swords Dance, etc. Here's an Example.

ARIADOS - DT, Sludge Bomb, Spider Web, Baton Pass @Leftovers

Here, you Pass the effects of Spider Web and DT. Mean Looking Umbreons are better when it comes to BP, but Eevee only gets BP in Crystal.

Hazer = Someone with Haze. Any pokemon with haze is a hazer.

Sweeper = Heavy Attacker who can dish out a ton of damage. They range from Attacking Sweepers to Special Attacking Sweepers. They usually have one small form of protection and can cover weaknesses some way or another.

MACHAMP : Cross Chop, Rock Slide, Light Screen, Earthquake @Leftovers
ENTEI : Fire Blast, Solar Beam, Return, Sunny Day @Leftovers

As you can see, very attack based. Each team should release the sweeper to sweep at the end.

Tank = Someone who beefs up its stats...usually defensive stats are included. This means like

POLITOED - Curse, Amnesia, Surf, Earthquake @Miracle Berry

Usually like a BPer who saves the glory of stat raisers to himself.

Heal Beller = Someone with Heal Bell. 'Nuff said. Heal Bell is important because it removes all the status ailments from every happy pokemon in your team.

PsuedoPasser = Someone who has Safeguard, Reflect or Light Screen. And usually, switches to another pokemon or attempts to battle...obvious, really.

Other = This is huge...

DT Rester - Someone who evades, and rests
KINGDRA : Double Team, Rest, Dragonbreath, Surf @Mint Berry

Trapper - Someone who traps them and wears them off.
CROBAT : Mean Look, Toxic, Confuse Ray, Fly @Leftovers

Haze Baiter - Someone who attracts Hazers, traps them and kills them. They have like Double Team or something to get them to bring in the Hazer...
JYNX : Double Team, Mean Look, Lovely Kiss, Perish Song @Leftovers
(DT attracts Hazers, trap them with Mean Look and remove the Hazer with PSong)

Sleep Talker - Someone who uses the Rest + Sleep Talk combo. KINGDRA (Again) : Surf, Dragonbreath, Rest, Sleep Talk @Mint Berry

Well, after gathering the right members...you need to decide how well yer team balances.





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Section 3 : Looking and seeing probs with yer team.

No 3X Weaknesses...
NEEDS AT LEAST 1 HAZER AND 1 HEAL BELLER. Heal Beller is not needed if you have a TON of Miracle Berry and if ya have Safeguard support. But Hazers are a MUST. UNLESS wer'e talking about a BP Chain/Web team. Hazers are a MUST. MUST! A Non-BPing team with no Hazer is NeWbIe-IsH . And a Heal Beller is vital. Let me have a little Heal Bell guide...

Miltank : Fast, has good staying power and can dish out Average Damage. Lacks Special Attack, which doesn't matter majorly. Very good overall.

Granbull : Slow, not perfect staying power, but incredible attack. Can dish out a ton of damage.

Celebi : Very powerful, but has too many weaknesses.

Blissey : Indeed popular. But since it has to be bred, the rest of its moveset is bound to suck, a Heal Belling Blissey is ONLY FOR THE PSUEDOPASSING TEAM.

As for Hazers, there are many choices. Just make sure they are not too slow...and do not have too crappy staying power.

After looking at the weaknesses, see if your pokemon can each cover each other up. Like a Dark to protect Machamp (If ya use it)

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Final Section : Movesets and ITEMZ

Itemz : Fast Attackers - Miracle Berry.
Slow pokemon - Leftovers.
Pokemon with Rest - Mint Berry (Leftovers for the safe).

I think Phildo's move technology thing is better than this section by 5 times, so go and learn from him when making movesets. Just remember these basics...

No more than one type of move per pokemon.
[Edit]
I think that what Silver Denryuu means is no more than one type of move that does the same thing, since you usually need to have Thunder wave and also Thunderbolt.
[/Edit]
If an attacking move has below 85% accuracy, it's not worth using.

If an annoying move has below 75% accuracy, it's not worth using.

If you put, like a special move on a pokemon with bad special attack AND gets no STAB (Like Fire Blast on Tauros) and an attacking move on a special attack using specialist (Like Return on Jolt), then it's not worth using.

'Member, use movesets that fit their role.

Subsection 2: The Automaton Theory

-Imagine a bullseye. Circles within circles, with a large dot in the middle. This may sound very "Bruce Lee" like to say this, but it really helps illustrate my point. The outer ring of the bullseye is the general strategy of the team. Are you playing offense? Than you need to fill a specific viod in your metagame, and exploit it. What are all the defense players afraid of? By using mainboard bias against stat uppers, most defense/counterdefense teams can't deal with an offensive strategy that doesn't use stat raisers. If playing defense yourself, you need to be even more aware of the metagame to be able to counter standards and exploit holes in strategies. (Like using OHKO pokemon and trapsong vs Pseudopass, Attract vs Pandora, etc.) Maybe you want to take the less traveled path and play utility, (A viable strategy in pokemon, melding offense, defense, and counterdefense in the same team, that has yet to be fully explored for the lack of any serious reason to do so).

-The second ring in the bullseye is the moves you intend to use to further your strategy. What is a pokemon? A life support system for a moveset. Period. I shouldn't have to say this, but I'm a completist: Cast away your favorites. If you want to win, then optimization is absolutely key to your survival. Write down each and every move you'll need for your team, it's okay if it exceeds 24 at this point, you'll need to play some cut and paste with the list to find the exact final 24 you'll need. It's okay to use far less than 24, too, if you're shooting for an overly symbiotic level of synergy within the team, but teams like that, my own Dr. Strangelove (a total of 12 moves in the entire team) included, are usually intended to showcase a strategy rather than actually compete. When jotting down moves, leave nothing out. It's usually easier to type balace your offense against the metagame first before including your utility and recovery/defense moves. Basic notes on move optimization:

-When playing defense, start with the recovery and go from there. If it has no way to regain hp, then it's not defensive.

-When playing offense, play the type matching game as much as possible. Ice, Rock, Ground, Fighting, Fire, Water, and as a form of balance Electric are your most important offensive elements. These moves, with the exception of Water and Electric, all have at least four types that they are good against, with ground and fighting weighing in at five SE types. Ever wonder what makes Machamp and Starmie so good? Look at the moves they can learn. They can type play better than any other pair of pokemon.

-By stark contrast, Grass, Dark, Ghost, Poison, Bug, Psychic, (Though excellent for utility) Normal, Flying, Steel, and Dragon are largely inconsequential. Use these moves to fill gaps or answer specific problems ONLY IF THEY CAN'T BE ANSWERED IN ANY OTHER WAY. If Kingdra wasn't a fricking HOUSE nobody would use Dragon moves. Ever. Also, it's acceptable to have a team with a 4X weakness to any of the lesser types, as long as you cover it in your mainboard offense. So when type matching the pokemon on your team, have as few shared weaknesses to the "magnificent 7" types as you can, and a max of one pokemon with a double weakness to one of them. But don't sweat shared weaknesses for the other ten, unless your local metagame is saturated with people that use them.

-Once you iron out the moves you want, you come to the last ring before you get to the bullseye; The actual Pokemon for your team. This part requires the most research, as you'll need to balance your offense with your utility, and even on a defensive team you'll need to play the type game as much as possible. Start with the pokemon with the highest stat totals possible that can use the moves you want. You may have to substitute some moves for slightly weaker variants to accomplish this, (ie using Sweet Kiss instead of Confuse Ray on Jynx). You may have to do a lot of swapping around to get this part right, but here is where 90% of the refining takes place before you actually play with the team.

-The bullseye itself represents the "1.0" version of the team, the concept and movesets being joined with their respective hosts and becoming a team of six. Oftentimes however the team still requires work, but only playtesting with the semi-complete team at this point will help you perfect it, as many things beg for battle experience to guide your hand.

-What I mean is that the lesser ten types, types with three or less SEs are less important than the ones with four and up. Logically speaking, if you rely on the lesser 10 you're missing an oppertunity to have a utilitarian offense, and as such you're sacrificing your defense to do so. While it's okay to use the lesser 10 types for fillers, don't rely on them in leiu of the upper 7.

Subsection 3: Rocky's ramblings

~There are a few steps to making a good pok�mon team. At least I think so... :p
At least an effective one...

Step 1: Learn
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Yes... it's true, it's true... you have to do that thing you do everyday in school and college and stuff... again for pok�mon.
Learn what moves do... you don't have to study them and know all their functions and damage, and accuracy percentages to the nearest hundredth, but you need a general idea what a move does. For example, the move, 'curse' does not make your opponent mad at you. What it does, in normal cases, is raise your attack and defense, and lowers your speed. Additionally, in ghost pok�mon, it makes a sort of poison effect, but takes off half your HP.

Step 2: Pok�mon
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The next thing to do is choose pok�mon. Sound easy? Yeah right! What you have to do is choose pok�mon with move compatibility and stats and type balancing. Confusing? Well... what this means is even if a pok�mon has maximum stats, that that does not make it effective. Moves count. A LOT! Do the best that you can to select ones with proper types, moves and stats to suit your team. Also, work with ones that don't react to be counterproductive. For example, don't have many sunny day users and grass and/or water pok�mon because this can have a downfall effect on their performance. And also, learn what moves your pok�mon can learn, and how.

Step 3: Strategy
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One of the most important things in pok�mon is move usage. A person can have a perfect team, without a bit of a flaw, and still not be a champion of any kind. What if the opponent did something unexpected, and made it that you couldn't stick to your strategy? You have to be able to 'think on your feet' in this game. Learn strategy, but also remember that you get better with more experience. You're almost there, but not quite yet.

Step 4: Team gathering and finalization
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Once you have your team ready with all its moves and strategies, do initial testing, check out any flaws to your system and then post it on one of the many boards here for approval, appraisal and criticism. My advice: be ready. Be ready to accept defeat if that is what eventually comes, and be ready to explain what your strategies are. Most people will not see it at first glance. That is the opportunity you are waiting for. Now then is the time for you to test out your creation, iron out the flaws, and perfect your perfect team.


Now then there are many approaches to a pok�mon. There are tides to a battle. Learn what to do and what not to do.

-Many of these approaches are either on defense or offense.
Defensive approaches include: Annoyers, OHKO-ers, Spikers, Tanks, BPers
Offensive approaches are usually: Heal Bellers, Hazers, Sweepers and pseudo-passers
-The tides of battle are what should determine when and what you do with a pok�mon. For example, when a pok�mon faints and you have less pok�mon left than your opponent does, this should be a defensive tide. This is a good time to whip out either a tank or annoyer.
-In the beggining of the battle, obviously there is no tide yet. Use this time to determine what you are to do. Usually the first-card moves are: Safeguard, Thunder Wave and Spike
-Another way to tell tides is who is mainly attacking. If you get stuck in the situation where one of your pok�mon keeps resting or recovering due to the attack of the other pok�mon, obviously you're in the defensive end. You can A)Second guess the opponent and base your attack from there or B)Switch out to type-match. More on the this later.
-Type matching. The eternal proof that pok�mon is rock-paper-scissors on steroids. In heated battles, if you can guess that a pok�mon will use a certain attack, switch out to something immune to it. Simple as that. Then there will be a 'chase' where you will switch, and then they will switch and on and on till either of you stops and takes the leading tide.
-An offensive tide is when you have time to either attack or beef up your stats. Like when you are pounding on each other, or when you're pounding on the opponent and he's recovering. When an opponent is switching out or resting, this is a perfect time to beef up on stats. Really. Then the tide can shift in your favor and before you know it, BOOM! You've won.


In depth strategies:


These are good for making teams and for analyzing enemies' startegies.

-Neutral teams: These should have some pseudopassing moves and some sweepers and moderately have status changers. Hazers are key here. There will be some tanks, BPers and annoyers here. What to beware of when battling these are psych up users and mostly any sweepers. Use confusion and haze against most of them.

-Pseudopassing teams: All of these are mostly like the neutral teams, except in that all of them have one of the 3 pseudopassing moves: Safeguard, Reflect and Light Screen. Haze does not work against these. Handle with extreme caution.

-Toxicspikestorms: 3 moves are essential in this setup. Toxic, spike and sandstorm. There will be mostly a group of annoyers, a healbeller and maybe 1-2 sweepers mostly. No general startegy besides that you will gradually be worn down.

-Baton Passing Teams: Baton passers. They will tank up or have a few stats going way up, and then pass this on to another pok�mon. But I do reccomend that any baton passing team should have a roarer and a psych up user. Trust me, I know. But this is just a reccomendation, it does not need this to be a baton passing team.