HOTROD
12-24-2010, 02:55 AM
Introduction.
This guide is here to teach the readers one of the most important aspects of the Diamond and Pearl metagame, building a team. It will explore and explain each stage involved in building good teams and the variety of options available to competitive battlers.
1. Know the options.
Of course, one of the most important parts to building a great Standard team, or a team for any tier, is to have decent knowledge of the current metagame and know what is available. First of all, know what Pokémon are banned on Standard teams; this would include Arceus, Darkrai, Deoxys (all forms are banned) Dialga, Garchomp, Giratina, Giratina-O, Groudon, Ho-Oh, Kyogre, Latias, Latios, Lugia, Manaphy, Mew, Mewtwo, Palkia, Rayquaza, Salamence, Shaymin-S, Wobbuffet, Wyanut. The mentioned Pokémon are banned because they are to powerful and or/ too good for Standards. Every other Pokémon not mentioned are allowed in the Standard metagame, but that doesnt mean all other Pokémon are as good as each other. There are Pokémon that certainly should be considered as threats and or/ good options for as a team member, and Pokémon that shouldnt be used when building a team. (Gen 4 OU is the example throughout this guide).
a. What is recommended?
The following list, gives a brief description of commonly used Pokémon; these are Pokémon you should keep in mind as both options and or threats to counter when building a team. The list format will include the Pokémons name, abilities, Health Points(HP), Attack(Atk), Defense(Def), Special Attack(Sp.A), Special Defense(Sp.D), Speed(Spd) and a few moves that pokemon commonly uses. To get deeper detail on each pokemon and their merits and roles, look through TeamUbers Pokedex =>http://teamuber.net/dex/index.php
Remember to not exactly copy the Pokedexs exact suggestions, though one should tailor each Pokémon to fit ones team, usually by tweaking an EV spread for example, just so ones Pokémon can be a bit faster, etcetera.
Dugtrio-Ground-Arena Trap/Sand Veil-35/80/50/50/70/120-Earthquake, Stone Edge, Sucker Punch
Alakazam-Psychic-Synchronize/Inner Focus-55/50/45/135/85/120-Psychic, Focus Blast, Trick
Machamp-Fighting-Guts/No Guard-90/130/80/65/85/55-Cross Chop, Dynamicpunch, Stone Edge
Slowbro-Water/Psychic-Own Tempo/Oblivious-95/75/110/100/80/30-Surf, Ice Beam, Calm Mind, Slack Off
Gengar-Ghost/Poison-Levitate-60/65/60/130/75/110-Shadow Ball, Thunderbolt, Focus Blast, Will-o-Wisp, Hypnosis, Explosion
Weezing-Poison-Levitate-65/90/120/85/70/60-Fire Blast, Thunderbolt, Pain Split, Will-o-Wisp
Starmie-Water/Psychic-Illuminate/Natural Cure-60/75/85/100/85/115-Surf, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, Recover
Tauros-Normal-Intimidate/Anger Point-75/100/95/40/70/110-Return, Earthquake, Stone Edge
Gyarados-Water/Flying-Intimidate-95/125/79/60/100/81-Earthquake, Waterfall, Ice Fang, Stone Edge, Taunt, Dragon Dance
Vaporeon-Water-Water Absorb-130/65/60/110/95/65-Surf, Ice Beam, Wish
Jolteon-Electric-Volt Absorb-65/65/60/110/95/130-Thunderbolt, Hidden Power Ice/Grass, Substitute, Baton Pass
Aerodactyl-Rock/Flying-Pressure/Rock Head-80/105/65/60/75/130-Rock Slide, Earthquake, Ice Fang
Snorlax-Normal-Thick Fat/Immunity-160/110/65/65/110/30-Curse, Rest, Earthquake, Return, Crunch, Fire Punch, Selfdestruct
Zapdos-Electric/Flying-Pressure-90/90/85/125/90/100-Thunderbolt, Hidden Power Ice/Grass, Baton Pass
Dragonite-Dragon/Flying-Inner Focus-91/134/95/100/100/80-Dragon Dance, Earthquake, Outrage
Forretress-Bug/Steel-Sturdy-75/90/140/60/60/40-Spikes, Gyro Ball, Rapid Spin, Earthquake, Explosion
Heracross-Bug/Fighting-Swarm/Guts-80/125/75/40/95/85-Megahorn, Close Combat, Stone Edge, Pursuit
Skarmory-Steel/Flying-Sturdy/Keen Eye-65/80/140/40/70/70-Roost, Spikes, Drill Peck, Whirlwind, Stealth Rock
Donphan-Ground-Sturdy-90/120/120/60/60/50-Earthquake, Ice Shard, Rapid Spin
Blissey-Normal-Natural Cure/Serene Grace-255/10/10/75/135/55-Softboiled, Thunder Wave, Seismic Toss, Aromatherapy, Calm Mind, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt
Raikou-Electric-Pressure-90/85/75/115/100/115-Thunderbolt, Substitute, Calm Mind, Hidden Power Ice/Grass
Suicune-Water-Pressure-100/75/115/90/115/85-Calm Mind, Surf, Ice Beam
Tyranitar-Rock/Dark-Sand Stream-100/134/110/95/100/61-Stone Edge, Crunch, Earthquake, Pursuit, Dragon Dance
Celebi-Grass/Psychic-Natural Cure-100/100/100/100/100/100-Leech Seed, Recover, Psychic, Energy Ball, Calm Mind, Baton Pass
Swampert-Water/Ground-Torrent-100/110/90/85/90/60-Earthquake, Surf, Ice Beam, Stealth Rock
Breloom-Grass/Fighting-Effect Spore/Poison Heal-60/130/80/60/60/70-Spore, Seed Bomb, Focus Punch, Mach Punch
Slaking-Normal-Truant-150/160/100/95/65/100-Return, Earthquake, Focus Punch
Ninjask-Bug/Flying-Speed Boost-61/90/45/50/50/160-Baton Pass, Protect, Substitute, Swords Dance
Medicham-Fighting/Psychic-Pure Power-60/60/75/60/75/80-Hi Jump Kick, Psycho Cut, Thunderpunch, Ice Punch
Milotic-Water-Marvel Scale-95/60/79/100/125/81-Surf, Ice Beam, Recover
Metagross-Steel/Psychic-Clear Body-80/135/130/95/90/70-Meteor Mash, Earthquake, Thunderpunch, Bullet Punch, Explosion
Jirachi-Steel/Psychic-Serene Grace-100/100/100/100/100/100-Zen Headbutt, U-Turn, Wish, Calm Mind, Reflect, Psychic
Infernape-Fire/Fighting-Blaze-76/104/71/104/71/108-Swords Dance, Nasty Plot, Flare Blitz, Close Combat, Flamethrower, Grass Knot
Staraptor-Normal/Flying-Intimidate-85/120/70/50/50/100-Return, Brave Bird, Close Combat
Roserade-Grass/Poison-Poison Point/Natural Cure-60/70/55/125/105/90-Leaf Storm, Sleep Powder, Leech Seed, Sludge Bomb, Hidden Power Fire/Ice, Shadow Ball, Spikes, Toxic Spikes
Rampardos-Rock-Mold Breaker-97/165/60/65/50/58-Head Smash, Stone Edge, Earthquake, Crunch, Rock Polish
Ambipom-Normal-Technician/Pickup-75/100/66/60/66/115-Fake Out, U-Turn, Return
Bronzong-Steel/Psychic-Levitate/Heatproof-67/89/116/79/116/33-Gyro Ball, Earthquake, Explosion, Hypnosis, Trick Room
Spiritomb-Dark/Ghost-Pressure-50/92/108/92/108/35-Will-o-Wisp, Dark Pulse, Pain Split, Hypnosis, Sucker Punch
Lucario-Steel/Fighting-Inner Focus/Steadfast-70/110/70/115/70/90-Aura Sphere, Close Combat, Psychic, Dark Pulse, Crunch, Reversal, Dragon Pulse, Swords Dance
Hippowdon-Ground-Sand Stream-108/112/118/68/72/47-Earthquake, Slack Off, Ice Fang, Curse
Weavile-Dark/Ice-Pressure-70/120/65/45/85/125-Night Slash, Ice Punch, Pursuit
Magnezone-Electric/Steel-Sturdy/Magnet Pull-70/70/115/130/90/60-Thunderbolt, Hidden Power Ice/Grass, Explosion
Rhyperior-Ground/Rock-Solid Rock/Lightningrod-115/140/130/55/55/40-Stone Edge, Earthquake, Megahorn, Swords Dance
Tangrowth-Grass-Leaf Guard/Chlorophyll-100/100/125/110/50/50-Power Whip, Sleep Powder, Stun Spore, Knock Off
Electivire-Electric-Motor Drive-75/123/67/95/85/95-Thunderpunch, Thunderbolt, Ice Punch, Cross Chop, Earthquake
Togekiss-Normal/Flying-Serene Grace/Hustle-85/50/95/120/115/80-Air Slash, Roost, Grass Knot, Aura Sphere, Nasty Plot, Thunder Wave
Yanmega-Bug/Flying-Speed Boost/Tinted Lens-86/76/86/116/56/95-Air Slash, Protect, Bug Buzz, Hidden Power Ice, Hypnosis
Gliscor-Ground/Flying-Sand Veil/Hyper Cutter-75/95/125/45/75/95-Earthquake, Roost, Knock Off, Stealth Rock, Aerial Ace, Stone Edge
Mamoswine-Ground/Ice-Oblivious/Snow Cloak-110/130/80/70/60/80-Earthquake, Ice Shard, Stone Edge
Porygon-Z-Normal-Adaptability/Download-85/80/70/135/75/90-Tri Attack, Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, Dark Pulse, Hidden Power Fighting, Nasty Plot
Gallade-Psychic/Fighting-Steadfast-68/125/65/65/115/80-Close Combat, Psycho Cut, Night Slash, Hypnosis, Thunder Wave, Will-o-Wisp
Dusknoir-Ghost-Pressure-45/100/135/65/135/45-Will-o-Wisp, Shadow Sneak, Fire Punch, Thunderpunch, Ice Punch, Pain Split
Azelf-Psychic-Levitate-75/125/70/125/70/115-Psychic, Flamethrower, Grass Knot, Explosion, Nasty Plot
Heatran-Fire/Steel-Flash Fire-91/90/106/130/106/77-Overheat, Earth Power, Dragon Pulse, Dark Pulse, Explosion
Cresselia-Psychic-Levitate-120/70/120/75/130/85-Ice Beam, Charge Beam, Rest
(Feel free to suggest a Pokémon I have not mentioned)
b. Use common sense! (What isnt recommended.)
Dont use Pokémon that are overshadowed by another Pokémon just because its cool, it isnt a good idea and it is strongly discouraged. Usually these overshadowed Pokémon have dismal stats and or/ a limited movepool. This exists in a major rule, competitive teams should never contain not fully evolved Pokémon, as fully evolved Pokémon tend to have higher stats and a wider movepool. For example, no one can seriously say that Golbat is better than its evolution Crobat, as Crobat has higher stats in every area, and their movepools are almost identical. Although, there is a few exceptions to this rule considering the pre-evolution has something that is very different and something their evolved forms cant abuse. A great example would be that many people use Pikachu instead of Raichu because Pikachu has a signature item, Light Ball, which doubles only Pikachus Attack and Special Attack. If Raichu wanted to match Pikachu, it would have to resort to a Life Orb which still only boosts the Attack and Special Attack 30% with an unpleasant 10% recoil for each damaging attack.
Similarly, most Pokémon with poor offensive options arent ideal because more often than not high level threats such as Tyranitar and Gyarados are able to switch in for little to no damage; in fact, their support attacks can actually benefit some opponents. In a fast-paced metagame like Diamond and Pearl, the one free turn that the poor offensive threats provide could possibly lead to the one free turn these threats need to set up. An example of a Pokémon that frequently gives free switchins (not always, so dont hate) is Umbreon; though Umbreon can be used greatly, and may seem like a great wall and or/ team supporter due to its very high defense, Umbreon in reality is terrible at stalling compared to the other options out there, and also has poor offensive capabilities allowing the opponent to set up for a potential sweep. It may seem like this is coming off as walls are bad, but Im not at all. For instance, some walls are extremely useful and this is because they counter a plethora of common threats, a great example is Blissey as I can easily say that Blissey can cover almost the entire Special Attacking spectrum and can pose as an offensive threat being able to cripple and damage the pokemon who cannot break through her defences.
2. Building a Simple Pokémon. (This can also help with building generation 5 teams and making sets to an extent.)
Now that you have knowledge on Pokémon that generally should and shouldnt be used, it is time to begin constructing Pokémon. For the sake of the example, this section will study the process for creating sets for the chosen Pokémon.
a. Meloetta (Step forme) (Physical Attacker) and General Tips
I didn't realise that Meleotta needed Ancient Voice to be the Step forme, lucky this is an example.
Obviously, the first stage in building a pokemon is deciding and configuring its moveset. The best and most easiest way to determine whether a pokemon is suited for a physical, special, mixed, or support set is to look at its base stats and movepool. When one views Meleottas base stats and movepool, one can see that Meleottas attack and speed stat stand out and its other stats are fairly decent. One may also point out that Meleotta has a great variety of attacks to complement its great offensive stats. Although Meleotta has various special attacking options, it would be silly to abuse special attacks on Meleotta, as its maximum Attack is nearly twice as strong as its maximum Special Attack.
Among Meleottas best attacks is Close Combat, so we should definitely include that in the set. Close Combat, while not only being one if Meleottas strongest attacks, receives a special power boost called a Same Type Attack Boost (STAB) because it has the same type as one of Meleottas types, which is fighting. On an important note most Pokémon are better off using their STAB options, because it gives a rather large power boost of roughly 50% more power; however, there are quite a few notable exceptions that prefer type coverage over STAB, which will be explained later on. Return is another excellent physical STAB option Maleotta can abuse. Now that Meleotta has two fairly good STAB moves, one may want to add another move though keep in mind what moves would perform well. There is a few moves that Meleotta can also use to great use being Shadow Claw, U-turn, Stone Edge or Payback. One may choose U-turn because it has great scouting capabilities and allows you to send in your counter to the pokemon you just u-turned out of. In the last slot we can rule out Payback as Meleotta is very fast and will only be dealing 50 base attack most of the time, and also Shadow Claw also has better coverage paired with Close Combat. Now one has only two viable options being Shadow Claw or Stone Edge which are both very great for coverage so both can be used, although Shadow Claw paired with Close Combat hits every Pokémon in the metagame for neutral coverage, so in this case we will opt for Shadow Claw. Therefore one now has Meleottas moveset: Close Combat/ Return/ U-turn/ Shadow Claw or Stone Edge.
One notable issue that is very common is having two attacks of the same type on one set, this is very bad as it limits your coverage and its frowned upon. Though in saying that there is yet again a few exceptions, one good example being Tyranitar who runs Crunch and Pursuit on the same set. This is an exception because alike the pre-evolution rule, if the moves run a very different and unique feature it is accepted to fitting in the moveset, as Crunch deals strong STAB damage for Tyranitar whilst Pursuit hits just as strong for fleeing Pokémon trying to escape Tyranitar like Gengar and Rotom.
The next step to building simple Pokémon is a Pokémons nature and Effort Values (EVs). Generally, the nature of a Pokémon should build upon its highest stats and detract from the stat that is least useful. Note a neutral nature should never be chosen for a Pokémon, as a pokemon with + nature on their high base stat with a on their low base stat can easily make up for the drop with EVs and more often than not have EVs to spare. Just to illustrate that point, a pokemon with 100 base attack and 50 base speed will, assuming no EVs, gain 23 points for Attack and lose only 14 points of speed with a Brave nature, which raises Attack and lowers Speed. Lets return to Meleotta; one can easily point out that Meleotta isnt running a single Special Attack, therefore its Special Attack stat ise useless, and its Speed and Attack are the most dominant stats. That leaves Adamant, which raises Attack at the cost of losing Special Attack, and Jolly, which raises Speed at the cost of losing Special Attack as possible options. Jolly is usually preferred, as the speed boost allows it to outspeed any + speed Pokémon below 128 base speed which it cant do without the speed boost. Next come the EVs which for Meleotta are very simple and basic. Simply put 252 EVs into Attack to maximize Meleottas attacking potential, and a large amount of Speed, which is important for beating the plethora of threats, so lets put 252 EVs into Speed. The extra 4 EVs go into Health Point stat;; one should never waste EVs no matter how small the number as you never know when these EVs can become useful.
Lastly, it is time to decide Meleottas item. In generation 5 there is many viable options when deciding, whether you want more power or would just like simple recovery items. The three items that would best suit Meleotta are an Expert Belt, an item that raises damage by 20% when Meleotta scores a super effective hit, Life Orb, an item that raises damage by 30% but incurs a recoil of 10% Meleottas health every time it successfully does damage, and an Choice Band, which raises damage by 50% but limits Meleotta to one attack until it switches out. Assuming adequate team support, Meleotta isnt particularly worried about being locked into one move and revenge-killed by something else due to its resistences to Pursuit (bar Shandera) so well make this Meleotta hold the Choice Band.
Therefore we have ended up with and created the following Pokémon:
Meleotta @ Choice Band
Jolly
4HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
~Close Combat
~Return
~U-turn
~Shadow Claw / Stone Edge
b. Skarmory (Physical Wall)
The second Pokemon that has been chosen for analysis is Skarmory. When one looks at Skarmorys Pokedex entry, the most conspicuous quality is Skarmorys extremely high Defense. The other stats are mediocre except for its Special Attack, which is very low. It is immediately apparent that Skarmory is not suited for attacking like Weavile is, but then one may notice Skarmorys plethora of resistances and ability to receive physical attacks well. Skarmory also sports several excellent support moves, which makes it a great candidate for a physical wall.
The second Pokémon chosen for an example is Skarmory. When one looks at Skarmorys stats and movepools the most notable quality is Skarmorys extremely high Defense. The other stats are fairly decent bar its Special Attack, which is very low. It is immediately apparent that Skarmory is not suited as an offensive attacker like Meleotta is, but then one may notice Skarmorys plethora of resistances and ability to receive physical attacks well. Skarmory also has several excellent support moves under its belt, which makes it a great candidate for a physical wall.
Selecting and configuring a walls moveset is a tad more difficult than selecting a pokemon with outright attacks, but not by much. One of Skarmorys most noticeable movs is Spikes, a move that lays spikes on your opponents field which causes a lot of damage on the switch ranging between 12.5%, 18.75%, or 25% damage per switch in, depending on the amount of spikes layed (you dont take damage from this if you are immune to ground attacks such as being a flying type, or a levitator). As pokemon is naturally built around switching to win games, Spikes can potentially cause more damage than outright attacks and also limits the amount of turns your opponent can make. Skarmory also sports a move that when paired with Spikes can be a lethal combo: Whirlwind. Whirlwind forces your opponent to switch out, causing that pokemon to lose all their set-ups and, in conjunction with Spikes, potentially inflicting damage to the switch-in. A quick self-recovery move aids basically all walls performing their duty, and Skarmory is no exception, so adding roost is a must, an attack that restores Health Points by 50%, to Skarmorys moveset. Skarmory has one moveslot left with many viable options but by looking at the moves so far, theyre all support moves, so adding in an attack is the most adviseable option to stop Skarmory from becoming Taunt bait, it is always preferable to have direct damage at some point and once again Skarmory isnt an exception as if it doesnt when it gets taunted it has dire consequences by being forced to Struggle, meaning a loss of 25% of Health Points each hit. Skarmory has a few attacking options, firstly all Special Attacks are out of the question; an attack that runs off 40 base Special Attack wont hurt anything at all. That leaves Skarmory with Steel Wing, Night Slash, Drill Peck and Brave Bird. Night Slash is ruled out as an option in all cases because Skarmory will definitely appreciate STAB and also using Night Slash will hit Pokémon Skarmory will never get a chance to hit because Psychic and Ghosts types are practically always Special Attackers (bar Dusknoir who you cant hurt with Night Slash anyway) which Skarmory wont like being assaulted by. Additionally, Steel Wing doesnt particularly have good type coverage (though it is useful for hitting Tyranitar) and fails to perform well enough against Fighting Pokémon, which Skarmory will often be switching into. Conseqeuntly, the best choice for a reliable attacking move would be Drill Peck, while not as powerful as Brave Bird it doesnt receive recoil damage which can be painful at times. (For the sake of the example I'm running Drill Peck).
Now that one has configured Skarmorys moveset,it is time to choose the appropriate EVs and nature. Again when we look at Skarmorys stats it becomes apparent there is no use for any Special Attack boosts, so the preferred nature would reduce it; incidentally, the best nature for Skarmory is Impish, which builds on its already sky high Defense stat while reducing from Special Attak. For the EVs, as Skarmorys purpose here is a physical wall it has only medicore Health Points, one should invest maximum EVs of 252 into Skarmorys Health Points (HP) before anything else. Skarmorys Health Points are still not particularly high at a rather Modest 334 (with max IVs), and physical attackers tend to hit very hard in DP, so its also preferable to maximize its Defense. Though, Skarmory will very likely be running into many other Skarmory and physical walls with almost the exact speed, to get the upper hand one might add 20 Speed EVs as many of the normal Skarmory are running 16 speed EVs.
For Skarmory, choosing the item is fairly simple; the classic Leftovers should generally be the first choice or any other wall, as it gains an extra 6.25% oh Health Points after each turn which can build up to 25% or even 50% of Health Points, which is great for Skarmary as it is meant to stay alive for a long time. Though in saying that there is one more viable option; shed shell, which lets one switch out no matter what, which is great for escaping arguably Skarmorys biggest counter, Magnezone. Magnezone has Magnet Pull which disallows opposing steel types to switch out and in this case Magnezone can OHKO Skarmory, so if you are afraid of that risk choose Shed Shell over Leftovers. For the sake of the example we will be running Leftovers.
Therefore we end up with this Pokémon:
Skarmory @ Leftovers
Impish
252HP / 236Def / 20Spd
~Spikes
~Whirlwind
~Roost
~Drill Peck
3. Constructing a Complex Pokémon
While the previous section detailed how to create sets for some straightforward Pokemon, there are many other Pokemon that arent as simple and for which a 252 / 252 / 4 EV spread or attacks that are exclusively physical, special, or support wont suffice.
a. Infernape (Mixed Attacker)
As usual, one should perform the routine check of a Pokémons Pokedex entry. Looking at Infernapes stats, one can see that its Speed is at a relatively high 108 and its Attack and Special Attack are the same, at a reasonable 104. The defenses and Hit Points arent anything to be proud of, though. Glancing over Infernapes movepool, one can immediately notice that it is quite enormous, with plenty of options on both the physical and special side, revealing that Infernape is meant to do some attacking.
Normally, what would determine whether a Pokemon with similar attacking and special attacking stats should use primarily physical or special attacks is the movepool; Pokémon with greater physical attacks should be physical sweepers, and vice versa for special attackers. However, Infernape has respectable options on both ends of the attacking spectrum, so it instantly becomes a great mixed attacker. Granted, Infernape can also sweep purely physically or specially; however, the advantage of having a mixed attacker is that mixed attackers are often able to severely damage many Pokémon. First, lets start with something a bit toward the special side with the STABed Flamethrower, a basic Fire attack, which will inflict major damage due to Infernapes high Special Attack. Then, one may elect to add Nasty Plot, an attack that raises Special Attack two levels, to allow Flamethrower to do even more damage. Now, special walls such as Blissey and Snorlax will give this Infernape significant problems; the powerful physical Close Combat will strike many special walls super effectively, and may even knock them out in one hit with aid from STAB. Close Combats Defense and Special Defense drop isnt much of an obstacle for Infernape, who will likely get knocked out by many attacks anyway. Even with Flamethrower and Close Combat, Infernape still has problems with defensive Water Pokemon and things like Gyarados, but Grass Knot, which deals more damage to heavier foes, is capable of dispatching said threats (most of which are very heavy) almost perfectly and takes advantage of Nasty Plots Special Attack boost.
Picking a nature and spreading EVs isnt overly simple with Infernape as it was with Skarmory and Meleotta. Technically, Infernape has no useless stats, but that doesnt mean that a neutral nature will be acceptable. Ideally, the nature should raise Speed so Infernape can outrun members of the 95, 100, and 105 Speed group, which are fairly common. Usually, mixed attackers have natures that lower Defense, Special Defense, or Speed. Since lowering Speed is clearly out of the question with a Pokemon as fragile as Infernape, it has Hasty or Naive as options. Naive is usually preferred because it lower Special Defense and Water and Psychic attacks, most of which are special, will knock out Infernape regardless. The little extra Defense may help Infernape survive a physical Rock attack or strikes from Heracross, among others, which Infernape may actually muster up the courage to switch in to. As for the EVs, one would ordinarily put 252 in Speed, as Infernape enjoys having high speed very much, and 224 EVs in Special Attack for a nice, round, and quite powerful 300 stat total. The remaining 32 EVs are often placed in Attack to give Close Combat a tiny extra punch that may be critical to knocking out Blissey in one hit. Although one may be tempted to use a nature that raises either Attack or Special Attack considering that after EVs, Infernapes Attack and Special Attack come out at 244 and 300 respectively, which is quite meager compared to the offensive stats of other sweepers, after Infernape receives an item they will be enough for sweeping purposes.
The item of choice on Infernape is Life Orb, which roughly raises its Attack and Special Attack by 30% at the expense of 10% of Infernapes Hit Points every time it inflicts direct damage. The 10% decrease is not a problem, as between Infernapes already low defenses, its nature that lowers Special Defense, and Close Combats detrimental effect, Infernape shouldnt be surviving much anyway.
As per usual, this is the product:
Infernape @ Life Orb
Naive
32 Atk / 224 SpAtk / 252 Spd
-Flamethrower
-Nasty Plot
-Close Combat
-Grass Knot
4. Countering
Countering your opponents Pokémon is a vital aspect to ones survival during a Pokémon battle. In general, some examples of Pokémon that one should look out to counter are the ones listed in Section 1-a and also the TeamUber dex. Countering is one of the most important aspects that even if you have the best strategy in mind (and or/ Trick Room Team, Stall etc.) if you fail, your going to need a fallback strategy and or/ if your opponent sets up before you.
What exactly is a Counter?
By definition, a counter for a Pokémon is a Pokémon that can safely switch into the Pokémon it wants to counter and either set up without taking much damage from the Pokémon that it wants to counter or pose an immediate and severe threat to the Pokémon it wants to counter, forcing it to switch out or suffer massive damage.
Taking into account that definition, Gliscor is a Heracross counter because it can switch in safely switch-in (it at maximum takes 37% damage from Stone Edge, assuming it doesnt score a critical hit, and it can use Roost to heal itself of the damage) and threaten to knock out Heracross in one hit with Aerial Ace. A different type of countering exists between Skarmory and Hippowdon. Skarmory can easily switch in on Hippowdon and takes minimal damage from its rarely ever used Ice Fang, all the while laying down Spikes. Even if Hippowdon tries to set up with Curse so it can even consider dealing respectable damage to Skarmory, Skarmory can easily destroy Hippowdons setup with a simple Whirlwind.
However, many people fail to take into account that a counter must be able to switch into the Pokemon it tries to counter; revenge-killing is not countering because even if one successfully knocks out the target, one has still lost a Pokemon. For example, Weavile is not a counter for Tyranitar because even though Weavile can instantly destroy Tyranitar with Brick Break, Weavile cant switch in to any of Tyranitars attacks; it is easily pulverized by Earthquake or Stone Edge, hard pressed to take a Crunch, and one could say the same thing about nearly everything when Tyranitar uses Pursuit, that it offers an easy switchin.
Note that countering Pokémon in Diamond and Pearl is more based on resistances than high defensive stats, as an example Torkoal, It has an extremely high 140 base Defense stat but has a terrible defensive type, meaning it isnt a reliable Countering pokemon. Many Pokémon have received gigantic power boosts and therefore can squash many of their would-be counters. Essentially, the only Pokemon in Diamond and Pearl that should even consider switching in on a powerful attack that it doesn't resist are Blissey, and Cresselia and to some extent. Also, as there are so many threats in Diamond and Pearl, one should keep in mind that it is okay to have a team that doesn't have a formal counter for one or two Pokemon ( it is impossible to cover every single threat); do remember that it is necessary to be able to inflict major damage to said uncountered Pokemon, though.
a. Constructing and preparing to Counter
One should ideally strive to at least consider all of the possible (example) threats given in section I-a and all of the threats listed in the TeamUber dex when building a competitive team. Though the large list of threats may look intimidating to the untrained eye, it is important to realize that many Pokémon counter a large group of other Pokémon. Blissey, a venerable special wall, can and will disable approximately 95% of all special attackers, and Cresselia, an excellent mixed wall, is fully capable of stalling out half a standard team, if not more. Usually, an offensive team should consist of one or two walls, while more defensive teams may have three or more, and can even consist of 5 and 6, a great example is Kevin Garretts team which is designed to try and counter every single threat in the metagame, this is called Heavy Stall.
There are also Pokémon that have more specific targets in mind; what these Pokémon lack in width of coverage, they often make up for in depth. For example, while Houndoom is wrecked by many Pokémon in the Diamond and Pearl metagame, it is a nearly failsafe counter to the standard Azelf. While Blissey counters a huge spectrum of Pokémon, it will occasionally be screwed over by a critical hit or a Special Defense drop from Azelfs Nasty Plot boosted Psychic.
A very important truth about Pokémon is that one Pokémon might not counter everything it could at the same time. Dusknoir is such a Pokémon: if it has Shadow Sneak, it deals with Azelf decently; if it has Fire Punch, then it makes a great Heracross counter; if it has Ice Punch, it can deal with Dragon Pokémon more easily; and if it has Thunderpunch, it is a fine Gyarados counter. Dusknoir rarely has more than two of the attacks, however, because the other two slots are usually reserved for support moves that easily work off its massive defenses. Therefore, the moves that are chosen should reflect a teams weaknesses. It would be unadvisable to use Fire Punch and Thunderpunch on a team that has little problem with Heracross and Gyarados but is weak to Azelf, to mention but one instance.
b. Countering Non-Pokémon Threats
While one should mostly focus on countering threats that are Pokémon, there are also a few non-Pokémon threats that should be taken into account. The two most common such threats are attacks that affect the field and status effects.
1. Field Affecting Attacks (entry hazards)
There are three very useful field attacking attacks that exist in pokemon: Stealth Rock, Toxic Spikes and Spikes. Stealth Rock only needs one layer and deals a respectable 12.5% base damage on the switch. However, Stealth Rock is affected by type; for example a Jirachi, which is resistant to Rock, will reduce the damage down to 6.25% per switch-in, while a Moltres, which is 4x weak to Rock, will increase the damage up to 50% per switch-in. Toxic Spikes can be laid up to two times; the first layer will deal 12.5% each turn the opponent stays in (which is called normal poison), the second layer will cause a bad poison (which is the normal poison the attack Toxic does). Pokémon immune to Ground or Poison are also immune to Toxic Spikes. Spikes is a move that can be laid up to three times, and deals the appropriate damage equal to 12.5%, 18.75%, or 25% to an opponent that switches in Health Points, considering how many layers you have (one layer = 12.5%, two layers = 18.75%, three layers = 25%). It is not based upon type but Pokémon immune to ground type attacks are unaffected by the move Spikes.
There are a few easy ways to make your team less punished by the frightening effects of field affecting attacks. The move Rapid Spin will completely clear your side of the field of all field affecting attacks, but Pokémon that learn Rapid Spin dont necessarily fit on every team. Using two or three Levitating or Flying Pokémon will help enormously against Spikes and Toxic Spikes, while preventing your team from having too many rock weaknesses will aid against Stealth Rock from dealing too much damage.
2. Status Effects
Status effects can be devastating to a team not prepared for them. There are five main status effects: Burn, which decreases the afflicted Pokémons Attack and damages it 12.5% per turn; Paralysis, which decreases the afflicted Pokémons Speed by 75% and renders it unable to attack 25% of the time; Poison, which can come in two forms, namely regular Poison (which decreases the afflicted Pokémons Hit Points by 12.5% each turn) and bad Poison (which decreases the afflicted Pokémons Hit Points 6.25% the first turn, 12.5% the second turn, 18.75% the third turn, etc.); Sleep, which makes the afflicted Pokémon unable to use any attacks except Sleep Talk or Snore until it wears off; and Freeze, which makes the afflicted Pokémon unable to use any attacks except Flame Wheel or Sacred Fire (which defrost the Pokémon) until it wears off, or until the afflicted Pokémon is defrosted by being damaged by a Fire attack.
Many methods may be employed to safeguard ones team from the ravages of status effects. One tactic is to have a Pokémon that can use either Aromatherapy or Heal Bell; either move will completely remove all status effects (note that Heal Bell will not affect Pokémon with the Soundproof ability). A common user of such healing moves is Blissey. Another option is to have a Pokémon with an ability that lets it benefit from status such as Heracross or Milotic to take status attacks. Yet another choice that is similar to the latter is to let a Pokemon with the moves Rest and Sleep Talk absorb status attacks for the team. While not overly reliable, Pokemon with the moves Substitute and Taunt can guard against status effects to some extent. A Pokemon with a Substitute up will only be affected by direct damage; even if the Substitute breaks to say, a Flamethrower, which has a 10% chance of burning, the Flamethrower that breaks the Substitute will never inflict such an effect. Taunt is a move that prevents the affected Pokemon from using moves that do not cause direct damage, which can help against status because many moves that reliably inflict status (such as Will-o-Wisp and Thunder Wave) do not inflict direct damage.
There are also conditions known as pseudo-statuses, like Leech Seed or infatuation. Pseudo-statuses are almost always removed by simply switching out. Additionally, some types of pseudo-status are blocked by the move Substitute, and all moves that inflict pseudo-status are stopped by Taunt. Other than that, there is little or nothing that a player can do about pseudo-status.
5. Combinations and Strategies
A team that revolves around simply countering the opponent will generally fail, because in his or her obsession with countering everything, a player might construct a team with members that dont work as a whole, or a team that just sits around, absorbs the opponents attacks, and has no real threat or deals no real damage. These types of teams are very easy for an intelligent opponent to set up on, and once the opponent has succeeded in setting up a sweeper, the rest of the team will fall like a domino. (there is definitely exceptions to this but it takes a lot more strategy than just trying to counter everything for it to actually work as a team).
a. Make the right choice
Dont blindly handpick the first Pokémon one sees that counters something your team has trouble with. More often than not, there is an alternative Pokémon that executes a similar task to what one has chosen; ones first choice Pokémon may nevertheless be the superior choice, but it is always good to weigh the possible options. Consider Donphan and Hippowdon. These two Ground type Pokémon are both used to block various physical attackers, and have very similar movepools. If ones team is jam-packed with Pokémon (Cradily, Rhyperior, and such) that can benefit from the sandstorm in which Hippowdon whips-up with its ability, Hippowdon would be better. However, if only one or two Pokemon can even resist sandstorm conditions, Donphan would evidently do more good and less harm to the team.
b. The Core of the Team
Pokémon teams often function in a much more controlled and efficient manner if one centres the team on one or two Pokémon. Usually, the core of the team is an attacker and what the rest of the team tries to pave the way for. If the core needs a little more damage than it can dish out to knock out some other Pokémon, the supporting Pokémon may set up Spikes or Stealth Rock or just bludgeon the opponents various Pokémon to give the core an extra push. If the core is a relatively slow Pokémon, then the backup members of the team may need to distribute status such as paralysis. While the rest of the team usually aids the core, the reverse may also be true. The core of a mainly special attacking team may be an Azelf with Explosion, with the intent of using Azelfs special sweeper status to lure in special walls like Blissey or Cresselia, only to be Exploded on. With the opponents major and perhaps only special wall eliminated, the rest of the team will discover it considerably easier to sweep.
The core of the team may also be a combination of two Pokemon. The relationship amongst the two may possibly be as simple as covering each others weaknesses, such as that between Celebi and Heatran. One Pokemon may cover anothers weaknesses and help the additional Pokémon set up, as seen in Gyarados and Electivires partnership; Gyarados draws Electric attacks, which Electivire benefits from due to its ability. One Pokémon may even help another, otherwise hard to switch in Pokémon, switch in, which is illustrated in the relationship between Gengar and Tyranitar. Gengar is expected to be attacked by Psychic, Ghost, or Dark type attacks, all types that Tyranitar resists or is immune to.
c. Maximizing Moves
Just as two Pokémon may work together to maximize type coverage, two or more moves within a Pokemons moveset should be structured as to maximize type coverage. The execution of this is most clearly perceived in the dont use two offensive moves of the same type unless they are very different rule, but exploiting moveset coverage delves much deeper. There are many offensive type combinations that are resisted by very little Pokémon, such as the Ground plus Rock and Ice plus Electric duos. In fact, sometimes it may be favorable to miss out on the STAB bonus in favour of type coverage. Weezing is a Pokémon that does exactly that; even though Sludge Bomb receives the STAB bonus, Poison is a dreadful offensive type as it is only super effective against Grass types, so Weezing is generally seen using Fire Blast and Thunderbolt.
However, it is equally significant to realize that STAB counts, and seeing the screen flash a super effective indication isnt everything. This is exactly why Snorlax almost never uses the moves Rock Slide or Brick Break. Rock Slide and Brick Break have base powers of 75, which makes for roughly 150 when they score a super effective hit. Returns base power is 102, but it receives a STAB bonus, so its base power is approximately 153, and that is with a neutral hit. Therefore, a super effective Brick Break or Rock Slide will actually do less harm than a normally effective Return.
d. Starting off great, is half the job
It is critical during Pokémon battles that ones lead Pokémon is the accurate Pokémon suiting your needs. Nobody, regardless of skill, would like to watch his or her Gengar be as good as dead against an opponents lead Weavile. A good lead is able to fair well against many other common leads and as many of the top used leads as possible, all the while generating a sizeable threat from the start. A lead should almost always not be a wall or a stalling Pokémon; it would be to ones great hindrance that one lets the opponent know what ones physical or special wall is. Also, a lead should not give away too much about the overall team strategy; something such as Infernape, which can fit in the majority of teams can easily pass this test.
e. Be Surprising and Creative, without being stupid.
In the fast-paced and exceedingly standardized metagame of Diamond and Pearl, a Pokémon with a surprise can frequently shift the tide of a battle almost immediately, if used correctly. Usually, this comes in the form of an typically used physical/special Pokémon using attacks of the opposite side. If played correctly, a surprising Pokémon (such as Kingdra with Draco Meteor) can destroy something that would ordinarily counter said Pokémon. There are a few key notes to keep in mind when using surprising Pokémon, though. First and foremost, surprises are only temporary; over time, as more people become aware of one surprise, that surprise becomes riskier and riskier to use. Second, surprises should be used sparingly; revealing a surprise at the wrong time can often be catastrophic. At worst, the Pokemon one inserted a surprise on becomes completely useless. Lastly, surprises are almost never meant to sweep on their own; instead, they are usually used to clear the path more and more for a standard Pokémon to sweep. For example, Kingdra and Tyranitar have many counters in common, but Kingdra can defeat many of them with Draco Meteor, letting Tyranitar attack more effectively.
6. Putting it All Together
In this unit, one will be taken through the process of creating a sample team, guiding with step by step orders to simplify team building as much as possible, For the sake of the example, dont hate the sample team provided. Firstly Ill list the many common types of teams, and a few common types of Pokémon.
Roles of teams:
Before you begin to make your team, you must decide what role you want your team to fill. Do you want to make an Uber sweeping powerhouse, or a UU tanking team? As this is THE pivital decision on what roles your pokemon play in your team, this is the biggest decision you will make. Here are some examples of teams, and how they play-
Baton Passing- This team is centred on Baton Passing boosts to a specific pokemon. The Baton Passing chain can be as simple as a few Speed Boosts from Ninjask, to something as complex as Ingrain Smeargle->Rock Polish+Swords Dance+Taunt Gliscor-> Stockpile Drifblim-> Cradily. Baton Passing teams can be effective in any environment, but seem to be most effective in UU and OU. Baton Passing teams can easily be ruined by a well timed phazing move.
Walls and Stalls- This set of teams is based on Walling and Stalling pokemon. Generally teams that fill this category are composed of a variety of tanks, and the most damage they deal is typically residual damage. If you are setting up Sandstorm, Spikes, Toxic Spikes, and Stealth Rock (and that is before looking at your pokemon, who all either carry Toxic or Will-o-Wisp )- you are probably running a Stalling team. They typically have at least one (p)hazer, and possibly a cleric. Many of these teams fear Taunt, as almost all pokemon running a stall set are heavily dependant on recovery options. They also have an extreme dislike for Rapid Spinners..... These Stall teams can be seen in any tier play, but seem to thrive in UU play.
Sweeping - These teams dont mess around- they get to the killing. Possibly a DD or a SD, and let the slaughter begin. Generally composed of powerhouses, often any single Pokémon on these teams is capable of 6-0ing an opponent. Expect to see a lot of Choice Items and Life Orbs. These teams can be seen in any tier play, but seem to be most common in Uber play.
Rain Dance / Sunny Day teams - These teams play VERY differently than SS or Hail teams. These teams will have Pokémon who benefit from the weather in effect (Chlorophyll, Swift Swim, Dry Skin, Solar Power, Leaf Guard, Hydration, Rain Dish, etc.). Most common are Chlorophyll and Swift Swim, as the increase in speed and the assured hits and increase in power makes sweepers with mentioned ability very hard to take down. These are both common in UU play, however with Kyogre and Groudon, they can easily be played in Ubers, if played properly.
Hail - Hail teams play very differently from Sun or Rain teams, as they don't benefit from the massive speed boosts. Hail teams typically are based much more on the Evasion boost of Snow Cloak, the health benefit of Ice Body, and of course, Blizzard's 100% accuracy. These teams are some of the best in the game at dealing significant residual damage- however; they suffer greatly from SR damage. They were extremely overpowered when Abomasnow was UU- the game is much more balanced now that he is BL tier.
Sandstorm - Without a doubt the most common of all-weather teams, such that many teams that dont intend to be SS teams end up as them. Sandstorm is very powerful, as it increases the Special Defense of any rock type by 50%- this is massive because most rock Pokémon naturally have high physical defenses, so it bulks up their weakness. Additionally, 2 very common Pokémon come with an instant activation of Sandstorm. In OU tier play, Sandstorm play is very common.
Trick Room - A team based on the move Trick Room. Can still be any other type of team, but will generally be built to have a very low Speed.
Balanced team. Generally speaking, these teams will have 2 sweepers (one physical, one special), 2 walls (one physical, one special), and 2 supporters (a lead/anit-lead and another). Obviously these teams can fall into another category, but not always. These teams can be catered to the user- if you would rather leave out a special wall for a 2nd physical sweeper, by all means do it. This team should be balanced to fit the current metagame, and whichever tier play you plan on using it in.
Roles of Pokémon:
There are many specific roles Pokémon can play on a team. I will list each type of role. Do realize that many Pokémon can fill multiple roles- Like Breloom, it can cripple many Pokémon with spore then set up a substitute and act as a sweeper.
Leads:
Set-up Lead - This lead sets up specific situations for your team, anything from Rain Dance to Stealth Rocks. Often they either play another role in a team (like a tank) or they explode.
Anti-Lead - A lead that is designed to kill generic set-up leads.
Attacking Pokémon:
Physical Attacker - A Pokémon that specializes in physical attacks.
Special Attacker - A Pokémon that specializes in special attacks.
Mixed Attacker - A Pokémon that uses both physical and special attacks.
Wall Breaker - A Pokémon that is used to break through both physical and special walls- generally a variation of the mixed attacker.
Bulky Sweeper - A Pokémon that is built to take a few hits while dealing out massive damage.
Defensive Pokémon:
Physical Wall - A Pokémon that is designed to take physical hits.
Special Wall - A Pokémon that is designed to take special hits
Mixed Wall - A Pokémon that is designed to take any hits.
Bulky Water - A common version of the mixed wall, these are water pokemon with abnormally high defensive stats that can help absorb hits.
Tank - A Pokémon with naturally high stats in both defenses, they typically run a pseudo-sweeping set. (sweeping with either the higher of their 2 attacking stats or by outsurviving your opponent)
Support Pokémon:
Annoyer / Crippler - A Pokémon that specializes in crippling your opponent- generally with statuses. Parafusion sets are a great example, as are flinch hax sets.
Status Absorbers - Pokémon that are designed to absorb a specific status. Like Electivire with Thunder Wave, or Arcanine for Will-o-Wisp.
(Toxic) Spiker / Stealth Rocker - A Pokémon whose purpose is to lay down layers of either Spikes, Toxic Spikes, or Stealth Rocks.
Spinner - The answer to Spikers/SRs, this Pokémon utilizes Rapid Spin to nullify the effects of any spikes or stealth rocks.
Wish Passer- A generally bulky Pokémon that is designed to pass Wish to other Pokémon.
Cleric - A Pokémon with either Aromatherapy or Heal Bell, to heal status effects.
(P)hazer - These are Pokémon that find ways around your opponents boosts- either with Haze to ignore the boosts, or phazing with roar, whirlwind, etc. to force a change.
Baton Passer - A Pokémon that is used to BP boosts to another Pokémon.
Trapper - A Pokémon that uses a trap move to stop your opponent from switching.
a. Determining your type of play style/core
For the example, I will be using a player-friendly balanced team, with the player-friendly combination of Electivre and Gyarados. Firstly lets build the duos movesets, EVs and natures.
After building my pokemon I came up with the following:
Gyarados @ Leftovers
Adamant / Intimidate
212 HP / 12 Atk / 180 Def / 100 Spd
~Dragon Dance
~Taunt
~Earthquake
~Ice Fang
Electivre @ Expert Belt
Lonely / Motor Boost
252 Atk / 80 Sp.A / 176 Spd
~Thunderbolt
~Ice Punch
~Cross Chop
~Earthquake
The Gyarados listed is the bulky variant, although more bulky then your usual BulkyGyara able to take on your everyday physical threats with its excellent Intimidate ability. The EVs hit 384 Health Points, a number divisible by 16 in order to maximize Leftovers recovery, nice physical durability, and the rest is dumped into Attack and Speed accordingly. Taunt forces the opponent to use direct attacks, lessening the chance that Electivire will take a status attack or even worse, be set up on. Electivires Motor Drive ability increases its Speed if it is hit by an Electric attack, which is perfect, as Gyarados tends to attract a lot of them. It has enough Speed to outpace Adamant Heracross even before a Motor Drive boost, and the Special Attack bolsters Thunderbolt. Lonely, a nature that decreases Defense, is preferred on Electivire over a nature that decreases Special Defense because Electivire, as an Electric type, likes to be able to take Surfs and Ice Beams from the Water types it can knock out. Additionally, it seems rather shameful to decrease its actually respectable Special Defense. For Electivires item, Expert Belt, an item that raises damage by 20% when Electivire scores a super effective hit, will come into use many times, as Electivires moveset is capable of hitting 13 of the 17 types super effectively. Since were trying to aid Electivire, lets add another Pokemon that draws Electric attacks into the mix.
Skarmory @ Shed Shell
Impish
252 HP / 236 Def / 20 Spd
-Spikes
-Whirlwind
-Roost
-Drill Peck
This is the classic physical wall Skarmory, except for the item Shed Shell, which allows Skarmory to switch out from anything. While usually Leftovers is nice to boost its Hit Points, Shed Shell permits Skarmory to switch out of Magnezone (an action that is ordinarily impossible due to Magnezones Magnet Pull ability) and let Electivire take the impending Thunderbolt.
Blissey @ Leftovers
Bold
212 HP / 252 Def / 44 SpAtk
-Seismic Toss
-Ice Beam
-Softboiled
-Thunder Wave
Blissey is without a doubt the most reliable special wall in the game. As many people tend to use a different attack from Pokemon with Electric attacks on Gyarados at first, switching to Blissey the first one or two times will lull the opponent into a false sense of security. One may inquire as to why Blisseys Defense is maximized when it is supposed to take special attacks; the answer is that Blissey can increase its Defense to over double its untouched number with EVs, greatly increasing its survivability. Blisseys enormous Hit Points and its Special Defense, which is over 300 even without EVs, will hold it up well against strong special attacks therefore it is not necessary.
Now that we have Entry hazards, we wouldnt want them to be spinned now would we?
Rotom-h @ Choice Specs
Timid / Levitate
252 Sp.A / 252 Spd / 4 Def
~Trick
~Overheat
~Shadow Ball
~Thunderbolt
Rotom-h is arguably the best spinblocker in the game, so why not put him on. The Specs variant can support the team by tricking a specs onto an unsuspecting foe, namely Blissey. The moves are Rotoms best moves so they seem appropriate to put on.
Something lacking the team is obviously a rock resist.
Swampert @ Leftovers
Impish
240 HP / 52 Atk / 216 Def
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge
-Waterfall
-Stealth Rock
A physical bulky Swampert, this Pokemon is a very reliable Rock resistance and takes care of the Electivire and Dragon Dance Tyranitar problem that this team has. Earthquake and Waterfall are the standard STAB attacks that can cover a variety of Pokémon, while Stealth Rock, much like Spikes on Skarmory, causes residual damage. The one unusual move on this Swampert is that Stone Edge is used over Avalanche. This is an example of tweaking a Pokémon to suit a team's needs; Stone Edge hits Gyarados (which this team also has trouble with) for good damage, but has bad type coverage when combined with an Ice attack, so it has replaced Avalanche.
Looking over this team, one can see that there are very few weaknesses that stand out significantly. It is able to take many hits and reply with some of its own, which makes it a decent competitive team, capable of surviving the ravages of threats that would pull a team not so meticulously made apart.
There are a couple of great tools to use in this stage, other than those you should already be using. The one I suggest more than any other is Marriland's Team Weakness Revealer. Yes, if you are reading this you probably already know the weakness of each type- but this will let you see the specific weaknesses of your team. If you have more than 3 200% or 400% weakness, you have a team that is very weak to a specific type- you should consider changing your Pokémon.
Playing with your team:
So you have now finalized your team, and know each Pokémons purpose. You know what you can and cannot switch into, and when moves can be used safely. Your best bet is to now practice playing your team! I suggest Shoddy Battle as a place to practice playing your team- specifically on the TeamUber Server, just as a side note Pokémon Online also is a great testing ground. Play your team, and see how you do! Recognize that losing one game is not the end of the world; be sure to learn from each of your mistakes, as that is vital to the next step.
Fixing your team:
So you've made and played your team. It looks decent, it plays well, and youre not having too much difficulty. Good job, you obviously picked a decent strategy, and filled it with decent Pokémon. However, you are still having difficulty with certain types of teams. So your team is fairly weak to mix-apes. So make changes to your team! After playing your first 20 or so games, you should have a great feel for everything about your team, including all your weakness and mistakes. Make changes, one at a time, and test them out. By only doing one change at a time, you will realize if the change benefits your team. If it doesnt, change it back, and fix something else. The practice of building teams isnt a one-time event, it is an ongoing process. As the meta-game evolves, so should your team.
If needed, drop your team and start again, from scratch. With your knowledge of what worked and what didn't work, you should be able to make a much better team.
7. Unorthodox Teams
The sample team provided could be considered a basic standard team; however, that is not to say that there are not numerous other options that could be considered. In fact, there are several other strategies that a competitive team could use.
While most of the teams for Diamond and Pearl are offensively geared, stall teams full of defensive Pokemon can also be very effective. Stall teams, unlike offensive teams, often try to be able to counter every threat in the game; stopping other Pokémon from setting up and sweeping is a large part of stalling. Also unlike offensive teams, which are based on dealing heavy direct damage, stall teams try to weaken the opposing team with field affecting moves such as Spikes and status conditions like bad Poison and Burn. Additionally, stall teams generally utilize a Pokémon with the ability Sandstream to chip away even more at the opposition's health. After the opposing team has been sufficiently weakened, a stall team breaks out its main (and often only) offensive Pokémon to wreak havoc on the remnants.
Instead of following a general strategy, teams may be based upon a single move; the most common such teams are Trick Room and Gravity. Trick Room is a move that lets slower Pokémon attack before faster Pokémon for five turns. This can be extremely disruptive to common standard strategies, which often involve fast but fragile Pokémon; also, Trick Room conditions allow powerful but slow and fragile Pokémon such as Rampardos to rampage. Additionally, the lack of speed in Trick Room teams let its members invest more in defensive EVs. Gravity, another move, rescinds Flying and Levitating Pokémons Ground immunity for five turns; however, Gravity is used in some unorthodox teams mainly for its secondary effect. Under intense Gravity, all Pokémon receive either a two stage Evasion reduction or a two stage Accuracy increase (which is currently unknown, but either way results in the same effect) through Gravity's duration. This permits Pokémon to use powerful but inaccurate moves such as Blizzard and Thunder without the risk of missing at a critical point.
Conclusion.
There are likely, many undiscovered concepts and playstyles that are yet to be developed, but all go back to the main concept that surprise is great in this fast-paced metagame, however, the main key to surprise is only use it when the option arrises. For example dont use a Choice Specs Machamp because its a brilliant idea, more times than not it will fail, even a Choice Specs Kingdra is classified as a surprise as it isnt its primary set and what it is typically known for. Generally teams that find a perfect balance between offense and defense, will prove itself more successful than unreliable, inconsistent teams.
~~~
-Things to do before finished:
~Re-do the example threat list (as people complained about, if you would like me to).
!Everything is finished except if you would like me to re-do the example tier!
I hope this helps, and the reason i put it in the RMT section is so I could (hopefully) get this stickied there as it is a guide on building teams and etc.
This guide is here to teach the readers one of the most important aspects of the Diamond and Pearl metagame, building a team. It will explore and explain each stage involved in building good teams and the variety of options available to competitive battlers.
1. Know the options.
Of course, one of the most important parts to building a great Standard team, or a team for any tier, is to have decent knowledge of the current metagame and know what is available. First of all, know what Pokémon are banned on Standard teams; this would include Arceus, Darkrai, Deoxys (all forms are banned) Dialga, Garchomp, Giratina, Giratina-O, Groudon, Ho-Oh, Kyogre, Latias, Latios, Lugia, Manaphy, Mew, Mewtwo, Palkia, Rayquaza, Salamence, Shaymin-S, Wobbuffet, Wyanut. The mentioned Pokémon are banned because they are to powerful and or/ too good for Standards. Every other Pokémon not mentioned are allowed in the Standard metagame, but that doesnt mean all other Pokémon are as good as each other. There are Pokémon that certainly should be considered as threats and or/ good options for as a team member, and Pokémon that shouldnt be used when building a team. (Gen 4 OU is the example throughout this guide).
a. What is recommended?
The following list, gives a brief description of commonly used Pokémon; these are Pokémon you should keep in mind as both options and or threats to counter when building a team. The list format will include the Pokémons name, abilities, Health Points(HP), Attack(Atk), Defense(Def), Special Attack(Sp.A), Special Defense(Sp.D), Speed(Spd) and a few moves that pokemon commonly uses. To get deeper detail on each pokemon and their merits and roles, look through TeamUbers Pokedex =>http://teamuber.net/dex/index.php
Remember to not exactly copy the Pokedexs exact suggestions, though one should tailor each Pokémon to fit ones team, usually by tweaking an EV spread for example, just so ones Pokémon can be a bit faster, etcetera.
Dugtrio-Ground-Arena Trap/Sand Veil-35/80/50/50/70/120-Earthquake, Stone Edge, Sucker Punch
Alakazam-Psychic-Synchronize/Inner Focus-55/50/45/135/85/120-Psychic, Focus Blast, Trick
Machamp-Fighting-Guts/No Guard-90/130/80/65/85/55-Cross Chop, Dynamicpunch, Stone Edge
Slowbro-Water/Psychic-Own Tempo/Oblivious-95/75/110/100/80/30-Surf, Ice Beam, Calm Mind, Slack Off
Gengar-Ghost/Poison-Levitate-60/65/60/130/75/110-Shadow Ball, Thunderbolt, Focus Blast, Will-o-Wisp, Hypnosis, Explosion
Weezing-Poison-Levitate-65/90/120/85/70/60-Fire Blast, Thunderbolt, Pain Split, Will-o-Wisp
Starmie-Water/Psychic-Illuminate/Natural Cure-60/75/85/100/85/115-Surf, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, Recover
Tauros-Normal-Intimidate/Anger Point-75/100/95/40/70/110-Return, Earthquake, Stone Edge
Gyarados-Water/Flying-Intimidate-95/125/79/60/100/81-Earthquake, Waterfall, Ice Fang, Stone Edge, Taunt, Dragon Dance
Vaporeon-Water-Water Absorb-130/65/60/110/95/65-Surf, Ice Beam, Wish
Jolteon-Electric-Volt Absorb-65/65/60/110/95/130-Thunderbolt, Hidden Power Ice/Grass, Substitute, Baton Pass
Aerodactyl-Rock/Flying-Pressure/Rock Head-80/105/65/60/75/130-Rock Slide, Earthquake, Ice Fang
Snorlax-Normal-Thick Fat/Immunity-160/110/65/65/110/30-Curse, Rest, Earthquake, Return, Crunch, Fire Punch, Selfdestruct
Zapdos-Electric/Flying-Pressure-90/90/85/125/90/100-Thunderbolt, Hidden Power Ice/Grass, Baton Pass
Dragonite-Dragon/Flying-Inner Focus-91/134/95/100/100/80-Dragon Dance, Earthquake, Outrage
Forretress-Bug/Steel-Sturdy-75/90/140/60/60/40-Spikes, Gyro Ball, Rapid Spin, Earthquake, Explosion
Heracross-Bug/Fighting-Swarm/Guts-80/125/75/40/95/85-Megahorn, Close Combat, Stone Edge, Pursuit
Skarmory-Steel/Flying-Sturdy/Keen Eye-65/80/140/40/70/70-Roost, Spikes, Drill Peck, Whirlwind, Stealth Rock
Donphan-Ground-Sturdy-90/120/120/60/60/50-Earthquake, Ice Shard, Rapid Spin
Blissey-Normal-Natural Cure/Serene Grace-255/10/10/75/135/55-Softboiled, Thunder Wave, Seismic Toss, Aromatherapy, Calm Mind, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt
Raikou-Electric-Pressure-90/85/75/115/100/115-Thunderbolt, Substitute, Calm Mind, Hidden Power Ice/Grass
Suicune-Water-Pressure-100/75/115/90/115/85-Calm Mind, Surf, Ice Beam
Tyranitar-Rock/Dark-Sand Stream-100/134/110/95/100/61-Stone Edge, Crunch, Earthquake, Pursuit, Dragon Dance
Celebi-Grass/Psychic-Natural Cure-100/100/100/100/100/100-Leech Seed, Recover, Psychic, Energy Ball, Calm Mind, Baton Pass
Swampert-Water/Ground-Torrent-100/110/90/85/90/60-Earthquake, Surf, Ice Beam, Stealth Rock
Breloom-Grass/Fighting-Effect Spore/Poison Heal-60/130/80/60/60/70-Spore, Seed Bomb, Focus Punch, Mach Punch
Slaking-Normal-Truant-150/160/100/95/65/100-Return, Earthquake, Focus Punch
Ninjask-Bug/Flying-Speed Boost-61/90/45/50/50/160-Baton Pass, Protect, Substitute, Swords Dance
Medicham-Fighting/Psychic-Pure Power-60/60/75/60/75/80-Hi Jump Kick, Psycho Cut, Thunderpunch, Ice Punch
Milotic-Water-Marvel Scale-95/60/79/100/125/81-Surf, Ice Beam, Recover
Metagross-Steel/Psychic-Clear Body-80/135/130/95/90/70-Meteor Mash, Earthquake, Thunderpunch, Bullet Punch, Explosion
Jirachi-Steel/Psychic-Serene Grace-100/100/100/100/100/100-Zen Headbutt, U-Turn, Wish, Calm Mind, Reflect, Psychic
Infernape-Fire/Fighting-Blaze-76/104/71/104/71/108-Swords Dance, Nasty Plot, Flare Blitz, Close Combat, Flamethrower, Grass Knot
Staraptor-Normal/Flying-Intimidate-85/120/70/50/50/100-Return, Brave Bird, Close Combat
Roserade-Grass/Poison-Poison Point/Natural Cure-60/70/55/125/105/90-Leaf Storm, Sleep Powder, Leech Seed, Sludge Bomb, Hidden Power Fire/Ice, Shadow Ball, Spikes, Toxic Spikes
Rampardos-Rock-Mold Breaker-97/165/60/65/50/58-Head Smash, Stone Edge, Earthquake, Crunch, Rock Polish
Ambipom-Normal-Technician/Pickup-75/100/66/60/66/115-Fake Out, U-Turn, Return
Bronzong-Steel/Psychic-Levitate/Heatproof-67/89/116/79/116/33-Gyro Ball, Earthquake, Explosion, Hypnosis, Trick Room
Spiritomb-Dark/Ghost-Pressure-50/92/108/92/108/35-Will-o-Wisp, Dark Pulse, Pain Split, Hypnosis, Sucker Punch
Lucario-Steel/Fighting-Inner Focus/Steadfast-70/110/70/115/70/90-Aura Sphere, Close Combat, Psychic, Dark Pulse, Crunch, Reversal, Dragon Pulse, Swords Dance
Hippowdon-Ground-Sand Stream-108/112/118/68/72/47-Earthquake, Slack Off, Ice Fang, Curse
Weavile-Dark/Ice-Pressure-70/120/65/45/85/125-Night Slash, Ice Punch, Pursuit
Magnezone-Electric/Steel-Sturdy/Magnet Pull-70/70/115/130/90/60-Thunderbolt, Hidden Power Ice/Grass, Explosion
Rhyperior-Ground/Rock-Solid Rock/Lightningrod-115/140/130/55/55/40-Stone Edge, Earthquake, Megahorn, Swords Dance
Tangrowth-Grass-Leaf Guard/Chlorophyll-100/100/125/110/50/50-Power Whip, Sleep Powder, Stun Spore, Knock Off
Electivire-Electric-Motor Drive-75/123/67/95/85/95-Thunderpunch, Thunderbolt, Ice Punch, Cross Chop, Earthquake
Togekiss-Normal/Flying-Serene Grace/Hustle-85/50/95/120/115/80-Air Slash, Roost, Grass Knot, Aura Sphere, Nasty Plot, Thunder Wave
Yanmega-Bug/Flying-Speed Boost/Tinted Lens-86/76/86/116/56/95-Air Slash, Protect, Bug Buzz, Hidden Power Ice, Hypnosis
Gliscor-Ground/Flying-Sand Veil/Hyper Cutter-75/95/125/45/75/95-Earthquake, Roost, Knock Off, Stealth Rock, Aerial Ace, Stone Edge
Mamoswine-Ground/Ice-Oblivious/Snow Cloak-110/130/80/70/60/80-Earthquake, Ice Shard, Stone Edge
Porygon-Z-Normal-Adaptability/Download-85/80/70/135/75/90-Tri Attack, Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, Dark Pulse, Hidden Power Fighting, Nasty Plot
Gallade-Psychic/Fighting-Steadfast-68/125/65/65/115/80-Close Combat, Psycho Cut, Night Slash, Hypnosis, Thunder Wave, Will-o-Wisp
Dusknoir-Ghost-Pressure-45/100/135/65/135/45-Will-o-Wisp, Shadow Sneak, Fire Punch, Thunderpunch, Ice Punch, Pain Split
Azelf-Psychic-Levitate-75/125/70/125/70/115-Psychic, Flamethrower, Grass Knot, Explosion, Nasty Plot
Heatran-Fire/Steel-Flash Fire-91/90/106/130/106/77-Overheat, Earth Power, Dragon Pulse, Dark Pulse, Explosion
Cresselia-Psychic-Levitate-120/70/120/75/130/85-Ice Beam, Charge Beam, Rest
(Feel free to suggest a Pokémon I have not mentioned)
b. Use common sense! (What isnt recommended.)
Dont use Pokémon that are overshadowed by another Pokémon just because its cool, it isnt a good idea and it is strongly discouraged. Usually these overshadowed Pokémon have dismal stats and or/ a limited movepool. This exists in a major rule, competitive teams should never contain not fully evolved Pokémon, as fully evolved Pokémon tend to have higher stats and a wider movepool. For example, no one can seriously say that Golbat is better than its evolution Crobat, as Crobat has higher stats in every area, and their movepools are almost identical. Although, there is a few exceptions to this rule considering the pre-evolution has something that is very different and something their evolved forms cant abuse. A great example would be that many people use Pikachu instead of Raichu because Pikachu has a signature item, Light Ball, which doubles only Pikachus Attack and Special Attack. If Raichu wanted to match Pikachu, it would have to resort to a Life Orb which still only boosts the Attack and Special Attack 30% with an unpleasant 10% recoil for each damaging attack.
Similarly, most Pokémon with poor offensive options arent ideal because more often than not high level threats such as Tyranitar and Gyarados are able to switch in for little to no damage; in fact, their support attacks can actually benefit some opponents. In a fast-paced metagame like Diamond and Pearl, the one free turn that the poor offensive threats provide could possibly lead to the one free turn these threats need to set up. An example of a Pokémon that frequently gives free switchins (not always, so dont hate) is Umbreon; though Umbreon can be used greatly, and may seem like a great wall and or/ team supporter due to its very high defense, Umbreon in reality is terrible at stalling compared to the other options out there, and also has poor offensive capabilities allowing the opponent to set up for a potential sweep. It may seem like this is coming off as walls are bad, but Im not at all. For instance, some walls are extremely useful and this is because they counter a plethora of common threats, a great example is Blissey as I can easily say that Blissey can cover almost the entire Special Attacking spectrum and can pose as an offensive threat being able to cripple and damage the pokemon who cannot break through her defences.
2. Building a Simple Pokémon. (This can also help with building generation 5 teams and making sets to an extent.)
Now that you have knowledge on Pokémon that generally should and shouldnt be used, it is time to begin constructing Pokémon. For the sake of the example, this section will study the process for creating sets for the chosen Pokémon.
a. Meloetta (Step forme) (Physical Attacker) and General Tips
I didn't realise that Meleotta needed Ancient Voice to be the Step forme, lucky this is an example.
Obviously, the first stage in building a pokemon is deciding and configuring its moveset. The best and most easiest way to determine whether a pokemon is suited for a physical, special, mixed, or support set is to look at its base stats and movepool. When one views Meleottas base stats and movepool, one can see that Meleottas attack and speed stat stand out and its other stats are fairly decent. One may also point out that Meleotta has a great variety of attacks to complement its great offensive stats. Although Meleotta has various special attacking options, it would be silly to abuse special attacks on Meleotta, as its maximum Attack is nearly twice as strong as its maximum Special Attack.
Among Meleottas best attacks is Close Combat, so we should definitely include that in the set. Close Combat, while not only being one if Meleottas strongest attacks, receives a special power boost called a Same Type Attack Boost (STAB) because it has the same type as one of Meleottas types, which is fighting. On an important note most Pokémon are better off using their STAB options, because it gives a rather large power boost of roughly 50% more power; however, there are quite a few notable exceptions that prefer type coverage over STAB, which will be explained later on. Return is another excellent physical STAB option Maleotta can abuse. Now that Meleotta has two fairly good STAB moves, one may want to add another move though keep in mind what moves would perform well. There is a few moves that Meleotta can also use to great use being Shadow Claw, U-turn, Stone Edge or Payback. One may choose U-turn because it has great scouting capabilities and allows you to send in your counter to the pokemon you just u-turned out of. In the last slot we can rule out Payback as Meleotta is very fast and will only be dealing 50 base attack most of the time, and also Shadow Claw also has better coverage paired with Close Combat. Now one has only two viable options being Shadow Claw or Stone Edge which are both very great for coverage so both can be used, although Shadow Claw paired with Close Combat hits every Pokémon in the metagame for neutral coverage, so in this case we will opt for Shadow Claw. Therefore one now has Meleottas moveset: Close Combat/ Return/ U-turn/ Shadow Claw or Stone Edge.
One notable issue that is very common is having two attacks of the same type on one set, this is very bad as it limits your coverage and its frowned upon. Though in saying that there is yet again a few exceptions, one good example being Tyranitar who runs Crunch and Pursuit on the same set. This is an exception because alike the pre-evolution rule, if the moves run a very different and unique feature it is accepted to fitting in the moveset, as Crunch deals strong STAB damage for Tyranitar whilst Pursuit hits just as strong for fleeing Pokémon trying to escape Tyranitar like Gengar and Rotom.
The next step to building simple Pokémon is a Pokémons nature and Effort Values (EVs). Generally, the nature of a Pokémon should build upon its highest stats and detract from the stat that is least useful. Note a neutral nature should never be chosen for a Pokémon, as a pokemon with + nature on their high base stat with a on their low base stat can easily make up for the drop with EVs and more often than not have EVs to spare. Just to illustrate that point, a pokemon with 100 base attack and 50 base speed will, assuming no EVs, gain 23 points for Attack and lose only 14 points of speed with a Brave nature, which raises Attack and lowers Speed. Lets return to Meleotta; one can easily point out that Meleotta isnt running a single Special Attack, therefore its Special Attack stat ise useless, and its Speed and Attack are the most dominant stats. That leaves Adamant, which raises Attack at the cost of losing Special Attack, and Jolly, which raises Speed at the cost of losing Special Attack as possible options. Jolly is usually preferred, as the speed boost allows it to outspeed any + speed Pokémon below 128 base speed which it cant do without the speed boost. Next come the EVs which for Meleotta are very simple and basic. Simply put 252 EVs into Attack to maximize Meleottas attacking potential, and a large amount of Speed, which is important for beating the plethora of threats, so lets put 252 EVs into Speed. The extra 4 EVs go into Health Point stat;; one should never waste EVs no matter how small the number as you never know when these EVs can become useful.
Lastly, it is time to decide Meleottas item. In generation 5 there is many viable options when deciding, whether you want more power or would just like simple recovery items. The three items that would best suit Meleotta are an Expert Belt, an item that raises damage by 20% when Meleotta scores a super effective hit, Life Orb, an item that raises damage by 30% but incurs a recoil of 10% Meleottas health every time it successfully does damage, and an Choice Band, which raises damage by 50% but limits Meleotta to one attack until it switches out. Assuming adequate team support, Meleotta isnt particularly worried about being locked into one move and revenge-killed by something else due to its resistences to Pursuit (bar Shandera) so well make this Meleotta hold the Choice Band.
Therefore we have ended up with and created the following Pokémon:
Meleotta @ Choice Band
Jolly
4HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
~Close Combat
~Return
~U-turn
~Shadow Claw / Stone Edge
b. Skarmory (Physical Wall)
The second Pokemon that has been chosen for analysis is Skarmory. When one looks at Skarmorys Pokedex entry, the most conspicuous quality is Skarmorys extremely high Defense. The other stats are mediocre except for its Special Attack, which is very low. It is immediately apparent that Skarmory is not suited for attacking like Weavile is, but then one may notice Skarmorys plethora of resistances and ability to receive physical attacks well. Skarmory also sports several excellent support moves, which makes it a great candidate for a physical wall.
The second Pokémon chosen for an example is Skarmory. When one looks at Skarmorys stats and movepools the most notable quality is Skarmorys extremely high Defense. The other stats are fairly decent bar its Special Attack, which is very low. It is immediately apparent that Skarmory is not suited as an offensive attacker like Meleotta is, but then one may notice Skarmorys plethora of resistances and ability to receive physical attacks well. Skarmory also has several excellent support moves under its belt, which makes it a great candidate for a physical wall.
Selecting and configuring a walls moveset is a tad more difficult than selecting a pokemon with outright attacks, but not by much. One of Skarmorys most noticeable movs is Spikes, a move that lays spikes on your opponents field which causes a lot of damage on the switch ranging between 12.5%, 18.75%, or 25% damage per switch in, depending on the amount of spikes layed (you dont take damage from this if you are immune to ground attacks such as being a flying type, or a levitator). As pokemon is naturally built around switching to win games, Spikes can potentially cause more damage than outright attacks and also limits the amount of turns your opponent can make. Skarmory also sports a move that when paired with Spikes can be a lethal combo: Whirlwind. Whirlwind forces your opponent to switch out, causing that pokemon to lose all their set-ups and, in conjunction with Spikes, potentially inflicting damage to the switch-in. A quick self-recovery move aids basically all walls performing their duty, and Skarmory is no exception, so adding roost is a must, an attack that restores Health Points by 50%, to Skarmorys moveset. Skarmory has one moveslot left with many viable options but by looking at the moves so far, theyre all support moves, so adding in an attack is the most adviseable option to stop Skarmory from becoming Taunt bait, it is always preferable to have direct damage at some point and once again Skarmory isnt an exception as if it doesnt when it gets taunted it has dire consequences by being forced to Struggle, meaning a loss of 25% of Health Points each hit. Skarmory has a few attacking options, firstly all Special Attacks are out of the question; an attack that runs off 40 base Special Attack wont hurt anything at all. That leaves Skarmory with Steel Wing, Night Slash, Drill Peck and Brave Bird. Night Slash is ruled out as an option in all cases because Skarmory will definitely appreciate STAB and also using Night Slash will hit Pokémon Skarmory will never get a chance to hit because Psychic and Ghosts types are practically always Special Attackers (bar Dusknoir who you cant hurt with Night Slash anyway) which Skarmory wont like being assaulted by. Additionally, Steel Wing doesnt particularly have good type coverage (though it is useful for hitting Tyranitar) and fails to perform well enough against Fighting Pokémon, which Skarmory will often be switching into. Conseqeuntly, the best choice for a reliable attacking move would be Drill Peck, while not as powerful as Brave Bird it doesnt receive recoil damage which can be painful at times. (For the sake of the example I'm running Drill Peck).
Now that one has configured Skarmorys moveset,it is time to choose the appropriate EVs and nature. Again when we look at Skarmorys stats it becomes apparent there is no use for any Special Attack boosts, so the preferred nature would reduce it; incidentally, the best nature for Skarmory is Impish, which builds on its already sky high Defense stat while reducing from Special Attak. For the EVs, as Skarmorys purpose here is a physical wall it has only medicore Health Points, one should invest maximum EVs of 252 into Skarmorys Health Points (HP) before anything else. Skarmorys Health Points are still not particularly high at a rather Modest 334 (with max IVs), and physical attackers tend to hit very hard in DP, so its also preferable to maximize its Defense. Though, Skarmory will very likely be running into many other Skarmory and physical walls with almost the exact speed, to get the upper hand one might add 20 Speed EVs as many of the normal Skarmory are running 16 speed EVs.
For Skarmory, choosing the item is fairly simple; the classic Leftovers should generally be the first choice or any other wall, as it gains an extra 6.25% oh Health Points after each turn which can build up to 25% or even 50% of Health Points, which is great for Skarmary as it is meant to stay alive for a long time. Though in saying that there is one more viable option; shed shell, which lets one switch out no matter what, which is great for escaping arguably Skarmorys biggest counter, Magnezone. Magnezone has Magnet Pull which disallows opposing steel types to switch out and in this case Magnezone can OHKO Skarmory, so if you are afraid of that risk choose Shed Shell over Leftovers. For the sake of the example we will be running Leftovers.
Therefore we end up with this Pokémon:
Skarmory @ Leftovers
Impish
252HP / 236Def / 20Spd
~Spikes
~Whirlwind
~Roost
~Drill Peck
3. Constructing a Complex Pokémon
While the previous section detailed how to create sets for some straightforward Pokemon, there are many other Pokemon that arent as simple and for which a 252 / 252 / 4 EV spread or attacks that are exclusively physical, special, or support wont suffice.
a. Infernape (Mixed Attacker)
As usual, one should perform the routine check of a Pokémons Pokedex entry. Looking at Infernapes stats, one can see that its Speed is at a relatively high 108 and its Attack and Special Attack are the same, at a reasonable 104. The defenses and Hit Points arent anything to be proud of, though. Glancing over Infernapes movepool, one can immediately notice that it is quite enormous, with plenty of options on both the physical and special side, revealing that Infernape is meant to do some attacking.
Normally, what would determine whether a Pokemon with similar attacking and special attacking stats should use primarily physical or special attacks is the movepool; Pokémon with greater physical attacks should be physical sweepers, and vice versa for special attackers. However, Infernape has respectable options on both ends of the attacking spectrum, so it instantly becomes a great mixed attacker. Granted, Infernape can also sweep purely physically or specially; however, the advantage of having a mixed attacker is that mixed attackers are often able to severely damage many Pokémon. First, lets start with something a bit toward the special side with the STABed Flamethrower, a basic Fire attack, which will inflict major damage due to Infernapes high Special Attack. Then, one may elect to add Nasty Plot, an attack that raises Special Attack two levels, to allow Flamethrower to do even more damage. Now, special walls such as Blissey and Snorlax will give this Infernape significant problems; the powerful physical Close Combat will strike many special walls super effectively, and may even knock them out in one hit with aid from STAB. Close Combats Defense and Special Defense drop isnt much of an obstacle for Infernape, who will likely get knocked out by many attacks anyway. Even with Flamethrower and Close Combat, Infernape still has problems with defensive Water Pokemon and things like Gyarados, but Grass Knot, which deals more damage to heavier foes, is capable of dispatching said threats (most of which are very heavy) almost perfectly and takes advantage of Nasty Plots Special Attack boost.
Picking a nature and spreading EVs isnt overly simple with Infernape as it was with Skarmory and Meleotta. Technically, Infernape has no useless stats, but that doesnt mean that a neutral nature will be acceptable. Ideally, the nature should raise Speed so Infernape can outrun members of the 95, 100, and 105 Speed group, which are fairly common. Usually, mixed attackers have natures that lower Defense, Special Defense, or Speed. Since lowering Speed is clearly out of the question with a Pokemon as fragile as Infernape, it has Hasty or Naive as options. Naive is usually preferred because it lower Special Defense and Water and Psychic attacks, most of which are special, will knock out Infernape regardless. The little extra Defense may help Infernape survive a physical Rock attack or strikes from Heracross, among others, which Infernape may actually muster up the courage to switch in to. As for the EVs, one would ordinarily put 252 in Speed, as Infernape enjoys having high speed very much, and 224 EVs in Special Attack for a nice, round, and quite powerful 300 stat total. The remaining 32 EVs are often placed in Attack to give Close Combat a tiny extra punch that may be critical to knocking out Blissey in one hit. Although one may be tempted to use a nature that raises either Attack or Special Attack considering that after EVs, Infernapes Attack and Special Attack come out at 244 and 300 respectively, which is quite meager compared to the offensive stats of other sweepers, after Infernape receives an item they will be enough for sweeping purposes.
The item of choice on Infernape is Life Orb, which roughly raises its Attack and Special Attack by 30% at the expense of 10% of Infernapes Hit Points every time it inflicts direct damage. The 10% decrease is not a problem, as between Infernapes already low defenses, its nature that lowers Special Defense, and Close Combats detrimental effect, Infernape shouldnt be surviving much anyway.
As per usual, this is the product:
Infernape @ Life Orb
Naive
32 Atk / 224 SpAtk / 252 Spd
-Flamethrower
-Nasty Plot
-Close Combat
-Grass Knot
4. Countering
Countering your opponents Pokémon is a vital aspect to ones survival during a Pokémon battle. In general, some examples of Pokémon that one should look out to counter are the ones listed in Section 1-a and also the TeamUber dex. Countering is one of the most important aspects that even if you have the best strategy in mind (and or/ Trick Room Team, Stall etc.) if you fail, your going to need a fallback strategy and or/ if your opponent sets up before you.
What exactly is a Counter?
By definition, a counter for a Pokémon is a Pokémon that can safely switch into the Pokémon it wants to counter and either set up without taking much damage from the Pokémon that it wants to counter or pose an immediate and severe threat to the Pokémon it wants to counter, forcing it to switch out or suffer massive damage.
Taking into account that definition, Gliscor is a Heracross counter because it can switch in safely switch-in (it at maximum takes 37% damage from Stone Edge, assuming it doesnt score a critical hit, and it can use Roost to heal itself of the damage) and threaten to knock out Heracross in one hit with Aerial Ace. A different type of countering exists between Skarmory and Hippowdon. Skarmory can easily switch in on Hippowdon and takes minimal damage from its rarely ever used Ice Fang, all the while laying down Spikes. Even if Hippowdon tries to set up with Curse so it can even consider dealing respectable damage to Skarmory, Skarmory can easily destroy Hippowdons setup with a simple Whirlwind.
However, many people fail to take into account that a counter must be able to switch into the Pokemon it tries to counter; revenge-killing is not countering because even if one successfully knocks out the target, one has still lost a Pokemon. For example, Weavile is not a counter for Tyranitar because even though Weavile can instantly destroy Tyranitar with Brick Break, Weavile cant switch in to any of Tyranitars attacks; it is easily pulverized by Earthquake or Stone Edge, hard pressed to take a Crunch, and one could say the same thing about nearly everything when Tyranitar uses Pursuit, that it offers an easy switchin.
Note that countering Pokémon in Diamond and Pearl is more based on resistances than high defensive stats, as an example Torkoal, It has an extremely high 140 base Defense stat but has a terrible defensive type, meaning it isnt a reliable Countering pokemon. Many Pokémon have received gigantic power boosts and therefore can squash many of their would-be counters. Essentially, the only Pokemon in Diamond and Pearl that should even consider switching in on a powerful attack that it doesn't resist are Blissey, and Cresselia and to some extent. Also, as there are so many threats in Diamond and Pearl, one should keep in mind that it is okay to have a team that doesn't have a formal counter for one or two Pokemon ( it is impossible to cover every single threat); do remember that it is necessary to be able to inflict major damage to said uncountered Pokemon, though.
a. Constructing and preparing to Counter
One should ideally strive to at least consider all of the possible (example) threats given in section I-a and all of the threats listed in the TeamUber dex when building a competitive team. Though the large list of threats may look intimidating to the untrained eye, it is important to realize that many Pokémon counter a large group of other Pokémon. Blissey, a venerable special wall, can and will disable approximately 95% of all special attackers, and Cresselia, an excellent mixed wall, is fully capable of stalling out half a standard team, if not more. Usually, an offensive team should consist of one or two walls, while more defensive teams may have three or more, and can even consist of 5 and 6, a great example is Kevin Garretts team which is designed to try and counter every single threat in the metagame, this is called Heavy Stall.
There are also Pokémon that have more specific targets in mind; what these Pokémon lack in width of coverage, they often make up for in depth. For example, while Houndoom is wrecked by many Pokémon in the Diamond and Pearl metagame, it is a nearly failsafe counter to the standard Azelf. While Blissey counters a huge spectrum of Pokémon, it will occasionally be screwed over by a critical hit or a Special Defense drop from Azelfs Nasty Plot boosted Psychic.
A very important truth about Pokémon is that one Pokémon might not counter everything it could at the same time. Dusknoir is such a Pokémon: if it has Shadow Sneak, it deals with Azelf decently; if it has Fire Punch, then it makes a great Heracross counter; if it has Ice Punch, it can deal with Dragon Pokémon more easily; and if it has Thunderpunch, it is a fine Gyarados counter. Dusknoir rarely has more than two of the attacks, however, because the other two slots are usually reserved for support moves that easily work off its massive defenses. Therefore, the moves that are chosen should reflect a teams weaknesses. It would be unadvisable to use Fire Punch and Thunderpunch on a team that has little problem with Heracross and Gyarados but is weak to Azelf, to mention but one instance.
b. Countering Non-Pokémon Threats
While one should mostly focus on countering threats that are Pokémon, there are also a few non-Pokémon threats that should be taken into account. The two most common such threats are attacks that affect the field and status effects.
1. Field Affecting Attacks (entry hazards)
There are three very useful field attacking attacks that exist in pokemon: Stealth Rock, Toxic Spikes and Spikes. Stealth Rock only needs one layer and deals a respectable 12.5% base damage on the switch. However, Stealth Rock is affected by type; for example a Jirachi, which is resistant to Rock, will reduce the damage down to 6.25% per switch-in, while a Moltres, which is 4x weak to Rock, will increase the damage up to 50% per switch-in. Toxic Spikes can be laid up to two times; the first layer will deal 12.5% each turn the opponent stays in (which is called normal poison), the second layer will cause a bad poison (which is the normal poison the attack Toxic does). Pokémon immune to Ground or Poison are also immune to Toxic Spikes. Spikes is a move that can be laid up to three times, and deals the appropriate damage equal to 12.5%, 18.75%, or 25% to an opponent that switches in Health Points, considering how many layers you have (one layer = 12.5%, two layers = 18.75%, three layers = 25%). It is not based upon type but Pokémon immune to ground type attacks are unaffected by the move Spikes.
There are a few easy ways to make your team less punished by the frightening effects of field affecting attacks. The move Rapid Spin will completely clear your side of the field of all field affecting attacks, but Pokémon that learn Rapid Spin dont necessarily fit on every team. Using two or three Levitating or Flying Pokémon will help enormously against Spikes and Toxic Spikes, while preventing your team from having too many rock weaknesses will aid against Stealth Rock from dealing too much damage.
2. Status Effects
Status effects can be devastating to a team not prepared for them. There are five main status effects: Burn, which decreases the afflicted Pokémons Attack and damages it 12.5% per turn; Paralysis, which decreases the afflicted Pokémons Speed by 75% and renders it unable to attack 25% of the time; Poison, which can come in two forms, namely regular Poison (which decreases the afflicted Pokémons Hit Points by 12.5% each turn) and bad Poison (which decreases the afflicted Pokémons Hit Points 6.25% the first turn, 12.5% the second turn, 18.75% the third turn, etc.); Sleep, which makes the afflicted Pokémon unable to use any attacks except Sleep Talk or Snore until it wears off; and Freeze, which makes the afflicted Pokémon unable to use any attacks except Flame Wheel or Sacred Fire (which defrost the Pokémon) until it wears off, or until the afflicted Pokémon is defrosted by being damaged by a Fire attack.
Many methods may be employed to safeguard ones team from the ravages of status effects. One tactic is to have a Pokémon that can use either Aromatherapy or Heal Bell; either move will completely remove all status effects (note that Heal Bell will not affect Pokémon with the Soundproof ability). A common user of such healing moves is Blissey. Another option is to have a Pokémon with an ability that lets it benefit from status such as Heracross or Milotic to take status attacks. Yet another choice that is similar to the latter is to let a Pokemon with the moves Rest and Sleep Talk absorb status attacks for the team. While not overly reliable, Pokemon with the moves Substitute and Taunt can guard against status effects to some extent. A Pokemon with a Substitute up will only be affected by direct damage; even if the Substitute breaks to say, a Flamethrower, which has a 10% chance of burning, the Flamethrower that breaks the Substitute will never inflict such an effect. Taunt is a move that prevents the affected Pokemon from using moves that do not cause direct damage, which can help against status because many moves that reliably inflict status (such as Will-o-Wisp and Thunder Wave) do not inflict direct damage.
There are also conditions known as pseudo-statuses, like Leech Seed or infatuation. Pseudo-statuses are almost always removed by simply switching out. Additionally, some types of pseudo-status are blocked by the move Substitute, and all moves that inflict pseudo-status are stopped by Taunt. Other than that, there is little or nothing that a player can do about pseudo-status.
5. Combinations and Strategies
A team that revolves around simply countering the opponent will generally fail, because in his or her obsession with countering everything, a player might construct a team with members that dont work as a whole, or a team that just sits around, absorbs the opponents attacks, and has no real threat or deals no real damage. These types of teams are very easy for an intelligent opponent to set up on, and once the opponent has succeeded in setting up a sweeper, the rest of the team will fall like a domino. (there is definitely exceptions to this but it takes a lot more strategy than just trying to counter everything for it to actually work as a team).
a. Make the right choice
Dont blindly handpick the first Pokémon one sees that counters something your team has trouble with. More often than not, there is an alternative Pokémon that executes a similar task to what one has chosen; ones first choice Pokémon may nevertheless be the superior choice, but it is always good to weigh the possible options. Consider Donphan and Hippowdon. These two Ground type Pokémon are both used to block various physical attackers, and have very similar movepools. If ones team is jam-packed with Pokémon (Cradily, Rhyperior, and such) that can benefit from the sandstorm in which Hippowdon whips-up with its ability, Hippowdon would be better. However, if only one or two Pokemon can even resist sandstorm conditions, Donphan would evidently do more good and less harm to the team.
b. The Core of the Team
Pokémon teams often function in a much more controlled and efficient manner if one centres the team on one or two Pokémon. Usually, the core of the team is an attacker and what the rest of the team tries to pave the way for. If the core needs a little more damage than it can dish out to knock out some other Pokémon, the supporting Pokémon may set up Spikes or Stealth Rock or just bludgeon the opponents various Pokémon to give the core an extra push. If the core is a relatively slow Pokémon, then the backup members of the team may need to distribute status such as paralysis. While the rest of the team usually aids the core, the reverse may also be true. The core of a mainly special attacking team may be an Azelf with Explosion, with the intent of using Azelfs special sweeper status to lure in special walls like Blissey or Cresselia, only to be Exploded on. With the opponents major and perhaps only special wall eliminated, the rest of the team will discover it considerably easier to sweep.
The core of the team may also be a combination of two Pokemon. The relationship amongst the two may possibly be as simple as covering each others weaknesses, such as that between Celebi and Heatran. One Pokemon may cover anothers weaknesses and help the additional Pokémon set up, as seen in Gyarados and Electivires partnership; Gyarados draws Electric attacks, which Electivire benefits from due to its ability. One Pokémon may even help another, otherwise hard to switch in Pokémon, switch in, which is illustrated in the relationship between Gengar and Tyranitar. Gengar is expected to be attacked by Psychic, Ghost, or Dark type attacks, all types that Tyranitar resists or is immune to.
c. Maximizing Moves
Just as two Pokémon may work together to maximize type coverage, two or more moves within a Pokemons moveset should be structured as to maximize type coverage. The execution of this is most clearly perceived in the dont use two offensive moves of the same type unless they are very different rule, but exploiting moveset coverage delves much deeper. There are many offensive type combinations that are resisted by very little Pokémon, such as the Ground plus Rock and Ice plus Electric duos. In fact, sometimes it may be favorable to miss out on the STAB bonus in favour of type coverage. Weezing is a Pokémon that does exactly that; even though Sludge Bomb receives the STAB bonus, Poison is a dreadful offensive type as it is only super effective against Grass types, so Weezing is generally seen using Fire Blast and Thunderbolt.
However, it is equally significant to realize that STAB counts, and seeing the screen flash a super effective indication isnt everything. This is exactly why Snorlax almost never uses the moves Rock Slide or Brick Break. Rock Slide and Brick Break have base powers of 75, which makes for roughly 150 when they score a super effective hit. Returns base power is 102, but it receives a STAB bonus, so its base power is approximately 153, and that is with a neutral hit. Therefore, a super effective Brick Break or Rock Slide will actually do less harm than a normally effective Return.
d. Starting off great, is half the job
It is critical during Pokémon battles that ones lead Pokémon is the accurate Pokémon suiting your needs. Nobody, regardless of skill, would like to watch his or her Gengar be as good as dead against an opponents lead Weavile. A good lead is able to fair well against many other common leads and as many of the top used leads as possible, all the while generating a sizeable threat from the start. A lead should almost always not be a wall or a stalling Pokémon; it would be to ones great hindrance that one lets the opponent know what ones physical or special wall is. Also, a lead should not give away too much about the overall team strategy; something such as Infernape, which can fit in the majority of teams can easily pass this test.
e. Be Surprising and Creative, without being stupid.
In the fast-paced and exceedingly standardized metagame of Diamond and Pearl, a Pokémon with a surprise can frequently shift the tide of a battle almost immediately, if used correctly. Usually, this comes in the form of an typically used physical/special Pokémon using attacks of the opposite side. If played correctly, a surprising Pokémon (such as Kingdra with Draco Meteor) can destroy something that would ordinarily counter said Pokémon. There are a few key notes to keep in mind when using surprising Pokémon, though. First and foremost, surprises are only temporary; over time, as more people become aware of one surprise, that surprise becomes riskier and riskier to use. Second, surprises should be used sparingly; revealing a surprise at the wrong time can often be catastrophic. At worst, the Pokemon one inserted a surprise on becomes completely useless. Lastly, surprises are almost never meant to sweep on their own; instead, they are usually used to clear the path more and more for a standard Pokémon to sweep. For example, Kingdra and Tyranitar have many counters in common, but Kingdra can defeat many of them with Draco Meteor, letting Tyranitar attack more effectively.
6. Putting it All Together
In this unit, one will be taken through the process of creating a sample team, guiding with step by step orders to simplify team building as much as possible, For the sake of the example, dont hate the sample team provided. Firstly Ill list the many common types of teams, and a few common types of Pokémon.
Roles of teams:
Before you begin to make your team, you must decide what role you want your team to fill. Do you want to make an Uber sweeping powerhouse, or a UU tanking team? As this is THE pivital decision on what roles your pokemon play in your team, this is the biggest decision you will make. Here are some examples of teams, and how they play-
Baton Passing- This team is centred on Baton Passing boosts to a specific pokemon. The Baton Passing chain can be as simple as a few Speed Boosts from Ninjask, to something as complex as Ingrain Smeargle->Rock Polish+Swords Dance+Taunt Gliscor-> Stockpile Drifblim-> Cradily. Baton Passing teams can be effective in any environment, but seem to be most effective in UU and OU. Baton Passing teams can easily be ruined by a well timed phazing move.
Walls and Stalls- This set of teams is based on Walling and Stalling pokemon. Generally teams that fill this category are composed of a variety of tanks, and the most damage they deal is typically residual damage. If you are setting up Sandstorm, Spikes, Toxic Spikes, and Stealth Rock (and that is before looking at your pokemon, who all either carry Toxic or Will-o-Wisp )- you are probably running a Stalling team. They typically have at least one (p)hazer, and possibly a cleric. Many of these teams fear Taunt, as almost all pokemon running a stall set are heavily dependant on recovery options. They also have an extreme dislike for Rapid Spinners..... These Stall teams can be seen in any tier play, but seem to thrive in UU play.
Sweeping - These teams dont mess around- they get to the killing. Possibly a DD or a SD, and let the slaughter begin. Generally composed of powerhouses, often any single Pokémon on these teams is capable of 6-0ing an opponent. Expect to see a lot of Choice Items and Life Orbs. These teams can be seen in any tier play, but seem to be most common in Uber play.
Rain Dance / Sunny Day teams - These teams play VERY differently than SS or Hail teams. These teams will have Pokémon who benefit from the weather in effect (Chlorophyll, Swift Swim, Dry Skin, Solar Power, Leaf Guard, Hydration, Rain Dish, etc.). Most common are Chlorophyll and Swift Swim, as the increase in speed and the assured hits and increase in power makes sweepers with mentioned ability very hard to take down. These are both common in UU play, however with Kyogre and Groudon, they can easily be played in Ubers, if played properly.
Hail - Hail teams play very differently from Sun or Rain teams, as they don't benefit from the massive speed boosts. Hail teams typically are based much more on the Evasion boost of Snow Cloak, the health benefit of Ice Body, and of course, Blizzard's 100% accuracy. These teams are some of the best in the game at dealing significant residual damage- however; they suffer greatly from SR damage. They were extremely overpowered when Abomasnow was UU- the game is much more balanced now that he is BL tier.
Sandstorm - Without a doubt the most common of all-weather teams, such that many teams that dont intend to be SS teams end up as them. Sandstorm is very powerful, as it increases the Special Defense of any rock type by 50%- this is massive because most rock Pokémon naturally have high physical defenses, so it bulks up their weakness. Additionally, 2 very common Pokémon come with an instant activation of Sandstorm. In OU tier play, Sandstorm play is very common.
Trick Room - A team based on the move Trick Room. Can still be any other type of team, but will generally be built to have a very low Speed.
Balanced team. Generally speaking, these teams will have 2 sweepers (one physical, one special), 2 walls (one physical, one special), and 2 supporters (a lead/anit-lead and another). Obviously these teams can fall into another category, but not always. These teams can be catered to the user- if you would rather leave out a special wall for a 2nd physical sweeper, by all means do it. This team should be balanced to fit the current metagame, and whichever tier play you plan on using it in.
Roles of Pokémon:
There are many specific roles Pokémon can play on a team. I will list each type of role. Do realize that many Pokémon can fill multiple roles- Like Breloom, it can cripple many Pokémon with spore then set up a substitute and act as a sweeper.
Leads:
Set-up Lead - This lead sets up specific situations for your team, anything from Rain Dance to Stealth Rocks. Often they either play another role in a team (like a tank) or they explode.
Anti-Lead - A lead that is designed to kill generic set-up leads.
Attacking Pokémon:
Physical Attacker - A Pokémon that specializes in physical attacks.
Special Attacker - A Pokémon that specializes in special attacks.
Mixed Attacker - A Pokémon that uses both physical and special attacks.
Wall Breaker - A Pokémon that is used to break through both physical and special walls- generally a variation of the mixed attacker.
Bulky Sweeper - A Pokémon that is built to take a few hits while dealing out massive damage.
Defensive Pokémon:
Physical Wall - A Pokémon that is designed to take physical hits.
Special Wall - A Pokémon that is designed to take special hits
Mixed Wall - A Pokémon that is designed to take any hits.
Bulky Water - A common version of the mixed wall, these are water pokemon with abnormally high defensive stats that can help absorb hits.
Tank - A Pokémon with naturally high stats in both defenses, they typically run a pseudo-sweeping set. (sweeping with either the higher of their 2 attacking stats or by outsurviving your opponent)
Support Pokémon:
Annoyer / Crippler - A Pokémon that specializes in crippling your opponent- generally with statuses. Parafusion sets are a great example, as are flinch hax sets.
Status Absorbers - Pokémon that are designed to absorb a specific status. Like Electivire with Thunder Wave, or Arcanine for Will-o-Wisp.
(Toxic) Spiker / Stealth Rocker - A Pokémon whose purpose is to lay down layers of either Spikes, Toxic Spikes, or Stealth Rocks.
Spinner - The answer to Spikers/SRs, this Pokémon utilizes Rapid Spin to nullify the effects of any spikes or stealth rocks.
Wish Passer- A generally bulky Pokémon that is designed to pass Wish to other Pokémon.
Cleric - A Pokémon with either Aromatherapy or Heal Bell, to heal status effects.
(P)hazer - These are Pokémon that find ways around your opponents boosts- either with Haze to ignore the boosts, or phazing with roar, whirlwind, etc. to force a change.
Baton Passer - A Pokémon that is used to BP boosts to another Pokémon.
Trapper - A Pokémon that uses a trap move to stop your opponent from switching.
a. Determining your type of play style/core
For the example, I will be using a player-friendly balanced team, with the player-friendly combination of Electivre and Gyarados. Firstly lets build the duos movesets, EVs and natures.
After building my pokemon I came up with the following:
Gyarados @ Leftovers
Adamant / Intimidate
212 HP / 12 Atk / 180 Def / 100 Spd
~Dragon Dance
~Taunt
~Earthquake
~Ice Fang
Electivre @ Expert Belt
Lonely / Motor Boost
252 Atk / 80 Sp.A / 176 Spd
~Thunderbolt
~Ice Punch
~Cross Chop
~Earthquake
The Gyarados listed is the bulky variant, although more bulky then your usual BulkyGyara able to take on your everyday physical threats with its excellent Intimidate ability. The EVs hit 384 Health Points, a number divisible by 16 in order to maximize Leftovers recovery, nice physical durability, and the rest is dumped into Attack and Speed accordingly. Taunt forces the opponent to use direct attacks, lessening the chance that Electivire will take a status attack or even worse, be set up on. Electivires Motor Drive ability increases its Speed if it is hit by an Electric attack, which is perfect, as Gyarados tends to attract a lot of them. It has enough Speed to outpace Adamant Heracross even before a Motor Drive boost, and the Special Attack bolsters Thunderbolt. Lonely, a nature that decreases Defense, is preferred on Electivire over a nature that decreases Special Defense because Electivire, as an Electric type, likes to be able to take Surfs and Ice Beams from the Water types it can knock out. Additionally, it seems rather shameful to decrease its actually respectable Special Defense. For Electivires item, Expert Belt, an item that raises damage by 20% when Electivire scores a super effective hit, will come into use many times, as Electivires moveset is capable of hitting 13 of the 17 types super effectively. Since were trying to aid Electivire, lets add another Pokemon that draws Electric attacks into the mix.
Skarmory @ Shed Shell
Impish
252 HP / 236 Def / 20 Spd
-Spikes
-Whirlwind
-Roost
-Drill Peck
This is the classic physical wall Skarmory, except for the item Shed Shell, which allows Skarmory to switch out from anything. While usually Leftovers is nice to boost its Hit Points, Shed Shell permits Skarmory to switch out of Magnezone (an action that is ordinarily impossible due to Magnezones Magnet Pull ability) and let Electivire take the impending Thunderbolt.
Blissey @ Leftovers
Bold
212 HP / 252 Def / 44 SpAtk
-Seismic Toss
-Ice Beam
-Softboiled
-Thunder Wave
Blissey is without a doubt the most reliable special wall in the game. As many people tend to use a different attack from Pokemon with Electric attacks on Gyarados at first, switching to Blissey the first one or two times will lull the opponent into a false sense of security. One may inquire as to why Blisseys Defense is maximized when it is supposed to take special attacks; the answer is that Blissey can increase its Defense to over double its untouched number with EVs, greatly increasing its survivability. Blisseys enormous Hit Points and its Special Defense, which is over 300 even without EVs, will hold it up well against strong special attacks therefore it is not necessary.
Now that we have Entry hazards, we wouldnt want them to be spinned now would we?
Rotom-h @ Choice Specs
Timid / Levitate
252 Sp.A / 252 Spd / 4 Def
~Trick
~Overheat
~Shadow Ball
~Thunderbolt
Rotom-h is arguably the best spinblocker in the game, so why not put him on. The Specs variant can support the team by tricking a specs onto an unsuspecting foe, namely Blissey. The moves are Rotoms best moves so they seem appropriate to put on.
Something lacking the team is obviously a rock resist.
Swampert @ Leftovers
Impish
240 HP / 52 Atk / 216 Def
-Earthquake
-Stone Edge
-Waterfall
-Stealth Rock
A physical bulky Swampert, this Pokemon is a very reliable Rock resistance and takes care of the Electivire and Dragon Dance Tyranitar problem that this team has. Earthquake and Waterfall are the standard STAB attacks that can cover a variety of Pokémon, while Stealth Rock, much like Spikes on Skarmory, causes residual damage. The one unusual move on this Swampert is that Stone Edge is used over Avalanche. This is an example of tweaking a Pokémon to suit a team's needs; Stone Edge hits Gyarados (which this team also has trouble with) for good damage, but has bad type coverage when combined with an Ice attack, so it has replaced Avalanche.
Looking over this team, one can see that there are very few weaknesses that stand out significantly. It is able to take many hits and reply with some of its own, which makes it a decent competitive team, capable of surviving the ravages of threats that would pull a team not so meticulously made apart.
There are a couple of great tools to use in this stage, other than those you should already be using. The one I suggest more than any other is Marriland's Team Weakness Revealer. Yes, if you are reading this you probably already know the weakness of each type- but this will let you see the specific weaknesses of your team. If you have more than 3 200% or 400% weakness, you have a team that is very weak to a specific type- you should consider changing your Pokémon.
Playing with your team:
So you have now finalized your team, and know each Pokémons purpose. You know what you can and cannot switch into, and when moves can be used safely. Your best bet is to now practice playing your team! I suggest Shoddy Battle as a place to practice playing your team- specifically on the TeamUber Server, just as a side note Pokémon Online also is a great testing ground. Play your team, and see how you do! Recognize that losing one game is not the end of the world; be sure to learn from each of your mistakes, as that is vital to the next step.
Fixing your team:
So you've made and played your team. It looks decent, it plays well, and youre not having too much difficulty. Good job, you obviously picked a decent strategy, and filled it with decent Pokémon. However, you are still having difficulty with certain types of teams. So your team is fairly weak to mix-apes. So make changes to your team! After playing your first 20 or so games, you should have a great feel for everything about your team, including all your weakness and mistakes. Make changes, one at a time, and test them out. By only doing one change at a time, you will realize if the change benefits your team. If it doesnt, change it back, and fix something else. The practice of building teams isnt a one-time event, it is an ongoing process. As the meta-game evolves, so should your team.
If needed, drop your team and start again, from scratch. With your knowledge of what worked and what didn't work, you should be able to make a much better team.
7. Unorthodox Teams
The sample team provided could be considered a basic standard team; however, that is not to say that there are not numerous other options that could be considered. In fact, there are several other strategies that a competitive team could use.
While most of the teams for Diamond and Pearl are offensively geared, stall teams full of defensive Pokemon can also be very effective. Stall teams, unlike offensive teams, often try to be able to counter every threat in the game; stopping other Pokémon from setting up and sweeping is a large part of stalling. Also unlike offensive teams, which are based on dealing heavy direct damage, stall teams try to weaken the opposing team with field affecting moves such as Spikes and status conditions like bad Poison and Burn. Additionally, stall teams generally utilize a Pokémon with the ability Sandstream to chip away even more at the opposition's health. After the opposing team has been sufficiently weakened, a stall team breaks out its main (and often only) offensive Pokémon to wreak havoc on the remnants.
Instead of following a general strategy, teams may be based upon a single move; the most common such teams are Trick Room and Gravity. Trick Room is a move that lets slower Pokémon attack before faster Pokémon for five turns. This can be extremely disruptive to common standard strategies, which often involve fast but fragile Pokémon; also, Trick Room conditions allow powerful but slow and fragile Pokémon such as Rampardos to rampage. Additionally, the lack of speed in Trick Room teams let its members invest more in defensive EVs. Gravity, another move, rescinds Flying and Levitating Pokémons Ground immunity for five turns; however, Gravity is used in some unorthodox teams mainly for its secondary effect. Under intense Gravity, all Pokémon receive either a two stage Evasion reduction or a two stage Accuracy increase (which is currently unknown, but either way results in the same effect) through Gravity's duration. This permits Pokémon to use powerful but inaccurate moves such as Blizzard and Thunder without the risk of missing at a critical point.
Conclusion.
There are likely, many undiscovered concepts and playstyles that are yet to be developed, but all go back to the main concept that surprise is great in this fast-paced metagame, however, the main key to surprise is only use it when the option arrises. For example dont use a Choice Specs Machamp because its a brilliant idea, more times than not it will fail, even a Choice Specs Kingdra is classified as a surprise as it isnt its primary set and what it is typically known for. Generally teams that find a perfect balance between offense and defense, will prove itself more successful than unreliable, inconsistent teams.
~~~
-Things to do before finished:
~Re-do the example threat list (as people complained about, if you would like me to).
!Everything is finished except if you would like me to re-do the example tier!
I hope this helps, and the reason i put it in the RMT section is so I could (hopefully) get this stickied there as it is a guide on building teams and etc.