by in
When building a team for PvP you should start by figuring out what you want each Pokemon to do and what playstyle you want to play. There are many roles a Pokemon you pick can play, like sweeper, wall breaker, wall, stall breaker, stall, entry hazard, spinner, spin blocker, and some smaller niche roles.
Archetypes
hyper offensive
2-4 Sweepers; 1-3 Wallbreaker; 0-1 Stallbreaker; 1 Entry Hazard; 0-1 Spinner.
This playstyle can feel counterintuitive at first with the common conception that you need a physical and a special wall alongside a special and physical sweeper. What makes this playstyle effective is the momentum control by always hammering your opponent with a new threat. It’s risky in a way because you’ll often need to let your Pokemon die rather than switch out due to the lack of overall bulk the team has. What goes for you is that every time you remove something from your opponent, it gets harder and harder to switch around and handle the new threats you’re sending. The key here is to use sweepers that complement each other, sharing different counters so you can switch one into the other upon death. Wall breakers can also take the role of sweepers like sword dance Breloom or belly drum Azumarill to increase the pressure.
WIN CONDITION: By keeping the momentum and hammering your opponent with massive blows, you need to identify your path of least resistance using your sweeper(s) that you can clear the path for. For example, if your opponent has 3 walls that prevent your Dragonite from sweeping but only one for Alakazam, focus on the latest game.
BULKY OFFENSE
1 Sweeper; 2-3 Wallbreakers; 1 Stallbreaker; 1 Entry Hazard; 1 Spinner.
It’s a safer alternative to Hyper Offense because you’ll be using bulky Pokemon that can take a hit and retaliate hard. This means you have way more room to switch rather than letting your Pokemon die. Even the sweeper can be something quite tanky like Snorlax or Suicune with pivots such as Tangrowth, Zapdos, Clefable, and Magnezone. The key here is to create a good synergy between the bulky Pokemon so the switches are fluid and can answer most threats while providing a reliable counterattack.
WIN CONDITION: Even if the defensive synergy here is important, you still need to rely on a sweeper who will fit well in the team. If your sweeper is walled by the same things as most of your bulky core, you will have a hard time winning. Pick a sweeper that will complement the team well and that you can open the path for with your bulkier offensive Pokemon.
SEMI STALL
4-5 Walls; 1 Stallbreaker; 0-1 Sweeper; 0-1 Wallbreaker; 1 Entry Hazard; 1-2 Spinner.
The win condition here is a bit more murky as you can surf in between balanced and stall. On one hand, you can focus on residual damage (hazards, status, weather, etc) to win or use those to lower your opponent’s team and create a favorable situation for your sweeper to end the game. You could also go for a wall breaker rather than a sweeper to be more threatening to other bulky teams. Your win condition here is a mix of hazard control and a touch of offense to either end the game or soften the opponent even more. Moxie sweepers are usually quite scary in this kind of team as they benefit a lot from hazards leaving your opponent’s Pokemon worn out.
WIN CONDITION: As you get bulkier, the sweeper is less centralizing, and hazard control becomes more crucial. The more you switch and force your opponent to switch, the more hazards are going to do a disgusting job. A semi-stall will often try to damage the opponent’s team enough for the sweeper or wall breaker with sweeping potential to end the game. Your win condition is to keep your offensive presence alive to end the game while controlling hazards on the field. Keeping your side clean while stacking them on your opponent’s.
STALL
5-6 Walls; 1 Stallbreaker; 1 Entry Hazard; 1-2 Spinner/Spinblocker.
It’s your new player’s nightmare, the infamous stall team focuses entirely on residual damage to win the game. You need to stack hazards on your opponent’s side of the field while keeping your side clean. You need a near-perfect synergy to switch between your Pokemon and force your opponent to do the same, taking more and more residual damage as the game progresses.
WIN CONDITION: The goal here is entirely around keeping control of hazards and your Pokemon healthy. Watching your opponent fade away from a slow death. You sick duck.
ROLES
PRIORITY
A Pokemon with a move that is guaranteed to move first in battle. Often used as a revenge killer. Below are some examples:
Bullet Punch: Scizor, Metagross, Medicham
Ice Shard: Cloyster, Weavile, Mamoswine, Donphan, Lapras
Aqua Jet: Azumarill, Kabutops
Extreme Speed: Dragonite, Arcanine
Mach Punch: Breloom
Fake Out: Hariyama, Medicham, Weavile, Ambipom
Shadow Sneak: Gallade, Dusknoir, Muk
HAZARDS
Any Pokemon that can either set up hazards or remove them. Below are some examples:
Rapid Spin: Starmie, Forretress, Donphan, Tentacruel
Defog: Crobat, Scizor, Zapdos, Mantine, Togekiss, Gliscor
Stealth Rock: Skarmory, Forretress, Tyranitar, Mamoswine, Clefable, Blissey, Bronzong, Metagross, Hippowdon, Garchomp, Gliscor
Spikes: Skarmory, Forretress, Roserade, Cloyster
Toxic Spikes: Tentacruel, Forretress, Weezing, Nidoking/queen, Roserade
Sticky Web: Shuckle
SPINBLOCKERS
A Ghost-type Pokemon can be used to hard switch into Rapid Spin (normal move) to prevent hazards from being removed.
Gengar, Sableye, Mimikyu
SWEEPERS
A sweeper is a Pokemon using a boosting move or ability to inflict massive damage or even end the game. They are often considered as the win condition for a team. Below are some examples:
Physical: Gyarados, Scizor, Dragonite, Cloyster, Kabutops, Snorlax
Special: Suicune, Alakazam, Espeon, Kingdra, Raikou, Porygon Z
WALL BREAKERS
Their massive offensive power means they do not require a boosting move and can poke holes into the enemy’s team right off the bat. They are used to soften the opponent, leaving him wide open for a sweep. Below are some examples:
Physical: Azumarill, Mamoswine, Tyranitar, Metagross, Garchomp, Staraptor, Breloom, Heracross, Medicham
Special: Gengar, Nidoking, Porygon Z
Mixed: Metagross, Toxicroak, Garchomp
STALLBREAKERS
Those Pokemon can disrupt stalls with ease as they negate residual damage in many ways, making them very difficult to handle. They will often be able to either set up on walls or use taunt to remove them.
Clefable, Gliscor, Togekiss, Espeon, Crobat, Xatu
REVENGE KILLER
Using their speed or a priority move, they are meant to get rid of a weakened Pokemon that just killed one of yours.
Speed: Crobat, Gengar, Jolteon, Alakazam, Staraptor, Starmie, Weavile
Priority: Scizor, Azumarill, Dragonite, Metagross, Mamoswine
TRAPPERS
Using an ability or a move, those Pokemon can prevent a Pokemon from switching or damaging them as they do.
Ability: Magnezone
Pursuit: Tyranitar, Snorlax, Honchkrow, Scizor, Weavile
WALLS
A wall serves as a pivot to soak up an attack. They are very resilient and are usually specialized at their job, negating either physical or special attacks. A few can do both by sacrificing a bit on one side of the spectrum for the other.
Physical: Clefable, Slowbro, Tangrowth, Arcanine, Tentacruel, Starmie, Vaporeon, Quagsire, Skarmory, Suicune, Zapdos, Poliwrath
Special: Chansey, Umbreon, Snorlax, Bronzong, Mantine
Mixed: Mantine, Bronzong
CLERIC
Pokemon that can use a status cleaning move such as Heal Bell or Aromatherapy or pass Wish.
Aromatherapy/ Heal Bell: Blissey, Clefable, Umbreon, Togekiss
Wish: Umbreon, Blissey, Vaporeon, Clefable
HAZER/PHAsER
A Pokemon able to either use Haze or to force a switch out like Dragon Tail or Whirlwind.
Skarmory, Garchomp, Crobat, Quagsire, Hippowdon, Poliwrath, Mantine
