Navigation
Pokemon Platinum: Strategies/Counter Strategies FAQ
=======================================
Pokemon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum Version
=======================================
Strategies and Counter Strategies FAQ
By Sui89
Version 2.5
Started on 8/5/07
Last modified on 10/18/08
The latest version can always be found at GameFAQs.
=====================
I. Table of Contents
=====================
I. Table of Contents
II. Version Information
III. Introduction
A. Introduction
B. Purpose Statement (updated!)
C. E-mail Policy
IV. Frequently Asked Questions (updated!)
V. Before You Start Your Team
A. Important Terms
B. Strategy Explanations
C. Natures
D. EVs and IVs
E. Clauses
F. Official Rules and Classifications (updated!)
VI. Status Conditions and Move Specifics
A. Primary Ailments (updated!)
B. Secondary Ailments
C. Weather Conditions
D. The Trapping Moves
E. Spikes
F. Hidden Power (updated!)
VII. Things to Keep in Mind... (updated!)
VIII. Team Building - Overused Metagame (NEW!)
A. Picking Your Team
B. Assigning Your EVs and Natures
C. Picking Your Abilities
D. Picking Your Move Sets
E. Picking Your Hold Items
F. Breeding and EV Training
G. Leveling and Finalizing
IX. Team Building - Underused Metagame (NEW!)
A. Picking Your Team
B. Assigning Your EVs and Natures
C. Picking Your Abilities
D. Picking Your Move Sets
E. Picking Your Hold Items
F. Breeding and EV Training
G. Leveling and Finalizing
X. Suggestions for Specific Strategies
A. Physical Sweeping
B. Special Sweeping
C. Physical Wall
D. Special Wall
E. Mixed Sweeping
F. Mixed Wall
G. Specialized Team
H. Baton Passing
I. Choice Teams
J. Annoyer
XI. Counter Strategies
A. Countering Physical Sweepers
B. Countering Special Sweepers
C. Countering Physical Walls
D. Countering Special Walls
E. Countering Mixed Sweepers
F. Countering Mixed Walls
G. Countering Specialized Teams
H. Countering Baton Passers
I. Countering Choice Teams
J. Countering Annoyers
XII. Building a Baton Pass Team
A. Type Selection
B. Pokemon Selection
C. Move Selection
D. Order Selection
E. Final Touches
XIII. Completed Examples of EV Spreads and Move Sets
XIV. Additional Resources
XV. Acknowledgments (updated!)
XVI. Contact Information
XVII. Copyright (updated!)
========================
II. Version Information
========================
Version 2.5 - Holy crap did I do a lot for this update. Let's see.
First off, I rehashed pretty much the entire thing. I decided to redo
the main section of the FAQ completely, splitting it into OU and UU
sections for team building. OU section was completed. The UU section
will be added with the next update (hopefully tomorrow). Baton
Passing section was kind of redone, after some things I realized I
did stupidly thanks to some e-mails. I also added in the tier lists
since Smogon just redid those a couple of weeks ago (adding Garchomp
to the ubers, being the main thing). I took out the "Specific Pokemon
Counters" section since that was really outdated and was causing
problems and was relatively little use (the rise of bulky waters and
the fall of Skarmory, for example, made the section on Skarmory a
little excessive while there was nothing on bulky waters). I fixed
a couple errors here and there, added or removed a couple paragraphs
here and there to more accurately state things. Hopefully the FAQ
should feel more up to date now instead of being so horribly out of
date. I also redid my purpose statement to more accurately reflect my
thoughts of how you should battle (changing my initial statement of
using want you want to using what you want, while sticking within the
tier that you're building for). Also updated the list of allowed
sites and the acknowledgements!
Version 2.0 - Added a section especially for Baton Passing! Exciting.
Hopefully people will find it informative, since the strategy is my
personal favorite. Also, I've been told that I should add a section on
weather teams. I might research this some and add something on this in
future updates. Oh, also I took out some of the specific Pokemon counters
I was never going to add.
Version 1.76 - Been a while again. Sorry. I've got some more e-mail fixes
I thought I should probably get in. Along with some potentially updated
movesets for my examples and some typos. I've got a little time coming up,
so maybe I'll have time to get in some new relevant content.
Version 1.75 - Been a while since the last update. Unfortunately, this one
is just minor. I got some suggestions via e-mail I thought were relevant,
so I added them. Also removed the tier list I had since it was not only
not official, but also outdated now. I've posted the link to Smogon's tier
list now. Also added two secondary ailments and corrected something in the
poison ailment section. In addition, I've changed some movesets I'm not
happy with. If I didn't post anything different, I'm still thinking about
them and will add my decisions to the next update. Added a couple questions
to the FAQ too.
Version 1.72 - Updated the list of specific strategies to be added. Updated
information on Blissey's counter. Fixed an error involving Stealth Rock.
Added some alternate strategies provided by Surging_Chaos via e-mail to me.
Updated the FAQ section.
Version 1.71 - Updated e-mail policy. Added more specific strategies. Added
more stuff to EV training section.
Version 1.7 - Added the "Trapping Moves" and "Spikes" sections. Reformatted
to make status ailments a seperate section entirely and added move specifics
to the category for additions planned on later updates. Added a couple of
specific Pokemon counters.
Version 1.61 - Fixed another few dumb errors. Added a couple paragraphs
to the counter strategies section.
Version 1.6 - Added quite a few status ailments to the list, along with a
couple different additional ways to counter certain strategies. Fixed a ton
of typos and little stupid mistakes. Also added a weather conditions and
resource section.
Version 1.5 - Added a counter strategy section and specific Pokemon counters
section.
Version 1.1 - Added the "Suggestions for Specific Strategies" section in
order to try to accomodate people who wanted more to learn by than the
specific example I showed in the team building section of this FAQ.
Version 1.01 - Corrected some typos and errors in information certain people
pointed out to me while I was having this proofed. Added several more
"things to keep in mind" and subdivided things a little more.
Version 1.0 - Finished all major sections of the FAQ. Currently proofing for
typos, missing information, and just generally improving upon the whole thing
before submitted for posting. Upon finishing, will be ready for submission.
Version 0.X - Just starting this FAQ. Getting formating set up, as well as
deciding on things to put in. Not yet ready for public viewing.
==================
III. Introduction
==================
A. Introduction
================
Hey all! If you're reading this, you're probably looking for information on
team building in either Pokemon Diamond, Pearl, or Platinum for the
Nintendo DS. My name is David, but I'm known everywhere online as Sui, or
some variation of that name. As far as guides go, I've written a couple
before, although I mainly specialize in rating characters in certain RPGs,
so this particular type of guide is fairly new to me. Hopefully I do a
good enough job that you'll all want to come back here to get more
helpful tips. ^_^
B. Purpose Statement
=====================
The purpose of this guide is to provide suggestions for you to make a
CREATIVE competitive battling team. Too many times people only copy movesets
or use only the most powerful combinations of Pokemon or the like with their
teams. I say no to that, and decide to use other Pokemon, maybe less used,
with better strategy. This guide is here to provide you with suggestions for
using the Pokemon that you LIKE in your competitive team, and not just the
"most powerful" like everyone else. This guide will attempt to teach via
example (which is the best way I could think of). If you're not getting the
drift of what I'm saying, and would like some help with your struggles,
please feel free to e-mail me about it (see below). In addition to simply
making your team, the purpose of this FAQ is to provide many explanations of
different strategies in order to properly USE your team, and to counter other
teams you might be having trouble with. However, just because you should
use what you like does not mean that you should battle unrealistically. You
should always try to stick within the tier you're building your team for.
C. E-mail Policy
=================
If you see anything wrong or missing in my guide, please feel free to e-mail
about it. I also love to hear from people just about what they thought about
my guide. So if you find something helpful, or feel that you could give me
some constructive criticism, please e-mail me about it. So to sum it up:
I WILL answer e-mails concerning:
Questions that involve something not mentioned in the guide
Something I missed in my guide
Suggestions on how to make my guide better
Arguments about opinions (as long as they're in an intelligent manner)
Letting me know what you thought of my guide
Other things you may just want to talk about (opinions, etc.)
I WILL NOT answer e-mails concerning:
Flaming of any sort
Questions that have already been answered in the guide
Anything that's stated in a disrespectful manor
Anything else of the above sort
Something that can EASILY be found on Serebii or another site if you put
out the effort to do it
And there you have it. That's what I will and will not answer. As a main
rule, I'll usually answer anything that's stated politely, and will give a
kind reply to e-mails as such. If not, you'll likely not receive a reply.
Also, if you do send an e-mail to me, make the title something along the
lines of "Pokemon FAQ" so I know which of my FAQs you're talking about
and I don't ignore your message thinking it's spam.
UPDATE TO POLICY
Do NOT e-mail questions like "Where do you find Pokemon?" Or "Is move
a TM?" Or pretty much ANY piece of technical information that you could
really easily find on Serebii. It's annoying, and I'll be ignoring anyone
who sends me these types of questions from now on.
UPDATE FOR 1.75 TO POLICY
If you do not tell me SPECIFICALLY what you have on your team at the
VERY least, I probably will not even reply. So at the very least, I have to
know what Pokemon you're thinking of. Do not just tell me types and jobs the
types will do. This is not enough, it's not especially relevant, and I will
no longer reply to e-mails if you only give me that much information.
===============================
IV. Frequently Asked Questions
===============================
Q: Where do I look to find a Pokemon's move pool?
A: I use http://www.serebii.net. If you don't like it, google it. I'm sure
you'll find something.
Q. Where do I look to find a Pokemon's base stats and stat line?
A: Serebii.
Q. Where do I look to find a...
A. Serebii. I've seriously never found any piece of technical information
about this game that I couldn't find at that site. Check there first. Chances
are they'll have what you're looking for.
Q. Why don't you like those Pokemon? I think they're TEHZOMG RAWK!!!111!!!
A. I dislike how people don't have the mind to make an effective special wall
that isn't Blissey, and I hate how overused things like that get and how
boring it makes the battles. Being creative and just using what you like
makes things tons more fun. And we all know that more fun = win.
Q. In your FAQ, you said that should use . I think that
he's better off doing .
A. The strategy you're talking about may be equally effective as the one
I mentioned using in here. I'd have to test it out. However, the teams that
I make are designed to work TOGETHER, and thus, each and every move (most of
the time) serves a purpose in being there.
Q. Rate my team!
A. No. I'll help you determine things, I won't rate it for you.
Q. Make me a team!
A. No. I'll help you determine things, I won't make anything for you.
Q. Why is Wobbuffet considered an uber? Everyone else on that list is
a legendary!
A. I've decided to redo my answer on this, since it wasn't completely
accurate before. Encore and Shadow Tag make sure that if a Pokemon,
for some reason, uses an attacking move on Wobbuffet, you will know
how to counter. However, if a non-attacking move is used, Wobbuffet
can simply switch out and switch back in after the opponent switches
to an appropriate counter. Thus, Wobbuffet is just nearly impossible
to counter and was banned from standard play.
Q. Can I trade/battle with you? What's your friend code?
A. My Wifi sucks, so sorry, but no. I've got about 30 Pokemon left to finish
my Dex, and that's all I'll be using my Wifi for, since it's a pain to set
up everytime.
Q. What's your favorite Pokemon?
A. Umbreon. Thanks for asking. ^_^
Q. Where do you get Pokemon?
A. Look it up on Serebii and DONT EMAIL ME ABOUT IT. If you're lazy enough
to not look up such a simple piece of information, I don't see why I can't
be lazy enough to not answer your question.
Q. Can you make me a suggestion about who to use on my team?
A. See "Make me a team!" Because ITS THE SAME QUESTION. Up until now, I've
been pretty good about replying nicely to e-mails like this. But I'm no longer
going to give people a reply if they send me stupid questoins like that. I'll
only provide help if you give me an IDEA of who want to use, or if you're
looking for a last slot type of thing, or something alone those lines.
Q. I've got of Pokemon that are sweepers/walls on my team!
Can you give me suggestions on what else to put on?
A. No. If you do not tell me SPECIFICALLY what you have on your team at the
VERY least, I probably will not even reply. So at the very least, I have to
know what Pokemon you're thinking of.
Q. Why is Garchomp uber now? I loved using him on my team!
A. First of all, I hate you for using Garchomp. Secondly, Garchomp was
banned for similar reasons to Wobbuffet, in that he was just incredibly
difficult to find a counter for. About the only thing that could kill it
was Ice Beam. But no one is dumb enough to not switch out when they see
something that probably has Ice Beam. Everything else takes many hits
to kill it. Meanwhile, Garchomp builds with Swords Dance, and then sweeps
the rest of your time. And this is assuming Garchomp DIDNT have a Yache
Berry, which is a very common item for it to have. Needless to say,
Garchomp was deemed too powerful for regular competitive play and banned.
Q. Why did you take out the old team you used for this FAQ and rewrite
pretty much the entire thing?
A. I redid it because it was outdated, and people were nagging me about
my FAQ being outdated. So I redid the main section to stick to the tiers
while using what I want, in order to more accurately show how you should
build teams for competitive purposes. Don't expect a rehash like this too
often though. I can't keep up with Smogon's constant updates of the tier
lists or anything. I just wanted to at least be kind of up to date with
the release of Platinum and such.
Q. I loved your FAQ/saw something wrong/just wanted to comment!
A. Great! E-mail me, and I'll be happy to talk to you about whatever you're
sending me a message about. See my contact information for my address and be
sure to follow my e-mail policy!
Q. I sent you a correction/suggestion you said you'd add, but you didn't!
A. If you sent me a correction or something in the seven or so months I did
not update the FAQ, I'm sorry, but I've since forgotten what exactly you
said. I know there were a couple things, but I don't have the time to
search through my e-mail to find all of them right now. So feel free to
send them again if you want, and I'll make sure I actually add them now
since I'm feeling more up to updating this thing now than I have been.
More frequently asked questions may be added at a further date if I receive
a bunch of the same questions via e-mail.
==============================
V. Before You Start Your Team
==============================
A. Important Terms
===================
In order to fully understand my guide, there are a couple of terms you'll
need to know beforehand. These may include:
EVs - Effort Values (explained later)
IVs - Individual Values (explained later)
Clauses - The "rules" for the battle, so to speak. They often place
restrictions on movesets, hold items, or the like.
Natures - Listed on the Pokemon's status page, these affect different stat
gains and caps for the Pokemon, depending on the nature.
Egg Moves - These are moves that the Pokemon can only acquire through
breeding. These are never learned through level up, and cannot be
learned via TMs.
Sweeper - A Pokemon that is meant to deal out damage fast and hard.
Wall - A Pokemon that's meant to be able to soak up damage for long periods
of time in a battle.
Lead - The Pokemon you first throw out in a battle. These are meant to take
out the enemy's lead before you get KO'd yourself.
Tier/Tier List - The list from Nintendo stating which Pokemon are in which
"category" of competitive play. Diamond and Pearl do not yet have one
of these.
STAB - Stands for SAME TYPE ATTACK BONUS. It's when a Pokemon uses a move
that is the same type as it. It receives a x1.5 power boost when it's
used.
HP - Stands for "Hit Points" or "Hidden Power"
More terms may be added at a later date if deemed necessary.
B. Strategy Explanations
=========================
Before building your team, you'll need to have a basic understanding for
what exactly you want your team to DO. Most teams are hybrids of what's
below, so mix and match as you deem necessary. A "standard" team is usually
consisting of two physical sweepers, two special sweepers, a physical wall,
and a special wall.
Physical Sweeping - A physical sweeper is a Pokemon that has good to
excellent attack, meaning that it will deal more damage if the enemy has
lower defense. Examples of physical sweepers include Electivire, Scizor, etc
etc.
Special Sweeping - A special sweeper is a Pokemon that has good to excellent
special attack, meaning that it will deal more damage if the enemy has lower
special defense. Examples of special sweepers include Porygon Z, Alakazam,
etc etc.
Physical Wall - A physical wall is a Pokemon that has good to excellent
defense, meaning that it will soak up more damage if the enemy has lower
attack. Physical walls include Steelix, Golem, Miltank, etc etc.
Special Wall - A special wall is a Pokemon that has good to excellent special
defense, meaning that it will soak up more damage if the enemy has lower
special attack. Special walls include Blissey, Cresselia, etc etc.
Mixed Sweeping - A mixed sweeper is a Pokemon that has good to excellent
stats in both the attack and special attack areas, meaning that it can deal
a good amount of damage no matter what type the attack may be, be it physical
or special. An example of a mixed sweeper is Lucario.
Mixed Wall - A mixed wall is a Pokemon that has good to excellent stats in
both the defense and special defense areas, meaning that it can soak up
damage, no matter what attack the opponent uses. There are very few of these.
An example of a mixed wall is Umbreon.
Specialized Team - A specialized team is a team that has a common theme to
it, whether it be type, region, "cute", "cool", a certain move, a certain
status condition it causes, etc etc. A simple example of a specialized team
by the water type would be Starmie, Blastoise, Cloyster, Lanturn, Lapras, and
Vaporeon.
Baton Passing - Baton Passing is a very specific strategy that revolves
around the move "Baton Pass". Only a very select number of Pokemon can learn
the move, so using the strategy requires very careful planning. What Baton
Pass does is it "passes" the current conditions of the battle on to your
next Pokemon without resetting the conditions like normally would happen. A
common reason for doing this is for using moves such as Iron Defense, Aqua
Ring, or Swords Dance with one Pokemon, and then passing them on to your
next Pokemon to sweep with especially good results due to boosted stats.
Choice Team - There are certain items known as the "choice" items. These
items make it so that you can use only one move (the first one you use)
until you withdraw that Pokemon. However, they give you a x1.5 bonus on
attack, speed, or special attack, depending on which of the items you're
using. In certain situations, this can be a very effective strategy to use.
Annoyer - In an Annoyer team, your main focus is using whatever status
ailment/stat boosting move you need to tick off your foe. My personal
annoyer strategy is the confusion strategy. But you could also do paralysis,
attraction, and the like.
More strategies may be added later upon consideration or popular request.
C. Natures
===========
The nature of your Pokemon affects, to a certain extent, what your Pokemon
will be good at, and what it will lack in. Typically, you want physical
sweepers to have an attack boosting natures and physical walls to have a
defense boosting nature, and so on. There are exceptions, and only you can
tell what is best to boost for your strategy. The following are all the
natures in the game and what each boosts and declines.
Hardy - Nothing raised or lowered.
Lonely - Attack raised. Defense lowered.
Brave - Attack raised. Speed lowered.
Adamant - Attack raised. Special attack lowered.
Naughty - Attack raised. Special defense lowered.
Bold - Defense raised. Attack lowered.
Docile - Nothing raised or lowered.
Relaxed - Defense raised. Speed lowered.
Impish - Defense raised. Special attack lowered.
Lax - Defense raised. Special defense lowered.
Timid - Speed raised. Attack lowered.
Hasty - Speed raised. Defense lowered.
Serious - Nothing raised or lowered.
Jolly - Speed raised. Special attack lowered.
Naive - Speed raised. Special defense lowered.
Modest - Special attack raised. Attack lowered.
Mild - Special attack raised. Defense lowered.
Quiet - Special attack raised. Speed lowered.
Bashful - Nothing raised or lowered.
Rash - Special attack raised. Special defense lowered.
Calm - Special defense raised. Attack lowered.
Gentle - Special defense raised. Defense lowered
Sassy - Special defense raised. Speed lowered.
Careful - Special defense raised. Special attack lowered.
Quirky - Nothing raised or lowered.
HP is the one stat that you can neither raise nor lower via the Pokemon's
nature no matter what, since no nature affecting this stat exists.
Of note to natures and BREEDING is the fact that natures are passed on more
assuredly through an Everstone. If you give a parent an Everstone, the child
will have a 50% chance of inheriting the nature of that parent. Breeding for
a specific nature is quite a bit more manageable thanks to this trick!
Certain strategies usually carry certain natures for the Pokemon in them.
They are as follows:
Physical Sweeper: Adamant or Jolly
Special Sweeper: Modest or Timid
Physical Wall: Bold, Impish, or Relaxed
Swecial Wall: Calm, Careful, or Sassy
Mixed Wall: Bold, Impish, Relaxed, Calm, Careful, or Sassy
Mixed Sweepers: Depends on the Pokemon and situation
Needless to say, the specific nature you should have often depends on the
Pokemon you're using, and the above suggestions should be taken with a
grain of salt.
D. EVs and IVs
===============
EVs, short for "effort values", and IVs, short for "individual values" greatly
affect your Pokemon's final stats at level 100. I'll start with EVs. EVs are
what make trainer Pokemon better than Pokemon in the wild. Each Pokemon you
kill increases a Pokemon's EVs by a certain amount in a certain stat. When you
get four EVs of one stat, that will equal one point of the actual stat when
the Pokemon is at level 100. You can have a total of 510 EVs total, with the
max in a specific stat being 255. 255, however, is not divisible by four.
Thus, most EV trained Pokemon have 252 EVs in two stats, and 6 in another. Two
of the six points of the last stat will go unused no matter what, since six is
also not divisible by four. 252 EVs in a stat means at level 100, your
Pokemon will have 63 more points of a certain stat than if you had not EV
trained it. You will accumulate EVs naturally throughout the game. However,
these will be random, and it's highly recommended you do not use your in game
team for your post-game uses because of this. Instead, EV train your Pokemon
against certain things in the wild fresh after you've beaten the game. Good
sources for EV training are:
HP - Wooper (1 point) and Quagsire (2 points) - Route 212
Attack - South of Solaceon Town - Bibarel (2 points); Right of Celestic
Town - Machop (1 point), Machoke (2 points), Bibarel (2 points), Kricketune
(2 points)
Defense - Iron Island - Onix (1 point), Steelix (2 Points), Graveler(2 points)
Special Attack - Old Chateau - Ghastly (1 point) - Haunter and Gengar (2 and
3 points respectively) will appear if you have a GBA Pokemon game inserted in
your DS (room with picture with glowing eyes only), Golduck (2 points) -
Resort Area (Surf)
Special Defense - Route 223 (Surf) - Mantyke (1 point), Tentacruel (2 points)
Speed - Poliwag (1 point) and Poliwhirl (2 points) - Route 228 (Surf)
Also of note is in Solaceon Town's Ruins. Unown give 1 point of attack and
1 point of special attack, which makes them good to train mixed sweepers
against.
In addition to defeating Pokemon in order to gain EVs, you can also use
vitamins in order to raise your EVs. Vitamins can be used to gain 100 EVs in
a stat, up to 51 vitamins (which will put you at the EV limit), at 10 EVs
gained per vitamin taken. However, these 100 EVs must be the FIRST 100 EVs
added. In other words, the game will let you give a Pokemon vitamins until a
Pokemon has a TOTAL of 100 EVs in that stat. The vitamins that increase each
EV are as follows:
HP Up: Hit Points
Protein: Attack
Iron: Defense
Calcium: Special Attack
Zinc: Special Defense
Carbos: Speed
In addition to raising EVs, you can also REDUCE your EVs if you accidentally
gave a Pokemon some EVs you didn't want them to have, or something like that.
You do this via special berries (the one's that say "Raise happiness, but
lower X base stat"). The first berry you give them will lower their EV total
down to 100 (no matter where it was at before that), assuming it was above
that total. Each additional one after that will reduce the EV by 10, until
you don't have anything left to take off. The berries that reduce each stat
are as follows:
Hit Point EVs: Pomeg Berry
Attack EVs: Kelpsy Berry
Defense EVs: Qualot Berry
Special Attack EVs: Hondew berry
Special Defense EVs: Grepa berry
Speed EVs: Tamato Berry
IVs, unlike EVs, are predetermined from the time you hatch or catch a Pokemon.
Like EVs, they add to stats at level 100. The number can be anything from 0
to 31, and that number is the raw number that is added on to the stat at level
100. To determine what your IVs are exactly, have someone do a Wifi battle
with you, record their stats, and then shut the power off. Then use a site
like Serebii (or Google "Pokemon IV calculator" if you need to) use an
IV calculator to calculate what the IVs are. The reason for the level 100
battle is so that you get a more accurate reading. If you breed instead of
catching, IVs are inherited from the parents. Although there isn't a way of
determining which IV will be passed down from each parent. Generally, getting
good IVs takes a lot of random luck, so getting good ones isn't something
that I necessarily recommend doing unless you have a lot of time to kill.
E. Clauses
===========
Clauses are essentially the "rules" of a specific battle. If you know that
you'll be facing people who will likely implement a certain clause for your
battle, it's a good idea to make your team abide by certain clauses. Common
clauses include the sleep clause, which limits the number of Pokemon on each
side that can be asleep at a time to one (excludes sleep induced by Rest),
evasion clause, which prohibits the use of moves like Double Team, and the
like. I won't be providing a complete list of clauses, since that is far too
many to provide, but just check with people you might battle with to see if
they put any clauses in effect for their battles.
F. Official Rules and Classifications
======================================
AKA the tier lists. At Nintendo events, Pokemon are divided up into different
"tiers". What your team is made up of determines which events you can
classify for, and tiers determine what your team splits into. The different
tiers are the "Ubers", who are considered too good for any competitive play
except against other ubers, the "Overused", who are considered the best of
best when it comes to legal Pokemon to use, the "Borderline", who are just
below the overused, the "Moderately used", who are below borderline, the
"Underused", who are below the moderately used, and the "Never used", who are
below that. Generally, the higher up you are, the more powerful you are.
However, do NOT get the idea that because you're against someone who has
something lower on the list than you that you will win. Strategy is key to
everything, and if you do not know how to USE the Pokemon on your team with
proper strategy, it's completely possible for something like a moderately used
or underused Pokemon to beat an uber. I've done it myself before.
However, for all intensive purposes, the tiers that exist now are ubers,
overused, borderline, and underused (and the NFE, which stands for not
fully evolved, but hardly anyone plays this metagame). There are typically
three types of battles. Uber battles, "standard" battles (which are Pokemon
in the OU tier), and BL/UU battles, which is everything below the OU tier.
Since the tier list was JUST updated, I'll list the tier list here again.
However, It's updated a quite often every year, so if you haven't seen an
update on this FAQ in a while, check this site to see the current tiers:
http://www.smogon.com/dp/tiers/
UBERS
Arceus
Darkrai
Deoxys
Deoxys - A
Deoxys - D
Dialga
Garchomp
Giratina
Groudon
Ho-oh
Kyogre
Latias
Latios
Lugia
Manaphy
Mew
Mewtwo
Palkia
Rayquaza
Wobbuffet
OVERUSED
Aerodactyl
Alakazam
Azelf
Blissey
Breloom
Bronzong
Celebi
Cresselia
Deoxys - S
Donphan
Dragonite
Dugtrio
Dusknoir
Electivire
Forretress
Gallade
Gengar
Gyarados
Heatran
Heracross
Hippowdon
Infernape
Jirachi
Jolteon
Lucario
Machamp
Magnezone
Mamoswine
Metagross
Milotic
Ninjask
Porygon-Z
Roserade
Salamence
Scizor
Skarmory
Snorlax
Spiritomb
Starmie
Suicune
Swampert
Tentacruel
Togekiss
Tyranitar
Vaporeon
Weavile
Yanmega
Zapdos
BORDERLINE
Abomasnow
Ambipom
Arcanine
Azumarill
Blaziken
Charizard
Crobat
Empoleon
Entei
Espeon
Exeggutor
Feraligatr
Floatzel
Flygon
Gardevoir
Hariyama
Honchkrow
Houndoom
Lickilicky
Ludicolo
Magmortar
Marowak
Medicham
Mesprit
Mismagius
Moltres
Pinsir
Porygon2
Raikou
Rampardos
Regice
Regigigas
Regirock
Registeel
Rhyperior
Sceptile
Shaymin
Slaking
Smeargle
Staraptor
Tangrowth
Tauros
Torterra
Typhlosion
Umbreon
Ursaring
Uxie
Zangoose
UNDERUSED
Absol
Aggron
Altaria
Ampharos
Arbok
Ariados
Armaldo
Articuno
Banette
Bastiodon
Beautifly
Beedrill
Bellossom
Bibarel
Blastoise
Butterfree
Cacturne
Camerupt
Carnivine
Castform
Chatot
Cherrim
Chimecho
Clamperl
Claydol
Clefable
Cloyster
Corsola
Cradily
Crawdaunt
Delcatty
Delibird
Dewgong
Ditto
Dodrio
Drapion
Drifblim
Dunsparce
Dustox
Electrode
Exploud
Farfetch'd
Fearow
Flareon
Froslass
Furret
Gastrodon
Girafarig
Glaceon
Glalie
Golduck
Golem
Gorebyss
Granbull
Grumpig
Hitmonchan
Hitmonlee
Hitmontop
Huntail
Hypno
Illumise
Jumpluff
Jynx
Kabutops
Kangaskhan
Kecleon
Kingler
Kricketune
Lanturn
Lapras
Leafeon
Ledian
Linoone
Lopunny
Lumineon
Lunatone
Luvdisc
Luxray
Magcargo
Menectric
Mantine
Masquerain
Mawile
Meganium
Mightyena
Miltank
Minum
Mothim
Mr. Mime
Muk
Nidoking
Nidiqueen
Ninetales
Noctowl
Octillery
Omastar
Pachirisu
Parasect
Pellipper
Persian
Phione
Pidgeot
Pikachu
Plusle
Politoed
Poliwrath
Primeape
Probopass
Purugly
Quagsire
Quilfish
Raichu
Rapidash
Raticate
Relicanth
Rotom
Sableye
Sandslash
Scyther
Seaking
Seviper
Sharpedo
Shedinja
Shiftry
Shuckle
Skuntank
Solrock
Spinda
Stantler
Steelix
Sudowoodo
Sunflora
Swalot
Swellow
Torkoal
Toxicroak
Trapinch
Tropius
Unown
Venomoth
Venusaur
Vespiquen
Victreebel
Vigoroth
Vileplume
Volbeat
Wailord
Walrein
Weezing
Whiscash
Wigglytuff
Wormadam
Wormadam - G
Wormadam - S
Xatu
=========================================
VI. Status Conditions and Move Specifics
=========================================
A. Primary Ailments
====================
In the game of Pokemon, there are certain moves you can use in order to
inflict certain status ailments on the opponent. However, these do more than
simply cause damage, immobility, or the like. They also cut certain stats.
So I'll take a moment to explain the ailments and what each one does.
What I classify as a "primary" ailment are the status ailments that are
actually LABELED in the status. There are five of them: burn, sleep, freeze,
poison, and paralysis. Two primary ailments cannot exist at the same time,
nor can they replace each other. In addition, the condition remains even if
they are switched out of battle. This type of ailment is tied to the Pokemon
that it was inflicted on and cannot be Baton Passed to another Pokemon. The
one exception to this rule is if a Pokemon uses Rest. If Rest is used, sleep
will replace any ailment the Pokemon previously had.
Burn - A burn is obviously caused by some type of fire move. Each turn, 1/8th
of the Pokemon's HP is reduced from the Pokemon that's burned. In addition,
the attack stat of the Pokemon burned is cut in half. You can cause a burn
with certain fire type moves, however, Will-o-Wisp is the most reliable,
since it's a move simply for that purpose, and not an attack with a small
burn side chance.
Paralysis - If you're paralyzed, you have a 25% chance of not being able to
move. Paralysis is caused by certain electric moves, along with other moves
such as Body Slam. In addition to sometimes not being able to move, the
speed stat is cut in half. A common misconception of this ailment is that
ground Pokemon cannot be paralyzed. This is untrue. While electric paralysis
moves don't affect them (Thunder Wave, etc), Body Slam can still cause the
ailment.
Poison/Heavy Poison - Poison is obviously caused by poison type moves. When
you're poisoned, a small amount of your HP is reduced every turn. However,
if the poison is heavy (caused by moves such as Toxic), the damage will
increase by 1/16th more every turn (previously I had said it doubles every
turn, which is untrue). If a Pokemon switches out of battle, the damage
done is "reset" and will start at 1/16th damage again. Steel types and
poison types cannot normally be poisoned (see below).
Update for 1.75 - Someone pointed out quite a while ago in an e-mail that
Steel and Poison types CAN be poisoned, but only by one move - Twineedle.
This move is so not common that's it's just not even really an issue.
Freeze - If you're frozen, you cannot move at all until you thaw out. Freeze
is obviously caused by ice type moves. Unlike all of the other status
ailments, freeze is the only one that cannot be caused with an almost certain
chance of being affected. There is no move that specifically causes the
ailment, and instead randomly happens with moves like Ice Beam (10% chance).
It should be noted that if a fire move is used on a frozen Pokemon, they are
instantly cured of the ailment.
Sleep - If you're asleep, you cannot move at all until you wake up. The
exception being if you know a move like Snore or Sleep Talk which enable you
to move while you're asleep. Sleep is not connected to a certain type of move
but instead is caused by a variety of moves such as Spore, Sleep Powder, and
Hypnosis. Having the sleep ailment opens you up to the moves Dream Eater,
Nightmare, and Darkrai's Bad Dreams ability. It should almost be noted that
the sleep status is often limited in battles with the sleep clause, so
planning a team solely devoted to it is often difficult to do legally.
B. Secondary Ailments
======================
What I consider a "secondary" ailment is a status ailment that is NOT
labeled in the status. And, unlike primary ailments, you can stack these
with each other, along with ONE primary ailment and infect the foe with as
many of these as you want at the same time. However, secondary ailments
are cured the instant you withdraw the Pokemon infected from the battle.
Unlike primary ailments, if you use Baton Pass, these conditions WILL be
passed on to the Pokemon you Baton Pass to (with the exception of Attract).
Confusion - If you're confused, you have a chance to attack yourself for minor
damage instead of the opponent. Confusion is not a labeled status ailment,
which means you can be confused at the same time you have another one of the
status ailments. It is also caused by a variety of types of moves, such as
Supersonic, Confuse Ray, and Swagger. The damage inflicted by confusion is
determined by the attack/defense ratio, which means the higher your attack is
in comparison to your defense, the higher the damage will be.
Attraction - Attraction (or infatuation, as it's sometimes referred to), is
only caused by the move "attract". In addition, it's caused by the "Cute
Charm ability". If you're attracted, you'll fail to attack 50% of the time.
It's similar to confusion in that sometimes you will get through and sometimes
you won't, only attraction does not have damage if you fail to attack. This
ailment is only caused if the other Pokemon is the opposite gender, with
genderless Pokemon being immune to this status. Also, in addition to the
status being cured if your Pokemon leaves the battle, it's also cured if the
OPPONENT'S Pokemon leaves the battle.
Curse - Curse is a condition that's caused only when a GHOST Pokemon uses the
move Curse against you. It cuts its own HP by half of its total HP and places
the ailment on you. If you have the status ailment, your HP will be reduced by
1/4 of your total HP for every turn that goes by. However, this doesn't mean
you will necessarily die in four turns. If your HP doesn't divide by 4, the
ailment may take five turns to take you down.
Leech Seed - This ailment is only caused by the move "leech seed". If you're
seeded, a small amount of HP will be drained from you to the foe every turn
that you're still infected for. Grass Pokemon cannot be hit with this move.
In addition, even if the Pokemon that used leech seed is switched out, the
new Pokemon still receives HP back. This status can be removed using the move
"rapid spin".
Nightmare - The nightmare status is obviously caused by the move "Nightmare".
However, this move can only be used on Pokemon that are asleep. Similar to the
curse status, the nightmare status removes 1/4th of your total HP every turn,
until the status is cured when the sleeper wakes up.
Flinch - Flinching is a condition that causes a Pokemon to lose its turn. The
status only lasts for one turn, and can only be used by a Pokemon that goes
first in a battle. Certain items can be used in order to increase the chance
of flinching.
Taunt - Taunt is caused by the move "taunt" and lasts from two to four turns.
The taunt status disables any move that doesn't cause damage, such as Confuse
Ray, Baton Pass, etc. If taunt is used first in a battle, and the opponent has
a non-damage move set, it will cause that move to fail.
Encore - Encore is caused by the move "encore" and lasts from two to six
turns. When inflicted with the status, you can only use the move you used
last when you had the move used on you.
Torment - Torment is caused by the move "torment" and lasts until you switch
the infected Pokemon out. Torment disables the use of the same move twice in
a row. If the tormented Pokemon only has one usable move, the Pokemon will
alternate between that move and Struggle.
Substitute - While not an "ailment", per se, it's still a different status
than normal. In order to create a substitute, you use the move Substitute
and forfeit 1/4th of your total HP. Once created, the substitute will
protect the user from enemy attacks. While behind a substitute, you cannot
be inflicted with status ailments from your enemy, and the move can indeed
be Baton Passed to someone else.
Embargo - Embargo is a move that disables the foe from using their held item.
It's not usually that useful in most situations. It's more annoying and
sometimes problematic than it is usually worth your time to put this on your
team.
Heal Block - Heal Block is a move that disables the opponent healing for five
turns. This can be effective in combination with something like Mean Look
against a wall. Walls like to use self-recovery moves, which offen negate
burn and poison damage. This move helps counter that.
C. Weather Conditions
======================
If a weather effect is caused by the moves Sunny Day, Rain Dance, Sandstorm,
or Hail, the condition will last for five turns. If the user of the weather
move is holding the correct corresponding rock (Damp Rock, Heat Rock, Smooth
Rock, Icy Rock), the weather effect will last eight turns instead of five.
Weather effects can be erased by replacing them with another weather
condition. However, you cannot "renew" a current weather effect by using the
move again before it expires.
If the weather effect is caused by the abilities Drizzle, Drought, Sand
Stream, or Snow Warning, the weather effect will NEVER expire until a new
weather condition is put into play.
Rain's effects:
1) Make's water moves 50% stronger.
2) Makes fire moves 50% weaker.
3) Cuts the power of Solarbeam in half.
4) Makes Synthesis/Moonlight/Morning Sun heal 1/4 of your HP instead of 1/2.
5) Increases Thunder's accurary to 100%.
6) Changes Weather Ball's power to 100 and type to water.
7) Activates the abilities Swift Swin, Rain Dish, Dry Skin, Hydration, and
Forecast.
Harsh sunlight's effects:
1) Makes fire moves 50% stronger.
2) Makes water moves 50% weaker.
3) Allows you to use Solarbeam without a charging turn.
4) Makes Synthesis/Moonlight/Morning Sun heal 2/3 of your HP instead of 1/2.
5) Reduces Thunder's accuracy to 50%.
6) Changes Weather Ball's power to 100 and type to fire.
7) Activates the abilities Chlorophyll, Dry Skin, Flower Gift, Solar Power,
Leaf Guard, and Forecast.
Sandstorm's effects:
1) Hurts all non-ground/rock/steel/Sand Veil Pokemon between turns.
2) Rock types get a 50% special defense boost.
3) Cuts the power of Solarbeam in half.
4) Makes Synthesis/Moonlight/Morning Sun heal 1/4 of your HP instead of 1/2.
5) Changes Weather Ball's power to 100 and type to rock.
6) Activates the Sand Veil and Forecast abilities.
Hail's effects:
1) Hurts all non-Ice Pokemon between turns.
2) Increases Blizzard's accuracy to 100%.
3) Cuts the power of Solarbeam in half.
4) Makes Synthesis/Moonlight/Morning Sun heal 1/4 of your HP instead of 1/2.
5) Changes Weather Ball's power to 100 and type to Ice.
6) Activates the abilities Snow Cloak, Ice Body, and Forecast.
D. The Trapping Moves
======================
There are certain moves which you can use in order to trap your opponent in
the battle, preventing switching out so they could gain an advantage against
you. Using these moves is oftentimes excellent strategy if you have a certain
move, such as Destiny Bond, that you know they'd smart enough to switch out
against otherwise. There are two "categories" of these moves, so to speak.
The first is the moves that simply prevent switching, but don't do damage,
and last as long as that Pokemon is in the battle. The second is the moves
that DO do damage, but only last a certain number of turns. The moves that
will last as long as the Pokemon that used them is in battle are:
Block
Mean Look
Spider Web
Thanks to Tombola Man for pointing out Spider Web to me, though Spider Web can
only be learned by Spinarak and Ariados.
The damage inflicting moves with limited turns are:
Bind
Clamp
Fire Spin
Whirlpool
Wrap
In addition to these, you can also SELF INDUCE yourself into not being able
to switch out with these moves:
Ingrain
The Pokemon that can learn each of these moves are as follows:
Block - Snorlax, Sudowoodo, Nosepass, Bastiodon, Bronzong, Bonsly, Tangrowth,
Probopass, Geodude, Graveler, Golem, Slowpoke, Slowbro, Onix, Slowking,
Steelix, Snorunt, Glalie, Froslass
Mean Look - Zubat, Golbat, Ghastly, Haunter, Gengar, Jynx, Crobat, Umbreon,
Murkrow, Misdreavous, Smoochum, Sableye, Duskull, Dusclops, Dusknoir, Grimer,
Muk, Ralts, Kirlia, Gardevoir, Absol, Gallade
Spider Web - Spinarak, Ariados
Bind - Onix, Tangella, Pinsir, Steelix, Kecleon, Dusclops, Carnivine,
Tangrowth, Dusknoir
Clamp - Shelder, Clamperl
Fire Spin - Charmander, Charmeleon, Charizard, Vulpix, Ponyta, Rapidash,
Magmar, Flareon, Moltres, Magby, Entei, Torchic, Torkoal, Solrock, Chimchar,
Monferno, Infernape, Magmortar, Heatran, Growlithe, Arcanine, Houndour,
Houndoom
Whirlpool - Shelder, Mudkip, Wailmer, Wailord, Clamperl, Huntail, Gorebyss,
Piplup, Prinplup, Empoleon, Buizel, Floatzel, Finneon, Lumineon, Phione,
Manaphy, Lapras, Chinchou, Lanturn, Marshtomp, Swampert, Barboach, Whiscash
Ingrain - Tangela, Sunkern, Sunflora, Roselia, Cacnea, Cacturne, Lileep,
Cradily, Carnivine, Snover, Abomasnow, Tangrowth, Bulbasaur, Ivysaur,
Venusaur, Oddish, Gloom, Vileploom, Bellsprout, Weepinbell, Victreebel,
Exeggcute, Exeggutor, Chikorita, Bayleef, Meganium, Bellossom, Corsola
In addition to MOVES having this effect, there are also certain Pokemon that
have an ABILITY that has the same effect. These abilities are:
Arena Trap
Magnet Pull*
Shadow Tag
* Magnet Pull only traps Pokemon of the STEEL type.
The Pokemon that have each of these abilities are:
Arena Trap - Diglett, Dugtrio, Trapinch
Magnet Pull - Magnemite, Magneton, Nosepass, Magnezone, Probopass
Shadow Tag - Wobbuffet, Wynaut
E. Spikes
==========
The game also has certain moves that will damage the opponent upon switching
their Pokemon out. I've named this the "Spikes" category, for lack of
something better to call it. There are only three moves in this category, and
they are:
Spikes
Toxic Spikes
Stealth Rock
Spikes and Toxic Spikes can both be "stacked," meaning you can use them up
to three times for a better effect. Stealth Rock cannot be stacked, and has
full effect after just one use. (Thanks to Tombola Man for this). Spikes
deals damage the Pokemon switching in for the opponent unless that Pokemon is
of the flying type or has the Levitate ability. Toxic Spikes poisons the
Pokemon switching in unless the Pokemon is of the flying, poison, or steel
types or has the Levitate ability. Stealth Rock has nothing that is immune
to it. Each one of these moves will be super/not very effective if a Pokemon
that switches in to them is resistant/weak to their types.
Oftentimes the opponent is reluctant to switch after these moves are used on
them, so these moves are often paired with moves like Roar and Whirlwind in
order to force the switch.
F. Hidden Power
================
Hidden Power (HP) is a special move that doesn't have a specific type or power
connected to the move itself. Instead, it's power and type is dependent
solely on the specific Pokemon you have. There isn't a way of knowing what
your type or power is unless you either test it versus in game enemies to
determine its type, or using an IV calculator to also determine your HP type.
Often times, this move can be used to cover weaknesses that otherwise could
not be covered. However, since getting the right type of this move is as
random and time consuming as getting the good IVs you want, I won't be
recommending the use of this move in actual movesets unless you have a lot of
time to spare for getting it.
Update - I've reconsidered my stance on Hidden Power. It is very useful for
covering blatant weaknesses, so I will possibly recommend it as an option,
but I will never recommend it without also giving an alternative.
===============================
VII. Things to Keep in Mind...
===============================
Before I get started on the actual team building part, I figured I should
give some general guidelines to consider while building, and some tips to
help you along the way.
1) Use who you like. However, you should try to play within the tier you're
building for. Just because you like something in the UU tier doesn't mean
you should use it in an OU team. My initial statement of "you can take down
anyone with proper strategy" is a little outdated now. While I still
maintain that your teams should try to be original, you should try to stay
within your tier to keep your odds of winning realistic.
2) Make sure your wanted moveset is possible before you finalize your
selection. If your Pokemon is in the "ground" egg breeding group, then you
can get any egg moves you want. However, for someone like Crobat, who is only
in the "flying" egg group, and does not have a common crossover to the ground
group (the only one being Farfetch'd), not all egg moves are possible at the
same time. You can get them all one at a time, but it cannot learn more than
one of them at a given time in a lot of situations.
3) Females pass on the species. Males pass on TMs and egg moves. To get egg
moves, you're going to need a female of the species you want, with a male
that knows the move you want it to know. Don't forget this. If you have both
a male AND a female of the same species who BOTH know the same level up move,
this move can also be passed on to the child if the two parents breed while
both knowing this move.
4) When breeding for natures, it's helpful to use Dittos. Sure, catching
Dittos of every nature can be a little time consuming, but depending on how
many Pokemon you want, it may be worth the time. I have Dittos of every
nature, and it took around 90 minutes to catch them all. Once you have the
Ditto you want with the right nature, simply give it an Everstone when you
go to breed and it will have a 50% chance of passing on the nature to the
child. This negates the time it would have taken to get that nature randomly.
5) Consider the Pokemon you have access to. Granted, rarity should not be the
highest on the list for consideration, but say you want something that's not
easy to come by, and the gender you want is rare even within the species. If
you're not willing to spend time on it, use something else.
6) Consider the rareness/availability of your moves/items. Certain moves will
only be available via TM, and certain hold items take a long time to get in
the battle tower. If you don't think you have access to them, or aren't
willing to spend the time to get them, make sure you can trade for them via
the GameFAQs trade boards before you set your heart on having that moveset.
7) Make sure the move set you choose is not self conflicting. What I mean by
that is things like having both Toxic and Will-o-Wisp on the same Pokemon.
You cannot cause two primary status ailments at the same time, so giving a
Pokemon two primary status ailment causing moves is a waste of a slot.
Another example is giving a Pokemon Will-o-Wisp and Confuse Ray. Burn cuts
attack, which reduces the damage the confusion smack will do.
Self-conflicting. Always make sure your team is free of this. However, I
should note that in rare cases, you want a Pokemon to have two of these
types of moves, but it doesn't happen too often.
8) Double and triple check your team and strategy. After you form what you
want, go back over it and make sure everything works well together and you
didn't make any stupid mistakes. Ask a friend to review it for you. Ask
someone on the GameFAQs forums. Just make sure you have it right before you
go and put your plan into action.
9) Use STAB to your advantage. Your Pokemon has type(s). Use that x1.5 bonus
you get from STAB to your advantage. There's no sense in letting a bonus like
that go unused. Exceptions to this obviously apply if you're not going to
be attacking with the Pokemon or if other moves grant you better coverage.
10) Try not to double up on types. If you have one fire Pokemon on your team
already, then don't choose another Pokemon that has the fire typing. Using
more types of Pokemon on your team helps ensure that you cover as many of
your weak points as possible.
11) If your Pokemon has more than one ability possible, make sure the one
you breed has the one that's more beneficial to your strategy. Certain
Pokemon have more than one ability possible in Pokemon DPP. You can't have
them both, so decide which one you want for maximum performance.
12) Just because I labeled a Pokemon as a "physical wall" or a "special
sweeper" or the like, doesn't mean that that's the ONLY thing they can be.
Certain Pokemon are good at many different things and can often serve many
purposes. Only you know what you're going for in a particular strategy.
Things can also be artificially made to be things they're not via stat
boosting moves as well. Moves like Curse can make a typical special wall
into both a physical sweeper and a physical wall. Just remember that what
something is often depends entirely on what you want it to be.
13) There is no "ultimate moveset" for any one Pokemon ever. One moveset may
work well for one strategy, while a totally different one could work better
for a different strategy. If someone questions a certain move you have on
your team, tell them the reason it's there as opposed to something else. If
a moveset that might *technically* be superior is suggested, but you have
very specific reasons for using the moves you're using instead, stick with
whatever makes your strategy work better.
14) Make sure you know whether your Pokemon is good in the physical or
special area, and that the moves you're using correspond to that. Weavile,
for example has great attack, but poor special attack. So using an attack
like Ice Beam, which is special based, on a Weavile doesn't make sense.
Instead, aim for a move that utilizes your Pokemon's stregths. Ice Punch,
still an ice move, is a physically based move, and thus makes much more
sense for the situation.
========================================
VIII. Team Building - Overused Metagame
========================================
Since I recently decided to split the FAQ into two sections - one for OU
and one for UU, there is no longer a need for a step to decide your tier.
Read this section if you're playing the standard (OU) metagame, and skip
down the page if you're playing the UU metagame.
A. Picking Your Team
=====================
With my original FAQ team going down the drain with this update, we can
really focus in on who exactly we want to use on this OU team. I'm not
going to retype the tier list in this section again, so refer to earlier
in the FAQ for the full list of Pokemon in the OU tier.
While building in the OU tier, we need to keep a couple of things in mind.
Unlike the UU tier, the OU tier is less about setting up a specific Pokemon
for success, and more about ensuring that you have appropriate switch ins,
counters, and ability to quickly sweep things. With this in mind, I know
I'll have to have a decide selection of walls, things with Levitate or the
flying type, and sweepers. So I'll select my favorite Pokemon in the OU and
start the process of elimination. Of the 51 Pokemon in the tier, these are
my favorite (or something I think would work well as a switch in):
Breloom, Bronzong, Dusknoir, Electivire, Gallade, Gengar, Gliscor, Heatran,
Heracross, Infernape, Jolteon, Lucario, Machamp, Milotic, Ninjask,
Roserade, Scizor, Starmie, Suicune, Vaporeon, Yanmega, Zapdos
As you can see, there's still quite a bit to choose from. But the important
part is that now I have somewhat of an idea of who I'd like to use. So now
I'll separate them into categories.
Sweepers: Breloom, Donphan, Electivire, Gallade, Gengar, Gliscor, Heatran,
Heracross, Infernape, Jolteon, Lucario, Machamp, Roserade, Scizor, Starmie,
Suicune, Yanmega, Zapdos
Walls: Bronzong, Donphan, Dusknoir, Gliscor, Heatran, Milotic, Scizor,
Suicune, Vaporeon
Support: Gliscor, Heatran, Jolteon, Milotic, Ninjask, Roserade, Scizor,
Suicune, Vaporeon
Obviously, a Pokemon could do more than one thing - not at once - but in
different things, they can do different things.
Now's the time we have to make more of a selection. Here's where we have to
take into account things like not overlapping in typing and having a decent
balance of walls for switches, supports, and a decent ability to sweep.
First I'll consider my walls, since their ability to take hits on a switch
in is more important than anything else on your team (minimizing damage is
extremely important). Of my choices available, I want to make sure they not
only can switch in and survive, but then proceed to force a switch and do
things once they're in. Bulky waters are good for this, as are things with
steel typings and/or massive amounts of defense. In this case, I want a
flying type to grant myself immunity to Earthquake. So I'll be selecting
Gliscor as one of the slots. Secondly, Suicune has a base of 115 in both
defense and special defense, making it a great choice to soak up some damage.
Plus I've always wanted to use a Suicune and have never had the chance to in
a competitive team. Now seems like as good of a time as any.
Next we need to consider what we want to be doing the majority of the damage
for our team. On these Pokemon, we want a variety of attacks for good
coverage. Getting walled by things is bad, so we want to try to avoid this.
Secondly, we may want to consider Choice Items to pack a punch for some of
these Pokemon. Or perhaps moves like Swords Dance to boost stats. And
most importantly, we want to make sure we have both physical and special
attackers - or mixed attackers if applicable. It also helps when sweepers
are fast. We want to move first, especially if the said Pokemon is fragile.
If they're fragile and don't move first, they may die before they get to
use all that power they have. So with this in mind, I'll make my selections.
Fighting types are extremely important to have, due to the abundance of
Blissey, so this must be considered first. Fire is also an important type
to have simply because getting walled by things that resist fire is a
major pain. With this in mind, Infernape seems like the best choice for
a good sweeper here. Another physical sweeper must be considered though.
Scizor seems like a good choice, considering his steel typing, excellent
move pool, and so on, so we'll stick with him for now.
There are two slots left and there are still things to consider. Namely,
we need some special sweepers, but there are other things as well. A lack
of a Pokemon to use Stealth Rock or Spikes puts you in a tough spot these
days, what with every team having one of those these days. It makes the
opponent think twice about switching because of the damage they'll receive
on the switch in. Another move to consider is Rapid Spin, because of said
prevalence of Stealth Rock and Spikes. An ability to remove these is also
important. Luckily, two of the Pokemon I've selected are already good at
said abilities (which I knew, but was saving to say until now). Gliscor
can Stealth Rock and so can Infernape. However, we're left without a
Rapid Spinner. While this is unfortunate (and possibly unwise), fitting
one in would be more detrimental due to coverage being sacrificed.
Normally, someone should be considered to do the Rapid Spinning for
teams.
Special sweepers need to be considered now. There are several typings I
don't have covered yet that are fairly important: electric and ghost.
I must cover all of these with my last two selections somehow. Gengar
is a quick, powerful sweeper with high KO'ing potential. He can also learn
Thunderbolt in addition to Shadow Ball, covering two types we need pretty
badly. In addition to that, he has immunity to three different types,
making it relatively easy to switch in on things (mainly predicted
Earthquakes). As for the last slot, I am fond of Yanmega, and Yanmega
generally uses a strategy that is very effective, so I'll be selecting
him as my last slot.
According to what I've just said, my team selection is:
Suicune, Gliscor, Infernape, Scizor, Gengar, Yanmega
Gliscor, Gengar, and Yanmega are all immune to ground. Gliscor and
Yanmega are weak to ice. Scizor is weak to fire. Suicune provides a good
switch in for Gliscor, Yanmega, and Scizor, being resistant to both ice
and fire. We've got two types being double covered (Gliscor and Yanmega
are both flying and Yanmega and Scizor are both bug), but if everything
is played out and switched correctly, this shouldn't be too much of a
problem.
************************************************************************
* Team selection: Suicune, Gliscor, Infernape, Scizor, Gengar, Yanmega *
************************************************************************
C. Assigning Your EVs and Natures
==================================
Okay! Now you've got the Pokemon you want on your team decided. The hardest
part of the decision making is over! The very next thing you have to do is
decide what natures you should give each of them, along with the EVs to train
each of them in in order to best bring out their qualities. In order to do
this, you'll want to look at the stat lines for each of the Pokemon you
picked. Sometimes it's beneficial to assign EVs to their two best stats,
then the remaining 6 to HP. However, sometimes, if their stats are good
enough, overkilling them with EVs is unnecessary, so it's more beneficial to
assign the EVs to something else. The same thing applies for natures.
However, if you know a Pokemon is going to be walling, a useful tool for
figuring out specifically how many EVs should go where is on this page:
http://users.smogon.com/X-Act/defense.html
We'll start with Suicune. He's a mixed wall for me, and will mainly be used
to soak up some damage. With this in mind, a Bold nature is selected for
him. Using the above site, the EVs can be calculated to be most beneficial
at 252 HP, 252 defense, 6 special attack.
Gliscor is in a similar situation as Suicune. Since we plan on using him
primarily as a wall, we don't have to worry about dedicating any EVs to
speed like we would otherwise. He should be assigned an Impish nature and
have 252 HP, 6 attack, and 252 defense.
Infernape's EVs and nature will depend entirely on what we want him to do.
I had originally intended for him to be a physical attacker with his
fighting type. However, both of his attacks are quite high, and he has a
nice move pool to use both of them well. This said, I'm going to take
advantage of both of his stats and make him a mixed sweeper. Thus, he will
be a Naive nature with 48 attack, 252 special attack, and 208 speed. This
is in order to boost both his attacks and ensure he goes first.
Scizor is both strong and durable, making him ideal for tanking. However,
depending on what we want to do, we want to assign him different EVs. He
is fairly good at Baton Passing, which is good to note, meaning that it
is possible to sacrifice bug coverage (covered by Yanmega) in order to
make room for some Baton Passing moves. With this in mind, we'll assign
him EVs for this. Impish nature. 184 HP, 176 defense, 148 speed.
Gengar is a fast sweeper who hits hard, so we'll want to take advantage of
those selling points. That said, there's not a lot else we would WANT to
put his EVs in other than speed and special attack. So this is what we
shall do. Timid nature. 6 HP, 252 special attack, 252 speed.
Yanmega is the last on the list, and has a similar spread as Gengar. The
only difference is here we want a Modest nature (Speed Boost takes care of
the extra speed), and 6 EVs in defense instead of attack.
***********************************************************
* Suicune: Bold, 252 HP, 252 defense, 6 SA *
* Gliscor: Impish, 252 HP, 6 attack, 252 defense *
* Infernape: Naive, 48 attack, 252 SA, 208 speed *
* Scizor: Impish, 184 HP, 176 defense, 148 speed *
* Gengar: Timid, 6 HP, 252 SA, 252 speed *
* Yanmega: Modest, 6 defense, 252 SA, 252 speed *
***********************************************************
D. Picking Your Abilities
==========================
Certain Pokemon have more than one ability possible, while others have only
one possible. Before you start to breed, you want to decide which ones you
want your Pokemon to have. These abilities should be the ones that benefit
your team the most.
In my case, Gliscor, Scizor, and Yanmega all have two different abilities.
However, neither of these abilities actually matter for Gliscor or Scizor
for the strategies I'm planning on using. However, for Gliscor, since I
am not using Sandstorm at all, Hyper Cutter is a better ability. For
Scizor, since my moves won't be below a certain power, Swarm is slightly
better. Yanmega is the one it is important I choose the right ability for.
The strategy for Yanmega depends on Speed Boost boosting his speed in
order for him to go first, so Speed Boost is the necessary nature here.
*************************
* Gliscor: Hyper Cutter *
* Scizor: Swarm *
* Yanmega: Speed Boost *
*************************
E. Picking Your Movesets
=========================
This is a critical stage in the team building process. This is the time you
decide the approach and style you're taking to your battle. Will you go on
an all out offense? Will your moves be dedicated to stat boosting? Or perhaps
you want to annoy your enemy to death? You can do multiple things with one
Pokemon, but not really at the same time. This is mainly why there are
several movesets that could work equally well for any Pokemon at any given
time. So let's get get started on what we want to do.
Suicune
--------
As previously stated, Suicune is planned to be one of my walls, so its
moves need to reflect its ability to wall. There's a couple of things we
could do here. First, Calm mind is excellent for Suicune due to its ability
to actually stay alive and use it. Stealth Rock should already be out by
the time Suicune takes the field, so Roar is a good move in order to force
the opponent to take damage (it's also good at forcing your opponent to
show you what else they have on their team). Surf and Ice Beam are obvious
options for coverage for the team and also to use once Calm Mind has
boosted you. Rest is an option for staying alive longer and, in conjunction
with that, Sleep Talk. Substitute is another option for building up Calm
Minds behind. This is about the extent of viable options for a defensive
Suicune. So my purposes, Roaring away to annoy and reveal things on my
opponents team seems like it will work really well in conjunction with Calm
Mind and my ability to absorb attacks. And to support Calm Mind, Surf for
STAB and Ice Beam for dragon coverage.
*********************************************
* Decision: Surf, Roar, Calm Mind, Ice Beam *
*********************************************
Gliscor
--------
Gliscor is going to be a physical wall, so our moves need to reflect this.
We could place Stealth Rock on Gliscor, but this move seems better suited
for our planned lead, Infernape. Roost is good for recovery (though you
lose your flying type temporarily, so be careful), so that would work well.
Earthquake is an obvious attack move, especially since there isn't really
another place on your team to put it. Ice Fang could be useful in taking
down dragons, but it doesn't seem to be quite as useful as Aerial Ace would,
what with STAB and being an excellent counter to Heracross. Baton Pass could
be an option if this were a Baton Passing Gliscor (he's pretty good at it),
but this isn't, so those moves shouldn't be considered. As for the last
move, Knock Off typically screws walls with their hold items, and definitely
helps against things with Choice items. Taunt prevents things like Skarmory
using Spikes or Stealth Rock or walls using Toxic, Will-o-Wisp, or Thunder
Wave. Both of these are useful ability to have. However, in this case, I'm
going to opt for Knock Off.
******************************************************
* Decision: Earthquake, Roost, Aerial Ace, Knock Off *
******************************************************
Infernape
----------
Infernape has a couple of possibilities for its moveset. I said earlier
that I was planning on making it a mixed sweeper. However, I also plan on
making it my lead, which is notable. Mixed apes have some possibilities for
their moves. Flamethrower/Fire Blast is good for a high power fire move.
So is Flare Blitz. Close Combat has really good destructive power,
especially on walls like Blissey. Grass Knot is good at countering water
types. HP Ice is good for dragons and the like. Nasty Plot or Swords Dance
are obviously options, however, due to Infernape's frailty, those probably
aren't the best options. Thunderpunch is another counter for waters. Fake
Out is a priority move and is an incredibly important move for a leading
Infernape. And, as I stated earlier, Stealth Rock needs to be fit on here
since I'm not using it on Gliscor. So Stealth Rock and Fake Out need to be
on. The last two moves should ideally be devoted to STAB. Fire Blast and
Close Combat have the most destructive power of the choices.
**************************************************************
* Decision: Fake Out, Stealth Rock, Fire Blast, Close Combat *
**************************************************************
Scizor
-------
Scizor has some amazing Baton Pass abilities being able to use Swords
Dance, Agility, AND Iron Defense. However, we can't use all of these, and
even using two of these for a non-Baton Passing team isn't all that wise.
Thus, we'll have to chose between one of them. In this case, our walls
shouldn't be needing more defense, and Swords Dance is only usable by the
sweepers, whereas Agility is beneficial for everyone. So Agility is
preferable for this situation. As for the last two moves, Roost is good
for survival. X-Scizor and Iron Head are the two most viable STAB moves
here (and the attacking move also helps you not be screwed in the event
of a taunt), but since Yanmega covers bugs already, and Iron Head prevents
rock types from walling you, Iron Head seems to be the better choice
here.
***************************************************
* Decision: Agility, Baton Pass, Iron Head, Roost *
***************************************************
Gengar
-------
Gengar is super fast and hits hard. His moveset is fairly standard because
of this. As previously stated, we need Shadow Ball for STAB and Thunderbolt
for coverage. Focus Blast helps with normal types and also helps you
against rocks and steels. Hypnosis is a good sleep inducing move to help
you sweep after you put them to sleep. The set is pretty standard, but it
works pretty well, so there's no sense in not using this.
*************************************************************
* Decision: Shadow Ball, Thunderbolt, Hypnosis, Focus Blast *
*************************************************************
Yanmega
--------
This Yanmega is going to use the same strategy as the Yanmega in the last
FAQ example I had, before I removed it. The strategy works really well.
The idea is that you need Speed Boost to activate in order to ensure going
first, so you use Protect. Secondly, you have Hypnosis to sweep behind
(although be careful with sleep clause, since Gengar also has Hypnosis).
Alternatives to Hypnosis are HP Ice or HP Ground. Ice to take out dragons
and also hit Zapdos (who resists both of your other moves), and Ground
prevents rocks and steels from walling you. That said, I'm using Hypnosis
since I hate breeding for HP types. The last moves are Air Slash and Bug
Buzz for STAB. Air Slash has an extra effect of a chance of flinch, which
is really useful. King's Rock would be use to use. Unfortunately, it's
an illegal item, so using it isn't viable. Yanmega can also serve as a
secondary lead, should I not want to use Infernape as my lead, since
Protect scouts for moves, and Hypnosis can put common Stealth Rockers
to sleep before they can set up.
****************************************************
* Decision: Protect, Bug Buzz, Air Slash, Hypnosis *
****************************************************
F. Picking Your Hold Items
===========================
Now you've FINALLY decided all of your movesets for your team. Don't worry,
that's the longest process in the entire thing. Now comes a somewhat easier,
yet still important part. Hold items. Hold items will aid your Pokemon in
whatever way that they wouldn't receive otherwise. With hold items, it's
best to assign them in a way that will help cover weaknesses, or boost your
power over the top. You should evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each
of your Pokemon when assigning these items.
Suicune - Suicune is a wall and as such, gets a pretty common wall hold
item. Leftovers.
Gliscor - Leftovers also work really well here.
Infernape - Assuming Infernape is the lead, there is really only one option
for a hold item - Focus Sash. Focus Sash prevents things from killing it
right away, ensuring you have time to set up your Stealth Rocks.
Scizor - Leftovers are good again.
Gengar - Gengar really has two options open to him. Wide Lens helps the
accuracy on Hypnosis, which is only 70. Life Orb boosts his attack over the
top. Personally, I prefer the Life Orb, so that's what I'm going with.
Yanmega - As I said earlier, King's Rock isn't an option. Focus Sash would
be better for Yanmega if I didn't already have Protect. Expert Belt is a
good option though since it helps Bug Buzz and Air Slash do more damage
where they're super effective.
**************************
* Suicune - Leftovers *
* Gliscor - Leftovers *
* Infernape - Focus Sash *
* Scizor - Leftovers *
* Gengar - Life Orb *
* Yanmega - Expert Belt *
**************************
G. Breeding and EV Training
============================
Phew! Now the actual planning part is done, although you want to confirm that
your strategy for your entire team will work and is effective before
continuing on to this step. Ask for help with that as much as you can. Show a
friend. Ask on this site. E-mail someone. Make sure it's good before
wasting your time making a bum team. Once you're sure you're satisfied with
all your hard planning, you can continue onto this step.
The first thing you'll need to do is catch the base form of the Pokemon you
want, should you not have it already. If you can't get it in your game, go
on Wifi and see if anyone here at the GameFAQs trading boards has what you
want. After you have it, what you need to do is breed for any egg moves you
need, if any. If you have egg moves on your Pokemon, the Pokemon you have
will need to be FEMALE. And then you'll need to find a Pokemon in the same
egg group as it that learns the move you want and catch a MALE of that. When
the male with the move you want and the female of your species breed together,
the will create a Pokemon that's the species you want, and has the move you
need too. However, you're not done breeding yet. It's helpful if that product
you just got with the egg move is male, since then you can use Dittos in
order to get the nature you want. Assuming it is male, give a Ditto with the
nature you want an Everstone and breed it with the Pokemon you just got with
your desired egg move. You now have a 50% chance of getting the nature you
want! Much better than going randomly until you hit a small chance of
hatching the nature you wanted. Also at this time, you should be noticing
your abilities. If your Pokemon has BOTH the nature you wanted AND the ability
you wanted (assuming it had more than one), then that's good. If not, keep
breeding and hatching eggs until you get one that is exactly the way you want
it. It could be perhaps time consuming, but not so much that it's unbearable.
After you have the finished product with nature and egg moves, you can begin
your EV training. Depending on what your Pokemon is, you will train in
different places, which are listed for you earlier in this guide. If you're
in doubt about which Pokemon give what EV and how many of them, simply look
the information up on Serebii to find it. However, I don't recommend simply
sitting down and EV training without any enhancement. There are certain
things that boost the number of EVs you get. PokeRus doubles the EVs you
gain. It can be acquired randomly through a small chance in a wild Pokemon
encounter. More likely, you can trade for it on the trading boards on
GameFAQs. There are also the "power" items, which you can get from the battle
tower. They boost EVs of a CERTAIN TYPE, by 4. The Power Lens, for example,
boosts special attack EVs by 4. There is a power item for every stat, so
getting them all could take a long time. I recommend getting whichever ones
you think you'll use the most and use the other item, the Macho Brace, for
the rest of the training. You can get the Macho Brace by showing the Burmy
fan in Pastoria City the three different types of Burmy. If you have BOTH
the PokeRus AND the corresponding power item, a battle that normally gave
you 1 EV of the stat will now give you a whopping TEN. EV training goes by
much faster under these conditions. Also of note is the use of Exp Share. EVs
are gained by gaining experience, so anyone who receives experience in the
battle, even with Exp Share receives EVs from it. However, these EVs won't
be boosted unless the Pokemon in question also has PokeRus, in which case
they'll receive double of what the BASE EV was, and not the heavily boosted
power item bonus was.
Repeat the breeding and EV training process for your entire team until all
of them are completed.
H. Leveling and Finalizing
===========================
The final stage of the team making process is FINALLY to level up your
Pokemon and teach them whatever moves you assigned them to have. If you're
extremely lucky, you may even not have to do this if your Pokemon was
assigned all egg moves and TM/HM moves. Simply level them up with Exp Share
and run through the Elite Four until they know everything necessary. And
obtain the TM you seek by any means necessary. Teach them what they need to
know and enjoy your newly completed team!
Update for 1.76 - Apparently it is confusing what I mean here? I will
clarify. Do NOT level or do anything until you're done EV training.
Anything that gains experience in battle will gain EVs. So if you run
through the Elite Four and you haven't EV trained yet, that Pokemon will
have unwanted EVs on it. So EV train first, then level.
=======================================
IX. Team Building - Underused Metagame
=======================================
Coming on next update (give it a couple days)!
A. Picking Your Team
=====================
Coming on next update (give it a couple days)!
B. Assigning Your EVs and Natures
==================================
Coming on next update (give it a couple days)!
C. Picking Your Abilities
==========================
Coming on next update (give it a couple days)!
D. Picking Your Move Sets
==========================
Coming on next update (give it a couple days)!
E. Picking Your Hold Items
===========================
Coming on next update (give it a couple days)!
F. Breeding and EV Training
============================
Coming on next update (give it a couple days)!
G. Leveling and Finalizing
===========================
Coming on next update (give it a couple days)!
=======================================
X. Suggestions for Specific Strategies
=======================================
So I've run you through one specific example of how to build a team. But
what if you still aren't sure how to start for what you specifically are
going for? Well, in this section, I'll try to give you some things to go on
for each specific strategy that I've listed above.
A. Physical Sweeping
=====================
To be a physical sweeper, you need to have a good base for attack. Or, at the
very least, attack should be one of the stats you're better in. Speed is
also a pretty important stat for physical sweepers. The point of physical
sweepers is to hit hard and fast against the opponent's defense. Thus,
you're going to want something with fairly high attack power, and enough
speed to go first at least in a good portion of situations. A good place to
start for determining who you want to be a physical sweeper is Serebii's
Pokedex, viewing highest to lowest in base attack, which you can view at the
following address:
http://www.serebii.net/pokedex-dp/stat/attack.shtml
It should be noted that your lead should definitely have a lot of speed, in
addition to being fairly powerful. So to confirm that your lead will go
first in a lot of situations, a good place to start to determine this is
Serebii's Pokedex, viewing highest to lowest in base speed:
http://www.serebii.net/pokedex-dp/stat/speed.shtml
It should be noted that your lead can be either a physical sweeper OR a
special sweeper. Which one it is is entirely up to your personal preference.
As far as strategy itself goes for physical sweeping, typically physical
sweepers don't know a lot of supporting moves since their defenses tend to
be not so great. So you'll probably want to stick to three physically based
moves, along with something else that could possibly get you out of a sticky
situation. You should always take advantage of STAB for the types of your
Pokemon (both of them if necessary, although certain Pokemon don't know good
moves for both of their types: IE Lucario and steel), and then things that
cover your Pokemon's or TEAM's weaknesses the best. Let's take Flygon, for
example. Flygon has a x4 weakness to ice. So a good choice for a move for
Flygon is something that can cover an ice weakness. Ice is weak to fire,
rock, and fighting moves. Since in this situation, Flygon is a physical
sweeper, Stone Edge is a good choice, since it's a physical type move, and
fits the description of covering the ice weakness. Always try to think of
where you're weak and what you can do to cover up your weak points.
B. Special Sweeping
====================
Special sweeping is exactly the same as physical sweeping, only with special
attacks instead of physical attacks. The most powerful moves of the game
are special based, and thus, more Pokemon tend to have these moves than their
weaker physical counterparts. To be a special sweeper, your special attack
should be fairly high. And as with physical sweeping, you're going to want
something that can move quickly, as to ensure you get in your powerful attack
before the foe takes you down. To get a start on what exactly you want to use
for your special sweeper, Serebii's Pokedex listed highest to lowest in
special attack is a great resource to use:
http://www.serebii.net/pokedex-dp/stat/sp-attack.shtml
And again, if your lead is going to be a special sweeper, you're still going
to want to place a higher priority on speed than you would normally, so
compare using the speed listing.
http://www.serebii.net/pokedex-dp/stat/speed.shtml
Strategy for special sweepers is essentially the same as it is with physical
sweepers, only things are special based instead of physical based. Generally
you're going to want to have at least a couple of special attacks, with an
added fourth attack for certain sticky situations, or maybe to stall for a
bit more time. Again, you should take STAB into consideration when assigning
your moves, and ensure that you cover your Pokemon's types with those moves.
Try to cover as many weaknesses of your Pokemon and team with your moves
again. A classic example of this is a fire Pokemon. What is fire weak to?
Water, obviously. All fire Pokemon can learn the move "Sunny Day", which
boosts fire moves and gets rid of the water weakness (essentially, since it
dimishes the power of water moves). In addition, a lot of fire Pokemon can
learn Solarbeam. Solarbeam is strong against water, thus covering the
weakness, and also can be used without charge up thanks to Sunny Day. You
should try to come up with things like this in order to cover and counter
things your foe may throw at you.
C. Physical Wall
=================
A physical wall is a unit that specializes in defense. Physical wall's
typically don't have very high speed, and as such, speed should be the last
thing on your priority list when trying to pick out a physical wall. Defense
is obviously the most important thing here, but HP is also important to an
extent. Thus, EVs are typically given to defense and HP. To get an idea for
where exactly you want to start for picking out a physical wall, take a look
at Serebii's Pokedex listed by defense.
http://www.serebii.net/pokedex-dp/stat/defense.shtml
Walls are generally NOT thrown out first in a battle, and really don't need
too many attacking moves period, unless you're running something with the
Curse strategy. Walls are also excellent to switch to from a sweeper, if you
suspect your foe of going to use a certain move. Let's say your foe has a
Weavile out, while you have Staraptor. The obvious move from the foe would
be to use Ice Punch on you. But if you thought about it, you would have
predicted that and, assuming your physical wall isn't also weak to ice, you
would switch out and absorb the attack. Switching out to walls is one of the
main uses for them, but they can also stall for time.
Stalling for time requires that you either know recovery moves, stat boosting
moves, or both. Being a physical wall, obviously if you can boost your
defense higher with still staying alive, you should. Thus, moves like Iron
Defense are usually great choices for physical walls. You also should be
able to soak up damage without a problem, but not die, even after many
attacks. Thus, if you can recover your HP, you should. Rest plus a Chesto
Berry is a great combination for this, and most every Pokemon in the game can
use this. You fully recover your HP, and the berry wakes you up from the
sleep status. Other good recovery moves include Milk Drink, Roost, and
Recover.
A third use for physical walls are status ailments. A typical setup is a
wall knowing Toxic. Toxic will slowly drain the foe's HP and ensure a death
in several turns. Meanwhile, you can sit there and soak up damage and watch
them have their HP drained. They get weaker and weaker while you are still
reasonably unaffected due to your ability to take tons of damage.
The final use for a wall is a supporting role, and not one many can fulfill.
A very select few Pokemon can learn moves like Heal Bell or Aromatherapy or
even Healing Wish. These moves aren't for the Pokemon necessarily, but rather
to benefit your entire team. You can heal status ailments from the whole
team with Heal Bell and Aromatherapy, and Healing Wish allows you a full
recovery of someone else on your team. If you're stalling for time and are
about to die, this makes a good last move to give yourself another chance.
D. Special Wall
================
Special walls serve essentially the same purpose as physical walls do, only
you use them on Pokemon that use special attack instead of regular attack.
Obviously they need to have a high special defense stat in order to be
considered a special wall. A good place to start for choosing a special wall,
if you have no idea, is Serebii's Pokedex by special defense:
http://www.serebii.net/pokedex-dp/stat/sp-defense.shtml
As with physical walls, speed is not an important stat for walls, and it's
probably best if you disregard the stat entirely when making your decision.
Special walls, as with physical walls, are also good for switching out when
you suspect a move to be used. Let's say you have a Flygon/Garchomp out,
while the foe has a Starmie. Starmie is definitely going to use Ice Beam and
kill you. However, you're smarter than that, and switch to your special wall
Vaporeon! Your Flygon/Garchomp is saved, and you neutralized the damage by
using your special wall with a favorable typing. Using special walls like
this can save you from a tricky spot in battle more than once if you're
smart about your switches.
Again, as with physical walls, special walls are also great stallers. Using
a move like Amnesia, which boosts Special Defense, will lengthen your time
on the field, and make your foe even more angry that they cannot hurt you.
In addition, knowing recovery moves, as with physical walls, is also
suggested. Again, Rest plus a Chesto Berry is a good combination, as are
moves like Roost and Recovery. The longer you can recover your health and
stay out on the field, the better. In combination with Leftovers, this kind
of thing can keep you alive for quite a long time.
Special walls can play the "wait it out" game just as well as physical walls
can. A move like Toxic or Will-o-Wisp will slowly drain your foe's health
while you sit there and watch them die, meanwhile taking little damage and
recovering your own HP. Use of these moves can be a great strategy to get
rid of something pesky you couldn't otherwise touch.
And again, as with physical walls, the supporting role can also be played
with special walls with moves like Heal Bell and Aromatherapy.
E. Mixed Sweeping
==================
Mixed sweeping is a strategy that is difficult to pull off. The Pokemon you
use to be a mixed sweeper has to be good in both of the attack areas. As
you've probably guessed, not a lot of Pokemon are equally proficient in
both of these areas, so finding a mixed sweeper, should you want one, can
often times be difficult. Basically, a mixed sweeper combines physical and
special sweepers into one Pokemon, and can be used in both situations.
Typically, you'll want to have two physically based moves and two specially
based moves on a mixed sweeper, in order to achieve balance between the
physical and special attacks you'll be using. Apply the same tactics you
would use for both physical and special sweepers and use them for your
mixed sweeper, and you should be fine. As far as having a place to start for
choosing a mixed sweeper, there's no easy way to tell aside from just
looking at base stats and comparing if attack and special attack are similar.
You'll have to just check that on your own to find out if the Pokemon you
want is proficient in both of the attack areas.
In an e-mail recently, someone pointed out something that I hadn't even
thought of before for mixed sweeping. That being if a Pokemon has high stats
in both attack and special attack, they, and they alone, can get some benefit
out of moves that severely lower special attack. The other three moves would
be physical, and most (if not all) EVs would be devouted to attack. And then
the move (such as Overheat, Draco Meteor, Leaf Storm) would be used as a
finisher. Since both attack stats are high, this move is still fairly
effective, but since the other moves are devouted to the other attack stat,
their stat isn't hurting when they try to attack again. It's quite feasible.
F. Mixed Wall
==============
Mixed walls are perhaps the most useful of all the types of Pokemon. The
reason being that they can be out in pretty much any condition and still stay
alive for quite a long period of time. However, because this is true, mixed
walls are even more difficult to find than mixed sweepers. The best example
of a mixed wall I can think of is Umbreon, who has excellent defense and
special defense, and can soak up the damage like there's no tomorrow. As
far as using a mixed wall goes, use the same strategy you would as if you
were using a physical or special wall. The purpose of a mixed wall is
exactly the same.
G. Specialized Teams
=====================
Specialized teams are something that not a lot of people do. Mainly because
of the fact that using them competitively against other teams is simply not
practical. However, I find that making specialized teams is quite a bit of
fun, so I like to use them whenever I can.
Typically on a specialized team, you're going to be focusing on a particular
type of Pokemon. To get a start for who you want to use on whatever type
team you're planning on using, use Serebii's Pokedex and browse by type.
http://www.serebii.net/pokedex-dp/
Simply scroll down a little bit and click on the type you want to view, and
you'll see all of the Pokemon listed from that type.
First and formost, on a specialized team, you want to get rid of as many
common weaknesses as possible. With certain types, such as electric, this is
just simply not possible, due to lack of mixed types. But for certain types,
such as the water type, this is possible. A water/grass type gets rid of the
electric weakness, for example. You'll want to find as many different
mixed typings like that as possible as to cover the common weakness that
making a specialized team brings.
On that same note, covering weaknesses in moves is also key to success with
these types of teams. For example, electric Pokemon are weak to the ground
type. Obviously someone with Earthquake is just going to destroy you if you
don't do something about that. Thus, you look for options. Conveniently,
there's a move called "Magnet Rise" that gives you the Levitate ability.
Ground moves can no longer hit you, and you've eliminated the weakness. On a
similar note, on a fire team, water is going to be a huge problem. Thus,
you'll want to have someone with Sunny Day in order to get rid of that
weakness, as well as boosting your own fire attacks in the process.
Using a specialized team, you should also follow the typical "four sweepers,
two walls" formula for a team. This is most easily done with the water type,
since walls are rarer than sweepers, and the water type holds a lot of the
walls the game has. Using this formula can still perhaps save you in a couple
of situations if you find yourself up against a move/Pokemon that you cannot
overcome in other ways.
The final thing to keep in mind when making a specialized team is to always
know what your weaknesses are. For example, on a fire team, your weaknesses
are water, rock, and ground type moves. Thus, in your movesets, you're
going to want as many things strong against these types as possible. Water
is countered by Solarbeam and Sunny Day, which you should likely have. Rock
is countered by ground type moves. Someone in the type is bound to be able
to learn Earthquake. Ground is covered by Solarbeam again. In giving your
Pokemon these types of moves, you effectively can counter things that you're
weak against.
H. Baton Passing
=================
Baton Passing is a very specific strategy that requires at least a couple
members of your team to have the move "Baton Pass". This strategy is a
personal favorite of mine, mainly due to the number of possibilities of
things you can do with this strategy. First and formost, if you want to
Baton Pass, you HAVE to use the following Pokemon:
Mr. Mime, Eevee, Jolteon, Flareon, Vaporeon, Espeon, Umbreon, Glaceon,
Leafeon, Mew, Sentret, Furret, Ledyba, Ledian, Togepi, Togetic, Togekiss,
Aipom, Girafarig, Celebi, Surskit, Masquerain, Ninjask, Mawile, Plusle,
Minun, Huntail, Gorebyss, Ambipom, Drifloon, Drifblim, Buneary, Lopunny,
Mime Jr., Venonat, Venomoth, Scyther, Spinarak, Ariados, Gligar, Scizor,
Torchic, Combusken, Blaziken, Skitty, Delcatty, Meditite, Medicham, Volbeat,
Illumise, Spinda, Absol, Buizel, Floatzel, Gliscor, Smeargle
It should be noted that certain Pokemon (mainly Eevee coming to mind here)
can learn the move while their evolution cannot. Certain Pokemon can also
only learn the move via breeding. So you'll need to check on the specifics
of how each Pokemon learns the move if you want to use them.
The basis of Baton Passing is to have the Baton Passer, whoever it may be,
know a couple of stat boosting moves, or at least moves that benefit you in
some way that don't do damage. These moves might include things like Swords
Dance, Iron Defense, Rock Polish, Agility, Aqua Ring, Mean Look, Wish, etc
etc. After these moves are used in the quantity you want, you then use the
move "Baton Pass" in order to "pass" the effects on to one of the other
Pokemon on your team. Normally, if you withdrew the Pokemon who used the
stat boosters, the conditions would be gone when they were withdrawn. But
under the conditions of Baton Pass, those effects are still in play for the
next Pokemon you use. This is especially useful for getting stat boosts in
certain stats to Pokemon that couldn't obtain them normally. Or to give a
certain boost to a Pokemon that can't learn that move. Or to heal a Pokemon
that can't learn a recovery move by passing on a Wish. The possibilities
are almost endless with what you can do with this.
As far as the Pokemon themselves go, I personally consider all of the Eevee
evolutions to be the best possibilities for Baton Passing. They can learn
a variety of beneficial moves in combinations that tend to be especially
useful, while no one else in the game can learn these specific set of moves
at the same time. Examples of things they can do are Vaporeon and Aqua Ring
passing. Umbreon and Mean Look passing. Jolteon and Agility passing. Leafeon
passing on Swords Dance. And all of them can learn the move "Wish", which
means if you use Eevees to Baton Pass, you provide a way to heal any member
of your team of any damage they may have received. This is the main reason
why I consider these Pokemon the best. Other excellent choices for Baton
Passing are Gliscor, Scizor, Togekiss, Drifblim, Blaziken, Girafarig, etc
etc. As long as the Pokemon can learn at least one move to pass on that will
benefit your team, it's a decent choice.
Mr. Mime and Smeargle are also notable choices for Baton Passing. Sound
Proof is very useful since it prevents things like Roar from being used,
which is obviously important for a Baton Pass team since Roar ends your
chain and you have to start all over. Smeargle can learn every move in
the game, which is obviously useful.
As far as strategy goes for Baton Passing, it depends on how involved in
your strategy it is. If you've only got one passer, then the things you can
do are limited. An example of things you can do with only one passer are
to have Gliscor out as a wall, while having him use Swords Dance, and then
passing that on to your physical sweeper. Limited, yes, but still effective.
If you have more than one passer on your team, you can do quite a bit more.
Your first passer in the chain could be Gliscor with the Swords Dancing.
Upon which he could pass out to Scizor, who would use a series of Iron
Defenses. Scizor could then pass to Jolteon, who used a bunch of Agilities,
and then pass to Vaporeon, who would use Aqua Ring and pass to Umbreon.
Umbreon could lock in with Mean Look and then pass to your physical
sweeper, who would have an immensely boosted status and would be essentially
guaranteed the KO. As you can see, the idea is just to use the beneficial
moves, and pass them, and then sweep. The more you have to pass, the better,
but it's up to you to decide how many passers you want to use.
I. Choice Teams
================
I'll start off by saying that I am not an expert on choice teams, and do not
personally prefer using this strategy. What a choice team is, or just a
choice user let's say, is a team that using one of the choice items to boost
their status. These items are the Choice Scarf, Choice Specs, and Choice
Band. These items boost the speed, attack, or special attack (depending on
which one you are holding) of one attack you use by x1.5. However, the
catch is that you can ONLY use that move until you withdraw the Pokemon. In
other words, it's like a self-induced Encore status until you withdraw the
Pokemon. This obviously has its pros and cons to it. Obviously the huge pro
is that you have a significantly boosted status right off the bat in battle.
The con is that if you come out against something you have a move to counter,
but you can't use that move, you have to go out of your way to withdraw and
resend in order to counter it. When used properly, the choice items can give
you a nice edge in battle. However, I personally feel that the cons of them
outway the pros, and thus don't personally use them. If you feel you can
pull of a strategy where using these items comes to a great benefit for you,
by all means use it.
Update to 1.76 - If anyone wants to send me a better explanation as to how
to effectively use Choice items, that'd be great. Because I'm never going
to learn more about the strategy since I don't like it. But for the sake
of completion, it should be here so people can learn how to use it if they
want to.
J. Annoyer
===========
To use an annoyer team, you have one purpose and one purpose only: to
annoy. If you still want to win, that is another issue entirely, but your
main purpose for this is to annoy your foe totally and completely. You'll
obviously be doing this with a variety of different status ailments. I
personally LOVE the annoyer strategy, and find it to be quite effective in
tons of situations.
To start off, you're going to want to get someone who has a status ailment
you can most benefit from, and makes sense for the type of Pokemon you have,
and in certain cases, their gender. The point is to inflict them with as
many status ailments as you can in order to hinder their moving, followed by
which you either wait it out until they die from poison/burn damage, or you
start attacking them, with the security of knowing they probably won't be
able to hit you back. Classic annoyer moves include things like Confuse Ray,
Toxic, Will-o-Wisp, Thunder Wave, Attract, etc etc. Personally, I find that
starting out with something like Spore or Hypnosis to put them asleep works
the best, followed by a Confuse Ray to make sure they'll have trouble
attacking you even when they wake up.
Other options for things you can do would be to start out with something that
causes either sleep or paralysis, and then do a follow up with secondary
status ailments and then stack them. An example would be Spore -> Leech
Seed -> Confuse Ray -> Attract. As you can see, not only do you benefit from
the ailment by receiving HP back yourself, but you also essentially remove
their ability to attack at all. Quite useful in tons of situations.
One drawback of this strategy is that secondary ailments are all cured by
withdrawl from battle. If you want maximum performance out of the strategy,
it's a good idea to combine it with someone who knows a move like Mean Look,
Fire Spin, Whirlpool, Block, etc in order to LOCK them in the battle and
ensure they don't escape and get cured.
=======================
XI. Counter Strategies
=======================
Just like most everything has its strengths, everything also has its
weaknesses. Should you be having trouble getting rid of something specific
in a battle, here is the section to come to in order to find how you can
overcome that tough opponent.
A. Countering Physical Sweepers
================================
One of the key things you have to remembering when countering a certain
strategy or a certain opponent is that taking away their source of use is
one of the best ways to overcome them. In countering the physical sweepers,
we have to ask ourselves this very question. What's their best asset? Of
course, it's their high physical attack. Cutting the attack power of the
user will help ensure survival.
So what exactly can we use to destroy attack power? If you remember, earlier
in this FAQ, I took the time to point out added bonuses of certain status
ailments. I wasn't just blowing smoke with that. It has particular use in
this section. Burns cut physical attack by half. Inflict a physical sweeper
with a burn, and they'll have trouble doing as much damage to you as they
normally would. Of course, you can try to get lucky with something like
Flamethrower or Fire Blast to try to inflict the burn, but I don't recommend
that. If you're going for a certain status ailment, rather than relying on
luck, you should always take the safer route. In this case, Will-o-Wisp.
The move will inflict a burn with a good chance of infliction (assuming that
the target isn't immune to the burn ailment).
Of course, there are certain things that can't be burned, and certain teams
that won't have Will-o-Wisp on them in order to specifically counter this,
so we have to come up with alternative options. One of the most obvious is
to plan moves onto your team that take adtantage of some of the weaknesses
of common physical sweepers. For example, Garchomp is an immensely common
choice for a physical sweeper, so you should plan a move to counter him,
should the need arise. His typing is dragon/ground, which has a x4 weakness
to ice. Ice Beam is obviously the optimal choice for this, and many things
in the game can learn the move, so at least one Pokemon on your team should
know it. Another common sweeper is Tyranitar. Again, a x4 weakness. This
time to fighting moves. Optimally, you should have a fighting type Pokemon
that can take advantage of STAB, but if you find yourself in a position that
you cannot use a fighting move, Earthquake is an almost-as-good alternative
to a fighting move. Earthquake is also a great counter and a way to get rid
of anything weak to earth really, or just anything with low defense, so you
should plan that move on any team anyway. The last main threat for a physical
sweeper is Metagross, a psychic/steel typing. In this case, it's better to
take advantage of the steel typing with a nice fire attack. In most cases,
Flamethrower does fine. Thus, in planning these certain moves onto your team,
you provide ways you can defeat common sweepers in the game.
But what if there's a less common sweeper you haven't planned the given move
to counter for? Obviously, there are ways to handle this too. A great way to
handle an unexpected sweeper is simply disabling their ability to move. This
works equally well with common physical sweepers as well, however, it's
better to just take them out quickly if possible. In order to disable their
ability to move, you're obviously going to need some sort of move that can
prevent movement. Namely status ailment causing moves. The only for *sure*
ailment that will prevent movement is sleep. However, certain sleep causing
moves are less accurate than other alternatives. Other options are confusion,
preferably caused by Confuse Ray, attraction, obviously caused by attract,
or paralysis, caused by Thunder Wave. Paralysis has an added bonus of
cutting the speed of the enemy by half, so in addition of perhaps not being
able to move, you'll likely gain the advantage of going first, if you didn't
already have it. Any one of these ailments is good at stopping sweepers
from doing their job.
On that note, you can kill the physical sweeper with other, non-immobilizing
status ailments like burns and poison. In order to use these things
effectively, you should use a physical wall. Using a physical wall not only
limits the damage you take from their attacks, but in combination with the
poison or burn, it enables you to come out of top of an otherwise difficult
situation.
Another status changer is of decent mention, this time beneficial to yourself.
Using the move "Reflect" will cut the damage done by all physical attacks to
your team. So even if you're in a double battle or if you switch out, it
will be in effect until the wall fades. Cutting the damage they can do to you
this way is often quite effective.
The final way to counter a physical sweeper is to simply kill it before it
can kill you. In order to do this, however, you need to be able to outspeed
it and go first, preferably with a super effective attack. If you can go
first in the battle, you have an edge in taking out the opponent.
B. Countering Special Sweepers
===============================
Countering a special sweeper is somewhat more problematic than countering a
physical sweeper, simply for the reason that you cannot use burns in order
to cut their attack. However, everything else you did to counter a physical
sweeper, you can also do to counter a special sweeper. So let's start with
countering the commons.
In planning your movesets, it's always a good idea to plan against commonly
used things, just in case. If you're going up against ubers, this is
especially useful, since all of the highest special attack bases are held by
ubers. Conveniently, a lot of these same things are weak to ice again, so
packing in an Ice Beaming is always a good idea. Aside from them, commonly
used special sweepers include Porygon Z, Alakazam, Togekiss, Jolteon, and
so on. Togekiss is already covered under Ice Beam. Jolteon can easily be
covered by an Earthquake. Porygon Z and Alakazam, both tied for the highest
special attack bases in the game for non-ubers have less common weaknesses
however. Porygon Z luckily has somewhat shabby defenses, so blowing through
him with a couple of powerful physical attacks might even do the trick,
even if they aren't fighting type moves. As for Alakazam, Shadow Ball is
probably the most common move you have to finish him, although better choices
for the job are things like Crunch, X-Scissor, and Shadow Claw, if you have
them.
Another counter to special sweepers, as with physical sweepers, is just
disabling what they can do. What you do is exactly the same as what you would
do to a special sweeper, so I won't run through the whole thing again.
Another counter is obviously a special wall. Special walls are surprizingly
effective against stopping special sweepers in their tracks. Throw in the
added effect of burn or poison, and that tough foe can be easily defeated.
The most commonly used special wall is Blissey, due to her defense special
defense and simply massive HP total. However, to be original, I prefer to
use other things. Tons of water type Pokemon serve as excellent special walls
and can learn moves like Aqua Ring to stay alive longer to boot. So simply
walling a special sweeper with a special wall is surprizingly effective if
you can't beat the sweeper outright.
Similar to physical attacks, special attacks also have a move that cuts the
damage done by them. It's called Light Screen. Using Light Screen will cut
the damage your entire team receives from special attacks, meaning that even
if you're in a double battle your partner will get the effect too. And this
effect lasts until the wall fades, even if you switch out.
And again, the final way to counter a special sweeper is to beat it before
they beat you. Whether you do this via special or physical attacks doesn't
make a lot of difference a lot of the time. Just try to use type advantage
to the best favor you can give yourself, along with as much speed as you've
got on your team.
C. Countering Physical Walls
=============================
Physical walls are oftentimes pretty tricky to get rid of. If for nothing
else, for the fact that it's intensely hard to damage them. However, given
proper planning, taking them down can be made a whole lot easier.
An obvious first mention is to just plan for encountering common physical
walls. The most common physical wall ever is Skarmory (in combination with
the special wall of Blissey). Skarmory is steel/flying and also has pretty
bad special defense, so anything special based and fire/electric is going
to do pretty well against Skarmory. Type advantage even physical based still
do the job pretty well though. Other common walls include a ton of rock types
since their type obviously is resistent to a lot of attacks, in addition to
having the high defense. These things are obviously begging for an Earthquake
so plan that move on your team as well.
Another way to beat a physical wall is to counter with another wall of some
sort, and poison or burn them until they die. Damage on the both of you will
be severely reduced, since you're both walls, but this will ensure that they
do die eventually. Poison is especially effective in this strategy since
poison also halves defense, so using it to cut the defense of the enemy is
especially effective in a lot of situations. The downside to this is that a
lot of walls also carry these types of moves, so the same strategy may be
used on you as well, which would destroy you both in the end. To counter
this downside, it's always a good idea to give your wall a move like
Refresh, Heal Bell, or Aromatherapy to heal ailments, should the opponent do
this to you as well. Or just give your wall a Lum Berry to cure any ailment
one time.
Alternatively, if you don't want to beat the wall right now for one reason or
another, you can simply Roar them out of the match and force the opponent to
use something else. This can be helpful in times you want to ensure you can
beat everything else before draining your resources trying to take out
something not so easily defeated.
Stat boosting can also do wonders on physical walls. Swords Dance or Nasty
Plot, depending on which Pokemon you're using, will put your attack power
over the top enough to do a decent amount of damage on most walls.
On the complete other end of the board, there's destroying status effects.
Walls love to boost their stats so you can do as little damage to them as
possible. You can fix this of course, with one simple move: Haze.
Haze a wall, and all the effects they've accumulated go down the drain.
Similarly, walls also use moves that place a status effect on you. A way to
counter this is to simply make it impossible. Safeguard will protect you
from any ailments they try to place on you.
Another surprisingly good way to stop a wall is by another move: Taunt.
Taunting when your opponent has a wall out will ensure that the wall cannot
use those nasty healing or status effect moves that they always carry, which
forces the opponent to either do poor damage on you, or to switch out to get
something better. Stopping them from healing with this is especially
important, since if you have a Taunter, you can often go first against a wall
(since they're usually slow), preventing them from doing much of any good to
you.
Lastly, most physical walls have poor special defense to compensate their
excellent defense. Type advantage and a powerful special attack can easily
take care of a lot of physical walls. Be aware though, as trainers usually
know the weakness of what they're using and perhaps will switch out when you
try to take care of them this way. The trick to this is, you have to predict
switches, and when certain things will be coming in and out, in order to hit
at the right time in certain situations. Another alternative to this is
simply to lock them into the battle with a move like Block or Mean Look and
simply force them to face their weakness.
D. Countering Special Walls
============================
Countering special walls is very similar to countering physical walls. Only
you're dealing with special instead of physical defense. In order to counter
special walls, you need to find a way around their especially high special
defense.
The most common special wall is Blissey, and for good reason. Blissey has
the highest HP in the game by a LOT, so much so that her HP can sometimes be
raised into the 700s. In addition her special defense is also quite high.
But this comes with a price. This is her one and only job. She can't really
attack very well, and her defense is simply horrible. The low defense is
what you need to take advantage of. A good fighting attack with some decent
power behind it is often enough to take down Blissey in a shot or two.
However, combined with Skarmory, not a lot of players will let this happen.
The best way to combat this is to simply fool the opponent into throwing
Blissey in against someone they would never expect to have this type of move.
Or the aforementioned locking her in battle. Other common special walls are
Dusknoir, Cresselia, and Milotic. Always exploit weaknesses. Ghost type moves
such as Shadow Ball (or Shadow CLAW, if you have someone with it) work well
for the first two, and electric moves work well for Milotic. Always remember
that you can take them down via status ailment should everything else fail.
Those not on Blissey, for the fact that all Blisseys know either Refresh or
Heal Bell.
Generally, countering a special wall can be as easy as just using another
special wall and waiting it out until they die via poison or burn. Unlike
with physical walls though, neither poison nor burn cut special defense, so
using one over the other isn't going to lower anything beneficial to the
situation, unless the special wall also has decent defense, in which case
poison is more beneficial. In any case, always be prepared for the same
tactic from the enemy with a status healing move or a Lum Berry.
As with physical walls, you can always push off dealing with the Pokemon
until later, if you so desire. Roaring out of the battle can oftentimes save
your team some strength in order to take down the rest of the team before
having to deal with the special wall. If nothing is working at the moment,
putting it off until later with Roar isn't a bad idea.
And again, status boosting does wonders. These are special walls we're
dealing with here, so they'll have lower defense than special defense. So the
most beneficial stat boosting move to use would be Swords Dance, to exploit
the lower of the defense stats. Swords Dance a time or two, and then see how
much damage you're doing now.
On the complete other end of the board, there's destroying status effects.
Walls love to boost their stats so you can do as little damage to them as
possible. You can fix this of course, with one simple move: Haze.
Haze a wall, and all the effects they've accumulated go down the drain.
Similarly, walls also use moves that place a status effect on you. A way to
counter this is to simply make it impossible. Safeguard will protect you
from any ailments they try to place on you.
Another surprisingly good way to stop a wall is by another move: Taunt.
Taunting when your opponent has a wall out will ensure that the wall cannot
use those nasty healing or status effect moves that they always carry, which
forces the opponent to either do poor damage on you, or to switch out to get
something better. Stopping them from healing with this is especially
important, since if you have a Taunter, you can often go first against a wall
(since they're usually slow), preventing them from doing much of any good to
you.
E. Countering Mixed Sweepers
=============================
Mixed sweepers are simply a combination of sweepers already mentioned, so I
won't detail too much more about countering them. I will point out a few
more things though.
Being mixed sweepers, they have to take advantage of both high attack and
special attack. Oftentimes this means sacrificing EVs in other areas, such
as speed. In any case, if the trainer wanted to fully take advantage of both
of the attack areas, EVs weren't placed in another category that might have
otherwise been used. It's a good idea to find exactly what area is lacking
and to exploit the lack of points.
Another good option for countering Pokemon that know both the types of
attacks is just to block them with a mixed wall. They can't do much damage no
matter which attack they use, so effectively, they'll have to withdraw and
switch to another tactic if they want to get passed you.
F. Countering Mixed Walls
==========================
Mixed walls are pretty tricky to get passed in any respect. You can't really
do much damage to them no matter what attack you may try, so you have to go
about getting rid of them with other methods. Again, a lot of the same ideas
that applied to physical and special walls still apply here, so I won't
repeat the same things again.
The most common mixed wall, and the only mixed wall I can think of being used
on a large scale at the moment, is Umbreon. A lot of times, Umbreon doesn't
know even one attack and will just sit there healing itself with Wish or
Moonlight while you're locked in with Mean Look and being poisoned to death.
Obviously, if you get locked into the battle, you can't do much else to
counter besides what you already have out, so make sure you don't screw
yourself too badly with the one chance you may have to switch when Umbreon
is initially sent out. Umbreon is a pure dark type, so it's a good idea to
exploit the weaknesses, those mainly being fighting moves. Brick Break is
typically a good option for this, since a lot of things can learn that
particular move. Other options to getting out of a Mean Look are Roar, since
it forces Umbreon out of the battle, who is needed for the Mean Look to stay
in effect, or Baton Pass, should you have that on your team. Alternatively,
you can simply poison or burn Umbreon back with a lot of effect.
On the complete other end of the board, there's destroying status effects.
Walls love to boost their stats so you can do as little damage to them as
possible. You can fix this of course, with one simple move: Haze.
Haze a wall, and all the effects they've accumulated go down the drain.
Similarly, walls also use moves that place a status effect on you. A way to
counter this is to simply make it impossible. Safeguard will protect you
from any ailments they try to place on you.
Another surprisingly good way to stop a wall is by another move: Taunt.
Taunting when your opponent has a wall out will ensure that the wall cannot
use those nasty healing or status effect moves that they always carry, which
forces the opponent to either do poor damage on you, or to switch out to get
something better. Stopping them from healing with this is especially
important, since if you have a Taunter, you can often go first against a wall
(since they're usually slow), preventing them from doing much of any good to
you.
G. Countering Specialized Teams
================================
Obviously this is going to be the easiest thing to counter out of everything,
since a lot of things are going to have a common weakness. Once you know
what type of team you're dealing with, you just have to use the corresponding
move that is effective against it.
However, if you were smart when building the team, you would have provided
counters against what was super effective. So in order to counter this good
planning, we have to think a step ahead. A lot of Pokemon can learn moves
that aren't their type. So the counter provided by the specialized team
won't necessarily cover your actual type, if you're simply using the type
move that's effective against them. In effect, you can still decimate the
team, while keeping alive yourself for getting around the counter strategy.
H. Countering Baton Passers
============================
Baton Passing teams have TONS of strengths, considering how many things they
can pass on to one another via the move Baton Pass. However, this strategy
has one major flaw that lets a single move undo it most of the time.
Of course, the move I'm talking about is Roar. Roar forces the Pokemon back
in their ball without the opportunity to pass the moves onto another Pokemon
on the team. In effect, the chain for passing has to start all over again,
and you've cost your opponent a lot of time and effort in the process.
Along those same lines, you could simply just destroy all of the status
boosters they've used with the move Haze. Haze will erase all of them and
make it as though nothing happened at all.
Of course, using this move requires that the opponent LET you use this move.
Often times, this will prove to be difficult, provided what the foe is
already doing to ensure maximum stat gains for their team. Perhaps they put
you to sleep first. Or maybe confusion, or attract. In any case, it's
unlikely they simply left you to attack them while they tried to boost their
stats. Sadly, there's not a lot you can do about this and just have to try
to get the move out there through whatever you're being hindered by. There's
always Lum Berries to solve the problem once, but otherwise, you'll have to
rely simply on luck to get through whatever is hindering your progress.
Other counters to Baton Passers involve stopping the chain of passes as well.
If you can disable whoever the chain is currently on, you give yourself some
time to KO whoever has the boosted stats, thus ending the chain. An excellent
example of this would be to put them asleep. Putting a Pokemon asleep that
has a lot of stats on it will either stall for time to kill them on your
part, or will force the opponent into withdrawing the Pokemon completely,
thus ending the chain of boosted stats, which was your ultimate goal anyway.
Immobilization stops what they do and, in effect, what they pass on. If they
can't pass things on, the entire structure of what their team is based on,
and allows you to effectively destroy them.
Another option doesn't exactly involve STOPPING them, per se, but it's quite
effective, nonetheless. This option is using the move "Psych Up". It allows
you to copy all of their stat boosts in a single turn. And considering that
Baton Passers usually have quite a few of them accumulated at some point,
copying all that work and getting it on yourself with only one move is quite
decent, if I say so myself.
Or of course, you could simply Taunt them and let that work well for you.
It'll disable whatever boosting moves they want to use, ensuring that they
can't boost anymore, and in addition, can't even pass them onto someone else.
Although you should be warned that if you Taunt, you should do it BEFORE
they use a couple of Swords Dances so that you don't get repeatedly hit by
the high attack effects of that.
I. Countering Choice Teams
===========================
Probably not coming soon, realistically, but if anyone sends anything in
for this section, I'd probably post it here for lack of something else!
Update for 1.76 - I've got a little bit of advice for countering this.
And this trick can work both in disabling choice teams and putting choice
items where people don't want them. Switcheroo switches the item you hold
with your opponents. So if they've got a choice item you don't like, you
can switch it. Similarly, most people don't want choice items on their
Pokemon since it heavily handicaps them if they weren't made to battle
like that, so giving them a choice item with Switcheroo is equally as
effective.
J. Countering Annoyers
=======================
Two words: Lum Berry. Lum Berries absolutely decimate annoyer teams. The
more of them you have, the more successful you will be. Annoyer teams are
based around a variety of status ailments. If you hold an item that cures
any ailment you may be inflicted with, you effectively waste one of their
turns every time you throw out a new Pokemon. In addition, you make several
of the opponent's moves useless, since you automatically neutralize the
effects of them. This limits their move pool, and gives them fewer things
to use against you.
Other obvious things to use are status healing moves. Refresh is good. Heal
Bell and Aromatherapy are MUCH better, since they heal the ailments of the
entire team. combined with Lum Berries, if you have one Pokemon with Heal
Bell or Aromatherapy, there should be no reason you can't win against an
annoyer team. You've already got a free shot with the berries, and when you
become infected with even a couple of Pokemon, Heal Bell resets everything
and you're back to normal.
================================
XII. Building a Baton Pass Team
================================
Since Baton Passing is my personal favorite strategy for the Pokemon meta-
game, I've decided to devout an entire section to building a Baton Pass
team.
So just what is Baton Passing anyway? Baton Passing involves the move
"Baton Pass," which essentially replaces one Pokemon with another on the
field, without changing any of the field circumstances. Meaning that any stat
boosts, secondary status effects, and so on that your previous Pokemon had
will still be there affecting the new Pokemon after Baton Pass is used. It
is as if you never switched at all. The catch to this is that if, for any
reason, you're forced to withdraw your Pokemon from the field normally, the
Baton Pass chain will end, and the boosts and status effects will be
cancelled. This includes things like fainting, switching, being roared or
whirlwinded, and so on. Basically, if you switch Pokemon without using
Baton Pass, the chain ends.
So how to you use this strategy, and why is it advantageous? Well,
essentially, you're not simply limited to one Pokemon's moveset this way.
You can take advantage of many stat boosting moves even if that Pokemon
itself can't actually learn them. Using the strategy involves packing as few
or as many stat boosting moves (and others too, like Mean Look) onto your
team as you need/want for your strategy, and then giving that Pokemon the
move Baton Pass to pass them on to someone else, who will do the work of
attacking for you. A good example is starting out with a couple of Iron
Defenses to boost defense, then passing onto someone else, who will use
a couple Sword Dances, then passing onto your sweeper. The extra defense
ensures that you won't die, and the attack boost tries to ensure that you
can OHKO them. Obviously things are a little more complicated than this, but
that's the main gist of things.
Of course, not everyone can learn Baton Pass, so to use it, you'll need to
have one or more of the Pokemon that know it on your team. Here's a list of
the Pokemon that can learn Baton Pass:
Mr. Mime, Eevee, Jolteon, Flareon, Vaporeon, Espeon, Umbreon, Glaceon,
Leafeon, Mew, Sentret, Furret, Ledyba, Ledian, Togepi, Togetic, Togekiss,
Aipom, Girafarig, Celebi, Surskit, Masquerain, Ninjask, Mawile, Plusle,
Minun, Huntail, Gorebyss, Ambipom, Drifloon, Drifblim, Buneary, Lopunny,
Mime Jr., Venonat, Venomoth, Scyther, Spinarak, Ariados, Gligar, Scizor,
Torchic, Combusken, Blaziken, Skitty, Delcatty, Meditite, Medicham, Volbeat,
Illumise, Spinda, Absol, Buizel, Floatzel, Gliscor, Smeargle
It should be noted that not all of these Pokemon LEARN Baton Pass on their
own, and instead have to learn it in a previous evolution (all of the
Eeveelutions, for example need to learn it as an Eevee), and others require
that you breed it onto them since it's only an egg move, and they never learn
it naturally. So you'll need to check the specifics on this for how they
learn the move.
Of particular note in this list is Mr. Mime and Smeargle, due to Sound Proof
which prevents things like Roar from working, saving all of your boosts from
being erased. Smeargle can obviously use every move in the game, which is
beneficial. Of particular interest is Smeargle's ability to use Spore in
combination with Belly Drum and then passing it on. It's fast, quick, and
effective.
In addition to stat boosting moves, another move you're going to commonly
want to use with Baton Passing is Substitute. Substitute prevents status
ailments and also saves your from unpredictable critical hits. The main
attraction of Substitute though, is that it allows you to pass it to one
of your Pokemon that normally has problems switching in. My favorite
example of a Sub-passer is a Jolteon with Baton Pass, Yawn, Substitute,
and Thunderbolt. Yawn to force a switch or cause them to sleep (you
don't care which), Substitute on the switch, and pass to someone else.
It's really useful in getting things out that normally couldn't survive.
And without further adieu, I'll start on the specific examples on how to
build a team like this.
A. Type Selection
==================
First of all, you're obviously going to want to decide just how in depth you
want to go with this strategy. In most cases, people only apply the strategy
to a part of their team, with only maybe two of their Pokemon knowing
boosting moves and Baton Pass. But obviously, you can take it farther than
this and use Baton Pass on every member of your team. If you're using the
other part of this FAQ, you'll be using my advice and using Pokemon you like,
so you'll probably just want to use a couple of Baton Passers on your team.
In this case, just apply what I say in this section to those Pokemon who use
the move and keep in mind what I say in the rest of it. But for the sake of
purity I'm going to say I'm going to go all out on the Baton Passing with
this team. Therefore, four of my Pokemon will be boosting, with two Pokemon
left over to receive and use the boosts.
B. Pokemon Selection
=====================
All right. The amount of variety we've got in making a Baton Passing team is
much less than it is if we're just making a normal team (and even less than
that if you're restricting yourself to certain tiers). So we've got to make
really good use of the choices we've got here. Again, I'm not going to use
anyone that I don't like. Luckily, a lot of my favorites fall into this group
of Pokemon that can learn Baton Pass. They are:
Mr. Mime, Jolteon, Vaporeon, Espeon, Umbreon, Glaceon, Leafeon, Togekiss,
Girafarig, Ninjask, Huntail, Gorebyss, Ambipom, Drifblim, Lopunny, Venomoth,
Scizor, Blaziken, Medicham, Absol, Floatzel, Gliscor
Once your narrow down your favorites, you obviously want to take into account
what type of moves your team is passing. In my case, I'm going to want a
little bit of everything, but if you're not using all six members as passers,
you might not need to boost all of your stats. If you know which sweeper you
want to pass to, you might not necessarily need Nasty Plot if they're a
physical sweeper, for example. But in my case, I want everything, so I need
things that can learn a lot of the moves. Stat lines don't matter, to a
point, so long as your lead can take a hit or two. We'll get to that later
though. For simplicity's sake, I'll assume you can look up who can learn
what move and just list off which ones of these I know can learn moves I'll
be wanting.
Mr. Mime, Jolteon, Vaporeon, Espeon, Umbreon, Togekiss, Girafarig, Ninjask,
Gorebyss, Ambipom, Drifblim, Lopunny, Scizor, Medicham, Absol, Gliscor
The moves I was looking for when making that selection were:
Calm Mind, Amnesia, Nasty Plot, Swords Dance, Iron Defense, Acid Armor,
Agility, Rock Polish, Dragon Dance, Mean Look, Aqua Ring, Substitute, etc
Now from here I need to consider typings (to an extent) and who I can use
to both begin and end the chain in order to get a good balance for the team.
Obviously there are a bunch of options for this here, but I'll just select
a few who I know will do a good job for the team:
*********************************************************************
* Selection: Mr. Mime, Umbreon, Gliscor, Scizor, Gorebyss, Starmie *
*********************************************************************
In this selection, four are boosters, while two are receivers. Both
Scizor and Starmie are there to receive boosts, not to boost their own
stats. Once the Baton Pass Chain is complete, either of the two are
swapped to (depending on what you did), and you sweep as necessary.
C. Move Selection
==================
Now I've got my selection. And unlike normally where you want to do your
best to give each Pokemon a moveset to both prevent it from being walled
and to cover its weaknesses as well as you can, in building a Baton Pass
team, you want to make sure all of your passable moves are covered as well
as you can. So to start the selection off, I'll just list off the passable
moves for each of them. It's good to do this since if, when you list them off
you see that something you wanted isn't covered, you can go through and
select again.
Mr. Mime: Meditate, Substitute, Calm Mind, Double Team
Umbreon: Mean Look, Double Team, Substitute, Curse
Gliscor: Harden, Swords Dance, Double Team, Rock Polish, Substitute, Agility
Gorebyss: Agility, Amnesia, Aqua Ring, Double Team, Substitute, Iron Defense
I'm going to assume Evasion Clause is in effect, so I won't be using any
Double Teams.
Now that I've decided roughly who will be doing what, I'll get into specifics
on the moves. For simplicity's sake, I'll start out with Umbreon, since the
whole idea for the team stems off Umbreon's success as the lead (which will
be explained in the Order Selection section).
Umbreon
--------
Umbreon is the only Pokemon in the entire game who has the ability
to use both Mean Look and Baton Pass (other than Absol, but no one cares
since he can't use it very well). This team abuses this fact beyond what
is really necessary to achieve success. As for the other two slots, we have
a couple of options to consider. Firstly, Umbreon can learn Wish. Wish
passing can heal any member of your team half their health. And since none
of them know recovery moves of their own, this could be important to have
just in case things don't go as planned. As for the last slot, most people
choose Toxic to have Umbreon stall as a wall. However, there's a far less
popular option of giving Umbreon Yawn. Yawn will make the opponent fall
asleep on the NEXT turn. There's several reasons this is advantageous to
you. Firstly, since you Mean Looked beforehand, this means they WILL fall
asleep and cannot switch to escape it. More importantly, the delay in the
sleep means that you don't waste a turn when the stat boosts start. You
Baton Pass out with Umbreon once your setup is done, and start boosting. The
opponent will be asleep and you'll have time to do as you please. Knowing
this, the rest of the team will be much easier to decide now.
***********************************************
* Decision: Baton Pass, Mean Look, Wish, Yawn *
***********************************************
Mr. Mime
---------
As someone kindly pointed out to me via e-mail, Mr. Mime is an excellent
Baton Passer due to his ability: Soundproof. Soundproof moves that he can't
be forced to switch with Roar, meaning your boosts are essentially safe
once you use them. This said, Mr. Mime has pretty limited moves he can use
to pass. Calm Mind is the obvious one. Substitute also works well here.
That is essentially all Mr. Mime is good for passing for. So the last move
will essentially be filler: Psychic.
********************************************************
* Decision: Baton Pass, Calm Mind, Substitute, Psychic *
********************************************************
Gliscor
--------
Gliscor has quite a few options at his disposal. Since he can learn Rock
Polish, Swords Dance AND Iron Defense, he makes an excellent passer. Since
he is not the receiver of the boosts, he doesn't actually need to know
any attacks, meaning we can put all three of those boosters on Gliscor
without any attacks.
****************************************************************
* Decision: Baton Pass, Swords Dance, Rock Polish Iron Defense *
****************************************************************
Scizor
-------
Scizor is one of our designated receivers for the boosts we're giving, so
he's got to be loaded up with attacks that deal some damage. We should also
take into consideration that since we only have two things that are
attacking, we need to make extra careful that we're not easily walled.
Scizor's two obvious attacks are X-Scissor and Iron Head. Brick Break is
another good choice since it will easily take care of Blissey and other
normal walls after a couple of Sword Dances. Night Slash is possibly an
option for the last slot, as is Aerial Ace. In this case, I'm just going
to go with Night Slash since, after the boosts, you shouldn't have
problems KOing things regardless of which of the two moves you choose.
************************************************************
* Decision: X-Scissor, Iron Head, Brick Break, Night Slash *
************************************************************
Gorebyss
---------
Earlier, we decided that Gorebyss was going to be solely devouted to
boosting, since it could do so much. Amnesia is a must, since no one else on
the team can learn it, and we need a way to boost special defense. We already
decided that Aqua Ring wasn't going to be very beneficial for this team, and
Substitute is also not necessary since Mr. Mime has this move. The only
other things left on the list are Agility and Iron Defense now. These two are
good to have since earlier we determined that we could afford to put on
attacking moves since these would be covered here. So this is a good choice.
********************************************************
* Decision: Baton Pass, Amnesia, Agility, Iron Defense *
********************************************************
Starmie
--------
Starmie is our second receiver. Starmie will go out after Mr. Mime, should
you choose to boost special attack rather than physical attack. As such,
this will be a fairly standard Starmie, able to take out many things. Surf,
Thunderbolt, and Ice Beam are all fairly standard moves on a Starmie, and
that gives it decent coverage. Instead of Recover, which is normally the
last move, since Wish can be used should Starmie get hurt (which shouldn't
happen), we'll add an extra move for a little more coverage. Either Grass
Knot or Psychic could work here. Psychic gets STAB though, so this is the
move I'll be going with here.
**************************************************
* Decision: Ice Beam, Surf, Thunderbolt, Psychic *
**************************************************
After You've Picked Your Moves
-------------------------------
I won't explain this in detail again, since it's the same as normal. But
after you pick out your moves, you're obviously going to breed for natures
and EV train your Pokemon, and then level for moves and such. The process is
the same as before, so look above in the FAQ on how exactly to go about doing
this. I'll simply list these for this team, since there's no need to explain
the decisions for this.
********************************************************
* Umbreon: Careful nature, 252 HP, 92 SD, 164 speed *
* Mr. Mime: Calm nature, 252 HP, 40 SD, 216 speed *
* Gliscor: Jolly nature, 252 HP, 6 attack, 252 speed *
* Scizor: Adamant nature, 6 HP, 252 attack, 252 speed *
* Gorebyss: Timid nature, 252 HP, 6 defense, 252 speed *
* Starmie: Timid nature, 6 HP, 252 SA, 252 speed *
********************************************************
And then the other thing we need to consider is abilities, if they can learn
more than one. Mr. Mime's is most important here, since Soundproof is needed
for this strategy since it prevents Roar from working. Gliscor, Scizor, and
Starmie also have two, but theirs are less important what they actually are.
**************************
* Mr. Mime: Soundproof *
* Gliscor: Sand Veil *
* Scizor: Swarm *
* Starmie: Natural Cure *
**************************
D. Order Selection
===================
Obviously with Baton Passing, the order you choose to put your Pokemon in is
even more important than usual. More specifically, your lead is important
and the end of your chain is important. Generally speaking, in Baton Passing
you need to either be able to inflict an ailment that will stall for time
to boost or be able to boost once or twice because of an ability to survive
that long on your own. Either way, the key is that your lead either has to
have good defense to boost or needs to inflict an ailment to stall so you
can boost. In this case, Umbreon does both. I gave Umbreon Yawn, which is
the setup for the team, meaning that it must go first in this particular
setup. Ultimately though, survival is the key. Under no circumstances do
you want to chance your chain ending.
The other thing to consider is who will end the chain. Obviously if you had
this planned before as to who the receiver would be, you already know this
though. In my case, either Scizor or Starmie ends this chain.
E. Final Touches
=================
The last thing we need to do before we're ready to battle (other than
confirming our strategy) is to decide items. This isn't really too
difficult though. There are two things we want to keep in mind: Umbreon
will be getting beat up since it's the lead and will be out before the
sleeping begins, so it will need healing, and secondary ailments also
get passed with the chain. All things considered, Umbreon should be
getting Leftovers to help it survive. Other than this, you
might want to cover up some weaknesses with a Focus Sash or a special
berry (the weakness reducing ones, you know). A last option is a
Life Orb for one of the attackers to increase your damage. I don't
think this is entirely necessary though, considering we'll have a
boost already. In this case, these are the items I'll be using:
************************
* Umbreon: Leftovers *
* Mr. Mime: Leftovers *
* Gliscor: Yache Berry *
* Scizor: Occa Berry *
* Gorebyss: Lum Berry *
* Starmie: Life Orb *
************************
And that's it! The team is built and you can start using it against other
people. But you have to know how to do it first. I kind of explained as I was
building, but I'll take a little bit to go through the whole strategy now.
Baton Passing Strategy
-----------------------
All right. So Umbreon is an important lead here. The idea is to first lock
in the other Pokemon with Mean Look. This way, you know what you're up
against and have proper time to boost with this in mind. After you lock,
you promptly use Yawn, and then get out of there with Baton Pass. If it
looks like Umbreon won't be able to survive three hits, you'll have to
Baton Pass early so your Mean Look is in tact (three since Umbreon will
probably move second). Who you switch to after this will depend on what
you want to do next. If it looks like your attacks will be more beneficial
with Starmie, switch to Mr. Mime in order to boost your special attack. If
it looks like normal attacks will be the way to go, switch to Gliscor to
boost your attack with Swords Dance. Obviously you're also going to want to
boost your Agility once or twice in order to move first, and also your two
defenses to make sure you can survive, but for the most part, switch
according to what attack stat you want to boost. If they wake up from the
Yawn, switch back to Umbreon to put the to sleep again and repeat the cycle.
Continue with this until you feel you have enough stat boosts to sweep
properly, then switch to either Scizor or Starmie and sweep the rest of
their team.
That's essentially it. If you get the Yawn and Mean Look in at the beginning,
the combination is essentially unstoppable since they can't do anything to
stop you. They're asleep and locked into the battle. Meaning even if they
have a taunter/roarer/etc, they won't be able to switch to them to break
your chain. And by the time they get out in the battle, you'll have enough
Agilities in to go before them and OHKO them. It's a very effective and
powerful strategy. You don't necessarily have to use the Pokemon I used
in this example for it either. The only essential component for it is
Umbreon with Mean Look, Yawn, and Baton Pass. Then you can mix and match
as you want.
And that's all on Baton Passing. I hope you learned a little something
on how powerful it can be. Thanks for reading this new section!
====================================================
XIII. Completed Examples of EV Spreads and Movesets
====================================================
In this section of the FAQ, I'll provide examples of teams that either I have
made, or one of my extremely well informed companions have made, and provide
the strategy that goes with each team. If you'd like me to add a team that
you've made to this section feel free to e-mail me your team in the format
I use here, and provide an explanation of the strategy you use with it. If
it's at least somewhat decent, I'll post it here, and everyone can know what
great talent you have at making awesome teams too.
Sui's old FAQ Example Team
---------------------------
Froslass (female) @ Focus Fash
EVs in speed and special attack / Timid nature
Ice Beam (TM)
Shadow Ball (TM)
Thunderbolt (TM)
Destiny Bond (level 59)
Flygon (female) @ Life Orb
EVs in attack and speed / Naive nature
Dragon Claw (level 45)
Earthquake (TM)
Stone Edge (TM)
Fire Blast (TM)
Miltank (female) @ Leftovers
Scrappy
EVs in HP and defense/ Impish nature
Milk Drink (level 11)
Heal Bell (level 48)
Body Slam (level 24)
Earthquake (TM)
Lanturn (female) @ Leftovers
Volt Absorb
EVs in HP and SD / Calm nature
Confuse Ray (level 17)
Surf (HM)
Thunderbolt (TM)
Thunder Wave (level 6 Chinchou)
Yanmega (male) @ King's Rock
Speed Boost
EVs in special attack and speed / Modest nature
Bug Buzz (level 54)
Hypnosis (level 38 Yanma)
Protect (TM)
Air Slash (level 49)
Absol (female) @ Razor Claw
Super Luck
EVs in attack and speed / Jolly nature
Night Slash (level 52)
Swords Dance (level 25)
Psycho Cut (level 60)
Sucker Punch (level 44)
Strategy: The key to this team is knowing who has advantages in what area and
when you need to switch and when you need to stay. Froslass is the lead. Tons
of things are weak to ice, and it's fast enough to go first in most
situations. In a case where you won't be able to OHKO, you have a couple of
options. You can either switch to something else to preserve Froslass for
later, you can try to take it out in a couple shots with Froslass, or you
can wait until you're SURE Froslass will die in the next turn, then use
Destiny Bond to make them die too (assuming they're slower than you, that
is). Aside from Froslass, you need to learn to switch well. If you suspect an
Earthquake, you need to switch to Yanmega or Flygon, depending on the
situation. Earthquakes like to kill Lanturn, so that's usually the switch
you'll be making that one on. If you suspect a Thunderbolt or something,
Lanturn absorbs those. Just learn the switches. Aside from that, Flygon's
strategy is fairly obvious. He can OHKO a lot of things. And he's got a
surprise Fire Blast in there, which is a move not many people will expect
him to have. So that's a great think to have going for you. Yanmega's
strategy is to Protect first turn, then Hypnosis, then sweep with the other
two moves. Miltank can stay alive for stupid amounts of time. So Milk Drink
her to death. Also switch to her for Heal Bell if you need a status problem
gone. Lanturn switches in on a Thunderbolt, then uses Thunder Wave to half
speed. Then Confuse Ray for increased chances of them not being able to do
anything. Absol Sword Dances ONLY if you think you can get one in or expect
a non-attacking move or something like that. This team actually works really
well together and can take out teams that are far above it in tier if you
know what you're doing.
Sui's Baton Passing Sleep Team
--------------------------------
Vaporeon (male) @ Leftovers
EVs in HP and special defense / Calm nature
Wish (egg move)
Baton Pass (level 36 Eevee)
Aqua Ring (level 43)
Ice Beam (TM)
Ninetales (female) @ Wide Lens
EVs in speed and special attack / Timid nature
Energy ball (egg move)
Nasty Plot (move tutor)
Flamethrower (level 24 Vulpix)
Hypnosis (egg move)
Gliscor (female) @ Shell Bell
Hyper Cutter
EVs in defense and speed / Jolly nature
Earthquake (TM)
Rock Polish (TM)
Swords Dance (level 34)
Baton Pass (egg move)
Crobat (female) @ Black Sludge
EVs in speed and attack / Jolly nature
Confuse Ray (level 21)
Return (TM)
Hypnosis (egg move)
U-Turn (TM)
Umbreon (male) @ Lum Berry
EVs in defense and special defense / Impish nature
Wish (egg move)
Yawn (egg move)
Baton Pass (level 36 Eevee)
Mean Look (level 57)
Lucario (male) @ Muscle Band
Inner Focus
EVs in attack and special attack / Lonely nature
Aura Sphere (level 37)
Extremespeed (level 51)
Shadow Claw (TM)
Dragon Pulse (level 47)
*Note* - this is not the Baton Passing Team I've got listed for example
for the Baton Passing part of this FAQ.
Strategy: Contrary to the order I have them in there, Crobat is the lead
here. He has one of the highest base speeds in the game, and with that Jolly
nature and EVs in speed, there's almost nothing that can normally outspeed
him (unless something like a Choice Scarf is used). This is needed. He's
sent out and uses Hypnosis. While the opponent sleeps, Confuse Ray, in order
to stall for time when he wakes up. Then switch out to Gliscor. Gliscor then
proceeds to use a variety of Rock Polish and Swords Dance, which he will
then Baton Pass on to Vaporeon once the foe wakes up or Gliscor is in
trouble. Vaporeon will use Aqua Ring, and then Baton Pass to Umbreon.
Umbreon will use Mean Look to lock in the foe, and will then Baton Pass to
Lucario, who will then sweep the board with his incredibly boosted status.
Should something go wrong, Umbreon and Vaporeon are there to wall, and both
have Wish, which they can Baton Pass to heal any member of the team with.
Ninetales is there for the sleep theme, and can also be passed some Rock
Polishes, should the situation call for it. The Wide Lens she has boosts
Hypnosis' accuracy, further ensuring the sleep status on the foe. While
they're sleeping (after an option Mean Look Pass from Umbreon to make sure
they don't switch out from it), Nasty Plot raises Ninetales' special attack.
Once you've used it once or twice, or if they wake up, sweep away. Energy
Ball obviously covers Ninetales' water weakness. And Vaporeon has Ice Beam
instead of Surf to cover the fact that many more things are weak to ice, and
I didn't have an ice move to cover it.
More teams coming soon!
==========================
XIV. Additional Resources
==========================
In addition to this FAQ, obviously you might want some other information that
will come in useful to making your team. This section is dedicated to
providing you with some useful locations for various things that help you
do that.
Specific listed movesets for certain strategies on Sinnoh Pokemon can be
found in Parrot_Lover's Competitive Battling guide here at GameFAQs. I've
read this guide personally and found it to be excellent.
For extra EV training spots other than the one's I listed in this guide, use
Alexcalibur's EV Training Hotspot guide here at GameFAQs.
For information on movesets, base stats, and anything else to do with a
specific Pokemon, check out Serebii's D/P PokeDex, found here:
http://www.serebii.net/pokedex-dp/
To browse by egg groups to check on how to breed certain moves onto a Pokemon,
check Serebii's dex by egg ground, which can be done by selecting a group
from the scroll down menu on the page from the link above.
For information on specific attacks, who can learn a specific move, and
anything else that's attack related, use Serebii's attack dex.
http://www.serebii.net/attackdex-dp/
To check on hold items for your Pokemon, check out Serebii's D/P item list
and BerryDex.
http://www.serebii.net/diamondpearl/items.shtml
http://www.serebii.net/berrydex-dp/
And, of course, Smogon has a tier list and other sections you should check
out!
http://www.smogon.com/dp/tiers/
Also, if you need help on coming up with movesets and don't want to e-mail
me (I'll help you. You just need an idea of what you want first), you can
use Smogon. They've got specific sets listed and everything.
If you have an excellent Pokemon resource that you feel would be a good
addition to this list, please e-mail me and let me know about it so that I
can add it and let everyone use the awesome resource you found!
====================
XV. Acknowledgments
====================
I'd like to thank GameFAQs for hosting this guide, along with Nintendo and
GameFreak for making the wonderful series we all know as Pokemon. Also thanks
to my good friends at Saint Elimine's Sanctuary for participating in
daily talks about this type of thing that help us all keep at the top of our
game with this stuff. Thanks especially to Anon and Heintz for editing and
critiquing many of my things via PMs there!
Thanks to the people who helped me proof this guide for errors and gave me
suggestions on making it better (all from Saint Elimine's):
Anon
RBW
berserk_banana
Plague
Abyssion
Heintz
A special thanks to Heintz for providing me with very detailed descriptions
about what exactly was wrong and needed fixing with this FAQ. Many sections
and pieces of information could not have been added without your help.
A special thanks to Anon for learning so many things about battling and
Pokemon in general over the last couple months. Despite your wtf moments, I
think you actually know what you're talking about finally. >.>
A special thanks to Michelle. Just because.
Thanks to the following people for providing me with corrections/tips/other
helpful things via e-mail:
Surging_Chaos - Specific counter tips
Force of Light - Stealth Rock correction
Timic83 - for pointing out that Steel and Poison types can be poisoned by
Twineedle.
Chumblespuzz - for pointing out that Embargo and Heal Block are other
secondary ailments that I missed.
Scion - Various suggestions/other things that were quite insightful and
such.
Tombola Man - For help on the Lanturn moveset suggestion, along with
Spider Web and the Stealth Rock correction.
Shikamaru200 - For giving me a bunch of suggestions on how to improve my
FAQ to make it more current and less outdated.
If you sent me a correction or something in the seven or so months I did
not update the FAQ, I'm sorry, but I've since forgotten what exactly you
said. I know there were a couple things, but I don't have the time to
search through my e-mail to find all of them right now. So feel free to
send them again if you want, and I'll make sure I actually add them now
since I'm feeling more up to updating this thing now than I have been.
In addition, thanks to the following sites for all of their excellent
information on this game:
Serebii
Smogon
Psypokes
More thanks coming on future updates!
=========================
XVI. Contact Information
=========================
Got a question about something you saw in this FAQ? Maybe you want me to give
you a little personal help with building your team? See some missing info
in the guide? Or wrong maybe? Maybe you just want to tell me how you thought
my guide was? Whatever the case, if you want to contact me, e-mail me! Just
make sure to follow my e-mail policy, covered earlier in this document, when
sending your e-mail. You can contact me at:
Sui892001@gmail.com
Remember to title your e-mail as something like "Your Pokemon FAQ" to ensure
you receive a reply!
================
XVII. Copyright
================
This FAQ is for personal use only. If you want to use my guide at another
website, or for something other than for personal use, you must contact me
for my permission first. More than likely, if you contact me first, I'll let
you use it. I don't have a problem with it or anything. Currently, the
sites with permission to use this are:
www.gamefaqs.com
www.supercheats.com
www.GamersHell.com
www.gamesradar.com
www.cheatplanet.com
Pokemon Diamond and Pokemon Pearl Versions are both Copyrights (C) 2006 of
Nintendo and GameFreak. Pokemon Platinum is Copyright (c) 2008 of
Nintendo and GameFreak.
Copyright (C) 2007 - 2008 Sui89
DEMOS
PATCHES - CHEATS
REVIEWS
GAME VIDEOS
Alter Ego Demo
Captain Morgane and the Go..
Adam's Venture 3: Rev..
Gateways Demo
Age of Decadence Public Be..
Captain Morgane and the Go..
Adam's Venture 3: Rev..
Gateways Demo
Age of Decadence Public Be..
NEWS ENTRIES
THIS WEEK'S MOST POPULAR DOWNLOADS
Soldner: Secret Wars Community Edition v33910 Free Fu.. Diablo III Open Beta Weekend Underway and Client GamersHell.com Saints Row: The Third Giveaway Alter Ego Demo Captain Morgane and the Golden Turtle Demo Adam's Venture 3: Revelations Demo Vsevolod Prologue Free Game
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare v1.7 Patch (patch) The Sims 3 v1.31.118 Patch for PC (patch) Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare v1.6 Patch (patch) Arma 2: Free (client) Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Free Full Game (A.. (fullgame) PES 2012 Demo (demo) PES 2011 Demo (demo)