Let’s Create Your Own Pokemon VGC Team

Written By MysticVGC

Welcome to DevonCorpPress! We believe in sharing the VGC stories and ideas of anyone in our community. I’ve known MysticVGC for a long time and when I came across this VGC Teambuilding breakdown on her X account, I personally reached out to ask if we could continue to share her work by archiving it on DevonCorpPress. For players new and old, take a moment to educate yourself or remind yourself of these important pillars when creating a Pokemon team.

- Ryan B Hebert

Founder of DevonCorpPress

Teambuilding VGC Check List

From MysticVGC’s X thread:

I made a check list that'll help new people who want to get into VGC with teambuilding. I've been asked a few times about this so I made this list of what I follow when I teambuild. Think of VGC like Chess bc you're strategizing ways to beat your opponent

When teambuilding, do you often know what Pokémon you want to use or do you grab a meta team and make it your own? Do you try to make a team from scratch but don’t know where to start? This may help when trying to teambuild from scratch!

  1. Do you want a meta team or an unorthodox team?

  2. What is the structure of your team?

    • Sweeper

    • Tank

    • Support

    • Bulky Support

    • Frail Sweeper

  3. Do you have or want a core when teambuilding?

    • Fire/Water/Grass (Bulky Offense)

    • Dragon/Fairy/Steel (Fantasy Core)

    You can try to make a core and see if it works:

    • Electric/Ground/Flying

    • Psychic/Dark/Ghost

    • Electric/Ground/Dragon

  4. Do you want to add a mode?

    • Rain

    • Sun

    • Tailwind

    • Trick Room

    • TailRoom (Tailwind & Trick Room)

  5. How to find battling modes on team:

    • Do you find yourself always feeling like you need to always have the same 4 Pokémon in certain matchups?

    • Are there Pokémon on your team that you found work especially well alongside each other in battle?

    • Are there Pokémon on your team that feel like they need another team member or they can’t be used well?

    • After picking your leads, do you find that you often know which two Pokémon would work best in the back?

  6. What is the intent for your team? Know the reasoning behind your decisions and choices! Such as why did you decide to put Focus Sash on Jumpluff?

    Ex: Adding Incineroar or Arcanine because they’re good as Intimidators. Give 0 IVs on Amoongus so it’ll be the fastest Pokémon in Trick Room. Test out Pokémon that are good in Modest Nature and see if it’ll be best to give it Life Orb or Choice Specs. Give 196 Atk EVs to Baxcalibur with Icicle Crash to knock out a 0 HP / 0 Def Garchomp that guarantees a OHKO.

    Don’t overthink too much. You’re simply trying to understand your reasoning behind the decisions you make when teambuilding

  7. What Pokémon or mechanic do you want to work with? What interests you?

    Ex: Tyranitar Sand Team for that chip damage, PsySpam for hyper Psychic damage, Dondozo + Tatsugiri combo for that massive bulk and the damage Dondozo can do.

  8. What are your intentions for adding Pokémon to your team?

    • Use a favorite?

    • Popular/Strong?

    • Are you really weak to a specific Pokémon or typing?

    • Does it have good synergy?

      • Ex: If Tapu Fini & Kartana are in your team, adding Arcanine will cover both their weaknesses. If you have Rapid-Strike Urshifu Tera to Water for bigger water damage, you can add a Lightning Rod user to attract Electric moves.

    • Use a specific item on a Pokémon that can activate it.

      • Ex: Use Stomping Tantrum to activate Weakness Policy Metagross.

      • Use Flame Orb on Guts Ursaluna because Guts boosts Attack by 50% if being in a status condition.

    • Why does that Pokémon belong in your team? If offensive Pokémon appears in 60% of teams & you have a Pokémon that resists its powerful attacks & can do something in return, the Pokémon is good in your team

  9. Think about what Pokémon keeps appearing when battling. So what adjustments should you make?

  10. Is it a good typing on your team?

    • Switch in on powerful attacks that threaten your Pokémon on the field like if you can switch multiple times in the same game like Incineroar when using Parting Shot before switching out and can switch it in again to put more Intimidate on the opposing Pokémon.

    • Can it survive attacks & take control of the battle?

    • Put pressure on your opponent by making use of both defensive typing and offensive coverage.

    • Think of VGC like Chess. Can your Pokémon force a retreat on your opponent such as forcing a switch on them?

  11. How do these Pokémon complement each other offensively?

    • Taking knock outs.

    • Dealing complementary damage.

    • Giving each other more opportunities to attack.

  12. How do these Pokémon complement each other defensively?

    • Switching in for each other.

    • Covering up each other’s weaknesses.

  13. Do your Pokémon synergize well?

    • Ex: Weather Setter + Weather Sweeper.

    • Ex: Fake Out + Trick Room.

    • Ex: Trick Room Setter + Slow Attackers.

    • Ex: Intimidate + Frail Sweepers.

    • Ex: Slow Pace Pokémon + Pokémon that like to Set Up.

    • Ex: Follow Me + Pokémon that like to Set Up.

    • Ex: Follow Me + Trick Room.

    • Ex: Protect + Trick Room.

    • Ex: Fake Out/Protect + Tailwind.

  14. Moves to consider when picking your Pokémon in teambuilding

    • Influence Speed Control?

      • Icy Wind

      • Electro Web

      • Tailwind

      • Trick Room

    • Redirection

      • Rage Powder

      • Follow Me

    • Immune to Powder Moves

      • Grass Types

      • Safety Goggles

      • Overcoat

    • Screens

      • Reflect

      • Light Screen

      • Aurora Veil

    • Stat Dropping Moves

      • Fake Tears (lowers Sp. Def by 2 stages)

      • Eerie Impulse (lowers Sp. Atk by 2 stages)

      • Charm (lowers Atk by 2 stages)

      • Breaking Swipe (lowers Atk by 1 stage)

      • Icy Wind (lowers Speed by 1 stage)

      • Electro-Web (lowers Speed by 1 stage)

    • Set Up Moves

      • Swords Dance

      • Belly Drum

      • Nasty Plot

      • Quiver Dance

      • Dragon Dance

      • Bulk Up

    • Recovery Moves

      • Roost

      • Recover

      • Moonlight

      • Lunar Blessing

      • Heal Pulse

      • Ingrain

      • Strength Sap

      • Giga Drain

      • Horn Leech

      • Matcha Gotcha

    • Anti-Set Up Moves

      • Haze

      • Roar (Force switch)

      • Whirlwind (Force switch)

      • Dragon Tail (Force switch)

      • Circle Throw (Force switch)

    • Final Moves to keep in mind

      • Fake Out

      • Taunt

      • Weather Set-Up

        • Sunny Day

        • Sandstorm

        • Rain

        • Hail

  15. Outlines for Pokemon when teambuilding

    1. General Outline

      1. STAB 1

      2. STAB 2

      3. Utility/Coverage

      4. Protect

    2. Support Outline

      1. STAB

      2. Stat Drop

      3. Redirection

      4. Recovery/Speed Control

    3. Set Up Outline

      1. STAB 1

      2. STAB 2

      3. Set Up Move

      4. Protect

    4. Hyper Offensive Outlinee

      1. STAB 1

      2. STAB 2

      3. STAB 3

      4. STAB 4

    5. Full Support*

      1. Status Condition mode

      2. Recovery mode

      3. Redirection

      4. Protect

        *Be aware of using this outline as the move Taunt will be the enemy for this type of Pokemon Usage

Disclaimer: The opinions/stories expressed in the blog post are those of the author's and not necessarily reflective of the platform or its affiliates.

MysticVGC
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