Help Newbie alert!

Burst Ezel

Aspiring Trainer
Member
Hi, I'm new to VG competitive play. I know enough about IVs and EVs but I don't know much else. What are prohibited moves for next year? How should I make my team? What are tiers? Are they official? Are the rules I should abide by when playing competitively like no OHKOs or no evasion raising moves? Thanks!
 

Celever

Wheeeee~
Member
Alright, I'll try and give you a quick rundown of the deal between Smogon metagames and official VGC. If you have any questions after this post, just post again though! :D

So there are essentially two kinds of metagame: the Smogon metagame and the official VGC metagame. VGC is what you see played at official Game Freak endorsed tournaments like nationals and worlds, while Smogon is moreso played on unofficial sims. Most of Smogon's tiers (OU, UU, RU, NU, PU) are formed through stats sourced from Smogon's official battling simulator, Pokémon Showdown!. The most used Pokémon in a given tier, e.g. UU, will be used in UU, unless it is also sufficiently used in any tier above UU, in this case OU. The benchmark tends to be around the 3% mark, meaning that in order to stay in the tier the Pokémon should be used on just over 3% of all teams used in the metagame. So if Mimikyu is used on 50% of teams in NU, but 3.5% of teams in OU, it will move up to OU and players will be unable to use them in UU, RU, NU or PU, as OU is the highest metagame. There is also Ubers and Anything Goes, but Ubers is just where anything that is banned from OU by the Smogon community goes, and Anything Goes is for the one thing banned from Ubers: Rayquaza-Mega. Smogon tiers are where you find rules like no OHKOs and no evasion raising or reducing moves. I believe no OHKOs is also a rule enforced in a lot of VGC metagames, but don't quote me on that.

VGC is Game Freak's official metagame, and it stands for Video Game Championship. A new ruleset is provided each year for this metagame, but there hasn't yet been a ruleset provided for Sun/Moon, as Game Freak will most likely base their rules off the usage statistics they gather from online or infra-red in-game battling. People tend to consider the Smogon metagames to be the most balanced, but others find them too restrictive, as Smogon has no hesitation to ban things it doesn't like that much.

On the topic of how you should make your team, there are a plethora of team archetypes and roles Pokémon can have on a team for you to play around with. I've got the most knowledge with competitive battling on this site's staff team (though I'm still a little bit back in Generation V! :p) so I've been working on a teambuilding guide whenever I've had a morsel of spare time. I think this glossary should help you out:

Every team is a part of an overall archetype, which dictates how it is played, and different players are simply better at playing with different kinds of teams. Finding a few archetypes which really gel with your battling style is key to having great success in the world of competitive VG. The following is a comprehensive list of different team archetypes, from most offensive to most defensive:

Hyper-Offense ~ Commonly abbreviated to HO. A hyper-offensive team relies on hazards and strong offensive presence to force your opponent to switch around a lot, taking collateral damage from hazards in the process.

Offense ~ A general term for teams who focus on hitting opponents hard and breaking them down through power rather than more gimmicky tactics. Oftentimes combined with field effects to boost speed or power, such as weather or Trick Room. Usually also has a utility Pokémon to support its offensive Pokémon by curing party members of status while inflicting it on the opponent. Requires excellent offensive type synergy.

Bulky Offense ~ Differentiated from offense by a larger focus on defense, which allows players to switch around more. Should include a Wish Passer, hazards remover and a cleric to support the other team members in a longer, more drawn out game. Requires a larger focus on defensive type synergy, but the offensive Pokémon on the team still need STAB with few resistances and large offensive stats to match. It can also include a sweeper as a secure win condition in the lategame.

Balance ~ A team utilising both defensive and offensive prowess to be adaptable in many different matchups. Commonly seen as a sort of jack of all trades (but master of none), balance teams possess usually include a wall, a stallbreaker and a sweeper, which can put a lot of pressure on each individual Pokémon to perform their roles.

Stall ~ Stall is a team archetype that most commonly utilizes the bulkiest Pokemon in the tier. Stall is not only about keeping your own Pokemon alive, but also using passive damage, such as entry hazards and status problems (like burn and poison) to KO the opponent. Type synergy is probably the most important factor for stall as far as team building goes, as you’re going to want a Pokemon that can check or stop every other Pokemon in the metagame.

Even though every team will fit into one of these overarching archetypes, there are also smaller, secondary and less prevalent archetypes which are sometimes used. For example, a combination of a team which uses Rain Dance but fits into the makeup of an offense team would be called “Rain Offense”. However, it’s also important to note that a secondary archetype isn’t at all necessary for a successful team, and many argue some of these archetypes are too gimmicky. A list of the most viable secondary archetypes can be found below:

Rain ~ Uses the ability Drizzle and the move Rain Dance to create the “rain” field effect. This boosts the attack power of Water-Type moves and reduces the attack power of Fire-Type moves. It also initiates several abilities such as Swift Swim, Rain Dish, Hydration and Dry Skin, while giving the attack Hurricane 100% accuracy instead of its usual 70. This results in the most common team members found on Rain teams to be Water- and Flying-Type Pokémon, though weather summoners can be of a wide range of types given the wide distribution of the move. Abilities such as Rain Dish and Dry Skin grant HP recovery in rain, so the weather sees the most use with bulky offense, though Swift Swim sweepers are also very useful in general offense or even hyper offense. Rain Stall or Rain Balance aren’t as common as other weather conditions in that team archetype, since Hail and Sandstorm grant collateral damage each turn.

Sun ~ Uses the ability Drought and the move Sunny Day to create the “harsh sunlight” field effect. This boosts the attack power of Fire-Type moves and reduces the attack power of Water-Type moves. It also initiates several abilities such as Chlorophyll, Leaf Guard and Solar Power. It also removes the turn of charge which is normally necessary to use the attack Solar Beam. This results in the most common team members found on Sun teams to be Fire- and Grass-Type Pokémon, though weather summoners can be of a wide range of types given the wide distribution of the move. Abilities affected by sun are almost exclusively offensive such as Chlorophyll and Solar Power, so Sun is the most common on offense or hyper offense.

Sandstorm ~ Uses the ability Sandstream and the move Sandstorm to create the “sandstorm” field effect. This gives Rock-Type Pokémon a 1.5x boost to their special defense, while dealing 1/16 of a Pokémon’s max HP at the end of each turn if they are not at least partially a Rock-, Steel- or Ground-Type Pokémon. It also initiates several abilities such as Sand Rush, Sand Force and Sand Veil. Because of the collateral damage and special defense boost to a type with iconically high physical defense, in addition to being able to use the defensive Steel-Type without suffering sandstorm recoil, Sand Stall is a popular strategy. Sand Rush also makes sand offense a viable strategy.

Hail ~ Uses the ability Snow Warning and the mve Hail to create the “hail” field effect. This deals 1/16 of a Pokémon’s max HP at the end of each turn if they are not at least partially Ice-Type. It also gives the move Blizzard 100% accuracy compared to its usual 70. It also initiates several abilities such as Ice Body and Snow Cloak. Because of the poor defensive typing of Ice-Type Pokémon and power of a STAB Blizzard, Hail Hyper Offense is the most useful primary team archetype for this weather condition.

Trick Room ~ Trick Room is a field effect which inverts the order in which Pokémon move. In other words, the slowest Pokémon on the field actually uses its move first. This field effect only has 5 turns of effect compared to the 8 turns of weather (with a weather rock item), but its effect can be great in the short time in which it’s active, as it gives hard hitting tanks unusual sweeping potential. As such, this move is almost exclusively used in conjunction with bulky offense.

Gravity ~ Gravity makes all Flying-Type, Air Balloon holding and levitating Pokémon who would otherwise be immune to Ground-Type moves and grounded entry hazards vulnerable to them instead. Furthermore, a bonus which isn’t stated in its in-game description is that it gives all moves with 60% accuracy or higher 100% accuracy while the 5-turn field effect is in play. These two effects actually give Gravity a lot of utility. Hyper-Offense and Stall teams can weaken enemy defoggers or other levitating Pokémon should they try to remove the team’s hazards by grounding them. The high accuracy, high base power moves also creates a viable strategy in offense, bulky offense and hyper offense, regardless of the nullified Ground-Type immunity.

Tailwind ~ Tailwind doubles the speed stat of your party members for 4 turns. Given its short time of effect, this move is much more prominent in doubles formats, where Pokémon besides the Tailwind summoner can abuse it straight away. As speed is much more important on offensive teams, the move primarily sees use on Offense or Hyper-Offense teams.

Type Spam ~ Type Spam teams make the most of a particular trend in a metagame. If there is one type which is particularly powerful in a tier, a team comprised of 2 or 3 of the best Pokémon of that type with the other 3 team members supporting the core typing can be very effective, despite not having great type synergy on paper. Works best on Hyper-Offense or regular Offense.
The archetypes are very open to interpretation. There are loads of different roles team member can play while creating a well synergised team, and while you wouldn’t have a sweeper on a Stall team, for example, most roles can be splashed onto a certain team if it will solve a weakness of the other 5 party members. Once we get to deciding on the appropriate roles of the party, teambuilding starts getting really interesting, especially because there are a lot of different roles in the franchise to play around with. A list of the general roles can be found below:

Sweeper ~ A sweeper is a Pokémon with a reasonably strong offensive stat, either Attack or Special Attack, but most importantly high Speed. The aim of a sweeper is to be brought into the battle in the late-game and finish off a weakened opponent when their Pokémon are on low HP. Sweepers have 4 offensive moves, and usually one of them will be a priority move to counter opponents with priority, as sweepers are infamously frail. Usually holds the item Life Orb or a Choice Band/Specs. Fits on any primary team archetype very well, besides Stall.

Set Up Sweeper ~ A set up sweeper is a Pokémon who uses a stat boosting move, or occasionally two, before fulfilling the role of a vanilla sweeper -- being brought in in the late game to finish up a weakened opponent. Set up sweepers forego the extra coverage or priority of a 4th move in favour of boosting the existing stats of the Pokémon. Set up sweepers are usually a little bulkier, but can have trouble fulfilling their role as a win condition if they don’t get an opportunity to use their stat raising move(s). Usually holds the item Life Orb or Leftovers. Fits on Balance, Offense and Bulky Offense better than Stall or Hyper Offense.

Wallbreaker ~ A wallbreaker is a bulky, usually slow, but extremely powerful Pokémon whose role is to deplete the health of the opponent’s bulkiest Pokémon with hard hitting STAB or high BP coverage. Usually holds the item Choice Band/Specs. Fits on Bulky Offense, Offense or Balance better than Hyper Offense or Stall.

Stallbreaker ~ Uses moves like Taunt, status conditions and Seismic Toss to whittle down your opponent’s walls. While situational, they can also find use against more offensive teams by preventing the opponent from setting up hazards or crippling sweepers. Most stallbreakers use the ability Prankster, but it’s not necessary. Usually holds the item Leftovers or Lum Berry. Fits on Stall or Balance better than Offense, Bulky Offense or Hyper Offense, since the latter 3 primary archetypes can usually deal with walls through other methods.

Offensive Pivot ~ Uses the moves Baton Pass, U-Turn, Volt Switch, Parting Shot, Healing Wish or Memento in addition with offensive pressure to gain momentum and set up team members to sweep in offense, or to force switches in stall to inflict collateral damage through hazards. Oftentimes slow pivots are better than faster pivots so that the Pokémon being switched in doesn’t take an attack from the opponent and so that the player can force switches by sending in a Pokémon which counters your opponent’s active Pokémon at the time. Usually holds the item Leftovers or Life Orb. Really it fits on any team archetype very well.

Utility ~ A Pokémon with either high speed or admirable bulk which aims to fulfil different secondary team roles. Oftentimes possess a pivot move to make the most out of more niche moves such as Encore or Taunt to force switches and generate momentum.

Wall ~ An incredibly bulky Pokémon who relies on strong defensive typing, reliable recovery and high Defense and/or Special Defense to fulfil secondary roles. Focuses on whittling down opponents. Usually holds Leftovers. Only really fits on Stall and Balance as they have little to no offensive presence.

While those are good overall terms to describe any Pokémon you’ll find on your team, there are also utility moves and niche uses which a successful player will need to spread throughout their team. Not all of the following should be thrown onto a team, but some of these roles are important to have:
Hazard Setter ~ A Pokémon whose primary purpose is to lay down hazards on the opponent’s side of the field, such as Stealth Rock, Spikes, Toxic Spikes and/or Sticky Web. Can work in every primary team archetype.

Defogger ~ A Pokémon with the move Defog, which removes all hazards from both sides of the field. The move is most commonly given to Flying-Type Pokémon. Can work in every primary team archetype.

Spinner ~ A Pokémon with the move Rapid Spin, which removes all hazards from the player’s side of the field. The move is less widely distributed but also straight up better than Defog. Can work in every primary team archetype.

Spinblocker ~ Rapid Spin is a Normal-Type attack, so a spinblocker is a Ghost-Type Pokémon whose purpose is to prevent the opponent using Rapid Spin, as hazards aren’t removed if the Pokémon doesn’t take any damage from the attack, and Ghost-Type Pokémon are immune. Can work in every primary team archetype, but works best on Hyper-Offense and Stall given the reliance on hazards.

Anti-Hazard ~ An Anti-Hazard is a Pokémon with an ability like Magic Bounce or move like Magic Coat or Taunt which, instead of removing hazards after they’ve been set up on the player’s side of the field, acts to ensure the hazards never touch the player’s side of the field in the first place. Can also simply be an offensive counter to the best hazard setters in the tier. Is useful on every primary team archetype.

Phaser ~ Uses the moves Roar, Whirlwind, Dragon Tail or Circle Throw to force the opponent’s Pokémon to switch out. In conjunction with hazards and high bulk, this can create a lot of damage. It also serves to counter set up sweepers as switching out removes the stat boosts. Works best on Offense, Bulky Offense, Balance and, most importantly, Stall, where it’s quite common.

Cleric ~ Uses the moves Heal Bell or Aromatherapy to heal the user’s party of any status conditions, including the user. This is important to counter stallbreakers on Stall teams and to counter cripplers on more offensive teams, so it’s very splashable.

Crippler ~ Uses status conditions such as burn, paralysis or (bad) poison to cripple the opponent’s Pokémon. Burn halves a Pokémon’s attack stat and paralysis halves a Pokémon speed stat, which is a major deal for offensive Pokémon. Badly Poisoned Pokémon lose HP quickly, which is a good way to deal with Stall. Countered by clerics, but cripplers are welcome on any team archetype.

Field Effect Setter ~ Uses Rain Dance, Sunny Day, Sandstorm, Hail, Gravity, Trick Room or Tailwind to set up field effects and support its team members. Usually can abuse these field effects itself, or if not it has pivoting moves to grab momentum. Fits well on whatever team is using the field effect, and is kinda necessary on them to boot.

WishPasser ~ A Pokémon with high HP and the move Wish. Either switches out or uses a pivoting move to grant HP recovery to an ally with majorly depleted HP, usually a wallbreaker or stallbreaker. Fits well on any team, but can lose some momentum on Hyper-Offense.

Sacrifice ~ A Pokémon which uses the move Healing Wish or Memento to either heal Pokémon or create an opportunity for an allied set up sweeper. These moves make the user Pokémon faint in the process, so it’s a high risk but potentially extremely high reward strategy. Healing Wish sacrifices work best on Bulky Offense and Hyper-Offense, whereas Memento sacrifices are better on Offense or Hyper-Offense. Very unviable on Stall.

Baton Passer ~ A Pokémon which uses the move Baton Pass to grant stat boosts and/or a Substitute to offensive Pokémon who otherwise lack the moves or abilities, or simply prefer to have coverage instead. Fits best on Offense or Balance, as setting up a Substitute can kill momentum.

Switch Forcer ~ A Pokémon which uses moves such as Encore and Taunt to force the opponent’s Pokémon to switch out, for example if it uses Encore on a Pokémon using a setup move. Either uses the opportunity to set up a stat boosting move itself, or fulfils a more utility-minded pivot role. Usually has Prankster or just very high speed. Fits well on most primary team archetypes.

This may seem like total information overload, and it kinda is, but what I would recommend is keeping your teambuilding simple for now and to get in lots and lots of practice. As you experiment with different team archetypes you'll find one which you gel with, and then you can get further into the nitty gritty of including these more niche roles like WishPassers and Switch Forcers, which aren't a must-have on any team whatsoever. The absolute most basic way to build a team, and what I would recommend, is to take 6 Pokémon with good type synergy (which I'll go over in just a sec) and then you can focus moreso on moulding them into a team archetype and more precise roles. Don't be afraid to make small adjustments to your team every 5 games or so, either. Especially in the newer metagames, Pokémon teambuilding can be a matter of trial and error.

Anyway, type synergy is essentially just how well your Pokémon's typings gel together both offensively and defensively. A team with strong offensive type synergy should be able to hit just about every other type for super-effective damage, as well as any strong dual-typed threats in the metagame (something you'll learn as you play more matches and see what other people are using). A team with strong defensive type synergy is harder to put together, but it basically means that each typing should have at least one reasonably bulky Pokémon that resists it. There's no use including a glass cannon like Weavile for it's pretty good defensive typing of Dark/Ice when it takes large damage from even neutral blows, but a Ferrothorn would be a great choice for its Steel/Grass typing. Defensive synergy also means patching up holes which your walliest Pokémon may have; Ferrothorn, for example, is 4x weak to Fire-Type attacks, so you should really have 2 Pokémon which resists Fire-Type well.

Type synergy is a little bit like school, really. These are things which a good teambuilder would naturally do anyway, so it's a little strange that the community has decided to give a name to it. My main advice is to not think too much about it and just get stuck in! My first real stab at a competitive team included top-tier threats like Solrock and Walrein (note: these were not top-tier threats) but I developed my skills and eventually I became pretty good! I would say that various communities like this really help out with developing players, though, and is something I made great use of. Once you've built a team you're happy with, you should totally post a Rate My Team in the VG Competitive Play forum, for example! :D

Good luck, and I hope you enjoy the world of Pokémon! (and that this post makes any sense at all) ^_^
 

Celever

Wheeeee~
Member
Okay thanks, and the things Celever explained apply to the VGC then?
In regards to team roles and archetypes they apply universally to all of Pokémon. However, it's important to note that some Pokémon won't be as viable in doubles as they are in singles. For example, using a spinblocker to protect your hazards in doubles wouldn't be effective when the spinner can just target the other Pokémon out on the field. :p
 
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