Create a good Pokémon strategic team

Strategic combat between players is an important element in the Pokémon universe. Exploiting the full potential of their Pokémon, many players take pleasure in confronting others to progress, have fun and participate in all kinds of tournaments and competitions.

And even if everyone can go into strategy in Pokémon, the creation of a good Pokémon strategic team is the first obstacle that prevents many players from advancing in this way.

Are you new to strategy and don't know where to start? Do you want to create optimized Pokémon teams to improve your ranking? Then this detailed guide is exactly what you need!

In this blog post, we are going to list the steps you need to go through in order to create powerful Pokémon strategic teams and outperform more than 90% of the players who don't take the time to do it. Are you interested? So let's get started now!

Choose your Pokémon tier

The first element to consider in creating your Pokémon strategic team is the tier in which you will fight. Indeed, you will not necessarily play in the same category if you want to play with your favorite Pokémon, face players you know to progress with them or even adopt a specific strategy or game mode.

1 - What is a Pokémon tier?

A category of Pokémon governed by common characteristics is called tier. The choice of tier has a direct impact on how you can put your strategist skills into practice.

The creation of tier parties allows 2 things: 

• Avoid an imbalance between two Pokémon of different powers (example Mewtwo against Gobou)
• Define innovative game categories in which trainers can compete on specific themes (for example an one-design team made up of Pokémon all sharing a common type).

2 - How do Pokémon tier work?

Tier evolve according to innovations implemented in the game, such as the arrival of a new generation, mega-evolutions, or even Z attacks. They are also impacted by metagame, i.e., the way in which trainers who confront each other over time within a given tier will act. For example, some Pokémon sometimes change tier when a new combo is discovered and unbalances the fights

3 - What are the different strategic tier?

Generally, there are several types of "tier" that can be classified into three categories:

THE GAME LEVELS

The game levels, commonly called strategic tier, allow you to classify Pokémon into different categories according to their power. This classification makes it possible to offer a coherent pool of playable creatures at each level in order to create balanced strategic teams from one player to another. The levels range from Ubers, including many legendary Pokémon such as Mega-Mewtwo to PU (poorly used), in which we will find Pokémon such as Spinda.

However, note that strategic tier also includes other more exotic classifications such as the Little Cup, in which Pokémon are level 5 and must be at the first stage of their evolution.

THE GAME FORMATS

The game formats concern the way in which the players will be able to compete in the arena. Indeed, you will not play in the same way if you want to specialize in 2v2 or if you adopt a game mode based on the creation of a random team.

Among the best-known formats, there are monotype teams whose particularity is to be composed only of Pokémon sharing the same type. We also find the randomly generated teams, called Random, or even double fights to test your ability to adapt in combat.

THE GENERATIONS

Not a tier party, the choice of the Pokémon generation in which you will want to play has a direct impact on the creation of your strategic team. Those nostalgic for the first generations will therefore enjoy finding their favorite Pokémon with their original statistics and much less capacity.

Others on the contrary will be perfectly open to all generations, focusing on a game format or a strategic tier in which to become the best. Either way, choosing a Pokémon generation was something that needed to be cited to conclude this chapter on strategic tier.

Analyze in detail the tier you have chosen

Have you found the tier that suits you best? Perfect ! Now let's get down to business. We will study in depth the operation, the mechanics and the practices relating to the strategic tier of your choice.

Although it may seem unnecessary, even annoying at first, know that it is an essential element to create a good Pokémon strategic team , which differentiates the good players from the not so good: their ability to prepare the ground and to anticipate any difficulty that they might face.

1 - List the most used Pokémon in your tier

Even if there are many exploitable Pokémon in each tier, you will quickly notice that some are used more often than others. Their basic statistics are often better optimized, their talent better exploitable in combat or else they offer better game synergies depending on the style you want to impose.

It will therefore be essential to take the time to search the internet for the list of the most represented Pokémon in your tier. The objective is not only to consider playing them yourself, although they can strongly inspire powerful compositions. The goal is also to know which Pokémon you will have to fight against and thus better understand how you will be able to counter them later.

2 - Reference the most represented game strategies

In the same line as before, it will be important for you to know the game mechanics most used in the strategic tier that you covet. The game strategies obviously depend on the most represented Pokémon, but also take into account the links between different Pokémon within the same team that you will have to anticipate.

For example, you will not approach a tier in which the impact of the weather is major in the same way as a tier which will play a major role in the gain or loss of statistics during fights. Or, you will not be on the same team if you realize that your opponents are mainly oriented towards defensive teams than if they use a lot of offensive Pokémon.

Choose the Pokémon that will constitute your team

After analyzing your combat environment, we will finally focus on your team, and in particular the choice of Pokémon who will constitute it. Arising naturally from the work done previously, the creation of a good Pokémon strategic team must in addition to that meet several imperatives.

1 - Choose a game strategy

The goal here is not to lock yourself into a particular style of play but to think beforehand about how you plan to gain the upper hand over your opponents. Are you going to bet on a central Pokémon? Are you looking for long-term or rather expeditious fights? Do you want to play a warp team and take advantage of the speed in play? Here are some questions to ask yourself among many others in order to make your choice.

Keep several things in mind, however. First of all, a team is never frozen in time and can evolve as you wish. In addition, the same Pokémon can correspond to several game strategies and therefore combine differently as needed. Finally, you will discover yourself over time which strategy suits you best and which allows you to better win your fights.

2 - Assign roles in your team

Not all Pokémon can play the same role on a team. It depends on their basic stats, the attacks they can learn, or the talent they have. You must therefore take into account the different roles that exist in order to create a good Pokémon strategic team

In general, remember that there are offensive Pokémon called Sweepers and defensive Pokémon called Stallers. They are able to attack or resist on physical or special attacks. In addition to this, other Pokémon have more utilitarian roles: setting traps, initiating combat, poisoning, etc.

We recommend that you assign roles based on your overall strategy. However, keep in mind that in general, it is advisable to have at least two fighters (physical and special) and two defenders (physical and special too), accompanied by an infinite number of Pokémon combinations to choose from, to make face any eventuality in combat.

3 - Check your offensive cover

Offensive coverage is your ability to be effective against all types of Pokémon you may encounter. It allows you to maintain permanent pressure on the ground by threatening your opponent with the help of your different Pokémon, ready to attack in a super effective way.

To create a good Pokémon strategic team, it is essential to widen your offensive cover as much as possible. Even if you choose the most powerful combat Pokémon in your tier, you will be very annoyed when you find yourself facing a Ghost-type Pokémon insensitive to your attacks.

4 - Check your defensive coverage

Conversely, defensive coverage is your ability to defend yourself against all types of attacks from your opponent. Even more important than offensive coverage, your ability to protect yourself from super effective attacks by switching to the right Pokémon can turn many situations to your advantage.

So choose your Pokémon carefully to create the best Pokémon strategic team possible and face any eventuality once in the arena.

Prepare your Pokémon team correctly

We are coming to the final stretch to create the best possible Pokémon strategic team . You now know the tier in which you will evolve. You have taken care to select consistent Pokémon to balance your team. You just have to equip each of them to reveal their full potential.

 1 - Choose the talent of your Pokémon

Each fighter has the choice between several talents, with a few exceptions, and these can have a decisive impact on your chances of victory. Always keep in mind your combat strategy in order to choose the talents that will best complement each other in your case.

2 - Equip your Pokémon with an object

Objects have an important place to win your matches. They will allow you to access Mega-evolutions, have Z attacks, regenerate your health over time or even use a berry if necessary. Choose the item that best matches the set you are considering for your Pokémon.

3 - Teach your Pokémon the right attacks

With 6 Pokémon on your team, each learning 4 different attacks, you have the potential for 24 different moves to face your opponents. Think carefully about your combat strategy, the roles of each Pokémon and your offensive covers to threaten opposing Pokémon in the arena.

4 - Distribute the statistics of your Pokémon well

Who are your stallers? Who are your sweepers? Which Pokémon requires maximum speed boost? Which one needs a HP orientation? You will understand, the choice of basic statistics to distribute is essential to reveal the full potential of each member of your team. Take the time to think carefully about how you plan to invest these points for each Pokémon.

5 - Don't forget the types!

With the exception of neutral type, the type of Pokémon generally defines a maximized statistic at the expense of another reduced statistic. This is a perfect opportunity to build an advantage made possible by powerful basic statistics, or even fill in statistics deemed too low at the expense of unnecessary statistics. Remember to choose the most relevant type for your Pokémon.

Enter the arena and roll over your opponents!

With everything we've just seen, you now have the keys to creating a good strategic Pokémon team. Whatever your playing style, the Pokémon you most enjoy or the tier you want to explore, this guide is meant to be universal so you can consider the most important elements to properly prepare for your matches.

Creating the best Pokémon strategic team can take a long time, because it requires upstream thinking to master your subject. However, keep in mind that 90% of players who embark on the strategy do not, unlike the best players in the ranking. By thus preparing the ground you will considerably increase your chances of winning your fights.

Finally, it is important to clarify that creating a good Pokémon team in strategy represents a solid foundation, but that the victory will depend on a lot of other factors. We will soon be writing an article to detail the combat game strategies to adopt in order to best exploit the potential of your teams.

In the meantime, we wish you excellent games in strategic combat, on console or Pokémon Showdown.

See also our article on tricks and nicknames to get the Eevee evolution you are looking for