The In-Game Team Advice Thread

[Bob Fizzle]

Always glad to be of help. Now that I have a better idea of your team, here's what I envision their sets looking like:

Mega Ultra Chicken (Blaziken) (M) @ Blazikenite
Ability: Speed Boost (after mega)
-Protect/Swords Dance
-High Jump Kick/Sky Uppercut
-Flare Blitz/Blaze Kick
-Stone Edge

You can either protect to get a free speed boost, or switch Blaziken in on something that can't threaten it and go for the swords dance. Sky Uppercut does less damage than high jump kick (HJK also requires you to go back to the move relearner) but you don't have to worry about crashing. Flare blitz hits harder than Blaze Kick, but watch out for recoil, while stone edge is its best choice for coverage.

Gardevoir (F) @ Leftovers
-Moonblast
-Psyshock
-Calm Mind
-Focus Blast/Shadow Ball

Gardevoir will probably make the best use of your leftovers so she can have an easier time setting up a Calm Mind or two. Psyshock is nice to prevent you from getting walled by fat special walls, while Focus Blast is preferred over Shadow ball so you don't have to run to Blaziken any time a Steel-type appears.

Zangoose (F)
-Shadow Claw/Knock Off
-Close Combat/Brick Break
-Swords Dance/Quick Attack
-Crush Claw/Return/(if immunity)/Facade (if toxic boost)

Zangoose is not somebody that I use pretty much ever, so this one is probably going to be somewhat subpar. If you happen to have Toxic Boost, then give her that toxic orb ASAP to boost her attack by 50% and let her do real damage with massive Facades. If not, Return is going to be its highest-power STAB move, while I'd recommend Crush Claw as your best option until her happiness gets high enough. Swords Dance can be used, but due to poor bulk, Zangoose doesn't find many setup opportunities (especially if she is going to utilize toxic boost), so Quick Attack may be a better option to pick off weakened foes. Shadow Claw and Close Combat provide perfect neutral coverage. Knock Off can be used over Shadow Claw, but most trainers in-game don't utilize held items. Brick Break can also be used over Close Combat, but I think that in most cases, the extra power of Close Combat may be a necessity. Zangoose can also utilize Strength if you wish to go that route.

Manectric (M)
Ability: Lightning Rod
-Thunderbolt
-Volt Switch
-Flamethrower/Overheat
-Hidden Power (ice)/Quick Attack

This is my standard Manectric set, and I love it. Try to switch him into Electric attacks whenever possible to activate Lightning Rod and get a nice Special Attack boost. Overheat is more likely to guarantee a KO before volt-switching into something else, while Flamethrower can deal decent damage and let Manectric stay in, especially after a Lightning Rod boost. HP Ice is the best choice for the last move to round off the Pseudo-BoltBeam coverage, while HP Grass and Ground are the next-best choices. If Hidden Power doesn't turn out to be one of those types, then I'd go with Quick Attack for the last move to pick off weakened foes before pivoting out.

Milotic
-Scald/Surf
-Ice Beam
-Toxic
-Protect

I chose Protect over Recover for the last move slot since recovery moves are pointless unless you're doing a no-item run, and if that's the case, use Recover is mandatory to keep it healthy. Milotic doesn't really have a lot of attacking options, but Scald and Ice Beam do the trick quite nicely. Toxic and Protect are the last slots to let Milotic just wear down opponents while stalling with Protect. If you aren't using items in-battle, then use Recover over Protect. I was going to recommend Haze for the last slot until I checked and found Milotic can only learn Haze via breeding.

I'm going to list both Dusclops and Flygon sets, and let you decide on which one you want to use.

Ducslops @ Eviolite
Ability: Pressure
-Calm Mind
-Rest/Shadow Ball
-Will-o-Wisp/Shadow Ball
-Ice Beam

A Chesto Berry can also be used instead of having to wait for rest turns to finish, but Eviolite makes Dusclops even bulkier than Dusknoir which is the reason I recommended using it over its evolution (Note: Dusknoir gets a decent Attack stat, so it ends up going with a physical set). Pressure is great for PP stalling while you set up with Calm Mind. Rest is the only form of recovery available to Dusclops, but it utilizes it quite nicely, especially after having burned the foe and setting up a Calm Mind or two. If you are using healing items, then replace Rest with Shadow Ball. It may seem a little strange running Will-o-Wisp over STAB, but burning foes makes Dusclops that much harder to break, while ghost STAB only hits psychic and ghost-types super-effectively. Ice beam is chosen over Dark Pulse as coverage to aid in pesky ground-types, but ghost- and psychic-types are less of a problem than ground-types to the rest of the team.

Flygon @ Lum Berry
Ability: Levitate
-Earthquake
-U-Turn
-Protect/Dragon Claw
-Defog/Stone Edge

This Flygon is designed to fill a supporting role on your team, offering a decently fast U-turn pivot into your breakers/setup 'Mons. If you aren't concerned with entry hazards, then Stone Edge/Earthquake is great neutral coverage. Lum Berry also lets Flygon absorb a status move, fills both the roles of Electric immunity and Ground immunity. Dragon STAB is largely unnecessary, and I would carry Protect until you start to run into a lot of dragon tamers/Drake. (Dragon Claw is conveniently TM02, found in Meteor Falls, or just use a Heart Scale in Fallabor Town.) If you are using no held-items, then I would fit Roost into one of the last slots.

 

[CynthiaLover]

@Bob Fizzle Thank you very much for this. I think I have a pretty good idea of what to do now. I might go with Dusclops due to the sheer bulk factor and easy crippling power that Ghost Mons have. And you read my mind when it comes to Blaziken. I rarely, if at all, use Flare Blitz/High Jump Kick individually, let alone together, due to the heavy drawbacks/risks. Last time I tried doing a "meta Blaziken" for playthrough/online, it backfired on me oh-so-horribly, so I don't like to take unnecessary risks anymore. So I'll go the route of Blaze Kick and Sky Uppercut, since I'd rather not demolish myself by accident, which, with my luck, happens a bit more than I'd like it to. And I like your setup for Manectric and Zangoose, especially the former, so I can see why you like that arsenal so much. Thanks, this'll help out a lot. Thanks again.

 

[Bob Fizzle]

These end up being my favorite posts on these forums, so I'm glad you appreciate the advice @CynthiaLover. I also re-read my suggestions to see which parts were actually utilized, and I'll admit I was still a bit groggy this morning when I wrote that last post. I want to apologize for some now-glaringly obvious mistakes and just a general lack of proofreading

On a side note, I decided to try something new and actually post my raw notes that I made while analyzing your team, and I wanted to get some feedback on whether I should continue doing that or just leave those out.

 

[CynthiaLover]

These end up being my favorite posts on these forums, so I'm glad you appreciate the advice @CynthiaLover. I also re-read my suggestions to see which parts were actually utilized, and I'll admit I was still a bit groggy this morning when I wrote that last post. I want to apologize for some now-glaringly obvious mistakes and just a general lack of proofreading

On a side note, I decided to try something new and actually post my raw notes that I made while analyzing your team, and I wanted to get some feedback on whether I should continue doing that or just leave those out.

You should continue with the raw notes, as it proves your doing some deep analysis (though some of the "notes" gave me a good chuckle as well). I'm sure others would appreciate those, as it could help them figure out some ideas as well. So I say go for it.

 

[Samuel Shaw]

I'm playing Soulsilver, and since WFC is shut down, I only have access to Soulsilver, and no other Pokemon game or player right now.

I'm after a Trainer Card star for achieving the 100 win streak challenge.

I initially showed up with my best Metagame team to date, a Dragonite, Starmie, and Tyranitar. Obviously the Starmie shows I was somewhat aware of Metagame-esque movesets, but this was no Metagame team by any stretch.

Now that I've read up on the Metagame, here's the trio I'm considering EV raising for the 100 win streak challenge:

Dragonite @ Lum Berry
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: ?
Nature: Adamant
- Outrage
- Dragon Dance
- Roost
- Substitute

Roost + Substitute + Lum Berry are for anticipating status conditions. Lead guy.

Latios @ ? (No access to Soul Dew)
Ability: Levitate
EVs: ?
Nature: Mild
- Water Pulse
- Icebolt duo (Or should I level Latios to 65&70 for Psychic+Dragon Pulse?)
- Recover

Special guy mostly. Will get Calm Mind to replace Water Pulse once I can purchase it.

Snorlax @ Leftovers
Ability: Immunity (Not what I wanted, but what I got) (Should I Ditto-breed a better Ability?)
EVs: ?
Nature: Hasty (Not what I wanted, but what I got) (Should I Ditto-breed a better Nature?)
- Hyperbeam
- Resttalk
- ?

I originally thought of a Resttalk Tyranitar here, because I wanted longevity (unless I'm wrong there and there's something else I need for a third Pokemon), so Snorlax made sense as the best Resttalker there is, for even better longevity.

I've got two questions.
One, is this team viable for the 100 win streak?
Two, what EVs would you recommend for these guys (if you approve of them)? Smogon recommendations for each Pokemon often suggested 252 Speed. I'm afraid that if I give those 63 extra points in Speed to Dragonite and Latios, some other Pokemon will end up going first anyway, meaning I wasted 252 EVs on Speed when it could have been contributed to something like HP, for longevity. I only get one try to EV raise these guys, because I'm not waiting 15 actual days for EV-deleting berries to grow in my virtual berry pots.

I'm an old player (caught 150 in my Blue version when it came out), but the 100 win streak challenge quickly showed me I needed a Metagame-quality team to make it. Please help me out. Thanks!

 

[Pyrax]

This thread is for advice on teams for Pokémon Ultra Sun and Moon. You can ask about Pokémon availability, party members, movesets, etc. This thread will have spoilers, so please proceed with caution.

When posting your team, please state your game, the Pokémon's species and their movesets.
Ideal Format:

Spoiler: Format

Game name:
Team:
Pokémon 1 [@item equipped (if any)]
Ability:
Nature:
Level:
[Stats 00/00/00/00/00/00]
move
move
move
move
[Any problems/notes you have about this team member]

Pokémon 2 [@item equipped (if any)]
Ability:
Nature:
Level:
[Stats 00/00/00/00/00/00]
move
move
move
move
[Any problems/notes you have about this team member]

Pokémon 3 [@item equipped (if any)]
Ability:
Nature:
Level:
[Stats 00/00/00/00/00/00]
move
move
move
move
[Any problems/notes you have about this team member]

[Final comments/ask for advice here] etc. and so on.

Please note that this is for in-game only. For previous games, visit the Pokémon Video Games section's In-Game Team Advice thread.

 

[Kirby4ever]

When reviewing my team I made for Ultra Moon and playing the game, I noticed that my team with both Popplio Rockruff, and Gastrodon in it is very weak to grass type moves, and I need a Pokemon that can be a heavy counter to grass type moves and Pokemon. Any recommended Pokemon to use as a heavy counter? The other three team members planed are Drifloon, Grubbin, and Buneary/Aipom.

 

[godiego]

When reviewing my team I made for Ultra Moon and playing the game, I noticed that my team with both Popplio Rockruff, and Gastrodon in it is very weak to grass type moves, and I need a Pokemon that can be a heavy counter to grass type moves and Pokemon. Any recommended Pokemon to use as a heavy counter? The other three team members planed are Drifloon, Grubbin, and Buneary/Aipom.

Drifblim and Vikavolt should have you set. Lopunny also learns Bounce. that aside, there isn't a whole lot of Grass in Alola outside of Lush Jungle.

 

[Bob Fizzle]

When reviewing my team I made for Ultra Moon and playing the game, I noticed that my team with both Popplio Rockruff, and Gastrodon in it is very weak to grass type moves, and I need a Pokemon that can be a heavy counter to grass type moves and Pokemon. Any recommended Pokemon to use as a heavy counter? The other three team members planed are Drifloon, Grubbin, and Buneary/Aipom.

In addition to above, Lopunny can also be tutored Ice Punch for a more reliable answer to grass types (although the turn of invulnerability and paralysis chance are also nice, and so is Supersonic Skystrike). Drifblim is a great defensive answer with its massive HP stat and flying typing.

 

[_Evie_]

I want a bit of feedback on mine, as it's holding up pretty nicely, but I'd still like some tips.

 

[DoctorWhy]

Looks rad. Pretty well balanced.

I haven't narrowed my team down to 6 yet. I just arrived at the observatory and my team looks something like:

-Incineroar
-Lycanroc (Dusk)
-Arbok
-Butterfree
-Mantine
-Magneton
-Kirlia
-Marshtomp
-Tsareena
-Trevenant

As far as narrowing it down goes, I'm currently leaning towards dropping Marshtomp and Tsareena (since I've used them both before and they don't provide anything particularly special when considering the rest). Might drop Kirlia too, and maybe Butterfree at some point. Just making it up as I go along.

 

[Alola]

Looks rad. Pretty well balanced.

I haven't narrowed my team down to 6 yet. I just arrived at the observatory and my team looks something like:

-Incineroar
-Lycanroc (Dusk)
-Arbok
-Butterfree
-Mantine
-Magneton
-Kirlia
-Marshtomp
-Tsareena
-Trevenant

As far as narrowing it down goes, I'm currently leaning towards dropping Marshtomp and Tsareena (since I've used them both before and they don't provide anything particularly special when considering the rest). Might drop Kirlia too, and maybe Butterfree at some point. Just making it up as I go along.

Out of those provided, I would go with Incineroar, Marshstomp, Lycanroc, Kirlia, Tsareena, and Magneton. They offer a lot of type coverage, several are capable of Mega Evolution, they all have various strengths and speed tiers, and can be tutored a wide range of moves to increase earlier mentioned coverage.

 

[Dieter]

Game name: Ultra Sun
Team:
Torracat [Firium Z]
Double Kick/Ember/Fire Fang/Bite
[No problems with this one, he's def staying]

Blissey [Shell Bell]
Water Pulse/Copycat/Sweet Kiss/Hidden Power Ic

Noibat [Flyinium Z]
Air Cutter/Super Sonic/Wing Attack/Roost
[thinking about boxing her after Mallow's trial]

Morelull [Big Root]
Giga Drain/Flash/Moonlight/Sleep Powder
[def need to replace Flash, but no useful TMs yet]

Lycanroc Dusk [Amulet Coin]
Happy Hour/Rock Tomb/Fire Fang/Bite
[might drop her too, but the HH/AC combi is nice to rack in cash]

Grimer [Poison Barb]
Poison Fang/Bite/Poison Gas/Disable
[currently has Gluttony but might fix that with an Ability Capsule]

I'm plannign on adding Palossand and A-Ninetailes to my final team, but I'm not sure yet who' they replace. I didn't get a chance to use them on my Moon play-through. I also feel like I might want to add a water type but I wouldn't know what Any advice?

 

[godiego]

drop Shiinotic and Noivern for Palossand and Ninetails. Shiinotic never learns anything great-- like seriously, good luck finding something other than i guess Strength Sap to replace Flash-- and isn't all that great to begin with (slow, modest offensively, modest bulk). Noivern isn't bad, but you also have to lug around Noibat for 48 levels and since Noivern isn't a pseudo that fairly late evolution doesn't even pay off. Super Fang is nice for a few of the bosses however.

if you wanted a water-type, i would drop Blissey for Starmie. most of Alola is physically oriented so Blissey is really under-utilized here, not to mention walls just aren't that great in the main story. you could use it against Necrozma, though with Photon Geyser running off whatever is higher between Attack and Special, you could just end up #unlucky with a physically-skewed one and Blissey just gets rekt anyways. now there would be one reason to keep Blissey and Shiinotic, and that would be with Strength Sap to lower Necrozma's attack which would force Geyser to go Special meaning Blissey could take the hits better and stall, but of course, you have to keep Shiinotic and Blissey around for it so.....meh.

 

[Dieter]

drop Shiinotic and Noivern for Palossand and Ninetails. Shiinotic never learns anything great-- like seriously, good luck finding something other than i guess Strength Sap to replace Flash-- and isn't all that great to begin with (slow, modest offensively, modest bulk). Noivern isn't bad, but you also have to lug around Noibat for 48 levels and since Noivern isn't a pseudo that fairly late evolution doesn't even pay off. Super Fang is nice for a few of the bosses however.

if you wanted a water-type, i would drop Blissey for Starmie. most of Alola is physically oriented so Blissey is really under-utilized here, not to mention walls just aren't that great in the main story. you could use it against Necrozma, though with Photon Geyser running off whatever is higher between Attack and Special, you could just end up #unlucky with a physically-skewed one and Blissey just gets rekt anyways. now there would be one reason to keep Blissey and Shiinotic, and that would be with Strength Sap to lower Necrozma's attack which would force Geyser to go Special meaning Blissey could take the hits better and stall, but of course, you have to keep Shiinotic and Blissey around for it so.....meh.

Thanks for the advice! Might put Blissey and Shiinotic in Poke Pelago then and get em some training. Starmie would have been a nice option if I hadn't used it recently

 

[godiego]

Thanks for the advice! Might put Blissey and Shiinotic in Poke Pelago then and get em some training. Starmie would have been a nice option if I hadn't used it recently

Competitive Milotic (Feebas's fishing encounter was bumped from 5% to 10% and the Prism Scale can be found in Ka'ale Bay now as well), Slowbro, or Tentacruel then. also, Blissey or Shiinotic really just....pick one, especially if you go with Milotic or Slowbro, unless you're that determined to use both.

 

[Dieter]

Competitive Milotic (Feebas's fishing encounter was bumped from 5% to 10% and the Prism Scale can be found in Ka'ale Bay now as well), Slowbro, or Tentacruel then. also, Blissey or Shiinotic really just....pick one, especially if you go with Milotic or Slowbro, unless you're that determined to use both.

Oh! Slowbro I've never used much, good suggestion

And if I chuck both Shiinotic and Blissey in Isle Evelup they'll prolly keep up with my active team fairly well. My progress is pretty slow anyway

 

[Bob Fizzle]

I want a bit of feedback on mine, as it's holding up pretty nicely, but I'd still like some tips.

While your team does have great synergy, I feel like Mudsdale is being pressured a bit too much to do most of the heavy lifting on defense, especially against rock-type threats. A steel-type would help him tremendously here, especially since Steel's traditional weaknesses in Fighting, Ground, and Fire-types are covered by Noivern, Marowak, and Whimsicott. That said, I am currently struggling to think of a good defensive steel-type that would compliment Mudsdale while not being completely useless offensively.

I haven't narrowed my team down to 6 yet. I just arrived at the observatory and my team looks something like:

-Incineroar
-Lycanroc (Dusk)
-Arbok
-Butterfree
-Mantine
-Magneton
-Kirlia
-Marshtomp
-Tsareena
-Trevenant

As far as narrowing it down goes, I'm currently leaning towards dropping Marshtomp and Tsareena (since I've used them both before and they don't provide anything particularly special when considering the rest). Might drop Kirlia too, and maybe Butterfree at some point. Just making it up as I go along.

Swampert, Magneton, and Mantine form a formidable defensive core, each doing a great job of checking each others' weaknesses. All three also offer good support and/or offensive utility to your team. This core, however, is not quite perfect, and relies heavily on Mantine to keep ground and fighting users in check, and likewise relies on Magnezone to keep grass-types out of Swampert's face. To this effect, Trevenant offers defensive utility to help patch all three of those flaws, while also providing further support in Leech Seed and Will-o-Wisp. Incineroar compliments Trevenant nicely in providing an additional stop to ice and dark-type moves. This leaves your final team slot almost completely free, although I'd suggest Gardevoir because you would have plenty of physical threats in Trevenant, Incineroar, and Swampert, but only Magnezone offering special damage.

 

[Jacensolo66]

Still need a good water Pokemon and am not using the one the runs at half health again. So far my choices have been Wingull, Slowpoke, Dewspider, and Wishiwashi and none of those impress me.

 

[godiego]

Still need a good water Pokemon and am not using the one the runs at half health again. So far my choices have been Wingull, Slowpoke, Dewspider, and Wishiwashi and none of those impress me.

Starmie? Gyarados? Milotic? Tentacruel?