The Pokemon series is absolutely brimming with countless unique Pokemon that players can use in their teams. With hundreds of available Pokemon that each has a wide array of moves they are capable of learning, the potential for creative team building is quite endless.
However, when it comes to competitive battling, there are some strategies that are much more popular than others. These strategies are often quite synergistic and make up many of the most consistent team setups in all of Pokemon. So today, we're going to examine the various strategies that are used in competitive Pokemon and see which are the most prevalent!
10 Perish Trap
Perish Trap is a team that gets its name from the potent move, Perish Song. Perish Song is a move that causes a countdown on an opponent's Pokemon, causing it to be KO'd in three turns regardless of its HP. While this KO can be avoided by simply switching out one's Pokemon, as the name suggests, Perish Trap teams trap an opposing Pokemon and prevent a switch. This is most commonly done with abilities such as Shadow Tag, which prevents a Pokemon from switching. If a foe is unprepared, Perish Trap teams can take out even the most potent of Pokemon with ease.
9 Sun Teams
Sun teams are among the many popular team archetypes that aim to gain an advantage by utilizing a weather condition. In the case of Sun-based weather teams, players often use Pokemon with the Dought ability that automatically causes harsh sunlight without requiring the use of Sunny Day. In addition to boosting the power of fire-type attacks, this sun can boost the usefulness of Pokemon with abilities impacted by the sun such as Chlorophyll.
This harsh sunlight even allows players to reliably use Pokemon with water weaknesses as the power of water-type attacks is halved, and it even allows for the move Solar Beam to be used instantaneously.
8 Rain Teams
Similar to Sun Teams, Rain Teams make great use of the Rain Weather Effect. Most notably, many of these teams are able to make great use of potent Pokemon with the Swift Swim ability, allowing them to quickly sweep an opponent's defenses. While this rain also causes Thunder to always hit, providing it with additional offensive utility, it also provides a defensive benefit. Due to the fact that rain halves the damage caused by fire-type attacks, these teams can use powerful Pokemon with glaring fire weaknesses such as the ever-terrifying Ferrothorn without any fear.
7 Sandstorm Teams
The last weather-based strategy on this list, as the name would suggest, Sandstorm Teams aim to make use of sandstorms. One of the most tried and true methods of starting a sandstorm in Pokemon is by simply using a Tyranitar, as its Sandstream ability will cause one automatically. As Tyranitar is already a phenomenal Pokemon in its own right, this is hardly a price to pay. Unlike other weather effects we've mentioned, sandstorms cause damage to each active Pokemon.
However, that damage is prevented if a given Pokemon is a rock, ground, or steel type, letting one build their team around this effect, making the weather's damage one-sided.
6 Hyper Offense
For players who want to put the pedal to the metal and focus entirely on offense, a Hyper Offense team may be what you're looking for. Hyper offense teams only tend to care about the attack stats and speed of their Pokemon, hoping to KO an opponent's Pokemon before they have the chance to respond. Pokemon on these types of teams will often tote move-lists made up entirely of offensive moves of four different types, allowing them to be prepared for as many types of threats as possible. The weakness of these teams is that they often lack a defensive backbone and can struggle to deal with more defensive teams.
5 Bulky Offense
Less focused on speed than Hyper Offense teams, Bulky Offense teams tend to sacrifice speed for a more stable approach. These teams are made up of Pokemon that can both take hits and dish them out. Not committing to complete aggression like a Hyper Offense team, these teams often tote much more flexibility and utility, allowing them to adapt to a variety of situations.
4 Trick Room
As the name would suggest, Trick Room teams are designed around getting as much value from the move Trick Room as possible. Trick Room is a distinct move that reverses the turn order, causing the slowest Pokemon to move first and the quickest to move last. These teams often make stellar use of incredible yet slow Pokemon that would otherwise be held back by their poor Speed stat. This strategy can throw a wrench in many teams' plans, and it can be quite difficult for high-speed teams to maneuver around.
Many players will often even seek out Pokemon with natures that hinder their already slow speed stat, ensuring that their Pokemon will have priority once the Trick Room is active.
3 Tailwind
While Trick Room teams aim to turn the tides of defenses, Tailwind teams revolve around the excellent namesake move, Tailwind. When used, Tailwind doubles the speed of its user's team! Not only does this allow already quick Pokemon to reliably maintain their priority of consistently acting first, but it can allow threatening Pokemon with a normally middling speed stat to attack before an opponent can respond!
2 Stall
Stall teams are the polar opposite of Hyper Offense teams. Made up of the bulkiest and most defensive Pokemon around, these teams seek to win via attrition rather than a more direct offense. In addition to bolstering their already high defenses, stall teams are often known to inflict a myriad of detrimental status effects upon their foes. When paired with self-healing moves such as Wish, Moonlight, and Roost, the longer a game against a Stall team goes on, the less likely one is going to come out on top.
1 Balance
Without a doubt, Balance teams are the most flexible teams that a player can use in Pokemon. Rather than committing to either incredible defense or offense, these teams contain a select assortment of Pokemon that each has a distinct role in the team. A Balance team may utilize a defensive wall, an offensive wall-breaker one may expect from a Hyper Offense Team, a hazard setter, and sometimes even a healer. These teams are capable of functioning like a swiss army knife and can often employ elements found in various other teams on this list.