Help me improve my team

[Bennylava]

Right, so, I just finished my first run through Reborn ever, I started in EP18, so I'm new to this. It's pretty damn good and quite the surprise, the last time I played Pokemon was on an emulator running through Yellow and then Silver for nostalgia, before that the last time I played was as a kid on my GBA, imagine my surprise in trying to figure out field effects and weather effects, haha. Imagine going from Silver that you can beat solely using your starter, to this. Ha.

An amazing game you've built here, I have to say.

 

I'm looking for ideas to build a team for the next episode to come.

 

So far, I have:

 

Moxie Salamence, EVs in Attack and Speed with Dragonium-Z and Adamant nature.

Dragon Claw

Dragon Dance

Stone Edge

Brick Break

 

This guy solo'd Hardy once Moxie got started. I'm currently running this moveset to sweep the dual trainers on Saturdays to train up new mons, works like a charm - Any improvement including items, natures and abilities are appreciated

 

Mold Breaker Excadrill. EVs in Attack and Speed with Jolly nature.

Not sure what item here, Earth Plate perhaps.

Swords Dance

Earthquake

Smart Strike

X-Scissor

 

I'll likely swap to Sand Rush to match with Tyranitar's Sand Stream.

 

I just got my Poipole (Thanks to some very friendly people helping me out with some harder to get mons and trading them - so far I'm liking your community here, you guys are great) from completing that quest and given how big that quest is, I'd like to run this guy in my team. Call me sentimental. Any advice on move-sets for this guy as I have never used him before?

 

Serene Grace Togekiss, EVs in SP.Atk and Speed, Timid nature - not sure what item to use.

Aura Sphere

Dazzling Gleam

Thunder Wave

Air Slash

 

Sand Stream Tyranitar, EVs in Atk and Speed.

Jolly Nature. Not sure about item.

Earthquake

Crunch

Dragon Dance

Rock Slide

 

I have all mons available and I'm looking for feedback on potential changes to these guys and on what else to use. I have no problem in EV training and levelling up something new, so use what ever mons are available in the game.

 

Also! when I've this team set up, I'm wanting to start a new run through while waiting for the next episode to come out. I want to try and build a team of 6-8 mons and solely use those for the run. Not looking to build up something overpowered, but rather an interesting strategy or good, solid coverage.

Keep in mind my limited knowledge of "newer" pokemons, I know Gen 1 and 2 by heart but anything after that, I'm not very well versed. Anyways, like I said, I'm still kind of new to actual team-building and strategizing as I've only played the first 2 Gens, as a kid. So I'm looking for an interesting strategy, mons as well as move-sets etc will be very much appreciated, and if you have the time, a little explanation of what the strategy is (I'm essentially asking for a 101 in building a strategy, so any information is very much appreciated). I used a Trick Room team for the majority of my first run through, which was fun for a while, so all I ask is that this is not a suggested strat.

 

Thanks!

Edited April 26, 2019 by Siv

[Lorisaur]

Oh well, I'm happy you enjoy Reborn!! I have a couple tips for your team. Don't use them for a regular playthrough, I'm only telling you these things for online play

 

First of all, be aware that Naganadel is by far the most destructive pokemon in the game. The ideal set would be Nast Plot, Sludge Wave, Draco Meteor and Flamethrower/Heat Wave. His goal is to get into someone who can't threaten him directly, like Venusaur, Clefable or many others, force them to switch, set up a Nasty Plot and destroy entire teams thanks to the beast boost. The best item is usually the Dragonium Z, altough I've seen also focus sash and poisonium Z being decent. Tyranitar is another one of the best pokemons in the game. Usually, people play him with the Assault Vest (AV) as the special defense boost makes him able to resist a Z-Draco Meteor from a Naganadel after a nasty plot and ko in return with Earthquake. That's crazy, but true. If you want to play dragon dance, instead, use these moves and leftovers as an item. Speaking of Togekiss, instead, you can play defog and roost instead of dazzling gleam and aura sphere. They deal no relevant damage and you want to have team support while keeping Togekiss healthy. For your Excadrill, I would suggest a life orb, but remember that pulling off a sweep with sand rush is not an easy task. Salamence is instead someone I don't really like... the Z-crystal is not so good with an 80 base power move. Lum Berry, Leftovers and Life Orb are good items. And please, use Fire Blast or Bulldoze instead of Brick Break

The last step is finding a mega evolution, that's your choice... my suggestion would be Mega Kangaskhan, who is very well rounded and has a nice bulk, your team will need it. Have fun!! Hope we might have a battle one of these days

[Seel The Deal]

Brick Break really isn't a great option for Salamence. Even after considering Moxie and Salamence's way higher attack stat, Fire Blast is usually more effective at removing Steel types - it's not available via TM yet but will be in E19 more likely than not, and Flamethrower would work for now too. If you really need to go with something physical, Fire Fang works too. Main issue with Brick Break is it misses certain type combos like Steel/Flying, Steel/Psychic and Steel/Ghost, all of which have some really good 'mons to their name (Skarmory, Metagross, Aegislash).

 

Excadrill could run Iron Head over Smart Strike for a +10 power boost and a solid chance of flinching anything that doesn't die to it. I'd also recommend Rock Slide or Stone Edge over X-Scissor - ground/rock is too solid a combo to pass up on.

 

Currently, I run my Naganadel with Sludge Wave and Dragon Pulse for dual STAB, Nasty Plot for obvious reasons, and then switch the coverage move between Flamethrower and Thunderbolt on the fly depending on which is more useful at the time (Flamethrower is usually the move of choice for Steels but Thunderbolt helps a lot considering how many specially-bulky Water types there are). Draco Meteor is a good option over Dragon Pulse but can make sweeps harder to pull off against teams with lots of Poison resists (which isn't too uncommon considering Poison is the single worst offensive typing in the game...). If you're running Draco, there's pretty much zero excuse not to run Dragonium Z, but Dragon Pulse sets can make good use of Life Orb for the extra power, or a different Z-Crystal to beef up your coverage. Focus Sash is another option but it's non-renewable in E18 so I can't really recommend it for in-game use (can be useful in competitive though).

 

It's also possible to run a Specs set for Naganadel, which means it doesn't even need to set up and instead plays more hit-and-run. It also lets you run two coverage moves (Thunderbolt and Flamethrower together is a nasty combo) and makes Draco's downsides less prominent since you'll be getting out of battle after one kill most of the time. Nasty Plot is probably better in-game though.

 

Togekiss' set is fine, but it's worth considering Wish in one of its slots, as it makes a great user of the move with its high HP and great defensive typing. You could argue for replacing literally any of its moves but Air Slash; I personally run Flamethrower/Air Slash/Dazzling Gleam/Wish on mine, with Flamethrower preferred over Aura Sphere for... no real good reason really, I just like when I get a cheeky burn with the boosted chances from Serene Grace.

 

You have nothing on your team that isn't weak to either Rock or Ground, so your final member should be at least neutral to both, if not resistant to one of them. Resisting both is a bit much to ask, but if you want to do that, Breloom does that while also carrying an amazing utility move in Spore and a huge attack stat with plenty of ways to abuse Technician. Breloom would start to stack up a lot of Fairy weaknesses on your team though, and with only one resist (and a relatively frail one at that) that's pretty dangerous.

 

If you're really stuck on ideas for a 6th member, here's my rotation, minus a Cofagrigus (Nasty Plot + Trick Room is broken yo) and Weavile not shown here. They've all proven themselves useful at some point and there's sure to be something that would fit on your team. (Important to note: Pinsir, Houndoom, Sharpedo, Manectric and Beedrill are all mega, Gardevoir, Steelix and Heracross are sometimes mega but not always, and Krookodile has Intimidate since it's used as a lead instead of a sweeper - Moxie isn't bad but it's not fast enough to really abuse it)

 

[Bennylava]

Thanks for the input so far!

 

21 hours ago, Lorisaur said:

Oh well, I'm happy you enjoy Reborn!! I have a couple tips for your team. Don't use them for a regular playthrough, I'm only telling you these things for online play

 

First of all, be aware that Naganadel is by far the most destructive pokemon in the game. The ideal set would be Nast Plot, Sludge Wave, Draco Meteor and Flamethrower/Heat Wave. His goal is to get into someone who can't threaten him directly, like Venusaur, Clefable or many others, force them to switch, set up a Nasty Plot and destroy entire teams thanks to the beast boost. The best item is usually the Dragonium Z, altough I've seen also focus sash and poisonium Z being decent. Tyranitar is another one of the best pokemons in the game. Usually, people play him with the Assault Vest (AV) as the special defense boost makes him able to resist a Z-Draco Meteor from a Naganadel after a nasty plot and ko in return with Earthquake. That's crazy, but true. If you want to play dragon dance, instead, use these moves and leftovers as an item. Speaking of Togekiss, instead, you can play defog and roost instead of dazzling gleam and aura sphere. They deal no relevant damage and you want to have team support while keeping Togekiss healthy. For your Excadrill, I would suggest a life orb, but remember that pulling off a sweep with sand rush is not an easy task. Salamence is instead someone I don't really like... the Z-crystal is not so good with an 80 base power move. Lum Berry, Leftovers and Life Orb are good items. And please, use Fire Blast or Bulldoze instead of Brick Break

The last step is finding a mega evolution, that's your choice... my suggestion would be Mega Kangaskhan, who is very well rounded and has a nice bulk, your team will need it. Have fun!! Hope we might have a battle one of these days

Yeah, I'm only using Brick Break on Salamence while grinding out the dual trainers in the Grand Hall, makes it easy with Moxie.

What move set would you suggest for Mega Khangaskhan?

 

And on Togekiss, with Defog and Roost would you still run Thunder Wave? Is it enough with only having one damaging move?

 

10 hours ago, Seel The Deal said:

Brick Break really isn't a great option for Salamence. Even after considering Moxie and Salamence's way higher attack stat, Fire Blast is usually more effective at removing Steel types - it's not available via TM yet but will be in E19 more likely than not, and Flamethrower would work for now too. If you really need to go with something physical, Fire Fang works too. Main issue with Brick Break is it misses certain type combos like Steel/Flying, Steel/Psychic and Steel/Ghost, all of which have some really good 'mons to their name (Skarmory, Metagross, Aegislash).

 

Excadrill could run Iron Head over Smart Strike for a +10 power boost and a solid chance of flinching anything that doesn't die to it. I'd also recommend Rock Slide or Stone Edge over X-Scissor - ground/rock is too solid a combo to pass up on.

 

Currently, I run my Naganadel with Sludge Wave and Dragon Pulse for dual STAB, Nasty Plot for obvious reasons, and then switch the coverage move between Flamethrower and Thunderbolt on the fly depending on which is more useful at the time (Flamethrower is usually the move of choice for Steels but Thunderbolt helps a lot considering how many specially-bulky Water types there are). Draco Meteor is a good option over Dragon Pulse but can make sweeps harder to pull off against teams with lots of Poison resists (which isn't too uncommon considering Poison is the single worst offensive typing in the game...). If you're running Draco, there's pretty much zero excuse not to run Dragonium Z, but Dragon Pulse sets can make good use of Life Orb for the extra power, or a different Z-Crystal to beef up your coverage. Focus Sash is another option but it's non-renewable in E18 so I can't really recommend it for in-game use (can be useful in competitive though).

 

It's also possible to run a Specs set for Naganadel, which means it doesn't even need to set up and instead plays more hit-and-run. It also lets you run two coverage moves (Thunderbolt and Flamethrower together is a nasty combo) and makes Draco's downsides less prominent since you'll be getting out of battle after one kill most of the time. Nasty Plot is probably better in-game though.

 

Togekiss' set is fine, but it's worth considering Wish in one of its slots, as it makes a great user of the move with its high HP and great defensive typing. You could argue for replacing literally any of its moves but Air Slash; I personally run Flamethrower/Air Slash/Dazzling Gleam/Wish on mine, with Flamethrower preferred over Aura Sphere for... no real good reason really, I just like when I get a cheeky burn with the boosted chances from Serene Grace.

 

You have nothing on your team that isn't weak to either Rock or Ground, so your final member should be at least neutral to both, if not resistant to one of them. Resisting both is a bit much to ask, but if you want to do that, Breloom does that while also carrying an amazing utility move in Spore and a huge attack stat with plenty of ways to abuse Technician. Breloom would start to stack up a lot of Fairy weaknesses on your team though, and with only one resist (and a relatively frail one at that) that's pretty dangerous.

 

If you're really stuck on ideas for a 6th member, here's my rotation, minus a Cofagrigus (Nasty Plot + Trick Room is broken yo) and Weavile not shown here. They've all proven themselves useful at some point and there's sure to be something that would fit on your team. (Important to note: Pinsir, Houndoom, Sharpedo, Manectric and Beedrill are all mega, Gardevoir, Steelix and Heracross are sometimes mega but not always, and Krookodile has Intimidate since it's used as a lead instead of a sweeper - Moxie isn't bad but it's not fast enough to really abuse it)

 

Good points for Excadrill, found the move tutor and gave him Iron Head instead, also Rock Slide. Thanks.

 

Went to the relearner for Togekiss but I can't get him Wish  It's not on the list.

 

As for Salamence, I'm only using it's current move-set to easily plow through the Saturday dual trainers. Brick Break makes it easy. Although I wouldn't have thought of giving him Flamethrower since he's Atk based. Is it worth it regardless?

 

I've used Gardevoir a great deal, but I prefer my Togekiss at this point and figured having both of them on my team would be too much overlap. What do you think about Khangaskhan as a 6th member and as a mega choice?

[Seel The Deal]

I think Wish might be an Egg move. I was lucky enough to get it as an egg move when I first got Togepi instead of having to breed for it. I think there's a mod which lets you relearn Egg moves so you could try that to save some time.

 

Kanga is a great mega, its bulky, fast, and hits pretty damn hard. Its only really problem is it has too many good moves so trying to build one with just four moveslots is tough. You'd love to run Ice Punch, Sucker Punch, Crunch, Wish, Power-Up Punch, Drain Punch, Return and Fake Out all on the same set but obviously that can't happen. I'd personally go with a set of Return/Power-Up Punch/Sucker Punch/Ice Punch, with Power-Up Punch basically just there to be a damaging Swords Dance but also to cover Steel types (despite only being 40 + 20 base power it'll still hit pretty hard since it's boosting your attack as you use it), Ice Punch to bop bulky Ground and Dragon types that can sponge Return, Sucker Punch to beat Ghosts and other fast threats, and Return as the obvious STAB choice.

 

Comparing +1 Adamant Fire Fang vs. unboosted Adamant Fire Blast, the latter actually hits harder against some Steel types like M-Aggron and Steelix. Hell, with Naughty nature used instead, Fire Blast is almost a 2HKO against 252/252+ HP/SpDef Mega Aggron. Flamethrower hits for slightly less than boosted Fire Fang but still beats it out unboosted. Steels with less lopsided defense stats like Aegislash and Bronzong, although not too common, are better hit by Fire Fang.

[Bennylava]

That's interesting. Thanks.

 

Togetic learns Wish, so it's not an egg move. I also have the mod that allows you to teach egg moves through the relearner.

 

Could it be because I might have evolved it too early? I don't even remember when I evolved it

[Seel The Deal]

I believe there's also a mod which lets you reteach previous evolutions' moves, I thought that was included with the egg moves mod tbh but I guess I'm just special

 

But yeah, it probably would be just from evolving too early, since there isn't really anything else worth waiting for in Togetic's movepool besides the rather situational Baton Pass (Togekiss can get everything it needs via relearner and TMs) so most people just evolve right away

[Lorisaur]

I'm sorry to say that Kangaskhan can't learn power-up punch and seismic toss because they are exclusive of previous generations

[Yoma_masaho]

1 hour ago, Lorisaur said:

I'm sorry to say that Kangaskhan can't learn power-up punch and seismic toss because they are exclusive of previous generations

You can teach power-up punch through the TM you find in Teknite Cave.

[Bennylava]

What EVs would you train for Mega Khanga?

 

Atk and Speed or would you go into defensive EVs?

 

Also, is there more than one Life Orb in the game? I got the one from Citrine Mountains.

Edited April 28, 2019 by Siv

[Seel The Deal]

The event Absol can hold Life Orb in previous versions (E16 or earlier I believe) but if you already got that then no, I don't think there are any others.

 

If you're going with the niche Wish pick you could invest in HP/Attack but usually it's best to go Attack/Speed.

[Bennylava]

I went with Power-Up Punch, Ice Punch, Sucker Punch and Return.

 

I figured, so I got his Atk and Spd EVs up already.

 

Thanks for your help!

[Lil' Sunny]

if the Agate clown has a life orb on a poke (probably does) you can do the thief/fling/recycle trick to Steal it from him if you really want. Simisage/Sear/Pour can learn all of the needed moves rather easily. 

[coffeesponge]

I'm not necessarily the best player, but I also have all the mons, and currently building an elite army in preparation for EP19.

 

Togekiss @Razor Fang --> my Togekiss is a cold blooded killer, since this setup gives Air Slash something like 80% flinch rate, and it's nearly always bulky enough to get at least one Nasty Plot in.

Serene Grace

Bold Nature

- Aura Sphere

- Dazzling Gleam

- Air Slash

- Nasty Plot

 

Only skimmed the other comments, so I'm not sure if anybody recommended how to cover water types, and I didn't notice any grass or electric types in your roster. Here's my recommendations.

( It should be said that Whishcash, Lanturn, Seismitoad are annoying to deal with, and if you don't plan on using grass types often, you might want to invest in an Ice type like Alolan Ninetales w/ Snow Warning that knows Freeze Dry and Aurora Veil)

 

Rotom-W @Life Orb/Magnet

Levitate

Modest Nature

- Thunderbolt

- Hydro Pump

- Shadowball

- Substitute

 

Breloom @Toxic Orb

Poison Heal

Adamant/Jolly Nature 

- Leech Seed/Spore

- Mach Punch

- Seedbomb

- Swords Dance

 

Electivire @Assault Vest/Choice Band/Muscle Band(what i use personally to keep the Thunder Wave) for some raw, unadulterated, physical POWER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Motor Drive

Jolly Nature

- Thunder Punch

- Ice Punch

- Brick Break

- Thunder Wave/Rock Slide/Giga Impact (honestly up to you)

 

[Seel The Deal]

@notnoyes afaik, Razor Fang and King's Rock only boost flinch rate on attacks that don't normally flinch. Air Slash would still be 60% on that set unless Razor Fang for some reason uses gen 4 mechanics in Reborn.