Oct 2, 2015, 04:34 PM
Read up on Nugget Bridge articles, guides and reports as well as subscribe and keep up with experienced VGC players on YouTube and Twitch. Learning from others mistakes and achievements gives you viable information that helps with both teambuilding and battling.
Never be afraid to try new things even if they don't complement your battle style. Not because you like Hyper Offense doesn't mean that you shouldn't try more defensive playstyles. Remember that Pokemon has a meta and you have to play within its jurisdictions.
Spend time working on team synergy, movesets, EV spreads and leads.
You can't just throw 6 Pokemon together and make a team or say "because I am weak to Landorus-T, let me use Milotic because it checks it". This mentality will get you killed
Take a proactive approach to the meta not a reactive one. There are 721 Pokemon in the Pokedex and around 40 are commonly used in VGC. 40 is a pretty big number compared to the 6 mons on your team so trying to counter/check everything isn't possible. Focus more on the game plan and less on the metagame.
Get a team of friends or acquaintances that are willing to help you test your team. To be honest, team testing on Showdown's ladder isn't very effective seeing as how you have a lot of inexperienced players, trolls and teams more suited for Best-of-one not Best-of-three so you will be blindsided by some strange tactics.
Post your teams on a forums (heck even this one) if you want constructive criticism on your team. Don't expect everyone to be nice, to baby you or to always have an answer for your concerns but it doesn't hurt to try. Who knows what you will find!
That's about it for me :D
Never be afraid to try new things even if they don't complement your battle style. Not because you like Hyper Offense doesn't mean that you shouldn't try more defensive playstyles. Remember that Pokemon has a meta and you have to play within its jurisdictions.
Spend time working on team synergy, movesets, EV spreads and leads.
You can't just throw 6 Pokemon together and make a team or say "because I am weak to Landorus-T, let me use Milotic because it checks it". This mentality will get you killed
Take a proactive approach to the meta not a reactive one. There are 721 Pokemon in the Pokedex and around 40 are commonly used in VGC. 40 is a pretty big number compared to the 6 mons on your team so trying to counter/check everything isn't possible. Focus more on the game plan and less on the metagame.
Get a team of friends or acquaintances that are willing to help you test your team. To be honest, team testing on Showdown's ladder isn't very effective seeing as how you have a lot of inexperienced players, trolls and teams more suited for Best-of-one not Best-of-three so you will be blindsided by some strange tactics.
Post your teams on a forums (heck even this one) if you want constructive criticism on your team. Don't expect everyone to be nice, to baby you or to always have an answer for your concerns but it doesn't hurt to try. Who knows what you will find!
That's about it for me :D
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