12 Most Common Strategies of Competitive Pokémon

that pokemon The series is filled with tons of unique Pokémon that players can use on their teams. With hundreds of Pokémon, each with a variety of moves to learn, the potential for creative team-building is endless.

However, when it comes to competitive fighting, there are some strategies that are much more popular than others. These strategies are often very synergistic and make up some of the most consistent team compositions in all of Pokémon. So today we'll take a look at the different strategies used in competitive Pokemon and see which ones are the most widely used!

Updated on December 5, 2024 by Hamza Haq: Competitive Pokémon battles are constantly in flux, thanks to the fact that Nintendo and GameFreak are introducing a new generation every two years, adding more and more Pokémon to the mix. Each new generation brings major changes to the competitive scene, with Pokémon shuffled through tiers and new strategies revealed. However, over the years, established patterns have emerged and some competitive strategies for Pokémon that work time and time again have become part of the fighting culture, with players understanding the realities that must always be taken into account to avoid surprises.

12 trap of destruction

sing a song of destruction

Perish Trap is a team named after their powerful skill, Perish Song. Song of Destruction is a technique that causes a countdown for the opponent's Pokemon and KOs it within 3 turns regardless of HP. This KO can be avoided by simply switching Pokémon, but as the name suggests, the Doom Trap team traps opposing Pokémon and prevents them from switching. This is most commonly done with abilities like Shadow Tag, which prevents the Pokémon from switching. If the enemy is unprepared, the Doom Trap team can easily take out even the most powerful Pokémon.

11 risk stack

inch by inch towards victory

One of the key elements of competitive Pokémon battles is entry risk moves. A move that damages the opposing Pokemon when switching for a significant portion of its health. This is a very frustrating problem to deal with, and if you don't have a solution before the fight starts, it becomes basically impossible to deal with. Hazard stacking goes one step further and kills the other team by stacking multiple hazard moves on the battlefield instead of relying solely on a single item hazard as a way to harass enemies.

The main moves for the Hazard Stack team are Stealth Rock, Spikes, and Toxic Spikes. One or two team members take on the role of dedicated risk setters like Ting-Lu, Excadrill, and Ferrothorn, while the rest of the team splits into defensive stallers like Toxapex and Clodsire mixed with revenge killers or sweepers to maintain balance. . Risk stacks come in two main forms: One is to actively use Hazards as sources of damage, such as Roar and Whirlwind, and the other is to use Hazard stacks in conjunction with delay strategies.

10 sun team

solar attack

Sun teams are one of many popular team types that aim to exploit weather conditions to their advantage. For sun-based weather teams, players will often use Pokémon with the Dought ability, which automatically generates harsh sunlight without having to use Sunny Day. In addition to increasing the power of fire-type attacks, this sun can also increase the usefulness of Pokémon with abilities affected by the sun, such as Chlorophyll.

Thanks to this harsh sunlight, the power of water-based attacks is halved, allowing even Pokemon with a water weakness to use them reliably, and you can even use the mobile Solar Beam momentarily.

9 rain team

A quick sweep and a thunder strike.

Similar to Sun Teams, Rain Teams make good use of the Rain Weather Effect. Most notable is that many of these teams can effectively utilize powerful Pokémon with the Swift Swim ability to quickly sweep through their opponent's defenses.

This rain causes Thunder to always attack, giving it additional offensive utility while also providing a defensive advantage. Since rain reduces the damage from fire-type attacks by half, this team can fearlessly use powerful Pokémon with a blinding fire weakness, like the fearsome Pheroson.

8 Sandstorm Team

one-sided accumulation of dust

The last weather-based strategy on this list, as the name suggests, Sandstorm Teams aim to take advantage of sandstorms. One of the most proven ways to start a sandstorm in Pokemon is to simply use Tyranitar. This is because Tyranitar's Sandstream ability automatically creates a sandstorm. This is hardly a price to pay, as Tyranitar is already a phenomenal Pokémon in its own right. Unlike the other weather effects we've mentioned, Sandstorm deals damage to each active Pokémon.

However, if a particular Pokémon is a Rock, Ground, or Steel type, that damage is prevented, so you can make Weather's damage one-sided by building a team around this effect.

7 hale team

Blizzards always land in the snow

Hail and Sandstorm are two sides of the same coin, and one of the most common strategies in competitive Pokémon battles is to utilize one of these two moves and build your team around it. Using Hail creates a weather effect that rains down damaging ice hail on both sides of the field at the end of each turn, inflicting chip damage that can easily stack up against Pokémon that are not immune to weather effects. Specifically, each turn of Hail deals exactly 1/16 HP of damage to both Pokémon.

The simplest way to cast Hail is of course to use the Pokémon move called Hail, but it's not the best way to do so. All Hail teams are built around a Pokémon with the Snow Alert ability, an ability that automatically summons an icy weather effect when the Pokémon switches. The most notable examples of this are Abomasnow and Alolan Ninetales.

Only Ice-type Pokémon are immune to the effects of Hail, but that doesn't mean that your Hail team should only consist of Ice-type Pokémon. In reality, the opposite should be true. The Pokemon in your party should always have different typings to avoid being completely countered by a single strategy. The key ability that makes a Hail team a threat lies within the Hail weather effect, with Blizzard's move gaining 100% accuracy, making it the team's strongest attack move in most scenarios.

6 hyper offense

all-out aggression

For players who want to focus on offense, the Hyper Offense team may be a good fit. Hyper Attack teams tend to only focus on their Pokemon's attack stats and speed, hoping to KO the opposing Pokemon before they have a chance to respond.

Pokémon in these types of teams have a move list consisting of only four types of attack moves, allowing them to prepare for as many types of threats as possible. The weakness of these teams is that they often lack a defensive backbone and can have trouble dealing with more defensive teams.

5 large scale attack

Long lasting and overwhelming

Bulky Offense teams, which are less focused on speed than Hyper Offense teams, tend to sacrifice speed for a more reliable approach. This team is made up of Pokemon that can take hits and deal with them.

These teams, which are not dedicated to outright offense like Hyper Offense teams, often offer much more flexibility and utility to adapt to different situations.

4 trick room

Slow and steady now comes first

As the name suggests, Trick Room Teams are designed to help you get as much value as possible from your Trick Room moves. Trick Room is a unique move that reverses the turn order, with the slowest Pokémon moving first and the fastest Pokémon moving last. This team often makes great use of surprising but slow Pokemon that can otherwise be hindered by their slow speed stats. This strategy can wreak havoc on many teams' plans, and can make it quite difficult for faster teams to maneuver.

Many players will often look for Pokémon with traits that hinder their already slow speed, ensuring that the Pokémon gets priority once Trick Room is activated.

3 fair winds

Unleash a powerful attack with a gust of wind.

The Trick Room team aims to turn the tide of defense, while the Tailwind team revolves around their namesake's great move, Tailwind. When you use it, Tailwind will double your team's speed!

Not only does this ensure that already fast Pokémon consistently have priority to act first, but it also allows threatening Pokémon with typically medium speed stats to attack before their opponents can respond!

2 stall

war of attrition

Stall teams are the exact opposite of hyper offense teams. Made up of the largest and most defensive Pokémon around, this team seeks victory through attrition rather than direct attacks. In addition to boosting their already high defenses, Stall Teams are known to inflict numerous harmful status effects on their enemies.

Combined with self-healing moves like Wish, Moonlight, and Roost, the longer the game goes against a Stall team, the less likely it is for one team to come out on top.

1 balance

swiss army knife

Balanced teams are, without a doubt, the most flexible teams players can use in Pokemon. Rather than focusing on heavy defense or offense, these teams contain a variety of carefully selected Pokémon, each with a unique role to play on the team.

Balance teams can utilize defensive walls, the kind of offensive wall breakers you'd expect from a hyper offense team, risk setters, and sometimes even healers. This team can function like a Swiss Army knife and often utilize elements seen in various other teams on this list.