Pokémon VGC Team Building Help & Strategy Guide
- Share this discussion
- Copy link
- Share on X (Twitter)
Summary
In the Pokémon Champions | VGC Battles & Tournaments server, members discuss overcoming competitive plateaus and mastering meta teams. This thread provides practical advice on handling difficult matchups, such as Raichu and Archaludon, while emphasizing the importance of positioning and type coverage. It serves as a helpful resource for players looking to improve their gameplay and climb the ranked ladder through community-driven strategy sessions.
I copied this team from youtube and im having a hard time using it, idk how to use the team and who to lead i need help im stuck at ultra ball😭

Cybertrons videos have guides at the start no?
He has but i dont understand what he’s saying
what don't you understand?
What he says in the video
Well he gives rly detailed instructions
Use x leads, these are y weaknesses
Huh?
Yo what teams are meta rn my team got too much counters i think
This team is meta haha
There's like one "counter" and you can beat it with a bit of positioning
I always lose on raichu decks
Metagross is good against it too
you you ice punch/hurricane
And they attack my pelipper
Then your swampert should be free to do anything
Well duh, they aint gonna just sit and let your swampert wjn
I don't thik this is a team issue, just experience
Yeah i think so
Which is not a problem
Everyone starts somewhere :D
If there was a pokemon who was unbeatable everybody would use it
But if i face a raichu deck who should i lead?
I think they give leads in the vid
Probably just swampert/peli
But yeah check out Cybertrons vid
Alright
The gamplan should either be earthquake and hurricane the grass type (If they lead raichu + grass)
Unless it's faster than peli for some reason
This conversation has made me rlise I don't have an electric resistance or inmunity
I also need to know what attacks their pokemon have
Which is like exclusively sceptile haha
Swampert bro
And Archaludon
I lost to a gallade because i didnt know it has a grass type move
I said I
Not them
ohhh whoopsie
I mixed it up
Archaladon is freaking terrifying for me
yeah, that's just experience again haha
Do i tailwind first turn?
Yeah
Depends
Brick break scrafty does 2 shot it but thats still too slow
If they are not threatening?
A lot of the time you'll just be fast enough because of swampert swift swim
Moreso you should tailwind if you need the speed control
It's a very "just in case" move on peli
Ngl i might change grimmsnarl for sableye because i dont find grim useful
It's very useful
Helps is the Zard matchup
And trick room
You can lead it with swampert nd parting shot into pelipper as you mea evolve
What does trickroom do?
That's one example
Reverses speed order :)
Like the slowest become the fastest?
So your swampert, who is normally lightning fast in the rain, becomes the slowest thing on the field
correct!
Ohh
It's a move that a lot of teams are based off
That’s why
Btw is there a counter for encore?
Btw in choosing my pokemon what should i think of first?
What should i lead against rain teams
I always lose
Against them
Usually Sinistcha and probably archaludon
And what should i put on my back
That's rains worst matchups. Keep practicing :)
It's up to you :D
Did i lead the right mons?

Against zard? I'd say lead grimmsnarl swamper, and leave sinistcha behind
Bring peli and Arch in the back
That way you can set up screens, and switch the rain in on their sun
I hate staraptor
Grass type decks is my weakness
I dont know what to do when i encounter them
It doesn't
Again this is just experience
Bro i encountered 6 straight raichu and charizard team
But you can beat those
I honestly cant
Grimmsnarl doesn’t do a thing
Even tho i put screens
My swamp still gets ko
What team do you use?
Do i just switch the version?
it does a lot
I just use a metagross balance team
Nice i guess the meta is different in higher ranks
why?
Do you have a rain team i can copy
Yes it's the one I sent you
It's good
Done well at tournaments
I mean in masterball rank staraptor wouldnt work
It doesn't work as well, no, because the players are better. But rain is still a very strong team
This?

yes
Whats the strongest team rn?
doesn't exist
You could argue Zard Y, but that's gotten a little worse recently
Mostly cause of Swampert
Is zard+raichu better than rain
no
if you want we can hop in the vc here, I'll stream a couple of showdown games with the team
Aight
my snow team hardcounter this team btw
better try some sun teams
no it doesn't lol
not if the rain player has any clue
mega frosslass evolution in proper team , freeze dry of my glaceon reks pelipper and mega swampert
i had fought this same team for more than 6 7 times in uball
ok so Uh what about grimmsnarl and metagross
What if I wait for you to mega and use parting shot to get in pelipper
What if I just don't bring swampert
aurora veil and snow makes super effective hits be tanked , mega frosslass gets rid of mega metagross
no it doesn;t LMAO
bro it does what are u on
Shadow ball does maybe 70%?
yes
And if you're aurora veiling then I get two free hits on you
i have a fake out grimmsnarl to stall out turns of mega metagross and hit parting shots when needed
so you're just leaving my other mon completely untouched, got it
good luck!
i constantly change my partner of frosslass , either glaceon comes or grimmsnarl comes
ok
glaceon in snow is very hard to remove with bright powder
i abused snow to reach mball
I beat snow to get to masterball
glaceon also has shadow ball , so this team is hard countered
If you say so man
sun teams trouble my snow team
rain team players doesnt try to bring rain , they just follow a online template and try reaching mball
they try once or twice for rain , then stop it , i always push snow with frosslass
Don't let your matchup opinions be tilted by brainless copy/pasters haha
im sure you are a better player than me , just saying the mindset of players matter more than the team
I agree
snow cloak is really underrated , people dont know about it much
i run snow cloak mamoswine and glaceon , they do the maximum work
Damn
Should I?
Damn orangoru strong asf
I need a new team
why dude
Rain is really, really good
And really, really easy to play
Im bored
I dont know i cant get out of ub3
Maybe a new version?
is raichu + swampert
It exists yeah
You can try make it work
Whats the best version ?
Genuinely, the one I gave you
I don't know what else to say
Is rain the best rn?
Honestly probably yes
It's definitely easiest to use
Really? Then why cant i get to master ball
Yeah idk
Because you need to improve as a player
That's the reality of it man
Everyone practices an improves and you will too :D
In what ways
No idea, I haven't watched you play
I suggest players take their favourite team to pokemon showdown
Let’s yas do lots of matches in a short time
Yeah imma practice in showdown
Good to hear!
It's a great place for improving :D
Takes a long time to copy a team tho
Ihate this game
If you hate it and don't want to work in improving, then don't play
I believe that you can do it
But it's up to you friend :D
He doesn’t
im stuck at ub1
Keep trying you’re close
You will get there! Improving is slow, but very worth it if you enjoy the game :)
I dont know how to counter trick room
Fair! That always involves careful positioning
Each team will usually have an anti TR Pokémon in any case
If you’re still using rain, then Sinksycha does a good job of pressuring an anti TR
You can also go for a straight kill on the TR mom with the likes of swampert or Metagross
Rotom is crazy
Should i change metagross
Its the least used pokemon in my team
Uhhh you have Sinistcha
Completely walls rotom
So does archaludon
I have a hard time winning against trickroom,rotom,charizard,and rain teams
Got a 3 win streak
I just lost to trickroom

Elektross is the answer