Bob's Guide to Building Teams

[Bobreeder]

Disclaimer: I have not constructed any of the sets in this guide. They are all taken from http://www.smogon.com (http://www.smogon.com/), which is a site listing standard sets for all Pokemon, giving you a way to easily get your spreads together.



Bob's Guide to Building Teams


First, I want to say that I am by no means an excellent battler or team-builder. I have read quite a lot, though, so I have learnt the basics on team building, which is a very important part of battling. There are certain things you have to make sure of your team having, if you want your team to be competitive. Here I will try to list the basics.


Index
Different playstyles (http://forum.pokefarm.com/showpost.php?p=188761&postcount=2)
Walls & Sweepers (http://forum.pokefarm.com/showpost.php?p=188761&postcount=3)
Other Pokemon roles (http://forum.pokefarm.com/showpost.php?p=188761&postcount=4)
Synergy (http://forum.pokefarm.com/showpost.php?p=188761&postcount=5)
---
Paralysis teams (http://forum.pokefarm.com/showpost.php?p=188761&postcount=7)
Gravity teams (http://forum.pokefarm.com/showpost.php?p=188761&postcount=8)
Trick Room teams (http://forum.pokefarm.com/showpost.php?p=188761&postcount=9)
Weather based teams (http://forum.pokefarm.com/showpost.php?p=188761&postcount=10)

Sandstorm teams (http://forum.pokefarm.com/showpost.php?p=188761&postcount=11)
Hail teams (http://forum.pokefarm.com/showpost.php?p=188761&postcount=12)
Rain teams (http://forum.pokefarm.com/showpost.php?p=188761&postcount=13)
Sun Teams (http://forum.pokefarm.com/showpost.php?p=188761&postcount=14)


I hope this guide will be helpful for you all! When you first read it, you should read from top to bottom, you may find things you didn't know before! I took the time writing this, so I hope you will take the time to read!

[Bobreeder]

First, you will have to decide what sort of playstyle fits you the most. There are 3 "main roads" available, which are:


Stall
A stall team is generally built around 6 very bulky Pokemon, usually "walls", which will be explained later on. These teams revolve around using residual damage to KO opponents (residual damage include Stealth Rocks, Spikes, Toxic, Sandstorm and Hail), which leads to a very slow playstyle, where you focus on staying alive, not letting your opponent "breaking" your walls.


Points:
+ If you play well, you get the satisfaction of looking at big, brawny opposing Pokemon trying and failing to attack through your wall.


+ Stall teams are known to be the most successful on Shoddy Battle (a software program where you can play competitive Pokemon on the computer).


- If you are met by a few good wall-breakers, you will have to play very well to not be taken down.


- It is very hard not to over-stress your walls, which is frequently exploited by offensive teams, as some Pokemon have the same counters, and one can weaken the counter, and the wall will have problems with surviving another hard-hitting Pokemon.


- Stall is often looked upon as the most irritating playstyle, because of the lack of speed the game has, and you will likely see a lot of people complaining if you use it on Shoddy. You shouldn't care about this, though, as it is a completely legitimate way of playing, and is not "nooby" in any way. In fact, one of the most known Pokemon players ever, Obi, is known for his Stall.




Balanced
Balanced teams are the most common teams, and they are what most players are taught how to make in the beginning. There is a reason for this: balanced teams are arguable the easiest teams to get to work with limited knowledge of synergy and other important factors. How balanced teams are made varies greatly, but usually they will contain:
1 physical "wall"
1 special "wall"
1 physical "sweeper"
1 special "sweeper"
2 other pokemon (often mixed attackers or walls etc.)
This is by no means set in stone, but with more walls it will often be classified as Stall, and with more attackers they will go over into the "offensive" category.


Points:
+ This playstyle may be pretty flexible, and allows you to do pretty much anything, making it suitable for beginners and experts alike.


- To stop both Stall and Offense will be very hard, and you will have to be very clever to make a team with synergy that can beat both of the extreme play-styles.




Offense
This kind of team focuses on using "sweepers", Pokemon who are built to deal a lot of damage. They usually rely on speed and resistances rather than large defenses to take hits. There are 2 ways to play offensive Pokemon too, which are:
- Bulky Offense
These Pokemon are usually pretty bulky "tanks", who can take hits and rely on resistances a bit less. Very few of these teams use "Walls", but their Pokemon often run "bulky" EV spreads (this will be explained later in the guide). This is by far the most popular offensive play.
- "Kamikaze"-offense
These Pokemon usually have to resort to immunities or double resists to switch in. They usually run offensive 252/252 builds (explanation later). They also usually have to hit the opponent before he hits you. The successful Kamikaze-teams are always built by very experienced players, as this, more than any other playstyle, requires a lot of thought and experience to be successful.


Points:
+ Makes for very high-paced battles, where you have to keep your head cold, or you will most likely make costly mistakes.


- Relatively hard to build successful offensive teams, and they often have problems with stall. However, if the team is full of "wall-breakers", they may get problems with playing against balanced or other offensive teams.

[Bobreeder]

Before we go further, I will post the template for how I post Pokemon:


*Species Name* @ *Item*
Ability: *Ability*
Nature: *Nature*
EVs: *EV spread* (HP=Hit Points, Atk = Attack, Def = Defense, SpA = Special Attack, SpD = Special Defense, Spe = Speed)


*Move 1*
*Move 2*
*Move 3*
*Move 4*


Hopefully that was understandable. Everything in *'s is changed to the actual information.


Explanation of different roles


Walls
Walls are very bulky Pokemon (with «bulky», I mean Pokemon with strong defenses). They usually have a strong HP stat, and either Defense (named «Physical Walls») or Special Defense (named «Special Walls»). Some have both, but that comes at the expense of their HP stat.


An example for a Physical wall would be:


http://www.pokesho.com/img_icon/i_kabarudon_osu.gif
Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Storm
Nature: Impish
EVs: 252 HP/168 Def/88 SpD (this spread has been devised by some elite gamers from Smogon, to survive certain attacks on the special end too.)


Earthquake
Slack Off
Stealth Rock
Roar (other options include Ice Fang and Stone Edge)


One of the best physical walls in existence. Notorious for it's place in virtually every Stall team, as it provides one of the most important parts of a stall team's residual damage (Sandstorm) on a permanent basis without any set-up, and it also provides Stealth Rock support. A staple on just about all stall teams.


Now, an example of a Special Wall:


http://www.pokesho.com/img_icon/i_hapinasu.gif
Blissey @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
Nature: Calm
EVs: 252 Def/40 SpA/216 SpD


Softboiled
Thunder Wave
Flamethrower
Aromatherapy


Although not the standard Blissey set (the standard utilizes Wish, which isn't a breedable Blissey move), she is known to be the best special wall ever in existence, and will wall just about all of them all day long. Her downfall is, though, her lack of Defence, which makes her a target for physical attackers, and makes her a sitting duck against a Dugtrio revenge-kill. Still, she does her job very well at walling special attacks, but she does take some experience to not get killed/«Set up on» by physical attackers.


Lastly, an example of a good mixed wall:


http://www.pokesho.com/img_icon/i_dootakun.gif
Bronzong @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Sassy
EVs: 252 HP/86 Atk/80 Def/92 SpD


Gyro Ball
Stealth Rock
Hypnosis
Earthquake


Another viable Stealth Rock user. With Hypnosis, it can often manage to cripple one member of the opposing team. It has quite good defenses, and even though it is let down by it's HP, it takes hits pretty well, but the lack of an instant recovery move, like Softboiled and Slack Off, hurts it. Still, it does it's job well if it stays away from Fire attacks!




Sweepers
A sweeper is a Pokemon built to deal a lot of damage. Typically, sweepers are pretty fragile, so they should stay away from non-resisted attacks as much as they can. There are examples, though, of bulky sweepers. These are often called bulky attackers or «Tanks». There are both Physical and Special sweepers, but as they share the same qualities, just with either Attack or Special Attack, I will not list sets for them all. They all typically need at least decent speed, or a very powerful «priority move».


Here is an example of a normal, fragile sweeper:


http://www.pokesho.com/img_icon/i_manyuura.gif
Weavile @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 40 HP/252 Atk/216 Spe


Swords Dance
Night Slash
Ice Punch
Brick Break


Weavile is very speedy, and with this set, it becomes very powerful also. There is one problem with this, though: since Weavile is so fragile, he will not be able to switch into anything other than Psychic attacks (which he, thanks to his Dark typing, is immune to). But if you manage to get in on something that is scared away, you can Swords Dance, and then you can proceed to sweep if they don't switch to something that walls you (certain Steel types, for example, have no problems with this set). A decent attacker, but very fragile, and must be handled with care.


Now, I will list a more bulky sweeper:


http://www.pokesho.com/img_icon/i_kairyuu.gif
Dragonite @ Lum Berry
Ability: Inner Focus
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 HP/60 Atk/196 Spe


Dragon Dance
Earthquake
Roost
Outrage


Dragonite can come in and Dragon Dance up, and the opponent will find this guy hard to take down without Ice or Rock attacks, as he can just Roost when damaged. When he has done a few Dragon Dances, he proceeds to Outrage or Earthquake the other team. If the opponent's team is devoid of Steels (or you KOed them all), you can go with only Outrage, and use Light Screen over Earthquake to soften up Special Attacks.

[Bobreeder]

You can't classify all Pokemon as Wall or Sweeper, here are some other important groups for your team.


Leads
Although no Pokemon can really be classified as a lead, there are some duties that are best given to a lead Pokemon, and certain qualities that are very useful. There seems to be 3 different types of leads that are used right now, «Suicide leads», Bulky leads and Anti-leads.


Suicide leads start with 2 purposes: setting up Stealth Rock, and stopping the opponent from doing the same, and the good suicide leads do this very well. With no legendary clause, there is really only 1 viable suicide lead: Aerodactyl. It Taunts the opponent, and he usually run Focus Sash to avoid being 1HKO'd. If the opponent foresees the Taunt, Aero will still be able to get up Stealth Rocks, provided the opponent isn't faster (something that very rarely happens). He will then usually be on 1 HP. Then it does 1 move to do as much damage as possible, and it is KOed. Although this seems like a waste of a Pokemon slot, it is actually very useful on offensive teams, who really like the Stealth Rock support, and lack of Stealth Rocks on their side.


Bulky leads are a bit different. They can't stop the opponent's Stealth Rocks, but in turn they have a better chance of living through their Stealth Rock attempt, and being a threat later on in the match. Metagross is the #1 lead on Shoddy at the moment, and he is the typical bulky lead.


Anti-leads have a different purpose: they do what they can to destroy the opposing lead, and they carry moves to defeat the leads that are currently in the vogue. These leads tend to change, as their purpose is to follow the statistics and KO the most common leads. Infernape is a very good anti-lead, as he can Fake Out, destroying an opposing Focus Sash, then proceed to Stealth Rock, still having his Focus Sash if the opponent also set up Rocks. It then has moves to KO most leads in the 2 last slots. Certain anti-leads drop Stealth Rock in favour for another move to KO or otherwise stop opposing leads.


Wall Breakers
Any team facing stall will know that breaking down walls is a very important step for success. It involves strong attackers, usually with mixed attacking stats, that can harm a lot of common walls. This is because walls usually have an over-specialisation syndrome – they have 1 strong defense stat, but the other is commonly lackluster, leaving it open for assaults from the different attacking spectre. There are certain Pokemon that are very good at doing this. They have good attacking stats and also good speed. While before the «requirement» for being a wall breaker was to be able to beat both Skarmory and Blissey (usually named «SkarmBliss»), now there is a lot of new walls, and other walls have got a lot of usage, like Hippowdon, Bronzong, Dusknoir, Spiritomb, and a whole host of others. On the flip side, though, both Blissey and Skarmory have become easier to counter, and new mixed attackers were also born in this generation. I could make a whole guide on wall breaking, but that is not the purpose of this one.


Good options:
:373: Salamence, :149: Dragonite, :448: Lucario, :392: Infernape, :376: Metagross


Bulky Waters
These are defensively built Water-types, who with the typing get certain useful resistances (Fire, Water, Ice, Steel). Most bulky waters have an Electric and Grass weak. They are often used as checks for dragons and Scizor.

Good choices:
:260: Swampert, :350: Milotic, :130: Gyarados, :080: Slowbro, :062: Poliwrath


Bulky Fighters
The same as Bulky Waters, just that their typing gives them resistances to Bug, Rock and Dark. Their weaknesses are fairly uncommon, Psychic and Flying. Often used for their lack of common weaknesses, and they make good switch-ins to certain Pokemon like Heracross (who often uses Megahorn, Stone Edge and Pursuit, all resisted).


Good choices:
:068: Machamp, :297: Hariyama (there are other Fighters with relatively good defenses, but they have a second typing which make them weak to common moves)


Status Absorbers
Most teams will need something that can take status like Breloom's Spore or random Toxic and Thunder Wave. These generally sport good defenses, and some actually benefit from status. The ones I list here are able to take any status, as that is the most useful to have on a team.


Good choices:
:130: Gyarados, :068: Machamp, :350: Milotic, :214: Heracross, :297: Hariyama (and a lot of other sturdy users of Rest+Sleep Talk). Note that both :286: Breloom and :036: Magic Guard Clefable with a Toxic Orb will not be harmed by the toxic (Breloom is healed by it!), and they cannot be statused over their Poison.


Rapid Spinners
This is useful on all types of teams, altough it is hard to find space for one in an offensive team. They blow away all sorts of entry hazards (Stealth Rock, Spikes, Toxic Spikes), which will help just about any team.


Good choices:
:121: Starmie, :232: Donphan, :205: Forretress, :009: Blastoise, :237: Hitmontop, :073: Tentacruel, :344: Claydol


Spikers
Pokemon using the move «Spikes» to set up that entry hazard on the opponent's side of the field. Most useful on stall, but helps balanced and offensive teams also.


Good choices:
:139: Omastar, :407: Roserade, :205: Forretress, :227: Skarmory, :478: Froslass


Toxic Spikers
The same as above, but this one sets up «Toxic Spikes». This is less useful for offensive teams, as it is debatable if the damage inflicted from the Toxic warrants the turns needed to set it up. But it is a core part of stall teams, and they are useful in Balanced teams as well.


Good choices:
:073: Tentacruel, :139: Omastar, :407: Roserade, :205: Forretress, :034: Nidoking, :031: Nidoqueen, :452: Drapion


Stealth Rockers
Arguably the most useful, and it is the most used entry hazard. This is usually put up by a Lead, but can also be set up by mostly anything. If you're not gonna set it up in the beginning of the match, though, it is probably most sensible to have it on a wall, preferably mixed, as it allows for more switch-in opportunities. Just about everything can learn Stealth Rock, and a long list can set it up efficiently, so I will skip the «Good choices» part of this.


Now, the «Good choices» parts I've posted are only guidelines. If you find another Pokemon that you think can do well, test it. If it doesn't work, you may well have learnt more than if it worked straight away. Try your ideas, that is how you will stand out in the crowd!

[Bobreeder]

Synergy


Now, you have most likely built a team before, and had it fail miserably relatively soon after. If you've been experiencing this, your team most likely lacks «synergy». This is often said to be the most important part of a team, and will often make or break a team.


But what is synergy? This is hard to answer. It is really everything that makes the team work together, and not only be 6 random Pokemon. I will try to list a few ways of making your teams synergy work well.


Resistances
Probably the most basic, but also very important, especially for teams that aren't stall (and you can't have an all-ground stall team either). Generally, you will want to have Pokemon that resist/are immune to every move that you have a weakness to. So, if you're going to have Flygon and Salamence, make sure you have a Steel or 2 to take incoming dragon, ice and rock attacks! Generally, having a steel or 2 will grant you a lot of useful resistances, and dragons help covering the weaknesses Steels have too. If you want to know how your teams resistances and weaknesses are without having to do a lot of typing and thinking, check this out: http://pokemon.marriland.com/diamond_pearl/team_builder/ This is very good when you are trying to decide from a group of Pokemon for a specific role in your team.


Group synergy
It is also very useful to have a group of Pokemon (2 or 3, no more) have good synergy offensively or defensively. Defensive synergy include being able to switch in and threaten counters to the other parts of the group/pair, while getting protection by the other part.
Here is an example of defensive synergy:


Gliscor and Empoleon
http://www.pokesho.com/img_icon/i_guraion.gif http://www.pokesho.com/img_icon/i_enperuto.gif


Gliscor is weak to Ice and Water, Empoleon is weak to Fighting, Ground and Electric. Together, they not only resists each other's weaknesses, but also all types apart from Grass. They are also focused on a spectre each, Gliscor physical and Empoleon special. They can use mostly any set together and work well, but Empoleon should not go SubPetaya (the most standard set), as it is weakening it's defensive powers very quickly.


Offensive synergy is as important, especially for offensive teams. It revolves more around being able to counter the defensive threats to the other part of the combo, and having virtually unresisted and preferably good super-effective coverage. «Baiting» is also very useful in this type of synergy: you have 2 Pokemon with the same counters, and one of them run an unexpected set, either to dispose of the counter, letting the other Pokemon sweep, or setting up the other Pokemon, making it able to take down the counter itself. They do not have to be great at resisting each other's weaknesses, but it is helpful.
An example of good offensive synergy:


Lucario and Scizor


http://www.pokesho.com/img_icon/i_rukario.gif http://www.pokesho.com/img_icon/i_hassamu.gif


The usual Lucario set carries Swords Dance, making it immensely powerful. All teams usually carry a counter to this, as otherwise it can and will sweep the team first opportunity it gets. Therefore, people will try to get in their SD Lucario counter as soon as Lucario switches in, something that can be exploited. A SpecsLucario is, in addition to being very powerful, able to really put the hurt on SD Lucario counters, and those are usually SD Scizor counters also, giving your Scizor a counter-free environment to set up and sweep, which will usually end in victory.


Now, we have touched upon a lot of basics when you are building your team. If you want more information about anything in this guide, you can ask me, and if I don't know, there is a sea of knowledge out there. I usually look on www.smogon.com (http://www.smogon.com/) when there is something I am not sure of, and I used things I learnt from there extensively through this guide.


With this, the first edition of the guide is finished. If you have any idea of something that should be included, please tell me, and I will edit it in. I have tried going through it, but it is a limit to what 2 eyes spot!


Thanks for reading, and good luck with battling!
[/walloftext]

[Bobreeder]

There are other styles of battling also, not only stall, balanced and offense. However, these may be harder to pull off for inexperienced battlers, so it is strongly recommended you have read the above and had a few battles and learnt the ropes before you try making one of these «theme-teams». I will list them in this guide, but they are harder to pull off, and they add another dimension to the needed team synergy, and often limit the Pokemon you can use.


That said, they are useful as learning tools too, teaching you more about what may be viable under certain circumstances, for example: Sing would very rarely be used in normal play, as it has so low accuracy (55%) that you could never trust it. However, in a gravity team, the accuracy is (55*1.67)=91.85%, which is pretty reliable, don't you think? All moves with a 60% and up accuracy are 100% accurate in Gravity. Now, most of you know that Rampardos is too slow without setting up to sweep. This is possible to change, however, in a Paralysis or a Trick Room team. Paralysis lowers the afflicted's speed by 75%, while Trick Room makes the slowest Pokemon go first, which suddenly makes Rampardos viable!


All these teams have their limits, however, which will be listed in their analysis. Here we start...

[Bobreeder]

Paralysis teams

These teams rely on Paralysis for different purposes. Paralysis is induced through a number of moves, and most are damaging moves. The most reliable, however, is Thunder Wave. You also have Glare and Stun Spore as reliable paralysis support. One way of inducing paralysis, which is not too well known, is through using the move Fling while holding a Light Ball. This is not recommended, though, as it would be a bit of a «gimmick».

Here is a list of what Paralysis induces on opponents:

Speed 25% of normal.
25% chance of not attacking, being «fully paralyzed».

The Speed drop is very useful, and a lot of teams build around just that. It allows nearly everything a sweeping possibility, and allows you to use that one sweeper you always wanted to, but was always too slow to make an impact. The 25% chance of not attacking is quite useful by itself, but it becomes madly annoying when used in conjunction with a Serene Grace user using a 30% chance of flinching move. Serene Grace doubles the chance of secondary effects happening, so that is 60% chance of flinching the opponent, and with the addition of paralysis, the opponent only has (0.75*0.40)*100=30% chance of attacking. This may cause A LOT of frustration for your opponent, and with luck you can sweep a few Pokemon without ever being hit. Just to add some calculations for the chance of hitting you once with a number of chances:
1 = 30%
2 = 49%
3 = 65.7%
4 = 75.99%
5 = 83.193%

If the opposing Pokemon doesn't resist your attack, it is often a 2HKO or 3HKO. If you also factor in how often moves like Fire Blast (85% accuracy) are used, you see that «ParaFlinch» is a viable strategy. The 2 most viable ParaFlinchers in non-legendary play (like we do it on PokeFarm) is:

http://www.pokesho.com/img_icon/i_nokocchi.gif
Dunsparce @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 144 HP/252 Atk/36 Def/76 SpD

Headbutt
Rock Slide
Bite
Rock Smash/Earthquake/Body Slam/Thunder Wave

This works the best with paralysis support from the beginning, as Dunsparce is not bulky enough to withstand hard hits. With that out of the way, let's see what Dunsparce is capable of. With 3 moves that have 60% flinch (after Serene Grace), you can use the calcs above to see the opponents chance of getting a hit in. In the last move slot, you have choices. Rock Smash has 100% chance of lowering defence, very nice on a wall switch-in who Dunsparce can't really do anything to, like Skarmory. This enables a strong physical attacker to switch in and KO or set up on the wall.

http://www.pokesho.com/img_icon/i_togekissu.gif
Togekiss @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
Nature: Modest
EVs: 252 HP/4 Def/252 SpA

Thunder Wave
Air Slash
Roost
Aura Sphere

Togekiss is a more sturdy ParaFlincher. It will survive for quite a long time, especially considering all the turns your opponent spends being flinched. The problem with this over Dunsparce, though, is the fact that Togekiss hasn't got a lot of type coverage through it's flinching moves, as it only has 1 viable flinching move (if you're not going for a slightly gimmicky Rest+Snore set or a set employing Sky Attack (Air Slash hits for as much damage over 2 turns, and Sky Attack opens up a free switch-in opportunity). Aura Sphere does damage the opponents that aren't hurt much by Air Slash (Steel and Rock types). Thunder Wave causes the actual paralysis, and Roost lets Togekiss regain some HP. A lot more sturdy, and a bit more powerful ParaFlincher, but with fewer flinching moves.

Paralysis sweepers is another thing that the ParaFlinchers. Sweepers are typically immensely strong, but lack speed. A frequently used Paralysis sweeper would be:

http://www.pokesho.com/img_icon/i_dosaidon.gif
Rhyperior @ Leftovers
Ability: Solid Rock
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 HP/252 Atk/4 Def

Swords Dance
Substitute
Stone Edge
Earthquake

Rhyperior, sporting a 140 Base Attack stat, will have an extremely powerful Stone Edge/Earthquake, when you also put STAB into the equation. Very few walls will have an easy time with this beast (a SD'd Earthquake will do 75.71% - 89.05% to a 252 HP/252 Def Impish Hippowdon). If you add into the consideration the impressive 130 Base Defense and Solid Rock, this won't be stopped by a lot of walls. Substitute stops status, and also lets Rhyperior have a buffer against attacks, letting it risk the odd Ice Beam on random Pokemon.

Things to consider on a Paralysis team is:

Paralysis inducers, whereas:
At least 1 must be able to hit Grounds
At least 1 must be able to hit Ghosts
You should have at least 3, and they should be reasonably bulky.

Sweepers, whereas:
They should be reasonably bulky
They should have a pretty high Atk/SpA stat.
The number is varying, from 1-3.

Other things to consider are:
ParaFlinchers.
Useful Pokemon, without caring about the Speed stat.

[Bobreeder]

Gravity teams

Gravity is a field effect that goes on for 5 turns. Here is a complete list of what Gravity does:


All Pokemon are vulnerable to Ground moves

This is the most known effect of Gravity. This is the bane of Pokemon like Skarmory, who won't enjoy an Earthquake to the face. This also makes Arena Trap capable of trapping everything. Please note, this does NOT remove the flying typing of a flyer, only removes the ground immunity and replaces it with a neutral on the flying typing. If it is a steel Pokemon, like Skarmory, it will become a 2x weakness, because of Steel being weak to Ground. This will also make Flyers or levitators vulnerable to all Entry Hazards (except Poisons, who aren't affected by Toxic Spikes. In fact, they remove them).


Bounce, Fly, Hi Jump Kick and Jump Kick can't be used

Doesn't matter a whole lot, but you can be sure that the opposing Gyarados can't use a possible Bounce, or that Hitmonlee won't Hi Jump Kick you.


Accuracy boosted by a factor of 1.67

This is not the most known and obvious effect, but it is arguably the most important. With gravity in effect, any move with accuracy of 60% or higher has a 100% accuracy under gravity. This means Sing, DynamicPunch and Blizzard are quite reliable. Does not affect OHKO moves, but that is quite irrelevant in standard play, as OHKO clause is usually in effect.

You can generally split Gravity teams into 2 parts: Offensive and Defensive.


Offensive teams will try to both use the accuracy boost and EQ vulnerability to deal damage. A lot will also employ a Dugtrio, as it's now able to trap anything without a Shed Shell. This means you will be able to eliminate most Blissey, Tyranitar, Skarmory etc. through this Poke. Pokemon that are part Ground are useful, as Pokemon like Rhyperior can really dent a lot with that powerful Earthquake, factoring in STAB.

Defensive variants are using a lot of the principles of stall, with entry hazards doing most damage, and they now hit everything. They will very often employ Pokemon that make the opponent switch (commonly referred to as «phazers»), either outright Roar/Whirlwinding, or through the use of moves that makes it unwise to stay in, like Perish Song. Other than that, they just generally stall.

There are a few viable users of Gravity, one of which is:

http://www.pokesho.com/img_icon/i_pikushii.gif
Clefable @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
Nature: Modest
EVs: 252 HP/4 Def/252 SpA

Gravity
Thunder
Blizzard
Softboiled

Clefable is an extremely versatile Pokemon, so the 3 last moves can be changed for just about anything else. This does use Gravity well, though. After the accuracy bonus, using Thunder and Blizzard won't be risky at all. Thunder will also give Paralysis support, so this does not need much speed. One advantage with Clefable is that the opponent has no idea what you are throwing at them, so they will be very wary when dealing with you, usually allowing you a lot of room to set up Gravity. Softboiled is there for added survivability, but if this is not your main Gravity user, this can be changed for a lot of other things, like Sing or Charm, or another damaging move.

Things to consider on a Gravity team:

Gravity users, whereas:
They should be reasonably bulky, so they can survive a long battle.
At least 2, more if they fit on the team, so they can switch in a majority of different situations.

Sweepers, whereas:
They will benefit from being Ground type and have a Ground move.
They are encouraged to use low accuracy moves (beware, though, if you can't get Gravity up, you should have a backup plan, so don't load your team up with only low accuracy).
Number depends on the team, with a defensive variant, you can do well without a sweeper, while offensive teams will want as many as possible.

Walls, whereas:
They will be able to use inaccurate moves like Sing to incapacitate opponents
There should be a few that put up Entry Hazards, and some «phazers».
Number depends on team, offensive teams will use a very limited number, defensive teams may fill their team.

[Bobreeder]

Trick Room teams

These teams rely on Trick Room, a move that makes the slowest Pokemon move first for 5 turns. This does NOT affect move priority, so a Quick Attack will still be faster than a Roar.

Now, there's a lot more variety in the Pokemon that can set up Trick Room. There is no item that will make the effect last for longer, though, so there should be a healthy amount of Trick Roomers in your team, and at least a couple that are reasonably sturdy.

A commonly used Trick Roomer is:

http://www.pokesho.com/img_icon/i_yonowaaru.gif
Dusknoir @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
Nature: Relaxed
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/4 SpD

Trick Room
Will-O-Wisp
Pain Split
Earthquake

Dusknoir is a very slow Pokemon, with good defenses, letting it come in relatively often, especially on physical attackers. Under the effect of Trick Room, Dusknoir will move first on a vast majority of Pokemon, letting it become a decent sweeper with Earthquake, but it will usually just switch out to a dedicated sweeper. All things considered, this is a prime Trick Roomer, just watch out for Pursuit, as it will often prove the bane of Dusknoir.

One word of note, when you are going to use a Trick Room users, remember that Trick Room has a very low priority, so you will be best off using something bulky to set it up.

Things to consider on a Trick Room team:

Trick Roomers, whereas:
At least a couple that are bulky enough to take some beating, so they can switch in more than once.
Should be slow, as they will then be able to make use of Trick Room themselves.

Sweepers, whereas:
They should be as slow as possible, but one normal sweeper may prove useful in games your strategy doesn't work out well enough, but usually in these games you will be at a disadvantage regardless.
Decent bulk is preferable, so that they are capable of switching in, as it's hard to give proper support in 5 turns (however, a Dual Screen Trick Roomer is a possibility).

As the Trick Room users will have to be bulky, they will be your walls, as stall Trick Room doesn't work out too well, you will want sweepers in there too.

[Bobreeder]

Weather based teams

Weather based teams use the effects of Rain, Sun, Hail or Sandstorm to their advantage. This is done in a variety of ways, through abilities like Swift Swim, by powering up moves in Rain/Sun, or through typing (Rock in Sandstorm for example, more about the advantage of that later). Rain and Sun are mostly offensive weather effects, while Sandstorm and Hail are commonly used in Stall teams. I will not go into great detail about these, I will just explain all the effects that each type of weather provides. First, here's a couple of universal weather effects:



Weather Ball becomes a Rock (Sandstorm), Ice (Hail), Water (Rain) or Fire (Sun) move with 100 Base Power

Most of these are useful, not as much to Castform (who gets elemental attacks) as to Roserade, the other fully evolved user of Weather Ball. It will enjoy all the different types greatly, as they are very welcome power boosts over Hidden Power.


Pokemon with the Forecast ability changes type to match the weather (except for in Sandstorm)

This makes Castform the funny Pokemon it is. It won't be dealing damage anytime soon, but it's at least a very nice visual effect, and adds some spice to the games.

[Bobreeder]

Sandstorm

Sandstorm is the most common weather effect, and therefore I felt like that was the natural start. Sandstorm can be started through the move Sandstorm (TM37), which lasts for 5 turns. If a Smooth Rock is held, it is increased to 8 turns. The most effective way of creating Sandstorm, however, is through having a Pokemon with the Sand Stream ability switch into battle. This makes a permanent Sandstorm, until another weather move is used. The Pokemon with this Ability are Hippowdon, Tyranitar and Hippopotas if you are playing in UU, where the former two are not allowed to play.

Here are the effects of Sandstorm:


1/16th of total HP dealt to all Pokemon on the field, except for those with Rock, Ground or Steel typing, or with the ability Sand Veil or Magic Guard.

This is arguably the most important and noticeable effect of Sandstorm, and the reason it is used on most successful Stall-teams. It will consistently chip away a part of your opponents HP, equal to the recovery gained from Leftovers (and Black Sludge on Poisons). An important thing to remember is that weather chips away health BEFORE Leftovers heal it, so if the opponent is extremely low on health, they may be killed by Sandstorm before their Leftovers can heal them.


Rock-type Pokemon gain a 50% Special Defense boost in Sandstorm

This is another very important factor, and is one of the main reasons Tyranitar is such a bulky Pokemon, as with neutral nature and 0 EVs, it has a Special Defense stat of (236*1.5)=354, assuming 31 IVs. This is nearly identical to a 160 base stat! Other Pokemon that benefit a lot from this is Rhyperior, Golem, Kabutops, Omastar, Armaldo... Basically all quite sturdy Rocks.


Pokemon with the Sand Veil ability get their evasion raised by 20%

Not much to say about this, it's the main thing that makes Cacturne usable. Garchomp and the occasional Sand Veil Gliscor also are benefited a lot.


Solarbeam's base power is reduced from 120 to 60

This helps, as it softens the blow from one of the strongest Grass moves. It isn't used a lot, but you'll like this when your Tyranitar meets one!


Synthesis, Moonlight and Morning Sun recover 25% HP, as opposed to 50%

Very useful for the occasional Pokemon which relies on these, but they aren't used a lot, mainly because of this.

Therefore, to sum up, you should be using mostly Rock, Steel and Ground Pokemon, and Rocks get an extra bonus. With Sandstorm being infinite if you use a Sand Streamer (which you should), you can run any team you want, basically. The residual damage will help offensive teams on certain KOs, and will grant some extra sturdiness to Tyranitar, a commonly used offensive Pokemon. Defensive teams will have a consistent line of residual damage, which really adds up after a while. It does limit some Pokemon's viability, though, so be careful when deciding to use Sand Streamers.

[Bobreeder]

Hail

This is a weather effect that is similiar to Sandstorm. It is a lot less seen, though, which may be because the permanent hail inducer is not as useful as Sand Streamers generally. It is started through the move Hail (TM07), which creates Hail that lasts for 5 turns. If the Pokemon using Hail holds an Icy Rock, it lasts for 8 turns. Hail has also got some perma-hail inducers in Abomasnow, and Snover if you play UU, with their Snow Warning ability. Let's look at the effects of Hail:


1/16th of total HP dealt to all Pokemon on the field, except for those with Ice typing, or with one of the abilities Snow Cloak or Ice Body

This is, like in Sandstorm, the most noticable effect. This is often what Hail teams are built around, as it's just like Sandstorm with less immunities. Everything I said in the comments of Sandstorm, applies here.


Pokemon with the Snow Cloak ability get a 20% evasion increase

Useful for the few Pokemon with the ability, possibly used with Brightpowder to make it even harder to hit.


Pokemon with the Ice Body ability recover 1/16th of their total HP every turn

The very reason StallRein works, as by using a Protect/Substitute cycle with Leftovers and Ice Body let's it recover back as much health as was lost when putting up the Substitute. This let's it stall until Protect and Substitute PP has run out, which takes 32 turns. With Toxic support, this leads to opponent's dying a slow, painful death.


Synthesis, Moonlight and Morning Sun recover 25% HP, as opposed to 50%

Very useful for the occasional Pokemon which relies on these, but they aren't used a lot, mainly because of this.


Blizzard's accuracy is boosted to 100%, and it gets a 30% chance to attack through Protect/Detect

This lets you use the strongest Ice attack without fear of missing! It let's Pokemon with only modest Special Attack, like Froslass, do decent damage. Hitting through Protect may be useful for Wish/Protect users, but Blizzard won't do much damage to the biggest abuser of this, Vaporeon.


Ice Pokemon get the advantage in Hail, and Pokemon with Ice Body or Snow Cloak are extra useful. Hail is a lot more limited than Sandstorm, as the Snow Warning Pokemon is just not as competitively good as Tyranitar or Hippowdon, and your Pokemon types are a lot more restricted. Still, do not brush it away completely, as a good Hail team can be just as good as Sandstorm teams, it's just harder to pull off.

[Bobreeder]

Rain

Rain is a completely different weather effect than the 2 before, and it is a lot more offensively oriented, which you will see in it's effects. Good rain teams are very capable of dealing massive damage to the opponent. It can be started through the move Rain Dance (TM18), which lasts for 5 turns, 8 turns if the user holds a Damp Rock. It is also possible to start with the Drizzle ability, an ability Kyogre holds for itself, meaning there is no Drizzle user in standard play. Without further ado, let's look at the effects:


The power of Water moves is boosted by 50%

VERY USEFUL! This is one of the main draws of Rain, as it makes Water moves like Surf and Waterfall ridiculously powerful. With this, your Pokemon are able to break through even the strongest walls who do not resist the move. This can also make it viable to run mixed sets on Pokemon with not very impressive Special Attack, such as Kabutops, as it allows you to wreak havoc on Skarmory and the like.


The power of Fire moves is reduced by 50%

Not quite as useful as the last one, as Water types, that are the main Pokemon in Rain, won't be hit for much by Fire moves anyway. Still, it's always nice to reduce damage taken.


Pokemon with the Swift Swim ability get their Speed doubled while the rain is in effect

THE main reason that Rain is so useful. This will make just about anything extremely fast. With the speed comes great sweeping potential for Pokemon like Kingdra, who has a base 85 speed, which ends up at a maximum of 590 Speed in the rain, and Omastar, who sits at measly 55 base, gets a max of 458.


Pokemon with the Rain Dish ability recover 1/16th of their total HP every turn

Ludicolo is the only fully evolved Pokemon with this ability, and usually goes with Swift Swim over this. Still, it is able to stall out certain opponents with this, but it is hampered by the lack of permanent rain in non-uber play.


Pokemon with the Hydration ability heal themselves of status at the end of every turn

This makes Rest a very viable move on Phione and Dewgong, even though they lack the defensive prowess to stay alive while sleeping. It basically makes Rest a full recovery move, of both HP and status, with no drawbacks. You need to make sure there is rain at the end of the turn, though, or you're stuck sleeping.


Pokemon with the Dry Skin ability recover 1/8th of their total HP every turn

This seems like a superior Rain Dish, but the ability has more to it than this, as it also adds a Fire weakness. Still, this is one of the most powerful healing ability in the game without the need to use a move.


Thunder's accuracy is boosted to 100%, and it gets a 30% chance to attack through Protect/Detect

The main reason Electrics are found on Rain Dance teams, in addition to removing bulky Waters that can take the boosted Water moves, like Vaporeon. It works just like Blizzard in Hail, basically.


Solarbeam's base power is reduced from 120 to 60

With Pokemon like Omastar and Kabutops running around in Rain, you will appreciate this, even though it is a very uncommon move.


Synthesis, Moonlight and Morning Sun recover 25% HP, as opposed to 50%

Not overly useful, as those moves are rarely used, but in the instance you meet something that relies on it, it may just be what saves you.

[Bobreeder]

Sun

This is a to Rain as Hail is to Sandstorm. Very similar, but in Sun, the effects are pretty much reversed. This is also very offensively oriented, which is to expect with effects that last for a limited time. Sun can be started through the move Sunny Day. It lasts for 5 turns, 8 if the item Heat Rock is held by the user. It can also be started through a Pokemon with the Drought ability switching in, which makes permanent Sun, but that is limited to Groudon, so it's not available in standard play. Let's look at the effects:


The power of Fire moves is boosted by 50%

What Pokemon doesn't enjoy a boost to their moves? This lets all Fire attacks to deal a lot of damage to opponents. It is a double-edged sword though, as the Pokemon with Chlorophyll are weak to Fire, which means they will really have to avoid that. Still, you will usually be more prepared for Sun than your opponent, so you should be able to make use of this.


The power of Water moves is reduced by 50%

This is very useful to the Fire types in your team. With this, their weakness is in effect not there anymore if they are only 2x weak to it (like most fires).


Pokemon with the Leaf Guard ability are immune to status moves

There are 3 Pokemon capable of learning it, but 2 are almost always better off with their second ability, Chlorophyll. Leafeon however will always have this ability, and it is by no means useless. Note, however, that it doesn't cure status already on the Pokemon. It won't stop you from inducing status on yourself, like Rest. It is a useful effect, but not game-breaking in any way.


Pokemon with the Chlorophyll ability get their Speed doubled while Sun is in effect

This, however, is a really game-breaking ability. It turns Jumpluff into something with a maximum of 700 speed, obviously near-impossible to outrun. Pokemon with more modest base Speeds, like Tangrowth, sitting at a pretty uninspiring base 50, will get a max speed of 436, outspeeding even Electrode at base 140! This means just about anything has got the speed needed for a sweep.


Pokemon with the Flower Gift ability boost their Attack and Special Defense by 50%, in doubles both Pokemon get the boost

This gives Cherrim a cute little niche in Uber doubles play as a partner to Groudon, where it could have some awesome results. If it's used for anything else, however, Cherrim most likely will just fill a team spot without ever get much done.


Pokemon with the Solar Power ability have their Special Attack boost by 50%, but lose 1/8th of their total HP every turn

Both Pokemon with this ability are slow ones with Chlorophyll available to them also, which means this usually is the inferior ability. Still, it can make Sunflora hit ridiculously hard with Specs, as it can get a maximum of (339*1.5*1.5)≈762 SpA. This comes at a risk though, which is the above mentioned lack of Speed.


Pokemon with the Dry Skin ability lose 1/8th of their total HP every turn

That's the flip side of the coin for having a great healing ability in Rain. Not much to say about this really.


SolarBeam does not need to charge

This means SolarBeam is a lot more frequently employed on Sun teams, and also a fair share of Fire Pokemon get this as their only Grass move outside of Hidden Power, which may prove very useful. Arcanine, for example, will suddenly have no problem getting past Swampert.


Thunder has 50% accuracy

Not overly useful, as you will be using mostly Grass and Fire, both of which aren't normally weak to Electric (Grass even resists).


Synthesis, Moonlight and Morning Sun recover 66% HP, as opposed to 50%

This means these moves are viable in Sun, but do watch out for Tyranitar or Hippowdon switch-ins. If they have another way of healing, that will usually be the best choice.


No Pokemon can be Frozen

Even though freezes aren't regular, this is something you'll appreciate when you meet a Serene Grace Ice Beamer.


That concludes my guide for the time being. I hope you find it informative, and if there's anything you feel needs adding, please PM me! This has been worked on for quite some time now, so there may be some inconsistencies, even though I've tried to remove them.