Pokemon DB Battling Guide: Match-ups

= Battle Tactics: Team Match-Ups =

During team preview, you are able to see your opponent's team. But, let's face it, have you actually used this to your advantage? Unless if you are a skilled player, probably not. Not to worry though! This guide will cover everything you need to know to about analyzing team match-ups effectively.

- Choosing your Lead -

Although you may have been relying on your dedicated lead Aerodactyl or something like that, it is crucial to pick the appropriate lead when facing different teams. For this reason, the best lead would differ from team to team. Think about what your opponent would lead and then try to counter it.

Let's say that you are playing Mono type and it is a Ground versus Fire match-up. The team preview looks like this:

You: Hippowdon / Excadrill / Garchomp-Mega / Seismitoad / Landorus-I / Mamoswine
Your Opponent: Charizard-Mega (Y) / Torkoal / Victini / Darmanitan / Rotom-Heat / Infernape

In this match-up, it would be better for him to lead with Charizard-Mega (Y) so he can cancel out the Sandstorm weather and get up Sunny weather. He also wouldn't have to take SR damage later on. By taking a further step to analyze your opponent's possible lead, you can then counter by leading Garchomp-Mega, which can KO Charizard-Mega (Y) with Stone Edge as well as take a hit from Solar Beam or Air Slash. Even if he switches out, he has no safe switch into a Stone Edge.

Another interesting possibility is your opponent leading with Victini, Darmanitan, or Rotom-Heat. This is because they can pivot into the appropriate threat with Volt Switch or U-turn. Your best bet is to go with either Garchomp-Mega or Seismitoad. Garchomp-Mega may be a bit risky because Victini CAN carry Glaciate. Seismitoad is the safest lead here because it can wall Rotom-Heat and Darmanitan, although it can take a lot of damage from Victini's V-Create.

- Predicting Pokemon Movesets -

Even before you battle, there is a way to guess what moveset your opponent may be running on certain Pokemon. If a person has an offense team (you can see this when they have wall-breakers / sweepers / etc), that Dugtrio may be a Revenge Killer and not a Stealth Rocks lead. If there is another hazard setter, such as Ferrothorn, you now know for sure that Dugtrio is not running Stealth Rocks because it will be repetitive to have Stealth Rocks on two Pokemon.

- Knowing the Value of each Pokemon -

If you have ever played chess before, you would know that each piece has a certain value. A basic example is:

Pawn = 1
Knight = 3
Bishop = 3
Rook = 5
Queen = 9

The same can be applied to Pokemon. During team-preview, you can easily see which Pokemon are the most valuable. For example, let's say that you are playing monotype and you are playing Ground against Ice. In this case, your Landorus-I or Garchomp-Mega wouldn't be useful at all because it can easily be revenge killed by Ice Shard or any Ice STAB attack. For this reason, Landorus-I or Garchomp-Mega would become "sacrifice material" to get a safe switch in. Potentially, you could dent some holes into the opposing team if you play those Pokemon well. However, something like Mamoswine would be more helpful to pivot into Ice-type attacks and it can deal quite a bit of damage with Superpower.

It's also important to note that your "pieces" can become more valuable over time. In that match-up, Excadrill would not be as helpful in early game as it would be in late game, where it can clean up the opposing team.

- Conclusion -

As you can see, most of the "mind games" or "plays" can happen even before the battle had started. It is important to analyze team match-ups to ensure an early-game advantage.