Though it seems easy to grab a random ‘Mon and slap some off-meta move choices on it, “meme-ing” is a lot more complex than that. Today I’d like to guide you through the mental process of building a good meme, using my own Celesteela memes as an example.

The first step is finding inspiration. It could be a favorite ‘Mon of yours from childhood, a similar Pokemon to something you saw at a big tournament, or anything in between. In my case, I saw an Autotomize Yache ‘Steela at a recent Regional and thought, “Man, Autotomize Celesteela could be so cool, why does this one have to be so boring?”

Your second step is to figure out basics of a set and how it matches up vs the current metagame. In my case, I played around with ‘Steela until I realized that Z-Move + Autotomize had a favorable matchup against every common Pokemon except Arcanine and Magnezone.

The third step is teammates that support your meme. With those being hard counters to setting up my sweep, I added Garchomp, Arcanine and Tapu Fini to my team. I then surmised that the opponent leading a Koko would be an issue (once I get the speed boost I OHKO it, so it was a problem of getting that boost up) so I added what I think is the premier Lightning Rod ‘Mon this meta: Togedemaru. Fake Out could often guarantee my +2 speed, and Encoring the opponent into Protect could often have the same result. I figured that I needed another Pokemon besides Fini that could take hits, but could also support ‘Steela and either help it get up the +2 speed or a Beast Boost from an easy KO, so I added Trainer Tower’s Assault Vest Tapu Koko with Nature’s Madness and Sky Drop. It’s bulky enough to take a Z-Hydro Pump from max Modest Golduck in the rain, but has just enough firepower to 2HKO Bulky Celesteela under terrain. This team went through many different versions, involving a rotation that included Marowak-Alola, Scarfed Nihilego, Banded Arcanine, Curse Snorlax, Specs Salamence and Z-Move Gyarados before I eventually settled on my current six of ‘Steela, ScarfChomp, Pinch Offensive Arcanine, CM Fini, Sash Togedemaru and AV Koko.

The final step is the easiest and also the most difficult: it is simply a reminder to enjoy the process. Creating a good meme team is difficult, and can sometimes be discouraging if you tilt with it. BUT KEEP TRYING! It’s so worth the trouble. No feeling is better than watching your Rattata take down an Arceus.