"bdt2002's In-Game Team Building Lab": Now Open For Business!

[bdt2002]

Hey guys, it's me again. Over the past three years I've been a part of this community, I've been particularly interested in the various components that go into in-game playthroughs- most notably the "In-Game Tier Lists" threads as well as the concept of team building in general. Despite this, a concerning issue has been brought to my attention. Just how many of us out there are like myself and frequently struggle to make decisions? In this case, the decision on which Pokémon you'd like to use for your next playthrough?

With a franchise with as many creatures as Pokémon has, having to decide between hundreds of them can be a daunting task in its own right. That's why I've been working on a resource for each and every one of you to use. The way this will work is simple: with the answers you post in the survey below (the link will be posted after this thread goes live), I'll be using your answers to craft the perfect squad of Pokémon for you or any of your friends to try out for your next adventure. I don't seem to recall seeing any other versions of this around the forums, so if there's any overlapping with previously existing threads or any questions/requests that the OI moderators have, please feel free to let me know.

I'm going to be working on a lot of college stuff over this next semester, so please excuse me if I am not immediately able to get back with you in regards to your survey answers. I think that just about covers everything, so without further ado, have fun with the survey!

Picture taken from: https://3dandroidwallpaper.com/pokemon-wallpaper-for-android-5274/

Link To The Survey: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1...CRsUUWgYU9Smn8vBEo44LGHw/viewform?usp=sf_link

 

[Ishiftyounot]

This... this is beautiful. I am a chronic over-thinker and planner, to the point where I don't actually end up playing the games much because I spend so much time planning a team? It's not a great way to live if I'm honest but hey ho, sometimes it works and the planning results in a super awesome team that fulfils my every expectation and want for the game. Sometimes I get bored by the 1st gym... or the 6th as the case currently is. I'm tentatively playing through Brilliant Diamond with a planned squad and so far so good, but it's slow progress and when the games slog is when I'm most likely to give up. Not fun!

But this? This might be the solution to all my problems - intuitive enough that I can input my specific wants and unique way of thinking about stuff (good luck understanding it though!) but also puts the control in the hands of another to create my fate, so to speak. I love it, and I hope it works out!

 

[bdt2002]

This... this is beautiful. I am a chronic over-thinker and planner, to the point where I don't actually end up playing the games much because I spend so much time planning a team? It's not a great way to live if I'm honest but hey ho, sometimes it works and the planning results in a super awesome team that fulfils my every expectation and want for the game. Sometimes I get bored by the 1st gym... or the 6th as the case currently is. I'm tentatively playing through Brilliant Diamond with a planned squad and so far so good, but it's slow progress and when the games slog is when I'm most likely to give up. Not fun!

But this? This might be the solution to all my problems - intuitive enough that I can input my specific wants and unique way of thinking about stuff (good luck understanding it though!) but also puts the control in the hands of another to create my fate, so to speak. I love it, and I hope it works out!

This is the best set-up I could come up with for you. For this squad of six, I prioritized Pokémon that were available in Shield, and made sure to have at least one blue and one green Pokémon included somewhere. My knowledge of Galar isn't nearly as strong as the other regions, but I'm pretty sure you can get all six of these Pokémon before Allister's gym battle, with three of them being earlygame encounters. Rare types are features on multiple Pokémon here, and of course, all six of these are native to the Galar region, with regional form representation in the form of the Shield-exclusive Cursola. I hope this team fits you well! Other users, feel free to use this post as a reference point for how I'll be doing your teams too.

Oh, one more detail before I forget: a single user can submit multiple surveys, but if you've already had one filled out, I'll put that as a lower priority than a user who hasn't had theirs completed yet. I will get to all of them eventually, I promise.

 

[bdt2002]

Alright, everyone. Here's the thing. I haven't had the chance to get around to most of your guys's responses yet, and I honestly didn't know I had several still waiting in the wings. This just came to my attention as I was reviewing a separate request that went into my private conversations area. Upon going to review that user's request, I found that I had, like, 4 or 5 more on top of that.

I've decided that I'll be using a good chunk of tomorrow's time to get around to looking into everyone's survey results. I deeply apologize for the longer wait.

 

[bdt2002]

After a sudden change in my plans yesterday, I've gotten the chance to go back and start working on team building again. I'll be posting these next teams in groups of two per post, ordered by whatever algorithm Google Forms uses to sort responses by least recent. Surveys that were filled out earlier will have their teams posted before later results, so that way I don't have many users who are waiting on theirs while others get their new teams almost instantly.

As for this post, here I've made two teams for users "Sharkeatingleeks" and "NaturalTropius".

User: Sharkeatingleeks
Chosen Game: Pokémon X (3DS, 2013)
Number of Pokémon: 6
Theme: None, although I tried to include a few shark-like Pokémon in there
Requested Pokémon: Sharpedo (I wasn't expecting Sharpedo to be in the XY roster because of ORAS but cool)

User: NaturalTropius
Chosen Game: Pokémon Black 2 (DS, 2012)
Number of Pokémon: 6
Theme: Multiple lesser-used Pokémon that still have good synergy (there were many combinations of mons I could've gone with)
Requested Pokémon: None, although I wanted to do this user a solid and give them a Tropius somewhere

One last thing: If you happen to have a way to contact a user who is currently waiting on his or her team, and you see that their team is ready for viewing, why not help them out and send them this way? We're all friends here, aren't we?

 

[guys the ret]

Thanks for the team!

 

[bdt2002]

Hey, guys. I'm finally back with some more teams. It's been a week and a half since my last update, but I have three more teams at the ready for you guys. Burnout from school and all of the new Pokémon game hype has me backed up a bit, but I'm closer than you might think to being caught up. That's because I am caught up, believe it or not. So without further ado, let's dive right into it.

The teams featured in this post were designed for users "MachineParadise" a user by the name "TheEternalNut1" over on Twitter, and "Albatross".

User: MachineParadise
Chosen Game: White 2 (DS, 2012)
Number of Pokémon: 6
Theme: No type overlapping present
Requested Pokémon: Emboar, Magnezone, Braviary (also for the sake of this team, I'm only 90% sure you can get Frillish before Clay)

User: TheEternalNut1 (Twitter username)
Chosen Game: Black 2 (DS, 2012)
Number of Pokémon: 6
Theme: No type overlapping present
Requested Pokémon: Emboar, Magnezone (you guys really like this core, don't you?)

User: Albatross
Chosen Game: Black 2 or White 2 (this user had no preference for version)
Number of Pokémon: 6
Theme: Feminine-looking Pokémon
Requested Pokémon: None, although I just had to include female Unfezant for this, both for the theme and as the closest possible nod I could find to the actual albatross bird

A few extra notes for Albatross's team: N's Zorua is actually set to be male, if that's something you were concerned about. In the case that you're okay with type overlap, you can swap out Zoroark for Mandibuzz, particularly if you're playing Black 2. Your team also has a pretty exposed vulnerablity to Electric-Types, so more anti-Electric options like Flygon or Roserade to name a few may also be worth looking into.

 

[Yung Dramps]

Alright, I gave this a shot with a submission of my own. Won't say what it is to surprise thread watchers and I'm not sure when I'll get around to the playthrough type described in it, but I reckon it'd be neat. Nice work on this thread homie

 

[Albatross]

Don't think I've ever used Gothitelle or Mienshao on a team so that'll be a first. Funky team though, I'll probably end up replacing some mons on it so when I've finished the run I'll share my final team. Thanks for the team (:

 

[Blite]

I just wanted to leave a comment here to say thank you

E: I have some ideas for my teams if you want me to post them

 

[Vengeance417]

Just submitted a response for a Crystal run! Excellent resource!

 

[bdt2002]

I appreciate all of the positive feedback this thread has gained recently. To show my appreaction, I have four different teams at the ready for today's post. These posts are for the following users: Yung Dramps, total clefairy, Blite, and Vengeance417. Due to time contraints of my schedule today, the descriptions of each team will be posted later on when I have time to update this post. Enjoy! (The post has now been updated as of March 13th.)

User: Yung Dramps
Chosen Game: Pokémon Y (3DS, 2013; Yveltal background not included due to my desire to stick to the color theme)
Number of Pokémon: 6
Theme: Mono-color blue team
Requested Pokémon: None, so long as I minimized type overlap
Extra Notes: Altaria can be replaced with Salamence if you want an earlier encounter, but I hear you like your cuddly dragons so I chose it instead.

User: total clefairy
Chosen Game: Pokémon White 2 (DS, 2012; happens to have Clefairy in the regional Dex)
Number of Pokémon: 6
Theme: I believe the theme was stuff they haven't tried out yet?
Requested Pokémon: Braviary, Cinncino, and I also gave a Clefairy because mascot bias
Extra Notes: Eviolite can be obtained in numerous ways for your Clefairy's pleasure. I would have chosen Emboar as the starter for the typing but already gave it to many other users. Samurott is also an option if you'd like to open up your Water-Type slot for something else.

User: Blite
Chosen Game: Ultra Sun (3DS, 2017; 1st of 4 requests, no Ultra Sun background unfortunately)
Number of Pokémon: 6
Theme: None
Requested Pokémon: No starter, out of a list in Blite's own thread(s)
Extra Notes: Some of these Pokémon were chosen over others due to availability issues in some of your game-based requests, hence the Flying-Types in a game without Fly. I care about you too much to see you raise up a Bagon in a Hoenn game.

User: Vengeance417
Chosen Game: Pokémon Crystal (GBC/3DS, 2000; you get a Ho-Oh background because there's no Suicune one)
Number of Pokémon: 5
Theme: None, unless you count stuff that wasn't cut from Gold & Silver's encounter tables
Requested Pokémon: I'll have to go back and check my poll, but I think Ursaring was

 

[Yung Dramps]

I appreciate all of the positive feedback this thread has gained recently. To show my appreaction, I have four different teams at the ready for today's post. These posts are for the following users: Yung Dramps, total clefairy, Blite, and Vengeance417. Due to time contraints of my schedule today, the descriptions of each team will be posted later on when I have time to update this post. Enjoy!

View attachment 409593
User: Yung Dramps
Chosen Game: Pokémon Y (3DS, 2013; Yveltal background not included due to my desire to stick to the color theme)
Extra Notes: Altaria can be replaced with Salamence if you want an earlier encounter, but I hear you like your cuddly dragons so I chose it instead.

View attachment 409595
User: total clefairy
Chosen Game: Pokémon White 2 (DS, 2012; happens to have Clefairy in the regional Dex)
Extra Notes: Eviolite can be obtained in numerous ways for your Clefairy's pleasure. I would have chosen Emboar as the starter for the typing but already gave it to many other users. Samurott is also an option if you'd like to open up your Water-Type slot for something else.

View attachment 409597
User: Blite
Chosen Game: Ultra Sun (3DS, 2017; 1st of 4 requests, no Ultra Sun background unfortunately)
Extra Notes: Some of these Pokémon were chosen over others due to availability issues in some of your game-based requests, hence the Flying-Types in a game without Fly. I care about you too much to see you raise up a Bagon in a Hoenn game.

View attachment 409598
User: Vengeance417
Chosen Game: Pokémon Crystal (GBC/3DS, 2000; you get a Ho-Oh background because there's no Suicune one)
Number of Pokémon: 5

Aww dangit, I started a mono flying playthrough of Y like two days ago! Thanks so much for the team anyway, I'm absolutely going to use it next time whenever that may be

 

[Ironmage]

Made my own submission. I promise that unlike many of my playthroughs, there is no restriction on the type of the mons being used ;).

 

[Wukong]

Idk if/when I'll ever get around to playing Platinum again, but I'm curious to see what kind of team you come up with for me. I was purposely rather vague on the survey.

I'm also a chronic over planner who tends to use familiar, tried and true Pokémon in my playthroughs, so this'll be an interesting experiment. If I ever do get around to playing Plat again, I wonder if I'll be able to get through Cynthia with just a randomly thrown together team as opposed to one I explicitly planned. With my rather restrictive playstyle (Set mode, no healing items in battle, no grinding against wilds) that won't be easy.

 

[Blite]

I appreciate all of the positive feedback this thread has gained recently. To show my appreaction, I have four different teams at the ready for today's post. These posts are for the following users: Yung Dramps, total clefairy, Blite, and Vengeance417. Due to time contraints of my schedule today, the descriptions of each team will be posted later on when I have time to update this post. Enjoy!


View attachment 409597
User: Blite
Chosen Game: Ultra Sun (3DS, 2017; 1st of 4 requests, no Ultra Sun background unfortunately)
Extra Notes: Some of these Pokémon were chosen over others due to availability issues in some of your game-based requests, hence the Flying-Types in a game without Fly. I care about you too much to see you raise up a Bagon in a Hoenn game.

Thank you!

I will probably use some variation of this in a future playthrough, since I kinda started Ultra Sun first. I think it works out well though, since right now I only have 4 members (Toucannon, Primarina, A-Marowak, Magneton/zone) and have no idea what to use for the other 2 slots.
I didn't even realize Beldum/Metagross wasn't available for ORAS so I guess Alola is where it goes (unless I want to trade it in lol).

I'll be looking forward to what you come up for the other teams!

 

[bdt2002]

Hey, guys. Just wanted to provide a quick little update. While I'm working on how to fix an issue with sharing pictures with each of you, I will not be providing results pictures for teams until further notice. I've got three more teams ready for tomorrow, though, so I'll be sure to get back to this as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience. :)

 

[bdt2002]

Hey, guys. I've been busy with some homework, but I'm a man of my word and have the next three teams available for you, albeit without trainer card pictures, unfortunately. Let's get right to it.

User: Blite
Chosen Game: HeartGold & SoulSilver (DS, 2009; 2nd of 4 requests)
The team: Feraligatr, Nidoking, Snorlax, Tyranitar, Espeon, Heracross (none of these three teams are in order lol)
Requested Pokémon: All but Espeon and Heracross, primarily out of a list of Blite's

User: ironmage
Chosen Game: Brilliant Diamond (Switch, 2021)
The team: Crobat, Roserade, Quagsire, Skuntank, Vespiquen, Breloom
Theme: Stuff that can still learn Toxic (also no Starter)

User: Wukong
Chosen Game: Platinum (DS, 2008)
The team: Infernape, Lumineon, Gardevoir, Leafeon, Bastiodon, Drifblim
Theme: They specifically said they wanted to be very vague, so I just kinda picked more obscure options from the Dex

For ironmage's sake and anyone else who's interested, this is the site I used to look at the information about Toxic in Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl: https://game8.co/games/Pokemon-Brilliant-Diamond-Shining-Pearl/archives/347251

 

[bdt2002]

Doing this update in the same way that I did the March 14th update since there's not a whole lot to go through this time around, and because this thread hasn't been as active as it was when it first opened up. I'm completely fine with that, for the record. Also, for the first time on this thread, I'll be submitting two separate teams for the same user, in part due a massively decreased frequency of survey responses within the past two weeks. On the bright side, Blite *finally* gets their last two teams :D

User: Blite
Chosen Game: Pokémon Y (3DS, 2013; 3rd of 4 responses)
The team: Delphox, Dragalge, Aerodactyl, Heliolisk, Gogoat, Floatzel
Theme: None specified (a few options were cut due to being X exclusives)
Requested Pokémon: Delphox, Heliolisk, Gogoat

User: Blite (again)
Chosen Game: Omega Ruby (3DS, 2014; 4th of 4 responses)
The team: Hariyama, Ampharos (traded from Y, I'm guessing), Whiscash, Absol, Tropius, Torkoal (or Camerupt if you’re okay with the dual Ground-Types)
Theme: None specified
Requested Pokémon: Just Absol, really, and a physical Water that isn't Swampert or Gyarados
Extra Notes: I honestly thought Ampharos was in ORAS before finishing this since it was added to Hoenn in Emerald

…okay so it’s like 5 in the afternoon when I’m posting this & I just noticed I still had a ways to go.

 

[Scorpio]

(or Camerupt if you’re okay with the dual Ground-Types)

Fun fact: Water/Ground and Fire/Ground do not share any weaknesses, nor do they share weaknesses with Grass/Ground.

That would make for an interesting Ground-type Gym Leader team now that I think about it...