Teambuilding / Concrete Building Blocks

When I played through Pokémon for the first time, I had a rule for myself: all of my Pokémon only used moves that did damage. Now, while triple Fire Attack Charizard was enough to beat the Elite 4, in competitive Pokémon the norm is a bit different.

Nearly all Pokémon in a competitive match will have between 1 and 3 utility moves - moves that primarily offer support instead of damage. This is defined as a “Status” category move in the game's description (the three categories are Physical, Special, and Status), but there are some discrepancies so I prefer to define it this way. Some examples of utility moves that do damage are Breaking Swipe which is a weak move that lowers both opponents Attack stats, and Dragon Tail which forces an opponent to switch (often used as a counter to Trick Room).

Some moves are classified as utility depending on their user. Surf is a move that Kyogre could use to deal heavy Rain-boosted damage, but on a weak Special Attacker intended to activate a partner's Weakness Policy such as Dragapult or Weavile, Surf would be considered a utility move. When determining whether a move counts as utility, ask yourself-- “Is the purpose of this move to do damage, or does it have another primary goal?"

How many utility moves a Pokémon should have varies based on the team and Pokémon. Most Pokémon will have at least one: the standard for this is Protect, but some Pokémon will choose to use a setup move (Dragon Dance/Nasty Plot etc.) or a recovery move (Roost, Recover, etc.) instead. 

As an overly general outline, most Pokemon movesets will look something like:

-Protect

-STAB 1

-STAB 2/Coverage

-Utility/Coverage

A Pokémon's role will determine what moves it carries-- a fast and frail sweeper (think Urshifu) typically will prefer to have several attacks, whereas a super bulky support Pokémon (such as Cresselia) will normally run 3 utility moves and 1 damaging move.

Now that you have some idea of what a utility move is and how you can fit them on your Pokémon, let’s talk about which specific utility moves are good and why.

Moves that I want on every team if I can fit them

Protect

Protect allows you to protect your Pokémon while changing other things about the game state, making it one of the most important and iconic moves in VGC. Unlike many other moves, there are almost no viable alternatives to Protect. Nearly all Pokémon (except those holding a Choice Item or Assault Vest) can make good use of Protect. For a more in-depth explanation on Protect click here.

Moves that Influence Speed (Speed Control)

Speed control, or manipulating the order in which Pokémon on the field move, is one of the most important aspects of a team in VGC. Moves such as Trick Room and Tailwind offer enormous returns if used properly. Some utility moves both control Speed and double as damage-dealing moves, like Icy Wind and Electroweb, which can pick off low HP targets, hit targets for super effective damage, and grind down your opponent if left unchecked. For a full description of what Speed control is and how to use it, check out this article.

Redirection

If you polled VGC players and asked them what the best type of support in the game is, I expect many would say redirection. Redirection refers to the moves Follow Me and Rage Powder, which redirect opponents' attacks and force them to target the user for that turn. Rage Powder and Follow Me differ only in that Rage Powder doesn’t work against Pokémon immune to Powder moves (Grass Types, Safety Goggles, Overcoat). 

Redirection allows a Pokémon to completely protect its partner (barring spread moves), thus disrupting your opponent's gameplan. Redirection users with Protect can be especially difficult to play against - target the partner with a move that would be not very effective against the Follow Me user and you’re in trouble, but targeting the Follow Me user with a super effective attack can leave you in bad shape if the user just Protects.

Pokémon that are best at redirection have high defensive stats, as their goal is to take as many hits as possible to shield their partners. Most Pokémon that utilize redirection well also make use of disruptive moves that allows them to still exert pressure when they aren’t redirecting attacks (e.g. Amoonguss' Spore).

Fake Out

Fake Out is a weak priority move that flinches the target with 100% certainty, but only works the first turn a Pokemon hits the field. Fake Out is extremely flexible - it can be used offensively or defensively, and at any stage of the game. It’s used to trade one of your Pokemon's attacks for one of your opponent's, so make sure to only use it when it benefits you. 

The Pokémon that make the best use of Fake Out are typically bulky and ideally have some way of switching out (U-Turn, Parting Shot, Eject Button, Volt Switch), which allows Fake Out to be used multiple times per game. Alternatively, sometimes fast and frail Pokémon holding a Focus Sash can use Fake Out well.

Taunt

Taunt is my personal favorite utility move because it limits the opponent's options and makes your own planning so much easier. Taunt is often used to stop Pokémon that rely on their support moves, such as: Trick Room setters, Follow Me users, Pokémon that want to put you to sleep, Pokémon that want to recover lost health, et cetera. Taunt also prevents your opponent from using Protect. As I mentioned earlier, most Pokémon will run at least one utility move, and Taunt stops those that don't deal damage.

Moves that are more situational

Status Moves

Status conditions can be devastating when utilized properly. A status condition is one of: Sleep, Burn, Freeze, Paralysis, and Poison (Confusion is not considered a status condition as it is cured by switching out your Pokémon, unlike the others). Status conditions offer some sort of negative effect on the Pokémon they’re inflicted on. The status conditions are not all equal, though, and not all are worth dedicated moveslots. Ranked, I would say they’re roughly freeze > sleep > burn >> paralysis >>> poison. 

• Freeze is by far the best– however, because it only triggers as a low percentage secondary effect, you can't trigger it consistently. 

• Sleep is one of the most common status conditions in VGC, as sleep incapacitates a Pokémon for 1-3 turns.  Players use Spore, Sleep Powder, and Hypnosis to inflict sleep– the low accuracy is sometimes worth it because sleeping Pokémon are much weaker. 

• Burn is a consistently great status condition as it significantly weakens opposing physical attackers by cutting their Attack in half. Players inflict it with Will-o-Wisp.

• Paralysis used to be one of the best status conditions. However, Thunder Wave (the best move that solely applies paralysis) has fallen off as Electric-types gained an immunity to paralysis in Generation 7, the Speed drop was changed from 75% to 50%, and its accuracy was decreased from 100% to 90%, so it's harder to inflict paralysis on purpose. 

• I strongly suggest you don’t mess around with moves that only inflict poison, as VGC games don’t typically last long enough to make the passive damage worth it on its own (even Toxic).
  

Screens

“Screens” refers to the moves Reflect, Light Screen, and Aurora Veil. These are powerful support moves that decrease incoming damage to ⅔ their original value in double battles for 5 or 8 turns (NOTE! This is different than singles which is a ½ reduction!). While the effect of these moves is phenomenal, it’s worth noting that some of the Pokémon that use these moves have setting up the screens as their primary purpose, and often faint after getting one or both up. In short, you’re playing 3 VS 4 a lot of the time, with your 3 Pokémon gaining damage reduction, so this strategy's strength depends on whether the remaining Pokémon can pick up the slack. In the Dynamax formats that have happened so far, screens were able to shine due to the extra power Dynamax offers and how much harder it is to knock out a Dynamax Pokémon behind screens.

The distribution of Reflect and Light Screen is pretty large, so you might wonder why these moves are so committal on a Pokémon. It seems easy enough to just add one on in theory and have it not be a major commitment. The reason is because of the item Light Clay, which turns the 5 turn base of the screens to 8 turns instead. This allows you to get maximum value out of the screens, but also makes it harder for the Pokémon using them to fill different roles as the item and 1-2 of the moves are already accounted for.

It’s worth noting that strategies that rely on screens are typically weaker to getting critical hit. Because a critical hit ignores the reduction that screens provide, they are correspondingly more devastating.

Stat Dropping Moves

Lowering your opponent's Pokémon's stats is one way of disrupting their gameplan. These moves take many different forms - the most common of them lower the opponents speed, which we touched on earlier. Other moves that have seen play include Fake Tears, which lowers the opponent's Special Defense two stages and sets up for easy KOs, Eerie Impulse, which lowers the opponent's Special Attack two stages, and Breaking Swipe, which lowers both opposing Pokémon's Attack stats by one stage.

Setup Moves

Setting up is very difficult in VGC due to the fact that you’re always facing down two opponents who can target you while you’re vulnerable. That being said, once a Pokémon has acquired some boosts it is often much more dangerous. Throughout VGC’s history we’ve seen many Pokémon do well by setting themselves up. While most moves boost either your offenses or defenses, the most successful Pokémon typically raise their offensive stats - it’s rare to see an “unkillable” Pokémon succeed. 

The best setup moves typically fall into one of two categories. Some moves raise one stat multiple stages such as Swords Dance, Belly Drum and Nasty Plot, and are best on Pokémon that either have priority or are naturally fast. Others raise several different stats (often including Speed) such as Quiver Dance, Dragon Dance, or (vomit) Geomancy. The typical set for a Pokémon that wants to set up is Protect/STAB 1/STAB 2(or coverage)/Setup Move.

Setting up a Pokémon is a high risk, high reward activity. For that reason, these Pokémon are often paired with supporting Pokémon that can protect them while they’re vulnerable. Moves like Fake Out and Follow Me/Rage Powder have had the most success thus far for protecting their partners.

Recovery Moves

Recovery moves typically do best on Pokémon that are naturally very bulky and want to gradually chip away at their opponents. A Pokémon can make good use of a recovery move if you expect most neutral attacks to do a maximum of 40% damage. Porygon2, Dusclops, and Milotic are good examples of Pokémon that utilize recovery moves well.

Anti-Setup (Haze/Roar)

In some formats, Pokémon that have the ability to set up are extremely dangerous, and extra measures are needed to stop them. The main culprits are stat boosts (e.g. Dynamax Pokémon, Xerneas) and Trick Room.

• Haze is an easy way to stop Pokémon that accumulate many boosts quickly. 

  • Because Haze removes stat changes from both sides of the field, you can also use it as a way to remove your own debuffs in addition to your opponent's boosts. 

  • Haze is best used on extremely bulky Pokémon that can survive attacks from Pokémon with boosts and reset them after, such as Tapu Fini and Dusclops. 

• Roar, Whirlwind, Dragon Tail and Circle Throw are moves that force your opponent to switch, but nearly always move last. 

  • When a Pokémon switches, any stat changes are reset, so you can use them to stop setup quickly.

  • However, these moves always fail on Dynamax Pokémon. 

  • Trick Room has the lowest priority out of any move, and always moves last, so you can use these moves to force an opponent to switch before they make their move. 

  • Be careful: most dedicated Trick Room teams will have some counterplay to Roar in the form of redirection or Fake Out.

Weather

Although the most consistent way of setting weather is to use a Pokémon with an ability that sets up the weather, there are times where having one of the weather setting moves can be helpful (referred to as "manual weather"). Typically, only Sunny Day and Rain Dance are used. Since Sun and Rain are opposite weathers, having a way to get the weather up AFTER your opponent has switched in their weather setter can be valuable. Manual weather is most powerful on dedicated weather teams.

Ally Switch

One of the most controversial moves of all time, Ally Switch switches the position of your two Pokémon, meaning any moves aimed at Pokémon 1 will instead land on Pokémon 2 and vice versa. It’s a move that is best when your opponent doesn’t know you have it, and thereafter forces difficult decisions from both players. I don’t personally like Ally Switch as it’s a move that has virtually no effect if your opponent guesses correctly, but that’s more of a personal preference.

Ally Switch can be beaten by using spread moves, targeting smartly, or hard reading your opponent (which can be inconsistent). It isn’t always possible to completely cover for the move in all scenarios, so trying to deal with the user before it can force difficult end games is ideal.