Competitive Singles Team Building (Updated for Regulation E)

This page discusses the basics of competitive Singles team building in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet (SV). Read on to learn the basics of Singles team building, such as recommended Pokemon, team synergy, and ideal builds for Singles competitive play.

Team Building Guides
Singles Guide	Doubles Guide

How to Build a Team Competitive Singles Battles

No.	Step
1	Identify your preferred playstyle and team archetype.
2	Select six Pokemon and assign their roles.
3	Choose your Pokemon's moves based on their role.
4	EV train your Pokemon to complement their role.
5	Give your team held items that suit their builds.
6	Pick the Tera Types that best suit your Pokemon's build.

In competitive Singles battles, each battle is fought between three Pokemon chosen out of a team of six. To win these battles, players need to learn how to build a solid team to cover for all of the different Pokemon on the opposing side.

Regulation E Team Building

With the Teal Mask DLC being added to Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, the competitive ruleset has been updated to Regulation E to accomadate all of the new Pokemon inroduced to the game.

Kitakami Pokedex: List of All Teal Mask DLC Pokemon

Sample Teams

Hyper Offense

Chien-Pao	Flutter Mane	Urshifu Rapid-Strike Style
Ogerpon (Hearthflame Mask)	Landorus (Therian Forme)	Scizor

This team makes use of offensive Pokemon with maxed-out speed and offensive stats. With a wide range of coverage moves, it will be difficult for unprepared teams to survive the offensive pressure generated by this team.

Balance

Heatran	Wash Rotom	Zapdos
Dragonite	Gholdengo	Ursaluna

This team makes use of bulky offensive Pokemon with maxed-out defensive and offensive stats. Whenever the current Pokemon out on the field is being threatened by an opposing Pokemon, you can swap them out to bring in something that resists it instead.

Stall

Toxapex	Ting-Lu	Garganacl
Corviknight	Bloodmoon Ursaluna	Iron Hands

This team makes use of defensive Pokemon with maxed-out HP and defensive stats. With multiple moves like Salt Cure and Toxic that chip away at the opponent's health, combined with healing from moves and items like Roost and Leftovers, this team will stall out the opponent for a slow but steady victory.

It is also good to have bulky offensive threats in the back in case the opponent has good ways to deal with a stall team.

Weather

Alolan Ninetales	Baxcalibur	Iron Bundle
Mimikyu	Kingambit	Chi-Yu

Snow is required to setup Aurora Veil, which is basically Reflect and Light Screen in one move. This helps the offensive Pokemon boost their damage with moves like Swords Dance or Nasty Plot. The Snow also increases the Ice-type Pokemon's Defense and makes Blizzard never miss.

Ranked Battle Regulation E: Rules and Banned Pokemon

Identify the Team's Playstyle and Archetype

The different team archetypes are a way for players to classify a team based on what Pokemon are on a team, how they are built, and how they're meant to be played.

If a team is full of fast and strong Pokemon, then that team would be classified as a hyper-offense team. If a team is full of defensive Pokemon that can heal themselves while chipping away at your health, it would be classified as a stall team.

When building your team make sure to keep in mind what kind of archetype best suits your playstyle. From there you should pick and build Pokemon that best suits that playstyle.

The Different Team Archetypes

Archetype	Playstyle
Hyper Offense	Multiple Pokemon with high damage and speed that can knock out your team before you knock out theirs.
Balance	A team with bulky offensive Pokemon that can take hits, heal themselves, and deal decent damage in return.
Stall	Full of Pokemon that chip away at your team's health while simultaneously being impossible to knock out.
Weather	Relies on certain weather conditions to support or enable their team to operate at their maximum potential.

Hyper Offense

Notable Hyper Offense Pokemon
Flutter Mane	Chien-Pao	Ogerpon (Hearthflame Mask)

Hyper Offense teams are typically categorized by having multiple Pokemon that have high Speed stats, as well as high Attack or Special Attack. The goal for these teams are to generally get quick knockouts before you are able to respond.

These teams focus on having a wide range of offensive coverage in order to have answers to whatever Pokemon you may bring to fight them.

Balance

Notable Balance Pokemon
Rillaboom	Ceruledge	Dragonite

Balance teams normally have Pokemon with strong bulk and good Attack or Special Attack stats. The goal for these teams are to be bulky enough to not get easily knocked out, while potentially threatening huge damage in return.

These teams typically have ways to heal themselves, whether it be through an ability, move, or held item.

Stall

Notable Stall Pokemon
Toxapex	Garganacl	Dondozo

Stall teams are named after their signature playstyle, having bulky Pokemon stall out turns until your Pokemon are knocked out. The goal for these teams are to have their Pokemon stay alive for as long as possible while your Pokemon slowly lose more and more health.

These teams also have different ways to heal themselves, moves that will reduce your health every turn, and moves that prevent them from getting damaged.

Weather

Notable Weather Pokemon
Hisuian Lilligant	Glaceon	Lycanroc (Midday Form)

Weather teams tend to revolve around Pokemon that benefit from certain weather conditions. The goal for these teams is to maximize the use of their chosen weather condition to benefit their Pokemon while also hindering yours.

These teams typically have Pokemon that benefit from certain aspects being triggered when a weather condition is active, like an ability that doubles your speed while it is Sunny or Ice-types getting a 1.5x Defense boost while it is Snowing.

Selecting Pokemon and Their Roles

When selecting the six Pokemon for your team, you need to consider what their role will be. Are they meant to support the team to enable their teammates, or are they an offensive threat that will knock out your opponent's Pokemon?

Offensive Roles

Physical Attacker	Special Attacker	Mixed Attacker
Annihilape	Sylveon	Dragapult

The goal of a Pokemon with an offensive role is to threaten massive damage, or sometimes even straight knockouts, on your opponent's Pokemon.

Physical Attackers primarily focus on maximizing their high Attack stat to maximise the damage of their Physical moves.

Special Attackers primarily focus on maximizing their high Special Attack stat to maximise the damage of their Special moves.

Mixed Attackers are unique in that they can maximize either one of their Atk or Sp. Atk stat since they have a wide range of strong Physical and Special moves that they can use.

Defensive Roles

Physical Wall	Special Wall	Pivot
Corviknight	Clodsire	Iron Hands

The goal of a Pokemon with a defensive role is to minimize the amount of damage received, while being able to do more damage in return.

Physical Walls typically have a high Defense stat to help reduce the amount of damage taken by Physical attacking moves.

Special Walls typically have a high Special Defense stat to help reduce the amount of damage taken by Special attacking moves.

Pivots are bulky Pokemon that are sent into battle to take hits for their allies and turn an unfavourable matchup into a favourable one.

Supportive Roles

Hazard Setter	Screens Setter	Weather Setter
Glimmora	Klefki	Torkoal

The goal of a Pokemon with a supportive role is to enable your team to do what they were built to do while also hindering your opponent.

Hazard Setters use moves like Stealth Rock or Sticky Web to either chip away at the opposing Pokemon's health or to reduce their Speed stat.

Screen Setters use moves like Reflect or Light Screen that reduce the damage received from Physical and Special attacks.

Weather Setters have abilities that can change the weather conditions in battle whenever they switch in.

Choosing the Best Movesets

After deciding which Pokemons you will use, and what kind of team you would want to build, you will need to make sure that your Pokemon will have the correct movesets.

Example of a Bad Moveset

Pokemon	Moveset
Chandelure	・ Flare Blitz ・ Poltergeist ・ Giga Impact ・ Substitute

While moves like Flare Blitz and Poltergeist are high base power STAB moves, they are considered to be Physical moves. Chandelure is a Pokemon with a Special Attack stat that is significantly higher than its Attack stat. Even if a Special move would have a lower base power, it would still do more damage than a high power Physical move.

Example of a Good Moveset

Pokemon	Moveset
Chandelure	・ Flamethrower ・ Shadow Ball ・ Energy Ball ・ Calm Mind

Whenever selecting moves for a Pokemon, you need to make sure that you are playing towards its strengths. In this case, we give Chandelure two strong Special STAB moves to make use of its high Sp. Atk and its Ghost/Fire typing. We also give it Energy Ball to counter Water-types that threaten it, and Calm Mind to further boost Chandelure Sp. Atk.

Selecting EV Spreads

To create an effective EV spread for your Pokemon, you'll have to take a look at its stats and optimize the ones it needs for its role.

Basic EV Spreads

For Offensive Pokemon, EV spreads are often pretty straightforward - with full EV investment on speed and its primary attacking stat. The remaining 4 EVs are usually invested into HP or either of its defensive stats.

Pokemon	Garchomp
Role	Physical Attacker
Nature	Jolly
EV Spread	252 Atk / 4 Sp. Def / 252 Spe
Final Stat Values	183 HP / 182 Atk / 115 Def / 106 SpD / 169 Spe

These values are from base stats and ideal EVs, excluding external factors at Level 50.

Garchomp will usually fill the role of Physical Attacker, because its highest stats are its Attack and Speed. A full investment into Attack and Speed ensures that it hits hard and fast.

Its remaining EVs are placed in Special Defense to make it better survive moves like Ice Beam or Moonblast.

Specialized EV Spreads

Pokemon will sometimes have unconventional EV spreads, often EV-ing to meet specific benchmarks. Pokemon can be EVd to survive certain attacks or outspeed specific threats.

Pokemon	Alolan Ninetales
Role	Utility
Nature	Calm
EV Spread	252 HP / 92 Def / 164 Sp. Def
Final Stat Values	180 HP / 107 Def / 101 Sp. Atk / 155 Sp. Def / 129 Spe

These values are from base stats and ideal EVs, excluding external factors at Level 50.

Alolan Ninetales's EV spread has a full 252 EVs in HP, with the rest evenly distributed between its Defense and Special Defense. There is some extra investment in Special Defense to help Alolan Ninetales better tank Flash Cannon's damage because we're expecting to encounter more Flash Cannons than Iron Heads.

Give the Best Held Items

The items your Pokemon hold during battle are just as important as their movesets and EV spreads. Some held items can drastically increase a Pokemon's stats, provide passive recovery, and even let it survive a guaranteed KO!

Pokemon	Landorus (Therian Forme)
Role	Physical Attacker
Ability	Intimidate
Held Item	Choice Scarf

Landorus Therian is a great Physical Attacker, but it is prone to being outsped by faster Pokemon.

Equipping it with a Choice Scarf ensures that it will get an increase to its Speed stat, allowing it to threaten knockouts on Pokemon that are normally faster than it.

Keep in mind that in competitive battles, you can't have two or more Pokemon hold the same item. This means that while you may have multiple attackers on your team, only one of them can hold a Choice Scarf.

Picking Tera Types

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's new Terastallizing mechanic can be used offensively or defensively, adding a whole new approach to Pokemon Battling and decision-making.

Offensive Tera Typing

Scizor

Using it offensively gives your Pokemon a new type for STAB, or if it Terastallizes to a type it already has, an even stronger STAB.

In this case, Scizor already gets a STAB boost if it uses Bullet Punch, but Terastallizing into Steel will further boost Bullet Punch's damage allowing it to threaten quick knockouts.

Defensive Tera Typing

Gholdengo

Terastallizing defensively means that your Pokemon Terastallizes into a type that resists what would normally be a super-effective move. This can save it from getting knocked out in most cases.

In this case, Gholdengo would normally be threatened by super effective Fire-type attacks, but since we gave it a Water Tera, it can just Terastallize and resist it instead.

General Team Building Tips

Bring a Balanced Mix of Pokemon

You want to make sure that you have a diverse and balanced team of Pokemon. Each Pokemon has its own strengths and weaknesses, and when you're choosing which Pokemon to have on your team, you want to make sure that there aren't too many overlapping weaknesses.

Example of a Bad Mix of Pokemon

Amoonguss	Scovillain	Arboliva
Wo-Chien	Cyclizar	Maushold

At the end of the day, the goal is to knock out all of your opponent's Pokemon before they can knock out yours. It will be difficult to accomplish this if your team is full of supportive Pokemon since your team will be lacking in damage.

It is also not ideal to have a team where the majority of the Pokemon have the same typing, since it opens up your team to be countered by a single Pokemon on your opponent's side.

Example of a Good Mix of Pokemon

Ting-Lu	Grimmsnarl	Meowscarada
Palafin	Heatran	Dragonite

Ideally, you want to make sure that each Pokemon that you bring will be able to cover for matchups that other Pokemon on your team are weak to. A good example of this is to bring a Water-type to deal with Fire-types that your Grass-types are weak to.

Your supportive Pokemon also need to synergize well with your team. They need to be able to enable your offensive Pokemon to do what they do best.

Have a Defined Win Condition

When building a Pokemon team, you need to think about how that team wants to win battles, and what are the best ways to enable it. If you want to win battles by outlasting your opponents, then build your team around having tanky Pokemon that can take hits and moves/abilities that apply status effects that deal damage over time.

Regulation D Team Building

Pokemon HOME reintroduces familiar competitive Pokemon, while introducing new ones from Pokemon Legends: Arceus. Powerful Legendaries and Hisuian Pokemon will be in the format and are sure to shake up the metagame!

It is important to identify the roles that each Pokemon will play when choosing Pokemon for your team!

All Pokemon HOME Transferable Pokemon

Sample Builds

Regulation D Trick Room

Trick Room
Pokemon	Ursaluna	Cresselia	Iron Hands
Ability	Guts	Levitate	Quark Drive
Held Item	Flame Orb	Mental Herb	Assault Vest
Role	Physical Attacker	Support	Support / Physical Attacker

Trick Room is even more powerful in Regulation D with the introduction of Cresselia as the premiere Trick Room Setter, and a new Trick Room Attacker in Ursaluna. Iron Hands can help enable Trick Room with Fake Out support and is a valuable member in any Trick Room team.

Tornadus and Urshifu

Tornadus and Urshifu
Pokemon	Tornadus (Incarnate Forme)	Urshifu Rapid-Strike Style
Ability	Prankster	Unseen Fist
Held Item	Covert Cloak	Mystic Water
Role	Support / Special Attacker	Physical Attacker

Rapid-Strike Urshifu is a perfect partner for Tornadus, as its middling speed makes for a great recipient for Tailwind boosts. Tornadus can also set up Rain Dance and boost the effectiveness of Surging Strikes.

Basculegion with Rain

Basculegion with Rain
Pokemon	Basculegion (Male)	Pelipper
Ability	Swift Swim	Drizzle
Held Item	Life Orb	Focus Sash
Role	Physical Attacker	Support / Special Attacker

Though this duo has many shared weaknesses, its main strength is hyper-offense, which aims to take out as many of the opponent's Pokemon as possible, before they can take out yours.

Pelipper boosts the offensive power of Basculegion (Male)'s Water-type Attacks as well doubling its Speed with Swift Swim.

Sneasler and Rillaboom

Sneasler and Rillaboom
Pokemon	Sneasler	Rillaboom
Ability	Unburden	Grassy Surge
Held Item	Grassy Seed	Assault Vest
Role	Physical Attacker	Support / Physical Attacker

Rillaboom is a solid partner for Sneasler as it can use Fake Out to flinch faster threats, as well as naturally trigger Sneasler's Grassy Seed with its Grassy Surge.

Because of its mediocre defenses, Sneasler benefits from greatly from Grassy Seed's Defense boost. It also powers up Sneasler's Acrobatics, and doubles its Speed through Unburden.

Regulation D Fire-Water-Grass

Fire-Water-Grass
Pokemon	Heatran	Urshifu Rapid-Strike Style	Rillaboom
Ability	Flash Fire	Unseen Fist	Grassy Surge
Held Item	Life Orb	Mystic Water	Assault Vest
Role	Support / Special Attacker	Physical Attacker	Support / Physical Attacker

Heatran, Rapid Strike Urshifu, and Rillaboom form a solid Fire-Water-Grass Balance Core that can cover each other's weaknesses. These three offer perfect type synergy, and give your team defensive switch options. They are also able to hit a variety of types for super-effective thanks to each Pokemon's coverage options. These three Pokemon are usually accompanied by Pokemon with Speed Control options such as Tornadus-I, Thundurus-I, or Regieleki.

Grimmsnarl and Hisuian Goodra

Grimmsnarl and Hisuian Goodra
Pokemon	Grimmsnarl	Hisuian Goodra
Ability	Prankster	Shell Armor
Held Item	Light Clay	Leftovers
Role	Support	Tank / Physical Attacker

Grimmsnarl is a great partner for Hisuian Goodra as it can help it stay in the game longer thanks to its Screens support. Behind Screens, Hisuian Goodra can comfortably set up Acid Armor, and dish out boosted Body Presses.

Chien-Pao and Dragonite

Chien-Pao and Dragonite
Pokemon	Chien-Pao	Dragonite
Ability	Sword of Ruin	Inner Focus
Held Item	Focus Sash	Choice Band
Role	Physical Attacker	Physical Attacker

Chien-Pao and Dragonite are still a powerful duo in Regulation D. They can be splashed into any team, and improve the team's physical offense simply by being there.

Chien-Pao and its Sword of Ruin Ability makes Priority Move users like Dragonite with Choice Band even more powerful.

Chien-Pao is also able to clear out Psychic and Grassy Terrain with Ice Spinner, enabling Dragonite's Extreme Speed to deal sizeable chunks of damage to opposing Pokemon.

Ranked Battle Regulation D: Rules and Banned Pokemon

Regulation C Team Building

The introduction and ubiquity of the Treasures of Ruin means that many Pokemon will fit into new roles and niches as they adapt to the new metagame.

While the four major roles remain the same, there's a shift on the Pokemon that fills these roles.

Best Treasures of Ruin Builds for Ranked Battle and Raids

Sample Builds

Regulation C Leads

These are Pokemon sent out first at the beginning of the battle and are often used to establish offensive momentum and disrupt the opponnet's game plan.

Series 3 is shifting to an even more agressive playstyle due to the Treasures of Ruin's Abilities, notable Chien-Pao and Chi-Yu, making it easier to deal significant damage without setting up.

Chien-Pao	Chi-Yu	Flutter Mane
Chien-Pao's Sword of Ruin Ability decreases the opposing Pokemon's Defense stat by 25%, allowing it to hit hard without setting up.	Chien-Pao's Beads of Ruin Ability decreases the opposing Pokemon's Special Defense stat by 25%, making it one of the better Choice Scarf users in Regulation C.	Flutter Mane's high Special Attack and Protosynthesis Ability allows it to deal heavy damage to Pokemon that don't resist its moves.

Regulation C Walls

These Pokemon boast high defensive stats, key type resistances, and support moves. Their main role is to take multiple strong hits throughout the battle.

In Series 3, premiere walls in the new metagame include Ting-Lu and Wo-Chien thanks to their Abillities lowering the opposing team's offensive stats.

Ting-Lu	Wo-Chien	Dragonite
Vessel of Ruin Ability lowers the opposing Pokemon's Special Attack by 25%, allowing it to fill the role of a mixed wall and phazer..	Garganacl's immunity to status and access to Salt Cure makes it a great phazer that dissuades both offensive and defensive Pokemon from staying on the field.	Multiscale and access to Roost, coupled with key resistances to Water, Grass, and Fire-types, make it a great physical wall that can still hit hard.

Regulation C Sweepers

These are your primary attackers, with a well-rounded team being composed of both physical and special attackers.

In Series 3, sweepers that boast great coverage and powerful Abilities are valued in the ever-increasing fast-paced metagame.

Chien-Pao	Flutter Mane	Gholdengo
Sword of Ruin Ability and access to Swords Dance makes it a powerful physical attacker that's hard to switch into.	Can terastallize into Fire or Ground-type to overcome its usual checks and counters.	Gholdengo's Good as Gold Ability makes it immune to status moves that may hinder it from sweeping. It can also set up with Nasty Plot and KO most things that don't resist it.

Regulation C Utility

In Series 3, Utility and Support Pokemon take more of a backseat thanks to the every-increasing hyper offense metagame.

These new Utility Pokemon can support your team offensively or defensively, but can still deal damage with their own moves.

Wash Rotom	Salamence	Garganacl
It's unique typing, access to Will-O-Wisp, and Volt Switch make Wash Rotom a great bulky pivot.	Access to Intimidate as well as Tailwind allows Salamence to function as an effective utility support Pokemon that can still hit hard with its unboosted attacks.	Garganacl's immunity to status and access to Salt Cure makes it a great phazer that dissuades both offensive and defensive Pokemon from staying on the field.

Type Synergy

This refers to how well two or more Pokemon complement each other through their typing by covering each other's weaknesses.

Kingambit	Flutter Mane
Physical Attacker	Special Attacker Attacker

Kingambit's great physical bulk is offset by its rather common 4x weakness to Fighting-types, which limit its capacity to stay on the field. Partnering with a Ghost-type like Flutter Mane helps cover its weakness since its immune to Fighting-types and can hit back with STAB super effective Moonblast.

Conversely, Flutter Mane's glaring weakness to Steel and Ghost-types mean it's easily stopped by Pokemon carrying priority moves like Bullet Punch and Shadow Sneak. Kingambit resists both of these, with the two forming an offensive core thanks to their natural resistances.

Ranked Battle Series 3 (Regulation C): Rules and Banned Pokemon

Related Guides

Learn Competitive Battling

Team Building Guides
Competitive Team Building for Singles Ranked Battle	Competitive Team Building for Doubles Ranked Battle
How to Build a Trick Room Team	How to Build a Weather Team
How to Build a Hyper Offense Team	Paradox Pokemon Builds for Competitive Battles and Tera Raids
Treasures of Ruin Builds for Competitive Battles and Tera Raids	HOME Transfer Pokemon Builds for Ranked Battle and Raids
Competitive Strategy Guides
Best Abilities for Competitive Battle	Best Held Items for Competitive Battle
When to Switch Pokemon	Team Preview: Which Pokemon to Choose?
How to Use Substitute in Competitive Battle	List of Competitive Terms
Battle Timer: Who Wins When Time Runs Out?	New DLC Competitive Cores and Matchups
VGC Tournament Results
VGC Tournament Results: 2023 Oceania International Championships	VGC Tournament Results: 2023 European International Championships
VGC Tournament Results: 2023 Portland Regional Championships	VGC Tournament Results: 2023 Hartford Regional Championships
VGC Tournament Results: 2023 Milwaukee Regional Championships	VGC Tournament Results: 2023 Fresno Regional Championships
VGC Tournament Results: 2023 Japan National Championships	Pokemon World Championships 2023