Pokemon Sword and Shield

Best Team for Ranked Battle from a World Top 3 Player

Top 3 Player Standard Team.png
This is a strategy guide and complete explanation of the team of a former World Top 3 player for the games Pokemon Sword and Shield. For a team using heavy hitters like Dragapult, Grimmsnarl, and Excadrill, look no further.

Read on for tips on how to use this team in competitive play, with recommended movesets & best builds for each Pokemon.

Team Summary and Rental Code

Pokemon Dragapult ImageDragapult Excadrill ImageExcadrill
Grimmsnarl ImageGrimmsnarl Togekiss ImageTogekiss
Snorlax ImageSnorlax Cloyster ImageCloyster
Rental Code 0000 0004 0M8P P6
Twitter Top Secret
Words from the Trainer As the way to use this party should be apparent enough, this set is easily accessible to anyone, beignner or otherwise.
That said, it's highly capable of holding its own in the Master Ball tier, so give it a whirl and see if it fits your style.

How to Use the Team Effectively

A party from a former World Top 3 Player

The creator of this party once held the number 3 spot in competitive play in a former game in the series. It's typically run in an easy to understand Grimmsnarl → Togekiss → X order, making it easy to handle even for metagame beginners.

Moveset & Best Build for Each Pokemon

Physical attacker Dragapult with Lum Berry

Pokemon SWSH - Dragapult

Dragapult - Best Build for Ranked Battle

Nature Jolly (+Spd, -SpAtk)
EV Spread Atk. 252 / Spd. 252 / Def. 4
Ability Clear Body
Held Item Lum Berry
Moveset Dragon Darts
Phantom Force
Fly
Steel Wing

Dragapult Dragon Darts.jpg
There are more builds for Dragapult than grains of sand in the Ganges, but this build sets it up as a Physical attacker. Dragon Darts and Phantom Force are powerful attacks with STAB, while Steel Wing is used primarily to handle Fairy types.

Assault Vest Excadrill

Pokemon SWSH - Excadrill

Excadrill - Best Build for Ranked Battle

Nature Jolly (+Spd, -SpAtk)
EV Spread Speed 252 / Atk. 180 / HP 44 / Sp.Def. 28 / Def. 4
Ability Mold Breaker
Held Item Assault Vest
Moveset Earthquake
Iron Head
Rock Tomb
Horn Drill

HP EVs are set to reach a 16n-1 value (i.e. will take 1 fewer damage from Sandstorm and Hail), and to allow it to survive a hit from Wash Rotom's Hydro Pump except at the highest possible random number value. Against a HP 252, Def. 4 Wash Rotom, it can get a definite one-hit KO with Earthquake, so it's a useful counter to the Wash Rotoms seen all over the metagame.

Grimmsnarl the wall-builder

Pokemon SWSH - Grimmsnarl

Grimmsnarl - Best Build for Ranked Battle

Nature Impish (+Def, -SpAtk)
EV Spread Def. 252 / HP 228 / Sp.Def. 12 / Spd. 12 / Atk. 4
Ability Prankster
Held Item Light Clay
Moveset Foul Play
Taunt
Reflect
Light Screen

Grimsnarl lightscreen 2.jpg
This build utilizes the most common Grimmsnarl moveset, the dual-wall setter. Together with the increase of Grimmsnarls in the competitive scene, Excadrills have been increasing to counter them, using their ability Mold Breaker to ignore the effects of Prankster. For this reason, this set includes Foul Play to take down Excadrill.

Also, 12 EVs are placed in Speed simply to outspeed if the opponent uses Grimmsnarl as well, in which case the order of attacks prioritized by Prankster will be determined by which Grimmsnarl has higher Speed.

※Some aspects of this build remain from a previous build on the same Grimmsnarl. A Bold nature (+Def, -Atk) without placing 4 EVs in Attack would be preferable to lower Confusion damage.

Togekiss, the Dynamax candidate

Pokemon SWSH - Togekiss

Togekiss - Best Build for Ranked Battle

Nature Timid (+Spd, -Atk)
EV Spread Spd. 252 / HP 244 / Def. 4 / Sp.Atk. 4 / Sp.Def. 4
Ability Serene Grace
Held Item Weakness Policy
Moveset Air Slash
Dazzling Gleam
Fire Blast
Nasty Plot

dynamax togekiss.jpg
This build uses Weakness Policy together with EVs placed in HP and Special Attack. As a support move, Nasty Plot has been selected, for boosting your Special Attack by two stages when you're able to read the opponent's move effectively. This build is organized with the expectation of Dynamaxing, so keep this in mind when using this Togekiss build.

Snorlax, the Special defender

Pokemon SWSH - Snorlax

Snorlax - Best Build for Ranked Battle

Nature Impish (+Def, -SpAtk)
EV Spread Def. 252 / HP 236 / Atk. 12 / Def. 4 / Spd. 4
Ability Thick Fat
Held Item Figy Berry
Moveset Body Slam
Fire Punch
Iron Head
Curse

Snorlax's ability Thick Fat allows it to take halved damage from Fire and Ice-type moves. While absorbing its opponent's attacks, it can use Curse to up its Attack and Defense, allowing it to serve faithfully as both an offensive and defensive player.

Cloyster can seize an opportunity

Pokemon SWSH - Cloyster

Cloyster - Best Build for Ranked Battle

Nature Adamant (+Atk, -SpAtk)
EV Spread Atk. 252 / Spd. 252 / Def. 4
Ability Skill Link
Held Item King's Rock
Moveset Ice Shard
Rock Blast
Icicle Spear
Shell Smash

Cloyster's Ability Skill Link allows its multi-strike moves to always hit five times, giving them all a spectacular total power of 125. In this build, Cloyster is running Icicle Spear and Rock Blast as its multi-strike moves. The basic pattern is to start with Shell Smash, leading into Icicle Spear or Rock Blast to deal fast, heavy damage. Wtih King's Rock, each hit of its multi-strike moves has a chance of causing flinching, adding another layer of usefulness to Cloyster.

Thoughts from the Game8 Team

Easy to use and effective from the start!

One common disadvantage of Rental Teams is that it can be difficult to grasp how the creator intended them to be used. For this set, the order to send out Pokemon as well as their intended attack patterns are easy to understand, and any player can use the team reliably while taking advantage of the balanced power of the party.

Related Links

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