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Diversity vs. Synergy

pokemonjeff

interested trader
Synergy, or your team will be wiped out by a team with it or hax luck'.

Its like preferring to have a massive dis-advantage. Bad. You can be diverse with synergy, but diverse without synergy is battle suicide
 

ParaChomp

be your own guru
Synergy is the combined action or functioning. Diversity is a point of difference. Although synergy is more important, I prefer using diversity, as I prefer the large addition of variety. The odd time, I build teams around risky strategies like Cofagrigus and Slaking and the odd Shedinja, mine's name is Sephiroth. I also adore using custom sets such as my Dig + Fling Gliscor, Gear Shift + Ingrain Smeargle, mono-attack Last Resort Snorlax utilizing Stockpile and Belly Drum, Analytic Magnezone, and Icy Wind Blissey. None the less, most of these strategies are worked from already existing ones and I still take my time to build my team on what supports what.
 
Synergy = Diversity to cover weakness
Synergy is always a preffered choice in competitive pokemon.
 

jstinftw!

hey trainer
As state, the two are not mutually exclusive. Synergy is actually the step above diversity.

Just having a bunch of random types, just as long as they're all different, is not the way to go. For example, I go with a Fighting type, a Normal type, a Ground type and an Ice type. I am now effectively unable to hit Froslass.

I prefer synergy, even if it's just basic synergy. They may not be the tightest unit, but they have to be able to work with each other, having something to at least cover their weaknesses.
 

Pichu47

Fear Me, If You Dare
Synergy = Diversity to cover weakness
Synergy is always a preffered choice in competitive pokemon.

Yup. Diversity kind of goes with synergy. A team needs to be diverse to have good synerygy. A team of all of one type will not have good synergy, and will not be diverse. A team of different types will be diverse, and will have good synergy if the right types are used.
 

Big Beluga

u r a fatty
i almost always go with synergy > diversity simply because it often results in a much more stable team. for example, heatran + celebi cover eachother's weaknesses perfectly, but the problem is that neither of them will be getting past dedicated special walls very soon. another example would be that rhyperior obviously resists fire, but it's abysmal spd doesn't allow it to consistently check heatran or chandelure. for these reasons and from my experience, it's always better to build off of what opposing pokemon you need to check / counter, rather than what types you need to have a resistance to.
 
As state, the two are not mutually exclusive. Synergy is actually the step above diversity.

Just having a bunch of random types, just as long as they're all different, is not the way to go. For example, I go with a Fighting type, a Normal type, a Ground type and an Ice type. I am now effectively unable to hit Froslass.

I prefer synergy, even if it's just basic synergy. They may not be the tightest unit, but they have to be able to work with each other, having something to at least cover their weaknesses.

It's not like Fighting Pokémon are restricted to Fighting moves and Normal Pokémon can only use Normal moves, you know.
 

Pichu47

Fear Me, If You Dare
^Yes, but a team of one type will have the same weaknesses.
 

PokeMaster366

Well-Known Member
Yup. Diversity kind of goes with synergy. A team needs to be diverse to have good synerygy. A team of all of one type will not have good synergy, and will not be diverse. A team of different types will be diverse, and will have good synergy if the right types are used.

I think he's asking whether or not you prefer to focus more on type synergy or stat/move diversity. It's basically a question of Stats or Types. A team of Electric types is beaten by Ground users while a team of only Special Attackers is walled by something like Blissey, just to give an example. Personally, I prefer to focus on both equally since you'll lose if you're lacking in either one.
 
Im more of a utility person. I like to have a toolbox of different move types to fit whatever my needs may be.
 

Wolf Prince

Lycan Seraph
i prefer synergy, if your team focuses only in different types instead of focusing to counter each others weakness with strategic thoughts it will be hard to win, unless you are pretty lucky.
 

Gamefreak

Well-Known Member
There is a thing called offensive synergy as well. Two pokemon who may not have good defensive synergy together can break down each others counters, or similar counters.

Scizor + Lucario is one classic DPP OU example. Wearing down the similar counters Zapdos, Gyarados, and Gliscor down with repeated hits.
 

Vandslaux

Well-Known Member
I thought the DPP offensive core was Infernape + Lucario.
 

Psycho Cut

Well-Known Member
Has to be synergy. Diversity is easy to obtain, as lots of pokemon learn plenty of coverage moves, which allow you to hit lots of pokemon for super effective damage.
 

redcharzard

Semi-competitive
why not both I run a 6 pokemon team that has both synergy and diversity on it. I just need a water type to finish it.
 
I really don't think they're mutually exclusive. In fact, they kind of go hand-in-hand. As a general rule, if you want to have perfect synergy, you're probably going to have a degree of diversity.
 

Pichu47

Fear Me, If You Dare
I really don't think they're mutually exclusive. In fact, they kind of go hand-in-hand. As a general rule, if you want to have perfect synergy, you're probably going to have a degree of diversity.

That my friend, is exactly what i have been trying to point out.
 
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