Pokémon Sword & Shield Team Discussion Thread

[Reinhardt]

I've settled on a final team for my new Sword/Isle of Armour playthrough:

- Inteleon
- Single Strike Style Urshifu
- Galarian Slowbro (if it does turn out to be Psychic/Poison like many have speculated)
- Mudsdale
- Tsareena
- Talonflame
- Galvantula

I'm up to the third gym in this playthrough, with five of my seven team members. Of course I'm waiting for the DLC to launch before I carry on, my plan is to clear the third gym, then go to the Isle of Armour and do everything that needs to be done there, and once I've evolved Kubfu into Urshifu and Slowpoke into Slowbro, I'll return to mainland Galar and do the rest of the gyms.

 

[NeedsAName]

I'm about to finish a monotype run with only Bug type Pokemon in Shield!

- Orbeetle
- Vespiquen
- Galvantula
- Araquanid
- Ribombee
- Durant

I was expecting it to be harder, these bugs can really take care of things themselves. The only gym leader that gave me any trouble was Allister, he almost wiped out my whole team with his Gengar. I knew most of these Pokemon would be great, but Vespiquen is the real surprise, that thing is bulky AND a powerhouse in-game! I always discarded it due to how bad it is competitively, but my opinion on it has changed completely. <3

I'm doing an all Bug playthrough of Y, and a lot of Bug-types are actually really good. Vivillon and Shedinja are being absolutely essential members of my team, and I know from other playthroughs that Vespiquen can be OP against idiot NPCs if it's got the right moves.

 

[TornadoAdvisory]

I've ran through both Sword and Shield, so I'll list the team's I used for both and give a brief overall summary of each team. Not sure I still have to warn about story spoilers, but be careful just in case.

Spoiler: Sword

- Inteleon (Rango)
- Corviknight (Draven)
- Boltund (Biscuit)
- Centiskorch (Coyote P.)
- Sirfetch'd (SwSh Leeks)
- Sandaconda (SandSerpent)
- Barraskewda (IAteNemo) (Reserve)

Had a pretty smooth playthrough with these guys. Boltund in particular impressed me due to not having the same late-game slump that I feel a lot of early-game mons that aren't the starters seem to have, at least for me.

Centiskorch was utterly beastly, trouncing the likes of Piers and Chairman Rose among others, while Inteleon, Sirfetch'd, and Corviknight were also great.

Barraskewda and Sandaconda on the other hand were a bit behind the pack in terms of contributions, but still good in their own right. Barraskewda was more of a reserve because I didn't want to double up on Water-types, and it's frailty caused issues at times. Still, it managed to hold its own against Eternamax Eternatus.

Spoiler: Shield

- Rillaboom (Copeland)
- Toxtricity (Cornell)
- Runerigus (Rune Buggy)
- Copperajah (Elefun)
- Araquanid (Lana)
- Grapploct (Octavio)
- Coalossal (YourStocking) (Reserve)

This team admittedly had some glaring weaknesses, such as half the team being weak to ground (with Copperajah/Toxtricity/Coalossal) or flying (with Rillaboom/Araquanid/Grapploct). I didn't care too much however, and prioritized using Pokemon that I had wanted to use over team balance.

Coalossal got swapped out later on for Grapploct due to it's below-average offenses, but came later in heroic fashion to take down Leon's Charizard and Cinderace. Runerigus had moveset issues (Sand Tomb for ground-type STAB until lv.50 without using TRs is...ugh), but still had its moments due to being decently tanky.

The big players to the team were Toxtricity and Copperajah, both of whom hit hard and were just generally fun to use. It was also fun using Araquanid after never using it in Gen VII, but it had trouble with match-ups in the end game. Lastly, Rillaboom was alright but didn't have a very good moveset until really late.

 

[Reinhardt]

Boltund in particular impressed me due to not having the same late-game slump that I feel a lot of early-game mons that aren't the starters seem to have, at least for me.

I enjoyed using Boltund in my Shield playthrough, granted mine took a while to get going because she didn't learn any decent moves until deep into mid-game, but it's still a good solid Electric-type. The only time my Boltund really let me down was in the battle against the Dynamax Gyarados in Nessa's gym during the post-game, where she got knocked out in one hit as soon as the battle started.

 

[Autobot N]

This was my main team for Sword, and will be (mostly) repeated when I run through Shield in June:
Rillaboom (Harambeat)
Mew
Sirfetch'd (Duck Hodges) (Either I trade for a Leek, or I Home it to Sword to evolve it there)
Copperajah (Manfred)
Runerigus (Art Rooney)

The last spot is up for grabs. I used a G-Darmanitan during my intial Sword playthrough, but I never got attached to it like the others. Might use one of the following:
Mudsdale
Golisopod
Urshifu (if available mid-story)
G-Weezing
Alcremie

 

[Red and Blue]

My Shield team was

1. Flare Hare(Cinderace)
2. Zappi(Boltund)
3. Po(Pangoro)
4. Miss Froggy (Seismitoad)
5. Olaf(Perrserker)
6. Witch(Hatterene)

I originally intended to have Corviknight as my Steel type but I grew attached to my Galarian Meowth.

 

[jimmyb0y95]

Finally bought Sword and trying to decide my team

Going with
Cinderace
Morpeko
Alcremie
Frosmoth

For the last two spots should I go for
Sirfetch'd and Drednaw
Or Grapploct and Copperajah

 

[Rahus]

I don't even remember my team that cleared the game. I know that I had Cinderace, Boltund, Hatterene and Obstagoon.

 

[ShadowForce720]

My team when I beat Sword was this

Inteleon
Corviknight
Coalossal
Toxtricity Amped form
Grapploct
Dragapult

I was originally planning of having Frosmoth on the team but Snom was taking to long to really evolve. I get that you need to max out it’s friendship and level it up at night but for some reason it seems hard to do that before beating the game so I left it out of the team.

 

[ebevan91]

My team when I beat Sword was this

Inteleon
Corviknight
Coalossal
Toxtricity Amped form
Grapploct
Dragapult

I was originally planning of having Frosmoth on the team but Snom was taking to long to really evolve. I get that you need to max out it’s friendship and level it up at night but for some reason it seems hard to do that before beating the game so I left it out of the team.

It doesn't take long if you use the EV reducing berries.

 

[Ophie]

It doesn't take long if you use the EV reducing berries.

There's some weird glitch in my game where EV reducing Berries are unable to get a Pokémon to maximum happiness. I tried it on Type: Null and used up all 67 of my Qualot Berries, for instance. When I checked how many of my other such Berries it wanted, the maximum amount was all of them for the other five...

 

[Reinhardt]

Finally bought Sword and trying to decide my team

Going with
Cinderace
Morpeko
Alcremie
Frosmoth

For the last two spots should I go for
Sirfetch'd and Drednaw
Or Grapploct and Copperajah

I'd say Sirfetch'd and Drednaw, either way you'll end up with half the team weak to Ground, but at least Drednaw is a Water-type and can provide some super-effective coverage.

 

[jaden767]

My Shield team consists of Rillaboom, Hatterene, Polteageist, Grimmsnarl, Corviknight and Arctovish. Thinking about swapping Polteageist with something else like Dragapult maybe.

 

[Reinhardt]

I've settled on a final team for my new Sword/Isle of Armour playthrough:

- Inteleon
- Single Strike Style Urshifu
- Galarian Slowbro (if it does turn out to be Psychic/Poison like many have speculated)
- Mudsdale
- Tsareena
- Talonflame
- Galvantula

I'm up to the third gym in this playthrough, with five of my seven team members. Of course I'm waiting for the DLC to launch before I carry on, my plan is to clear the third gym, then go to the Isle of Armour and do everything that needs to be done there, and once I've evolved Kubfu into Urshifu and Slowpoke into Slowbro, I'll return to mainland Galar and do the rest of the gyms.

Okay so now the Isle of Armour is out and we have a better idea of when and where you get things.....yeah, this team idea isn't going to work out. As it turns out, you can only get the item that evolves Glarian Slowpoke into Galarian Slowbro, the Galarica Cuff, on a little island off the coast of the Isle of Armour that you need the water upgrade on the bike to reach. And of course you don't get that until after you beat the sixth gym, but in my current save file I'm only up to the third. So I've decided to re-think this team a bit:

Inteleon, Galvantula, Mudsdale and Talonflame are staying, but I'll get rid of Slowpoke and Tsareena and instead use Gigantamax Venusaur as my Grass and Poison-type. I've also decided that I;m not using either form of Urshifu on my main playthrough team, I'm instead replacing it with Mienshao. I'm also going to use Grimmsnarl, because it's a Pokemon I've always been interested in trying out.

 

[Rahus]

Started a new game and am currently in the Wild Area. My team right now is:

G-Zigzagoon
Nickit
Pancham

Decided to go Dark-Mono this time around.

 

[Golden_Arcanine]

Going to have another playthrough on my Sword game. Thinking the new team is going to be:

G-Slowbro
Blastoise
Talonflame
Palossand
Rillaboom
Kubfu

Largely a combination of Pokes I haven't used in multiple generations.

 

[Mr.Munchlax]

I’m currently planning out my team for when I first arrive in the Crown Tundra, after which I’ll make changes once the DLC comes out & I’ll know which pokémon will be available. Right now I’m planning on starting off with my pokémon from both the main game & the Isle of Armor that either need more training, I’m trying to level up to learn a certain move, or I want to give

Spoiler: the DLC Spoiler

the supposed HA ability capsule-like item

to

• Cinderace
• Clobbopus
• Melmetal
• Exploud
• Emolga
• -

 

[Reinhardt]

I'm going to start a new Shield playthrough, and at some point between now and the Crown Tundra's launch I'll to buy the Shield Expansion Pass. My planned team is:

- Charizard, evolved from the Hidden Ability Charmander I received when I downloaded the mobile version of Pokemon Home
- Gigantamax Blastoise
- Toxtricity
- Golurk
- Lilligant
- Heracross
- Alcremie, I haven't decided which falvour yet, but most likely either Ruby Cream or Rainbow Swirl.

Any advice or suggestions?

 

[shoz999]

Got everything for my next team of the next playthrough. Someone thought it looked like it's themed around a Circus. Can kind of see it now.

Cinderace
Flapple
Cursola
Coperajah
Grapploct
Mr. Rime

 

[SueChef]

Recently finished my 2nd run through on Shield. Decided not to use a full team, instead thinking about what I'd want to "retire" with at home after completing the story;

• Thwackey
• Corviknight
• Wooloo
• Yamper

Setting them all as physical attackers meant there were a few times battles were prolonged, but both Wooloo and Yamper each got to shine in the gyms more than I'd anticipated when I had decided not to evolve them.

If I were to complete the squad, what others would anyone else want to "retire" with?