Creating the Best Team According to Smogon's In-Game Tier List

[misterdarvus]

Hello, I'm a long time Pokemon fans, and I've been lurking here reading all your pokemon fans though.
I've played majority of Pokemon games from GSC to PLA at the time of this writing (admittedly, I have not finished RBY since it's too retro for my case), so I have pretty good grasp of how to play Pokemon games efficiently.
I love the idea to replay Pokemon games. However, I think I became too old and have less time to play games in this adult life. The thing is, I'm afraid that playing Pokemon will took too much time from my precious time.
I love reading Pokemon articles however. That's why I adore Smogon here, their Flying-Press article always bring joys for me to read.
Back to my topic of "replaying Pokemon games". This very Orange Island has a dedicated subforum called In-Game Tier Lists that I too loves to read it from time to time. As you might know, the purpose for in-game tier list is to pick the best Pokemon of that particular game to beat that game efficiently.
This is what I needed, instead of wasting my time composing my in-game team, why don't I catch the Pokemon that what those fellow Smogoners right there are considered the best?

In this thread, I will pick any Pokemon game, read its in-game tier list, and pick six Pokemon that is considered to be the best.
My rules are

1. I will always pick the highest tiered Starter
2. The rest team member will be picked from the highest tier
3. No overlapping type unless I want to
4. I will skip Trade Pokemon, its too much hassle for me
5. Legendary is okay
6. From a set of Pokemon games, I will pick only one version I consider definitives. For example, I will pick Emerald from RSE because its the definitive version. But I will miss RS exclusives. for HGSS, I will pick which version has the highest tiered exclusive Pokemon.

Disclaimer: this is my personal pick, to anyone who wrote those in-game tier list, This is subjective to me only. You may give suggestion but I hope you will not harshly criticized me. I will not (yet) to contribute on actual in-game tier list threads. This is only just for fun

To start my write-up, i will pick:

Black and White
Thread

This game is fun because one area basically contain S-tier Pokemon (Desert Resorts)

For Starter, I pick Oshawott, it's A tier
Then, I'll catch Drilbur, it's early, strong Ground type and very good typing
Moving on, I will revive Archen and also has a flyer too!
Then onto Desert Resorts! Of course I'll catch Darumaka and Scraggy! Sorry Sandile, you're overlapping with Drilbur.
And for the final member, I will not pick Timburr because its a trade evo. Axew is pretty strong Dragon type! I'll pick it.

Final team:

By the way, despite having construct my team, I haven't started replaying it yet

I will write for other games soon, if you like my thread, stay tuned!

 

[bdt2002]

Hello, I'm a long time Pokemon fans, and I've been lurking here reading all your pokemon fans though.
I've played majority of Pokemon games from GSC to PLA at the time of this writing (admittedly, I have not finished RBY since it's too retro for my case), so I have pretty good grasp of how to play Pokemon games efficiently.
I love the idea to replay Pokemon games. However, I think I became too old and have less time to play games in this adult life. The thing is, I'm afraid that playing Pokemon will took too much time from my precious time.
I love reading Pokemon articles however. That's why I adore Smogon here, their Flying-Press article always bring joys for me to read.
Back to my topic of "replaying Pokemon games". This very Orange Island has a dedicated subforum called In-Game Tier Lists that I too loves to read it from time to time. As you might know, the purpose for in-game tier list is to pick the best Pokemon of that particular game to beat that game efficiently.
This is what I needed, instead of wasting my time composing my in-game team, why don't I catch the Pokemon that what those fellow Smogoners right there are considered the best?

In this thread, I will pick any Pokemon game, read its in-game tier list, and pick six Pokemon that is considered to be the best.
My rules are

1. I will always pick the highest tiered Starter
2. The rest team member will be picked from the highest tier
3. No overlapping type unless I want to
4. I will skip Trade Pokemon, its too much hassle for me
5. Legendary is okay
6. From a set of Pokemon games, I will pick only one version I consider definitives. For example, I will pick Emerald from RSE because its the definitive version. But I will miss RS exclusives. for HGSS, I will pick which version has the highest tiered exclusive Pokemon.

Disclaimer: this is my personal pick, to anyone who wrote those in-game tier list, This is subjective to me only. You may give suggestion but I hope you will not harshly criticized me. I will not (yet) to contribute on actual in-game tier list threads. This is only just for fun

To start my write-up, i will pick:

Black and White
Thread

This game is fun because one area basically contain S-tier Pokemon (Desert Resorts)

For Starter, I pick Oshawott, it's A tier
Then, I'll catch Drilbur, it's early, strong Ground type and very good typing
Moving on, I will revive Archen and also has a flyer too!
Then onto Desert Resorts! Of course I'll catch Darumaka and Scraggy! Sorry Sandile, you're overlapping with Drilbur.
And for the final member, I will not pick Timburr because its a trade evo. Axew is pretty strong Dragon type! I'll pick it.

Final team:

By the way, despite having construct my team, I haven't started replaying it yet

I will write for other games soon, if you like my thread, stay tuned!

This is a very interesting idea that I'm honestly kind of surprised someone else hasn't thought to make into its own thread yet. My last playthrough of Black 2 was actually based off of this exact theme, as I wanted to see just how good the S tiers of that game were compared to the first Black & White. The team I used was as follows:





in Black 2, in White 2
in Black 2, in White 2

The end result was a team whose best members only varied slightly by version and didn't have too much trouble with any of the major battles during the run. Both iterations of the Unova Dex seem to have a lot of really powerful physical attackers, with the Desert Resort arguably earning its own tier for both games in my honest opinion. Seriously, the S Tier for these games is literally just "Desert Tier". Sandile, Darumaka, Dwebble, Sigilyph, the fossils, Trapinch in B2W2... I'm probably missing some.

 

[Scorpio]

I did this with the Alola games some time ago. This likely fits more with USUM, where one of these Pokémon is S-tier instead of C-tier, but said Pokémon still puts in work in base SM, plus the rest of the team stomps the game either way. For convenience sake I’m just gonna list the major battles each team member can at least mostly sweep by themselves:

Popplio: Definitely the best starter in SM, and arguably in USUM. It beats Totem Raticate, Hala (both via Disarming Voice), both Fire Totems, Olivia, Nanu, much of Hapu’s team, and Totem Kommo-o.

Magnemite: Strong in just about every game since at least BW2, and here is no exception. Beats both Water Totems, Olivia, Totem Mimikyu and Ribombee (via Steel STAB), and Kahili.

Alolan Grimer: Beats Totem Lurantis (plus it isn’t taken out by its allies’s coverage), Totem Mimikyu and Ribombee, and Acerola. Fun fact: during my Sun playthrough I found one holding a Black Sludge, and I was like “This is absolutely a sign, this one goes on the team,” and I do not regret that division one bit.

Makuhita: Beats both Normal Totems, Olivia, Totem Togedemaru, Nanu, and Molayne.

Oricorio: Kinda filler (at least compared to the rest of the team) in SM, but amazing in USUM thanks to a much earlier Flynium-Z. Also, it’s best as Pom-Pom style unless otherwise mentioned. Beats Hala, both Water Totems, Totem Lurantis (tho watch out for Trumbeak’s Rock Blast), Guzma, Totem Kommo-O, Totem Ribombee, and Molayne (the last as Baile, tho watch out for Magnezone). Also managed to blank Hapu’s team during the story fight with her, since none of her team packs Ice or Rock moves during that fight.

Mudbray: The one member not on Melemele lol. Beats both Fire Totems, Olivia (who might as well roll over and declare defeat at this point lol), both Electric Totems, and Molayne.

Also, Primarina and Alolan Muk are good against Ultra Necrozma since they’re both immune to one of its STABs and are neutral to the rest of its moves, plus at this point they have super-effective coverage against it.

 

[DrumstickGaming]

Hello, I'm a long time Pokemon fans, and I've been lurking here reading all your pokemon fans though.
I've played majority of Pokemon games from GSC to PLA at the time of this writing (admittedly, I have not finished RBY since it's too retro for my case), so I have pretty good grasp of how to play Pokemon games efficiently.
I love the idea to replay Pokemon games. However, I think I became too old and have less time to play games in this adult life. The thing is, I'm afraid that playing Pokemon will took too much time from my precious time.
I love reading Pokemon articles however. That's why I adore Smogon here, their Flying-Press article always bring joys for me to read.
Back to my topic of "replaying Pokemon games". This very Orange Island has a dedicated subforum called In-Game Tier Lists that I too loves to read it from time to time. As you might know, the purpose for in-game tier list is to pick the best Pokemon of that particular game to beat that game efficiently.
This is what I needed, instead of wasting my time composing my in-game team, why don't I catch the Pokemon that what those fellow Smogoners right there are considered the best?

In this thread, I will pick any Pokemon game, read its in-game tier list, and pick six Pokemon that is considered to be the best.
My rules are

1. I will always pick the highest tiered Starter
2. The rest team member will be picked from the highest tier
3. No overlapping type unless I want to
4. I will skip Trade Pokemon, its too much hassle for me
5. Legendary is okay
6. From a set of Pokemon games, I will pick only one version I consider definitives. For example, I will pick Emerald from RSE because its the definitive version. But I will miss RS exclusives. for HGSS, I will pick which version has the highest tiered exclusive Pokemon.

Disclaimer: this is my personal pick, to anyone who wrote those in-game tier list, This is subjective to me only. You may give suggestion but I hope you will not harshly criticized me. I will not (yet) to contribute on actual in-game tier list threads. This is only just for fun

To start my write-up, i will pick:

Black and White
Thread

This game is fun because one area basically contain S-tier Pokemon (Desert Resorts)

For Starter, I pick Oshawott, it's A tier
Then, I'll catch Drilbur, it's early, strong Ground type and very good typing
Moving on, I will revive Archen and also has a flyer too!
Then onto Desert Resorts! Of course I'll catch Darumaka and Scraggy! Sorry Sandile, you're overlapping with Drilbur.
And for the final member, I will not pick Timburr because its a trade evo. Axew is pretty strong Dragon type! I'll pick it.

Final team:

By the way, despite having construct my team, I haven't started replaying it yet

I will write for other games soon, if you like my thread, stay tuned!

Just so you know, the on-site BW1 list is here, though the writeup list should be accurate anyway. I'm flattered someone used one of our lists as a basis.

Good team anyway, I'd recommend it!

Also yes Scorpio, Mudbray and Oricorio are busted.

 

[Scorpio]

Also yes Scorpio, Mudbray and Oricorio are busted.

Are you talking about this?

Olivia (who might as well roll over and declare defeat at this point lol)

Cuz by that I kinda meant that four of the six Pokémon on the team have super-effective STAB against Rock, not just Mudbray. Tho, I suppose you could be referring to Stamina, and yeah that is a hilarious ability.

 

[DrumstickGaming]

Are you talking about this?

Cuz by that I kinda meant that four of the six Pokémon on the team have super-effective STAB against Rock, not just Mudbray. Tho, I suppose you could be referring to Stamina, and yeah that is a hilarious ability.

I wasn’t talking about Olivia specifically. I’ve posted in the past about how surprisingly great Oricorio is and was also moreso referring to Stamina being a busted as all get out ability, yes.

 

[misterdarvus]

Just so you know, the on-site BW1 list is here, though the writeup list should be accurate anyway. I'm flattered someone used one of our lists as a basis.

Good team anyway, I'd recommend it!

Also yes Scorpio, Mudbray and Oricorio are busted.

Thanks, usually I will check the subforum and on-site guide to compare whichever is the latest.

Next I will write for the DS game DPPt!

Diamond/ Pearl/ Platinum
Thread
I will disregard BDSP for now in case there are much difference. Personally I skipped BDSP myself because I don't find much difference from my childhood game Diamond.

Anyway, lets start picking the version. The definitive one? Platinum

And why I'm reviewing DPPt? As you know, like the meme said, everyone's DPPt team are the same! An I want to see how true is that according to the In-game tier list.

First up, Chimchar is S rank, Fire type is still rare in Pt so there's justifiable to pick it.
Next up, you will pick your regional bird; Starly. Arguably the best regional birb ever in entire Pokehistory
Also catch Bidoof, its not for battling but you know how notorious the HM usage in this game. you'll replace it when you need 6th member.
Next up, a FWG core is good! Budew and Buizel is next
For Budew, I have bad taste for babying it when caught it earlier. But you can also catch Roselia before 3rd Gym. Both way are fine.
Buizel is straightforward.
'Chomp is strong, and Platinum blessed us to catch Gible earlier than DP next to TM Earthquake. No excuse.
Also, since, DPPt has so much Legendaries, I've been thinking to have a legend in my team. Since Giratina overlaps my Garchomp, you can catch Azelf instead! The strongest Lake Trio, but prepare to throw many Pokeballs on it!

Final Team:

Well! I guess it missed out popular picks like Luxray and Lucario. But they has flaws back then that doesn't make them high tier.

Next up, I will write for any game whenever I feels like.

 

[Roldski32]

Regarding Budew in Platinum, its better off to just skip Budew and catch a Roselia at Route 208 instead. Budew is just awful. I think the only thing to justify catching early Budew is like you have Growth Roselia against Fantina, and that's pretty much it. I actually did this on my test run and... nope, Growth doesn't make any improvement in that fight; its needs +6 to 1HKO Mismagius with Giga Drain, Haunter's Shadow does like 1/3 and has high crit rate, between that and its Confuse Ray and Duskull's Will-o-wisp, it is very likely for Roselia to get picked off by Mismagius. And not to mentioned, its a Friendship evo, mine just recently reached 1 small heart (150 base friendship) at Level 20 and just right before i faced Gardenia. and that's like only half-way from evolving (and this is with Soothe Bell equipped btw). It doesn't help that its horrendously bad against Mars, Gardenia and Jupiter either.

 

[Scorpio]

In addition to my Alola team, I also made the start to one of these for XY. Specifically, I realized that the combo of Fennekin and Aegislash basically takes out seven of the eight gyms in Kalos. Adding Azumarill handles Team Flare as well as much of the E4. Beyond that tho... I haven’t really thought of what else to add.

 

[DrumstickGaming]

Regarding Budew in Platinum, its better off to just skip Budew and catch a Roselia at Route 208 instead. Budew is just awful. I think the only thing to justify catching early Budew is like you have Growth Roselia against Fantina, and that's pretty much it. I actually did this on my test run and... nope, Growth doesn't make any improvement in that fight; its needs +6 to 1HKO Mismagius with Giga Drain, Haunter's Shadow does like 1/3 and has high crit rate, between that and its Confuse Ray and Duskull's Will-o-wisp, it is very likely for Roselia to get picked off by Mismagius. And not to mentioned, its a Friendship evo, mine just recently reached 1 small heart (150 base friendship) at Level 20 and just right before i faced Gardenia. and that's like only half-way from evolving (and this is with Soothe Bell equipped btw). It doesn't help that its horrendously bad against Mars, Gardenia and Jupiter either.

Can confirm this! Budew, from both mine and a friend's experience, generally doesn't even evolve by the time you reach Hearthome. It is literally better to just catch a Roselia, and even then, from what I've heard from others, Roserade won't blow you away in spite of good stats because it's still a Grass / Poison type before the 75 BP 10 PP Giga Drain buff and those generally just suck. Also, Roserade only has a few type advantages throughout the game. I don't think it's a terrible Pokemon but I wouldn't say "you absolutely GOT to use this" though I haven't used it either at all or in a long time in a full playthrough.

I CAN tell you Roselia is one of the best options in Black and White 2 though! Easy A tier in that game.

 

[bdt2002]

Regarding Budew in Platinum, its better off to just skip Budew and catch a Roselia at Route 208 instead. Budew is just awful. I think the only thing to justify catching early Budew is like you have Growth Roselia against Fantina, and that's pretty much it. I actually did this on my test run and... nope, Growth doesn't make any improvement in that fight; its needs +6 to 1HKO Mismagius with Giga Drain, Haunter's Shadow does like 1/3 and has high crit rate, between that and its Confuse Ray and Duskull's Will-o-wisp, it is very likely for Roselia to get picked off by Mismagius. And not to mentioned, its a Friendship evo, mine just recently reached 1 small heart (150 base friendship) at Level 20 and just right before i faced Gardenia. and that's like only half-way from evolving (and this is with Soothe Bell equipped btw). It doesn't help that its horrendously bad against Mars, Gardenia and Jupiter either.

Can confirm this! Budew, from both mine and a friend's experience, generally doesn't even evolve by the time you reach Hearthome. It is literally better to just catch a Roselia, and even then, from what I've heard from others, Roserade won't blow you away in spite of good stats because it's still a Grass / Poison type before the 75 BP 10 PP Giga Drain buff and those generally just suck. Also, Roserade only has a few type advantages throughout the game. I don't think it's a terrible Pokemon but I wouldn't say "you absolutely GOT to use this" though I haven't used it either at all or in a long time in a full playthrough.

I think the problem here comes down to a combination of Budew's low stats (it's a baby Pokémon, what did we expect?) and the fact that Grass is resisted by so many common types such as Bug, Poison, Flying, and opposing Grass. The last time two times I played a Sinnoh game I was interested to see how the earlier available Budew would perform compared to a Route 208 Roselia. Budew's only viable Grass move starting out is the pitifully weak Absorb clocking in at 20 base power before STAB, and paired with what I said earlier, I found that I had to set up multiple Growth boosts with Budew before it could inflict damage rivaling some of Sinnoh's early-game top tiers like Chimchar and Starly.

The other thing I'll mention here is the below-average matchup spread the Roselia family has against important battles anyways. As Budew, you start off with a W against Roark, which is about as special as saying you got extra ketchup on your hot dog. The first battle against Mars is a fat L, and the combination of Gardenia, Jupiter, and Platinum Fantina doesn't help much either. Roselia gets a very slight break from mediocrity against Wake and one of Maylene's three Pokémon (that being Machoke; Meditite and Lucario both win against it), before taking back-to-back Ls against Cyrus's first battle (Platinum only), Byron, Saturn, and Candice, before winning against Volkner in the last Gym. The Pokémon League is where things get really hairy, though. Bertha's the only one of the five that Roselia, probably a Roserade by this point, will have a winning matchup against, with Flint and Lucian both being in the L column for our flowery friend.

 

[misterdarvus]

I think I'm up for another write-up. It's time for Eks Why!

XY
Thread

The best version is Y, the reason will be explained later and "Y" there isn't third version??

This game is interesting because other than the obvious Mega Evolution mechanic, this game will give you two set of starters, which I will have to take.

First up, Fennekin is the highest tier starter here despite not liking its design that much, but I ought to be more efficient
Then, catch an Azurill, make sure its ability is Huge Power! Its also the demonstration of Fairy-type when it debuts in this game.
At this point you will be offered another set of Kanto starter. There's a particular 'mon that's already S rank but it already typing overlap with someone on the team! guess who. Because of that, I picked the second most viable, Bulbasaur. It also demonstrate the power of Mega Evolution!
You would want to catch Honedge after this. It's typing is too good to pass up.
Aerodactyl is the next one that you want to revive. It fast, good offense and also can Mega!
And lastly, Heracross. The reason I picked Y version, and another Mega candidate.... But I believe its mega stone can only be obtained post game. But it still good without Mega Evo though!

Final Team:

Now, this is the one that I am not firm enough, Charmander and Riolu/Lucario are good. But to Use Charmander, you would want to swap your Kalos starter with Froakie. You can swap Heracross with Lucario and have early Mega Evo. But I guess that's the way if you have X version.

If I'm in the mood, I will write for the next post

 

[misterdarvus]

Recently, Smogon just published their Tier List for HGSS. I decided to tackle it.

At first glance, I know which version to pick

First of all, I cannot stress this enough that the first fourth generations of Pokemon, Trade-evo Pokemon will always on the top. And this tier-list surely recommends all the Trade-evo quartet! I'll choose carefully according to my "no trade-evo" rule.

Okay, first up, choose my starter. Its Cyndaquil.
Then, looking at S-Tier, no way that I use Alakazam, it's Red Gyarados then.
At A-Tier, there's lotta of trade-evo I mentioned earlier, I'll consider it later.
I pick Lugia, the reason I picked Soulsilver.
Then good 'ol Heracross, good thing it's not Gen 2 when it has no STAB.
It's a bit iffy for me use NFE, but I read that Graveler and Golem has no difference practically, so I use Graveler.
I have exhausted the A-Tier, now time to pick the best candidate on the crowded B-Tier.

With no type overlapping, my final team therefore will be under the spoiler tag below:

Spoiler

Yes I picked Mareep, considering typing overlap, I was torn between Magnemite and Mareep. Mareep is easier to get.
I also considering Kadabra for the team, but it overlaps with Lugia. I pretend to not see Flying in Gyarados

 

[misterdarvus]

Hi there, I'm back to write another team.

This time, I'll write for Pokemon Emerald, It's the definitive version of Hoenn games after all.

You might be asking, why don't you write for ORAS?
Well, In my opinion the classic has different feeling than the remakes. And has more quirks than is not replicated in the remakes

I'll use a combination of the Thread and the Articles

--
First of all, as I mentioned on my post before;

I cannot stress this enough that the first fourth generations of Pokemon, Trade-evo Pokemon will always on the top.

why should I quote a post on the same page?
And sure enough, there's that Psychic spoonbender again; for four generations!

*clears throat* Alright, let's pick our starter. Hoenn has water, and you need to have a ship as early as possible, just in case. Good thing Mudkip is very strong.
Then, Repeat what wally did and catch yourself a Ralts, Calm Mind as level up and high special attack sure comes in handy.
In Petalburg woods, be sure to catch a Shroomish. I just love this fella even if you can't have Spore if you're impatient.
Somewhere around Watson, I think its time to catch an Electric-type. I'm torn between Magnemite and Elektrike. But I prefer Elektrike because it's easier to get (and easier to obtain Pokemon often gets in higher tier)

So.. before I finish my team with the box legend, there's this 5th spot that I'm not quite sure yet. There's a particular Pokemon that I want to have.
It's Zangoose, but I will never have it, because it's Ruby exclusive, and it's not in Emerald

I'm sorry Zangoose

So.. I'll randomly pick a decent pokemon that's not overlapping type with my team

Well let's catch Slakoth instead.
Finally, round up your team with the box legend, Rayquaza

Final Team


Well that looks pretty good, and I unknowingly picked all-native Hoennian despite didn't intend to.

 

[Red Raven]

Kinda late and I know platinum's already been done but I sort of disagree with the Buizel choice. Imo, if Gyarados is available in a pokemon game, use it. It's the best in game pokemon period. Gyarados just makes that absolute pain in the ass ghost gym that much easier to deal with and it simply has incredible synergy with Garchomp to give sharky boi a free switch into an electric type move. Although that might be somewhat biased since I always hardcore nuzlocke pokemon

Lastly, I personally wouldn't use legendaries but that's personal preference. I'm not sure what to replace Azelf with though since a team of Infernape, Staraptor, Gyarados, Garchomp and Roserade is pretty perfect as it is. I guess Weavile could work as a safety measure against Cynthia's Garchomp but that thing is near useless against everything else and you can always setup a few dragon dances on Spiritomb with Gyarados

 

[misterdarvus]

Kinda late and I know platinum's already been done but I sort of disagree with the Buizel choice. Imo, if Gyarados is available in a pokemon game, use it. It's the best in game pokemon period. Gyarados just makes that absolute pain in the ass ghost gym that much easier to deal with and it simply has incredible synergy with Garchomp to give sharky boi a free switch into an electric type move. Although that might be somewhat biased since I always hardcore nuzlocke pokemon

Lastly, I personally wouldn't use legendaries but that's personal preference. I'm not sure what to replace Azelf with though since a team of Infernape, Staraptor, Gyarados, Garchomp and Roserade is pretty perfect as it is. I guess Weavile could work as a safety measure against Cynthia's Garchomp but that thing is near useless against everything else and you can always setup a few dragon dances on Spiritomb with Gyarados

That's really up your preference. I respect for picking Gyarados, it's good although you need to baby it from Magikarp.

Now I'm in the mood for building a team for Alola games. Scorpio already did, but I'll write a spin for me.

The Definitive Alola game is the Ultra updated rerelease, and looking at the exclusive, I know which game to pick

Ultra Sun
the Thread

I noticed that there are no grass starter that has been the highest tier list. But to comply my rules, I must pick Popplio
Magnemite comes early, good typing, and strong stats later. Ultra SM also fixed the magnetic evolution tocome earlier at Blush Mountain instead of Vast Poni Canyon.
Scratch that. I rather have Oricorio rather than Magnemite due to typing overlaps, I replace it with Munchlax because it is A-tier and I have no other justification.
Catch a Spearow, but "evolve" it by trading it with an NPC with Hawlucha. Guaranteed max Atk IV and STABs for later fights. This thing absolutely wrecks for something that you can obtain early.
Okay, from this point, I'll stop adding Flying-type, Oricorio is next. Melemele has Electric/Flying one, and you don't have to change its typing. Good level-up moves and nuke in Z-Flying before leaving the island! Pretty good utility mon. Being S-rank catch me off guard!
Mudbray is next after reaching Akala. This stone wall will shrugs every physical attacks and hit like a tank. It will blanks a lot of thing later.
Finally, I hope you have collected enough Totem stickers! And the reason I picked USun. for a not too shabby low price of 40 stickers, you will be gifted a Totem Alolan Marowak . Be sure to stole a Thick Club from the Island Trial to save you from agony.

Final Team

Well I think not everyone will agree with this. I'll be open for suggestion or potential for B-Tiers that would be better.

 

[Thunderfang777]

It would be nice if there was a list of best teams for each starter, not just for each game.

I would like to see how team compositions differ based on that detail.

 

[Thunderfang777]

I did this with the Alola games some time ago. This likely fits more with USUM, where one of these Pokémon is S-tier instead of C-tier, but said Pokémon still puts in work in base SM, plus the rest of the team stomps the game either way. For convenience sake I’m just gonna list the major battles each team member can at least mostly sweep by themselves:

Popplio: Definitely the best starter in SM, and arguably in USUM. It beats Totem Raticate, Hala (both via Disarming Voice), both Fire Totems, Olivia, Nanu, much of Hapu’s team, and Totem Kommo-o.

Magnemite: Strong in just about every game since at least BW2, and here is no exception. Beats both Water Totems, Olivia, Totem Mimikyu and Ribombee (via Steel STAB), and Kahili.

Alolan Grimer: Beats Totem Lurantis (plus it isn’t taken out by its allies’s coverage), Totem Mimikyu and Ribombee, and Acerola. Fun fact: during my Sun playthrough I found one holding a Black Sludge, and I was like “This is absolutely a sign, this one goes on the team,” and I do not regret that division one bit.

Makuhita: Beats both Normal Totems, Olivia, Totem Togedemaru, Nanu, and Molayne.

Oricorio: Kinda filler (at least compared to the rest of the team) in SM, but amazing in USUM thanks to a much earlier Flynium-Z. Also, it’s best as Pom-Pom style unless otherwise mentioned. Beats Hala, both Water Totems, Totem Lurantis (tho watch out for Trumbeak’s Rock Blast), Guzma, Totem Kommo-O, Totem Ribombee, and Molayne (the last as Baile, tho watch out for Magnezone). Also managed to blank Hapu’s team during the story fight with her, since none of her team packs Ice or Rock moves during that fight.

Mudbray: The one member not on Melemele lol. Beats both Fire Totems, Olivia (who might as well roll over and declare defeat at this point lol), both Electric Totems, and Molayne.

Also, Primarina and Alolan Muk are good against Ultra Necrozma since they’re both immune to one of its STABs and are neutral to the rest of its moves, plus at this point they have super-effective coverage against it.

I would like to know what a good Rowlet team for OG Sun and Moon would be.