Building a Legendary Pokemon Battle Team

The Pokemon world is naturally divided into Pokemon Types.

Each Type has strengths and weaknesses, and each has opposing types to which it is strong and weak -- which is why when putting together a team the idea is to balance out the Types so that you always have a go-to Pokemon you can choose in order to come out of the battle on top! Simple enough, right?

The beauty of the Pokemon World is that with each new generation the field of Pokemon you have to choose from within each Type grows. On the one hand that makes the choosing a lot harder though you are going to have obvious favorites in each Type so in a sense it also makes it easier.

The problem is that the heart wants what the heart wants -- and it probably will not be all that big a surprise to learn that, once a player has a sufficiently broad-enough collection of the games through the many generations, what the heart wants is to build a proper battle team using nothing but Legendary Pokemon!

Which brings us to today's Article: Building a Legendary Battle Team. Before we get to that though, it would be an idea to review the Legendary list so that you have a better idea of just what it is we are talking about -- and choosing from!

The Legendary Pokemon

Each generation of the game features a new and different collection of Legendary Pokemon. Each of these Legendary -- in addition to being rare and often very hard to find, let alone catch -- has its own Type sets on offer. That being the case, you might think that putting together a team from just one or two generations should be very easy, right? Well, not so much really...

To build the best team -- and when we say that what we are really saying is the primary six Pokemon plus the four Alternates that you swap in for specific tourney/battle setups -- it actually takes ten Pokemon (which works out really sweet for a Top 10 List right?) but the diversity of the Legendary on offer also means that you are best served by cherry picking the best per-Type, across all of the generations.

So without further introduction, this is the collection from which we must build our Team:

Generation I

Articuno -- Ice/Flying Type

Mew -- Psychic Type

Mewtwo -- Psychic Type (Mega Form: Psychic / Fighting Type)

Moltres -- Fire / Flying Type

Zapdos -- Electric / Flying Type

Generation II

Celebi -- Psychic / Grass Type

Entei -- Fire Type

Ho-Oh -- Fire / Flying Type

Lugia -- Psychic / Flying Type

Raikou -- Electric Type

Suicune -- Water Type

Generation III

Deoxys -- Psychic Type

Groudon -- Ground Type

Jirachi -- Steel / Psychic Type

Kyogre -- Water Type

Latias -- Dragon / Psychic Type

Latios -- Dragon / Psychic Type

Rayquaza -- Dragon / Flying Type

Regice -- Ice Type

Regirock -- Rock Type

Registeel -- Steel Type

Generation IV

Arceus -- Normal Type

Azelf -- Psychic Type

Cresselia -- Psychic Type

Darkrai -- Dark Type

Dialga -- Steel / Dragon Type

Giratina -- Ghost / Dragon Type

Heatran -- Fire / Steel Type

Manaphy -- Water Type

Mesprit -- Psychic Type

Palkia -- Water / Dragon Type

Phione -- Water Type

Regigigas -- Normal Type

Shaymin -- Land Form: Grass Type -- Sky Form: Grass / Flying Type

Uxie -- Psychic Type

Generation V

Cobalion -- Steel / Fighting Type

Genesect -- Bug / Steel Type

Keldeo -- Water / Flying Type

Kyurem -- Dragon / Ice Type

Landorus -- Ground / Flying Type

Meloetta -- Aria Form: Normal / Psychic Type -- Pirouette Form: Normal / Fighting Type

Reshiram -- Dragon / Flying Type

Terrakion -- Rock / Fighting Type

Thundurus -- Electric / Flying Type

Tornadus -- Flying Type

Victini -- Psychic / Fire Type

Virizion -- Grass / Fighting Type

Zekrom -- Dragon / Electric Type

Generation VI

Xerneas -- Fairy Type

Yveltal -- Dark / Flying Type

Zygarde -- Dragon / Ground Type

Building the Best Legendary Team

It likely will not surprise to discover that building the best Legendary team is very much the same process as building the best team period.

There is a basic approach to be followed in that process, starting with selecting the best base types for strength and the backup types that are then to be rotated into the team as needed, depending upon the types that one anticipates battling.

The basic formula for a main team composition is:

Electric

Fighting

Fire

Flying

Ice

Water

Thanks to the predominance of multiple-types it is a good idea to include a Dragon Type in the mix above, and it cannot hurt to have a Flying Type of two as well, so after due consideration and the careful evaluation of the move sets that apply, the choices nearly made themselves.

Bearing in mind of course that while the obvious choices are, well, obvious, there is still some room in here for choice, thanks to an abundance of selections, so personal like does play a role. That being the case, we present to you our choice for the optimal Legendary Battle Team:

Main Team Selections

Ho-Oh -- Fire / Flying Type

While it is not known as the fastest in its type, it is certainly considered to be among the most formidable, particularly when it unleashes its signature moves. Ho-Oh comes with a rather hefty 130 Attack, and being the most dangerous sun-based Pokemon (even in rain) its selection to fill the Fire Type slot in our team is practically a given.

Keldeo -- Water / Flying Type

This was a rather controversial choice in part due to its rather limited move pool, but even so, as long as the Trainer understands its weaknesses, its 108 Speed and 129 Special Attack, combined with Secret Sword easily explains its choice. Factor in its ability to use a number of power-boosting items, and what you have is a great technical Water Type.

Cobalion -- Steel / Fighting Type

Its x4 resistance to Stealth Rock and immunity to poison added to better than average Speed and massive physical bulk, makes Cobalion a great choice for Steel Type in the team, and having Flying Type as an extra does not hurt it either. Between Swords Dance, Calm Mind, and Stealth Rock, and the fourth move of your choice, its position in the party is an easy choice.

Zekrom -- Dragon / Electric Type

Where to start? Having an Electric Type is not optional - having an Electric Type that also happens to be a Dragon Type? Well that's serendipity mates! But having a massive 150 Attack, powerful and very complimentary Electric-Dragon moves, and an otherwise impressive base stats (all of which save for Special being over 100) makes Zek the obvious choice. No great shakes when it comes to impressive defense, Zek does have natural resistance to Fire, Flying, and Water-Type moves, and that clinches the deal!

Regice -- Ice Type

Due to its rather low defensive stat care must be taken when using it, but Regice enjoys so broad and powerful a sweeper status in type that not using it to fill the Ice role makes no sense at all. When properly deployed its beam combination is so devastating that its opponents tend to fall straight away, and that is the mark of a great slot filler.

Cresselia -- Psychic Type

While it used to be considered one of the best Tanks you could play, particularly with respect to its 120 Defense and 120 HP base stats, it is true that there are better choices today having come after Cressie, but in terms of its very wide supportive move pool and its signature moves, Cresselia remains one of the more effective Psychic Types when it is played properly. Which is why it was our choice.

Rotational Members

No team is perfect for all situations, which is why it is generally considered to be a wise idea to include a set of rotational members who you keep leveled in parity with your main team, to be swapped in as appropriate, depending upon the anticipated threats.

Below is our choice of rotational members -- picked due to their unique assets and moves, but also because they nicely fill in the gaps in the team.

Giratina -- Ghost / Dragon Type

Genesect -- Bug / Steel Type

Arceus -- Normal Type

Groudon -- Ground Type

Disagree with our choices? Well then share yours in the comments section below -- but be sure to tell us why right? That way we can all learn from that dialogue!

Posted: 25th Mar 2014 by CMBF
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