Ok, here we go:
Setup teams
These teams is basically anything that really on a certain strategy, ability or move to boost their own power, such as weather teams, Trick Room/Tailwind team, Baton Pass teams or teams relying on a certain Pokemon to set up (I'm clumping these together since they have very similar pros and cons). These teams are quite common and for good reasons. Once they are all set up they are generally faster and stronger than most other types of teams. The downside is that you are very vulnerable if you lose whatever sets up. Once Politoed is gone from a Rain team or Espeon from a Baton Pass team you are all of a sudden not that very threatening. Same goes for the strategy itself. Trick Room teams or Sun teams are heavily dependant on their respective strategy being up and about at all times, meaning lots of switching and setting up. That in turns make you predictable. Along with the limited teambuilding options setup teams are quite the tricky ones to handle. Nevertheless the returns can be huge, as unprepared teams will have difficulty fighting a good setup team, and they definitely shouldn't be overlooked.
Cons
- Very vulnerable once the strategy setter is out.
- Limited teambuilding options.
- Short duration (Trick Room/Tailwind/Weather).
- Very predictable.
Pros
- Once set up, these teams are immensely powerful.
- Difficult to prevent (Trick Room/Tailwind)
Hyper Offensive teams
HO teams usually have little to no defensive investments, and are thus very vulnerable to both being worn down and faster/stronger sweepers. This means they demand better prediction and teambuilding than any other team to function. For when every move your opponent fire could take you out, you need a good team and know how to use it. But of course, HO teams can be a menace once if your opponent misspredicts or simply don't have a good team.
Cons
- Require good prediction.
- Weak to the unexpected.
- Very vulnerable.
- Prone to being worn down.
- Hazards.
Pros
- Can demolish the unprepared.
- Short matches=good for laddering.
Stall teams
Stall teams can best be described as a Great Wall holding back a horde of hairy barbarians. As long as the wall is properly manned, supported and maintained whatever the wall is protecting is safe. But if there is a single hole in the wall, a single piece of it missing or it ending in an unfavourable location, all the hairy barbarians can use that weakness to get past the wall.
PWhat I mean with that metaphor is that a Pokemon team rarely have the power to wall everything, and even of they do they usually can't have more than one check to everything. This means once that counter is out, said threat can destroy the rest of the team. At the same time, if the opponent have the proper support to remove your attacks, you are in even greater peril.
Bar that stall teams are quite easy to use, quite annoying to face and quite often take a long time to wear down.
Cons
- Weak to any certain threat once it's certain counter is out.
Pros
- Easy to use.
- Annoying to face.
Volt-Turn teams
These teams are very similar to Hyper Offensive teams, but is at the same time easier to use, but more vulnerable to being worn down. Similarly however, is that you are also very easy to wear down, especially from entry hazards. At the same time bulky Ground types can quite easily shut Volt-Turn teams down. Furthermore, regular switching, a lack of good support Pokemon and a very limited amount of viable Volt-turn users makes it difficult slightly more difficult to play with a Volt-Turn team and significantly more difficult to make a good team.
Cons
- Hazards.
- Limited teambuilding options.
- Regular switching.
Pros
- Easy to make predictions.
- Easy to play.
Monotype teams
We will only briefly summarise monotype teams here as they are very easily understood and very uncommon in non-monotype battles.
Pros
- Walls and kills a limited amount of Pokemon near perfectly with typing alone.
Cons
- Can't walk or kill a majority of Pokemon effectively by typing alone.
Balanced teams
Finally we will have talk about teams that aren't any of the previous ones. They are often some sort of Frankenstein's monster of all the other team types combined, trying to do everything at once. Because of this they are highly unique, with each one having different teams it is good and bad at facing very different teams. They aren't particularly good at anything but they aren't weak against anything in particular either. They aren't strong or weak against anything in particular either, but both its strength and weakness is that they can counter individual Pokemon well, but at the same time can't handle individual Pokemon well. What these individual Pokemon are depends on the team.
Pros & Cons
- Each team is unique.
- Each team have an unique strengths and weaknesses.
And that aspect exist in all teams, regardless of tactics, strategy or personal skills. Each team is unique and faces unique challenges and opportunities. It's knowing what these are for each of your teams that make you grow as a battler. This whole wall of text is thus a rough guideline that won't apply to every individual team, but it gives you a foundation to the most basic principles of battling strategies and teambuilding.
