Please read the submission guidelines before posting on a moveset thread.
Submission guidelines
The following five guidelines are required. Staff will remove responses that don't follow them.
- Only post competitive movesets, not in-game movesets for use during the main story. Movesets intended for the Battle Tower and similar facilities count as competitive movesets.
- Include ALL standard set details. This means item, nature, EVs, ability and moves.* It's not good enough to say "pick any". For formats allowing Terastal, also include Tera Type.
- Include at least two proper sentences of explanation. Suggest how/when the set should be used and justify in terms of the battle format it's for.
- All sets must be legal within the base game. This means we don't accept sets for modded formats like Hackmons (which, for example, allow Pokemon to use moves they don't usually learn). National Dex formats are OK.
- Post your set as an answer, not a comment. This prevents clutter. Click the 'answer' button instead of the 'comment' button on the bottom-right corner of the original post.
Also remember the standard rules list. For example, please don't embed massive images, and don't copy-paste from other websites. (You may post a set you found elsewhere -- just describe it in your own words.)
Be aware that raw stats are not a substitute for EVs. If you're not experienced with EVs and how to use them, then you shouldn't be giving advice for competitive players. We won't accept illegal EV spreads (e.g. investments in excess of 510) or inefficient EV spreads (e.g. investing 149 EVs on a level 100 Pokemon).
If you're here to check that your moveset will be allowed, you can stop reading now.
Recommendations
We strongly recommend the following to post a good quality moveset, but your post won't be removed if you don't follow these.
- Mention the intended battle format. For example, Gen 9 OU or VGC Regulation D.
- Use Showdown-importable formatting. This is a standard when sharing movesets and is strongly recommended. Using it will make your post more readable and more credible. You can find an example below.
- Post one moveset per answer. This means other people can vote on them separately. If you have multiple movesets, you can post more than one answer.
Organisation
Moveset questions are examples of "endless questions" on PokeBase, which are documented here. We have tight rules surrounding these to maintain organisation. They are listed here in brief:
- One question per final form only.** Movesets for Pokemon that are not fully evolved belong on their final form's page. See notes for some edge cases where our approach is different.
- You may not post your own moveset thread.*** This includes when the existing threads don't have something you like, don't suit your Pokemon's ability/nature, haven't been posted yet, etc. We have prioritised keeping the threads organised above covering particular needs like this.
- You may not request movesets on moveset threads. Unfortunately, it's just bad luck if there's nothing on the threads that helps you. We enforce this to keep every thread organised.
Our philosophy for moveset questions is that they should be a one-stop shop for strategy on a given Pokemon. Responses should not be distributed across a dozen similar questions.
Notes
* If you are posting a moveset for an older generation where features like items and abilities do not exist, then you obviously don't need to include those details in your set. Just specify which generation you're posting for, and it is fine.
** We have separate threads for Alolan and Galarian form Pokemon, but generally not for other Pokemon with form differences, e.g. Meowstic and Giratina. We've also retained threads for Pokemon that received evolutions in recent generations, e.g. Farfetch'd. We will soon roll out threads for Pokemon with a competitive niche and either a) split evolutions or b) a niche separate to that of its evolved form.
*** We allow Little Cup moveset questions separate from the main moveset threads, but as of 2021, they must be posted by an expert (or above). Send one of them a wall message if you would like an LC moveset thread posted.
Example
Below is an example of a moveset response that enacts the above guidelines. It isn't perfect, but it's fit for a purpose and there is an explanation of that.
Gen 7 Battle Spot Singles
Salamence @ Salamencite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 188 Def / 68 SpD
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Return
- Roar
- Dragon Dance
This is an alternative to the usual set-up sweeper Mega Salamence, utilising 95 / 130 / 90 defences and a decent defensive typing to deny prominent threats like Blaziken, Landorus-T, Breloom, and Excadrill. The combination of Intimidate and Mega Evolution will shut down most physical attackers, allowing you to use a support move. Roost makes Salamence survivable throughout the game and is a safe option for when it forces a switch. Dragon Dance decreases Salamence's passivity, allowing it to capitalise when it walls an opponent. Roar helps stop sweepers like Mimikyu, Blaziken and Gyarados. The selected EVs prevent Mimikyu from getting an OHKO on Salamence at +2, or a 2KHO at +0. They also prevent Aegislash getting a 2HKO with Shadow Ball.