The key to changing into one of the best Pokemon coach isn’t nearly consistency throughout competitors or having one of the best ‘mons, however about discovering a steadiness on your staff and your self exterior the battle. However don’t take it from us—take it from former World Champion Wolfe Glick.
Crafting a staff for any aggressive Pokémon competitors is an artwork that takes time to grasp, and a real champion has to find out about balancing their lineup to deal with the largest meta threats and counter their very own weaknesses. Even in the event you attempt to cowl each angle, you’ll be able to nonetheless find yourself dealing with off towards a Pokémon or construct you weren’t anticipating, no matter your expertise on the prime degree.
Through the 2024 Pokémon Europe Worldwide Championships, Wolfe Glick instructed Dot Esports about how he constructed his present staff, noting that he devoted two slots to Pokémon that might help 4 different offensive-focused decisions. On this occasion, the help Pokémon had been Incineroar, a Pokémon that noticed over 50 % utilization on day two of EUIC, and Amoonguss. With these acquainted faces locked in, Wolfe introduced Scarlet and Violet meta staples Urshifu Fast Strike and Flutter Mane, together with the Incarnate formes of Landorus and Tornadus.
This team-building strategy was designed to provide him a number of methods to take management of video games whereas bringing 4 Pokémon that might deal with taking out the sphere with heavy-hitting, diversified movesets.“I constructed my staff round two of the strongest help Pokémon, Incineroar and Amoonguss to take management of video games, and I might use them to help 4 damage-based Pokémon,” Wolfe stated to Dot. “By having a bunch of various sort coverages and robust attackers, there weren’t many individuals I couldn’t do injury to.”
That technique wasn’t flawless, nevertheless, as working right into a Rocky Helmet Corviknight was one thing he “didn’t have good methods to cope with.” Likewise, Florges was annoying for his staff as a result of it was capable of forestall Incineroar’s Intimidate from reducing an Ogerpon’s Assault stat resulting from Flower Veil. However when confronted with the scenario, it got here right down to balancing his strategy to compensate for brand spanking new weaknesses. “It was nearly maneuvering and positioning accurately so I might let my offensive Pokémon stick round for sufficient turns to eliminate the menace, ” Wolfe stated.
Prepping your staff is just a part of the battle as you additionally want to make sure you are in prime situation to tackle some of these challenges. For Wolfe, this implies discovering steadiness in his duties exterior of the sport and being attentive to how he feels about competing. For some time, he says it was laborious to maintain up with competing and creating content material, however after 4 years of doing it full-time, he thinks he has improved at managing his “time and expectations” for himself.
“Typically VGC prep isn’t very enjoyable, and I type of lean again out of it,” he stated. “However generally with content material creation, I’ll have per week the place I really feel I’m not capable of be at most productiveness. It’s a problem however I believe being intentional with breaks from the VGC finish and being forward on work, having that buffer makes issues simpler as a result of I’m not simply dashing to a deadline on a regular basis.”
It additionally helps that his strategy to Pokémon VGC modifications relying on what he’s doing. Wolfe notes that, whereas he’s continuously concerned within the VGC neighborhood, competing and making content material use totally different ability units. In a single, he’s attempting to win in any respect prices; within the different, it’s extra about enjoying the position of an entertainer or educator for his viewers.
“[Being] extra of an educator the place I’m attempting to convey info to an viewers may be very totally different to optimizing a staff, making a meta name, or training. They use very totally different elements of my mind,” Wolfe stated. “So, regardless of them each being Pokémon, they find yourself feeling totally different which I believe helps as a result of I can do one to take a break from the opposite.”
Wolfe is not any stranger to offering perception into the interior workings of VGC requirements similar to staff constructing, as he and several other different prime personalities teamed up again in April 2022 to launch VGCguide, a web site devoted to cohesive sources for the aggressive scene. You probably have ever been on the lookout for methods to enhance and even begin your VGC journey, that may be a good place to begin studying.
EUIC concludes with Pokemon TCG, VGC, and Go finals on April 7, stay from the ExCeL Middle in London.
