BASIC · The game is decided in the first 90 seconds
You load into a battle, the opponent's six fan out across the screen, the timer starts. Most players click the four most familiar faces and hit go — then on turn 3 they get swept by a Pokémon that was sitting right there in plain sight, and only then think "I should have prepped for that from the start."
The format isn't background rules. It's the first and highest-leverage decision of the match. In Champions you register six Pokémon; when the battle starts both players see all six of each other's (that moment is Team Preview); then each player picks four of their six to actually bring. This lesson is about what should be running through your head during those 90 seconds.
BASIC · The minimum mental model: you're not picking your best four, you're picking the right four against this team
Beginners default to "bring my four strongest." Wrong starting point. The right one flips the question: which one or two of their six are most likely to break through me, and who on my side stops it?
Three lines you can use today:
- Six is the toolbox; four is this game's answer. The same six produces different fours against different opponents.
- Read the threat first, then assign the answer. Your pick is forced out by their six, not by your favourites.
- Everyone is Lv 50. Inside the arena every Pokémon scales to 50, so levels give zero edge. That cranks up the weight of pure-strategy calls like "pick the right four" — grinding can't save you here.
INTERMEDIATE · Walk it all the way: choosing four out of six
Say you registered: Garchomp, Rotom-Wash, Amoonguss, Dragonite, Tyranitar, Gholdengo.
Their Team Preview shows six, and the two that jump out are a Landorus-Therian (Ground/Flying) and a Kingambit (Dark/Steel). Run the chain:
- Tag the threats. Landorus-Therian is fast and its Intimidate drops my physical attack; Kingambit late-game, once Supreme Overlord stacks, can one-shot off a single STAB hit. These two are what I'm building around stopping.
- Assign the answers. Vs Landorus-Therian: Ice is cleanest. My Dragonite carries an Ice move and is immune to Ground by type (Flying is immune to Ground) — in. Rotom-Wash (Electric/Water) is immune to Earthquake via Levitate and hits Ground/Flying hard with Water — in. Vs Kingambit: it fears Fighting (×4) / Ground (×2) / Fire (×2), and Garchomp's STAB Earthquake hits exactly that — in.
- Keep a flex / insurance slot. Fourth slot is Amoonguss: Spore and Rage Powder backstop the other three. Note that in Champions Sleep caps at 3 turns — it won't lock something down forever like older games, so it's a "buy a turn or two of tempo" card, not a "shut one down for the match" card.
- The four: Garchomp / Rotom-Wash / Dragonite / Amoonguss. Tyranitar and Gholdengo ride the bench — they have no clear job against this team.
Your turn (faded): Same six. Now their core threats are a Volcarona (Bug/Fire, ×4 weak to Rock) and a Garganacl (Rock, slow but tanky). Which four do you bring? And which Pokémon that you brought last time should sit this time? (Hint: ask "who breaks through me?" first, then "who has no job this game?")
INTERMEDIATE · When to run the chain: if-X-then-Y
- If you can't tell at a glance who their threat is at Team Preview, then find their fastest or highest-damage Pokémon first — that's usually the one forcing your hand.
- If two of yours both answer the same threat, then bring the one that also does another job, and save the other for a different matchup.
- If after picking you notice one of your four has no clear job against this opponent, then swap it for a more on-point bench Pokémon — slots are expensive, don't bring a passenger.
- If the speed tiers are close and you're unsure who moves first, then remember this is Lv 50 — speed gaps come from base stats + nature + item, not level, so go re-check it in the speed tool afterward.
INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED · The named edges where the simple rule breaks
- Reg [X] rotates. Reg [X] (M-A, M-B, …) is the legal species list for the current season, and it cycles. What's allowed today can be gone next season — so never treat "X is always in the meta" as permanent truth. The team builder auto-flags anything illegal; you don't memorise the list, but you do need to know the list moves.
- Singles and doubles are two separate ladders. Singles and Doubles each have their own Ranked Battles ladder, and the pick-four logic differs: in doubles you send two at once, a spread move like Earthquake also hits your own partner, and spread moves do ×0.75 in doubles. Singles picking leans on your switch cycle; doubles leans on how your two work together.
- Mega Evolution is one slot for the whole team. Your six might hold more than one Mega Stone, but you can only Mega one Pokémon per battle (via the Omni Ring). So as you pick four, also decide: who am I planning to Mega this game? Don't bring two Mega candidates and then only get to activate one — that wastes a slot. (There's no Tera, Z-Move, or Dynamax in Champions; Mega is the only on-field boost mechanic.)
INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED · The beginner mistake + the fix
The mistake: "I'll bring my four strongest and I'm fine." So they send the exact same four every game and treat Team Preview like it isn't there.
Why it loses: you've turned a responsive decision into a fixed one. The opponent brought the specific answer to your ace, and you shove it forward anyway — that's handing them the script. Team Preview shows you all six precisely so you can adjust on the spot. Not adjusting throws away the information edge.
The fix: force yourself to ask two questions every game start — "who's most likely to break through me?" and "does one of my four have no job this game?" Swap the no-job one for the on-point one. Even a single swap upgrades your pick from "bring the strongest" to "bring the right ones."
INTERMEDIATE · Predict, then reveal: a quick retrieval check
Don't read the answer yet. Run the chain in your head first.
Q: Your six include two heavy attackers, Garchomp and Dragonite, but the opponent's Team Preview shows an obvious Weavile (Dark/Ice, blazing fast) and a Glaceon (Ice). Both your dragons are ×4 weak to Ice — Garchomp is Ground/Dragon and Dragonite is Dragon/Flying, and Ice hits both at ×4. Do you bring both dragons and race for damage — or not?
Reveal → Sit at least one dragon. Both are ×4 to Ice, so bringing both stakes two slots on "which one gets one-shot first" — the textbook "strongest ≠ right." Keep one dragon as your threat (ideally alongside a partner that pressures Weavile's speed or removes it first) and swap the other for a bench Pokémon that doesn't fold to Ice. Team Preview handed you this read for free — once you see it, you have to use it.
ADVANCED · Now do this: drill it on your own team in the Pokédex
Open the Pokédex () and run this deliberate-practice rep — not browsing, drilling with a decision in hand:
- Build your own six-Pokémon toolbox. Pick six you'd actually use, and write down the one job each does this game (lead / answer a threat / stall tempo / Mega core).
- Invent two imaginary opponents. Give each one obvious threat as its core (say, one built around a fast physical attacker, one around a bulky wall that grinds you down).
- For each opponent, circle four of your six and write one line: which of these four answers that core threat, and who sits the bench this game and why.
- Cross-check. If both imaginary opponents made you circle the exact same four — go back and redo it. Identical fours against different teams means you're still "bringing the strongest," not "bringing the right ones."
Drill until you can look at any opponent and, inside 90 seconds, say out loud "why these four, why not those two." That's when Team Preview stops being a timer you freeze under and becomes the place you go up a game before turn one.