Pokémon: Making The Perfect Gen VIII Team

The Galar Region’s expansive Routes and Wild Areas host a multitude of fresh, unique Pokémon that show their true colors on the battlefield. When sifting through the massive amount of Pokémon to choose from, which ones hold the greatest potential for intense trainer battles?

Looking at the new Galar exclusives, each one has been carefully balanced with moves, abilities, types, and stats to create an almost limitless diversity when building the perfect team. Within this list, we’ll be uncovering this new region’s top dogs to train and nurture over your long journey.

10 Frosmoth

Evolving from Snom, perhaps the cutest Pokémon in existence, Frosmoth lures in opponents with its big, beady eyes and cute demeanor, only to Quiver Dance on their grave. Its ability, Ice Scales, might be its strongest asset, halving the damage it takes from special attacks.

The aforementioned Quiver Dance is essential for raising Frosmoth’s stats to insane levels, making Ice Beam and Bug Buzz into moves of pure destruction. However, when put up against a speedy physical attacker, Frosmoth doesn’t have much in terms of defense, leaving it susceptible to getting OHKO’d before it even gets the chance to get funky.

9 Barraskewda

When the clouds turn gray and Arceus rains its tears upon Galar, Barraskewda becomes faster than the speed of light. The ability Swift Swim doubles its already insane speed in rain, meaning that no other Pokémon has a chance at catching it. Barraskewda mostly acts as a one-trick pony, with every stat besides Speed and Attack falling below average.

However, when given the proper item, this living torpedo takes advantage of its speed to decimate opponents with physical moves before they can even blink. It won’t be surviving until the end of the battle, but it certainly won’t go down without taking a few Pokémon with it.

8 Dracozolt

The Galar Region’s fossil Pokémon are particularly threatening when compared to past generations, and Dracozolt shows off just how menacing they can be. Hustle boosts Dracozolt’s base 100 Attack by 1.5 in exchange for some accuracy, making it hit like a truck with one flat tire.

When attacks like Bolt Beak and Dragon Claw do end up landing, they’ll be dealing significant damage. With below-average defenses, Dracozolt ends up needing items like Leftovers to stay afloat, making it a bit more linear than other Pokémon. However, underestimating this ancient Pokémon’s power would be a big mistake.

7 Grimmsnarl

This fairy-goblin doesn’t just have a cool Gigantimax-form and unique typing under its belt, as it stands as one of the best status-inflicters in the game. With the ability Prankster, status moves gain increased priority and will usually go first.

This allows Grimmsnarl to set up screens, paralyze with Thunder Wave, anger opponents with Taunt, or spam a few Bulk Ups. Bulk Up, in particular, is an extremely viable and annoying option, buffing its already great Attack and bestowing it with some extra defense, making it both hard to KO and easy to KO with.

6 Hatterene

This Pokémon has a bad habit of becoming violent when it senses strong emotions, and sensing your opponent’s tears is no different. With abysmal Speed, Hatterene is likely the best user of Trick Room in the game, able to turn its Speed around and make use of its extremely high Sp. Atk.

With acceptable defenses and Magic Bounce, getting rid of Hatterene is like asking the flu to kindly go away. After a few Calm Minds and Mystical Fires, it can seem like an impossible task to KO Hatterene, making it one of the better counters against certain Pokémon.

5 Galarian Corsola

Someone threw one too many bottles into the ocean, and Galarian Corsola has come to haunt their souls. Corsola is unique in the fact that it is usually considered better than its evolution, with its better ability in Cursed Body and access to eviolite. Corsola is a great defensive tank, nullifying Normal and Fighting-types, having great Defense and Sp. Def plus moves like Will-O-Wisp and Strength Sap only add insult to injury.

Strength Sap is a particularly harrowing move, which lowers the opponent’s Attack as well as healing Corsola by an equal amount to their Attack stat. Corsola can seem unkillable at times, making it one of the best defensive options around.

4 Corviknight

Patrolling the skies of Galar in a full suit of armor, Corviknight is an excellent all-around balanced Pokémon to add to any team. This Knight of the Round Pokéball has great defenses and decent attack, and a multitude of different movesets to choose from. Corviknight can rid the field of hazards with Defog, stall out Pokémon with Iron Defense, and provide acceptable damage with Body Press, Brave Bird, and Iron Head.

Items like Shed Shell or Heavy-Duty Boots are a great choice for this Pokémon, and its abilities, Unnerve and Mirror Armor can be used as niche counters against Pokémon like Appletun and Corsola.

3 Dragapult

Acting as the Galar region’s most questionable day-care, Dragapult and his Dreepy friends are both blindingly fast and amazingly powerful. With a base 142 Speed, most Pokémon will have great difficulty out-speeding it, as it throws out a destructive Draco Meteor or Shadow Ball.

It’s a bit on the frail side, but its Ghost-typing is a great option against Fighting-types, and it stands as one of the best attackers in the game. It can even work with a Substitute moveset if played correctly, making it even harder to KO.

2 Cinderace

Up there with some of the better starters in Pokémon history, Cinderace is similar to Blaziken with its boastingly high Speed and Attack. While not as blatantly broken as Blaziken, Cinderace’s signature moves can quickly change the tide of battle. With its high Speed, it can utilize Court Change to its fullest and reverse all field hazards currently placed, acting as a great counter to Pokémon spamming Stealth Rock and Spikes.

Pyro Ball, its second signature move, deals massive damage with a chance of burning to boot. It also stands as one of the better Taunt users since it’s so fast, shutting down many status-oriented Pokémon with ease.

1 Dracovish

Imagine if putting the wrong head on one of your action figures made it an unstoppable powerhouse. Like Dracozolt, Dracovish is definitely one of the weirder-looking additions to Sword & Shield, but that certainly doesn’t diminish its destructive potential. Fishious Rend, similar to Bolt Beak, is one of the hardest-hitting moves in the game, and Strong Jaw boosts most of its attacks by 1.5.

Psychic Fangs is a particularly tricky move, ridding the opposing team’s screens with a single blow. Dracovish is an excellent user of Choice items, as it really only needs one move to take down an entire team.

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