Summary
When jumping intoPokemon Scarlet and Violet’s The Teal Mask DLC for the first time, many players will likely be excited to check out all of the new critters the expansion adds on top of the handful of mons returning from previous generations. With new additions like Poltchageist, Dipplin, andThe Teal Mask’s mascot Ogerpon, there are some solid new mons that would make worthy additions to any team. However, players looking to build a team of all-new mons may have a tough road ahead of them as many of these critters share one major flaw.
Players who have completed the base games forPokemon Scarlet and Violetprior to starting The Teal Mask DLC will face the choice of whether to stick with their original playthrough team or build a new one with these newly accessible critters in the DLC. While there are pros and cons to doing so, players may want to be cautious about loading their team up with The Teal Mask’s new mons because it could cause problems for them as they progress through their playthrough of the DLC. Due to how many of these new mons are Grass type, players could end up with a lot of type overlap which could end up weakening their team overall.
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The Teal Mask’s Abundance of New Grass Types Can Make Teams Unbalanced
The general rule of thumb whenbuilding a team in thePokemonseriesis to strive for type diversity and avoid too much type overlap. Having a team made up of a variety of different types of mons allows players to have coverage against whatever their opponents might throw at them from both a defensive and offensive perspective. Teams that end up with too much type overlap could find themselves struggling against one type of opponent who can use super effective moves against that particular type and cause trouble for the player’s ability to progress in the game.
With three of the primary new mons featured in The Teal Mask all having the Grass type as one of their types, players could unintentionally end up with a Grass-type-heavy team that puts them in a tough position against Bug, Flying, Fire, and Ice types. Grass types already have one of the worst defensive typings in the game, so overloading a team with Grass-type mons opens players up to this wide range of weaknesses.The Teal Mask’s Poltchageistand its evolution Sinistcha are Grass/Ghost types, Dipplin is a Grass/Dragon type, and Ogerpon has the Grass type in all of its forms, making the combination of these mons difficult to use all on the same team.
To make matters worse for Grass types in The Teal Mask, there are a lot of Bug and Flying types players will have to face throughout the DLC. Kitakami is already home to an abundance of those types, butKieran’s Yanmain particular can be a surprisingly difficult foe, especially for Grass types who can fall prey to its Bug Buzz and Air Cutter moves. To a lesser degree, Carmine’s Vulpix in the first battle against her can also cause problems for these mons, particularly if players bring an Applin to Kitakami hoping to evolve it into Dipplin.
As tempting as it may be to use all of the new mons in The Teal Mask DLC on a team for a playthrough, players are better off diversifying their teams with other critters that can be found inPokemon Scarlet and Violet’s Kitakamito avoid having too many Grass types on their team. Luckily, there are nearly 100 new and returning mons to choose from, so players who want to use creatures that weren’t previously available inPokemon Scarlet and Violetstill have a lot to choose from. It’s odd that Game Freak chose so many new Grass types to be introduced in The Teal Mask, but it just means players will need to limit the number of new mons on their teams.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violetare available for Nintendo Switch. The Teal Mask DLC is also available now.
MORE:The Pros and Cons of Using a New Team in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s DLC
