I'm going to talk about this in a bit more detail either on Bulbacast, or in a short submission to the PokéGym Roundtable, but I thought I'd just give you all a quick overview here of what I use in my own personal team currently, and my reasoning behind it. Those of you who've played the game, I'd love to hear your comments. I've probably been messing around with this for a lot longer than most people, but I've yet to really have proper playtesting with experienced opponents in a competitive environment, so I can't know if my reasoning is correct or not yet.
The figures I use were mainly chosen based on the following factors
1. Consistently good results when spinning. Anything with more than 1/6 of its base being a miss was discarded from consideration.
2. Reasonably consistent "main" attacks. As a general rule, the primary attack (being defined as the strongest attack the figure has, either a purple if present, or the highest damage white) should be at least 1/4 of the base (preferably 1/3 or better).
3. For all figures but the "runner", the lowest power white damage should be at least 40 damage, or should reasonably be expected to hit 40 (from Swords Dance or similar being on the base)
4. The designated "runner", being a 3 move figure, will not have strong white attacks (no 3 move figure that I've seen has a white attack over 30), the runner should have a blue dodge or purple special attack capable of moving it out of harms way, or removing the opponent from its way, with at least 1/3 of base.
5. A focus on returning Pokémon to the opponents bench, or otherwise giving them wait, rather than just KOing them.
Given those conditions, my team as of now is as follows
Feraligator:
Lugia:
Both of these serve the same function, as power hitters. Their strengths are the relatively small miss brackets, and their large ** priority purples. When you've got one of these guys in position on a corner, they can literally hold a quadrant on their own, just from the fear factor. While strategy may change later, for the current situation, it's very true that most people will play significant numbers of strong 1 move Pokémon, basically making guys like this a necessity. For the rare occasions that they make it through your lines (like if you're concentrating on getting a runner through on the other side), or if they're being employed as a blocker, you have to have a similar guy on your own side to go toe-to-toe with them. You don't need to win the battle most of the time, just to hold them there while you buy time. Having said that though...you need to be able to KO them at least 1/4 of the time, something which only a similarly powered Pokémon will be able to do. Without a lucky hit from something like a Pikachu or Zangoose (both of which are on this team), you honestly can't rely on beating them down with anything else.
Murkrow: Designated "runner". Its Whirlwind only has a * priority, however it is 3/8 of the base, giving it a significant advantage over most blockers, which tend to only have white attacks to back up their dodges.
Pikachu: Designated "blitzer". A 1/4 white 100 can spell doom for many defending Pokémon, and its move of 2 allows it to get into action much quicker than other Pokémon with such comparably reliable attacks. A good Pokémon to clear the way for
Zangoose: Designated "utility block". Zangoose is seriously broken. Its weakest attack is a 1/4 white 20, however the rest of the base (1/6 white 90, 1/4 blue dodge, 1/3 Swords Dance) is basically a guaranteed white 40 or better. This is one of the best Pokémon to hold down and or KO strong attackers. With Swords Dance, its Crush Claw can become a white 180, a move that can only be topped by Charizard's Fire Spin. Really should be on every team.
Machop: Designated "linesman". Having a 6/10 white 40, and a 3/10 dodge, this Pokémon can shut down most attacks by "runners" easily, even with large purple wait's. It's can also be good for KOing large attackers with huge miss ranges, making people think twice about sending in their big, but unreliable, slugger.
Under the rarity scales from the Australian release (who knows what you Americans have), that's two EX-Rare, 1 Rare, 2 Uncommon, and a Common, in that order. That's somewhat intentional, given that what I'd originally heard about OP is that tournament matches might have team building requirements, with restrictions on the number of rare figures.\
Other figures which didn't quite make the cut include...
Charizard: The highest potential white damage in the game (together with Golem), and its minimum attack is a very respectable 50 (Fire Spin => Miss). Shame that it lacks any purple though, making it unsuitable for our needs.
Golem: A real stonewall. I'd highly consider using this guy as a blocker, if not for his low 1 move.
Mareep: Paralyze is a nasty condition to be able to inflict, but the large miss is a problem for us here.
Weedle: The low movement and white 10 make him unsuitable for our needs, even though it has a whopping 2/3 purple poison.
Thoughts?
The figures I use were mainly chosen based on the following factors
1. Consistently good results when spinning. Anything with more than 1/6 of its base being a miss was discarded from consideration.
2. Reasonably consistent "main" attacks. As a general rule, the primary attack (being defined as the strongest attack the figure has, either a purple if present, or the highest damage white) should be at least 1/4 of the base (preferably 1/3 or better).
3. For all figures but the "runner", the lowest power white damage should be at least 40 damage, or should reasonably be expected to hit 40 (from Swords Dance or similar being on the base)
4. The designated "runner", being a 3 move figure, will not have strong white attacks (no 3 move figure that I've seen has a white attack over 30), the runner should have a blue dodge or purple special attack capable of moving it out of harms way, or removing the opponent from its way, with at least 1/3 of base.
5. A focus on returning Pokémon to the opponents bench, or otherwise giving them wait, rather than just KOing them.
Given those conditions, my team as of now is as follows
Feraligator:
Lugia:
Both of these serve the same function, as power hitters. Their strengths are the relatively small miss brackets, and their large ** priority purples. When you've got one of these guys in position on a corner, they can literally hold a quadrant on their own, just from the fear factor. While strategy may change later, for the current situation, it's very true that most people will play significant numbers of strong 1 move Pokémon, basically making guys like this a necessity. For the rare occasions that they make it through your lines (like if you're concentrating on getting a runner through on the other side), or if they're being employed as a blocker, you have to have a similar guy on your own side to go toe-to-toe with them. You don't need to win the battle most of the time, just to hold them there while you buy time. Having said that though...you need to be able to KO them at least 1/4 of the time, something which only a similarly powered Pokémon will be able to do. Without a lucky hit from something like a Pikachu or Zangoose (both of which are on this team), you honestly can't rely on beating them down with anything else.
Murkrow: Designated "runner". Its Whirlwind only has a * priority, however it is 3/8 of the base, giving it a significant advantage over most blockers, which tend to only have white attacks to back up their dodges.
Pikachu: Designated "blitzer". A 1/4 white 100 can spell doom for many defending Pokémon, and its move of 2 allows it to get into action much quicker than other Pokémon with such comparably reliable attacks. A good Pokémon to clear the way for
Zangoose: Designated "utility block". Zangoose is seriously broken. Its weakest attack is a 1/4 white 20, however the rest of the base (1/6 white 90, 1/4 blue dodge, 1/3 Swords Dance) is basically a guaranteed white 40 or better. This is one of the best Pokémon to hold down and or KO strong attackers. With Swords Dance, its Crush Claw can become a white 180, a move that can only be topped by Charizard's Fire Spin. Really should be on every team.
Machop: Designated "linesman". Having a 6/10 white 40, and a 3/10 dodge, this Pokémon can shut down most attacks by "runners" easily, even with large purple wait's. It's can also be good for KOing large attackers with huge miss ranges, making people think twice about sending in their big, but unreliable, slugger.
Under the rarity scales from the Australian release (who knows what you Americans have), that's two EX-Rare, 1 Rare, 2 Uncommon, and a Common, in that order. That's somewhat intentional, given that what I'd originally heard about OP is that tournament matches might have team building requirements, with restrictions on the number of rare figures.\
Other figures which didn't quite make the cut include...
Charizard: The highest potential white damage in the game (together with Golem), and its minimum attack is a very respectable 50 (Fire Spin => Miss). Shame that it lacks any purple though, making it unsuitable for our needs.
Golem: A real stonewall. I'd highly consider using this guy as a blocker, if not for his low 1 move.
Mareep: Paralyze is a nasty condition to be able to inflict, but the large miss is a problem for us here.
Weedle: The low movement and white 10 make him unsuitable for our needs, even though it has a whopping 2/3 purple poison.
Thoughts?