The best Cobblemon team for most servers is a balanced six without legendaries: Garchomp, Corviknight, Toxapex, Gengar, Kingambit and Clefable. All six can be caught in Cobblemon 1.8.3, and every move in the sets below is a TM or level-up move, so you can build the team in survival without commands.
Cobblemon battles run on Pokémon Showdown's Generation 9 engine, so damage, abilities and items work the way they do in the main games. What differs is what you can get and the rules you battle under, and that decides which teams work.
How Cobblemon PvP Works in 1.8.3
These are the rules that change team building, checked against the Cobblemon 1.8.3 source and the changelog:
- Formats. A player challenge can be a Single, Double or Triple battle, a Multi battle with two players per side, or a Royal battle, which is a free for all.
- The level rule. The challenge screen sets one of four rules: Anything Goes (everyone's real levels), Level 50 All, Level 100 All or Level 5 All. With a level rule, the battle uses copies of both teams at that level, so nothing that happens in it carries over to your real Pokémon.
- No team preview. Your opponent sees your lead only when it comes out. In a one on one challenge you lead with the Pokémon you have selected in your party when you send or accept it, so pick it before you click. In a Multi battle, the first Pokémon in your party leads.
- Items after a battle. In player battles Cobblemon only takes away the berries, type gems and terrain seeds your team used. A Focus Sash or an Air Balloon still works in the battle and is back on your Pokémon afterwards.
- No battle gimmicks. Base Cobblemon has no Mega Evolution, Z-Moves, Dynamax or Terastallization. Servers add them with the Mega Showdown sidemod.
- No wild legendaries. None of the legendaries has a natural spawn in base Cobblemon. They come from add-ons such as Legendary Monuments or from admins, which is why most server ladders are built without them.
- Regular abilities. A normal catch never has its hidden ability. In survival, hidden abilities come from Pokémon that spawn near a honey-slathered Saccharine log or from a Poké Snack made with the right berries (both added in 1.7.0). An Ability Capsule, brewed from Medicinal Brew and Dragon Breath since 1.8.0, swaps between the two regular abilities. The Ability Patch, which would give the hidden ability, has no crafting recipe in 1.8.3.
- Moves. Since 1.8.0 there are 334 TMs, printed in the TM Machine from type gems. On top of that, a Pokémon can swap in any of its level-up moves up to its current level from the summary screen.
The Best All-Round Team
This six is built for Single battles under Level 100 All or Anything Goes, and it works under Level 50 All too.
| Pokémon | Type | Role | Item | Moves |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garchomp | Dragon/Ground | Lead, sets Stealth Rock | Focus Sash | Stealth Rock, Earthquake, Scale Shot, Swords Dance |
| Corviknight | Flying/Steel | Physical wall, hazard removal | Leftovers | Body Press, Iron Defense, Roost, Defog |
| Toxapex | Poison/Water | Special and physical wall | Black Sludge | Liquidation, Toxic, Recover, Haze |
| Gengar | Ghost/Poison | Special attacker | Life Orb | Shadow Ball, Sludge Bomb, Focus Blast, Nasty Plot |
| Kingambit | Dark/Steel | Late-game cleaner | Leftovers | Kowtow Cleave, Sucker Punch, Iron Head, Swords Dance |
| Clefable | Fairy | Calm Mind attacker, Dragon check | Life Orb | Moonblast, Calm Mind, Moonlight, Flamethrower |
Why it works:
- Garchomp gets Stealth Rock up on the first turn: the Focus Sash keeps it alive through one hit from full health.
- Corviknight is immune to Ground, which covers Toxapex, Gengar and Kingambit. Garchomp is immune to Electric, which covers Corviknight and Toxapex.
- Toxapex resists the Fire and Fighting moves aimed at Corviknight and Kingambit.
- Kingambit's ability Supreme Overlord is one of its two regular abilities in Cobblemon, so you can get it on a normal catch or brew an Ability Capsule if yours has Defiant. Kowtow Cleave is a level 1 move, available from the summary screen.
- Clefable's regular ability Magic Guard stops Life Orb recoil, and it beats the Dragon types that wall the rest.
Getting the team: Gible becomes Gabite at 24 and Garchomp at 48. Rookidee evolves at 18 and becomes Corviknight at 38, Mareanie becomes Toxapex at 38, and Haunter becomes Gengar by trading or with a Link Cable. Clefairy needs a Moon Stone. Kingambit is the odd one: in Cobblemon, a Bisharp evolves after it defeats three Bisharp that hold a King's Rock, and the King's Rock has a crafting recipe. The faster route is to catch one: Kingambit spawns at level 52 to 55 in bamboo jungles and along rivers, but only near a Poké Snack, the spawn bait you cook in a Campfire Pot. The same goes for Pawniard and Bisharp. Garchomp turns up, rarely, in badlands and mountains at 48 to 60, and Toxapex on coasts and in warm oceans.
Getting the items: Focus Sash, Life Orb, Expert Belt, Rocky Helmet and Damp Rock all have crafting recipes. Leftovers and Black Sludge do not. Snorlax, Munchlax, Trubbish and Garbodor can drop Leftovers, and Grimer, Muk, Croagunk, Toxicroak, Trubbish and Garbodor can drop Black Sludge. Drops are rare, so expect to beat a few of them.
Team Roles
Every team needs these roles covered:
| Role | Purpose | Examples you can catch in 1.8.3 |
|---|---|---|
| Physical Sweeper | High Attack, fast | Garchomp, Kingambit, Blaziken |
| Special Sweeper | High Special Attack, fast | Gengar, Alakazam, Volcarona |
| Physical Wall | High Defense | Corviknight, Hippowdon, Skarmory |
| Special Wall | High Special Defense | Blissey, Goodra, Toxapex |
| Pivot | Switch out while dealing damage | Corviknight (U-turn), Barraskewda (Flip Turn) |
| Hazard Setter | Entry hazards | Ferrothorn, Garchomp, Tyranitar |
Rotom is the one classic pivot you cannot use: it is in the game data, but it has no spawn in Cobblemon 1.8.3, neither in the wild nor in the habitat structures.
Type Coverage
A good team hits every type at least neutrally and resists the attacking types that are common on your server.
Core type combinations that cover most threats:
- Fire, Water and Grass (the classic triangle)
- Dragon, Steel and Fairy (the modern triangle)
- Ground, Flying and Electric (the coverage triangle)
Count the weaknesses of all six before you settle on a team. Three Pokémon that share a weakness to Ground, like Toxapex, Gengar and Kingambit above, need a Flying type or a Levitate user behind them.
A Rain Team for Double Battles
Doubles under Level 50 All is where Cobblemon battles look most like official play. Rain is the easiest weather team to build in Cobblemon because both key abilities are regular abilities: Pelipper's Drizzle and the Swift Swim of Barraskewda and Kingdra.
| Pokémon | Role | Item | Moves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pelipper | Sets rain on switch-in | Damp Rock | Hurricane, Weather Ball, Tailwind, Protect |
| Barraskewda | Fast physical attacker in rain | Life Orb | Liquidation, Close Combat, Aqua Jet, Protect |
| Kingdra | Special attacker in rain | Expert Belt | Muddy Water, Draco Meteor, Ice Beam, Protect |
| Amoonguss | Redirection and sleep | Rocky Helmet | Rage Powder, Spore, Pollen Puff, Protect |
| Arcanine | Intimidate, burns | Sitrus Berry | Extreme Speed, Snarl, Will-O-Wisp, Flare Blitz |
| Garchomp | Ground and Dragon damage | Life Orb | Stomping Tantrum, Rock Slide, Dragon Claw, Protect |
Lead Pelipper with Barraskewda or Kingdra. Swift Swim doubles their Speed in rain, so they move before almost everything, and Hurricane cannot miss while it rains. Amoonguss learns Spore at level 54 and Rage Powder at 42. Garchomp runs Stomping Tantrum instead of Earthquake so it does not hit its own partner. The double battles guide covers targeting, Protect and speed control in more depth.
For a weather team in singles, Tyranitar and Excadrill are the classic sand pair: Tyranitar's Sand Stream sets sand when it comes in, and Excadrill's Sand Rush doubles its Speed in it. Both abilities are regular abilities in Cobblemon.
Building a Team Around Your Favourite: Houndoom
Plenty of players want a team built around one Pokémon they love. The method is the same for any of them, so here it is with Houndoom.
- List its weaknesses. Houndoom is Dark and Fire, weak to Water, Fighting, Ground and Rock.
- Add partners that resist them. Toxapex resists Water and Fighting, Togekiss is immune to Ground and resists Fighting, and Garchomp and Ferrothorn resist Rock.
- Use what your favourite does for the others. Houndoom's regular ability Flash Fire absorbs Fire moves, which is exactly what Ferrothorn and Corviknight are afraid of.
| Pokémon | Item | Moves |
|---|---|---|
| Houndoom | Life Orb | Nasty Plot, Dark Pulse, Flamethrower, Sludge Bomb |
| Toxapex | Black Sludge | Liquidation, Toxic, Recover, Haze |
| Togekiss | Leftovers | Air Slash, Dazzling Gleam, Roost, Nasty Plot |
| Garchomp | Focus Sash | Stealth Rock, Earthquake, Scale Shot, Swords Dance |
| Ferrothorn | Leftovers | Spikes, Power Whip, Gyro Ball, Knock Off |
| Corviknight | Leftovers | Body Press, Iron Defense, Roost, Defog |
Togekiss with Serene Grace, one of its regular abilities, doubles Air Slash's flinch chance. Houndour evolves into Houndoom at level 24 and Togetic needs a Shiny Stone.
Teams for PvE: Alphas and NPC Trainers
Fights against wild Pokémon and NPC trainers use your real levels, and two things from the 1.8 updates matter here:
- Alpha Pokémon (added in 1.8.0) are bigger, stronger and more aggressive, always know a TM move and adapt to be stronger than your party, according to the 1.8.0 changelog. A bulky team with recovery handles them better than one overleveled sweeper.
- Items get used up. Against NPCs and wild Pokémon, Cobblemon also consumes held herbs (White, Mental, Power and Mirror Herb), which it gives back after player battles.
For catching, keep a Pokémon with False Swipe (a TM) and one with a sleep move, such as Amoonguss with Spore. Fainted Pokémon earn no experience unless your server turned on the awardExperienceToFaintedPokemon option, so rotate the Pokémon you want to level into the lead.
Team Building Tips
- Do not stack types. Three Water types means you are weak to Grass and Electric three times over.
- Include a status absorber. At least one Pokémon that shrugs off burns, paralysis or Toxic, such as a Poison or Steel type against Toxic.
- Speed control. Have at least one fast Pokémon, a priority move like Sucker Punch or Aqua Jet, or Tailwind in doubles.
- Check common threats. Know which Pokémon are popular on your server and make sure two of yours beat each of them.
- Plan with Showdown's tools. Because Cobblemon runs the Showdown engine, the Pokémon Showdown teambuilder and damage calculator give the right numbers for base Cobblemon battles, as long as you leave out Tera types and Megas.
- Check moves in the Move Dex. The Pokédex's Move Dex, added in 1.8.0, shows which moves a Pokémon can learn and which Pokémon can get a move.
- Fix Natures with mints. Every Nature that changes a stat has a craftable mint, and the IV, EV and Nature guide shows how to train EVs.
Set Your Own Rules on a Private Server
Want a fixed ruleset for your friend group, like Level 50 All for every match, a level cap with the maxPokemonLevel option or a house rule against legendaries? That is easiest on a private server where you set the config yourself. For plain Cobblemon and up to 10 players, 8GB is enough, which is MC Diamond at €7.20 a month on our Cobblemon server hosting. If you add sidemods like Mega Showdown or grow past 10 players, go for 12GB (MC Special 1, €10.80).
FAQ
What is the best Cobblemon team? For base Cobblemon 1.8.3, a balanced six such as Garchomp, Corviknight, Toxapex, Gengar, Kingambit and Clefable. The best team on your server still depends on its rules: the level rule, singles or doubles, and whether it runs sidemods like Mega Showdown.
What is the best Cobblemon team without legendaries? Every team on this page is legendary-free. Legendaries do not spawn naturally in base Cobblemon, so most servers balance their PvP around the Pokémon above.
What is the best Cobblemon team for PvP? In singles, the balanced six above. In doubles under Level 50 All, a rain team with Pelipper, Barraskewda and Kingdra is the strongest team that only needs regular abilities.
What is the best Cobblemon team for PvE? A bulky team with recovery moves and status, because Alpha Pokémon adapt to your party's strength. Bring a False Swipe user and a sleep move for catching.
Can you Mega Evolve or Terastallize in Cobblemon? Not in base Cobblemon 1.8.3. Mega Evolution, Z-Moves, Dynamax and Terastallization come from the Mega Showdown sidemod, and modpacks such as Cobbleverse include it.
How many Pokémon can be on a team? Six, the size of your party. In a Level 50 All or Level 100 All battle the whole party is copied at that level.
Is there a team builder for Cobblemon? Not inside the mod. Use the Pokémon Showdown teambuilder to plan sets, and the Move Dex in Cobblemon's Pokédex to check which moves a Pokémon can actually learn.
Does team building in Cobblemon differ from the main games? The battle mechanics are the same, because Cobblemon uses the Showdown engine. The differences are availability (no wild legendaries, no Rotom spawn, hidden abilities only from special spawns), the missing gimmicks and the level rule you pick for each challenge.
Related: Cobblemon battle mechanics, Cobblemon double battles, Cobblemon IV/EV guide, Best Cobblemon starters, Cobblemon breeding guide
En español: mejor inicial y mejor equipo PvP de Cobblemon