What do you consider most in a Pokemon Battle, the Offense or the Defense?

[Sawsbuck Coffee]

I would go with a balance of both defense and offense. I would start by raising my Def./Sp. Def., then end the whole thing with strong offense moves like Surf, Earthquake, or Hyper Beam.

Another good thing to do is put them to sleep with Grass Whistle or Sing, or freeze them with Blizzard or Ice Beam.

 

[misfitbenji]

I don't competitively battle, so I don't worry about having both. I mostly go for offense when considering move set and usually when considering Pokemon, too. Although, in this runthrough of generations, I won't be considering the latter. I like getting the opponent down as quickly as possible. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the battling aspect. But nothing feels better than that occasional one hit K.O.

 

[AirountouIsland]

Defense because the opponent can do hardly any damage most of the time and they can make a hit very little

 

[Flygonn]

Good question... Mine would be offence because I don't really care about defending...

 

[StellarWind Elsydeon]

I've only recently semi-gotten into competitive battling, but I find that it mostly depends on the Pokémon I run in a particular team. I certainly lean towards offense moreso than defense - but sometimes having good survivability is the only way to land a killing blow on some particularly irritating teams. Plus, some more defensive strategies can be evil to the nth degree. Just ask Trevenant.

 

[Awoken]

I'm definitely more with the offensive side. Some of my favorite Pokémon are very fast and hard-hitting sweepers, such as Volcarona and Cloyster.
Don't even make me mention Xerneas.
The reason I tend to be more offensive is because if you have a team of defensive Pokémon, the only way to kill them is to
1. Status Infliction
2. Roar out on to Stealth Rocks/Spikes
and that's just about it.

 

[glaman5266]

I lean more toward offense with type coverage to cover weaknesses. I like to get gutsy against Pokemon mine are weak against, so I like bulky attackers that can take a super-effective hit or two. Venusaur, Clawitzer and Drapion fit my bill nicely.
I also like doing things that aren't expected. A physical Venusaur is on my list of things to build.

 

[Azrakhul]

I prefer Tanky Sweepers like Swampart.

 

[Jeydis]

I favor the defensive side of things while having one really aggressive sweeper to wrap it up. My favorite pokemon are all defensive in nature, playing with either status (Smeargle, Butterfree, Sableye etc.) or just being tanky (Miltank, Kecleon, Clefable, etc.)

 

[Rinoa Heartilly]

I try to balance out my team when it comes to attack/defense.
However, I prefer taking offense. I worry about my team the longer the battle goes on.

...My PKMN are my babies. ♥

 

[Alexxander]

I usually try to pick mainly attacking Pokemon but make sure the Pokemon I pick have pretty good defensive stat as well so it can attack while taking a few hits. I opt slightly more for offense though as I usually have 1 or 2 frailer Pokemon that have huge attack stats.

 

[Shiny Motley]

I've recently gotten into competitive and I realize I absolutely love bulky and/or tanky Pokemon. I tend to focus on defenses more when making a team (need that good defensive core) or just go for a really bulky team. That isn't to say I don't like my good hard and fast hitters, and I always make sure I have a couple on my team. But yes, I find myself playing defensively more often than not and I somehow really like stall battles. I guess preferences can change over the course of 4 years XD

 

[voidaquariums]

Hmm... this is a hard question.
If I go to offense, then a few hits will leave me dead on the ground.
But if I go to defense, then I won't be able to do anything.
Therefore, my reasonable answer is a balance between the two.

 

[Triple fighter]

Well, let's see my Sammurott has decent defenses and so does Magnezone and my Gliscor always seems to outlast the others. Hmm...anyhow I try to give my pokemon movesets that go like this:
Move 1: A standard reliable move that shares the same type as the Pokemon .
Move 2: A Very powerful move that also matches its type.
Move 3: An evasive attack; Fly, Dig etc. Or a move like protect that simply avoids damage and in some cases; coverage.
Move 4: Usually this spot is for coverage( Like Teaching a water type a fire type move to give it a chance against its weakness) Or something like that. Just like they say, "Sometimes the best defense is a good offense" Overall, Balance is key, meaning that I like to use a bit of both.

 

[gamer2332]

Every single time, I always give my team 4 moves that damage the opponent!
In other words, I like to attack!

 

[AzureEdge]

I used to go all out on offense and use no moves that raise stats in battle. (If I do use a move that changes stats it's dragon dance)
As for defense I super train for it.

 

[OnePiecefan11]

I go more on defense, but I try to aim for both. Pokémon like Aggron and Magnezone are a good example.

 

[pac_halo]

While it's always good to have a solid balance of the two, NOTHING beats the feeling of a good toxic stalling.

My teams used to have four def. Pokemon and two sweepers, so I could have the most type resistances. My sweepers always had high speed and a wide variety of moves, type wise.