A Beginner's Guide to the PUCL Draft League

Are you tired of playing the same formats in pokemon? Tired of seeing a Lando on every team
whether it be in VGC or in OU? Do you want to see M-Audino sweep teams and instill fear into
its enemies? If you answered yes to any of these questions then PDL is right for you! Here at
pucl we host a 24 person draft league that is all about fun and getting better at pokemon.

Why should you apply to be in the PDL?

In my opinion, the draft format is one of the most exciting and fun formats out there for pokemon
battling. You get to show off your creativity with sets and the atmosphere that it brings is like no
other, especially when you get 2 well known people in the community battling it out. This is what
it felt like watching one of the most anticipated and exciting Draft league matches during Season
1 on the PUCL Stream.

*Announcer walks to the center of the ring as the mic descends from the ceiling*
“Ladies and Gentleman of PUCL! Thank you for coming out on this glorious day for another
Draft League Battle. In this corner, the man who started it all, The hostest with the mostest, you
know him, you love him it’s TRAINER THATCH! And in this corner, one of the Commissioners of
the PDL, The Juggernaut himself , DefinitelyNotThatch!”

Most of the coaches also adopted the style of announcing their trades and transactions as if
they were general managers of sports teams giving a press statement about their team. This
added to the overall hype of the league and honestly it is just a lot of fun to do. If you are not
sold on applying for the PDL, it is one of the best ways to improve at pokemon so why not take
a chance!

Guide to Drafting in the PDL

As mentioned in my previous article, a draft league is format of pokemon where coaches draft
one pokemon at a time in a snake style draft until they draft 10 pokemon. Snake draft means for
Round 1 of drafting the order goes 1-24, then round 2 it goes in reverse order 24-1. So if you
are the first pick in the draft your next pick is pick 48.

However there are special rules for the pokemon you draft. Every team must draft 1 mon from
the following Tiers S,1,2,3,4,5 each team is also given 400 Free points which they can use draft
pokemon from tiers 1-5. Each tier has their own point value corresponding to it. Tier 1 = 180
points, Pokemon in this tier are considered to be some of the best pokemon in the format. They
either have great defensive/wall breaking potential or are extremely versatile. Tier 2 = 120
points, These pokemon are very good in draft league but have some downsides to them. Tier 3
= 100 points, Pokemon in this tier are middle of the pack mons for Draft league. They usually do
1-2 things wells or are budget versions of better mons in higher tiers. Tier 4 = 60 points, I like to
call this the tier of niche pokemon. They usually can do 1 thing well or require an evil genius of a
coach to bring out their full potential. Tier 5 = 40 points, these pokemon are not considered very
useful in the draft format and are outclassed by other pokemon. The S tier is comprised of the
Best pokemon in draft format and all of the Mega Pokemon, which is why it is further broken
down into 3 tiers S1, S2, S3. S1 has the best pokemon and Mega Pokemon in the format, but
they come at a price of -100 of your free points. So there is a catch to have some the best
pokemon on your team. S2 pokemon are not as broken as S1 but still are very good and can
cause quite a bit of damage in the right hands. S3 is comprised of the “Worst” megas in the
format but you get an additional 40 free points for drafting one. How you choose to spend your
Free points depends entirely on the S Tier pick that you make.

If you draft a S1 mon you have 300 points to Draft 4 pokemon. Some options are:

T1, T5, T5, T5

T2, T4, T4, T4
T2, T3, T5, T5
T3, T3, T4, T5

If you draft a S2 mon you have 400 points to Draft 4 pokemon. Some options are:

T1, T2 T4, T5
T1, T3, T4, T4
T2, T2, T3, T4
T2, T2, T2, T5
T3, T3, T3, T3

If you draft a S3 mon you have 440 points to Draft 4 pokemon. Some options are:

T1, T1, T5, T5

T1, T2, T3, T5
T1, T3, T3, T4
T2, T2, T2, T4
T2, T2, T3, T3

You also have the option to trade any of the free tiers above for one of a lower tier.

Drafting Strategy

So now that you know how to draft, and the different ways you can construct your team,
I’m going to go over some things you might want to consider when drafting you team. You only
get to draft 10 mons so you want to make sure every pokemon you draft fills a role in your team.
 First and foremost draft at least 2 mons that can set up hazards. These do not have to
be your first 2 picks but throughout your 10 you want to have at least 2 pokemon that can set
them up. Stealth rocks are the best hazard in the game, so you want to make that a priority.
They can be extremely useful in chipping away at a team for one of you offensive threats to
break through. Following that, make sure you draft some form of hazard removal, whether that
be defog or rapid spin. Having the ability to get rid of hazards is just as important as being able
to set them up.
Most people also like to draft one of if not both of the prominent cores in pokemon, being
Fire-Water-Grass and Fairy-Dragon-Steel. I think it is wise to make sure you pick up at least one
of these in your draft but it is not necessary. The same is true for a defensive core. It really
helps if you have 2-3 mons that check each other’s weaknesses and support each other
defensively. It is also important to vary your speed tiers throughout your mons. By varying your
speed tiers it can make easier for you to prep against your opponents while making it more
difficult for your opponents to speed creep on you.
Personally I think it is very important to draft a ground type so your opponent can’t freely
volt switch on your team all the time. The presence of a ground type means they have to think
twice about going for electric type moves. You are also going to want to have a defensive core
or two on your team that can help you pivot or to break enemy momentum. Having at least one
pokemon that can set up and deal a lot of damage to a team is also something to consider. If
you opponent does not prep for it they could just lose the game. In the PDL any mon on your
team can use a Z crystal, so having a couple of mons that have a large move pool can be very
useful in taking down your opponents with unexpected moves. There are a lot of other little
things that you can prioritize but that all depends on your playstyle. A lot of the top tier mons fill
several roles at the same time so use that to your advantage. You need to draft a win condition
in order to actual win matches. You should be playing to win, not to just not lose.

Checklist:
2+ Stealth Rock Setters
1+ Hazard Remover
1+ Pokemon Core
1+ Ground Type
1+ Pokemon that can Set up
1+ Defensive Core
1+ Pokemon with wide movepool

If you want an idea of what is usually drafted in the first round I’ve analyzed several leagues and
these are the 10 mons (available in most leagues) that get drafted the earliest on average:
1. Tapu Koko
2. Celestella
3. Mega Lopunny
4. Mew
5. Lando-T
6. Jirachi
 7. Mega Diance
8. Zygarde 50%
9. Excadrill
10. Kyurem-Black
Just because these mons are drafted early on in most draft does not mean that they are the
best pokemon for you.

That is all for my guide to drafting in the PDL. If you have any questions feel free to reach out to
me (Clod9) in the PUCL Discord. Hopefully I’ll be seeing y’all on the battlefield.