Pokemon BDSP Battle Tower Guide: Best Battle Tower Teams

Here, you will be able to challenge a gauntlet of powerful trainers with handpicked Pokémon teams designed to take you down. By defeating sets of seven trainers, you will be rewarded with precious Battle Points, or BP, that can be exchanged for valuable end game items such as special TMs, evolutionary items, and a variety of tools to make your Pokémon stronger. Don’t be fooled, while this is still a Pokémon game, the Battle Tower can be a difficult task for any unprepared player.

If you want to put together a team that can withstand the Battle Tower, you’ve come to the right place. Here are the best teams for the Pokémon BDSP Battle Tower.

Battle Tower Rules

First off, it’s important to understand the rules and format of the Battle Tower. There are two categories of challenges: single and double battles. In single battles, you will choose a team of three Pokémon to go up against other teams of three in singles format. In double battles, you need four Pokémon for the doubles format. All Pokémon will be equalized to level 50. No two Pokémon can go into battle holding the same item. Lastly, some Pokémon are banned from entry entirely. These Pokémon are:

The Battle Tower Challenge takes place in sets of seven. Once you win all seven battles in a set, you are rewarded BP. You can then re-enter the challenge to continue your win streak. After you win 20 battles in a row, you will face off against Tower Tycoon Palmer in the 21st battle. Palmer has a very strong team, and it will only get stronger when you rematch him in battle 49. If at any point, you lose a single game, your streak will be reset to zero and you will not receive any BP for that set.

The amount of BP you get per set is three, with a win against Palmer netting you a much more rewarding 20. Once you achieve a win streak of 49, you unlock Master Class Battles which feature even tougher opponents and an increased reward of 12 BP per set. Additionally, higher win streaks have the potential to give you a bunch of helpful items for powering up your Pokémon.

Best Teams for Singles

The Single and Double battle formats have different Pokémon that excel in them, so we’ll go over each of them individually. In single battles, it is important to have multiple Pokémon who can potentially sweep an opponent, or at least take down two Pokémon by themselves. Since you cannot have a full counter prepared for every situation, having decent coverage on your sweepers is crucial to keeping long win streaks alive. Here are 10 Pokémon you can use in this role. Keep in mind, there are more viable sweepers than are listed below, these are just more common and easier to get rolling.

Great Singles Sweepers

Tyranitar, Gyarados, and Scizor are all amazing Pokémon who can easily sweep teams given the right circumstances. They each have access to a stat boosting move (Dragon Dance for the first two, Swords Dance for Scizor), that allows them to set up for sweeps.

Tyranitar has amazing bulk and can survive at least one hit against most Pokémon. He also can set up a sandstorm using his ability which can break Focus Sashes. Gyarados’s Intimidate ability and high special defense stat means that he can also survive his early turns against anything but electric type moves. While Scizor may not be as bulky as those two, its move versatility, priority moves, and Technician ability make it incredibly threatening, even without a Swords Dance.

Infernape and Garchomp are two very powerful physical attackers who also have access to stat boosting setups. However, these two have many weaknesses that can take them out if not respected. Garchomp used to be the king of sweeping in Gen IV, then Fairy type was added. Now, Garchomp will be completely unable to deal with Azumarill and other Fairies.

Infernape is very vulnerable to getting one shot by any of his multiple type disadvantages. While his speed is high, he can easily be erased by things like Vaporeon and Starmie. Speaking of Starmie, it is a very potent sweeping threat thanks to its high speed and special attack, coupled with a versatile move pool.

Cloyster is the best user of the Shell Smash stat boosting move. Thanks to its naturally high defense, Cloyster can reliably set up against almost any physical attacker. Metagross similarly has a lot of natural bulk and also comes with an insane attack stat. By leveling Metagross to 72 and learning Agility or giving him a Choice Scarf, his main issue of speed can be solved.

Lastly, Latios and Lucario are two more viable sweeper options. While Latios can learn Dragon Dance, they function better with high Special Attack. Lucario on the other hand is all about physical damage. Swords Dance into Close Combat with Extreme Speed for priority is a devastating move set.

In addition to sweepers, your battle tower team may need some bulk. Pokémon who can be swapped in when a bad matchup is threatening your sweepers are very important. These tanks come in many forms, but the idea behind them is the same. Here are five reliable tanks that can be added to your Battle Tower ranks.

Great Singles Bulk

The Fairy type duo of Togekiss and Cresselia are amazing options to round out your singles team. Both Pokémon are incredibly tanky and can withstand numerous moves, even super effective ones. Each one has an HP recovery move, Roost for Togekiss and Moonlight for Cresselia. Additionally, Leftovers are best used on one of these.

However, defense isn’t the only thing these Pokémon can do. Togekiss with the Serene Grace ability gets a whopping 60 percent flinch chance on Air Slash, a STAB special move. Cresselia can use her tankiness to set up with Calm Mind which makes her Psychic pack a punch.

Another Fairy option is Azumarill. While Azumarill does have a lot of natural bulk and the option of the Thick Fat ability, it can be a much more aggressive choice. Using its Huge Power ability which doubles its attack and having the option to set up Belly Drum means that Azumarill can easily sweep teams in addition to being hard to take down.

The Water Ground type Gastrodon is very good for all-around coverage. It takes neutral damage or less from every type in the game except for Grass which it has a 4x weakness to. Similar to Togekiss and Cresselia, Gastrodon can run an HP recovery move and hold Leftovers. It can run Earth Power and Ice Beam as special moves which give tons of value against many popular Pokémon.

Lastly, Snorlax also fits the bill for a tanky option. Not only does Snorlax have Thick Fat, it can run Rest and Leftovers for sustain. Then, its high attack stat can be utilized with moves like Body Slam and Earthquake and accessed with Sleep Talk. If you don’t want to run Sleep Talk, Curse is an amazing stat boosting move since Snorlax doesn’t care about losing more speed.

Usually, you will want to run a combination of two sweepers and one bulky choice for your Battle Tower Singles team. The only real requirement is making sure that no Pokémon you come up against can wall your whole team. For example, a team of Gyrados, Tyranitar, and Cresselia could struggle with taking down an enemy Azumarill. Instead, you could swap the Tyranitar for Metagross in order to get access to a Steel type move and keep the Earthquake option. Cresselia could then be swapped for Togekiss to not double up on Psychic types.

Best Teams for Doubles

Doubles is a very different format than Singles in nearly every way. Instead of focusing on general type coverage and sweeping potential, the necessity of support Pokémon changes how you must team build. In addition to the large increase in options, switching Pokémon in and out becomes much more important. New mechanics such as moves that hit both opposing Pokémon and damage redirecting also become relevant.

When looking to build a team for Battle Tower Doubles, you need a combination of damage, support, and bulk. Many of the good Singles sweepers can be repurposed to Doubles, but there are many more options. Here are some good damage dealers for the Doubles format.

Great Doubles Damage Dealers

Tyranitar, Garchomp, Salamence, and Mamoswine can all utilize Earthquake for huge AOE damage. Keep in mind, Earthquake will hit the Pokemon next to the user, so play to have a Flying type or Levitate user on field if possible. Tyranitar, Garchomp, and Salamence also have access to Rock Slide, a powerful move that hits both opposing Pokémon only, and has a chance to Flinch anything it hits.

While Scizor only utilizes single target moves, its potential for stat boosting and priority KO’s makes him a great choice. Rotom Wash brings powerful STAB special moves and can put threat onto the many common Flying types and Ground/Rock types. Ludicolo is one of the strongest attackers due to his typing, versatility, and his affinity for Rain which we’ll talk about in a bit.

For Fire type options, Salamence can run Flamethrower if needed, but Heatran is an amazing Fire damage dealer to bring. Heat Wave and Earth Power are both powerful multi target moves. Note that while Earth Power will hit an adjacent teammate, Heat Wave will not.

Latios and Gardevoir are the two best Psychic users you can run. Latios has the benefit of being Dragon type as well, while Gardevoir boasts the Fairy type. Both of these Pokémon provide needed coverage and can be difficult to pin down due to their typing.

When deciding how to support your team, there is a lot to keep in mind. The Pokémon that you choose to support your damage dealers determines how your Doubles team will play. There are many mechanics to keep in mind when deciding what to run. Oftentimes, support Pokémon will also be the bulk of your team. Here are some of the most prevalent support options.

Great Doubles Supports

Pokémon with the Intimidate ability which lowers the attack of all opponents on field are incredibly valuable. Among them, Arcanine and Hitmontop stand out as two of the best support Pokémon. Arcanine brings much-needed Fire type coverage if you aren’t running Heatran. It also has the move Snarl which does damage to and lowers the special attack of all opposing Pokémon. Hitmontop on the other hand can bring great support moves such as Helping Hand while also packing a punch with Close Combat.

Togekiss and Gastrodon are still very good in Doubles. In addition to their tankiness, both Pokémon can run Yawn to guarantee either a Sleep or a swap. These two also introduce a very important mechanic for Doubles, redirecting. Togekiss can use the move Follow Me to force all opposing Pokémon to target it instead of its partner. This means that you can reliably set up a damage dealer with stat boosting moves without worrying about it getting KO’d. While Gastrodon doesn’t have access to Follow Me, its Storm Drain ability redirects all Water type attacks, making it a good pairing with Fire and Ground/Rock types.

Raikou and Cresselia are both able to use Light Screen and Reflect to set up your team for taking halved damage. Raikou also has access to Snarl, meaning he brings some of the same support as Arcanine. Now, Cresselia has an interesting strategy that can be built around. The move Trick Room inverses speed on the field, making slower Pokémon move before faster Pokémon. This means that you could opt to run some slower Pokémon such as Gastrodon, Mamoswine, or Metagross with her. Coincidentally, Cresselia’s Levitate ability means that she is very good with slow Earthquake users.

Another important team setup is the Rain team. Rain is a weather effect that boosts the power of Water type moves by 50 percent, allows Thunder and Hurricane to bypass the accuracy check, and activates many Pokémon abilities such as Swift Swim. Pelipper and Politoed can both have the Drizzle ability, which starts Rain upon them entering the battle.

Pelipper can take advantage of the bonus Water type damage and Hurricane accuracy to become a big threat. Additionally, it can use the move Tailwind to double the speed of your entire party for four turns. Politoed can utilize some different support moves such as Hypnosis and Perish Song, making him fit this niche as well. When Rain is active, Ludicolo becomes the most threatening Pokémon on the field. Not only can it deal tons of damage with Water moves, its Swift Swim ability doubles its speed in Rain. Thus, the Rain composition is born.

Lastly, Pachirisu and Tangrowth are two more redirect options that can bring a lot of utility. While Pachirisu is weak to the very prevalent Ground type, its Follow Me is very effective at redirecting the many neutral damage moves. Nuzzle is great for guaranteeing Paralysis, while Super Fang is a guaranteed 50 percent HP chunk on any Pokémon. Tangrowth uses Rage Powder instead of Follow Me for redirecting and also has access to Sleep Powder for more status applications. Giga Drain also gives good Grass coverage if you aren’t running Ludicolo.

One thing to note about Doubles is that the move Protect is invaluable in making sure your Pokémon live as long as possible. Protect guarantees a turn of invulnerability for the Pokémon that uses it. The move can be used twice in a row in a pinch, but is not certain to work. Protect allows you to stall a turn for a Pokémon that is in danger of taking big damage. This stall could help your second Pokémon to take down the threat to your first safely. To give you an idea on how important Protect is, four to five Protects per team of six is not uncommon.

Best Items for the Battle Tower

After you’ve created your team, it’s time to decide what items to put on who. Remember, you can’t use an item on more than one Pokémon per team. We’ve already discussed Leftovers and how they should be given to a bulky stall threat. There are five main groups of items to consider when deciding who should hold what.

Berries

Berries are a consumable item that can work once per battle. There are many kinds of berries that all have different effects. Sitrus Berries are the standard health recovery berry. It will provide the Pokémon holding it 25 percent of their HP back when they drop below 50 percent.

Next are berries that cure status effects. These berries will be eaten automatically when the Pokémon holding them is inflicted with a specific status. For example, Chesto Berries can be given to a Pokémon that will use Rest to instantly wake them up. The Lum Berry is special in that it can cure any status.

There are also berries that protect the Pokémon holding it from super effective moves. These berries reduce the damage taken from one by 50 percent and will often be the difference between a Pokémon surviving or not.

Choice Items

Choice items are items that boost a Pokémon’s stats in exchange for them being able to select only one move. These items can be useful for helping a Pokémon break certain damage or speed thresholds. Once you select a move on a Pokémon with a Choice item, they can only keep using that same move until they switch out, in which case they can choose a new move the next time they come in.

The main three Choice items to keep in mind are the Choice Scarf, Choice Band, and Choice Specs. These multiply the holder’s speed, attack, and special attack respectively by 1.5 times.

Focus Items

Focus items are items that allow the user to survive fainting. This group includes both the Focus Sash and Focus Band. Focus Sash prevents the holder from being KO’d from full HP instantly. This is very useful on Pokémon who need to set up such as Dragon Dance or Shell Smash users.

Focus Band provides the holder a 10 percent chance to survive any KO they receive. This item is very RNG based, so only run it if you’re prepared for disappointment.

Orbs

Orbs are items that apply damaging statuses to the Pokémon holding it. There are three kinds, Life Orb, Flame Orb, and Toxic Orb. Life Orb causes the holder’s damaging moves to deal 30 percent more damage at the cost of 10 percent of the user’s HP per move. This item is essential for one of your damage dealers.

Flame Orb and Toxic Orb cause the holders to be inflicted with a Burn or Poison at the end of the turn. These items are incredibly useful for Pokémon who have abilities that take advantage of these statuses. For example, Milotic’s Marvel Scale increases its defense by 50 percent when it has a status condition. Breloom’s Poison Heal makes it recover 12.5 percent of its max HP every turn when poisoned instead of taking damage.

Other Boosting Items

There are many more items that boost the effectiveness of your Pokémon. Some examples are Plates and Incenses which boost their corresponding damage type by 20 percent. Many other items also do this, such as Dragon Fangs for Dragon type moves or Miracle Seeds for Grass moves. Expert Belt increases the power of super effective moves by 20 percent, Wise Glasses increase special moves by 10 percent, and so on.

Build What Works for You

The Battle Tower can be a challenge for many players. It tests your team building, strategy, and game knowledge. Additionally, there are many mechanics that we didn’t go into here that can be utilized to maximize your Pokémon’s potential, such as EV Training.

There is no one right way to take on the challenge. There are many unique Pokémon and combinations that can be utilized to great success in the Battle Tower. In the end, build what you think is fun and go from there. If you notice that one particular matchup is giving you trouble, think about what can be done to make it easier. Eventually, you will be able to earn a 100 game win streak.