the thing about distortion is that it's a wave shaper.
So there's some things you can only get if you do alter the wave itself.
The whole choosing the right wave as a starting block is good, but the problem with that is, you might not actually be near what it is you want with out some fundamental understanding of how the waves are altered to begin with.
it might sound like a square, but it could just be a particular distortion on a sine wave.
Not to mention that there's different processing parameters in the synth and distortion unit itself. You sort of have to be extremely familiar with those aspects to replicate and be satisfied.