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OU Best Lead Pokemon
- Thread starter mjcarney
- Start date
I'm not an expert on gen 2, but I'd say spikers (cloyster and forretress) and things which beat common spikers or just something which can easily give you momentum early on in the match.
I wouldn't lead with a sleeper (with the intent of sleeping) since that's just asking for a restalker to cock block you. Instead I would just use it to lure the sleep talker in and counter with a super effective move or a switch to try and gain momentum.
I wouldn't lead with a sleeper (with the intent of sleeping) since that's just asking for a restalker to cock block you. Instead I would just use it to lure the sleep talker in and counter with a super effective move or a switch to try and gain momentum.
Meh, leads generally aren't that big a deal in GSC. There's not many real "standard" leads or lead strategies out there, though Spikers and Electrics are probably as close as you get to them. Of course, there's Agi-Pass teams that run Jolteon/Smeargle/whatever, and in that case, yeah, you probably have yourself a "true" lead, because it'd honestly be retarded not to try to get the Agi-pass off from turn 1. There's probably other gimmick teams (e.g., Sunny Day, Growth Pass) that also rely pretty heavily on lead play, but Agi-pass is probably the most illustrative example of a team that greatly benefits from having the "right" lead.
As far as more consistent teams are concerned: Spikers are OK. I personally like leading electrics more often than not because they force a play from turn 1 and delay Cloy's spikes (and Forry's, too, unless they're willing to let it eat over 50% and a possible paralysis to lay them). Egg and Gengar are good for making them switch around, as is Snorlax... mixed attackers like Dnite and Nidoking are good, too. Basically, anything that can get your opponent to start tipping their hand early (and that doesn't tip your own hand too much!) constitutes a good lead.
As far as more consistent teams are concerned: Spikers are OK. I personally like leading electrics more often than not because they force a play from turn 1 and delay Cloy's spikes (and Forry's, too, unless they're willing to let it eat over 50% and a possible paralysis to lay them). Egg and Gengar are good for making them switch around, as is Snorlax... mixed attackers like Dnite and Nidoking are good, too. Basically, anything that can get your opponent to start tipping their hand early (and that doesn't tip your own hand too much!) constitutes a good lead.
Yeah, cloyster is always a good choice. But I would easily say that the best lead in gen 2 is charizard, and not just because I like it a lot. It has good stats, and the lack of stealth rock until....what was it? 3rd gen? 4th gen? Anyway, my point is no stealth rock. Charizard can be used to do some damage early on.
Another great lead, as Jorgen mentioned briefly, is forretress. It has colossal defense, and typing similar to that of ferrothorn, this gen's beloved defender. It also can set up spikes, and it's always good to have an entry hazard on a lead. It can hold out for a while with it's defenses, and maybe do some damage after laying down spikes.
Overall, I prefer an offensive lead.
Another great lead, as Jorgen mentioned briefly, is forretress. It has colossal defense, and typing similar to that of ferrothorn, this gen's beloved defender. It also can set up spikes, and it's always good to have an entry hazard on a lead. It can hold out for a while with it's defenses, and maybe do some damage after laying down spikes.
Overall, I prefer an offensive lead.
Charizard is ass as a lead. Part of using him well is surprise, being able to whittle down the foe's Cune or explode Cloy on their Starmie without them being wise to how much they'll need those guys later. Not to mention that Charizard, in general, needs a slightly beat-up opposing team to work well, since a surprising number of things handily survive whatever Charizard can dish out when completely healthy. You're giving away your hand by leading Zard, and you're not even getting a hot start in return for it.
Still Charizard when people competitievly played 2nd Gen was one of the most popular lead.
How the hell does Zapdos own Marowak? Rock Slide coming off of a Thick Club Marowak was ridiculously powerful. Also, who the hell puts belly drum on Marowak? He has Swords Dance.
Aerodactyl is pretty bawse in gen 2, base 130 spe and....well, I think it was good.
:evan:
I agree with Jorgen, Spikers and Electrics are the best leads in GSC, but leads aren't so important.
hey you cant ignore the fact that a good lead does set the pase of the game it can give you a decent advantage
Man, we are talking about GSC, Deoxys doesn't exist in this meta and Aerodactyl is a poor Pokemon.
Aero just sucks, unless you're doing something gimmicky like mono-flying. Not enough power to beat waters, not enough defense to capitalize off its typing's tanking potential. All it has is Speed and a movepool for killing Electrics, which can be handy on theme teams where your options are limited. However, in general, it's awful. Bad Pokemon, ergo, bad lead, too. Your specific choice of lead isn't terribly important, but not using shitty pokemon is.
EDIT: Actually, tbh, HP Rock/Flying + Curse + Rest + ST Aero might be a decent all-purpose Snorlax check. Also, with HP Flying, it'd be decent against Hera, too. Not capable of much, but it could pull this off if your team has room for such a limited defensive role-player.
EDIT: Actually, tbh, HP Rock/Flying + Curse + Rest + ST Aero might be a decent all-purpose Snorlax check. Also, with HP Flying, it'd be decent against Hera, too. Not capable of much, but it could pull this off if your team has room for such a limited defensive role-player.
it was one of the fastest yah its fragile i'm not saying it's perfect but back then it was better than 65% of the other choices , bach then rock slide was very handy especialy on some thing that was fast i'm sorry but to me the facts are right their areodactyl was a good pokemon and a good lead
i am betting that kingcharizard is johnny rolo and he's sad that no one rated his jank stall team.
anyway, the most common leads are raikou, zapdos, jolteon, forretress, and cloyster. keeping that in mind, just use one of them, or a pokemon that beats all/most of them.
snorlax can make for an interesting lead. in fact, the set body slam, earthquake, fire blast, selfdestruct was referred to as "starterlax" because it was intended to beat all of the common leads. i guess cloyster wasn't so common at the time. that isn't the only set you can lead with though obviously, and you don't have to lead with it if you do choose to use that set, but it's a fine choice. lovely kiss makes it a decent lead as well. speaking of which, nidoking is a good lead. he was better before bitch hp legends were unbanned because now zapdos stands a good chance of beating him one on one. other pokemon with sleep moves are fine. anything that will scare off or take advantage of the common leads i mentioned before will do nicely, but don't use something that doesn't do anything immediately threatening like a wimpy, punkass steelix.
charizard is bad because it cannot do anything without belly drumming. the only lead it is good against is forretress. if you lead with charizard and they ARE leading with forretress, you'll probably just be met with starmie or suicune or zapdos right away anyway. don't do it. and aerodactyl is one of the shittiest pokemon there is.
anyway, the most common leads are raikou, zapdos, jolteon, forretress, and cloyster. keeping that in mind, just use one of them, or a pokemon that beats all/most of them.
snorlax can make for an interesting lead. in fact, the set body slam, earthquake, fire blast, selfdestruct was referred to as "starterlax" because it was intended to beat all of the common leads. i guess cloyster wasn't so common at the time. that isn't the only set you can lead with though obviously, and you don't have to lead with it if you do choose to use that set, but it's a fine choice. lovely kiss makes it a decent lead as well. speaking of which, nidoking is a good lead. he was better before bitch hp legends were unbanned because now zapdos stands a good chance of beating him one on one. other pokemon with sleep moves are fine. anything that will scare off or take advantage of the common leads i mentioned before will do nicely, but don't use something that doesn't do anything immediately threatening like a wimpy, punkass steelix.
charizard is bad because it cannot do anything without belly drumming. the only lead it is good against is forretress. if you lead with charizard and they ARE leading with forretress, you'll probably just be met with starmie or suicune or zapdos right away anyway. don't do it. and aerodactyl is one of the shittiest pokemon there is.
Cloyster/Zapdos/Raikou are definitely the most common leads nowadays. Snorlax is probably the fourth, but not very common as it lets your opponent spike from turn 1. Nidoking is good too if you use it. Exeggutor maybe. Anything that is not offenseless and meant to specific counter something (like Skarmory).
But leads aren't that relevant, even if it's offensive team vs offensive team, an extra attack in the first turn hardly matters.
But leads aren't that relevant, even if it's offensive team vs offensive team, an extra attack in the first turn hardly matters.
