I think it's about that time I make a stronger case for Crobat--my personal pick for best Pokemon in the tier.
While it's true that Crobat lacks the sheer devastating power of Heracross and Darmanitan or the versatility of Kingdra, there's one thing that is undeniable: Crobat is the absolute best at what it does.
There's no other Pokemon in the tier that can switch into such a huge amount of Pokemon in the tier (the sheer quantity of dangerous Pokemon it checks is key here) with so little trouble, force them out due to still posing an offensive threat, keep momentum on your side, and be an amazing stallbreaker all at once. Let's take a look at all the dangerous offensive Pokemon in the tier that Crobat deals with extremely well:
1. Heracross
2. Roserade
3. Shaymin
4. Yanmega
5. Mienshao
6. Scrafty
7. Machamp
and that's only the offensive ones. Being a stallbreaker, Crobat beats pretty much every single wall and hybrid Pokemon in the tier 1 on 1.
8. Gligar
9. Hitmontop
10. Swampert
11. Suicune
12. Togekiss
13. Milotic
14. Dusclops (lol)
15. Claydol (lol)
16. Blastoise
17. Umbreon
and then there's the Pokemon it checks, but has to be more careful about switching into (so basically those who are too frail to take hits and are slower than Crobat):
18. Flygon
19. Nidoking
20. Porygon-Z
21. Chandelure
22. Darmanitan
23. Ambipom!!
24. Azelf
25. Zoroark
26. Houndoom
Not many Pokemon can claim to check or counter literally half the fucking tier by themselves, and those that do most definitely can't do so while being an offensive threat to the opponent, keeping momentum on your side, and nearly shutting down stall entirely. Like I said, Crobat is undeniably the best at what it does. Now the question becomes: is all this really better that the sheer destructive abilities of behemoths such as Kingdra, Heracross, and Darmanitan? I think so, but this is a discussion for a reason.
One last thing, remember that we're looking for the best overall Pokemon in the tier here, not just the greatest offensive threat--people usually have trouble differentiating the two.
That is all.
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