Pokémon BW2 In-game Tier List Mark II [See Post #840]

BdB4445 said:

I've always thought that would be good for something like umbreon or Mandibuzz, who are bulky beyond belief in-game.

On the ghost and psychic types who have low attack, just use swagger.

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umbreon and mandibuzz are too weak to rely on other forms of offense, while zoro has the speed to pull it off efficiently imo

swagger costs too many bp

TM13IceBeam said:

umbreon and mandibuzz are too weak to rely on other forms of offense, while zoro has the speed to pull it off efficiently imo

swagger costs too many bp

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Did you mean to say they are too slow? because otherwise that wouldn't make sense at all. Foul Play compensates for them being "too weak," that's the entire point of it.

Either way, Mandibuzz has 80 base speed, that is not slow by any means. In addition, he has the bulk to take hits. Zoroark on the other hand has literally no use for Foul Play. He is an offensive, frail sweeper, and will lose to haxorus 99% of the time. Mandibuzz has potential as a tank.

Consider this set:

Mandibuzz @ Leftovers
Jolly/Timid (252 hp / 252 spe)...In a perfect world

Foul Play
Swagger (15 pp isn't enough? You won't face that many pokes. Plus, you find Ethers that you probably won't ever use.)
Iron Defense
Toxic / Protect / Filler (Can't get roost w/o breeding I think)

Against Ghost/Psychic special attackers in the E4 use Swagger (confusion + Swords Dance). Against physical attackers, add amazing bulk with Iron Defense (Plus, with potions, there's no taking it down). If neither option works, then use Toxic. Against steels, just switch.

If I get a chance to use it (After the game I'm playing now), I'll be glad to tier it.

swagger still costs 18 bp (which equates to mass pwt grinding to get which also equates to precious time wasted that could have been used to beat the game with zoro).

iron defense + toxic stalling wastes too much time and iron defense is counterproductive with weak armor anyway

80 speed is somewhat slow in unova, but unfortunately unlike most slow pokemon (Conk, Gigalith, hell even braviary) Mandibuzz lacks the offense to back it up.

mandibuzz is honestly better just using a generic np + air slash/dark pulse set because any other form of 'offense' it has is just too god-damned slow

and yes i do mean they are too weak, that they have to use foul play as their main offense. zoroark is capable of pulling off random night slashes, but umbreon and mandibuzz has to dick around with bad offenses (lolhi65attackmandibuzz) and in umbreon's case, bad speed too

and finally i do wish the set you posted didn't have to cost 10 blue shards and 18 battle points, i'm just more convinced that mandibuzz is more trouble than its worth

Yeah I completely forgot that mandibuzz uses his DW ability, and I had no clue Swagger was only from the World Tournament (I remember finding it in BW1).

So disregard what I said for mandibuzz. That was ignorance on my part. I just don't think Zoroark will have any need to use Foul Play unless he can net a 1HKO against "glass cannon" pokemon (Haxorus has a focus sash anyhow). He's got Dark Pulse / Night Daze / Snarl off 120 base sp.A anyway.

I do want to add though: I think Weak Armor Mandibuzz can counter Haxorus quite nicely, whether he uses DD or Outrage (challenge mode) Mandibuzz can fire off 2 foul plays before Haxorus can fire off 2 attacks (And I'm sure he'll tank a +1 Outrage if Hax DD's first). If he goes for outrage the first time, then Mandibuzz will move first on turn two because of weak armor.

That alone probably doesn't cut it though, but I'm just saying. I just thought it would be fun to experiment with.

One thing that should be taken into account is Zoro's ability to pretend to be another Pokemon for one turn. Looking ahead, you can exploit this by provoking the enemy to use a weaker move (as if penetrating an imaginary weakness), which is when Zoro strikes, and he sure strikes hard.

Dwebble: Mid Tier
Availability: Dwebble can first be found in the Desert Resort at a 10% encounter rate as well as Route 18 and Seaside Cave
Stats: With average attack, good defense and bad speed you are going to need to grind to get Dwebble up and ready to take on
Typing: While he may get good defense Dwebble has too many weaknesses to be considered a tank, rock STAB will be used most of the time.
Major Battles: Dwebble doesn't like Elesa's Flame Charges and cant take care of just Clay's Krokorok. This is also one of the few bugs which can handle Skyla. Drayden's Flygon has a nasty rock slide which could ruin the fight. Marlon should be avoided at all costs. However the Crustle that must be fought with the Corless machine in Seaside Cave is extremely useful for the Elite Four to fill the spot of an HM slave, just make sure it has Sturdy. Use it at the start of the Champion battle and use Stealth Rock to eliminate her Haxorus' Focus Sash and then bring out whatever sweeps dragons.
Additional Comments: The Corless Machine Crustle is too useful to pass up for the Elite Four, if you were to some reason use it at that point too there is Shell Smash with one more level at 43.

Doing a Nuzlocke of W2 Challenge Mode, and so far, Patrat(Watchog now) is pretty impressive. It gets a nice variety of powerful moves early on (Crunch at Level 16? Yes please~). I'm curious about Watchog's...less than stellar stats catching up to it, but it's my heaviest hitter thus far.

Pidove is alright as well, nothing impressive, but it gets the job done for the most part.

Herdier is still easily an early game nuke button, especially with free Return so early.

Bubblehead (Oshawott) is solid as expected

I'm running through BW2 with a team of Cinccino/Heracross/Flygon/Magnezone/Arcanine/Samurott. Everyone has pulled their weight and been great in battle apart from Flygon, which was a surprise for me.

Maybe I just got a bad Flygon, or that the rest of my team are just better so that it pales in comparison, but I don't know. I almost feel like I'm babying a fully evolved Pokemon.

Ok, so I've taken the time to add all your thoughts and "votes" into a preliminary tier list, just to give you guys some perspective; however, remember that this is far from the finalized thing. I will be doing this every once in a while when I feel it's appropriate.

Anything with less than 3 votes will be in italics (examples are Piloswine in the High Tier column and all current Pokémon in the Low Tier column). This is because one vote from one member can hardly make up for deciding a Pokémon's placement.

And don't worry, I've also included all that I could include from the first thread. Also, Pokémon with equal votes for two different tiers will be in a temporary Limbo placement (for example, a Pokémon with two votes for High and two votes for Mid will be placed in Limbo 2).



















So here is where we are at the moment. Let's begin the discussion about these Pokémon's current placement, as well as any Pokémon not on this list (of course).

I will hold off on adding anything to the OP until the next preliminary tier list.

Just finished the game two nights ago at 12:30 (on a school night, mind you) with a play time of just barely 25 hours. Definitely one of the best Pokemon games I've ever played, and I've played all of them. Probably my favorite, maybe tying with Platinum. I love the expanded pokedex, so many options to choose from D:. I kept a consistent team of six that I had planned to use since it first came out in Japan, and you could say I easily destroyed the game, in fact, I was wishing for a difficulty spike. It's a shame you can't play a full game on challenge mode =/. I won't review pokemon that have been getting lots of reviews with the exception of Oshawott, as my opinion about it hasn't been stated.

Oshawott: - Low Mid
Availability: Starter
Stats: Bulky HP, great mixed offenses, slight preference to special moves. Middling defenses, but it can take most neutral hits. Disappointing speed, I had a neutral nature and I felt like I was being outsped 70% of the time which is dangerous late game, as everything hits hard.
Typing: Water STAB is one of the best to have.
Movepool: You'll have no problem finding hard-hitting STAB to get through the game with. You get Surf after Clay, and by the time you have a Samurott, you should have at least one Heart Scale to relearn Megahorn, it's necessary. It can learn Return for great neutral coverage paired with Water, as well as Revenge for some Fighting coverage. I recommend Surf paired with Aqua Jet, because you won't be scoring many neutral OHKO's with Surf, but you can get a quick 1, 2 combo by using Aqua Jet afterwards, which will take many foes down. Not too wide of a movepool, but it has what it needs.
Major Battles: Great against Clay, and that's really the only gym he'll give you a 100% chance to win. Bad against Elesa and Burgh's Leavanny as well as Colress to a degree, especially when he uses Magneton/zone. Neutral against literally every other major boss battle, but that doesn't mean it's completely useless against those battles; it'll certainly contribute.
Additional Comments: Samurott doesn't excel at anything, it's just balanced. I seriously considered ditching it near the end of the game, it just wasn't performing at anything except super-effective hits. Maybe I just got one with bad IVs, but I wasn't at all impressed, and there are definitely some better water type choices out there.

Gigalith (the one you trade an Emolga for): - Upper Mid/Low High
Availability:Right before Skyla, a perfect time for it. However often you can find a wild Emolga; you might have to spend maybe ten minutes tops searching for one.
Stats:Bulky HP, Holy Attack and Defense, everything else is piss poor, but Sturdy and Rock Polish make up for the lacking stats.
Typing:Rock STAB is meh in this game just because of how many fighting types there are and the presence of a water type gym, but Gigalith hits most things neutral very hard, easily scoring OHKOs on SE hits.
Movepool:I'll be honest, his movepool sucks. The most useful level up moves you get (keep in mind, it comes at level 35) are Rock Slide, which it starts with, Stone Edge, and Rock Polish. You'll definitely want to spend 10 shards of whatever color it is to get Superpower, the coverage is needed, and it hits hard. You could use Strength/Return, but you'll want both Rock Slide and Stone Edge. I mean I GUESS Bulldoze is slightly viable, but meh.
Major Battles:Perfect for Skyla's gym minus Swanna, but you can have Sturdy for it. My Gigalith went toe-to-toe with Drayden's Haxorus and did a hefty 80-ish% with Rock Slide, but was forced out with Dragon Tail. Just avoid Marlon completely. Can take on all of the physical attackers on the Plasma Frigate with the exception of any Steel type, unless you have Superpower by then. Avoid Colress. For the E-4, keep him out of battle against Marshal and Caitlin. Not recommended for the other two, but he can do it. For Iris, I recommend switching in when her Druddigon is out and using Rock Polish; you'll outspeed all but the Archeops. He destroys Aggron with Superpower, and everything else is raped by STAB Stone Edge/Rock Slide.
Additional Comments:If you need a physical tank that can potentially sweep with massive 135 base attack, look no further. As he is a traded mon and you get him around the time Juniper gives you the lucky egg, he'll gain levels like crazy, easily catching up with your team in no time, if not already surpassing them. I believe it's always Adamant nature, so his attack was well over 200 before the fight with Iris. I highly recommend using him if you've got a space, he won't disappoint.

Espeon:- High
Availability:Eevee is a bit rare to find in the Castelia Garden, plus you have to run around like a maniac during the day time, not to mention that if you surpass level 21, you miss out on reliable Psychic STAB until level 37, so it's hard to evolve. Right before the third gym leader.
Stats:Awful physical bulk, middling special defense, but who cares? It's a goddamn Espeon. It has massive special attack and will be outspeeding everything it needs to with its 110 base speed.
Typing:Psychic is okay STAB in this game, due to the large number of Dark types due to Team Plasma, who also carry lots of Poison types. It will OHKO neutral, non-bulky opponents with Psychic, and there's a lot of things neutral to it.
Movepool:Yet another shallow movepool, but it gets just what it needs. Psybeam and Psychic will be your main STABs, with Psyshock added in later to replace Psybeam (shallow movepool=you need two STABS). You can teach it Signal Beam for pesky dark types, and it'll usually be awhile until you get TM Shadow Ball, so keep both. Through the mid game I literally had Flash on it, so I guess that's cool for Mistralton Cave. But yeah it's bad movepool is bad.
Major Battles:Espeon is neutral to every single gym except Burgh, but you won't have an Espeon before him. It's useable, however, if you need a strong, special hit in desperate situations. It doesn't like Colress' Steel types, and destroys half of Team Plasma. You can easily destroy 3/4 of Marshal's team with Psychic, just be aware that Sawk has Sturdy and Payback, so you're going to lose your espeon very early if you don't recognize that (I had to learn the hard way )
It doesnt fare well against the Dark E4 member (blanking on the name) or the Shauntal, but you have coverage moves that hit all of them, just don't expect OHKO's. Same goes for Caitlin's Psychic type 'mons. Espeon is neutral against most of Iris' team, minus the Hydreigon and the Aggron. It especially doesn't like Hydreigon.
Additional Comments:I'm not gonna lie, it took a long time to evolve my Eevee, and it was underlevelled by about 5 levels from the rest of my team. But when it did evolve, I knew I made the right choice to use it. STAB psychic type moves aren't particularly great in this game, but with 130 base Special Attack, anything that doesnt resist is going to be 2HKO'd, and the 110 base Speed has so far proven useful in the post game, where everything outlevels you. If it wasn't such a bitch to obtain, Espeon would be top tier material.

Joltik:- Mid
Availability:Right before Skyla (perfect timing) decent appearance %.
Stats:Very frail, and is 2HKO'd by most neutral hits. Its attacking stats are also middling, with Special Attack being slightly higher at 97 Base, but Galvantula has Compoundeyes Thunder to compensate for being slightly weaker. Its attack stat can allow it to run 1 physical move, sucker punch, which works well sometimes. It's a very fast pokemon too.
Typing:Bug/Electric is cool typing, allowing it to hit many things supereffectively. Plus, STAB Thunder and Bug Buzz is also pretty cool.
Movepool:Galvantula doesn't have a HUGE movepool, but its better than Espeon's. By level up, the most important moves you get are Signal Beam, Bug Buzz, and Sucker Punch if you plan to use it, but it only gives extra Ghost coverage, so not really worth it. By TM, you can teach it Thunder before the Humilau gym, and you get Volt Switch from Elesa, which will be your main Electric move for awhile. Charge Beam is a useful move, allowing Galvantula to sweep, and I used it in conjunction with Thunder to knock out weakened foes and set up a sweep. From Move Tutors, I think the most important move it gets is Giga Drain, but you can get the TM for Energy Ball from Aspertia without having to collect lots of shards for Giga Drain. All in all, it gets what it needs.
Major Battles:Joltik and eventually Galvantula easily destroy Skyla and Marlon all by itself, needing zero help from its teammates. Keep it away from Drayden because electric is resisted. It's decent against Team Plasma, able to wipe out their Dark types not named Pawniard, but thats about it. Galvantula dismantles the Dark E4 member and Caitlin. For Iris, if you have Bug Buzz, you can lead with Galvantula to 2HKO Hydreigon, as Flamethrower doesn't OHKO Galvantula.
Additional Comments:While certainly not the best Electric type out there, Galvantula gets its job done. It has the best movepool for electric types, minus the slow-and-bulky Elektross, that dual STAB helps. I would recommend Galvantula to anyone who opted against Jolteon or Electabuzz, as they are two other great, fast Electric types.

Those are all the reviews I'm going to do, but I just wanted to say, Lucario and Moxiedile for Top tier. Literally they rape everyone and everything in this game, and easily carried my team.

Not sure about the rest of you, but I'm using Azumarill.

Yeah training Azurill can be pretty hard, but think about it. You get Return really early in the game. STAB Return + Huge Power + Silk Scarf (I actually don't know where you find this, but my friend has one) is insane. What's funny is that in my jap playthrough I struggled against Cheren, but when I started with Azurill Cheren was easy as hell since Azurill had Return + Charm.

If you can evolve Azurill by level 21 you're getting a STAB Aqua Tail early in the game. Plus you can use your Red Shards to teach it Ice Punch. That's already 3 moves that work in competitive play, and absolutely rape in game. You can use your last move as Surf or Superpower (I'm currently using both, since I didn't teach it Ice Punch). It also has pretty nice bulk with it's nice defenses and great HP stat.

Personally, I think he deserves High Tier. The ONLY thing I dislike about the Azurill line is that every attack I use is physical, and I find the Static hax in this game to be insane.

The SS is found at Virbank Complex. That's... somewhat early, though it's after Cheren.

Yeah can see Azurill being a lot better now... and so do Lillipup and Patrat :/

Faint said:

The ONLY thing I dislike about the Azurill line is that every attack I use is physical, and I find the Static hax in this game to be insane.

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... And WHY are you using Azumarill against Electric types, exactly? I know it's bulky, but it's not that bulky, and it's painfully slow (50 base speed I believe?)

I could definitely argue Frillish for Mid, since you don't have to jump through hoops for its strongest moves, and can actually be caught at a respectable level this time. Will-o-Wisp is nice for breaking Sturdymons, and you can even go for the level 40 Jellicent in Undella in summer, if you don't mind having a godawful ability. However, he doesn't have too many advantages in the endgame minus Caitlin and to an extent, Marshal. Still performs very solidly. I would compare it to Weezing in that respect (which is also mid) - few real advantages in major battles, but all-round solid performance throughout.

There is NO reason for the Skill Link Mincinno which you are guaranteed to encounter not to be Top Tier. It comes reasonably early, at a good level and has ridiculous power. Heart Scales are much easier to come by in this game for Bullet Seed and Rock Blast, though Tail Slap is its bread and butter. Wake Up Slap is probably its best filler, though Sing is a decent option in its own right. Shiny Stone comes before Chargestone again, you can even get it before Clay if you want. Fast and powerful, but slightly frail.

Son_of_Shadoo said:

... And WHY are you using Azumarill against Electric types, exactly? I know it's bulky, but it's not that bulky, and it's painfully slow (50 base speed I believe?)

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I believe Faint is referring to combating the Mareep early-game with Azurill, a Normal-type.

I don't know about you, but those Mareep and the rare Emolga were the only Static 'mons I encountered throughout the whole game, bar Elesa's Flaafy and that one dude in Chargestone Cave that had an Ampharos.

Lucario_Guy said:

I believe Faint is referring to combating the Mareep early-game with Azurill, a Normal-type.

I don't know about you, but those Mareep and the rare Emolga were the only Static 'mons I encountered throughout the whole game, bar Elesa's Flaafy and that one dude in Chargestone Cave that had an Ampharos.

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I'd often grind on the breeder that I believe to be on route 11, who has an Emolga and an Altaria. But yeah I was mainly referring to the Mareeps early in the game.

TruthfulCake said:

- 50% chance of encountering an obese version that hits like a girl and has overkill resistances to things it already resists anyway.

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Oh god, I hear you. I like to use my Azumarill as a wall though. Aqua Ring + Leftovers combo is great. But I had already evolved it before I realized what ability it had.... ugh...
I'll probably train Route 6 Marill post-game for competitive play.

So...Watchog is still going really strong. Easily my best party member so far, and I had a Growlithe (that died to Colress' Magnemite...lucky crits...)

So far I'm leaning towards Upper Low to Lower Mid simply because it wrecks early game really easily and stays useful longer than Lillipup does. I've rarely been using Herdier for anything more than Intimidate usage, surprisingly. It almost seems like Patrat and Lillipup's roles got switched around. Watchog gets Confuse Ray and Hypnosis really fast, letting it be an annoyer as well, and Herdier has yet to learn Crunch, so...

Got a Yamask in Relic Castle, so I'll test that sucker out (though I'm betting it'll be a tough nut to crack)

Deerling:- Mid
Availability: Before Clay
Stats: Attack and Speed are pretty high, though I think Speed could be higher considering it's a deer.
Typing: Grass/Normal isn't all that great for Team Plasma's Scrafty and Golbat, but handles Ice-types well, considering.
Movepool: Jump Kick and Horn Leech is all you need. Sure you have to baby it up for Horn Leech, but you can grab Energy Ball early and use it to stomp Clay with help from Expert Belt/Miracle Seed, and it definitely is powerful enough to warrant saving your shards instead of blowing them on Seed Bomb. STAB Return is also nice, and Megahorn is probably good for something, though I wouldn't know because I just found out it even GOT Megahorn. You can combo Horn Leech with Double Edge, which isn't bad at all; in fact, I found myself using it more often than Darmanitan's Flare Blitz. I know it gets Wild Charge at some point, but I have yet to find any TM for it. Thunder Wave makes it a pretty good capture monkey, but I'll be honest here, I switch it out constantly for different TM moves. Oh, and if you can be assed to keep up with what Nature Power will do, you can use that I guess.
Major Battles: Clay's not a good southerner if he can't take down a deer. Deerling grinds up nicely during the gym, provided of course you took the time to get to level 32, which isn't a problem given Jump Kick is super effective against Audino (Leech Seed for the annoying Attract ones!). Skyla will enjoy deer stew if you let her near Bambi, Drayden is so-so, and of course Marlon hates Grass-types. If you can grab Double Edge or a fully charged Return (or Wild Charge! where is Wild Charge, anyway D:), it can hold its own against Plasma, though I'm not sure if Nature Power turns into Earthquake in Plasma battles. If so, Earthquake makes it great against Team Plasma fights. Even though it doesn't like paralysis, Sawsbuck still takes on Colress admirably, and Cryogonal from zinzinzinloin isn't going to last long with that pitiful Defense. Watch out for Accelgor, Weavile and 'ol red eyepatch guy's eel. If you have Double Edge at this point, you might be able to overpower them based on levels, so go crazy! Obviously, keep it away from Marshal, and it does well against at least half of the other three's teams (again, Earthquake is nice here) provided you have at least a neutral type advantage. Iris is another so-so, though vs Hydreigon and Lapras the battle ends pretty quickly for one side or another. Equip your handy dandy Expert Belt and go to town.
Additional Comments: Maybe it's just because I like Sawsbuck as a Pokemon, but I really liked playing with it. Sure Roselia and Petilill come earlier and are probably better, but Sawsbuck still has great coverage and moves, though you have to baby it a bit as a Deerling. If you drop a few shards for it, it becomes substantially easier to grind, but I think it unnecessary. While I definitely don't think it's High potential due to its relative lateness and poor initial movepool, Sawsbuck definitely has the moves and stats to be useful but not game-breaking. tl;dr: Average Pokemon, fun to play with.

Can someone tell me where the Shiny Stone is from (the Route 6 one)?

I got it but forgot if it was invisible or not, my little brother can't find it and he's driving me crazy
>.>

From what I've seen Skill Link Minccino is great, but doesn't hit hard enough until he gets Tail Slap. Encore is great for screwing with the AI but my li'l bro couldn't make use out of it; it's still an option over Sing.
Yeah, even 90acc moves have been screwing me over in this game. Stupid Aqua Tail. I also pretend my Ferrothorn doesn't have Power Whip. That 85acc is the reason she loses to water types, I'm not even kidding (Zoom Lens here I come!).


Back to Cinno: the awesome thing about it is that with a scope lens (from Castelia I believe) you can get in some "extra hits" with crits, or you can get screwed over with Static spam : [


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Edit: Thank you R_N!
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Count Serperior said:

Can someone tell me where the Shiny Stone is from (the Route 6 one)?

I got it but forgot if it was invisible or not, my little brother can't find it and he's driving me crazy
>.>

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Talk to the kid in the house near Chargestone

Count Serperior said:

From what I've seen Skill Link Minccino is great, but doesn't hit hard enough until he gets Tail Slap. Encore is great for screwing with the AI but my li'l bro couldn't make use out of it; it's still an option over Sing.

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Tail Slap is a mere three levels away, and Doubleslap is an ok option until then. Not like it's hard to reach either, thanks to Audino.

azurill has crazy power. didn't have a problem with it all the way until it evolved into marill at level 18, and then azumarill at 19, which kos everything with aqua tail. definately high

also, riolu/lucario is fiendishly good. it was very good before w/ a good stab in force palm, evolving early (at level 20 for me) too before i move tutor'd it ice punch and now it just owns everything with coverage and expert belt. Definately high or top.

snivy low, cos it's tedious. sigilyph is beasting it, and i'm a little after the 5th gym. growlithe middle, started off well, noticably dipping, i expect it to pick up when i evolve it once it learns flare blitz. mareep low as well.

I've finished my playthrough of Black 2, and done all the post game routes.

Lucario: - High Tier
Availability: Very early, before 1st gym.
Stats: Pretty good Attack/Special attack, makes a very good mixed sweeper. Pretty good Speed, outspeeds a huge portion of Pokemon, but lacking in defense.
Typing: Steel is a great defensive typing, as always, and really helps Lucario's relatively lacking Defense. It has 3 quad weaknesses. The Fighting-Type helps power up the useful Fighting attacks, but Steel is rarely used for STAB. The abilities won't come in handy that much, as flinching is rarely seen.
Movepool: Pretty decent movepool, picking up Force Palm and Return early, though not in time for the 1st gym battle (though you may get Force Palm in time if you grind enough). You should definitely pick up Ice punch at the Driftveil Move Tutor which comes in handy for the next Gym. It gets some really good Stat boosting moves in Work Up and Swords Dance (and Nasty Plot if you're crazy enough to keep Riolu unevolved until level 47) Aura Sphere comes a bit too late at level 51, but it's a very reliable move and will OHKO a lot of stuff weak to it, though you'll have to deal with the relatively weak Force Palm until then (unless you want to grind for BP at the PWT for the Brick break TM). At level 55 you can pick up Close Combat, but I find Aura Sphere to be better, paired with Work Up. ExtremeSpeed probably won't come until the post-game, but it's very reliable.
Major Battles: Against Cheren he's pretty good with Counter and Quick Attack (And Force Palm if you grind enough), he kind of sucks against Roxie though, and that's coming from someone who had to use a level 19 Riolu and a level 11 Oshawott against her. He's pretty decent in Burgh's gym (It should be a Lucario by then) with Work Up and Return, though his STAB move is pretty useless unless you're looking for Parahax. Watch out for the Static Pokemon in Elesa's gym (which is all of them except Blitzle and Zebstrika, and they have Flame Charge). He's pretty good in Clay's Gym with Ice Punch, (though watch out for the Ground type attacks). Same goes for Skyla and Drayden's gym, but he won't be of too much use in Marlon's gym. He's not too great in the Elite 4, but he eats Grimsley's Pokemon for breakfast. If you're slightly overleveled like I was, he gets Dragon Pulse just in time for Iris, though it may be redundant with Ice Punch. Her Aggron will probably be OHKO'd by Aura Sphere/Close Combat. He's also pretty good against Team Plasma, with all their Dark and Normal types.
Additional Comments: Lucario is a very reliable addition to any team, though his use may drop around the level 40s when he's still dealing with Force Palm. It's faster than a lot of other fighting types like Conkeldurr, Scraggy and even Heracross, and can be gotten a lot earlier than Mienshao.


Krookodile: - High Tier
Availability: Pretty early, can be obtained before the 3rd gym.
Stats: As a Sandile, it is fairly weak and very fragile, but things get a lot better for it when it evolves into a Krokorok. As a Krookodile, it has a great Attack stat, a pretty good Speed, and fairly decent bulk.
Typing: Ground is one of the best attacking types in the game, and Electric types are pretty common, making it a very good type to have. The Dark type gives it some useful resistances, and makes Crunch a very reliable move. The ability is a toss up between Intimidate and Moxie. Intimidate is very good against physical attackers, but Moxie is awesome and lets Krookodile pull off a sweep in a lot of battles.
Movepool: Sandile's movepool is pretty good, but make sure you get one under level 16 so it has Bite. You get the Dig TM, which comes pretty soon after the 3rd gym. Crunch comes decently early at level 28 to upgrade from Bite. Mud Slap can be pretty decent for common Sturdy Pokemon. The Rock Tomb TM comes pretty early, you can then upgrade to Rock Slide when you get the TM in Mistralton Cave, and to Stone Edge when you get the TM in Twist Mountain. Earthquake comes very late at level 54, with no TM until the post-game, but Dig isn't too bad until then. Outrage can be picked up at level 60, which can be useful for Iris, but otherwise outclassed by Crunch and Earthquake.
Major Battles: It handles Burgh's gym pretty decently with Bite, but will have to watch out for Bug and Grass attacks. It pretty much sweeps Elesa's gym, even Emolga if you give it Rock Tomb. Clay's gym is pretty easy for it using Crunch and Dig (thank god they don't have Earthquake in there), and it handles Skyla's gym pretty well with Rock Slide. It could do pretty decently in Drayden's gym, but it probably won't do much in Marlon's gym except outspeeding Jellicent and Crunching it. It can handle the Elite 4 very well, with the ability to sweep Shauntal and Caitlin. Iris fears its Outrage, but her dragons have the capability to do a lot of damage against him.
Additional Comments: Krookodile is probably the second best Ground type in this game, with Excadrill being the best.

Galvantula: - Mid Tier
Availability: Can be obtained before the 4th gym if you rush to Chargestone Cave, though it will probably be unevolved and won't be very useful until a little later.
Stats: Before it evolves, its stats are pretty bad, but when it evolves it has great Special Attack and decent Attack, and it's very fast, but it's still extremely frail. A Super Effective hit, or a strong neutral hit will probably OHKO it.
Typing: Bug/Electric is a pretty decent type, both offensively and defensively. The Electric STAB can come in very handy, while the resistances Bug gives are nice too, but the weakness to the common Rock type can highlight its frailty. For the ability, make sure it has Compoundeyes.
Movepool: Its movepool is pretty good, getting great attacks in Electro Ball and Signal Beam right off the bat. You can also give it Thunder Wave from the TM you can buy in Nimbasa. It gets Bounce and Sucker Punch as useful Physical moves, but its biggest draw is Thunder. With Compoundeyes and the Wide Lens which can be gotten in Route 4 in Black 2, Thunder will have perfect accuracy, and its 30% paralysis chance is also pretty handy when you don't have time to use Thunder wave. You can also give it Energy ball or Giga drain for more coverage.
Major Battles: It can be slightly decent in Clay's gym with Signal beam, but it will probably be unevolved, so it won't be that good. It is awesome in Skyla's gym, doing great damage with Electro Ball or Electroweb, especially against Swanna, and will probably outspeed most of the things in there too. It won't be that much of a help in Drayden's gym, but it will be very good in Marlon's gym with Thunder, doing a lot of damage, and OHKOing most of the things in there. It won't be too great in the Elite 4, but Signal Beam or Bug Buzz can be pretty good against Grimsley and Caitlin. Signal beam or Bug Buzz can be good against Hydreigon, but it will die quickly if it gets attacked.
Additional Comments: There are probably better Bug and Electric types than Galvantula, namely Heracross, Volcarona and Magnezone, but Galvantula is still a pretty good team member with his powerful Thunder. Just try not to let him get attacked by anything not NVE.

Jellicent: - High/Possibly Top Tier
Availability: After 5th gym, when you get Surf. Requires a lot of grinding/babying if you get one ASAP in Virbank City.
Stats: Jellicent is extremely bulky, laughing in the face of even super effective special hits and can also take neutral physical hits pretty well. It's slow, but it could outspeed a few things lower leveled than it. Also has enough Special Attack to deal out some pretty good damage and possibly OHKO opponents that aren't to bulky with Super Effective hits.
Typing: Water is handy because of the special resistances it gives, and with the Ghost typing, it can even wall certain opponents whose movepool consists of mostly Normal and Fighting attacks. For the ability you want Water Absorb, though Cursed Body could work out in some situations. Don't even think about Damp.
Movepool: It gets a lot of good special moves, though almost all of its good moves come from TMs, with a notable exception of Recover (which is arguably redundant ingame) but thankfully these TMs aren't too hard to find. Surf is necessary to catch it, and the TM for Shadow Ball isn't too far off, and it's pretty manageable to cope with Ominous Wind until then. You can Pick up the Energy ball TM for it straight away, but Ice Beam comes a bit too late. You can also give it Will o Wisp pretty soon after catching it, which you will find very handy.
Major Battles: It isn't too helpful in Skyla's gym with no sign of an Ice Beam or Blizzard TM for miles, but it will take very little to no damage from Skyla's special attacks. It can be pretty good in Drayden's gym for weakening the strong Dragon Pokemon with Will O Wisp, and dealing great damage with Blizzard, though their strong physical attacks can be devastating. It can also take very little damage in Marlon's gym and deal decent damage with Energy Ball or Shadow Ball.
Jellicent should not be used against Grimsley, Shauntal doesn't like Shadow Ball from it, and carries some slow Pokemon, Marshal can be mostly walled by it (though watch out for Stone Edge and Rock Slide), and Caitlin can't do much against Jellicent. It can also be pretty good against Iris, especially if it carries Ice Beam or Blizzard.
Additional Comments: Jellicent is a very reliable Pokemon, and is almost never OHKO'd in any circumstances, and though its base Special attack may look unappealing at first, it's very reliable.

Tangrowth: - Low Mid Tier
Availability: Pretty late, can be gotten before the 7th gym.
Stats: As a Tangela, its stats just don't cut it, though it should evolve pretty quickly into a Tangrowth, especially if you grind it until just under level 40. As a Tangrowth, it has very reliable attacking stats, a rock solid physical defence, but poor Special Defence and Speed. Super effective special attacks will probably OHKO it, and it will be outsped most of the time.
Typing: Grass really isn't the best typing, giving Tangrowth a lot of weaknesses, but thankfully it's easy to keep it away from these most of the time. STAB on Giga drain is handy, but it will have a lack of STAB on its other moves, which can cause it to fall short of a KO. Its ability doesn't really matter, unless you want to get a Regenerator Tangela in the Hidden Hollow in the Giant Chasm. Regenerator can help out a lot with largely physical areas.
Movepool: The higher leveled Tangela will come with Giga Drain which is very useful for reliable STAB and recovery. It is recommended that you go to the PWT to get Sleep Powder, which is very useful, though slightly unreliable. As a Tangrowth it is a very good mixed attacker, and it can be given a pseudo EdgeQuake in Rock Slide and Bulldoze, the latter which can be upgraded to EQ in the post game. With this moveset it will almost never be walled, and Bulldoze can help out with its Speed issues, but it will be found unable to OHKO most of the time, which is troublesome against Special Attacking opponents. Aerial Ace is also there for some added coverage, but it is mostly redundant.
Major Battles: Not so great in Drayden's gym, though it can tank the mostly Physical attacks. In Marlon's gym it is excellent with Giga drain doing massive damage, and making it very unlikely that you will need to heal outside of Giga drain's constant recovery. It can be very reliable against the Elite 4's Physical Pokemon, just keep it away from Catilin, and it is not recommended to try Rock Slide on Chandelure. Against Iris, it is mostly there for Backup, though it can be effective against Lapras.
Additional Comments: Tangrowth was mostly a 5th wheel on my team, though it was pretty decent when needed, and its Special Defence wasn't as horrible as I thought. As a Grass type it's largely outclassed by Roserade, but it is slightly more sturdy.

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong about anything.

Finished Black 2 a few days ago, so I may as well add in my two cents.

The team:

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Emboar/Tepig: - Low Tier
Availability: A Starter Pokemon, so you'll always get it if you choose to.
Stats: Fairly good defenses (in theory) and very high attack and special attack stats, but low speed.
Typing: Fire and Fighting form an excellent offensive combination, able to tear through most things with ease. Unfortunately, it also has a lot of weaknesses that, when combined with it's low speed, doesn't help at all.
Movepool: Surprisingly barren, at least as far as leveling up goes. Flame Charge is your only good STAB move until about level 33 or so, when you get Flamethrower. Arm Thrust is rather terrible, and Hammer Arm can only be gotten as an Emboar. Head Smash and Flare Blitz are the only other notable Level up moves. Thankfully, it's TM movepool is decent enough, as Bulldoze can help a lot and Rock Tomb is usable.
Major Battles: Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to perform well in too many important battles. He'd be nice for Cheren, but most likely he hasn't evolved yet. Roxie goes down easily enough, and Burgh he passes with flying colors. Elesa gives him a lot of trouble and Clay and Skyla hit him super effectively. Not recommended for Drayden or Marlon either. The multitude of Poison types in Team Plasma is a hindrance, but can sweep most of Colress's team if you keep him healthy. Fares rather poorly against Ghetsis though, only able to do damage to Hydreigon, which deals massive damage to it with Dragon Pulse. For the elite four, he's really only good against Grimsley and maybe Shauntaul with Assurance, but he gets destroyed everywhere else.
Additional Comments: Honestly, this guy is pretty much useless. Maybe I just got bad IV's or something, but he just can't take a hit and a lot of things he can hit super effectively usually carry a coverage move that kills him. Easily the worst member of my team.



Ampharos/Mareep: - Mid Tier
Availability: Very early on in Floccesy Ranch, and very easy to catch.
Stats: Well balanced stats, though a bit slow for an Electric type. Pretty high Special attack and usable Attack.
Typing: Electric typing is always pretty good, especially since it gives Ampharos only one weakness. It also hits a lot of things for super effective, even quite a few gyms.
Movepool: Sadly, it's movepool is only okay. It's first special electric type move is Discharge, which comes at level 40 (if you evolve it straight to Ampharos). After that it becomes a little better, grabbing Power Gem and Fire Punch earlier. Aside from that, there's not much else, though Focus Blast would be pretty decent if you can find it.
Major Battles: Does fine against Cheren and Roxie, but needs to sit on the sidelines for Burgh and Elesa. Clay will absolutely massacre her. Skyla is where it really shines, being able to sweep most of her team with little difficulty. Drayden is another place it does badly, but it can also sweep Marlon with little difficulty. Against Team Plasma, Electric hits for neutral on just about everything they commonly carry, and super effective on the Zubat line. It doesn't fare that well against Colress, but can work in a pinch with Fire Punch. For Ghetsis, it only does okay. The Elite Four is usually handled by other Pokemon, but it can be a useful backup for any of them, and can be useful by paralyzing Haxorus with Thunder Wave (if it doesn't use EQ on you first).
Additional Comments: Overall, a fairly average member. She didn't shine against most things, but was generally useful if I needed something paralyzed or zapped with a bolt of electricity.


Vaporeon: - High Tier
Availability: Eevee can be caught before the 3rd gym, though the water stone you need for Vaporeon can only be reliably gotten before (after?) the 4th gym.
Stats: Vaporeon is pretty much the definition of a tank, having a high HP stat and great special defense as well as 110 special attack.
Typing: Water gives Vaporeon even more defensive ability, allowing it to soak up lots of attacks and hit back strong. Electric and Grass attacks don't show up very often which makes Water even better.
Movepool: While not stellar, Vaporeon's movepool has most of what it needs. Depending on how much it leveled up as an Eevee it you may want a few Heart Scales to pick up Aurora Beam and Water Pulse. After the 5th gym, it also gets Surf, which is great for travel and Signal Beam, which gives at least some ability to damage Psychic and Dark types.
Major Battles: If you evolve it before Clay, it should make short work of him. It'll be a bit worthless for Elesa though. Skyla is handled quite nicely by Aurora Beam, though Swanna will require different methods to defeat. Vaporeon is a mixed bag for Drayden, as it can use Aurora Beam on the dragons, but will take heavy damage from their attacks. Marlon is not recommended, though it can be useful for stalling while you heal your Pokemon. For Team Plasma, Surf will wash most of them away, and can deal with Colress's non-Magnemite line. For Ghetsis, it does okay, being able to deal with Drapion and Hydreigon fairly well. For the Elite Four, Signal Beam can be useful, but by then Water attacks will do a number on just about anything they can throw at you. Also, I've had it survive Iris's Haxorus's +1 Earthquake so it's very useful for that battle.
Additional Comments: Definitely one of my most valuable mons, as it can survive just about anything save a super effective hit at least once. Also very powerful, a very high recommendation.


Leavanny/Sewaddle: - Mid Tier
Availability: Available almost immediately on Route 20, and very easy to catch.
Stats: High speed and attack is the name of the game with Leavanny. It can outspeed a lot of things, especially if it has Chlorophyll going, and puts a dent in a lot of things. It's defenses aren't amazing, but they usually allow it to survive at least one hit before going down.
Typing: Bug/Grass means Leavanny can hit lots of things super effectively, but it runs into trouble with having a lot of common weaknesses.
Movepool: Actually pretty good. It doesn't have a lot of coverage moves, but everything good can be gotten by Level Up. Bug Bite and Razor Leaf will decimate things early game, while X-Scissor and Leaf Blade pick up the slack later on. From there, it's just packing Swords Dance and choosing a filler move (Protect and Slash are good choices)
Major Battles: Does well enough against Cheren. Roxie gives it trouble though. Burgh's Leavanny can be beaten by an EV'd Leavanny, but otherwise is not recommended there either. It does resist electric for Elesa, but doesn't enjoy Thunder Wave much at all, nor Zebistrika's Flame Charge. Clay can be beaten fairly easily, though another method will have to be used against Excadrill. Unfortunately, it then becomes rather not good for a while, being beaten by Drayden and Skyla. It hits its stride about the time Marlon comes, and can sweep most of his team. As far as Team Plasma goes, avoid the Poison types, but destroy the Dark types. Colress is something it doesn't want to mess with. For Ghetsis, it can absolutely demolish Seismitoad, though doesn't do that great against much else. Finally, it can sweep Caitlin and most of Grimsley's team with ease, though for the others it can only pitch in a bit.
Additional Comments: Really, Leavanny was very good throughout her run, and was a nice go-to pokemon for a lot of things. Getting hit by the various coverage moves the NPC's packed was annoying though.


Crobat/Zubat: - Mid Tier
Availability: Pre Gym 3
Stats: Crobat's speed is through the roof, able to outpace almost anything. The rest of it's stats are average, so while it's not the best wall or the best attacker, it can usually get the job done.
Typing: Poison/Flying doesn't give Crobat too many favors, as Poison is mostly redundant with Flying and more than a few things resist flying.
Movepool: Sadly, it's movepool is rather barren, lacking much of anything bar Flying moves. Confuse Ray is pretty nice, and has saved my bacon more times than I care to count. Acrobatics, which it learns pretty quickly, is easily its best move, though it comes with carrying no item. Fly allows it to take you around Unova quickly and efficiently. Finally, it comes to a choice between X-Scissor and Bite.
Major Battles: Zubat can sweep Burgh with ease, but Elesa will sweep it with ease as well. It can be useful for Clay, as it is faster than most of his mons and is immune to Ground attacks, but his rock coverage does Crobat no favors. Skyla goes alright, though watch out for Swoobat. It can hit Drayden's Pokemon for neutral damage, and can outspeed most of them before they Dragon Dance, so it's a decent choice there. It's not stellar for Marlon, but it's serviceable if your water counter bites the dust. It also does well against Team Plasma, especially the Scraggy line. Colress is a pain, don't use Crobat against him. It can hard counter Ghetsis's Toxicroak and a with a high enough level can get past Hydreigon if it's been damaged a bit. For the Elite Four, it'll nuke Marshall's team, but avoid Sawk and be wary of the Rock coverage moves he has. It does all right against everyone else except Caitlin.
Additional Comments: Crobat was...all right I guess. He didn't shine too much, but was a very easy go-to mon for just about anything.


...Do I even need to analyze this guy? (I might a bit later, but I think I've spent too much time already.)

Just saying, I forced myself to use Patrat once in this game... I couldn't do it. I got it to Level 8 until I realized something

Compared to Herdier, Watchog has 5 more attack, 17 speed, 4 more in each defense, and 5 less HP, some useless addition to special attack and no Intimidate. Although Return is available, Herdier learns Take Down at level 15 and Watchog doesn't learn a single move level up that is stronger than that. Herdier learns Crunch at Level 24, but by that point in the game your Dark STAB doesn't hit anything hard... until you see Sigilpyhs but by that point you'll be at Level 24.

A huge thing that annoyed me is how slowly Patrat levels up at first relative to Lillipup.

EXP at Level 10 for Patrat is 1,000, for Lillipup it is 560. At Level 20, 8000 vs 5400. By the time they get to level 30, the amount finally becomes similar for how much it takes for each to advance one level... but by that point Stoutland exists or is close to it. Also, all of Lillipup's stats are higher than Patrat's.

Definently Low Tier unless something incredible happens after Level 10.