(Gen 1) Best Pokemon in RBY in OU

[jdba90]

Other than Mew and Mewtwo who do you think the best pokemon in RBY? I was thinking Tauros or Chansey or maybe Snorlax

What do you guys think the best pokemon in RBY

[Vein]

Gyarados is main man here...

[Crystal_]

Tauros. But I don't just think it. I KNOW it. #2 and #3 are Snorlax/Chansey.

[420]

I personally would rather make a team without Tauros than a team without Chansey/Eggy. Tauros is the best at what he does (mid-game presence/lategame cleaner), but you can still build a team without him, just use a different sweeper. Persian and Dodrio exist, they're not as good, and probably better in tandem with Tauros rather than instead, but if I had to not use tauros I could use one of them. Or hell, just forget normal sweepers and get chansey out of the way to go for a zapdos/starmie/alakazam clean.

Exeggutor is just exeggutor, nothing else can replace him and I gag every time someone says Alakazam is a mini chansey too.

I prefer to just say Eggy/Chansey/Tauros are tied, with snorlax a close 4th.

[Novaray]

Tauros was really good Gen 1, Im gonna say Dragonite as the Wrap+Thunder Wave combo was the best as Wrap was a five turn move in which your opponent could not switch out

[Brammi]

It really depends: Tauros, Chansey, Eggy are all good. Zapdos is up their too. It doesn't see a great deal of use but that is because every team is FORCED to carry one of the two hard counters to it. So when you think about it is that way it's a bit more complicated.

[Crystal_]

Tauros
Chansey/Snorlax
Exeggutor
Starmie
Alakazam
Cloyster
Golem
Lapras
Dragonite
Rhydon
Jynx
Zapdos
Gengar
Persian
Jolteon

That's pretty much it

It doesn't see a great deal of use but that is because every team is FORCED to carry one of the two hard counters to it

This isn't true

[Groudon ex]

I don't think I've ever made a RBY team without Tauros, Chansey and Starmie at least.
They're just that good.

[i1338]

Tauros without a doubt

[Groudon ex]

Actually, now that I think about it, I've pretty much only ever used one RBY team. A body frame of Tauros/Chansey/Starmie/Rhydon/Exeggutor would be static; the last member would vary depending on whatever I fancied trying out at the time.

[waterwizard]

Originally Posted by Fat 420

Tauros is the best at what he does (mid-game presence/lategame cleaner), but you can still build a team without him, just use a different sweeper.

Definitely true. Tauros is great at what he does, but others can replace him, and, in fact, in certain situations Persian/Kangy/Dodrio are better than Tauros. It all just depends on the game and how you maneuver.

I've had plenty of success with sans-Tauros teams, sans-Chansey teams, sans-Eggy teams, etc. It just comes down to team building.

However, in general, Exeggutor is the very best pokemon in OU.

[Jorgen]

I'm starting to come around to the idea that Egg really isn't that great. I mean, don't get me wrong, he's good; nigh-mandatory, even. But while it is often a boon on defense, it can also be a huge liability when going up against something like Jynx.

I might just have to go with Tauros. He might not necessarily be the most consistent team member, but he shapes the flow of matches so much (Tauros dittos are common and akin to Queen trades) and can pull wins straight out of his ass so very easily.

[Carl]

It's Tauros. No other Pokemon can dish out damage quite like it. It has the perfect blend of speed and attack power with just the right move pool.

[Pocket]

Personally I find Chansey's role as a special and status sponge irreplaceable. She puts a full-stop on the likes of Starmie, Lapras, Jynx, and Exeggutor, which I find very useful. My votes go to her. Snorlax's useful bulk and physical punch (STAB Self-D!) provides a decent offensive answer to break through special walls like Chansey and Alakazam, especially once they are paralyzed, so he is also an essential piece on most teams.

I agree with 420 that Tauros is certainly one of the best mid-game / late-game Sweeper, but it is dispensable. It's replaceable, because outside of amazing offensive presence, it does not offer much utility. For instance, Reflect Zam and Zapdos are both great mid-game / late-game Sweepers (Zam is more late-game) with useful utility outside of strong offense. They both can very well take up Tauros's spot (although both of them are easier to wall than Tauros).

[Longfellow]

A lot of this discussion hinges on what is meant by "best".

[lars]

I'm probably not worthy of posting in this thread because I never battled competitively online until Gen 4, but even as a 10 year old vying to be "cool" with the link cable battles, Snorlax and Tauros were pretty common (>.< rare candied of course)

Exeggutor was really good too.

I seem to remember hearing somewhere that a team of 6 Tauros (different coverage moves and maybe a lucky Mimic) would beat any other team.

[Longfellow]

Nah IIRC Tauros loses a number of 1-on-1's, and a full Tauros team would lose to a number of full other Pokémon, like Zam or Zapdos or Articuno. Tauros's strength isn't sheer power, it's that he hurts everything in the game bad, making switch-ins dicey especially after a couple Pokémon have been paralyzed.

[lars]

Ah, yes, I just remembered where. The Smog bottom of the article (Everything is normal here)

I realize this is probably just for entertainment value and readability, but the authors certainly sound sure...

Of course, as I mentioned, I don't have personal high level competitive R/B/Y experience so I'm only relaying information I've seen/heard

[Longfellow]

Sounds like total bravado ("perhaps" a team of Mewtwo would win?). One of the fellows at RBY2K10 put together a matchup chart; it seems Tauros loses to a number of OU Pokémon, and against some of them (like Alakazam) there's nothing he can do to his moveset to improve his chances.

[Malekith]

Tauros

[Crystal_]

That matchup chart doesn't include exact percentages of success (for example Tauros vs Snorlax/Starmie/Lapras is pretty much 50/50) and few matchups are wrong. It does include some useful info, but it's assuming 100% fresh 1vs1s which is not really Pokemon, so it isn't something from which to make conclusions; There are a lot of other factors to consider. We can also make a half healthish chart which is as likely to happen and Tauros will own it. Or throw on some para. Or whatever.

Tauros is the only Pokemon that dropping it will make your team worse. Chansey and especially Snorlax are very close but not entirely. (Snorlax is so so close though and it's actually arguable). I'd even say that RBY Tauros is a bigger must than GSC Snorlax, despite GSC Snorlax being most dominant overall. However, GSC is a much larger meta, so maybe you can make a GSC team where other things fit better than Snorlax (I haven't been able to find a team like that though, and I doubt this could exist anyway). But there is no reason not to use RBY Tauros other than just for the sake of not using it. RBY teams are all the same team.

it is a known fact that no team could ever beat a team of 6 Tauros, save perhaps a team of 6 Mewtwo (If they avoided Body Slam paralyzation).

OMG but this is not true either. And is this even suggesting that 6 Tauros can beat a team of 6 Mewtwos?

[Longfellow]

Yeah, I mentioned the matchup chart only in the context of the 6 Tauros team. 6 Tauros obviously won't beat 6 Mewtwo, but it won't beat every team built of OU Pokémon either, and for that the one-on-one chart is at least minimally relevant (because you could fight the 6 Tauros with 6 Zam or something).

[Crystal_]

Yeah that's what I wanted to point out and it's obviously true

[waterwizard]

Exeggutor is definitely the best, if there is a best.

He is useful in the early-, mid-, and end- game... Eggy can sleep, stun, and explode. Did you read that? Sleep Powder, Stun Spore, and Explosion! So boss.

Exeggutor's 348 special and other fantastic stats make him an adept mixed sweeper and a special sponge. He walls Rhydon/Golem, Gengar, Dugtrio, and Alakazam. He's also one of the few pokemon who is bulky enough to use Rest well (Lapras, Hypno, Zapdos, and Articuno being the others). He can competitively use Leech Seed, Reflect, and Mimic, too.

Let's also remember how easy it is for Eggy to switch in on EQ, which allows for fantastic team synergy with Gengar, Golem/Rhydon, and Counter users. He also has great synergy with Lapras by baiting a Blizzard and having the foe waste precious PP, and with Chansey by being able to switch in on Psychic when special falls start to add up.

Exeggutor provides so much dynamics to the team, it's incredible. Start paying attention to how many times you switch in Exeggutor (or threaten to switch him in) during your battles, and then you'll give him the appreciation and respect he deserves.

[Crystal_]

haha had to be WW! <3 our epic discussions.

First lets start with what's wrong or inconsequential. Walling Dugtrio is inconsequiential, walling Zam what? tell me how (one thing is walling zam, being able to switch in on a psychic is a different thing). It's Zam who is walling Eggy.
Reflect doesn't work on Eggy (you should know why), nobody would ever use Mimic, so no reason to point it out, and Leech Seed is not more than a gimmick. In any case, 99% of the eggys stick to the standard set (with Rest probably being an exception) no matter how versatile you are pointing out he is. And do eggy's other options make the standard set more unpredictable and thus more useful? Not really.

And okay, EQ resist is really good. He sleeps, stuns, explodes, plus some very good defensive uses. omg he is REALLY good. All these things get Eggy top 4. But we're talking about BEST pokemon right?

But one of his biggest upsides is also his biggest dowside. It's... special, and you know the special side is on lock by Chansey/Zam/Starmie. And here comes his other problem: He doesn't recover, which means he can't just sit there and stall like Zam/Chansey can.

A lot of things can neutralize Egg. The Chansey/Alakazam/Starmie trio, Jynx is a really bad matchup, Lapras/Zapdos/Cloyster to some extent, and in worst case scenario you can always Egg vs Egg. Thats 3-4/6 of a team neutralizing Eggy, with Tauros and Snorlax both going 1on1 at the very least. Of course Egg can explode with the second best explosion in the game (I think egg's explosion is better than golem's because golem's explosion is generally a defensive explosion). That's petty good and gets Egg to a very good #4 position! But that's it, top 4.

And I think there is also the case of people like Jorgen placing Zam above Egg. For me is 4th though.

The truth about Egg though, is that it's something you rarely forgo since he can cover up a lot of roles. But it's replaceable.