Pokemon RBY In-game Tiers

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Due to negative feedback, I have deleted my Vulpix submission, as it would take too much editing for me to bother changing the majority of it, and I like Ninetales, which might have created too much of a bias in favor of it being useful. I'm not going to try again, so if anybody wants to submit it, go right ahead.

Feel free to question my other contributions.
 
Glad you like it. Gonna do this guy before anyone else steals him.

Diglett - Top Tier

-Availability: Diglett can be found in, well, Diglett's Cave, right next to Vermillion. It's impossible to miss them at L15-L22 (pretty high), but you might want to stick around and try to hit the Jackpot: you have a 5% chance of encountering a L29-L31 Dugtrio, and those guys absolutely break the game.
-Stats: This line's defensive stats are awful, but you can count on them outspeeding anything and everything. Fairly average base Attack, but who cares, they have the typing and movepool to back it up.
-Movepool: Diglett's strength is not that it gets many moves, but that it gets just the right ones to go to work in a timely fashion. You can catch them with Dig already learned (L19 or higher, pretty easy to do), and that move alone can last you the whole game. It has a whopping 100 base power, making it just a slightly delayed Earthquake that hits half the game for super effective damage. Slash comes soon enough at L35 (can be as little as four levels if you caught a Dugtrio), and you don't even have to spend your Earthquake TM on this since it gets just that move at L47.

There's only two TMs it could ever ask for: one is Rock Slide, to better deal with fliers and bugs if you desire so. But if you really must face those with Dugtrio, Slash usually does fine since it has almost as much power taking the 100% crit into account. The other is Fissure, which when combined with X Accuracy (which is bugged, like everything in RBY) can be used to KO any opponent with perfect reliability.

-Power: Dugtrio demolishes everything, especially things weak to Ground. If it does fail to OHKO, it can be in a bit of trouble since its HP and defenses are so bad, but it should be able to survive. If you use it against someone like Lorelei, you are obviously doing it wrong and you can't get your money back.

-Type: Ground STAB is an amazing type for two reasons. One is that a lot of things are weak to it (Poison is a common enemy type, and Electric is present as well). The other is that Dig's 100 base power works very well with STAB and being super effective. Resistances don't really matter because if you're taking hits you're playing this game wrong. But being immune to Electric and resisting Poison has its uses.

-Match-ups: Lt. Surge picked a terrible place for his Electric gym and is probably the easiest gym battle in any Pokemon game. Beyond that, Dugtrio is really good against Team Rocket, Pokemon Tower, Koga, Blaine, and Agatha. The only boss fights he's bad in are against Erika and Lorelei, but the former is probably weak to everything else in your party. In most other spots, there tends to be at least one Pokemon Dugtrio can pick on, but even if he's below average in any fight he more than makes up for it on a grand scale.
 
I agree too, Oddish is kinda crappy so he deserves his place, Diglett is pretty good, and the chance of finding Dugtrio in a cave can literally be compared to striking gold (because you are "digging" in a cave... sorry lol). Staryu makes sense to me as mid-tier as well, so far so good. But Chou, your detailed Magikarp entry almost makes me think he's Top rather than High, it's very convincing. Aside from the initial levelling and being TM hungry, Gyarados is a monster. I dunno, he's just so good and I'm a little torn.
 
Does anyone else think the base stats of a Pokemon really don't matter much compared to, well, anything else? Stat gaps are only really noticeable if they're really huge, and even then it's easier to work around than being underleveled or needing TMs to do anything at all.

HP/Def are usually low for offensively focused Pokemon, which will beat most things in one hit, and the things they don't usually can't KO it back. Speed is only ever really a problem versus the fastest of enemies (Alakazam, Jolteon, etc), no one cares when you're fighting Lass #139 with her three L29 Pidgeys. Pokemon with low Speed also often enough have the durability to take a hit anyway (Snorlax). Low Atk only matters if your moves are also bad.

The point I'm trying to make is that the Pokemon hurt most by the low stats are generally ones that already have significant problems.

I think the Stats section should be really brief and only discuss a stat if it's really a flaw that's going to get in the way more often than not. For example, Snorlax's Speed can be a problem because it means something like a Golbat can get in a Confuse Ray before it can crush it, and that's a problem (but Snorlax is still good in every other aspect). But Krabby's low everything but Atk and Def? Yeah, that blows, but not nearly as much as the fact that it has terrible availability and movepool.
 

ElectivireRocks

Banned deucer.
Stats play the most important part IMO.
Pokemon like Articuno in RBY are entirely reliant on their stats to get the job done. Imagine if Articuno had, let's say 80 base Specials instead of 125. It would be trash.
 
Articuno would still have STAB Ice Beam and Blizzard and completely decimate Lance, so it'd remain a fairly useful lategame member. If anything, your example of Articuno shows how important typing and not being underleveled is.

A better example of poor stats hurting a Pokemon would be Farfetch'd, who I think is good in pretty much every non-stats aspect: EXP boost, and decent level-up moves and typing. But Farfetch'd is still good enough for Mid tier to me.
 
A better example of poor stats hurting a Pokemon would be Farfetch'd, who I think is good in pretty much every non-stats aspect: EXP boost, and decent level-up moves and typing. But Farfetch'd is still good enough for Mid tier to me.
I just played through the game using Ch'ding, and I have to disagree with mid tier. Yes, he has an experience boost and is a good HM Slave, but what else does he really have going for him? He was fine on my play through, but was also fairly useless against the Elite Four and couldn't take hits or OHKO anything without being WAY higher in level. I'd rather use any other flying type.
 

Carl

or Varl
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I just played through the game using Ch'ding, and I have to disagree with mid tier.
Sorry, you must be mistaken. This thread is for RBY tiers, not FRLG tiers.


I'm almost done playing through Blue version for the first time in ages so I'll have some more thoughts once I defeat the Elite 4 but just wanted to say a few things:

Bellsprout should be high tier. Sleep Powder/Wrap/Razor Leaf are great.. can filler with Swords Dance or Cut.

I tried out Jynx so I'll have a review for it after the E4. Annoying to get Poliwag up to Poliwhirl but once you make the trade, LOLA is solid.

In general, I agree with THB's list for top and high. Could add Bulbasaur up into top tier because starters are great in this game but yeah, very solid. SAILOR is awesome (never tried the Seel trade before).
 

Nix_Hex

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I misplaced Jolteon and I'd like it moved to Top tier. Just because it can't match up well with Agatha and Rival doesn't mean it should be anything lower than Zapdos. It can storm through the rest of the game... you get it right before Team Rocket and can use it everywhere from the Game Corner basement, through the tower in Lavender, then through Silph. Co. That crit rate is what makes it so good. Also, it isn't underleveled like I said before, level 20 is fine with Thunderbolt. Redew when you see this post, please move Jolteon up and change its description to match what I've said here. I don't feel a need to list everything out.
 
If anybody feels they can do a better job with anything I submitted, go ahead and re-submit it. I won't stop you.

Also, one more for the road.


Venonat - Low Tier (Bottom Tier in Red/Blue)
Availability: Route 25 in Yellow, as high as Lv. 16. In Red/Blue, you'll have to wait until Route 12. It evolves at Lv. 31.
Stats: None of them stick out as a Venonat. After it evolves, things don't change much aside from having okay Special and Speed.
Movepool: While Venonat can learn the powders, it has to wait a while before it can learn them. (Lv. 43 for Sleep Powder!) It also learns Psychic-type moves via level-up, but it doesn't get STAB on them, making them generally weak in comparison to others, and it doesn't learn Psychic until Lv. 50, meaning that you'll have to either waste your TM29, or just use Psybeam for the rest of the game.
Power: Lack of effective powder attacks means that it can't cripple its opponents like its competition can, and poor typing with no STAB and only "okay" Special means that you shouldn't expect much from its attacks.
Type: Bug/Poison is awful, considering that its most powerful STAB move is Leech Life. It doesn't even get STAB on the Psychic-type attacks it learns.
Match-ups: Don't expect Venonat to do well in combat, due to its unfortunate typing and average-at-best stats.
Misty: Leech Life is super-effective, but only on Starmie, and Bubblebeam will generally do more anyways.
Lt. Surge: Similar case as Misty, but Leech Life and Confusion are neutral.
Erika: Even though Venonat has the type advantage, don't expect a clean sweep here, because of its awful (for this point in the game) stats.
Koga: If you're playing Red/Blue, you might have a chance. General rule of thumb for Yellow is 3 Venonats + 1 Venomoth >>> just 1 Venomoth.
Sabrina: Type chart says no.
Blaine: See Sabrina.
Giovanni: Thanks to his team either being weak to Psychic or having low Special. Watch out for Dugtrio and Persian though, as they can rip you moth to shreds with Slash.
Lorelei: Don't expect victory from Venomoth, due to its average stats. Generally, it'll fire an attack, not KO, and get hit back, with equal or greater power.
Bruno: Venomoth is primarily a special attacker, and x4 resists Fighting, meaning the only thing you have to worry about from Bruno is Hitmonlee's Mega Kick.
Agatha: Her 2 Gengar are barely faster than you, and the first one can put you sleep while the other has Psychic at its disposal.
Lance: Don't push your luck. They all have Hyper Beam, know how to use it, and can take a hit.
Additional Comments: Venomoth is too average for its own good, with nothing to set it apart from the competition. It's usable, but outclassed in Yellow, and even worse in Red/Blue, due to its much later joining time.
 
Sorry, you must be mistaken. This thread is for RBY tiers, not FRLG tiers.


I'm almost done playing through Blue version for the first time in ages so I'll have some more thoughts once I defeat the Elite 4 but just wanted to say a few things:

Bellsprout should be high tier. Sleep Powder/Wrap/Razor Leaf are great.. can filler with Swords Dance or Cut.

I tried out Jynx so I'll have a review for it after the E4. Annoying to get Poliwag up to Poliwhirl but once you make the trade, LOLA is solid.

In general, I agree with THB's list for top and high. Could add Bulbasaur up into top tier because starters are great in this game but yeah, very solid. SAILOR is awesome (never tried the Seel trade before).
No, I played through in Red. I just think Dux is a stupid name so I still call him Ch-Ding.
 
Mewtwo for LOW TIER



-Availability: Post-game. Annoying to reach and difficult to catch. Only really useful for grinding the Elite 4 for money.
-Stats: High HP, Attack. Highest Special by far and tied for second highest speed. Defence is average but who cares?
-Movepool: Comes with Psychic, Recover and Swift. Eventually learns Amnesia at a point where it's overkill on the overkill. If you want coverage, TMs 13, 14 and 24 make good choices. TM17 Submission is better than Swift, but still gets resisted by other psychic types. TM16 Pay Day is available if all you really want is more money.
-Power: RBY Mewtwo is, was and likely always will be the nastiest powerhouse in any pokemon game ever.
-Type: Psychic is outstanding, resisted only by itself.
-Match-ups: Psychic spam will obliterate most of the Elite 4 as well as your Rival, but you'll need PP UPs and another move(s) to finish the job. If your only other move is Swift/Submission/Pay Day/Other Normal/Fighting, you need to save at least three PP on Psychic for Agatha's Ghosts.

It was either Low or Bottom, but I guess being able to grind the E4 solo without support counts for something?
 
In game tiers don't usually take post game only pokemon into account, so mewtwo doesn't need a whole section just a passing glance in some section or another.
 
I just played through the game using Ch'ding, and I have to disagree with mid tier. Yes, he has an experience boost and is a good HM Slave, but what else does he really have going for him? He was fine on my play through, but was also fairly useless against the Elite Four and couldn't take hits or OHKO anything without being WAY higher in level. I'd rather use any other flying type.
Alright, I guess I'll have to finish my playthrough with him somewhere.

Varl said:
Bellsprout should be high tier. Sleep Powder/Wrap/Razor Leaf are great.. can filler with Swords Dance or Cut.
I'm inclined to agree with this, actually. I kind of glanced over it when writing about Oddish, but Bellsprout's movepool is just so much better. I don't like Wrap much in-game since it takes so long, but I guess it's nice to put things in KO range. Razor Leaf is the real kicker: Oddish has nothing on it that even compares.

I tried out Jynx so I'll have a review for it after the E4. Annoying to get Poliwag up to Poliwhirl but once you make the trade, LOLA is solid.
I see it as just another thing you can get anywhere between the moment you enter Lavender and the moment you Surf to Cinnabar that's pretty underleveled. Maybe around Lapras level, a little higher?
 
I have to wonder - if we're allowing the "Mew glitch" to obtain Mew, why not for everything else too? You can get Lapras on the same route as Mew, and there's a Dratini in Sabrina's gym, for example. (I did have a big chart showing what the Mew glitch gets you for every trainer in the game, but I lost it.)
 

Carl

or Varl
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I see it as just another thing you can get anywhere between the moment you enter Lavender and the moment you Surf to Cinnabar that's pretty underleveled. Maybe around Lapras level, a little higher?
You can get Jynx essentially as soon as you get Fly and the Pokeflute. Pick the Snorlax south of Lavender to wake up and you get the Super Rod... Fly to Viridian and fish for level 15 Poliwag. Only 10 levels to Poliwhirl. Alternatively, you get the Good Rod in Fuschia and fish for level 10 Poliwag.

Poliwag evolves at 25 so at bare minimum you get Jynx at 25. Depending on how soon you prioritize this, it's maybe a 10 level difference of what you have on your team. With boost points and the fact that you have Koga and Sabrina to face, probably, it's not hard to catch up. Jynx comes with Lovely Kiss so that's handy. Nothing else on your roster should need the Psychic TM and, if you have it, you can also use up the ice Beam TM. If not, it learns the weaker Ice Punch soon enough and the Blizzard TM will follow shortly in Cinnabar.

I'd estimate it's mid tier because of the time you take to get it and to provide the proper TM support. Jynx wrecks Koga, Sabrina, and Giovanni and can take the E4 by itself in theory (I'll test it shortly). Could be high or better if it wasn't so annoying to get and costly to teach moves to.
 
I have to wonder - if we're allowing the "Mew glitch" to obtain Mew, why not for everything else too? You can get Lapras on the same route as Mew, and there's a Dratini in Sabrina's gym, for example. (I did have a big chart showing what the Mew glitch gets you for every trainer in the game, but I lost it.)
We're not allowing glitches period.

Also, since people are suggesting it but not actually doing it...


Bellsprout (Blue/Yellow only) - High Tier
Availability: Route 24, at levels 12 through 14. Evolves at Lv. 21, and can evolve again when you get to Celadon, but you'll miss out on Razor Leaf.
Stats: Good Attack, but with few moves to take advantage of it without TMs. Its Speed is generally good enough to abuse Wrap. Its Special isn't too shabby, either.
Movepool: Learns Wrap as early as Lv. 13, and Sleep Powder at Lv. 18. It learns Stun Spore the level it evolves, to help ensure that you can pull off Wrap successfully. Without TMs, its most powerful attack is Vine Whip until it learns Razor Leaf at Lv. 38, but Wrap alone can make up for that.
Power: As mentioned above, Wrap is a great move, and can make Bellsprout almost invincible if it's faster, which is where Stun Spore's paralysis comes in to help. Its typing also allows it to be useful for the Cerulean and Vermilion Gyms as well as Rock Tunnel.
Type: Grass is quite useful when you get it, but poison doesn't do it many favors, making it weak to Psychic and still not being able to substantially damage Poison-types outside of Wrap and Body Slam. Still, Grass is great late-game, where everybody and their brother has a Water-type on his team.
Match-ups:
Misty: You have good Special, a resistance to Water, an SE STAB against Water, Wrap, and (probably) Sleep Powder. Yeah, this fight's easy.
Lt. Surge: He puts up a better fight than Misty, because your STAB is only neutral against him, and his Pikachu and Raichu (Blue) have Thunder Wave, thus negating any Speed advantages via Paralysis. In Yellow, he's slightly easier to deal with because his Raichu doesn't know Thunder Wave. Watch out for Mega Kick, though.
Erika: The odds are against you, because you're outnumbered, and 2 of her Pokemon have Wrapping moves.
Koga: Don't get your hopes up, as his Pokemon either have high defense (Blue), or access to Psychic-type attacks (Yellow).
Sabrina: Not only are her Pokemon faster, they have a type advantage against you.
Blaine: His Rapidash knows Fire Spin, and is naturally faster. Don't forget that this is the fire gym, after all.
Giovanni: This battle's a breeze, as you only have to worry about Dugtrio and Persian, who are faster and have Slash at their disposal (in Yellow, Duggy doesn't have Slash, but it still knows Earthquake to put the hurt on you).
Lorelei: You have a type advantage, and are barely faster than her. Jynx is an exception to both of the above, and can pelt you with an Ice Punch.
Bruno: Razor Leaf demolishes him, due to Onix's severe type disadvantage and his Fighting-types having awful Defense. Victreebel also happens to resist Fighting.
Agatha: Her Ghosts are faster than you and can status you before you can status them. The rest of her team is managable due to their average Speed.
Lance: His entire team (minus Aerodactyl, who demolishes you) is barely slower than you. Just remember that one miss generally means you'll get seriously harmed, if not OHKOed, by Hyper Beam. In Yellow, his 2 Dragonair and Dragonite know SE moves against you.
Additional Comments: Bellsprout comes early and has almost-instant access to Wrap, as well as learning Sleep Powder and Stun Spore as early as levels 18 and 21, respectively. It also evolves at Lv. 21, and can evolve again as early as Celadon City. Grass is also a great typing for both early- and late-game, only suffering in the middle where Poisons are quite common. Overall, Bellsprout is possibly the best Grass-type of Gen I, even giving Bulbasaur a run for its money thanks to learning Sleep Powder much, much earlier, as well as having access to Wrap.
 
What? Your listing is more than a little odd. Charmander is no top-tier, if you have to overlevel him to beat Brock...
You don't have to overlevel Charmander. Use Ember. It does decent damage against a Geodude and Onix. Use Growl if they use Bide.

Easy match. Want proof? Watch a level 11 Charmander beat Brock's lvl 12 Geodude and lvl 14 Onix.

And the Elite 4 member he should be good against, Lorlei, is actually a real threat to him due to most ice types being water as well.
Charizard beats Lorelei easily. Watch Charizard steamroll Lorelei with Fissure.

I agree that Squirtle is quite good once it learns Ice Beam and Surf, but your point on Fissure is pointless. You could essentially say any pokemon who learns Fissure just needs an X-Accuracy and an X-Speed to kill everything, so what makes Squirtle so special in that regard?
Bulk, typing, availability. Feel free to browse the list of Pokemon that learn Fissure. Find another pokemon that has Blastoise's availability, and the typing and stats to setup Fissure against the final bosses. I'll give you a hint: You can't.

If he needs items to set up, then it shouldn't be considered. Otherwise I could argue that I should give Rattata Hyper Beam and then jam X-Speeds and X-Attacks down its throat as it goes on to KO everything. Or that my level 1 Pidgey is great at beating the Elite 4 because I used 1000 revives on it.
You're comparing using 1000 revives to using 1-3 X Attacks and X Speeds?

Really? Be practical. Go back to watching Charizard steamroll Lorelei. He used 1 item, and then 5 attacks to win. Charizard beat a boss in 6 turns. Underleveled.

Now imagine a pokemon that can do that to nearly every final boss, and at an even lower level. Oh wait. You don't have to. Just use Blastoise and Dewgong.

And who says "using items shouldn't be considered"? You? As long as items can be easily purchased and used within reason, they're fair game. Do you ever use a couple Super Potions?

Bulbasaur needs more credit than you give him. He gets Razor Leaf, which is essentially the best grass move in the game, and he gets it really early. ...
No. Ivysaur gets Razor Leaf at 30.

...and he's very easily the best out of the starters. He has access to Sleep/Poison/Stun powder on level up and he gets them early
No. Venusaur gets Sleep Powder at lvl 55. Meanwhile, Blastoise and Dewgong can solo the final battles at lvl 42. Venusaur never learns Stun Spore either.

Also Bulbasaur is the worst starter. Bulbasaur being good early game is a myth.

Bulbasaur is NOT good early game. He's super-effective against two Gym Leaders. All that means is he's great in a grand total of... two battles. By the time you've reached Misty, you've probably had over one hundred encounters. I don't care if a pokemon is great in 2% of his early-game battles.

What about that other 98% of battles? How does Bulbasaur do? He gets owned by Zubats in Mt. Moon hitting him with 4x effective Leech Life. And he slogs through multiple Bug Catchers with Tackle.

Bulbasaur is terrible attack-wise. Grass/Normal attack coverage is awful throughout the game. Especially with all the Flying, Poison, and Bug types you'll be running into through the life of the game. And don't even get me started on how useless Ivysaur is at Lavender...

If you really want a Grass type, just use Victreebel for the reasons I noted earlier. At least Victreebel can abuse Sleep Powder at lvl 18, and Wrap things safely.

Stuff about Abra
Alakazam is good. Can't argue with that. But a low 40s Blastoise/Dewgong can solo final bosses in the low 40s in 6-7 turns with Fissure or Horn Drill. What about Alakazam?

Nope.

Top 4 In-game Pokemon in RBY are probably:

1) Blastoise

2-4) Dewgong
/Nidoqueen
/King


And Alakazam is still way behind stuff like Charizard and Sandslash.

I pretty much stand by my original tierings except for maybe Clefable(who still trumps Venusaur). If you're still unsure about my top tiers: Blastoise, Dewgong, Nidos, Sandslash, Zapdos, and Charizard, then I recommend actually doing an RBY run through. All of the above pokemon are superior to your opponents from the moment you catch them til the end game.

All this theorymonning is useless compared to actual experience from a runthrough.

Edit: Also, to those mentioning Farfetch'd as overlooked, you are spot on. Farfetch'd, Mr. Mime, and Seel/Dewgong are all fantastic in-game trades. They're also always severely underrated. Seel/Dewgong is top 2. Farfetch'd does amazing damage with Slash. And Mr. Mime potentially trumps Alakazam as an in-game pokemon since Mr. Mime can learn Thunderbolt.
 

Chou Toshio

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Dewgong is definitely not top tier... mid tier at best... it just appears so late, and is completely inferior to Gyarados and even Starmie.

Belsprout-- after reading the reasoning, definitely deserves high tier-- I'm just too used to playing on Red. >.<

I do agree that X-Accuracy + Fissure is definitely fit to be on the table. I mean, you have so much money in game. If not in game, where the hell are you going to use X-Accuracy?

@Blastoise-- 2 turn item setups (Speed + Acc) doesn't sound that great though, considering that something like Gyarados and Starmie will OHKO most opponents just based on coverage and power. Blastoise deserves to be top tier not only because it can abuse fissure, but also because its a starter-- duh.

I'm thinking Farfetch'd deserves Mid Tier based on the reasons Mekkah has given + the fact he's such a good HM slave... not even like just "good" but he's basically the most useful HM slave in the game-- appears right before you need something that cuts, and just trade in one of the spearows that are everywhere. There's almost no reason NOT to carry around farfetch'd as an HM slave unless you're against how derpy it looks.

Clefable is shit. -.-
 
Dewgong is definitely not top tier... mid tier at best... it just appears so late, and is completely inferior to Gyarados and even Starmie.
"It appears late" is Dewgong's only flaw, but same thing goes for Zapdos, and Zapdos is nearly always rated "Top Tier."

Let's compare:

- Dewgong and Zapdos are available right after you can Surf. Except Zapdos requires you to do a side quest.
-Dewgong and Zapdos solo several boss battles. They're both available for and can solo Silph Co, Sabrina, Blaine, Giovanni(well not Zapdos), and (most of) the Elite Four/Champion.

If Dewgong is not deserving of Top Tier just based on availability, then neither is Zapdos.

Gyarados with its babying and Slow XP curve... too grindy for my tastes. Although I agree he'll end up much more useful than something like Venusaur/Clefable. Massive Attack and Special stat in RBY, and also Ice Beam/Thunderbolt/Surf.

Staryu also gets Bolt/Surf/Beam, but Staryu also requires babying with its Slow XP curve. And remember, Staryu is also inconvenient to train, like Magikarp. At the earliest, you catch Staryu after you earn the PokeFlute and Super Rod. That leaves only one Gym battle(Fuschia) between Staryu's availability and Dewgong's availability.

The difference is Staryu is at an extremely low level(15-20) when you fish for it with a Super Rod. So Staryu requires plenty of grinding at 15-20, especially with its slow XP curve to catch up to your team.

Now look at Dewgong. To trade for a Seel/Dewgong, you need a Ponyta or Growlithe. Wild Ponyta and Growlith are found at lvl 34 and lvl 38. Then, Dewgong will level very, very quickly with traded XP. It takes the duration of one gym, Cinnabar, for Dewgong to catch up to your team.

Dewgong never slows down your leveling and destroys everything right when you catch it with Surf or Horn Drill. Magikarp and Staryu can't say the same.

Clefable is shit. -.-
Haha. I still like Clefable for early/mid-game. But as the game progresses I can see other pokemon like Mr. Mime trumping it. I suppose High Tier is too good for Clefable, since its strength wanes in the late game. I'd reconsider him as a stronger Mid Tier.
 

Brambane

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Dewgong's issue isn't merely due to the fact that you obtain it so late (although that doesn't help), but rather it's placement in the game itself. It suffers from the same issue as Electabuzz: by the time you find it, you should have another Pokemon in its role (Zapdos or Raichu).

The soonest you can get Dewgong/Seel is after Fuschia Gym, when you can use Surf. To get to Cinnabar Island (or Seafoam if you don't like SAILOR/CEZANNE), you need to use Surf. If you are using Surf, then you should already have a decent Water-type on your team, primarily Gyarados, Blastoise, Vaporeon or Tentacruel. The only defining characteristics Dewgong has over these Pokemon are STAB Ice and Horn Drill. That's not a bad niche, but Horn Drill (and Fissure) have a few issues themselves:
-Low PP, expect to be using a lot of Ethers in major fights
-Requires one turn of set-up, which isn't that bad
-Speed reliant, and last time I checked, Dewgong isn't the fastest mon in the world. This can be fixed with X-Speed, but that's two turns of set up
-Type immunities: Horn Drill won't hit Ghost-types and Fissure won't hit Flying-types

While the potential is there, why use Dewgong and spam OHKOs with Horn Drill when you can use Gyarados and spam OHKOs with amazing coverage and high power attacks? Is the EXP trade off really worth it when you get Dewgong so much later? Is STAB Blizzard better than significantly lower stats, aside from Defense which is only one point lower? Ingame, I don't think so. If Gyarados itself is only High Tier, then there is no way that Dewgong is Top Tier. Dewgong could probably fit in High Tier, but Mid Tier seems much more reasonable to me. Mid Tier is likely where Tentacool and Vaporeon will end up, who I think are on the same level as Dewgong.

Oh, and the Zapdos argument is like comparing apples to oranges. Zapdos comes at the same time and is harder to obtain, but Zapdos comes at level 50, has the best stats out of any Pokemon you are going to be getting before the Elite Four, has incredible typing, comes with one of its best attacks and is only one level away from learning Thunder. Of course Zapdos is going to be better and definitely Top Tier. The only Pokemon who can compare to that are the other legendary birds.
 
You can get Jynx essentially as soon as you get Fly and the Pokeflute. Pick the Snorlax south of Lavender to wake up and you get the Super Rod... Fly to Vermillion and fish for level 15 Poliwag. Only 10 levels to Poliwhirl. Alternatively, you get the Good Rod in Fuschia and fish for level 10 Poliwag.
You can also fish up Poliwhirl on Route 10 or Celadon City with the Super Rod (Red/Blue) or on Route 23 (Yellow, you can get to water with 3 badges). The RB ones come at L23, and the Yellow ones between 30 and 40. Certainly a lot easier than grinding a Poliwag for 10-15 levels.
 
Just some stuff I'd like to comment on:
The other is Fissure, which when combined with X Accuracy (which is bugged, like everything in RBY) can be used to KO any opponent with perfect reliability.
In all of RBYGSC, X Accuracy gives the user perfect accuracy (like Swift) until the user switches out. I don't think that's supposed to be a glitch.

-Power: RBY Mewtwo is, was and likely always will be the nastiest powerhouse in any pokemon game ever.
You're definitely right. If you compare RBY Mewtwo to other generation's powerhouses by making both Sp. Atk and Sp. Def equal to RBY Mewtwo's Special, then RBY Mewtwo has a BST of 744, higher than even Arceus. This is only emphasized by how broken Psychic is in RBY.
 
THB, it's like you've skipped the entire topic.

But, one thing stands out. You say that Abra doesn't deserve top-tier, but it does far more than anything you've listed. It CAN solo the Elite 4 at level 40, it can sweep practically everywhere in the game. It's the best type, it's stats are perfectly placed, it needs virtually no TM support, you get it early and its accessible. It's literally the top of RBY and there are NO exceptions. It's essentially a mini-Mewtwo that you get before Misty. It can run monotype, something no other pokemon can afford to do and truly fears nothing in the game. It levels fairly quickly, meaning if it somehow is level 40 before the E4, its only because you've probably never used it. It's usefulness is unparralleled, even among the starters. Once you can get past Lt Surge, you can essentially retire your other pokemon and beat the game with it. Even if we count items as a part of a valid tiering system, OHKO strategies still require 2 turns to set up, something Alakazam doesn't need you to do. Even if you have all the money in the world, Alakazam asks for little, and thats only if you buy him at the Game Corner.

Look, I get you have your opinions and you are entitled to your say, but its absolutely universally agreed upon that Abra is the best pokemon of RBY.

@Krabmeat

Mewtwo is in the "Untiered" category because you get it post-game. The tiering list is for pokemon in their in-game usefulness in how they get you through the game.
 
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