Disaster Area
formerly Piexplode
[21:32:34] Lutra: well I want to say goodbye to the link from my signature
[21:32:35] Lutra: at least
[21:32:42] Lutra: :D
Inspired by my friend Somalia's DPP guide, I felt I could do one on RBY. Sure the RBY Cup is a bit underway now tho but w/e, plz enjoy. Not like it's suuuuper complete but there's bound to be info in here that'll help y'all
Mechanics
This is where the fun starts :] Some useful resources include http://www.pokemonperfect.com/forums/showthread.php?3245-RBY-1Z-OU-Viability-Rankings which should give you an approximate idea of how good/common each pokemon is. (I've written a couple of fairly advanced-level analyses on here too http://www.pokemonperfect.com/forums/showthread.php?3238-RBY-OU-Tauros-(Site-Analysis) and http://www.pokemonperfect.com/forums/showthread.php?3243-RBY-OU-Exeggutor-(Site-Analysis) ^.^).
I've written a full smog article here on leads in RBY - I'll include here some stuff I want to add though. Jolteon leads are generally chosen to handle a really large Zapdos weakness, since you wall it even whilst asleep, and it forces out Starmie leads consistently. Starmie leads are very often chosen over Alakazam for the extra physical bulk, which means that it has a higher chance of waking up in more common end-game scenarios, e.g. vs Tauros, whereas Alakazam has much smaller of a chance. Another useful feature of Starmie in general is taking Explosion, as odd as it might sound. Whilst it doesn't take little to no damage unlike Gengar or Rhydon/Golem, it's often on a team that cannot fit either, and if it's awake, and at full HP, no non-critical hit explosion KOs, and very few Pokemon can then safely revenge kill it. Alakazam, Jolteon (and the basically never seen Electrode/Aerodactyl) can achieve this, although Alakazam is easily handled by almost any Psychic type or Chansey, whilst Jolteon is handled by Rhydon, Golem, and Chansey. Alakazam and Jolteon are certainly not desperately unpopular, but the fact that Tauros cannot safely revenge kill it means that in most situations, you can absorb an explosion without sacrificing a Pokemon or sacrificing an advantage in pace. Tauros is the best Pokemon in RBY (or possibly #2) since it's the best Pokemon at changing an advantage in pace into an advantage in material; due to its great coverage and high critical hit ratio, it is incredibly challenging to switch into, so, except when the opponent can pull off some exceedingly clever play and possibly not get unlucky, Tauros is there to guarantee a loss of a Pokemon versus the opponent. A common scenario is exploding an Exeggutor, Snorlax, Gengar, etc. early on during the match. It may fail to KO versus a lot of opponents (particularly if the Explosion doesn't critically hit), leaving for example a low HP (typically anything from 1-20%ish depending on the match etc.), often statused Pokemon remaining. Tauros can safely revenge kill anything in this scenario other than un-Paralyzed Starmie/Alakazam/Tauros/Jolteon/Gengar (might have missed something @_@), whilst anything else is either a less powerful/slower tauros or one with less coverage, making them much more easy to switch into.
A major rule of thumb of mine is never let Tauros get Paralyzed. A Paralyzed Tauros is much more easy to revenge kill, and more easy to chain switch versus, and less consistent due to any turn where it FP's.
I'm going to skip on a bit to look at how a battle works, but only really cover a couple of things in-depth, I don't have the willpower to try and cover EVERYTHING, but what I do cover I try and cover in detail.
Status Spread
This is probably the most significant aspect of an RBY battle; Rest is quite rare, Refresh and Heal Bell and Aromatherapy do not exist. Freeze is permanent (except for the very rare Haze/Fire moves, which are unlikely to be paired with a team intent on getting a Freeze). Sleep Talk does not exist, and you do nothing on your waking turn. You have an equal chance of having 0-6 turn Sleep + Wake up turn. Toxic is nearly unused since when you switch out, Toxic poisoning reverts to Regular Poisoning (doing 1/16 a time ad infinitum), although you may see it very rarely on Exeggutor or Zapdos. Burns are only inflicted by Flamethrower/Fire Blast, and some Pokemon such as Chansey, Slowbro, Starmie, and Alakazam would rather be burnt since it prevents them being otherwise inflicted with status, making Burns almost never seen.
And of course, there's Paralysis.
Thunder Wave is the main way of spreading Paralysis, with only Rhydon/Golem (and the ultra rare and pretty shit Nidoking/Sandslash) immune to it. Stun Spore Exeggutor can hit those though, and nothing is immune to Stun Spore, but it has frustrating 75% accuracy :(. Body Slam has a 30% chance to Paralyze anything other than normal types. In terms of the importance of status spread with Body Slam, Golem/Rhydon almost always run it, since it allows them to Paralyze their 2 most-common switchins (Exeggutor, and then Starmie).
With RBY, it's often a case of lead to get Sleep (a few players notably tend to save it for later on in the match), and then may or may not play for a Freeze, and then spread Paralysis.
Early Game
A lot is covered in the lead article I wrote for the Smog which I referred to earlier; however the lead choice is important as it's characteristic to the strategy of the team.
Sleep Lead vs Non-Sleep Lead. - if you go with a lead that does not directly spread Sleep, then you have to decide if you want to spread Paralysis initially, or spread Sleep with a non-lead (usually Exeggutor but I'll discuss Jynx momentarily). A quick summary of the match-ups:
Mid Game
The early game is something that you can almost learn by rote as it were, and based on your team structure you should have a plan versus each of those lead scenarios (exeggutor/hypno/jolteon aren't very important though, but I wanted to add in that extra detail not added in the smog article for completeness. Pretty much no other pokemon is used as a lead in serious top level RBY). The midgame is not something that you learn by rote, I guess perhaps like Chess that's where the game really starts, with one player usually slightly ahead or behind the other due to the initial status spread, how much damage was taken getting sleep if it was gotten at all.
Team Strategy
This obviously varies between teams, and I'm not going into as much detail on this section as other parts. For an example though, you could be designing your team to have Zapdos sweep late-game by removing the Rocks (and Jolteon), or to Paralyze or Sleep Chansey and Starmie so that Tobybro (the main variant of Slowbro, named after an admin of Azure Heights who created the set), or to sweep with some variant of Snorlax or Rhydon/Golem with heavy Paralysis support.
For example, you could pair a Zapdos with a Surflax (Standard Snorlax with Surf over Hyper Beam/Counter or Self-Destruct), since Rhydon/Golem often feel comfortable switching into it, and not much Else in OU, meaning that it's an easy option. However, if you fail to hit Surf on them upon the revelation of it, you've given away a lot of information to your opponent, and now they can keep the rocks around to prevent a Zapdos sweep - to prevent Zapdos from achieving nearly anything. Another method you could try is pairing Tobybro with it, since it can often cause Golem to explode upon it.
End-Game
The end game definitely varies a lot game to game, but the most common scenario of note is Tauros dittos; Body Slam x2 then Hyper Beam (depending on critical hits with the body slams, and what else remains on the opposing team upon deciding whether to Hyper Beam or choose something else. Honestly there's not too much to say, it usually comes down to sweeping the opponent after status is suitably spread/mons are suitably worn down, often a Tauros ditto, and if somehow both Tauroses (if indeed both players run one) are KO'd then it's a case of either outstalling or sweeping the opponent with another Pokemon. It's not terribly in-depth, but particularly with the change in paraslam mechanics making the mid-game less simple/explored, that leads to a similar circumstance in the endgame. It's worth noting that if you do end up in the scenario of a tauros ditto, you're unlikely to have any sensible means with which to switch in and gain an advantage; normally it's best to play the ditto out, it's the most consistent way to make opposing tauros less threatening. Snorlax can also take on Tauros in a 1v1 easily, and may also have Counter, Reflect, and/or Self-Destruct at its disposal to defeat Tauros successfully.
It helps to have a good grounding in probability, in order to maximise your opportunity to win in the end-game (this is what you do in any generation, but in RBY the probabilistic aspect always feels more explicit).
Teambuilding Heuristics
RBY teambuilding can be roughly formulaic, but the choice of the right Pokemon and the right movesets is often a slightly greater challenge. The basic formula is Lead / Exeggutor / Tauros / Snorlax / Chansey / Filler. It's rare that you should step away from this formula, but when you do, it's normal to simply change one or two of the Pokemon rather than the formulaic framework. For example, an option on a more offensive team is to run Victreebel over Exeggutor. It still offers status, but has a higher speed tier, Wrap, and a great Grass STAB in Razor Leaf that allows it to effectively hard counter Slowbro (although it can only OHKO from about 60% if I remember correctly). Slowbro is often run on a team without a Tauros, since it still provides an effective win condition, and can force out or Paralyze and beat Tauros in a 1v1. Beware when running slowbro to make sure you can reasonably handle Victreebel, Zapdos, and Jolteon, as Slowbro often opens up greater weaknesses to those. The only real substitute for Chansey is perhaps Alakazam - running non-Chansey is viable, but challenging. In my experience the biggest issue of running without a chansey is Starmie, particularly since it's not desperately uncommon to come across a rare Starmie variant (such as Surf, Hydro Pump, Hyper Beam, etc.) and it's the best overall answer to it, although a well-played slowbro early in the match can guarantee Paralysis on it. Another option in terms of not running Exeggutor is to carry a team that's generally aggressive versus Rocks, e.g. carrying Victreebel+Cloyster, but it's very difficult to easily function without one, since it provides so much (a ground resist allowing it to switch in versus Rhydon/Golem, useful even for very offensive teams, Sleeping outside of the lead spot, Explosion, and Psychic resistance - useful for removing Special Drops from Alakazam and Starmie's onslaughts). Snorlax is less mandatory than it used to be (pre-Crystal_'s discovery of the correct Body Slam mechanics) since it now no longer beats Chansey 1vs1 without either Chansey being Paralyzed or Snorlax carrying Amnesia + Ice Beam/Blizzard [Ice Beam gives you a greater shot at Freezing Chansey, but Blizzard can OHKO Rhydon/Golem at +6], but it acts as a primary method for most teams to batter Chansey with during the match (and if running it in a certain capacity, as a later-game sweeper too) - the most common solution to not running Snorlax perhaps is carrying the combination of Rhydon and Lapras [Rhydon is usually chosen over Golem in this scenario since it can consistently 2HKO Chansey with Earthquake, which makes it more threatening and more useful] due to their great defensive synergies (which are useful enough in the early game, but risk becoming predictable if you don't play suitably aggressively) combined with the fact they are both very threatening towards Chansey.
Some players might well have a different philosophy to their teambuilding [and these heuristics only refer to when building a general team rather than one for a specific player] and I'm interested to hear other's perspectives, but at least at a decent level, these guidelines should serve you well.
Final Words
I'd recommend reading the comments section of this article, where it was originally posted http://www.pokemonperfect.com/forums/showthread.php?3257-RBY-Guide
[21:32:35] Lutra: at least
[21:32:42] Lutra: :D
Inspired by my friend Somalia's DPP guide, I felt I could do one on RBY. Sure the RBY Cup is a bit underway now tho but w/e, plz enjoy. Not like it's suuuuper complete but there's bound to be info in here that'll help y'all
Mechanics
- http://www.smogon.com/rb/articles/differences
- ^covers the majority of the changes.
- Important stuff not mentioned in that article:
- EVs - these are all naturally maximised. There's no natures. PS maximises them when you enter the battle btw.
- The way that that tends to affect the game is that mixed attacking is much more common and viable, and that the pokemon with a higher base speed will go first assuming same boosts/drops and status.
- Body Slam cannot paralyze normal types (and Thunderbolt/Thunder Electric types, Lick Ghost types, Ice Beam/Blizzard Freeze Ice types, and Fire Blast/Flamethrower burn Fire types).
- It's worth noting that using a sleep move is amongst the things that counter will fail afterwards.
- No Abilities!
- No Items either!
- This: http://pokemon-online.eu/threads/on-rby-stat-modifications-paralysis-burn-stat-drops.29838/ < not implemented on Pokemon Showdown at time of writing, but IS implemented on PO.
This is where the fun starts :] Some useful resources include http://www.pokemonperfect.com/forums/showthread.php?3245-RBY-1Z-OU-Viability-Rankings which should give you an approximate idea of how good/common each pokemon is. (I've written a couple of fairly advanced-level analyses on here too http://www.pokemonperfect.com/forums/showthread.php?3238-RBY-OU-Tauros-(Site-Analysis) and http://www.pokemonperfect.com/forums/showthread.php?3243-RBY-OU-Exeggutor-(Site-Analysis) ^.^).
I've written a full smog article here on leads in RBY - I'll include here some stuff I want to add though. Jolteon leads are generally chosen to handle a really large Zapdos weakness, since you wall it even whilst asleep, and it forces out Starmie leads consistently. Starmie leads are very often chosen over Alakazam for the extra physical bulk, which means that it has a higher chance of waking up in more common end-game scenarios, e.g. vs Tauros, whereas Alakazam has much smaller of a chance. Another useful feature of Starmie in general is taking Explosion, as odd as it might sound. Whilst it doesn't take little to no damage unlike Gengar or Rhydon/Golem, it's often on a team that cannot fit either, and if it's awake, and at full HP, no non-critical hit explosion KOs, and very few Pokemon can then safely revenge kill it. Alakazam, Jolteon (and the basically never seen Electrode/Aerodactyl) can achieve this, although Alakazam is easily handled by almost any Psychic type or Chansey, whilst Jolteon is handled by Rhydon, Golem, and Chansey. Alakazam and Jolteon are certainly not desperately unpopular, but the fact that Tauros cannot safely revenge kill it means that in most situations, you can absorb an explosion without sacrificing a Pokemon or sacrificing an advantage in pace. Tauros is the best Pokemon in RBY (or possibly #2) since it's the best Pokemon at changing an advantage in pace into an advantage in material; due to its great coverage and high critical hit ratio, it is incredibly challenging to switch into, so, except when the opponent can pull off some exceedingly clever play and possibly not get unlucky, Tauros is there to guarantee a loss of a Pokemon versus the opponent. A common scenario is exploding an Exeggutor, Snorlax, Gengar, etc. early on during the match. It may fail to KO versus a lot of opponents (particularly if the Explosion doesn't critically hit), leaving for example a low HP (typically anything from 1-20%ish depending on the match etc.), often statused Pokemon remaining. Tauros can safely revenge kill anything in this scenario other than un-Paralyzed Starmie/Alakazam/Tauros/Jolteon/Gengar (might have missed something @_@), whilst anything else is either a less powerful/slower tauros or one with less coverage, making them much more easy to switch into.
A major rule of thumb of mine is never let Tauros get Paralyzed. A Paralyzed Tauros is much more easy to revenge kill, and more easy to chain switch versus, and less consistent due to any turn where it FP's.
I'm going to skip on a bit to look at how a battle works, but only really cover a couple of things in-depth, I don't have the willpower to try and cover EVERYTHING, but what I do cover I try and cover in detail.
Status Spread
This is probably the most significant aspect of an RBY battle; Rest is quite rare, Refresh and Heal Bell and Aromatherapy do not exist. Freeze is permanent (except for the very rare Haze/Fire moves, which are unlikely to be paired with a team intent on getting a Freeze). Sleep Talk does not exist, and you do nothing on your waking turn. You have an equal chance of having 0-6 turn Sleep + Wake up turn. Toxic is nearly unused since when you switch out, Toxic poisoning reverts to Regular Poisoning (doing 1/16 a time ad infinitum), although you may see it very rarely on Exeggutor or Zapdos. Burns are only inflicted by Flamethrower/Fire Blast, and some Pokemon such as Chansey, Slowbro, Starmie, and Alakazam would rather be burnt since it prevents them being otherwise inflicted with status, making Burns almost never seen.
And of course, there's Paralysis.
Thunder Wave is the main way of spreading Paralysis, with only Rhydon/Golem (and the ultra rare and pretty shit Nidoking/Sandslash) immune to it. Stun Spore Exeggutor can hit those though, and nothing is immune to Stun Spore, but it has frustrating 75% accuracy :(. Body Slam has a 30% chance to Paralyze anything other than normal types. In terms of the importance of status spread with Body Slam, Golem/Rhydon almost always run it, since it allows them to Paralyze their 2 most-common switchins (Exeggutor, and then Starmie).
With RBY, it's often a case of lead to get Sleep (a few players notably tend to save it for later on in the match), and then may or may not play for a Freeze, and then spread Paralysis.
Early Game
A lot is covered in the lead article I wrote for the Smog which I referred to earlier; however the lead choice is important as it's characteristic to the strategy of the team.
Sleep Lead vs Non-Sleep Lead. - if you go with a lead that does not directly spread Sleep, then you have to decide if you want to spread Paralysis initially, or spread Sleep with a non-lead (usually Exeggutor but I'll discuss Jynx momentarily). A quick summary of the match-ups:
- Gengar - Usually switch versus Starmie (usually to Chansey, rarely to Egg) [Starmie's crit Psychic which it's likely but not guarantee'd to be carrying OHKOs, critical hit Thunderbolt OHKOs mie, but you're outsped], Switch versus Alakazam (usually to Exeggutor, maybe Chansey; with Exeggutor you can still achieve Sleep fairly risk-free), Speed Tie and Hypnosis versus mirrors, Hypnosis vs Jynx, Exeggutor, Hypno. Jolteon, possibly run to Rhydon/Golem or Chansey, or stay in and Hypnosis. Gar is much less useful when Paralyzed though. Note that Exeggutor and the rarer Sing Chansey have great synergy versus Gengar, allowing you to get Sleep early on versus almost any match-up (the rare combination of Lead Alakazam/(maybe) Starmie+Non-lead Jynx/Hypno [very rare] is the only lead match-up that gets Sleep first versus Gar+2nd Sleeper).
- Jynx - Lovely Kiss versus Alakazam/Starmie/Exeggutor/Hypno/Mirrors, then spam Blizzard or switch; if you get slept in a mirror, usually head to your own Chansey. Versus Gengar, stay in and get slept unless you have anything else to absorb Sleep. Jynx is an impressive sleep absorber though. Versus gar you can optionally use Psychic, since that can 2HKO (OHKO on a crit iirc?) versus Gengar should it miss Hypnosis.
- Alakazam - Psychic or switch to Jynx/Hypno if you carry it versus Gar leads (crit Psychic OHKOs so gar very rarely would stay in there, too high risk for too low a reward); Thunder Wave is an option if you think they'll go Exeggutor, Psychic is better if they switch to chansey though and your intent is to beat it via Freezing, so consider that. Versus Exeggutor/Hypno/Jynx, Twave and then spam Seismic Toss until you're asleep. If you carry a non-lead sleeper you might want to just Seismic Toss to begin so that it can be slept by your own Jynx etc. You needn't be quite as wary about switching versus Exeggutor leads, since they usually carry Mega Drain (to pressure Mie that wants to stay in, and allows it to eat another Seismic Toss), but Stun Spore is a possibility. Versus Starmie/Alakazam leads, you might want to send out a Twave, but Jolteon/Starmie tends to be so scared of Paralysis that it runs away into Chansey - an Exeggutor switch here can be good for either side though [unless using Alakazam and facing Jolteon].
- Starmie - Blizzard vs Exeggutor and take Sleep, Twave and then spam Thunderbolt, or if no Tbolt, psychic, versus Jynx leads and take Sleep. Versus Hypno, Paralyze and take sleep and be wary of Thunder Wave when switching in - Chansey is a good switch in once Starmie's dozing. Versus opposing Alakazam, switch to Chansey or Exeggutor to take Paralysis and if Exeggutor or Sing Chansey, sleep in return. Versus opposing Starmie, some mix of Thunderbolt/Thunder Wave/Switching to Chansey depending on your set, the opponent, etc. Good god please don't let Starmie take paralysis early on in the match.
- Exeggutor/Hypno - Take Paralysis/Attacks vs Zam/Mie and use Sleep Powder, use/take sleep vs Hypno/Jynx/Gar/Exeggutor, sleep jolteon if hypno, run to Chansey if using egg.
- Jolteon - run from zam to chansey, pin missile and take sleep vs egg, twave/tbolt and take sleep vs jynx/hypno/gengar, versus Starmie either tbolt/twave (beware of chansey switch-in) or switch to something to take advantage of a Chansey switch (usually exeggutor).
Mid Game
The early game is something that you can almost learn by rote as it were, and based on your team structure you should have a plan versus each of those lead scenarios (exeggutor/hypno/jolteon aren't very important though, but I wanted to add in that extra detail not added in the smog article for completeness. Pretty much no other pokemon is used as a lead in serious top level RBY). The midgame is not something that you learn by rote, I guess perhaps like Chess that's where the game really starts, with one player usually slightly ahead or behind the other due to the initial status spread, how much damage was taken getting sleep if it was gotten at all.
Team Strategy
This obviously varies between teams, and I'm not going into as much detail on this section as other parts. For an example though, you could be designing your team to have Zapdos sweep late-game by removing the Rocks (and Jolteon), or to Paralyze or Sleep Chansey and Starmie so that Tobybro (the main variant of Slowbro, named after an admin of Azure Heights who created the set), or to sweep with some variant of Snorlax or Rhydon/Golem with heavy Paralysis support.
For example, you could pair a Zapdos with a Surflax (Standard Snorlax with Surf over Hyper Beam/Counter or Self-Destruct), since Rhydon/Golem often feel comfortable switching into it, and not much Else in OU, meaning that it's an easy option. However, if you fail to hit Surf on them upon the revelation of it, you've given away a lot of information to your opponent, and now they can keep the rocks around to prevent a Zapdos sweep - to prevent Zapdos from achieving nearly anything. Another method you could try is pairing Tobybro with it, since it can often cause Golem to explode upon it.
End-Game
The end game definitely varies a lot game to game, but the most common scenario of note is Tauros dittos; Body Slam x2 then Hyper Beam (depending on critical hits with the body slams, and what else remains on the opposing team upon deciding whether to Hyper Beam or choose something else. Honestly there's not too much to say, it usually comes down to sweeping the opponent after status is suitably spread/mons are suitably worn down, often a Tauros ditto, and if somehow both Tauroses (if indeed both players run one) are KO'd then it's a case of either outstalling or sweeping the opponent with another Pokemon. It's not terribly in-depth, but particularly with the change in paraslam mechanics making the mid-game less simple/explored, that leads to a similar circumstance in the endgame. It's worth noting that if you do end up in the scenario of a tauros ditto, you're unlikely to have any sensible means with which to switch in and gain an advantage; normally it's best to play the ditto out, it's the most consistent way to make opposing tauros less threatening. Snorlax can also take on Tauros in a 1v1 easily, and may also have Counter, Reflect, and/or Self-Destruct at its disposal to defeat Tauros successfully.
It helps to have a good grounding in probability, in order to maximise your opportunity to win in the end-game (this is what you do in any generation, but in RBY the probabilistic aspect always feels more explicit).
Teambuilding Heuristics
RBY teambuilding can be roughly formulaic, but the choice of the right Pokemon and the right movesets is often a slightly greater challenge. The basic formula is Lead / Exeggutor / Tauros / Snorlax / Chansey / Filler. It's rare that you should step away from this formula, but when you do, it's normal to simply change one or two of the Pokemon rather than the formulaic framework. For example, an option on a more offensive team is to run Victreebel over Exeggutor. It still offers status, but has a higher speed tier, Wrap, and a great Grass STAB in Razor Leaf that allows it to effectively hard counter Slowbro (although it can only OHKO from about 60% if I remember correctly). Slowbro is often run on a team without a Tauros, since it still provides an effective win condition, and can force out or Paralyze and beat Tauros in a 1v1. Beware when running slowbro to make sure you can reasonably handle Victreebel, Zapdos, and Jolteon, as Slowbro often opens up greater weaknesses to those. The only real substitute for Chansey is perhaps Alakazam - running non-Chansey is viable, but challenging. In my experience the biggest issue of running without a chansey is Starmie, particularly since it's not desperately uncommon to come across a rare Starmie variant (such as Surf, Hydro Pump, Hyper Beam, etc.) and it's the best overall answer to it, although a well-played slowbro early in the match can guarantee Paralysis on it. Another option in terms of not running Exeggutor is to carry a team that's generally aggressive versus Rocks, e.g. carrying Victreebel+Cloyster, but it's very difficult to easily function without one, since it provides so much (a ground resist allowing it to switch in versus Rhydon/Golem, useful even for very offensive teams, Sleeping outside of the lead spot, Explosion, and Psychic resistance - useful for removing Special Drops from Alakazam and Starmie's onslaughts). Snorlax is less mandatory than it used to be (pre-Crystal_'s discovery of the correct Body Slam mechanics) since it now no longer beats Chansey 1vs1 without either Chansey being Paralyzed or Snorlax carrying Amnesia + Ice Beam/Blizzard [Ice Beam gives you a greater shot at Freezing Chansey, but Blizzard can OHKO Rhydon/Golem at +6], but it acts as a primary method for most teams to batter Chansey with during the match (and if running it in a certain capacity, as a later-game sweeper too) - the most common solution to not running Snorlax perhaps is carrying the combination of Rhydon and Lapras [Rhydon is usually chosen over Golem in this scenario since it can consistently 2HKO Chansey with Earthquake, which makes it more threatening and more useful] due to their great defensive synergies (which are useful enough in the early game, but risk becoming predictable if you don't play suitably aggressively) combined with the fact they are both very threatening towards Chansey.
Some players might well have a different philosophy to their teambuilding [and these heuristics only refer to when building a general team rather than one for a specific player] and I'm interested to hear other's perspectives, but at least at a decent level, these guidelines should serve you well.
Final Words
I'd recommend reading the comments section of this article, where it was originally posted http://www.pokemonperfect.com/forums/showthread.php?3257-RBY-Guide
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