An Introduction to RBY STABmons

By Gangsta Spongebob. Released:2025/03/12
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An Introduction to RBY STABmons Art

Art by Gaboswampert.

Introduction

Have you ever felt disappointment at how few Normal-types in RBY get Slash? Or that an otherwise cool move like Gen 1 Crabhammer is relegated to a single Pokémon in Kingler? Or maybe you just want to see the world burn and want RBY Tauros to learn Explosion? If so, your prayers have been answered, in this funky metagame known as RBY STABmons.

In STABmons, Pokémon learn every move of their typing. So for example, every Normal-type now learns Body Slam and Slash, every Flying-type learns Mirror Move and Drill Peck, etc. Dual-typed Pokémon get all the moves from both their typings. Additionally, because Pokémon keep moves from their pre-evolution, Pokémon also keep moves from typings they "lose" upon evolving, though in RBY, only the Eeveelutions such as Jolteon and Vaporeon have this trait.

Of course, certain moves are too broken when given to the wider metagame, and thus, they have their distribution limited to just native users. All sleep moves besides Sleep Powder are restricted like this, as are partial-trapping moves except Fire Spin. For sleep, when judging each move on its own, Hypnosis is broken on fast Psychic-types like Alakazam and Starmie, Lovely Kiss and Sing are broken on a fast Pokémon that gains Normal-type moves like Jolteon, and Spore is, well, broken on anything with a halfway decent Speed stat. Only Sleep Powder doesn't break the metagame because every Grass-type besides the Paras line already gets it, though this does allow Exeggutor to use both Stomp and Sleep Powder together now. Partial trapping is in a similar situation, with Wrap and Bind being broken on fast Pokémon like Jolteon and Clamp on those like Starmie. Fire Spin is spared because the only Fire-types that lack it in vanilla RBY are Magmar and Arcanine, which aren't viable anyways.

As for Pokémon restrictions, there are only the obligatory Mew and Mewtwo. Mewtwo, despite gaining no remotely meaningful buffs besides Agility, would likely still be too powerful for STABmons due to its unparalleled stats. Mew on the other hand gains Amnesia and Agility, two moves that make it even more versatile, though its lower stats has led to arguments calling for it to be unbanned or at least tested. As of now, it mostly remains banned due to RBY convention because it was automatically banned, since STABmons first based its legality on RBY OU.


Normal

Even without Lovely Kiss, Sing, Wrap, and Bind, Normal is widely considered the most buffed type. Slash provides an instant 140-Base Power move that ignores Defense boosts when factoring its high critical hit ratio. Recover provides every Normal-type incredible staying power, especially with RBY giving it 32 PP. Glare, previously the signature move of Arbok, is a move that can paralyze every target, including Ground-types. While Thunder Wave is preferred because of Glare's poor accuracy and the rarity of Ground-types, both moves contribute to how difficult it is for Pokémon to remain unparalyzed in STABmons. Super Fang, previously only seen on Raticate, halves the target's HP, quickly wearing down even the bulkiest targets. Swords Dance, while lacking synergy with Slash due to critical hits ignoring Attack buffs in RBY, lets its user become an unwallable force with moves like Body Slam, Hyper Beam, and Earthquake. Although it's gimmicky and janky, Transform provides a unique way for some Pokémon to take on foes that would otherwise beat them one-on-one, especially if they have a higher HP stat.

However, Explosion is arguably the biggest buff and perhaps the most defining move of RBY STABmons. Snorlax's Self-Destruct in vanilla RBY is already an infamously powerful move, and now it and faster Pokémon have access to an even stronger attack. Many Normal-types like Tauros can simply trade with most foes they cannot beat, with even Normal-resistant Rock-types taking a hefty chunk. Explosion is so effective that setup move users struggle to compete and deal with Explosion's instant destructive capabilities.

Normal-type Pokémon

Tauros

Tauros
  • - Slash
  • - Explosion
  • - Earthquake / Glare
  • - Recover
  • - Swords Dance
  • - Body Slam
  • - Earthquake / Glare / Hyper Beam
  • - Explosion / Recover

The face of vanilla RBY OU, Tauros makes use of nearly every buff STABmons provides it with. Notably, it is among the fastest Explosion users in the game, letting it threaten instant annihilation the moment it hits the field, and it can be shockingly difficult to remove with its workable bulk and Recover. Slash Tauros uses its namesake move and Explosion to be an immediately threatening wallbreaker, coupled with Earthquake to hit Gengar or Glare to paralyze any troublesome check. Swords Dance Tauros needs a turn to set up to be threatening, but after that, it becomes truly unwallable. With its power, Speed, versatility, and longevity, Tauros is almost guaranteed to take out at least one opposing Pokémon. Tauros is so good that while it might seem enticing for it to immediately trade with Explosion, Tauros's other traits are often too good to pass up so quickly. With the ability to consistently take out multiple opposing Pokémon, finding the right time to unleash Tauros is key to its success.

Tauros does have a few limitations: it has four-moveslot syndrome on both sets, it loses a lot of its effectiveness when paralyzed, and Explosion becomes more predictable as Tauros gets paralyzed and loses HP. However, perhaps the biggest loss to Tauros is that it's not considered the best Pokémon anymore, with Starmie instead being the #1 Pokémon of RBY STABmons, though the difference in viability is contentious and hard to ascertain when both are essentially mandatory. While being #2 is a massive fall from grace, Tauros is excellent and seen on nearly every serious team, so it remains a top-tier threat and a real contender for #1.

Kangaskhan

Kangaskhan

Kangaskhan, which usually uses exactly zero of its native moves, is essentially diet Slash Tauros, using its great Attack and similarly excellent movepool to act as a potent wallbreaker. It is set apart with its great physical bulk, making it a better answer to foes such as Snorlax. Kangaskhan can be similarly devastating as Tauros, notably with its powerful STAB Explosion, but is held back from reaching Tauros's heights as a result of its middling Speed and atrocious Special. Despite this, since Kangaskhan cannot be OHKOed by any attack that isn't a STAB Explosion or a powerful critical-hit special attack like Alakazam's Psychic, Kangaskhan still generally trades at worst and thus is generally considered the second-best Normal-type in STABmons.

Since it isn't as important as Tauros, Kangaskhan also can try doing wackier things. Counter can notably surprise opposing Slash users with heavy damage, and Defense Curl has seen historic use for taking on Swords Dance users, though it has fallen off as Swords Dance Snorlax declined in usage. Transform sets remain an option, albeit an extreme gimmick.

Snorlax

Snorlax
  • - Slash / Body Slam
  • - Earthquake / Glare
  • - Explosion / Glare
  • - Recover
  • - Swords Dance
  • - Body Slam
  • - Earthquake / Hyper Beam
  • - Explosion / Recover

Snorlax has had a small fall from grace from vanilla RBY. While its power and bulk have only been augmented by new tools like Explosion and Recover, its terrible Speed holds it back significantly more, since players now have no shortage of Explosion users to take Snorlax out, which is an especially big issue with RBY's KO mechanics, as even if Snorlax survives an Explosion, it won't have the chance to use Recover to get out of KO range. Snorlax's Speed also makes it a poor user of Slash, with it only having a 46% critical-hit rate using the move. The higher power level does no favors to Snorlax either, with Starmie's Crabhammer notably 2HKOing it more often than not. Additionally, one of Snorlax's staples in standard OU, Reflect, sees little use in STABmons due to the format's faster pace and the prevalence of Slash.

Despite these issues, Snorlax's sheer power, bulk, and versatility let it remain a force to be reckoned with. With significantly higher bulk compared to Tauros and Kangaskhan, especially on the special side, Explosion and Swords Dance sets are extremely hard to remove without Snorlax making significant progress, making it extremely dangerous once the opponent starts running low on Explosion users. Snorlax may not be top 3 anymore, but it remains an effective pick.

Chansey

Chansey

Compared to vanilla RBY, Chansey has had a very hard time. Chansey is just not using Swords Dance, Slash, and Explosion with its miniscule base 5 Attack. It also hates the prevalence of these moves with its paltry base 5 Defense. While Chansey may seem like an excellent Transform user thanks to its gargantuan HP, critical hits actually ignore the changed stats in RBY. So in janky RBY fashion, a transformed Chansey receives and delivers Slash as though it never transformed at all, and it even uses its original critical hit rate when attacking.

However, Chansey still retains its immense special bulk, making it STABmons's best special wall. It notably walls Starmie, the #1 Pokémon on the viability rankings right now. Chansey also has a bevy of still-useful tools at its disposal. Thunder Wave and Super Fang are as effective as ever, especially with the turns Chansey gets by forcing out special attackers. Recover is also a strict upgrade to Soft-Boiled with double the PP, though this is less likely to matter in STABmons. Chansey also has some niche options, such as Sing to fish for sleep and Counter to punish the Normal-type spam Chansey otherwise despises. Because RBY is RBY, Counter can even work against a previous turn's Explosion if the opponent switches their Pokémon, since the move only checks if the last attack the opponent's Pokémon used was a Normal- or Fighting-type move. Chansey struggles with the fact that most special attackers besides Starmie carry Explosion, though forcing a foe like Exeggutor to trade can easily be a win if the player plans properly.

Clefable

Clefable

Clefable is the most basic Normal-type in STABmons, using the obligatory Slash, Recover, and Explosion combo that most Normal-types use, with Thunder Wave as a better Glare. Its stats are mediocre but hardly unusable, with Clefable's special bulk notably making it a far stronger check to Exeggutor; unlike Tauros and Kangaskhan, Clefable isn't 2HKOed by Razor Leaf, and unlike Snorlax, Clefable outspeeds Exeggutor. However, Clefable's noticeably worse physical bulk makes it worse at taking on Explosion and Slash users. Beyond an inability to hurt Gengar on its standard set, Clefable's biggest weakness is its lack of a broken factor. Between Kangaskhan's and especially Tauros's great stats and Snorlax's bulk, Clefable struggles to make a name for itself among the other extremely competitive Normal-types. However, Clefable's balance of stats gives it strong upsides over all these Pokémon except Tauros, granting it a niche.

Ironically enough, Clefable is arguably the most versatile Normal-type besides maybe Snorlax. While it absolutely hates dropping any of its core 4 moves, it has options like Psychic to threaten Gengar and Sing to fish for sleep. Counter is another unique tool that can help Clefable punish Slash and even Explosion usage just like Chansey and Snorlax can. Clefable may be generally less viable than the other Normal-types, but it has some of the highest potential to surprise the opponent as well.

Jolteon

Jolteon

Jolteon gains nothing from its Electric typing and thus can be grouped with Normal-types due to it enjoying many of their moveset additions. Jolteon would be by far the best Pokémon in STABmons without moveset restrictions, with its blistering fast base 130 Speed making the additions of Lovely Kiss, Wrap, and Swords Dance absolutely broken.

Even without those overpowered moves, Jolteon's Speed, natural access to Thunder Wave and Thunderbolt, and additions of Super Fang and Explosion make it an instantly powerful progress maker, with it notably being far more threatening to foes such as Exeggutor than it is in vanilla RBY. Jolteon is most commonly seen as a lead, though it's also very effective in the back as a strong revenge killer. Jolteon greatly enjoys Ground-types being far rarer, with it now lacking any common hard walls. Jolteon's only real flaw is its mediocre bulk combined with only an average offensive prowess, making it a terrible Recover user and leaving it struggling to outdamage foes such as Tauros and Gengar. However, Jolteon's amazing Speed and great utility give it a niche no other Pokémon can accomplish in STABmons.

Other Normal-types

There are a few Normal-types that are on the rise but have yet to truly yet to stand with the big dogs in this metagame. Dodrio is similar to Tauros, but it struggles due to its poor bulk and weaknesses to Blizzard and Thunderbolt. Persian is even faster than Tauros, but it suffers from a mediocre Attack and limited means to threaten Gengar, forcing it to rely on Super Fang, though the move does have plenty of merits elsewhere.

Flareon, like Jolteon, gains nothing from its Fire typing but gets many useful tools from Eevee, notably an Explosion coming from a base 130 Attack. Flareon is hardly a metagame staple due to its bad physical bulk and Speed, but it is among the best Exeggutor answers around. It is able to tank Exeggutor's powerful special attacks thanks to its high Special and Recover, and it can threaten Exeggutor back with a brutally powerful Fire Blast.


Water

Water is arguably the second most buffed type, all thanks to one move, Crabhammer. With 90 Base Power, a high critical-hit rate, and a STAB boost, it has an effective Base Power of over 260! In vanilla RBY, it is stuck with Kingler and its measly base 50 Special, but now, every Water-type gets access to this truly absurd move.

Water-type Pokémon

Starmie

Starmie

Despite the mountain of buffs given to Normal-types, it is ultimately Starmie that is considered #1 on the STABmons viability rankings. This is in large part thanks to its powerful Crabhammer, which is strong enough to even 2HKO Snorlax. Starmie's movepool remains exceptional, with Blizzard to take on Exeggutor, Thunderbolt for opposing Water-types, Recover to stay healthy, notably making it a great check to Crabhammer users, and Thunder Wave to slow down the opposition. This is all rounded out by Starmie's amazing Speed getting the jump on even Tauros, letting it threaten most of the metagame with brutal damage or paralysis before they can even act.

Starmie has a few flaws, namely that it can't fit everything it wants on its set, is walled by a few Pokémon like Chansey, and dislikes being paralyzed, especially since its bulk actually is pretty mediocre. Additionally, since it can't OHKO most foes, a lot of the time, it can just be KOed with Explosion to force a trade. Regardless, Starmie is amazing and is used on virtually every serious team. Ironically, while it loves its Psychic typing defensively, it rarely uses Psychic-type moves. Psychic is a pretty mediocre coverage move; the prevalence of Psychic-types and Amnesia is hard to justify in such a paralysis- and Explosion-heavy metagame when the instant power of Crabhammer is available.

Vaporeon

Vaporeon

Vaporeon is perhaps the luckiest Pokémon in STABmons, gaining the best of both Water- and Normal-type moves. While Vaporeon isn't a great user of moves like Slash due to its lack of a Normal typing, it still makes excellent use of options like Glare, Super Fang, and Recover, and Explosion hits hard regardless of a lack of STAB. On the Water-type side, Vaporeon's Crabhammer is as brutal as Starmie's. With its immense bulk and great movepool making its gameplan very flexible, Vaporeon can act as an all-purpose tank capable of taking on nearly every Pokémon that isn't an Electric-type, as it can KO its foe, force it to use Explosion, or leave it easy pickings for a teammate. What prevents Vaporeon from being a top-tier Pokémon is its Speed, making it not that difficult to overwhelm when faced with Explosion and Slash spam. Its typing has some gaps as well, notably against Thunderbolt users and Exeggutor's Razor Leaf.

Vaporeon notably gets many moves that are extremely gimmicky but can catch an unsuspecting player off-guard. Vaporeon is arguably the best user of Transform, since unlike Chansey, all of its natural stats are workable enough. Vaporeon can also try using Growth to act as a budget Amnesia sweeper, through that means it'd give up everyone's favorite hammer of crustacean origin.

Other Water-types

Other Water-types have had some experimentation, but most falter against Starmie's bevy of excellent traits or Vaporeon's versatility and bulk. Cloyster is the most promising so far, with it having immense physical bulk, Clamp, and of course, its own Explosion. Gyarados is another potential threat, loving both Crabhammer and the ability to make use of its Flying typing with Drill Peck, but it struggles to take on the plethora of faster physical attackers and Thunderbolt users.


Psychic

At first glance, RBY STABmons sounds dead on arrival once you give all Psychic-types perhaps the most broken boosting move of all time, Gen 1 Amnesia. However, while Amnesia is extremely powerful, it's hardly a contender for the most broken addition to Pokémon's movepools. Alongside the prevalence of paralysis and Explosion, many Psychic-types gain new STAB moves with high critical-hit rates that they'd rather use, which also makes Amnesia's defensive boosts less useful. Additionally, many Psychic-types have limited coverage, making it harder for them to easily sweep. However, this isn't to say Amnesia is useless, as a boosted Psychic is capable of ripping apart even Psychic-resistant foes. Other useful additions include the very situational Barrier and the shockingly powerful Agility. Psychic-types aren't massively buffed, at least by their Psychic typing in the case of Pokémon like Starmie and Exeggutor, but their naturally great traits let them remain top-tier threats.

Psychic-type Pokémon

Exeggutor

Exeggutor

Widely considered mandatory on most teams, Exeggutor absolutely loves one new addition STABmons has gifted it: Razor Leaf. Landing a critical hit about 86% of the time, it shreds tier king Starmie while also dealing huge damage against the metagame's plethora of Normal-types. Exeggutor's typing also makes it among the few Pokémon able to switch into Starmie's Crabhammer, while its titanic bulk makes it effective at trading blows with Starmie and many other foes. These traits make Exeggutor STABmons's best sleeper, easily finding entry points against an opposing team, and it commonly goes two-for-one with Sleep Powder and Explosion. Exeggutor is so powerful that it is often tasked with checking itself after Sleep Clause is active, since few other Pokémon can easily handle its power and coverage. Razor Leaf isn't the only new tool in Exeggutor's disposal, with Agility shoring up Exeggutor's one weakness, its low Speed, turning it into even more of a terrifying threat. Apart from Agility, Exeggutor also has speed control in Stun Spore, which is also very effective at spreading paralysis, given that it functions the same as Glare.

Exeggutor's main flaws are its middling Speed and four-moveslot syndrome. As great as Exeggutor is, it's a massive hindrance that any foe with over base 55 Speed can revenge kill it once it's weakened. The bevy of faster Explosion users is also a huge concern, especially since Exeggutor commonly tries to go two-for-one. This and the fact that Exeggutor's only other notable special attack is Mega Drain are the reasons why it wouldn't be caught dead using Amnesia. Agility shores up Exeggutor's Speed, but it comes at the cost of Stun Spore or Psychic, a lack of which limits Exeggutor's ability to threaten its targets.

Alakazam

Alakazam

Alakazam has a hard time in STABmons, with it despising the powerful physical attacks Normal-types get and the spam of Glare and Thunder Wave. Additionally, as great as its Special is, Alakazam has a hard time taking repeated usage of Crabhammer and Razor Leaf from its fellow Psychic-types. What Alakazam does have is its amazing Speed, letting it function as an effective paralysis spreader that even the lightning-fast Tauros and Starmie can't outpace. It is a solid lead, able to force paralysis on sleep inducers, and if it gets paralyzed, it can act as a decent check to certain foes such as Exeggutor and Chansey while acting as a decent sleep blocker.

Alakazam's immense Special and Amnesia can make it a threatening wallbreaker if it can find an opening, though this is mostly a result of Alakazam lacking any coverage. Alakazam can also make use of Counter. Like Chansey, it can use its bad physical bulk to bait Slash users or do the most RBY thing ever and use Counter following a previous turn's Explosion. Alakazam's niches are very specific in STABmons compared to its excellence in vanilla RBY, but it is very effective at what it can do.

Jynx

Jynx

Jynx functions very similarly to how it works in vanilla RBY, using its good Speed and acceptably accurate Lovely Kiss to inform the opposition it's naptime. Jynx is arguably the best user of Amnesia, since it creates setup opportunities for itself. Jynx is hardly a metagame staple, however, largely owing to its inability to threaten Starmie when Sleep Clause is active and terrible physical bulk that lets it get 2HKOed by most Slash users. On the bright side, Jynx can use this terrible physical bulk to do the same Counter shenanigans as Chansey and Alakazam.

Other Psychic-types:

With most of the fully evolved Psychic-types already being mentioned here, most of the remaining ones just can't cut it. Hypno has decent bulk and access to Hypnosis and Thunder Wave, but no coverage and mediocre Speed prevent it from doing much of anything other Pokémon can't already do. Slowbro has great coverage, Thunder Wave, and Amnesia, but being as slow as Snorlax while being reliant on setting up to do major damage isn't a good combination.


Ghost

The pool of Ghost-types is very small, with only three in the game, all of which are in the Gastly line. Their pool of moves is in a similar situation, with only three moves that they already get. However, Ghost is actually one of the most buffed types in STABmons, just indirectly. With even Rock-types struggling to tank the numerous STAB Explosion users, Ghost-types hold a valuable niche as the only Pokémon that can switch into those moves while taking exactly zero damage. Ghost-types can also wall mono-Normal attackers, being the sole reason why many Normal-types like Tauros carry Earthquake. These Pokémon may have gotten virtually no tangible buffs, but it's the intangible that counts for Ghost-types.

Ghost-type Pokémon

Gengar

Gengar

Gengar's Normal immunity combined with its high Speed, huge Special, Hypnosis, and Explosion makes it one of STABmons's metagame staples. Access to Thunderbolt notably lets it threaten Starmie as well. Gengar does actually get a tiny buff from its Poison typing, that being Sludge, which can sometimes 3HKO Exeggutor and put more pressure on foes such as Alakazam, Jynx, and Chansey than Night Shade and special attacks can.

Regardless, Gengar's Poison typing is still a huge detriment, forcing it to think twice when switching into many Normal-types it'd otherwise wall. Gengar's damage output outside of Explosion can sometimes be mediocre as well, which it dislikes using early on because doing so could let Normal-types use Explosion unimpeded. Lastly, Gengar's importance fluctuates as BoomSpam rises and falls in popularity. Explosion has actually seen a slight decline, going from being considered banworthy to just extremely powerful, as Psychic-types like Exeggutor and Starmie have risen in prominence. Regardless, players will likely never see a team that doesn't have at least one Explosion user, and most teams have multiple. As long as Explosion continues to remain a cornerstone of this metagame, Gengar will hold an essential niche in STABmons and is a prime example of the unique strategies that have developed here.

Other Ghost-types:

Haunter has the tiniest niche in STABmons as a mini-Gengar. While it is worse than Gengar in every way, it can still switch into Explosion and wall mono-Normal attackers just as well while threatening foes with its own Hypnosis and Explosion. A backup Gengar is nice, and sometimes players can have Gengar faint to bait an Explosion from a foe that thought the coast was clear, which alongside being a powerful net gain is also absolutely hilarious. However, Haunter is a massive gimmick and shouldn't be seen as anything remotely close to a common threat. Players generally get more mileage by just keeping Gengar healthy and using a Pokémon that isn't just a worse version of what you're already running. As of this writing, a triple Ghost-type team with Gastly has yet to be tested.


Flying

The main buff Flying-types get is Drill Peck, a decent but unremarkable 80-Base Power STAB move that a surprisingly small number of Pokémon in vanilla RBY gets. Mirror Move is the only other noteworthy tool, a unreliable option that can sometimes take advantage of foes using moves like Recover. Most good Flying-types either get buffed by another one of their types or operate similarly as they do in vanilla RBY.

Flying-type Pokémon

Zapdos

Zapdos

Since it already gets Drill Peck and Mirror Move is not very useful to it, Zapdos seems to operate basically the same as in standard OU. However, many metagame shifts work in Zapdos's favor. Ground-types being less common means there are fewer walls for Zapdos to deal with, while Water-types that fall victim to Zapdos's powerful Thunderbolt are more common. Despite the higher power level, Zapdos's defensive profile remains quite excellent; it isn't 2HKOed by Tauros's Slash, takes very little from Exeggutor's Razor Leaf while not minding Psychic too much, and is among the few Pokémon that isn't 2HKOed by Starmie's Crabhammer while not even resisting Water. These changes let Zapdos remain an effective Agility sweeper as it is in vanilla RBY. However, Zapdos can sometimes falter against the increased power of STABmons. After all, it never had to contend with Tauros blowing itself up before, which scores a clean OHKO.

Dragonite

Dragonite

Dragonite gains nothing from its Dragon typing, with it already gaining the type's sole crappy attack in Dragon Rage. However, it finally has a good STAB move in Drill Peck to complement its immense Attack stat, providing "fun" AgiliWrap sets with a powerful finisher. Notably, Drill Peck prevents Dragonite from being walled by Gengar. Dragonite also has good matchups into notable foes such as Exeggutor and Starmie lacking Blizzard. However, as a whole, Dragonite hasn't changed substantially from vanilla RBY.

Aerodactyl

Aerodactyl

Gaining good STAB options in Drill Peck and Rock Slide, Aerodactyl can finally pose a real threat, especially with its high critical-hit rate and amazing Speed. Mirror Move is another useful tool, letting it duel Recover users more effectively. However, Aerodactyl does struggle to keep up with STABmons's increased power. Gaining decent STAB moves made Aerodactyl, like, an actual competent Pokémon, while already good Pokémon like Starmie and Tauros got buffed into the stratosphere. Notably, Aerodactyl struggles to actually get past Normal-types with Recover, since it can't easily 2HKO them, and it's obliterated by Starmie's Crabhammer.

Other Flying-types:

Flying-types like Articuno and Moltres appreciate the additions of Drill Peck and Mirror Move to their movesets, but like Aerodactyl, they struggle to keep up with the bevy of powerful threats STABmons has created.


Other Types

A few types gain nothing new, with most or all useful moves already being widely distributed. Firstly, besides the aforementioned Arcanine and Magmar snagging Fire Spin, Fire-types don't gain anything new. Well that's not entirely true, since Moltres and Rapidash now get Flamethrower, something they didn't learn until GSC for some reason. Ground is in a similar camp, with all Ground-types already learning Earthquake, as is Electric, with every Electric-type already learning Thunderbolt, Thunder, and Thunder Wave, and Ice, with all Ice-types already learning Ice Beam and Blizzard.

Secondly, there are types that have all their moves just plain suck. Bug-types gaining actual STAB moves could've helped them pose a threat to Psychic-types, but these moves are the pitifully weak Twineedle and Pin Missile, all on Pokémon that have middling stats. All Poison-types gain Sludge, which is largely useless outside of the very specific uses the aforementioned Gengar has for it, and most Poison-types have terrible stats anyways.

However, there are a few types that have useful but rare moves get widely distributed in STABmons, but they still end up getting the short end of the stick either due to the Pokémon of those types still being bad or all notable examples of that type already being mentioned above.

Grass: With them already getting Sleep Powder and being denied Spore, the only notable move Grass-types get is Razor Leaf. The aforementioned Exeggutor makes amazing use of it to cut up Starmie, and the unchanged Victreebel is functional but unremarkable, but the remaining Grass-types already get it and can't keep up or still suck even with this buff.

Fighting: All Fighting-types get High Jump Kick, which in Gen 1 has 85 Base Power and does 1 HP of recoil when it misses because RBY. This could help them threaten the Normal-types if not for the fact that Fighting-types still have crappy stats and are walled by Psychic-types. Poliwrath has seen some experimentation, but it's quite bleak for the rest.

Rock: Despite gaining nothing new, Rhydon and Golem were initially seen as good Explosion answers like Gengar, though it was quickly apparent this was not the case. In reality, their inability to 2HKO Normal-types, which could simply spam Recover, made them actually lose to most of them one-on-one. They also took significant damage from Explosion, had terrible matchups into Starmie and Exeggutor, and were quite exploitable due to their low Speed. Golem has some uses checking Electric-types and Dodrio, switching into Explosion in a pinch, and wallbreaking with its own Explosion, but it's still quite niche.

Omastar and Kabutops gain Rock Slide and notably Crabhammer to threaten Normal-types, though they still completely falter against Exeggutor and Starmie. Neither are helped by their mediocre Speed either. The Rock-types have some potential, but they generally are fringe picks due to matching up poorly against so much of the metagame.


Conclusion:

Despite the absurd options gifted to certain Pokémon, RBY STABmons remains a fast-paced and fun metagame with a ton of depth, made unique by interactions and dynamics never seen elsewhere. Developed extensively by the tournaments Saber and Saber II, RBY STABmons continues to evolve and even had analyses open up recently. If you're interested in playing, here is a link to the RBY STABmons resources, as well as RBYcord where you can challenge other players. Otherwise, thanks for reading, and have a great day.

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