Loaded samples during that run, but whatever Elo Bandit puts as their VR consider that mine as well since we teamed for rbyompl.
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Other Tiers RBY Other Metas Hub
- Thread starter Volk
- Start date
Brief RBY 1v1 tier list and meta thoughts
I got halfway through writing explanations for the A tiers before I realized I just don't care. I unabashedly think this meta is awful and combines the worst parts of both RBY and 1v1. Nothing below B tier is worth actually loading, since they're all ridiculous matchup fishes (Gengar, Sandslash), worse versions of higher tier mons (Zapdos, Articuno, Cloyster) one-time use lures (Persian), or Bad (Rhydon, Machamp). You could honestly ignore B tier too since the gap between them and the A tier in terms of matchup spread and reliability is so big. The 5 at the top are far and away better than everything else and it makes building stale and actually playing the game some kind of nightmarish 16-bit groundhog's day where you relive the same previews over and over. RBY's penchant for high variance does this tier no favors since unlike 6v6 there is no room to play around unfortunate luck, meaning that the absolute best, most concrete matchups are like 70/30 odds. This tier fails as 1v1 because of how few viable mons there are and how small their movepools are, leaving almost no room for any interesting lures. Just to squeeze any amount of novelty or surprise factor out you are forced to resort to things like Growl Persian, which beat one or maybe two mons and then force you to choose from three 1-2 matchups in game. The highest level of skill expression in RBY 1v1 is how well you can navigate the Snorlax/Alakazam/Jolteon preview. I would not recommend this tier be included in future editions of RBYOMPL.
I got halfway through writing explanations for the A tiers before I realized I just don't care. I unabashedly think this meta is awful and combines the worst parts of both RBY and 1v1. Nothing below B tier is worth actually loading, since they're all ridiculous matchup fishes (Gengar, Sandslash), worse versions of higher tier mons (Zapdos, Articuno, Cloyster) one-time use lures (Persian), or Bad (Rhydon, Machamp). You could honestly ignore B tier too since the gap between them and the A tier in terms of matchup spread and reliability is so big. The 5 at the top are far and away better than everything else and it makes building stale and actually playing the game some kind of nightmarish 16-bit groundhog's day where you relive the same previews over and over. RBY's penchant for high variance does this tier no favors since unlike 6v6 there is no room to play around unfortunate luck, meaning that the absolute best, most concrete matchups are like 70/30 odds. This tier fails as 1v1 because of how few viable mons there are and how small their movepools are, leaving almost no room for any interesting lures. Just to squeeze any amount of novelty or surprise factor out you are forced to resort to things like Growl Persian, which beat one or maybe two mons and then force you to choose from three 1-2 matchups in game. The highest level of skill expression in RBY 1v1 is how well you can navigate the Snorlax/Alakazam/Jolteon preview. I would not recommend this tier be included in future editions of RBYOMPL.
I intend to explain exactly none of this but fun tier even if it's a bit silly, there's a lot more depth here than others have implied and its got the most movepool options of any rby tier
Generally would not use anything below B unless its for hyperspecific teams or just to tech ppl with certain funny sets but I think they're all bringable once in a long while
tauros is broken bc it wins pretty much every mu 30% of the time at minimum, i loaded it every game past week 1, i forget if i did that week 1 too but if i didnt i should've, lax/zam/jolt/chansey good too, egg's made me start telling my friends fun facts about toxic interactions in rby, arti beats tauros pretty well so i think its good, mie i like more in bw, zap/slowbro/rhydon i used at points and enjoyed, the rest i'd feel bad breaking a low-tier's heart by not ranking them(but i probably missed some guys). tier is fun
Updated Importable VR Sets: https://pokepast.es/8a0f520743988579
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Here's an RBY 1v1 VR. This was put together fairly haphazardly. Not really sure if this VR should count towards the aggregate, given my fairly low activity with this tier, but I felt like making one. I might make some changes later, especially if I get the chance to review the games and usage stats from RBYOMPL.
Some miscellaneous thoughts:
About a week or two into RBYOMPL, I raised the idea that Tauros might just be the best Pokemon in RBY 1v1, and certainly top 3. Seeing the VRs above, it seems like this was not as clever of an idea as I thought. Tauros doesn't have an obscenely dominating matchup spread, but it really truly doesn't "lose" to like... anything. When I watch 1v1 games, especially live ones, I like to predict which Pokemon each player will select, as I assume many spectators do. I was kind of shocked how often I found myself thinking "Tauros is probably just the best bring here." And it seems many players felt similarly, as I feel like I saw Tauros get sent out a lot. As implied above, the only real downside to it is that it doesn't really dominate any one important matchup, so it can be a little weird in the builder. But in exchange, you get to run the get-out-of-jail free card when the matchup looks bad. Tauros is legitimately probably bannable, but I don't think that pursuit is on the docket right now, given the activity of the tier and the seeming absence of complaints so far. I don't plan to petition for this, but the thought did cross my mind.
Snorlax is really good and has a ton of viable sets. Only pointing it out here because of how safe of a bring it usually is. After Tauros, it was the most likely Pokemon for me to assess as the safest bring in a given matchup.
I don't know if it was just the games I remember watching, but it seemed like these two lost a lot. Neither is particularly great into the top 3 Pokemon, all of whom are kind of "safe picks," so I don't think they themselves are great picks overall. I like the matchup spreads of Pokemon like Amnesia Thunderbolt Snorlax, Chansey, or Articuno better, even if they aren't directly comparable. I think Jolteon gets the edge between the two because it wins the head-to-head and has higher BS potential with the insanely high Speed.
I like how the template I used randomly has 3D Slowbro on it. Is this the only true "answer" to Alakazam? Kind of feels like it. Though it is very underwhelming into almost everything else relevant.
Rhydon is basically useless, but it will own the electric-type Pokemon, if you really need to deter them.
Articuno is probably better, but I was actually pretty impressed by what Lapras was able to muscle through during the tournament, especially thanks to Confuse Ray. Silly move.
I may add more comments later, but that's all for now. Cheers!
edit: It's not pictured, but I added Jynx, Cloyster, and Gengar to the end of my VR, in that order.
Some miscellaneous thoughts:
About a week or two into RBYOMPL, I raised the idea that Tauros might just be the best Pokemon in RBY 1v1, and certainly top 3. Seeing the VRs above, it seems like this was not as clever of an idea as I thought. Tauros doesn't have an obscenely dominating matchup spread, but it really truly doesn't "lose" to like... anything. When I watch 1v1 games, especially live ones, I like to predict which Pokemon each player will select, as I assume many spectators do. I was kind of shocked how often I found myself thinking "Tauros is probably just the best bring here." And it seems many players felt similarly, as I feel like I saw Tauros get sent out a lot. As implied above, the only real downside to it is that it doesn't really dominate any one important matchup, so it can be a little weird in the builder. But in exchange, you get to run the get-out-of-jail free card when the matchup looks bad. Tauros is legitimately probably bannable, but I don't think that pursuit is on the docket right now, given the activity of the tier and the seeming absence of complaints so far. I don't plan to petition for this, but the thought did cross my mind.
Snorlax is really good and has a ton of viable sets. Only pointing it out here because of how safe of a bring it usually is. After Tauros, it was the most likely Pokemon for me to assess as the safest bring in a given matchup.
I don't know if it was just the games I remember watching, but it seemed like these two lost a lot. Neither is particularly great into the top 3 Pokemon, all of whom are kind of "safe picks," so I don't think they themselves are great picks overall. I like the matchup spreads of Pokemon like Amnesia Thunderbolt Snorlax, Chansey, or Articuno better, even if they aren't directly comparable. I think Jolteon gets the edge between the two because it wins the head-to-head and has higher BS potential with the insanely high Speed.
I like how the template I used randomly has 3D Slowbro on it. Is this the only true "answer" to Alakazam? Kind of feels like it. Though it is very underwhelming into almost everything else relevant.
Rhydon is basically useless, but it will own the electric-type Pokemon, if you really need to deter them.
Articuno is probably better, but I was actually pretty impressed by what Lapras was able to muscle through during the tournament, especially thanks to Confuse Ray. Silly move.
I may add more comments later, but that's all for now. Cheers!
edit: It's not pictured, but I added Jynx, Cloyster, and Gengar to the end of my VR, in that order.
Attachments
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Monotype Other Metagames has kicked off a subproject to develop RBY Monotype: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/rby-monotype-megathread.3773185/
Personal Revelationmons VR and Notes on the Meta 
Revmons has had almost no discussion for a while now outside of the discord (which in itself is sparse) so I wanna change that since I have a lot of thoughts on this format and think it needs drastic changes to be competitive.
It it's current state, Gen 1 Revmons is an extremely centralized meta where matches are very often decided by RNG and matchup moreso than play since so many of the top tiers have such extremely strong STAB with so few answers that not only does every team have to have those very few answers but even those answers can either be inconsistent or flawed in other regards making being consistent a nightmare.
Before getting into mons specifically I want to note how teambuilding generally goes since again it's extremely centralized:
Every team has Zapdos and Exeggutor
Almost every team has a Starmie though a select few can run Alakazam instead
Almost every team has either a Rhydon or Golem.
Having a big 4 like this isn't that bad in itself, but Snorlax is probably also mandatory which is a more recent development and having such centralization only works when it builds a consistent skill based meta. Zapdos is a nightmare I'll get more into in the next section but Starmie in a meta where Chansey is at best mid tier is difficult to justify as well.
Zapdos
Ability: No Ability
- Thunderbolt
- Thunder
- Thunder Wave
- Agility
Ability: No Ability
- Thunderbolt
- Thunder
- Thunder Wave
- Agility
Zapdos is by far the biggest offender; Zapdos gets a lot of opportunities to come in and has very few options to beat it all of which are very flawed. There are only 4 Mons than can switch in on Zap all of which are very flawed in one way or another, those being Rhydon, Golem, Chansey and Jolteon. Jolteon is hard to fit since you're gonna almost certainly be using it alongside Zap, Chansey invites in terrifying physical attackers I'll get into later and Rhydon / Golem don't beat it consistently and are often either losing the 1v1 or left at extremely low HP. This is due to the mechanic of the Physical Special split not applying to moves changing their type this allowing Flying type Thunder to be a Special move which is very scary for what's supposed to be the consistent check.
Zapdos Thunder vs. Rhydon: 119-141 (28.8 - 34.1%) -- 1.7% chance to 3HKO
Zapdos Thunder vs. Golem: 108-127 (29.7 - 34.9%) -- 14.3% chance to 3HKO
Zapdos Thunder vs. Golem: 108-127 (29.7 - 34.9%) -- 14.3% chance to 3HKO
These might seem bad but when they're your only good defense against Zapdos and they need to come in many times per match it adds so much inconsistency. Zap is impossible to consistently deal with and this is a meta which cannot afford the volatility of a Pokemon like this because again it's not the only one it's just the most prominent. Zapdos has to be banned.
Snorlax
Ability: No Ability
- Body Slam
- Hyper Beam
- Self-Destruct
- Earthquake
Ability: No Ability
- Body Slam
- Hyper Beam
- Self-Destruct
- Earthquake
I have much less to say on Snorlax since it's basically the same as OU just in a meta with fewer tools to deal with it. Being slow is still a big weakness but it's just absurdly consistent and will always make progress. With the potential bans detailed in the next section it might be manageable. Possibly banworthy, we should keep an eye on it, but the others are a higher priority.
Scyther
Ability: No Ability
- Slash
- Hyper Beam
- Agility
- Swords Dance
Kabutops
Ability: No Ability
- Slash
- Hyper Beam
- Swords Dance
- Surf
Aerodactyl
Ability: No Ability
- Double-Edge
- Hyper Beam
- Substitute
- Fire Blast
Ability: No Ability
- Slash
- Hyper Beam
- Agility
- Swords Dance
Kabutops
Ability: No Ability
- Slash
- Hyper Beam
- Swords Dance
- Surf
Aerodactyl
Ability: No Ability
- Double-Edge
- Hyper Beam
- Substitute
- Fire Blast
The secondary villains of this meta. To give a brief overview of them, they are the devilish physical attackers I've briefly mentioned before. All 3 rely on being both powerful and having very specific checks further strangling teambuilding and adding a lot of inconsistently.
Scyther is the worst offender, getting a surprising number of opportunities to come in, its Slash doing absurd damage to anything that doesn't resist if not OHKOing in the case of anything weak to it. Scyther's only switch-ins are Zapdos who's inconsistent being 4HKOd by Slash and outsped while also being scared of Hyper Beam in many situations, or Aerodactyl who does beat Scyther pretty hard but isn't a super splashable mon. All of this is ignoring setup which makes Scyther impossible to deal with consistently if they can get it. Scyther has to be Banned.
Kabutops either OHKOs or 2HKOs every relevant Pokemon that does not resist Rock with Slash and beats the Ground types with Water moves. Unlike the other similar mons Kabutops is not really defensively checked by any good Pokemon, only being actually beaten by Poliwrath who is not a good Pokemon otherwise. Kabutops is instead held back by its speed but 80 is not all that low allowing Kabu to outspeed a lot of very good Pokemon alongside Kabutops having a great defensive typing and good defenses meaning it's usually gonna beat Pokemon faster than it 1v1 and have HP to spare. Kabutops should be Banned.
Aerodactyl is simultaniously the least and most problematic of these 3. On the 1 hand it outspeeds everything and has a very high crit chance alongside good power allowing it to pull a win out in a lot of bad situations alongside the coverage to beat almost everything alongside the capabilities to find many switchins. But on the other, it's entirely stonewalled by Rhydon / Golem and even in ideal circumstances isn't as absurd as the others. Aero is a problem in the meta's current state since you can run it alongside Zapdos who will probably get Rhydon / Golem out of the way or massively weakened but with Zap gone it's fine. Aerodactyl should not be banned.
A few other random notes: I've heard people talk on banning moves like Slash and Hyper Beam since so many Pokemon are banworthy off the back of them, but that's also ignoring all the Pokemon who are perfectly fine with the moves like Charizard and Persian and I think goes against Smogon's tiering policy so Pokemon bans are the only real solution here. Wrap and other Partial Trapping is annoying, especially since you can change its typing, but we have bigger fish to fry and I think we should wait to look more into it.
I do briefly want to mention that the main post about this meta on the thread hasn't been updated since pre-Tauros ban which was April 2024. I that's highly unusual and shows how little care has been given to the format and it's longevity.
There are glimpses of what the meta can be even within its heavily flawed state, and those glimpses show an extremely fun and dynamic time which we just don't have at the moment. Scyther, Kabutops and especially Zapdos are ruining the format and causing a centralized uncompetitive mess to take the place of what should and could be a far more interesting format.
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