If you've been in the RBY Discord server for an extended period of time, its very likely that you've participated in one of the MANY "best move" discussions that seem to pop up every other week. While they're certainly fun to have in the moment, there's usually very little thought put into it beyond the #1 or #2 slot. This got me thinking; if we as a community sat down and thought about this for longer than two seconds, what would the ranking actually look like?
That's why I'm calling on you, the viewers at home! It's time to decide what the best moves are across all RBY tiers are and finally put this argument to rest.
Defining "best":
With the explanations out of the way, I think it's time we take a look at our top contenders!
Explosion / Self-Destruct
I'm ranking these two moves together since they're functionally the same move and largely overlap in users. Boom is an incredible move in RBY and is the main mechanism for offense in a ton of tiers. Boom's power really shines brightest in Ubers, OU, and UU, each having multiple viable users. Offense with multiple boom users is also considered by many people to be the most consistent teamstyle in these tiers as well. Boom is significantly less common in NU and below, but still sees some usage. Definitely a top contender.
Thunder Wave
Easily the most spammable move in RBY. 95% of the time if you can click it it's a good idea. Paralysis is the only form of speed control in RBY, and mechanics unique to RBY heavily benefit paralysis as well (Rest not removing the speed decrease, Substitute not blocking Thunder Wave.) Basically every mon that can use the move does, and for very good reason.
Body Slam
Just an extremely reliable and strong move, with great coverage. Physical attackers basically always run this move since paralysis is an extremely strong status condition and it has great neutral coverage. Tauros be nowhere near as good as it is if this move didn't exist. You even see special attackers run this move often because paralyzing your opponent is that strong.
Hyper Beam
The other defining Normal-type attack in RBY. STAB Hyper Beam is feared by every RBY player for very good reason. Even if you manage to correctly predict that your opponent using this move, crits can just reward your opponent anyways and give your opponent an OHKO on 90% of non-resists in the game. Hyper Beam's great distribution is also incredibly important, and gives nearly every fully-evolved Pokemon a strong finisher, regardless of it's main attacking stat.
Recover
32 PP on a 50% recovery move is incredible for very obvious reasons. Paralysis or a lucky crit is basically the only way to break a Pokemon that has this move unless you happen to have a strong super-effective move to hit the Recover user. Recover has somewhat limited distribution, however, but the mons that do have it are extremely relevant in the tiers they reside in.
Sleep Powder
Sleep is (in my opinion) the best status in RBY, and loading a mon without a sleep-inducing move is basically throwing in the builder. Sleep Powder is easily the most consistent and the sleep-inducing move you see the most across all tiers, though Hypnosis is definitely not far behind. If you're looking for a sleep-inducer, chances are a mon with Sleep Powder is your #1 choice.
Of course, there are so many great moves in RBY that I can't possibly make arguments for them all in a reasonable timeframe. I'd like to hear your thoughts as well, and hopefully we can come to somewhat of a consensus by the end of this thread. I'll also be making a poll we can determine the best moves WITH DATA!
And for those interested, here is my top ten ranking:
Have fun! And remember to be civil!
That's why I'm calling on you, the viewers at home! It's time to decide what the best moves are across all RBY tiers are and finally put this argument to rest.
Defining "best":
- I think it's important to actually clarify what I mean by "best" here, just to avoid confusion. In short, I'm really looking for what people consider to be the most influential and impactful, rather than the best moves on-paper.
- If we're just going by on-paper rankings, then Spore and Crabhammer would almost certainly be considered the two best moves in RBY. I don't believe that metric is particularly useful, however. Parasect is ZU and Kingler is looking to drop to ZU soon, so I don't think these moves should be considered at all since neither mon sees usage in most RBY tiers. I would much rather rank the moves that actually see usage.
With the explanations out of the way, I think it's time we take a look at our top contenders!
Explosion / Self-Destruct
I'm ranking these two moves together since they're functionally the same move and largely overlap in users. Boom is an incredible move in RBY and is the main mechanism for offense in a ton of tiers. Boom's power really shines brightest in Ubers, OU, and UU, each having multiple viable users. Offense with multiple boom users is also considered by many people to be the most consistent teamstyle in these tiers as well. Boom is significantly less common in NU and below, but still sees some usage. Definitely a top contender.
Thunder Wave
Easily the most spammable move in RBY. 95% of the time if you can click it it's a good idea. Paralysis is the only form of speed control in RBY, and mechanics unique to RBY heavily benefit paralysis as well (Rest not removing the speed decrease, Substitute not blocking Thunder Wave.) Basically every mon that can use the move does, and for very good reason.
Body Slam
Just an extremely reliable and strong move, with great coverage. Physical attackers basically always run this move since paralysis is an extremely strong status condition and it has great neutral coverage. Tauros be nowhere near as good as it is if this move didn't exist. You even see special attackers run this move often because paralyzing your opponent is that strong.
Hyper Beam
The other defining Normal-type attack in RBY. STAB Hyper Beam is feared by every RBY player for very good reason. Even if you manage to correctly predict that your opponent using this move, crits can just reward your opponent anyways and give your opponent an OHKO on 90% of non-resists in the game. Hyper Beam's great distribution is also incredibly important, and gives nearly every fully-evolved Pokemon a strong finisher, regardless of it's main attacking stat.
Recover
32 PP on a 50% recovery move is incredible for very obvious reasons. Paralysis or a lucky crit is basically the only way to break a Pokemon that has this move unless you happen to have a strong super-effective move to hit the Recover user. Recover has somewhat limited distribution, however, but the mons that do have it are extremely relevant in the tiers they reside in.
Sleep Powder
Sleep is (in my opinion) the best status in RBY, and loading a mon without a sleep-inducing move is basically throwing in the builder. Sleep Powder is easily the most consistent and the sleep-inducing move you see the most across all tiers, though Hypnosis is definitely not far behind. If you're looking for a sleep-inducer, chances are a mon with Sleep Powder is your #1 choice.
Of course, there are so many great moves in RBY that I can't possibly make arguments for them all in a reasonable timeframe. I'd like to hear your thoughts as well, and hopefully we can come to somewhat of a consensus by the end of this thread. I'll also be making a poll we can determine the best moves WITH DATA!
And for those interested, here is my top ten ranking:
- Thunder Wave
- Explosion / Self Destruct
- Recover
- Hyper Beam
- Sleep Powder
- Body Slam
- Blizzard
- Agility
- Earthquake
- Wrap
Have fun! And remember to be civil!
