Other Tiers RBY Other Metas Hub

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RBY Other Metas Hub

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Art by The Faz

This Mega Thread (now Hub) is designed to introduce players to some of RBY's many Other Metagames and encourage discussion about otherwise niche tiers. This thread is somewhat of a work in progress. Information will be added and changed as necessary. Suggestions and resources are always appreciated!

The majority of RBY Other metas are OU-based metagames, so they start with the OU Banlist (Mewtwo and Mew are illegal) and the tier's standard clauses. These clauses are listed below for reference.
Species Clause
Evasion Clause
OHKO Clause
Endless Battle Clause
Cleric Clause
Invulnerability Clause
Tradeback Clause
Sleep Clause Mod
Freeze Clause Mod
Desync Clause Mod
All metagames listed are OU-based metagames unless otherwise stated, meaning Mewtwo and Mew are illegal.

For the sake of easiest access, I have decided to divide the RBY Other Metagames into two groups: Major and Minor Metagames. Major RBY Other Metagames are those that receive active play, see regular tournaments, feature multiple dedicated resources, and have organized tier leadership. They all also have an entry on the Formats Page of the RBY Smogdex. Minor RBY Other Metagames have little to no community support, unfortunately. These metagames primarily arose from adapting existing other metagames in modern generations to RBY. Many of them never gained significant traction. As such, these metagames are largely novelties that exist by default, not due to any serious motivation to maintain and develop them. That all being said, a Minor Metagame could become a Major Metagame with enough public support.

Major Metagames are discussed in this post and Minor Metagames are discussed in the second post. Metagames with italicized titles are mod-based OMs. The rest do not require any (new) mods to emulate (they are sometimes called "Unofficial Metagames"). The metagames are presented alphabetically.


Major Other Metagames

:Snorlax:1v1:Alakazam:
Format Description
Standard Clauses Apply
The following moves may not be used:
  • Accuracy-Lowering Moves: Flash, Kinesis, Sand Attack, Smokescreen
  • Evasion Moves: Double Team, Minimize
  • OHKO Moves: Fissure, Guillotine, Horn Drill
  • Partial-Trapping Moves: Bind, Clamp, Fire Spin, Wrap
  • Self-KO (“Boom”) Moves: Explosion, Self-Destruct
  • Semi-Invulnerability Moves: Dig, Fly
  • Sleep Moves: Hypnosis, Lovely Kiss, Sing, Sleep Powder, Spore
Each player brings a team of up to three Pokemon. The players preview the Pokemon on their opponent’s team and choose which one of their Pokemon they will send out to face that of their opponent. The two Pokemon face each other and the game ends when one Pokemon faints. The loser is the player whose chosen Pokemon faints first.

This VR was created by aggregating the opinions of several top RBY 1v1 players in January 2024. See this post for more information.
RBY 1v1 VR Winter 2023.png



Sample Teams from Elo Bandit
See the Additional Resources; several of them contain sample teams.

RBY 1v1 Condensed Set Compendium (sets for all RBY 1v1 Pokemon; by Elo Bandit)
RBY 1v1 Extended Set Compendium (sets for all RBY 1v1 Pokemon, along with other options, matchup spreads, and optimal lines; by Elo Bandit)
The Smogdex contains sets for many Pokemon in RBY 1v1, though some of them are outdated. Modern full-length analyses are currently in development, with a few having been published already!

1v1 Old Gens (the most modern resources for RBY 1v1; contains the VR and some sample teams)
Murman's RBY 1v1 Infodump Video (video summarizing many of the fundamentals of RBY 1v1, including popular Pokemon and sets)
Elo Bandit's Thoughts on RBY 1v1 Video (video examining the top ~12 Pokemon of RBY 1v1, including sets and matchup spreads)
1v1 Throwback (one of the oldest posts about RBY 1v1; very outdated)
1v1 Set Encyclopedia (Google Docs set encyclopedia; outdated)
Ruins of Alph Sample Teams (somewhat outdated)

Elo Bandit (Tier Leader)
Murman (Councilmember)
Urfgurgle (Councilmember)
Volk (Councilmember)


:Jolteon:STABmons:Vaporeon:
Format Description
Standard Clauses Apply
Pokemon may learn all moves that match their typing or the typing of their previous evolution stage(s), except for those on the following list.
These moves may only be used by Pokemon that learn them naturally:
  • Bind
  • Clamp
  • Hypnosis
  • Lovely Kiss
  • Sing
  • Spore
  • Wrap
Challenge Command:
/chall gen1ou @@@ stabmons move legality, *bind, *clamp, *hypnosis, *lovelykiss, *sing, *spore, *wrap

This VR was created by aggregating the opinions of the top six finishers of Saber II in August 2024. See this post for more information.
1724474472487.png


This VR was created by aggregating the opinions of seven of the top eight finishers of Saber in November 2023. See this post for more information.
RBY STABmons Autumn 2023 VR.png

Work In Progress
See the Additional Resources. Several of them contain sample teams, though they may be outdated.

Work In Progress
The Smogdex contains sets for many Pokemon in RBY STABmons, though some of them are outdated.

STABmons Old Gens Hub (SV) (basic introduction to the tier; contains a challenge command, an outdated VR, and some sample teams)
STABmons Old Gens Hub (SS) (similar introduction, some general discussion in the thread at large)
Volk's Post-Saber Analysis Post (describes the RBY STABmons VR with annotations, summarizes meta trends, and provides a personal VR)
STABmons Notable Moves (Google Docs list of relevant moves that were added)
Pre-Bans Discussion Thread (old discussion thread about the meta before partial-trapping and sleep-inducing moves were restricted)

in the hills (De jure Tier Leader)
Volk (De facto Tier Leader)
 
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The remaining metagames discussed here have much lower activity and development than those above and have scant resources. They are documented here for completeness and historical preservation. So basically, if anyone ever asks, "what would Middle Cup look like in RBY?" you can send them here. Many of the resources are incomplete, and they are likely to stay that way unless the respective metagame gains significant traction.

Minor Other Metagames

:Abra:Little Cup:Ponyta:

Format Description
Standard Clauses Apply
Only Pokemon that (1) can evolve and (2) have not evolved are legal.
All Pokemon must be Level 5.
The moves listed below are banned:
  • Fire Spin
  • Wrap

This VR was created by aggregating the opinions of sixteen of the top thirty finishers of Dratini Age: Origins in June 2024. See this post for more information.

S1: :Diglett::Exeggcute:
S2: :Staryu::Voltorb::Poliwag:
A: :Abra::Ponyta::Slowpoke::Pikachu::Drowzee::Gastly:
B1: :Rhyhorn::Meowth::Doduo:
B2: :Rattata::Dratini::Pidgey::Clefairy:
C1: :Eevee::Omanyte::Horsea::Bulbasaur::Tentacool:
C2: :Venonat::Krabby::Geodude::Koffing::Shellder::Grimer::Kabuto::Bellsprout::Cubone::Vulpix::Paras::Sandshrew:
D: :Charmander::Magnemite::Growlithe::Mankey::Psyduck::Machop::Goldeen:
E: :Seel::Spearow::Jigglypuff::Oddish::Squirtle::Nidoran-F::Ekans::Nidoran-M::Zubat::Caterpie::Weedle:

Work In Progress

The Smogdex contains sets for every Pokemon in RBY Little Cup, though some of them are untested.

RBY Little Cup Discussion Thread (somewhat active thread dedicated to discussing RBY LC)
Ruins of Alph Sample Teams (most teams provided are now illegal because they contain Tradeback moves, which were formerly legal)


:Diglett:Little Cup Level 100:Exeggcute:
Format Description
Standard Clauses Apply
Only Pokemon that (1) can evolve and (2) have not evolved are legal.
All Pokemon must be Level 100.
Generally speaking, LC100 is not considered the standard form of Little Cup. The tier was developed as a simple way to experience an LC Metagame without needing to engage the legality issues that then surrounded conventional LC. With LC becoming increasingly standardized, LC100 has largely fallen out of favor. As such, LC100 is mainly documented here to preserve this interesting stage in the development of the modern Little Cup.

Work In Progress

Work In Progress

Work In Progress
The Smogdex contains sets for many Pokemon in RBY Little Cup Level 100, though some of them are outdated or untested.



:Kadabra:Middle Cup:Haunter:
Format Description
Standard Clauses Apply
Only Pokemon that (1) have evolved and (2) can evolve again are legal.
All Pokemon must be Level 50.

Work In Progress

Work In Progress

Work In Progress
The Smogdex contains sets for many Pokemon in RBY Middle Cup, though some of them are outdated or untested.



:Tauros:Monotype:Starmie:
Format Description
Standard Clauses Apply
Same Type Clause

Because Monotype is heavily centralized around Psychic-, Normal-, and (to a lesser extent) Water-type teams, Monotype is occasionally played with some restrictions. These restrictions allow weaker, but still interesting, types to be used and explored. Common restrictions include:
  • Banning Psychic-type teams
  • Banning Normal-type teams
  • Banning Water-type teams
  • Banning Starmie
  • Banning Tauros, Snorlax, and/or Chansey

Work In Progress
The RBY Monotype Thread has a Type VR.

Work In Progress

Work In Progress
The Smogdex contains sets for many Pokemon in RBY Monotype, though some of them are outdated or untested.

RBY Monotype Thread (inactive thread dedicated to discussing RBY Monotype; contains a Type VR)
Ruins of Alph Sample Teams (somewhat outdated/untested)


:Graveler:Not Fully Evolved:Dragonair:
Format Description
Standard Clauses Apply
Only Pokemon that are capable of evolution are legal.

Work In Progress

Work In Progress

Work In Progress
The Smogdex contains sets for many Pokemon in RBY NFE, though some of them are outdated or untested.



:Omastar:Revelationmons:Articuno:
Standard Clauses Apply
The typing of the move in the first moveslot is changed to match the primary typing of the Pokemon using the move. If the Pokemon has a secondary typing, the typing of the move in the second moveslot is changed to match the secondary typing of the Pokemon. Whether the move deals physical or special damage is preserved by the original move, regardless of its new type. All other aspects of the move, such as BP, accuracy, and secondary effects, remain unchanged.
For example, consider this Omastar:
:Omastar:
Omastar
Ability: No Ability
- Blizzard
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Body Slam
Omastar is a Rock/Water-type Pokemon. Therefore, the move in its first moveslot, Blizzard, will now deal Rock-type damage. Additionally, because Blizzard normally deals special damage, this Rock-type Blizzard will also deal special damage, despite the fact that Rock-type moves normally deal physical damage in RBY. The move retains its ability to freeze opposing Pokemon 10% of the time. However, due to how RBY is coded, this move will be unable to freeze Rock-type foes (this is for the same reason why Body Slam can't paralyze Normal-type Pokemon under normal circumstances). The move in its second move slot, Surf, will remain unchanged, as the move already deals Water-type damage. Ice Beam and Body Slam are in the third and fourth slots, so they are also unchanged.

The following Pokemon are banned:
  • Dragonite :Dragonite:

This VR was created by assembling the opinions of some early adopters of the RBY Revelationmons Metagame.

S Rank: Reserved for Pokemon which pose a very significant offensive or defensive threat, consistently harming or walling the opposing team. The roles these Pokemon can fulfill are crucial, if not mandatory, for RBY teams and these Pokemon are the best at their certain roles.
:omastar: Omastar
:starmie: Starmie
:tauros: Tauros
:articuno: Articuno

A Rank: Reserved for Pokemon that are outstanding in the RBY metagame. These Pokemon pose a significant offensive or defensive threat to most teams. If these Pokemon have flaws, they are often outshown by their strengths.
:zapdos: Zapdos
:exeggutor: Exeggutor
:alakazam: Alakazam
:gengar: Gengar
:aerodactyl: Aerodactyl
:jynx: Jynx

B Rank: Reserved for Pokemon who are very good in the RBY metagame, yet are somewhat inconsistent. These Pokemon may have flaws, but they have positive aspects which makes them stand out, making them valuable members of a team.
:scyther: Scyther
:rhydon: Rhydon
:jolteon: Jolteon
:snorlax: Snorlax
:cloyster: Cloyster

C Rank: Reserved for Pokemon that have solid niches in the RBY metagame, but nonetheless are generally inconsistent. These Pokemon have definite flaws, but may have positive aspects which can make them worth using.
:golem: Golem
:lapras: Lapras
:charizard: Charizard
:poliwrath: Poliwrath
:kabutops: Kabutops

D Rank: Reserved for Pokemon that are mediocre in the RBY metagame, but are decent enough to pose a threat at times, usually out of surprise. These Pokemon have a small niche in the metagame and are often not worth using.
:victreebel: Victreebel
:moltres: Moltres
:tentacruel: Tentacruel
:chansey: Chansey
:slowbro: Slowbro

Click the Pokemon to view the teams! Thank you to the contributors!

:exeggutor::omastar::snorlax::zapdos::articuno::tauros: The Lax by Gangsta Spongebob

:gengar::omastar::starmie::aerodactyl::articuno::tauros: Cookie-Cutter Gengar + Aero by Aera

:alakazam::omastar::starmie::zapdos::exeggutor::tauros: Triple Psychic by Aera

:gengar::omastar::starmie::jolteon::exeggutor::tauros: Goodnight Jolteon by Clas

:jynx::omastar::starmie::zapdos::articuno::tauros: Double Bird + Jynx by Aera




. . .


:Ditto:Directory / Miscellaneous Tiers:Unown:
Because "Other Metagames" is a vague and broad term, I thought it might be useful to provide some links to some alternative tiers that are often considered Other Metagames, but are not within the scope of this thread for one reason or another. Discussion of these metagames should be kept to their respective threads.

Stadium Metagames:
Stadium OU
Pokemon Stadium Rentals
Nintendo Cup '97 (NC97)
Stadium Cups
Kanto Stadium

Alternate Tiering Metagames:
Tradebacks OU
7U

Pokemon Showdown! Metagames:
Random Battles
Anything Goes — Currently unplayable because Cleric Clause is forced and Dig/Fly are not properly implemented

Petmods:
CAP (Revived Thread)
CAP (Original Thread)
Modded Formats Hub


:Kabuto:Archived Tiers:Aerodactyl:
These tiers are no longer active, for one reason or another.

:Raichu:NeverUsed Banlist:Golduck:
This tier no longer exists because NUBL is currently empty. This metagame description reflects a legality list of a previous metagame.
Format Description
Standard Clauses Apply
NU-based metagame with Golduck, Poliwhirl, Poliwrath, and Raichu legal.


Preliminary sample teams composed by pac. Based largely on speculation.

:Poliwhirl: :Poliwrath: :Golduck: :Raichu: :Mr. Mime: :Fearow:
Fearow + Amnesia Spam

:Electrode: :Poliwrath: :Golduck: :Raichu: :Mr. Mime: :Exeggcute:
Double Electric

Work In Progress

Work In Progress
NUBL has been archived because the banlist is currently empty and there has been no player activity indicating the desire to preserve this outdated metagame.
 
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Alright, let's get this show on the road with a Pokemon I think is a bit of a demon in Smogon's LC.

ponyta.png

I'm going to assume ol' Jelli missed this when tiering RBY LC, because this set is possible;
Ponyta
Ability: None
Level: 5
- Hypnosis
- Fire Spin
- Body Slam
- Agility

Partial trapping is already a very powerful tool in LC even with Wrap itself banned, but AgiliSpin is...yeah. You can lead this Pokemon without much punishment (only Voltorb outspeeds it), go for Hypnosis, and then cheese if it works. It's not too consistent there, but you don't even need Hypnosis; you can go for whatever else strikes your fancy, like Double Kick, Headbutt, Toxic for other Ponyta, even Quick Attack. Growlithe can also abuse AgiliSpin, but Ponyta having sleep is kind of nuts. Keep in mind that Wrap was originally banned because when scaled with L5s you get around 2x the damage than you would at L100. The HP stat hasn't caught up yet.

I slapped this team together with it as the lead, though I think it can be way, way better.

I'm pretty sure some kind of ban would be helpful here, I don't get why it's ok. Sure you can use Omanyte or something to try and stall it out but it's not very committal and the metagame is very offensive. Perhaps banning Fire Spin is the solution? A universal ban on Wrap-like moves is inappropriate as Clamp Shellder is fine and Bind isn't obtainable on any Pokemon.
 
The VR for RBY 1v1 could be extended a bit-
S Rank
Tauros
Exeggutor
Snorlax
Jolteon
Alakazam

A Rank
Slowbro
Starmie
Articuno
Zapdos

B Rank
Electrode
Chansey
Gengar
Golduck
Rhydon
Moltres

C Rank
Poliwrath
Jynx
Lapras
Cloyster
Venusaur
Gyarados
Primeape
Persian
Machamp

Unranked
Nidoking
Raticate
Tentacruel
Hitmonlee
Dugtrio
Nidoqueen
Clefable
Dragonite
Poliwhirl
Victreebel
Set Comp - https://pokepast.es/c5e27d2091b1bcc2

Edit: Official 1v1 Old Gens RBY Resources! https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/1v1-old-gens.3646875/#post-8031462
 
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Heya, so I brought this idea up on Discord while drafting up all the interesting quirks of RBY tiering, and realised something that could possibly unify RBY LC once and for all, making it something more playable.

Tradeback Clause was rewritten to only encompass moves when Illegal DVs were acted upon. Outside of Tradeback Moves, you can also get Pokemon at lower levels than RBY does, thanks to breeding. This technically makes it possible to have L5 Pokemon legal in any RBY tier under Tradeback Clause, although it is a loophole.

Why don't we make this loophole official, though, and unify LC L100 and "Smogon LC" under one banner, thus making a "better" core tier? It technically is one, but nobody plays it because it's just...not great. The "Smogon LC" that exists as it stands is absurdly difficult to get into due to how GSC moves being passed down works, it's got a terrible initial access barrier. Not to mention standard RBY tiering is being played with Tradeback Clause active, making this kind of the black sheep of the generation.

So the proposal is simple: instate Tradeback Clause into LC in its current writing, only banning Tradeback Moves.
You get to unify the LCs, make RBY tiering consistent across all formats, and even some metagame benefits. Let's get into it.

As far as I know, the playerbase for RBY LC is tiny, we're talking single-digit numbers across what I believe is both "metagames", and I doubt any of them would miss the very low damage output of every LC Pokemon that has to deal with max level, max bulk Pokemon.
  • Diglett Earthquake vs. Shellder: 77-91 (29.2 - 34.6%) -- 5.6% chance to 3HKO
  • Diglett Earthquake vs. Shellder: 10-12 (45.4 - 54.5%) -- 34.1% chance to 2HKO
  • Diglett Earthquake vs. Drowzee: 119-141 (36.8 - 43.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
  • Diglett Earthquake vs. Drowzee: 12-15 (48 - 60%) -- 98.9% chance to 2HKO
This is the heaviest hitter in the format, by the way, look at how big a difference this makes. Now, imagine this with everything else, damage is just not great or very "LC-ish" in LC L100. While yes, Diglett deals more damage, it also takes more back, and this does actually do an amazing job of balancing it, as for example, Slowpoke's Surf can actually OHKO the bugger. This applies for every other one of LC L100's heavy-hitters, such as Abra. Therefore, outside of "muh pwesteej" there's legitimate metagame benefits to making this happen.

There is one question to be had when making this happen, and that's, well, what about level-up moves? If we sit down and consider RBY learnsets, you cannot normally get moves through level-up without, well, levelling up. In later games, you can if both parents of a bred Pokemon knew the level-up move.
  • If we consider this "new Little Cup" to use the "for bred Pokemon" idea as Stadium 2 intended, then in my opinion, it is reasonable to simply allow level-up moves. However, these could be seen as Tradeback moves given they are not typically legal; see the Stadium Cups and how they are normally played.
  • However, if we consider this to be "too Tradebacky" and fly the banner of RBY learnsets being the bible, given L5 RBY Pokemon cannot learn these moves levelling up, then we could restrict it. However, we end up severely restricting movepools, those being L1-5 moves + TMs/HMs.
Personally, I think that given the moves are natively available, just not at L5, it seems silly to restrict that far. It would also mean that we don't end up kneecapping Pokemon like Exeggcute and Bulbasaur for no reason, which are very much fucked when dealing with RBY TMs, all while preserving what LC L100 has. Enigami has helpfully noted that to assist with legality in LC historically, glitches such as the Pomeg Glitch have been allowed, so allowing Tradeback level-up moves seems comparatively less egregious here.

There are some discrepencies between RBY and GSC learnsets which may make a few moves illegal; for example, Charmander loses Leer. However, to my knowledge, all of these things are minor. If people are interested in this idea, I'll probably make a spreadsheet finding all this out. I am very interested in making this black sheep core tier something more accessible and interesting to RBYers. We can do without having two entirely different (and flawed) formats dividing things and making them more complicated than they need to be.

EDIT:
1642688188122.png

so this basically exists now
 
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So, I have an idea for a whole new format in R/B/Y. It's a format that might be homogeneous, might need a lot of custom rules changes, and might have a whole lot wrong with it in general, but I think it's worth trying out! I guess the working title would be "Gen 1 Anything Goes". I'm shit at titles so please fix that for me.

The most fundamental premise of this format is as follows: what if we're playing on actual hardware, battling each other with actual hardware, able to pass the error trap on actual hardware, and everyone has access to ACE? The ability to change movesets, Pokemon, types, stats, all that fun shit. Well, there's only so much you could get away with in those parameters, and I've tested most of them on actual hardware, a phrase I've said way too much. Hence, I propose the following rules:

-a level cap of 100 (255 may well branch into a different category)
-only the normal, legal 151 Pokemon. No 'M
-only the normal, legal moves. No TM06 shenanigans
-only the normal, legal typings. Bird is in fact not the word this time
-no hybrids. Use https://www.math.miami.edu/~jam/azure/index.htm for allowed max stats

+any above typing on any of the 151. Normal/Ghost, Psychic/Dragon, go nuts
+any above moves on the 151, within a custom banned list
+max IVs and EVs are not only recommended but pretty much required, much like modernity

Smogon's usual clauses would apply here, plus a couple straight away like "no Spore except on Parasect" so that things don't get too degenerate too quickly. I suspect that things would get pretty degenerate pretty quickly anyway, but with a hopefully limited few ban corrections and meta adjustments, this new format will be some new spicy entertainment. Rome wasn't built in a day, and R/B wasn't dismissed out of Wrap/Agility.
 
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We talked a few days ago about Tier Shift in RBY on the Discord and there's some silly stuff I wanted to bring up for when it gets added.

The shifts we're using are:
UU/NUBL: +10
NU/PUBL: +20
PU and beyond: +30

NFEs get the +30 if they are not in a higher tier (see: Kadabra)
Boosts to not apply to HP to stay consistent with other TS metas (and because things would be unholy fat otherwise).

:y/moltres:
90/120/110/145/110
Yup, this exists. The meta probably revolves around Moltres due to its Fire Blast being the strongest special attack in the game, as well as its access to Fire Spin with this speed tier. Outspeeding Moltres is likely incredibly important for a Pokemon's viability.

:y/golem:
80/130/150/75/65
Obviously has some value in blocking Moltres forever, but also is a funny mon by being just better Rhydon outside of not having 101 Sub.

:y/clefable:
95/90/93/105/80
Maybe the fattest mon in the tier, generally acting as an all-purpose sponge with the movepool to go with it.

:y/rapidash:
65/130/100/110/135
It's another Fire, and it doesn't hit as hard as Moltres, but it's tied for the third fastest mon in the tier and has the second highest attacking stat+Spe value in the tier (after Scyther who still has its usual problems).

:y/starmie:
Still same old Starmie, and it probably maintains its prestigious position due to its coverage and speed tier. Its Fire-resist may be of value as well given how many Fires have gigantic stats now.

Speed tiers resource for anyone interested. Sleep move users are bolded and partial trappers are italicized.
170: Electrode
140: Aerodactyl
135: Rapidash, Scyther
130: Jolteon, Dugtrio, Fearow
125: Persian, Arcanine, Primeape
123: Magmar
121: Pidgeot
120: Alakazam, Charizard, Ninetales, Golbat, Poliwag
117: Raticate, Hitmonlee
115: Starmie, Electabuzz, Pinsir
110: Gengar, Tauros, Dodrio, Tentacruel, Raichu, Moltres, Mr. Mime, Poliwhirl, Venomoth, Arbok
106: Hitmonchan, Nidoqueen
105: Nidoking, Seadra, Beedrill
100: Zapdos, Kangaskhan, Kabutops, Butterfree, Magneton, Onix
98: Blastoise, Seaking
95: Articuno, Golduck, Kingler, Flareon, Sandslash, Jynx
91: Gyarados
90: Dragonite, Venusaur, Farfetch'd, Weezing
85: Machamp
80: Dewgong, Victreebel, Poliwrath, Clefable, Muk
77: Hypno
75: Vaporeon, Marowak
70: Cloyster, Tangela
65: Omastar, Golem, Wigglytuff
60: Lapras, Porygon, Lickitung, Parasect
55: Exeggutor
50: Chansey
40: Rhydon
30: Slowbro, Snorlax
 
Something I've been trying out in custom games on showdown: RBY Inheritance.
In inheritance, each of your pokemon can "inherit" the movepool of another pokemon (or keep its own).

Clauses:
- standard OU clauses
- sleep moves are banned (I don't want every team to have a lead Electrode)
- semi-trapping moves are banned (I tried Clamp Starmie and Wrap Aerodactyl and it was ugly)
- you cannot inherit from Mew or Mewtwo (they are actually the only ones to have amnesia or swords dance + a healing move)
- no two Pokemon on your team may inherit from the same evolutionary line (for diversity)
- the pokemon's nickname shall reveal who it is inheriting from (in modern gen inheritance it is displayed when switching but as RBY inheritance isn't implemented in showdown I had to go with the nicknames)

Some sets:


Spr_1g_128.png
Tauros (Sandslash)
- Slash / Rock slide
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Hyper Beam

Probably the most dangerous thing around. If you manage to set up 1 SD without getting paralyzed you're in a very good spot. Slash is for safe big damage although SD + hyper beam is always better in theory. Rock slide is for Aerodactyl.
I'm pretty sure it's Tauros' best set. Kabutops has slash and hydro pump (to OHKO Rhydon) but lacks Earthquake (for Gengar)

+2 Tauros Hyper Beam vs. Tauros: 334-393 (94.6 - 111.3%) -- 66.7% chance to OHKO
Tauros Slash vs. Chansey on a critical hit: 403-474 (57.3 - 67.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 Tauros Earthquake vs. Rhydon: 256-302 (61.9 - 73.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+3 Tauros Hyper Beam vs. Snorlax: 526-619 (100.5 - 118.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Spr_1g_143.png
Snorlax (Porygon)
- Recover
- Sharpen (+1 attack, it's Porygon signature move)
- Hyper Beam
- Thunder Wave / Blizzard

Ironically, Snorlax likes to inherit from its nemesis Porygon. It sets up slower than Tauros but most pokemon can't deal with its recover and it doesn't fear paralisis. Thunder wave helps setting up while blizzard is for Rhydon and Aerodactyl. Gengar counters it pretty hard.
You could go for a Porygon set without sharpen (like Recover/TWave/DoubleEdge/Blizzard) or a Sword Dance set (Lickitung: SD/EQ/Blizzard/HyperBeam).

+2 Snorlax Hyper Beam vs. Tauros: 357-420 (101.1 - 118.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+3 Snorlax Hyper Beam vs. Snorlax: 559-658 (106.8 - 125.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Snorlax Blizzard vs. Rhydon: 211-248 (51 - 60%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Snorlax Blizzard vs. Aerodactyl: 182-214 (50.1 - 58.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
-

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(Slowbro)
- Amnesia
- Thunder Wave
- Blizzard / Psychic / Surf / Hydro Pump
- Rest / 2nd attack

They set up well against Snorlax and are hard to stop. Chansey can usually force them to rest but will often have to die if it doesn't run Light Screen. Resting is very risky if the opponent's Tauros is alive as it can beat all of them in 3 turn. Razor leaf and Crabhammer can also decently deal with them (except Exeggutor).

+2 Omastar Hydro Pump vs. Tauros: 359-423 (101.6 - 119.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Tauros Slash vs. Cloyster on a critical hit: 97-114 (32 - 37.6%) -- 92.2% chance to 3HKO
+4 Articuno Blizzard vs. Chansey: 416-490 (59.1 - 69.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+4 Articuno Blizzard vs. Snorlax: 564-663 (107.8 - 126.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

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Rhydon (Arbok)
- Glare (paralyses, Arbok signature move)
- Earthquake
- Rockslide
- Substitute

A Rhydon who can paralyze. It can use substitute to wait for a full paralysis. It's useful to paralyze Tauros and dose very well against a Snorlax without blizzard and others (Kangaskhan, Dodrio, Persian). A paralized Articuno, Jolteon, Gengar or Moltres, even at +6 special, will just get OHKO by Rhydon.

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Aerodactyl (Arbok / Sandslash / Golem)
- Glare / Swords dance / Explosion
- Rock slide
- Earthquake
- Hyper beam

A pretty good counter to Tauros, it can paralyse it or try to set up. It's also useful against Gengar, Articuno, Moltres and some Snorlax. It hates getting paralysis.

Aerodactyl Rock Slide vs. Articuno: 340-400 (88.7 - 104.4%) -- 28.2% chance to OHKO
+2 Aerodactyl Rock Slide vs. Tauros: 173-204 (49 - 57.7%) -- 97.6% chance to 2HKO
Aerodactyl Explosion vs. Tauros: 261-307 (73.9 - 86.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Tauros Rock Slide vs. Aerodactyl: 141-166 (38.8 - 45.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
Aerodactyl Earthquake vs. Gengar: 205-242 (63.4 - 74.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

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(Kingler)
- Crabhammer (power 90, accuracy 85%, high crit ratio)
- Swords dance
- Hyper Beam
- Blizzard / Body slam / Stomp

A non-stab super-effective blizzard is actually weaker than a stab Crabhammer, that's how strong Crabhammer is. Swords dance is for Chansey, Hyper beam rely on reading switches so body slam is for safety. Stomp is for para-flinch shenanigans. Blizzard is for Exeggutor.
You might try to run Mimic to copy Chansey's Soft boiled or Thunder wave.
Gyarados has the highest attack and no grass weakness, Staross is fast and Lapras has stab blizzard. Tentacruel has higher special but sucks.

Starmie Crabhammer vs. Tauros on a critical hit: 238-280 (67.4 - 79.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Starmie Crabhammer vs. Snorlax on a critical hit: 245-289 (46.8 - 55.2%) -- 72.7% chance to 2HKO
Gyarados Hyper Beam vs. Chansey: 347-408 (49.3 - 58%) -- 98.6% chance to 2HKO
Starmie Hyper Beam vs. Chansey: 247-291 (35.1 - 41.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
Lapras Blizzard vs. Exeggutor: 216-254 (54.9 - 64.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

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Kangaskhan (Parasect)
-Slash
-Stun spore
-Mega drain
-Growth/Hyper Beam/Substitute/Leech life/Mimic

Parasect is actually the only Slash user who can paralyze. Kangaskhan's special bulk and mediocre speed make it way worse than Tauros as a Swords Dance user, so I think it's best to try to paralyze some things. Slash destroys chansey and prevents most Tobybro clones to Rest. Mega drain is for Rhydon.
Parasect doesn't have anything for the 4th move. Growth is useful against Rhydon. Leech life is somehow your strongest attack against Gengar. Hyper Beam is slightly stronger than Slash and can crit.

Kangaskhan Slash vs. Chansey on a critical hit: 393-462 (55.9 - 65.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Kangaskhan Mega Drain vs. Rhydon: 112-132 (27.1 - 31.9%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
Kangaskhan Slash vs. Cloyster on a critical hit: 94-111 (31 - 36.6%) -- 67.9% chance to 3HKO
Kangaskhan Leech Life vs. Gengar: 20-24 (6.1 - 7.4%) -- possibly the worst move ever
 
New STABmons samples for the following Pokemon are now on the dex:

Aerodactyl, Alakazam, Chansey, Clefable, Cloyster, Dodrio, Dragonite, Exeggutor, Gengar, Golem, Gyarados, Jolteon, Jynx, Kabutops, Kangaskhan, Omastar, Persian, Poliwrath, Rhydon, Snorlax (x2), Starmie, Tauros, Tentacruel, Vaporeon, and Zapdos!

Thanks to Volk, Mikon, and Gangsta Spongebob for the good work!
 
Something I've been trying out in custom games on showdown: RBY Inheritance.
In inheritance, each of your pokemon can "inherit" the movepool of another pokemon (or keep its own).

Clauses:
- standard OU clauses
- sleep moves are banned (I don't want every team to have a lead Electrode)
- semi-trapping moves are banned (I tried Clamp Starmie and Wrap Aerodactyl and it was ugly)
- you cannot inherit from Mew or Mewtwo (they are actually the only ones to have amnesia or swords dance + a healing move)
- no two Pokemon on your team may inherit from the same evolutionary line (for diversity)
- the pokemon's nickname shall reveal who it is inheriting from (in modern gen inheritance it is displayed when switching but as RBY inheritance isn't implemented in showdown I had to go with the nicknames)

Some sets:

View attachment 484120Tauros (Sandslash)
- Slash / Rock slide
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Hyper Beam

Probably the most dangerous thing around. If you manage to set up 1 SD without getting paralyzed you're in a very good spot. Slash is for safe big damage although SD + hyper beam is always better in theory. Rock slide is for Aerodactyl.
I'm pretty sure it's Tauros' best set. Kabutops has slash and hydro pump (to OHKO Rhydon) but lacks Earthquake (for Gengar)

+2 Tauros Hyper Beam vs. Tauros: 334-393 (94.6 - 111.3%) -- 66.7% chance to OHKO
Tauros Slash vs. Chansey on a critical hit: 403-474 (57.3 - 67.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 Tauros Earthquake vs. Rhydon: 256-302 (61.9 - 73.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+3 Tauros Hyper Beam vs. Snorlax: 526-619 (100.5 - 118.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

View attachment 484123 Snorlax (Porygon)
- Recover
- Sharpen (+1 attack, it's Porygon signature move)
- Hyper Beam
- Thunder Wave / Blizzard

Ironically, Snorlax likes to inherit from its nemesis Porygon. It sets up slower than Tauros but most pokemon can't deal with its recover and it doesn't fear paralisis. Thunder wave helps setting up while blizzard is for Rhydon and Aerodactyl. Gengar counters it pretty hard.
You could go for a Porygon set without sharpen (like Recover/TWave/DoubleEdge/Blizzard) or a Sword Dance set (Lickitung: SD/EQ/Blizzard/HyperBeam).

+2 Snorlax Hyper Beam vs. Tauros: 357-420 (101.1 - 118.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+3 Snorlax Hyper Beam vs. Snorlax: 559-658 (106.8 - 125.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Snorlax Blizzard vs. Rhydon: 211-248 (51 - 60%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Snorlax Blizzard vs. Aerodactyl: 182-214 (50.1 - 58.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
-

View attachment 484132View attachment 484131View attachment 484130View attachment 484129 (Slowbro)
- Amnesia
- Thunder Wave
- Blizzard / Psychic / Surf / Hydro Pump
- Rest / 2nd attack

They set up well against Snorlax and are hard to stop. Chansey can usually force them to rest but will often have to die if it doesn't run Light Screen. Resting is very risky if the opponent's Tauros is alive as it can beat all of them in 3 turn. Razor leaf and Crabhammer can also decently deal with them (except Exeggutor).

+2 Omastar Hydro Pump vs. Tauros: 359-423 (101.6 - 119.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Tauros Slash vs. Cloyster on a critical hit: 97-114 (32 - 37.6%) -- 92.2% chance to 3HKO
+4 Articuno Blizzard vs. Chansey: 416-490 (59.1 - 69.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+4 Articuno Blizzard vs. Snorlax: 564-663 (107.8 - 126.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

View attachment 484137 Rhydon (Arbok)
- Glare (paralyses, Arbok signature move)
- Earthquake
- Rockslide
- Substitute

A Rhydon who can paralyze. It can use substitute to wait for a full paralysis. It's useful to paralyze Tauros and dose very well against a Snorlax without blizzard and others (Kangaskhan, Dodrio, Persian). A paralized Articuno, Jolteon, Gengar or Moltres, even at +6 special, will just get OHKO by Rhydon.

View attachment 484139Aerodactyl (Arbok / Sandslash / Golem)
- Glare / Swords dance / Explosion
- Rock slide
- Earthquake
- Hyper beam

A pretty good counter to Tauros, it can paralyse it or try to set up. It's also useful against Gengar, Articuno, Moltres and some Snorlax. It hates getting paralysis.

Aerodactyl Rock Slide vs. Articuno: 340-400 (88.7 - 104.4%) -- 28.2% chance to OHKO
+2 Aerodactyl Rock Slide vs. Tauros: 173-204 (49 - 57.7%) -- 97.6% chance to 2HKO
Aerodactyl Explosion vs. Tauros: 261-307 (73.9 - 86.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Tauros Rock Slide vs. Aerodactyl: 141-166 (38.8 - 45.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
Aerodactyl Earthquake vs. Gengar: 205-242 (63.4 - 74.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

View attachment 484144View attachment 484142View attachment 484143 (Kingler)
- Crabhammer (power 90, accuracy 85%, high crit ratio)
- Swords dance
- Hyper Beam
- Blizzard / Body slam / Stomp

A non-stab super-effective blizzard is actually weaker than a stab Crabhammer, that's how strong Crabhammer is. Swords dance is for Chansey, Hyper beam rely on reading switches so body slam is for safety. Stomp is for para-flinch shenanigans. Blizzard is for Exeggutor.
You might try to run Mimic to copy Chansey's Soft boiled or Thunder wave.
Gyarados has the highest attack and no grass weakness, Staross is fast and Lapras has stab blizzard. Tentacruel has higher special but sucks.

Starmie Crabhammer vs. Tauros on a critical hit: 238-280 (67.4 - 79.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Starmie Crabhammer vs. Snorlax on a critical hit: 245-289 (46.8 - 55.2%) -- 72.7% chance to 2HKO
Gyarados Hyper Beam vs. Chansey: 347-408 (49.3 - 58%) -- 98.6% chance to 2HKO
Starmie Hyper Beam vs. Chansey: 247-291 (35.1 - 41.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
Lapras Blizzard vs. Exeggutor: 216-254 (54.9 - 64.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

View attachment 484152Kangaskhan (Parasect)
-Slash
-Stun spore
-Mega drain
-Growth/Hyper Beam/Substitute/Leech life/Mimic

Parasect is actually the only Slash user who can paralyze. Kangaskhan's special bulk and mediocre speed make it way worse than Tauros as a Swords Dance user, so I think it's best to try to paralyze some things. Slash destroys chansey and prevents most Tobybro clones to Rest. Mega drain is for Rhydon.
Parasect doesn't have anything for the 4th move. Growth is useful against Rhydon. Leech life is somehow your strongest attack against Gengar. Hyper Beam is slightly stronger than Slash and can crit.

Kangaskhan Slash vs. Chansey on a critical hit: 393-462 (55.9 - 65.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Kangaskhan Mega Drain vs. Rhydon: 112-132 (27.1 - 31.9%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
Kangaskhan Slash vs. Cloyster on a critical hit: 94-111 (31 - 36.6%) -- 67.9% chance to 3HKO
Kangaskhan Leech Life vs. Gengar: 20-24 (6.1 - 7.4%) -- possibly the worst move ever

Here's some fun sets I messed around with.
Golem! (Rhydon)
Ability: No Ability
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Explosion
- Substitute

Isn't it poetic? Isn't it just, beautiful, in a Dragon Ball Z fusion kind of way? Two bitter rivals, together to fight side by side. Theater aside, this is just a Rhydon that can explode. It's not like it needs much else, anyway; it's the best of both worlds. Golem's explosion alredy packed a punch but with 20 more base ATK this packs a BIG punch.

Sandslash! (Rhydon)
Ability: No Ability
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Slash
- Swords Dance

Tauros is a strong Sandslash user but by no means the only one. Sandshlash-inherited Rhydon is... certainly something. If the enemy's team is fully paralysed and you setup Swords Dance there's a very good chance you just won on the spot. Plus, while Swords Dance Tauros is a good idea it's not the only idea you can run on Tauros

Slowbro! (Tauros) (M)
Ability: No Ability
- Body Slam / Headbutt
- Hyper Beam / Earthquake
- Thunder Wave / Amnesia
- Blizzard / Earthquake / Surf

Dear god.
So - first things first, you can run, literally anything with Slowbro Tauros. This isn't the inheritance with the most raw damage or staying potential but it's the most versatile. Due to the nicknames your sets are almost fully revealed - a Sandslash Tauros is 100% running Swords Dance, for example, but here you have to keep guessing between the sets. Among them:

Slowbro! (Tauros) (M)
Ability: No Ability
- Body Slam
- Hyper Beam
- Blizzard
- Earthquake

The first thing I wanna point out is how this mf can just fake you out and run a standard set.
Sometimes you really do just want the coverage; being able to hit both Gengar and Rhydon is very nice; it also hits the particularly noisy Aerodactyl matchup with the Blizzard as well. It's not the flashiest or the most creative but it's the ol' reliable. What truly elevates it above the rest is the fake out: You can run any other set game 1 and 2 and bring this in game 3. This set ensues nothing is safe from Tauros, like in regular OU.

Slowbro! (Tauros) (M)
Ability: No Ability
- Body Slam / Headbutt
- Hyper Beam / Thunder Wave
- Blizzard / Earthquake / Counter / Reflect
- Earthquake / Blizzard

But you could also do any of this instead.
Headbutt HBeam Blizz Quake can clean up unprepared teams.
BSlam Twave Reflect Coverage can act as an excellent midgame threat.
Bslam HBeam Counter Coverage is an incredible haymaker capable of taking out threats like rival Tauroses with a well-given Counter, or even use it on a switch to really create some fuzz.
And the worse part? You'll never know what it is until it's too late. Heck, even on all these different sets what coverage move isn't even set in stone! Run Blizzard, run Earthquake; it's impossible to know what role and coverage Slowbro! Tauros runs.

Slowbro! (Tauros) (M)
Ability: No Ability
- Headbutt
- Hyper Beam
- Thunder Wave
- Blizzard / Earthquake
But you could also do this shit instead.
Turn 1 Thunder Wave and then just Headbutt into HBeam range; it's a simple combo, but if it works it works. If the enemy's team already is paralysed this could run rampart and destroy them all; it also gains very nice coverage; Blizzard once again being another super good option due to hitting two otherwise problematic matchups, Rhydon and Aerodactly.

EQ would cover Gengar but leave you very lacking against Aero and Rhydon, specially since Rhydon could switch in on your TWave. Still, both Gengar and Aerodactly both dislike being paralysed so it's not like they're super safe, and Rhydon isn't the best at eating Tauros' EQ similarly.
But this just speaks to the power of Slowbro Tauros - they have to respect your options. Unlike something like Sandslash Tauros or any Rhydon variant there's no certainty in what your 4rth move will be, forcing the opponent into tight corners and overly safe play.

It's shrodinger's mon: Tauros can't beat both Aerodactly and Gengar at the same time but can threaten them individually. As long as the coverage move isn't revealed you can strangle them by the threat alone, in addition to the very real fear of Twave eitherway.

Slowbro! (Tauros) (M)
Ability: No Ability
- Amnesia
- Headbutt / Ice Beam / Blizzard
- Thunder Wave
- Rest

You can aso do this bullshit.
Is Tauros the best Tobybro vessel? Not by a long shot.
But here's the thing, right. When you reveal Slowbro! Articuno or Slowbro! Exeggutor or any other Tobybro set, your opponent will know what's up and make sure you don't get this off. But, when you reveal Slowbro! Tauros, they'll think you're running any other set - you could be running Reflect, you could be running 4 attacks, you could even be running Twave Headbutt troll Tauros.

So they wouldn't be prepared for this. They sacced their Jolteon, their Tauros is badly hurt and there's nothing they can do. They saw it wasn't Sandslash! Tauros and thought, "This tauros is never going to set up and become a game winning threat on its own". Oh how they were wrong. Don't get me wrong, this is by no means a top Tauros set - you could be doing much better things with both the Slowbro inheritance and the Tauros base. Your only advantage to running this is to fake the opponent out; it's a trick, so it should be used sparringly.

Other shit you can do

Slowbro learns Metronome. Do what you wish with this information.

It also learns Fire Blast, Surf and Psychic; it's very exotic coverage but depending how the meta shapes up it could become relevant. Fire Blast hits Exegutor, Victreebel and Pinsir, if they ever become relevant; Surf is a insta win against Rhydon and Psychic can cover Victreebel, Gengar, Tentacruel and a few other misc targets. It's way too early to tell if any of these mons become relevant but if they ever do, remember: Slowbro! Tauros has coverage for anything.
Or you can just run Seismic Toss. Eh.

You have Growl, Flash, Disable and Withdraw! Have fun with this information. Disable is certainly funny and could fuck up a mon by disabling Rest or their main attacking move but is generally very unreliable and terrible. But hey - it's another bag of tricks in a mon variant whose main draw is its unpredictability so it's never bad to have these tools, even if you're never gonna use them.
 
Alright, so Saber has concluded (like a month ago, oops), making it the perfect time to reflect on new developments to the RBY STABmons meta. This discussion will be facilitated by analyzing the new official RBY STABmons VR, which has been created by aggregating the opinions of seven of the top eight finishers in Saber. These players include myself, Mikon, TheLoyalBandito, YBW, Codename C.A.T, Enigami, and Gangsta Spongebob. If any of you are reading this, thank you for your contributions.

Anyhow, the new VR is posted below. The raw data can be found here.
Speaking for myself here, doing this thorough review of the VR has already shaken up my personal VR, but I didn’t resubmit one or anything. Maybe I'll share or edit in my current VR at a later time. (I have since added it, you can find it at the end.)

RBY STABmons Autumn 2023 VR.png


Notes:
  • Pokemon are ordered within subranks, with the leftmost Pokemon being ranked closer to #1.
  • Pokemon were ordered by average ranking. If average ranking was tied, median ranking was used to break the tie. If median ranking was tied as well, the number of times the Pokemon was ranked was used to break the tie. Hypno and Gyarados tied in all three metrics, so they are tied for #22/#23.
  • Breaks in ranks/subranks are a bit arbitrary and subjective. Generally, large, sudden gaps in average or median ranking were used to determine breaks. Golem ended up in a weird position (primarily because YBW did not rank it) where its average was tied with that of Dodrio (a C Rank Pokemon) and its median was tied with that of Chansey (a B Rank Pokemon). It seemed most appropriate to rank it between the B and C Ranks, rather than in one or the other.
  • Pokemon needed to be ranked by at least two players to be ranked in the VR. If a Pokemon was ranked by just one player, it is listed as an honorable mention (HM). Every Pokemon in D Rank was ranked by four or fewer players.

I want to start by qualifying my annotations. I have not used every Pokemon in this VR, and I have used even fewer if you limit me to only my tournament games. I’m pretty sure I only used about ten unique Pokemon in the tournament; that’s just how I prefer to play. As such, a lot of my analysis will be a combination of opinions developed from friendlies, the games of other players, the thoughts of other players, and just general theorycrafting. This becomes increasingly true as you work your way down the VR.

#1 Tauros :y/tauros:
Unsurprisingly, Tauros was given the top spot on every submitted VR, except my own (on which it was placed second). Tauros is an excellent revenge killer and arguably the most reliable Explosion user in the tier, thanks to great Attack and Speed stats. Tauros is ultimately as valuable as it is simply because there isn’t much of a reason not to use it. Even in the rare bad matchup, it can still use Explosion. It should at least trade in basically every game if played properly. Getting more than just a trade is more than just possible.
Tauros’s set has become rather streamlined as of late, with Slash, Earthquake, Recover, and Explosion emerging as the default. Glare is a good option as well, but can be difficult to fit. Swords Dance sets have majorly fallen out of favor, given their unreliability, lack of immediate presence, and susceptibility to Explosion. Swords Dance sets are not very good in my opinion, but I will admit that they are probably worth mixing into your rotation every once in a while just to get the jump on Snorlax and Kangaskhan looking to wall you.

#2 Starmie :y/starmie:
Starmie is the best Pokemon in the tier without Explosion, and will often be the only Pokemon on a team without the move. I, and I alone apparently, consider it to be the tier’s strongest Pokemon simply because it really doesn’t have any solid checks. Exeggutor can get worn down because it lacks recovery. Vaporeon can usually paralyze it, but it struggles somewhat to have an impact after that. Chansey is just a generally exploitable Pokemon that doesn’t really have room to run any moves to threaten Starmie beyond Thunder Wave / Glare. With so few reliable checks, Starmie is an awesome breaker capable of obliterating the otherwise tyrannical Normal-type Pokemon and occasionally sweeping outright.
Run Starmie on every team. Run Crabhammer, Thunderbolt, Recover, and Thunder Wave / Blizzard. Recover is droppable, but I don’t think I recommend it. Reject the temptation to use it as a lead.

#3 Exeggutor :y/exeggutor:
Exeggutor is an excellent utility Pokemon with a powerful Razor Leaf, access to Sleep Powder, access to Explosion, and the ability to check Starmie. Stun Spore is good for supporting teammates, especially Snorlax, Kangaskhan, Golem, and Rhydon. Psychic is good for hitting Gengar. Exeggutor covers so many roles very well that there isn’t much of a reason to drop it. I'd say it's a little easier to drop than Tauros and Starmie, but that doesn't mean you should. Sleep is also just excellent in this tier, so no reason not to take full advantage of it.
Agility is an interesting option but hard to fit. Amnesia is unfortunately a waste. Don't use Exeggutor as a lead. It is too valuable to use so early and is helpless against Gengar and especially Jynx.

#4 Snorlax :y/snorlax:
Snorlax ended up a bit higher than I expected. I think Gengar and Kangaskhan are firmly stronger options. A lot of the interesting sets Snorlax liked to play with back in the day, such as those with Swords Dance, have largely died out because they are so susceptible to Explosion. Snorlax, compared to Tauros, especially struggles to get away with Swords Dance because it is so slow. This isn’t to say Swords Dance is useless, but it is not standard. Nonetheless, it is a very reliable Explosion user itself and a decent check to Tauros, other Normal-type Pokemon, and Exeggutor in a pinch. I recommend Slash, Earthquake, Recover, and Explosion, just like Tauros. Body Slam, Glare, and Counter are all also on the table. Quick Attack is a fun novelty, but it's hard to earnestly advise using it. I saw Reflect in use as well, but I haven’t really determined how viable it is yet.

#5 Gengar :y/gengar:
Gengar is an excellent Pokemon in STABmons, despite not really getting anything aside from the mildly useful Sludge. Gengar excels thanks to an excellent degree of role compression. It packs a Normal-immunity, sleep-inducing move, Explosion, speed control, and Thunderbolt all in just one Pokemon. Considering the stupidly high power level in this tier, it is nice to knock out all these essential roles in a single Pokemon to make room for as many potent teammates as possible. It can also lead, so that eliminates another common challenge in building teams. I think the core of Tauros, Starmie, Exeggutor, and Gengar is among the most reliable in the tier and a really solid start to just about any team idea. It was the basis for many of my strongest teams during Saber.
I want to briefly stress the importance of Gengar's immunity to Explosion. Most teams run at least four or so Explosion users, so without a Gengar on your team, your opponent can very quickly and easily use Explosion repeatedly to trade away Pokemon and force a lopsided endgame as soon as they gain a full Pokemon advantage. Gengar can stymie this, so it's oddly enough one of the best comeback Pokemon in the tier. Rock-type Pokemon can accomplish a similar feat but Gengar works much better. Rock-type Pokemon still take a fair amount of damage from Explosion, especially critical hits, so they can still be worn down and/or revenge killed, meaning not much may actually be lost by using Explosion into them. The two most resilient Rock-type Pokemon, Rhydon and Golem, are also very slow, so they are especially vulnerable to revenge killing and can cede a lot of ground to Starmie or Exeggutor. Gengar, especially given that it won't lose any health, is one of the better Pokemon to have out on the field on a turn when a foe faints.
I recommend Thunderbolt, Night Shade, Hypnosis, and Explosion, with Psychic and Sludge being options over Night Shade. I want to reiterate the importance of Thunderbolt for pressuring Starmie (and Vaporeon) in endgames. A strong Thunderbolt is a really good and somewhat uncommon trait in this meta.

#6 Jolteon :y/jolteon:
Jolteon is definitely not as good as Kangaskhan if you ask me, but here it is. Jolteon is a heavily flawed Pokemon that works way better than it seems like it should. It’s conventionally used as a lead, opting to run Thunderbolt, Thunder Wave, Super Fang, and Explosion. And it’s a damn good lead, with an argument for being the best because it can pretty much always at least get one hit off before it goes down. Non-lead Jolteon, while potentially inferior on average, started to gain some traction throughout the tour because of its ability to offensively check Starmie. This is a very important feature of Jolteon given how shaky defensive checks to Starmie can be. Jolteon's traits enable it to maintain momentum very well and make it a shockingly easy addition to any team. A high Speed stat and good moves are more than enough to make up for its flaws.
Recover is an option for Jolteon, but it's hard to fit. Obligatory mention of Rhydon and Golem being checks.

#7 Kangaskhan :y/kangaskhan:
Kangaskhan was a huge part of my run in Saber, so I obviously think very highly of it. It’s a strong defensive answer to Tauros that can still dish out a ton of damage to it or anything that tries to switch in. While they play a similar role, I ultimately find Kangaskhan to be superior to Snorlax because of the Speed stat; the guaranteed critical hit on Slash and ability to outspeed key Pokemon like Exggutor and Vaporeon should not be understated. Kangaskhan will run the same sets as Snorlax, except I find it usually wants to use Glare over Earthquake (and Body Slam isn’t really worth considering on Kangaskhan unlike how it is on Snorlax). While running Glare over Earthquake ostensibly leaves Kangaskhan walled by Gengar and Rock-type Pokemon, it really doesn’t matter. Gengar can be a bit annoying, but if you can paralyze it, it’s usually a worthwhile interaction. After paralyzing it, something else can usually take care of it. The Rock-type Pokemon, on the other hand, are very likely to get worn down and just faint eventually. While Slash doesn’t do much, Kangaskhan has Recover and they don’t, so Kangaskhan will always win in the long run, especially if they’re paralyzed and Kagaskhan isn’t. As a side note, this is one of the reasons why Kangaskhan can more easily afford to run Glare than Snorlax can; Kangaskhan can more reliably win against Golem and Rhydon in situations where both parties are paralyzed thanks to its higher Speed stat. Kangaskhan is really good and ended up very underrated here.
Anyone else remember when Kangaskhan ran Defense Curl just to check Swords Dance Snorlax? Simpler times.

#8 Jynx :y/jynx:
Jynx is very simple. It is often a lead, but not always. It usually runs Lovely Kiss, Blizzard, Psychic, and Amnesia. It aims to put something to sleep and fire off strong attacks. While Jynx is generally considered the best Amnesia user, it can drop the move for something else, most often Counter. Counter is good on anything, and Jynx is no exception. Amnesia is a very strong option for Jynx, but Starmie can still give Jynx a lot of trouble, even after a boost, so it’s not always worth trying, at least not right away.

#9 Vaporeon :y/vaporeon:
I don’t much like Vaporeon. I used it zero times in my run through Saber. That said, it’s hard to deny that it’s a solid Pokemon. It’s easily the second best Water-type Pokemon in the tier. It is one of two fully-evolved Water-type Pokemon capable of using Recover and one of two fully-evolved Water-type Pokemon capable of using Explosion. Slap on Crabhammer and Glare, and you have yourself a tank capable of pressuring Starmie and Normal-type Pokemon. Blizzard and some random Normal-type moves are other options, but Explosion is almost always the better option. The only real issues with Vaporeon are its middling Speed and redundant typing with Starmie. There’s a general principle in RBY STABmons that states that you should run two Water-type Pokemon at maximum, because as you run more, you start to get a bigger weakness to Thunderbolt users and miss out on the momentum-maintaining power of Normal-type Pokemon.

#10 Alakazam :y/alakazam:
Alakazam is a pretty decent Pokemon, but I am surprised to see it end up this high. Alakazam coasts primarily on its Speed stat in this tier. Outspeeding Tauros and Starmie is huge and the combination of Psychic and Thunder Wave is actually pretty tricky to switch into. Starmie and Exeggutor are the only really common Pokemon in STABmons that comfortably take Psychic, but the former generally wants to avoid taking paralysis and the latter wants to avoid taking damage so it can face opposing Starmie. Alakazam typically wants Psychic, Thunder Wave, Recover, and one of Counter, Amnesia, or Seismic Toss. Amnesia is seemingly the default choice for most players, but Counter might be better given how much damage Alakazam can do if it comes in after its teammate faints to a Slash or Explosion and the foe switches out from fear of Psychic or Thunder Wave.
Lead Alakazam isn't nearly as prominent in STABmons as it is in OU, largely because Counter and Amnesia are weaker options early in a game and Alakazam is just generally considered less viable here. But perhaps it should be more common, given how popular and powerful Gengar is in the lead slot.

#11 Zapdos :y/zapdos:
Zapdos was on the radar for a while, but it only really rose to prominence about halfway through Saber. Zapdos was always seen as potentially good, but it was hardly ever used, either because it seemed outclassed by Jolteon or simply because no one ever got around to trying it. Zapdos gets no new moves aside from Mirror Move, which it really doesn’t want to run over any of the moves on its traditional OU set. Despite this, Zapdos fits comfortably in the STABmons metagame because of its strong matchup into many key Pokemon in the tier, most notably Starmie and Exeggutor. Zapdos is an incredibly potent setup sweeper with Agility and its bulk is sufficient that it can survive two Crabhammers from Starmie. Rock-type Pokemon being much less reliable and common than they are in OU is also a major boon for Zapdos. It’s such a benefit in fact, that running Zapdos and Jolteon on the same team isn’t even really that irresponsible in this meta. The only real issue with Zapdos is that STABmons has a power level above that of even Ubers, so it has to compete with many very strong and versatile Pokemon. Making room for a Pokemon without Explosion or Recover puts a fair bit of strain on teambuilding. Zapdos is the quintessential high B-rank Pokemon. It is something that you need to respect when building a team and you should look to incorporate it in your own teams every once in a while to keep yourself from being exploited. The rise of Zapdos over the course of Saber was likely the most important meta development of the tournament.

#12 Chansey :y/chansey:
Chansey was easily the most polarizing Pokemon on the VR, being ranked at #4 by one player and at #18 by another player. I personally am more sympathetic to the latter opinion. Chansey is a solid defensive answer to Starmie, but unlike Exeggutor and Vaporeon, Chansey simply is not offensively threatening. In a metagame where Normal-type Pokemon can cleanly 2HKO it and heal off all damage with Recover, Chansey struggles. Its only real way to threaten Pokemon in practice is through Thunder Wave (or Glare, if you have nightmares of Golem). This is admittedly somewhat useful, but fairly limited as paralyzed Normal-type Pokemon can still go on to knock something out with Explosion after slaying Chansey. As such, Chansey requires a firm defensive backbone to function, which unfortunately often means compromising on incorporating some offensive threats into the team. Chansey is certainly workable, but it can often be exploited with proficient play.
Chansey has about a dozen moves it wants to run. Typically, the set of Super Fang, Seismic Toss, Thunder Wave, and Recover is seen. However, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, Sing, and Counter are all acceptable options. Transform is also an option, but certain game mechanics keep it from being very effective; I don’t recommend it.

#13 Golem :y/Golem:
Golem is a mixed bag. I didn’t like it at first, grew to appreciate it, only to largely fall out of love with it again. Golem has a very clear niche in walling Electric-type Pokemon and catching Explosions. This is a very good niche, especially considering Golem can keep up momentum with Explosion once it has done its job or if it has little to do in a game. The unfortunate part of Golem is that it loses to just about every Pokemon in the tier aside from Zapdos and Jolteon (and even then, Jolteon can do a number with Super Fang). Water-type Pokemon obliterate it with Crabhammer, obviously. Razor Leaf enables Exeggutor to do the same. Tragically, Normal-type Pokemon, even those with only Slash as an attacking move, will also usually defeat it via attrition. Tauros and Kangaskhan cannot be knocked out from full health via Explosion and Golem has no way to spread status. Therefore, they can enter the field against it and click Recover repeatedly, only attacking when they have full health. The Normal-type Pokemon will win this exchange, and Snorlax can as well if Golem is paralyzed. Golem can thus be a bit tricky to maximize in value. It usually needs a fair amount of paralysis support and careful positioning to get going. It is absolutely worth using, especially with Zapdos on the upswing, but it isn’t overly reliable. Golem also has a decent matchup against Gengar, but repeated hits will wear it down. Golem usually runs its typical OU set, though it can switch out Body Slam or Rock Slide for Substitute if it wants. Given how comfortable most Normal-type Pokemon are with switching into Golem, Body Slam seldom nets a paralysis.

#14 Dodrio :y/Dodrio:
Dodrio is a terrifyingly strong Normal-type attacker. Dodrio harbors the best Explosion in the game in terms of sheer power alongside options such as Slash, Drill Peck, Mirror Move, Agility, and more. Its raw power and good Speed stat make it a competent lead and decent wall breaker or sweeper. Despite this, Dodrio struggles a bit for several reasons. Dodrio has an awful defensive profile and typing (though it does helpfully resist Razor Leaf), so it has virtually no longevity. Options like Recover and Swords Dance thus aren’t really on the table for it. It also lacks any coverage, making it more predictable than something like Tauros. And finally, the tier is already quite saturated with strong Normal-type Pokemon in Tauros, Kangaskhan, Snorlax, and the occasional Clefable. Finding a slot for Dodrio and a team that wants it more than one of those can be difficult sometimes. At the end of the day, however, Dodrio is still stupidly strong, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it was underrated. Also, if you face a Gengar in the lead slot, successfully returning a missed Hypnosis via Mirror Move is sensational.

#15 Persian :y/Persian:
Normal-type Pokemon are pretty much going to be decent by default. Persian’s only distinguishing trait amongst the sea of normality is the high Speed stat, which gifts Persian the fastest STAB Explosion and the third fastest Explosion overall. A fast Explosion and the ability to outspeed Tauros are nice traits, but that’s basically the end of the positives. Like Dodrio, Persian is simply too frail to run moves like Recover reliably. However, unlike Dodrio, Persian is very weak. Persian’s Slash is, well, the same as it has always been. Its strength is not impressive in the context of STABmons. Persian also lacks good coverage, and it is pretty much completely walled by the very common Gengar.

#16 Clefable :y/Clefable:
Snorlax is notable for comfortably taking Exeggutor’s Razor Leaf, which is something Tauros and Kangaskhan can’t exactly do. However, Snorlax is slower than Exeggutor, so switching in to face it can be dangerous. In comes Clefable, which can similarly tank Razor Leaf while also outpacing Exeggutor. This is the bulk of Clefable’s niche. Access to moves like Thunder Wave, Sing, and some decent Special moves are nice as well, but it doesn’t totally make up for the major drop in power Clefable faces when compared to Snorlax and the rest of the Normal-type Pokemon. Clefable is a totally serviceable Normal-type Pokemon with a fair amount of longevity and a decent Explosion, but it often struggles to fit on a team due to competition from its colleagues. It is pretty good overall though.
Clefable usually runs the same sets as Tauros, Kangaskhan, and Snorlax, though Thunder Wave is normally preferred to Glare. Moves like Sing are nice, but it is genuinely challenging to make room for them on a set given all four moves are close to non-negotiable.

#17 Rhydon :y/Rhydon:
I presently agree with the consensus that Golem is superior to Rhydon in RBY STABmons. The momentum-preserving power of Explosion is a lot to give up in this tier. That said, I’m not totally convinced of this conjecture. While Rhydon’s additional bulk is, as far as I can tell, irrelevant, the extra power behind its Earthquake is quite nice. Rhydon has a much better chance at breaking paralyzed Normal-type Pokemon, especially Snorlax, than Golem does, which is good for shaking up an otherwise fairly poor matchup. It also just generally punishes foes harder when it scares out Zapdos. As with Golem, stick to the OU set. Rest can be funny if you manage to draw a really good matchup.

#18 Aerodactyl :y/Aerodactyl:
Aerodactyl has many very nice traits including a solid defensive typing, high Speed, and excellent STAB-boosted options in Rock Slide and Drill Peck. It can even snatch Recover via Mirror Move. Unfortunately though, Aerodactyl just doesn’t work that well most of the time. Here’s a quick tutorial for how to beat it. Switch in a healthy Normal-type Pokemon and use Recover until you reach full health. It doesn’t matter if Aerodactyl heals as well. Use Glare if you have it and hope it hits. If it does, you’ve basically won. If it misses, you may want to switch to something unafraid of paralysis and then switch back in (Aerodactyl is very likely to try to return the Glare via Mirror Move). Once Aerodactyl is paralyzed, you can easily wear it down even if Slash is your only attacking move. It will eventually be fully paralyzed on a turn in which you use Recover and it will fall irreparably behind in health. If you have no tools to paralyze Aerodactyl, simply hit it until you can comfortably predict when it will click Mirror Move to snag Recover. You can then go to Starmie and drop a Crabhammer for an OHKO or massive damage on whatever switches in (or use any move really; Thunder Wave, Blizzard, and Thunderbolt all hamper Aerodactyl if it stays in). Aerodactyl is legitimately decent in some matchups and endgames, but it honestly can be circumvented at little cost via competent play in at least as many scenarios.
Its fourth move slot is pretty open. Fire Blast is especially nice for burns because those can hinder the ability of a Normal-type Pokemon to use Explosion later on.

#19 Dragonite :y/Dragonite:
Dragonite is a pest with Agility + Wrap. Dragonite has a cool new tool in Drill Peck, which allows it to comfortably dispatch Gengar. It has the always valuable Thunder Wave as well. It also can be a decent defensive answer to Starmie lacking Blizzard and a strong answer to Exeggutor lacking Psychic. But at the end of the day, Dragonite still wants to abuse APT. Finding a set-up opportunity in this tier can be a little tricky, because a lot of Pokemon run paralysis-inducing moves and players are generally careful about sending in sleeping Pokemon too often because they can be setup fodder for the small handful of setup sweepers that still roam the tier (sleeping Pokemon do like to come in when Explosion is likely, however, so keep that in mind as a possible opportunity). But if Dragonite does find that turn to set up, trouble begins. I’d recommend Agility, Wrap, Drill Peck, and one of Thunder Wave, Surf, or Blizzard. I suppose you could try to be tasteful and run Thunder Wave over Agility and keep two attacks, but I think embracing the demon is usually the better choice.

#20 Cloyster :y/Cloyster:
Cloyster has actually kind of surprised me in this meta. I didn’t think it was on anyone’s radar, but it showed up a few times during Saber and it actually looked… alright. Water-type Pokemon, including the good ones like Vaporeon, tend to have an issue with killing the user’s momentum. While they can be adept walls and sweepers (given proper preparation), using them in the mid-game can have varied results because they can be met with answers like Exeggutor, Vaporeon, or Chansey — all of whom have status moves to slow down your team — or start to get worn down when they would prefer to stay healthy to face Normal-type Pokemon in the endgame. Cloyster, however, is a bit interesting because it supplements a respectable Crabhammer with two great moves for preserving momentum, Clamp and Explosion. So while Cloyster doesn’t have the movepool or stats of a Pokemon like Gyarados, it may actually end up being the better choice because of these options. That all being said, Cloyster still has major issues. As with OU, Starmie is a big roadblock for Cloyster, made even bigger by its even higher usage rate in STABmons. On the positive side though, nailing it with Explosion is a better trade now. Additionally, it has major longevity issues, not unlike Golem. Despite its high defenses, Cloyster is still 3HKOed by most relevant Slash users in the tier, so it won’t be switching in against them and using Rest. And, of course, Cloyster will not help very much against Zapdos and Jolteon, so adding one to your team can create a significant vulnerability. Cloyster seems very matchup-dependent and a bit inconsistent, but I think it has a small amount of potential.

#21 Victreebel :y/Victreebel:
In practice, Victreebel will probably always be a second Grass-type Pokemon used in addition to Exeggutor, considering the latter is simply much stronger in pretty much every way. Considering Exeggutor gets Razor Leaf now and Swords Dance is less than practical, Victreebel only really has Wrap as a distinguishing feature. This is definitely valuable though, as it complements access to sleep- and paralysis-inducing moves quite nicely. Victreebel can genuinely be tricky to play around sometimes. Victreebel, as with a lot of Pokemon in this tier, just doesn’t get a lot of tools (its only new option is the largely useless Sludge), so it is at a distinctly lower power level than a lot of key Pokemon. Combine this with competition from Exeggutor and you get a decent Pokemon that just doesn’t fit well on very many teams.

#22/#23 Hypno :y/Hypno:
Hypno can function as a lead, I suppose. Hypno gets Amnesia, but it doesn’t necessarily want to use it, given its underwhelming speed and longevity. Psychic, Thunder Wave, Hypnosis, and Counter, among other moves, are all just quite useful options in the context of STABmons. I don’t think Hypno is a particularly strong choice and I don’t have much to say about it, but it doesn’t feel terribly out of place in the meta at least.

#22/23 Gyarados :y/Gyarados:
Gyarados was identified alongside Aerodactyl as among the biggest winners in the STABmons environment early on. Crabhammer and Drill Peck ostensibly turn Gyarados into a menacing wall breaker with basically no checks. Tragically, Gyarados’s reputation has soured. Gyarados does indeed have impressive damage output, but it isn’t the most functional Pokemon. Its awkward speed tier and lack of Explosion make it very difficult to claim more than one knock out in a game, if that. Moreover, it is quite susceptible to Explosion itself. Once again, Gyarados is a Pokemon that is often just better replaced by a strong offensive Normal-type Pokemon. A massive weakness to Thunderbolt and the inability to reliably spread any status also hinder it significantly. Gyarados can’t support its teammates very well beyond pure damage and can, of course, widen a vulnerability to Zapdos and Jolteon, like any Water-type Pokemon. This is why stacking many Water-type Pokemon just doesn’t work as well as it seems like it should. While I don’t think Gyarados is particularly good, I do think it may have ended up slightly underrated, as I will say its attacks do genuinely sting and basically nothing solidly switches in without needing to predict at least a little bit.

#24 Slowbro :y/Slowbro:
Slowbro is terrible. I have no idea how it ended up on this VR at all, let alone this high. Slowbro has only a few positive traits, but those traits have negative synergy with each other. Amnesia is already difficult to use in STABmons and Slowbro stands as one of the worst candidates to use the move, as it lacks Recover and has a dismal Speed stat, leaving it wide open for Explosion and revenge killing. Its defensive traits are frankly irrelevant as Normal-type Pokemon will claim a consistent 3HKO with Slash and anything with Thunderbolt will pressure it easily. Slowbro gains Crabhammer, but its low Speed prevents the move from always landing a critical hit. However, the move can still land critical hits fairly often, meaning it won’t mesh well with Amnesia either. So ultimately, Slowbro is a Crabhammer user with an underwhelming Special stat and very few other useful tools beyond Thunder Wave. I can’t see any justification for running Slowbro over Vaporeon and running both doesn’t sound much more appealing.

#25 Fearow :y/Fearow:
If you ever wanted to run six Pokemon with STAB Explosion, you probably considered Fearow, because it's genuinely in the running for being the sixth best Pokemon in that field. That's its whole niche. Otherwise, run Dodrio.

#26 Haunter :y/Haunter:
Haunter is, obviously, to be treated like a second Gengar. Running a second Gengar as opposed to a Rock-type Pokemon as an Explosion answer or Normal-type check honestly makes a fair amount of sense on paper, because Haunter can endure these attacks indefinitely, while Rhydon, Golem, and Aerodactyl will eventually fold to chip damage even in the best cases. That being said, Haunter has two huge problems, one obvious and one less obvious. First, Haunter is a Haunter. It’s an NFE Pokemon with the stats of an NFE Pokemon. Almost everything about it is underwhelming. Second, is Gengar really something you need two of? Gengar can catch infinite Explosions on its own already, so a second one isn’t really necessary. It’s important to remember that Gengar is more of a defensive or utility Pokemon than an offensive Pokemon. Using multiple similar offensive Pokemon is a good strategy to overload your opponent. Using multiple similar defensive Pokemon just means you have a very non-diverse core. Because of this Haunter only really does one valuable thing well. If your opponent sees your Gengar faint, they will probably be more liberal in using Explosion, as it’s unlikely anything left on your team will be able to take the hit and survive. This can be exploited by using Haunter. That’s Haunter’s best trait. You might get one opposing Pokemon to knock itself out at the cost of using an NFE Pokemon. I can’t believe I wrote this much about Haunter. At least it’s probably better than Slowbro.

#27 Lapras :y/Lapras:
Lapras was an unfortunate victim of being underutilized. As far as I know, Lapras hasn’t really ever been tested in an RBY STABmons game. This makes judging its value difficult. Many players have alleged that its combination of Crabhammer, Blizzard, and Thunderbolt should probably put it somewhere around Gyarados in terms of viability, if not exceeding it. However, given Gyarados’s underperformance in the tier, I suspect that we may not be missing much. Maybe it’s worth trying, or you can just slap a Normal-type Pokemon on your team and carry on.

#28 Articuno :y/Articuno:
I don’t think Articuno has seen much use, not unlike Lapras. Articuno gains Drill Peck and Mirror Move, and that’s about it. The popularity of Starmie and Vaporeon makes Zapdos a much more enticing legendary bird than Articuno. Articuno has genuinely solid bulk and retains access to its nuclear winter in Blizzard, so it can potentially do something. I imagine it ends up somewhat like Gyarados where it can threaten a lot of Pokemon, but it has to reckon with its middling Speed and weakness to revenge killing and Explosion. On the bright side, Articuno gets Agility to patch up the Speed problem if it can find a free turn. On the bleak side, Articuno struggles a lot against Water-type Pokemon, even with Drill Peck added to its arsenal.

#29 Flareon :y/Flareon:
Flareon gets all the benefits of being a Normal-type Pokemon in STABmons without actually being a Normal-type Pokemon. The unfortunate thing is that this isn’t a good trait. Flareon has a STAB-boosted Fire Blast and a resistance to Razor Leaf. In turn, Flareon gains a weakness to Crabhammer and Earthquake and has a much lower damage output than its Normal-type compatriots. Even with a Base 130 Attack, Flareon’s Normal-type moves are only just barely stronger than those of Persian. Given this, a mediocre defensive profile, and a middling Speed stat, Flareon isn’t much more than a novelty.

#30 Kabutops :y/Kabutops:
Kabutops is yet another “cool on paper, poor in practice” Pokemon. Access to Crabhammer is nice alongside a Rock-typing, but it suffers in the meta due to its underwhelming Speed, lack of longevity, and inability to use Explosion or any status-inducing moves. Like many of the aforementioned underwhelming Water-type Pokemon, Kabutops struggles with Starmie, Zapdos, and Jolteon and is just generally not a good producer of momentum. One thing I will say though is that Kabutops ended up a lot lower than I expected. Even though I don’t think very highly of Kabutops, I would venture to call it the best or second best Pokemon in this VR’s D Rank (it's competing with Lapras in my mind). It might be awkward to use, but it is still a Pokemon that can take an Explosion and then dish out a respectable Crabhammer. It’s probably more flexible and harder to answer than something like Flareon or Articuno.

#31 Moltres :y/Moltres:
Moltres has basically all the same issues as Articuno, but it can’t even stomach a Crabhammer. Some stronger Crabhammer users, like Vaporeon, have a chance to OHKO it. Access to STAB-boosted Fire Blast is not particularly valuable in this tier and Fire Spin isn’t overly consistent. Being able to spread burns is nice, but not overly practical considering Water-type Pokemon will be the most frequent answer to Moltres and they don’t really mind being burned. I don’t see much of a niche for Moltres.

#32 Omastar :y/Omastar:
Omastar is similar to Kabutops, featuring a stronger Crabhammer and a greater resilience in the face of Explosion. Which Pokemon is better is probably debatable, but Kabutops’s higher Speed and Attack stats give it a nice edge in a few matchups. Yet another slow Pokemon that will likely be worn down with little recourse. It’s probably better than Moltres, Flareon, and a few other of these poorly-ranked Pokemon though, so there’s that. Knowing what we’ve covered about other Rock- and Water-type Pokemon, it should be pretty guessable how Omastar functions at this point.

HM#1 Wigglytuff :y/Wigglytuff:
Wigglytuff is a Normal-type Pokemon with Counter.

HM#2 Tentacruel :y/Tentacruel:
Tentacruel’s Crabhammer is the strongest special attack in the tier and it is supported by a decent Speed stat. Tentacruel remains extremely underutilized, so it’s very hard to make any claims about its viability. It’s been on my radar for a while, but I’ve just never gotten around to it. I could see it being potentially useful, but I think it will struggle to compete in the tier because of the other, stronger Water-type Pokemon available. Wrap is a nice tool too. I think Tentacruel can probably, at best, aspire to be like Cloyster, a decent pivot with a strong special attack at its disposal. Unfortunately, Tentacruel is saddled with a worse typing, no access to Explosion, and the same frustrating Starmie problems.

HM#3 Raticate :y/Raticate:
Raticate is a Normal-type Pokemon with, uh… surely it has something?

HM#4 Poliwrath :y/Poliwrath:
Poliwrath has big "new toy" energy. Crabhammer, High Jump Kick, and Hypnosis are all really cool options, but Poliwrath just does not have any other strong attributes. Its typing has many weaknesses, it has mediocre stats across the board, and it has no survivability or access to Explosion. We have covered so many stronger, and yet still underwhelming, Water-type Pokemon that it is hard to imagine working your way all the way down and settling on Poliwrath as your choice. I’m glad this is the last Pokemon. I think I started to repeat myself at least fifteen entries ago.

Yes, I am aware that the Yellow sprites for Jolteon and Raticate are screwed up. No, I do not know why.

The Core Four
As I’ve alluded to in the Annotations, I’ve recognized a group of four Pokemon that I think can be the basis of a lot of basic yet successful teams. A lot of my teams started out with the combination of Tauros, Starmie, Exeggutor, and Gengar. While these four Pokemon are the first four Pokemon on my personal VR, I do not insist that this is the best core of four Pokemon nor is the combination required to build a good team. I don’t think I have enough knowledge to make such a claim. Additionally, Gengar in particular is not a mandatory member of a successful team (though the other three are at least close to mandatory).
I do, however, think that if you want to quickly put together a reliable team or try to support a new Pokemon set for a trial run, using these four Pokemon as a starting point is an idea worth considering. Collectively, these four Pokemon provide many of the necessary requirements for a STABmons team. Tauros provides physical offense and an Explosion. Starmie provides Special offense and Speed. Exeggutor provides a Starmie check and sleep. Gengar provides insulation against Explosion and a possible lead option. From there, select two more Pokemon to round out your team; my most preferred fifths and sixths are Snorlax, Kangaskhan, Jolteon, and Zapdos. Among these Pokemon, Kangaskhan is likely the one I recommend adding the most because it helps keep the core safe from Tauros, who can otherwise potentially break through it. Jolteon is also nice because it can be used in place of Gengar as a lead the most successfully.
A couple of really solid Pokemon are conspicuously missing from this list. Jynx tends not to build particularly well with Gengar because a team with both will be very lacking in terms of both physical offense and defense. Additionally, the team would have three sleep-inducers, which is simply unnecessary. Vaporeon is a Pokemon that I have insufficient experience to comment on what teams it best fits on. From what I have seen though, the best Vaporeon teams do not resemble the teams I frequently used that relied on the Core Four. If you want to build with Vaporeon, you might need to try things for yourself or ask a player more skilled than me in that field. Alakazam, Chansey, and Golem are all feasible options for these builds, but I haven’t tested them as thoroughly and also think they are just generally weaker Pokemon than the ones I mentioned above.

The Boom Rule
This rule is really simple. I recommend running at least four Explosion users on every RBY STABmons team. In addition to just being a really good move, Explosion is the single best tool for maintaining momentum and quickly forcing a game towards a desirable end state. Explosion users are abundant and strong, so this isn’t a hard rule to follow. If you do violate this rule, you may find it difficult to hold an advantaged state.
Also, as a logical extension of the Boom Rule, basically every Pokemon capable of running Explosion will want to run it at least most of the time, with the only real exception being Chansey.

The Water Rule
This rule is a bit more opaque, but I think it still holds true most of the time. Basically, despite how tempting it may seem, stacking Water-type Pokemon on the same team doesn’t usually work that well in this tier. Normally, I recommend using no more than two Water-type Pokemon on a given team. Running more than two often leaves a team with some issues. First, your team is likely to end up violating the Boom Rule, as only two fully-evolved Water-type Pokemon even get access to Explosion. Second, your team will likely end up being slow and highly susceptible to Explosion. Third, stacking Water-type Pokemon leaves you with an awful matchup against Zapdos and Jolteon.
In most circumstances, the Water-type Pokemon of a team will be Starmie. If there is a second Water-type Pokemon, it will be Vaporeon. Other Water-type Pokemon exist and are worth considering for some teams/matchups, but it is often difficult to justify using many of them over Starmie and Vaporeon given their numerous positive traits.

Boosting Moves
Boosting moves were really popular in the early stages of the STABmons meta, but many of them have fallen out of favor.
Swords Dance, as I have said, is a decent option for a Pokemon like Tauros to break through its checks, but it comes at the heavy cost of a lost moveslot and a lower immediate damage output. I’d consider it more of a niche surprise option for exploiting heavily defensive play.
Defense boosting, via moves like Barrier, Defense Curl, and Reflect, is mainly useful for answering Explosion and Swords Dance users. Keeping your valuable Pokemon from being instantly eliminated by Explosion is genuinely nice, but the moves can be hard to justify as they require a moveslot and a free turn to use. Additionally, the very common Slash bypasses them altogether.
Amnesia is a pretty decent option for a couple of Pokemon, mainly Jynx and Alakazam. The additional offensive output can do a lot for these Pokemon and can help force Pokemon like Starmie to switch in. Amnesia though will not help against Crabhammer and can still be safely overridden by a quick Explosion.
Agility is probably the best boosting move in the tier, and its main user, Zapdos, is a Pokemon that learns it naturally. Getting the jump on Starmie and Tauros is enormously significant in this tier, and a great way to outmaneuver revenge killers, especially those dangerous ones with Explosion. While Zapdos is the main culprit, I’ve seen some interesting developments with Pokemon like Exeggutor, Starmie, and Dodrio as well.
I hate myself for even putting this idea out in the world, but I should note that every Normal-type Pokemon now gets access to Smokescreen. Once again, this is hardly reliable and takes up a moveslot on a very powerful Pokemon that could be spent on something more valuable like Glare… but it is a tool to punish Explosion (sometimes). I’ve never seen Smokescreen used in battle and, frankly, I hope it is awful and never catches on.

Substitute
Substitute is an interesting move because it can potentially stall out Explosion if used alongside Recover (recall that Explosion does not knock out the user if it breaks a Substitute) if the Explosion user is paralyzed. The Substitute user, such as Tauros, can use Substitute repeatedly and then use Recover on turns where the opponent is fully paralyzed. From here, the Substitute user can either stall out all eight Explosion PP or just start breaking through the Pokemon and hopefully maintain the Substitute to give it an advantage against whatever comes in after the Pokemon it was facing faints. This is far from a consistent strategy and takes a toll on the Pokemon’s moveslots, but it is an interesting development I saw. As neat of an idea as it is, I ultimately can't say I recommend it. More conventional Substitute users like Golem and Rhydon work fine in this tier for the same reasons they do in tiers like OU and UU.

Counter
Not much to say here, but I just want to point out again that Counter is potent in this meta. Scout for it if you can, and be careful playing around it with Pokemon that only have Normal-type attacking moves. Common counter users include Snorlax, Kangaskhan, Jynx, Alakazam, Chansey, and Clefable. Pokemon like Gengar and Golem can also run it to really catch players by surprise.

Sleep and Paralysis
Pretty straight-forward, but I want to make it clear that in RBY STABmons, like most RBY tiers, you will want to include at least one Pokemon with a sleep-inducing move. As always, landing sleep basically nets a full Pokemon advantage to the inducer. Thus, landing a sleep early on is quite important, and speed ties between sleep-inducers can have an admittedly large impact on the outcome of a game.
Exeggutor, Gengar, and Jynx are your main sleep-inducers. Using two such Pokemon is usually a reasonable idea. Using all three is a bit excessive.
Pokemon that take sleep (“sleep fodder”) are still useful for catching Explosions, though be careful because doing so will usually leave you without protection from Sleep Clause. Because of this, Gengar is generally the best sleep fodder in the tier, as it can still catch an infinite number of Explosions while catching Zs.
Once sleep is induced, paralysis should become a priority. Lots of common Pokemon benefit heavily from paralysis support and the enormously strong Pokemon in this tier love to seize the advantage granted by full paralysis. Full paralysis provides great opportunities for healing and setup and can also mean the difference between a successful KO or a trade if the paralyzed foe has Explosion.

RBY STABmons VR 2023 Final.png

So that’s basically everything. If you actually sat down and read this entire post, thank you and I hope you enjoyed it. I hope STABmons can maintain some intermittent play between now and the next edition of Saber. Be sure to sign up for that tournament in 2024 if anything in this tier interests you!

edit1: Cleaned up some typos.

edit2: Added my current VR c. 11/27/23.
 
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Hi all! After about two years of neglect, I've finally decided to give this thread the revamp it's been waiting for. Check out the first two posts!

What's New:
  • The post has a whole new layout that, in addition to being more visually appealing, should be much easier to navigate. The metagame you are looking for will be much easier to find, as you won't be bogged down by sifting through a bunch of unrelated text.
  • More resources have been added, especially for the active/major metagames. Both 1v1 and STABmons now feature updated VRs and links to new resources. Tier leadership has also been noted where applicable
  • Little Cup has been updated to reflect its modern ruleset (Level 5, no Tradeback moves, and Wrap & Fire Spin banned).
  • A lot of fat has been trimmed from the post, including outdated VRs and "Basic Strategy."
  • Anything Goes (AG) has been cut due to being unplayable.
  • A directory for alternative metagames that are sometimes conflated with Other Metagames has been added to help disambiguate.

What's Coming Next / Goals:
  • The 1v1 Community is currently collecting VRs from its players (based on their performance in the most recent tournament). A newer, hopefully even better, VR will be posted in just a few weeks time.
  • Little Cup is expected to see a money tournament in early 2024. Based on participation, many new resources will be added and a VR may be composed. Ideally, LC will be elevated to a major metagame thereafter.
  • Moving forward, a new VR for 1v1 and STABmons should be published roughly annually or every other year, depending on tour activity.

What You Can Do (If You Want):
  • I'm always looking to keep resources updated. If you have or create any resources for any of these OMs, post them here. I'd be happy to add them to the OP.
  • I especially want sample teams! Almost every metagame here has very few or zero sample teams. If you play these metagames and have teams to share, send them to me or post them here!
  • If I missed any important metagames, be sure to advocate for them, so I can add them to the OP.

I know RBY OMs are pretty small, but I still think they deserve the best resources they can get. Thank you to those who have contributed so far. Cheers!
 
So, back in October/November, the 1v1 Community hosted RBY 1v1 Cup, which was arguably the first "real" RBY 1v1 tournament. This was a fairly large tournament, launching with 55 entrants. Seeing the opportunity, I decided to work with Murman to put together an RBY 1v1 VR by surveying some of the tournament's highest placing players. The following VR was assembled.

Thank you to Elo Bandit, Lialiabeast, Call me PK, Arvinraj K III C, Melbelle, Urfgurgle, and Murman for contributing to the VR!

Anyhow, please see the VR below. It will be moved into the OP soon as well. Cheers!
RBY 1v1 VR Winter 2023.png
 
With Saber II all wrapped up, it is once again time for my annual post releasing the RBY STABmons VR and analyzing the state of the metagame. Last year's Saber inspired many significant developments, which I recapped in this post, and it represented a major milestone in the tier’s growth and standardization. Given the metagame reached a degree of homogeneity going into 2024 — because, to put it bluntly, players figured out which Pokemon were actually good — there were comparatively fewer developments overall, making for a shorter recap this time around. Nonetheless, things are changing, so there is still plenty to discuss.

Anyhow, let's start with the new VR, and then move on to the annotations. The top six players in Saber II were invited to submit a VR, those being Murm, Gangsta Spongebob, NotVeryCake, Toxin Boost, Enigami, and Volk (myself). Thank you for contributing!

STABmons Official 2024 VR.png

View attachment 654038

Notes:
  • Pokemon are ordered within subranks, with the leftmost Pokemon being ranked closer to #1.
  • Pokemon were ordered by average ranking. If average ranking was tied, median ranking was used to break the tie. If median ranking was tied as well, the number of times the Pokemon was ranked was used to break the tie. Hypno and Victreebel tied in all three metrics, so they are tied for #25/#26.
  • Breaks in ranks/subranks are a bit arbitrary and subjective. Generally, large, sudden gaps in average or median ranking were used to determine breaks.
  • Pokemon needed to be ranked by at least three players to be ranked in the VR. If a Pokemon was ranked by just one or two players, it is listed as an honorable mention (HM). Slowbro and Dugtrio are the only Pokemon listed that were ranked exactly once. Every Pokemon in D Rank was ranked by four or fewer players.

The same disclaimer I posted here last year still applies. You may have noticed that last year I tried my best to weave common sets into my annotations. A lot of Pokemon are still running largely the same sets, so I won’t really be doing this again this year. If a Pokemon saw a set change, I’ll note it. If it didn’t, I probably won’t say anything and you can just refer to last year’s post.

Physbulky Normals :rb/tauros: :rb/kangaskhan: :rb/snorlax:
“Physbulky Normals” is my coined term to collectively refer to Tauros, Kangaskhan, and Snorlax (and sometimes Clefable, but I’ll be covering it later on).
Before discussing these Pokemon individually, I want to acknowledge a small shift in their common sets. Slash and Recover remain largely universal, except on Snorlax, who sometimes prefers Body Slam over Slash. Last year, Explosion was also largely an automatic addition, with Earthquake and Glare fighting for the last slot, with Tauros tending towards the former and Kangaskhan tending towards the latter. While Explosion remains the most prominent among itself, Earthquake, and Glare, it has, at least to some extent, joined the fray for a starting position on the typical Physbulky Normal moveset. Earthquake + Glare sets omitting Explosion are starting to appear. Glare is proving increasingly valuable, as untimely full paralysis can be very exploitable. Partnering Glare with Earthquake provides a better matchup into Gengar, a Pokemon that remains very common and is beginning to have a larger presence in the middle of games. As such, whether Explosion is mandatory on the Physbulky Normals and, if so, on which ones, remain open questions in the metagame.
Furthermore, Counter is a strong option on Kangaskhan and Snorlax to more consistently eliminate Tauros without eliminating themselves. This means it can stickaround to provide further support, typically through Explosion or Glare.
Individually, Tauros remains as dominant as ever, despite dropping to the #2 spot on the VR. Aside from sets without Explosion appearing slightly more frequently and the very occasional lead employment (more on this later), little has changed for the bull. It has virtually no opportunity cost to run and continues to appear on virtually every team. With Kangaskhan, and Physbulky Normals in general, becoming more common — and them occasionally forgoing Explosion — sets like Swords Dance + Hyper Beam have a little more merit and did see a degree of success during the tournament.
Kangaskhan has pretty much unanimously dethroned Snorlax as the go-to secondary Physbulky Normal after Tauros. The extra Speed is just really hard to ignore. Kangaskhan absolutely dominated Saber, boasting a 23.94% usage rate tied to a frankly disgusting 70.59% win rate. I loathe win rate as a statistic, but if there was ever a case where it revealed some information, I think this would be it. To put it bluntly, stronger players, who were privy to the modern meta, were using Kangaskhan, while weaker players simply were not. With numbers like this behind it, it is no wonder that Kangaskhan finally entered public consciousness and cropped up all over Saber II. Kangaskhan is really good and earned its popularity in Saber II and its #4 spot on the VR.
Kangaskhan is now a fixture of the metagame, appearing on many teams and arguably surpassing even Gengar in relevance. I personally dropped it very rarely throughout my run in the tournament. Comrades Snorlax and Clefable uprooted Kangaskhan quite infrequently on teams with two Physbulky Normals, and either was likely a third normal-type Pokemon more often than it would be a second. Advancing further still, Kangaskhan has also benefited somewhat from Chansey’s resurgence. Kangaskhan is both a good partner and answer to Chansey, making it even more comfortable in the modern meta.
This all being said, I wouldn’t write off Snorlax entirely just yet. For starters, it’s another solid Physbulky Normal, and running three of them is very much a viable strategy. Setting that aside, Snorlax’s much greater Special bulk helps in several key matchups. Common attacks that Physbulky Normals end up eating, like Tauros’s Slash and Exeggutor’s Razor Leaf, leave Kangaskhan in range of a lot of dangerous Special attacks, such as Starmie’s Crabhammer, Zapdos’s Thunderbolt, or Alakazam’s Psychic. Snorlax is much sturdier against these follow-up attacks, meaning there are many common mid-game and late-game scenarios where Snorlax can stop a sweep with Explosion or Glare where a Kangaskhan would have simply folded. Snorlax is also just plainly less likely to get sniped by Special attacks at inopportune times. A desperate Zapdos can attempt to critically hit and knock out Kangaskhan with Thunderbolt to steal an endgame. Snorlax will never fall to this from full health. Pokemon like Chansey could alternatively be used to help improve matchups against Exeggutor, Starmie, and other Special attackers — and be sturdier doing it — but Snorlax nonetheless can provide a little bit more help in these matchups, particularly relative to Kangaskhan, while being able to bully Tauros and use Explosion, which Chansey can’t appreciably do. Also, Snorlax has a better Counter than Kangaskhan, which is surely worth something.
As with Tauros, both Kangaskhan and Snorlax continue to have the option to run Swords Dance sets (or Reflect, in the case of Snorlax), but these remain uncommon. The same is true of Counter.

Starmie :rb/starmie:
As with the Physbulky Normals, Starmie has seen shifts in moveset variety. Starmie has seen success with several different sets during the tournament. Crabhammer remains virtually ubiquitous, but its last three moves can really be any of Blizzard, Thunderbolt, Thunder Wave, and Recover. The chosen set largely comes down to personal preference and what role Starmie needs to fulfill, especially regarding how it will be handling Exeggutor and opposing Starmie. Personally, I’ve enjoyed three-attacks Starmie, but I find Thunder Wave is a valuable option on teams with heavy use of Explosion and/or Zapdos. Agility is another fun option, particularly to combat paralysis, but it is far from standard. The same is true of the unfortunately cumbersome Amnesia.
Players seem to be increasingly aggressive with Starmie nowadays. With Pokemon like Zapdos being more prominent as sweepers, using Starmie in mid-game scenarios is becoming more common. Starmie may even find itself dueling Gengar in the early stages of the game to dissuade or punish a Hypnosis attempt with a hefty Crabhammer. If you’re using Zapdos, mid-game Starmie can be a great help for getting troublesome Pokemon, like Exeggutor and Kangaskhan, into range for Zapdos and for slowing down potential answers, like Tauros, Gengar, and opposing Starmie, with Thunder Wave. On the flipside, keeping Starmie around as a late-game sweeper can be very dangerous, as it is often helpless against opposing Zapdos and Jolteon looking to close the game.
Finally, I want to mention something that I just forgot to mention last year when discussing Starmie. While I did mention Starmie’s limited pool of checks and wide movepool as key selling points for using it over other Crabhammer users, I neglected to note what is arguably the most important and obvious feature: the Speed tier. Pointing out that Starmie is fast is nothing new, but it is quite possibly the main reason why it sees incredible usage. Starmie is the only Crabhammer user to get a leg up over Tauros and one of just two to decisively outpace Kangaskhan. This is a meta-defining trait. I presume this trait was on voters minds when they allowed it to ascend to the #1 spot on the VR.

Exeggutor :rb/exeggutor:
The reintroduction of Agility to its moveset repertoire has likely been the largest change for Exeggutor throughout Saber II, and it is in contention for the largest meta change seen during the tournament overall. Agility synergizes very well with Sleep Powder and Explosion. After putting something to sleep, Exeggutor can very safely use Agility and threaten basically the entire tier, aside from Gengar, with very heavy damage before it goes down, regardless of its health (excluding cases involving the very niche Quick Attack). Psychic and Stun Spore remain common, and can potentially appear alongside Agility if Sleep Powder or Explosion is surrendered, but the combination of Sleep Powder and Explosion with Agility and Razor Leaf seemed to be the favorite throughout the tournament.
Agility seems to have ignited some fervor for Exeggutor. Exeggutor was already widely considered a top 3 Pokemon coming out of Saber, but further developments in its sets and a few general meta shifts have made Exeggutor seem less like a definitive #3 and more like a contender for #1, despite its unchanged VR placement. It’s really good and on basically every team.

Common Leads :rb/Alakazam: :rb/Gengar: :rb/Jolteon: :rb/Jynx:
Alakazam saw a significant rise in usage (as I predicted last year!), likely to combat the overabundance of Gengar in the lead slot. Gengar was, and to some extent remains, the best lead in the tier, so Alakazam emerging to dissuade it was expected. Alakazam has also proven quite useful as a mid-game Pokemon, whether it was subject to the lead position or not, thanks to numerous positive traits.
Alakazam’s damage output is surprisingly good in STABmons, largely due to Psychic-type Pokemon and Chansey being less common than they are in OU. Psychic is frankly a monstrous hit against Normal-type Pokemon, especially Kangaskhan. A critical or Amnesia-boosted Psychic is a very likely OHKO against Kangaskhan. Against the few resistant Pokemon that are common in the tier, Alakazam has great options. Thunder Wave is a major blow to Starmie, and usually a worthwhile trade, as it can greatly help Pokemon like Tauros, Zapdos, or your own Starmie wreak havoc. Exeggutor will frequently put Alakazam to sleep, but Exeggutor is actually a bit underwhelming into Alakazam otherwise. Seismic Toss does respectable damage to Exeggutor, with two hits leaving it likely to drop to Zapdos’s Drill Peck and three hits leaving it vulnerable to Tauros’s Slash and Starmie’s Blizzard. Even Chansey can’t really do too much beyond paralyzing it. Alakazam is pretty solid sleep fodder, but it is also a frustratingly good sleep blocker if your opponent paralyzes it too early in the game. This is also said without even mentioning Counter, which remains a devious but seldom-seen option. Alakazam has been a major disruption to the tier.
Gengar hasn’t appreciated Alakazam’s rise to prominence, but it is still extremely common. Gengar has way too much utility to ignore and oftentimes teams will be left with simply no option better than Gengar to serve as the lead. Aside from Alakazam emerging, not much has changed for Gengar. It still reaps the benefit of enormous role-compression, fitting sleep, Thunderbolt, Speed control, Explosion, and an Explosion immunity into one team slot that can be comfortably settled into the lead position when no other option exists. Mid-game Gengar also remains very solid, given its increased ability to catch overconfident Explosion users. The only other real change is that Psychic is starting to appear on Gengar, albeit rarely. Psychic hits relatively little beyond opposing Gengar, but Gengar is so common, especially in the lead, spending a moveslot just for the ditto is just barely becoming reasonable.
Jolteon has fallen out of favor somewhat, likely because it's competing with the rise of Alakazam. While Jolteon continues to be a reasonable, neutral opening for most teams, it really doesn't exploit any common lead very well. Additionally, Jolteon is increasingly popular in the back of teams, thanks to its high Speed and strong matchups into common endgame Pokemon like Starmie and Zapdos. A fast Explosion and Thunder Wave still make for a really good toolkit, regardless of whether it’s leading. And the general ongoing reduction in Rock/Ground-types is still good news for it.
Jynx became much less popular overall throughout this tournament. It does appreciate the upswing in Alakazam usage, but it remains rather exploitable thanks to its poor Starmie matchup, its awful defensive profile, and the increase in Chansey usage. Jynx is still extremely dangerous and very capable of winning games though, especially if it can score an early freeze on Starmie. Outspeeding Kangaskhan and having a good hit on Zapdos are two more traits that also shouldn’t be overlooked. Body Slam has also been thrown around as an idea to get a statistically more likely punishment on an incoming Starmie. Jynx has plummeted on the VR, falling from #8 to #13 and leaving some players surprised to still see it in the B Rank.
While these four Pokemon are the most common leads, leading with strong attackers like Tauros, Starmie, and Exeggutor may have some merit, especially as players begin to employ more Physbulky Normals and bring auxiliary Starmie checks, like Chansey, on their teams. Lead Tauros seems particularly interesting, as Tauros is very good at consistently inviting in Kangaskhan or Snorlax. Switching to a Pokemon that can exploit this tendency, perhaps a Gengar or Jynx, could be a maneuver in the future. These lead options remain fringe, however.

Zapdos :rb/Zapdos:
Zapdos held steady coming out of Saber and into Saber II, indicating its rise towards the end of the last tournament was no fluke. Several subtle metagame shifts have helped Zapdos out in small ways, culminating in an impressive jump from #11 to #7 on the VR. The most prominent change is the further reduction in Rock/Ground-type Pokemon, which were already quite unpopular. Using up a team slot to check Zapdos is incredibly costly, so a lot of teams just opt not to, instead relying on Explosion or high Speed tiers to compensate. Little things such as Kangaskhan overtaking Snorlax in popularity, Exeggutor frequently forgoing Stun Spore and Psychic, Physbulky Normals occasionally dropping Explosion, the rise in Alakazam for pressuring tricky Pokemon like Gengar, Chansey, and Exeggutor, and so on all have contributed to a good environment for the thunder bird to roost.

Chansey :rb/Chansey:
After Alakazam, Chansey saw likely the second largest relative upswing in usage in the metagame, a suspicion I can confirm once usage stats for Saber II are released. In terms of sets, Chansey hasn’t changed too much. It typically runs Recover and Thunder Wave along with the pair of Ice Beam and Thunderbolt or the pair of Seismic Toss and Super Fang. Counter will occasionally crop up here and there to reverse the otherwise dreadful matchup into the Physbulky Normals. Relying solely on Thunderbolt for damage has been alleged as an option, given the fact that answering Starmie is often Chansey’s primary goal and Ground-type Pokemon are increasingly rare. Single-attack sets like this one enable Chansey to explore a variety of new utility moves, most notably Sing, which can surprise the opponent and set the cadence of the game very early.
Chansey’s reemergence is best explained by the fact that players have seemingly just gotten better at playing to Chansey’s strengths. The purpose of Chansey in the modern meta is generally to ease pressure exerted on Exeggutor. Exeggutor and Chansey check many of the same Pokemon, albeit to varying degrees, such as Alakazam, Starmie, and opposing Exeggutor. To actually get value from Chansey, it is important to keep in mind that, generally speaking, Chansey is an early-game Pokemon. Chansey’s damage output is acceptable with Super Fang, but its overall ability to knock out opposing Pokemon is downright dismal in most cases. Especially if it is paralyzed, Chansey is often strictly a liability in the endgame, easily being overrun by Pokemon like Tauros or Kangaskhan without being able to do much in return beyond Thunder Wave.
On the flipside, Chansey is very well suited to the early stages of the game. Exeggutor struggles mightily to break through Chansey, allowing Chansey to paralyze it and either knock it out or force it to trade with Explosion. This is excellent because it enables your own Exeggutor to avoid the ditto and remain healthy for the endgame, which can prove immensely valuable primarily for stymying Starmie, but also for providing an additional Explosion user. Chansey’s Thunder Wave is also a much more practical tool towards the start of the game. If it’s not dueling Exeggutor, Chansey can draw in Pokemon like Kangaskhan or Tauros. While these Pokemon will virtually always defeat Chansey in a straight head-to-head, the paralysis is very worthwhile in the early game, providing excellent opportunities for Pokemon like Zapdos and your own Physbulky Normals to score revenge kills or sweep later on. Additionally, Chansey is very dependent on support from Physbulky Normals, most often Kangaskhan, because there needs to be something to switch to after paralysis is dealt to a physical attacker. These Pokemon are much more likely to be healthy in the beginning of the game.
Furthermore, people are becoming increasingly comfortable with simply letting go of Chansey. Sacking Chansey to Explosion or just to get a free turn was fairly rare in the early STABmons meta, likely because Chansey had a very high perceived value, probably stemming from its OU reputation. But nowadays, more players understand that paralysis on a few Pokemon, a weakened Exeggutor, and a boom trade is usually a good value for Chansey. Trying to stretch Chansey into the endgame at the cost of more valuable late-game Pokemon is just generally unwise, and thus increasingly uncommon.
Now, it might seem a little strange to completely excise Chansey from the endgame in favor of Exeggutor, given that they check similar Pokemon, several of which, namely Starmie, can be quite dangerous in the endgame. While Chansey is arguably sturdier against these Pokemon, the simple reality is that endgames need Pokemon that deal damage. Exeggutor has great damage output that can deter most Pokemon from coming in or punish them severely. Even resistant targets like Zapdos fear Explosion, or even a late-game Sleep Powder. Chansey often does not have this strength or versatility. Understanding Chansey’s limitations and Exeggutor’s strengths has enabled players to forge teams and gameplans that are well-suited for the developing meta.

Crabhammer Users :rb/Vaporeon: :rb/Cloyster: :rb/Kingler:
Crabhammer users not named Starmie weren’t too popular coming out of Saber, and they’ve arguably become even less popular. Vaporeon continues to be the most common and potent of the bunch, and is quite possibly the only truly relevant one. It owes this in large part due to the Normal-type moves it can run to support Crabhammer. Vaporeon continues to be a bit of a personal enigma. I’ve used it to some success in friendly games, but I haven’t quite developed the formula for teambuilding with Vaporeon or even just piloting it properly. I think it generally plays like Chansey, but, while it can’t really stop Exeggutor, it has a much stronger late-game prowess thanks to Explosion. Its late-game presence isn’t the best though nowadays, given the increased frequency of Zapdos and endgame Exeggutor; however, there is definitely a place for a Pokemon that can muscle through paralyzed teams quite well and paralyze key targets like Starmie itself. I’ve personally been liking the pair of Vaporeon and Clefable. The two collectively match up fairly well into Starmie and Exeggutor and spread paralysis pretty well without needing to default to the passivity of Chansey, as both can use Explosion after accomplishing their goals. I still have more exploring to do with this Pokemon. It’s the only one in the tier that I really feel is good but haven’t really figured out. Also, I’ve been thinking about Acid Armor to mitigate Explosion, but I’m not sure how practical this is.
Cloyster wasn’t an incredibly popular Pokemon coming out of Saber, but it was the only Crabhammer user aside from the top two to see any use at all in Saber II to my memory. Cloyster lacks the dominating Speed tier of Starmie and the longevity (and damage output) of Vaporeon, but it does still hit enough key damage thresholds and has tools to keep it distinct. It is quite difficult to construct a team with Cloyster, as it really fails to check many of the boxes that good STABmons teams demand be filled and matches up poorly into a lot of the meta. It seems to be a classic example of a niche Pokemon, a novelty that might fit well on one particular team, or find itself on a counterteam designed for a certain opponent, or just catch someone off guard.
Other Crabhammer users, represented collectively here by Kingler, are just not faring well. They really are not seeing any tournament play. I think the reason ultimately boils down to practicality. Cranhammer users have an enormous damage output potential, but they also have numerous limitations. Crabhammer users have to rely at least somewhat on prediction to function properly. Depending on the user, simply clicking Crabhammer can cause some trouble by inviting in answers like Starmie, Exeggutor, Zapdos, Jolteon, and the increasingly popular Chansey. Aside from Tentacruel, Crabhammer users tend to have middling Speed, so incorrect prediction can put them in a very poor position where they are likely to take multiple hits, which they will not be able to return from, given they lack Recover. They also lack Explosion, so they have no desperation outplay available. Compare this to running a Physbulky Normal instead. Physbulky Normals don’t necessarily reach the same damage ceiling as a typical Crabhammer user may have in a perfect world, but they are much more consistent for several reasons. Slash has very few switch-ins and those that do exist can’t exactly reverse momentum in the same way a Starmie could do to a Gyarados, Omastar, or Kabutops, for example. Even Offensive Normals like Dodrio tend to outperform these Pokemon for this reason. Glare is also an excellent support option available. Crabhammer users, aside from the two best ones, also lack the ability to reliably inflict status (unless you count Poliwrath’s Hypnosis), so they don’t have a strong midground option available or the ability to truly impact a counter as it switches in. They also, again aside from the two best ones, lack Recover, so their ability to provide sustained damage across a game is very limited. Thanks to Recover, Physbulky Normals can compensate for their slightly lower peak damage by staying alive longer and dealing that damage more times. And lastly, I will reiterate that Explosion gives Physbulky Normals an excellent trump card to break even in tough matchups. If a Crabhammer user doesn’t predict correctly or pulls a bad matchup, it often just faints, and fainting without claiming a knockout or at least spreading a status is frankly really bad in a fairly trade-heavy metagame like STABmons. Interestingly, Cloyster is arguably not the third-best Crabhammer user in the broadest sense (Gyarados might be able to do more on average if randomly thrown on a team, for example), but its unique combination of traits probably make it the easiest to legitimately justify adding to a team, particularly in place of Vaporeon (or theoretically Starmie). Relying on just solid damage isn’t really sufficient. And at the top of all these issues, there is the fact that Zapdos does an impeccable job at farming them, often without even needing to boost first.

Clefable :rb/Clefable:
Clefable hasn’t seen the same moveset shakeup the other Physbulky Normals have been toying with, given its incapable of using Earthquake and thus fewer moves are competing against Explosion for a final slot. Psychic, Counter, Sing, and Super Fang are the only real options on the table, and none are particularly easy to justify. Clefable was a rather popular Pokemon in Saber II, escaping the C Rank and now residing what would likely be STABmons’s “OU.” Several players have argued its superior to Chansey and Snorlax, making it quite possibly the third best Normal-type Pokemon in the metagame. Clefable owes its relevance primarily to the greater consistency of Thunder Wave relative to Glare and a decent Exeggutor matchup. These traits have enabled Clefable to displace Snorlax and sometimes even Kangaskhan on teams. Players seeking a Physbulky Normal that doesn’t immediately give up in the face of Special attacks, while still having passable Speed, will find themselves flocking to Clefable. Clefable is thus another great enabler for important endgame Pokemon like Starmie and Zapdos, as it can spread paralysis and take on Exeggutor and Chansey quite well. The biggest downside though rests in its physical defense, as Tauros notably has solid odds to just 2HKO with Slash, making it not at all the answer that Kangaskhan, Snorlax, and one’s own Tauros are. Exactly when to use which Physbulky Normal is a question that involves a lot of variables and remains a major discussion point for the metagame that may be closer to resolution next year.

Offensive Normals :rb/Dodrio: :rb/Persian:
Dodrio and Persian aren’t really like the Physbulky Normals. With poor defenses, running Recover and expecting any kind of longevity is a bit optimistic. Dodrio aims for pure damage, boasting a Slash that can potentially 2HKO even Kangaskhan. Dodrio will often have trouble getting on the field, relying on sacrifices, double switches, or its barely sufficient resistance to Razor Leaf to get in. But once Dodrio does get it in, the foe will have a lot of trouble getting out. An enormous damage output backed by above average Speed makes switching very costly. Dodrio notably just barely survives Starmie’s Crabhammer from full health, meaning even faster foes may not get to come in comfortably. Follow this pressure with Explosion and you have a successful Dodrio. As with Zapdos, Dodrio has very much enjoyed the increasing obscurity of Rock-type Pokemon. Dodrio also has quite a few moveslots to play with, as it really only needs Drill Peck for Gengar and Slash for everything else. Explosion is a given and essentially required, but options like Swords Dance, Agility, Glare, Hyper Beam, Mirror Move, Quick Attack, and so on can be on the table. Dodrio remains just outside of true dominance likely due to challenges related to fitting it on teams and its general frailty. Dodrio doesn’t check very many boxes for a team and can find itself being picked off by Starmie, Zapdos, Jolteon, or Gengar if no opportunity for entrance ever arises.
Persian is not even remotely as nuclear as Dodrio, but the extra Speed is very nice. Persian is among the elite few Pokemon that can revenge kill Tauros, which can be pivotal in some endgames. Winning a Speed tie can also give it the edge over a weakened Starmie. Aside from Speed, Persian has little going for it. It’s quite poor against the Physbulky Normals and will very likely end up using Explosion there, which actually misses the OHKO against all three of them, except Tauros about 8% of the time. Its lower damage output relative to them and Dodrio is very noticeable, especially when it lacks the bulk of Clefable, but the damage is often just enough to pressure key Pokemon like Jolteon, Exeggutor, Zapdos, and Vaporeon. Persian is also not a bad lead, though it will struggle against Gengar.

Dragonite :rb/Dragonite:
Dragonite is still doing the same nonsense as always, just now with Drill Peck. Nothing really changed for it in Saber II, but it rose quite a bit on the VR, jumping from #19 to #14. I think this is mostly due to the fact that the novelty of a lot of the Pokemon formerly above it has waned. While others have fallen beside it, Dragonite’s old tricks with Wrap have stood the test of time, still claiming a small array of wins. It still uses the same set up opportunities as always, and may thus be somewhat comparable to Zapdos, arguably being somewhat similar but with higher risk and higher reward. Its defensive capabilities are also neat, but not really the selling point. Dragonite is good and people are using it, not much else to say.

Rock-type Pokemon :rb/Golem: :rb/Rhydon: :rb/Aerodactyl:
As I’ve noted multiple times already, Rock-type Pokemon are not fitting well into the current metagame. Rock-type Pokemon have positive traits, mainly in tanking Explosion fairly well and walling Zapdos and Dodrio (ignoring Aerodactyl, which cannot handle the former at all defensively). But like I noted last year, these three Rocks struggle immensely with Physbulky Normals and come with a huge opportunity cost. Failing to hit a desired matchup often renders these Pokemon deadweight. It’s quite telling that Golem is widely considered the best of the three, as Explosion gives it some kind of out when it finds it has nothing else it can do.
The three are ultimately very situational. Despite its frailty, Aerodactyl is arguably the best non-Ghost Explosion answer because it at least has a Speed stat to prevent an instant revenge kill. And surely there are some endgames where it theoretically clinches with more confidence than anything else. Rhydon and Golem counter Electric-type Pokemon and Dodrio if they can catch them. They are also potentially decent into Gengar and a few paralyzed Pokemon. Certain Normal-type Pokemon that are cheating on their sets, like Chansey with only Thunderbolt for damage and Explosion + Counter Kangaskhan and Snorlax, can also be put in some trouble. Rhydon in particular may even be able to capitalize on these Pokemon with Rest, but this requires a partner that can manage Starmie and Exeggutor for it function at all. These Pokemon are difficult to justify, but they will have a place as long as Zapdos and friends are around.

Flareon :rb/Flareon:
Flareon jumped nine spots on the VR, going from #29 to #20. Flareon’s rise, as with a few of these low-end Pokemon, likely has less to do with any major change experienced by the Pokemon itself and more to do with those around it. The novelty of Flareon’s neighbors has worn off while Flareon’s simplistic, tried-and-true gameplan has stuck around. Flareon has a high-power Explosion, even without STAB, so it’s off to a good start. Flareon’s STAB-boosted Fire Blast is actually fairly threatening in the metagame. Water-type Pokemon like Starmie will answer it and threaten an OHKO with Crabhammer, but they must contend with the risk of Explosion or Glare. If there are no Water-type Pokemon, options are limited as other resistant types are rare or close to non-existent. Flareon also holds a pretty solid matchup into Exeggutor and a very flexible fourth move slot. It’s quite decent. Flareon is far from a staple though, given its overall poor Speed, mediocre utility, and novel but exploitable typing. Its physical damage output is also just a little too low with no STAB boost backing it up.

Niche Pokemon :rb/Haunter: :rb/Articuno: :rb/Moltres:
This is the last of the Pokemon that made it to D Rank, and where I will conclude these annotations. While there are some honorable mentions (the HM Rank) that still appeal to me, mainly Hypno and Victreebel, I won’t really devote too much attention to them because, frankly, no one really used them so they saw very little development. In short though: Hypno is a decent neutral lead, Victreebel is a mediocre second Exeggutor that is sometimes tricky to switch into, Lapras is basically just Gyarados, Tentacruel has the strongest Crabhammer and a solid Speed, Slowbro is probably just bad, Dugtrio is a fringe lead option, and Poliwrath has some interesting toys to accompany Crabhammer like Hypnosis and High Jump Kick. On to the rest.
Haunter is still Haunter. It’s a practical joke you can play on your opponent that’s only a little more funny than it is viable. Gengar is so good, especially at handling Explosion, that there is a very small incentive to consider Haunter as well. Obviously the opportunity cost and redundancy are palpable, but the option is there. Conventionally, Gengar is revealed early and faints and then Haunter comes in, hoping to catch an unsuspecting Explosion. A part of me really wants to see the reverse though. Reveal Haunter early on, let it faint, and then make your opponent hesitate to click Explosion for the rest of the game as they worry about Gengar coming in until it is revealed… or until you reveal that you never even brought a Gengar.
Depending on perspective, Articuno and Moltres are kind of like a Special-attacking Dodrio, or perhaps a Gyarados with the ability to use Agility and get secondary effects. I made a last minute decision to add them to my own VR, slotted just above Gyarados, but how reasonable this is is honestly debatable. Essentially, they are Pokemon that are just generally difficult to switch into, given their high stats, high Base Power, and potentially ruinous secondary effects. Moltres is probably the slightly superior one; though it takes much more from Crabhammer, the increased likelihood of burn relative to freeze, the stronger Drill Peck, and the higher Speed seem to make up the difference. There is ultimately very little data on these birds, but they seem about as practical as any off-beat Crabhammer user. They could grow in popularity, stay the same, or just fall off entirely. I do think they are most likely going to end up in the category of “just use a Physbulky Normal” after careful scrutiny.

Other Notes :rb/Dugtrio:
Unlike last year, I won’t be going through any other heuristics or meta notes in detail. However, I will very briefly acknowledge that the “Core Four” is quite alive, though Kangaskhan has arguably joined them to make a “Core Five,” or it perhaps has displaced Gengar, depending on your view. Kangaskhan is really common and not hard to fit on a team. Additionally, Explosion remains the focal point of the meta, though it has taken a very small step back, considering the prominence of a few emerging sets and increasingly popular Pokemon, namely Zapdos, Alakazam, and Chansey. My other notes from last year are largely unchanged.

RBY STABmons is now open for Smogdex Analyses! Check it out here!

See the post immediately below this one.

That should be it. Like last time, I want to offer my thanks to you if you managed to read this whole post. I hope you liked it if you did. I also want to again thank the participants of Saber II. It’s really cool that I am able to run this tournament and observe this level of meta development in a metagame I truly care about and enjoy. Once again, I hope to see y’all and many more next year for the next edition of Saber! Cheers!
 
Last edited:
The usage stats for Saber II are now available! Thanks to gastlies for telling me how compute tournament usage stats.

To my surprise, the overall usage of Chansey and Alakazam, two Pokemon I speculated quite a bit in terms of improving usage, barely budged. They have vastly higher Win % this time around though. Kangaskhan was by far the biggest winner by usage relative to the first Saber. For reference, click here for the Saber Usage Stats.

:Exeggutor: Saber II Usage Stats :Tauros:
Code:
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon            | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Exeggutor          |  141 |  90.38% |  49.65% |
| 1    | Tauros             |  141 |  90.38% |  46.81% |
| 3    | Starmie            |  125 |  80.13% |  48.80% |
| 4    | Gengar             |   92 |  58.97% |  53.80% |
| 5    | Kangaskhan         |   85 |  54.49% |  50.00% |
| 6    | Snorlax            |   78 |  50.00% |  41.67% |
| 7    | Jolteon            |   60 |  38.46% |  54.17% |
| 8    | Alakazam           |   26 |  16.67% |  57.69% |
| 8    | Chansey            |   26 |  16.67% |  46.15% |
| 10   | Jynx               |   19 |  12.18% |  26.32% |
| 11   | Zapdos             |   15 |   9.62% |  50.00% |
| 12   | Golem              |   14 |   8.97% |  28.57% |
| 13   | Vaporeon           |   11 |   7.05% |  45.45% |
| 13   | Aerodactyl         |   11 |   7.05% |  27.27% |
| 15   | Clefable           |   10 |   6.41% |  70.00% |
| 16   | Dodrio             |    7 |   4.49% |  57.14% |
| 16   | Persian            |    7 |   4.49% |  42.86% |
| 18   | Cloyster           |    4 |   2.56% |   0.00% |
| 19   | Dragonite          |    3 |   1.92% |  83.33% |
| 19   | Flareon            |    3 |   1.92% |  66.67% |
| 21   | Rhydon             |    1 |   0.64% |   0.00% |
| 21   | Kabutops           |    1 |   0.64% |   0.00% |
| 21   | Moltres            |    1 |   0.64% |   0.00% |
  • Missing 1 Pokemon from TOXIN BOOST.
  • Missing 1 Pokemon from RANSHIIN.
  • Missing 1 Pokemon from CAKECONNESSEUR.
  • Missing 2 Pokemon from TDLORIAT.
  • Missing 3 Pokemon from TDLORIAT.
  • Missing 2 Pokemon from BEDAL ROSCOE.
  • Missing 3 Pokemon from BEDAL ROSCOE.
  • Missing 1 Pokemon from NINJAZZ01.
  • Missing 2 Pokemon from NINJAZZ01.
  • Missing 1 Pokemon from ENIGAMI.
  • Missing 2 Pokemon from TOXIN BOOST.
  • Missing 1 Pokemon from CAKECONNESSEUR.
  • Missing 1 Pokemon from GASTLIES.
  • Missing 1 Pokemon from GASTLIES.
  • Missing 3 Pokemon from MURM.
  • Missing 1 Pokemon from GANGSTA SPONGEBOB.
  • Missing 1 Pokemon from VOLKERR.
  • Missing 2 Pokemon from BEDAL ROSCOE.
  • Missing 1 Pokemon from GASTLIES.
  • Missing 2 Pokemon from CAKECONNESSEUR.
  • Missing 2 Pokemon from GANGSTA SPONGEBOB.
  • Missing 1 Pokemon from ENIGAMI.
  • Missing 3 Pokemon from TOXIN BOOST.
  • Missing 1 Pokemon from GANGSTA SPONGEBOB.
  • Missing 3 Pokemon from TOXIN BOOST.
  • Missing 2 Pokemon from TOXIN BOOST.
  • Missing 1 Pokemon from CAKECONNESSEUR.
  • Missing 4 Pokemon from ENIGAMI.
  • Missing 5 Pokemon from VOLKERR.
  • Missing 1 Pokemon from ENIGAMI.

:Gengar: Saber II Lead Usage Stats :Jolteon:
Code:
+ ---- + ----------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Leads                   | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ----------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Gengar                  |   47 |  30.13% |  55.32% |
| 2    | Jolteon                 |   40 |  25.64% |  56.25% |
| 3    | Jynx                    |   19 |  12.18% |  26.32% |
| 4    | Alakazam                |   18 |  11.54% |  66.67% |
| 5    | Exeggutor               |   11 |   7.05% |  40.91% |
| 6    | Starmie                 |    6 |   3.85% |  50.00% |
| 7    | Tauros                  |    5 |   3.21% |  40.00% |
| 8    | Persian                 |    4 |   2.56% |  50.00% |
| 9    | Aerodactyl              |    3 |   1.92% |  33.33% |
| 10   | Dodrio                  |    1 |   0.64% |   0.00% |
| 10   | Rhydon                  |    1 |   0.64% |   0.00% |
| 10   | Vaporeon                |    1 |   0.64% |   0.00% |


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Meta theory. RBY 1U. Like Ou, but without the big 4. I played a few games, and the meta basically revolves around Slowbro. Golem is great, better than rhyhorn, bc it has explosion to threaten slow w/ a little chip. My fave 'mon in the tier in eggy, and it is so reliable. one of the biggest issues of the tier is Slowbro being so good, bc even though it's killable, it is really bulk, and can put a good dent in defensive and offensive cores before you can kill it. Prolly just me tho. It also dosen't really let the other waters shine, and double water cores can have some serious defensive flaws.

1735258658062.png
 
Meta theory. RBY 1U. Like Ou, but without the big 4. I played a few games, and the meta basically revolves around Slowbro. Golem is great, better than rhyhorn, bc it has explosion to threaten slow w/ a little chip. My fave 'mon in the tier in eggy, and it is so reliable. one of the biggest issues of the tier is Slowbro being so good, bc even though it's killable, it is really bulk, and can put a good dent in defensive and offensive cores before you can kill it. Prolly just me tho. It also dosen't really let the other waters shine, and double water cores can have some serious defensive flaws.

View attachment 699036
This is not what 1U is, 1U is just OU. The numbered U's are pokemon perfect tiers.
 
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