Other Tiers RBY Other Metas Hub

[Blanched]

Brief RBY 1v1 tier list and meta thoughts

I got halfway through writing explanations for the A tiers before I realized I just don't care. I unabashedly think this meta is awful and combines the worst parts of both RBY and 1v1. Nothing below B tier is worth actually loading, since they're all ridiculous matchup fishes (Gengar, Sandslash), worse versions of higher tier mons (Zapdos, Articuno, Cloyster) one-time use lures (Persian), or Bad (Rhydon, Machamp). You could honestly ignore B tier too since the gap between them and the A tier in terms of matchup spread and reliability is so big. The 5 at the top are far and away better than everything else and it makes building stale and actually playing the game some kind of nightmarish 16-bit groundhog's day where you relive the same previews over and over. RBY's penchant for high variance does this tier no favors since unlike 6v6 there is no room to play around unfortunate luck, meaning that the absolute best, most concrete matchups are like 70/30 odds. This tier fails as 1v1 because of how few viable mons there are and how small their movepools are, leaving almost no room for any interesting lures. Just to squeeze any amount of novelty or surprise factor out you are forced to resort to things like Growl Persian, which beat one or maybe two mons and then force you to choose from three 1-2 matchups in game. The highest level of skill expression in RBY 1v1 is how well you can navigate the Snorlax/Alakazam/Jolteon preview. I would not recommend this tier be included in future editions of RBYOMPL.

 

[Sabelette]

I intend to explain exactly none of this but fun tier even if it's a bit silly, there's a lot more depth here than others have implied and its got the most movepool options of any rby tier

Generally would not use anything below B unless its for hyperspecific teams or just to tech ppl with certain funny sets but I think they're all bringable once in a long while

 

[McMeghan]

 

[magialice]

tauros is broken bc it wins pretty much every mu 30% of the time at minimum, i loaded it every game past week 1, i forget if i did that week 1 too but if i didnt i should've, lax/zam/jolt/chansey good too, egg's made me start telling my friends fun facts about toxic interactions in rby, arti beats tauros pretty well so i think its good, mie i like more in bw, zap/slowbro/rhydon i used at points and enjoyed, the rest i'd feel bad breaking a low-tier's heart by not ranking them(but i probably missed some guys). tier is fun

 

[Elo Bandit]

It was cool to see the interactions between the top mons evolving this tour. Lots of variations of Snorlax, lowered def Counter Zam, Stomp Tauros, Thunder Jolteon, Toxic Starmie, Toxic+Seismic Toss Chansey, and more. You can justify building around lower rated pokemon depending on your opponent's favorite cores, which keeps things from getting too one-dimensional. Overall, it was a blast to watch RBY 1v1 be played and improved on this RBYOMPL!

Updated Importable VR Sets: https://pokepast.es/8a0f520743988579

 

[Volk]

Here's an RBY 1v1 VR. This was put together fairly haphazardly. Not really sure if this VR should count towards the aggregate, given my fairly low activity with this tier, but I felt like making one. I might make some changes later, especially if I get the chance to review the games and usage stats from RBYOMPL.

Some miscellaneous thoughts:


About a week or two into RBYOMPL, I raised the idea that Tauros might just be the best Pokemon in RBY 1v1, and certainly top 3. Seeing the VRs above, it seems like this was not as clever of an idea as I thought. Tauros doesn't have an obscenely dominating matchup spread, but it really truly doesn't "lose" to like... anything. When I watch 1v1 games, especially live ones, I like to predict which Pokemon each player will select, as I assume many spectators do. I was kind of shocked how often I found myself thinking "Tauros is probably just the best bring here." And it seems many players felt similarly, as I feel like I saw Tauros get sent out a lot. As implied above, the only real downside to it is that it doesn't really dominate any one important matchup, so it can be a little weird in the builder. But in exchange, you get to run the get-out-of-jail free card when the matchup looks bad. Tauros is legitimately probably bannable, but I don't think that pursuit is on the docket right now, given the activity of the tier and the seeming absence of complaints so far. I don't plan to petition for this, but the thought did cross my mind.


Snorlax is really good and has a ton of viable sets. Only pointing it out here because of how safe of a bring it usually is. After Tauros, it was the most likely Pokemon for me to assess as the safest bring in a given matchup.


I don't know if it was just the games I remember watching, but it seemed like these two lost a lot. Neither is particularly great into the top 3 Pokemon, all of whom are kind of "safe picks," so I don't think they themselves are great picks overall. I like the matchup spreads of Pokemon like Amnesia Thunderbolt Snorlax, Chansey, or Articuno better, even if they aren't directly comparable. I think Jolteon gets the edge between the two because it wins the head-to-head and has higher BS potential with the insanely high Speed.


I like how the template I used randomly has 3D Slowbro on it. Is this the only true "answer" to Alakazam? Kind of feels like it. Though it is very underwhelming into almost everything else relevant.


Rhydon is basically useless, but it will own the electric-type Pokemon, if you really need to deter them.


Articuno is probably better, but I was actually pretty impressed by what Lapras was able to muscle through during the tournament, especially thanks to Confuse Ray. Silly move.

I may add more comments later, but that's all for now. Cheers!

 

[Murm]

Also I made a video explaining the rankings if you're interested:

 

[nicole7735]

 

[Urfgurgle]

edit: Starmie top of B

 

[Murm]

Our congregate VR for RBY 1v1 is here! Thank you to everyone who contributed!