•Official B2/W2 In-Game Tiers• * READ THE OP *

•Official B2/W2 In-Game Tiers• * READ THE OP *

Pokemon Black / White 2
In Game Tiers Thread​

What are In Game Tiers?
The In Game Tiers are SPPf’s attempt to rank each Pokemon within the Unova Dex based on how useful they are throughout the course of the main game. The applies to everything plot-based that occurs until the first Iris Battle at the end of the League. Each Pokemon will be tiered based on several criterias.

What are these Criterias?

• Availability – How early can a Pokemon be obtained? How long does it take upon capture to become a relevant member if your party?
  
• Movepool – How diverse is a Pokemon’s movepool? Does it have all the moves it needs to readily fuction as a part of your team, or does it lack the moves to pull it’s own weight? How early does it get said moves?
  
• Stats – How well-versed are a Pokemon’s stats? Does it have the stats it needs to be to become a fast sweeper, or a tank that can endure hits well enough? Does it specilize in one particular stat, or can it function in multiple roles?
  
• Major Battles – How well does a Pokemon fare in each of the Major Battles it partakes in? Does it play a critical role in any particular battle, or does it serve a support role?
  
• Efficiency - How efficient is a Pokemon? Does it sweep teams with little toruble? Does it require some form of setup for real offensive presence? Does it forgoe fast-paced battles for more stalling?
  
• Synergy - How well can a Pokemon fit into a team? Does it fit into any team with relatively little trouble? Or does it need support from certain teammates for it to really work?

How Many Tiers will be used?
This particular thread will use Seven diferent Tiers. They are as below

• Top
• High
• Upper Middle
• Middle
• Lower Middle
• Low
• Bottom

How will a Tiering be determined eligible for addition to the OP
A Post needs to fulfil three criterias to be added to the OP

• It has to be affirmed by three other members of the forums

• One of these three approvers must be a Certified Poster. An approval must have a number next to it. Otherwise it will not be counted towards the general approval number
• It must follow the following format

HTML:

[B]Pokemon Name[/B] - [B]Suggested Tier[/B]
[B]Availability[/B] -
[B]Notable Moves[/B] - 
[B]Stats[/B] - 

+Pro
+Pro
-Con
-Con

Do note that the number of Pros / Cons may vary.

Certified Posters?
Basically the thread’s version of Moderators. That being said, they aren’t all that different from regular posters save the above mentioned function. The current Certified Posters are Tsumiki, zhanton, Noctourniquet, [GS] Creeper and Aurath8

New CP’s can be added, but they must be nominated by a CP. Don’t ask to be one, we’ll ask you if we feel you deserve the spot.

Which Pokemon are (not) Eligible for rating
+ The Last Pokemon from each Evolution Chain
+ Legendaries that are obtainable within the main plot
- Event-Only Legenaries
- Hidden Hollow / Dream World Ability Pokemon*
- Dream Radar Pokemon
*Mincinno from the Hidden Hollow in Route 5 and the Braviary / Mandibuzz found in Route 4 are exceptions to this rule

Other General Help Stuff

List of TM / HM found within the Main Game

Spoiler: List

TM01 Hone Claws - Victory Road - By Pokémon Centre
TM03 Psyshock - Giant Chasm
TM05 Roar - Route 23
TM06 Toxic - Seaside Cave
TM07 Hail - Mistralton PokéMart - 50,000 PokéDollars
TM08 Bulk Up - Opelucid City PokéMart
TM09 Venoshock - Virbank City - Defeat Roxie
TM10 Hidden Power - Pokémon World Tournament
TM11 Sunny Day - Mistralton PokéMart - 50,000 PokéDollars
TM12 Taunt - Route 23
TM13 Ice Beam - Giant Chasm
TM14 Blizzard - Lacunosa PokéMart 70,000 PokéDollars
TM15 Hyper Beam - Route 9 Department Store - 90,000 PokéDollars
TM16 Light Screen - Nimbasa City PokéMart - 30,000 Yen
TM17 Protect - Pokémon World Tournament
TM18 Rain Dance - Mistralton PokéMart - 50,000 PokéDollars
TM20 Safeguard - Pokémon World Tournament
TM21 Frustration - Floccesy Ranch
TM23 Smack Down - Pokémon World Tournament
TM24 Thunderbolt - Victory Road - From Rival
TM25 Thunder - Lacunosa Town PokéMart - 70,000 PokéDollars
TM27 Return - Aspertia City - From Bianca
TM28 Dig - Route 4
TM29 Psychic - Route 13
TM30 Shadow Ball - Reversal Mountain
TM31 Brick Break - Pokémon World Tournament
TM32 Double Team - Pokémon World Tournament
TM33 Reflect - Nimbasa City PokéMart - 30,000 PokéDollars
TM34 Sludge Wave - Pokémon World Tournament
TM35 Flamethrower - Route 23
TM36 Sludge Bomb - Route 8
TM37 Sandstorm - Mistralton City PokéMart - 50,000 PokéDollars
TM38 Fire Blast - Lacunosa Town PokéMart - 70,000 PokéDollars
TM39 Rock Tomb - Relic Castle
TM40 Aerial Ace - Mistralton City Runway
TM41 Torment - Castelia Sewers
TM42 Facade - Marine Tube
TM43 Flame Charge - Tubeline Bridge
TM44 Rest - Castelia City - 11th Floor of GameFreak Building
TM45 Attract - Castelia City - North Street
TM46 Thief - Virbank Complex
TM48 Round - Pokémon World Tournament
TM49 Echoed Voice - Nimbasa City - Musical Hall
TM51 Ally Switch - Pokémon World Tournament
TM53 Energy Ball - Aspertia City
TM54 False Swipe - Reversal Mountain - Show Researcher you've captured all Pokémon from the cave
TM55 Scald - Humilau City - Defeat Marlon
TM56 Fling - Route 6
TM57 Charge Beam - Lentimas Town
TM58 Sky Drop - Mistralton City
TM59 Incinerate - Pokémon World Tournament
TM60 Quash - Pokémon World Tournament
TM61 Will-o-wisp - Celestial Tower
TM62 Acrobatics - Mistralton City - Defeat Skyla
TM63 Embargo - Driftveil City Market
TM64 Explosion - Pokémon World Tournament
TM65 Shadow Claw - Celestial Tower
TM66 Payback - Route 16
TM67 Retaliate - Team Plasma Frigate
TM68 Giga Impact - Route 9 Department Store - 90,000 PokéDollars
TM69 Rock Polish - Reversal Mountain
TM70 Flash - Castelia City Mode Street
TM71 Stone Edge - Twist Mountain
TM72 Volt Switch - Nimbasa City - Defeat Elesa
TM73 Thunder Wave - Nimbasa City PokéMart - 10,000 PokéDollars
TM74 Gyro Ball - Nimbasa City PokéMart - 10,000 PokéDollars
TM75 Swords Dance - Pokémon World Tournament
TM76 Struggle Bug - Castelia City - Defeat Burgh
TM77 Psych Up - Pokémon World Tournament
TM78 Bulldoze - Driftveil City - Defeat Clay
TM79 Frost Breath - Pokémon World Tournament
TM80 Rock Slide - Mistralton Cave
TM81 X-Scissor - Route 7
TM82 Dragon Tail - Opelucid City - Defeat Drayden
TM83 Work Up - Aspertia City - Defeat Cheren
TM87 Swagger - Pokémon World Tournament
TM88 Pluck - Pokémon World Tournament
TM89 U-Turn - Pokémon World
TM90 Substitute - Twist Mountain
TM91 Flash Cannon - Twist Mountain
TM92 Trick Room - Abundant Shrine
TM93 Wild Charge - Victory Road
TM94 Rock Smash - Virbank Complex
TM95 Snarl - Lostlorn Forest

HM01 Cut - Virbank City - From Roxie
HM02 Fly - Route 5 - From Bianca
HM03 Surf - Route 6 - From Cheren
HM04 Strength - Castelia Sewers - From Rival
HM05 Waterfall - Victory Road - From N

List of Pokemon found Ingame in Order of Appearance

Spoiler: List

--Aspertia City--
Snivy (Lower Middle), Tepig (Middle), Oshawott (High)

--Route 19--
Patrat (Low), Purrloin (Bottom)

--Route 20--
Sunkern (Bottom), Pidove (Low), Sewaddle (Lower Middle)

--Floccesy Ranch--
Lillipup (Upper Middle), Azurill (High), Mareep (Lower Middle), Psyduck (Middle), Riolu (Top)

--Route 20 (After Basic Badge)--
Venipede (Lower Middle), Audino (Bottom), Dunsparce (Lower Middle)

--Virbank Complex--
Magby (Middle), Elekid (Lower Middle), Magmemite (Top), Growlithe (Upper Middle), Koffing (Middle)

--Castellia Sewers--
Rattata (Bottom), Zubat (Upper Middle), Grimer (Bottom)

--Relic Passage--
Roggenrola (Middle), Woobat (Low), Timburr (Top), Onix (Middle), Drilbur (Top)

--Castellia City (Sewers Entrance)--
Cottonee (Low), Petilil (High), Buneary (Bottom), Skitty (Bottom), Eevee (Vaporeon - Upper Middle, Jolteon - Lower Middle, Flareon - Lower Middle, Espeon - High, Umbreon - Bottom)

--Route 4--
Sandile (Top), Darumaka (Top), Trubbish (Bottom), Mincinno (High), Scraggy (High), Mandibuzz (Low) Braviary (Top)

--Desert Resort--
Maractus (Low), Dweeble (Upper Middle), Sandshrew (Middle), Trapinch (Lower Middle), Sigilyph (Upper Middle)

--Relic Castle--
Yamask (Low)

--Route 18--
Gothita (Lower Middle), Solosis (Middle), Emolga (Low)

--Lostlorn Forest--
Combee (Low), Roselia (Upper Middle), Heracross (Top), Pinsir (Upper Middle), Pansage (Middle), Pansear (Lower Middle), Panpour (Upper Middle)

--Driftveil Bridge--
Ducklett (Middle)

--Driftveil City--
Zorua (Top)

--Relic Castle (Driftveil Entrance)--
Baltoy, Volcarona (Upper Middle)

--Route 6--
Deerling (Lower Middle), Shelmet (Low), Karrablast, Foongus (Low), Castform (Bottom)

--Surf (Areas visited by this Point)--
Basculin (Middle), Frillish (Upper Middle), Alomomola (Bottom), Buizel (Middle)

--Mistralton Cave--
Axew (Top), Aron (Upper Middle)

--Chargestone Cave--
Joltik (High), Klink (Bottom), Nosepass (Lower Middle), Ferroseed (Lower Middle) Tynamo (Middle)

--Route 7--
Zangoose (Upper Middle), Seviper (Low) Zebstrika, Cubchoo (Low)

--Celestial Tower--
Litwik (High), Elgyem (Lower Middle)

--Reversal Mountain (Outer)--
Skorupi (Middle), Spoink (Lower Middle), Numel (Lower Middle), Driftblim, Skarmory (Lower Middle)

--Strange House--
Banette (Bottom)

--Undella Town--
Starmie (High)

--Undella Bay--
Mantyke, Remoraid (Low), Wailmer, Spheal (Middle)

--Route 14--
Swablu, Mienfoo (Middle), Absol (Middle)

--Route 13--
Tangela (Middle), Pelipper (Bottom), Solrock (Bottom), Lunatone (Bottom), Coballion (Upper Middle)

--Village Bridge--
Lapras (Upper Middle)

--Route 11--
Gligar (Upper Middle), Virizion (Upper Middle)

--Route 9--
Pawniard

--Humilau City--
Corsola (Bottom)

--Route 22--
Delibird (Bottom), Terrakion (Middle)

--Seaside Cave--
Seel (Low), Shuckle (Bottom)

--Giant Chasm--
Sneasel (Middle), Piloswine (Lower Middle) Vanillish (Low), Clefable (Low), Ditto (Bottom), Metang (Upper Middle)

--Abundant Shrine--
Vulpix (Low), Bronzong (Low)

--Route 23--
Sawk (Middle), Throh (Low), Bouffalant (Lower Middle)

--Victory Road--
Golruk (Low), Druddigon (Low), Zwelious (Bottom)

List of Ongoing Approvals

• Altaria - Low [2/3] (Excitable Boy, Zhanton)
• Escavalier - Middle [2/3] (Aurarth8, Zhanton)) / Upper Middle [1/3] (Tsumiki)
• Bisharp - Bottom [1/3] (Zhanton)
• Mantine - Bottom [2/3] (Zhanton, edonub)
• Claydol - Low [2/3] (Zhanton, edonub)
• Waillord - Low [2/3] (Aurath8, edonub)
• Drifblim - Low [1/3] (Zhanton) / Lower Middle [2/3] (Aura Sensei, [GS])

 

Top Tier

Spoiler: Top Tier List

Braviary - Top Tier
Availability - Mid Game (Route 4, after Burgh)
Notable Moves - Aerial Ace, Return, Superpower, Rock Slide, Fly
Stats - Fantastic Atk and notable Spe. Usable Bulk

+It's stats alone make everything up to Skyla a joke
+Gets STAB Return off the bat, possibly being the most Powerful move you have for a long time
+Superpower + Flying STAB is near unresisted
-Somewhat barren movepool
-It's typing holds it back for it's first Gym


Conkeldurr - Top Tier
Availability - Mid Early (Relic Passage)
Notable Moves - Bulk Up, Drain Punch, Hammer Arm, Rock Slide, Ice Punch, Payback
Stats - Devastating Atk, High HP and Def, low Special stats and very low Spe.

+Can reach its final evolution as early as lvl 25 and be almost twice as hard-hitting and twice as bulky as just about anything in the midgame.
+Gains valuable moves like Rock Slide and Bulk Up through levelup.
-Requires trading to reach full potential.
-Stuck with Wake-Up Slap, a fairly weak STAB, until lvl 45.
-Low speed means it will have tank a lot of hits during its sweeps


Darmanitan - Top Tier
Availability - Mid-Early (Route 4)
Notable Moves - Fire Punch, Flare Blitz, Hammer Arm, Rock Slide, Bulldoze
Stats - Monstrous Atk, Great HP. Decent stats otherwise

+Has the most Powerul Attack available within the main game
+Perfect availability, completely destroying Burgh
+Makes the otherwise challenging Corless fight a joke
-Hustle means it'll be missing everyone once in a while as a Darumakka
-Overusing Flare Blitz requires heavy maintinance.


Excadrill - Top Tier
Availability - Mid-Early (Relic Passage, Sewer Entrance)
Notable Moves - Dig, Bulldoze, Earthquake, X-Scissor, Swords Dance, Rock Slide
Stats - Amazing Atk and Decent Spe. Low Defenses counteracted by Amazing HP

+Fantastic Level Up pool, giving it all the tools it needs
+It's dual typing gives it a plethora of resistances
+One of the few Pokemon to naturally learn Earthquake (33)
+Remains relavant in all the Gyms, sans Marlon
-Has a somewhat bland movepool
-Slow start, doesn't fare well against Burgh


Haxorus - Top Tier
Availability - Mid Late (Mistralton Cave)
Notable Moves - Dragon Claw, Outrage, Dragon Dance, Rock Slide, Aqua Tail, Low Kick, X-Scissor, Shadow Claw, Bulldoze
Stats - Ridiculous Atk and Reliable Physical Bulk. Above Average Spe and lackluster Special Stats

+ It's high Offense means it can take part in any battle after capture
+ Learns Dragon Dance at a very Early level letting it run through teams with a single boost
+ Has a wide enough movepool to do everything it needs to
+ Mold Breaker bypasses troublesome Abilities such as Levitate and Sturdy
- Requires Shard investment to hit Steels, unless the Player is willing to cope with Bulldoze's low BP
- While it's Spe is good, it's a very awkward number, making setup necessary to outpace *faster Pokemon


Heracross – Top Tier
Availability – Mid Game (Lostlorn Forest)
Notable Moves – Brick Break, Close Combat, Night Slash, Rock Slide, Megahorn,
Stats – Phenomenal Atk. Average Stats otherwise

+Close Combat extremely early (Lv. 34)
+It’s raw Atk makes it a portion of the game ridiculously easy
+Fantastic Endgame, it’s STABs destroy the E4 and Team Plasma
-Somewhat barren movepool


Lucario - Top Tier
Availability - Very Early (Floccesy Ranch)
Notable Moves - Force Palm, Close Combat, Aura Sphere, Counter, Drain Punch, Shadow Ball, Dark Pulse, Dragon Pulse, Extremespeed, Ice Punch.
Stats - Great Offensive stats and Above-Average Spe. Lackluster Defenses

+It's plethora of resistances counteracts it's middling defenses
+Can play with both sides of the offensive spectrum thanks to it's stats and movepool
+Counter makes for Pre-Virbank a breeze
+Early evolution means you'll have 110Atk by Castelia City
-Doesn't have a good STAB move during Midgame


Magnezone - Top Tier
Availability - Early (Virbank Complex)
Notable Moves - Thunderbolt, Thunder Wave, Flash Cannon, Signal Beam, Charge Beam, Tri-Attack
Stats - Awesome SpA. Great Def and Above Average SpD. Somewhat slow

+Found at the perfect timing, completely destroying Roxie
+Can partake in any Gym save Clay's
+Large amount of Resistances due to it's phenominal typing
+Can alleviate for it's low Spe with Thunder Wave
-Slightly lags behind in between Nimbasa and Driftveil


Zoroark - Top Tier
Availability - Midgame (Driftveil City)
Notable Moves - Dark Pulse, Night Daze, Nasty Plot, Hidden Power Fighting, Flamethrower, Return, Grass Knot, U-Turn, Night Slash, Focus Blast, Low Kick
Stats - Awesome Special Attack, very high Attack and Speed, frail on both defenses and HP.

+ Always comes with near perfect IVs (all 30s) and an useful Nature for a mixed sweeper (Hasty = +Speed, -Def), meaning you will always end up with a solid poke without any effort
+ Faster growth.
+ All 30 IVs means max powered Hidden Power Fighting, making perfect coverage with a Dark type STAB. Focus Blast and Low Kick are both vaild alternatives
+ A good Illusion makes it's terrible defenses slightly less notable
+Sets up Nasty Plot with relativey little trouble if Illusion is used correctly
+ It comes with max happiness as well, so Return is a solid option from the beginning
+ Not many moves, but they're just the right ones. Dark move/Fighting move/Flamethrower/Filler grants very wide coverage and a lot of super-effective hits
+ Instantly gets a special STAB thanks to the Snarl TM, comes 5 levels from being evolved so it will hardly be a burden as Zorua
- Very frail. Requires some thinking with Illusion to be used properly

High Tier

Spoiler: High Tier List

Azumarill - High Tier
Availability - Very Early (Floccesy Ranch)
Notable Moves - Aqua Tail, Return, Ice Punch, Superpower, Double Edge, Waterfall
Stats - Decent Bulk and Fantastic Atk. Bad Spe stat

+Huge Power
+Great STAB after receiving Return/Frustration.
+Aqua Tail is a solid STAB if you can get it to evolve fast enough.
+Solid movepool that doesn't take too much effort to make.
+Early evolution makes for a great early game.
-Virtually useless against Elesa because it's too slow.
-Prone to missing the Aqua Tail until Waterfall is obtained.
-Low Spe means it'll be going second more often than not.
-Virtually useless for the first 15~20 minutes of the game.


Chandelure - High Tier
Availability - Mid Late (Celestial Tower)
Noteable Moves - Shadow Ball, Flamethower, Energy Ball, Will-O-Wisp, Psychic, Fire Blast, Pain Split.
Stats - Amazing SpA, Good Defenses. Decent Speed. Weak Hp and Horrible Atk.[/B]

+ Best Non Legandary SpA in the game.
+ Has a wide enough movepool to do what it needs to.
+ Dusk Stone found in Strange House for evolution.
+ Gets STAB Shadow Ball soon after capture.
+ Useful against most of E4 and Team Plasma.
- Requires quite a bit of grinding to evolve.
- Struggles in remaining gym battles.
- Defensive typing leaves it with quite a few weaknesses


Cinccino - High Tier
Availability - Midgame (Route 4, Route 5 for Skill Link)
Notable Moves - Tail Slap, Rock Blast, Bullet Seed, Wake up Slap, Return, Aqua Tail, Sing
Stats - Good Spe and Atk. Frail, though

+ Great abilities. Skill Link is a great ability for Cinccino, making its core moves extremely powerful, and Technician works well too.
+ Good attack and speed
+ Its movepool suits its playing style
+ Can evolve soon after you catch it
- Quite frail (75/60/60)
- Doesn't pull it's weight during the Elite Four Campaign


Espeon - High Tier
Availability - Mid Early (Castelia City, Sewers Entrance)
Notable Moves - Psychic, Shadow Ball, Signal Beam, Hyper Voice
Stats Amazing SpA and Spe. Above Average SpD and lacking everywhere else

+ Early Evolution gives you a 130SpA Pokemon with a 65BP STAB with relatively little ease
+ Gets an Endgame STAB move relatively early (Psychic, 37)
+ It's high base SpA lets it partake in all major battles that don't resist Psychic
+ While small, it's movepool has all the moves it needs to function
- Requires slight babying when first caught
- Physically frail


Galvantula - High Tier
Availability - Mid-Late (Chargestone Cave)
Notable Moves - Thunder, Signal Beam, Giga Drain, Energy Ball, Thunder Wave
Stats - Amazing Spe, Above Average SpA. Mediocre everywhere else

+It's Ability means it'll rarely suffer from misshax
+Thunder + Compoundeyes is a fantastic combination
+ Does all the grinding it needs at Skyla's Gym thanks to it's STAB + Lucky Egg
+ Does half the Elite Four in. Also useful against Iris
+ Sets up Paralysis with ease
- Isn't all that useful against Team Plase
- It's fraility puts it at a kill-or-be-killed situation


Krookodile - High Tier
Availability – Early (Route 4)
Notable Moves – Bulldoze, Earthquake, Rock Slide, Crunch, Aqua Tail, Outrage
Stats - Great Atk, decent Defenses, good Spe

+Particularly useful in the endgame against Team plasma and the E4.
+Has two fantastic Abilities to choose from
+It’s movepool has all the right moves it needs to function
+Intimidate gives it artificial Physical Bulk
-Has a rather slow Midgame due to middle Krokorok stats


Lilligant - High Tier
Availability - Mid Early (Castelia City)
Notable Moves - Quiver Dance, Giga Drain, Petal Dance, Sleep Powder, Leech Seed
Stats - Great SpA and Good Spe. Mediocre elsewhere

+ Doesn't suffer from Petal Dance's drawback thanks to Own Tempo
+ The traded one comes with max SpA IVs and Timid Nature
+ Sleep Powder lets it setup Quiver Dances with ease
- While helpful, Sleep Powder doesn't have the best Accuracy
- Lackluster defenses may give it some trouble while setting up
- Is limited exclusively to it's STAB moves for damage


Samurott - High Tier
Availability - Starter
Notable Moves - Surf, Aqua Jet, Ice Beam, Return, X-Scissor, Megahorn, Superpower, Revenge, Swords Dance, Waterfall, Blizzard
Stats - Great Offensive state, surprisingly bulky. On the slow side

+Makes for an easy early-game thanks to Razor Shell
+Balanced stats
+Offensive stats let it play Physical, Special or even Mixed
-Has trouble with Mid-Early Game (Burgh, Elesa)
-Lackluster Spe isn't doing it any favors


Scrafty - High Tier
Availability - Mid-Early (Route 4)
Notable Moves - Brick Break, Hi Jump Kick, Ice Punch, Crunch, Bulk Up, Rock Slide, Drain Punch
Stats - Fantastic Defenses. Above Average Atk and slowish

+It's STABs get fantastic coverage
+It's Defenses mean it doesn't worry as much about Hi Jump Kick
+Hi Jump Kick at a very early level (Lv. 31)
+Single Handedly takes down three of the Elite Four
+ Has two fantastic abilities to play with
- Evolves very late
- Lacks Drain Punch until basically endgame


Starmie - High Tier
Availability - Late (after 6th Gym)
Notable Moves - Surf, Psychic, Thunder, Blizzard, Thunderbolt, Ice Beam
Stats - Great SpA and Speed. Decent Def and SpD

+ Useful from the get-go - it dominates both Drayden (Blizzard) and Marlon (Thunder) with TMs you can buy from the PokeMart as soon as Staryu is available
+ You can evolve it straight away
+ Easy access to BoltBeam and a powerful STAB move (Surf)
+ Great SpA and Speed stats
- Doesn't particularly shine against the E4 (apart from Iris and Marshall)
- Available a bit late

Upper Middle Tier

Spoiler: Upper Middle Tier List

Aggron - Upper Middle Tier
Availability - Mid Late (Mistralton Cave)
Notable Moves - Iron Head, Rock Slide, Aqua Tail, Bulldoze, Ice Punch
Stats - Phenominal Def and Great Atk. Average else, save low Spe

+Evolves fairly soon after capture
+Useful from the get-go, dominating Skyla with Rock Slide which is found in the same location it is
+Wide enough movepool to give it some variety
+Sturdy guarantees a turn of Rock Polish setup
-Slow as sin, requires a turn of setup to outspeed most things
-Falters in usefulness after Skyla


Arcanine - Upper Middle Tier
Availability - Early (Virbank Complex)
Notable Moves - Flamethrower, Crunch, Flare Blitz, Extremespeed, Outrage, Dragon Pulse, Wild Charge, Iron Head
Stats - Great Offenses, Good Spe. Mediocre Defenses

+Foud Early, being a major player in the first two gyms it encounters
+Endgame move at early levels (Flamethrower, 33)
+Intimidate gives it artificial Physical Bulk
+Constantly gains STAB moves until evolution, always making it relevant
+Can evolve whenever the player pleases, thanks to Fire Stone being found in Desert Resort
-Not overly useful during the later parts of the game
-Evolves very late if you choose to learn Flare Blitz
-A good portion of it's coverage moves require shard investment


Cobalion - Upper Middle Tier
Availability - Lategame (Route 13)
Notable Moves - Iron Head, Sacred Sword, Swords Dance, X-Scissor, Volt Switch, Superpower, Zen Headbutt, Bounce
Stats - Decent mixed offenses, great Defense, passable Special Defense, great Speed

+ Comes at a comparatively high level with some of its best moves, making it an instant standout
+ Has a good offensive typing and a better defensive one, coupled with legendary stats
+ Volt Switch hurts Water-types that resist its STAB, making it a solid choice for any fight
+ Rips apart Plasma and contributes against many other major bosses, especially Grimsley
- Comes late, and its 580 BST is undermined somewhat by lack of EVs
- Doesn't hit amazingly hard without Swords Dance or a Justified boost


Crobat - Upper Middle Tier
Availability - Mid Early (Castelia Sewers)
Notable Moves - Acrobatics, Cross Poison, Super Fang, Heat Wave, Giga Drain, Sludge Bomb, Air Slash, X-Scissor
Stats - Fantastic Spe, Good Atk, Decent Defences, Average SpA

+Appealing special movepool
+Blistering speed gurantees it to move first
+Can break through tough defensive Pokemon with Super Fang.
+STAB Acrobatics is lethal
-Barren Physical Movepool
-Without its Egg move, Nasty Plot, its good special movepool is wasted on its low SpA stat.
-Not useful in any major battles bar Marshall and Burgh.


Crustle - Upper Middle Tier
Availability - Mid Early (Route 4)
Notable Moves - Rock Slide, Bulldoze, X-Scissor, Shell Smash, Aerial Ace
Stats - Fantastic Def and Above Average Atk. Mediocre elsewhere save lackluster Spe

+Shell Smash makes it an absolute monster
+Gets an endgame STAB move at a very early level (Rock Slide, Level 29)
+Guaranteed a turn of setup thanks to Studry
+Defeats half the Elite Four on it's own
-It can still be KOed by many things after setting up Shell Smash, thanks to it's Spe stat
-Walled by Fighting Types unless the player decided to use Aerial Ace (eh...)


Gliscor - Upper Middle Tier
Availability - Mid Late (Route 11)
Notable Moves - Acrobatics, Bulldoze, X-Scissor, Fire Fang, Ice Fang, Thunder Fang, Swords Dance, Night Slash, Sky Uppercut, Aqua Tail
Stats - Amazing Def and Great Atk / Spe. Mediocre elsewhere

+ STAB Acrobatics hurts. Alot.
+ Gligar manages to hold it's own for a while thanks to it's Def stat
+ Has all the coverage moves it needs
- Won't be evolving until Endgame
- Relies on Bulldoze for it's Ground STAB move


Jellicent - Upper Middle Tier
Availability - Surf (after 5th gym), Undella Bay (Level 40 varient)
Notable Moves - Will-O-Wisp, Shadow ball, Surf, Ice Beam, Energy Ball, Giga Drain, Psychic
Stats - Great HP and SpD. Above Average SpA and medicore elsewhere

+Gets STAB Surf straight away and STAB shadow ball soon after
+Will-o-wisp, recover, high special defence allows for stalling until you get KO's.
+Extremely deep move pool
+Can be caught fully evolved
+Plays well against half the Elite Four. Holds it's own against the Champion
+Typing is excellent for offensive and defensive
+You can rely on it to barely ever get OHKOed
-On the slow side like most bulky waters
-85 special attack isn't amazing but a good nature and great STABs can compensate.
-Not the earliest availability, and requires some grinding upon capture


Lapras - Upper Middle Tier
Availability - Mid-Late (Villiage Bridge)
Notable Moves - Surf, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, Psychic, Waterfall, Drill Run
Stats - Amazing Bulk, Usable Offenses. Lackluster Spe
+Found just in time to destroy Drayden's Gym with STAB Ice Beam (Lv. 32)
+Has great bulk, supported by a decent Defensive typing
+Gets pure BoltBeam
-Lackluster Offensive stats mean it won't be scoring OHKOs that others may
-Doesn't particularly shine after the Drayden Battle


Metagross – Upper Middle Tier
Availability – Lategame (Giant Chasm)
Notable Moves – Zen Headbutt, Meteor Mash, Iron Head, Ice Punch, Hammer Arm, Psychic, Agility, Thunderpunch, Shadow Ball
Stats – Fantastic Physical Stats. Above Average SpA, Decent otherwise

+Stats. My god those stats
+It’s Movepool makes it fantastic upon capture
+Great Defensive Typing
+Fantastic Utility
-It has Legendary Catch Rate
-Caught too late in the game to become a star player


Pinsir - Upper Middle Tier
Availability - Midgame (Lostlorn Forest)
Notable Moves - Revenge, Brick Break, X-Scissor, Storm Throw, Thrash, Swords Dance, Bug Bite, Superpower, Return, Dig, Rock Slide
Stats - Colossal Attack, solid Defense, poor Special Defense, good Speed, useless Special Attack

+ Gets STAB X-Scissor fairly quickly, and has the stats to do well throughout most of the mid-game with X-Scissor and Fighting move
+ Swords Dance at Lv. 40 gives it destructive potential for late-game
+ Fares well against Grimsley and Caitlin in the end-game
- Learns a butt-ton of decent Fighting moves via level-up... and has no Fighting STAB to use them with
- Moves start to lack power later on, and Pinsir doesn't get better replacements at all; must use Swords Dance to hit harder
- Doesn't do that well against Skyla, and pure Bug isn't a great typing for any other Gyms


Roserade - Upper Middle Tier
Availability - Midgame (Lostlorn Forest)
Notable Moves - Giga Drain, Slude Bomb, Shadow Ball, Leech Seed, Stun Spore, Petal Dance
Stats - Phenominal SpA, Great SpD. Above Average Spe. Average elsewhere

+Gets constant recovery from it's main STAB
+Can support the team with Stun Spore / Leech Seed
+Petal Dance destroys anything that doesn't resist it
- Late Shiny Stone means it won't be evolving until Opelucid City
- It has limited coverage
- Physically frail


Sigilyph - Upper Middle Tier
Availability - Mid Game (Desert Resort)
Notable Moves - Psychic, Air Slash, Energy Ball, Shadow Ball, Signal Beam, Ice Beam, Heat Wave, Cosmic Power, Light Screen, Reflect
Stats - Great SpA and Good Spe. Mediocre stats everywhere else

+Has one of the best Movepools in the game
+Magic Guard lets it soak up statuses
-Barely sees use in major battles as a main fighter
-Middling defenses spell trouble for it endgame
-Relies on it's STAB for a good portion of the game


Simipour - Upper Middle Tier
Availability - Midgame (Lostlorn Forest)
Notable Moves - Scald, Surf, Acrobatics, Crunch, Shadow Claw, Work Up, Aqua Tail, Ice Punch, Low Kick, Superpower, Grass Knot, Rock Slide, Ice Beam, Dig
Stats - Great speed, good balanced offences, average HP, low Defences.

+ Huge movepool
+ Balanced offensive stats and good speed allow it to perform effectively as a mixed sweeper
+ Only Pokemon with access to Scald before Marlon
+ Evolves quickly
+ Good typing and movepool means it is useful for almost all of the remaining gyms
- Frailty becomes a problem late in the game
- Offenses are good, but often not good enough


Stoutland - Upper Middle Tier
Avaiability - Early (Floccesy Ranch)
Notable Moves - Return, Crunch, Wild Charge, Iron Head, Superpower
Stats - Great Atk, Decent Bulk and Spe. All Around balanced stats

+Early Return + Crunch makes a fantastic earlygame
+Balanced all around stats (save atrocious SpA)
+Intimidate gives it artificial Physical Bulk
-Doesn't particularly shine in most major battles
-Requires tutors to get any notable moves besides Return and Crunch


Vaporeon - Upper Middle Tier
Availability - Mid Game (PWT)
Notable Moves - Surf, Ice Beam, Shadow Ball, Toxic
Stats - Great HP and SpA. Above average SpD and mediocre stats everywhere else.

+It's stats make for one of the best Special tankers within the game
+One of the few Pokemon that can really take advantage of ToxiStalling
-Lacks a STAB move until Driftveil, only after the Clay Battle.
-Not overly useful for major battles after obtaining Water STAB


Virizion - Upper Middle Tier
Availability - Lategame (Route 11)
Notable Moves - Giga Drain, Sacred Sword, Swords Dance, Energy Ball, X-Scissor, Zen Headbutt, Bounce, Superpower, Seed Bomb
Stats - Good mixed offenses, passable Defense, great Special Defense, great Speed

+ Comes at a comparatively high level with some of its best moves, making it an instant standout
+ Sweeps Marlon and Grimsley, and can help out against Plasma and Iris
+ Legendary stats help compensate for somewhat sub-par typing
+ STABs are decent enough, and tutors are available for better neutral coverage if necessary
- Comes late, and its 580 BST is undermined somewhat by lack of EVs
- Doesn't hit amazingly hard without Swords Dance or a Justified boost



Volcarona - Upper Middle Tier
Availability - Mid Late (Relic Castle)
Notable Moves - Signal Beam, Energy Ball, Giga Drain, Fire Blast, Flamethrower, Hurricane, Psychic, Quiver Dance
Stats - Amazing SpA and Great SpD, Spe. Mediocre elsewhere

+ Amazing SpA stat considering how early it's found
+ Get's free Signal Beam right off the bat
+ Sees major usage during the later parts off the game
- Is stuck with Signal Beam / Energy Ball for a good chunk of it's time
- Doesn't get Quiver Dance until endgame, if at all


Zangoose - Upper Middle Tier
Availability - Mid Late (Route 7)
Notable Moves - Return, Rock Slide, Close Combat, Night Slash, X-Scissor, Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Thunderpunch, Swords Dance
Stats - Great Atk and Spe. Mediocre elsewhere

+ Atk and Spe stats mean it'll wreck havoc on anything that doesn't resist it's STAB
+ Blessed with the wide movepool that all Normal Types seem to have
+ Coverage lets it play a part in every remaining major battle
+ Immunity lets it soak up Poison, which is arguably the most common status ailment
- Frail on both sides on the spectrum
- Doesn't get Swords Dance until a rather late level. Even then, setting up won't be easy thanks to it's low Defenses

Middle Tier

Spoiler: Middle Tier List

Absol - Middle Tier
Avalability - Mid Late (Route 13)
Notable Moves - Sucker Punch, Night Slash, Swords Dance, Superpower, X-Scissor, Psycho Cut, Zen Headbutt
Stats - Fantastic Atk. Mediocre everywhere else

+ Sucker Punch is an amazing move. STABed Priority with 80BP? Yes please!
+ Movepool that covers everything it really needs to. Dark + Fighting is amazin neutral coverage and X-Scissor / Zen Headbutt rounds up coverage nicely
+ A terrific Pokemon to bring to the E4. Destroys two of the four and can mess with Grimsley with Superpower
- Decent-at-best defenses really start to show during the later parts of the game
- Not too useful pre-Elite Four.
- Relying on Superpower for coverage means it'll be either be switched around a lot or will have to use Swords Dance, which isn't the easiest thing due to it's lackluster defenses


Basculin - Middle Tier
Availability - Surf (Post Clay)
Notable Moves - Aqua Jet, Aqua Tail, Waterfall, Crunch, Return, Superpower, Zen Headbutt, Double Edge
Stats - Above Average Atk and Good Spe. Mediocre everywhere else

+Adaptability makes it's STAB moves dent everything that doesn't resist it
+Gets all the coverage it needs with Superpower + Crunch
+One of the better users of Priority with Adaptability + Aqua Jet
-Frail on both sides
-It's non STABed moves won't be hitting as hard as the rest of the team during the later parts of the game


Drapion - Middle Tier
Availability - Mid Late (Reversal Mountain Outer)
Notable Moves - Night Slash, Crunch, Cross Poison, Rock Slide, X-Scissor, Bulldoze, Aqua Tail, Ice Fang, Fire Fang
Stats - Great Defense,Good Attack and Speed,Average HP,Sp.Defense and Sp.Attack

+Sniper and Battle Armor are good ingame abilities.
+Great offensive movepool giving it quite a few variations.
+One of the few defensive Pokemon able to deal decent damage.
+Useful against Shuantal and Caitlin.
-Lacks a good physical Poison STAB until Lv.57(or 49 if kept as Skorupi).
-Available a bit late.
-Not very useful in the remaining gyms and against Colress.


Eelektross - Middle Tier
Availability - Mid Late (Chargestone Cave)
Notable Moves - Thunderpunch, Wild Charge, Acrobatics, Aqua Tail, Drain Punch, Fire Punch, Crunch, Coil, Thunderbolt, Flamethrower, Giga Drain, Dragon Claw, Superpower
Stats - Great Offenses, Decent Bulk. Slow

+ Levitate removes it's single weakness
+ One of the best offensive movepools in the game with stats to compliment it
+ Can take a hit from just about everything in the game
- Requires major babying until evolving from Tynamo to Eelektrik. This is somewhat remedied by catching one in Seaside Cavern instead
- Slow as sin. It'll be taking hits more often than not


Emboar - Middle Tier
Availability - Starter
Notable Moves - Flamethrower, Fire Punch, Flare Blitz, Rock Slide, Head Smash, Thunderpunch, Scald, Hammer Arm, Wild Charge, Heat Crash
Stats - Terrific Offensive stats and HP. Middling Defenses and lolwut Spe

+It's offensive stats and typing let it play Mixed terrifically
+It's high HP offsets it's Defenses to some extent
-Has quite a few weaknesses
-Hammer Arm as a main STAB move ensures it becomes outsped by everything after a single use
-Has no Fighting STAB after Arm Thrust for a long time.


Floatzel - Middle Tier
Availability - Surf (After 5th Gym)
Notable Moves - Waterfall,Aqua Tail,Crunch,Ice Punch,Low Kick,Brick Break,Surf,Scald,Return
Stats - Great Speed and Attack.Decent Sp.Attack and HP.Below Average Defence and Sp.Defense

+Very Fast which means it will be outsped by only a few things like Accelgor,Crobat and Jolteon.
+Great offenses to hit hard.
+Crunch+Low Kick/Brick Break gives it an unresisted coverage(apart from Toxicroak and Heracross).
-Low Defenses means it will take huge damage if it is unable to OHKO the opponent.
-Priority moves bypass its blistering speed and hit hard.


Gigalith - Middle Tier
Availability - Mid-Early (Relic Passage, Sewers entrance)
Notable Moves - Rock Slide, Bulldoze, Return, Rock Polish
Stats - Great Atk and Def. Decent everywhere else bar atrocious Spe

+The traded one comes just in time to destroy Skyla
+It's low Spe is offset by it's ridiculous Def allowing it to set up Rock Polish with little trouble
+Sturdy is fantastic
-Quite literally has no usable moves outside the mentioned ones
-Mono Rock isn't the best defensive type


Golduck - Middle Tier
Availability - Floccesy Ranch
Notable Moves - Surf, Ice Beam, Signal Beam, Psychic
Stats - Good SpA, decent Atk. Painfully average everywhere else

+Water Pulse at Lv 18 makes for a solid early game
+It's Psychic Type coverage moves make Roxie much easier
-It's Stats really drag it down during the later parts of the game
-Doesn't have a Psychic Type to compliment the Psychic coverage
-A limited Movepool


Magmortar - Middle Tier
Availability - Early (Virbank Complex)
Notable Moves - Lava Plume, Flamethrower, Fire Punch, Thunderbolt, Thunderpunch, Psychic, Focus Blast, Rock Slide, Bulldoze
Stats - Great SpA and Good Atk. Notable SpD. Middling everywhere else

+Works well with it's typing, having little trouble with Team Plasma
+Come early enough to make Burgh a breeze
+Has a great selection of moves to choose from
-Struggles throughout the game due to late evolutions, meaning it requires constant babying
-Defensive Typing and Low Spe means it will be withered quickly
-Relies on it's STAB until Late/Endgame


Mienshao - Middle Tier
Availability - Mid-Late Game (Route 14)
Notable Moves - Drain Punch, Jump Kick, Hi Jump Kick, Rock Slide, Acrobatics, U-Turn, Fake Out
Stats - Fantastic Atk and Great Spe. Above Average SpA and Below Average Defenses

+High Spe and Atk mean that it'll be able to sweep efficiently
+U-Turn is a great move that works in tandem with Regenerator
-Missing with Hi Jump Kick ensures it being KO'd
-Evolves at a very late level (50), requiring some amount of babying until then


Sandslash - Middle Tier
Availability - Mid Early (Route 4)
Notable Moves - Earthquake, Rock Slide, X-Scissor, Swords Dance, Super Fang
Stats - Good Atk and Great Def. Middling Spe, HP. Bad Special Stats

+Gets Natural Earthquake (Lv. 46)
+Evolves at a very early Level (Lv. 22)
-Can't take a Special Hit
-Slow enough where it'll take a hit more often than not
-Outclassed by Excadrill in every way.


Sawk - Middle Tier
Availability - End-game (Route 23)
Notable Moves - Close Combat, Bulldoze, Dig, Rock Slide, Payback, Reversal, Brick Break
Stats - Excellent Attack, decent Speed and Defenses, irrelevant Special Attack

+ Outstanding Attack stat; excellent last-moment pick for a Fighting-type
+ Movepool is compact, but has everything Sawk needs; everything not called Close Combat is just token coverage
+ Very useful against all of Grimsley's team, and can defeat Iris's Hydreigon with Sturdy, as well as her Aggron
- Death fodder for two E4 members
- Comes late, giving it little time to gain EVs and sock butt
- Close Combat has low PP, necessitating a weaker STAB move for frequent use


Steelix - Middle Tier
Availability - Mid Early (Relic Passage)
Notable Moves - Iron Head, Curse, Rock Slide, Dig, Aqua Tail, Bulldoze, Thunder Fang, Ice Fang, Fire Fang, Rock Polish
Stats - Decent HP and Atk. Ridiculous Def, lackluster everywhere else

+ Has the best pratical physical defense in the game.
+ Typing gives it plenty of resistances to play with.
+ Curse makes it near impossible to take down with Physical moves
- Doesn't get Earthquake, leaving it with only Steel STAB
- Is stuck as Onix for a good bit, leaving you with Base 45 Atk
- Slow as sin, it'll get hit more often than not


Reuniclus - Middle Tier
Availability - Midgame (Route 5/16)
Notable Moves - Psyshock, Pain Split, Psychic, Reflect, Light Screen, Shadow Ball, Energy Ball, Signal Beam
Stats - Mediocre HP (as Solosis/Duosion)/Awe-inspiring HP (as Reuniclus), worthless Attack, mediocre Defenses, huge Special Attack, terribad Speed

+ Hits destructively hard with STAB moves; neutral hits are devastating
+ Has good bulk as Reuniclus
+ Can skip crap stage by catching at Strange House or Route 9
- Not particularly noteworthy against bosses not named Marshal
- Both slow and frail as Solosis/Duosion, making it difficult to use mid-game
- Has minimal coverage, and it can't touch Steel-types


Simisage - Middle Tier
Availability - Midgame (Lostlorn Forest)
Notable Moves - Seed Bomb, Shadow Claw, Crunch, Work Up, Rock Slide, Superpower, Energy Ball, Low Kick, Acrobatics
Stats - Great Spe, Good offenses, average HP, low Defences.

+Gets Seed Bomb upon capture.
+Can evolve immediately through the Leaf Stone in Lostlorn Forest.
+Wide movepool.
-Its offenses aren't the highest meaning it will miss KOs in the lategame.
-Frailty is also exposed more later on.


Swanna - Middle Tier
Availability - Midgame (Driftveil Bridge)
Notable Moves - Surf, Air Slash, Tailwind, Ice Beam, Hurricane, Rain Dance
Stats - Decent offenses, great Spe. Lacking Defenses
+Does all the grinding it needs against Clay's Gym
+Gets it's STABs at relavant levels
+Evolves at a decent level
-Limited to it's STABs +Ice for coverage
-Defenses make it a glass cannon; one that doesn't hit all that hard
-As mentioned above, it's offenses don't cut endgame material


Tangrowth - Middle Tier
Availability - Mid-Late Game (Route 13)
Notable Moves - Giga Drain, Energy Ball, Rock Slide, Power Whip, Return, Sleep Powder, Bulldoze
Stats - Great Physical Bulk and Offensive stats. Terrible SpD and Spe.

+Evolves shortly upon capture.
+Can reliably Sleep an opponent due to it's bulk.
-Offensively, it's typing isn't the most useful after it's capture.
-It's low Spe and SpD means that Special hits will wither it down quickly.


Terrakion - Middle Tier
Availability - Late Game (Route 22)
Notable Moves -Sacred Sword, Rock Slide, Swords Dance, X-Scissor, Rock Polish
Stats -Excellent Attack and Speed as well as decent Defenses overall. Special Attack is pretty poor, but you shouldn't be using it anyway.

+Excellent type coverage and just between its STAB moves too. Not to mention Sacred Sword's high PP, good base power and general reliability.
+Excellent moveset available to it very quickly.
+Excellent stat-boosting moves in the form of Swords Dance and Rock Polish.
+Excellent Attack and Speed.
-Obtained quite late in the game.
-Defensive typing leaves it with a fair few weaknesses.


Walrein - Middle Tier
Availability - Mid Late (Undella Bay, Winter)
Notable Moves - Surf, Ice Beam, Signal Beam, Rock Slide, Return, Super Fant
Stats - Bulky with Good SpA, decent Atk and lackluster Spe

+ Thick Fat gives it an extra resistance (Fire)
+ Natural Ice Beam lets it destroy Drayden
+ Bulky enough to take several hits
- Starts painfully slow, Sealeo has terrible stats
- Is outclassed by Lapras is just about every way
- On the slow side


Weavile - Middle Tier
Availability - Very late(Giant Chasm)
Notable Moves - Night Slash, Ice Punch, Low Kick, Ice Shard
Stats - Fantastic A사 and Spe, average Spdef, low elsewhere

+Useful against 2 of the Elite 4 and the champion.
+Can be evolved almost immediately as there's a Razor Fang in the Giant Chasm.
+High Atk and Spe let it sweep if given the right conditions
+One of the few Pokemon that gets a usable Priority move
-Bad defensive typing and stats means most battles will be high-risk 'KO or be KOed' battles.
-Found very late in the game, making it a tack-on choice more often than not.


Weezing - Middle Tier
Availability - Early Game (Virbank Complex)
Notable Moves - Toxic, Poison Gas, Will-O-Wisp, Sludge Bomb, Payback, Shadow Ball, Flamethrower, Thunderbolt
Stats - Fantastic Def. Above Average Atk and Usable SpA. Mediocre elsewhere

+Poison Gas + Venoshock makes for a viable Early Game
+Great Endgame, being arguably the best Physical Wall
+Will-O-Wisp only adds to the Physical Wall factor
-85SpA just doesn't cut it endgame
-Doesn't have half it's movepool Late / Endgame
-Has a terrible Mid-Game.

 

Lower Middle Tier

Spoiler: Lower Middle Tier List

Ampharos - Lower Middle Tier
Availability - Very Early (Floccesy Ranch)
Notable Moves - Discharge, Flash Cannon, Signal Beam, Thunder Wave, Confuse Ray, Thunderbolt, Power Gem
Stats - Great SpA and decent bulk. Terrible Spe

+Early Thunder Wave lets it support the team right off the bat. Confuse Ray only adds to the fun
+Bulky with only a single weakness
- No reliable STAB move between Thundershock (8) and Discharge (33 Flaafy, 40 Ampharos)
- Limited movepool


Beheeyem - Lower Middle Tier
Availability - Mid Late (Celestial Tower)
Notable Moves - Psychic, Psyshock, Calm Mind, Thunderbolt, Shadow Ball, Signal Beam
Stats - Great SpA. Good SpD and decent HP/Defence, but low Speed.

+ Decent movepool
+ Great Special Attack stat
- Doesn't particularly shine in any major battles
- Late evolution (Lv 42); Elgyem is frail and will definitely lag behind


Bouffalant - Lower Middle Tier
Availability - Endgame (Route 23)
Notable Moves - Return, Head Charge, Swords Dance, Megahorn, Bulldoze, Rock Slide, Superpower, Revenge, Wild Charge
Stats - Great HP and defences, excellent Atk, Low Spatk and Spd

+Useful against Caitlin and Grimsley with Megahorn
+Lots of high-powered STAB moves.
+Good enough coverage moves where it's a notable point
-Found very late.
-Typing leaves it struggling against 2 E4 members and does fairly average against the champion.
-Low speed puts a lot of pressure on his defences.*


Camerupt - Lower Middle Tier
Availability - Mid Late (Reversal Mountain Outer)
Notable Moves - Flamethrower, Earth Power, Earthquake, Rock Slide, Rock Polish
Stats - Great Mixed Offenses. Average Defenses. Slow

+ Evolves immediately after capture
+ Has a great STAB to work with immediately (Earth Power)
+ Learns Earthquake naturally (Level 46)
- Not too useful for the major battles it partakes in save Corless
- Slow as sin, requires Rock Polish to be able to outspeed most things
- Has a 4x weakness to Water. Undella Town is the next major are you visit. Yeah...


Dunsparce - Lower Middle Tier
Availability - Early (Route 20, after Cheren)
Notable Moves - Double Edge, Return, Drill Run, Rock Slide, Wild Charge, Coil, Aqua Tail, Zen Headbutt
Stats - Great HP. Middle of the Road everywhere else

+ Fantastic Earlygame thanks to Return
+ Has a diverse movepool
- It requires Coil to deal any notable damage during the later parts of the game
- Slow, with no way to boost it's Spe.



Electivire - Lower Middle Tier
Availability - Early (Virbank Complex)
Notable Moves - Fire Punch, Thunderpunch, Ice Punch, Thunderbolt, Flamethrower, Bulldoze, Psychic, Thunder Wave, Wild Charge
Stats - Great Atk, Above Average SpA and Spe. Average Defenses

+Has a Movepool wide enough to hit a large number of Pokemon for Super-Effective Damage
+Gets an endgame STAB move fairly early (Thunderpunch; Level 29)
-Evolves very late, and therefore requires constant babying until evolution
-Doesn't have access to the majority of it's moveset until near endgame


Ferrothorn - Lower Middle Tier
Availability - Mid Late (Chargestone Cave)
Notable Moves - Curse, Gyro Ball, Power Whip, Bulldoze, Seed Bomb, Iron Head
Stats - Good Atk and great Defenses. Decent everywhere else save terrible Spe

+ Spe stat makes Gyro Ball an usable option
+ Defense lets it set up Curse with ease
- Both of it's natural STAB moves are unreliable at best
- Gets bland coverage
- Late evolution means it'll require some amount of babying


Flareon - Lower Middle Tier
Availability - Midgame (Desert Resort)
Notable Moves - Fire Blast, Flamethrower, Shadow Ball, Return, Superpower, Fire Fang
Stats - Ridiculous Atk, great Special Stats. Lacking elsewhere

+ Hits hard from both sides of the offensive spectrum
- Doesn't evolve until after Burgh unless the Player gets lucky with the swirlig dirt in Relic Passage
- Has a bland Movepool and therefore, coverage
- Physically frail


Flygon - Lower Middle Tier
Availability - Mid Game (Desert Resort)
Notable Moves - Bulldoze, Dig, Rock Slide, Dragonbreath, Dragon Claw, Earth Power, Fire Punch, Fire Blast, Crunch
Stats - Good Atk and Spe. Usable SpA. Lackluster Defenses.

+It works well as an Endgame player
+Gets two fantasic moves very early on, with the Atk stat to compliment it
-It evolves too late to be of use for any major battles
-No endgame STAB moves until very late levels meaning constant babying
-Trapinch is terrible
-Vibrava is arguably worse


Gothitelle - Lower Middle Tier
Availability - Midgame(Route 5, B2)
Notable Moves - Psyshock, Psychic, Shadow Ball, Thunderbolt, Energy Ball, Signal Beam
Stats - Good Bulk, especially Special. Above Average SpA and awkwardly slow

+Gets great STAB in Psyshock early.
+Bulky enough to take hits when needed to
-With no way to boost its attack until postgame, it will falter lategame because of its not so brilliant SpA
-Little defensive/support options to compliment it's bulk


Grumpig - Lower Middle Tier
Availability - Mid Late (Reversal Mountain)
Notable Moves - Psychic, Shadow Ball, Signal Beam, Power Gem
Stats - Great SpD, good SpA. Notable HP, Speed and lacking elsewhere

+ Evolved immediately after capture meaning no babying
+ Gets Psychic via TM when captured
- Physically frail. Doesn't help that Dark and Bug types ingame tend to rely on Atk more than SpA
- Can't touch Steel types, who resist it's entire offensive movepol
- While good, it's SpA will start to lag endgame when compared to other endgame Pokemon
- Psychic isn't the best STAB, only being useful against Marshall


Jolteon - Lower Middle Tier
Availability - Midgame (Nimbasa City)
Notable Moves - Discharge, Thunderbolt, Shadow Ball, Signal Beam, Thunder Wave, Hyper Voice
Stats - Fantastic SpA and Blistering Spe. Noteable SpD and below average everywhere else

+Guaranteed to set up a Thuner Wave to support it's team
+It's great offensive stats let it sweep easily if given the chance
-Has no Special STAB move until Discharge (Lv. 37) unless the user is willing to cope with Volt Switch forcing it to switch after every use
-Frail as heck on the Physical. A kill-or-be-killed in that regard
-Somewhat lacking Special Movepool


Leavanny - Lower Middle Tier
Availability - Very Early (Route 20)
Notable Moves - Leaf Blade, X-Scissor, Shadow Claw, Return, Aerial Ace
Stats - Good Atk, Decent Spe. Mediocre elsewhere

+Razor Leaf and Bug Bite make for a great earlygame
+Evolves into Leavanny shortly after Swadloon
+It's Bug STAB plays well with the E4
-Barren Movepool
-Struggles Mid-Game
-Typing gives it two 4x weaknesses


Mamoswine - Lower Middle Tier
Availability - Lategame (Giant Chasm)
Notable Moves - Earthquake, Ice Fang, Ice Shard, Superpower, Rock Slide
Stats - Amazing HP and Phenominal Atk. Mediocre elsewhere

+ Can evolve into Mamoswine immediately
+ Gets Earthquake naturally
+ One of the few Pokemon with a good Priority move to abuse
- Found too late; doesn't play a part in any major battles save Iris
- Lacks a powerful Ice STAB Move, severely hindering it during the one major battle where it has some screentime
- Is rather easy to be taken down by Special Attacks. Three of it's weaknesses (Fire, Water, Grass) are somewhat common Special types seen


Probopass - Lower Middle Tier
Availability - Mid-Late (Chargestone Cave)
Notable Moves - Power Gem, Discharge, Earth Power, Thunderbolt, Flash Cannon, Rock Polish
Stats - Phemoninal Defenses. Middling SpA and terrible everywhere else

+Has all the coverage it really needs
+It's Defensive typing gives it a plethora of resistances, working well with it's insane defenses
+Oh my god those Defensive stats
+Can use Rock Polish with relatively little trouble to fix it's terrible Spe stat
-It's SpA is bad for endgame purposes. It also has no way of fixing it
-It's typing gives it two 4x weaknesses
-Not too useful for any major battles after Skyla


Sawsbuck - Lower Middle Tier
Availability - Mid Game (Route 6)
Notable Moves - Horn Leech, Seed Bomb, Return, Jump Kick, Wild Charge, Double Edge

+Stats let it sweep if given the right conditions
-A somewhat limited movepool
-Requires a bit of babying before it evolves
-Lacks a Grass STAB move until after evolution unless willing to invest Shards for Seed Bomb
-Not overly useful for Major battles save Marlon


Skarmory - Low Tier
Availability - Mid Late (Reversal Mountain)
Notable Moves - Iron Head, X-scissor, Rock Slide, Fly, Roost, Toxic
Stats - Mediocre HP, Spdef and Speed, Average atk, gargantuan Defence

+Brilliant defensive typing
+Sturdy means it cannot be OHKO'd at full health.
+Solid enough Physical Movepool
+Can take Physical Attacks with relatively little trouble
-No physical flying STAB bar Fly
-Special Attacks take it down with ease
-Lackluster offensive play in general.


Scoliopede – Lower Middle Tier
Availability – Early (Route 20; After Cheren)
Notable Moves – Megahorn, Bulldoze, Rock Slide, Aqua Tail, Superpower, Agility, Double Edge, X-Scissor, Toxic
Stats – Above Average Atk and Fantastic Spe. Notable Def and lackluster elsewhere

+Evolves at relatively early points, making it stat-wise relavent for a good chunk of the game
+Has a noteworthy Physical Movepool
+Bug / Poison makes for a unique typing
-It's Stats endgame don't let it play the dominant role
-Not too useful against most major battles


Serperior - Lower Middle Tier
Availability - Starter
Notable Moves - Leaf Blade, Return, Coil, Aqua Tail, Giga Drain, Leech Seed, Toxic, Dragon Pulse, Growth
Stats - Great Spe. Above Average Defenses and mediocre Offenses

+Can set up with relative ease thanks to it's high Spe and Defenses
-Requires Setup to deal any noticable damage during latter parts of the game
-Is relatively useless against half the gyms and Team Plasma
-Doesn't have the most versatile of movepools


Simisear - Lower Middle Tier
Availability - Midgame (Lostlorn Forest)
Notable Moves - Flamethrower, Fire Blast, Rock Slide, Acrobatics, Shadow Claw, Superpower, Crunch, Work Up
Stats - Good Offenses and Spe. Lacking defenses

+ Can be evolved immediately after being caught
+ Mixed Offense is a viable option thanks to it's balanced offensive stats
- Shoddy defenses become a problem later in the game. Mono Fire does not help this at all
- While good, it's offenses will lag during the later parts of the game

Low Tier

Spoiler: Low Tier List

Accelgor - Low Tier
Availability - Midgame (Route 6)
Notable Moves - Signal Beam, Bug Buzz, Giga Drain, Energy Ball, Acid Spray, Me First
Stats - Good Special Attack, middling defenses, crappy Attack, holycrapwhatthefuq Speed

+ Signal Beam the moment you get it and good Special Attack give it a strong start
+ Always goes first. Seriously.
+ Good choice to fight Grimsley and Caitlin in the end-game
- Can't handle Skyla at all, and becomes more difficult to make kills in the late-game
- Movepool is laughably bad; Bug/Grass is terrible coverage, and it only has STAB on Bug
- Requires someone to trade with and Signal Beam tutor to do anything at all


Amoonguss - Low Tier
Availability - Midgame (Route 6)
Notable Moves - Giga Drain, Return, Toxic, Venoshock, Spore
Stats - Great Bulk, Decent Offenses. Very Slow

+ Early Giga Drain makes for a solid source of damage
- Requires a couple of levels of babying before it evolves
- Has nonexistant coverage, only limited to Giga Drain / Return / Venoshock
- Requires some amount of grinding to have Spore in time for the Elite Four
- Ridiculously slow, it'll be outsped by just about anything


Beartic - Low Tier
Availability - Mid Late (Route 7)
Notable Moves - Icicle Crash, Rock Slide, Superpower, Aqua Jet
Stats - Great Atk and decent Bulk. Slow.

+ Requires mininal grinding to evolve. Also gets Icicle Crash upon evolution
+ Movepool with just enough moves for all the coverage it needs
- It's bulk is somewhat mitigated by it's typing; Mono Ice is a terrible defensive typing
- Doesn't have a way to fix it's low Spe


Bronzong - Low Tier
Availability - Endgame (Abundant Shrine)
Notable Moves - Zen Headbutt, Gyro Ball, Rock Slide, Hypnosis, Light Screen, Reflect, Toxic, Confuse Ray
Stats - Great Defenses, Notable Atk and mediocre SpA, Below Average HP and terrible Speed

+Great Defensive stats and typing.
+STABed Gyro Ball coming from something as slow as it deals a ton of damage
+Can use either Levitate or Heatproof to negate one of it's weaknesses
+Can act as an Supporter with moves like Hypnosis, Confuse Ray and Dual Screens
-Found Late in the game, and requires notable grinding to catch up the rest of the party
-Not too useful during the remaining Major battles.
-It's Main Offensive Move, Gyro Ball, only has 5PP making it a burden Offensively
-It's lower levels mean it won't be taking hits as well as it could be


Clefable - Low Tier
Availability – Lategame (Giant Chasm)
Notable Moves – Return, Body Slam, Hyper Voice, Shadow Ball, Psychic, Signal Beam, Flamethrower, Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, Cosmic Power, Charge Beam
StatsAbove Average Special Bulk. Usable SpA. Medicore elsewhere

+Has one of the most extensive Special Movepools in the game
+Magic Guard is a fantastic Ability letting it soak up Status ailments
-It’s SpA just doesn’t cut it endgame, Charge Beam being the only way to boost it.
-Mediocre stats for something found so late.
-Doesn’t fare well with the remainder of the game


Cofagrigus - Low Tier
Availability - Midgame (Relic Castle)
Notable Moves - Shadow Ball, Energy Ball, Will-o-Wisp, Psychic
Amazing Defenses, Good SpA. Lacking elsewhere including awful Spe

+ Defenses let it take hits when it needs to
+ Learns Will-o-Wisp at a very early level letting it support it's physically frail teammates
- Unexciting coverage. Ghost + Grass is resisted by a number of Pokemon.
- Slow, meaning even it's defenses will last so long
- Lack of boosting makes it's offenses lack during the endgame
- Forced to rely on Hex until Shadow Ball (Lv. 39)
- Requires some amount of babying, given Yamask's lacking stats


Dewgong - Low Tier
Availability - Mid Late (Seaside Cave)
Notable Moves - Surf, Aqua Tail, Blizzard, Ice Beam, Hail, Signal Beam, Drill Run, Dive, Toxic
Stats - Good HP and Sp. Def, decent Def, lacking offensive stats and Speed

+Available all year round and easy to catch - the most convenient Ice-type before Drayden
+Evolves immediately after capture
+Can easily Toxic-stall with Dive
-Stats are all too average for it to really sparkle in a certain role
-Offensive stats are severely lacking. It won't be OHKOing anything, ever
-Doesn't shine in major battles after Drayden. Even then, relies on the inaccurate Blizzard for Drayden


Druddigon - Low Tier
Availability - Endgame (Victory Road)
Notable Moves - Crunch, Dragon Claw, Rock Slide, Bulldoze, Aqua Tail, Fire Punch, Thunderpunch
Stats - Great Atk. Nice Bulk, atrocious Spe

+Doesn't need extra grinding to play it's role
+Has all the moves it really needs
-Found too late in the game to contribute
-Not overly useful against the E4; it'll be outsped and OHKOd by Iris
-That Speed stats is terrible with no way of fixing it.


Golurk – Low Tier
Availability – Endgame (Victory Road)
Notable Moves – Earthquake, Shadow Punch, Rock Slide, Rock Polish, Ice Punch, Thunderpunch, Fire Punch, Rock Polish
Stats – Amazing Atk and Usable Bulk. Terrible Spe

+Comes packed with STAB Earthquake
+Has all it’s needed moves off the bat
+Fares fairly well against the Elite 4
-Comes far too late in the game
-More or less requires Rock Polish Setup to outspeed anything


Mandibuzz - Low Tier
Availability - Midgame (Route 4, Post Burgh)
Notable Moves - Toxic, Roost, Brave Bird, U-turn, Foul Play
Stats - Great HP and Defenses, Decent Spe, low Offenses

+ Has amazing defences for the point of the game where you get it.
+ No offensive presense whatsoever.
+ Does quite well in the lategame against the E4 thanks to Toxic/Roost, its defences and typing.
- While decent early on it has very little offensive presence throughout much of the midgame
- Doesn't get defensive options like Toxic/Roost until lategame either, struggling until that point.
- Toxic/Roost isn't very efficient.


Maractus - Low Tier
Availability - Midgame (Desert Resort)
Notable Moves - Giga Drain, Petal Dance, Sucker Punch, Accupressure, Hyper Voice, Drain Punch
Stats - Solid SpA and decent Atk. Mediocre elsewhere save below Average Spe

+ Early Giga Drain + 106SpA makes it a force to be reckoned with upon capture. The combination makes it stay relavant until post-Clay
- Only has Normal and Grass coverage from it's stronger Offensive stat
- Most coverage moves run off it's weaker Atk stat
- Slow. It can only be boosted by Sun which may hinder your team
- Too frail to deal with Endgame Pokemon


Ninetales - Low Tier
Availability - Endgame (Abundant Shrine)
Notable Moves -Flamethrower, Energy Ball, Dark Pulse, Will-O-Wisp, Hypnosis, Nasty Plot
Stats - High Spe, SpD. Usable SpA

+Can cover all it's weaknesses with Energy Ball
-Found too late in the game to be of any use
-Requires notable require grinding (found at Mid 30s)
-Physically Frail


Octillery - Low Tier
Availability - Lategame (Undella Bay)
Notable Moves - Surf, Ice Beam, Signal Beam, Seed Bomb, Flamethrower, Gunk Shot, Energy Ball
Stats - Good Offenses, plain Defenses. Slow

+ Wide Movepool lets it patch holes that your team may have
- Low Speed and decent-at-best defenses mean it'll be knocked out with relatively litte ease.*
- Found too late to be of any use. It also faces competition from Water Pokemon that are simply much better*



Seviper - Low Tier
Availability - Mid Late (Route 7)
Notable Moves - Poison Jab, Flamethrower, Crunch, Giga Drain , Crunch, Dark Pulse, X-Scissor, Coil
Stats - Good Offenses. Somewhat lacking elsewhere

+ An amazing movepool that lets it hit most thing for Super Effective Damage
- Fraility lets it be killed more often than not when paired with it's lacking Spe
- Relies on Poison Tail for STAB until Poison Jab (Lv. 42)
- Doesn't get most of it's movepool until lategamecker


Swoobat - Low Tier
Availability - Mid Early (Relic Passage)
Notable Moves - Psychic, Air Slash, Ice Beam, Signal Beam, Shadow Ball, Calm Mind, Giga Drain, Heat Wave
Stats - Great Spe and mediocre SpA. Bad elsewhere

+Evolves easily
+Wide Special Movepool. It can do anything it needs to do
-It's stats don't cut Endgame material
-Team Plasma wall it like crazy
-Doesn't help too much in major battles


Throh - Low Tier
Availability - End-game (Route 23)
Notable Moves - Superpower, Bulldoze, Vital Throw, Ice Punch, Bulk Up, Storm Throw, Dig, Rock Slide, Payback, Reversal
Stats - Good Attack, better Defenses, bad Speed, irrelevant Special Attack

+ Stats make it an effective tank
+ Tanks its way through Grimsley, especially with Bulk Up, and can do well against Iris's team due to its bulk
+ Can run Guts + Flame/Toxic Orb to trade staying power for offensive power
- Death fodder for two E4 members
- Comes late, giving it little time to gain EVs and throw butt
- Lacks reliable, easily spammable STAB
- Will nearly always get hit first due to bad Speed


Unfezant - Low Tier
Availabilty - Very Early (Route 20)
Notable Moves - Return, Fly, U-Turn, Sky Attack, Aerial Ace
Stats - Good Atk and Spe. Mediocre everywhere else

+Early Return makes a fantasic Early game
+Early Evolution lets it hit pretty hard for a good part of the game
+Lacks Moves to the point where it can fit Fly into it's Moveset
-Lags during the last few levels prior evolution
-It's Level Up Movepool is absolutely terrible
-Has no coverage moves outside it's STABs
-Has to rely on Aerial Ace for STAB, unless the player is willing to use Two-Turn moves.


Vanniluxe - Low Tier
Availability - Very Late (Giant Chasm)
Notable Moves - Ice Beam, Signal Beam, Acid Armour, Mirror Shot
Stats - Good SpA, Noteworthy Attack and SpD, decent elsewhere

+Fairly useful against the champion as well as Grimsley and Caitlin with Signal Beam.
+Early Ice Beam
-Non-existent movepool. Not including Hidden Power and Blizzard(+Hail) it has 2 attacks usable before the E4, maybe 3. It doesn't get much better after.
-Found very late.


Vespiquen - Low Tier
Availability - Midgame (Lostlorn Forest)
Notable Moves - Attack Order, Air Slash, Toxic, Heal Order, Acrobatics, Power Gem
Stats - Very low speed, Decent offences, great defences, average HP

+Evolves immediately.
+Unlike other walls, it gets Toxic and a recovery move in Heal Order relatively early.
-Horrid Bug/Flying typing.
-Only female Combee evolve, and only 5% Combee are female. It will be very tedious to catch a viable female Combee, including natures and other things.
-Offensive movepool is limited to its STABs and Power Gem.


Watchog - Low Tier
Availability - Very Early (Route 19)
Notable Moves - Return, Crunch, Fire Punch, Aqua Tail, Ice Punch, Thunderpunch, Hypnosis
Stats - Bad defences. Average speed and just about usable attack

+Good movepool
+Available and evolves early.
+Early Return makes for a very solid earlygame
-Requires a vast investment of shards/BP to get all but 2 of the moves listed above.
-It's horrid stats become increasingly more apparent as the game drags on; Watchog has stats comparable to a middle evolution like Vigoroth.
-That massive investment for various moves really doesn't payoff very well in the end.


Whimsicott - Low Tier
Availability - Mid Early (Castelia City, Sewers Entrance)
Notable Moves - Giga Drain, Psychic, Shadow Ball, Hurricane, Light Screen, Reflect, Cotton Guard, Leech Seed, Stun Spore
Stats - Amazing Spe, decent Defenses. Average SpA.

+ Prankster ensures it pulls off the team support it needs to
- Lack of Sleep Powder, which is critical for something playing the role it's playing
- No Offensive presense whatsoever, it has below average SpA with no way to remedy this.
- Doesn't find major use in any major battles save Clay
- Can do nothing whatsoever against Steels

Bottom Tier

Spoiler: Bottom Tier List

Alomomola - Bottom
Availability - Midgame (any dark spot in the sea after you get Surf in route 6)
Notable Moves - Waterfall, Wake-Up Slap, Return, Bounce, Protect, Wish, Toxic, Soak
Stats - Massive HP, good Def, mediocre Atk and Spe, terrible SpA and SpD

+ Huge HP turns it into a fantastic Wish user (if you don't like spamming items in battle). It also gets Protect via level up (no PWT farming needed). Yay gimmicks
+ Soak can let you use Toxic on anything, including Steel and Poison types. YAY GIMMICKS
+ Wish, Protect, Toxic and Waterfall/Dive (post elite4) makes for a pretty solid tank/support set.
- Pure tanking and toxic stalling is a long and tedious way of winning a battle, and it's pretty much anything this it's got.
- Poor coverage moves do not redeem its mediocre Attack stat in any way.
- Cannot take special hits. Carrying a pure wall in your team is already a burden ingame, but a pure PHYSICAL wall? Even worse.


Audino - Bottom Tier
Availability - Early (Route 20, After Cheren)
Notable Moves - Return, Double Edge, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, Psychic, Shadow Ball, Flamethrower, Grass Knot, Wild Charge, Surf, Drain Punch, Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Thunderpunch, Signal Beam, Zen Headbutt, Uproar, Heal Bell, Relfect, Light Screen etc.
Stats - Good Bulk, Mediocre everywhere else

+Best. Movepool. Ever
-Doesn't have the stats to take advantage of it's movepool
-Doesn't get any notable support moves until Lategame
-You're losing out on lots of potential EXP


Banette - Bottom Tier
Availability - Mid Late (Strange House)
Notable Moves - Shadow Sneak, Shadow Claw, Return, Sucker Punch, Will-O-Wisp, Thunderbolt
Stats - Great Atk, Average SpA. Lacking elsewhere

+ It... Has great Atk
- Has no Physical moves save it's STAB and Return (Dark gets pretty much the same coverage so..)
- Walled by both Rock and Steels types for the most part
- Frail on both sides of the spectrum
- Main STAB (Shadow Claw) suffers from a low 70 BP offsetting it's above mentioned Atk stat


Castform - Bottom
Availability – Midgame (Route 6)
Notable Moves - Rain Dance, Sunny Day, Hail, Surf, Thunderbolt, Flamethrower, Solarbeam, Ice Beam, Thunder, Blizzard, Weather Ball
Stats - Mediocre across the board

+Can make good use of three weathers
-Stats give out it no particular strengths
-Relies on weather to do substantial damage
-Weather potentially disadvantages teammates, and requires compromise in teambuilding as a result
-Almost all of its notable moves come as TMs late in the game


Corsola - Bottom Tier
Availability - Lategame (Humilau City)
Notable Moves - Surf, Rock Slide, Earth Power, Psychic, Shadow Ball
Stats - Decent Defenses, terrible everywhere else

- Late Availability and Terrible Offense means it won't be dealing any damage. Ever.
- Typing leaves it with a fair amount of weaknesses
- Too slow to do anything. It'll probably be OHKOed by a Super Effective hit
- Does naught for any major battles


Delcatty - Bottom Tier
Availability - Mid-Early (Castelia City, Sewers entrance)
Notable Moves - Return, Double Edge, Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, Charge Beam, Zen Headbutt, Shadow Ball, Hyper Voice
Stats - Lackluster everywhere

+Early Return
-Terrible stats mean that it won't be dealing too much damage even after evolution
-Stuck with only it's STAB until practically endgame
-Stuck as a Skitty until Route 6. Some earlier Pokemon are fully evolved by this point
-Normalize makes coverage nonexistant


Delibird - Bottom
Availability – Lategame (Route 22)
Notable Moves - Ice Punch, Aerial Ace, Seed Bomb, Brick Break
Stats Horrid attacking stats excluding Hustle, average speed, worse Defenses than Ditto

-Very late and lacking in stats at that point in the game.
-Incapable of damage without Hustle or Toxic
-Requires TMs/Move Tutors as it only learns one move, Present, through levelup.
-Outgunned, outsped and outclassed by just about every Pokemon in the game


Ditto - Bottom Tier
Availability - Lategame (Giant Chasm)
Notable Moves - Transform
Stats - lolwut

-Very late in the game
-Only one move: Transform.
-Its non-existent defences mean it will almost never get a Transform off.
-Even after Transforming, Ditto is at a disadvantage because all copied moves have 5PP and you share strengths and weaknesses with the opponent who gets a free turn to exploit them.


Emolga - Bottom Tier
Availability - Midgame (Route 5, Shaking Grass)
Notable Moves - Acrobatics, Thunderbolt, Thunder Wave, Signal Beam, Discharge
Stats - Great Spe. Mediocre elsewhere

+ Early Acrobatics does decent damage for a while
+ High Spe lets it support it's team with Thunder Wave
- Too Frail to survive Late~Endgame
- Doesn't hit hard enough to justify a spot endgame
- Limited coverage options outside it's STABs


Garbodor - Bottom Tier
Availability - Midgame (Route 4 B2, Route 5/16 W2)
Notable Moves - Gunk Shot, Return, Drain Punch, Seed Bomb
Stats - Good Atk, Average Defenses and Spe

+Can get STAB Gunk Shot as early as Driftveil City thanks to Move tutors.
-Must rely on an inaccurate move as it doesn't learn Poison Jab.
-Requires heavy shard investment to get much of its moves.
-Really lags behind in the early 30s before it evolves into Garbodor and gets Drain Punch.
-Doesn't get Drain Punch until Humilau city, forced to rely on the bad coverage Gunk Shot Return and Seed Bomb provide.


Klinklang - Bottom Tier
Availability - Mid Late (Chargestone Cave)
Notable Moves - Gear Grind, Shift Gears, Wild Charge, Return
Stats - Great Def and decent SpD. Good Atk and surprisingly speedy

+ Gear Grind and Shift Gears are great moves that are exclusive to it
+ Has surprisingly good stats
- Nonexistant coverage; only has Gear Grind and Return until Wild Charge for endgame
- Evolves ridiculously late, and the payoff isn't worth it
- Is pretty much dead weight until evolution into Klingklang; Klang is a terrible second evolution stage


Lopunny - Bottom Tier
Availability - Early-Mid(Castelia City)
Notable Moves - Return, Jump Kick, Drain Punch, Fire Punch, Ice Punch,
Stats - Bad HP and Offences. Decent Defences. Great Spe.

+Early Return / Frustration means it can do something for a while
-Requires heavy shard investment to form a full moveset.
-Bad offences prevent it from taking out opponents efficiently.
-Lacks good defences relegating it to support.
-Lacks most support options until much later on in the game.


Lunatone - Bottom Tier
Availability - Mid Late (Route 13)
Notable Moves - Psychic, Rock Polish, Ice Beam, Shadow Ball, Earth Power, Charge Beam, Cosmic Power, Signal Beam
Stats - Good Special Attack, decent Special defense, mediocre HP, Defense and Speed. Low Attack.

+ Low speed kind of compensated by Rock polish
+ Good ability turning one of your weaknesses into an immunity
+ Just enough moves to make a decent offensive set
- Lots and lots of weaknesses to pretty much everything you face lategame: Water, Steel, Bug, Dark, Ghost... (Being neutral to Fighting with bad defense doesn't help with Marshall either)
- Requires Rock Polish to be of any use, not enough bulk to afford being slow. Lacks raw power to oneshot pretty much anything not weak to Psychic
- Mediocre stats considering how late you find it
- Lacks a usable STAB Rock Move


Hydreigon - Bottom Tier
Availability - Endgame (Victory Road)
Notable Moves - Surf, Flamethrower, Dragon Pulse, Dark Pulse, Crunch, Earth Power
Stats - Fantastic Offenses, all around decent stats elsewhere

+Fantastic stats and a terrific movepool to compliment it
+Hustle Zweillous has amongst the highest Atk stat in the game
-Impossible achieve Hydreigon without major grinding
-Zwewilous is too frail for the Endgame
-Zweillous relies on Dragon Rush for damage, which is reduced to 60% Acc after Hustle
-Zweilous doesn't get the majority of Hydreigon's moves


Liepard - Bottom Tier
Availability - Very Early (Route 19)
Notable Moves - Night Slash, Return, Dark Pulse, Seed Bomb, Gunk Shot, Grass Knot
Stats - Usable Offensive stats, High Spe. Nonexistant Defenses

+It evolves early
-Lacks a powerful STAB Move before Lv 47 (Night Slash) or Driftveil Cty, with 10(!) Blue Shards for Dark Pulse.
-Terrible Defenses mean it'll struggle to take even neutral hits
-Requires heavy Shard investment for a half-decent moveset
-Can barely do anything against any major battles
-There's probably more to this list


Muk - Bottom Tier
Availability - Mid-Early (Castellia Sewers)
Notable Moves - Return, Fire Punch, Thunderpunch, Gunk Shot, Ice Punch, Rock Slide
Stats - Great Atk and HP. Lackluster everywhere else. Terrible Spe

-Doesn't get a Physical STAB move until Gunk Shot (Lv 49) or 8 Red Shards at Driftveil
-Evolves very late considering where it's found
-Has basically no Physical moves until Driftveil, where it requires heavy Shard investment
-It's Spe means it'll be taking hits left and right
-Honestly, I can't think of a positive factor


Pelipper - Bottom Tier
Availability - Mid Late (Route 13)
Notable Moves - Surf, Hurricane, Ice Beam, Toxic, Round, Fly
Stats - Good defence and decent SpA. Mediocre elsewhere.

+ Gets good coverage with its STAB moves
- Limited special movepool
- No special Flying-type STAB until Hurricane (Lv 60); until then, you're stuck with Fly which won't do much off Base 60 Atk
- Not useful for major battles


Raticate - Bottom Tier
Availability - Mid-Early (Castellia Sewers)
Notable Moves - Return, Crunch, Sucker Punch, Double Edge, Wild Charge, Zen Headbutt, Iron Tail
Stats - Usable Atk and great Spe. Lacking everywhere else

+Early Return / Frustration makes it viable from the get-go
+Early Crunch / Sucker Punch
-Watchog is better in every way
-Outlives it's usefulness at around Clay
-Doesn't learn any useful moves after Crunch for a long timr
-Frail. Very frail


Shuckle - Bottom Tier
Availability - Lategame (Seaside Cave)
Notable Moves - Rock Slide, Power Trick, Power Swap, Shell Smash
Stats - Best defenses in the game. Atrocious everywhere else

+Power Trick is usable if you know you're fighting something that uses special attacks.
+Power Split can cripple strong opponents in one turn
-Does no damage without boosts and even then SE hits will 3HKO at best.
-Gimmicky and practically useless


Solrock - Bottom Tier
Availability - Mid Late (Route 13)
Notable Moves - Stone Edge, Rock Polish, Rock Slide, Zen Headbutt, Explosion, Acrobatics, Return, Cosmic Power
Stats - Good Attack and Defense, mediocre HP, Special Defense and Speed, low Special Attack

+ Low speed kind of compensated by Rock polish
+ Good ability turning one of your weaknesses into an immunity
+ Just enough moves to make a decent offensive set
- Lots and lots of weaknesses to pretty much everything you face lategame: Water, Steel, Bug, Dark, Ghost... Will not live any strong special hit regardless.
- Requires Rock Polish to be of any use, not enough bulk to afford being slow. Lacks raw power to oneshot pretty much anything not weak to Psychic/Rock
- Mediocre stats considering how late you find it
- Unlike Lunatone, it gets dual STAB, but all its options are not 100% reliable


Sunflora - Bottom Tier
Availability - Very Early (Route 20)
Notable Moves - Petal Dance, Giga Drain
Stats - Good SpA. Mediocre everywhere save Spe, which is terrible

+STAB Petal Dance is obtained pretty early (Lv 33)
-Has no Special Moves besides it's STAB
-The first Sun Stone is found in Nimbasa, and therefore requires constant babying until then
-Sunkern has the worst BST in the entire game
-Sunflora's Stats mean even neutral moves will put it into the critical range


Umbreon - Bottom Tier
Availabilit - Mid Early (Castelia City, Sewers Entrance)
Notable Moves - Payback, Toxic, Moonlight, Heal Bell, Foul Play, Dark Pulse, Confuse Ray, Return, Psychic, Iron Tail
Stats - Good HP, Great defence and excellent Spdef, low offences and speed.

+95/110/130 defences are amongst the best mixed defences in the game.
-Has nonexistant offensive presence.
-Relies on the opponent's Atk stat for Foul Play, which outdamages Payback more often than not
-Relies on Toxic+Moonlight and its great defences to do damage.
-Until you get Toxic it will really Struggle to do anything without multiple Screeches.
-Cannot touch Steels or even most Poison types, because of its reliance on Toxic.
-Gets no real moves besides STAB + Return


Zebstrika - Bottom
Availability - Midgame (Route 7)
Notable Moves - Wild Charge, Flame Charge, Return, Signal Beam
Stats - Good Atk, Average HP and SpA, Bad defences and great speed

-Horrid movepool consists of Electric STAB, Return and numerous weak moves.
-Stuck with Spark until lvl 47.

 

Well, as explained in the OP, at least one of us has to nominate a tiering for it to be eligible. This ensures the quality of the tierings we add since all the current certs are well-established raters(and hopefully anyone else we add).

 

Ya know how to make spoilers, right?

Spoiler: Spoiler title

Spoiler contents

[*SPOILER=Spoiler title] Spoiler contents [/SPOILER] without the *

 

how many people do you think will actually take the time to contribute to this?

 

^

a group of raters once tried to do this for the battle tower, didn't work. and for normal in-game playthroughs tiering is even more useless.

 

Well I might as well kick things off with a the tiering that everyone saw coming.

Magnezone - Top
Availability - Early (before 2nd Gym)
Notable Moves - Discharge, Thunderbolt, Flash Cannon, Signal Beam, Thunderwave, Sonicboom
Stats - High SpA, great defences, decent speed

The Magnemite line is just brilliant. You catch it before battling the second Gym-leader; Magnemite can defeat Roxie with very few problems thanks to its Poison-type immunity and the fact that Sonicboom is immensely powerful early in the game. It also dominates Burgh with Sonicboom. Although it has trouble against Elesa and Clay, especially given it starts to lag behind while still a Magnemite in the high 20s, it is likely to evolve into Magneton around Clay and then Magnezone in Chargestone Cave, upon which it truly shines. It demolishes Skyla and Marlon, as well as Drayden thanks to its plethora of resistances and paralysis support. He also faces trouble against Marshal in the Elite Four, but apart from that the combination of his many resistances, bulk, Sturdy ability and amazing base 130 Special Attack mean it will be sweeping through the game with ease.

+ Available early
+ Dominates almost all Gym Leaders
+ Great stats and typing
+ Sturdy is a great ability
- Lags behind around Elesa before it evolves into Magneton

 

Magmortar - High
Availability - Early (Before 2nd Gym)
Notable Moves - Flamethrower , Thunderbolt , Focus Miss , Lava Plume , Psychic
Stats High SpA , good Atk and good SpD and decent Speed.

The Magby line is essentially one of the best Fire Type Lines in the Main Story of BW2 , since you can catch it before the 2nd Gym and it has the Ability to go Physical or Special and be sucessful. It can help against Roxie's Whirlipede with Ember , does well against Burgh , but really does a little bit better near the end of the game. It also has above Average SpA to make use of Moves like Flamethrower and Thunderbolt. Flame Body , can be useful for Gym Leaders like Drayden too.

+ Available early
+ Good stats
- Shallow Movepool
- Doesn't do well against Marlon or Clay.

 

^ Magmar does not have a shallow movepool at all.

 

I agree with Magnemite's tiering [1/3]

However with Magmortar, isn't the Magamrizer found Late/Postgame? If so, you're stuck with Magmar for a good portion of the game. You're also stuck with a Magby until Lv. 30. Upper-Middle, if not flat out middle imo.

Sigilyph - Upper-Mid Tier
Availability - Mid-Game (Desert Resort)
Notable Moves - Psybeam, Air Cutter, Psychic, Air Slash, Shadow Ball, Heat Wave, Chare Beam, Cosmic Powe, Signal Beam, Ice Beam, Reflect, Light Screen
Stats - Good SpA and Above-Average Spe. Painfully average on other stats.

Sigilyph is a mixed bag. On one hand, it has one of amongst the wider movepools in the game (look at it's notable moves) and has the right stats to use them. *It also has one of the best abilities in the game with Magic Guard, which gives it immunity from the much too common Poison Status ailment. It's wide movepool lets it adapt to whatever your team needs. Need something to help with Iris? Give it Ice Beam. Lacking some Firepower? Slap Heat Wave on it. This means that Sigilyph will never feel redundant on your team and will always be doing something to support you.

On the other, it shines against none of the main battles in the plot save E4 Marshall and has trouble with the Steel types that Team Plasma love to carry with them unless you invest in Heat Wave. It's somewhat middling defenses mean that it won't be taking too many hits in the endgame. Couple that with the fact that it's pretty much with it's STABs until the last third of the game, and you'll see it's not all sunshine and rainbows for Sigilyph

+Has one of the best Movepools in the game
+Magic Guard
-Barely sees use in major battles as a main fighter
-Middling defenses spell trouble for it endgame
-Relies on it's STAB for a good portion of the game

 

Seconding Magnezone's tiering [2/3].

Yep, the Magmarizer is on the Plasma Frigate, and of course you'll need to trade as well.
Magby does really begin to get left behind once you reach the lvl 20s and its bad defence becomes more apparent. Useful early on against Roxie and Burgh, but Clay, Drayden and Marlon make it progressively harder for him to hold is weight on the team.
While a good pokemon in it's own right, Magmortar faces stiff competition from fellow early Fire types Arcanine and Darmanitan who boast similar stats , superior abilities and are just more convenient to raise. I'd put in Upper-Mid at best.

 

Darumaka - Top
Availability - Route 4 (early)
Notable Moves - Flare blitz, fire punch, rock slide, superpower
Stats Insane 145 attack / decent speed

- Description -
You get this fella really early and he's useful from the word go. Level 19 is fire punch which gets boosted from hustle. This will be the only move you need for the rest of the game. Burgh gets whipped by darumaka and although this is the only useful gym for darumaka, having 145 base attack and sheer force when it becomes darmanitan you can rely on it to be your hard hitting pokemon for the whole of the game. Definitely top tier as it also outclasses Flareon/Emboar/Chandelure.

+Get it early on
+Flare blitz level 33
+Sheer force and 145 base attack wrecks even bulky pokes with neutral hits
-Hustle can leave you missing loads, but worth the attack boost
-Recoil from flare blitz


Riolu - Top
Availability - Flocessy ranch (very early)
Notable Moves - Close combat, ice punch, force palm, dark pulse, extremespeed, aura sphere
Stats good sp. atk and atk. Decent speed

- Description -
You can catch Riolu before the first gym. Although force palm has been nerfed to lvl 15 in BW2 he still is useful to back up your starter. If you use riolu enough and don't let him faint to much you'll have a Lucario at lvl 20. Lucario's only STAB move is force palm until level 51 were he gets aura sphere however Lucario gets lots of other useful moves as well. Ice punch is useful for taking out drayden (dragon gym) and despite not being too useful against any of the gyms, Lucario is really useful in dealing with trainers and his steel typing helps massively.

+Varied movepool
+Steel typing
+Get riolu early
+Great stats
+Useful in many situations
-Not overly useful for gyms
-Force palm only STAB till lvl 51


Eevee (vaporeon) - upper-middle
Availability - Early eevee but little later for vaporeon
Notable Moves - Surf, Shadow ball, toxic, ice beam, aqua ring
Stats amazing HP (130), great Special attack (110)

- Description -
You can get an Eevee relatively early when you get access to the sewers. However vaporeon in not available until battle subway at least which requires a round on the singles train to get (3BP) or you can wait until after clay to get a waterstone. Battle subway took me a number of attempts to get through as movesets were still lacking on my pokemon as it was quite early on. This grind or delay bewteen getting eevee and evolving it into a useful pokemon really makes it drop from high tier to upper middle. Other than that it is a great pokemon, extremely bulky and can take hits very well. Vaporeon is the pokemon I tend to switch into to take hits. Leftovers on this guy combined with aqua ring (wish only available with breeding) makes toxic stalling an option too.

If you are willing for a short 7 subway battles for 3BP to get a waterstone, it will go high tier. However if you feel this is too much then upper-middle

+Great HP
+One of the best water pokemon in BW2
-Obtained rather late and bit of a grind to get



I'll rank some more soon

 

Let's not forget Earthquake on Darmanitan.

 

^Except that Earthquake is found post-game.

Agree with Darmanitan [1/3]

imo the lack of STAB until Level 51 should drop Lucario to High, it's too big of a flaw to go unnoticed. It doesn't help that the rest of it's Level Up Movepool is pretty rubbish. You should also mention it has a poweful Return to support it. Not to mention Counter is arguably the best Anti-Cheren measure. I suppose you could also mention Iron Tail for 6 Blue Shards if you really want to. Flash Cannon is a more realistic STAB option, although it's found pretty late. Still, it should be earlier than 51.

I'd say Upper-Mid for Vaporeon. It doesn't have a STAB to work with until you get Surf. You could invest a Heart Scale in Water Gun, but that's still until Driftveil, so yeah.

 

Thanks for the awesome thread, was curious about the tiers

 

Anti-Cheren?

 

Force palm still isn't a bad move and the para hax is really nice. Brick break is an option for 12BP aswell. I still think that being steel means you can have it at the front of your party to be able to take hits from anything but fire/ground means it's high tier but coupled with the fact you will have lucario from 2nd gym onwards means I think top still. Sword dance comes at level 37 anyway so you can boost and sweep with neutral coverage for E4 and the last two gyms.

Fair points about Vaporeon upper-mid [1/3]

 

tbh we really shouldn't factor in Battle Subway / PWT rewards as it detracts from a Pokemon's usability. A base 60 BP / 10 PP until Very lategame where most other Pokemon will have their final STAB moves hinder it. Sure, it can get some nice moves via TM and Move Tutors, but it doesn't replace the fact that it's lacking a STAB move.

Also, may as well go ahead and [2/3] Vaporeon for Upper-Mid x)

 

I suppose you are right, high tier for lucario [1/3]