An Introduction to RBY PU
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Art by Kiwi.
Introduction
Despite RBY being the oldest generation of Pokémon, it's still under development even today. RBY PU is a very young tier, having only come into existence around 2019. Despite its age, PU has had a storied history of development, change, and complexity as its playerbase adapted to NU's drops and the rise and fall of top threats. In general, RBY PU has become an exceptionally fast tier, and while teams have some staples, experimentation of fringe picks has consistently rewarded daring players.
S Ranks—The Big 4
Nidoqueen
Nidoqueen has been one of PU's top dogs ever since it dropped from NU and is arguably the face of the tier, always being considered top 4 at minimum and ranked #1 on the Viability Rankings. Its immense bulk and amazing coverage in Earthquake and Blizzard let it beat almost the entire tier one-on-one, including other top threats like Fearow and Arcanine. This is rounded off with Fire Blast hitting the only Pokémon that doesn't mind either move, Pinsir; Thunderbolt easing prediction against Water- and Flying-types; or Substitute letting Nidoqueen take advantage of the switches it forces. Nidoqueen is typically used as a mid-game wallbreaker, but it being one of the few Pokémon that can consistently beat Arcanine while not being easy to switch into has recently made it into one of PU's premier leads as well. However, Nidoqueen isn't perfect, as it has a ton of weaknesses due to its Ground / Poison typing, letting many common threats like Seaking and Staryu 2HKO it. Worse yet, Nidoqueen's Speed tier leaves a lot to be desired, providing the opponent no shortage of Pokémon that can outspeed and revenge kill Nidoqueen, though this is very much a chicken and the egg scenario because Nidoqueen's excellence is what mandates multiple faster Pokémon on teams. Regardless, Nidoqueen is one of PU's top rulers, and nearly every serious team should carry it.
Fearow
Contrasting Nidoqueen's slower, methodical wallbreaking is Fearow's blisteringly fast onslaught. Coupled with its great power and Normal-type STAB moves, Fearow's defining trait is its amazing Speed, letting it outspeed every foe except Rapidash and Scyther. This is paired with its amazing critical hit rate, which lets its moves deal absurd amounts of damage with terrifyingly high odds. Everyone who's played enough RBY PU has seen an otherwise losing game completely reversed by Fearow getting multiple Hyper Beam critical hits in a row. Fearow will oftentimes be the fastest Pokémon on either team, so its power must always be respected. However, Fearow does suffer from its poor movepool; while it can hit Gastly with Drill Peck, its access to only Normal- and Flying-type moves leaves it walled by Graveler and Omanyte. These foes aren't perfect, as critical hits can actually do significant damage and Fearow's teammates can take advantage of them, but these two Rock-types do serve as a reliable way to stop Fearow's rampage. This gave Fearow significant competition with Pinsir in the early days of PU because it could reliably damage these foes while being a powerful wallbreaker in its own right. Another one of Fearow's issues is its mediocre bulk and weaknesses to Ice and Electric, letting foes like Rapidash, Arcanine, and, most notably, Nidoqueen beat it one-on-one excluding critical hits. The threat of a full HP Nidoqueen dissuades Fearow from wallbreaking too early, as it has to either stay in and get KOed or have a teammate switch in and lose anyways. Fearow is a terror and borderline mandatory, but every team has a way to deal with it, so it cannot be used recklessly. Regardless of Fearow's flaws, PU's increasingly fast pace and Fearow's tendency to swing games have led to its place in the tier being called into question. Fearow was suspect tested in April 2024 after increasingly frequent calls for a ban, though it would ultimately not be banned and continues its dominance over PU.
Arcanine
Arcanine wasn't always blessed with success before rising to be one of PU's top threats, as when it initially dropped, it had heavy competition with Rapidash. Arcanine has higher bulk and slightly higher Attack, but Rapidash outspeeds Fearow while also having access to Fire Spin. Arcanine would eventually fall out of the meta when players decided Rapidash's traits were generally more useful and using both wasn't optimal due to how common Omanyte was. Arcanine would fall to ZU, where it would proceed to demolish everything in that tier before being sentenced to ZUBL. When Porygon dropped from NU, there was renewed interest in Arcanine, since Porygon stonewalled Omanyte. Arcanine would once again rise up into being a top-tier threat, and while later on Porygon would decline in usage, so would Omanyte as players became more adept at exploiting its weaknesses. The result is a very fast-paced PU where Arcanine cements itself as a top-tier threat, and one that is far better than Rapidash.
Arcanine's combination of excellent bulk and powerful Fire Blast, Body Slam, and Hyper Beam makes it a foe few Pokémon want to face. Its power is complemented by Fire Blast's and Body Slam's ability to spread status, making otherwise surefire counters like Nidoqueen and Seaking think twice about taking it on. While Arcanine is outsped by Rapidash, Scyther, and Fearow, its Speed is still excellent because it outspeeds every other relevant foe. Arcanine's last move isn't as important, but historically, Reflect has seen use in helping Arcanine take on foes like itself and Rapidash, though in more recent times, Agility has found more use in the faster-paced PU, especially since it negates paralysis's Speed drop. Rest + Reflect Arcanine, which dropped Hyper Beam and sometimes used Flamethrower over Fire Blast, saw some use when Porygon was dominant but declined when PU became faster paced and being eaten alive by Seaking became a bigger issue. Arcanine is PU's best lead by a wide margin because the few Pokémon that beat Arcanine, like Seaking and Omanyte, tend to be easy to switch into early-game. Those that aren't like Nidoqueen still risk losing thanks to status and Arcanine's high critical hit rate. If not used as a lead, Arcanine finds success in the back as a formidable mid-game progress maker. In fact, it is so excellent as an offensive threat and especially lead that, like Fearow, it was suspect tested. However, it was ultimately not banned, as players have been slowly finding new answers to lead Arcanine, like Porygon. History has not always been kind to Arcanine, but now it stands alongside Fearow as one of the best Pokémon to ever touch PU.
Seaking
Since the inception of RBY PU, this otherwise plain-looking fish has always been one of its scariest offensive threats. Seaking's great bulk, power, and Water typing grant it positive matchups against the tier's various Fire-types and Nidoqueen. Seaking has low odds of being KOed by Fearow's Double-Edge into Hyper Beam, so it's actually favored to win the one-on-one if it's carrying Blizzard, making it the only Pokémon that can beat all other members of the top 4. Seaking's Speed, while middling, can be patched up with Agility, making it a powerful late-game sweeper. That said, Seaking does have one of PU's hardest walls in Staryu. Spamming Double-Edge will slowly kill Seaking as Staryu spams Recover, while Hyper Beam and Blizzard just give Staryu free turns without a lucky critical hit or freeze. An unparalyzed Staryu is Seaking's worst nightmare, though Seaking's team can deal with Staryu, often forcing Staryu to trade paralysis with itself. Seaking has rarely changed as PU has evolved, with the choice between Double-Edge and Blizzard often being decided as Pokémon like Vileplume gained and lost relevance, though the rise of Arcanine and this faster-paced PU have made Seaking better than ever before, thwarting the rise of foes like Gastly in players' attempts to counter Seaking.
The A Ranks:
Rapidash
Rapidash is tied with Scyther for the fastest Pokémon in PU, outspeeding Fearow, something that gives it an edge over its archrival Arcanine. During Omanyte's peak usage, Rapidash was ironically at its best, using its Fire Spin to pivot out and then start cleaning when Omanyte was eliminated. A ToxSpin set actually has decent odds of beating Omanyte, though it fell out of the metagame as players decided not to use an unreliable set that sacrificed Rapidash's powerful Hyper Beam. Eventually, Porygon dropping from NU would be Rapidash's undoing, as this newfound Omanyte counter would eventually lead players to bring Arcanine back into the metagame, which would eventually outclass it. While no longer a top-tier threat, Rapidash is still excellent, appreciating this faster PU with less Omanyte, although its role is mainly confined to that of a second Arcanine. Its powerful Fire Blast, Body Slam, and Hyper Beam threaten almost every foe, and outside of pivoting, Fire Spin can flip otherwise losing matchups, such as against Nidoqueen. However, Rapidash still exists in Arcanine's shadow, with it being infamously inconsistent due to the poor accuracy of Fire Blast and Fire Spin in full display thanks to its mediocre bulk, which makes it a notably worse lead. The rise of Seaking does it no favors either.
Staryu
Staryu is its OU superstar evolution in miniature, with amazing coverage, Thunder Wave, and Recover making it an all-around excellent threat. Staryu's Water-type STAB moves and good base 85 Speed let it beat Nidoqueen one-on-one, making its Thunder Wave almost impossible to answer. Excellent coverage in Thunderbolt, Psychic, and Blizzard makes otherwise strong checks like Gastly and Fearow think twice about taking on Staryu even if Thunder Wave isn't a concern. And last but certainly not least, Recover lets this Pokémon wall one of PU's top threats in Seaking despite its terrible bulk. However, this bulk is what lets Staryu down, as it lets foes like Arcanine and Rapidash often beat Staryu one-on-one despite Staryu's super effective moves—Fearow can even do over 80% with a single Hyper Beam! This makes it very easily revenge killed after it has taken damage KOing a foe like Nidoqueen. This frailty also makes Staryu extremely vulnerable to paralysis itself, making Drowzee and its high special bulk one of Staryu's hardest answers, with it not even minding Staryu's Thunder Wave that much. Furthermore, Staryu has a case of four-moveslot syndrome, wanting Thunderbolt for the mirror match, but without Psychic or Blizzard, it gets stonewalled by Vileplume and Dragonair. Some Staryu sets drop Recover for three attacks because Recover is only ever used against Seaking and three attacks give Staryu perfect coverage. Staryu isn't quite at the level that Starmie is in OU, though these stats competing with those of Arcanine and Nidoqueen is an accomplishment itself.
Gastly
With huge Special, perfect coverage in Psychic + Thunderbolt, and Speed that outpaces Nidoqueen, Gastly does its evolutionary line proud by being a potent offensive threat. It can even use Explosion, which isn't that strong but nails special tanks like Drowzee and automatically ends the turn against Porygon, stopping it from using Recover. What sets Gastly apart from other offensive threats is Hypnosis, with Gastly being the fastest "good" sleeper in PU. Poliwag is technically faster, but it's also terrible. To add to Gastly's toolkit is an immunity to Normal, letting it switch into and help its team pivot around brutally powerful Normal-type moves such as Fearow's Hyper Beam, giving it an advantage over other unevolved Pokémon that are destroyed by this move. However, Gastly is held back by its horrendous bulk, being OHKOed by every relevant Earthquake in PU, 2HKOed by physical attacks like Fearow's Drill Peck, and 3HKOed by Arcanine and Rapidash's Fire Blast. Hypnosis is also painfully inconsistent. 60% of the time, Gastly can put a foe like Nidoqueen and Fearow to sleep and win games on the spot, while the other 40% of the time, Gastly's team essentially has a dead slot if it chooses to commit to the move. The sheer unreliability of Hypnosis leads to most players often treating Gastly more as a special attacker with a sleep move than a dedicated sleeper. Gastly has historically been used as a lead, and it still has some use due to it outspeeding Nidoqueen and usually getting at least two shots at sleeping Arcanine, though in PU's modern era, Gastly's positive matchup against Seaking has made it much more valuable in the back. It's a rather odd role for such a potent special attacker, and Gastly competes with Staryu for it, but Gastly is an excellent Seaking check, being able to outspeed and 2HKO Seaking with Thunderbolt while only being 3HKOed by Surf.
Drowzee
While Psychic is infamously broken in Gen 1, as players go down tiers, they'll have a harder time finding viable Psychic-types. Nonetheless, despite its rather paltry stats, Drowzee's combination of Thunder Wave, Hypnosis, and STAB Psychic off its decent Special makes it a foe nothing wants to switch into. These traits let Drowzee dominate defensive pieces like Staryu, Omanyte, and Porygon, making it an excellent enabler of offensive threats like Seaking and Arcanine. Drowzee peaked when Porygon dropped to NU because Porygon gave Drowzee a free opportunity to switch in and fire off Hypnosis. However, with Porygon's decline in usage and other slower Pokémon like Omanyte falling off, Drowzee has declined a bit as this faster PU has become more adept at exploiting its low Defense. It also generally can only use Hypnosis against slower foes, which are getting increasingly rare today.
Porygon
Affectionately named PoryGod by the community, Porygon is PU's newest member, having only dropped after NU's April 2023 VR update. Despite its paltry stats, Porygon's usable bulk, Normal typing, and 32 PP Recover make it a deceptively hard Pokémon to break. Known for walling most Snorlax in OU, in PU, Porygon has very few threats that can actually 2HKO it, with otherwise terrifying wallbreakers like Nidoqueen and Arcanine theoretically walled here. With an amazing movepool consisting of options like Thunder Wave, Thunderbolt, Blizzard, Psychic, and Double-Edge, it was quite an offensive threat as well. Its impact on the metagame was immediately felt, with Omanyte tanking in usage almost instantly due to its horrendous Porygon matchup, much to Arcanine's joy, while Thunder Wave users like Staryu, Dragonair, and Drowzee surged in usage to try and combat this otherwise unbreakable foe. Porygon was so hard to consistently break that some players were even calling for its ban. However, Porygon would fall off when players began utilizing a long-forgotten technique—hitting it really hard. Porygon's low Speed forced it to constantly spam Recover, leaving it vulnerable to getting KOed by a critical hit. Thus, it needed to spam Recover to PP stall its foe and be extremely predictable or else it would get KOed by a critical hit when it tried to actually damage its foe. Porygon was also discovered to not be a great switch-in to foes like Arcanine and Nidoqueen because giving them two opportunities to land a critical hit was proven to be too risky. Agility Porygon would rise up to combat this issue, giving Porygon room to use Recover and attack. Porygon remains a strong force in PU, though it pales in comparison to the behemoth it once was. Sharpen is another tool Porygon has experimented with, though after careful consideration, players have discovered that it sucks.
The B Ranks
Vileplume
Vileplume was extremely common in the early days of PU. It's one of only three fully evolved sleepers and is clearly better than Parasect and Butterfree. Vileplume was used to spread its powerful double powder combo, having a very good partner in Omanyte to switch into the Fearow and Fire-types that tried to revenge kill it. However, Vileplume began to fall off due to how passive it was. The most common set was Sleep Powder, Stun Spore, Mega Drain, and either Body Slam or Hyper Beam, so having to rely on non-STAB moves and the weak Mega Drain from such a low Speed stat made Vileplume very passive, and it was replaced by Drowzee, which was immediately threatening after landing sleep thanks to its powerful STAB Psychic. Vilplume fell off so hard that it dropped to ZU. However, the rise of Porygon, Drowzee, and non-Blizzard Seaking while the Rock-types fell off due to Porygon gave Vileplume an opportunity. It could outspeed and sleep Porygon and Drowzee, and without the need for Mega Drain, it could run a Swords Dance set to fix its passivity problems. It was so successful, Vileplume was even able to rise back into PU. However, as the tier sped up, Porygon and Drowzee fell off while Gastly rose in prominence, a foe Vileplume can barely damage at all, and Seaking began using Blizzard again in order to have a better matchup against Fearow. These have resulted in Vileplume falling off once again, although it still has a niche in the tier.
Graveler
Since the dawn of PU, Graveler has found fame doing two things—walling the omnipresent Fearow and sometimes Scyther. While Fearow can make some progress with critical hits, in general, Graveler is a complete stop to Fearow's antics. Graveler isn't useless otherwise, with its powerful and unresisted QuakeSlide slamming whatever teammate comes in to replace Fearow and its Explosion dealing heavy damage to everything that isn't Rock- or Ghost-type. While it isn't always used, Counter uses the perfect amount of RBY jank to be worth mentioning. While it only works on resisted Normal- and irrelevant Fighting-type moves, it counters the last damaging move regardless of which Pokémon used it, allowing it to counter its own Rock Slide on Fearow as it switches out. However, Graveler is held back by its atrocious Special and Speed, leaving it washed away by common attackers like Staryu and often losing to foes it really should beat like Arcanine and Rapidash. As threatening as Explosion is, much like its evolution in OU, Graveler can't risk exploding too early. It needs to wait for Fearow to be KOed, which is an issue, as Fearow is often used as a late-game cleaner. With the dominance of Seaking and Staryu, Graveler can sometimes have a hard time in this metagame, although it still has an important role due to the Fearow matchup, and while it'd suffer massively with Fearow potentially rising, it could still maintain a niche by walling Scyther.
Dragonair
All RBY players know the legend of Dragonite and its infamous Agility + Wrap combination. What's less known, however, is that Dragonite's little sibling is up to the same antics in PU. At first, though, Dragonair didn't use Agility that often. It instead opted to use Thunder Wave to spread paralysis, then use Wrap to pivot into powerful wallbreakers that appreciated paralysis support, such as Pinsir and Machamp. This set was the standard throughout early PU, even after Porygon dropped, since Porygon was just another target for Dragonair's Wrap and Thunder Wave antics. However, the metagame slowly became faster; slower wallbreakers such as Pinsir and Machamp fell off in favor of faster Pokémon such as Fearow and the Fire-types, and Dragonair's base 70 Speed went from moderate to downright slow. The faster Pokémon don't benefit as much from Dragonair's paralysis support either, since they are likely already faster than their target to begin with. It also had the issue of being a Thunder Wave user with a bad Nidoqueen matchup. As a result, players stopped using Thunder Wave and opted to use Dragonair for Agility + Wrap antics, playing very similar to how Dragonite plays in OU. However, Gastly is extremely common now and is immune to Wrap while having high Special, so Dragonair can struggle to do anything meaningful. Additionally, Dragonair faces competition from other Agility users, such as Seaking and Porygon, which don't have to rely on hitting multiple 85% accurate moves in a row. Despite these flaws, Agility + Wrap is still a good enough combination to give Dragonair a niche in the metagame.
Scyther
In very early iterations of PU, before Pokémon such as Fearow, Rapidash, and Arcanine joined the tier, Scyther was one of the most dangerous Pokémon thanks to its excellent Speed and high power. However, Scyther quickly fell into obscurity when these Pokémon dropped, as Fearow seemingly outclassed it, and the prevalence of more Fire-types that can OHKO it made it very hard to justify. Additionally, Pinsir was seen as a much better Bug-type thanks to its high Attack stat and ability to break through Graveler and Omanyte, two very popular Pokémon that Scyther did very little to. As a result, Scyther was considered unviable and dropped to ZU, where it was a top-tier threat. After not being used for several months, with two tournaments passing with almost zero Scyther usage, it had a recent resurgence in PU. Fearow is arguably the most dangerous Pokémon around, and part of why it's so dangerous is its Speed. Scyther is one of two Pokémon that outspeeds Fearow, though the other, Rapidash, has historically outclassed Scyther in this role due to its Fire Blast hitting Fearow harder. Scyther's advantage lies in consistency, as Fire Blast only has 84.4% accuracy, while Slash has 99.6% accuracy combined with it still putting Fearow into important KO ranges such as Nidoqueen and Seaking's Blizzard. Additionally, Scyther has access to the famed Swords Dance + Hyper Beam combination, letting it set up and KO Fearow if it has taken even a little bit of chip damage, which is probable due to Double-Edge recoil. After setting up, Scyther is very difficult to revenge kill, making it one of the best late-game sweepers. Scyther can also set up on a weakened Nidoqueen or Seaking, as they are unable to reliably paralyze or OHKO it.
Magmar
Magmar, or Swagmar as some people call it, has one of the richest histories in the tier. Before Rapidash and Arcanine dropped, Magmar was one of the most dominant pokemon in PU, since it was very hard to switch into thanks to its strong Fire Blast, high Speed, and great coverage. This coverage is what let Magmar hold onto a niche once Rapidash and Arcanine dropped. Omanyte rose in popularity to wall the duo, but Magmar was able to get past Omanyte thanks to Psychic and Seismic Toss. However, Magmar was still largely seen as a gimmick, dropping to ZU alongside Arcanine, where it dominated once Arcanine was banned. However, Magmar's reign of terror in ZU was short-lived, as it began to pick up in PU once again, despite Omanyte falling off. At first, it was most common as a lead. Arcanine was being used as a lead everywhere, and lead Magmar could use Counter to force mind games with Arcanine. Players never used Magmar over Arcanine, but rather, they used it as a lead in order to have a healthy Arcanine in the back. Lead Magmar began to fall off once people started leading with Nidoqueen instead as an anti-Arcanine lead, since preserving Nidoqueen and Arcanine generally just left endgames dominated by Seaking. Ironically, Seaking is what let Magmar still have a niche despite no longer being used in the lead slot. Magmar can use Confuse Ray or Smokescreen in order to cheese through Seaking, hoping it misses or hits itself in confusion enough times to the point where Magmar can beat it. Additionally, Magmar's Psychic hits a ton of top threats such as Nidoqueen, Gastly, and opposing Water- and Fire-types for as much as Fire Blast while also being 100% accurate. These unique traits are enough to let Magmar hang on to PU viability, although it still lives in the shadow of Arcanine.
Pinsir
As excellent as many of PU's top offensive threats are, they tend to have limitations. Fearow and Scyther are walled by Graveler and Omanyte, the latter of which also stonewalling Rapidash and Arcanine. Seaking is walled by Staryu, and while most special attackers and Porygon lack hard walls, they tend to lose to Drowzee and are slower and frailer than the physical ones, letting them get easily revenge killed. Even Nidoqueen is theoretically walled by Porygon. Enter Pinsir, which has the movepool to threaten everything in the tier. Its brutally powerful Slash 3HKOes every neutral target, while its Submission and Seismic Toss take care of Rock-types and Gastly. Its Speed, while not amazing, critically lets it outspeed Nidoqueen. It even has access to Bind and Swords Dance, though the latter was rarely used, as it couldn't boost Slash and Pinsir didn't want to give up its coverage. Nonetheless, the sheer offensive threat of Pinsir is unmatched, with it being so respected that in the VR created after Pioneer, the first major PU tournament that had Pokémon such as Nidoqueen and Arcanine, it was ranked #2. However, Pinsir has fallen off massively since then. It has a horrendous matchup against Fire-types, being outsped and OHKOed by Rapidash, Arcanine, and Magmar, and Fearow can easily eliminate Pinsir with Drill Peck. Being among the few Pokémon that didn't mind Nidoqueen's Earthquake and Blizzard barely mattered when Pinsir was 2HKOed by Fire Blast anyways. Worse yet, Pinsir's partner in crime, Omanyte, started falling off with Porygon's drop, leading to Arcanine taking its place. Pinsir thrives in a metagame dominated by slower Pokémon, so this newly fast PU is devastating to it, leaving it on the cusp of dropping to ZU. Even Nidoqueen carrying Fire Blast, the proof of Pinsir's importance, is getting put into question, as players have been dropping it in favor of Substitute, while in the past, they used to instead drop Thunderbolt. While Swords Dance remains unexplored, Scyther is generally considered the far better user of the move and Bug-type in general. However, Pinsir is still hardly unviable. The last thing a Nidoqueen wants to be faced with is Pinsir when it decides to be greedy and not bring Fire Blast.
Omanyte
It might come as a shock that a Pokémon mentioned so much, especially one that walls three high-to-top-tier threats, is ranked so low. Omanyte used to be one of the dominant Pokémon in PU, leveraging its decent bulk, Normal resistance, and double Fire resistance to wall Fearow, Rapidash, and Arcanine. It infamously even forced Arcanine out of the metagame until Porygon dropped. However, this success could also be attributed to players' inexperience in the tier. Oftentimes, Nidoqueen would be the only reliable answer to Omanyte, something that obviously did not want to switch into it. Omanyte's reign shattered when Porygon dropped, a foe that stonewalled it and made other problem foes like Staryu and Drowzee more common as well. Even as Porygon became less ubiquitous, players began having no shortage of answers to Porygon, making it too much of a momentum sink early-game, which was especially terrible because Arcanine is most commonly seen in the lead slot. It notably loses to every sleeper and gets eaten alive by the increasingly common Staryu, Gastly, and Seaking. It isn't even that great of a counter to Fearow, as it has the tendency to be worn down by critical hits.
Machamp
RBY is infamously brutal to Fighting-types, with Machamp struggling to defy its terrible typing. It initially didn't even bother with Submission, instead using Body Slam and Hyper Beam for damage, Earthquake to target Rock- and Poison-types, and Fire Blast to hit Pinsir. Machamp's claim to fame was it being one of the few Pokémon that could both switch into and beat Nidoqueen, 2HKOing Nidoqueen with its Earthquake and only being 4HKOed in return. This is contrasted with Machamp's terrible matchup against Fearow, being 2HKOed by Drill Peck and OHKOed by a common critical hit, with this foe even able to switch into Machamp's Earthquake and Body Slam. When Porygon dropped, Machamp began having to fit Submission to deal with it, though parting with Fire Blast became less of an issue as Pinsir declined. Machamp ultimately just can't keep up with PU's increasingly fast pace and Fearow spam—it's like running a Pokémon in OU that both gives Tauros a free switch and forces you to sacrifice it or a teammate when it switches in. Not even running Rock Slide, which can 2HKO Fearow, can save Machamp. Despite the lack of fast Psychic-types in the lower tiers, an omnipresent Flying-type ended being just as bad. If Fearow remains in the tier, Machamp will almost certainly drop to ZU.
Notable ZU Threats:
Sandslash
Sandslash has a plethora of great traits that would make it seem like an amazing Swords Dance user. Its great physical bulk lets it generally survive two Fearow Double-Edge and one Hyper Beam, letting it use one of PU's top Pokémon as setup fodder, and its Ground typing lets it hit top-tier foes like Nidoqueen and Arcanine super effectively. However, it is let down by its special bulk, which leaves it dominated by Water-types in Seaking and Staryu and losing one-on-one to foes weak to Ground like the aforementioned Arcanine and Nidoqueen. Worse yet, its mediocre Speed prevents it from sweeping, as it's extremely easy to revenge kill. It would drop to ZU after Pioneer alongside Arcanine, though it would be banned due to being too powerful of a wallbreaker. Sandslash would gain renewed interest in PU when Porygon dropped and players began scrambling for ways to reliably break through it. Sandslash's Swords Dance-boosted Earthquake would do the trick, but a weakness to Porygon's Blizzard made Sandslash a mediocre answer. With Porygon dropping in prominence and Seaking rising, Sandslash would once again be nothing more than a fringe pick, though it did end up getting unbanned in ZU, where it's now an excellent but not broken threat.
Abra
Like Scyther and Magmar, Abra was a top threat in early iterations of PU thanks to its huge Special, good Speed, and Psychic typing. Abra's biggest weakness has always been Hyper Beam from faster Pokémon, as it is almost always OHKOed by the move thanks to its pitiful physical bulk. However, this was less of an issue when Fearow, Rapidash, and Arcanine had yet to drop from NU. Additionally, Drowzee was also NU at the time, so Abra's Psychic was very hard to resist. Even when Fearow and the Fire-types dropped, the metagame took time to settle, and Abra had a trusty partner in Omanyte to deal with these foes. However, once Porygon dropped, the metagame became stacked heavily against Abra. Porygon pushed out Omanyte, and Drowzee usage spiked to counter Porygon, making Abra fade into obscurity. Nowadays, even with Porygon and Drowzee being less common, Abra struggles in this extremely fast-paced PU. Fearow and Arcanine are two of the most common Pokémon in the tier, and Omanyte is harder to use due to how easy it is to exploit. The resurgence of Scyther also gives Abra one more Pokémon it has to worry about. All of these changes have caused Abra to drop to ZU for the first time in the tier's history, where it isn't even that good. Nevertheless, it still has a small niche in PU; it is the best switch-in to Gastly, which has now become the dominant sleeper. However, Abra is still held back by its physical frailty and Speed that falls just short of PU's other offensive threats.
Magneton
Magneton has historically never been good in PU. Nidoqueen is on almost every team, and Magneton gives it free entry to switch in and set up Substitute, which is something players absolutely don't want happening in a PU game. It also faces similar issues against Graveler and Sandslash. When Electrode dropped to PU, it rendered Magneton completely useless, but Electrode sucked too, so they both dropped to ZU. Electrode quickly rose up to NU, but Magneton still struggled to find a niche because any potential upside was shot down by its inability to hit Nidoqueen. However, in recent times, the meta has shifted in Magneton's favor. Lead Arcanine is so dominant that one common way to beat it is by leading Nidoqueen, meaning this omnipresent Ground-type can be KOed or heavily weakened very early in a game. Additionally, Graveler isn't the most common foe and is exploitable, while Sandslash has fallen off completely. Additionally, Magneton now has a unique role that is extremely valuable. Normally, Pokémon that beat Fearow, such as Fire- and Rock-types, lose to Seaking, while Pokémon that beat Seaking, such as Staryu and Gastly, lose to Fearow. Magneton is the only pokemon that beats both. This role is huge, since Fearow and Seaking are both as dominant as they have ever been, something players can exploit as long as they account for the terrible Nidoqueen matchup.
Potential Tiering changes:
RBY NU recently experienced a massive shakeup as UU took the tier’s strongest blanket check, Clefable, leaving the tier in desperate need of a new source of stability. UU also took Electrode, the fastest Pokémon in the tier and an incredible cleaner against the tier’s many frail Water- and Flying-types, and Golem, a powerful check to Charizard and one of the few ways to fend off Hyper Beam. Ninetales also rose, though it was not commonly used in NU. Meanwhile, Aerodactyl, Venusaur, and Victreebel dropped into NU, adding some sorely needed type diversity to a tier dominated by Fire- and Water-types. This has also led to NU legalizing Golduck, Poliwrath, and Poliwhirl, all of which previously resided in NUBL. This is likely to have cascading effects, pulling some Pokémon up from PU to fill now-vacant roles and sending others tumbling down as their roles become oversaturated or obsoleted.
Some likely rises include Arcanine and Fearow, both of which were already starting to pick up even before these shifts. Arcanine was beginning to see use as a strong Agility attacker that could comfortably check Mr. Mime, Clefable, Moltres, and Electrode, and this only becomes more pronounced with Grass-types entering the tier and Golem leaving. It may suffer somewhat from the newly legalized Water-types, but it outspeeds all of them and deals significant damage even with Normal-type attacks, allowing it to still trade hits effectively. Fearow, meanwhile, is absolutely ecstatic to watch two of its most potent checks, Electrode and Golem, get banished to UU, leaving it free to deal immense damage with its Normal-type STAB moves. It does suffer from the introduction of Aerodactyl, but it still makes for an effective cleaner and revenge killer against Mr. Mime, Venomoth, and Grass-types, among others. Clefable’s rise leaves a massive and possibly unfillable gap where it used to be; it is unclear if the tier will adapt by slotting in Wigglytuff, take Porygon out of PU, or simply accept the loss of a strong defensive piece with excellent coverage and lean into offense. Gastly may rise, as it is an incredible check to the recently dominant Raticate, a safe switch-in to Aerodactyl, and a great check to slower Water-types. It loses its role as an effective pivot into Clefable, but it may benefit from being able to pivot in against Aerodactyl or facilitate safer entry against Fearow. Rapidash and Scyther are outside picks that could potentially become relevant depending on metagame development, but Rapidash is mostly outclassed by Arcanine, while Scyther is firmly walled by Aerodactyl.
Exeggcute is by far the most likely Pokémon to drop from NU to PU; it already struggled to maintain relevance due to its frailty, and the introduction of even more Pokémon that exploit it only makes it less appealing. In PU, it is unlikely to do much, as it’s slower than other sleep users, but its interesting defensive typing walls Surf + Thunderbolt Staryu as well as blockading Psychic-types, potentially letting it cling to relevance. However, it’s outsped and 2HKOed by most foes due to its plethora of weaknesses, including Blizzard Staryu, so it would likely be niche at best. Kabutops and Kingler both are somewhat at risk, losing a primary target in Golem and facing problems from Grass-types and the newly released NUBL Pokémon. Kabutops at least acts as an extremely strong check to Fearow and Aerodactyl, potentially letting it cling to relevance, but Kingler lacks a Normal-type resistance and is plagued by poor accuracy and an incredibly bad Venusaur matchup. Kabutops would be a threat in PU matches, possessing Omanyte's great typing while being faster, stronger, and even bulkier than it. It outspeeds Nidoqueen, counters Fire-types and Fearow, and effectively duels frail NFEs; Gastly is the only firm check to it, though it wouldn't be as dominant if Fearow and Arcanine leave. Kingler would likely be less effective, as it’s outsped by Nidoqueen and a bad switch-in to Fire Blast, but it also has solid physical bulk and can set up Swords Dance easily against Seaking, potentially giving it room to wallbreak.
Where to play
If you've read this far into the article, you're probably curious about where to play this tier. The best place is on the forums itself, with RBY PU consistently getting tours with high turnout of skilled players. Beyond that, more casual games can be found on the extremely active RBY Discord or Room Tours on Pokémon Showdown. If you want to play the tier but don't know how to build, you're always free to borrow a sample team. They're made by great players and consistently updated for metagame shifts, so you can't go wrong piloting them.
Conclusion
RBY PU is a fast-paced and dynamic tier with a surprisingly large playerbase, active development, and active tiering, and now is a better time to get into it than ever. Not only does it strike an incredible balance between some of the weakest fully evolved Pokémon and the strongest NFEs, but it’s also widely considered to have some of the best type distribution of any RBY tier, and it’s still new enough that interesting innovations continue to happen. Luckily, RBY PU has a ton of support; not only does it have an active thread on the Smogon forums, but it also has a frequently updated Smogdex, up-to-date sample teams, and a highly-active channel on the RBY Discord. While RBY PU does not have a consistent scheduled ladder, it’s a popular choice for an RBY ladder whenever it wins community voting as well as a beloved staff pick, and it has a number of tournaments throughout the year as part of the RBY Lower Tiers Circuit and team tournaments such as the recent PU Blind Draft and RBY Premier League. Thanks for taking a peek at it through this article, and we hope you'll give it a try!
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