Pokémon Diamond, Pearl & Platinum In-game Tier List Discussion

[sin(pi)]

Approved by DHR-107
OP adapted from Its_A_Random's XY In-Game Tiers thread

Pokémon Diamond, Pearl and Platinum Version
In-Game Tier List Discussion​

What is an in-game tier list?
In-game tier lists rank Pokémon according to their usefulness during the main portion of the game — that is, until the credits roll for the first time. In-game tier lists provide players with the information needed to complete the game as quickly and as effortlessly as possible. For competitively-minded players, this approach to playing the game gives them more immediate access to useful items, TMs, and HMs.

What are the tiers?
In this in-game tier list there will be seven tiers (Or possibly more). Pokémon that are the most useful belong in the S-Tier, while Pokémon that are the least useful belong in the F-Tier. The tiers are as follows:

- S-Tier
- A-Tier
- B-Tier
- C-Tier
- D-Tier
- E-Tier
- F-Tier

Pokémon are tiered based on several factors:
- Availability: When the Pokémon can be first found, and how rare. Earlier Pokémon tend to rank higher.
- Typing: What is the Pokémon's typing and how useful it is in the game. More useful typings tend to rank higher.
- Stats: What their base stats are like and how they contribute to a team. Pokémon with better stats for in-game runs tend to rank higher.
- Movepool: What the Pokémon's movepool is like and how it contributes to a team. Pokémon with wider and more useful movepools tend to rank higher.
- Major Battles: How the Pokémon fares against key match-ups in the game. Pokémon who perform better against more major battles tend to rank higher.
- Other: Other aesthetics like abilities, levels, can minorly contribute to a Pokémon's tiering as well. Note that a Pokémon's physical appearance has no impact on its tiering!

Basically, Pokémon who are ranked higher in the tier list tend to be found earlier in the game (or at a higher level), can win more match-ups from the game's various trainers (including the Gym Leaders, the Elite Four, and Team Galactic), and have stronger movepools (usually being able to learn more TMs, HMs, and Level-up moves). They may have other useful qualities, such as more useful abilities, faster growth, or self-healing moves.

Note that tier descriptors are just a guideline, they are not meant as laws to be strictly enforced.

Which Pokémon are available in Pokémon Diamond Version, Pokémon Pearl Version, and Pokémon Platinum Version?
(very much wip - I'd appreciate some assistance with this)
These three games added 107 (check) new Pokémon to the franchise, and the game's Pokédex itself contains 150 Pokémon (210 in Platinum), ranging from the newly discovered to classics such as Abra and Gastly. Below, you can find a list of locations as well as the Pokémon that appear in each location. These locations are listed in the order they can be accessed in the game (though you may have to backtrack to get to them, eg Fuego Ironworks). Routes and Pokémon that only appear in the post-game are omitted from this list. A Pokémon is only listed in the area in which it first appears in the wild. All in-game trades and gifts are listed.

Availability (CONTAINS SPOILERS)

The following information contains spoilers. If you don't want to be spoiled, look away now!

So far this is only complete for Platinum
LEGEND
[G] = This Pokémon is given to you by a NPC (possibly as an Egg).
[IN] = This Pokémon is an interactable encounter.
[T] = This Pokémon is obtained via in-game trade.
[D] = This Pokémon can only be caught in Pokémon Diamond.
[D*] = This Pokémon is first found here in Pokémon Diamond only.
[P] = This Pokémon can only be caught in Pokémon Pearl.
[P*] = This Pokémon is first found here in Pokémon Pearl only.
[Pt] = This Pokémon can only be caught in Pokémon Platinum.
[Pt*] = This Pokémon is first found here in Pokémon Platinum only.

Hide

Route 201: Turtwig [G], Chimchar [G], Piplup [G]
Route 201 (after capture tutorial): Starly, Bidoof, Kricketot
Route 202: Shinx
Old rod: Magikarp
Route 204 south: Budew, Wurmple, Zubat
Ravaged Path: Psyduck
Route 203: Abra
Oreburgh Gate: Geodude
Oreburgh City: Abra [T]
Route 207: Machop, Ponyta
Oreburgh Mine: Onix (along with Steelix, if yes trade)
===GYM 1===
VALLEY WINDWORKS: Buizel, Pachirisu, Shellos
Honey trees: Aipom, Heracross, Burmy, Combee, Cherubi
Note that the first Munchlax tree can range from this point to after Surf becomes usable.
VALLEY WINDWORKS (after defeating Mars): Drifloon [IN]
ETERNA FOREST: Gastly, Hoothoot, Buneary
ETERNA CITY - Chatot [T]
UNDERGROUND - Shieldon [P/Pt] [Fossil], Cranidos [D/Pt] [Fossil]
Route 211 west: Meditite, Chingling, Bronzor
Mt. Coronet 1F: Cleffa, Nosepass [Pt]
===GYM 2===
Old Chateau: Rotom [Pt]
Eterna City (after defeating Jupiter): Togepi [Pt][G]
Route 206: Gligar [Pt]
WAYWARD CAVE: Gible [Pt*]
Route 208: Ralts [Pt]
Hearthome CITY: Eevee [Pt][G]
===GYM 3===
Route 209: Chansey, Duskull [Pt], Spiritomb [IN] (if yes trade)
Good rod: Goldeen, Barboach, Finneon
Solaceon Ruins: Unown
Route 210 south: Scyther [Pt]
Route 215: Lickitung [Pt], Marill
Veilstone City: Porygon [Pt][G]
Route 214: Rhyhorn [Pt], Houndour [Pt]
Ruin Maniac Cave: Hippopotas
Valor Lakefront: Girafarig
Route 213: Remoraid, Wingull
Route 212 south: Quagsire, Croagunk
Trophy Garden: Pichu
Great Marsh: Tangela [Pt], Yanma [Pt], Tropius [Pt], Skorupi, Carnivine
===GYM 4===
===GYM 5===
Route 210 north: Swablu [Pt]
Surf: Tentacool
Route 221: Sudowoodo [Pt*]
Fuego Ironworks: Magnemite [Pt], Magmar [Pt]
Route 218: Mr. Mime [Pt*]
Iron Island: Steelix (if no trade), Riolu [G]
===GYM 6===
Mt. Coronet B1F: Feebas
Route 216: Sneasel, Snorunt [Pt], Snover
Route 217: Swinub [Pt]
SNOWPOINT CITY: - Haunter [T]
===GYM 7===
Mt. Coronet mountainside: Absol [Pt]
Distortion World: Giratina [Pt][IN]
Lake Acuity: Uxie [IN]
Lake Valor: Azelf [IN]
Lake Verity: Mesprit [roaming]
Route 222: Electabuzz [Pt]
Route 223: Mantyke

Untiered Pokémon

Untiered

Cresselia - Not available until Postgame
Heatran - Not available until Postgame
Giratina (D/P), Dialga/Palkia (Pt) - Not available until Postgame
Any other Pokémon not obtainable before beating the Champion, or that can only be obtained via earlier Generations or Events.

What is, and what is not being tiered?
A Pokémon that is not being tiered is not being so if:
-They come from an event
-They cannot be captured/obtained until the postgame
-They cannot be caught in-game

Trade Evolution
Pokémon with trade evolutions will be tiered separately, one entry for "with trading" and one for "without". If both with and without are classed in the same tier after most things are tiered, they may be merged.

Current Rankings
These can be found in the next few posts. Note that Platinum will initially have a separate tier list; this may be merged if the two lists are sufficiently similar.

Formatting
Use the following format when submitting a write-up for a Pokémon:

[IMG]<Sprite URL>[/IMG]
[B]Name
Availability:[/B] When does this Pokémon become available? Is it easy or hard to encounter and catch?
[B]Stats:[/B] Describe how a Pokémon's stats make it excel. Is it a deadly sweeper or a strong wall? Discuss why you would use this Pokemon thank to its stats.
[B]Typing:[/B] Discuss this Pokémon's typing in a sentence or two. Is its STAB efficient or not, does it have any great resistances or glaring weaknesses?
[B]Movepool:[/B] Describe this Pokémon's movepool in a few sentences. Does it have many effective movepool options through level up? Is it overreliant on TMs to function? Does it have access to useful HM's to help you traverse the region?
[B]Major Battles:[/B] Describe how the Pokémon handles the major opponents throughout the game. Notable opponents and battles include the Gym Leaders, battles against various (named) members of Team Galactic, the various rival battles, the Elite Four themselves, and the Champion. Try to avoid spoilers if possible!
[B]Additional Comments:[/B] Discuss any miscellaneous information not covered in other sections here. Factors such as experience growth, abilities, and other lesser characteristics can be discussed here, as well as (opportunity) cost - does it require constant healing, highly sought-after TMs (eg Earthquake), or expensive Game Corner items, for example? The entry can be wrapped up here as well.

Please write professionally.

Some guidelines to follow:
- No glitches allowed.
- No trading in Pokémon from other games. For back-and-forth trading to evolve Haunter, Kadabra, etc., read above.
- We do not decide the tiering of one Pokémon based on its performance relative to another Pokémon. It does not matter if Pokémon X does the same thing better than Pokémon Y; if both are good enough for the same tier, they will be placed as such. (e.g. Ponyta should be E-Tier, because Chimchar does its job way better)
- [placeholder re underground Spiritomb] - resetting for odd/even TID in Pt to get Cranidos/Shieldon is fine because it takes like 2 minutes, this should be noted in their writeups though
- Have fun!

Feel free to dispute and discuss other users submissions, but please, no flaming. Normal forum rules apply here. Finally, this is not the place to talk about the games in general.

This will be done in a few phases. First, initial tiering and placing, then writing up the entries, then finally reviewing placings and write-ups. Then we will attempt to get it on-site.

Resources
http://www.smogon.com/ingame/misc/dpp_ingametiers
http://www.smogon.com/ingame/misc/dpp_plat_ingametiers

 

[sin(pi)]

DIAMOND AND PEARL

Current Rankings (S-Tier, A-Tier, B-Tier)

S-Tier: Reserved for Pokémon who possess the highest levels of efficiency of the available options in the Pokémon Diamond & Pearl versions. Pokémon in this tier are able to OHKO or 2HKO an overwhelming majority of opponents, limiting the amount of attacks used against them, and possess minimal reliance on items to help assist them defeat opponents at like levels. These Pokémon typically show up before the late-game and any flaws they have are absolutely made up by their advantages.

Pokémon

Abra (Trade)
Bidoof
Chimchar
Starly

A-Tier: Reserved for Pokémon whose efficiency in terms of completing the game is considered to be very high. Pokémon in this tier are able to OHKO or 2HKO a lot of opponents and are not very reliant on items to succeed, but either have some visible flaws that hurt their efficiency or have their usefulness counterbalanced by a late arrival.

Pokémon

Abra (No trade)
Azelf
Budew
Buizel
Cranidos (Diamond only)
Dialga
Gastly (trade)
Palkia
Piplup
Shinx
Turtwig
Zubat

B-Tier: Reserved for Pokémon whose efficiency in terms of completing the game is considered to be high. Pokémon in this tier are able to OHKO or 2HKO a fair chunk of opponents and may have a bit of item reliance to assist in sweeping opponents. These Pokémon are still very useful but either have several visible flaws holding them back or come fairly late.

Pokémon

Gastly (no trade)
Machop (yes trade)
Magikarp
Marill
Meditite
Psyduck

 

[sin(pi)]

DIAMOND AND PEARL

Current Rankings (C-Tier to F-Tier)

C-Tier: Reserved for Pokémon whose efficiency in terms of completing the game is considered to be moderately high. Pokémon in this tier are able to OHKO or 2HKO a reasonable portion of opponents but are matchup-based enough to need some item reliance to assist in sweeping some opponents. These Pokémon are useful but either have several visible flaws holding them back or barely make up for their late arrivals.

Pokémon

Bronzor
Clefairy
Croagunk
Geodude (yes trade)
Machop (no trade)
Misdreavus
Murkrow
Ponyta

D-Tier: Reserved for Pokémon whose efficiency in terms of completing the game is considered to be average. Pokémon in this tier are able to OHKO or 2HKO a small amount of opponents and tend to be matchup-based enough to need item reliance to assist in sweeping a few opponents. The usefulness of these Pokémon are typically counterbalanced by many visible flaws or are useful Pokémon that come very late.

Pokémon

Buneary
Chatot
Drifloon
Geodude (no trade)
Gible
Girafarig
Hoothoot
Mime Jr.
Pikachu
Remoraid
Shellos
Sneasel
Uxie

E-Tier: Reserved for Pokémon whose efficiency in terms of completing the game is considered to be low. Pokémon in this tier are generally only able to OHKO or 2HKO specific opponents and suffer from being matchup-based, generally relying on items to assist in sweeping several opponents. These Pokémon either have flaws that outshine its strengths or are otherwise decent Pokémon that come too late to be of any major use.

Pokémon

Barboach
Bonsly
Carnivine
Chingling
Finneon
Geodude (no trade)
Glameow
Goldeen
Hippopotas
Kricketot
Onix (yes trade)
Pachirisu
Riolu
Skorupi
Snover
Spiritomb ("trade")
Steelix (no trade)
Stunky
Tentacool
Wingull
Wooper
Wurmple (Beautifly)
Wurmple (Dustox)

F-Tier: Reserved for Pokémon who possess the worst efficiency of those available in Pokémon Diamond & Pearl irrespective of their availability. These Pokémon outright lose a lot of 1v1 matchups at like levels unless they are assisted with significant item support, or are otherwise ridiculously inefficient to capture. The flaws of these Pokémon completely mask whatever advantage they could possibly have and hence, should never be considered seriously for an efficient run-through of Pokémon Diamond & Pearl.

Pokémon

Aipom
Burmy (Mothim)
Burmy (plant Wormadam)
Burmy (sandy Wormadam)
Burmy (trash Wormadam)
Cherubi
Combee
Feebas
Happiny
Heracross
Mantyke
Mespirit
Munchlax
Onix (no trade)
Shieldon

 

[sin(pi)]

PLATINUM

Current Rankings (S-Tier, A-Tier, B-Tier)

S-Tier: Reserved for Pokémon who possess the highest levels of efficiency of the available options in Pokémon Platinum version. Pokémon in this tier are able to OHKO or 2HKO an overwhelming majority of opponents, limiting the amount of attacks used against them, and possess minimal reliance on items to help assist them defeat opponents at like levels. These Pokémon typically show up before the late-game and any flaws they have are absolutely made up by their advantages.

Pokémon

Abra (trade)
Bidoof
Chimchar
Starly

A-Tier: Reserved for Pokémon whose efficiency in terms of completing the game is considered to be very high. Pokémon in this tier are able to OHKO or 2HKO a lot of opponents and are not very reliant on items to succeed, but either have some visible flaws that hurt their efficiency or have their usefulness counterbalanced by a late arrival.

Pokémon

Abra (no trade)
Azelf
Budew
Buizel
Cranidos
Eevee (Jolteon)
Gastly (trade)
Gible
Giratina
Magikarp
Piplup
Scyther (trade)
Shinx
Turtwig
Zubat

B-Tier: Reserved for Pokémon whose efficiency in terms of completing the game is considered to be high. Pokémon in this tier are able to OHKO or 2HKO a fair chunk of opponents and may have a bit of item reliance to assist in sweeping opponents. These Pokémon are still very useful but either have several visible flaws holding them back or come fairly late.

Pokémon

Eevee (Espeon)
Eevee (Vaporeon)
Gastly (no trade)
Gligar
Houndour
Ralts (Gallade)
Ralts (Gardevoir)
Rotom
Psyduck
Scyther (no trade)
Sneasel

 

[sin(pi)]

PLATINUM

Current Rankings (C-Tier to F-Tier)

C-Tier: Reserved for Pokémon whose efficiency in terms of completing the game is considered to be moderately high. Pokémon in this tier are able to OHKO or 2HKO a reasonable portion of opponents but are matchup-based enough to need some item reliance to assist in sweeping some opponents. These Pokémon are useful but either have several visible flaws holding them back or barely make up for their late arrivals.

Pokémon

Bronzor
Croagunk
Eevee (Leafeon)
Eevee (Flareon)
Geodude (trade)
Machop (trade)
Magmar (trade)
Magnemite
Meditite
Ponyta
Porygon (trade)
Rhyhorn (trade)
Yanma

D-Tier: Reserved for Pokémon whose efficiency in terms of completing the game is considered to be average. Pokémon in this tier are able to OHKO or 2HKO a small amount of opponents and tend to be matchup-based enough to need item reliance to assist in sweeping a few opponents. The usefulness of these Pokémon are typically counterbalanced by many visible flaws or are useful Pokémon that come very late.

Pokémon

Absol
Buneary
Cleffa
Drifloon
Electabuzz (trade)
Hoothoot
Magmar (no trade)
Machop (no trade)
Marill
Pi(ka)chu
Remoraid
Shellos
Snorunt (Froslass)
Tangela

E-Tier: Reserved for Pokémon whose efficiency in terms of completing the game is considered to be low. Pokémon in this tier are generally only able to OHKO or 2HKO specific opponents and suffer from being matchup-based, generally relying on items to assist in sweeping several opponents. These Pokémon either have flaws that outshine its strengths or are otherwise decent Pokémon that come too late to be of any major use.

Pokémon

Barboach
Carnivine
Chansey
Chatot
Chingling
Duskull (trade)
Eevee (Glaceon)
Eevee (Umbreon)
Electabuzz (no trade)
Finneon
Geodude (no trade)
Girafarig
Goldeen
Hippopotas
Kricketot
Lickitung
Mr. Mime
Nosepass
Onix (trade)
Pachirisu
Quagsire (note that Quagsire is easier to catch than Wooper)
Rhyhorn (no trade)
Riolu
Skorupi
Snorunt (Glalie)
Snover
Spiritomb ("trade")
Steelix (no trade)
Sudowoodo
Swablu
Swinub
Tentacool
Togepi
Tropius
Uxie
Wingull
Wurmple (Beautifly)
Wurmple (Dustox)

F-Tier: Reserved for Pokémon who possess the worst efficiency of those available in Pokémon Platinum irrespective of their availability. These Pokémon outright lose a lot of 1v1 matchups at like levels unless they are assisted with significant item support. The flaws of these Pokémon completely mask whatever advantage they could possibly have and hence, should never be considered seriously for an efficient run-through of Pokémon Platinum.

Pokémon

Aipom
Burmy (Mothim)
Burmy (plant Wormadam)
Burmy (sandy Wormadam)
Burmy (trash Wormadam)
Cherubi
Combee
Duskull (no trade)
Feebas
Heracross
Mantyke
Mesprit
Munchlax
Onix (no trade)
Porygon (no trade)
Shieldon
Unown

 

[sin(pi)]

reserved just in case

You may post!

So these games doesn't seem to have a forum thread. The rankings on the site are fairly good but they lack a lot of detail. I'd like to get those improved and also have the rankings perfected.

 

[Karxrida]

Giratina should not listed as untiered in the masterpost unless it's specified as the Diamond and Pearl one. You can get it from the forced encounter in Platinum.

Starly for S. While its Gym matchups are a mixed bag, it comes early, gets a strong STAB in Wing Attack at Level 9, and carries its weight in the field. Getting Intimidate upon evolution at Level 14 is also a sweet asset and Staratpor speaks for itself.

Bidoof for A or maybe S. It's the HM Slave, and it's found in the games where you need like 5 HMs to get anywhere.

What should we do with Spiritomb? It's still possible to get with an exploit and its stats and typing aren't terrible, but it still requires 2 games and getting it is the definition of inefficient.

 

[pika pal]

The thing about Spiritomb is that the things required to get it are time and an extra game, but it's also obtainable fairly early (before Maylene regardless of version) if you play with that exploit, and doesn't require backtracking or such. I'd say if we can rank trades, Spiritomb's exploit is fair game to grant for its obtainability.

I assume Rotom (Pt) is going to be ranked on base form only (key being event locked), in which case I'd say it can start around B Rank.

Availability: Obtainable before the second Gym, only condition is encountering at night. Comes at Level 15, a little below the curve for Gardenia but not too much work to bring up to speed.

Stats: Most stats floating around Base 90-95. High for when it's first obtained, and lasts a fair while before falling below the curve.

Typing: Ghost/Electric with Levitate gives 3 notable immunities and some fairly useful resistances against important opponents (Poison, Bug, Steel) that are unfortunately marred by a surprisingly common Dark weakness. STABs have pretty decent coverage

Movepool: Learns Shock Wave at a fairly reasonable Level 22 and Ominous Wind at 29, while the Shadow Ball and Thunderbolt TMs are available early-midgame for him if you can make the Game Corner detour for the latter. Outside Secret Power though, nothing else of particular note for the main game.

Major Battles:
- Handles Crasher Wake (despite Electric immunity, Quagsire can't touch him) and Maylene very well, though Fantina comes a bit early for his Ghost STAB unless he's a bit power leveled.
- Byron eats his hits easy, Candice he only does much against Medicham, and Volkner is so-so with Ghost STAB but fearing Crunch from Luxray.
- Against the Elite Four,
-- He fares well against Aaron (Beautifly has Shadow ball, Drapion only has Ice Fang for Neutral damage)
-- Falls flat on Bertha since even with Ghost STAB, several mons have Dark moves or just strong neutral hits
-- Flint is neutral, wouldn't count this in his favor
-- Lucian goes fine, though needs to make sure to outspeed and OHKO, which might be tricky on Alakazam and Espeon
-- Champion he beats Milotic and Togekiss, everything else is shaky either directly (Spiritomb) or just in general (Garchomp)
- Galactic is a mixed bag, as he zaps the multitude of Zubats and Flying types like Cyrus's Gyarados and Honchkrow, but in turn has to be wary of their own Dark type moves if they outspeed.
-- Barry he beats Staraptor and whatever Water type he has, anything else is dangerous to try.

Comments: So Rotom is obtainable early and gets quick access to some decently strong STAB moves with acceptable coverage, but his main issues are that those are ALL he gets for the most part outside Secret Power, which often doesn't help with those resisting his STABs. Thunderbolt requires the use of the Game Corner for early access to use against Wake, and the one easy one is from Surfing at Valley Windworks, while Shadow Ball probably won't conflict with anything you'd run alongside him (ergo other Ghost types). His problem with Ground Types can be alleviated to some extent by one of the HM carriers given Surf's power and prevalence, but this is more in a general context and doesn't change the fact Rotom itself has some serious issues with such. It makes a decent crutch to lean on for a while after it's obtainable, and it's not outright terrible after that period, but it's not going to carry the game.

 

[sin(pi)]

Giratina should not listed as untiered in the masterpost unless it's specified as the Diamond and Pearl one. You can get it from the forced encounter in Platinum.

Good catch; I play D/P a lot more than Platinum so I completely blanked on that. Edited!

Starly for S. While it Gym matchups are a mixed bag, it comes early, gets a strong STAB in Wing Attack at Level 9, and carries its weight in the field. Getting Intimidate upon evolution at Level 14 is also a sweet asset and Staratpor speaks for itself.

Bidoof for A or maybe S. It's the HM Slave, and it's found in the games where you need like 5 HMs to get anywhere.

What should we do with Spiritomb? It's still possible to get with an exploit and its stats and typing aren't terrible, but it still requires 2 games and getting it is the definition of inefficient.

Agree with both of these - Bidoof for S because it makes your life infinitely easier, and you can even be cool and sweep with Simple Curse in Platinum if you're weird! Starly is the best mon in the game in terms of how useful it is throughout, and I don't think it's even close (with the possible exception of 'nape).

Spiritomb can certainly be ranked, its ranking just needs to take into account how time-consuming it is to obtain.

The thing about Spiritomb is that the things required to get it are time and an extra game, but it's also obtainable fairly early (before Maylene regardless of version) if you play with that exploit, and doesn't require backtracking or such. I'd say if we can rank trades, Spiritomb's exploit is fair game to grant for its obtainability.

^^
As for performance, I can see it being decent - similar to Rotom, in fact, though hampered by its low speed rather than middling bulk.

I assume Rotom (Pt) is going to be ranked on base form only (key being event locked), in which case I'd say it can start around B Rank.

Availability: Obtainable before the second Gym, only condition is encountering at night. Comes at Level 15, a little below the curve for Gardenia but not too much work to bring up to speed.

Stats: Most stats floating around Base 90-95. High for when it's first obtained, and lasts a fair while before falling below the curve.

Typing: Ghost/Electric with Levitate gives 3 notable immunities and some fairly useful resistances against important opponents (Poison, Bug, Steel) that are unfortunately marred by a surprisingly common Dark weakness. STABs have pretty decent coverage

Movepool: Learns Shock Wave at a fairly reasonable Level 22 and Ominous Wind at 29, while the Shadow Ball and Thunderbolt TMs are available early-midgame for him if you can make the Game Corner detour for the latter. Outside Secret Power though, nothing else of particular note for the main game.

Major Battles:
- Handles Crasher Wake (despite Electric immunity, Quagsire can't touch him) and Maylene very well, though Fantina comes a bit early for his Ghost STAB unless he's a bit power leveled.
- Byron eats his hits easy, Candice he only does much against Medicham, and Volkner is so-so with Ghost STAB but fearing Crunch from Luxray.
- Against the Elite Four,
-- He fares well against Aaron (Beautifly has Shadow ball, Drapion only has Ice Fang for Neutral damage)
-- Falls flat on Bertha since even with Ghost STAB, several mons have Dark moves or just strong neutral hits
-- Flint is neutral, wouldn't count this in his favor
-- Lucian goes fine, though needs to make sure to outspeed and OHKO, which might be tricky on Alakazam and Espeon
-- Champion he beats Milotic and Togekiss, everything else is shaky either directly (Spiritomb) or just in general (Garchomp)
- Galactic is a mixed bag, as he zaps the multitude of Zubats and Flying types like Cyrus's Gyarados and Honchkrow, but in turn has to be wary of their own Dark type moves if they outspeed.
-- Barry he beats Staraptor and whatever Water type he has, anything else is dangerous to try.

Comments: So Rotom is obtainable early and gets quick access to some decently strong STAB moves with acceptable coverage, but his main issues are that those are ALL he gets for the most part outside Secret Power, which often doesn't help with those resisting his STABs. Thunderbolt requires the use of the Game Corner for early access to use against Wake, and the one easy one is from Surfing at Valley Windworks, while Shadow Ball probably won't conflict with anything you'd run alongside him (ergo other Ghost types). His problem with Ground Types can be alleviated to some extent by one of the HM carriers given Surf's power and prevalence, but this is more in a general context and doesn't change the fact Rotom itself has some serious issues with such. It makes a decent crutch to lean on for a while after it's obtainable, and it's not outright terrible after that period, but it's not going to carry the game.

B-Rank is fine, yeah. Rotom is really good early game and Discharge is an excellent move late game if it comes to that. I'll edit this (plus more tentative rankings and sprites!) in from my computer, stay tuned.

 

[OrangeGuru]

Having just played through Platinum again and wanting to try some of the new evolutions from that gen (Gallade, gliscor, Froslass, etc), I'll weigh in on one in particular - Nosepass/Probopass (I may do others later).

Availability: Nosepass is available at level 14 in Mt. Coronet right before the 2nd gym in the small section to the east of Eterna City (aka Mt. Coronet - Center) or you can get a level 18 Nosepass after beating the 2nd gym and entering Mt. Coronet - South near Oreburgh City. However, it is just a 5% encounter, so it can be annoying to find even if it has a catch rate of 255.

Stats: Base-wise, Nosepass is a mixed wall with 135 defense and 90 special defense, but it has a measly speed of 30 and offenses that are not great either at 45 apiece.

Typing: Rock typing is very average for Nosepass, but upon evolving it gains a Steel subtyping, which helps tremendously for making Probopass a defensive tank. Rock/Steel gives 1 immunity to a common type (Poison) and a whopping 9 resists (including two 4x resists), but also leaves Probopass with two 4x weaknesses to ground and fighting.

Movepool: Nosepass's movepool is where it starts to get downgraded in my opinion. It is stuck without a special STAB (Probopass's higher attack stat) until either Flash Cannon TM from the 6th gym or Power Gem at Level 49. 18 levels (13 to 31) separate Rock Throw and Rock Slide - the only attacking moves Nosepass learns through level up - and they both only have 90% accuracy, meaning they will miss far more than you want coming off of a low attack stat. However, not all is lost as Nosepass does get useful status moves, such as Thunder Wave, Block, Magnet Rise (Move Relearner or Snowpoint Move Tutor - requires shards) and Toxic (TM). Nosepass/Probopass also learns Strength and Rock Smash, so it can function as a decent HM user.

Major Battles: Nosepass honestly struggles with a large majority of major battles. It struggles with Gardenia (if you get the level 14 Nosepass), Maylene, Wake (especially if you haven't evolved yet), Byron (immune to toxic and thunder wave), Bertha, and most of Lucian and Flint. Cynthia is usually too much to handle unless you really over-level. The only battles Nosepass can handle are Candice (although Piloswine is a no-go) and Aaron, as well as most of Team Galatic. Lastly, the rival is also unfavorable for Nosepass/Probopass. Most of the rival's pokemon have ground or fighting coverage which eats Probopass alive (Staraptor, Heracross, Snorlax, Torterra, Infernape, Floatzel); the only decent matchup is Rapidash.

Additional Comments: While it has a normal experience curve, the lack of high powered moves or attacking stats makes it a pain to train. The majority of TMs you might want to give it (Earthquake, Thunder/bolt, Stone Edge) are typically better served on other members of your team. It is also a minor inconvenience, but Nosepass has an odd evolution method (level up in Mt. Coronet) that first-time players may not know about. All in all, despite some useful utility moves like Block and good defensive stats, Nosepass is just too difficult to constantly train and keep up with the rest of a team because of low attacking stats and speed and getting Power Gem too late to be useful. Nosepass for E rank

 

[HotFuzzBall]

Availability: Budew is available very early in both games at Route 204 (North of Jubilife City). If Budew is too much of hassle for you to train, Roselia is found in Route 212 (Marshlands to the West of Pastoria City). In order to evolve Roselia into a Roserade, you need a Shiny Stone which can be found at the end of the Iron Islands.

Stats: All 3 of these Pokemon have really good Special Defense, with Roselia and Roserade having great Speed and Special Attack as well. All 3 have low HP and Defense so physical attacks can be troublesome for them.

Typing: The Budew line is probably one of the only good Grass-types, if you did not choose Turtwig, in the game that's available early on. Grass / Poison is very solid, most notably it helps against Water-types (there are quite a few water routes in the game). The typing provides 4 resistances, with three of the types (Grass, Electric, Water) are usually specially offensive which compliments their special bulk. Grass isn't the best defensive typing, they will most likely struggle (or not be useful) once you make your way to Snowpoint City due to the commonality of Ice-types. Flying and Psychic-types are also relatively common throughout the game as well, thought Fire-types are quite rare in DP with only Ponyta and Chimchar to worry about.

Movepool: Roserade has access to quite a few solid moves. Budew doesn't receive many important moves, so evolving it into a Roselia is a must. Budew does get access to Mega Drain at Level 13 which is pretty nice as well. If you manage to evolve Budew into Roselia before level 10, Roselia will have access to both Leech Seed and Stun Spore which can help against harder battles, such as Mars's Purugly. However, Roselia has low BP moves (the highest is Giga Drain with a BP of 60), until it learns Petal Dance at Level 40. Petal Dance isn't too great since it locks you into the move, and it causes confusion. Also I'm sure not many people would want to level up their Roselia to level 40 anyways. When Roselia evolves into Roserade, the only notable move it learns is Weather Ball through the Move Rememberer which can help provide neutral coverage for it. As for TMs, Grass Knot can be useful against heavier foes such as Hippowdon, Sludge Bomb is available fairly late in the game (it's found inside the Galactic Warehouse), Shadow Ball also helps provide another neutral coverage option since Ghost is a pretty good offensive type. Energy Ball is available in the post game so that's not an option at the moment.

Major Battles:

• Roark - Budew / Roselia has the type advantage, and should learn Mega Drain by now so this battle should be really easy.
• Gardenia - A 4x resistance to Grass will make the battle against Cherrim / Cherubi and Turtwig easy, moreso if Roselia has Poison Sting. Roserade could be a little bit tricky with Stun Spore but, it shouldn't be too difficult.
• Maylene - Is able to 1v1 Machoke, and maybe Meditite since Confusion doesn't do much. Not recommended against Lucario since Roselia won't have any super-effective coverage and Lucario has Bone Rush and Metal Claw to deal pretty decent damage back.
• Crasher Wake - Should be an easy battle, Gyarados could be problematic (especially in DP since Gyarados has Dragon Rage and Swagger) but it shouldn't be too difficult. Only thing to be careful about is Floatzel's Ice Fang since it will definitely outspeed Roselia.
• Fantina - not recommended to use Roserade here. In DP Drifblim and Gengar resist Roselia's Grass-type moves and Mismagius has Psybeam to deal decent damage. In Platinum, Roselia could potentially stall out Duskull with Leech Seed, but it is not recommended to send it in on Mismagius and Haunter for the above reasons.
• Byron - By now you should have the Shiny Stone to evolve Roserade. Roserade could potentially duel Steelix since it is neutral to Grass but, it has Ice Fang. Bastiodon can be dueled pretty easily (especially in DP since its only damaging moves are Flash Cannon and Ancient Power) but, it could be tricky in Platinum since it has Metal Burst.
• Candace - Will not be helpful here, could maybe pick up a KO on Candace's Piloswine in Platinum though.
• Volkner - Pretty easy since Roserade resists Electric, just be careful of Electivire's Giga Impact and Luxray's Ice Fang in Platinum. In DP, Volkner should be very easy for Roserade since there isn't any super effective coverage it has to worry about.
• Galactic - Roselia / Roserade will probably won't be useful unless it's to stall out the foe with Leech Seed. The commonality of Zubat, Bronzor, Kadabra, Stunky, Beautifly, Dustox won't be too hot for Roselia / Roserade.
• Elite 4 - Roserade will be fantastic against Bertha... that's about it really :/ In DP, Roserade can KO Cynthia's Gastrodon. Not recommended to 1v1 Cynthia's Milotic since it has Ice Beam and Mirror Coat.

Additional Comments: Budew is a very solid choice if you want a Grass-type on your team due to its early access. It can be difficult to evolve since happiness evolution can be tedious and the Shiny Stone won't be available for a while. However, Budew's early access should make it easier to evolve it into a Roselia ASAP. Roselia will most likely only have Grass-STAB until you find Sludge Bomb and Shadow Ball later on (Weather Ball once you evolve it into Roserade), which can be problematic at times. Budew is actually pretty easy to train because of Absorb which prevents you from having to go back and forth to the Pokemon Center to heal up, also its early access to Mega Drain is pretty nifty. Overall, being one of the only good Grass-types early on (besides Turtwig) probably warrants both of them to share a rank, therefore I nominate Budew for A rank for both DP and Platinum.

 

[sumwun]

I'm not very good at analyzing stuff that's too multifaceted and subjective. However, I did play Platinum, and I did catch almost every Pokemon available in the wild, so I thought the least I could do was help you finish the locations guide. Note that it contains Platinum information only, so someone else needs to fill this out for DP. The order these locations become accessible is also specific to Platinum.

LEGEND
[G] = This Pokémon is given to you by a NPC (possibly as an Egg).
[IN] = This Pokémon is an interactable encounter.
[T] = This Pokémon is obtained via in-game trade.
[Pt] = This Pokémon can only be caught in Pokémon Pearl. (by the way, this is a typo on the original post)
[Pt*] = This Pokémon is first found here in Pokémon Pearl only.

Hide

Route 201: Turtwig [G], Chimchar [G], Piplup [G]
Route 201 (after capture tutorial): Starly, Bidoof, Kricketot
Route 202: Shinx
Old rod: Magikarp
Route 204 south: Budew, Wurmple, Zubat
Ravaged Path: Psyduck
Route 203: Abra
Oreburgh Gate: Geodude
Oreburgh City: Abra [T] (delete this; Abra can be found earlier)
Route 207: Machop, Ponyta
Oreburgh Mine: Onix (along with Steelix, if yes trade)
===GYM 1===
VALLEY WINDWORKS: Buizel, Pachirisu, Shellos
Honey trees: Aipom, Heracross, Burmy, Combee, Cherubi
Note that the first Munchlax tree can range from this point to after surf becomes usable.
VALLEY WINDWORKS (after defeating Mars): Drifloon [IN]
ETERNA FOREST: Gastly, Hoothoot, Buneary
ETERNA CITY - Chatot [T]
UNDERGROUND - Shieldon [P/Pt] [Fossil], Cranidos [D/Pt] [Fossil]
Route 211 west: Meditite, Chingling, Bronzor
Mt. Coronet 1F: Cleffa, Nosepass [Pt]
===GYM 2===
Old Chateau: Gastly (delete this; Gastly can be found earlier), Rotom [Pt]
Eterna City (after defeating Jupiter): Togepi [Pt][G]
Route 206: Gligar [Pt]
WAYWARD CAVE: Gible [Pt*]
Route 208: Ralts [Pt]
Hearthome CITY: Eevee [Pt][G]
===GYM 3===
Route 209: Chansey, Duskull [Pt], Spiritomb [IN] (if yes trade)
Good rod: Goldeen, Barboach, Finneon
Solaceon Ruins: Unown
Route 210 south: Scyther [Pt]
Route 215: Lickitung [Pt], Marill
Veilstone City: Porygon [Pt][G]
Route 214: Rhyhorn [Pt], Houndour [Pt]
Ruin Maniac Cave: Hippopotas
Valor Lakefront: Girafarig
Route 213: Remoraid, Wingull
Route 212 south: Quagsire, Croagunk
Trophy Garden: Pichu
Great Marsh: Tangela [Pt], Yanma [Pt], Tropius [Pt], Skorupi, Carnivine
===GYM 4===
===GYM 5===
Route 210 north: Swablu [Pt]
Surf: Tentacool
Route 221: Sudowoodo [Pt*]
Fuego Ironworks: Magnemite [Pt], Magmar [Pt]
Route 218: Mr. Mime [Pt*]
Iron Island: Steelix (if no trade), Riolu [G]
===GYM 6===
Mt. Coronet B1F: Feebas
Route 216: Sneasel, Snorunt [Pt], Snover
Route 217: Swinub [Pt]
SNOWPOINT CITY: - Haunter [T] (delete this; Gastly can be found earlier)
===GYM 7===
Mt. Coronet mountainside: Absol [Pt]
Distortion World: Giratina [Pt][IN]
Lake Acuity: Uxie [IN]
Lake Valor: Azelf [IN]
Lake Verity: Mesprit [roaming]
Route 222: Electabuzz [Pt]
Route 223: Mantyke

From what I'm seeing right now, it looks like you're starting from scratch, and it's taking six paragraphs to rank each evolution family. I think it would be more efficient to initially rank evolution families based on the rankings they have on the Smogon guide, and then have people discuss a Pokemon only when they want it to change rank.

 

[sumwun]

From what I'm seeing right now, it looks like you're starting from scratch, and it's taking six paragraphs to rank each evolution family. I think it would be more efficient to initially rank evolution families based on the rankings they have on the Smogon guide, and then have people discuss a Pokemon only when they want it to change rank. These are the ranks that I think Pokemon should start with. (my own experience, as well as the Smogon guide, was used for the Platinum ranks)

Diamond and Pearl tiers

Hide

Scroll up

Platinum tiers (changed after discussion about Tentacool and realizing that lateness doesn't matter as much as I thought)

Hide

Pt S tier
Abra (yes trade)
Starly
Chimchar
Gible
Bidoof
Magikarp
Shinx
Piplup
Turtwig
Gastly (yes trade)

Pt A tier
Machop (yes trade)
Zubat
Geodude (yes trade)
Cranidos
Buizel
Budew
Abra (no trade)
Ponyta
Scyther (no trade)
Eevee (Jolteon)
Onix (yes trade)
Giratina
Psyduck
Ralts (Gallade)

Pt B tier
Ralts (Gardevoir)
Houndour
Rhyhorn (yes trade)
Rotom
Eevee (Espeon)
Togepi
Aipom
Eevee (Vaporeon)
Eevee (Glaceon)
Gligar
Yanma
Buneary
Eevee (Leafeon)
Scyther (yes trade)
Heracross

Pt C tier
Azelf
Porygon (yes trade)
Drifblim
Gastly (no trade)
Meditite
Bronzor
Shellos
Cleffa
Eevee (Flareon)
Pichu
Croagunk
Hoothoot
Nosepass
Cherubi
Munchlax

Pt D tier
Chansey
Machop (no trade)
Chingling
Wurmple (Beautifly)
Skorupi
Sneasel
Magnemite
Spiritomb (yes trade)
Eevee (Umbreon)
Kricketot
Chatot
Hippopotas
Rhyhorn (no trade)
Duskull (yes trade)
Tangela
Combee
Shieldon
Magmar (yes trade)

Pt E tier
Geodude (no trade)
Wurmple (Dustox)
Swinub
Onix (no trade)
Pachirisu
Girafarig
Wingull
Uxie
Burmy (Mothim)
Lickitung
Marill
Tentacool
Electabuzz (yes trade)
Burmy (plant Wormadam)
Burmy (sandy Wormadam)
Snorunt (Froslass)
Mesprit
Riolu

Pt F tier
Feebas
Finneon
Goldeen
Mr. Mime
Burmy (trash Wormadam)
Barboach
Remoraid
Tropius
Quagsire (note that Quagsire is easier to catch than Wooper)
Carnivine
Swablu
Absol
Magmar (no trade)
Sudowoodo
Snorunt (Glalie)
Snover
Mantyke
Steelix (no trade)
Duskull (no trade)
Unown
Electabuzz (no trade)
Porygon (no trade)

Pt untiered
Misdreavus
Murkrow
Glameow
Stunky
Dialga
Palkia
Manaphy

Explanations for my unusually high ratings for Zubat and Psyduck will be posted sometime in the next few weeks.

 

[Roseguardin]

To do show/hide, put whatever goes inside in between these tags [hide.] [/hide] (remove the period, that's just for demonstration). You can put hide= whatever you want so it has a name for what's inside.

 

[sumwun]

Chansey family
Availability: In DP, a Happiny egg can be received in Hearthome City. Getting a Blissey in Pt is slightly harder, as it involves finding a Chansey in tall grass on Routes 209 or 210. It has a 5% chance to appear in both locations and is slightly annoying to catch (unless you use taunt or something). Because it only requires the player to defeat a level 22 (DP) 27 (Pt) NPC, it's obtainable very early in the game. Once caught, it should be easy to raise and evolve.
Stats: Although it's literally an ellipsoid with a face and was put in the bottom tier in the current Smogon guide, Blissey can defeat every single special attacker in the game. There's a good reason why it's called the super wall. However, it has trouble with Pokemon that have high physical attack, and it...uh...might make the game take a bit longer.
Typing: Being normal type, it only has one weakness. Very few special attackers know fighting attacks, so the weakness isn't extremely hindering. Although it has no good STAB attacks, it can usually deal enough damage with toxic.
Movepool: Nobody cares about how wide Blissey's movepool is because the only two moves it needs to do everything are toxic and softboiled. (TM06 toxic can be found on Route 212) It can learn strength, rock smash, and rock climb, so you might as well make it an HM slave. If you really want to fill all four move slots with good moves, the last two should probably be psychic (to deal with poison Pokemon that are immune to toxic) and flamethrower (to deal with steel Pokemon that are immune to toxic).
Major Battles: These are the special attackers that are battled after Happiny (DP) Chansey(Pt) becomes available.
Diamond and Pearl
Barry (Hearthome City): Prinplup, Buizel, Roselia, Ponyta
Wake: Gyarados, Quagsire, Floatzel
Barry (Pastoria City): Prinplup, Roselia, Ponyta
Fantina: Drifblim, Mismagius
Barry (Canalave City): Prinplup, Roselia
Byron: Bronzor, Bastiodon
Saturn (Lake Valor): Kadabra
Mars (Lake Verity): Golbat
Saturn (Galactic HQ): Kadabra
Mars and Jupiter: Jupiter's Golbat
Volkner: Ambipom, Octillery
Barry (Pokemon League): Infernape, Empoleon, Roserade, Rapidash
Aaron: Beautifly, Dustox
Flint: Drifblim
Lucian: Mr. Mime, Girafarig, Alakazam
Cynthia: Spiritomb, Roserade, Lucario, Gastrodon, Milotic

Platinum
Barry (Pastoria City): Prinplup, Roselia, Ponyta
Wake: Quagsire
Barry (Canalave City): Empoleon, Roserade
Byron: Magneton
Saturn (Lake Valor): Golbat
Mars (Lake Verity): Golbat
Candice: Froslass
Mars and Jupiter: Jupiter's Golbat
Cyrus (Distoriton World): Houndoom
Volkner: Raichu
Barry (Pokemon League): Infernape, Empoleon, Roserade, Rapidash
Aaron: Yanmega
Flint: Houndoom, Flareon, Magmortar
Lucian: Mr. Mime, Espeon, Alakazam
Cynthia: Spiritomb, Roserade, Milotic, Lucario, Togekiss

Additional Comments: Although Blissey has very little physical defense or offensive capabilities, it can still serve a unique and useful role. It does require toxic to work, but its TM is pretty easy to get and Blissey is the best abuser of that TM in playthroughs. Its good defensive stats are further complimented by the fact that it only has one weakness. Due to its early availability and extreme walling capabilities, I nominate Happiny for B tier in DP and Chansey for B tier in Pt.

 

[Karxrida]

B is way too high. You have the hatch Happiny (a time sink on its own) and then proceed to baby something that has nonexistent offenses and comes at Level 1. For Chansey, you somehow have to find the stupid thing with its 5% appearance rate and then catch it.

So they can wall and stall stuff? Who cares. That's inefficient as hell for ingame, and you're better off beating up the opposing Pokémon with literally anything else. Their exceptionally high HP also requires more resources to keep them healthy if you drop Softboiled to also use them as HM slaves.

They are so not worth the time, effort, or resources to use, let alone be considered for B. They're bottom tier on the old lists for good reason.

 

[OrangeGuru]

Ralts (Gallade)

Availability: Ralts is only available in Platinum, where it can be found just before Hearthome City (aka early game) at a 15% encounter rate. It is easy to catch at a 235 capture rate. However to get a Gallade, you need to capture a male Ralts, which can be a little annoying if you encounter multiple female Ralts first. The earliest Dawn Stone (used to evolve male Kirlia into Gallade) can be found in the swamp outside Pastoria City, so it comes a little later (and it is hidden, making it more difficult to find)

Stats: Ralts/Gallade is an interesting evolution line because the primary attacking stat changes upon evolving into Gallade. Ralts and Kirlia are good special attackers with Kirlia having a solid base 65 Special Attack. However, upon evolving, Gallade becomes a physical attacker with a base stat of 125. Coupled with this is a surprisingly good Special Defense stat of 115, allowing Gallade to absorb special attacks fairly easily. Also, 80 base speed is underwhelming for the back half of the game (unless you are overleveling), which typically forces Gallade to take a hit before hitting hard with its wide movepool.

Typing: Psychic / Fighting is a great STAB combination that is resisted only by psychic-types. While Gallade only has two resistances in Fighting and Rock, it is only weak to two types as well with Ghost and Flying weaknesses.

Movepool: Gallade has an extensive movepool filled with coverage options. Psycho Cut and Close Combat make up the STAB options from leveling up (although CC doesn't come until level 53 - so basically the Elite 4 and postgame), while also being able to utilize a wide variety of TMs, such as Drain Punch or Brick Break (useful if you don't want Fighting STAB before Close Combat), Stone Edge / Rock Slide (hits Flying-types), and basically any other desired coverage (Poison Jab, X-Scissor, Earthquake, etc). By using move tutors and the move relearner, Gallade also gets great options in Zen Headbutt, Leaf Blade, Night Slash (nails Ghost-types and Psychics), and the elemental punches. On top of all this, Gallade can also learn quality utility moves like Swords Dance (without the use of the TM), Thunder Wave, and Calm Mind (also potentially without TM). Before evolving, Kirlia has access to Confusion and Magical Leaf to get by on its above average Special Attack and gets Psychic at only level 31 if you are waiting to evolve. If all this isn't great enough, Gallade can also learn Cut and Strength if you need someone to run one of those HMs.

Major Battles:
Positive Matchup:

• Maylene (especially if you have Psychic), Byron (if given Brick Break / Drain Punch as TM), Candice (once again needs Fighting STAB; Abomasnow can be KO'd by Fire Punch; watch out for Frosslass), Aaron (at first this seems neutral, but since 4 of his pokes are 4x weak to a specific type - rock, fire and flying - if you have the coverage moves this is more of a positive matchup), Bertha (once again 4x effective coverage makes this a positive matchup), all of Team Galactic (although Saturn is the toughest matchup), and Barry (Snorlax, Heracross, and Grass-type is easy to handle; Starraptor, and Fire-type is difficult; Empoleon is easy, but Floatzel is more difficult)

Neutral Matchup:

• Crasher Wake (can utilize 4x effective coverage options like Thunderpunch and Leaf Blade to KO Gyarados and Quagsire, but Floatzel will still be strong), Volkner, Cynthia (good vs Lucario and Roserade, but bad vs Spiritomb and Togekiss and Garchomp is always a pain anyways)

Negative Matchup:

• Fantina, Lucian (Espeon is especially troublesome), Flint (many of his pokes outspeed Gallade and hit hard physically making this a difficult matchup)

Additional Comments: Even though Gallade's speed is a little lackluster, Gallade's great movepool, early access and great stats in Attack and Special Defense make it a stellar choice in Platinum playthroughs. It can be easily customized to fit the rest of your team with its wide movepool; however this does give Gallade a bit of 4MSS, making all the positive matchups slightly less positive in practice because you can't have all the coverage all the time - if that makes sense. Other slight problems include having to find a hidden Dawn Stone to evolve Kirlia, having to catch a specific gender (male) Ralts / Kirlia to get Gallade and having to use hard to find shards if utilizing the Move Tutor. However, all in all, I think Gallade still makes a great addition to a Platinum run, which is why I nominate Ralts (Gallade) for A Rank in Platinum

 

[Roseguardin]

I guess this problem could move it down one or two tiers.

I'm not sure about the "literally anything else" part, because offensive Pokemon will eventually run into issues about weaknesses and lack of coverage attacks, so they would need teammates to cover those weaknesses and types that they can't cover themselves. Because Blissey is normal type and relies on toxic for damage, it has these issues much less often, can defeat more different kinds of Pokemon, and doesn't need as much help from teammates.

That's not really a good argument for efficiency though. Toxic takes time to deal damage and Blissey's piss-weak offenses aren't gonna help you much. By the time Toxic starts really doing its work, an offensive Pokemon like Gyarados or something can 2hko or 3hko the opponent and be done with it. Even if Gyarados has weaknesses that doesn't really matter, seeing as the point of an efficiency run is to beat the game quickly, not solo it with one mon at any cost. Set up turns take away from efficiency, which is why things with Nasty Plot or Swords Dance like Azelf or Infernape will be ranked higher than slower boosters with Calm Mind like Bronzong (random example). Also, Psychic and Flamethrower are good TMs. Without grinding for them in the Game Corner, it would be a better use to give them to Pokemon who can actually kill stuff with them as opposed to an unSTABed attack from this thing.

 

[OrangeGuru]

That's not really a good argument for efficiency though. Toxic takes time to deal damage and Blissey's piss-weak offenses aren't gonna help you much. By the time Toxic starts really doing its work, an offensive Pokemon like Gyarados or something can 2hko or 3hko the opponent and be done with it. Even if Gyarados has weaknesses that doesn't really matter, seeing as the point of an efficiency run is to beat the game quickly, not solo it with one mon at any cost. Set up turns take away from efficiency, which is why things with Nasty Plot or Swords Dance like Azelf or Infernape will be ranked higher than slower boosters with Calm Mind like Bronzong (random example). Also, Psychic and Flamethrower are good TMs. Without grinding for them in the Game Corner, it would be a better use to give them to Pokemon who can actually kill stuff with them as opposed to an unSTABed attack from this thing.

I would probably have to agree here on not putting Chansey in B rank. While it is a great blob, gets Soft-boiled (really useful for in-game as well) and is the best user of Toxic, it just can't hit anything very hard without using good TMs (high opportunity cost), which has been stated already. Plus it is a pain to train from Happiny into Blissey (made more difficult because of friendship levels and again its inability to hit hard). Not to say Chansey can't be good (I personally like having one defensive poke on my team), but it is probably more suited for C Rank

 

[sin(pi)]

I'm very good at making threads then getting super busy :c
Thanks to everyone who has contributed, I will update the OP soon™!

Chansey family
Availability: In DP, a Happiny egg can be received in Hearthome City. Getting a Blissey in Pt is slightly harder, as it involves finding a Chansey in tall grass on Routes 209 or 210. It has a 5% chance to appear in both locations and is slightly annoying to catch (unless you use taunt or something). Because it only requires the player to defeat a level 22 (DP) 27 (Pt) NPC, it's obtainable very early in the game. Once caught, it should be easy to raise and evolve.
Stats: Although it's literally an ellipsoid with a face and was put in the bottom tier in the current Smogon guide, Blissey can defeat every single special attacker in the game. There's a good reason why it's called the super wall. However, it has trouble with Pokemon that have high physical attack, and it...uh...might make the game take a bit longer.
Typing: Being normal type, it only has one weakness. Very few special attackers know fighting attacks, so the weakness isn't extremely hindering. Although it has no good STAB attacks, it can usually deal enough damage with toxic.
Movepool: Nobody cares about how wide Blissey's movepool is because the only two moves it needs to do everything are toxic and softboiled. (TM06 toxic can be found on Route 212) It can learn strength, rock smash, and rock climb, so you might as well make it an HM slave. If you really want to fill all four move slots with good moves, the last two should probably be psychic (to deal with poison Pokemon that are immune to toxic) and flamethrower (to deal with steel Pokemon that are immune to toxic).
Major Battles: These are the special attackers that are battled after Happiny (DP) Chansey(Pt) becomes available.
Diamond and Pearl
Barry (Hearthome City): Prinplup, Buizel, Roselia, Ponyta
Wake: Gyarados, Quagsire, Floatzel
Barry (Pastoria City): Prinplup, Roselia, Ponyta
Fantina: Drifblim, Mismagius
Barry (Canalave City): Prinplup, Roselia
Byron: Bronzor, Bastiodon
Saturn (Lake Valor): Kadabra
Mars (Lake Verity): Golbat
Saturn (Galactic HQ): Kadabra
Mars and Jupiter: Jupiter's Golbat
Volkner: Ambipom, Octillery
Barry (Pokemon League): Infernape, Empoleon, Roserade, Rapidash
Aaron: Beautifly, Dustox
Flint: Drifblim
Lucian: Mr. Mime, Girafarig, Alakazam
Cynthia: Spiritomb, Roserade, Lucario, Gastrodon, Milotic

Platinum
Barry (Pastoria City): Prinplup, Roselia, Ponyta
Wake: Quagsire
Barry (Canalave City): Empoleon, Roserade
Byron: Magneton
Saturn (Lake Valor): Golbat
Mars (Lake Verity): Golbat
Candice: Froslass
Mars and Jupiter: Jupiter's Golbat
Cyrus (Distoriton World): Houndoom
Volkner: Raichu
Barry (Pokemon League): Infernape, Empoleon, Roserade, Rapidash
Aaron: Yanmega
Flint: Houndoom, Flareon, Magmortar
Lucian: Mr. Mime, Espeon, Alakazam
Cynthia: Spiritomb, Roserade, Milotic, Lucario, Togekiss

Additional Comments: Although Blissey has very little physical defense or offensive capabilities, it can still serve a unique and useful role. It does require toxic to work, but its TM is pretty easy to get and Blissey is the best abuser of that TM in playthroughs. Its good defensive stats are further complimented by the fact that it only has one weakness. Due to its early availability and extreme walling capabilities, I nominate Happiny for B tier in DP and Chansey for B tier in Pt.

A lot of this has been said by others but I want to reiterate it.
We tier Pokémon both on effectiveness and efficiency. This means that, for a Pokémon to be ranked highly, it needs to have positive matchups as well as win them in a reasonable period of time.
Blissey is the very definition of a time sink, taking ages to capture/hatch and then needing babying until it becomes a Chansey (at the very least) or a Blissey. Chansey takes at least 5 turns to kill anything (Toxic takes 6 by itself but I'm allowing for a bit of chip from Pound or whatever), and while Blissey has a useable SpA stat, it's far from high. In addition, it isn't particularly fast, and its entire special movepool requires expensive or highly sought-after TMs. Toxic stall (and other forms of residual damage) is admittedly something I enjoy, but it is by no means time-effective. Soft-Boiled is nice but not amazing and arguably not worth the hassle.

 

[LightningLord2]

I realized that at least at low levels, Chansey's attack stat is actually capable of KOing same-levelled mons for a bit. Furthermore, as you mentioned,

Furthermore, it is capable of setting Stealth Rock, which is actually helpful in weakening targets (although admittedly far from amazing)

D Tier is fine - it's a bit slow and TM dependent, but if you're willing to put up with feeding it TMs, it can actually give you results. And a 5% encounter is definitely not the worst thing in the world (both because it doesn't run and because Chimchar learns Taunt to stop it from self-healing)

PS: Softboiled can heal your Pokémon outside of battle by transferring HP - it can save you some money on potions, especially early on.

 

[LightningLord2]

Why is Tentacool so low? Sure it comes a bit late, but Tentacruel has quite decent stats (average Special Attack, but good speed) and also some coverage options in Giga Drain and Ice Beam. It also does okay vs. Aaron and Candice, it falls vs. Volkner, can handle Bertha and Flint (be careful with the former) and take on Cynthia's Lucario and possibly Togekiss. It's certainly better than Goldeen at least.

 

[Karxrida]

However, if you post a full analysis on Tentacool and Tentacruel and argue that it should be a higher tier, then we'll consider it.

This is more than a bit hypocritical coming from you since you've posted two separate (and un-alphabetized) lists without justifying most of your placements at all. Also, this isn't your thread.

This is admittedly pure theorymon, but throwing Tentacool into F seems to be hugely underselling it. As previously stated, it has decent stats, can learn some nice coverage, and it has okay match-ups against the endgame trainers. Its biggest crime is coming late, though that would definitely affect placement greatly.

I could see it being C, though D is probably more appropriate.

 

[OrangeGuru]

You can say that for a lot of Pokemon. If we analyzed every Pokemon like that, then almost everything would higher than D tier, and the higher tiers would contain too many Pokemon. Ingame tiers aren't necessarily meant to separate the bad Pokemon from the good Pokemon; they're more often used to separate the good Pokemon from the better Pokemon.
However, if you post a full analysis on Tentacool and Tentacruel and argue that it should be a higher tier, then we'll consider it.

Not really sure why you say "we" considering you didn't start this thread and tried to take authority by putting all the pokes into tiers on your own - just an observation.
Anyways to keep it relevant, I would say that Tentacool is probably good right around D. It has decent stats but also a fairly high opportunity cost because to catch you have to use Surf (which means you probably already have a water type like Empoleon, making Tentacool a little redundant). To be fair, I haven't used Tentacool in DPPt, but it seems like there are plenty of other water types to choose from that are better

 

[HotFuzzBall]

Availability: After you deal with Team Galactic at the Enterna City Building (which requires you to defeat Gardenia), Cynthia will give you an egg that contains a Togepi. Togepi requires max happiness to evolve into Togetic while Togetic requires a Shiny Stone (found at the end of Iron Islands) to evolve into Togekiss.

Stats: Well Togepi has terrible stats, period. It lacks any offensive or defensive presence at all. As Togetic things will start to look up (not by much though), since Togetic has decent offensive presence with 80 Special Attack as well as solid 55/85/105 bulk. However, both of these Pokemon are incredibly slow. Togekiss has amazing stats, it has fantastic 85/95/115 bulk as well as a solid 120 Special Attack, and Togekiss isn't that slow since it has base 80 speed.

Typing: In this generation, these 3 Pokemon hold the Normal-typing instead of Fairy fyi. Anyways, Togepi's mono-Normal typing isn't that great honestly. The lack of Ghost-type Pokemon around the time you receive as well as the relative commonality of Battle Girls / Black Belts in the following few routes isn't too great either. Togetic and Togekiss's Normal / Flying typing is pretty great since it ha 2 immunites (Ground and Ghost) as well as resistances to common Grass and Bug-types. However, it is weak to common Rock, Electric, and Ice-types which are quite common in the game (Hikers / Rockers / Route before Snowpoint).

Movepool: Togepi and Togetic have terrible movepools. The only notable moves they both learn are Anc
ient Power and Metronome (with Togetic being able to learn Magical Leaf with a Heart Scale). However, they both are able to a lot of TMs including Water Pulse, Shadow Ball, Flamethrower, etc. Togekiss learns to important moves, Air Slash and Aura Sphere, which are must have imo but, they require Heart Scales in order for it to relearn them.

Major Battles:

• Fantina - Even as a Togepi or Togetic, I wouldn't use either since the only offensive they would learn is Metronome (assuming you do not over level). However, they are probably the best Pokemon to send in if you need to heal up / revive one of your team mates due to the bulk (on Togetic) + Ghost immunity.
• Maylene - By now, you should've definitely evolved Togepi into Togetic. Anyways, if you do decide to purchase some TMs from the Game Corner or Department Store for Togetic (most notably Flamethrower, Fire Blast, and Psychic) I would use Togetic in the battle, just be careful since Togetic is neutral to Fighting. However if you didn't, I wouldn't use Togetic at this point.
• Crasher Wake - I wouldn't use Togetic in this battle unless you taught it Shock Wave (via TM) or Magical Leaf (via Move Relearner).
• Byron - By now, you better have evolved Togetic into Togekiss. Anyways, this battle could be decently easy if Togekiss learns Flamethrower or Aura Sphere, if it doesn't... what are you doing, don't use it here.
• Candace - Same thing as Byron, use Togekiss if you have Flamethrower and Aura Sphere or else don't. Note that both Sneasel and Froslass may be faster than Togekiss (depending on Togekiss's EVs) and they can potentially pull some shenanigans Blizzard and Ice Shard.
• Volkner - Not recommended to use Togekiss here obviously due to the type disadvantage and the fact that 3/4 (Raichu, Jolteon, Electivire) naturally outspeed Togekiss.
• Galactic - Can be useful once again depending on the TMs you teach Togepi / Togetic. As a Togekiss, it should be able to hold its ground though. (Though Mars and Jupiter can give the Togepi family a bit of a hard time). As for Cyrus, the only Pokemon Togekiss could duel would be either Honchkrow, Houndoom, and Crobat, it would most likely be low afterwards though.
• Elite Four - Togekiss will be great against Aaron due to the type advantage, won't be useful against Bertha most likely (unless Togekiss kept Magical Leaf), could be useful against Flint's Infernape, does well against Lucian's team mainly due to Togekiss's special bulk and type advantage over Gallade. As for Cynthia, Togekiss will be able to duel her Spiritomb, Lucario, Roserade, and potentially her own Togekiss.

Additional Comments: As you can see, Togepi / Togetic's reliance on TMs to be useful is quite problematic because they cost a ton and/or you have to go out of your way to get them in the wild. Also note that you will be stuck with Togetic for quite a while so, have fun lol. Togepi is a pain in the ass to train mainly due to how quickly it faints and it usually cannot fight back since you are relying on Metronome as your only offensive move, which would normally mean that you have to rely on the Exp Share to level it up. Also, the fact that it is in your best interest to soft reset the hatching process (mainly for Serene Grace as the ability) and max out its happiness to evolve is also pretty difficult considering it will probably faint a lot, just from my experience, or you better be getting Poffins/Berries/Vitamins for it. However, the Soothe Bell is found in Eterna Forest so... also note that the beauty salon is in Veilstone City.

As a Togetic, it will continue to be difficult until you get access to TMs (mainly Veilstone City) since the offensive moves it can learn until then are pretty limited. The Shiny Stone being towards the late-ish part of the game also doesn't really help at all since Togetic isn't fun to use. However, things do start to look up once Togetic becomes a Togekiss but, that process takes a lot of effort honestly. Also the fact that the gyms that come after you evolve it are Steel, Ice, and Electric doesn't help its case. More over, if you want Togekiss to do anything useful, you will need 2 Heart Scales in order for it to relearn Aura Sphere and Air Slash. On a positive note, the Togepi family's access to a wide variety of TMs is something that shouldn't be looked over. Togekiss is also a really good Pokemon too so I guess all that effort will be worth it (it wasn't for me though).

tl;dr - if you have patience to train something very hard (not Magikarp levels hard but, pretty hard) and time to go out of your way to make quite a lot of poke dollars or finding stray TMs at certain points of the game while finding resources like Heart Scales, Togepi is perfect for you.

Anyways, due to these reasons I nominate Togepi for either D or E rank for Platinum since the effort it takes to get to Togekiss may not be worth it but, it is by no means a useless Pokemon.