Pokémon Colosseum In-game Tier List

[Karxrida]

Approved by Jellicent
Co-run by OrangeGuru
OP adapted from sin(pi)'s Diamond and Pearl In-Game Tiers thread, which itself was based on Its_A_Random's XY In-Game Tiers thread

Pokémon Colosseum
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 4 tiers (Or possibly more). Pokémon that are the most useful belong in the Top Tier, while Pokémon that are the least useful belong in the Bottom Tier. The tiers are as follows:

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

Pokémon are tiered based on several factors:
- Availability: When the Pokémon can be first found. Earlier Pokémon (i.e. anything captured before The Under) will more than likely rank higher due to Shadow Pokémon mechanics.
- 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 Admins), and have stronger movepools (usually starting out with good moves and getting good 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 Colosseum?
Colosseum is unique when it comes to Pokémon availability. Not only is the pool of choices quite small, every one is a guaranteed encounter in a mostly linear list. There are just 52 Pokémon available, with 48 being Shadow Pokémon and several of them being postgame only. Below is the list of every Pokémon you can obtain, listed roughly by order of when they are first encountered. All in-game gifts are listed.

Availability (CONTAINS SPOILERS)

Pokémon marked by an asterisk (*) are gifts.

Starters
Espeon (Level 25)
Umbreon (Level 26)

Phenac City
Mukuhita (Level 30)
Bayleaf (Level 30)
Quilava (Level 30)
Crocanaw (Level 30)

Pyrite Town
Noctowl (Level 30)
Flaaffy (Level 30)
Skiploom (Level 30)
Quagsire (Level 30)
Misdreavus (Level 30)
Slugma (Level 30)
Furret (Level 33)
Yanma (Level 33)
Remoraid (Level 20)
Mantine (Level 33)
Qwilfish (Level 33)
Medetite (Level 33)
Dunsparce (Level 33)
Swablu (Level 33)
Sudowoodo (Level 35)
Plusle* (Level 13)

Agate Village
Hitmontop (Level 38)

Mt. Battle
Entei (Level 40)

The Under
Ledian (Level 40)
Suicune (Level 40)
Gligar (Level 43)
Stantler (Level 43)
Piloswine (Level 43)
Sneasel (Level 43)

Shadow Pokémon Lab
Aipom (Level 43)
Murkrow (Level 43)
Forretress (Level 43)
Granbull (Level 43)
Ariados (Level 43)
Vibrava (Level 43)
Raikou (Level 40)

Relgam Tower
Sunflora (Level 45)
Delibird (Level 45)
Heracross (Level 45)
Skarmory (Level 47)
Miltank (Level 48)
Absol (Level 48)
Houndoom (Level 48
Tropius (Level 49)
Metagross (Level 50)
Tyranitar (Level 55)

Team Snagem Hideout
Smeargle (Level 45)
Ursaring (Level 45)

Deep Colosseum
Shuckle (Level 45)

Outskirt Stand
Togetic (Level 20)

Other
Ho-Oh* (Level 70)
Togepi* (Level 20)
Mareep* (Level 37)
Scizor* (Level 50)

Untiered Pokémon

Untiered

Togetic - Not available until Postgame and is literally the last thing you catch
Ho-Oh - Not available until Postgame
Togepi - Requires E-Reader
Mareep - Requires E-Reader
Scizor - Requires E-Reader

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.

Formatting
Use the following format when submitting a write-up for a Pokémon. Make sure to use the Ruby and Sapphire sprites.

[IMG]<Sprite URL>[/IMG]
[B]Name
Availability:[/B] When does this Pokémon become available? Is it easy or hard to 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 from purification and through level up? Is it over-reliant on TMs to function?
[B]Major Battles:[/B] Describe how the Pokémon handles the major opponents throughout the game. Notable opponents and battles include Admins and battles against various (named) members of Cipher that are notably difficult.
[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:
- We are allowing the infinite ball glitch.
- Due to the heavy investment required to make later Shadow Pokémon usable, you are allowed to propose or argue tier placements based on whether or not a Pokémon is outclassed by something else.
- There are two Time Flutes that instantly purify a Shadow Pokémon when used. Remember to mention if something is a good Time Flute candidate or not.
- Remember that there are 3 free Rare Candies given to you. Some Pokémon (like Vibrava) may appreciate the level boost.
- 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/col_ingametiers

 

[Karxrida]

S-Tier: Reserved for Pokémon who possess the highest levels of efficiency of the available options in the game. 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 very early on and any flaws they have are absolutely made up by their advantages.

Pokémon

Croconaw
Availability: Phenac City via Cipher Peon Bluno at Level 30
Heart Gauge: 3,000
Overview: Croconaw is the most immediately useful of the Johto starters. It has a good Attack stat for spamming Shadow Rush, and mono-Water typing alongside decent bulk allow it to tank hits well. It becomes even better after evolving into Feraligatr, which will happen immediately upon purification. Feraligatr has high Attack, great bulk, and a wide offensive movepool which includes options like Surf, Bite, Slash, Brick Break, and Earthquake. While its Special Attack stat of 79 leaves something to be desired, Torrent enables it to hit harder than Suicune if abused correctly. Access to Rain Dance also lets it support other teammates and set itself up for sweeps. Croconaw admittedly does have a couple low periods during Pyrite Cave and the Shadow Pokémon Lab due to the abundance of Grass-types and Electric-types, respectively, but it excels in every other part of the game thanks to its availability, stats, typing, and movepool.
Additional Notes: Even if you plan on using Suicune as your primary Water-type, you may want to still catch Croconaw in Phenac City due to it holding a Mystic Water. Mystic Water also helps compensate for Croconaw's middling Special Attack.

Espeon
Availability: Starter at Level 25
Heart Gauge: N/A
Overview: Espeon is straight-up the best Pokémon available in Colosseum. It's very strong, incredibly fast, has a good offensive typing, sports a nice support movepool that includes Helping Hand (which it comes with), and is not held back by Shadow Pokémon restrictions due to being a starter. It's useful from the moment you start the game and will continue to be useful until the credits roll. While frail on the physical side and lacking any offensive options outside of Psychic STAB, these negative qualities do not detract from Espeon's overall performance and are easily overcome by a good Doubles partner.
Additional Notes: The Shadow Meditite you can Snag early in the game is holding a TwistedSpoon, a held item that is much better suited for Espeon and will make the latter's Psychic moves even stronger.

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

Entei
Availability: Mt. Battle via Admin Dakim at Level 40
Heart Gauge: 13,000
Overview: Of the four Fire-types in the entire game, Entei stands out from the others due to being a Legendary with a high BST. Base 115 Attack leads to powerful Shadow Rushes, 100 Speed means it will likely go first, and 115/85/75 bulk allows Entei to survive some super effective hits. It even gets Sunny Day when purified, boosting its STAB to lay waste with Fire Blast. Entei is not without faults, however. It has immense difficulty taking advantage of its Attack after purification, as Colosseum predates the Physical/Special split and physical options are scant; you're basically stuck with Stomp or Return. Entei's best attacks work of a Base 90 Special Attack stat, which is still good but not overwhelming. It must also rely on Fire Blast as its main STAB attack until Flamethrower is learned at Level 51, which can be troublesome due to Fire Blast's low PP and imperfect accuracy. Despite all these negatives, Entei is still more than capable of overpowering most foes and will almost always contribute to a fight.
Additional Notes: While Entei may seem like a good candidate for a Time Flute due to its whopping 13,000 point Heart Gauge, purifying it this way is not necessary. It comes at a high enough level that you can afford to use the normal process and rely on Shadow Rush for damage. Entei can also learn SolarBeam from TM if you're willing to make a detour to complete every round of the Phenac Stadium challenge. Finally, it gets Swagger at level 61, which can be very cheesy against opponents or used to buff teammates during the postgame.

Flaaffy
Availability: Pyrite Town via St. Performer Diogo at Level 30
Heart Gauge: 3,000
Overview: Flaaffy admittedly has a rough start as a Shadow Pokémon. Its 55 Attack doesn't lead to the most powerful Shadow Rushes, and it does not gain a passable attacking option until remembering Thundershock late into the purification process. Thankfully, this period is fairly short, and it relearns moves like Thunder Wave and Cotton Spore for great utility in crippling opponents as well as capturing other Shadow Pokémon. Once it's purified it gets the much more powerful Thunderbolt, and when it evolves into Ampharos it becomes a powerhouse with decent bulk. While you obviously have to watch out for Ground-types, as Flaaffy/Ampharos have no way to deal with them, the Doubles format means you can rely on your teammates to deal with that problem. Alternatively, you can purposefully bait attacks like Earthquake to give a free switch-in to a teammate immune to Ground.
Additional Notes: While Ampharos does have a decent physical movepool, it is reliant on TMs to learn those moves and still has middling Attack. It's best to save those TMs for physically stronger Pokémon.

Makuhita
Availability: Phenac City via Miror B. Peon Trudley at Level 30
Heart Gauge: 3,000
Overview: Makuhita is initially a very underwhelming Pokémon. Because it's intended to evolve at level 24, its stats are pretty bad even for the early game and will likely get KO'd constantly. Once purified and allowed to evolve into Hariyama, however, it turns into an amazing tank. A massive HP stat of 144 means Haryiama takes hits incredibly well, a high Attack stat of 120 with Cross Chop and Vital Throw as STAB options give a great offensive presence, and Thick Fat as a potential ability gives it extra resistances to Fire and Ice. The other possible ability, Guts, can supercharge Haryiama's damage, and since it's already so slow you can purposefully throw Paralysis onto it with little consequence. It even gets Belly Drum at level 40 if you're so inclined to abuse that. While the massive HP can be a double-edged sword since it means Hariyama requires more recovery items to heal and its low Speed means it will be taking those hits, it's still a fantastic party member after you get past the Makuhita stage.
Additional Comments: Makuhita is a guaranteed Snag due to its altered catch rate, so don't worry about trying to weaken it. Since Makuhita has such a small Heart Gauge and Haryiama is so bulky, you can get away with boxing it until Agate Village after the gauge is emptied.

Quagsire
Availability: Pyrite Town via Bandana Guy Divel at Level 30
Heart Gauge: 4,000
Overview: Quagsire is a nice tank. It sports decent physical stats, has the coveted Water/Ground typing, may potentially come with the Water Absorb ability, learns a few support options like Yawn and Rain Dance, and naturally gets Earthquke at level 42. While it lacks Ground STAB until purification, it has one of the stronger Shadow Rushes for the early game and can easily get by on that. Quagsire isn't perfect, however. Its double weakness to Grass is awful for the lengthy Pyrite Cave and its Miror B. fight, which are full of Lotad and Ludicolo. It also has lacking stats that make themselves more apparent as the game progresses and cause Quagsire to miss out on KOs, especially with a subpar Special Attack that prevents abusing Surf. The low Speed can also be an issue with just decent bulk, so Quagsire can still get overwhelmed. Regardless, it's a solid teammate that will put in work.
Additional Notes: During some major battles, Yawn can force the AI to switch as they don't want to proc Sleep status. Quagsire can abuse this to control the flow of a fight.

Quilava
Availability: Phenac City via Cipher Peon Rosso at Level 30
Heart Gauge: 3,000
Overview: Quilava initially struggles a bit, as the early parts of the game contain a fair number of Water-types, and its does little during the Miror B. fight. Once it can be purified and evolve into Typhlosion, however, it makes for an excellent Fire-type. Typhlosion is tied for the fourth-fastest Pokémon available with a base 100 Speed stat, and also sports a respectable Special Attack of 109. While there is some competition with Entei, who is far bulkier and lacks any weak period, coming with Flame Wheel gives Typhlosion a decently strong and a reliable STAB option, while Entei is stuck with the inaccurate Fire Blast for much of the game. Being able to land KOs more consistently than Entei means the inferior bulk isn't as big of an issue, especially if you exploit Blaze to further boost damage. Dig, while working of a lesser Attack stat and being somewhat situational, is also not an awful coverage option against other Fire-types, and Typhlosion even has access to Earthquake from TM. Finally, Smokescreen can provide some team support by potentially forcing misses.
Additional Notes: Even if you plan on using Entei, it still might be worth catching Quilava since it comes holding a Charcoal.

Raikou
Availability: Shadow Pokémon Lab via Cipher Admin Ein at Level 40
Heart Gauge: 13,000
Overview: Raikou has fantastic stats, being tied with Sneasel as the fastest Pokémon available while also being one of the strongest Special Attackers. Additionally, Electric typing combined with 90/75/100 defenses mean it can take some hits if it doesn't finish off opponents. Raikou also has access to Reflect to support teammates and supplant its own bulk, though its role in most battles will be to set up Rain Dance and proceed to spam hard-hitting Thunders. While it might appear to be an objectively better choice than Flaaffy, Raikou's much later availability and relatively low level compromise its advantages. Earthquake is also more common in the late game, which hurts Raikou's matchups against Dakim, Gonzap, and Evice. Consider teaching it Protect. Regardless, Raikou is still a valuable asset for the remaining battles due to its speed and strength.
Additional Notes: Due to its somewhat late acquisition and being slightly underleveled, Raikou makes a good candidate for the Time Flute. You can also use a Rare Candy after purification to reach level 41 and learn Spark as soon as possible, as the move is more reliable than Thunder when Rain isn't up.

Suicune
Availability: The Under via Cipher Admin Venus at Level 40
Heart Gauge: 13,000
Overview: Suicune is the best tank one could ask for. Being a pure Water-type means its has few weakness, while 100/115/115 defenses make it extremely bulky and perfectly capable of eating some super effective hits. Water is also a great offensive type, especially with 90 Special Attack, the highly coveted Surf for strong STAB that hits both enemies, and Rain Dance to boost Surf even further. Learning Aurora Beam for Ice-type coverage one level after purification is the cherry on top, making Suicune almost entirely self-sufficient. However, because it only has access to Surf for STAB, it may fail to land some KOs due to spread move reduction. Additionally, Calm Mind, one of its best moves, is effectively unobtainable due to being extremely late in Suicune's level-up movepool and the absence of TM04. The Shadow Pokémon Lab may also pose an issue due to its high concentration of Electric-types. Even with these faults, Suicune makes for a fine team member and still ends up being one of the strongest Pokémon obtainable.
Additional Notes: Suicune is a high priority Time Flute user. Surf is the last move it remembers as a Shadow Pokémon and its most important one, but it takes a long time to drain Suicune's Heart Gauge with the normal purification process. The second Time Flute is also available right after catching Suicune in The Under if you don't mind a slight detour.

Umbreon
Availability: Starter at Level 26
Heart Gauge: N/A
Overview: With 95/110/130 defenses, Umbreon is one of the bulkiest Pokémon in the game, being able to shrug off any neutral hit and even a few super effective ones. It receives a good variety of status moves to compliment said bulk, starting with Taunt and Snatch and learning Confuse Ray and Screech, while Secret Power can potentially status opponents. Access to Taunt is especially useful, as many major opponents rely on non-damaging moves such as Rain Dance to execute their strategies. Sadly, Umbreon is incredibly weak and slow with no way to patch its offenses, but the support it provides typically outweighs the lack of offensive prowess.
Additional Notes: The AI tends to prioritize frailer targets it can secure KOs on, so it will often avoid double targeting Umbreon. This can be abused to spread debuffs with impunity.

Vibrava
Availability: Shadow Pokémon Lab via Cipher Peon Remil at Level 43
Heart Gauge: 6,000
Overview: Vibrava isn't much to write home about at a first glance. It has unimpressive stats relative to its acquisition period and comes with moves that are decent but not amazing. However, the TM for Earthquake is obtained in the same area, and Vibrava is only two levels away from evolving into Flygon. Flygon is easily the best Earthquake abuser in the game thanks to its Base 100 Attack and Speed on top of the STAB boost. And it's not a one-trick pony, as a Special Attack stat of 80 is decent enough to use its Dragon STAB or coverage moves such as Fire Blast and Crunch in the few situations where Earthquake won't work. Ground/Dragon typing combined with the Levitate ability also provide a nice set of resistances and immunities that help bolster a passable 80/80/80 bulk. All these attributes combined make for a great Pokémon despite Vibrava coming so late into the main game.
Additional Notes: Vibrava is one of the best candidates for the Time Flute despite its small Heart Gauge. If you go this route, saving the two of the three Rare Candies obtained in The Under will allow for an immediate evolution into Flygon and skip the babying period it would otherwise have.

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

Bayleef
Availability: Phenac City via Cipher Peon Verde at Level 30
Heart Gauge: 3,000
Overview: Of the three Johto starters, Bayleef probably has the worst time of it. Its biggest issue is being forced to rely on Razor Leaf -- a spread move with a Base Power of only 55 -- as STAB. Due to Generation III's spread mechanics, Bayleef has huge trouble dealing damage even on super effective hits unless you go out of your way to obtain the TMs for Giga Drain and SolarBeam. It does have Body Slam to fall back on, but a Normal move working off an only average Attack isn't much to write home about. Regardless, access to several support options like Reflect and Light Screen, sustain in Synthesis, the ability to learn Earthquake, and good defenses combined with decent offenses may make Bayleef worth consideration if you want to focus on Sunny Day. Overall, Bayleef doesn't really shine anywhere in the major battles, but its well-rounded attributes make it quite usable in all of them, even if Croconaw and Quilava are vastly better choices.
Additional Notes: While Bayleef and Meganium do learn SolarBeam naturally, the move comes so late that it will almost assuredly be learned during the postgame. Consider just using the SolarBeam TM to bypass this.

Furret
Availability: Pyrite Town via Rogue Cail at Level 33
Heart Gauge: 5,000
Overview: Furret is pretty solid when first Snagged. Base 90 Speed lets it go first in most situations, and 76 Attack lets it fire off decently powerful Shadow Rushes. If it somehow can't outspeed the opponent, it is one of the few Pokémon with access to a priority move in Quick Attack to finish off weakened targets. Furret also remembers Helping Hand very quickly to support stronger teammates, and is notably one of the only Pokémon with the move. The most important thing Furret has, however, is the level-up move Follow Me. The only other Pokémon with Follow Me is Togetic, which is the last Shadow Pokémon you can Snag and thus unusable, and the redirection effect can protect frailer teammates while also potentially cheesing the AI. Even though Furret's usefulness falls off after purification becomes available due to low stats, access to both Helping Hand and Follow Me gives it a niche no other Pokémon can really fulfill.
Additional Notes: Thanks to being a Normal-type, Furret learns a wide variety of TMs. Sadly, most of the moves are Special, and Furret's low Special Attack means cannot effectively make the use of most of them.

Meditite
Availability: Pyrite Cave via Rider Twan at Level 33
Heart Gauge: 5,000
Overview: Meditite is the premiere glass cannon. Its stats may look awful, but Pure Power effectively grants it 102 Attack, which becomes a pseudo-base 140 after evolving into Medicham. Between Shadow Rush, STAB-boosted High Jump Kick, and the Black Belt being held by Hitmontop, Meditite has the potential to OHKO many targets on a neutral hit. It's also not a one-trick pony, as it can be taught Light Screen and Reflect to provide some team support. Additionally, Psych Up can lead to harder snowballing if you get creative with it. While a high-risk Pokémon due to its fragility and the unreliable nature of High Jump Kick, the reward for properly using Meditite is quite worth it.
Additional Notes: If you find High Jump Kick not to your liking, the TMs for Focus Punch and Brick Break can be obtained from completing Pyrite Colosseum. The TM for Shadow Ball can also be obtained in the Under Colosseum, giving Meditite unresisted neutral coverage.

Misdreavus
Availability: Pyrite Square via Rider Vant at Level 30
Heart Gauge: 4,000
Overview: Misdreavus is a mixed bag. To get the negatives out of the way, it has mediocre stats that do not line up with its typing, with low HP, Attack, and Defense and only average Special Attack/Defense and Speed stats. The low Attack especially hurts because it comes with STAB Shadow Ball, which would be a great option had Colosseum not been a Generation III game and thus predate the Physical/Special split. Misdreavus can still deal damage since it relearns Psybeam upon purification, but that's a 65 Base Power non-STAB move, and the only other reasonable option is Thunder from TM. On the positive side, Misdreavus is the sole obtainable Ghost-type, granting it unique defensive benefits no other Pokémon can replicate. The AI tends to have a rough time understanding how Ghost's type matchups work, so enemies may waste turns trying to hit Misdreavus with Normal and Fighting attacks even though it's immune to them. Levitate provides a Ground immunity on top of that, providing more switch-in opportunities. Finally, access to Pain Split at Level 37 and Perish Song at Level 45 allows for some interesting, if fringe, strategies, and Mean Look even enables Perish Trapping to potentially cheese some fights.
Additional Notes: Misdrevous can learn both Rain Dance and Sunny Day from TM, giving it some flexibility with team support depending on your build.

Skiploom
Availability: Pyrite Town via Rider Leba at Level 30
Heart Gauge: 3,000
Overview: Anyone familiar with Skiploom would likely write it off immediately, and for good reason. The Hoppip line is notoriously awful due to exceptionally poor Attack and Special Attack stats that barely improve with evolution, Skiploom's only non-TM damaging move is the weak Mega Drain, and a glance at its level-up movepool shows it only gets the moves it comes with in Colosseum. However, the first thing Skiploom remembers as its Heart Gauge depletes is Sleep Powder, the most accurate Sleep-inducing move available in the game. When combined with a very high Speed stat (especially after evolving), it can shut down opponents before they are able to act and greatly simplify the game state of any given battle, which is incredibly valuable in Doubles. Outside of being an amazing partner for a strong and possibly frail offensive Pokémon, a reliable sleeper is also great for Snagging, as Sleep provides the biggest boost to catch rate out of all status effects and prevents Shadow Pokémon from knocking themselves out from Shadow Rush recoil. Even if Sleep Powder misses, Skiploom and Jumpluff have above-average bulk to take neutral hits, can heal themselves with Synthesis, and Grass/Flying is also an okay typing that provides a resistance to Water and an immunity to Ground.
Additional Notes: Consider making a short detour to Phenac Stadium and completing all four rounds as soon as possible to earn the TMs for Sunny Day, Giga Drain, and SolarBeam. A fast Sunny Day may be useful for other teammates or to get Chlorophyll online, while Giga Drain and/or SolarBeam will allow Skiploom to do more passable damage than with Mega Drain.

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

Granbull
Availability: Shadow Pokémon Lab via Cipher Peon Tanie at Level 43
Heart Gauge: 6,000
Overview: Despite a fairly late acquisition, Granbull is more than usable. It has a high base 120 Attack to abuse Shadow Rush and comes with the always amazing Intimidate ability, which supplements its decent physical bulk. While Granbull's level-up movepool isn't anything to write home about and the majority of its useful coverage works off its significantly lower Special Attack stat, spamming Shadow Rush and Normal STAB is more than adequate. Granbull isn't perfect, though. It's still slow and has a below-average Special Defense, which can lead it to being KO'd before it can act. Being a Normal-type also provides little defensive or offensive utility. Regardless, being the strongest Intimidate user in the game gives it great value.
Additional Notes: Since Granbull is a Normal-type in games released before X and Y, it gets STAB on Return. The Return TM is freely available by beating Justy in Phenac City, and Happiness can be increased quickly with the usage of Vivid Scents. Quick Claw also makes for a great held item due to Granbull being naturally slow.

Heracross
Availability: Realgam Tower via Cipher Peon Dioge at Level 45
Heart Gauge: 7,000
Overview: Heracross may be a Bug-type, but it's a very good Bug-type. It has a high BST with a hard-hitting 125 Attack, good 80/75/95 bulk, a decent Speed of 85, and a powerful STAB option in Megahorn once it hits level 53. It's also part Fighting, which combined with Bug provides an interesting set of resistances that include Ground, Fighting, Grass, and Dark. The typing is especially amazing for the endgame, as every trainer in the Realgam Colosseum gauntlet is carrying at least one Pokémon that has trouble with Heracross. Even in neutral or disadvantageous matchups, Heracross might be able to pull through thanks to its Guts or Swarm abilities. However, while largely good for the endgame, the giant blue beetle is destroyed by the Flying coverage carried by both Nascour and Evice. It's amazing for the postgame, though, and just might be worth it for that.
Additional Notes: Heracross can make a good recipient of the Time Flute to gain immediate access to Brick Break and be able to level up before the final gauntlet. It can also be taught Earthquake by TM, but that might not be strictly necessary since its STAB options already have high power and provide decent coverage.

Hitmontop
Availability: Agate Village via Cipher Peon Skrub at Level 38
Heart Gauge: 6,000
Overview: Hitmontop was primed for greatness in Colosseum. It comes relatively early and at a high level, sports good bulk with a decent Attack stat to tank hits and fight back, and Intimidate is an even more amazing ability for Doubles than it is in Singles. However, its primary attacking option after purification is Triple Kick, a multi-hut move with imperfect accuracy that has a max Base Power of 60. This severely hinders Hitmontop's damage output unless you obtain the the TMs for Brick Break or Focus Punch, and that might be too much of an ask. Combined with a nonexistent support movepool, what you get is a Pokémon that exists to do nothing but be an Intimidate bot. Regardless, Intimidate bots are still useful, so being the first Pokémon with the ability makes Hitmontop worth consideration.
Additional Notes: Focus Energy can be used to potentially boost Triple Kick's damage since each hit has a chance to crit. You can even try giving Hitmontop a King's Rock for similar reasons if you get ahold of one from Aipom's Pickup. Hitmontop also makes a decent use of Earthquake, which is just slightly weaker than STAB-boosted Brick Break but is also a freebie TM.

Houndoom
Availability: Tower Colosseum via Cipher Peon Nella at Level 48
Heart Gauge: 7,000
Overview: Houndoom has an incredibly good offensive typing in Dark/Fire, comes with solid STAB options, and is one of the few Dark-types with a high Special Attack stat to abuse the fact that all Dark moves are considered Special. The ability to learn SolarBeam via TM rounds out its coverage and makes for a great attacker. While it relearns Flamethrower last and doesn't get Faint Attack until purification, its Attack stat is still decent, so the damage of its Shadow Rushes is passable until then. However, Houndoom is encountered incredibly late, being part of the final gauntlet just before the final boss. It's also quite frail, which makes it hard to use before it gets access to its STAB attacks. While effectively limited it to the postgame cleanup, it's still a decent Pokémon to run up to the fight with Fein.
Additional Notes: If purified, Houndoom has a good showing against Nascour, being able to hit most of his Pokémon for super effective damage, but is nowhere near worth the investment just for one battle.

Metagross
Availability: Tower Colosseum via Nascour at Level 50
Heart Gauge: 15,000
Overview: As a psuedo-legendary, Metagross has a well-realized stat spread, with very high Attack and Defense and above-average HP, Special Attack, and Special Defense. Its typing, Steel/Psychic, also provides numerous resistances that compliment its stats, making Metagross quite tanky. However, it can only be caught at the very end of the game just before the final story fight against Evice, largely limiting its use to the postgame content. It's still good for that part of the game, just not as impactful as it could be if it was obtained earlier.
Additional Notes: The game's QA team must have noticed Metagross's awfully low catch rate, because it has been increased to ensure you don't spend forever trying to catch it.

Miltank
Availability: Tower Colosseum via Bodybuilder Jomas at Level 48
Heart Gauge: 7,000
Overview: Don't completely sleep on Miltank. The Defense Curl and Rollout combo enables potentially high damage output even with a meh Attack stat, and it also has STAB Body Slam as a fallback option that can be used to fish for Paralysis. Miltank is also surprisingly bulky and deceptively fast, so it won't go down easily and can abuse Rollout much more efficiently. While pure Normal isn't the most lucrative of defensive typings, Thick Fat grants psudeo-resistances to Fire and Ice, which are common in the final battles and postgame content. Miltank sadly comes extremely late and will likely be relegated to the postgame, but using a Time Flute on it may lead to surprising results.
Additional Notes: Because Miltank is part of the final gauntlet before the Evice fight, you either need to leave a team slot open for Miltank or purposefully lose a match after Snagging to add it to your team.

Skarmory
Availability: Realgam Tower via Snagem Leader Gonzap at Level 47
Heart Gauge: 13,000
Overview: Skarmory is the wall. It has 140 base Defense to shrug off any physical hit, and Steel/Flying is an amazing defensive typing to further bolster that bulk and help it against some Special types like Psychic. It's also not passive, as 80 Attack is high enough to hit back with passable damage when combined with STAB-boosted Drill Peck and Steel Wing. However, Skarmory lacks utility outside of Metal Sound, so all it can really do is whittle down opponents with moderate damage or stall while you heal up something else. As for Skarmory's matchups in the last two fights before the credits, it walls much of Evice's team but suffers against Nascour due to his strong Special Attackers with Fire and Electric coverage. The late acquisition also doesn't help any, as Skarmory's massive Heart Gauge means it's almost certainly going to stay a Shadow Pokémon well into the postgame unless you use a Time Flute. However, the usefulness during the Evice fight is enough of a reason to consider using it.
Additional Notes: Skarmory is probably the best Toxic staller in the game due to its bulk and typing. This still requires purification to take advantage of, though, and isn't exactly the fastest of strategies.

Stantler
Availability: The Under Subway via Chaser Liaks at Level 43
Heart Gauge: 6,000
Overview: Stantler may not seem like much, but it actually has a fair bit to offer as a teammate. It learns decent attack and support options through TMs, has an offensive stat spread of 95/85/85 to actually hit things from both ends of the spectrum without being slow, and gets a couple other nice surprises like Hypnosis and learning Calm Mind through level-up. This is all topped off by the always-amazing Intimidate. Stantler is far from the best Pokémon since it's still quite frail and quite TM dependent, but it various attributes allow it to contribute quite well during a playthrough.
Additional Notes: The best way to take advantage of Calm Mind on Stantler is to teach it Psychic and/or Thunder, but the former involves grinding Mt. Battle for coupons while the latter demands Rain Dance support to negate accuracy problems. You can also have Espeon copy Calm Mind boosts with Psych Up, turning it into a monster.

Swablu
Availability: Pyrite Cave via Hunter Zalo at Level 33
Heart Gauge: 5,000
Overview: Swablu doesn't start out great. It has okay bulk relative to what's encountered in the beginning of the game, but its other stats are below par and it has to rely on Fly for anything resembling decent damage. Access to Sing is nice, Sing is the least accurate Sleep-inducing move in a game where you get Sleep Powder on the much faster Skiploom. Swablu's evolution, on the other hand, is an interesting Pokémon to talk about. Altaria is the first of only two Dragon-types available in Colosseum, and it has amazing bulk with a fantastic movepool that gives is a lot of versatility. Access to Dragon Dance is also a major boon that compensates for below-average offenses, as Altaria can easily set up on anything that doesn't have an Ice move and tear through the opposition with Fly or Earthquake. Finally, Mirror Move and Perish Song can lead to fun strategies if you feel like screwing around. Altaria's combination of stats, movepool, and typing leads to a good showing for most of the major battles as long as you're willing to deal with purifying Swablu.
Additional Notes: Dragonbreath is only learned on the exact level Swablu evolves into Altaria, so if you're not careful you'll lose out on Dragon STAB and will have to wait until the postgame to get the Dragon Claw TM. If you decide to rely on Dragon Dance, you can pair it with Psych Up on Medicham for some very deadly results.

Tyranitar
Availability: Tower Colosseum via Cipher Head Evice at Level 55
Heart Gauge: 20,000
Overview: Tyranitar needs no introduction, so one won't be provided. What will be stated is that its late inclusion as the Shadow Pokémon of the final boss restricts it usage to the postgame, where its amazing stats, superb movepool, and high level make it a more than adequate party member despite a short shelf life. If Tyranitar was available even a single fight earlier it might have been ranked higher.
Additional Notes: Since Tyranitar has the largest Heart Gauge in the game, it might be worth using a Time Flute on to make it more effective. Also, remember that Sandstorm does not provide a boost to the Special Defense for Rock-types in Generation III, so don't be cheeky and leave Tyranitar in against Water- or Grass-types.

Ursaring
Availability: Snagem Hideout via Team Snagem Agrev at Level 45
Heart Gauge: 7,000
Overview: Ursaring is the only postgame Shadow Pokémon worth any consideration. It's decently bulky with 90/75/75 defenses, hits incredibly hard with 130 Attack, and is the sole Pokémon in the game with Guts that's guaranteed to have it. While it's a slow Normal-type with no coverage and comes underleveled, Guts-boosted moves will ensure it pulls its weight until Fein if you choose to use it.
Additional Notes: Ursaring will not learn any new moves by level-up outside of Thrash and doesn't come with many usable options, but Normal STAB combined with the Brick Break or Earthquake TMs for coverage should be sufficient.

 

[Karxrida]

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 is typically counterbalanced by many visible flaws, a drop-off in usability after a certain point, or come a little too late to contribute.

Pokémon

Forretress
Availability: Shadow Pokémon Lab via Cipher Peon Vana at Level 43
Heart Gauge: 6,000
Overview: Forretress has an amazing Bug/Steel typing that gives it only one weakness and many resistances, an extremely high Defense stat of 140, and a usable Attack stat of 90. While these attributes should combine to make for a decent tank, Forretress gets no STAB options and has to rely on the weak Rapid Spin or the gimmicky Bide after purification, leaving it fairly passive. While it has a good support movepool that contains both Light Screen and Reflect, there are a number of more offensive Pokémon available in Colosseum that can also learn those moves. However, Forretress has one trick up its sleeve after being purified to make it worth consideration: Explosion. Explosion in Generation III is not affected by spread damage reduction and treats every target has having halved Defense, leading to a tactical nuke of a move with effectively 500 BP that can potentially be boosted by Helping Hand. Forretress will not gain EXP efficiently if used this way and will almost assuredly knock out its partner in the process, but it is hilarious and decently effective.
Additional notes: Forretress can learn Earthquake by TM to make use of its passable Attack without exploding. However, the move is typically better suited for other Pokémon.

Mantine
Availability: Pyrite Building via Miror B. Peon Ferma at Level 33
Heart Gauge: 5,000
Overview: Mantine has some pretty solid stats from when it is caught. 70 Speed is "good enough" and 80 Special Attack is pretty nice for the early game. While 65/70 physical bulk is average, a fat Special Defense stat of 140 makes Mantine the special equivalent of Skarmory. It also has two good abilities in Swift Swim and Water Absorb, though it can't take advantage of Swift Swim very well. Even with all these positives, Mantine's movepool and awful 40 Attack severely hold it back. Since Colosseum misses out on all HMs, Mantine does not have Surf or even Waterfall, and the complete reliance on Bubblebeam for STAB really starts to show later in the game. Its support movepool is basically nonexistent, with its best option being Confuse Ray at level 50, and before then all you have is Supersonic. While it works alright in the beginning of the game and has good matchups against Miror B. and Dakim, it falls off hard after the latter.
Additional Notes: Mantine's bulk does make it a good abuser of Toxic, but Toxic stalling is still slow and unreliable in Doubles. You should probably just box it after Dakim since there are so many better options.

Noctowl
Availability: Pyrite Town via Rider Nover at Level 30
Heart Gauge: 3,000
Overview: Noctowl is an odd Pokémon. It's a Normal/Flying-type built to tank Special hits with 100/50/96 defenses, and gets some Psychic moves on the side. Odd doesn't translate to amazing, sadly, as it has poor Attack, middling Special Attack, and no way to hit back meaningfully for a long time. But Noctowl isn't without use. It has a couple of support options in Reflect and Hypnosis, and its stats and typing combined with Fly make for a decent choice in the Ludicolo-infested Miror B. fight. Noctowl's utility drops off right after Miror B. since Skiploom is a more consistent Sleep inducer and many better Pokémon can be taught Reflect, but it's not completely worthless if you really want to keep it.
Additional Notes: While Noctowl can learn Psychic and it's probably the bird's best attacking option, TM29 can only be obtained by grinding out coupons in Mt. Battle. More feasibly, it can be taught both Rain Dance and Sunny Day for more team support if you want to focus on either weather.

Plusle
Availability: Pyrite Town via Duking at Level 13 as a gift
Heart Gauge: N/A
Overview: Plusle comes severely underleveled, has a useless ability, and isn't particularly strong or bulky. However, if you're willing to invest the time to bring it up to snuff, it's a competent supporter. It's one of three Pokémon with access to Helping Hand, the only one with Encore, and gets a large number of other good options like Dual Screens and Thunder Wave. You can even use Baton Pass with Agility to boost a slower teammate like Medicham. If Plusle does have to attack, it deals adequate enough damage with Spark or Thunder and has above-average Speed, so it's not just a sitting duck like many other supporters. The biggest thing holding it back is the low starting leveling, which is enough of an issue to knock down its placement.
Additional Notes: Because Plusle has a different Trainer ID and is in the Medium-Fast EXP group, it will catch up quicker than you'd expect. The EXP Share can also be found in Agate Village to further speed up the leveling process.

Piloswine
Availability: The Under Subway via Bodybuilder Lonia at level 43
Heart Gauge: 6,000
Overview: Pilowswine has a fantastic offensive typing in Ice/Ground -- a STAB combination that hits 9 types super effectively. While pretty bad defensively, being hit by five types, Piloswine also has a beefy base 100 HP as well as 80/60 defenses to take some hits, and its base 100 Attack enables it to hit quite hard physically. Its biggest issues are its low Speed stat of 50 and borderline unusable Special Attack of 60, compromising its bulk and ability to use Ice moves, respectively. It must also rely on the slow Dig and inaccurate Blizzard for STAB, with the latter also being a spread move. While Piloswine can be taught both Light Screen and Reflect, the low Speed and bad typing makes it and awful Screens setter. Though it's still usable due to the Earthquake TM and a strong Shadow Rush, Piloswine needs a lot of support to ensure it doesn't get KO'd before it can attack.
Additional Notes: Piloswine comes holding Soft Sand, which boosts the power of Ground-type moves. Even if you don't plan on using Piloswine, you should try to catch it when it first appears to give the held item to other Earthquake users like Vibrava.

Qwilfish
Availability: Pyrite Building via Hunter Doken at Level 33
Heart Gauge: 5,000
Overview: Qwilfish starts off surprisingly decent. It makes a good Shadow Rush spammer in the early game thanks to its base 95 Attack, which is higher than most other Shadow Pokémon at the time. A Water/Poison typing and potential ability in Swift Swim also help against Miror B., who can be an annoying boss if you're not prepared. However, Qwilfish's usefulness tanks after it can be purified. Shadow Rush is replaced by the pitiful Poison Sting, and there are no other good physical options readily available outside of Take Down at Level 37. While Qwilfish is one of the few Pokémon in the game with Surf, a low Special Attack stat of 55 and Generation III's spread damage reduction mean it will do very little damage even on a super effective hit with Rain up. Qwilfish should not be entirely ignored due to its early usefulness, but you should probably box it once you have access to the Relic Stone in Agate Village.
Additional Notes: The TMs for Sludge Bomb and Shadow Ball can be obtained from clearing the first two rounds of the Under Colosseum, and Qwilfish makes good use of them. However, the challengers there have teams in the mid 50s. This is not insurmountable, but it is still too high of an investment to keep Qwilfish relevant in an efficient run.

Sudowoodo
Availability: Pyrite Cave via Cipher Admin Miror B. at Level 35
Heart Gauge: 10,000
Overview: Of the two Rock-types available, Sudowoodo is clearly the superior option. 100 Attack gives it a very powerful Shadow Rush, STAB-boosted Rock Slide along with the Hard Stone grant it a strong spread move, and a hefty 115 Defense lets it shrug off many physical attacks. It also has nice coverage in Low Kick and can later be taught Earthquake. With all of these positives, why is Sudowoodo D-tier? First, pure Rock typing is more of a curse than a blessing due to its five weaknesses, especially since all of them are common in the major battles. Second, it effectively has no ability, as Sturdy only protects against the very rare OHKO moves and Sudowoodo does not have convenient access to any recoil moves that would benefit from Rock Head. Finally, it's very slow and doesn't have good Special bulk, which don't help with its weaknesses being so common. It will likely be KO'd before it can act. Sudowoodo can still put in work, but don't expect it to be useful all the time.
Additional Notes: Sudowoodo can potentially make good use of Quick Claw due to its low Speed and access to the flinch-inducing Rock Slide, but the random nature of the item means this strategy is incredibly inconsistent.

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.

E-Tier: Reserved for Pokémon who possess the worst efficiency 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 due to late captures, horrible movepools, etc. 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 Colosseum.

Pokémon

Absol
Availability: Tower Colosseum via Rider Delan at Level 48
Heart Gauge: 7,000
Overview: Absol sports one of the highest Attack stats in the game at 130 and comes with Swords Dance, but it suffers from "physical Dark-type introduced before the Physical/Special split" Syndrome. Its lacking physical movepool means it has no real way to take advantage of its Attack outside of Shadow Rush -- which it admittedly abuses quite well -- and it's super frail on top of that. Middling Speed means its will likely be beaten up before it can hit anything, let alone set up a Swords Dance. Compounding this is that Absol comes very late into the story, limiting any potentially usefulness it might have had.
Additional Notes: If for some reason you want to use Absol for the final battles, you'll have to skip out on capturing Miltank, go into the final battles with 4 Pokémon, or purposely white out so you can swap around your team.

Aipom
Availability: Shadow Pokémon Lab via Cipher Peon Cole at Level 43
Hearts Gauge: 6,000
Overview: Monkey might see, but monkey definitely can't do. Aipom has all-around awful stats outside of Speed, which is just a decent base 85. Its wide movepool makes its sad stat distribution even more tragic, as it has amazing coverage it can barely utilize. While Tickle is a nice debuffing move and Baton Pass enables some cheese, the small simian is too frail to use Tickle more than once and it can only pass Speed boosts with Baton Pass due to its movepool. If you want a good Normal-type, Aipom isn't it.
Additional Notes: One of Aipom's potential abilities is Pick Up, and Colosseum uses the unbalanced drop table from Ruby and Sapphire instead of the nerfed one from Emerald. While you can't abuse it too well due to Aipom coming in the midgame and Colosseum overall being fairly short, it still might be worth lugging the monkey around in the back of the party for a few fights just for the chance to find Rare Candies, PP Ups, or a King's Rock.

Ariados
Availability: Shadow Pokémon Lab via Cipher Peon Lesar at Level 43
Heart Gauge: 6,000
Overview: Ariados might have been usable if it was encountered in the beginning of the game like it should have been. Base 90 Attack is good, and it comes with STAB Sludge Bomb so its damage output doesn't suffer from being purified like a few other Pokémon. However, its overall low stats make it slow and frail, being a Bug/Poison type leaves a lot to be desired offensively and defensively, and its movepool in general is pretty sad.
Additional Notes: Spider Web might enable some trapping shenanigans, but it's not really worth the effort to completely purify Ariados for that.

Delibird
Availability: Realgam Tower via Cipher Peon Arton at Level 45
Heart Gauge: 7,000
Overview: Someone must have landed on Santa's naughty list, because Delibird is the Pokémon equivalent of a lump of coal. Actually, that's a lie, as a lump of coal is useful for fuel while Delibird is worthless. The festive fowl has an awfully low stat total with pitiful distribution, the objectively worst level-up movepool in the entire game because it literally doesn't exist, and a horrendous defensive typing in Ice/Flying. It's also a late game encounter that's outclassed by basically everything around it. Technically, Delibird does have a few redeeming qualities. For example, one of its abilities is Hustle, and the ice bird has a couple physical moves to use it with. You shouldn't because Delibird's Attack stat is 55 and one of its only physical moves is the hilariously inconsistent and sometimes detrimental Present, but it's there. It can also learn a decent selection of TMs, but basically anything else in the game with the same options will make better use of them. It would be a Christmas miracle if Delibird manages to live beyond one turn or meaningfully contribute to a KO.
Additional Notes: The most notable thing about Delibird is that it's holding NeverMeltIce, which will be far more useful on other Pokémon with Ice coverage to help them secure KOs. If Snagging every Shadow Pokémon wasn't necessary to fight Fein, stealing the item with Thief and just knocking Delibird out might have been preferable.

Dunsparce
Availability: Pyrite Cave via Rider Sosh at Level 33
Heart Gauge: 5,000
Overview: Dunsparce is terrible, but at least it's a fun kind of terrible. It can come with Serene Grace and has the movepool to abuse it, but also loses out on a lot of options due to Colosseum's missing TMs, the inaccessibility of Egg Moves, and no Move Tutors. This leaves the cryptid with Fire Blast, Blizzard, and Thunder as the most realistic options for Serene Grave shenanigans. While these are still good due to the variety of status conditions inflicted by the Fire/Ice/Electric combo and overall coverage, Paralysis is already covered by Dunsparce's own access to Glare (which even works on Ground-types), Blizzard's inaccuracy counteracts the boosted Freeze chance, and Freeze is an inconsistent status effect anyway due to the potential of immediate defrosting. This just leaves Fire Blast spam for Burns, which is otherwise a hard status to come by in Colosseum, and that's still not a good enough reason to use Dunsparce since it's weak and slow. Just go KO whatever you're trying to Burn with a different Pokémon or use an offensive Reflect setter like Espeon.
Additional Notes: The best use of Dunsparce is to exploit its low Special Attack to spam weak Fire Blasts on a teammate with Guts to inflict a Burn, as Burn is the ideal status for Guts. However, this still isn't consistent, and this doesn't involve Dunsparce directly contributing to any fight once Burn is live.

Gligar
Availability: The Under via Hunter Frena at Level 43
Heart Gauge: 6,000
Overview: Gligar has the potential to be a usable Pokémon, but not in Colosseum. Its level-up movepool contains no STAB options to take advantage of an amazing Ground/Flying typing, and it lacks support moves that could have compensated. The purple pest is at the complete mercy of TMs, which would be wasted because it doesn't have great offensive stats. The only things Gligar has going for it are Sand Veil for evasion cheese and Guillotine for OHKO fishing, but Sand Veil requires Sand Stream from Tyranitar and Guillotine is a late level-up move that requires you to use Gligar way more than anyone should.
Additional Notes: Gligar would have been the best Earthquake spammer available if it had Swords Dance like in later games. That's not really helpful for Colosseum, but what do you expect out of the E Tier.

Ledian
Availability: The Under via Cipher Peon Kloak at Level 40
Heart Gauge: 6,000
Overview: Ledian is the Five Star Pokémon. This is notable because it's a big fat lie, as Ledian isn't even worth a zero star rating. It hits like a dry paper towel and is just as fragile, but can't clean up any messes. While Ledian does have a decent support movepool, it doesn't have any unique options to justify using over other Pokémon that can do things like deal damage, and you have to somehow purify Ledian to gain access to the good moves. Also, it's a Bug/Flying-type, which bad as a rule of thumb.
Additional Notes: Please be nice to actual ladybugs. They eat garden pests like aphids.

Murkrow
Availability: Shadow Pokémon Lab via Cipher Peon Lare at Level 43
Heart Gauge: 6,000
Overview: While Murkrow has passable offensive stats and a decent typing, it's made of tissue and lacks good options to capitalize on its stats. It can do okay damage with Faint Attack and Fly, but will almost assuredly be double-teamed by the AI and knocked out instantly. Murkrow ends up being a liability in most, if not all matchups, and should be avoided.
Additional Notes: A group of crows is called a murder. Some trivia for you since Murkrow is such a boring E Rank to talk about.

Remoraid
Availability: Pyrite Building via Miror B. Peon Reath at Level 20
Heart Gauge: 4,000
Overview: Remoraid seems like a neat Pokémon thanks to its typing and movepool, being a Water-type capable of learning Fire Blast and coming with Aurora Beam and Psybeam. However, it is Snagged severely underleveled and has awful defenses on top of that, which lead to a ridiculous babying period until purification is available. While Remoraid does improve significantly upon evolution into Octillery due to high attacking stats and decent bulk, it's just decent, and the required investment is too large to be worth consideration.
Additional Notes: Since HMs are absent in Colosseum, Remoraid's strongest STAB move ends up being Bubblebeam or Octazooka.

Shuckle
Availability: Deep Colosseum via Deep King Agnol at Level 45
Heart Gauge: 7,000
Overview: Shuckle is the epitome of a do-nothing wall. While it has the highest Defense and Special Defense in the game, it lacks most tools that would allow it to take advantage of its stats outside of Encore. Encore is amazing, but the lack of follow-up plays doesn't justify running Shuckle for it. Additionally, Shuckle comes underleveled, being obtained when trainers have Pokémon in the late 60s, compromising any defensive utility it may provide. The late availability also means you'll likely encounter Shuckle immediately before the final fight with Fein, making purification a waste of time.
Additional Comments: There's nothing funny to add here. Shuckle is the joke.

Smeargle
Availability: Snagem Hideout via Team Snagem Biden at Level 45
Heart Gauge: 7,000
Overview: Smeargle is infamous for being able to learn almost any move in the game via Sketch, which theoretically enables unique strategies in Doubles that would normally compensate for its abysmal stats. However, it is caught far too late to abuse this potential due to missing out on the majority of fights, its premade selection of moves is an awful grab bag of Double Slap, Tail Whip, and Iron Tail, and it must also be purified before it gains access to its signature move. Don't bother with Smeargle unless you're doing a challenge run of some kind.
Additional Comments: There's probably some starving artist joke to be made here. Or a President Biden joke. Stew on that when you see Smeargle in Colosseum and get back to us.

Slugma
Availability: Pyrite Town via Roller Boy Lon at Level 30
Heart Gauge: 4,000
Overview: The first thing you might notice about Slugma is that it's an early Fire-type that comes with Flamethrower. The second thing you might notice is that it's terrible in spite of being an early Fire-type that comes with Flamethrower. Slugma has all-around low stats, sporting that wonderful combination of fragility and slowness. It is based on a slug, after all. If you somehow suffer through babysitting it through purification and evolving it at Level 38, you'll get Macargo, which has much better stats but also becomes a Fire/Rock-type. Fire/Rock is an amazing offensive combo, especially since Slugma and Magcargo naturally learn Rock Slide, but it's also one of the worst possible defensive combinations you can have on something sluggish. Weaknesses to Fighting and Rock on top of two double weaknesses in Water and Ground are not a good time and destroy Magcargo's passable bulk. And it gets worse, because Magcargo has an awful Attack stat and can't even abuse the fact it gets STAB on Rock Slide if it somehow survives to get a hit off. Slugma and Magcargo do get Flame Body, which is a decent way to spread Burns, but this is assuming they get hit by a contact move and you're lucky enough to get that 30% proc off before the lava gastropod is KO'd.
Additional Notes: It's so sad that Steven Stone died of Slugma.

Sneasel
Availability: Under Subway via Rider Nelis at Level 43
Heart Gauge: 6,000
Overview: Sneasel is another sad victim of early Dark-type mismanagement. Its stats are distributed competently, with nice Attack and a Speed stat that's tied with Raikou for the fastest available. However, it is unable to fully take advantage of these attributes because Colosseum predates the Physical/Special split. This means Sneasel's Ice and Dark STAB attacks are both Special and thus do pitiful damage off a terrible Special Attack stat. It does learn some good physical moves via TMs -- like Brick Break and Shadow Ball -- but these are better on other Pokémon and are locked behind completing optional Colosseums. It's also hard to keep Sneasel alive between general fragility and the weaknesses that come with being an Ice-type. While not entirely unusable when first obtained due to being a decent Shadow Rush spammer, Sneasel will quickly find itself overwhelmed and should be avoided on any serious team.
Additional Notes: If you're sad about Sneasel being bad, remember that it gets a cool and very usable evolution in the next generation.

Sunflora
Availability: Realgam Tower via Cipher Admin Baila at Level 45
Heart Gauge: 7,000
Overview: Sunflora smiles all the time to hide the pain inside, cause it has never been a good Pokémon. A weak base 55 defense, very slow 30 base Speed. It does have a good 105 base Special Attack, but can barely take advantage of it since unless you get a good hidden power, Solarbeam and Giga Drain are the only special moves it can use. Typical of grass types, its movepool is pretty garbage. Its way too reliant on the sun since its entire kit revolves around it, but at least with the sun up, its speed stat actually becomes respectable, but due to it being so slow, it most likely won't be able to get it up by itself. Sunflora's biggest flaw is that is requires too much set up to become usable, and then when it does, it's most likely dead at that point.
Additional Notes: Sunflowers are actually pretty cool. Have you seen how huge they can get? Tallest one ever recorded was about 30 feet -- about 9 meters for you Metric system users. Nature's pretty rad like that. Maybe plant some sunflower seeds in your backyard next time they're in season, because that would be a far better use of your time than fielding Sunflora.

Tropius
Availability: Tower Colosseum via Cipher Peon Ston at Level 49
Heart Gauge: 7,000
Overview: Tropius's claim to fame is being a great HM Slave, but Colosseum does not use HMs. Thus it must be judged purely on its merits in combat, and it doesn't have many. Like the Sunflora available before it, Tropius has clearly been built as a Chlorophyll sweeper meant to spam SolarBeam. However, you have to complete the entire purification process before getting SolarBeam, Tropius has extremely limited used due to being Snagged during the final gauntlet right before the Nascour and Evice fights, and the dino has underwhelming offensive stats. It does have decent bulk, Fly can be used to stall, and Magical Leaf means it's not entirely dependent on Sun, but none of these attributes make the tropical dinosaur worth using in the slightest.
Additional Notes: If you want to use Tropius, just replay a Hoenn game and treat it like the HM mule Arceus intended it to be.

Yanma
Availability: Pyrite Building via Cipher Peon Nore at Level 33
Heart Gauge: 5,000
Overview: Yanma is pitiful. Bug/Flying is a terrible typing, boasting many common weaknesses and offering very little on the offensive end due to lack of good STAB options. Not that there are options to begin with, as Yanma has a horrid movepool with basically nothing of note outside of Wing Attack. 65/45/45 bulk also leaves it incredibly frail, leading to Yanma being easily KO'd even before taking the numerous weaknesses into account. Sure, it has two amazing abilities in Compoundeyes and Speed Boost, but that means nothing when there are no ways to abuse them. Using Yanma is an exercise in masochism and it is strongly advisable to not put the giant dragonfly on a team, even as a joke. It will not bring good fortune to you in any battle.
Additional Notes: You could, theoretically, abuse the fact that the AI will often try to double team Yanma due to its frailty as a pseudo-Follow Me and take no damage by spamming Detect/Protect. However, this can already be accomplished by other Pokémon who actually do something other than act at a "kick me" sign.

Untiered:

Pokémon

Togetic
Availability: Outskirt Stand via Cipher Peon Fein at Level 20
Heart Gauge: 5,000
Overview: Togetic has a good support movepool, with access to Follow Me, Encore, Yawn, and Charm, which is all complimented by decent defenses and an okay defensive typing. However, being the absolute last Shadow Pokémon makes it entirely worthless for the purposes of this tier list, plus it comes underleveled.

 

[Karxrida]

The Time Flute

The Time Flute is an item that instantly purifies any Shadow Pokémon it is used on if they are taken to the shrine in Agate Village. 3 of them exist in Colosseum, with 2 being available before the final boss and they require minimal effort to obtain. The last Time Flute is only available for beating all of Mt. Battle and using it it thus not realistic. Pokémon that have strong attributes but would otherwise be unusable or inefficient due to lateness become viable if the Time Flute is used on them, making it an important item for efficient playthroughs.

The following Pokémon are good candidates for the Time Flute.

Pokémon

Entei
Raikou
Suicune
Vibrava

TMs

TMs in Colosseum are actually difficult to get a hold of, and some are even missing. Due to this, here is a compendium of all TMs available (or not) in the game and how to get them.

Missing TMs

TM 03 Water Pulse
TM 04 Calm Mind
TM 08 Bulk Up
TM 09 Bullet Seed
TM 21 Frustration
TM 28 Dig
TM 34 Shock Wave
TM 39 Rock Tomb
TM 40 Aerial Ace
TM 42 Facade
TM 43 Secret Power
TM 50 Overheat

This is the list of TMs you get throughout the story that don't require Colosseums.

Freebie TMs

This list is organized by the order in which the TMs can be obtained.
TM 41 Torment - Phenac City, gift from beating Roller Boy Kaib
TM 27 Return - Phenac City, gift for beating Gym Leader Justy (don't do immediately because his Pokémon are in the 40's)
TM 46 Thief - Pyrite Town, jail cell in Police Station
TM 06 Toxic - Pyrite Town, story gift for beating the scripted Pyrite Colosseum matches
TM 49 Snatch - Pyrite Town, in room behind Cipher Admin Miror B. after you beat him
TM 47 Steel Wing - Mt. Battle, in chest found in reception area after beating Cipher Admin Dakim
TM 45 Attract - The Under, in chest after beating Cipher Admin Venus
TM 26 Earthquake - Shadow Pokemon Lab, in chest after beating Cipher Admin Ein

List of TMs you can buy.

Purchasable TMs

Mt. Battle (requires grinding Coupons and thus not efficient)
TM 13 Ice Beam
TM 24 Thunderbolt
TM 29 Psychic
TM 32 Double Team
TM 35 Flamethrower

The Under
TM 10 Hidden Power
TM 14 Blizzard
TM 15 Hyper Beam
TM 16 Light Screen
TM 17 Protect
TM 20 Safeguard
TM 25 Thunder
TM 33 Reflect
TM 35 Fire Blast

List of TMs that are won from Colossuems. Note that attempting to obtain most of these is not very efficient due to the high Pokémon levels of certain Colosseums.

Colosseum Prize TMs

Phenac City
TM 18 Rain Dance - Round 1
TM 11 Sunny Day - Round 2
TM 19 Giga Drain - Round 3
TM 22 Solarbeam - Round 4

Pyrite City
TM 01 Focus Punch - Round 1
TM 07 Hail - Round 2
TM 05 Roar - Round 3
TM 31 Brick Break - Round 4

The Under
TM 37 Sandstorm - Round 1
TM 36 Sludge Bomb - Round 2
TM 30 Shadow Ball - Round 3
TM 23 Iron Tail - Round 4

Deep Colosseum (Postgame only)
TM 12 Taunt - Round 1
TM 48 Skill Swap - Round 2
TM 44 Dragon Claw - Round 3
TM 02 Rest - Round 4

 

[Karxrida]

Reserved.

 

[Karxrida]

I still need to alter some things, but we can get the discussion started. Nothing is tiered at the moment so I don't circumvent any potential discussion or create inherent tiering bias.

I'm also open to changing the number tiers and their definitions if the people take issue with anything.

 

[Karxrida]

Reserved because I'm paranoid.

 

[DHR-107]

Okay so I am actually playing this at the moment with a team of

Sudowoodo/Starters/Qwilfish/Hariyama and Typhlosion. I've just reached The Under but so far everything is kinda pulling its weight.

Espeon should easily go S/A tier. Access to Confusion off the bat and it does have a "slow" period between about 32->36 before it gets Psybeam. Definitely feel the comparative weakness of Confusion when the peons start using Evolved mons. After it gets Psybeam though it goes right back up to one shotting almost everything. Especially when boosted by Helping Hand from Umbreon.

Umbreon will likely be A/B tier. Takes hits incredibly well, and its probably worth spending the Toxic TM on it. Doubles is a lot more fast paced, but sometimes the extra damage stacks from Toxic can really help out Umbreon's lowish offences. It only has Bite (I think? I can't find anything about it actually having that but I am sure it does) and Faint Attack for a lot of the game. I'd argue that depending on your Gen 2 starter choice, hanging around and getting Sunny Day/Rain Dance is well worth the effort and Umbreon has the moveslots to be able to use it well even though the G2 starters themselves come with a weather move.

On Gen 2 Starters: I used Feraligtr in my first game (all those moons ago) tied up with Rain Dance Raikou. Surf becomes incredibly potent even from Feraligtr's mediocre Special Attack with the Rain Boost and Raikou can fire off Thunders/Thunderbolts with ease. Raikou is definitely something worth thinking about for the use of a Time Flute in my opinion. Typhlosion has been OK so far, Sunny Day + Flame Wheel has been doing serious hits, and Dig is great for coverage against Rock types. It was much fun blocking Miror B from Rain Dancing with his Ludicolo's (although this was an incredibly risky play vs those guys). I'd probably go for B tier for Typhlosion at the moment.

Hariyama is powerful, but doesn't really feel like its carrying its weight at the moment. Cross Chop is unreliable, but Vital Throw has been a god send against trainers who spam Double Team (there are a few).

Sudowoodo/Qwilfish will probably be C/D tier. Both are useful and have decent moves/bulk but big downsides. I got Poison Point on my Qwilfish (not sure if Abilities are fixed), but Swift Swim would have likely been more useful coupled with Rain Dance. Qwilfish desperately wants that Sludge Bomb TM but I haven't reached that far yet (my team is 39 or so, Under Round 2 is mid 50's). It also wants Ice Beam too, but again lots of grinding required. Sudowoodo getting access to Rock Slide off the bat is nice as its a decent move in Doubles. Shame he's not really fast enough to abuse the Flinch proc, but otherwise Sudo has been doing OK. I'll probably end up teaching it Return for another decently strong move.

Team has very little synergy as a doubles squad at the moment, so I am trying to work on that. Colo has a very strict TM pool/Learnset pool and its kinda hard to get moves you want onto various Pokemon. Also the overly constrained Pokemon Selection list does this no favours too. I'd argue that any team that synergies with a weather will always do well in Colo (stacking Fires/Waters/Electrics). Even the massively underlevelled Plusle can rip holes in things towards the end game with Thunder.

 

[Fireburn]

I did one of these way back when and I agree it needs some tuning. I don't think there are that many things that could be considered top-tier but here's what I think are the best mons:

Espeon - Probably the best overall mon in the game. Starter, excellent offense with high SpA and Speed, great supporting capabilities with screens and Helping Hand to buff teammates when it can't do anything itself, decent coverage with Bite. It's inability to cover Dark-types isn't super important because every battle in this game is Dubs so you can just let its partner handle the Dark-type mons.

Croconaw - Probably the best of the Johto starters since Bayleef sucks and Quilava has to compete with Time Flute!Entei. Croc has an excellent early-game performance with Hyper Mode abuse letting him OHKO a lot of early foes with crit Shadow Rush, and you can get around the potion restrictions with healing machines and colosseum battles. Also has an excellent matchup against Dakim and his highly Water weak team. Has a bit of a midgame slump in The Under but comes back hard lategame once he gets Earthquake and Blizzard TMs. Croc doesn't outright OHKO a lot of stuff after purification but he learns a ton of good moves (Surf, Earthquake, Blizzard) and has valuable coverage + rain/HH support to buff his offense so he's never useless.

Entei - Entei is only top-tier assuming you use the Mt. Battle Time Flute on it, but it's by far the best candidate for it since it comes at Level 40 and has STAB Fire Blast immediately upon purification. Coverage leaves a bit to be desired but Stomp/Bite are serviceable for awhile, and it can make use of Return for a strong physical move and Solarbeam + its natural Sunny Day to become a nuke and turn the tables on the rain-based teams that Ein/Miror B like to use.

Quilava is comparable to Entei since The Under sells Fire Blast TMs. While Typhlosion has better SpA and comes earlier, Entei has superior bulk and Attack and requires no investment to get running aside from a Time Flute that realistically is going to either it or Suicune. Quilava also has trouble with many early-game opponents, particularly Dakim and Miror B., and by the time Fire starts getting useful you have access to Entei. While technically you could pick Quilava and use the first Time Flute on Suicune, Croc/Entei are better matched for the parts of the games they are available.

Quilava/Suicune/Makuhita are probably High tier but not Top, Quil and Cune is inferior to Croc/Entei and Makuhita is really bad until purified (and has to rely on Cross Chop which is unreliable). Umbreon kind of sucks past early-game unless you need a sponge to take hits while you heal your attackers.

On Time Flute usage - you're realistically only going to use it on the Legendary Beasts since its by far the best return on investment due to their high stats and powerful STAB moves that need to be unlocked ASAP. Entei/Suicune are the best candidates for the first one depending on if you picked Croc or Quil, and Raikou likes the second one since the U-Disk is available where you Snag it. You possibly use one on Vibrava, which can give you STAB EQ Flygon for the final area of the game. Everything else comes too late or isn't powerful enough to justify it.

 

[pika pal]

I notice Colosseum has much bigger gaps in viability: Something either rolls over the game or just kinda seems to lose out to the good stuff, and a lot of the mon's are pretty underwhelming compared to XD, and the flatter level progression curve means you don't really have much reason to swap mons out if they come later unless they're something as overpowered as the Beasts.

I need to play Colosseum again to make an informed contribution, but I definitely remember all my runs that went smoothly used Espeon and Croconaw.

 

[HotFuzzBall]

Yeah I agree that Colosseum has large gaps in viability since a lot of the mons you can get are pretty bad (Yanma, Aipom, Delibird, etc.). Anyways onto my thoughts on the Pokemon that were on my team during my runs of the game...

Skiploom/Jumpluff - Jumpluff is pretty underrated imo since it functions as such a great support mon, with access to all 3 powder moves and Leech Seed at its disposal (though Stun Spore, Leech Seed and Poison Powder must be relarned via Heart Sclaes rip). Skiploom is available early on and evolves right away after you purify it. What sold Jumpluff to me was its Speed tier, which basically allowed it to cripple 1 Pokemon early on (granted the move actually lands). Its offensive stats suck so Jumpluff is exclusively a support mon and while its bulk (75/70/85) is alright, Grass/Flying is a pretty bad typing so those are Jumpluff's shortcomings. Though if I were to rank it I would put it in either High-Middle tier since it is still pretty effective as a support mon but, the lack of offensive pressure kinda sucks.

Flaaffy/Ampharos - Probably a staple in most Colosseum runs from what I have seen. Like Skiploom, Flaaffy is also available early on and evolves right away after getting purified, which is always fantastic. Ampharos/Flaaffy has a lot of things going for it such as access to solid moves such as Thunderbolt upon purification, which is fantastic early on. It also has access to moves such as Light Screen and Thunder Wave but, it lacks offensive coverage. While it does face a ton of competition with Raikou (Raikou is faster and has slightly better bulk), Ampharos is still a very solid choice for an Electric-type due to its early access in the game while also having Thunder Wave to make snagging a lot easier. Overall, I believe Flaaffy is either a Top-High Tier mon in this game.

Misdreavus - Misdreavus was alright when I used it plus it is the only Ghost-type available in the game. Anyways, Misdreavus is available early in the game learns some pretty good moves early on such as Shadow Ball (shame it's physical during this gen) and Psybeam upon purification. If you are planning on using Misdreavus, you will most likely need to invest in TMs (specifically Psychic and Thunderbolt) to fully maximize its potential. Misdreavus also has access to Confuse Ray and it can utilize filler moves such as Attract or Rain Dance/Sunny Day well, giving it one of the few mons in the game with both an offensive and supportive presence. Really the main downfalls of using Misdreavus is coupon investment but other than that, it is an okay mon. I would probably rank Misdreavus in either High-Middle Tier as well.

Vibrava/Flygon - Flygon is also another great Pokemon in the game. Vibrava is available around the mid-late portion of the game (it is the second to last Shadow Pokemon in the Shadow Pokemon Lab). Vibrava is pretty difficult train since its stats are terrible (bad offense and defense) but, it becomes worthwhile once it evolves into Flygon and it should be able to evolve right away after purification (if it gains enough EXP). Additionally, the Earthquake TM is also located inside the lab which is quite convenient (though after the boss fight) while having access to both Dragon Breath and Crunch (shame it's special but, Flygon has a usable Special Attack stat) is also pretty handy. I would probably place Vibrava in either Top-High Tier as well, leaning closer towards Top Tier though.

These Pokemon probably should belong in some sort of "meme/bottom tier"

• Ledian
• Delibird
• Plusle
• Yanma
• Aipom
• Dunsparce
• Sunflora
• Shuckle?
• Togetic?

 

[DHR-107]

Karxrida Can we transfer this over to the "Lettered" systems everything else uses please as opposed to the "Top/High/Mid" stuff that we used eons ago? We could do with having a consistent system across all the tier lists (and it makes it easier because it becomes similar to the Viability Rankings that the competitive forums use).

HotFuzzBall I definitely agree those mons should be at the bottom apart from Plusle. It does come at a super low level, but it can give your team a lot of support and doesn't die all the time. Like other electric types, it can nail things with Thunder in Rain and also use helping Hand to power up other Pokemon. I'm not sold on Vibrava, I've never had a good experience using one. Bad movepool, low offences and not great typing. I agree with the other mons you've mentioned though. Especially Ampharos. Having access to Twave is so good in this game and its so useful for capturing mons. I'd say every pokemon should have a non damaging moveslot "spent" so you don't have to keep attacking all the time.

 

[TheTraininator]

I recently ran through Colosseum with a team of Umbreon/Espeon/Hariyama/Typhlosion/Ampharos/Flygon. Every member pulled its weight immensely and should be high tier at least. I'll go into each:

Umbreon - Honestly I feel Umbreon should be top tier; this Pokémon is insanely underrated. The fact that this is a game themed around catching Pokémon means that having a tank with smallish damage output is incredibly useful, as Umbreon can safely wittle down the HP of most Shadow Pokémon without killing them. However, even with its damage output being relatively small, it's not remotely useless in actual combat, as it is one of THE MOST USEFUL Pokémon for hosses in the entire game. Not only are bosses overleveled as fuck in this game, meaning Umbreon is one of the few Pokémon who can easily tank hits for the rest of the team from hard-hitting trainers like Gonzap and Evice, it also comes with Taunt and learns Confuse Ray a mere four levels after obtaining it, and combined those two moves shut down entire strategies of most of the bosses in this game. You have no idea how much easier it is to be able to Taunt Venus and not have her able to pull off her Attract/Confuse Ray/Thunder Wave bullshit. Seriously, by far the most useful support Pokémon in this game hands down, and you get it for free at the beginning of the game. Might honestly be the MVP of my entire team.

Espeon - Not much to say on Espeon, everyone knows why it is top tier as well. Just wanted to note that while it is an awesome nuke, Reflect is really goddamn important in this game, and Espeon starts with it. Abuse screens! Seriously!

Hariyama - While it is a very strong Pokémon, I'll concede that it was the weakest link on my team, though I honestly don't believe that's saying much. I opted for it because there aren't a lot of good mixed tanks in Colosseum, and Hariyama gets the job done. I opted for Thick Fat as a result, though sometimes I wonder if I should have went for Guts. It comes with both the strong but slightly inaccurate Cross Chop and the accurate but slow Vital Throw, and I found the two moves combined usually covered for each other's weaknesses, though I did find myself wishing I just had Brick Break for most of the game. It also can't touch ghosts without wasting a turn to use Foresight, but thankfully there aren't many Ghosts in this game, and when they do pop up, I usually just used my teammate to take them out. (This is doubles after all.) TL;DR: Best tank in that it eats hits and hits hard, but it lacks coverage and both its STAB options are a tad unreliable. Still extremely good overall.

Typhlosion - Yes I did opt against spread damage for a long period of the game because I opted against Feraligatr, but Typhlosion carried its weight so well I didn't even mind. Excellent fast nuke alongside Espeon; Flame Wheel alongside Charcoal does a lot more damage than you would expect, and I was able to OHKO most things well into the late game with it. You also get the Fire Blast TM in the Under about halfway through the main story, and I just fell back on that whenever I felt I needed something dead. Unlike Espeon it doesn't also have support options like Reflect, but I just wanted to have more than one fast and powerful Pokémon on my team (since my final fast member I would be picking up lategame), and Typhlosion never failed me in that department. Not once did I ever regret my decision. I can't compare to Entei since I did not run it, (intentionally opted out of using any of the Beasts since I usually avoid legendaries for main-game runs,) but I would like to point out that it is obtainable much earlier and doesn't need a Time Flute for a fast purify.

Ampharos - Another Pokémon that should need no explanation. Good mixed bulk, comes with Thunder Wave, learns Thunderbolt immediately upon Purification, is fully evolved one level after you get it, and learns Light Screen without need for a TM. ABUSE SCREENS!

Flygon - The only thing on my team that shows up late game, but goddamn is it worth it! After purification, Vibrava is two levels away from fully evolving, and after beating Ein, who is the second trainer you fight after you catch it, you get the Earthquake TM. You absolutely HAVE to invest this TM into Flygon to use it, but then you have the fastest and most powerful spread move user in the entire game, complete with a decent defensive presence to boot. You may be concerned with hitting your teammates due to Earthquake, but Protect is a purchasable TM in this game, so I literally just slapped it on every other Pokémon on my team not named Umbreon and turned the final fights + postgame into a joke. Dragonbreath is not bad for catching Pokémon either thanks to Para chance, and Fire Blast is decent coverage, though it won't nuke things like Typhlosion's does. You gotta invest into Flygon for it to put out, but it delivers like a motherfucker.

Colosseum is a brutal game, but I was able to beat Evice with like... 2 faints? And I was 10 levels lower than him too. Screens + Protect on everything + Flygon Earthquake spam + Umbreon support definitely made for one of the most enjoyable playthroughs I've had in a looong time.

One last thing: Protect isn't just great for use alongside Flygon. The AI loves to double target in this game for whatever reason, so if you can figure out which Pokémon they intend to double up on, (usually the Pokémon with less defenses,) you can shut down their entire turn with a well-timed Protect. VGC it up and slap Protect on every Pokémon you can, trust me.

 

[Karxrida]

Gonna go over everybody's noms later (just got back from work and need a nap), but I wanted to answer this first.

Karxrida Can we transfer this over to the "Lettered" systems everything else uses please as opposed to the "Top/High/Mid" stuff that we used eons ago? We could do with having a consistent system across all the tier lists (and it makes it easier because it becomes similar to the Viability Rankings that the competitive forums use).

The main problem I have with using the letter system here is that Colosseum is very lopsided when it comes to Pokémon viability, and placement just gets kind of arbitrary when trying to cover the extra tiers the letter system has over "Top/High/Mid/Bottom".

I'm not against switching over if others want it, but I feel like it doesn't fit for Colosseum.

 

[Fireburn]

There is little justification to use Plusle when it comes later than Level 30 Flaaffy/Ampharos. Heck, it's coming after the first major segment of the game at Level 13 when your starters are Level 26 and the other catchable mons are minimum Level 30. Why would you do that ever when Flaaffy is available? The Thunder TM is purchasable so Plusle's ability to Thunder things isn't unique.

I'm unsure if capture assistance is being factored into rankings, but if so then Umbreon/Jumpluff increase in value due to their ability to soften things up for Snags. Their combat ability sucks though otherwise, so where they go will be determined by how highly we value that kind of thing.

Ampharos is good and probably deserves High tier, has a good mix of offense, decent bulk, and good support options and immediately after purification it will evolve and relearn Thunderbolt. Its main weakness is poor Speed, which combined with its Ground weakness will pose a problem against a lot of lategame threats. If you aren't following the bosses levels closely, it may be obsoleted in lategame by Fluted Raikou.

If I had to rank everything right now I'd probably do something like:

Top: Espeon/Croconaw/Entei

High: Quilava/Suicune/Vibrava (with Time Flute)/Raikou/Ampharos/possibly Quagsire/maybe Makuhita

Mid: Umbreon/Meditite/Hitmontop/Skiploom/Misdreavus/Furret/maybe Stantler/maybe Skarmory

Bottom: Everything else

Entei/Suicune/Raikou/Vibrava are the only mons here realistically getting the Time Flute. Most things that come after the first Venus battle are too little too late, with the only exceptions being Vibrava/Raikou.

Brief explanations for things not already talked about:

Quagsire - Has lower stats than Feraligatr (especially in Speed) but has STAB Earthquake naturally and Water + Electric immunities can be very helpful against bosses that use rain teams. Does well against Ein and Dakim (though Dakim 2 is packing Solarbeam which can get awkward).

Meditite - Not as bulky as Makuhita, but its faster and Medicham is very powerful. High Jump Kick still has reliability issues though.

Hitmontop - The weakest offensively of the three available Fighting-types, its main selling point is Intimidate which is quite useful against many opponents. It also comes at a fairly good level, so if you opted not to use Makuhita or Meditite it wont take long to catch up.

Misdreavus - The only available Ghost-type and it gets Shadow Ball naturally. Pretty solid to have early game but its usefulness fades as you progress.

Furret - It has strong moves available (Strength, Iron Tail on purification) which makes it fairly good offensively for awhile, but like Misdreavus its usefulness fades with time.

Stantler - It has Intimidate and Hypnosis which means it has some utility beyond being a Return beatstick.

Skarmory - Can wall for a couple turns to heal teammates in endgame fights without needing any investment.

e: forgot Noctowl, Mid is probably ok for it

 

[HotFuzzBall]

Top: Espeon/Croconaw/Entei

High: Quilava/Suicune/Vibrava (with Time Flute)/Raikou/Ampharos/possibly Quagsire/maybe Makuhita

Mid: Umbreon/Meditite/Hitmontop/Skiploom/Misdreavus/Furret/maybe Stantler/maybe Skarmory

Bottom: Everything else

Entei/Suicune/Raikou/Vibrava are the only mons here realistically getting the Time Flute. Most things that come after the first Venus battle are too little too late, with the only exceptions being Vibrava/Raikou.

Brief explanations for things not already talked about:

Quagsire - Has lower stats than Feraligatr (especially in Speed) but has STAB Earthquake naturally and Water + Electric immunities can be very helpful against bosses that use rain teams. Does well against Ein and Dakim (though Dakim 2 is packing Solarbeam which can get awkward).

Meditite - Not as bulky as Makuhita, but its faster and Medicham is very powerful. High Jump Kick still has reliability issues though.

Hitmontop - The weakest offensively of the three available Fighting-types, its main selling point is Intimidate which is quite useful against many opponents. It also comes at a fairly good level, so if you opted not to use Makuhita or Meditite it wont take long to catch up.

Misdreavus - The only available Ghost-type and it gets Shadow Ball naturally. Pretty solid to have early game but its usefulness fades as you progress.

Furret - It has strong moves available (Strength, Iron Tail on purification) which makes it fairly good offensively for awhile, but like Misdreavus its usefulness fades with time.
Stantler - It has Intimidate and Hypnosis which means it has some utility beyond being a Return beatstick.

Skarmory - Can wall for a couple turns to heal teammates in endgame fights without needing any investment.

pretty much agree with everything but, I would say Noctowl should also be in the Mid tier since it comes early and it gets Reflect and Hypnosis, as well as some pretty solid offensive options in Steel Wing (after purification) and Fly (though its base Attack is terrible). Its special bulk is also pretty decent though but, its usefulness will fade over time.

also adding on that Quagsire receives Surf too which is pretty nice as well

 

[Karxrida]

Huge post incoming.

Espeon should easily go S/A tier. Access to Confusion off the bat and it does have a "slow" period between about 32->36 before it gets Psybeam. Definitely feel the comparative weakness of Confusion when the peons start using Evolved mons. After it gets Psybeam though it goes right back up to one shotting almost everything. Especially when boosted by Helping Hand from Umbreon.

Agreeing on Espeon for Top or S or whatever. It has perfect availability, naturally gets two good support options (Helping Hand and Reflect), and remains consistently good throughout the game.

Also, how is Umbreon getting Helping Hand? It's not in its base kit and there's no Move Reminder.

Umbreon will likely be A/B tier. Takes hits incredibly well, and its probably worth spending the Toxic TM on it. Doubles is a lot more fast paced, but sometimes the extra damage stacks from Toxic can really help out Umbreon's lowish offences. It only has Bite (I think? I can't find anything about it actually having that but I am sure it does) and Faint Attack for a lot of the game. I'd argue that depending on your Gen 2 starter choice, hanging around and getting Sunny Day/Rain Dance is well worth the effort and Umbreon has the moveslots to be able to use it well even though the G2 starters themselves come with a weather move.

It starts with Bite, can confirm.

Really iffy on Umbreon being that high. Its usefulness dropped off really quickly for me because its damage output is lacking and it doesn't have good support options (weather is done better by other mons imo). Yeah it's tanky, but I've never felt the need to fall back on it.

On Gen 2 Starters: I used Feraligtr in my first game (all those moons ago) tied up with Rain Dance Raikou. Surf becomes incredibly potent even from Feraligtr's mediocre Special Attack with the Rain Boost and Raikou can fire off Thunders/Thunderbolts with ease. Raikou is definitely something worth thinking about for the use of a Time Flute in my opinion. Typhlosion has been OK so far, Sunny Day + Flame Wheel has been doing serious hits, and Dig is great for coverage against Rock types. It was much fun blocking Miror B from Rain Dancing with his Ludicolo's (although this was an incredibly risky play vs those guys). I'd probably go for B tier for Typhlosion at the moment.

Pretty sure you can't use weather against Miror B. 1 because Johto starters get those moves on purification, which comes after you do that horrible fight.

I think you're underselling Quilava a bit. It ends up faster and stronger than Entei on top of having earlier availability and not requiring a Time Flute (opening up using it on Suicune).

Sudowoodo/Qwilfish will probably be C/D tier. Both are useful and have decent moves/bulk but big downsides. I got Poison Point on my Qwilfish (not sure if Abilities are fixed), but Swift Swim would have likely been more useful coupled with Rain Dance. Qwilfish desperately wants that Sludge Bomb TM but I haven't reached that far yet (my team is 39 or so, Under Round 2 is mid 50's). It also wants Ice Beam too, but again lots of grinding required. Sudowoodo getting access to Rock Slide off the bat is nice as its a decent move in Doubles. Shame he's not really fast enough to abuse the Flinch proc, but otherwise Sudo has been doing OK. I'll probably end up teaching it Return for another decently strong move.

Sure.

I did one of these way back when and I agree it needs some tuning. I don't think there are that many things that could be considered top-tier but here's what I think are the best mons:

Espeon - Probably the best overall mon in the game. Starter, excellent offense with high SpA and Speed, great supporting capabilities with screens and Helping Hand to buff teammates when it can't do anything itself, decent coverage with Bite. It's inability to cover Dark-types isn't super important because every battle in this game is Dubs so you can just let its partner handle the Dark-type mons.

See above.

Croconaw - Probably the best of the Johto starters since Bayleef sucks and Quilava has to compete with Time Flute!Entei. Croc has an excellent early-game performance with Hyper Mode abuse letting him OHKO a lot of early foes with crit Shadow Rush, and you can get around the potion restrictions with healing machines and colosseum battles. Also has an excellent matchup against Dakim and his highly Water weak team. Has a bit of a midgame slump in The Under but comes back hard lategame once he gets Earthquake and Blizzard TMs. Croc doesn't outright OHKO a lot of stuff after purification but he learns a ton of good moves (Surf, Earthquake, Blizzard) and has valuable coverage + rain/HH support to buff his offense so he's never useless.

Quilava has perks over Time Flute Entei and I've never used Croc, but you make some good points here and I can go with Top/S/whatever for Croc.

Entei - Entei is only top-tier assuming you use the Mt. Battle Time Flute on it, but it's by far the best candidate for it since it comes at Level 40 and has STAB Fire Blast immediately upon purification. Coverage leaves a bit to be desired but Stomp/Bite are serviceable for awhile, and it can make use of Return for a strong physical move and Solarbeam + its natural Sunny Day to become a nuke and turn the tables on the rain-based teams that Ein/Miror B like to use.

Quilava is comparable to Entei since The Under sells Fire Blast TMs. While Typhlosion has better SpA and comes earlier, Entei has superior bulk and Attack and requires no investment to get running aside from a Time Flute that realistically is going to either it or Suicune. Quilava also has trouble with many early-game opponents, particularly Dakim and Miror B., and by the time Fire starts getting useful you have access to Entei. While technically you could pick Quilava and use the first Time Flute on Suicune, Croc/Entei are better matched for the parts of the games they are available.

Let's be honest, everything sucks against Miror B. 1, not just Quilava. That fight is garbage.

I'd personally like to rank Entei and Quilava the same. They each have their perks that make it so neither is strictly better than the other outside of the tertiary effects of choosing Quilava over Croc.

Quilava/Suicune/Makuhita are probably High tier but not Top, Quil and Cune is inferior to Croc/Entei and Makuhita is really bad until purified (and has to rely on Cross Chop which is unreliable). Umbreon kind of sucks past early-game unless you need a sponge to take hits while you heal your attackers.

Agreeing for the most part.

On Time Flute usage - you're realistically only going to use it on the Legendary Beasts since its by far the best return on investment due to their high stats and powerful STAB moves that need to be unlocked ASAP. Entei/Suicune are the best candidates for the first one depending on if you picked Croc or Quil, and Raikou likes the second one since the U-Disk is available where you Snag it. You possibly use one on Vibrava, which can give you STAB EQ Flygon for the final area of the game. Everything else comes too late or isn't powerful enough to justify it.

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Vibrava's cool, though, because 3 free Rare Candies mean you can evolve it immediately and wreck face.

Yeah I agree that Colosseum has large gaps in viability since a lot of the mons you can get are pretty bad (Yanma, Aipom, Delibird, etc.). Anyways onto my thoughts on the Pokemon that were on my team during my runs of the game...

Skiploom/Jumpluff - Jumpluff is pretty underrated imo since it functions as such a great support mon, with access to all 3 powder moves and Leech Seed at its disposal (though Stun Spore, Leech Seed and Poison Powder must be relarned via Heart Sclaes rip). Skiploom is available early on and evolves right away after you purify it. What sold Jumpluff to me was its Speed tier, which basically allowed it to cripple 1 Pokemon early on (granted the move actually lands). Its offensive stats suck so Jumpluff is exclusively a support mon and while its bulk (75/70/85) is alright, Grass/Flying is a pretty bad typing so those are Jumpluff's shortcomings. Though if I were to rank it I would put it in either High-Middle tier since it is still pretty effective as a support mon but, the lack of offensive pressure kinda sucks.

I was using Skiploom during my last (unfinished) playthrough and it was actually really good. Fast Sleep Powder is super useful in general, and its typing actually isn't that bad since it's immune to Earthquake and resists Surf. You can also do quick Sunny Days to boost Typhlosion or Entei, which is cool. I'd like Top but I'm good with High since its offenses are totally ass even as Jumpluff.

Flaaffy/Ampharos - Probably a staple in most Colosseum runs from what I have seen. Like Skiploom, Flaaffy is also available early on and evolves right away after getting purified, which is always fantastic. Ampharos/Flaaffy has a lot of things going for it such as access to solid moves such as Thunderbolt upon purification, which is fantastic early on. It also has access to moves such as Light Screen and Thunder Wave but, it lacks offensive coverage. While it does face a ton of competition with Raikou (Raikou is faster and has slightly better bulk), Ampharos is still a very solid choice for an Electric-type due to its early access in the game while also having Thunder Wave to make snagging a lot easier. Overall, I believe Flaaffy is either a Top-High Tier mon in this game.

Top imo. Flaaffy has a huge availability advantage over Raikou and puts in more work overall.

Misdreavus - Misdreavus was alright when I used it plus it is the only Ghost-type available in the game. Anyways, Misdreavus is available early in the game learns some pretty good moves early on such as Shadow Ball (shame it's physical during this gen) and Psybeam upon purification. If you are planning on using Misdreavus, you will most likely need to invest in TMs (specifically Psychic and Thunderbolt) to fully maximize its potential. Misdreavus also has access to Confuse Ray and it can utilize filler moves such as Attract or Rain Dance/Sunny Day well, giving it one of the few mons in the game with both an offensive and supportive presence. Really the main downfalls of using Misdreavus is coupon investment but other than that, it is an okay mon. I would probably rank Misdreavus in either High-Middle Tier as well.

Psychic and Thunderbolt are pretty much no-goes due to requiring massive amounts of Mt. Battle grinding. STAB being Physical is also super lame. Mid at best.

Vibrava/Flygon - Flygon is also another great Pokemon in the game. Vibrava is available around the mid-late portion of the game (it is the second to last Shadow Pokemon in the Shadow Pokemon Lab). Vibrava is pretty difficult train since its stats are terrible (bad offense and defense) but, it becomes worthwhile once it evolves into Flygon and it should be able to evolve right away after purification (if it gains enough EXP). Additionally, the Earthquake TM is also located inside the lab which is quite convenient (though after the boss fight) while having access to both Dragon Breath and Crunch (shame it's special but, Flygon has a usable Special Attack stat) is also pretty handy. I would probably place Vibrava in either Top-High Tier as well, leaning closer towards Top Tier though.

Free Rare Candies allow for immediate evolution if you hold on to them. STAB Earthquake, good coverage, and good typing make me lean towards Top.

These Pokemon probably should belong in some sort of "meme/bottom tier"

• Ledian
• Delibird
• Plusle
• Yanma
• Aipom
• Dunsparce
• Sunflora
• Shuckle?
• Togetic?

Shuckle and Togetic are postgame and thus not going to be ranked.

Otherwise yeah this is the garbage list.

I'll comment more later.

 

[Champion Leon]

Wasn't houndoom in the game as well? Solar Beam, Fire Blast, etc.

 

[Inspirited]

Wasn't houndoom in the game as well? Solar Beam, Fire Blast, etc.

Yes, the Houndoom is seen in Realgam Tower as Karixrida noted in the OP. While we are on the subject, it is encountered so far into the lategame that it should probably be ranked Bottom Tier unless you absolutely need something to take Shadow Rushes from Tyranitar and the like. Even then there are better Pokemon for doing so that also appear in Realgam Tower anyways. Having the choice of Typhlosion or Entei beforehand would still be a massive viability hit even if it was available earlier.

 

[pika pal]

Yes, the Houndoom is seen in Realgam Tower as Karixrida noted in the OP. While we are on the subject, it is encountered so far into the lategame that it should probably be ranked Bottom Tier unless you absolutely need something to take Shadow Rushes from Tyranitar and the like. Even then there are better Pokemon for doing so that also appear in Realgam Tower anyways. Having the choice of Typhlosion or Entei beforehand would still be a massive viability hit even if it was available earlier.

How would Houndoom help with Shadow Rushes? In this game, Shadow Rush was neutral on everything, and Houndoom is made of tissue paper. I assume you were thinking of XD where Shadow was SE on regular mons and NVE on Shadows.

 

[Inspirited]

Yeah, I was thinking XD since that is the game I have played over again in the last ten years. Houndoom has no redeeming qualities in my mind then.

 

[Karxrida]

Houndoom is also caught during the gauntlet of fights at the end of the game, so you can't even use it unless you either a) purposefully lose against the Shadow Tropius trainer or b) leave a space open in your party and ignore the other Shadow Pokémon. Even then, the Nascour and Evice fights are literally all that's left.

Almost nothing in Relgam Tower is worth using bar maybe Skamory, and you get that when there's only 6 fights left before the credits.

 

[Tomy]

Just right on time, I just finished another Colosseum playthrough!
I'd like to advocate Misdreavus for High tier.
On paper, it is a bit eh; its stats are nothing spectacular (in the late game, at least), I agree. However, its natural movepool is actually interesting (Confuse Ray, Shadow Ball, Pain Split), and you can slap on it Thunder if you want a stronger attack to it.
But the major cornerstone about Misdreavus is its typing. 3 crucial immunities, 2 of them being extremely common, is unvaluable. Everything and their neighbours LOVES to spam Earthquake / Explosion / Self-Destruct (particularly in the late-game), which Misdreavus takes...0 damage. Its mediocre Defense is highly alleviated by the 3 immunities, increasing a lot its survivability.
And oh, for what it's worth, it levels up quite fast, too.

 

[Karxrida]

Ranking time. Technically did this earlier, but never made an update for it.

Top
Croconaw
Espeon
Flaaffy
High
Entei
Mukuhita
Misdreavus
Skiploom
Quilava
Vibrava

Middle
Hitmontop
Stantler

Bottom Tier
Aipom
Delibird
Dunsparce
Sunflora
Yanma

Everybody agreed with the three in Top, so it was a no brainer to add them now.

I put Quilava and Entei in the same rank and High instead of Entei Top because they both have pros and cons and neither is really Top to me due to the cons. Entei still makes a great Time Flute candidate and all, but Fire Blast as your only STAB is lame even if it's powerful.

Mukuhita generally received good reviews, but everybody acknowledged that it has issues. It's currently in High but I can go for Middle.

I'm personally not sold on Misdreavus in High, but I'm not the sole authority here and several of you have sung its praises for a good ranking.

I know Fireburn put Skiploom in Mid, but I think its Speed and Sleep Powder pushes it into High despite its offensive issues. Its typing is also nice for dodging Earthquakes.

I put Vibrava in High for now because its lateness is definitely something of an issue, and it requires the Rare Candies, Earthquake TM, and a Time Flute to work. It does work wonders, though.

Hitmontop and Stantler are both Middle because they have Intimidate, which is really useful. Their offensive presence has issues (e.g. Hitomtop is stuck with Triple Kick for STAB), but they're not worthless.

Bottom is pretty self-explanatory.

I need to go over Fireburn's ranking list again later for his suggested rankings; I haven't ignored it. I'm also currently unsure about Umbreon due to mixed reactions and Noctowl because it's weird (great for Miror B. 1 but drops off kind of hard afterward).

Also, does anybody else think I should go over to the Letter ranking system? DHR is the only one to comment on that and I've been thinking about switching over instead of Top/High/Mid/Bottom.

 

[HotFuzzBall]

Also, does anybody else think I should go over to the Letter ranking system? DHR is the only one to comment on that and I've been thinking about switching over instead of Top/High/Mid/Bottom.

for consistency's sake I think this tier list should also follow the letter system as well (so far all the other tier lists bar the B2W2 and HGSS follow the letter system). Also I believe we need more than 4 tiers since there are some Pokemon that are still kinda useful (Noctowl, Swablu, Remoraid, Piloswine) but I don't find any of them to be mid or meme/bottom tier mons.

I don't think Misdreavus should be High tbh, it should be Middle. Misdreavus starts out really strong but, its usefulness does start to fade (to me Misdreavus started being a bit difficult around when you reach the Shadow Pokemon Lab). The only reason why I found success in using it was through investing coupons (T-bolt and Psychic) to it when I used Mt. Battle to purify Shadow mons. So yeah Misdreavus does need some investment and its stats are only slightly above average too but, it is still a pretty solid mon and I think it shares a rank nicely with Hitmontop and Stantler.