Lower Tiers RBY ZU Hub

[gastlies]

Art by skrimps
Thread previously maintained by Teh, thank you for your work with updating this!

Welcome to the RBY ZU! After a relatively long period of inactivity, this tier is back and ready to be explored! Feel free to discuss anything ZU-related in this thread, whether that be sets you find to be underrated, viability rankings, or anything inbetween!​

Resources:

Viability Rankings
Preliminary VR for the metagame following the December 2024 PU Viability Rankings Update.

Sample Teams

Sample Teams

Note: Click on the Pokemon to access the link to the team
Fast Spam (gastlies)
Lead Charmeleon + Butterfree (gastlies)
Butterfree + Drowzee (Wanted in 49 States)
Lead Sect + Oma (ButtGallon)
Lead Butterfree + Oma (ButtGallon)
Tentacool + Butterfree (Maris Bonibell)
Lead Tentacool + Butterfree (Maris Bonibell)
Lead Ape + Slowpoke (Maris Bonibell)
Pidgeot + Onix (Salty3345)
Omanyte + Amnesia Slowpoke (Wanted in 49 States)
Muk + Omanyte (torkonpeter)
Lead Arbok + Onix (ButtGallon)
Drowzee + Water Spam (virae)

The Vault
An archive of outdated resources and discussions to preserve history. Organized into 'eras' to ease navigation.

The Vault

The Initial Speculation Era

• RBY ZU Pre-alpha Speculation (by S1nn0hC0nfirm3d)

The "Arbok + Gastly" Era

Alpha-alpha VR

S

Arbok
Flareon
Gastly
Onix

High

Diglett
Kabuto
Marowak
Pidgeot
Primeape
Scyther

Mid

Butterfree
Machoke
Magneton
Muk
Parasect
Pikachu
Tentacool
Weepinbell

Low

Charmeleon
Clefairy
Dratini
Golbat
Hitmonlee
Lickitung
Meowth
Ponyta
Rhyhorn
Wartortle
Weezing

Old Samples

Poliwag Balance by GetSleidSun -
Fast Physical Offense by royzin
Diglett + Pidgeot Offense by royzin
Scyther Offense by BeatsBlack
Double Ground by BeatsBlack
Marowak Paraspam by BeatsBlack
Double Fighting Paraspam by BeatsBlack

RBY ZU Cup Pre-Drops Usage

+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon | Use | Usage % | Win % |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1 | Arbok | 207 | 95.83% | 47.83% |
| 2 | Gastly | 157 | 72.69% | 54.78% |
| 3 | Primeape | 148 | 68.52% | 48.65% |
| 4 | Flareon | 129 | 59.72% | 43.41% |
| 5 | Diglett | 105 | 48.61% | 58.10% |
| 6 | Pidgeot | 83 | 38.43% | 57.83% |
| 7 | Onix | 82 | 37.96% | 42.68% |
| 8 | Scyther | 61 | 28.24% | 37.70% |
| 9 | Marowak | 52 | 24.07% | 51.92% |
| 10 | Kabuto | 49 | 22.69% | 38.78% |
| 11 | Parasect | 39 | 18.06% | 48.72% |
| 12 | Hitmonlee | 34 | 15.74% | 38.24% |
| 13 | Pikachu | 21 | 9.72% | 42.86% |
| 14 | Butterfree | 17 | 7.87% | 29.41% |
| 15 | Weepinbell | 9 | 4.17% | 66.67% |
| 15 | Magneton | 9 | 4.17% | 33.33% |
| 17 | Rhyhorn | 8 | 3.70% | 75.00% |
| 18 | Ponyta | 4 | 1.85% | 25.00% |
| 19 | Lickitung | 3 | 1.39% | 66.67% |
| 19 | Charmeleon | 3 | 1.39% | 66.67% |
| 19 | Meowth | 3 | 1.39% | 33.33% |
| 19 | Machoke | 3 | 1.39% | 0.00% |
| 19 | Muk | 3 | 1.39% | 0.00% |
| 24 | Clefairy | 2 | 0.93% | 50.00% |
| 24 | Weezing | 2 | 0.93% | 0.00% |
| 24 | Horsea | 2 | 0.93% | 0.00% |
| 24 | Tentacool | 2 | 0.93% | 0.00% |
| 24 | Shellder | 2 | 0.93% | 0.00% |
| 29 | Venonat | 1 | 0.46% | 100.00% |
| 29 | Golbat | 1 | 0.46% | 0.00% |
| 29 | Farfetch’d | 1 | 0.46% | 0.00% |

RBY ZU Cup Pre-Drops Leads

+ ---- + ----------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Leads                   | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ----------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Arbok                   |   66 |  30.56% |  51.52% |
| 2    | Diglett                 |   54 |  25.00% |  59.26% |
| 3    | Gastly                  |   38 |  17.59% |  47.37% |
| 4    | Primeape                |   20 |   9.26% |  45.00% |
| 5    | Butterfree              |   14 |   6.48% |  21.43% |
| 6    | Parasect                |    6 |   2.78% |  66.67% |
| 7    | Pikachu                 |    4 |   1.85% |  50.00% |
| 7    | Scyther                 |    4 |   1.85% |  50.00% |
| 9    | Onix                    |    3 |   1.39% |   0.00% |
| 10   | Ponyta                  |    2 |   0.93% |  50.00% |
| 11   | Pidgeot                 |    1 |   0.46% | 100.00% |
| 11   | Charmeleon              |    1 |   0.46% | 100.00% |
| 11   | Venonat                 |    1 |   0.46% | 100.00% |
| 11   | Marowak                 |    1 |   0.46% |   0.00% |
| 11   | Golbat                  |    1 |   0.46% |   0.00% |

The "Arcanine + Sandslash" Era

RBY ZU Cup Post-Drops Usage

+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon            | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Arcanine           |   50 |  86.21% |  54.00% |
| 2    | Sandslash          |   47 |  81.03% |  51.06% |
| 3    | Slowpoke           |   31 |  53.45% |  51.61% |
| 4    | Primeape           |   28 |  48.28% |  46.43% |
| 5    | Arbok              |   27 |  46.55% |  37.04% |
| 6    | Magmar             |   19 |  32.76% |  47.37% |
| 7    | Parasect           |   18 |  31.03% |  44.44% |
| 8    | Electrode          |   17 |  29.31% |  58.82% |
| 9    | Weepinbell         |   14 |  24.14% |  64.29% |
| 9    | Scyther            |   14 |  24.14% |  42.86% |
| 11   | Poliwag            |   13 |  22.41% |  38.46% |
| 12   | Pidgeot            |   10 |  17.24% |  60.00% |
| 13   | Onix               |    6 |  10.34% |  66.67% |
| 13   | Vileplume          |    6 |  10.34% |  50.00% |
| 13   | Kabuto             |    6 |  10.34% |  16.67% |
| 16   | Flareon            |    4 |   6.90% |  25.00% |
| 17   | Lickitung          |    3 |   5.17% |  33.33% |
| 17   | Pikachu            |    3 |   5.17% |  33.33% |
| 19   | Muk                |    2 |   3.45% |  50.00% |
| 19   | Golbat             |    2 |   3.45% |   0.00% |
| 19   | Hitmonlee          |    2 |   3.45% |   0.00% |
| 19   | Wartortle          |    2 |   3.45% |   0.00% |
| 23   | Weezing            |    1 |   1.72% | 100.00% |
| 23   | Butterfree         |    1 |   1.72% | 100.00% |
| 23   | Rhyhorn            |    1 |   1.72% |   0.00% |
| 23   | Diglett            |    1 |   1.72% |   0.00% |
| 23   | Dratini            |    1 |   1.72% |   0.00% |

RBY ZU Cup Post-Drops Leads

+ ---- + ----------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Leads                   | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ----------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Arcanine                |   15 |  25.86% |  53.33% |
| 2    | Primeape                |   13 |  22.41% |  53.85% |
| 3    | Arbok                   |    7 |  12.07% |  57.14% |
| 3    | Poliwag                 |    7 |  12.07% |  42.86% |
| 5    | Electrode               |    6 |  10.34% |  33.33% |
| 6    | Slowpoke                |    4 |   6.90% |   0.00% |
| 7    | Magmar                  |    3 |   5.17% | 100.00% |
| 8    | Weezing                 |    1 |   1.72% | 100.00% |
| 8    | Pikachu                 |    1 |   1.72% | 100.00% |
| 8    | Onix                    |    1 |   1.72% |   0.00% |

• Post-Drops Voting (Arcanine and Sandslash banned, Slowpoke and Poliwag kept legal)

The Post-Arcanine/SandslashBan Era

• The Big RBY ZU Retrospective by Gangsta Spongebob
• Post-Ban Metagame Analysis by Gangsta Spongebob

The "Arbok + Pidgeot" Era

Viability Rankings

S:
A1:
A2:
A3:
B1:
B2:
C:
D:
E:

 

[Teh]

Thanks to the help of a few players (Gastlies, BeatsBlack, and Gangsta Spongebob) we have a somewhat accurate preliminary "viability rankings," Obviously its not gonna be perfect but this should be a useful resource for people wanting to get a quick picture of what the meta is like prior to Zoomer. Tiers are in alphabetical order.

 

[phoopes]

Poor Magneton

 

[Soda_Eesti]

Here Are a few ZU teams i built, they were for zoomer, but i probably wont get in and or Make it past the first round, If i make it in i wont even care when i get out, as i dont play it to win, but to have fun. I made 2 teams, No ZU Knowledge, and Okay OU and TBs knowledge, idk if these teams are good. Probably wont be, but with the very limited knowledge i have this is what i came up with. (Was planning on keeping these secret but decided not to) :>

Team #1 Flareon + Lead Parasect
https://pokepast.es/5e3dd18144071e4a

Team One

Mammary The Parasect (Lead Sleeper)
-Spore
-Stun Spore
-Slash
-Mega Drain

Parasect Is Lead As It Is The Bulkiest Sleeper In The tier, AND it has access to spore.
To Start With I Wanted Swords Dance Bslam, but I decided on mega drain to help with the Onix, and Sandslash matchups.
Parasect Is lead because in ZU outside of Magneton, Abra, Poliwag and Butterfree, you lack any kind of consistent sleep or Para.

Pixelayte The Abra (Local Psychic)
-Psychic
-Thunder Wave
-Substitute
-Seismic Toss

This is very simple, i just needed a consistent Para, on top of a STAB psychic.
Seismic toss is for mons with bulky special, or a resist to psychic, but i dont see a time where i will ever click iy

TehTayTeh the Sandslash (SD Sweeper)
-Swords Dance
-Substitute
-Earthquake
-Rock Slide

This Mon Is Absolutely Awesome, I played around with sandslash in OU for a little bit and i loved it.
I used the standard OU set and it was the first mon i added. And helps against Pidgeot, Onix, And the massive amount of poison types in the tier.
(The Name is because teh was the first person i ever beat on showdown, using sandslash nonetheless.)

Pidgeot (Idrk Tbh)
-Dedge
-Hbeam
-Mirror Move
-Agility

The best mon in the tier, i think. And tbh idek what it does.
Might Replace It.

acii the Flareon (Partial Trapper)
-Fblast
-Fspin
-Bslam
-Hyper Beam

So this is my teams partial trapper, i decided on Flareon over Arbok Because I had to consistent way to deal with Parasect, The best sleeper.
This is just standard set. Fire Spin is ofc my partial trapping, and Fire Blast is to quickly deal with Weepinbell And Parasect.

Primesss the Muk (Hello)
-Tbolt
-Explosion
-Fire Blast
-Body Slam

Fblast to deal with Bug/Grass sleepers. Tbolt for opposing poliwag or horsea, and explosion is a nice move overall.
And Muk actually has pretty decent bulk. About on Par With Parasect.

Team #2 Magneton + Lead Poliwag
https://pokepast.es/6c1d6a4179a2877d

Team Two

Poliwag (Faster Lead Sleeper)
-Hypnosis
-Amnesia
-Blizzard
-Hydro Pump

Poliwag Is Surprisingly Fast, It is tied with abra, and Outspeeds most FEs in the tier, most notably Sandslash. Pidgeot Outspeeds it BY ONE POINT
So Due to its speed i made it the lead, blizzard is to deal with possible lead parasect
amnesia is for a turn of set up if someone decides to go lead slash or sect and switch out.

Mammary the other parasect (Bulky Back Sleeper)
-Spore
-Stun Spore
-Bslam
-Swords Dance

Another Set Up Mon, But it doesn't really matter. I decided to go SlamDance Over SlashDrain (Not Actual Set Names I Think?)
I am able to go SlamDance because Poliwag is here. It deals with Onix and shit. The Stuff I Needed SlashDrain For.

Magneton (Electric)
-Tbolt
-Twave
-Hyper Beam
-Dedge

No Clue Man, Its just the basic set.
This team was built around using magneton tho, So thats why its here. Lmao

Pixelayte 2.0 the Abra (The Localer Psychic)
-Seismic Toss
-Psychic
-Twave
-Substitute

This is again, very simple, i just needed a consistent Para, on top of a STAB psychic.
Seismic toss is for mons with bulky special, or a resist to psychic.

TehTayTeh JR the Sandslash (Swords Dance Sweeper)
-Swords Dance
-Earthquake
-Rock Slide
-Substitute

Pidgeot, Onix, Abra, Magneton, Pikachu, Etc. Idk Man

Mechanicum Alt the Arbok (Partial Trapping Kobra)
-Glare
-Earthquake
-Rock Slide
-Wrap

Hits Onix
Hits Pidge
Consistent Para.

 

[NotVeryCake]

à mon avis, voilà à quoi pourrait ressembler ZU. la qualitè semble baisser considérablement après Papilusion.

 

[Lillith Plays]

I just made a VR template with every legal mon in ZU: https://tiermaker.com/create/rby-zu-vr-maker-1479902

Hope this helps

 

[NotVeryCake]

Poliwag seems decent on paper, but by the looks of it, the meta is fast turning to be full of strong physical attackers, which are Poliwags weakness. Poliwag also is unreliable as a sleeper, while Parasect and Butterfree are reliable, Parasect also does alot of damage thanks to SD+Slam/HB

 

[Bedal Roscoe]

Poliwag seems decent on paper, but by the looks of it, the meta is fast turning to be full of strong physical attackers, which are Poliwags weakness. Poliwag also is unreliable as a sleeper, while Parasect and Butterfree are reliable, Parasect also does alot of damage thanks to SD+Slam/HB

I see. At least it could be a decent lead against other sleepers since it is faster ? First turn it hypno the opposing mon then amnesia and it can strike with a strong surf or blizzard ?

But hypnosis is far from reliable indeed and it can be spored/sleep powder in return. However kinda like RBY OU Gar, maybe double sleep can be considered with a Parasect in the back (and Parasect brings useful water, electric and ground resistance to the team)


I tried to make my own VR based on some games I played and personal theorymoning, but I might be completely mistaken.
S ranks are not ordered because I can't say who is the strongest among that "Big3".

 

[Soda_Eesti]

Alr So I Know Im Like Unknown Among RBYers, But I'm Trying To Change That, Anyways, Here are 2 more teams that i plan on Possibly bringing to Zoomer If I Get in. One Is, To Put it simply. BAD. And The other is so basic it might as well be a sample.

Team #3 Lead Abra + Primeape.
https://pokepast.es/3208570d4e6b2379

Team 3

Pixelate The Third Abra (Community Psychic)
-Psychic
-Twave
-Seismic Toss
-Substitute

This Mon Is Really Simple To Explain. Alakazam Works In Ou, So why wont Abra work in ZU?
It's the most consistent para in the tier.

Primeape (School Bully)
-Body Slam
-Hyper Beam
-Tbolt
-Rock Slide

I really like his atk stat, although it is somehow not that much higher than parasect.

Somewhat TehTayTeh the Sandslash
-Swords Dance
-Earthquake
-Rock Slide
-Substitute

He Is What Zapdos is to me In OU, And What Vaporeon is to me in UU. On Every Team.

Mammary the parasect V.3
-Sleep Powder
-Stun Spore
-Swords Dance
-Body Slam

My Sleeper. Didnt Feel Like Building Poliwag or Butterfree on this team.

Ponyta
-Fire Spin
-Fire Blast
-Agility
-Body Slam

Wanted Both A Fire Type, AND a Partial trapper, So this is what i chose, as its faster than flareon

Pikachu
-Surf
-Twave
-Tbolt
-Stoss

Idk Why I Chose Him TBH

Team #4 The Big 6
https://pokepast.es/b326b9177ad8b6cc

Team 4

Parasect
-Stun Spore
-Spore
-SD
-Bslam

Sandslash
-SD
-Eq
-Rslide
-Sub

Abra
-Stoss
-Sub
-Twave
-Psy

Arbok
-Eq
-Rslide
-Glare
-Wrap

Primeape
-Bslam
-Hbeam
-TBolt
-Rslide

Pidgeot
-Dedge
-Agility
-Mirror Move
-Hbeam

"Do Unto Others, Exactly What They Just Did Unto You"

(Team 1 And 2 are in a previous Post)

.

 

[Sabelette]

Cleared a bunch of posts, lets please keep things on track and keep one liners to Discord!

Anyway, Flareon seems underrated to me, its literally impossible to switch into and should easily trade positively in every single game. It completely eats special attackers, physical attackers hate to risk 30% burn, plus it has slambeam off a ridiculous attack stat. It does require a smart double to get it in on Parasect or something but once it's in it's going to 2 for 1 and Fblast burns can get it even more. It def needs support or smart plays but I don't think anything else is nearly as hard to switch into; even Pidgeot, clear best mon in the tier, is probably easier to eat a hit from than Flareon.

 

[Teh]

Pidgeot is like a terrible mon, it has ass coverage, and cant hit ghost (Again, In A Vacuum.

I really don't get this comment. Pokemon don't exist in a vacuum. Only having Normal-type coverage doesn't really matter when Rock-types are uncommon and Ghost-types straight up don't exist. If you're going to post a VR please provide actually good reasons for why you made your decisions other than simple one-liners.

 

[plznostep]

Normal-types in RBY ZU

Hello, I wanted to make a post on perhaps the best offensive typing we have to offer in the tier right now.
Normal-types in RBY are of course, very strong but how do they work in ZU? Let's find out.

What makes the Normal-typing so good?

There are some notable reasons to why the Normal-type is so good. For the first reason, this tier does not have an available Ghost-type, as Gastly is PU by usage. This is especially notable for Pidgeot who is otherwise unable to hit Ghost-types. Rock-types in this tier are all pretty below par as well. Onix is perhaps the best Rock-type available, with a decent Speed stat, Explosion, and access to partial trapping in Bind. However, it is a pitifully weak Pokemon and only really serves as a way to answer Pidgeot. Beyond that, Kabuto is an okay option due to its decent matchup into Flareon but it's poor stats means that it still takes a fair chunk from Pidgeot's attacking moves. Beyond that, Rhyhorn has seen some use in the past and it has good physical bulk with good damage output as well, but it is quite slow and has no special bulk to speak of whatsoever and Geodude is just Rhyhorn with access to Explosion but has worse stats. This means Normal-types are free to spam their STAB moves as teams may not even have a resist to the move available. Lastly, it is commonly known that the Fighting-type is an absolutely horrible typing to have in a tier since it has basically no notable resistances and its weak to Psychic-types which is one of the best offensive types in the game. Pokemon like Primeape sometimes don't even run Fighting-type STAB because Submission is an absolutely terrible move, meaning Normal-types rarely have to deal with their Fighting-type weakness unless you run into a Pokemon like Hitmonlee, who is not really that great.

RBY ZU's Normal-types

This is our premier Normal-type of course. With access to strong STAB moves in Double-Edge and importantly being one of two Normal-types available who has access to Hyper Beam, Pidgeot hit's incredibly hard into a lot of the tier. Its base 91 Speed is also absolutely amazing. It outspeeds every relevant Pokemon the tier has the offer except for Primeape. It is particularly nice for Pokemon like Abra as it outspeeds it by one point and OHKO with Hyper Beam. As for its other moves, Agility can be used to give Pidgeot a way of outspeeding Primeape and it also can cancel out paralysis which is nice. Mirror Move is a tech Pidgeot can run to potentially scare out one of the aforementioned Rock-types with Earthquake although its not really that great. These last move slots don't really matter much for Pidgeot though as all it really needs to function in this tier is Double-Edge + Hyper Beam

Lickitung is probably our second best Normal-type in the tier. Looking purely at Lickitungs base stats, you may be pretty unimpressed as it's 50 base attack is not amazing and it is incredibly slow at base 30, although it does have some respectable bulk to it. However, what makes Lickitung good is its access to Swords Dance and other strong moves such as Hyper Beam and Earthquake alongside it. This helps make up for Lickitungs lackluster attack stat since Hyper Beams strong base power + Swords Dance can put various Pokemon into OHKO ranges with some chip while also hitting Rock-types pretty hard with Earthquake making Lickitung have perfect coverage for the tier. Lickitung's low speed stat can also be helped by pairing it with paralysis spam which is already quite a viable strategy as Pokemon like Sandslash, Arbok, and Flareon adore paralysis being spread around and we have quite a few nice status speaders such as Butterfree, Parasect, and Abra. Lickitung can also attempt to spread paralysis for itself through Body Slam which can be a nice boon for it. As for its other options, Lickitung does have access to Wrap which is quite nice, but it's speed makes it quite difficult for it to use the move effectively. Counter is also not a bad option but generally Lickitung wants to stick with a set like Body Slam, Hyper Beam, Earthquake, and Swords Dance.

Niche Options

Meowth isn't a great Pokemon in RBY ZU. Its stats aside from its Speed, which is really good, are all bad. However, it's access to Bubblebeam means that Meowth is a fast Normal-type who isn't stopped by Rock-types, which is not too bad a niche to have. It's STAB Slash has a high crit rate when combined with its good speed meaning Meowth can at least hit decently hard, and it does have options like Screech to potentially capitalize of a predicted switch, but Meowth's flaws are quite massive and it already has some tough competition in the tier as a Normal-type with Pidgeot being as dominant as it is, so you'll probably only see this Pokemon on Normal Spam teams.

Lastly, I wanted to touch upon a Pokemon that might not be too bad for the tier. Doduo has some pretty decent stats, with it actually having a higher attack stat then Pidgeot and base 75 speed is not too bad. It also does have access to Drill Peck, which means it actually has a form of Flying-type STAB which can be nice versus Pokemon like Parasect. Now of course, Pidgeot outclasses this Pokemon since Doduo sadly doesn't have access to Hyper Beam and Pidgeot's speed tier is much more important than Doduo's higher Attack, but Normal-types are so good that it might be worth running another weaker version of Pidgeot alongside it.​

 

[Soda_Eesti]

My Zoomer tournament is over! And because of this i am keeping the promise i made and am posting my Teams.

My Spreadsheet:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1pGnktRzK9HqKujmD-F7h-gcz3gwFWiBK4QAR3HstMgc/edit?usp=sharing

Overview

First Team:
For this team, honestly it was just me dipping my feet into ZU, as its the first lower tier i had ever played. I had no idea what to expect, and i ended up with not that bad of a team. Now after the tournament i would probably replace Abra with either marowak or primeape, and horsea with slowpoke. But during my tweak, i didnt want to completley change any team. So i kept this first one mostly how it was.

Second:
For this second team i had one goal. Use Magneton, So thats exactly what i did.

Third:
Idk what i was thinking ngl. Was just bored or smth ig.

Fourth:
Big Six! Honestly So Simple it could be a sample team.

Fifth:
The team i used in round 1 of the tour, i would replace weezing.

Sixth And Seventh:
The Team I Used in round 2 and the one i was PLANNING to use in round 3 respectivley. The reason 7th never got to see the light was because right before the set i had lost access to my laptop and had to use team 1-5, I had not expected this to happen, and with my other teams being worse than i had expected i played worse than i would have. (This is not an excuse for why i lost. My opponent for that round was way better then me in every way when it comes to competitive pokemon. And deserved the win. He earned it fair and square.)

Now Below I Will go over my personal Biases with a few pokemons i use in ZU respectivley

Abra:
I just think its way to frail, and wouldnt put it on my teams at this point

Weezing:
Its My Favorite Lead to Use

Marowak:
Sandslash But different.

Edit:
Forgot To Send My Personal VR. I only ranked the mons i have used. although some of this is opinion based on my style of play, i like heavier physical offense and slightly bulky mons. (I know its not an opinion thing, and thinking like this is holding me back, but im not trying to win tbh, i just want to have fun.) That is probably why i rank abra so low. Also I Suck at playing RBY so take this with a grain of salt :)

 

[Bedal Roscoe]

Sandslash and Pidgeot are S tier, they belong to PU lmao

Abra is indeed too frail, and that damn speed tier, easily nuked by Primeape and Pidgeot. If you have it as a last mon, you are screwed. A- at most

Parasect is surprisingly good defensively but it is too slow to be a reliable sleeper imo (or it is me who doesn't know how to use it). However, I noticed that Flareon and Rapidash leads existed to nuke it in the Lead Slot so maybe it is strong enough to need an answer. Solid B tier.

Other surprisingly good mons I struggled against: Arbok (partial trapping is busted), Primeape (outspeeding Pidgeot is huge), Marowak (very good attack and defense + counter), Flareon (strong mixed attacker imo)

"Disappointment tier":
Slowpoke is disappointing, very far from Slowbro... Its Spc is so low, it even dislikes taking strong fire move. Good sleep sack at least lol.

Magneton... Walled by Sandslash/Marowak (and setup fodder) it is not funny at all...

 

[gastlies]

Mons aren’t ranked PU based on ZU viability. Despite being amazing in ZU, Pidgeot is garbage in PU, so it will never rise to PU no matter how good it is here.

 

[Bedal Roscoe]

Mons aren’t ranked PU based on ZU viability. Despite being amazing in ZU, Pidgeot is garbage in PU, so it will never rise to PU no matter how good it is here.

I know that actually, I said that to emphasize the gap between those two and the rest of the tier. But I should try PU (and read stuff about it) to figure it by myself. (Same with Sandslash tho)

Btw, I just discovered RBY low tiers thanks to this tournament so i'm quite a noob here sorry :/

 

[NotVeryCake]

Pidgeot's 3rd And 4th Moves
Agility: Super-effective move against Poison-types; Weezing and Arbok beware.
Sky Attack: It lets Pidgeot hit Ghosts (in a vacuum).
Quick Attack: Lets Pidgeot outspeed opposing Flareon quicking Click Attack.
Sand Attack: The Ice Yazu special, served with a side of cheese.
Reflect: This move seems unviable, it doesn't do much damage to foes.
Substitute: Sand Attack DLC.
Mirror Move: Lets you switch in and copy Swords Dance from opposing Beedrill.
​

 

[Soda_Eesti]

Reflect: This move seems unviable, it doesn't do much damage to foes.​

Agreed! Never head any truer words!

Alr on a serious note tho, Ref/Rest Pidgeot actually is solid, it has a few flaws, and 90% of them being Marowak and Sandslash doesnt help.

Sand attack Pidgeot is pretty solid, and I would personally use it for the funny.

The most fun i have ever had watching replays were those of our local documentary maker: Reverend. I think the sets he went for were kinda cool (Only watched up to week 3 so far, and havent watched his match yet) Bide Pidge goes wild when working, and Ref/Rest/Sand Pidgeot in THE FIRST ROUND was wild.

When i was helping out bedal roscoe on his RBY ZU teams he had sky attack on pidgeot, when i asked what it was for, they told me it was for Grass mons, But they had muk, Wing attacks only strength i see is 4x on Parasect.

 

[NotVeryCake]

When i was helping out bedal roscoe on his RBY ZU teams he had sky attack on pidgeot, when i asked what it was for, they told me it was for Grass mons, But they had muk, Wing attacks only strength i see is 4x on Parasect.

Sky Attack is mainly used for scouting Counter on foes such as Marowak and Wartortle

 

[Bedal Roscoe]

When i was helping out bedal roscoe on his RBY ZU teams he had sky attack on pidgeot, when i asked what it was for, they told me it was for Grass mons, But they had muk, Wing attacks only strength i see is 4x on Parasect.

Well I'm not very proud of my first Pidgeot set with a flying move, I was giving too much value to double stab at that time.

More seriously, I find RefRest Pidgeot (ZU Snorlax) very interesting in this physical meta, what are your thoughts about this set, guys?

Btw, is it time of tedious RefPidgeot wars ?

 

[Soda_Eesti]

Btw, is it time of tedious RefPidgeot wars ?

VIVA LA REVOLUTION!!!

Like i said in the above post, refrest pidgeot is what i see the most, and personally use the most. So i really like it. Although, Sand attack pidgeot is really dope.

And Pidgeot isnt ZU Snorlax, Lower tiers are more or less 90% offensive, the bulkier mons are either weak specially, or do mostly offense, refrest is used to save pidgeot, not to stall. This isnt OU. Its a mainly Offensive tier, specifically on the physical side, with not many special offensive mons. Although mons like marowak use special moves, i wouldnt say they are "Specially" offensive

Edit: As You Know Im really new to rby lower tiers, so i may be slightly off, but i belive im right overall. :)

Edit 2: WHY WERE SO MANY PEOPLE LOOKING AT THIS THREAD WHEN I POSTED IT AAAAAAAAAAAAAA. Atleast 12 people got to see how bad i am at pokemon :(

 

[gastlies]

so what's the plan for this tier after ZU olympiad. Right now there are two things that I think need to be adressed

• Preliminary VR
• Arbok suspect test

I assume these two are gonna happen after Olympiad ends, with the same, or a similar, list of qualified submitters/voters. However, it seems silly to make a VR for an Abrok meta if Arbok ends up banned, since the VR will immediately be innacurate, so I propose the following.

• First do an Arbok suspect test. A huge chunk of the playerbase has expressed disdain for this mon, and I think most people want to suspect it. This doesn't mean Arbok will nessecarily be banned, but I feel like we should let it come down to a vote.
• If Arbok Remains Legal: Immediate VR
• If Abrok Is Banned: Wait on the VR until the next tour (LTC? Slam?) so we can make a more accurate VR on the post-abrok meta.

Obviously this is just my opinion so if anyone else has different thoughts I'd like to hear it

also since my team is out of ZU olympiad here's my personal thoughts on Arbok

Personally I don't think Arbok is broken. Do I hate it? Yes. Do I think it's annoying? Yes, but I'm not convinced that its banworthy. First of all, Pidgeot and Primeape are two amazing mons that are on every (good) team so u already have two mons that outspeed Bok. You could Argue that Arbok forces you to save these mons for lategame to check Bok, but the thing is Parasect already forces u to not send out these mons early, since if you kill something with pidge or ape early game you get revenge-slept by sect, so this isn't a problem exclusive to Arbok. Quick Attack is also pretty prevalent which can chip Bok. Also, Wrap can miss, so it's really hard to chip down a Sandslash or something like that.

 

[NotVeryCake]

Arbok, in my opinion, is not directly mega OP broken, but what this thing does to the builder and the way people play out games is disgusting to me. It warps the builder to a truly insane degree, forcing 2 or 3 fast mons on every team, and these fast mons (outside of Pidgeot) are very flawed and exploitable. Primaepe outspeeds it but can only meaningfully threaten it with Body Slam paralysis, a move it frankly doesn't want to run outside of the Arbok matchup, and is threatened back with Glare, which completely cripples Primaepe if it lands, Primaepe can't even Hyper Beam it safely due to the horrendous simulator glitch (that has been known for over half a year yet still hasn't been patched) where the opponent cannot recharge while being wrapped, which means they cannot switch or attack at all unless the wrapper misses. To focus on Primaepe specifically, some people hold this mon in such high regards, yet in my opinion, if Arbok didn't exist, this mon would simply be mediocre; its fast sure, but its damage output is frankly bad and it's also frail, Arbok forces this mon to be ran on most teams because it outspeeds it.
What it does to the way people play is that it forces people to conserve their Pidgeot and their Primaepe until the very end of the game just to even attempt to beat it consistently, they can't even due it safely since Primaepe Hyper Beam + Pidgeot Hyper Beam does a minimum of 98%, compounded with the Hyper Beam glitch which means that Hyper Beaming into a healthy Arbok is a death sentence makes this type of play (one of the only types of solid counterplay to Arbok outside of the fucking Arbok mirror) awful to see. I think, vs any semi-competent player, the Arbok ditto is unavoidable 8/10 times.
To short summarise that rant: Fast mons are in short supply and most of them are exploitable in some form, players are forced to keep their fast mons healthy into the late game just to deal with Arbok and these fast mons usually have utility elsewhere in the game they simply can't use to full effectiveness because of that fucking snake. The Arbok ditto is inevitable in most games. These fast mons are also not even that good into Arbok LMAO; Arbok vs Body Slam Primaepe is very skewed in Arboks favor and if Primaepe decides to Hyper Beam it's an almost certain death sentence for it. Pidgeot can't always 2HKO Arbok with Double Edge > Hyper Bsam and the same point as Primaepe when it comes to Hyper Beaming a healthy Arbok. Ponyta gets 2HKOed by Arbok Earthquake while it only 3HKOes in return with 85% accurate Fire Blast, this mons Arbok matchup is pretty ass with all due respects. Abra and Poliwag are actual dogshit and I'm not going to discuss them, waste of breath.

 

[Gangsta Spongebob]

I really don't like Arbok ngl

 

[DAWNBUSTER]

If HSA played this tier, he could probably beat 99% of the playerbase with Arbok.