| [Analysis]In-depth look at how Legendaries will effect the game Posted: 25 Apr 2017 08:11 AM PDT Legendaries are a topic that periodically comes up, and given the possibility (don't jump on the hype train just yet) of an event this summer, I decided to look at how legendaries would affect the gym meta. Skip to the last section if you want a TL;DR. The Kanto Birds: Zapdos - 3330CP: Att 253, Def 188, HP 180 Movepool: Charge Beam/Thunder, Zap Cannon, Thunderbolt Of the trinity, Big Bird has the highest max CP in Pokemon Go. When Zapdos arrives, it will deal the most damage of any Generation 1 Electric type. Its best moveset will be Charge Beam/Zap Cannon or Thunderbolt (if nothing changes). Zapdos, before the Generation 2 update, had Thunder Shock as its quick move. Had its movepool not changed, Thunder Shock/Thunderbolt would have been its best moveset, and as a result it would deal the most damage of any Electric type in Gen 1 or Gen 2. Unfortunately, the game master was updated with Charge Beam as its only quick move (which sucks), and it will be ever so slightly out-DPS'd by Thunder Shock/Wild Charge Raikou (~3-4% difference in DPS). Damage-wise, Thunder Shock/Zap Cannon Zapdos is on par with Air Slash/Overheat Charizard. In terms of gym defense, Zapdos is a significant addition to the game because it places above relevant defenders such as Rhydon (3300CP), Gyarados (3281CP), Blissey (3219CP), and Vaporeon (3157CP). However, acquiring a Zapdos isn't going to break the current gym stratification. In terms of CP, it still ranks below Snorlax (3355CP), Dragonite (3581CP), and Tyranitar (3670CP). Now while you may not have yet acquired any of those three, I can assure you they are easier to obtain than Zapdos right now. And for many high-level players, they already have multiples of those. Zapdos has a decent defensive typing, having two weaknesses (Rock and Ice). As many Ice types are also Water, many of those Pokemon will be weak to Zapdos. As for Rock types, Rhydon learns Mud Slap (neutral to Zapdos) and Rock Smash (NVE to Zapdos). Omastar is weak to Electric attacks. Which leaves Golem as the best counter. In terms of gym offense, Zapdos about a ~4-5% damage increase over Thunder Shock/Thunderbolt Jolteon. The advantage from using Zapdos over Jolteon comes from its durability. For comparison, Zapdos is about as tanky as Cloyster and Poliwrath. This added bulk elevates Zapdos above being a Gyarados-counter to a solid generalist attacker. It attacks with either neutral or super effective damage into most of the common defenders, with Rhydon as a notable exception. Zapdos can survive long enough and beat Blissey with time to spare. But, Zapdos is still outclassed in terms of DPS and bulk by Dragonite which, although rare, is a Pokemon you can actually evolve to. Articuno - 2933CP: Att 192, Def 249, HP 180 Movepool: Frost Breath/Blizzard, Ice Beam, Icy Wind Articuno is the bulkiest of the Kanto birds. In terms of tankiness, Articuno is above Tyranitar and Rhydon, though below Lapras. Articuno's best moveset will be Frost Breath/Blizzard, and will have a similar damage output to Frost Breath/Avalanche Cloyster. Defense: Articuno, despite having good bulk, will be a terrible defender for two reasons. First, it suffers from a bad case of lower-CP-than-Vaporeon-itis, which is unfortunately incurable at present. Second, it is weak to many powerful attackers. It is weak to Electric (everyone has Jolteon), weak to Fire (everyone has Flareon), and has a crippling double weakness to Rock. Articuno does not want to take 56% extra damage from Rock Throw/Stone Edge Golem or Rock Throw/Rock Slide Omastar (legacy). While Golem is not the most common attacker out there, Jolteon and Flareon still easily best Articuno. Articuno is of course also weak to Steel, but quality Steel type attackers are rarer than the other counters. Offense: Articuno marries the bulk of Lapras and the DPS of Cloyster, and as a result will become the best Dragonite-counter in the game. This could be a game-changer for people plagued by Dragonites who do not have access to good Ice type counters. Articuno also has the bulk to be able to withstand Blissey and damage output to narrowly win in time. Articuno will need to dodge quite a bit, and you will need Frost Breath/Blizzard to beat a Blissey around your level. Moltres - 3272CP: Att 251, Def 184, HP 180 Movepool: Fire Spin/Overheat, Fire Blast, Heat Wave The Fire Bird has the highest DPS of the flock. Fire Spin/Overheat Moltres ever so slightly outclasses Flareon, and has the highest damage output of any Fire type in Gen 1 or Gen 2 (yes, above Ho Oh). FS/OH Moltres is just shy of Dragon Tail/Outrage Dragonite for DPS. Defense: Moltres, though it places above Vaporeon and Blissey, still ranks below Gyarados and Rhydon. But the real problem is Moltres has terrible typing. It is weak to Electric, double weak to Rock, but its fatal weakness is to Water. Everyone has access to Vaporeon, and many long-time players will absolutely smoke Moltres with Rock Throw/Stone Edge Golem. If you are familiar with how easily Jolteon beats Gyarados, well Moltres isn't as tanky as Gyarados and Golem resists all of Moltres's moves…so…you can imagine how that will go. Offense: Moltres has similar bulk to Zapdos, which means it has comparable advantages over Pokemon of its type. Moltres does more damage than Flareon, and doesn't have the drawback of Flareon's fragility. In fact, Moltres is tankier than Charizard and Arcanine, and has the same .64x resistance to Grass as Charizard. Moltres is an upgrade to any of your current Fire types. However, Moltres does not make a particularly great attacker in the current meta. The Fire Bird's usability as a generalist is somewhat hampered by Gyarados, Rhydon, Dragonite, and Tyranitar, which all resist Fire. However, if you find yourself in need of a strong attacker against Blissey, Moltres is up to the task. It will take out Blissey faster than the other Birds, and as a result have more health to spare (it resists Dazzling Gleam). Mew and Mewtwo Mew - 3090CP: Att 210, Def 210, HP 200 Movepool: Pound/Solar Beam, Hyper Beam, Fire Blast, Thunder, Focus Blast, Psychic, Earthquake, Blizzard Mew had an evenly distributed 100/100/100/100/100/100 stat spread with a 600 base stat total. So it comes as no surprise that it has very even PoGo stats and a relatively high CP. Though Mew suffers from Lack-of-STAB syndrome, and even Psychic is not optimal because it has a very low DPE (100 damage for 100 energy isn't very good these days). Mew's best moveset will be Pound/Solar Beam. To compare it to another Psychic type, Mew with this moveset will do similar damage as a Starmie with Tackle/Hydro Pump. Defense: In addition to Lack-of-STAB syndrome, Mew also has a bad case of lower-CP-than-Vaporeon-itis. Thus, I'm going to have to quarantine Mew and recommend that you do not approach. Pound doesn't have very good DPS on defense, and Mew can only learn predictable 100 energy (1 bar) charge moves. That aside, Pound/Solar Beam Mew has a higher defensive damage output than Water Gun/Aqua Tail Vaporeon, and is on par with Rock Smash/Hydro Pump Poliwrath. Psychic typing used to be decent on defense, but nowadays there are plenty of counters. Pinsir and Scizor can handle Mew, and Houndoom gets the job done nicely as well. But those Pokemon aren't the problem, Gengar is. After the Halloween event, I'd expect many people to have Gengar at this point. Mew is Gengar's ideal matchup = A Psychic type that can only learn a Non-STAB Normal (NVE against Gengar) type quick move. If you come across this rare matchup, you will finally be able to deal SE damage with Gengar without fear of taking SE damage from Confusion or Zen Headbutt. Offense: Mew has decent bulk, just shy of Rhydon, and a very diverse movepool. It could be used as an adequate generalist with many of its movesets, but it will never be the best attacker for the job, and it is not even the best generalist. Mew is usable, but hardly a game-changer as an attacker. Though I should mention that Pound/Focus Blast Mew has the damage output and bulk to beat a similarly leveled Blissey in time. Mewtwo - 4760CP: Att 330, Def 200, HP 200 Movepool: Psycho Cut, Confusion/Psychic, Shadow Ball, Hyper Beam, Focus Blast Mewtwo is OP. It was OP in the main games, and it should come as no surprise that a Pokemon with a 680 base stat total is OP in Pokemon Go. Mewtwo with any Confusion moveset will out DPS any other Pokemon in Gen 1 or Gen 2. Confusion/ Shadow Ball and Hyper Beam will both have a similar DPS output, and be Mewtwo's best offensive/defensive movesets. Defense: Mewtwo has the highest CP of Gen 1 and Gen 2. That much is obvious. What may not be obvious is that a 0% IV Level 31 Mewtwo will have guaranteed placement above any other currently available Pokemon. A 0% IV Level 31 Mewtwo has 3698CP and places above a 100% IV Level 40 Tyranitar (3670CP). Now in addition to automatically topping any gym in existence, Mewtwo has the stats and moveset to back it up. Currently, Blissey has the best defensive damage output in the gym meta. Well, Blissey will need to step aside because Confusion/Shadow Ball Mewtwo will have the best defensive output of any Pokemon. Mewtwo has the tankiness of Tyranitar and Rhydon and more DPS output than Gengar and Alakazam. As a result, almost no Pokemon (currently obtainable) can go toe-to-toe with Mewtwo without dodging. Even Blissey could lose to some Mewtwo movesets without dodging (Focus Blast), depending on how the AI charge move RNG plays out. Gengar is not a good idea here. Houndoom and Scizor struggle, you will basically have to weave your attacks and dodge perfectly. Tyranitar is the best counter in terms of overall DPS and durability, but it is exceedingly difficult to produce. However, all is not lost. You can still beat Mewtwo with generalists like Dragonite, Snorlax (SE Lick), Blissey, Gyarados, and Vaporeon. Don't expect to finish with much HP left if you use something that isn't Blissey or Snorlax. Even with the AI's attack pattern as a handicap, Mewtwo could still take out a similarly leveled Snorlax in less than 30 seconds if you just stand around. It is worth mentioning that you can guarantee an Umbreon evolution. Dodging mostly everything, Umbreon reliably beats Mewtwo, and can wind up with more HP to spare than some of the other options. I'll also mention that if you find yourself in need of a prestiger for Mewtwo, Umbreon and Steelix can reliably net you that max 1000 gain (though it will take a while). Houndoom has the possibility to get you 1000 prestige much faster, but feels inclined to die if you don't land all of your dodges, so keep that in mind. Offense: Mewtwo is the best generalist. Need I say more? Confusion/Focus Blast Mewtwo can beat Blissey faster than any Pokemon with minimal dodging (Machamp must dodge a lot to win). And even more amazing, Mewtwo (Confusion/Focus Blast) can beat Blissey without dodging (as long as it doesn't have Hyper Beam or ZH/DG). The Johto Beasts Raikou - 3349CP: Att 241, Def 210, HP 180 Movepool: Thunder Shock, Volt Switch/Wild Charge, Thunderbolt, Thunder The Thunder Cat has the highest attack stat of the beasts, but Entei learns Fire Spin (which is probably too good) and Overheat, and thus Raikou has a lower offensive output than Entei. But Raikou will have the best offensive DPS for an Electric type (because Zapdos learns Charge Beam and not Thunder Shock – pls fix Niantic), and will be the bulkiest as well. Raikou's max CP is also 19 higher than Zapdos. Defense: Volt Switch has great synergy with the current AI defense system, and Wild Charge has a very good DPE and can put out consistent STAB damage (Thunderbolt is good too though). Now add in the fact that Raikou has a very hefty 241 Attack stat, and is bulkier than Dragonite, and its defensive damage output is better than Zen Headbutt/Body Slam Snorlax, Confusion/Solar Beam Exeggutor, and Iron Tail/Crunch Tyranitar. A similarly leveled Mud Slap/Earthquake Golem can't beat Volt Switch/Wild Charge Raikou without dodging. Rhydon can, but will not have much HP left. Now add to the fact that only Snorlax, Dragonite, and Tyranitar (currently obtainable) place above Raikou, and you have a very solid gym defender (even though Ground is immune to Electric and its absurd Golem could lose but whatever). As far as weaknesses, Ground isn't even much of a problem because Gengar, Alakazam, Dragonite, Exeggutor, and Flareon all do more damage to Raikou than any Ground type with the SE bonus. Overall, Raikou has great CP placement, damage output, and no easy counter. Even with dodging, Rhydon will still take quite a bit of damage. Offense: Raikou is great on offense. Good bulk and damage output, it easily will destroy Gyarados, and can function as a generalist like Zapdos. Raikou survives long enough against Blissey and can win with time to spare (it will have more HP than Zapdos at the end of the fight as well). Entei - 3412CP: Att 235, Def 180, HP 230 Movepool: Fire Fang, Fire Spin/Overheat, Overheat, Fire Blast, Flamethrower Entei with Fire Spin/Overheat has the best damage output of the beasts. It has a damage output on par with Ember/Overheat Flareon and Zen Headbutt/Future Sight Espeon. But it also has bulk close to Tyranitar. Defense: Fire Spin has great synergy with the defense attack pattern, and so Entei has a very respectable defensive DPS output with Fire Spin/Overheat or Flamethrower. It is comparable to Iron Tail/Crunch Tyranitar and Mud Slap/Earthquake Rhydon. Although it doesn't have a double weakness, it is still weak to Water. Vaporeon doesn't have much trouble with this matchup. Entei does have the benefit of placing above Snorlax, unlike Raikou. As a result, Entei, despite its Water Weakness, can be a viable defender due to its adequate bulk and CP placement (much like Rhydon). Offense: Entei is in a similar position as Zapdos, Moltres, and Raikou. It has comparable damage output to other Pokemon of its type, but the advantage lies in its bulk. Entei is bulkier than all non-legendary Fire types, and is significantly bulkier than Moltres as well. Of course, its ability to function as a generalist still has the same problems as other Fire types. But due to DPS and bulk, Entei will be sure to find itself on a Blissey attacker's list. Entei can win with plenty of time and a fair amount of HP. Suicune - 2823CP: Att 180, Def 235, HP 200 Movepool: Extrasensory, Snarl/Hydro Pump, Bubble Beam, Water Pulse Suicune is the bulkiest of the trio, but I'm not going to sugar coat this. Suicune has the debilitating condition known as Lack-of-STAB syndrome. It's best moveset (either quick move with Hydro Pump) puts it on par with Water Gun/Hydro Pump Blastoise. Defense: In addition to Lack-of-STAB syndrome, Suicune has an extremely aggressive form of lower-CP-than-Vaporeon-itis. I am quarantining Suicune and ordering civilians not to approach. It's sad because Suicune was a much better bulky water type than Vaporeon because it had good HP, Special Defense and Physical Defense (Vaporeon has a pitiful 60 Physical Defense stat). However, Pokemon Go doesn't care about that, and sadly Suicide-kun is perhaps the worst legendary of the bunch. FeelsBadMan. Suicide-kun's movesets all have decent defensive output (better than Vaporeon because Water Gun sucks on defense). Extrasensory or Snarl with Hydro Pump on defense is comparable to Ice Shard/Blizzard Lapras (also suffers from the same CP disease). Suicune is tankier than Lapras and falls just shy of Umbreon. Offense: Lack-of-STAB syndrome, and there are many, many other water types in the game that do the same thing. Suicide-kun can't beat a Blissey of a similar level in time. Enough said. Lugia and Ho-Oh Lugia - 3598CP: Att 193, Def 323, HP 212 Movepool: Extrasensory, Dragon Tail/Sky Attack, Future Sight, Hydro Pump Lugia, the leader of the Kanto Birds, has the highest Defense stat of all Gen 1 and Gen 2 legendaries. Lugia is tankier than Snorlax, and has a max CP above Dragonite. Lugia's best moveset is Extrasensory/Sky Attack or Future Sight, which puts it on par with Lick/Hyper Beam Snorlax and Mud Slap/Earthquake Golem. Defense: Harder to kill than Snorlax, and gets higher placement in gyms than every Pokemon in the game that isn't Tyranitar, Ho-Oh, or Mewtwo. It has a defensive damage output with Extrasensory/Sky Attack on par with Volt Switch/Wild Charge Raikou (reason being Raikou does more damage per second, but Lugia lives longer and catches up over time). Lugia is the only Legendary Psychic type not weak to Bug. However, it has many weaknesses. Ice, Electric, Ghost, Dark, and Rock. Gengar does the most damage to Lugia, but you'd have to dodge pretty much everything or he dies. Lugia has a rare typing that allows Bite/Stone Edge Tyranitar to be completely Super Effective. Jolteon and Jynx also can deal quite a lot of damage. Nonetheless, Lugia gets excellent gym placement and does not easily go down, thus I'm confident stating that Lugia (as of now) has what it takes to make a top tier gym defender. Offense: Lugia has a solid damage output and can tank even more damage than Snorlax. It will make a great generalist attacker. It wins matchups against similarly leveled Blissey with plenty of time and will have more HP left over than most. And it joins the very small club of Pokemon that can beat Blissey without dodging (as long as the charge move on Blissey is Psychic). Ho-Oh - 4650CP: Att 263, Def 301, HP 212 Movepool: Extrasensory, Steel Wing/Solar Beam, Fire Blast, Brave Bird Ho-Oh is god. Despite Lack-of-STAB syndrome, Extrasensory/Fire Blast is backed up by a massive 263 Attack stat, and it will still have comparable DPS to Air Slash/Overheat Charizard, while being tankier than Snorlax. Defense: Ho-Oh only has to compete with other Ho-Oh and Mewtwo for gym placement. A 0%IV Level 32 Ho-Oh has a higher CP than 100% IV Level 40 Tyranitar. Because of the combination of attack power and durability, Ho-Oh can deal damage on defense comparable to Mewtwo. There is one caveat. Ho-Oh has a double weakness to Rock, and is weak to the ever common Vaporeon and Jolteon. But…Solar Beam Ho-Oh is one of the few optimal uses of an off-type coverage move in Pokemon Go. Solar Beam Ho-Oh can one-shot Golem and Omastar. And more importantly, it can easily induce the Rubberband-of-Death. Now Vaporeon can handle Ho-Oh, but you aren't walking away with a lot of health afterwards. Ho-Oh is the most viable gym defender with a double weakness in the game. Offense: Due to the combination of tankiness and DPS, Ho-Oh is the only other Pokemon aside from Mewtwo and Lugia that can beat Blissey without dodging (As long as Blissey doesn't have Hyper Beam). Ho-Oh with Extrasensory/Solar Beam circumvents some problems Fire types usually encounter as Generalists (Their moves are NVE against much of the meta, thus negating STAB). Celebi Celebi - 3090CP: Att 210, Def 210, HP 200 Movepool: Confusion, Charge Beam/Hyper Beam, Dazzling Gleam, Psychic Gen 2's Hippie version of Mew has the same exact 600 base stat total, and so it will have the exact same stats as Mew in Pokemon Go. Celebi's best moveset will be Confusion/Hyper Beam, which puts it on par with Water Gun/Hydro Pump Starmie. Defense: Celebi caught the same disease as Mew, Lower-CP-than-Vaporeon-itis. However, unlike Mew, Celebi has access to STAB Confusion, which is the best defensive quick move in the game. Dazzling Gleam hits hard and often, expect C/DG Celebi to put up a defensive performance close to Iron Tail/Stone Edge Tyranitar and Mud Slap/Earthquake Rhydon. The problem is that like those Pokemon, Celebi also has a double weakness (to Bug). This puts it in the precarious position of being mauled by Scizor. Offense: Celebi's access to STAB Confusion, in conjunction with its bulk, gives it the DPS TO shine as generalist, leaving Mew behind in its dust. Celebi has the stats and the moves to be able to beat Blissey (with plenty of dodging of course). Impact on the meta (TL;DR): Articuno, Suicune, Mew, and Celebi are irrelevant in gym defense. Some of them could have decent defensive performance, but they will be low-hanging fruit and probably get bottom placement. However, Articuno outshines the others on offense due to its matchup with Dragonite. Zapdos, Moltres, Raikou, and Entei all could have a place in gym defense, although Moltres is still out-CP'd by Gyarados and Rhydon, and has terrible defensive typing. Zapdos and Raikou both enjoy respectable gym placement, and both have solid typing for gym defense. Raikou in particular has the movepool to have a very high DPS on defense. Entei will of course get the best placement of these (as it places above Snorlax), though its typing leaves something to be desired and it will still rank below Dragonite and Tyranitar. On offense, they are modest improvements over currently available attackers of their typing. Mewtwo, Lugia, and Ho-Oh will have the biggest impact in the game. These three Pokemon are stong on offense and defense (Ho-Oh has bad typing but gets by on its immense stats) The true impact that these Pokemon will have is determined by how they are distributed. Based on previous Ingress events, we know that Niantic has a history of hosting in-person events you need to register for. Thus, you can rest easy because people will not simply be able to spoof over to event locations and catch Legendaries. For People who plan ahead and register to attend a Legendary event, let's consider the following. While this may upset Dex Jockeys, allowing event attendees to capture every Legendary would be problematic. Widespread Legendaries would make many current attackers redundant. However, I do not think we should limit players to just 1 Legendary (and there are future Generations yet to be released). If you thought the "last 5 10k eggs I hatched were Pinsir" threads were bad, just imagine the "I marked my calendar, booked my flight, took time off work, and walked a 20km event egg to hatch a Suicide-kun" posts. What would be fair is for players to acquire 1 Legendary from each generation. This will give people two additional attackers or defenders for now, but will not completely invalidate the rest of the meta. Their scarcity makes the rest of the meta still relevant. Yes, some people won't get a Mewtwo. But I think that is ok, because for the people that do get a Mewtwo (applies to all Legendaries though), they have a decision to make. They can either place their one and only Mewtwo to secure the top spot in one gym, or use it as a powerful attacker. Legendaries could actually even add to diversity; we might start to see some Electric, Fire, and Psychic types in gyms. submitted by /u/DavidKSA [link] [comments] |
![[Screenshot] When everyone is outside having fun but you have to study :(](https://a.thumbs.redditmedia.com/xSwCCUxt3qYISSin-YqBxZ6If6-0-rZeGQH1kyVZ1u8.jpg "[Screenshot] When everyone is outside having fun but you have to study :(")
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