Regarding the new gamepress list... this is one of the first times i can't agree with some Pokémons placement.
Dragonite should be maximum B+ tier, since now we have Articuno and already had Lapras (even pos-nerf), Cloyster, Piloswine and even Jynx. Double weakness mons are not good defenders.
Gyarados was already awful at defending cause of it's double weakness to electric, and now we have Raikou, the best electric mon in the game. Also, Zapdos as well. B tier would do.
Tyranitar?! MAXIMUM C tier - it doesn't even get a charge move off if you're using counter/dynamic punch Machamp (even if it's crunch).
Lapras and Vaporeonn should be on B+ tier. Exeggutor on C tier.
Read the ratings explanation before ranting.
It takes into consideration that certain pokemons in a gym means the attacker must fill a slot for that specific Pokémon (switching).
Dragonite forces the attacker to have one ice Pokémon. Gyarados forces an electric Pokémon into the team etc.
defendinf Rhydon equals most likely a attacking Vape that most likely can be used to something else to = bad defender
Am I the only one who likes to pull out my Clefable when I run into Gyms like that? Especially when the Gyarados and DNite are back to back.
Clefable resists all the Dragon and Dark moves those two have, charges Moonblast while wrecking Gyarados with Charge Beam, then unloads Moonblast when DNite comes out.
If you look at pokebattler sims, Dragonite is consistently one of the best defenders at dealing damage to its counters, sometimes even better than Snorlax. Dnite is faster to kill, but if you take into account the time it takes to choose an ice-type attacker, switch it in for dnite, and switch it out for the next pokemon, the difference between it and Snorlax is minimal. Gyarados is similar, but not quite as good.
I agree that all the above (Dnite, Ttar, Gary, Rhydon, etc) are terrible defenders. But what would you really place above them? It's not like we are flush with good defenders (not that defending is a thing anymore). Aside from Blissey, nothing can stand alone on defense. It boggles my mind when I see a non-blissey defender with a "battles won" >0.
Edit: Even those blissey wins are cheap, since they are likely just time-outs.
Edit2: Eggy is terrible as a defender, it's weak against the highest DPS attackers in the game (TTar, Flareon, Gengar, etc) except Zam plus it is has a double weakness to Bug. I've never been hit by a solar beam when attacking since the gym change.
The AI doesn't dodge or switch defenders. It's like shooting fish in a barrel. Thats's what takes the bulkiest to the top of the list.
This will be very different when two human players will pick a team of six to fight against each other.
Current gyms are just that, gyms.
A place to practise for what will come with PvP.
So i am happy when gamepress introduces more than the handfull of prominent Pokemon in their rankings.
Even if the ranking is based on their performance as punching balls.
