Defender's Tier List

Ah thanks. I didn't realize I had missed Steelix. Definitely a solid Pokemon, though like Poliwrath and the like, a low maximum CP in a high-CP metagame make it hard to add Steelix to gyms effectively.

Scizor and Heracross are not at all the same... Scizor has Bullet Punch as its strongest quick move (base 9), while Heracross has Struggle Bug (base 15). Scizor's double weakness (fire) resists it STABs, so using Fire types goes unpunished. Heracross' double weakness (flying) has fewer viable attackers, though they do counter it as well. But viable fire types vastly outnumber viable flying types. Heracross' weakness to Psychic is countered by its Bug STABs.

Edit: Donphan being weak to water (#Vaporeon) is more problematic in my experience than Ursaring having worse defence. While they have the same ideal moveset, Ursaring's Play Rough helps counter attacking Fighting types, while Donphan's Play Rough doesn't help it against Vaporeon.

Body Slam is far better for Snorlax, but it's now a legacy move so if you get a new Snorlax, the best you can hope for is Heavy Slam. Seed Bomb is also ideal for Exeggutor on defence. Solarbeam is quite strong, but on defence it's near-guaranteed to be dodged.

As an attack, Solar Beam is great though. You get to just nuke something, and can avoid letting stuff like Rhydon or Vaporeon charge another _____ if you have good timing.

Thanks. I don't think just because Blissey is better than Snorlax, that doesn't mean Snorlax isn't leagues ahead of other defenders.

1. The new ZH/Body Slam Snorlax is even better than before. It seems silly to have a tier just for Blissey and a tier just for Snorlax.
2. As noted in the Fast facts, Lapras hasn't lost that much in performance (though it has dipped, try out a Flareon on it compared to before). But it has lost a lot of CP, preventing it from being slotted into gyms optimally. Part of this tier list is balancing the defender's ability, and also its ability to hold its spot in a gym. Otherwise I'd be including Pokemon like Chansey and Wobbuffet who are highly annoying.
3. Have you faced a Dragon Tail / Crunch Gyarados yet? Does way more damage. Yes, easy to counter. But so are Dragonite and Tyranitar. But Dragon Tail / Crunch Gyarados does a much better job standing its ground.
4. I'd like to... but grass got a lot better as an attacking type. Omastar gets practically OHKO'd by Solar Beam now, meaning a Grass attacker can clear an Omastar from the field without letting it use its charge moves. I'm actually considering the new Charizard as a C tier adjustment... I've been pretty impressed with Air Slash / Dragon Claw.

Outrage is really strong, but its long animation time makes it much easier to dodge. Crunch is a pretty quick-fire move and has a better energy ratio. Not saying Outrage isn't a solid option, but I think Crunch is definitively better.