"[Analysis] Generalist Prestiger Tier List"

#PokemonGO: Move over Wigglytuff, we have a new king of the generalist prestigers in town!So, after seeing people mention Quagsire, Noctowl, Furret, Sudowoodo, etc. as good prestigers, I ran simulations in pokebattler for all pokemon in the game (including legacy moves) at 1/2 CP against the following defenders (defenders at level 30, perfect IV):The big 7:BlisseyDragoniteSnorlaxRhydonTyranitarGyaradosVaporeonThe following fringe high CPers:ExeggutorEspeonDonphanFlareonMachampOther defenders (mostly to fill types that were not present in the defenders above):Jolteon (Electric)Lapras (Ice)Scizor (Bug/Steel)Muk (Poison)Granbull (Fairy)Before going to the rankings, it’s worth mentioning that I marked any victory with less than 20 seconds remaining or less than 20% Health remaining as a ‘fail’ (to account for human error). I named this rule the “20/20 cut-off”.S Tier (0-19 fails):Umbreon Feint Attack/Foul Play. Losses: 6. 20/20 cut-off: 9. Total fails: 15.Loses to all 6 Blissey movesets (which no attacker can beat at 1/2 CP anyway, so everyone is at 6 losses from the get-go). 20/20 Cut-off missed against all Snorlax movesets (8) because of time (10 to 15 seconds remaining). Misses the 20/20 cut on health lost (17% remaining) against C/DP Machamp. Even its fails are not by razor thin margins, which makes this pokemon the top generalist prestiger in the game. Umbreon needs to fire Foul Play in between defender quick attacks (‘Dodge All PRO’ strategy in pokebattler). Snarl/Foul Play would occupy the top spot in our A Tier at 6 losses, 14 cut-offs missed. For a total of 20 fails.Skarmory Steel Wing/Sky Attack. Losses 9. 20/20 Cut-off: 6. Fails: 15.Other than Blissey, 3 outright losses against all 3 Volt Switch Jolteons. But contrary to Umbreon, Skarmory misses the cut on 6 of his ‘wins’ because of health remaining, not time. Skarmory loses more than 80% of its health to beat Lapras (4 movesets), Vaporeon (Hydropump) and Flareon (Flamethrower). Favored dodge strategy is ‘Dodge All PRO’. But if you like to wait for the defender to fire its charge attack before firing your charge move (‘Dodge All’ in pokebattler), Skarmory is the best generalist prestiger of all at a mere 21 fails. Also of note is Steel Wing/Brave Bird which would also make our S Tier at 9 outright losses and 10 missed cuts for a total of 19 fails (with ’Dodge All PRO’. 20 with ‘Dodge All’).A Tier (20-29 fails):Forretress Bug Bite/Heavy Slam. Losses 10. Missed 20/20 cuts: 10. Fails: 20.All 4 additional losses (other than 6 Blissey) are against Flareon. Misses the cut on health lost against: Flareon (additional 3 move sets), Jolteon (2), Lapras (3), Vaporeon (Hydropump), Machamp (BP/DP). Forretress needs to fire Heavy Slam between defenders quick attacks in order to be effective. Struggle Bug/Heavy Slam, its second best moveset, would fall at the bottom of our B Tier with 38 fails.Noctowl Wing Attack/Sky Attack. Losses 13. 20/20 cut-offs: 8. Total fails: 21.This pokemon’s prestige prowess has already been discovered by a few of our fellow travellers. All additional 7 losses come from the hands of Lapras and Jolteon. Cuts missed on health remaining against Lapras (2), Snorlax (2), Tyranitar (2), Exeggutor (C/SolarB) and Rhydon (RS/SE). Favored strategy is firing Sky Attack in between defenders quick attacks. Extrasensory/Sky Attack would make the top of our B Tier at 32 fails which is also pretty decent.Lanturn Water Gun/Thunderbolt. Losses 11. 20/20 cut-off: 15. Total fails: 26.5 additional losses are to Exeggutor movesets. 7 different pokemon account for its 15 missed cuts, all on health remaining less than 20%. All Exeggutors that can’t outright beat Lanturn, will disqualify it in the 20/20 cut-off requirement. The fact that Exeggutors have many different movesets inflates the number of Lanturn’s losses and missed cuts. 12 of its 26 fails are to Exeggutors. If Exeggutors had only 6 move sets (no legacy moves), Lanturn could have been at 20 fails (still A Tier). As with all other pokemon above it, firing Thunderbolt between quick attacks is the preferred strategy. Water Gun/Thunder performs almost as well, with 28 fails.Blissey Pound/Hyper Beam. Losses 6. 20/20 missed cuts: 18. Fails: 27One of the main reasons why I decided to apply the 20/20 rule. Blissey is slow. If it were only for its 6 losses (against all 6 iterations of itself), it would be at the top of S Tier tied with Umbreon. But Chansey at 1/2 CP will take more than 80 seconds to beat a whopping 16 pokemon. It will also lose more than 80% of its health against 4 pokemon (2 of them are also listed at more than 80 seconds). This takes Blissey out of S Tier and puts it here. For those who like to wait for defenders charge moves before using the charge move themselves, Blissey is the third best prestiger at 31 fails, behind Skarmory at 20 and Tentacruel at 30. Second best moveset is P/DG, performing significantly worse at 41 fails (note: with ‘Dodge All’ strategy).Miltank Tackle/Stomp. Losses 10. Missed 20/20 cuts: 17. Fails: 27.Miltank came as a bit of a surprise. I wasn’t expecting it to be this good. Its 4 additional losses (other than Blissey) are C/DP Machamp, IS/IB Lapras, RS/E Rhydon and C/SO Exeggutor. 17 cuts missed all on health lost (less than 20% remaining), against many different pokemon. I almost downgraded Miltank to B Tier because of the variety of pokemon it struggles against, but decided to keep it here. Stomp must be used between defender’s quick attacks otherwise Miltank’s performance takes a nosedive (52 fails). Tackle/Body Slam, its next best moveset, sits at 36 fails.B Tier (30-39 fails)Tentacruel Poison Jab/Hydropump. Losses: 17. Missed cuts: 13. Fails 30.Waiting for the opponent to fire the charge move before firing yours works better for Tentacruel. It’s the first pokemon in this tier list that performs better with this strategy than squeezing in charge moves between defender quick moves. Many movesets perform well with the same attack strategy. Poison Jab/Blizzard and Poison Jab/Sludge Wave score 33 fails and Acid/Hydropump scores 38. All of its 13 fails are on low health and are against a wide variety of pokemon.Steelix Iron Tail/Heavy Slam. Losses 7. Missed cuts 24! Total fails: 31Another pokemon that performs better by waiting for the opponent to charge-attack before it does. Besides the 6 different Blissey, it only loses to one more pokemon: Flareon with Ember/Overheat. Steelix missed cuts are not concentrated in one area (time or health) but rather distributed among the two. With 24 fails, it is either too slow or too frail to be used against many meta pokemon. So even at only 7 outright losses, it still deserves to be out of A Tier.Hypno Zen Headbutt/Futuresight. Losses 14. Missed cuts: 17. Total fails: 31.We all know Hypno is tough. And to see it here making the tier list only confirms that. Hypno’s best strategy is to fire Futuresight in-between quick attacks. Also struggles against many different pokemon. Its second best moveset (Confusion/Futuresight) scores 40 fails.Lapras Water Gun/Blizzard. Losses 15. 20/20 Cut-offs: 17. Fails: 32.Another case where it’s better to wait for your opponent to use its charge before firing yours. Fails against all Lapras movesets, and most Exeggutor’s. Since these two pokemon have many movesets (due to all the legacy moves), Lapras’ fail count end up being inflated. It could easily go to bottom of Tier A. But that’s not all there is to it. Lapras wins against many different pokemon with less than 20% health remaining, which pulls Lapras down towards B Tier. I’d say it’s some sort of in-between A/B Tier. Frost Breath/Blizzard and Frost Breath/Hydropump also place in this tier with 36 and 39 fails respectively.Lickitung Lick/Stomp. Losses 8. Missed cuts: 25! Fails: 33.Just like Blissey, Lickitung has very few outright losses, but gets demoted severely because of the 20/20 rule. It doesn’t have too big an issue with timing out (only against Snorlax and obviously Blissey). Problem is, the handful of wins at less than 20% health are against a wide variety of pokemon. It’s preferred strategy is firing Stomp between defenders quick attacks. Lick/Hyperbeam, which used to be its best move, now ranks 2nd at 48 fails, but with a different attacking strategy of waiting for the opponent to charge-attack before firing Hyper Beam.Dewgong Frost Breath/Blizzard. Losses: 18. 20/20 cut-offs: 18. Fails: 36.Another tanky pokemon. Dewgong works well with either attacking strategy (36 vs 39 fails). But anything other than this moveset is not very good. Ice Shard/Blizzard sits at 59 fails (so pretty much only useful against Dragonite).Honorable mentions (40-49):Magcargo Rock Throw/Stone Edge. Losses 22. 20/20 cut-off: 19. Fails: 41. Strategy: Dodge All PRO. Rock Throw/Overheat, Fails: 41 (with ‘Dodge All’ strategy)Quagsire Water Gun/Stone Edge. Losses: 23. 20/20 cut-off: 18. Fails: 41. Strategy: Dodge All PRO.Azumarill Rock Smash/Play Rough. Losses: 20. 20/20 cut-off: 23. Fails: 43. Strategy: ‘Dodge All PRO’. Bubble/Play Rough: 44 fails.Snorlax Lick/Body Slam. Losses 12. 20/20 cut-off: 33!!! Fails: 45. Strategy: Dodge All PRO.Blastoise Bite/Hydro Pump. Losses: 20. Missed cuts: 25. Fails: 45. Strategy: ‘Dodge All’.Wigglytuff Pound/Play Rough. Losses: 22. 20/20 cut-off: 23. Fails: 45. Strategy: ‘Dodge All’. Pound/Hyper Beam, fails: 47.Muk Poison Jab/Gunk Shot. Losses: 20. Missed cuts: 29. Fails: 49. Strategy: ‘Dodge All’.There you have it. Generalist prestigers ranking. Of course specialist prestigers are a better choice in many cases. But we’ve seen those rankings here before. I wanted to do something different this time around.All files used for this ranking are posted here: Prestigers Against Level 30 Meta PokemonAlso, if you want the same files, but against ALL defenders in the game (level 30 perfect IV). They are here: Prestigers Against ALL level 30 Defenders. 200Mb!Folders contain a file named LossCounters.csv (or xlsx) to help visualize the rankings.Ditto simulations are skewed because the simulation script gets a Ditto at 1/2 CP before the transformation. So don’t take Ditto simulations in consideration.Many thanks to /u/celandro for making pokebattler open source! via /r/TheSilphRoad http://ift.tt/2l2eqTw