"A historical comparison of Lapras, Cloyster, and Jynx as Dragonite counters since the game began."

#PokemonGO: Early Game:DPSCloyster had 196 ATK, and the two best attacking move sets (Ice Shard / Frost Breath & Blizzard), so Cloyster had the max ice type DPS.Lapras had 186 ATK, had the same two best attacking move sets (Ice Shard / Frost Breath & Blizzard), so Lapras did slightly worse in terms of DPS.Jynx had 172 ATK did not have good moves (Frost Breath / Ice Punch), so Jynx had terrible DPS.Stats[For simplicity, I write these in the form (ATK/DEF/STA)]Cloyster's stats were (196/196/100) giving 2052 max CP and 90 max HP.Lapras's stats were (186/190/260) giving 2980 max CP and 217 max HP.Jynx's stats were (172/134/130) giving 1716 max CP and 114 max HP.CommentsThis made Lapras the best pre-gen2 defender as it had no reasonable counters. At the time, with Grass being weak to Ice, all Fighting and Electric types were very underpowered, in addition to most strong Rock pokemon being dual typed to be weak against Ice (thanks /u/YoInvisibleHand) made Lapras feared as a defender. It was also far too early of a game to even get modest counters unless you were extremely lucky, and one Lapras hatch was all it took to have this high level defender. This gave Lapras the reputation of being the best defender, and best counter to the pokemon with the highest CP, Dragonite, in the entire game.At the time, Cloyster was too weak to be worth powering up, and its HP was too low without powering up to counter Dragonite. So it was very much overshadowed.Jynx was garbage and was cluttering up 10km eggs.Dewgong was a thing and was considered the poor man's lapras.November Re-Balance:DPSCloyster had 186 ATK, and the two best attacking move sets (Ice Shard / Frost Breath & Blizzard), so Cloyster had the the max ice type DPS.Lapras had 186 ATK, had the same two best attacking move sets (Ice Shard / Frost Breath & Blizzard), so Lapras also had the max ice type DPS.Jynx had 223 ATK, but still did not have good moves (Frost Breath / Ice Punch), so did the worst DPS.STATSCloyster's stats were (186/323/100) giving 2475 max CP and 90 max HP.Lapras's stats were (186/190/260) giving 2980 max CP and 217 max HP.Jynx's stats were (223/182/130) giving 2512 max CP and 114 max HP.COMMENTSLapras: The power ups to Rhydon, Golem, Jolteon, and Machamp suddenly made Lapras not as good of a defender against dedicated trainers, but still very strong against the average player. Even though Rhydon and Golem were weak to ice, they were both powerful enough to be glass cannons. Everybody also had a Jolteon and ample candy to power it up. But the current meta also had tons of Vaporeon, Gyarados, and Dragonite that Jolteon was often used as better counters for. Even though Lapras was so difficult to kill, it was no longer a high-cp contender in the strongest gyms and wasn't used as often as a defender. However it's reputation as a Dragonite and now Rhydon counter remained.Jynx: The re-balance made Jynx shoot up to respectable CP, mainly due to the ATK weighting, and many people had high IV ones laying around with extra candy and powered them up. However due to the terrible moves and low HP Jynx was still not used very much. This however assisted with making the changes to Cloyster not noticed.Dewgong was nurfed and was no longer the poor man's Lapras, however people's powered up Dewgongs were still stronger than their non-powered up Cloyster's, so people still used that instead of powering up a Cloyster. This only further made Cloyster overshadowed.Many people didn't notice Cloyster's 20% raise because while he gained 127 points in DEF, he lost 10 in ATK too, where ATK is worth more in terms of CP than DEF. People also had very underpowered Cloyster and most strong players had hatched and powered up a Lapras at this point so never even thought to change. This change however made Cloyster the best Dragonite counter in the game.Current:DPSUsing /u/QMike's et. al. spreadsheet 6.3 I got the DPS and OFF TDO for these pokemon against a Dragon TypeCloyster has 186 ATK, and the best moveset (Frost Breath & Avalanche) and does 14.8DPS with 387 OFF TDO.Lapras has 165 ATK, and the third best moveset (Frost Breath & Blizzard) and does 13.4DPS with 510 OFF TDO.Jynx has 223 ATK, has the best moveset (Frost Breath & Avalanche) and does 17.9DPS with 361 OFF TDO.StatsCloyster's stats are (186/323/100) giving 2475 max CP and 90 max HP.Lapras's stats are (165/180/260) giving 2603 max CP and 217 max HP.Jynx's stats are (223/182/130) giving 2512 max CP and 114 max HP.CommentsLapras: Still not terrible, however it's not even close to the top DPS and is going to be a slow battle. However the high HP will let you kill many Dragonites in a row. Also, a mid-level Lapras can reliably kill a maxed out Dragonite, at high potion cost. I award it:Best PrestigerBest Back to BackerJynx: Now has the best ice DPS in the game. It's downfall, however, is how quickly it dies as it doesn't have Cloyster's staggeringly high defence, nor does it have Lapras's insane health. If a mid-level Jynx was used against a high-level Dragonite it may do a ton of damage but die in the process, needing potions and revives. I award it:Best Ice CannonMost Speed EfficientCloyster: Still fairs very well. It may not be as good of a prestiger as Lapras. It may not be able to kill as fast as Jynx... Still my favourite to use. Unlike Lapras, it has super high defence and low HP, so after killing a Dragonite you switch it out and heal it after with a single super potion. And unlike Jynx, a mid-level Cloyster can still take down a high-level Dragonite without worrying about losing and having to revive it after. (EDIT: Also Jynx is weak to steel wing, which only makes it useful half the time) I award it:Most Potion EfficientBest One on One(Edit:Dewgong (139/184/180), max CP 1894, max HP 154: Still sucks. Does about 2/3rds of the DPS of a Cloyster comparatively. As a low CP prestiger it has been replaced by nerfed Lapras that were caught/hatched but not powered up. Not very efficient at prestiging comparatively. Atk is just barely higher than Lapras so it does more DPS but it's better to go with a lower CP lapras that does a bit less damage but can take WAY more damage. Also Dewgong doesn't have Avalanche so it doesn't have the best moveset.Piloswine (181/147/200), max CP 2284, max HP (probably 170ish): Only good if it has Avalanche (2/6 move combos). Even then it still doesn't have as strong DPS as Cloyster or Jynx. Lower CP cap too. Wait for Gen4 when it can evolve, then it will be golden. However Piloswine, like Jynx, is weak against steel wing. Piloswine is not very efficient either. It has high attack and stamina and low defense. A high attack stat increases CP more than it is worth. A high STA stat means it will take more potions. A high DEF stat gives the smallest CP boost, and prevents damage so it's easier on potions.)Unfortunately, all of these pokemon lose to Dragonite....Dragonite has 263 ATK and using it's moveset (Dragon Tail & Outrage) it does 21.2 DPS and 508 OFF TDO.So it's a way better glass cannon than Jynx, and more speed efficient. You may be thinking that at least Lapras still does best at taking them out back to back... Unfortunately:Blissey has 129 ATK and using its moveset (Pound & Hyperbeam) it does 9.4 DPS and 839 OFF TDO.So it's a way better Prestiger and Back to Backer... it also has much higher DEF than Lapras and can be used as a general attacker so you can just wait until it is almost dead and then heal with a single Max Potion.Cloyster is probably still the best potion efficient option because it is still able to take down a Dragonite at the cost of a single super potion. There are only 2 Pokemon that have higher Defence and they are Steelix (with 333) and Shuckle (396). However both of these won't fair as well against Dragonite as Cloyster and will likely lose too much health, requiring more than just a super potion. via /r/TheSilphRoad http://ift.tt/2mNSFEu