"Tier 4 raids - A brief history and analysis."

#PokemonGO: With the most recent tweek from Niantic, tier 4 raids are now dropping a guaranteed charge TM from every raid. PvP players across the nation are now scrambling to do tier 4 raids, as the new update has made their charge moves a little less woeful than the random lottery we're all used to.This caused me to wonder, why has it taken such a small change for Tier 4 raids to be interesting? Have tier 4 raids always been underwhelming? Or have I simply missed the hype? This analysis of Tier 4 raids will delve deeper into the history of Tier 4 raids.The beginningJune 22nd, raids were officially a thing. 4* raids were the biggest raids around. They gave the most rewards, gave the most powerful pokemon and were the talk of every discord server, messenger chat and whatsapp group in town. Furthermore, people weren't too optimised in the ways of soling 3* raids yet, so people would team up in order to try and take down a small group of select Pokemon: Venasaur, Blastoise, Charizard, Rhydon, Snorlax, Lapras and Tyranitar.Back then, this was tough. No friendship bonuses, no weather, being level 35 meant you were in the top percentage of Pogo players. Plus, Snorlax, Lapras and especially Tyranitar were still sought after heavily due to being very powerful and rare pokemon. This was, without a doubt, a strong time for 4* raids. Tyranitar alone caused many people to begin raid trains as it was an incredibly powerful mon for the time. No 5* raids meant that anyone not soloing a 1* or 2* raid was likely doing theseThe Legendary eventFast forward only a month to July 2017 and Tier 5 pokemon were released. No longer were Tier 4's the highest. What's worse, people begun how to (relaibly) solo some tier 3 raid bosses too. Tyranitar was still a defining force in Tier 4, it had amazing matchups vs the legendary birds and the rumoured to come Mewtwo, so it still saw lots of action, but most people moved over to legendary raids. More XP, better rewards, easier to find and a much better pokemon made sure that, along with the solo of tier 3 raids, the steady decline of Tier 4 raids began.The time in betweenUnlike most tiers, tier 4 raid bosses have been fairly static. Not too many relevant pokemon have been in tier 4 raids. With the challenge of duoing tier 4 raids, most dedicated players have done their fair share but to the average player they have been fairly forgetful.There have been some powerful pokemon which have graced the tier (Snorlax, Tyranitar, Metagross, Togetic, Dragonite) but the large majority have been less than stellar additions to a tier that has struggled for relevancy (Aggron, Ursaring, Shiftry etc.).Finally, the spawn rate for 4* raids is only 15%, compared to 25% for 5* raids.What about now? + AnalysisNowadays, Tier 4 is underwhelming for the task of organising 2+ people to do the raid. Tyranitar is a staple of Tier 4 raids and is good for newcomers, but veterans have long garnered enough candies for this and Tyranitar itself has slipped from relevancy in the meta by a considerable margin. It's good, but not the king it once was.Galarian Weezing was a new gimmick, but once you have caught one, there is no reason to get again.Alolan Marowak and Absol are tough to gauge. Either you have a shiny and aren't raiding it, OR you don't have a shiny and are trying to get people to do it. Stiff competition from relevant legendaries means that most people would rather spend passes on 5* raids than an Absol.​Final ThoughtsBased on the trends throughout the years, Tier 4 raids have lagged behind the other Tiers. Tiers 1-3 offer shiny chances, the chance to solo a mon and, sometimes, meta relevant pokemon. Tier 5 raids offer more rewards, XP and better Pokemon (Usually). Making Tier 4 raids drop a guaranteed charged TM is a good start, but Tier 4 needs some meta relevant pokemon in for people to think about raiding them and making Tier 4 raids worth doing again. via /r/TheSilphRoad https://ift.tt/2rcqiXG