Strongest starters in the gens they were introduced

[Vadise]

What do you think?

"Strongest" doesn't necessarily mean whichever has the highest Attack/Special/Special Attack, but whichever one can dish out the most damage. This also has nothing to do with popularity, unless the Pokémon in question is popular because it's the strongest.

 

[Lysson]

I've always found Blaziken, Empoleon, Typhlosion, Infernape and Greninja (if its HA counts) to be insanely strong. I've always found my starters to heavily out level the rest of my team and they've always been the lead due to their strength.

 

[Vadise]

I've always found Blaziken, Empoleon, Typhlosion, Infernape and Greninja (if its HA counts) to be insanely strong. I've always found my starters to heavily out level the rest of my team and they've always been the lead due to their strength.

What about Gen I or V? And who do you think is stronger, Empoleon or Infernape?

 

[henrymidfields]

Even without it's Hidden Ability, Greninja is not to be taken lightly. She's fast, her (Special) Attack is strong, and she's got a good movepool to deal with at least some of her weaknesses. The only time I had to switch her out was if the opponent was Electric or Fairy. And even then there were times that she was able to OHKO Pokémon of the former type. Blaziken is even more powerful; in one of my online battles (which my opponent's six Pokémon were all Lv 100 Legendaries) my male kung-fu chicken took a Darkrai and a Genesect out - and both were 30 levels above him. (He wasn't able to go against Zekrom, though.)

 

[Vadise]

Even without it's Hidden Ability, Greninja is not to be taken lightly. She's fast, her (Special) Attack is strong, and she's got a good movepool to deal with at least some of her weaknesses. The only time I had to switch her out was if the opponent was Electric or Fairy. And even then there were times that she was able to OHKO Pokémon of the former type. Blaziken is even more powerful; in one of my online battles (which my opponent's six Pokémon were all Lv 100 Legendaries) my male kung-fu chicken took a Darkrai and a Genesect out - and both were 30 levels above him. (He wasn't able to go against Zekrom, though.)

I'm specifically talking about the gen that the starter was introduced in though, so anything else that came after that doesn't count.

 

[Life]

"Strongest" doesn't necessarily mean whichever has the highest Attack/Special Attack, but whichever one can dish out the most damage.

Doesn't who can dish out the most damage depend on stats...? I suppose their move-pools also count, but their stats are the most important factor.

 

[Vadise]

"Strongest" doesn't necessarily mean whichever has the highest Attack/Special Attack, but whichever one can dish out the most damage.

Doesn't who can dish out the most damage depend on stats...? I suppose their move-pools also count, but their stats are the most important factor.

I guess, but like you just said, moves also count, as do other things. I meant who are the strongest based on everything about those Pokémon, not just stats.

 

[Team Gaara]

This list has nothing to do with favorites or the ones I prefer to use, but actually trying to take into consideration which would be the best in its generation debut (ergo, not how they fair now, sans the most recent starter).

I would say:

Venusaur in Gen 1. It can handle with ease the most Gyms in the game, namely the first two, which would both give Charmander trouble, while Squirtle is half and half. It has dual type coverage and gets access to several useful moves, including the deadly Gen I Leech Seed/Toxic combo, plus Razor Leaf, which is pretty much guaranteed to be a Crit once your level is high enough. While both Blastoise and Charizard are strong, Venusaur could probably handle Blastoise easily, while Charizard's move pool isn't quite the same as it is now.

Feraligatr was probably the best choice in Gen II. Meganimun suffered by having a majority of status moves, making it hard it use in battle, while Typhlosion, though good, didn't have quite the selection of moves it has today, similar to Charizard. Feraligatr was both strong, and had access to Ice Fang to take out Grass-types.

Blaziken was undoubtedly the best choice in Gen III. Strong, fast, and a vast move pool. Swampert was strong, but fairly slow and suffered that 4X weakness to Grass. Sceptile was also not terrible and was very fast, but didn't get many moves to work with and being the only starter to not gain an additional type didn't really help his case.

Infernape is the best in Gen IV for pretty much the same reasons as Blaziken. But it also gets the added benefit of having a type advantage over both of his starter companions. He also excels against a good majority of the Gym Leaders in Sinnoh. Empoleon has good attacking power and defensive power, but he's, again, rather slow and struggles a bit with its early move pool. The same is also basically true for Torterra, who is extremely slow and 4X weak to Ice. It always seems like a hassle to use in the early game.

Samurott was most likely the best choice in Gen V. Snivy's line seemed to have a terrible move pool and not very much in stats to make up for it. Tepig gaining the Fighting-type seemed to have hindered it, more than it helped it, unlike the previous two Fire starters. While Emboar does have the power, it doesn't have enough Speed to make use of it, making it easily victim to faster Flying and Psychic types. Samurott just doesn't have those problems. It has a decent move pool and pretty balanced stats, making it the all around best choice.

Greninja is without a doubt the best Gen VI starter. Excellent move pool, great attacking power, and incredible speed, only topped off with a fantastic Hidden Ability makes Froakie easily the best choice. Delphox and Chesnaught both have their strengths as well, with good stats in Special and Physical, respectively. But they are both just severely surpassed by Greninja, who, like Infernape, can make easy work of both of them.

 

[Vadise]

Feraligatr was probably the best choice in Gen II. Meganimun suffered by having a majority of status moves, making it hard it use in battle, while Typhlosion, though good, didn't have quite the selection of moves it has today, similar to Charizard. Feraligatr was both strong, and had access to Ice Fang to take out Grass-types.

I'm a bit confused. From what I understand, before Gen IV designated moves as physical or special based on the move itself, rather than its type, what ultimately determined the strength of a Pokémon was whether or not its Attack or Special/Special Attack stat matched up with its type, e.g., a Normal-type Pokémon with a higher Special Attack would be inherently weaker than one with a higher Attack. Given that that's true, how does Feraligatr's better move pool trump Typhlosion's higher Special Attack?

 

[Team Gaara]

I'm a bit confused. From what I understand, before Gen IV designated moves as physical or special based on the move itself, rather than its type, what ultimately determined the strength of a Pokémon was whether or not its Attack or Special/Special Attack stat matched up with its type, e.g., a Normal-type Pokémon with a higher Special Attack would be inherently weaker than one with a higher Attack. Given that that's true, how does Feraligatr's better move pool trump Typhlosion's higher Special Attack?

Well, I was thinking along the lines of the fact that the only Special moves Typhlosion gets are Fire moves and Thunderpunch (if I remember correctly). Feraligatr can take advantage of its higher Attack with a lot of the TMs in the game like Earthquake and DynamicPunch and a lot of Normal moves.

 

[Hector]

Gen 1 - Charizard

Speed kills baby. I think this is actually one of the harder ones to determine because you could make the argument that Venusaur and Blastoise are more useful, but a lot of that usefulness comes from their comparative bulk / better defensive typings. But since this seems to be strictly based on damage, Charizard

Gen 2 - Feraligatr

Final boss of the E4 is a dragon master. Feraligatr learns Ice Punch. And yes, to me Feraligatr's superior movepool does trump Typhlosion's stats.

Gen 3 - Blaziken

In the gen they were introduced, both Blaziken and Swampert were both seen as quite useful. Blaziken for attack, Swampert for good attack but a great defensive typing and some nice bulk (Cursepert <3). But again, question is strongest and Blaziken hits harder.

Gen 4 - Infernape

In the DPPt meta, Infernape was incredibly dangerous. It could lead, it could attack physically, it could attack with a mixed set and it has an unbelievably diverse movepool. It also had the speed and the attack stats to back up all these sets. It's really a shame it's outclassed now

Gen 5 - Samurott

This seems to be the weakest gen for starters IMO.

Gen 6 - Greninja

With or without Protean (but Protean is really what makes Greninja shine). Great speed, decent attacking stats, decent movepool. Protean really boosts the power of said movepool though.

 

[LordSeliph]

G1:Charizard or Blastoise
G2:Typhlosion or Feraligatr
G3:Blaziken
G4:Infernape
G5:Serperior
G6:Greninja

 

[Osprey]

I can't really say much for Gen I or II, having never played them.

-Although I almost never used its line, Blaziken is the powerhouse of Hoenn. Hard-hitting, versatile movepool, and as a friend of mine discovered, Blaze Kick can screw opponents over with its critical rate.

-Infernape for Gen IV. Strongest for the same reasons as Blaziken, as well as having an advantage over the water-type's final form. It can pulverize both before they can even start swinging.

-Samurott in Gen V. Unova was a set of games where my starter would fall to the wayside every time. Serperior was fast but not very strong, Emboar hit hard but moved like a glacier, while Samurott was more like a balance between the two. It was easier to use, although rather mediocre.

-Greninja in VI. Agility, strength, Protean for STAB every time, and good looks on top of that. It can pulverize Delphox, and can outspeed Chesnaught and one-shot it with Acrobatics.

 

[Vadise]

I'm a bit confused. From what I understand, before Gen IV designated moves as physical or special based on the move itself, rather than its type, what ultimately determined the strength of a Pokémon was whether or not its Attack or Special/Special Attack stat matched up with its type, e.g., a Normal-type Pokémon with a higher Special Attack would be inherently weaker than one with a higher Attack. Given that that's true, how does Feraligatr's better move pool trump Typhlosion's higher Special Attack?

Well, I was thinking along the lines of the fact that the only Special moves Typhlosion gets are Fire moves and Thunderpunch (if I remember correctly). Feraligatr can take advantage of its higher Attack with a lot of the TMs in the game like Earthquake and DynamicPunch and a lot of Normal moves.

I apologize, I should have clarified. I was under the assumption that, because its STABs would be weaker, a Pokémon whose strongest attacking stat didn't match up with its type was considered inherently inferior than other Pokémon of that type with a stat that did match up. Therefore, that's why I thought Typhlosion would still be stronger than Feraligatr because what Fire-type moves it could learn were much stronger than Feraligatr's Water-type moves.

 

[Muur]

Swampert has the highest base stat and is only weak to one type

 

[Team Gaara]

I apologize, I should have clarified. I was under the assumption that, because its STABs would be weaker, a Pokémon whose strongest attacking stat didn't match up with its type was considered inherently inferior than other Pokémon of that type with a stat that did match up. Therefore, that's why I thought Typhlosion would still be stronger than Feraligatr because what Fire-type moves it could learn were much stronger than Feraligatr's Water-type moves.

Well, not necessarily. I mean, while Typhlosion may be stronger based on STAB power, it doesn't necessarily make it stronger overall. I mean, it's not like you're only gonna be using one type of move on them and if Typhosion's only benefit is that its STAB and stats match up, then it only benefits by being able to use one type or move, if that makes sense. Feraligatr's stats and STAB may not match, but its stats do match up with a lot of over available coverage that Typhlosion lacks. Does that make sense?

 

[Steel_Justice]

Gen1: Venusaur; Had the highest special, razor leaf always crit giving it effectively a spammable 110 base power move and has type advantages against 5/8 gym leaders (most of them are the early ones which makes advancing the game to get other pokemon easier). Though he's let down by grass being a poor offensive type and poison typing was a curse back then.

Gen2: Feraligatr; Bulky, good offensive moves from both sides, ice and dark attacks are useful against a variety of in-game foes and gets a strong STAB with Surf mid-game. Though it is a bit slow to start with since Totodile evolves latter than the others. Typhlosion comes extremely close imo because it learns flame wheel early, learns flamethrower naturally (remember flamethrower wasn't a TM move yet) and can pick up thunderpunch to deal great damage to water types.

Gen3: Swampert: Its like Feraligatr but stronger with a better typing, it fairs extremely well against a majority of in-game opponents (up to 6/8 gyms it does well in), learns strong STAB moves easily and early, learns earthquake without TMs and has only one weakness which is easily countered.

Gen4: Infernape; fast, powerful, monstrously powerful STABs which are easily acquired, wide movepool and one of the few fire types in DP.

Gen5: Samurott; wide movepool, good offensive stats, fairly bulky and one of the few strong water types you could easily get early. Off course this isn't saying much because Emboar is a piece of crap and Serperior has an extremely limited movepool and coverage. Serperior would have been the strongest competitively if it had its hidden ability though.

Gen6: Greninja; with or without protean greninja is fast, powerful and has a great movepool which helps get around some of the type disadvantages it faces against gym leaders. Though its worth noting that for an in-game run Delphox is actually the best starter having type advantages against 7/8 gyms but kinda falls a bit late game vs the elite four and sucks against team flare.

 

[maneaterliongirafff1]

1. Venusaur: Considered easy mode back in Gen1
2. Typhlosion: Similar to Venu in Gen1. No major Gym weakness until Kanto
3. Swampert: Fantastic both in ingame usability and competitive value
4. Infernape: DPP mixed attacking superstar
5. Samurott: Mediocre starters all across the board in Gen5, but Samurott barely takes it
6. Greninja: Without a doubt the best starter in any gen period

 

[Vadise]

I apologize, I should have clarified. I was under the assumption that, because its STABs would be weaker, a Pokémon whose strongest attacking stat didn't match up with its type was considered inherently inferior than other Pokémon of that type with a stat that did match up. Therefore, that's why I thought Typhlosion would still be stronger than Feraligatr because what Fire-type moves it could learn were much stronger than Feraligatr's Water-type moves.

Well, not necessarily. I mean, while Typhlosion may be stronger based on STAB power, it doesn't necessarily make it stronger overall. I mean, it's not like you're only gonna be using one type of move on them and if Typhosion's only benefit is that its STAB and stats match up, then it only benefits by being able to use one type or move, if that makes sense. Feraligatr's stats and STAB may not match, but its stats do match up with a lot of over available coverage that Typhlosion lacks. Does that make sense?

Yeah it does, thank you.

Feraligatr was probably the best choice in Gen II. Meganimun suffered by having a majority of status moves, making it hard it use in battle, while Typhlosion, though good, didn't have quite the selection of moves it has today, similar to Charizard. Feraligatr was both strong, and had access to Ice Fang to take out Grass-types.

Forgot to mention that I don't think Ice Fang was introduced until Gen IV, though Feraligatr could also learn Blizzard, Icy Wind, Ice Punch, and Ice Beam.

Swampert has the highest base stat and is only weak to one type

Not sure if you're saying that you think Swampert is the best Gen III starter.

 

[Mantodea]

Gen 1: Venusaur. Not only does Bulbasaur beat the first two gyms through typing alone, but it also gets a very good variety of moves that the other starters don't, like Sleep Powder and Leech Seed. Also, Gen 1 Razor Leaf is probably one of the strongest Grass type moves ever (it crits 99.6% of the time according to Smogon), and since Venusaur has the highest Special out of all the starters, it can completely abuse its power. Charizard does deserve a mention though, since it's fast and has Slash and Fire Spin which are both pretty useful.

Gen 2: Feraligatr. Although I prefer Typhlosion a bit more, Feraligatr is a better choice overall due to its bulk and great movepool. It gets Surf, Return, and Ice Punch incredibly early in the game, which lets it tear through NPC trainers for pretty much the rest of the game. Typhlosion is a better special attacker though.

Gen 3: Swampert. This thing basically takes what made Feraligatr so good and turns it up to 11. It has all-around great defenses, a better typing with only one weakness (which at the time hardly had any decent moves), the same great movepool, and the stats to take advantage of said movepool, both physical and special. That being said, Blaziken is more offensively powerful, but Swampert's bulk makes it much better.

Gen 4: Infernape. Infernape basically does what Blaziken was trying to do in Gen 3, but better. Specifically, it has a much higher speed stat, which makes it better at sweeping (keep in mind that this was before Blaziken had Speed Boost).

Gen 5: Meh. I'm going to say Samurott, but thats mostly because I like its design. Really none of the Gen 5 starters are particularly notable. Serperior is offensively weak and has a bad defensive typing, Emboar is another Fire/Fighting type, and Samurott is essentially Feraligatr but with less bulk. Still, it looks cool, and can do mixed offense pretty well.

Gen 6: Greninja. This thing is great in-game and competitively. It has a good movepool with lots of different options (including interesting non-attack moves like Spikes), it's very powerful and fast, and it has the Hidden Ability Protean, which makes it pretty devastating when played right. That being said, Delphox and Chesnaught are great choices too, since they have more bulk and some decent support options of their own, like Will-o-Wisp and Leech Seed.