What's your favourite Generation for competitive battles?

[WyndonCalling]

Every Generation of the main series titles has a distinct flavour to the competitive battling environment, whether it's the grindy slugfest of Gen 2, the weather wars of Gen 5 or the Dynamax domination of Gen 8. Which is yours, and why?

As someone who primarily plays Showdown's Random battles as a competitive outlet I have to say it's Gen 5, even if it does exclude some of my favourite Galar species. The randomised nature of teams prevents Drought and Drizzle from being an issue, but it's also the Generation that feels just right in terms of offensive output and defensive capabilities. It's a very rare thing in Gen 5 to see a Pokémon completely sweep a healthy team; you'll find no Beast Boost or Mega Evolutions here (despite my broader love for the latter). Battles tend to feel like a prolonged cut-and-thrust, rather than a mere prelude to an almighty sweep. The types themselves are far more balanced, too - Steel is a bit ridiculous with the sheer number of resists but Bug coverage isn't a complete joke, thanks to the lack of Fairies.

It does help that I'm actually quite good at the format, too.

 

[Camille]

Well, the Generations I-III are out of question, since they lack Physical/Special split, while the power creep that has started in Generation V makes many previously great Pokemon disappointing. So I'll go with Generation IV, as even though it has introduced Stealth Rock, it is still fairly balanced otherwise.

 

[Puddle]

The only generation where I got really into competitive battling was Gen 6, partly because the PSS and Super Training made it more accessible. From what I could tell the metagame was a bit more balanced in Gen 6, compared to Gen 5 where it seemed almost everyone was using either Terrakion or Haxorus online.

Building strategies around the new Mega Evolutions was really fun but my favourite Pokemon to use was Florges, a defensive powerhouse that can soak up damage while making itself stronger with Calm Mind.

I Super Trained my in-game teammates and they did pretty well online, even without always having the best natures. My in-game Florges coincidentially had a Calm nature, which helped me out a lot.

 

[Isaac the Investigator]

Gen I OU is really fun even if there are issues with balance and luck. But things like the high crit rates, lots of freezing, and several glitches that have an impact on the game makes playing this Gen really exciting. Plus, teambuilding for this Gen is really easy.

 

[Reiji]

It's gotta be Gen 5, when the Weather Wars really kicked into overdrive. Playing Hail teams at the time, the feeling when you manage to beat Generic Rain Team #90382 was REALLY good.