1st Gen Fight Me: Snorlax is Gen I's best Pokemon

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    • Seen Nov 19, 2016
    I've got a Lv38 Snorlax at the moment. It knows Body Slam, Amnesia, Rest and Surf. I just swept all of Gary's Pokemon with it in the last rival battle before the Elite Four and didn't even lose half of my health.

    I open with Snorlax and within three turns it can max out its Special. In Gen II onwards, because Special was split, this doesn't work as well, but in Gen I... within three turns you have a Pokemon that can do massive damage with a Special attack (in my case I'm using Surf, which, when Special is maxed out, can knock out Water Pokemon in max three hits) AND Special attacks against it become next to useless. And thanks to its high Atk stat, Body Slam does heaps of damage, more often than not 2HKOing most opponents, and it paralyses surprisingly often as well, which means that Snorlax gets to move first.

    Snorlax can absorb heaps of hits, but even if you get hit with a critical hit, or you get worn down, one Rest and you're back to full health and awake two turns later.

    And because the AI in Gen I is mesmerisingly stupid at times, you can very often get off three Amnesias because your opponent will likely be doing something dumb like using Focus Energy or Whirlwind or Rest when it has full HP, blah blah blah.

    As a Normal type it gets immunity to Ghost and only has one weakness of course, Fighting, but the Fighting move pool in Gen I is so fucking weak. Low Kick isn't dependant on the target's weight until Gen III, so that does fuck all. Karate Chop is a Normal-type move in Gen I. Thanks to its bulk Snorlax can survive Double Kick pretty well. Essentially, the only real dangers that Snorlax faces are Submission and the two jump kicks. Hitmonlee is pretty much the only Pokemon that can stare it down.

    So, am I right or am I right? FITE ME IF U DISAGREE.
     
    Its definitely top 3 for non legends. Dragonite is the best IMO
     
    Snorlax is one of the best of course. But anything with self-destruct/explosion can most likely bring it down with it. Likewise a few sword dancers can take it down. Mew for instance, with a sword dance it can let loose with submission or just straight take it out with explosion. Anyways, strong physical attackers in general, especially those with sword dance have a decent shot. Paralyzis, crits, confusion, special drops all play a role too.
     
    Yeah Lax ftw. 3rd best Pokemon in RBY after Mewtwo and Mew and probably 2nd best in GSC after Mew.
     
    I'd be a wee bit cautious. Since critical hits ignore boosts, Special attacks can make its HP drop surprisingly quickly. Say, if Alakazam or Charizard get lucky with their favorite STAB moves.

    Gen 1 Amnesia is just plain broken. In later-gen terms, it gives a total of four stages worth of boosts (two stages to two stats) with no drawbacks whatsoever. I'd unhesitatingly call it the single best move in the game. (But you still have to watch out for critical hits...)

    *fights you with a Gen 1 Alakazam* :P
     
    Unfortunately, Tauros, not Snorlax, is the best RBY Pokemon that isn't obscenely broken (looking at you, Mewtwo and Mew).

    That being said, Snorlax has always been considered one of the 'big four' RBY Pokemon, so it's not like it's mediocre or anything. Of course, this is all from a competitive standpoint. Snorlax's obscene bulk, excellent Attack stat and large movepool for an RBY Pokemon probably make it a defining force in in-game playthroughs.
     
    While Snorlax has excellent stats, its screwed over by crits. Especially so with an amnesia-lax, who try to set up. If the opponent doesnt get crits, great, either a crit or special drop will royally screw snorlax. Thats what happens when a pokemon cant set the stage of the battle because its slow as a snail. Also royally screwed when it comes to wrap and other such moves that are based around speed. If snorlax gets a body slam paralysis,, then its suddenly very awesome. So you have a 30% chance of being almost unstoppable.
     
    Mewtwo with Substitute, Amnesia, Psychic and Rest/Recover is untouchable in Gen I.

    You could certainly make a case for Snorlax being the best non-legendary, however. Either that, Persian or Tauros.
     
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