Let's GO's Updated Gym Defender Tier List

Vaporeons. Vaporeons everywhere!

Greetings Trainers!

The new CP update has really thrown a wrench in the gears of "Let's GO." I was all ready for Generation 2 to come out, and then out of nowhere this CP update changed everything I knew about the gym metagame. I wasn't going to write anything about this new metagame, but I decided I could do a lazy-formatted article to at least give my thoughts about the new gym defender tiers.

These rankings do not only factor in the performance of the defender, but they also take into account a Pokemon's maximum CP. This is the new age of Pokemon GO, where gyms go down much faster. The CP update also promoted a bunch of new high CP Pokemon that players will slot into gyms to avoid being the first to drop out (e.g. Rhydon, Gyarados). Due to the new gym Prestige mechanics, combined with the numerous high-CP Pokemon in the game, having high CP is that much more important for a Gym Defender. Why? Well:

In order for a gym defender to make a difference in a gym, it actually has to stay in the gym long enough to be battled a few times. A Pokemon like Chansey is beastly with its new buff, and I don't have a max-level Chansey to test against to see if it's even possible to beat it before timing out using most available attackers; I suspect it is possible. If it is possible to beat Chansey, then it's not a very good defender. The reason being that players will only ever have to battle Chansey once in order to knock it out of the gym, as it's virtually guaranteed to be at the front. This same principle can be applied to other strong defenders like Wigglytuff, that will simply get dropped from a gym too quickly to be relevant anymore. If you filled a gym with Chanseys, or Wigglytuffs, that's another story. But as general defenders... they're just not up to snuff anymore.

With that said, here's a rough prospective Tier list with some explanations/speculation. Generation 2 will totally revamp this, so I won't be putting tons of work into making this article look pretty. The new Base Stats come from a formula derived by Peter Hatch, commenter on Gamepress. As such, they are calculated approximations, and may not reflect true stats. I've always rounded down, as that's how Pokemon tends to do things. So even if a stat calcs to 200.99, I'd still say the base stat is 200. I think this is how Niantic and Pokemon treat things...

Tier Summary

For recommended movesets, see the original Gym Defender Tier List article!

S Tier

• Snorlax
• Lapras

Tier 1

• Dragonite
• Exeggutor
• Vaporeon

Tier 2

• Omastar
• Poliwrath
• Slowbro
• Venusaur
• Kangaskhan

Tier 3

• Rhydon
• Gyarados
• Muk

Tier 4

• Golem
• Tentacruel
• Clefable
• Vileplume
• Cloyster
• Alakazam
• Tauros

Tier 5

• Arcanine
• Machamp
• Pinsir

S Tier

The S tier is now comprised solely of Lapras and Snorlax. Dragonite has fallen from grace with the new buff to Cloyster. The buff to Gyarados also helps Dragon Pulse Gyarados tackle Dragonite, especially thanks to its ability to resist Steel Wing. I suppose Jynx was buffed too, and Dewgong is still useable. That said, both Snorlax and Lapras became a bit more manageable themselves (see below).

Snorlax
Max CP: 3360
Stam: 320
Atk: 190
Def: 190

Changes are that Rhydon, Golem, and Omastar are now stronger and can resist Body Slam. Snorlax is still awesome, but there are now Pokemon that can actually beat a Zen Headbutt / Body Slam 1-on-1 without even dodging the Body Slams. While it's easy enough to dodge, Earthquake became a much better move with the update to punish these Pokemon, allowing Snorlax to Zen Headbutt until it has charged a worthwhile move. Body Slam is still the best overall move, and may still be better than Earthquake against Rock-types, but I'd have to run weird calcs assuming damage taken etc... and I'm too lazy.

Lapras
Max CP: 2980
Stam: 260
Atk: 186
Def: 190

Jolteon got stronger, which makes for a new competent attacker to take Lapras down with. Grass types never worked that well because of the weaknesses on both sides, leaving Arcanine as the best Lapras answer. Now, Jolteon can run through Lapras fairly efficiently, and dodge to boot. That said, the reduced defences make it that much more important to dodge charge moves (and the occasional Ice Shard if you feel like it). Arcanine is still functional, but it's been nerfed a bit. Vaporeon with Water Gun / Hydro Pump is still one of the best Pokemon for trading damage with Lapras, though it's a slog to actually battle a Lapras with Vaporeon.

Bizarrely, Lapras' stats remained unchanged following the update. According to the new formula for calculating Base Stats, Lapras should have 260/164/180, but it instead retained its beastly 260/186/190. Honestly, this is a good thing. Lapras is a very necessary high-CP Pokemon to have around, and reducing its CP would make it more difficult to find a Lapras you can actually slot into gyms.

Tier 1

Tier 1 is made up of defenders that almost always add toughness to a gym. Putting one of these defenders in will never harm a gym's potential to scare off attackers, even if you end up doubling up on some weaknesses here or there. I mean, if you have to face 4 Vaporeon or 4 Dragonite in a gym, even if you have good Lapras' and good Exeggutors, it's a bit much. Especially the Vaporeon, ugh, it takes so long!

Dragonite
Max CP: 3576
Stam: 182
Atk: 262
Def: 200

With the advent of Cloyster's buffed defence, Dragonite now has a number of Pokemon that can power through it. There's Lapras, Cloyster, and Dewgong that all handle Dragonite handily when at similar levels. Steel Wing is still a fantastic defending attack, but Dragon Pulse got even worse as Jynx also received a buff. Gyarados also got stronger, and Dragon Pulse Gyarados (especially with the legacy Dragon Breath quick attack) are now very solid checks to Dragonite's Steel Wing sets.

Exeggutor
Max CP: 2947
Stam: 190
Atk: 233
Def: 161

Exeggutor lost very little due to the update. It's still the best grass type, and has a very strong Confusion / Psychic or Seed Bomb option as a Defender. Exeggutor and Lapras remain unphased by metagame shifts. If anything, Exeggutor got a bit stronger thanks to Arcanine's small nerf, and became more valuable to gyms due to all the Rhydon and Golem that get put into gyms now. It's one of the best Pokemon you can drop in a gym to force Vaporeon out.

Vaporeon
Max CP: 3157
Stam: 260
Atk: 204
Def: 177

I feel like this consideration is borderline, but Vaporeon got a buff and it's always been a good defender. Its massive HP makes it annoying to deal with, but the major drop-off in competent Grass types makes Vaporeon an even better defender than before. Its increased Attack and Defence help it maintain a good damage trade, even with Jolteon. Water Gun + Water Pulse is still the best moveset since Water Pulse is all you do about halfway through the battle, but Aqua Tail is less likely to be dodged, even if it takes a bit longer to get rolling.

Tier 2

Tier 2 is the tier of Pokemon that are actually quite good defenders, but most of Tier 2 is comprised of Pokemon with below 2500 max CP. These Pokemon should not be underestimated, as facing e.g. a 2100 Bubble Poliwrath is a lot tougher to deal with than a 2600 Vaporeon for most folks. But the big issue with being at such a low CP stat is that your Poliwrath doesn't stay in the gym long enough to deter attackers effectively. At least the 2600 Vaporeon is a wall you'll have to break through a few times. But e.g. a 2100 Poliwrath will likely be dropped from a gym after 2-3 battles.

Omastar
Max CP: 2687
Stam: 140
Atk: 207
Def: 226

While quite good, Omastar's rarity always prevented it from being a highly-relevant Pokemon. Rock Throw was also essential to it being a top-class defender, and without it, it was just a low-CP defender with poor HP and a great charge move. With Omastar's recent buffs to both its Defence and Attack, it's no longer a low-CP defender, and it still has that great charge move. Not only that, but Grass types received a huge nerf through the update, making Omastar that much stronger in the metagame. So with both higher defences, a max CP stat that can keep it relevant, and a nerf to most of its direct counters, Omastar is now a very strong defender, even without Rock Throw.

Again, I'm breaking from Gamepress here because I don't see the point in ranking Rock Throw Omastar. So few exist due to Omastar's rarity, and how long Rock Throw has been a Legacy move. But if you have a Rock Throw / Rock Slide Omastar, congrats on your amazing new defender.

Poliwrath
Max CP: 2444
Stam: 180
Atk: 182
Def: 187

I so want Poliwrath to be good, but the update really hurt its viability. Not because the nerf it got was huge, but because the rest of the metagame got CP increases. With a maximum of only 2444 CP now, Poliwrath is unfortunately low-CP, and only the highest level Poliwraths have a chance at staying in a gym longer than the first couple battles. Bubble continues to be a beast, but the addition of Alakazam and Jolteon as relevant attackers gives players more tools to try and power through Poliwrath with. A fall from Tier 1 is understandable, and its relatively low CP makes it somewhat unappealing to place in a gym now. 

Slowbro
Max CP: 2475
Stam: 190
Atk: 176
Def: 193

See Poliwrath. Slowbro is still a great defender, but having below 2500 max CP makes it really difficult to put anything but a very-high level Slowbro into a meaningful gym position.

Venusaur
Max CP: 2567
Stam: 160
Atk: 197
Def: 197

See Slowbro and Poliwrath. Venusaur was already in Tier 2 for these sorts of reasons. Venusaur actually didn't really get any worse. It did get relatively better compared to Victreebel (oh so sad) and Vileplume (also sad). Venusaur is now the only viable option for a higher-CP grass type other than Exeggutor. But its relatively low maximum CP holds it back from sitting in a highly relevant gym position.

Kangaskhan
Max CP: 2465
Stam: 210
Atk: 181
Def: 164

Totally conjecture here, but I feel like Kangaskhan's gotta be that much more relevant now. It got major buffs to its Attack and Defence, and has a fantastic 210 Stamina. Its low max CP (2465) holds it back from greatness, but Kangaskhan has gotta be low Tier 2 or high Tier 3 at this point. I don't have one, so I can't test it to formalize this opinion, but Mud Slap prevents Rhydon/Golem/Omastar from having their way with the momma, while Stomp makes for a great charge move that fires repeatedly. Even Horn Attack Tauros is annoying to deal with right now, so a Kangaskhan (which has much higher Stamina) must be genuinely good.

Tier 3

Tier 3 is the tier for Pokemon that can improve a gym's toughness, but not if you have more than one or two of them. In Rhydon and Gyarados' case, crippling double weaknesses to competent attackers make it appealing to knock down the gym, no matter how strong, to would-be attacking players. Muk on the other hand is a relatively rare Pokemon to see, so it doesn't have this problem. However, Muk does have trouble taking on an opposing Rhydon or Golem, who are now relevant attackers, and it only trades neutrally with most other competent attackers.

Rhydon
Max CP: 3301
Stam: 210
Atk: 222
Def: 205

Rhydon's massive buff to Attack compliments its already great Stamina. Its double weakness to Water is terrible, and having a second double weakness to Grass does it no favours. Still, Rhydon performs better now than Arcanine did before the CP update. Its attacks go unresisted, and its bulk is tougher overall. Thankfully for Rhydon, Pokemon GO doesn't punish a double weakness near as much as in the video game; in the video game Rhydon takes 4x damage from Water moves, while in Pokemon GO it's only 1.56x. Still not great, but workable. Vaporeon tears through Rhydon, but at least it makes for a solid defender you can slot in-between high-CP Dragonites? Stone Edge has a relatively long cooldown, but the attack itself goes off quite quickly and is difficult to dodge. So while Earthquake is the best damage-per-energy move, Stone Edge is probably the better defending charge move overall.

Gyarados
Max CP: 3281
Stam: 190
Atk: 236
Def: 197

Gyarados' massive buff to Attack keep it relevant. It has no new tricks, but at least Gyarados can break up the stream of high-level Rhydons. Bite/Dragon Breath are bad quick moves for a defender, but Gyarados' solid overall stats help it stick around long enough to use Dragon Pulse a few times. Think Vaporeon with Aqua Tail, but much worse, and doubly weak to Jolteon.

Muk
Max CP: 2711
Stam: 210
Atk: 190
Def: 184

Rounding out Tier 3, Muk continues to be a solid defender in the update, but its viability was hurt somewhat. Probably the most important boost it gets from the update is its high relative CP, which makes it one of a small list of things you can put between Rhydons and Gyarados' to change up a gym's composition. However, the buff that Rhydon, Golem, and Omastar received make each of them that much better at dealing with Muk, as they resist Poison moves and hit back with super-effective Ground moves. Alakazam is now a relevant attacker as well, though at least Muk can trade damage reasonably well due to Alakazam's poor Stamina. I think Muk is notably better than many of the Tier 4 Pokemon solely because of the relevance it has thanks to its high Stamina and max CP.

Tier 4

Because the current gym metagame lacks diversity, Tier 4 Pokemon are now far more relevant than before. Any of these Pokemon are nice to see in a gym (maybe not as applicable to Golem...), if only to break up the monotony of Rhydon, and Gyarados. The big issue with these defenders is once again that their maximum CPs prevent them from taking up relevant spots in a gym. Alakazam is the only exception to this, but Alakazam instead is just incredibly frail.

Golem
Max CP: 2913
Stam: 160
Atk: 210
Def: 229

See Rhydon, but worse. Golem has far lower Stamina, but it does get Rock Throw as a quick attack. This makes Rock Throw Golem better against attacking Dragonites, but is fairly irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.

Tentacruel
Max CP: 2374
Stam: 160
Atk: 165
Def: 237

Tentacruel got a big buff to its Defence through the update, but its low maximum CP (2374) prevents it from being all too relevant. Poison Jab / Hydro Pump is the best defending set, as Hydro Pump is a relatively difficult-to-dodge charge move. This is especially true for Tentacruel, as even Alakazam's Psycho Cut has a cooldown of 0.57s. Now 0.57s is quite good, but you have to notice that Tentacruel is about to Hydro Pump, and then stop attacking, then pull off the dodge. That extra 0.14s or so that's spent during this process relative to say... Water Gun, makes it just a bit more likely that Alakazam gets soaked. Other Psychic attackers have an even worse time dodging due to their long cooldowns.

Clefable
Max CP: 2357
Stam: 190
Atk: 178
Def: 170

Clefable is just like Tentacruel. Solid, but low max CP (2357). Still, at least you can put it in a gym unlike its very capable, but pitifully low-CP Fairy-type cousin Wigglytuff, who now has a max CP of 1907. So very sad... Stick with Zen Headbutt / Dazzling Gleam and Clefable will be decent.

Vileplume
Max CP: 2372
Stam: 150
Atk: 202
Def: 170

Another Pokemon with low max CP (2372) that lost some stats, but is still solid. A very high level Vileplume can still be put in a gym at least... but man it sucked to see my ~2160 Vileplumes drop to ~2050 (I like Vileplume). They were low-CP before, but Vileplume was a fantastic wall to force a Vaporeon switch, and a capable defender overall.

Cloyster
Max CP: 2475
Stam: 100
Atk: 186
Def: 322

I have a metric done up to theorize how competent a defender might be for when Gen 2 comes out, and Cloyster's major buff to defence actually makes up for its crap Stamina enough to give it an overall decent Defender metric. Icy Wind is terrible because of it's incredibly long cooldown. But Cloyster's low HP also prevents it from using Hydro Pump or Blizzard much in battle (since you gain 1 energy per 2 HP lost). So... Ice Shard! Yay! That's about all Cloyster will ever get to do. At least Ice Shard's defender DPS is better than Icy Wind! Seriously, Icy Wind is terrible.

Alakazam
Max CP: 2891
Stam: 110
Atk: 271
Def: 194

Alakazam actually has a very respectable 194 Defence stat, which kind of makes up for its piss-poor 110 Stamina. But its gargantuan 271 Attack stat make it worthy of inclusion here. Confusion / Psychic is the best moveset a Psychic-type could ask for, and Alakazam delivers. Alakazam battles will go quickly, but both sides end up taking so much damage over such a short time span. With a max CP of 2891, at least Alakazam provides something unique to slot in-between the various high CP defenders with double weakness. In return, you get Alakazam! Who is just strong and frail.

Tauros
Max CP: 2486
Stam: 150
Atk: 197
Def: 196

Tauros got a great buff to its Attack and Defence, and its Stamina is passable. Tackle is a great quick attack (rivalling Kanagskhan's Mud Slap thanks to STAB), and Horn Attack and Iron Head are both solid charge moves. Tauros is essentially just a slightly worse Kangaskhan now, which isn't a bad thing by any means.

Tier 5

Previously I wouldn't have included a Tier 5 because by this point we're scraping the bottom of the barrel, but because it's relevant to have different high-CP Pokemon in a gym to add diversity to a gym lineup, I've included Arcanine, Machamp and Pinsir as Tier 5 defenders.

Arcanine

Max CP: 2839

Stam: 180

Atk: 226

Def: 166

Arcanine faces stiff competition now, as Rhydon and Golem are already Water-weak Pokemon taking top slots in gyms. But this doesn't make Arcanine a terrible defender. It just makes Arcanine a worse choice in most gyms. But if you want a Pokemon that can force a Lapras switch, Arcanine is the best defender for the job; well... except for Omastar, and maybe Golem... Still! Its relatively high CP allows it to slot into gyms where it wants to, but if you have the choice between Arcanine and Rhydon, Rhydon is the better defender for sure.

Machamp
Max CP: 2894
Stam: 180
Atk: 234
Def: 162

Machamp... I think... just barely makes this list with Submission. Machamp's big buff to Attack is evened out by its fair loss to Defence. But that Attack buff gives it a relevant high-CP stat, and its high Stamina (180) allow it to battle competently near the tops of gyms. Bullet Punch isn't particularly great, so Submission is essential to make sure Machamp can dish out enough damage. Alakazam existing as an attacker isn't great for Machamp's relevance, but really Machamp makes this list as a high-CP Pokemon that's got passable defensive capacity. Anything that can be used to break up the stream of Rhydons and Gyarados' is welcome in gyms these days, as overloading gyms with these Pokemon rewards trainers too much for bringing their Vaporeons and Jolteons. Hilariously, Vaporeon and Jolteon both resist Bullet Punch, but it's not like they hit Machamp super effectively anyways.

Pinsir
Max CP: 2765
Stam: 130
Atk: 237
Def: 196

Pinsir's got a relevant CP stat, a strong quick attack in Rock Smash, and a decent charge move in X-Scissor. Put together, that makes Pinsir a decent Pokemon, though its HP prevents it from being a great defender. Like Machamp, Pinsir gets a mention here more for its maximum CP (2765) than for its defending prowess. Its very poor Stamina (130) hold it back from being all too relevant, but it at least has solid Defence and Attack. Think Alakazam. That's essentially Pinsir, but X-Scissor gets to fire more frequently than Psychic because Pinsir has slightly more HP, and X-Scissor only takes 33.3 energy to charge instead of 50. At the same time, Pinsir gets a non-STAB Rock Smash instead of a STAB Confusion, so it's overall a worse Alakazam.

Falls from grace

To close out this article, here is a list of Pokemon that were previously relevant to the metagame, but are now wholly irrelevant. Good night, sweet princes and princesses:

• Wigglytuff
• Victreebel
• Dewgong
• Blastoise
• Hypno
• Nidoqueen
• Nidoking
• Golduck

Most of these Pokemon saw huge drops in CP, making it pointless to place them in a gym as they'll almost immediately be kicked out. Victreebel and Wigglytuff are especially sad. Blastoise was never amazing, but how much it tanked is pretty sad in its own right.

Cheers,

Let's GO!