Pokemon Legends: Arceus may have flipped the script in many respects, but there will always be one constant: good new Pokemon. Generation Eight's final release came with a few regional variants for some older Pokemon, and they've gotten a lot of praise from the community so far.
That said, there's always the competitive scene. While Legends: Arceus has different gameplay mechanics and doesn't offer online multiplayer, competitive heads can't help but wonder how they would fare in Generation Eight's traditional meta and beyond. Given what's out there now in terms of their typing, stats, and significant moves currently in their movepool, here are the regional variants from Legends: Arceus, ranked worst to best.
Note: Viability will be estimated by the franchise's traditional battling mechanics, meaning Pokemon have abilities, status conditions are back to their previous renditions (e.g. freeze, not frostbite) and moves will have their previous functions (e.g. Stealth Rock is no longer an attacking move). Their assigned abilities will come from a leak in the game's code, assumed to be for future Pokemon HOME compatibility. Also, likely 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Uber-tier Pokemon Origin Dialga and Palkia will not be included.
17 ♚ Hisuian Avalugg
Hisuian Avalugg's 184 Defense stat is excellent, but that's more of a saving grace on an otherwise terrible defensive build. A Special Defense stat of just 36 and a defensive typing of Ice/Rock with two quad-weaknesses and six weaknesses total make it prone to taking big damage immediately.
Its solid offensive repertoire of 127 Attack, a good signature move in Mountain Gale, and the Strong Jaw ability under traditional mechanics aren't enough to make up the difference. It basically has no Speed to speak of, leaving it barely able to attack and even more vulnerable than before.
16 🐬 Hisuian Electrode
Without question, Hisuian Electrode is an improvement on the original. It packs a bit of extra Speed without drops in any other stats, an extra Grass-type that complements 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:the Electric-type both offensively and defensively, and a powerful, if taxing, signature move𝓰 in Chloroblast.
Its improvements aren't enough to make it good competitively, though, as it suffers from many of the same problems as Kantonian Electrode. It still lacks in raw stats, not having as high a Special Attack stat to make that big a difference offensively. At best, Hisuian Electrode is still only good for a low-tier suicide lead.
15 Hisuian Braviary 𝓀 💯
For all its new frills, it's arguable that Hisuian Braviary is actually worse in battle than its Unovan variant. It gets a decrease in both its Speed and defensive stats, has a lower primary attacking stat in 112 Special Attack compared to Unovan Braviary's 123 Attack, and a worse defensive typing.
All this barely does anything to improve Braviary's competitive standing. Esper Wing is a solid signature move, and its build as an offensive Psychic/Flying-type might give it a niche somewhere, but don't expect this new version of Braviary to be that much more popular competitively.
14 Wyrdeer
Wyrdeer has quite a high base stat total, but its statistical makeup isn't all that enticing. 105 in both attacking stats is nice, but low defensive stats and Speed, as established with Hisuian Avalugg, should make for an easy target.
That said, it carries a solid defensive typing in Normal/Psychic and the always-welcome Intimidate as an ability, and its signature Psyshield Bash raises its defensive stats while attacking an opponent. It's a bit high maintenance, but under the right circumstances and maybe equipping a Choice Band under traditional mechanics, there's potential here for a solid, bulky wallbreaker.
13 🐓 Hisuian Samurott 🦹
Hisuian Samurott essentially trades Special Attack for physical Attack and bumps up the Speed a bit, though not quite into an effective Speed tier. Adding the Water/Dark-type makes its 🅘STAB offense more potent and effective, but gives it quite a few more weaknesses defensively. Its movepool is certainly going to improve, with the few extra Dark-type moves and its signature, the high-crit-ratio Ceaseless Edge.
All this is to say: despite the changes, Samurott is still likely to find itself in the bottom rung of the competitive starter ladder should it be available for competiꦯtive 🦩battling.
12 ⛎ Hisuian Arcanine
There aren't many differences between Kantonian and Hisuian Arcanine. Stat-wise, they're almost the same, other than slightly higher Attack and lower Speed. They get the same abilities, too. The one key difference between them, though, is a big one.
Kantonian Arcanine is a pure Fire-type, while Hisuian Arcanine is a Fire/Rock-type. The extra STAB is nice, especially on an offensive Pokemon, but it makes Arcanine quite a bit worse defensively, adding a Fighting-type weakness and doubling down🎶 on its Ground- and Water-type weaknesses. You can expect both versions to play similar competitive roles, so pick your poison.
11 Kleavor
This new evolution of Scyther is decidedly not better than Scizor, but Kleavor's offensive potential is nothing to sneeze at. Better Attack and Speed stats than Scizor's and Sheer Force as an available ability under traditional mechanics could make for a good niche wallbreaker.
Bug/Rock is a solid typing, giving it a lot of supereffective damage with STAB offense and not that many weaknesses. It's got quite a nice selection of moves too, including its signature Stone Axe and (Legends: Arceus's version of) Stealth Rock. It could really succeed with a bit of help in the Speed department.
10 Overqwil
A lot had bee꧙n asking for another Dark/Poison-type given how good it can be defensively, and wha𒊎t they got was pretty interesting. While regular Qwilfish has fittingly been used as a support Pokemon, Overqwil comes with a lot of offensive capabilities.
One of its highlights is a very good signature move, Barb🐬 Barrage, that deals damage, has a 30% chance to inflict poison, and doubles damage on an already status-ed target. That, its solid selection of abilities, and its 115 Attack stat should at least keep it afloat competitively despite the relatively subpar Speed and defensive stats.
9 Hisuian Decidueye 𒊎
While Hisuian Decidueye doesn't get any drastic statistical changes from its Alolan counterpart, it gets a vastly different movepool to go with its new Grass/Fighting-typing. Most of its Ghost-type moves are replaced with Fighting- and even Flying-type moves, including its signature move, Triple Arrows.
When looking at both versions of Decidueye, you are basically comparing their typing. Grass/Ghost i⛄s slightly better defensively with fewer weaknesses, while Grass/Fighting hits more types super-effectively with STAB, so choose accordingly depending on what your team needs. Either way, Decidueye still peaks as not much more than a mid-tier competitive Pokemon.
8 ও ♋ Hisuian Typhlosion
It's no 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Blacephalon or Chandelure, but Typhlosion can comfortably put itself in the ring of good, offensively potent Fire/Ghost-types. While it lacks the raw⛎ attacking power to match up to the former two, it can play a rem꧋arkably similar role in middle tiers.
Coincidentally, like Chandelure, 𒁏it has access to Flash Fire, adding a nice defensive wrinkle to its otherꩵwise offensive build. If you can get the Flash Fire boost, you will essentially have a Chandelure with a better Speed stat. Having an excellent signature move in Infernal Parade helps its cause, too.
