Competitive Pokemon battling isn't what it used to be. That's not to say it's worse, but it's certainly gone through several changes, and not every generation of Pokemon is the same in t꧙erms of battle mechanics.
Say what you will, but one thing is certain: some Pokemon were left behind. Whether it was because of a power creep they couldn't catch up to, or a drastic change in mechanics that took away the only thing thไey had going for them, some Pokemon have seen better days.
It can be nice to look back on how good certain Pokemon were during their time, and some of them were still good as recently 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:as Generation VII. Still, even Generations VII and VIII are drastically different, and 🌺in Generation VIII, these ten Pokemon are no longer viable.
10 Manectric
Several Pokemon on this list were nerfed significantly by the removal of Mega Evolutions in Generation VIII, and the first on this list to unfortunately join those ranks will be Hoenn's 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:pure Electric-type, Manectric.
Manectric had one of the most regularly-used Mega Evolutions in Generations VI and VII. It was one of the best all-out attackers with 135 in both Special Attack and Speed in its Mega form. Mega Evolving also gave it the excellent Intimidate ability, which, among other things, helped offset its 🐈general lack of bulk. Unfortunately, it's qu🔥ite mediocre without the Mega. It's rarely seen any use, as there are way better options for fast Electric-type attackers.
9 Celebi
These days, typing can make or break a Pokemon's viability. That's shown to be the case even with Legendary and Mythical Pokemon, some of whom can't break thrღough to higher tiers in more recent competitive metagames, despite their high base stat totals.
That's certainly the case with Celebi. Being a Psychic/Grass-type gives you a lot of weaknesses, but said weaknesses were negligible enough during Celebi's introduction in Generation II that it still managed to be banned to Smogon's Ubers tier. Nowadays, that defensive typing has caused its usage to plummet amongst the other 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:100-across-the-board Mythical Pokemon. I♕t's still powerful on offense, but using it meant walking on such t♚hin ice that it killed its viability.
8 Jynx
Jynx was incredibly viable in older generations due to its typing. It's been completely u💧nviable in newer generations due to...its typing.
In metagames where there weren't a lot of good Ice-types and the Psychic-type was the best type in the game, Jynx was a valuable special attacker thanks to its access to two very strong s🅘pecial moves: Psychic and Blizzard. That's very different compared to today, where the Ice/Psychic-type is seen more as a defensive liability than a strong offensive type combo. Jynx could live with mediocre Speed and terrible physical Defense in older generations, but that's a death sentence in today's metagame, especially with its utter lack of resistances.
7 ꧙ Talonflame
This will be the only entry on this list to involve an ability nerf. No other Pokemon has suffered as mucܫh from getting its ability𝓡 nerfed as Talonflame.
The Fire/Flying-type bird's claim to fame in Generation VI was Gale Wings, a move that gave Flying-type moves extra priority. This meant its most powerful attacks like Acrobatics or Brave Bird were guaranteed to go first. Unfort🧸unately, the Gale Wings ability was nerfed the very next generation, to only give Flying-type moves priority when Talonflame's HP is full. While it's still useful thanks to its potential as a utility Pokemon, Talonflame's value plummeted thanks to not gaining the edge its ability used to give it.
6 Sableye
Sableye didn't have much going for it besides its great defensive typing. However, it was given a brief time in the spotlight thanks to an amazing Mega Evolution, and arguably the best support Mega out there. To put its excellent 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Dark/Ghost typing to use, Sableye also had Magic Bounce as an ability in its Mega form. That made it an excellent lead, as it blocked out any potential hazards and adverse effects from entering its side 𝐆of the field. Aside from that, it also got a buff in its defenses.
Th🀅at buff was much neede💜d, as you can clearly see. Without its Mega, Sableye has fallen off the radar in Sword and Shield's metagame.
5 Lopunny
Back in Generations VI and VII, what was an unassuming Normal-type gaiꦚned one of the most highly sought-after Mega Evolutions.𝓀 There was almost nothing like it in its metagame.
It was hard to think that highly of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Normal-type sweepers, but Lopunny had all the tools in the bag to make that work. It was a secondary Fighting-type to cover types that resisted Normalﷺ-type attacks, Rock and Steel.𝔍 It had the Scrappy ability that allowed it to hit Ghost-types. It had, among other potent attacks, the strongest Fake Out in the game, thanks to STAB and its high Attack stat. Sadly, it doesn't have any of those privileges anymore, thanks to the removal of Mega Evolution.
4 ꦇKangaskhan
Once upon a time, Kangaskhan had access to one of the most feared Mega Evolutions in Pokemon. That Mega form, with Kangaskhan's sentient child no longer sitting pretty in its pouch, paved the way for a 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:near-unstoppable signature ability: Parental Bond.
With Parental Bond, every attack hit a second time at a quarter of the power. That second hit meant more damage dea💮lt, the ability to break barriers such as Substitute in one turn, as higher probability to inf✱lict secondary effects. That made Kangaskhan hard to beat in its Mega, but without it, it's basically forgettable. Regular Kangaskhan can hold its own at an OK level, but without access to its Mega, Kangaskhan can no longer be seen in almost any competitive tier.
3 Mawile
For a while, there was a real case for Mega Mawile to be the best wallbreaker in its metagame. It's certainly got a typing to be frightened by, with Steel/Fairy considered one of the best, if not the best, type combinations out there. Another thing to watch out for was its💖 physical attacking capability, not only due to the high Attack stat, but thanks to its abilit🦩y, Huge Power.
Unfortunately, it's borderline useless in Generation VIII. Without its Mega, it has basically nothing going for it ওbesides the typing, as it has some of the worst stats for a fully evolved Pokemon. Of all the Pokemon that lost their Mega Evolutions, Mawile probably misses its Mega the most.
2 Exeggutor
Another Grass/Psychic-type appears on this list, but this one has fallen much harder than Celebi. Almost no serious competitive battler uses Exeggutor anymore. That's a very far cry fr𓃲om its Generation I days when it was one of the most overused Pokemon out there and the best utility Pokemon of its time.
Again, the typing has slowly but surely killed its viability, but there are other reasons for its eventual demise. Mainly, it's safe to say that other Pokemon just caught up to it. As more options for Psychic- and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Grass-type Pokemon came with every generation, Exeggutor simply faded into the sunset.ไ Not even its Grass/Dragon type Alolan regional variant has helped it out in that regard.
1 Tauros
Barring the banned 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Mew and Mewtwo, Tauros was the unquestionable king of Generation I competitive battling, as it was mandatory to have it on any competitive team. Two aspects of Generatio🉐n I's mechanics worked in Tauros's favor: how Hyper B༺eam and critical hit ratios worked. Hyper Beam did not require the user to recharge if it knocked out a Pokemon, and Tauros was best equipped to use it, not only for STAB, but because of its Speed. Higher Speed meant you had a higher critical hit ratio.
Of course, those mechanics, among other things, were changed up as early as Generation II. Tauros's viability instantly plummeted as a result, going from the best legal Pokemon in the game to almost never being heard fᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚrom since.