In any competitive game, the meta is constantly shifting, making characters & strategies obsolete.Pokemonhas just under 900 different possible Pokemon to use, so creative players are constantly thinking up new strategies. With eachnew generationadding between 70 - 150 new monsters, there are bound to be some Pokemon that find themselves unstoppable forces of nature one year and out of a job the next.
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Be it because of a mechanical change, a new counter-strategy or just because another Pokemon does their job better, there are plenty ofWorld Championship winning Pokemonthat are no longer useful on competitive teams in the modern day ofPokemon.
10Alakazam - Psychic Became Stoppable
InPokemon’sfirst generation, there were a few balancing issues in places. This lead to some Pokemon being significantly more powerful than the developers had anticipated, one of which was Alakazam.
Psychic types inGeneration 1were virtually unstoppable. They only had a single weakness, and the Special stat had not yet been split into Attack & Defence, meaning a Pokemon with high Special was good at both. Mewtwo was technically the most powerful in this category; however, it wasoften bannedfor this reason. Alakazam was not banned, however, and it ran roughshod over everything in its path.
9Bronzong - A Lack Of Support
Once upon a time, Bronzong was one of the ultimate support Pokemon. Steel/Psychic was a bulky type combination, and it had access toa wide movepoolthat saw it dominate competitive. The problem is that it ended up being somewhat of a one-hit-wonder.
In 2016, Bronzong featured on 7 of the top 8 teams at Worlds. By the next year, it was gone completely, never to return. This was partly because it wasn’t in the Alola Pokedex, meaning it was banned in 2017, but players no longer saw a spot for it after that. Pokemon like Tapu Bulu or Amoongus were chosen instead for support slots, as Generation 7 saw a much more powerful metagame.
8Zapdos - Easy To Hit
In the early generations,Legendary PokemonZapdos had some major upsides. Its Electric/Flying type combination meant it didn’t have many weaknesses, and even those it did have, like Rock & Ice, weren’t very common in the metagame at the time.
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Its speed was incredible, and it could hit like a truck with powerful Special moves, which made it a force to be reckoned with in Generation 1. When Special split into Attack & Defence, it became significantly weaker. Additionally, plenty of viable competitive Pokemon with access to Rock & Ice type moves have popped up over the years, taking away its main advantage.
7Metagross - Power Creep
When it comes to Pokemon that look powerful, few can out-class Metagross. It has intimidating eyes and a body that looks impenetrable, and it was in its early days. Steel/Psychic was, and still is, a strong type combination that forced players to think of new strategies to take it down.
It was very popular in the first few years of Worlds but quickly fell out of favour as new powerful Pokemon with more utility came along. It’s still been seen in teams here and there over the years, with a small uptick after it got a Mega-Evolution. However, Therion Form Landorus has become such a dominant part of the metagame that it’s made Metagross virtually unusable against it.
6Amoongus - Supporting Status
Amoongus had an interesting combination in its moveset. It had the bulk &Abilitiesto be a support Pokemon, with some healing capabilities, but its main function was that it could reliably inflict many status conditions, as well as draw attacks away from partners.
This makes tracking why Amoongus fell out of usage fairly easy, as status conditions have become a far less important part of the metagame than they once were. In the current meta, inflicting status conditions are more of a secondary focus and are usually done with attacks that have a chance of inflicting them. Moves that only serve to inflict status are used as a slot on an attacking Pokemon, rather than a Pokemon like Amoongus, which is dedicated to them.
5Tyranitar - Unimportant Weather
Tyranitar is a Pokemon that never truly goes away from the competitive scene. It’s never had a year where it’s been essential to use, but it’s always been around on a top team here or there. Unfortunately, that’s becoming less and less common as the years drag on.
This is partly because Rock/Dark isn’t that great of a type combination, which leaves it open to many weaknesses. That isn’t a deal-breaker on its own, though, and Tyranitar could still shine when the metagame focused on weather effects. Unfortunately, in Generation 6, weather was changed to no longer be permanent, which means the meta went from entirely relying on weather to not needing it at all.
4Thundurus - Electricity Outclassed
Ever since Zapdos, players have been searching for fast & powerful attackers to fill slots on their team. When Generation 5 came along, it seemed Thundurus was that Pokemon, and it was, for a time. It could hit very hard very quickly and was as commonly used as the all-powerful Landorus in its early days.
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Thundurus dropped out of favour come Generation 7, but not through any fault of its own. It was still a force to be reckoned with. The problem was that a new Pokemon had come along that did its job better, Tapu Koko, and again a Generation later.
3Tapu Koko - Electricity Outclassed (Again)
Tapu Koko had everything going for it. It was faster than Thundurus by a significant amount, it could hit just as hard with Physical Attacks, and it summoned Electric Terrain when it entered the battlefield, making its Electric Type moves even more powerful.
It dominated the Generation 7 metagame and was set to do the same when the Crown Tundra DLC brought it into Generation 8. However, in an ironic twist, it was replaced by a Pokemon that did its job better, just as Tapu Koko had done to Thundurus before. This time it was Regieleki, which is the single fastest Pokemon in existence and hits like a truck to boot.
2Cresselia - Support Not Needed
For a time, Cresselia could not be stopped. It had everything needed from a good support Pokemon. It had bulk, a defensive typing and was one of the most versatile movesets out there. When players came up against a Cresselia, there was really no telling what to expect.
While it does still see some decent usage, it’s nowhere near the level it once was. This is primarily because support Pokemon have died out as a breed in the current metagame. Now, players have Pokemon like Tapu Fini or Heterene, which can double-up as both support & attacking Pokemon, depending on what the situation requires. Cresselia has some decent attacking power behind them, but not enough to make a big enough impact.
1Garchomp - The Most Powerful No Longer
As far as non-Legendary Pokemon were concerned, there were none more powerful than Garchomp. Dragon/Ground is an incredible combination that gave it access to some of the hardest-hitting attacks in the game, which it could dole out with monstrous Attack stat. Even when Mega-Evolutions came along, it held firm and didn’t need to use them to maintain its dominance.
The reason it’s fallen out of use so much is hard to pinpoint exactly. In part, being unavailablein Generation 8until Crown Tundra meant players learnt how to do without it, but additionally, players have started to strategise in such a way that all-out attackers are no longer that useful. Now, powerful attacking Pokemon need to do something more, like Incineroar with Intimidate or Urshifu with guaranteed Critical Hits. Garchomp is still as powerful as ever, but the metagame has evolved to the point where power alone cannot make for a dominant Pokemon.
