How GOOD was Empoleon ACTUALLY? - History of Empoleon in Competitive Pokemon (Gens 4-7)

ATTENTION!
I missed a VERY important VGC placement for Empoleon, thank you to Toniblast for pointing it out.
Empoleon was on Kazuyuki Tsuji's team where it won Worlds 2009!
/ 1080259060606353408
Match videos:
• Pokemon WCS 2009 World...
• Pokemon WCS 2009 World...
• Pokemon WCS 2009 World...
Thank you for reading!
- Kellen
Empoleon is this week’s Pokemon for our competitive history series! Join False Swipe Gaming in this brief overview of Empoleon in competitive Pokemon!
PATREON!: If you want to support FSG even more or just feeling generous, please go here!: / falseswipegaming
The Official False Swipe Gaming Twitter:
/ falseswipeg
0:00 - Intro
0:55 - DPP/Gen 4
5:40 - Gen 4 VGC
6:35 - BW/Gen 5
8:15 - Gen 5 VGC
9:02 - XY/Gen 6
10:37 - Gen 6 VGC
11:15 - SM/Gen 7
12:27 - Outro
Directed by Kellen
/ kellen_fsg
Follow Me On Twitch!: / kellen_fsg
Edited By CDK
/ ssbm_cdk
/ ssbmtutorials
VFX Intro By
Ryan Gonzales
ryangonzalesfilmmaker.weebly....
Written By
Kevin aka BKC
This Bread Needs More Jam: / @thisbreadneedsmorejam583
Kevin Cronin: / @bkcplayspokemon
Sound Designed by
Ryan Gonzales
ryangonzalesfilmmaker.weebly....
Game Capture Artist:
Jago
Follow Him: / djagounchained
FULL RESEARCH SOURCES HERE:
docs.google.com/document/d/1a...
DISCLAIMERS ON FORMATS COVERED:
Notice I said POPULAR formats, meaning a format where there is a significant amount of people who compete in it for tournaments and so on and so forth. Now Popular does not mean official even though two of the formats I will be covering were official formats being Japan Nintendo Cup and VGC, but it is an indicator of what a good portion of competitive players thought was “optimal” at the time. Also sometimes the Pokemon Battle Historia doesn't provide enough information to talk about certain Pokemon so I add Smogon analysis to make sense of it. This is pretty rare though.
To the people asking why I don't cover Smogon Singles for Gens 1 and 2: It wouldn't really be a history video if I covered those because online Smogon gen 1 meta to my knowledge wasn't actually played until late 2000s. I wanted to cover tournaments/competitive battling that was actually played during the early years of Pokemon (late 90s).
To the people asking why I cover Smogon at all for singles: To my knowledge, Smogon was the most popular format for Gens 3-5 and held a number of tournaments throughout the years. As for Gen 6, I am not covering Battle Spot Singles because there is more information and explanations about sets being used relative to their own meta on Smogon. In other words, there are few written analyses about Battle Spot Pokemon besides the Top tiers and I would like to avoid theorycrafting because it may have a hint of bias (though I theorycraft if I REALLY couldn't find information on a certain Pokemon). The keyword here is explanations. Though I did find statistics of most Pokemon used and most moves used, there wasn't really any explanations on why. Also the few Pokemon I did find analysis of for Top Tier Battle Spot Singles had very similar move sets to the Smogon OU sets anyway.
For the record, I do not care what rules or formats people play their battles by nor am I saying these formats are the only formats that should be played. The way you play Pokemon is between you and your opponent and I will not fault you for using evasion or whatever, I just like examining popular tournament formats.
Songs Used (List of ALL Songs used for this series. Some may or may not make it into the video):
docs.google.com/document/d/1H...
My Twitter:
/ kellen_fsg
Resources and Historical References
History of Rule Variants: bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wik...
Smogon University:
www.smogon.com/
Maikiri
/ nbmakiri
Aaron Cybertron Zheng:
/ cybertronvgc
Pokeaim
/ joeypokeaim
Pokemon Battle Historia:
pokemon.s20.xrea.com/
Nintendo Cup 2000 Team Construction:
pokemon.s20.xrea.com/2nd/const...
Nintendo Cup 2000 Tier List:
pokemon.s20.xrea.com/2nd/2000/
Pokemon Japanese Battle Wiki:
wiki.xn--rckteqa2e.com/wiki/%E...
Sprites From:
www.spriters-resource.com/
pldh.net/dex/sprites/index

[@FalseSwipeGaming]

ATTENTION: I missed a VERY important VGC placement for Empoleon, thank you to Toniblast for pointing it out. I am extra disappointed in myself because I've seen Ryuzaki's VGC worlds graphic and the VGC 2009 worlds finals so many times at this point >_

[@zaksharman2903]

i still cant access the community tab

[@schubi6904]

What is with Arceus. I think this coud be interesting. 🤔🤔🤔🤨

[@SevoV4X]

False Swipe Gaming I voted for Mr. Mime

[@JTLDrago94]

*Lets rap this How GOOD was Torterra ACTUALLY?* *so we get on with Ho-Oh ACTUALLY?*

[@thetrashtrain3774]

False Swipe Gaming a bit annoying since i can’t access the community tab on iPad

[@Sikk2]

What Flygon is there for: 3. Be an okay member of someone’s team 2. make people think it deserves a Mega 1. get OHKOd by an Icebeam in FSG‘s Video

[@gengarzilla1685]

Flygon: Yay Garchomp got banned! FSG: *Ice Beam* FLygon: ...I came out here to have a good time and I'm honestly feeling so attacked right now.

[@insertnamehere6659]

Bold of you to assume it doesn't deserve one.

[@DeisFortuna]

Honestly, giving Mega Flygon a bunch of bulk and maybe, even trading the ability for like, Regenerator or something would be awesome.

[@TheDeathmail]

@@insertnamehere6659 I don't think he assumed that at all.... just saying it's purpose.

[@leehiro4840]

Why the hell is flygon no Bug/Dragon???

[@ajwelsh3191]

Penguins can survive negative 120 degrees weather, under water they’re badass and they deserve peoples respect.

[@TheRibottoStudios]

Damn straight

[@TheRibottoStudios]

@Dbz4theFuture heyo lol

[@The_PokeSaurus]

Don't screw with nature.

[@TheAcrilon]

Farenheit (hope i spell that right ) or Celcius ?

[@flufflepants362]

Yep. We need to stop climate change

[@julianchrobak-prince1915]

Can I just say the community tab idea is a godsend, because I can actually read comments that aren't suggestions for the next Pokemon now

[@coldore6734]

Still some ppl don't understand it sadly

[@toadsagejacob7896]

How EFFECTIVE was Community Tab actually

[@Karsow2054]

Didn’t it get removed?

[@julianchrobak-prince1915]

@@Karsow2054 I think it’s moreso they’re juggling more episodes at once and need more time for each one, so they can’t ask every week anymore

[@ActualTrash8]

*cries in mobile*

[@verbalengine95]

I love how Empoleon's recovery animation is just sliding backwards and cracking it's neck

[@Toniblast]

what you missed the most important empoleon placement in vgc empoleon won worlds in 2009 and there is a video of the finals on youtube

[@shadowhawk3933]

Toniblast I was at vgc back then it was in my hometown

[@isaiahcampbell3992]

Yeah. I love VGC 2009. The VGC meta has only gotten worse since 2012 and died for me after 2014 with all the damn landorus.

[@Marcusjnmc]

eh, not sure leaving out the fantastic worlds footage & not expounding on the use of Icy Wind in VGC in the main video is really rectified just by linking the match in the comments, but it helps

[@ShinMario098]

I'm actually surprised we've not had another Water/Steel type since. You'd think Game Freak would come up with something else by now.

[@imaginaryboy2000]

Having an anchor be Grass Ghost is kind of a dick move on their part

[@siddhantbanerjee3328]

^Too right lol. Could forgive Solgaleo not being Fire type after a while....but this still makes no sense to me

[@randomusername3445]

@@imaginaryboy2000 not to mention insanely stupid

[@mockshock6084]

Makes it worse that his ability is just to get steel type stab (the least useful thing about being a steel type)

[@MrLuizilla]

@@imaginaryboy2000 I can understand the ghost part, what with ghost ships being a thing, but grass?

[@goldenhydreigon4727]

Fun Fact: The entire Piplup line was owned by at least one character in the Sinnoh saga. Dawn had Piplup, her rival Kenny had Prinplup, and Empoleon was owned by Barry

[@OurKindofEntertainment]

Barry's gonna fine you for that "illegal" mention of his Hyper Beam Empoleon without his permission 😂😂

[@sandrahwu]

And he’s going to need it in 10 seconds... 9! 8! 7! 6! ...

[@cubedmelons876]

RIP FSG's $10,000,000.

[@radaf4429]

@@sandrahwu Bah! Who's got the time to count?!

[@sandrahwu]

@Adam Rox In case you didn’t watch the anime, Barry would often make a count down for someone to pay him a fine. My comment is just referencing that. In case you were just being sarcastic, then here is my response: Barry, that’s who.

[@radaf4429]

@@sandrahwu That's what he says in the games, dude.

[@butteredsalmonella]

If Empoleon had Competitive instead of Defiant, it would be an incredibly good Stealth Rock Setter, being able to set up Stealth Rock and threaten Defoggers in one go. Even able to remove hazards itself, a utility tool that features a knife. Defiant Bisharp would be jealous.

[@siberiangopnik]

And give it roost

[@halberd-3291]

@@siberiangopnik It can’t fly…

[@siberiangopnik]

@@halberd-3291 Ok? They actually gave empoleon roost in PLA so idk why you're replying just now

[@halberd-3291]

@@siberiangopnik Was just watching this video and saw this reply. True, maybe they’ll give it roost. Other Pokémon got different moves as well IE Mesprit with recover so we’ll have to see if they keep those moves or not.

[@AutumnOwlex]

And finally they actually changed its ability and finally gave it roost

[@pepeknight]

The Second Best Penguin after King Dedede. Also give it Roost GameFreak.

[@mr.krustykrust]

We all know Dedede is the best penguin. If you think otherwise, you are wrong

[@camoking3605]

................ Kowalski, analysis

[@pepeknight]

@@mr.krustykrust LMAO the heck is that Picture. Got a source on that?

[@mr.krustykrust]

I don’t sorry. I was just scrolling through my gallery and found it under screenshots. Probably just found it on Discord or something and just screenshotted it

[@beta511ee4]

If only our penguiin was perfect...

[@karfsma778]

Hey, a big UU threat is a great place to be. UU is a solid tier.

[@Oscarus4250]

From Gen 3 onwards. In Gens 1 and 2, when Pokemon was in UU, that meant it sucked

[@karfsma778]

@@Oscarus4250 Guess what. empoleon didn't exist in gen 1 or 2

[@Oscarus4250]

@@karfsma778 I was talking about UU tier

[@Xzeihoranth]

Fantastic design and typing. It's really cool, just wish I could use it more.

[@christopheralvarado4544]

Sums it up, yeah.

[@Unknown-gf1ci]

Pretty much

[@curtisbreillat666]

Ferrothorn: the water destroyer. pretty sad that so many water types dropped to UU because of this beast.

[@pepeknight]

Ferrothorn was both a blessing and a curse. It held back a lot of Gen 5 threats, but caused the drop of a lot of formerly viable pokemon

[@camoking3605]

I wouldn't consider it was because OU is basically a mini-ubers at this point

[@fulgenzio89]

I hate Pokémon like that. Good in The Smogon World, but pretty useless in "real life" (main story and VGC). Another one is Skarmory.

[@obinnanwakwue5735]

@@fulgenzio89 nah Ferrothorn and Skarmory have their uses in the main game. Pokemon good in competitive but useless everywhere else include Pokemon like Chansey and Alomomola.

[@gengarzilla1685]

FSG should do a video on Ferrothorn soon. It ought to be the first Gen V Pokémon covered because what else really deserves that spot?

[@darktemplar446]

4 years later and Empolion has gotten some big buffs in The Indigo Disk DLC for SV. We may need a remake of this video soon.

[@alexandermcmillan8056]

So basically Empoleon was like Infernape, being absolutely amazing and great in it debut generation but dropped in the later generations because of power creep, I thought Empoleon would have some OU niche as a defensive rain mon. At least Empoleon is still good and isn't in NU or PU unlike Torterra whose STAB completely screwed over for its role

[@joanaguayoplanell4912]

The difference is that Empoleon is still perfectly viable in OU and absolutely thrives in the more fast paced metagame of Battle Spot Singles, mostly because of his access to Yawn that only Swampert and Hippowdon can run with a similar effectiveness.

[@deeznoots6241]

Doesn’t really do much as a defensive rain mon though, especially since that role is always taken up by Ferrothorn which uses rain to cover its fire weakness

[@microwave8931]

Empoleon is UU. Not OU, but at least not ZU

[@lskre]

Infernape = Gen 4 OU Empoleon = Gen 4 OU Torterra = Gen 4 OU right?? RIGHT!?!??!

[@TheEagleNut]

HA!

[@nerothewateruser8030]

I wish, but no

[@breakingbacon658]

He was ubers

[@aceclover758]

Torterra was spatacular in NU as a great physical tank with good offensive abilities.

[@sayvionwashington1939]

Sorry to burst your bubble, but...

[@MegaGeewee]

If only he got roost.

[@joanaguayoplanell4912]

Or Regenerator

[@Mswordx23]

would be kind of weird since penguins don't fly

[@pepeknight]

@@Mswordx23 Penguins roost after swimming

[@demetraeconomou6096]

@@Mswordx23 but metal winged bugs do

[@isaiahcampbell3992]

And the ability Competitive instead of Defiant(which makes no sense on it since Empoleon is a special attacker)

[@JamieBoytVGC]

A pretty notable thing missing is that Empoleon won the World Championships in 2009

[@meatroid5376]

Who’s here after it finally gained Roost and Competitive!?

[@christopherstardeluxe]

Me

[@雪者]

Me, me!

[@nintendocollectable]

You missed Empoleon's greatest accomplishment in VGC 2009! It won Worlds in Seniors (then the highest age division), used by the first official world champion, Kazuyuki Tsuji.

[@Rider339]

I remember when I first played pokemon platinum, I choose piplup and not only was it a female which is about 13% chance, but it also had Pokérus (1 in 21,845)

[@xyzzy-dv6te]

imagine if she was shiny

[@empoleonforlife1717]

Pokerus?

[@Rider339]

@@empoleonforlife1717 bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pok%C3%A9rus

[@pit2992]

My first Pokémon ever, Chikorita in SS, was actually shiny. I still have him on UltraMoon. Just waiting for SwSh DLCs to add him so he can explore England...

[@microwave8931]

My first starter (Snivy) was female

[@jalapenobug]

Empoleon finally got roost in Legends Arceus.

[@clockbomb8858]

And gone :(

[@Discordual]

I actually used a fun Agility-Swords Dance-Power Trip set that was surprisingly effective (mainly because people weren't expecting it)

[@groudongamer3178]

Ooooooh. I know someone who would love that set.

[@speedyav46]

I was about to ask about how Power Trip did. I was so excited when I saw that Piplup got it but haven't tried it out yet.

[@dotsdot5608]

Is the held item perhaps weakness policy? 😏

[@Discordual]

@@dotsdot5608 It was actually one of the 25% berries, since the last slot was for Aqua jet and I needed some healing

[@gengarzilla1685]

I've never really tried that since Power Trip doesn't exactly patch up any notable holes in Empoleon's coverage as far as I know. If it works for you though, great!

[@OnlyGoken]

It makes me happy when starters arent awful competitively, especially two of my favorites (Infernape and Empoleon).

[@sirkibbles1944]

I hope we get another penguin Pokémon in Gen 8. Since we've just left the tropical Alola a cold and snow-filled region is just what we need.

[@sayvionwashington1939]

Another penguin Pokemon would be cool. Maybe make it a fast, hard hitting Rain abuser with Swift Swim. Also, after USUM, I don't want to see another tropical region for 10 years.

[@fulgenzio89]

Rocket Executive Kibble Next Region is China.

[@sayvionwashington1939]

@@fulgenzio89 Excuse me good internet user, but where did you get this information?

[@shawnli4746]

Gen 8 based on Scandinavia then. Alps are too close to kalos and other mountain ranges have political bugbears

[@flappygon1718]

We already had a cold region in Sinnoh. It's the furthest north region with snow capped mountains. I'd rather see a region based on Australia or north Africa.

[@NanaKyoto]

I still prefer Empoleon as my Gen IV starter.

[@stellaraevum799]

Shiro-Luna Go with what you like of course!

[@Suikeina]

Totally. Empoleon is actually my favorite starter in the whole series.

[@maclegend6952]

Infernape is awesomer and nice looking

[@stellaraevum799]

Mark Haaksema “Awesomer” sounds highly subjective. And very made up.

[@officialregirock4021]

i prefer torterra, but you do you

[@LightningCayo]

Evolving Prinplup is a challenge of its own when playing through the main game, but so worth it to get it to Empoleon.

[@Charleyyy678]

How? Medium Slow level up rare is actually super fast.

[@Superluigi881]

It's worse than that. Barry's Empoleon in the anime ran both Hydro Cannon and Hyper Beam. Which is a really terrible idea.

[@joegreen3802]

Usually seems like the worst of a trio gets picked last

[@swordslingerthesaiyan6490]

TORTERRA IS NOT BAD

[@gengarzilla1685]

Fact is, it's just not as good as the other two.

[@swordslingerthesaiyan6490]

@@gengarzilla1685 TORTERRA IS GODERRA

[@vinny4765]

Usually seems like the worst of a trio is grass :^

[@Michi-ce3df]

@@vinny4765 It's a pretty bad typ tbh

[@Lord_KillerBee]

Empoleon certainly had a pretty good competitive career with being in OU for the first two generations it appeared in and then in UU for the next two generations. Being a water/steel type certainly helped against the likes of sandstorm, toxic spikes and stealth rock which gave an edge Empoleon had over other water type Pokémon.

[@juan-lb5ph]

UPDATE: As october 2023, Empoleon is OU in Scarlet & violet. It got roost, flip turn and haze, and its hidden ability is now competitive. It also got some good old moves, like knock off or roar, which arent really common in the gen9 metagame due to poor distribution. It will probably drop to UU, since its only true niche is walling walking wake and roaring manaphy out, but history has been made: empoleon is a legitimate OU pokemon which had more usage than Landorus-therian.

[@Kyle-oc3zb]

He got roost

[@DsFreaks9900]

I don’t care how niche Empoleon was, I will always be proud of it. It’s my favorite Pokémon, and I really wasn’t expecting this much praise for it.

[@ShatteredElegance]

These literally make my entire Sunday. I wait for these like a show you'd never miss. Thank you for giving me something to look forward to every Sunday.

[@Loris71734]

Empoleon will probably be good for a long time because of its move pool and typing

[@microwave8931]

In SM/USUM he's in UU. Hopefully when he returns in SS he goes back to OU

[@27thlegend70]

@@microwave8931 Haha funny joke

[@microwave8931]

@@27thlegend70 maybe empoleon will return someday?

[@jip0611]

I wish Empoleon had a better recovery move, spikes and a better ability

[@The_Vanni]

@@jip0611 Empoleon with roost sounds like hell on earth for everyone that isn't electric types

[@magdielm95]

Awesome work guys as always!

[@Borchert97]

Empoleon is one of, if not my favorite Pokemon. Love using him in doubles every now and then.

[@blueZLegend]

Piplup was technically my first pokemon in a pokemon game I owned so I have a strong connection with it, I also like the colors it has. I was able to get my empoleon in diamond to level 100 with only using two rare candies, Im proud of that cause I dont see many other people do that in my friend groups or in things like pixelmon series.

[@lulimdying720]

I've been waiting for this for almost two years and it finally happened! Thank you so much for all your amazing content and dedication to this channel

[@Blackfreeze646]

Just want to say thanks for making these. I volunteer at my local park on sunday; it's hard work and I love coming home and watching your video during dinner

[@MajorAce7HasTheP0werT0Win.]

If Empoleon got Roost, a better Ability & More Coverage Moves, It’d be Unbeatable! 🔱🌊

[@雪者]

Well looks like there's good news for you now! :D

[@MajorAce7HasTheP0werT0Win.]

@@雪者 IKR?! It’s like Game Freak Saw My Comment and was like “Hey, let’s give our Man’s Favorite Starter the Ultimate Buff!”

[@berzerk130]

finally my boi gets his time in the spotlight

[@doki1063]

Empoleon is my Favourite pokemon! HIS DESIGN IS TO COOL AND HIS CRY AND OMG HE IS THE KING

[@rimouks]

IVE BEEN BINGING ALL YOUR VIDEOS AND NOW YOU UPLOAD MY FAVORITE STARTER LETS GO

[@dontknowwhattocallmyself9453]

good or not you cant convince me this wasn't one of the most stylish pokemons ever

[@justinhoboden]

Empoleon was my favorite pokemon gen 4

[@Silver-Arm]

Empoleon is my favorite starter, mainly because i love using it both in game and in competitive.

[@Mr.Tw1sty]

Same

[@aaleven4728]

6:20 is funny how the person recording shakes the camera when they use eq

[@mattybutler1985]

When Hyper Beam and Hydro Cannon are your main attacking moves. OKAY BUT KUKUI'S EMPOLEON THOUGH

[@1ND1G066]

Water/steel is a really unique and interesting dual typing. It`s kind of sad that we have only gotten 1 mon with it so far. Oh well, at least it has managed to put said typing to good use.

[@HernandezJG]

I’ve been waiting for this one for weeks!

[@greyscaleadaven]

Great video! I would like to add that once Empoleon got defiant, it was used as a niche counter to intimidate users and defog users. It was probably used in vgc to counter intimidate and icy wind users as well. also, it commonly ran a Swords dance/aqua jet/ focus sash/ Torrent set in gen 4.

[@official_kden]

Best Defogger - shoutout to lord emvee :]

[@WhiteManOnCampus]

Penguins are my favorite animal, so Empoleon is one of my favorite pokemon. I want it to gain access to more moves and become stronger.

[@FangamesXD]

Same here

[@spinceiling7442]

I always liked Empoleon’s design but I started loving it when it fainted like Whitebeard from One Piece in the battle against Paul

[@gengarzilla1685]

That was a cool battle. It's a shame XY couldn't make a decent 3-0 curbstomp battle.

[@sreenaths6829]

That was one of the best fainting sequences in the anime!

[@Calebblue101]

Thank you for doing this video False Swipe Gaming

[@hesselzijlstra1367]

How GOOD was the Community tab actually?

[@KahunaLagoona]

Poor. They're trying to constantly follow a pattern. Come on guys, I like seeing Pokemon out of order.

[@sayvionwashington1939]

I can't even access it, so I can't say

[@iCraftSouls]

Personally I prefer voting in the comments

[@patrickstar8132]

@@iCraftSouls i think its better being able to read actual comments..

[@iCraftSouls]

@@patrickstar8132 on mobile it's easier to vote in the comments as the community tab can be bothersome to locate

[@hopelessgamer7677]

Yay, a video on best defogger, Emvee would be proud.

[@SionArtwork]

unfortunately never played this poke generation, liked his design though and the typing seemed very interesting aswell thx for the weekly awesome video! alsways looking forward to those

[@revolverocelots291]

My favorite starter from all of the reigons! Thank you so much!

[@MisterJonesification]

Empoleon and Infernape have amazing designs.

[@comatthew6]

I used Life Orb Empoleon on a Trick Room team to beat Reachzero in 2010 Smogon Frontier :)

[@sersmith8192]

i've asked for this so many times(i'm so happy thanks FSG)

[@KoukiTajiri]

Glad to see my favorite Pokemon of all finally getting their spot in the limelight on the channel.

[@mikeasllani6972]

I may have named my Empoleon "Dedede"

[@Mugenman88]

BDSP Empoleon bros, where ya at?

[@HankusTheTankus333]

My favorite/first pokemon of all time!!!! Thanks man!!

[@MekaImperfect]

Just read the head comment lol my bad. Great video! Been getting back into the franchise and learning about comp. enjoying these video a ton 😁

[@mimmikyute]

This was my favourite starter of gen 4. He emanated attitude, and I always loved the whole steel plated wings thing he had going on. I'm so happy to see he was a consistent competitive player!

[@thom9910]

I love Empoleon. He may very well be my all time favorite. It's awesome that he's pretty good too.

[@smitegrinder3854]

I love the nicknames that FSG gives the pokemon for these videos. Seeing Tayaknot and other exactly what they do names has always gotten a chuckle out of me XD

[@pujo1227]

Really cool vid!

[@StigmaKRL]

fun fact: dawn's piplup didn't evolve because the anime director thinks prinplup would be too ugly for contests

[@Melarctica]

Honestly, that's fair from the director, because both prinplup and empoleon aren't really built for contests I guess

[@kingradley3413]

My all time favorite Pokémon. So majestic. Seaking and Kingler wish they could be as regal as Empoleon. Great start in gen 4 OU. Even though it dropped to UU, that’s a very fine tier, and I’m happy to see Empoleon doing well where it ended up

[@freedyisla4085]

Hi FSG... watching your previous vids and suddenly BOOM!!! The Emperor Empoleon is here... the starter which helped me in my Sinnoh journey... Anyways peace ☮️

[@MageSkeleton]

Empoleon with Defog in Gen 6 is a hacked pokemon, however, if it originated from Gen 4 it's legal-ish. And Gen 7 reintroduced the move so you can have legal of generation Defog Empoleon.

[@sps6271]

Oh boi,151 views 151 likes,thats good

[@ordeaux26]

Empoleon is a good Pokémon it just struggles against a lot of the ou metagame and doesn’t have a good recovery

[@draconicimperium2713]

I actually run assault vest Empoleon... That thing is a beast, not only crushing regular stuff like scizor and hydra, but with 496 sp def it eats up a manectric hit, destroys the nidos (which I actually haven't seen in ages) and slaughters pidgeot. Along with my Umbreon's wish support, Napoleon tends to be the last one standing even if I lose. Probably sunpar, but I didn't want a spinner because none fit on my team and obviously defog stealth rock sets can be annoying to use.

[@YourBoyNobody530]

I actually used empoleon in OU with a iron defense set up so that it could come in on steel types to set up iron defense and hit steel types with a hidden power fire, ice beam, and scald because after a iron defense it can take a earthquake from a choice banded garchomp and its a hard counter to steel types taking their hits and dishing out hidden power fires also taking care of dragons and normal types with relative ease

[@Togekab00m]

Empoleon is my favourite starter! That Water/Steel combination is just so, so awesome, and i love its design. Sinnoh is so cool. For that 2015 VGC placement, i'm surprised you didn't note that due to the presence of Charizard and Torterra that Empeoleon was highly likely to be a Water Pledge set, which is a really important strategy to VGC in general.

[@Munchie3777]

i had very good memories with empoleon

[@bon7029]

I used the hell out of Empoleon until they removed it in Gen 8 and if he doesn't come back in Gen 9, I'm going to be pissed.

[@uberkirbeeh7954]

Piplup line is one of my fave starter lines all time, because I love penguins

[@jbbeast1231]

Torterra was my first and favorite Pokémon ever. So before y’all wanna bash him. He’s NU. I know NU not good . But better than PU and untiered so y’all gotta let him breathe

[@thecriticalghost4626]

@person person no

[@sephangelo4603]

If only Torterra had defense against ice moves.

[@microwave8931]

Torterra isn't really good. 4x weak to ice, and definitely not doing well. Does that mean I hate torterra? No. It's so cute and looks awesome. I never picked torterra, but it looks adorable

[@eriklundmark5636]

Poor Piplup always being hit by draco meteors

[@typhoonhurricane18]

Came back to this video because I played a gen4 game on showdown with a sub petaya empoleon and reverse sweeped a guy from 6-1 down. Unfortunately I didnt get to fully sweep cos they rage quit, but still; Empoleon is a boss

[@analyticofexistance7847]

I'd advise people to check out the tornament footage in the description. The way they had tournaments back then were so epic! I wish they held them now like they did back then.

[@Ruvan97]

Empoleon BEST defogger

[@Mystic-Aidan]

The objectively best sinnoh starter

[@nerothewateruser8030]

So Infernape doesn't exist? Also I don't blame you for the error but it's spelled Sinnoh

[@dtrelladdison60]

Mystic Bros. No it’s infernape then empoleon

[@silvergameryair2084]

Im calling the mandjtv police

[@Mystic-Aidan]

Why you may ask? *Because I said so*

[@ordeaux26]

Nero the Water User currently Empoleon is higher in the viability rankings (no I’m not just saying that because Empoleon is my favourite Pokémon go check if you want to)

[@natzatooru9766]

Yes i've been waiting for this

[@jimmy-the-hedgehog1169]

I'm happy to see that Empoleon, my og Starter, is pretty good. It makes me a happy person ^w^. I would use Empoleon as he is. I used him sometimes, and he is quite good :3

[@zestysword]

Empoleon will always be the best in my heart

[@noodles00p]

What's funny is right now on Ultra Series ladder Empoleon's ruining lives.

[@nothingtoreport1918]

Love this Pokémon! My second favorite starter of all time!

[@luiscordoba8300]

I use an Assault Vest Empoleon Calm Nature, fully invested in SPDEF and HP. It is a nice complement for my sand team and tanks like a boss.

[@themudkiperking3213]

Update roost and competitive

[@flammableduck2640]

I use Empoleon as an Incineroar check in my VGC team

[@Shivan_16]

Another good video! Keep up the good work! By the way, did you see Trainer Tips gave you a shout out in one of his recent video titles?

[@heartofthefluft8541]

I love how you managed to burn both Pokémon in the same turn 😂 12:05 Some justice for Empoleon 😎 now it is Torterra's turn