What Are The BEST (And Worst) Encounters For Your Pokémon Emerald Nuzlocke?

This video is meant to be a resource for people who want to start Nuzlocking! But, these are just my thoughts and opinions, don't take anything too seriously! Thanks for watching!
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#Pokemon #Gaming #Nuzlocke #Rankings

[@BestBFG]

Would love to see an "F tier only" emerald nuzlock now

[@caliburnabsolute8517]

Emerald Trashlocke edition isn't the same, but the principle to it is similar.

[@armaggedon390]

@@heinzdoofenshmirtz8643 I've used most of these in my monotype runs. Exploud can learn flamethrower and overheat to deal with high defense rock and steel types and Delcatty is weak but can be annoying with sing and charm. Crawdaunt... sucks. I can't really defend it. Volbeat at least can use Tail Glow + Thunderbolt. And that's about it. Castform can be surprisingly good with its varied moveset.

[@thatgrantchulakid9750]

Agreed lol would love to see only those f tier being taken advantage of in an emerald hc nuzlocke

[@Radiogumdrop]

@@armaggedon390 I did a casual mono dark run in Ruby recently. Crawdaunt is by far the worst member of my team. Sharpedo outshines it completely since it is way faster and has better special attack for water coverage. Shiftry has been fun too. Early Bird + Rest is an interesting combo to work with since you're always waking up after one turn of sleep. It also gets growth which boosts grass and dark type moves. Mine has giga drain, faint attack, growth, and rest for the early bird combo

[@demolcd]

I agree.

[@M4x_P0w3r]

Emerald is, I think, one of the worst titles for having psychic types. Grunts often have dark types and three of the major end game battles (Tate and Liza, Sidney and Phoebe) have types that resist, are immune or super effective against psychic.

[@YoungGenerationGaming]

I just did monotype psychic casual run in emerald, and let me tell you. It was hell XD

[@breloommaster12]

it's honestly not that bad considering you get Calm Mind in Hoenn, giving you pretty ample opportunity to cheese these fights, especially since Dark is special this Gen and pretty much all of the Darks are frail enough to get popped by coverage or simply overwhelmed. Tate & Liza's Claydol and Phoebe are probably the main threats for a Psychic-type to face.

[@M4x_P0w3r]

@@breloommaster12 True, but still. Remember that most psychic types in the region are either slow and bulky or fast but frail

[@M4x_P0w3r]

@@YoungGenerationGaming I know, I tried out Flygon's nuzlocke, replacing my starter with a Meditite because why not, and the early game was super hard

[@krxkenn]

I used gardevoir in alpha sapphire it would have been rly bad in emerald but in oras it has psychic fairy and ye its a good typing to deal with grunts i also maxed out her evs via super training i didn't used mega coz it became way to powerful

[@beebobber546]

The reason the wingull Sprite looks weird is because these sprites are the Emerald sprites captured in mid-animation

[@ironleegaming8227]

all of these sprites were fucking with me, and it took me until crobat to figure it out. The golem and wigglytuff in particular looked super goofy.

[@diamonddust4486]

Seaking should be at the top of C tier. it's even in its name.

[@xxgfactorxx7407]

Just completed my first ever nuzlocke and it was on Emerald using Swampert, Gyarados, Salamence, Flygon, Walrein, and Dusclops. I really enjoyed it. Honorable mention to Sharpedo for absolutely walling Tate & Liza

[@stellarknight04]

What a cracked team, Swampert saves Gyarados, and Walrein saves Flygon and Salamence.

[@AvatarN]

Sharpedo is absolutely not a wall

[@dancook6114]

@@AvatarN but into tate and liza it is. is immune to stab psychic and can just fire off crunches and surfs. absolutely cracked pokemon for that gym specifically

[@buckeyefan3894]

@@AvatarN you are correct. It is a shark

[@gamezone2996]

I remember attempting a Nuzlocke in emerald and what I did was repel through the route ralts was in and then come back later after getting all the Pokemon in that area except ralts. So I am guaranteed to get it and gardevoir destroys Tate and Liza just teach it psychic calm mind and IDR the moves name but it makes it so that other trainers can't use the moves your Pokemon has so basically they can't use anything

[@LordLucario12]

I'd like to make a case for Pelipper. It may be a generic Water but it evolves early, has a solid level up moveset, does decently well into Roxanne, great into Brawly and Flannery, okay into Norman thanks to natural Protect, fantastic into Winona if you give it Ice Beam, and shockingly well into T&L thanks to being immune to EQ and having STAB Surf. And by the time it's fallen off it's contributed a ton and can function as a solid HM user with Fly and Surf. I think you could make a solid case for low A tier

[@amberhernandez]

Also gains access to Toxic + Protect just in time for Norman, which trivialises the Slaking duo!

[@CyanMedic]

Agreed, I've been absolutely fucking carried by a Pelipper before. I gave mine Shock Wave as well, and it turned into the ultimate Water-type buster, since it can pretty freely switch in with its respectable defenses and resistance to Water moves. I was very impressed by how effective Pelipper can be in Gen 3.

[@six8810]

you're absolutely right

[@ct-117]

I have fond memories of my boy Nigel. He carried the squad so hard. Swept Flannery and Winona

[@robertlupa8273]

Even in Platinum, a whole gen later, it's pretty good.

[@noishfanboy1141]

swampert+gyarados is honestly kinda insane.both are incredibly strong and have types that synergize well.mono water in hoenn is honestly something i might try in the future because of how good those 2 are

[@andreab.4646]

Add ludicolo and tentacruel that are truly beasts and maybe other water types. Basically my normal team on an emerald nuzlocke because I've lost all other normal encounters besides a manectric

[@dribble909]

omg it's him, the noish fanboy

[@heroicvileplume7184]

They have really good synergy, like critical and accost

[@galvsparks6295]

@@andreab.4646 that made me realize that all you need to have a beastly mono water in Hoenn is essentially wallace’s team but replace whiscash with swampert (and I guess you can had kingdra, walrein or sharpedo Instead of wailord to add an additional type to the team) and you’re good

[@hobez64]

Yeah I'm doing a mono water nuzlocke right now and it's a whole lot of fun. Thing is there's no major battles that are good against you, almost no grass types and Watson is walled by by Marshtomp so it's a great stepping stone to this kind of challenge that's still relatively simple

[@typhlosion7872]

"it does not get Crunch, it does not get Brave Bird" Crobat has never learned Crunch outside of rom hacks and Brave Bird is only by breeding outside of rom hacks. Ren Plat got your mind boggled

[@MelMelodyWerner]

tbh, makes no sense that a Pokémon with such big chompers can't learn Crunch.

[@SACREDGAMER9116]

Mc scuse me golbat gets crunch in lets go crobat doesn't in sw/sh that is the dumbest thing I've heard today

[@dorothygail2591]

You can also get Brave Bird on it in Gen VIII by TR

[@wanderingbardgaming]

Shroomish is the best Pokemon to sweep Roxanne with between Leech Seed and Mega Drain, and Breloom is fantastic against Wattson, Norman, Sidney, Glacia, the eighth gym, and the Champion. Absolutely deserves S-Tier

[@robertlupa8273]

My Shroomish was like 5 levels below the gym _trainers_ and it still pretty much solo'd the gym.

[@superlombax1561]

Well, Glacia is eh since Breloom can also just as easily get wiped out by all those Ice type attacks, plus the Champion and I believe the eighth gym have some coverage for Grass types at least, but yeah. Overall I agree.

[@wanderingbardgaming]

@@superlombax1561 true about the Champion and Wallace. However, if you've taught Breloom Bulk Up, it can sweep Glacia easily since her first Sealeo in Emerald doesn't have Ice Beam. So just set up Bulk Up against it and, at +1 or +2, you can outspeed and one-shot all of her Pokemon with Brick Break

[@butteredsalmonella]

My strategy for Shroomish to NOT use it until the Elite Four, at level 54, Shroomish gets Spore (why does Breloom not learn Spore I swear) and give it the TM for Focus Punch to blast through Sidney, Glacia and Wallace.

[@wanderingbardgaming]

@@butteredsalmonella true if Breloom learned Spore it'd be even more broken. On a personal note, Breloom is one of my favorite Pokemon, so I could never resist using it if I had one. But that strategy sounds hilarious

[@coldsobanoodle7407]

My opinion is that if you could, use your favorites. Using your favorites make the deaths hurt that much more.

[@justanotherotaku1318]

You really want the new nuzlockers to suffer.

[@coldsobanoodle7407]

@@justanotherotaku1318 Precisely.

[@stellarknight04]

Seadra doesn't get Swift Swim but Horsea and Kingdra do. Seadra has only Poison Point, low Sp.Def and low Hp. So Calm Mind Golduck is probably far better. (Note: The only strong Psychic Types, Alakazam and Gardevoir, can get Calm Mind by level up so you can save it) Edit: Forgot to mention that the best nuzlocker in the world has wiped to a Swift Swim Goluck under Rain.

[@Madadader]

​@@oedipamaas2067 i assume they're being sarcastic like an inside joke. Most nuzlockers are pretty humble

[@BreadbugGaming]

Exploud>Spinda Exploud has: -guaranteed encounter -high hp for ok bulk (not great defenses) -91 attack and special attack, giving it versatility -good movepool albeit mostly tms, but it does learn: ice beam flamethrower eq shadow ball shock wave water pulse (surf in later gens) overheat and if you find a whismur in victory road it can learn hyper voice at lvl 45. -soundproof means no supersonic/sing nonsense, and with howl you can setup without worrying about roar In contrast Spinda has: -practically guaranteed, but worse than the other encounters on its route (maybe not compared to slugma) -not a single stat above 60 -own tempo is better than soundproof for confuse ray, but is otherwise not better than soundproof -ok movepool via level up, with dizzy punch and teeter dance being not bad and it even can get thrash without getting confused if leveled up during the E4 -tm compatibility is worse in this gen (it gets better in later gens) than exploud's Honestly I think they should swap places on the tier list, as Spinda has more of a gimmick (confusion overreliance) while Exploud has much more practical applications. Exploud isn't amazing prior to boomburst, but it atleast has something that lets it escape F tier. High C teir for Exploud and low F tier for Spinda IMO. Atleast Luvdisc has some ok moves in sweet kiss, attract, and charm with a pretty good speed stat in gen 3. Spinda has asthetic. tl;dr I like Exploud alot and I wish Spinda got Superpower + contrary in gen 3

[@disturbedwaffles6653]

Don't sleep on Gen 3 Crobat, it is super underrated. It's moveset is much better than you think, getting access the the physical sludge bomb tm from dewford, fly obviously, and also gets access to a few great coverage moves like steel wing and physical shadow ball, which it can make much better use of than many of the special attackers that learn it in this gen. I will die on the hill that Gen 3 Crobat is underrated as hell.

[@Jacob-df5hr]

I don't think Crobat is ever bad in any game you get it. It's fast as hell and has some very useful resistances and obviously the ground immunity. It's a poor man's Gyarados in the sense that you can pretty much always get it and it's always useful at some point.

[@Paws42]

Worth mentioning that Crobat can learn both Sludge Bomb and Shadow Ball, really good moves for STAB/coverage respectively. So it's move pool isn't that much worse than in later gens

[@tylerd1297]

it gets some Okay egg moves, Brave Bird is a huge upgrade but you can also get Nasty Plot instead and run Bomb/Shadow Ball. It gets some cool other moves like Super Fang and Heat Wave but they're locked to Platinum or Hg/SS

[@topichu970]

@@tylerd1297 why are you talking about gen iv

[@HenryXLII]

I think I recall seeing a video that showcased that Minun can trivialize most of the Elite 4. That said, it does seem like it would be weaker throughout most of the game and is very fragile, so I can still see it being close to where it is, but I do think it is worth mentioning.

[@kinjalghosh8606]

@RillaPro I also think it's Freezai

[@FeraligatrKirbyEric27]

I watched that video the other day. It was Freezai

[@juanmichael98]

Thanks HG, I forgot how I love Pokémon so much because of adult responsibilities and your videos helped me a lot. Your nuzlocke humour is an S-tier btw.

[@COMICSAREAWESOME]

Before I watch this.....please, please, please turn this concept into a series. (I need all the help I can get). Ok, now back to the video.

[@trevorpetersen7987]

My first emerald nuzlocke i killed 99% of my encounters and ended up going basically from watson to the e4 with only minun and machoke. It was a wild ride

[@gaugelawson2209]

what happened to your starter all the starters shouldnt die to watson

[@MarshallLeeFlames]

Did you survive?

[@magnemitegaming2203]

This is honestly a real good tier list but there is one pokemon I would have to disagree on. Clamperl is kind of a nasty sweeper because the deepseatooth doubles its special attack giving it the highest special attack in emerald and if you have a minun, plusle or ninjask to use baton pass and agility, clamperl can be a nasty sweeper. It's only limuted by it's coverage basically just being water and ice but if you get a good hidden power type, it's curtains for the e4. Shell armor is nice too. It's still dependent on specific encounters but I would give it a low b.

[@DarkIceKrabby]

Yeah, but tbh the E4 is kinda irrelevant for Emerald since Zigzagoon is so common and if you can get one to the E4 you just kinda win.

[@ComputerFreak1144]

Glad to see my boy Breloom getting some respect, he is seriously underappreciated. Sadly he is considerably worse in gen 3 than in later gens (due to no physical grass moves and having only effect spore rather than technician or poison heal), but he still hits like a truck and has access to a lot of utility via his grass typing.

[@ivanmaterazzo2631]

Who underappreciate it tbh? It carries most of the early game. Maybe it falls behind in the end if it doesn't run Spore but it's definitely one of the best encounters you can hope to get.

[@ComputerFreak1144]

@@ivanmaterazzo2631 Nobody really underappreciates Breloom in the sense of being expressly negative towards it...but people don't tend to discuss it very often outside of specific contexts like this, and a lot of people don't really realize how busted it is with a solid moveset. I completely agree that it's a great encounter and can carry large portions of the game...Breloom is my favorite Pokemon lol

[@breloommaster12]

I really don't see why Sandslash is that high when all it really does is "handle Norman", but not only does it really not do it _that_ well but you also ranked it higher than Golem and even Graveler who do that infinitely better? Let's not also forget Sandslash's absolutely atrocious Gen 3 movepool that is completely reliant on TM babysitting

[@mrpiccionedivino5598]

Maybe it's because sandslash tanks focus punch better than graveler and golem,but i mean you're probably going to just attack the slaking anyway

[@mrpiccionedivino5598]

18:32 well at least he corrected himself kinda

[@breloommaster12]

@@mrpiccionedivino5598 even then Sandslash still does not deserve to be that high; it's only remotely usable for ONE major fight that it's not even particularly amazing at. Graveler gets to shine vs Wattson and Flannery (both of which Sandslash misses out on) while other Pokémon like Pelipper, Dustox, Aron/Lairon, and Sableye do waaaay better vs Norman anyway. Heck even Mightyena would serve you better against Norman with Intimidate and Sand-Attack disruption

[@TheGhostFart]

@@mrpiccionedivino5598 if you need to tank a focus punch you have bigger problems.

[@LordLucario12]

Sandslash also has a DOGSHIT level up moveset

[@tiemen9095]

35:50 I very much disagree with your opinion on Crawdaunt and would expect it in A tier, or even S... if you get Battle Armor on it in particular. It gets Swords Dance, Taunt, Brick Break / Return and a resistance to water/ice, immunity to Psychic... This thing was my MPV once. Super useful in every major fight after you can get it, if you know how to use it. Sharpedo is very different since it doesn't get Swords Dance. It is good as an Ice Beam / Crunch special attacker.

[@senabecool7232]

Whats Battle Armor or do you mean Shell Armor

[@tiemen9095]

@@senabecool7232 the two abilities have the exact same effect so I always confuse the names. I meant shell armor of course.

[@Shonji_Ikori]

I'd like to see you do a hardcore nuzlocke with the only restriction being a max party size of 3. Could be interesting?

[@misters6749]

Would you be able to rotate party members out?

[@xxgfactorxx7407]

He'd also have to ban Swellow. Guts pre-poisoned silk-scarf facade kills everything but Pheobe

[@adinosaur2289]

Doesn’t seem too constrictive tbh, I believe in some generations he matches the gym leader’s team size so he’s done battles with only 2 or 3 Pokémon and I haven’t noticed any significant challenge with it

[@iwhbydbadbmotf8915]

Instead of restricting party size, restrict your levels even more maybe? I did a heart gold hc nuzlocke, but my level cap was 5 levels under the next gym leaders highest level. It was actually a very fun challenge. Geodude was my mvp until i traded it out for something else at Ecruteak, but he would still need things to support him.

[@lloydirving6209]

@@adinosaur2289 it would affect you more when you are going through a huge dungeon/cave with lots of trainer fights

[@adnagapot]

I did watch a couple of nuzlockes where swellow died in the overworld due to poison so keep that in mind when picking swellow

[@irongrahn824]

Ninjask needs a boost. It may be inept in the offensive, but as a support it has the potential to break the game. SD+ Speed Boost + Baton Pass is disgusting. I used it in combination with Exploud (had very limited encounters left) and it allowed Exploud to 6-0 Steven Stone. Juan starts with a Luvdisc? ez sweep. Wallace Wailord always goes for Rain Dance first (If I recall correctly) and this should be a setup, especially with sub + protect. Should be at least C.

[@skygazer6082]

But if it’s c, then how would he win a f tier only nuzloke

[@mattkelley9110]

I love macargo to death because my shiny one helps me hatch eggs quicker, but yes he is indeed an F tier Pokémon 😞

[@dooldlerouo2685]

F-tier lovers rise up!! My favorite Pokémon ever is wingull, I refuse to evolve them even though pelipper is a killer option with drizzle.

[@christopherfleetwood5252]

Dude, spoilers, 😂

[@thecubeman381]

Let's see, my first nuzlocke team was: • Swampert • Armaldo • Hariyama • Manectric • Absol • Salamence

[@FeraligatrKirbyEric27]

I completed an Emerald Hardcore Nuzlocke last month and my team was Swampert, Gardevoir, Hariyama, Magneton, Bellosom and Crobat going into the Elite 4. Swampert, Gardevoir and Bellosom were the only ones that came out alive.

[@mayureshphadnis4176]

Absol has the worst learn set the only tm to use is thief with swords dance

[@laurensprungl7722]

@@mayureshphadnis4176 dark is special. ghost, however, is physical, so in gen 3 your probably better off with shadow ball, actually, even though no stab. dark and ghost are basically the same offensively...

[@LazKoal]

Thank you so much for all your hard work Flygon! Your videos always brighten my day! :)

[@That_Guy--]

I've been working on my first nuzlocke ever in Emerald the past while. Before I got to the Spinda route, I led me and my friends in a prayer to encounter a Skarmory. The Lord's grace shone down on me, as he gifted me a metal bird. Oh, and he also got me my literal first ever full odds shiny. I got a shiny Mightyena and used it on the Tate and Liza fight. Pretty great run.

[@eldrazigirl]

There's something ironic about the fact he nearly put Shiftry in F-tier when Nuzlockes are _named after_ Nuzleaf. (For those who don't know, the original Pokemon: Hard Mode comic that invented the Nuzlocke rules had a Seedot/Nuzleaf character who was a reference to John Locke from Lost. Thus, Nuzlocke.)

[@frank2mb]

Next idea: Pokemon Emerald Hardcore Nuzlocke using only F Tier Pokemon based on this list. 😁

[@skygazer6082]

Snaploke but more difficult

[@galvsparks6295]

Ninjask and exploud would carry the run, with all the baton pass boosts with swords dance and speed boosts Ninjask can set up and give to exploud fixing it’s speed issue and being able to reply hard with return and some other coverage such as shadow ball or earthquake, I guess crawdunt would also see some use since it still learns some interesting physical moves like Brick break and still has decent enough special attack to fire off powerful surfs and like exploud it’s speed issue would get remedied thanks to ninjask

[@othamneil8958]

@@galvsparks6295 Crawdaunt is a better recipient of Baton Pass since it has Battle Armour, can learn Taunt, and has a better typing, since water types are really good in Hoenn Nuzlockes. It is also the pokemon that would appreciate Speed Boost the most, since its low speed is its biggest drawback. Crawdaunt also has its own Swords Dance that it can use.

[@DeuxisWasTaken]

It's amazing how terrible Magcargo is. I learned that it exists from the Internet since nobody carries a Slugma until lvl 38 and I don't think a single NPC trainer has it. Its terrible defense typing could've been worked around by an ability like Sturdy and access to things like Mirror Coat, but no, you have a pokemon that is good literally only for tanking normal moves to the face.

[@Slaking_]

Sturdy wouldn't even help it in Emerald, since all it does pre-gen 5 is prevent OHKO moves like Sheer Cold from working. You can still get bopped from full by an EQ and die, it's a very trash mon

[@oscarcapac1786]

It has flame body and that's it

[@youtube-kit9450]

It evolved at level 38, has 2 4x weaknesses to some of the most common types (water/ground) and also is weak to fighting and rock, making its huge defense basically pointless. Its BST was also 410, which is less than many second-stage starters... at *level 38.* Many of its stats even only grow by 10 from Slugma. It really is one of those pokémon you ask yourself "why did Gamefreak make it evolve so late".

[@terytheaxolotl5088]

dustox should be higher because it gets protect before norman, so you can use it against his slaking. way more useful in rs when he has 2 slakings but still deserves some credit

[@othamneil8958]

Dustox is already A tier, which is already significantly high. Sadly, it cannot be in S tier because it won't be able to fare well after Norman, at which point it becomes unusable. This is what keeps Dustox from being S tier alongside Skarmory, Alakazam, Swampert, and Magneton.

[@MrScootzy]

You should do a nuzlocke of least likely encounters. Like only catch the lowest % chance Pokémon on every route. Sure it would be tedious trying to catch them, but it would be a way to try a bunch of Pokémon that almost never get played in a nuzlocke.

[@avoiceofreason1178]

Fun fact! I dupes claused and cheesed my way into a milotic on my cartridge of Sapphire. It turns out the tiles are all set on day 1, so if you get to it on day 1 you know where to fish. Now, guess who had the battery clock glitch on their cartridge? Evolving it was tricky due to berries, but I squeaked by.

[@billnelsonk6758]

Recently finished my first nuzlocke of Pokémon Emerald with Swampert, Ludicolo, Dusclops, Breloom, Magneton and Ninjask. The substitute, swords dance baton pass strategy with Ninjasks really trivialised most of the elite four for a deathless run ☺️

[@BetweenWaters]

Would love to see a list like this for BW2, thank you so much for this!

[@tkk.24]

I would like one as well since I’m doing a BW2 nuzlocke rn lol All I know is that Leavanny might be A to S Tier, which is not what I was expecting

[@johnapple6646]

I just finished a run and Clefable walled Shauntal and Caitlin, and would have walled the remainder of Iris's team if she didn't get crit by Outrage. Clefable trivialised Ghetsis, it was insane

[@Crasheschick]

@@johnapple6646 sucks that it's not gen 6+ cuz then Clefable would be immune to Outrage since Clefable becomes Fairy type.

[@johnapple6646]

@@Crasheschick yea actually I remembered, that same Clefable nearly solo'd Ghetsis. But the Hydreigon had enough of my bs and crit Dragon Rush through our +6 Def. I thought it was ironic lol

[@LukaFireIce13]

I'm doing a Generation Locke right now, where I beat every game and then add the Hall Of Famers as Starters in the next game. Finished Emerald 2 weeks ago with the standard hardcore ruleset, only had 3 deaths (one was during grinding for Flannery, other two were in the E4) and the biggest takeaway that I got from that experience is that Guts Swellow with Return/Facade is an absolute beast! Really boosted my love for it!

[@SkullKidman]

Oh another person doing a Genlocke! I'm doing a second one rn, I just finished my Platinum Leg a few hours ago (With Breloom/Milotic/Porygon-Z/Infernape/Staraptor/Gliscor), but during my Emerald Leg I had a lot of deaths lmao (3 of them being against Wallace's last Pokémon: Gyarados, because my Shiny Bellossom failed its first Sleep Powder and then Gyarados got its 2nd DD up, making me loose Gardevoir, Umbreon and Snorlax, making me keep only Breloom, Milotic and Shiny Bellossom). I also had a Swellow but I decided not to take it into the E4 Team.

[@LukaFireIce13]

@@SkullKidman Swellow managed to sweep Brawly, Juan and Sydney and beat most of Flannery's, Norman's, Winona's, Glacia's and Wallace's teams. But he died unfortunately to Wallace's Ludicolo cause I had to swap him out for Starmie when Milotic came in and then expecting a Giga Drain I sent him back in, but Ludicolo went for Double Team and because of that he missed his Facade the following turn and died. Also, congrats on your Shiny Bellossom! I managed to get a Shiny Numel but didn't use him, and in my current SoulSolver leg (I'm playing in order of the consoles; GBA>DS>3DS) I managed to get a Shiny Ditto!

[@SkullKidman]

@@LukaFireIce13 I'm also playing in the order of console, but I also did Yellow and Crystal first (And I'm also doing remakes, so Leg 1 was Yellow, Leg 2 Crystal, Leg 3 Emerald, Leg 4 Fire Red, Leg 5 Platinum and tomorrow I'll start Leg 6 Heart Gold lol)

[@maguirebentz797]

I want to try one now!!! Thabk you for posting that rule set!!!

[@jasonandrews1770]

Love these types of vids. The analysis and rankings are so interesting

[@videhjain7163]

Just finished my first ever Pokemon run in 7 years, I know nothing special but special to me cuz the last I Pokemon game played was Emerald as a 10 yo(and 10yo me just swept everything with Swampert lol), honestly could not have gone past the elite 4 and the dreadful Cynthia without watching your vids so wanted to thank you!

[@bryanbooker5381]

i love the new direction youre taking with the vids! really funny editing and just all around entertaining and informational!!

[@germen2631]

I still find no explanation on why was the dark type special, not only feels like a physical type (ALL damaging type up to gen3 were turned into physical in the split in the next gen), but also most dark pokemon are (in gameplay but also in estetical design) very clearly physical attackers

[@naejimba]

The only thing I can think was because with the addition of dark and steel there were already more physical? But considering that is the case what they SHOULD have done is make ghost moves special and Dark physical... that would have made waaaaay more sense and helped out both types.

[@superlombax1561]

I think it was like that because like darkness and maybe using more underhanded unnatural powers to get one over on the physically powerful Fighting types, since like Fighting beating Dark is supposed to be like good triumphing over evil. But of course in execution it didn't work out very well.

[@destinygalearies7382]

I asked that in a Discord one time, and apparently the reason is because the only ghost type move in Gen 1 was Lick, so they made ghost a physical type since Lick involves physical contact. So they had to make dark type different from ghost, which meant making it special...

[@meganpovlich7126]

Love all the info in these kinds of videos!! Keep it up man! Would love more of these!!

[@nightblade3709]

Vigoroth really has an argument for S tier for three very simple reasons: Bulk Up, Slack off, and Encore. This paired with a strong normal move makes this thing a menace. Set up Bulk Up, wait for the bad AI to use a non-attacking or bad move, use Encore, set up 3 or 4 more Bulk Ups, heal any residual damage with Slack off, and sweep. It also gets these three moves super early: Encore and Slack off as a Slackoth before level 13 and Bulk Up from Brawly. It's disgusting how good Vigoroth can be for the majority of the game, even into the E4; I'd argue it's just as viable as Swellow due to its longevity, versatility, and access to set up moves. And it only has 5 points less attack than Swellow and access to recovery and defense buffs for faster pokémon.

[@destinygalearies7382]

Did Dr. Flygon really rank Ninjask as F tier when it has Speed Boost + Protect + Sword's Dance + Baton Pass? I mean sure it's not going to be doing damage on its own, but I feel like in a set mode playthrough especially, having a set-up/Baton Pass pokemon has to be really good, right? Also, Absol can Swords Dance + Shadow Ball sweep most of the Elite Four, especially because so many of the lead pokemon in those fights like to lead with Protect, Hail, Sand Attack, etc. It's very easy to set up a +2 or +4 attack stat in the first few turns and then sweep. Can also be taught Aerial Ace or Slash. It sadly doesn't get STAB since dark is special for some fucking reason, but you can still make it work.

[@madellini7548]

I love this ❤️ you gave valid rankings and explanations, I hope you do more of these:)

[@raindown6702]

note: weezings attack and special attack are rather similar, so sludge bomb doesn’t really lose power

[@tylerd1297]

even though it's Attack is like 90, I always find the Weezing rental in the Battle Factory to hit surprisingly hard with Sludge Bomb. Muk even more so.

[@superlombax1561]

@@tylerd1297 Actually, all Poison moves are considered Physical, so any of those moves would use Weezing's 90 Attack. Unless you're talking about Gen 4 onwards, in which case, yeah, I've noticed the same with Trubbish and Grimer in Gen 5.

[@tylerd1297]

@@superlombax1561 I'm aware of that, I'm not sure what I wrote that made you think otherwise but it's all good lol. 👍 I was trying to say Sludge Bomb slaps even coming off their 90 Attack Stat (which is okay, but relatively average). I forget if those Weezings are Attack positive natured.

[@GothamGuardian12]

Thanks, Flygon! I loved this video. I feel like it’s easy to find general Nuzlocke rankings, but tailoring the tier list to a specific game is unique, a little more helpful, and really shows off your familiarity with the games in question. Probably in the minority here, but I’d love to see another one from a more recent game like BDSP or Sw/Sh.

[@MasterFallenHero]

I once caught a whismer from the whismer pass on a nuzlock and thought I'd usd him as a joker because hell I thought it looked cool as a kid. Immediately sacked it as a switch on Watson.

[@psychopat4402]

And that coudlve been 1 of your best mons 😂 tecah it ice beam thunderbolt fire blast bruh.

[@DeuxisWasTaken]

You did my boy Cacturne dirty :( You can get it quite early and it has an amazing match-up against Tate&Liza, Juan, Phoebe and Wallace. Needle Arm and Faint Attack are relatively good STAB attacks, and it can also can learn stuff like Leech Seed, Growth and Sandstorm, which cooperates with its Sand Veil.

[@bluewuppo]

love the videos, appreciate the content

[@_notquitehuman_]

I just finished playing thru Omega Ruby, and I have been getting into Nuzlocking recently with SwSh and Legends, so I might utilize this list! Thank you mr. Flygon, love your videos ^^♡

[@gabrielcoelho2471]

Love tier list videos. Keep them coming

[@tyrannochu]

I'd like to point out that Shiftry can also use Explosion in Emerald. If it is a selling point for Electrode and its Base 50 Atk stat, it sis worth mentioning on Shiftry and its Base 100 Atk stat.

[@Samy-gy3en]

Just got into nuzlocke after getting back to playing some pokemon games, these encounters tier list are highly appreciated! Thanks Flygon :)

[@EllisHCN]

Love your videos FlygonHD!! I’ve learned a lot about nuzlockes by watching you hehe

[@FestorFreak]

A theme suggestion for you: Something along the lines of “dogs only,” “cats only,” “plants only,” etc. Slightly different from the themes you’ve used so far. It would definitely require some planning, And is probably not viable in every gen. My first playthrough of Omega Ruby was basically a dogs+swampert run (houndoom, manectric, absol, arcanine, mightyena, swampert) so that one is certainly doable, even excluding the legendaries.

[@somerandomgoblin2583]

what is a swampert if not an aquatic dog?

[@FestorFreak]

@@somerandomgoblin2583 A very, very large Axolotl, lol. Not sure how much they would act like a dog at that size, but that would be pretty cool if it were possible

[@JohnSmith-jd7my]

Tbh Muk and all the other poison types got robbed, you can get a sludge bomb tm after Norman, which makes muk specifically really nice since it has great special bulk and can beat water types

[@TaoPeyPey]

It was a hassle getting a Starmie, but the lil dude carried my hard-core nuzlocke, glad I took the time and effort to fish it and evolve it

[@cashflow559]

This inspired me to do my own attempt at a hardcore emerald nuzlocke. Took 2 attempts (when I finally decided to blow electrode up for tate and liza) and I completed it! Zigzagoon, Gyarados, Manectric, Sceptile, Breloom, and Swellow was the final team.

[@itsmauriciosalas]

it's great that a nuzlocker helps us get better at nuzlocking. thank you !

[@pierrelindgren5727]

I would've liked to see this structured by Route and other types of encounter access like fishing rods. Probably not as conducive to a straight tier list, but could give a better sense of progression. You're looking both for encounters that are immediately useful and those that will become relevant at a later point. This then shifting depending on what tools and pokemon you have already have available from previous routes. Although some stuff, like Gyarados will always be powerful.

[@pierrelindgren5727]

An example here would be Azumarill. You can get it early and its bulk helps with some the encounters cropping up around there. Though, as you said, it isn't as strong as the other Water types you placed in B tier and will fall off and become much less relevant. But until then its a solid pokemon.

[@Airy-Ribi]

I did a hardcore nuzlocke of emerald for the first time recently and a lot of these placements feel spot on. I would have put Pelipper in low A tier since the early water type helps a lot amount, especially if you pick Torchic, and it learns protect by level up before Norman so it trivializes Slaking since it's physically defensive enough to live a Crit on the switch in iirc. Good video. You're part of the reason I started doing Nuzlockes in the first place.

[@Lazz11]

Can’t even make this up, I just finished an emerald hardcore nuzlocke (no items, set mode and level caps) I swept the E4 w/ a Gyarados with Substitute, Dragon Dance, return and EQ. Spent the last 3 hours grinding a rubbish team after my altaria, sharpedo, nine tales and Marshtomp went down earlier in the nuzlocke but it didn’t even matter

[@joelmorris9694]

I don't Nuzlocke, but I've always loved Exploud. I've also only played RSE like thrice all the way through. But I love super versatile characters like Exploud and Nidoking.

[@Mamba219]

Really enjoyed this. I'd appreciate if you made a dedicated Ruby/Sapphire one, as well as a Diamond/Pearl one after Platinum when you go into fourth generation. I think the differences in enemy team composition justify it. And obviously, FireRed/LeafGreen tier list next. I have yet to do a Nuzlocke and hope to start with one of those games. Thanks again for the great videos man!

[@skeetermania3202]

I wouldn’t knock Pinsir as much as you did. It learns Swords Dance at level 49, which comes right in time for the Elite Four and comes with Hyper Cutter, meaning the Intimidaters that may try to stop a sweep won’t be a factor. Even without STAB, it can still hit really hard.

[@ivanmaterazzo2631]

Geodude line deserves much more consideration. It's so good against Watson, Flannery and Norman and can prove its worth against Winona since it can survive a +1 Earthquake. Late game you can just let him blow in Mossdeep gym or against E4s.

[@thatgrantchulakid9750]

Love the video! I couldn’t remember if Ninjask got baton pass or not. Most people ban that, but speed boost double team into baton pass is filthy.

[@kylemckell]

I think you underrated minun serverly honestly. It has fast encore which trivializes a lot of the elite 4 and honestly the game in general as the trainers don't switch out of encore. Plus its an earlyish electric type. Definite A tier imo, I daresay even S but that's stretching it. It's one of the best support mons in the game, no lies

[@hawkevery]

If like to see this with all the games but mainly DPPl since that was the game to introduce physical special split.

[@blakeschwab7518]

crobat pretty good contender for sludge bomb tm, and u get it sludge bomb fairly early, feel like that helps it good bit.

[@peterschulkke6072]

5:56 I feel like this line is kinda hard to rank, because geodude itself is an amazing encounter. It‘s pretty much the only pokemon that can consistently beat wattson if you didn‘t pick swampert

[@1snivy10]

I've never liked Alakazam/Kadabra for nuzlockes. Severely limited movepool consisting of only Psychic-type moves, so frail that if anything so much as breathes in its direction it will die, and near impossible to switch in on set mode. And, in Emerald, Dark types and Dark-type moves are everywhere, so that's an extra thick layer of challenge. Also when you talked about Seaking, you mentioned it getting better when it gets access to the "physical Waterfall." Flygon, this is gen 3, Waterfall is still special XD

[@Capta1nTD]

Yes, he's saying it gets better in later gens.

[@ivanmaterazzo2631]

@@Capta1nTD but still... It's a emerald nuzlocke tier list. Very frail, difficult to catch, no Phys/Spec split which limits his offensive coverage and no important psychic weaknesses through the game.

[@Capta1nTD]

@@ivanmaterazzo2631 Ok what are you talking about? I'm talking about Seaking. Which has been pretty consistent so far, was said to be better in later gens but didn't rank high in this gen because "the pokemon is bad in gen 3." All seems to make sense to me.

[@kalobizme]

Always puts a smile on my face to see swampert in S teir haha

[@sortfaar3]

early gen pinsir got shat on. i used it in a run of gen 2 and i think the best move it had through the whole thing was strength. it really deserved the mega evo and better moves

[@KindaKaon]

This may have been helpful during my older emerald nuzlocke but so are cheese crits so who knows

[@romanwashere2]

Assume every hit will be a crit

[@KindaKaon]

@@romanwashere2 I know. I only won my nuzlocke *because* of cheese crits

[@Migh7yb00sh]

Donphan one of my favs, just loved the style. Also love that sandslash made a tier, absolute favorite

[@benreichert0]

Ninjask in F with Swords Dance, Sub, Speed Boost and Baton Pass is crazy. Great video though!

[@paulelderson934]

It requires so much setup to be viable. It basically hangs on whether or not you resist the typing of the first pokemon. When you do, it can certainly sweep like a beast.

[@rileymosman2808]

This was both incredibly entertaining and informative so...I mean I watched a Flygon video, it's what I expected.

[@MasterCrawford343]

I'd like to see an encounter tier list for Fire Red Leaf Green

[@williamjewell6247]

My man did Vileplume dirty. Chlorophyll Solar Beam absolutely decimates Wallace and the 8th gym leader, even slapping Tate and Lize because 3 of the 4 pokemon are weak to grass and Solrock prioritizes setting up sunny day if it does not see a kill on Vileplume, and Vileplume is pretty tanky anyways. It also does well against many neutral targets. It can also learn moonlight/synthesis and sleep powder, Oddish is one of the only pokemon that can tank hits from Wattson if you're unlucky enough to not have a ground type, and it also has a pretty decent matchup against Glacia, as it can set up sunny day which gets the AI to prioritize setting up hail over attacking, even if Vileplume doesn't one shot the Glalies, it gets you a free switch. Vileplume should be at least A tier IMO. Edit: It's a much better choice than Bellossom offensively because it's special attack is 20 points higher, and that damage is well worth the lower defenses. I always choose Vileplume over Bellossom in this game.

[@ningyoangel551]

I love how underrated and underappreciated volbeat and illumise are, like I've been doing solo play through on pokemon emerald for a good while and volbeat is one of the few pokemon on S tier, illumise is A tier FYI, just saying, if you look at their stats, move pool and look at every major trainer's team, you'll instantly see how good they are, at least for a solo playthrough

[@g_hyperstar3609]

Why Manectric is B tier. It is very fast, very powerful, and pretty much stomps everything Team Aqua has to throw at it if they don't have Whiscash. It can get Thunderbolt really early by TM, and is a very good answer to Winona. It's also good against Juan since it learns shockwave and is good against all of Wallace's Pokemon except Ludicolo Shoud've been at least A tier just for how useful it is against the many water Pokemon in Hoenn

[@Mantis.Sartinoli]

I love this concept! You should do them in order of release! Next R/B/Y (I know R/B are very different from Y, but two separate videos seems too much), G/S/C, then the gen 1 remakes, and so on...

[@GarchompFJ]

Ice type only in the gen of your choice would be awesome! Much love HG, love your videos so much!

[@DanodrawsArt]

I’m trying to hardcore nuzlocke emerald now with some failed runs so I’ll be taking notes!

[@sasori379]

Just Form playing the emerald trashlock: Sableye is pretty good: the 3 immunities and access to fake out and detect makes it really good in the midgame. It also 1v1s Norman's slaking with detect

[@smusher6]

My most recent Hardcore Emerald wipe happened after a very near wipe to Tate and Liza. I had boxed my Swellow and one other pokemon I forget since they wouldn't be much help against them. I replaced them with switch fodder in the form of Lotad and Poochyena. My level 3 Poochyena was the only survivor, tackling and struggling Lunatone to death. The run didn't last long after that, but I'll always respect Poochyena and Mightyena now.

[@crimegarrettinc4474]

Don’t hate on Gorebyss and Crawdaunt. Gorebyss is an amazing baton passer, gets iron defense as clamperl and then amnesia and agility as gorebyss. I set up and swapped to battle armor swords dance Crawdaunt to sweep through the entire league

[@TheWorldTurntle]

Return + physical shadow ball Absol deserves the A- as long as you stack some speed EV’s on it

[@ShiningJudgment666]

It's frail and not fast enough for it to get away with it. The selling point of it in future gens is STAB Sucker Punch which is stronger than Arceus' ExtremeSpeed in Gen 4 and therefore the strongest priority in Gen 4. It got nerfed in future gens though. You can only really come in on immunities or the few resists Dark has with it.

[@superlombax1561]

Wow. I really like this idea for a video. It'd be cool if you could do these for the other gens as well, I'd say.

[@shawverno.1130]

I used a Minun as a joke recently and it destroyed every important battle I used it in

[@Nuclearstomp]

This was a great stream to catch live. :D Also I know this isn't a typical nuzlocke video but I wanted to drop my suggestion again: Pokemon Emerald No Same Type Moves (including Status) Nuzlocke! I've been doing it and it's really interesting. Also maybe potential ban on Game Corner and Hidden Power (or at least buying more HP TMs).

[@amberhernandez]

Yooooo Nuclearstomp!

[@Nuclearstomp]

@@amberhernandez 👋

[@leekyb3837]

Did a fire type only run in Emerald and let me tell you, Magcargo is genuinely just not good. After doin a lot of theory crafting, the only good thing I could do for it was have it beat drakes salamence with yawn+protect+rock slide.

[@camerong8120]

The only thing I disagree with is Ninjasks low placement. You'll need to keep it alive until Lillicove, which is indeed a hassel, but with Speed Boost, Swords Dance, and Baton Pass, you can reliably set up some absolutely disgusting sweeps.

[@ShiningJudgment666]

That's the thing though. You essentially lose an encounter by keeping it in the back until then. Though granted you sort of gain one once its out. Straight up you can Protect to guarantee +1 Speed and Baton Pass to something in an unfavorable match-up. Not remotely as busted as Shedinja but can still be good if your game knowledge is there (which is the largest reason why Shedinja is super busted as you can just put it out in fights you know that have nothing to hit Shedinja with). If you EV train, you can just go max HP, max Defense since it doesn't need extra Speed to not instantly die to a lot of things. It's unfortunately a sitting duck if it's the last Pokemon but by that point, if the battle's gone that far south, you're likely wiping regardless.

[@mori9780]

Nice and chilling video. Thank you

[@XBeamChannel]

this is great id watch this for any pokemon game you cover. do black/white 2 next

[@6oh5]

We need that platinum tier list!

[@jackchriszt6057]

Once did a bug only run of Emerald. Ninjask was great because of swords dance. Was able to set up on Flannery and one shot everything with dig (wasn’t affected by magnitude bc of flying type). Was also able to set up and one shot all of Phoebe with shadow ball. Speed + swords dance is a good combo.