okay so I did a run with Chimchar / Alakazam (not Kazza, don't use Kazza) / Psyduck / Jolteon / Roselia (not Budew, don't use Budew) / Swinub. Although this is my first run of this game (well, technically, I played it years ago as part of a challenge, but I was like 15 or so lul, no memories anyways), I feel pretty confident with my nominations, especially after I got some handholding privately when I wasn't aware of what to do
For transparency purposes, here's how I came up and will come up with my nominations. All of them take into account Gym Leader and E4 matchups. In addition, I give "bonuses" to Pokemon that can beat Mars #1's Purugly, Jupiter #1's Skuntank, Cyrus #3 (or perform well against him, doesn't matter), and Cynthia (or perform well against her, doesn't matter) but I won't necessarily penalize a Pokemon for not doing much to those. I didn't bother with Barry, since I had the understanding that he wasn't that difficult early on and it seems like he's not that hard to sweep either. I think I get enough data elsewhere to the point that Barry would be a waste of time for me. For similar reasons, I don't bother testing the other Cyrus or Admin fights, since they seem way too easy for me to really consider those impactful for a Pokemon's ranking.
I understand that not everyone will be happy with me nilly-willy deciding not to test those, but I don't have the energy to test the entirety of the game, so I'd like to focus on the more important fights.
When testing, I aimed to keep my levels the same as the ace. The exceptions are Jupiter's Skuntank, where it's impossible if you level match Gardenia (also, I know my Monferno was slightly overleveled, I basically forgot the fight existed and thus my level wasn't prepared for that), Cyrus #3, because I was told that it was normal to be underleveled there and decided to respect that, and Volkner, because I thought that it was normal to be overleveled (and didn't know that there were trainers ahead, so for future runs, I will level match him too, only Zam got impacted by this anyways). Furthermore, I may from time to time overlevel by one or two levels if I have a good reason to do that (e.g. new move or evolution). I decided to be level 52 for the Elite Four. As a side note, I used tons of hacking to keep my team properly leveled, this is so I can run six mons at once and provide more results at once. All Pokemon have 20 IVs across the board and a neutral nature, unless it's an in-game trade or something, in which case those match their corresponding data.
Logs are at the end of the post. With that said, here are my nominations:
Chimchar
Chimchar was all-around great. Being a starter that is very consistent is probably one of the best Pokemon you can ever use in any in-game team. Chimchar wins a lot of fights, including Roark, Mars #1, Gardenia, Jupiter #1's Skuntank (how much my level 24 affected this, idek), Byron, Candice, Volkner if you start in Blaze range, Aaron, and Flint with SD or maybe Earthquake. It is decent in every other matchup bar Lucian and Wake, which seem to be very difficult anyways, so it's somewhat expected. The line didn't require tons of TMs, mainly Flamethrower for a strong STAB (especially if you find Flame Wheel at Maylene awkward) and Grass Knot for Bertha and a few other threats you may need it for. SD or EQ as well if Flint is an important matchup for you. All in all, assuming that the Flamethrower TM isn't a huge issue for it, Chimchar deserves S-tier. It is incredibly consistent and sweeps a lot of fights, being decent elsewhere, which is an incredible feat for a starter Pokemon, which is going to get you through other important parts of the games even if they aren't major fights.
Abra (Trade)
Let me first say that Alakazam happens to be one of my favorite Pokemon (alongside Gengar and Glalie, Rotom being my favorite). This is because what I am going to say really pains me to say this. I do not think that Alakazam is S-tier in Platinum and think it should be in A-tier. Alakazam is a decent Pokemon as a whole and probably one of the best options for the games, but man, I cannot deny that this thing has very apparent flaws, which are mostly related to consistency (or lack thereof in some instances) in its performance. It needs Psybeam to reliably sweep Gardenia and fails to sweep on multiple instances, like a majority of the E4 bar Lucian, Byron, and Candice unless you go with that inconsistent strategy I came up with. It does sweep Wake and Mars #1. However, it should be noted that you need Inner Focus for the latter and you have no way of knowing which ability it is until you catch Abra, so this somewhat neutralizes this matchup. With that said, it gets its best moves naturally, though it will want a few TMs for a full performance, and is very easy to level up thanks to Med Slow. It is a great Pokemon, but I cannot really call it S-tier, as it's very obvious that it has to be supported occassionally to make it through the game.
Psyduck
I am not sure what it's doing in B-tier, because my experience with Psyduck doesn't scream B-tier at all. Instead, I want to suggest dropping Psyduck to C-tier. Although Psyduck comes very early, it takes a while for it to start performing impressively in fights. It sweeps Roark, bu that's about it for most of the game. It can hold its ground on the field, so it's not a nightmare to grind until evolution, but even Golduck won't really stand out in major fights outside of getting KOs on the non-ace Pokemon (bar Byron). It gains some relevancy at the E4 with its Flint and Bertha matchups, but Golduck doesn't really exist outside of those and even though it's not bad with Specs and Surf, Golduck isn't really a significant force before getting those. I think C-tier makes more sense for it, because Psyduck is somewhat average ultimately, which to me is basically C-tier.
Eevee (Jolteon)
I think this one is also placed too high. While Jolteon is actually capable of impressive feats, I wouldn't say it performs well enough for A-tier and I think it should drop to B-tier. Jolteon doesn't really sweep fights, but I don't think I've had a bad matchup with it either, bar Bertha, though matchups like Volkner and Candice could be better. Jolteon's main appeal is that it's a fast Electric-type, making it ideal against opponents like Wake, Cyrus, and Cynthia, all of which I think are pretty difficult fights. I think Jolteon is decent, but is not something I'd say you should obligatorily use in a Platinum run and doesn't defeat enough opponents to deserve A-tier
Roselia
Okay so I am just gonna be blunt and say that Roselia has no absolutely no place in B-tier, yet alone A-tier where the line currently resides. Roselia is consistently mediocre against major fights, failing to sweep any of them. It gets thrashed by Lucian, Flint, and Candice, while getting a KO or two at best against most other opponents bar Bertha, which is its only decent matchup. A worrying matchup was Wake, where I only KOed one Pokemon in spite of the advantage. I didn't use Budew, even though you can use it on Roark, because you are unlikely to evolve Budew in a reasonable timeframe and that's true for any happiness evolution pre-Gen V. Medium Slow growth rate helps it keep up with levels, but that's about the only thing I liked about Roselia. Not to mention that you are stuck with Grass moves for a long time and they get resisted pretty often. As for a rank, I would suggest C / D. D might be a bit too harsh, but I wouldn't rule it out as a possible tier, because Roselia just... doesn't have anything going for it, even things like Psyduck get to shine in a few matchups later on and are at least decent against route trainers.
Swinub
ok so this is pretty bad as a whole. Its first problem is that it comes after six Gyms, so it's already in a bad position when it comes to its ranking. Second problem is grinding it up. Not only is Swinub pretty bad if you don't throw the EQ TM on it (Mamoswine learns it at level 40, but you are creating yourself some headaches trying to use a Swinub without EQ), but getting a level 34 to 40 with a Slow growth rate and no movepool outside of EQ is... not pleasant. Mamoswine will become a bit more usable, but it will still want the EQ TM to streamline the grinding process. Now, in terms of major fights, this thing doesn't have it well either. Most matchups are incredibly mediocre for Mamoswine, with Volkner being the only one where I KOed more than two Pokemon with it. It's way too slow for the end-game opponents and as a result gets overwhelmed quickly. All in all, don't use this at all. D-tier seems fine, but I really want to suggest E-tier at least to be considered, because I think everything in this game is against Swinub and it barely gets to do much, though I realize that E-tier might be harsh, just don't place it beyond the low tiers.
note: some logs don't feature Cynthia, this means that the Pokemon performs bad there and there's nothing valuable to mention or I never tried the Pokemon. Feel free to ask for more details if curious.
I am planning on doing another run with Turtwig / Starly / Buizel / Rotom / Gengar / Giratina. My plan is to provide tests for most high tiers, I don't have much intention on testing most of the lower tiers, since those seem to be fairly obvious
For transparency purposes, here's how I came up and will come up with my nominations. All of them take into account Gym Leader and E4 matchups. In addition, I give "bonuses" to Pokemon that can beat Mars #1's Purugly, Jupiter #1's Skuntank, Cyrus #3 (or perform well against him, doesn't matter), and Cynthia (or perform well against her, doesn't matter) but I won't necessarily penalize a Pokemon for not doing much to those. I didn't bother with Barry, since I had the understanding that he wasn't that difficult early on and it seems like he's not that hard to sweep either. I think I get enough data elsewhere to the point that Barry would be a waste of time for me. For similar reasons, I don't bother testing the other Cyrus or Admin fights, since they seem way too easy for me to really consider those impactful for a Pokemon's ranking.
I understand that not everyone will be happy with me nilly-willy deciding not to test those, but I don't have the energy to test the entirety of the game, so I'd like to focus on the more important fights.
When testing, I aimed to keep my levels the same as the ace. The exceptions are Jupiter's Skuntank, where it's impossible if you level match Gardenia (also, I know my Monferno was slightly overleveled, I basically forgot the fight existed and thus my level wasn't prepared for that), Cyrus #3, because I was told that it was normal to be underleveled there and decided to respect that, and Volkner, because I thought that it was normal to be overleveled (and didn't know that there were trainers ahead, so for future runs, I will level match him too, only Zam got impacted by this anyways). Furthermore, I may from time to time overlevel by one or two levels if I have a good reason to do that (e.g. new move or evolution). I decided to be level 52 for the Elite Four. As a side note, I used tons of hacking to keep my team properly leveled, this is so I can run six mons at once and provide more results at once. All Pokemon have 20 IVs across the board and a neutral nature, unless it's an in-game trade or something, in which case those match their corresponding data.
Logs are at the end of the post. With that said, here are my nominations:
Chimchar
Chimchar was all-around great. Being a starter that is very consistent is probably one of the best Pokemon you can ever use in any in-game team. Chimchar wins a lot of fights, including Roark, Mars #1, Gardenia, Jupiter #1's Skuntank (how much my level 24 affected this, idek), Byron, Candice, Volkner if you start in Blaze range, Aaron, and Flint with SD or maybe Earthquake. It is decent in every other matchup bar Lucian and Wake, which seem to be very difficult anyways, so it's somewhat expected. The line didn't require tons of TMs, mainly Flamethrower for a strong STAB (especially if you find Flame Wheel at Maylene awkward) and Grass Knot for Bertha and a few other threats you may need it for. SD or EQ as well if Flint is an important matchup for you. All in all, assuming that the Flamethrower TM isn't a huge issue for it, Chimchar deserves S-tier. It is incredibly consistent and sweeps a lot of fights, being decent elsewhere, which is an incredible feat for a starter Pokemon, which is going to get you through other important parts of the games even if they aren't major fights.
Abra (Trade)
Let me first say that Alakazam happens to be one of my favorite Pokemon (alongside Gengar and Glalie, Rotom being my favorite). This is because what I am going to say really pains me to say this. I do not think that Alakazam is S-tier in Platinum and think it should be in A-tier. Alakazam is a decent Pokemon as a whole and probably one of the best options for the games, but man, I cannot deny that this thing has very apparent flaws, which are mostly related to consistency (or lack thereof in some instances) in its performance. It needs Psybeam to reliably sweep Gardenia and fails to sweep on multiple instances, like a majority of the E4 bar Lucian, Byron, and Candice unless you go with that inconsistent strategy I came up with. It does sweep Wake and Mars #1. However, it should be noted that you need Inner Focus for the latter and you have no way of knowing which ability it is until you catch Abra, so this somewhat neutralizes this matchup. With that said, it gets its best moves naturally, though it will want a few TMs for a full performance, and is very easy to level up thanks to Med Slow. It is a great Pokemon, but I cannot really call it S-tier, as it's very obvious that it has to be supported occassionally to make it through the game.
Psyduck
I am not sure what it's doing in B-tier, because my experience with Psyduck doesn't scream B-tier at all. Instead, I want to suggest dropping Psyduck to C-tier. Although Psyduck comes very early, it takes a while for it to start performing impressively in fights. It sweeps Roark, bu that's about it for most of the game. It can hold its ground on the field, so it's not a nightmare to grind until evolution, but even Golduck won't really stand out in major fights outside of getting KOs on the non-ace Pokemon (bar Byron). It gains some relevancy at the E4 with its Flint and Bertha matchups, but Golduck doesn't really exist outside of those and even though it's not bad with Specs and Surf, Golduck isn't really a significant force before getting those. I think C-tier makes more sense for it, because Psyduck is somewhat average ultimately, which to me is basically C-tier.
Eevee (Jolteon)
I think this one is also placed too high. While Jolteon is actually capable of impressive feats, I wouldn't say it performs well enough for A-tier and I think it should drop to B-tier. Jolteon doesn't really sweep fights, but I don't think I've had a bad matchup with it either, bar Bertha, though matchups like Volkner and Candice could be better. Jolteon's main appeal is that it's a fast Electric-type, making it ideal against opponents like Wake, Cyrus, and Cynthia, all of which I think are pretty difficult fights. I think Jolteon is decent, but is not something I'd say you should obligatorily use in a Platinum run and doesn't defeat enough opponents to deserve A-tier
Roselia
Okay so I am just gonna be blunt and say that Roselia has no absolutely no place in B-tier, yet alone A-tier where the line currently resides. Roselia is consistently mediocre against major fights, failing to sweep any of them. It gets thrashed by Lucian, Flint, and Candice, while getting a KO or two at best against most other opponents bar Bertha, which is its only decent matchup. A worrying matchup was Wake, where I only KOed one Pokemon in spite of the advantage. I didn't use Budew, even though you can use it on Roark, because you are unlikely to evolve Budew in a reasonable timeframe and that's true for any happiness evolution pre-Gen V. Medium Slow growth rate helps it keep up with levels, but that's about the only thing I liked about Roselia. Not to mention that you are stuck with Grass moves for a long time and they get resisted pretty often. As for a rank, I would suggest C / D. D might be a bit too harsh, but I wouldn't rule it out as a possible tier, because Roselia just... doesn't have anything going for it, even things like Psyduck get to shine in a few matchups later on and are at least decent against route trainers.
Swinub
ok so this is pretty bad as a whole. Its first problem is that it comes after six Gyms, so it's already in a bad position when it comes to its ranking. Second problem is grinding it up. Not only is Swinub pretty bad if you don't throw the EQ TM on it (Mamoswine learns it at level 40, but you are creating yourself some headaches trying to use a Swinub without EQ), but getting a level 34 to 40 with a Slow growth rate and no movepool outside of EQ is... not pleasant. Mamoswine will become a bit more usable, but it will still want the EQ TM to streamline the grinding process. Now, in terms of major fights, this thing doesn't have it well either. Most matchups are incredibly mediocre for Mamoswine, with Volkner being the only one where I KOed more than two Pokemon with it. It's way too slow for the end-game opponents and as a result gets overwhelmed quickly. All in all, don't use this at all. D-tier seems fine, but I really want to suggest E-tier at least to be considered, because I think everything in this game is against Swinub and it barely gets to do much, though I realize that E-tier might be harsh, just don't place it beyond the low tiers.
note: some logs don't feature Cynthia, this means that the Pokemon performs bad there and there's nothing valuable to mention or I never tried the Pokemon. Feel free to ask for more details if curious.
Infernape
Roark(14): Mach Punch 2HKOes Geodude while it sets up SR. Taunt against Onix to prevent Screech, then Leer it so Mach Punch can 2HKO. Even if you took a crit from Onix, you can live a Headbutt from Cranidos, which is 2HKOed by Mach Punch
Mars(17): if you insist on beating Zubat, I recommend Taunting it to prevent Toxic, then 3HKOing it with Ember. Purugly is 3HKOed by Mach Punch (feel free to use Leer to turn it into a 2HKO). Purugly fails to KO you with Fake Out and two Scratches, though Monferno barely lives those (left at 5 HP)
Gardenia(22): sweeps
Jupiter(24): outspeeds Skuntank. You can Taunt turn one, forcing it to spam Night Slash. Flame Wheel is a 4HKO without Sitrus Berry, wheres Night Slash is a 5HKO with no crits. As a whole, you win if no crits whatsoever. I am wondering if Leer + Mach Punch could help if you happen to be outsped, didn't have Leer unfortunately
Fantina(27): Flame Wheel 2HKOes everything but Mismagius (2HKO with Blaze, but turned into a 3HKO by Sitrus Berry). Haunter can be slightly annoying, but you beat 2/3 of her team with little difficulty.
Maylene(32): even with Flamethrower, you are unlikely to sweep. Flamethrower 2HKOes everything bar Lucario. Meditite Fake Outs and Rock Tombs you. Lucario goes for Drain Punch and puts you in red, which allows Flamethrower to OHKO Lucario. However, it still doesn't OHKO Machoke, which then KOes you
Wake(37): beats only Quagsire by OHKOing with Grass Knot. Floatzel 2HKOes with Aqua Jet and is 2HKOd by Grass Knot
Byron(41): CC on Bastiodon, Flamethrower on the rest. Nothing more to be said
Candice(44): outspeeds and OHKOes everything with Specs Flamethrower. Demolition mode activated. Worth mentioning that Abomasnow comes out last, so no Snow Cloak worries either.
Cyrus(46): outspeeds and OHKOes Houndoom with CC. Weavile is OHKOed easily but damages you a bit. You outspeed Honchkrow and OHKO it with Specs Flamethrower if you are in Blaze range. As a whole, you can take out 3/5 if you play around with Infernape's HP a bit
Volkner(48): outspeeds everything. Flamethrower seems to 2HKO everything consistently, so if you start with low HP and hold Specs, you can outspeed and OHKO everything, otherwise, you have to deal with Jolteon's Thunder Wave unless you have a Cheri Berry. Close Combat OHKOes Raichu, though.
Aaron(52): ouspeeds everything. Specs Flamethrower 2HKOes Drapion and OHKOes the rest. Easy sweep
Bertha(53): Specs Grass Knot 2HKOes Whiscash and OHKOes the rest bar Gliscor. You can live an Earth Power to the point that you can live two turn of sandstorm.
Flint(53): CC OHKOes Houndoom and 2HKOes the rest while outspeeding everything. This is probably the one matchup where you want SD, since Infernape isn't that great otherwise due to dying easily afterwards. EQ might help here too
Lucian(53): beats Bronzong and then gets smashed by the rest.
Cynthia(53): you can try setting up Calm Mind to the max against Spiritomb, but this will require at least two healing items, possibly more if you get SpD drops or you don't want to heal offscreen once you switch it out. Anyways, assuming you are at +6, you outspeed and OHKO Togekiss (I was level 54 when I faced it) and Spiritomb with Flamethrower. Grass Knot OHKOes Milotic. Garchomp comes out and forces you to switch out. You can then either just outspeed and OHKO Lucario with CC and accept a loss against Roserade or you can CM once, then OHKO Lucario and Roserade. This will require you to be healthy when facing Lucario, though, to avoid an ESpeed KO
Roark(14): Mach Punch 2HKOes Geodude while it sets up SR. Taunt against Onix to prevent Screech, then Leer it so Mach Punch can 2HKO. Even if you took a crit from Onix, you can live a Headbutt from Cranidos, which is 2HKOed by Mach Punch
Mars(17): if you insist on beating Zubat, I recommend Taunting it to prevent Toxic, then 3HKOing it with Ember. Purugly is 3HKOed by Mach Punch (feel free to use Leer to turn it into a 2HKO). Purugly fails to KO you with Fake Out and two Scratches, though Monferno barely lives those (left at 5 HP)
Gardenia(22): sweeps
Jupiter(24): outspeeds Skuntank. You can Taunt turn one, forcing it to spam Night Slash. Flame Wheel is a 4HKO without Sitrus Berry, wheres Night Slash is a 5HKO with no crits. As a whole, you win if no crits whatsoever. I am wondering if Leer + Mach Punch could help if you happen to be outsped, didn't have Leer unfortunately
Fantina(27): Flame Wheel 2HKOes everything but Mismagius (2HKO with Blaze, but turned into a 3HKO by Sitrus Berry). Haunter can be slightly annoying, but you beat 2/3 of her team with little difficulty.
Maylene(32): even with Flamethrower, you are unlikely to sweep. Flamethrower 2HKOes everything bar Lucario. Meditite Fake Outs and Rock Tombs you. Lucario goes for Drain Punch and puts you in red, which allows Flamethrower to OHKO Lucario. However, it still doesn't OHKO Machoke, which then KOes you
Wake(37): beats only Quagsire by OHKOing with Grass Knot. Floatzel 2HKOes with Aqua Jet and is 2HKOd by Grass Knot
Byron(41): CC on Bastiodon, Flamethrower on the rest. Nothing more to be said
Candice(44): outspeeds and OHKOes everything with Specs Flamethrower. Demolition mode activated. Worth mentioning that Abomasnow comes out last, so no Snow Cloak worries either.
Cyrus(46): outspeeds and OHKOes Houndoom with CC. Weavile is OHKOed easily but damages you a bit. You outspeed Honchkrow and OHKO it with Specs Flamethrower if you are in Blaze range. As a whole, you can take out 3/5 if you play around with Infernape's HP a bit
Volkner(48): outspeeds everything. Flamethrower seems to 2HKO everything consistently, so if you start with low HP and hold Specs, you can outspeed and OHKO everything, otherwise, you have to deal with Jolteon's Thunder Wave unless you have a Cheri Berry. Close Combat OHKOes Raichu, though.
Aaron(52): ouspeeds everything. Specs Flamethrower 2HKOes Drapion and OHKOes the rest. Easy sweep
Bertha(53): Specs Grass Knot 2HKOes Whiscash and OHKOes the rest bar Gliscor. You can live an Earth Power to the point that you can live two turn of sandstorm.
Flint(53): CC OHKOes Houndoom and 2HKOes the rest while outspeeding everything. This is probably the one matchup where you want SD, since Infernape isn't that great otherwise due to dying easily afterwards. EQ might help here too
Lucian(53): beats Bronzong and then gets smashed by the rest.
Cynthia(53): you can try setting up Calm Mind to the max against Spiritomb, but this will require at least two healing items, possibly more if you get SpD drops or you don't want to heal offscreen once you switch it out. Anyways, assuming you are at +6, you outspeed and OHKO Togekiss (I was level 54 when I faced it) and Spiritomb with Flamethrower. Grass Knot OHKOes Milotic. Garchomp comes out and forces you to switch out. You can then either just outspeed and OHKO Lucario with CC and accept a loss against Roserade or you can CM once, then OHKO Lucario and Roserade. This will require you to be healthy when facing Lucario, though, to avoid an ESpeed KO
Alakazam
Mars(17): Confusion 3HKOes Purugly. If you have Inner Focus, you can waste its turn with Fake Out. Then you live one Faint Attack and you are faster. So with Inner Focus, Alakazam wins here
Gardenia(22): best way to use it here is to beat Turtwig and Roserade (2HKO with Confusion) and to skip Cherrim, as Leech Seed trolls you really hard. If you overlevel for Psybeam, you can probably just blast everything away (Psybeam would OHKO Roserade and Turtwig). Cherrim is a 2HKO on rolls with Confusion, but Leech Seed turns it into a 3HKO.
Fantina(26): Psybeam OHKOes Haunter and 2HKOes Duskull. Despite both packing priority moves, neither seems keen on using them on Zam
Maylene(32): Mind Plate Psybeam spam wins easily. Lucario is 2HKOed, rest is OHKOed. Lives one Metal Claw.
Wake(37): there's a way to sweep here, but you need Shock Wave. Basically, Reflect turn one and CM once. Gyarados 3HKOes you with Reflect up. OHKO Gyarados. Floatzel would normally KO you with Aqua Jet, but Reflect seems to dissuade it from doing so, thus you outspeed and OHKO it with Shock Wave too. Quagsire then is OHKOed by +1 Mind Plate Psybeam
Byron(41): you need Focus Blast to win here, otherwise, you are only beating Magneton consistently.
Candice(44): you can sweep, but inconsistently. You OHKO Sneasel with Focus Blast then CM on Froslass as it DTeams. Then you OHKO it with Mind Plate Psychic (you outspeed). Aboma is put in red and then it KOes itself with Wood Hammer, which you barely survive. Then Piloswine dies to Psychic
Cyrus(46): beats Houndoom with Focus Blast and Crobat, avoid the rest
Volkner(48): at this level, Specs Psychic misses the OHKO on pretty much everything, I guess if you are less underleveled than I am, you can sweep, since you outspeed everything (at level 48, Specs Psychic puts everything in red)
Aaron(52): outspeeds and OHKOes Yanmega and Heracross. The rest beat you.
Bertha(53): Specs Grass Knot 2HKOes Whiscash and OHKOes the rest bar Gliscor.
Flint(53): pretty bad. You beat Infernape, but everything else lives one Specs Psychic and either OHKOes you or puts you in range for a priority move. Magmortar is 3HKOed due to berry and 2HKOes with Flamethrower
Lucian(53): CM to the max against Mr. Mime and spam Shadow Ball. Bronzong is OHKOed if there's no Light Screen. You outspeed everything bar his own Alakazam
Mars(17): Confusion 3HKOes Purugly. If you have Inner Focus, you can waste its turn with Fake Out. Then you live one Faint Attack and you are faster. So with Inner Focus, Alakazam wins here
Gardenia(22): best way to use it here is to beat Turtwig and Roserade (2HKO with Confusion) and to skip Cherrim, as Leech Seed trolls you really hard. If you overlevel for Psybeam, you can probably just blast everything away (Psybeam would OHKO Roserade and Turtwig). Cherrim is a 2HKO on rolls with Confusion, but Leech Seed turns it into a 3HKO.
Fantina(26): Psybeam OHKOes Haunter and 2HKOes Duskull. Despite both packing priority moves, neither seems keen on using them on Zam
Maylene(32): Mind Plate Psybeam spam wins easily. Lucario is 2HKOed, rest is OHKOed. Lives one Metal Claw.
Wake(37): there's a way to sweep here, but you need Shock Wave. Basically, Reflect turn one and CM once. Gyarados 3HKOes you with Reflect up. OHKO Gyarados. Floatzel would normally KO you with Aqua Jet, but Reflect seems to dissuade it from doing so, thus you outspeed and OHKO it with Shock Wave too. Quagsire then is OHKOed by +1 Mind Plate Psybeam
Byron(41): you need Focus Blast to win here, otherwise, you are only beating Magneton consistently.
Candice(44): you can sweep, but inconsistently. You OHKO Sneasel with Focus Blast then CM on Froslass as it DTeams. Then you OHKO it with Mind Plate Psychic (you outspeed). Aboma is put in red and then it KOes itself with Wood Hammer, which you barely survive. Then Piloswine dies to Psychic
Cyrus(46): beats Houndoom with Focus Blast and Crobat, avoid the rest
Volkner(48): at this level, Specs Psychic misses the OHKO on pretty much everything, I guess if you are less underleveled than I am, you can sweep, since you outspeed everything (at level 48, Specs Psychic puts everything in red)
Aaron(52): outspeeds and OHKOes Yanmega and Heracross. The rest beat you.
Bertha(53): Specs Grass Knot 2HKOes Whiscash and OHKOes the rest bar Gliscor.
Flint(53): pretty bad. You beat Infernape, but everything else lives one Specs Psychic and either OHKOes you or puts you in range for a priority move. Magmortar is 3HKOed due to berry and 2HKOes with Flamethrower
Lucian(53): CM to the max against Mr. Mime and spam Shadow Ball. Bronzong is OHKOed if there's no Light Screen. You outspeed everything bar his own Alakazam
Roark(14): outspeeds everything. Cranidos is 2HKOed, rest is OHKOed
Mars(17): didn't bother, don't think it's gonna do much to Purugly unless you want to use Disable or something
Gardenia: haha no
Fantina(26): can 1v1 either Duskull or Haunter, but Duskull generally damages you to the point Haunter finishes the deed.
Maylene(33): beats Meditite and Machoke. Lucario 1v1s with Drain Punch spam unless you throw in a Hyper Potion
Wake(37): I didn't this here too much because what are you really going to do, especially when lacking Specs or Surf?
Byron(41): Specs Surf go brr
Candice(44): beats Sneasel and Piloswine. Candice has a tendency to switch in Abomasnow while you are fighting Sneasel. Froslass is 2HKOed by Specs Surf, but you are likely losing to it if you are trying to sweep
Cyrus(46): beats Houndoom, but that's about it, I didn't test this thoroughly since I am sort of getting tired of getting KOed after one-two KOs
Volkner(48): nah, Specs Surf doesn't OHKO anything and you get overwhelmed quickly
Aaron(52): outspeeds and OHKOes Yanmega with Specs Ice Beam. Then you can either beat Vespiquen with that too or 1v1 Drapion with Specs Surf
Bertha(52): spam Specs Surf and you win. Whiscash is 2HKOed, the rest is OHKOed. Gliscor is faster, but fails to KO you even if you took an Earth Power. Hippowdon comes out last, so no worries about sandstorm chip
Flint(53): Specs Surf OHKOes everything but Magmortar. Rapidash and Infernape are faster, but they cannot KO you together. Magmortar finishes you off, though
Lucian(53): beats Mr. Mime and Bronzong, avoid the rest
Mars(17): didn't bother, don't think it's gonna do much to Purugly unless you want to use Disable or something
Gardenia: haha no
Fantina(26): can 1v1 either Duskull or Haunter, but Duskull generally damages you to the point Haunter finishes the deed.
Maylene(33): beats Meditite and Machoke. Lucario 1v1s with Drain Punch spam unless you throw in a Hyper Potion
Wake(37): I didn't this here too much because what are you really going to do, especially when lacking Specs or Surf?
Byron(41): Specs Surf go brr
Candice(44): beats Sneasel and Piloswine. Candice has a tendency to switch in Abomasnow while you are fighting Sneasel. Froslass is 2HKOed by Specs Surf, but you are likely losing to it if you are trying to sweep
Cyrus(46): beats Houndoom, but that's about it, I didn't test this thoroughly since I am sort of getting tired of getting KOed after one-two KOs
Volkner(48): nah, Specs Surf doesn't OHKO anything and you get overwhelmed quickly
Aaron(52): outspeeds and OHKOes Yanmega with Specs Ice Beam. Then you can either beat Vespiquen with that too or 1v1 Drapion with Specs Surf
Bertha(52): spam Specs Surf and you win. Whiscash is 2HKOed, the rest is OHKOed. Gliscor is faster, but fails to KO you even if you took an Earth Power. Hippowdon comes out last, so no worries about sandstorm chip
Flint(53): Specs Surf OHKOes everything but Magmortar. Rapidash and Infernape are faster, but they cannot KO you together. Magmortar finishes you off, though
Lucian(53): beats Mr. Mime and Bronzong, avoid the rest
Maylene(32): Thunderbolt OHKOes Meditite and 2HKOes the rest. Lucario 3HKOes with Fighting STAB (doesn't like to use Bone Rush, for w/e reasons). If you don't get paralyzed by Force Palm, you are likely sweeping, though Drain Punch turns the 2HKO into a 3HKO and thus may allow Machoke to finish you off.
Wake(37): avoid Quagsire, kill the rest
Byron(41): beats Magneton easily. Specs Thunderbolt is a 3HKO on Bastiodon due to Sitrus Berry. If it spams Stone Edge, you are most likely winning, but Metal Burst will probably hurt
Candice(44): Specs Thunderbolt OHKOes Sneasel on rolls and 2HKOes Froslass. Didn't try Shadow Ball, but don't think it'd change my mind too much.
Cyrus(46): easily beats Crobat, Honchkrow, and Gyarados, though Crobat outspeeds it, so you are unable to take on anything else due to taking damage against it.
Aaron(52): beats Yanmega and Vespiquen. Scizor can be 1v1ed with healing to avoid the QA KO.
Bertha: lol
Flint(52): beats Houndoom while it goes for Sunny Day and can beat Rapidash by barely living a Flare Blitz in the sun and outspeeding and 2HKOing with Specs Thunderbolt
Lucian(52): Specs Shadow Ball 2HKOes everything bar Bronzong. You are taking out two mons at best
Cynthia(52): Specs TBolt 2HKOes Spiritomb, Togekiss, and Milotic. You need to heal to beat all of them
Wake(37): avoid Quagsire, kill the rest
Byron(41): beats Magneton easily. Specs Thunderbolt is a 3HKO on Bastiodon due to Sitrus Berry. If it spams Stone Edge, you are most likely winning, but Metal Burst will probably hurt
Candice(44): Specs Thunderbolt OHKOes Sneasel on rolls and 2HKOes Froslass. Didn't try Shadow Ball, but don't think it'd change my mind too much.
Cyrus(46): easily beats Crobat, Honchkrow, and Gyarados, though Crobat outspeeds it, so you are unable to take on anything else due to taking damage against it.
Aaron(52): beats Yanmega and Vespiquen. Scizor can be 1v1ed with healing to avoid the QA KO.
Bertha: lol
Flint(52): beats Houndoom while it goes for Sunny Day and can beat Rapidash by barely living a Flare Blitz in the sun and outspeeding and 2HKOing with Specs Thunderbolt
Lucian(52): Specs Shadow Ball 2HKOes everything bar Bronzong. You are taking out two mons at best
Cynthia(52): Specs TBolt 2HKOes Spiritomb, Togekiss, and Milotic. You need to heal to beat all of them
Fantina(26): 1v1s the Duskull with no problems. Haunter is annoying due to hax moves and Mismagius beats you unless you get really lucky with GrassWhistle.
Maylene(32): beats everything but Lucario
Wake(37): beats only Quagsire, unless there's a Miracle Seed that I missed that could have helped me. Gyarados 1v1s it by 3HKOing with Bite and ouspeeding. Quagsire dies easily, but Floatzel barely lives a Giga Drain and 2HKOes with Ice Fang while outspeeding
Byron(42): Specs Petal Dance OHKOes Steelix and 2HKOes Bastiodon. Could be worse, but not the most ideal way to perform here
Candice(44): beats Sneasel and Piloswine. The rest crush it
Cyrus(46): didn't try it, since the fight looks just way too bad for it
Volkner(48): seems to lose to Electivire, but the rest shouldn't be difficult with Specs Giga Drain, especially since it tends to 2HKO them.
Aaron(52): even with Sunny Day and Weather Ball, you won't be doing much due to Yanmega, Scizor, and Drapion all causing you problems (Yanmega hits you hard with Air Slash and has DTeam, Drapion comes right after that, Scizor finishes you off with priority).
Bertha(52): beats most things, avoid Gliscor. Hippowdon may be able to win, since it lives one Specs Giga Drain and uses Yawn while healing with a Full Restore
Flint: haha no
Lucian: didn't try because what are you doing with Roserade anyways? Shadow Ball isn't going to result in a sweep or anything of relevance, so...
Maylene(32): beats everything but Lucario
Wake(37): beats only Quagsire, unless there's a Miracle Seed that I missed that could have helped me. Gyarados 1v1s it by 3HKOing with Bite and ouspeeding. Quagsire dies easily, but Floatzel barely lives a Giga Drain and 2HKOes with Ice Fang while outspeeding
Byron(42): Specs Petal Dance OHKOes Steelix and 2HKOes Bastiodon. Could be worse, but not the most ideal way to perform here
Candice(44): beats Sneasel and Piloswine. The rest crush it
Cyrus(46): didn't try it, since the fight looks just way too bad for it
Volkner(48): seems to lose to Electivire, but the rest shouldn't be difficult with Specs Giga Drain, especially since it tends to 2HKO them.
Aaron(52): even with Sunny Day and Weather Ball, you won't be doing much due to Yanmega, Scizor, and Drapion all causing you problems (Yanmega hits you hard with Air Slash and has DTeam, Drapion comes right after that, Scizor finishes you off with priority).
Bertha(52): beats most things, avoid Gliscor. Hippowdon may be able to win, since it lives one Specs Giga Drain and uses Yawn while healing with a Full Restore
Flint: haha no
Lucian: didn't try because what are you doing with Roserade anyways? Shadow Ball isn't going to result in a sweep or anything of relevance, so...
Candice(44): beats only Sneasel and Piloswine. Abomasnow is obvious and Froslass lives a Soft Sand EQ and is faster, so it can finish you off if you took on Piloswine
Cyrus(46): outsped and OHKOed by Houndoom. Weavile is 2HKOed by Soft Sand EQ and Crobat is 2HKOed by Ice Shard. Honchkrow tends to beat you if you are in range for Heat Wave.
Volkner(48): EQ OHKOes everything. However, once you take an Iron Tail from Jolteon, Raichu can KO you with Focus Blast. Electivire fails to do that with Fire Punch and Luxray is slower, so you are beating 3/4 of his team, for most parts
Aaron(52): click Rock Slide on Yanmega. If it U-turns out, it will bring in Scizor, which then dies to EQ (if not, skip Scizor). Drapion dies to EQ and Vespiquen dies to Rock Slide as well
Bertha(52): Soft Sand EQ OHKOes Golem and 2HKOes most of the others bar Gliscor, which is 2HKOed by Ice Shard (it is faster and can finish you off with EQ). Hippowdon is 3HKOed by Ice Fang
Flint(52): outspeeds and kills Houndoom and Flareon. The rest fry it, though
Lucian(52): it is way too slow to do much here, so it doesn't do much here
Cynthia(52): 1v1s Garchomp with Ice Fang + Ice Shard, doesn't seem to do much else, though
so here are my noms without looking too much at my logs
Cyrus(46): outsped and OHKOed by Houndoom. Weavile is 2HKOed by Soft Sand EQ and Crobat is 2HKOed by Ice Shard. Honchkrow tends to beat you if you are in range for Heat Wave.
Volkner(48): EQ OHKOes everything. However, once you take an Iron Tail from Jolteon, Raichu can KO you with Focus Blast. Electivire fails to do that with Fire Punch and Luxray is slower, so you are beating 3/4 of his team, for most parts
Aaron(52): click Rock Slide on Yanmega. If it U-turns out, it will bring in Scizor, which then dies to EQ (if not, skip Scizor). Drapion dies to EQ and Vespiquen dies to Rock Slide as well
Bertha(52): Soft Sand EQ OHKOes Golem and 2HKOes most of the others bar Gliscor, which is 2HKOed by Ice Shard (it is faster and can finish you off with EQ). Hippowdon is 3HKOed by Ice Fang
Flint(52): outspeeds and kills Houndoom and Flareon. The rest fry it, though
Lucian(52): it is way too slow to do much here, so it doesn't do much here
Cynthia(52): 1v1s Garchomp with Ice Fang + Ice Shard, doesn't seem to do much else, though
so here are my noms without looking too much at my logs
I am planning on doing another run with Turtwig / Starly / Buizel / Rotom / Gengar / Giratina. My plan is to provide tests for most high tiers, I don't have much intention on testing most of the lower tiers, since those seem to be fairly obvious
