There are many reasons why Game Freak’s iconic series Pokémon has increased its popularity. From the cute designs of newer Pokémon, the aim to collect every creature and fill the Pokédex, and the increasingly competitive nature of Pokémon battling, Pokémon has become one of the strongest gaming brands in the industry. With each new generation of games comes a noticeable amount of new creatures to collect, new items and attacks to use, and even new battle types and mechanics that change the way Pokémon is played. One of the most unique aspects of Pokémon compared to other more traditional RPGs are Pokémon battles. The competitive nature of Pokémon battles puts the series in a class of its own, becoming a traditional RPG that has very strong multiplayer value, something you rarely see in the single player focused genre.
Pokémon battles have become a deep and sophisticated form of competition among players. With different Pokémon types, as well as different type of attacks, abilities, and hold items, there are a plethora of strategies and themes that can be created with your team of 6 Pokémon. However, most Legendary and Mythical Pokémon are banned, either officially by Nintendo or through various Pokémon battling communities, usually because their base stats are too high or in the case of Mythical Pokémon, are supposedly very rare to own. Some of these Pokémon aren’t that powerful and shouldn’t be banned. Additionally, there are plenty of overused Pokémon that tend to single-handedly dictate how a match goes. Here we will explore Pokémon that should and shouldn’t be banned in competitive play. So let’s get battle focused and see what Pokémon are worthy for competitive battling.
20 Needs To Be Banned: Mega Charizard Y
One of the Pokémon that is rightfully banned is the Legendary Pokémon Groudon. In addition to Groudon’s high base stats, one of its biggest advantages is being able to initiate its ability Drought as soon as it enters the battle. Mega Charizard Y has the same exact ability once Charizard mega evolves.
Additionally it gains a boost in stats, putting it not much lower than Groudon. Charizard’s moveset can take great advantage of the extra sunlight effect with weather and typing boosts to Fire type attacks. Additionally, Charizard could also learn Solarbeam. This gives Mega Charizard Y a very powerful attack, one that wouldn’t even need to charge due to the sunlight, which could be useful against Pokémon with type advantages such as Water and Rock.
19 Shouldn’t Be Banned: Ash-Greninja
Ash-Greninja is a special Greninja that could only have been obtained through the Pokémon Sun and Moon demo. As such, a Pokémon that is hard to obtain is officially banned by Game Freak. Ash-Greninja can only be activated with the ability Battle Bond, which essentially mega-evolves Greninja after knocking out a Pokémon.
Ash-Greninja receives a considerable boost in stats as well as the move Water Shuriken.
One disadvantage to having a Battle Bond Greninja is that it won’t have any other ability to take advantage of such as Protean, a type changing ability. Additionally, most competitive battles are usually three or four Pokémon per trainer, so it can limit its usage. While it’s powerful, it shouldn’t be banned from competitive play.
18 Needs To Be Banned: Tyranitar
Tyranitar has always been among the most powerful Pokémon in competitive battling. Similar to Mega Charizard Y’s drought, Tyranitar can summon sandstorms instantly when it enters battle. That makes an already impressive Pokémon even stronger for it to withstand special attacks better.
Even an Aura Sphere with a 4X type effectiveness may not knock Tyranitar out in one hit.
If that isn’t enough, Tyranitar can also mega evolve, becoming even stronger. Additionally, it could also have moves like Dragon Dance, which could make it virtually unstoppable in just about every area. Imagine a double battle pairing with a Pokémon with sand veil, noticeably Garchomp, which is equally as powerful.
17 Shouldn’t Be Banned: All Deoxys Forms Except Attack
Deoxys is a Legendary Pokémon in the 3rd generation that, in most games, cannot be obtained in-game. Therefore, it is officially banned from competitive play. Regardless, most users of Deoxys would make sense of that as this transforming Pokémon can be truly lethal in Attack Form. In that form, it’s attack and special attack stats are among the highest of any Pokémon, and with very good speed as well it makes it the most ideal sweeper there is.
However, the other forms of Deoxys, including Normal, Defense, and Speed forms, are not as insane. Normal form is basically a weaker version of Attack form, Defense is essentially Wobbuffet, but with an actual move pool, and Speed is very balanced in every statistic except speed obviously.
16 Needs To Be Banned: Chansey With Evolite Stone
When the Evolite Stone was introduced, it breathed new life in former popular Pokémon like Scyther, who originally did not have an evolution until Scizor. The Evolite Stone powers up the defense and special defense stats of Pokémon who are capable of evolving. Imagine if the Evolite Stone were used on an HP tank like Chansey.
Chansey will easily benefit the most as it has very high special defense and one of the highest base stats in HP. The Evolite Stone will only take a special defense wall, and make it even more indestructible. With potential moves like Minimize and Softboiled, the Evolite Stone will make Chansey a horribly annoying Pokémon to deal with in battles.
15 Shouldn’t Be Banned: Most Cover Art Legendary Pokémon
Most Legendary Pokémon have been banned from competitive play because they’re the most powerful Pokémon. These are referencing Legendary Pokémon that appear as cover art for their respective generations such as Lugia, Zekrom, and Xerneas. However, over the last few generations, we have been introduced to new mechanics that can make certain Pokémon more powerful. Some non-Legendary Pokémon can become nearly as powerful as any cover art Legendary Pokémon through Mega Evolution.
Most Legendaries are either Psychic or Dragon types, leaving them with common weaknesses. Additionally, with the addition of Fairy types, the Dragons can become very vulnerable. However not all Pokémon should be unbanned, there are still others such as Arceus, Kyogre, Rayquaza, and more who should remain banned no matter what.
14 Needs To Be Banned: Alolan Ninetails
One of the Pokémon that received an Alolan form in Pokémon Sun and Moon was Ninetails. Alolan Ninetails is an Ice/Fairy type as opposed to its fire type relative. Additionally, Alolan Ninetails’ ability is Snow Cloak, which increases its evasion during hailstorms.
The strategy with Alolan Ninetails is still relatively similar, a special defensive Pokémon that has speed and some special attack. However, there is one move that Alolan Ninetails can learn that the original can’t, a move called Aurora Veil. Aurora Veil acts as both Reflect and Light Screen combined as long as hail is present. In addition to Ninetails’ already impressive stats as well as the Snow Cloak ability, Alolan Ninetails becomes a very powerful tank.
13 Shouldn’t Be Banned: Phione
Phione is a very unique Pokémon in that it is the only Mythical Pokémon that can only be obtained by breeding with Manaphy. Obviously, as the circumstances of owning it are very unique, it is banned from competitive play. However, Phione has the lowest base stat total of every Mythical and Legendary Pokémon by far.
Additionally, its move pool is extremely limited. Only a handful of potential moves it can learn would actually be useful in competitive play. The only use it could have is being paired in a rain dance team where it can take advantage of its ability Hydration.
12 Needs To Be Banned: Mega Kangaskhan
Kangaskhan was a pretty solid Pokémon back in the day. It had a lot of power, great HP, and is deceptively quick, all with a decent move pool as well. Over time though, it lost much of its popularity, likely due to it being a normal type Pokémon. Then comes Mega Kangaskhan, bringing a little sidekick into the action.
Mega Kangaskhan receives a great boost in its stats, but what makes it vastly different is the new ability it gains, Parental Bond. This ability will add a second move to whatever you use. It does do 25% of the full damage, but any secondary effects remain the same. This is very lethal if you utilize moves like Power-Up Punch, Drain Punch, or Headbutt.
11 Shouldn’t Be Banned: Mega Blaziken
Blaziken was one of the fan favorite starters of the 3rd generation. It possessed great speed with a lot of power and a fantastic move pool. Then there is Mega Blaziken, which has the ability Speed Boost, increasing its speed after every turn. While this does turn Blaziken into a textbook sweeper, it has a good amount of speed as is.
Having one more speed point is no different than having 100, so while Blaziken’s speed stat increases, it won’t matter much after a couple turns. With the type combinations that it has, Mega Blaziken is weak against many commonly used types. As long as you have a Pokémon that can take a hit, Mega Blaziken isn’t too broken for competitive play.
10 Needs To Be Banned: Kartana
While Speed Boost will only matter the first couple turns, Beast Boost can be lot more troublesome. This is the ability that all Ultra Beast Pokémon have and it increases the best stat after every KO. Now just imagine how broken that can be on some of the Ultra Beasts. Kartana is the best example of how powerful Beast Boost can become with its insane Attack stat.
With a base stat of 181, Kartana is one of the most powerful Pokémon in that area. Imagine that increasing afterwards. Additionally, Kartana has pretty good speed, but it can also learn moves like tailwind to make it even faster. After it gets just one boost, Kartana will become unstoppable.
9 Shouldn’t Be Banned: Celebi
Celebi being a Mythical Pokémon means that it is banned in most tournaments. However, this Pokémon hasn’t really aged well since its debut in the 2nd generation. Celebi has a typing that leaves it vulnerable to Fire, Flying, Ice, Ghost, Dark, and most noticeably, Bug. The Bug type move pool has greatly expanded since the second generation with moves like X-Scissor and Bug Buzz, so it wouldn’t be hard to take advantage of Celebi’s double weakness.
Additionally, Celebi’s move pool is also a bit limiting when looking at damage dealing attacks. With the type of move pool that Celebi has, it is better off as a support Pokémon than a Mythical Pokémon flexing its strength.
8 Needs To Be Banned: Imposter Ditto With A Powder Item
Ditto is one of the coolest Pokémon around, it could transform into any Pokémon. However, it did have a massive weakness in that its stats before transforming aren’t very good. You could easily knock it out in just one shot. However, Ditto eventually gained a hidden ability known as Imposter. This ability would allow Ditto to transform into an opposing Pokémon as soon as it enters the battle.
Imposter Ditto makes things literally even, unless it has a powder item equipped. There are a couple of items that are meant specifically for Ditto, Quick Powder and Metal Powder. When Ditto holds one of these items, it increases its Speed and Defense stats respectively. This gives it a great advantage over the Pokémon it transforms into.
7 Shouldn’t Be Banned: Chatot
There is only one reason why Nintendo and Game Freak banned Chatot from any competitive or online play and it is a silly one. Chatot had a unique feature on the Nintendo DS where you could alter its battle cry with the DS’ microphone feature. Of course gamers will be gamers and find a way to turn a neat gimmick into an inappropriate joke. That is why Nintendo and Game Freak took the initiative and banned it so that kids wouldn’t have to hear it. Fast forward to today and the feature is gone, Chatot can be used normally and fortunately (or really unfortunately) it isn’t a very strong Pokémon at all! Let’s give Chatot a warm welcome.
6 Needs To Be Banned: Tapu Lele
Among the Tapu Pokémon from Pokémon Sun and Moon, Tapu Lele stands above the other three Pokémon. Each Tapu can summon a specific type of terrain as soon as they enter the battle. Tapu Lele unleashes a Psychic Terrain when it enters the battle. Psychic Terrain has a number of effects on the battlefield.
First, Psychic type attacks are increased by 50%. Tapu Lele is already a very strong Special Attack Pokémon without any extra boosts. Second, if a Pokémon is holding the Psychic Seed, it will have an automatic boost in Special Defense. Third, Psychic Terrain prevents the use of priority attacks like Quick Attack. This can make a significant change as many slower Pokémon can often benefit from having a move.
5 Shouldn’t Be Banned: Jirachi
For similar reasons to Celebi, Jirachi is a Mythical Pokémon, but it isn’t really all that powerful compared to some others. Jirachi is a Psychic/Steel type so it has many resistances and few weaknesses, but its offensive capabilities are limited. Its move pool isn’t very good, and there isn’t much you can do with it. Jirachi’s most powerful attack is its signature move, Doom Desire.
Doom Desire is a Steel type special attack that has a base power of 120. However, it is similar to Future Sight, meaning it won’t actually hit for a couple turns. Other than having Psychic for an attack, there isn’t much Jirachi can do to complement the power of Doom Desire.
4 Needs To Be Banned: Rain Dish Ludicolo
Ludicolo is one of the coolest Pokémon of the 3rd generation, but there is one strategy that you can build with it that is pretty crazy. Ludicolo is a Pokémon that can stack a crazy amount of HP recovering elements.
First, it can learn Giga Drain, and Leech Seed. Additionally, it could also gain HP when it is raining if it has the Rain Dish ability. Combine all of that and then have it hold leftovers. If you have all of that in play, you could recover a very significant portion of HP each turn. Ludicolo also has a solid amount of special defense and its typing eliminates some common weaknesses like Fire, Ice, and Electric type attacks.
3 Shouldn’t Be Banned: Aegislash
While not officially banned by Nintendo and Game Freak, Aegislash is banned in some Pokémon battling communities. The move in particular that is disliked by opponents is its signature move King’s Shield. This move acts like Protect, but if a physical contact move is used, the attacking Pokémon will also have its attack stat dropped. An Aegislash user’s predicable strategy is probably one of the reasons why it was banned in the first place as it would slow down the game considerably. Reasons like that won’t hold up in the long run. Besides, Aegislash serves as a perfect representative for the upcoming Pokémon Sword and Shield.
2 Needs To Be Banned: Volcarona
Volcarona is one of the more unique Pokémon around as it is a Bug/Fire type combination. But what makes this Pokémon so incredibly dangerous is the fact it can learn Quiver Dance as well as a rare Fire type attack, Fiery Dance. Quiver Dance increases Special Defense, Special Attack, and Speed at the same time. Additionally, Fiery Dance is a decently strong move which also has a chance of increasing the Special Attack stat. Keep in mind that Volcarona has a base stat for Special Attack at 135, which is a very high number. It really doesn’t need those extra boosts. If you don’t knock it out with a rock type move on the first turn, you’re going to be in for a tough out.
1 Shouldn’t Be Banned: Shaymin
Shaymin shares a lot of similarities to Jirachi, obviously one of those is being another one of those Mythical Pokémon. Another one is that it doesn’t have much of a move pool; its strongest attack is Seed Flare with 120 base power. Outside of Seed Flare, there isn’t much of another attack that is not a grass type attack it could use. Like Celebi, it would work better as a support Pokémon. It can transform into its Sky form to add a bit more Speed and Special Attack, but it would become extra vulnerable to Ice type moves. There really isn’t any major reason to continue to have Shaymin unusable in competitive battles.