Nuzlocke Advice Underrated Pokémon in Nuzlockes

[Waweezer]

Talk about Pokémon that you think are underestimated in nuzlockes!

For example, I think Durant is underrated. It isn’t commonly available but if you get one, it has one of the best defensive type combos in the game, is fast, hits hard, and has a surprisingly high amount of physical defense!

 

[Trollkitten]

I will never not say Masquerain. Intimidate is always useful and it's surprisingly durable for a Bug/Flying type. I use one whenever I have the chance.

 

[King Smorgascake]

Butterfree, Venomoth, Poliwrath, Solrock, Lickilicki, any pure Poison-type.

 

[sky_]

Electrode comes to mind for me. They are not the strongest by any means, but they are very fast and can learn some handy utility moves. Mine worked wonders against the Kanto Elite Four with Taunt, Rain Dance, Light Screen and Thunder. A fast Eerie Impulse is good for reducing the Special Attack of opponents, and Foul Play could work for turning the higher Attack of opponents against them. And a fast Thunderbolt works against lots of Water and Flying types.

I would also go with Hypno in Fire Red and Leaf Green. I always try to have a "strongest type counter" in nuzlockes on my team, which should deal with strong types in the game. In FR/LG I consider one of these types to be Psychic due to the lack of Ghost, Dark and Steel 'mons in the dex before the postgame. Hypno resists Psychic attacks and has high enough Attack to use a (physical in Gen 3) Shadow Ball on other Psychic types. Calm Mind, Psychic, Brick Break and dual screens can also be really helpful. It may not be as powerful as Alakazam, who rips through everything, but Hypno is also less frail.

Also seconding Durant and Butterfree. Butterfree has an okay Speed stat and can put everything to sleep with CompoundEyes Sleep Powder. Not only does she get Psychic attacks when Psychic is (imo) one of the strongest types in Kanto, but the FR/LG tutors can give her Dream Eater to heal HP. I took a Butterfree to Lance in Heart Gold and I am so happy that I did xDD

 

[Memento]

I'll second sky's Hypno. It's so versatile with similar physical and special attack, solid HP and physical defense, and a great special defense. It's just a solid, solid mon for Nuzlockes, and it helps that it's my favorite Pokemon of all time.

As for other underrated mons...hmm...how about Sandslash? It may not have the best special defense, but it's a solid ground type with good attack, good HP, great defense, and it appears in the wild and evolves early on.

 

[EmotionalStomach]

Rattata. It makes me sad how often it gets boxed. Why?
Common as dirt in almost every gen, and a little squishy, but the rat family can take you comfortably into the mid-30s before other Pokemon start to do it's job better.
It gets some great early STAB moves, and evolves early into Raticate. 80 Attack at level 20 is like getting an early Talonflame or Pidgeot. Hyper Fang is a fantastic STAB 80BP with flinch, and Super Fang is a wallbreaker that completely ignores resistances. As a Gen 1 Normal type, it also gets access to a huge range of TMs providing coverage and utility, prolonging it's usefulness that little bit more - UTurn, Thief, Status Effects, it can even set weather!


Also, Gen 1 Jigglypuff has been MVP for me in the past. Those things can take a beating with that HP stat, and you can evolve them early. Again, Gen 1 normal type means tons of TM choices. They probably won't make it to E4, but they'll save you from a wipe somewhere on the journey.


Other gens... Honestly I think all of the early game "trash" mons are underrated. I've never had an early game normal type let me down.

 

[Trollkitten]

Rattata. It makes me sad how often it gets boxed. Why?
Common as dirt in almost every gen, and a little squishy, but the rat family can take you comfortably into the mid-30s before other Pokemon start to do it's job better.
It gets some great early STAB moves, and evolves early into Raticate. 80 Attack at level 20 is like getting an early Talonflame or Pidgeot. Hyper Fang is a fantastic STAB 80BP with flinch, and Super Fang is a wallbreaker that completely ignores resistances. As a Gen 1 Normal type, it also gets access to a huge range of TMs providing coverage and utility, prolonging it's usefulness that little bit more - UTurn, Thief, Status Effects, it can even set weather!

I used an Alolan Raticate in my first LGE nuzlocke, and he was a BOSS. He had one job, which was to kill things, which he did, repeatedly, without fail.

 

[KirbySSU]

Eviolite klang is unironically better than klinklang and i will never stop saying this. Klinklang’s stat buffs arent great (upped speed and attack, thats it) and it doesnt even get great physical moves to begin with, at least in gen 5. Klang can perform a great tank role with steel typing, solid defenses with eviolite, and stuff like toxic, iron defense, etc. fuck klinklang klang has been my new best friend for a while now

 

[Waweezer]

Rattata. It makes me sad how often it gets boxed. Why?
Common as dirt in almost every gen, and a little squishy, but the rat family can take you comfortably into the mid-30s before other Pokemon start to do it's job better.
It gets some great early STAB moves, and evolves early into Raticate. 80 Attack at level 20 is like getting an early Talonflame or Pidgeot. Hyper Fang is a fantastic STAB 80BP with flinch, and Super Fang is a wallbreaker that completely ignores resistances. As a Gen 1 Normal type, it also gets access to a huge range of TMs providing coverage and utility, prolonging it's usefulness that little bit more - UTurn, Thief, Status Effects, it can even set weather!


Also, Gen 1 Jigglypuff has been MVP for me in the past. Those things can take a beating with that HP stat, and you can evolve them early. Again, Gen 1 normal type means tons of TM choices. They probably won't make it to E4, but they'll save you from a wipe somewhere on the journey.


Other gens... Honestly I think all of the early game "trash" mons are underrated. I've never had an early game normal type let me down.

I know a guy who’s entire gen 1 nuzlocke got carried by a raticate and I’m not kidding, so I definitely agree with you on that

 

[SprungGeoduck]

i am a raticate respector! hyper fang early is no joke and that's all it really needs. in kanto and johto its attack and speed are Enough to get the job done, and it absolutely farms regular trainers and serves as a good panic button

to add my own piece of respect to the pile:
- simisage! saviour of my hardcore black run, early seed bomb pops off... honestly it plays similar to raticate in that it has serviceable attack and speed and clicks 80bp neutral move (that can even be SE sometimes!). also gets the nice benefit of leech seed
- the grumpig enjoyer has logged on. i LOVE this thing in hoenn. if you hold off on evolving spoink for like 2 levels you get early psychic so you can use that TM on something else and then it just MUNCHES with great spdef, solid special attack, and access to my favourite support moves (screens!). being psychic it struggles with hal the E4 but everywhere else it'll serve you well

 

[King Smorgascake]

I'll second sky's Hypno. It's so versatile with similar physical and special attack, solid HP and physical defense, and a great special defense. It's just a solid, solid mon for Nuzlockes, and it helps that it's my favorite Pokemon of all time.

As for other underrated mons...hmm...how about Sandslash? It may not have the best special defense, but it's a solid ground type with good attack, good HP, great defense, and it appears in the wild and evolves early on.

I'm going to third Sky's Hypno and second Memento's Sandslash. Hypno is a fantastic Special tank that just won't die. As Sky mentioned, it has respectable Attack and in Gen III can wreck opposing Psychic-types with Physical Shadow Ball; probably the best Sabrina counter in the entire game (step aside, Snorlax). Then in Gen IV onwards, it gets Nasty Plot by level up and can still wall the shit out of things.

Sandslash is a fantastic pokemon that can get Dig, Rock Slide and Brick Break before Erika (not that it should be setting foot in THAT gym), evolves stupidly early, and is a great Physical wall in pretty much all games it appears in. I love this little fella.

Rattata. It makes me sad how often it gets boxed. Why?
Common as dirt in almost every gen, and a little squishy, but the rat family can take you comfortably into the mid-30s before other Pokemon start to do it's job better.
It gets some great early STAB moves, and evolves early into Raticate. 80 Attack at level 20 is like getting an early Talonflame or Pidgeot. Hyper Fang is a fantastic STAB 80BP with flinch, and Super Fang is a wallbreaker that completely ignores resistances. As a Gen 1 Normal type, it also gets access to a huge range of TMs providing coverage and utility, prolonging it's usefulness that little bit more - UTurn, Thief, Status Effects, it can even set weather!


Also, Gen 1 Jigglypuff has been MVP for me in the past. Those things can take a beating with that HP stat, and you can evolve them early. Again, Gen 1 normal type means tons of TM choices. They probably won't make it to E4, but they'll save you from a wipe somewhere on the journey.


Other gens... Honestly I think all of the early game "trash" mons are underrated. I've never had an early game normal type let me down.

Yeah, Raticate rocks. Admittedly, I find it usually ends up stepping down into the role of HM slave later on, if I get good catches. Early game 'mons are rarely bad, even if you only use them for part of a playthrough. Heck, I've even found Beedrill to be useful for a while.

 

[Bowser's Family Vacation]

No Noctowl love? In HGSS at least (can't speak to gen 2 because I've never played those games), you can get both TM Reflect and TM Light Screen in the Goldenrod Department Store. Although you probably won't need to buy Reflect for it by the time you get there, as Hoothoot and Noctowl both learn it at level 17.

While I usually use the Chikorita line as my dual screens user, for those who didn't pick the dino pear, Hoothoot is a common encounter that fills that role (sorry, Drowzee line, but you're not in as many routes).

 

[CasualGameFreak]

Seconding Sprung's mention of Grumpig! She really already hit on most of what makes Grumpig good, but I'll also point out that in old Hoenn specifically, the pure Psychic type is excellent defensively as well when it combines with Grumpig's stats as a special wall. Its only three weaknesses are either Special (Dark, exacerbated by many Dark types being physical attackers), rare (Ghost), or terrible offensively (Bug -- three solid moves are learned by a combined six pokemon).

---

In my own recs, gotta point to Leavanny. I can easily understand why one would hesitate to use this guy -- after all, Bug/Grass is an awful defensive type, with six weaknesses and two of them being 4x. That said though, Flying and Fire coverage is very rare in Unova, and Leavanny's 75/80/70 bulk is surprisingly solid for an early-game bug, so if you do face a coverage move of one of the other four weaknesses, you'll probably be fine.

But that's not where Leavanny shines. It's in offense. Leavanny gets Bug Bite and Razor Leaf pretty much immediately in BW1, and even in BW2 you'll have the former before the first Gym. Later levels bring it Slash, Leaf Blade, and X-Scissor for much-needed upgrades that still fit Leavanny's excellent 103 Attack and 92 Speed. And of course, at level 46 (endgame in BW1, just before Drayden in BW2), you get Swords Dance to amplify the physical power. In addition, TMs give it some further coverage as well in Return, Aerial Ace, and Shadow Claw, plus Poison Jab in BW1 if you really hate Grass types for some reason.

 

[Neotornado]

Eviolite klang is unironically better than klinklang and i will never stop saying this. Klinklang’s stat buffs arent great (upped speed and attack, thats it) and it doesnt even get great physical moves to begin with, at least in gen 5. Klang can perform a great tank role with steel typing, solid defenses with eviolite, and stuff like toxic, iron defense, etc. fuck klinklang klang has been my new best friend for a while now

As someone who's used Klinklang in Sun/Moon, I almost feel like it's a charjabug/vikavolt situation there. Klang can hold itself fine as a defensive tank but Klinklang also gets a number of sweet boosting moves that can give it a more offensive niche. Both have their uses in that gen.

On the subject of steel types and sun/moon, throwing my hat in the ring for Bastiodon. As long as you make sure you aren't fighting anything with fighting or ground moves (which can be covered by Mismagius or Drifblim, both of which are early catches in the regions Bastio is also in) then you're perfectly free to gradually sit there for days and whittle down HP with either toxic or rock/steel moves. I can't even imagine how good it'd be if you actually use healing items with it lol. Sturdy also allows you some extra wiggle room if you're using it in S/M or BD/SP as well (or in gens 5/6 with a randomlocke)

*edit*
Gonna make one more mention for noctowl in HG/SS specifically: it also gets insomnia which makes it a hard counter to practically anything morty can do to you outside of sucker punch or I THINK curse trapping.

 

[PageEmperor]

Swellow. Outspeeds most of the game, hits really hard especially early on, and in possibly most of the game it’s available in, has solid matchups against many bosses. If there was any downside to it, it would be that it’s pre evo is somewhat hard to keep alive due to the lack of defenses. But once the Swellow stage is achieved I’ll almost always have fun using it.

 

[King Smorgascake]

No Noctowl love? In HGSS at least (can't speak to gen 2 because I've never played those games), you can get both TM Reflect and TM Light Screen in the Goldenrod Department Store. Although you probably won't need to buy Reflect for it by the time you get there, as Hoothoot and Noctowl both learn it at level 17.

While I usually use the Chikorita line as my dual screens user, for those who didn't pick the dino pear, Hoothoot is a common encounter that fills that role (sorry, Drowzee line, but you're not in as many routes).

Tried it in my only successful HGSS run. It was surprisingly good, until it unfortunately died early on in Kanto from a random critical hit coverage Thunder from something. A moveset of Air Slash, Shadow Ball, Extrasensory and Reflect makes it a surprisingly good pokemon, and is much more interesting than the usual boring early game birds that are all more or less the same.

 

[feint4]

I think people have come around on it more recently, especially with videos coming out of it sweeping the Emerald E4, but I'll still say Zigzagoon and Linoone.

The E4 sweep is nice, but even in the early game, STAB Headbutt at level 9 is ridiculous. Zigzagoon and Linoone make good "brawlers" for your team - they're never going to be your first answer to a Gym because they lack type advantage, but they can handle a lot with decent early game stats and STAB Normal moves.

 

[Waweezer]

I think people have come around on it more recently, especially with videos coming out of it sweeping the Emerald E4, but I'll still say Zigzagoon and Linoone.

The E4 sweep is nice, but even in the early game, STAB Headbutt at level 9 is ridiculous. Zigzagoon and Linoone make good "brawlers" for your team - they're never going to be your first answer to a Gym because they lack type advantage, but they can handle a lot with decent early game stats and STAB Normal moves.

one day i really want to do a belly drum linoone sweep, unfortunately that day has yet to come...

 

[PageEmperor]

one day i really want to do a belly drum linoone sweep, unfortunately that day has yet to come...

I have Belly drum swept the Ghost E4 with one before. One that had an attack lowering nature, too.

 

[Arbitrary]

Jumpluff in GSC is criminally underrated. It's the fastest sleep user in the game so you can instantly put things to sleep 75% of the time, works every time. Then you Leech Seed them and spam Headbutt to make them flinch. It's also not completely frail, with a few nice resists (including both of Chuck's Poliwrath's STAB moves) and decent Special Defense. Plus Hoppip evolves at 18 and then again at 27, which is pretty early. Even in Johto's low level curve.

I've not used it past gen 2, mind. I imagine it's not as useful in HGSS or XY.