This is the first post in a series that I will call Underrated Prestigers.
I wrote this first post during the Water Festival, so the main characters are two Water Pokémon: Lanturn and Poliwrath.
According to my CP efficiency calculator, these are their relative performances (in terms of combined time and revive efficiency) against some of the most common defenders gym sitters:
| Defender | Moves | Prestiger | Ideal Moveset | Performance % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Vaporeon | any | | Lanturn | Charge Beam / Thunderbolt | 75% |
 | Gyarados | Hydro Pump | | Lanturn | Charge Beam / Thunderbolt | 98% |
| Gyarados | dark/dragon | | Lanturn | Charge Beam / Thunderbolt | 83% |
 | Rhydon | Mud Slap / Stone Edge | | Poliwrath | Bubble / Hydro Pump | 85% |
| Rhydon | Rock Smash / Megahorn | | Poliwrath | Bubble / Hydro Pump | 81% |
 | Snorlax | Lick / Heavy Slam | | Poliwrath | Bubble / Dynamic Punch | 100% |
| Snorlax | Zen Headbutt / Body Slam | | Poliwrath | Bubble / Dynamic Punch | 86% |
| Snorlax | Zen Headbutt / Earthquake | | Poliwrath | Bubble / Dynamic Punch | 100% |
 | Flareon | any | | Lanturn or Poliwrath | water fast move / Hydro Pump | 70% |
 | Tyranitar | any | | Poliwrath | Rock Smash / Dynamic Punch | 88% |
 | Blissey | Zen Headbutt / Dazzling Gleam | | Poliwrath | Bubble / Dynamic Punch | 84% |
So with an appropriate amount of Lanturn and Poliwrath with the appropriate movesets you only need a specialized Grass prestiger for Earthquake Rhydon, a specialized Ice prestiger for Dragonite (here the Water event helps with Lapras, Dewgong and Cloyster) and a specialized Bug prestiger for Exeggutor.
These rankings are done with a 0%-70%-30% dodge setting, i.e. dodge only specials and more likely to dodge if using a non-Super-Effective fast move (because it doesn’t delay the “Defender used Charge Move” message).
What about a scenario where you dodge all moves?
- Tyranitar: it gets wrecked by Poliwrath with Fighting moves anyway.
- Gyarados: it gets wrecked by Lanturn with Electric moves anyway.
- Blissey: to avoid timing out, don’t dodge Blissey’s fast moves.
- Snorlax: 2 Bubbles should fit between Zen Headbutts; every 3 or 4 Bubbles a Dynamic Punch is ready. Dodging Zen Headbutt makes Poliwrath even more viable.
- Vaporeon: unfortunately, only 1 Charge Beam can be fit between Water Guns, making dodging counterproductive. If you dodge Water Gun, use Grass types (Vine Whip and even Razor Leaf and Bullet Seed are more flexible).
- Rhydon: 2 Bubbles fit comfortably between Mud Slaps and probably between Rock Smashes. Water does anyway 1.56x damage and Poliwrath resists both Stone Edge and Megahorn. In case 2 Bubbles don’t fit between Rock Smashes… use Lanturn with Water Gun / Hydro Pump.
- Flareon: Kingdra, Omastar and Magcargo still “Rock” but Lanturn still leads the watergunners-hydropumpers with a single resistance to Fire, due to its higher tankiness.
TL;DR: If you want good prestigers, farm a lot of Chinchou and Poliwag candy.
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