LogFAQs > #957976660

Well, if we're getting down to brass tacks...I already summed up Gen 2 to my satisfaction, but..

Gen 1- You have two starters which have been pretty consistently competitively viable in various ways at high levels(Venusaur and Charizard) and one that's been firmly mediocre(Blastoise). They all have stuff going on design-wise that works, a natural progression, good movepools, and they're all respectable options in-game(though obviously Charmander has a bit of a rough time against Brock. But Butterfree or a Nidoran[from Yellow on] patches that right up).

Gen 3- Competitively, Swampert is the star. Blaziken is broken good(to the point of being banned in some formats), but only with its hidden ability(lol Speed Boost). Sceptile is the "weakest" and it's still pretty good. All will be rock-solid as you journey through Hoenn, and, again: they all have pretty strong movepools, allowing them to fill a variety of roles.

Gen 4- Infernape is the clear star here: it was Blaziken 2.0 until they Blaziken got Speed Boost(just lol). But Torterra and Empoleon are both pretty great designs, and blah blah blah. You know what you're getting in this bunch. The fact that they're all dual-types helps make this gen feel a bit different, and only Torterra really has to watch out(it has a miserable time in the ice area with its 4x weakness).

Gen 5- So, yeah. Sometimes dual-typing isn't the best, like when you make the third Fire/Fighting in a row. A lot of people(myself included) envisioned Tepig going in a more quadrapedal direction, but even given its stale typing, Emboar's execution is lacking: its stat distribution is poor, but at least it has a movepool. Serperior is straight trash without its hidden ability(Contrary) to allow it overcome its bizarre stat distribution and non-existant movepool. And Samurott? They made the wrong starter a quadruped, and Samurott's overly-balanced stat spread results in a relatively boring pokemon. They're all good enough in-game, but Unova is full of much better options, IMO.

Gen 6- I'll be real: I didn't really like Kalos at all. But it's not the fault of the starters. Greninja is the competitive darling, but Chesnaught and Delphox are also nifty pokemon. They're all dual-typed, they all fit obvious roles, they all have good stat distributions. They're all great.

Gen 7- I liked Alola better. The starters are also a strong bunch. Decidueye is a lot weird: going from Flying to Ghost...weird. But it works out fine. Primarina is also an elegant design: growing from a clown to a star. I was hard on Incineroar at first: bipedal fire starters are pretty passe, IMO. But just the nugget that it's specifically a heel wrestler and loves hamming it up for the crowd warmed my cold, dead heart. They're all pretty great.

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