On Tyranitar

“Τί θα χρησιμοποιείτε για το raid?” (“What will you use for the raid?”) is a phrase I ask before most level 4 or 5 raids in Pokemon Go. I always ask my fellow players what Pokemon they will use to beat the shit out of some poor raid boss. The answer though is always the same.

“Tyranitar.”

“Τίποτε άλλο?” (“Anything else?”)

“Μόνο Tyranitar.”

Every time. Occasionally you will get the odd Mewtwo or Gengar, always with Shadow Ball. Sometimes one of the older players will have a Rayquaza or a Ho-Oh. Occasionally for a level 4 raid you’ll see the odd Gen 2 legendary. But most of the time, it’s Tyranitar.

Tyranitar is a cool Pokemon. It’s the armoured dinosaur equivalent of a bug evolution type, with a weak larva form, a pupae form and a badass final form, while also being better than the majority of bug types that have similar evolution stages. Larvatar is a pretty good first stage, Pupitar is your standard Metapod stage but better and Tyranitar is a fricking armoured T-Rex. How can you not like that? Plus, Pupitar moves around by essentially farting with frustration, which is hilarious.

Tyranitar is also the most meta-y of meta Pokemon in Pokemon Go.

You see, Tyranitar covers the three main bases of Pokemon Go. He has a popular type, he has powerful attacks and he has plenty of health. Most of the Tyranitars people are using have the combination of Bite and Crunch, both very strong Dark attacks, and Tyranitar’s typing, ground and dark, mean he is basically perfect to throw at strong raid bosses.

It really doesn’t help that most of the raid bosses right now are countered by Tyranitar’s type. Mewtwo, Cresselia and Deoxys are all Psychic types which Tyranitar resists. Gengar and Giratina are Ghost types, which Tyranitar doesn’t care about. The Regi- Pokemon were all tanky but so is Tyranitar, meaning they balance out. Even tier four bosses like Alolan Exeggutor, Absol and Alolan Marowak don’t have that much of a chance against an army of them. On top of that, the other legendaries of Generation 4 all lean towards Psychic too.

To make matters worse, few Pokemon are as generalist as Tyranitar. Sure, Absol, Umbreon and Houndoom are all good Dark types, they lack Tyranitar’s bulk, and when it comes to damage, good Pokemon, often with Shadow Ball, are hard to get and are way too glass-canon-y. The only real competitors right now are things like Rhyperior and Metagross with Meteor Smash. Even Sneasel’s new evolution isn’t enough. Everything has a niche, but Tyranitar is always there, lurking in the shadows.

Unfortunately though, I only have one Tyranitar. And he isn’t even that good. Meanwhile I know plenty of people with at least six. I guess my normal heavy hitters, Hornier the Rhyperior, Dave the Moltres and Blaine the Alakazam, will have to do.

I was going to end this rant with the fact that everyone with their armies of Tyranitars will be crying when a fairy type boss comes out, but there aren’t really any. The only legendary fairy type is Xerneas, which is a generation 6 Pokemon. Cresselia is kinda a fairy type with some fairy moves but she’s a Psychic type in Pokemon Go, getting her ass kicked just like every other legendary Pokemon.

So basically we’re doomed to be swamped with Tyranitars for a long, long time…