Current Events > Which had better exclusives: Pokemon Red or Blue?

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://youtu.be/0aZv77ZiP2A

*30 minute video*
*annoying person*

No thanks lol

Persian > Arbok
Vileplum > Victreebel
Sandslash > Primeape
Ninetales > Arcanine
Scyther > Pinsir
Electabuzz > Magmar

...huh, ended up at 3 wins each, that didn't help at all.

vulpix was limited to blue? i dont remember very well but i'm pretty sure i had a vulpix on pokemon red, maybe i traded with a friend or used missingno to get it though.

Scyther means red automatically wins

Scyther is overrated

Scyther is overrated

Yeah, I think Pinsir is technically better in gen 1. He has more attack and bulk and a better movepool. The only real advantage that Scyther has is more speed

Oh...I just looked at Scyther's Gen I movepool, and the only attacks her learns are Quick Attack and Slash. He learned no Bug of Flying moves at all.

Oh...I just looked at Scyther's Gen I movepool, and the only attacks her learns are Quick Attack and Slash. He learned no Bug of Flying moves at all.

Red has:
Ekans, Arbok
Oddish, Gloom, Vileplume
Mankey, Primeape
Growlithe, Arcanine
Scyther
Electabuzz

Haha those are old people games

Idk, I wasnt poor

Weird flex but ok

Growlithe, Arcanine

That was fun to read! Thanks for that!

Arbok vs. Persian
Arbok is pretty good for having an 80 base Speed and a guaranteed paralysis move (Glare), which can be pretty great. What sucks about it is that it's a Poison-type in Gen 1, which means it only exists to get fucked by Psychic and Ground, which are both belligerent and numerous.

But what makes Persian pretty great in Gen 1 is the way critical hits are calculated off of Speed, so Persian actually has a higher natural crit rate than most other Pokemon in the game. This means that it can spam Slash, which operates at a functional 105 power thanks to STAB, and just get insanely fast crits nonstop. It also has access to Pay Day for cash buildup, and Bubblebeam/Thunderbolt for type coverage, in case it needs to fight a Ghost or Rock-type for whatever reason.

WINNER: PERSIAN

Vileplume vs. Victreebel
In many ways, these are the same Pokemon, as their typing is identical and their movesets are near carbon copies. The main exceptions are that Vileplume has access to Petal Dance, which gives it some real punch, while Victreebel has Wrap so it can be scummy with Toxic and Growth to buff its Special stat.

All things considered, I'm handing this matchup to Victreebel. Growth is actually pretty potent in Gen 1 since Special covers both attack and defense, and it's also the stat that Victreebel's STAB runs off of for Grass. Victreebel also has a higher base Speed by 20 points, and a better stat layout for mixed attacking, so it can also use Body Slam and Acid (the only Poison STAB either of them learn, for all the good it does you in Gen 1 anyway) more potently than Vileplume can.

WINNER: VICTREEBEL

Primeape vs. Sandslash
Primeape is Fighting-type, which means it exists to get bullied by nerds and birds. It only learns two STAB moves, Submission and Low Kick (Karate Chop was, for some reason, Normal-type in Gen 1), although it does have access to Earthquake, Dig, and Rock Slide via TM. Primeape also has a 105 Attack and 95 Speed, which DOES make it a very nice thing to come out of a Pokeball and smack things up.

Sandslash is Ground-type, which is a bit more useful than Fighting, and has access to the same moves of note that Primeape has. It also benefits from having STAB on Earthquake and Dig, bumping them both up to 150 power. It's slower than Primeape and has 5 less Attack, but it does have a higher Defense/HP and comparable Special, so it has more survivability going for it. So...

WINNER: SANDSLASH

Arcanine vs. Ninetales
Arcanine is pretty great. No stat below 80 is a very nice start, but it is hurt slightly by its Special being the lower of its offensive stats, which runs counter to its Fire typing in Gen 1. Still, 80 Special is pretty damn good, and Fire Blast is strong. It also has access to Dig and a plethora of strong Normal moves to run off of its 110 Attack, Agility for when you absolutely need to outspeed things, and Dragon Rage for laughs.

But Ninetales isn't a slouch, either. 100 Special and Speed are a little better for a Fire-type and mean it can use the more reliable Flamethrower instead, and it can also fire off a quick Confuse Ray. If you want to be truly scummy, you can do Fire Spin + Toxic and outspeed almost everything you'll be in against, keeping them in a perpetual hell of burning poison. That's about all Ninetales has, though. Its Attack stat isn't bad at 76, but Dig and Normal moves are a harder sell in this case -- Arcanine could at least boast Fire Blast's effective 180 potency thanks to STAB to counter its "low" Special stat of 80, and it's much bulkier to boot.

WINNER: ARCANINE

Scyther vs. Pinsir
This is a tough call because both are bad. Bug is a pretty useless typing in Gen 1 and neither of them get so much as Pin Missile for STAB -- Scyther doesn't get Wing Attack until Yellow, and we're specifically comparing Red and Blue here.

Scyther has literally nothing to do besides Swords Dance + Slash off of 110 Attack and 105 Speed, which is admittedly pretty good, but nothing special.

Pinsir has literally nothing to do besides Swords Dance + Slash off of 125 Attack and 85 Speed, which is admittedly also pretty good, but still nothing special.

I guess at least Pinsir also has Submission/Seismic toss to hit Rock-types with, and Guillotine for the risky OHKO.

WINNER (but not by much): PINSIR

Electabuzz vs. Magmar
Now HERE'S the headline bout. Both of these are pretty decent representatives of their respective type, with complimentary stat layouts and decent movepools. Electabuzz boasts 105 Speed, 85 Special, and 83 Attack, with notable moves including Thunder/bolt, Thunder Wave, Submission, Psychic, the usual bevy of Normal moves, and even team support in the form of Reflect and Light Screen.

Magmar has 93 Speed, 85 Special, and 95 Attack, and at its disposal are Flamethrower/Fire Blast, Submission, Psychic, Normal moves, Confuse Ray, and some annoyance/switch-forcing in the form of Smokescreen.

Honestly, they're both pretty good, and I kinda want to call it a tie. But instead, I'll give the nod to Electabuzz, because Electric is a much more useful type to have in your team for Gen 1, and the wall support makes it a very flexible team member. It's also nice that paralysis from Thunder Wave is a consistent status as opposed to Confuse Ray's confusion.

WINNER: ELECTABUZZ

So, overall, Red takes two matchups, while Blue takes four. But it should be noted that two of Blue's wins were barely wins.

Swords dance + Slash isn't a very good combo in gen 1. Critical hits ignore stat buffs. So after one SD, Slash does the same damage wither it crits or not. After two or three SD a crit will do less damage then it could have if it wasn't a crit.