Articles

Published on March 1st, 2013 | by Cassie

1

Speed Tiers

Speed tiers. If you’re new to competitive Pokémon, this probably doesn’t make a bit of sense to you. It’s a lot simpler than it sounds: speed tiers are just groupings of Pokémon with similar Speed stats. The purpose behind organizing them into speed tiers is to make it much easier to read and find who’s faster than your Pokémon at a glance. Quite a few new players don’t realize how important your Pokémon’s Speed stat is to the outcome of the battle. I’m not saying that you need to have the fastest Pokémon, but I am saying you should know the tier your Pokémon is, as well as have a general idea of the Speed stat of your opponent’s Pokémon. Just knowing this will usually change your play style for the better, as you’ll have a better understanding of which, if any, of your opponent’s Pokémon will cause you problems. Of course you can make use of items, abilities, or moves (wer has a great article on Speed control here) that will benefit your team, so be sure to consider those as well!

Base Speeds and Max Speeds

A comprehensive speed tier at level 50 will be provided below, courtesy of Biosci and Zach. These tiers won’t have every Pokémon and EV spread, so it’s important to know how to get from a Base Speed stat to the Speed stat that corresponds with the format in these tiers. Base Speeds are the most important for comparison reasons, as the ending Speed stat doesn’t match what you’d get by adding EVs to the Base Speed stat. Nevertheless, Base Speed stats are still really useful for learning purposes, as most players consider the Base Speed when looking at their opponent’s Pokemon. It is also common to make EV spreads that outspeed a certain group of Pokemon with a specific Base Speed stat range. Anyway, to find base stats, just look at the column labeled Spd found here. Now that you have a list of Speed bases, you can use a damage calculator like this one to figure out the actual Speed stat (you can change the IV when needed if you’re using something super specific for that, or if you need a 0 IV), and then find the max Speed stat by adding 252 EVs. 252 EVs isn’t a requirement, and wer’s article really goes in-depth on how to make use of Speed EVs, but for this tier list you will see generic 252 EV spreads just to give you a general idea.

Oh, and if you have no idea what a base stat is, you can read all about it in our Introduction to Competitive Pokémon!

Speed Tiers (0-4)

Pokémon are placed in 1 of 5 groups (they may be in more than one if one refers to a boost and the other does not, though) based on the Speed stat they are able to reach, with 0 being fastest and 4 being slowest. Be sure to take into account that the description of each tier doesn’t mean that the group is exclusive to those Base Speeds, but includes all Pokemon that are able to reach the max Speed criteria for the tier. The boost columns below refer to how many boosts the Pokémon needs to reach that speed, which can be achieved through abilities, moves, or items. Not everyone uses Speed boosting natures, especially if the Pokémon has no reason to choose speed over power, so be sure to take note of the Nature column when checking out or making your own Speed tiers.

Tier 0 (+Base 130s and Greater)

This tier contains anything that reaches or surpasses a 200 Speed stat, so you’ll only find Pokémon with a Base 130 Speed stat (Base 130s will need a +Speed nature) or greater and Pokémon with Speed boosts that put them at or past a 200 Speed stat gained through a variety of ways.

Tier 1 (Neutral Base 90s to +1 Neutral Base 80s)

Tier 1 refers to Pokémon with a max Speed in the range of 141-199.

Tier 2 (Neutral Base 70s to Neutral Base 88s)

Tier 2 has Pokémon with a max Speed range of 90-140.

Tier 3 (Minimum Base 60s to Neutral Base 65s)

Tier 3 Pokemon have a max Speed in the range of 57-89.

Tier 4 (Minimum Base 58s and Below)

Tier 4 contains any Pokemon with a max Speed stat of 56 and lower.

*Rotom-A refers to all Rotom formes except the original.

Importance of Speed Tiers

Now that you have Speed tiers to look at, it’s important to keep them in mind while battling. The max Speed column is most useful for when making your team, while the Base Speed is great for giving you a general idea of where on the Speed spectrum a Pokémon will be.

Special thanks goes to Biosci and Zach for the Speed Tier list, and veekun for the list of Base Speeds. Article image created by feathers for Nugget Bridge. View more of her artwork on her tumblr or Nugget Bridge forums thread.

About the Author

Cassie is known for being the Pokemon supplier for a lot of Nugget Bridge users, and has just recently proved she can battle as well by making Top Cut in 2012 Nationals. Although she lost to the eventual Champion, she placed 29th overall.

Related Posts

New Mechanics Introduced in VGC 2016 →

VGC ’16 Pokémon Speed Tiers →

Hyper Offense Analysis – BadIntent’s Evil Thoughts →

Greener Grassy Terrain: A More Balanced Future For VGC? →