Introduction

Recently, the defense meta has largely withered in terms of utility and general viability. The difference between taking down a gym held by top-tier defenders and those with less general viability is a matter of a minute or two for any worthwhile attacker. On top of this, the EX Raid system is on pause for the foreseeable future, and the update to the coin system that is slowly rolling out is set to reduce coins earned via defense. Based on these facts, we can no longer genuinely recommend raising many Pokemon at all purely for the sake of gym defense.

That said, the current tier list has a new overall focus; universal utility.

Methodology

While the Pokemon on this list will first have an emphasis on their ability to defend, they will also be heavily weighted based on their utility outside of the defense meta. The basic goal of this tier list will be geared towards promoting a healthy, well-rounded team in order to maximize the value of a given investment. We will continue to include overtly good defenders even if they have no other utility, but in many cases they may be devalued on this individual list in light of their fairly poor return on investment. While some players choose to focus on gym defense and are willing to invest in powerful defenders based on their merit as defenders alone. that is no longer the goal of this list.

While mention will be given to 2x weaknesses, special consideration for weaknesses to specific types will generally not be mentioned any longer. While issues like a weakness to Fighting or Steel are still an issue, most types now have at least one "superstar" attacker now, making factors along these lines far less relevant than they once were.

The Real Defense Meta

While individual Pokemon are important, the most important factor to consider is the ability to stagger type weaknesses and strengths. If it were still possible to have a team filled with nothing but Blissey, it would generally be less effective than a set of lesser counters with complementary strengths and weaknesses. For this reason, having a varied defense team is paramount to success, and making sure that this varied investment has multiple uses will ultimately serve players best.