Tier List Overview
Tier Lists are inherently subjective by nature! This list should NOT be considered as the only source of information, and there are many players who have their own opinions on how to construct a Tier List. We strongly encourage players to discuss their opinions on Tier Lists and gameplay. Check out our Community Lists for more, and feel free to start a Community Discussion or comment on our latest Changelog article if you would like to discuss this Tier List in particular!
Criteria Overview
The goal is to rank the units on their own merits, regardless of the player's available roster, while still accounting for the overall metagame, therefore these are the main criteria for our Tier List (not ordered as we're trying to balance them together instead of focusing on specific aspects):
- Team flexibility and versatility
- Compositional strength and relevancy
- Peak performance in an optimal environment
- Role compression and self-sufficiency
Note: All units are considered fully maxed and access to EX is also taken into account (mostly relevant for Supports and Sync Nukers or pairs with some incentives to Sync).
Content Priority
While keeping in mind the criteria above, the in-game content is weighted in the following order:
- Champion Stadium Master Mode
- Legendary Arena / Gauntlet
- Extreme Battles
- Battle Villa & Full-Force Battles
Categories
Sync Pairs are split into 3 categories (as opposed to their in-game role) to reflect the potential usage of their kits. Keep in mind the categories do not compare 1:1, everything is ranked within their categories and they are not meant to be compared with other categories. That being said, all Sync Pairs are ranked as whole units and not just regarding their department (ie. all their facets are taken into account when ranking them, regardless of the category they belong in).
Sub-groups
Those are essentially “Tiers inside the Tiers”. Although Sync Pairs are already ordered inside of the Tiers individually, some units are close enough to each other so that they can be grouped and even have interchangeable places between themselves. The sub-groups are identified by the background color of their icon (ie. all units with the same background color on the same Tier are on the same sub-group). This is done so that we have an even clearer distinction between the units without being too strict with the individual positions either.
Tier List Change Log
Latest Changes - 07/19/2022
💬 Want to comment on our latest changes and help refining our ever-evolving Tier List? We're always looking for more thoughts and constructive feedback to improve our analysis and articles so make sure to drop a comment in the latest Change Log post linked below!
Damage Dealer Tier List
This is the Tier List for Damage Dealers. Here, you'll find Sync Pairs that focus on doing the heavy work of lowering the enemy's HP with their strong hits rather than trying to disrupt them or offer different kinds of support for the team. Sync Pairs here are often Strikers (by their in-game role), although we also include other roles as they fit the description. Also, damage dealing here is their main function, but not their only one - characters like Classic Blue, for example, has most of his kit focused on striking, but still can buff the team's critical hit rate as a bonus, which is also weighted here.
Sygna Suit Red, simply put, has everything you would want on a striker. Extremely high DPS, one of the best AoE Sync Nukes in the entire game (if not the best), very good gauge, and good self buffs - and even its high HP means it can take hits better than most strikers provided you can deal with his self defense debuffs. While Red doesn't do as many things as some other units can, he just does what he's supposed to do extremely well, earning him a spot at the top of the list.
Archie & Kyogre have an unbelievably good kit overall. Origin Pulse is one of the highest BP moves in the entire game that can be further boosted by rain, which Kyogre not only summons on entry, but also extends its duration every time it is summoned to almost double its time. Shower Surge 3 also means that Kyogre's damage is further boosted on rain and makes its gauge considerably faster. Hoenn Spirit is an amazing Master Passive that boosts the entire team's special moves by 20% by default and can be further boosted to a whooping 50% with 2 more Hoenn units, which is not really hard to do considering Kyogre's self sufficiency and the general quality of the Hoenn units, like May, Roxanne, and Zinnia, with it also providing a reduction to special damage taken. Finally, Kyogre's Trainer Move gives it +3 critical hit rate, +2 Special Attack, and +2 accuracy to make Origin Pulse fully accurate, and gradual healing all in a single turn at the cost of -2 to both defenses, which can be a bit harsh due to Kyogre's natural frailty, but is more than compensated by the advantages. Although Kyogre does lack a strong Sync Nuke, the combined offensive and utility capabilities it offers to the team is unmatched by almost everyone except very few select units in the entire game.
While it's classified as a Dragon-type Sync Pair due to its Sync Move, Cyrus & Palkia only show their true potential while using Hydro Pump. Being one of the premier choices for rain teams, Cyrus matches the damage of the high-end damage dealers like Red & Mega Charizard X, Emmet & Archeops, and Lear & Hoopa despite using only three gauges instead of four! An excellent trainer move that boosts both Special Attack and Speed by three stages with a drawback that can easily be offset by its (multiple) regeneration options also makes Cyrus very good and fast at setting up granted it has critical hit rate support. Cyrus also notably is arguably the best striker to pair with Professor Sycamore on the Battle Villa, getting critical hit rate buffs without using MP via Spacial Rend: Critical Focus 2 and Healthy Healing maintaing its HP high. All in all, if you need a unit with high DPS that sets up fast, Cyrus might be your guy.
Leon & Charizard is a pretty polarizing Sync Pair: on one hand, they have the single highest realistic damage per turn, with Inferno on sun already matching behemoths like Mega Charizard X and Palkia, while Burn Synergy 3 puts him on a level of his own. On the other hand, Leon is pretty reliant on his teammates to excel, needing gauge support alongside Special Attack and crit buffs, with sunny weather allowing him to reach his max potential. Leon also offers a Sync Move that does good damage, and despite the set up being based on the opponent status rather than his own, Inferno makes it easy to reach the condition at least for the main target. MP Rekindle also makes Leon superb in Battle Villa by being capable of refreshing his trainer moves at any time. Although Leon lacks the versatility common to the other top tier damage dealers and often sees hard competition with other strong sun sync pairs, his sheer damage output gives him a spot at the lower end of Tier 1.
With one of the best AoE moves in the game, a strong Sync Move, decent self buffs, good gauge during the rain weather, and access to the move Rain Dance, May shows herself as a great damage dealer that can also make her Water-type partners stronger. Being a Hoenn unit also grants her a superb synergy with Archie & Kyogre, both activating Theme Skills and boosting Hoenn Spirit. May has a good enough bulk to also work as a tank in a pinch, and is only held back a bit due to a lack of a stronger single target option, which is not enough to take her out from the highest tier.
Marnie & Morpeko are another versatile Damage Dealer on Tier 2. Power Trip provides good damage by an extremely cheap cost at two gauges while being easy to cap in damage. Marnie also doesn't ask for much support, seeing as the standard Speed buffs that most teams have today allows Marnie to max her Attack by herself, while some smaller self crit buffs too. One thing that Marnie excels at is her Sync Move: rivaling even Palentine Serena as a Sync Nuker, Marnie gets an easy to setup nuke that can even one shot Master Mode centers with no prior damage and neutral damage. Although Marnie's output can be a bit inconsistent due to Hunger Switch, she still earns a spot at the higher end of Tier 2.
Hybrid Tier List
This is the Tier List for Hybrid units. Here, you'll find Sync Pairs that provide a mix of supportive and striking capabilities for the team, with both their damage and the utility they provide for the team being key components of what defines their niche. Sync Pairs here are often Techs (by their in-game role), although we also include other roles as they fit the description. Also, while pairs here offer both striking capabilities and supportive ones in a relatively balanced manner, it does not mean they can't be more geared to one side or another - for example, Dawn & Torterra are a Hybrid unit that are closer to the supportive end of the spectrum, while Lysandre & Yveltal are a hybrid unit that have more offensive aspects. This classification is not black and white, so some pairs from other lists also can have valid arguments to be moved to Hybrids.
Utility Tier List
This is the Tier List for Utility units. Here, you'll find Sync Pairs that focus on helping the team by providing buffs and making your partners stronger or disrupting the enemy with debuffs and status rather than directly inflicting damage. Sync Pairs here are often Supports (by their in-game role), although we also include other roles as they fit the description. Also, supporting here is their main function, but not their only one - characters like Hop & Zamazenta, for example, have most of their kit focused on supporting the team with buffs and heals, but can still do decent damage with Behemoth Bash, which is also weighted here.
As arguably the most universal Sync Pair in the game, Sygna Suit Blue & Mega Blastoise does almost everything as a support: he buffs both attacks, he buffs both defenses, he buffs critical hit rate, he makes the gauge, he can tank, and even do damage with Hydro Cannon on rain. Although Sygna Suit Blue doesn't specialize in anything in particular, with most of its buffs being fairly slow and not very reliable as a unit to fully buff your striker by itself, the sheer amount of thing he does makes him at least a decent choice for almost every team and never a deadweight, earning him a spot as one of the top utility units in the game.