Pokémon That Used To Be The Strongest (Before They Got Nerfed)

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The battling of Pokémon is at the game's core, and it has seen a lot of changes over the years and generations. Between different generations of games some drastic changes to battling are made, like adding new types, removing or adding moves, or nerfing some Pokémon to the ground. Some Pokémon dominated the meta so much that Pokémon gave them some pretty big nerfs not long after their time in the spotlight.

A common nerf known in Pokémon is the nerf of the Dragon-type with the introduction of the Fairy-type. Dragon-type Pokémon dominated the meta in competitive battling, and Game Freak added the Fairy-type to nerf down the Dragon-type by making Fairy super effective against and immune to Dragon. However, this has made Fairy take Dragon's position as the most overpowered type in Pokémon.

Related: What Legendaries Are On Pokémon Scarlet & Violet's Box Art

And while Pokémon types receive a lot of changes, individual Pokémon do as well. Some Pokémon get a boost to their base stat total, some see a nerf to it, and some Pokémon's abilities even change. Some of these changes are necessary since some Pokémon were so oppressive in a battle that they were almost impossible to deal with.

Talonflame was introduced as Pokémon X and Y's Kalos regional bird Pokémon and left a lasting impression. Talonflame was incredibly strong from its introduction due to its stats, but it was one thing in specific that made Talonflame so powerful, and that was its ability. Talonflame had the signature ability called Gale Wings, which, during Pokémon X and Y, gave all of Talonflame's Flying type moves a +1 priority rating. Due to this priority increase, Talonflames spamming Brave Bird were all over online battles and the competitive meta, since