Rhydon

Rhydon’s massive Attack, STAB Earthquake, 103 HP Substitutes, and Electric immunity give it a powerful role within the Stadium OU metagame. Like in RBY OU, it blanks Zapdos and Jolteon, but it gains more depth in its ability to handle other threats with paralysis support from its team. Its Substitutes can survive a Seismic Toss, which Chansey commonly runs due to its 32 PP and ability to break weaker Substitutes. Additionally, Stadium's Substitute offers Rhydon added utility, most notably blocking Exeggutor’s Stun Spore, and while allowing it to throw off strong attacks or attempt a Body Slam paralysis with little to no drawbacks. Rest is also used by many Pokemon in Stadium, including, Exeggutor, Snorlax, Slowbro, and Cloyster; this further helps Rhydon get on the field and get up a Substitute without risking damage or a status ailment. Rhydon’s defensive typing—while not great—allows it to also be a Thunder Wave and Explosion absorber.

Unfortunately, Rhydon is slower than all OU Pokemon besides Snorlax and Slowbro. Despite its Normal resistance, its poor defensive typing and Special allow common Pokemon such as Chansey, Tauros, and Starmie to outspeed and 2HKO with Ice Beam or Blizzard, which they very commonly carry. This means Rhydon absolutely requires paralysis support to be effective, and while this may seem high-maintenance, with proper team support Rhydon is capable of busting massive holes mid-game or cleaning up late-game.

Rhydon also competes with Golem, which has access to Explosion—and is slightly faster than Rhydon, at base 45—meaning it wins one-on-one with its own Earthquake. However, what Golem lacks is the ability to create Substitutes that survive Seismic Toss. This makes Golem’s gameplan very prediction reliant because wallbreaking and cleaning up is much less safe. Rhydon also has the edge offensively, as its higher Attack allows it to meet better KO ranges against common Pokemon in the metagame. Finally, while Golem does outspeed Rhydon, they effectively share the same Speed tier, being outsped by Chansey and thus both requiring paralysis support. For these reasons, Rhydon is preferred on most competitive teams.