Rhydon

Rhydon's typing and raw power make it a major threat in the RBY Ubers metagame. Its STAB Earthquake is the most powerful unboosted physical attack without a downside 2HKOing Chansey and 3HKOing tier titans Mewtwo, Mew, and Snorlax. Rhydon is incredible at threatening paralyzed teams and is very difficult to switch into. It's no slouch defensively either; its typing lets it wall Zapdos and Jolteon as well as Mew and Snorlax that drop Earthquake. Rhydon is also immune to Thunder Wave, which makes it much harder to paralyze reliably. Its typing also gives it a Normal resistance, which allows it to absorb Explosion for other team members and switch into Hyper Beam to force a recharge turn while taking minimal damage. Rhydon's outstanding HP stat ensures its Substitute survives a Seismic Toss from Chansey, further improving its matchup against it.

Unfortunately, Rhydon is held back by it necessitating paralysis support to function effectively, as its abysmal Speed leaves it outpaced by all viable Pokemon except for Slowbro and Snorlax. This, by extension, means it despises being paralyzed itself; though it's immune to Thunder Wave, it can still be threatened with Stun Spore and Body Slam. Rhydon's low Speed, alongside its poor special bulk and weaknesses to common attacking types such as Ice and Ground, means it will have trouble in most one-on-one matchups without paralysis support. To further worsen this issue, Rhydon only has Rest for recovery, which forces it into passivity for two turns and invites in threats that can apply pressure on it or set up, such as Mewtwo and Slowbro.

Rhydon competes with Golem for a team slot due to Golem's access to the mighty Explosion, which also prevents slower Pokemon from recovering and gives opportunities for teammates to switch in. This isn't the only advantage it has to offer; it has slightly higher Speed and 2HKOes Rhydon with Earthquake, giving it the edge one-on-one. However, it lacks Rhydon's remarkable Attack stat, which prevents it from reaching key damage ranges that Rhydon can; for example, Golem 4HKOes Mewtwo, Mew, and Snorlax and is unlikely to 2HKO Chansey, while Rhydon 3HKOes the first three and always 2HKOes Chansey. Golem's Substitute is also unable to survive a Seismic Toss from Chansey. Moreover, Golem's worse physical bulk and lack of access to a Defense-lowering move make it inferior against Mew. Because of these problems, Rhydon is the superior choice on many competitive teams.