Pokemon Go Defenders Tier List (gen 3)

(last updated before gen 4 and meteor mash metagross)

Blissey				ZH+DG		ZH+P
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Chansey				ZH+DG		ZH+P
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Snorlax				ZH+BS		ZH+HS
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Milotic				DT+S		WF+B, DT+B
Lapras (legacy)		IS+IB		FB+IB, IS+DP
Steelix				DT+HS		IT+C, DT+C
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Donphan				C+PR
Lapras				FB+HP		FB+S
Muk (alolan)		PJ+DP
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Dragonite (legacy)	DT+DC
Slaking				Y+PR
Vaporeon			WG+HP		WG+AT, WG+LR
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Clefable			ZH+DG
Muk					I+DP
Gardevoir			ZH+DG		ZH+SB
Umbreon				S+LR		S+DP
Lanturn				CB+HP		CB+TB
---
Dragonite			DT+O
Metagross			ZH+FC		BP+P
Ampharos (legacy)	VS+DP
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Ludicolo			B+B
Tentacruel			PJ+HP
Relicanth			ZH+HP		ZH+AT
Venusaur			RL+SB
Slowbro				C+IB		C+WP
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Miltank				ZH+BS
Hariyama			C+DP		BP+DP, C+HS, BP+HS
Walrein				WF+B		FB+B
Hypno (legacy)		C+SB
Exeggutor (legacy)	C+SB
Rhydon				MS+SE


* The tier list is hand-crafted according to personal opinion, as I have yet to see "objective" methodology that didn't produce glaring omissions or artifacts.
* The second column denotes the assumed moveset. Third column denotes movesets that either are very close or don't make *that* big of a difference to a given legacy move.
* Rankings are based on defenders's bulk, typing (matchups against popular attackers) and how annoying they are to fight (ease of dodging, damage output including typing against expected counters). Secondary considerations such as CP are ignored.
* The attacker is assumed to switch to their best matchup. The most important matchups considered are, roughly in order, Machamp, Raikou, (dark) Tyranitar, Dragonite, and to a sligthly lesser extent, Kyogre and Mewtwo (and of course alternatives of same types). Being weak to Machamp is a strike against, but only a slightly bigger one than being weak to some of the other top attackers. If you believe that e.g. dark Tyranitars are uncommon or ground Groudon is common, or that countering Machamp should be valued higher, adjust accordingly.
* Tier breaks indicate where I would call pokemon above the line better than the ones below. Most of them are close and the exact placings get shifted around a lot as I re-review the list, but I'm pretty confident to an error margin of ±1 tier.
* The reason the list cuts off where it does is the defender quality levels off strongly there, and the next tier would have to include a huge number of pokemon. If your favourite defender is missing, there's a good chance it would appear in that next tier, or could reasonably be in the last included tier which is already fuzzy as it is.