If you’ve checked the official RBY viability rankings since they were updated in June 2025 (that’s persisted in 2026), you may notice something odd. In a generation with almost no mechanics for NFEs to carve niches for themselves, they’ve nonetheless made it onto the official viability rankings. Dragonair and Weepinbell both made it into D rank, which is remarkable for NFEs.
If you look into the votes contributing to their placement, you see a broad range of opinions. Enigami, a notable proponent of these Pokemon, has them ranked above former OU mainstays such as Lapras and Slowbro, although his ranking didn’t contribute to the final outcome. Many players didn’t rank them, some only considered them barely usable, while others listed them in D rank, which is where they ultimately landed.
The teams that caused these NFEs to emerge from the shadows all revolve around spamming paralysis+wrap. That of course, only adds to the controversy surrounding these Pokemon. RBY Wrap is a notoriously toxic mechanic that slowly kills the opponent while ideally preventing them from retaliating, so teams that heavily abuse it are generally unpopular. The funny thing is, they’re also deeply flawed, and as such struggle to dominate.
Of course, as a trashmon connoisseur, I couldn’t ignore this unexpected ascension, and had to test them myself (so far I’ve only tested Dragonair). What’s interesting is that by doing so I’m not breaking new ground, which is rare for my experiments. Other players brought these Pokemon into the spotlight, meaning I am somewhat playing catchup (although some of my ideas I believe are fairly new).
Finding a Niche for Dragonair
Firstly, what are the teams that propelled Dragonair onto the VR? As I mentioned, they revolve around spamming paralysis + Wrap, with the idea being that with numerous Wrap users, they can afford to trade paralysis with anything faster, and still have a Wrap user(s) to finish off a slower team. These teams are always picking Dragonite and Victreebel ahead of Dragonair, while Starmie is almost mandatory, thanks to its immense defensive utility. That’s 4 teamslots filled, but there’s some flexibility from there. The natural assumption is that you’re going to run Tauros + Snorlax in the remaining 2 slots, but that’s not guaranteed, as one or both of these Pokemon may sometimes be dropped (example).
Of course, I would eventually test these teams, but I also wanted to assess whether Dragonair held any further potential. The first question is: does it hold any sort of niche over Dragonite? The answer to this is technically yes- mono-Dragon typing makes it less weak to Ice and resistant to Electric, at the cost of losing a Ground immunity. However, Dragonair’s inferior stats offset most of these differences, meaning that in practice it’s very difficult to find scenarios where the type difference matters:
- STAB Blizzard still OHKOs Dragonair
- Anything with Electric attacks can also paralyse, which is generally worse than damage
- The best Electric type, Zapdos, deals more damage to Dragonair with Drill Peck than either of its STABs deal to Dragonite anyway
- Most non-STAB Ice attacks 2HKO both Pokemon regardless
You’ll notice that most, but not all non-STAB Ice attacks 2HKO both Pokemon regardless. The only common matchup where Dragonair’s typing makes a significant difference is into Blizzard Starmie. Dragonair only loses to a freeze or a crit, whereas Dragonite has a 38.5% chance to be OHKOed without a crit. Accounting for freezes, crits and accuracy, Dragonair’s odds of survival against Blizzard Starmie are around 72.8%, whereas Dragonite’s are 48.6%. Dragonair can even tank a Starmie Thunderbolt and still survive a subsequent Blizzard.
That’s the only relevant matchup where the typing makes a difference. It’s such a marginal niche that most players can fairly dismiss it as irrelevant. But… I’m not sure that it is. I think those odds substantially change how you approach that matchup, as I consider the risk tolerable for Dragonair but not for Dragonite. This means I’m switching out of one matchup, and staying in for the other. I believe that this has teambuilding ramifications, which ultimately amounts to a significant difference. It also means that Dragonair can potentially lead, as the only unplayable lead matchup is Jynx.
The other idea I came up with- what if we don’t need paralysis spam? After all, both Dragons have access to the much-maligned AgiWrap combo. After an Agility boost they outspeed everything, and by hitting every opponent with Wrap before they can counterattack, they can theoretically strangle opposing teams without taking any form of retaliation. It’s awful to play against, but it’s also traditionally unpopular in high level play due to its extreme reliance on luck. What’s notable is that it benefits far more from poison than paralysis, as the former massively amplifies their damage output, while the speed drop from the latter isn’t as useful as it normally is.
This leaves me with 3 core ideas:
- Solo Dragonair (no Dragonite)
- Fully build around AgiWrap
- Para + Wrap spam
Teambuilding
I started with the most dubious concept- solo Dragonair. Its niche is as a paralysis spreader that specifically targets faster, higher value paralysis targets by threatening to spam Wrap against anything slower. The funny thing is though, that once you decide Dragonair’s better Starmie matchup is enough to warrant using it without Dragonite, there’s a lot of interesting team concepts that follow. Starmie is, after all, one of the strongest Pokemon in the game and a lot of Pokemon really appreciate it being paralysed.
My first team concept saw me pairing Rhydon and Dragonair- defensively it’s not ideal due to a shared Ice weakness, but Rhydon is perhaps the most notable Pokemon to really want Starmie paralysed- I also figured that Wrap from Dragonair could help secure from free switches. I didn’t stop there either. I didn’t stop there either, as I further doubled down on this line of reasoning with SD Victreebel, giving me a sleep user and a potent late game threat to benefit from para support.
Tauros, Blizzard/Psychic Starmie and Seismic Toss/Counter Chansey round out the team. I initially lead with Chansey (hence the set), but decided to experiment with Dragonair in the lead position as well (I think either option is playable). I favoured anti-RefLax coverage on Don, and wanted Blizz/Psy Starmie to be able to hit Egg and Don and also hold its ground against Ice Beam spam from Chansey. For Dragonair, Wrap and Thunder Wave are the crux of its set, while Blizzard is essential coverage. I opted for Agility in the last spot to maximise its capabilities as a threat, and be able to shrug off paralysis speed drops
Blizz/TWave
The second solo Dragonair team I thought of added a second shitmon to the fray- Gyarados! Gyarados is actually a potent attacker that can struggle to enter play, and also really appreciates having Starmie paralysed, both qualities that made it spring to mind as a Dragonair teammate. After selecting those 2, Tauros automatically made the team, followed by Gengar. Gengar has such fantastic synergy with Gyarados that I couldn’t resist including it, as it’s the best EQ bait in the game, while it can help vs opposing Waters.
That left me with 2 slots, one of which was a lead. BoltBeam Chansey I think is an ideal choice to glue the team together, thanks to its great defensive presence and broad threat coverage. As for the lead, with the slot vacant and no Snorlax on the team, I decided I could afford to lead Lax (4 attacks), being a powerful physical attacker that threatens the most common leads. If I’m being honest, I think this team could be further optimised as my decision-making process was a bit lackadaisical, but I think this team works well enough.
There is still room to optimise this team, as it can be a little awkward into freeze spamming Chanseys, and a lot of the sets haven’t seen too much scrutiny. Maybe I also need better Exeggutor coverage, given that my Gengar and Gyarados sets both do little in that matchup.
Blizz/TWave
BSlam/HBeam
There was a 3rd team built around solo Dragonair. Again, the premise derived from Dragonair being able to land clutch paralysis, particularly on Starmie. In this case I paired it with one of the most devastating sweepers in RBY that’s also borderline helpless if Starmie isn’t paralysed- Reflect Slowbro. This is a set I hadn’t used much, but have since fallen in love with. It’s very all-or-nothing, it either singlehandedly wins games, or dies without achieving anything if you fail to support it or get bad luck, as it doesn’t really do anything to support the rest of the team.
The team didn’t start out that way though- I initially tried running Kingler, but the synergy wasn’t there. Swapping between Dragonair and Kingler was a nightmare because any scenario where Tbolt was threatened also tended to be a good spot for Thunder Wave, which undermines both of them. Slowbro on the other hand, is far more tolerant of paralysis, and is generally much better at baiting Thunderbolts if I ever need to switch into Dragonair.
With ReflectBro’s poor speed and lack of power without boosts, it achieves little defensively, making it better suited as a win con. I found that running it as a sweeper alongside Tauros was awkward, with too many team members optimised to close out games, so I swapped Tauros to the lead position with Rest. Rounding out the team was Dual Powder Egg for status distribution and to act as a powerful special attacker, BoltBeam Chansey and Snorlax- I opted for Reflect+Earthquake, to provide defensive value and ideally snipe Gengar.
A key finding with this team was that blocking sleep was counterproductive, as sleep is a fantastic way to stop Slowbro dead in its tracks. Synergy with Dragonair isn’t as strong either, as Slowbro’s lategame role means that it’s not really creating openings to bring in Pokemon with supporting roles- Dragonair can struggle to enter play. Otherwise this is perhaps my favourite version of the solo Dragonair teams.
Of course, Dragonair’s argument for stepping outside the shadow of Dragonite is incredibly weak, and it’s usually better run alongside its fully evolved form, and here there are still an abundance of team concepts to explore. The first thing I wanted to try was a dual AgiWrap team, supported by Toxic. Toxic is usually unviable in RBY, but if I’m investing in 2 AgiWrappers, perhaps that tips the balance.
One of the big issues with AgiWrap as I see it, is that it’s somewhat difficult to support, outside of just generally damaging opposing teams. Sleep has limited synergy, as it allows easy setup, but Wrap in turn allows the opponent to wake easily. Paralysis might bail you out if you miss, but the speed drop isn’t helpful if you’re already using Agility. Toxic though? A status condition that deals small amounts of damage over time, paired with a strategy revolving around incapacitating the opponent for multiple turns at a time? That’s promising.
Of course, noting that there’s synergy there is nothing new, the challenge is in actually materialising it. Toxic’s famous drawback is that it doesn’t deal that much damage, meaning Pokemon with recovery are hardly threatened by it. This in turn makes it difficult to spread, as once it’s absorbed by something like Starmie or Chansey, they become incredibly difficult to force out. There are further issues as well, such as that Gengar singlehandedly hard counters this strategy, being immune to both Wrap damage and Toxic.
I started with a dual Dragon core, with both Dragons having Agility, Wrap and Blizzard, while Dragonite wields Hyper Beam and Dragonair runs Thunderbolt. I also added a standard Tauros as well- suffice to say that in RBY I don’t think it’s ever really worth dropping Tauros. The remaining team slots are where things become interesting.
If I’m prioritising Toxic, that means little to no paralysis is being spread, so I need teammates that can function without paralysis support- specifically dealing with Chansey, Alakazam and Starmie. I’m also mindful of covering Gengar, and being able to sponge Ice attacks. My initial thoughts were to use Jolteon as a fast, powerful attacker that also beats Starmie, PsyBolt Starmie to sponge Ice attacks and threaten opposing Gengar and Water types, and Alakazam (lead), with Kinesis to force switches. All 3 were running Toxic over Thunder Wave.
I later dropped Jolteon for Zapdos, favouring the superior overall bulk, while Starmie eventually got dropped for Toxic Cloyster, as I still found the team lacked physical bulk (Clamp + Toxic is also devious). Lastly, I swapped Zam out of the lead slot, replacing it with Zapdos (which also became dual status, rather than only running Toxic). I was finding Zam to be the most reliable supporter for the team, but in the lead slot it tended to absorb sleep and do nothing for much of the game. Zapdos had a much more limited role, and is also nice as an aggressive lead anyway.
The results for this team have been mixed. Even in ideal circumstances, Toxic is hard to spread, especially if you poison the wrong Pokemon- some paralysis capabilities are basically essential for making progress into Starmie and Chansey. To truly threaten a Recover/Softboiled user with a Toxic spreading team, you basically need to be threatening a 2HKO, and that’s really hard to achieve for those 2 (Zam’s poor physical defence is much easier to exploit). At least Chansey is slower than Wrappers, so they don’t need to set up Agility to be a threat. The issues with applying midgame pressure also limit your ability to scout the opponent, so you can often find yourself in uncertain endgames.
The only saving grace with Toxic in the midgame is that it complements Wrap so well, that you can still be threatening even if you absorb paralysis in the process of setting up an Agility- this isn’t ideal of course, but can be necessary. However, for all my complaints about midgame play with this team, it can very well make up for it in the endgame. Having 2 AgiWrap users plus Tauros is diabolical finishing power, not to mention that endgames tend to offer more opportunities to set up Agility anyway. It’s not uncommon to be trailing a midgame scenario, only to commit to a full send earlier than expected and make up the ground.
The potential of this strategy is still unclear to me. I have sometimes struggled to compete against stronger players with this team, but it’s also such a deviation from conventional play that I don’t really think I can claim that I’ve fully optimised it. It’s still effective against much of the playerbase and I’m optimistic that if I continue to use it, stronger results will come, however I can’t be fully certain. Anyway, here’s the team.
I didn’t just stick to Toxic for dual Dragons- I also made a more conventional team focused on paralysis. The expectation here is that it’s a more normal team with better midgame lines, while if I can set up with one Dragon I can potentially grind down the opposing team to prepare for the other Dragon to sweep.
As with the prior team, I started with both Dragons running Agility alongside a standard Tauros. I again favoured HBeam on Dragonite and BlizzBolt on Dragonair, at least initially. My next option was Starmie- to me this is a no-brainer, being able to sponge Blizzards and having coverage for dealing with both Gengar and opposing Water types.
With 2 slots remaining, I opted for a PhysLax and Jynx lead. With Starmie on the team I need a solid physical wallbreaker, and although Rhydon helps vs Zapdos, it opens up too many weaknesses, making Lax the logical choice. As for Jynx, even with Wrappers potentially conceding wake turns, sleep is just too strong to pass up, and without another sleep user on my team, I’m best off using the most reliable lead sleeper.
I did eventually make some tweaks, firstly dropping Hyper Beam for Counter on Lax- with Jynx lead I really need a set that’s able to generate some kind of advantage against opposing Lax, especially since nothing else on the team wants to switch into Body Slam. I also eventually dropped Thunderbolt for Thunder Wave on Dragonair- it just provides far more value as a supporter than it does trying to kill things.
There were a couple notes in terms of strategy for this team- preserving Jynx I found to be valuable, to mitigate the threat of the opponent waking. The other thing I observed was that although the Dragons were intended to wallbreak, in practice most of their opportunities come lategame so they function more as alternate win conditions.
The synergy between the 2 Dragons whereby they overload the opposing team does exist, but is significantly less meaningful than I’d like. Their dependency on setup, plus Wrap just randomly missing does give opponents the chance to undo significant amounts of progress. Even so, the combo has merit, and I found the team effective, possibly even more consistent than the Toxic team. Importable here.
Although I experimented with a number of ideas for Dragonair, there’s only one archetype that put Dragonair on the map. That’s full Wrap- abandoning the infamous AgiWrap combo in favour of a team with numerous Pokemon that combine Wrap and paralysis. The premise being that with Wrap to grind down slower threats, you can then trade paralysis with faster foes and trust that you’ve got too many Wrap users for them to deal with.
This powered Dragonair and other Wrap users to be ranked on the VR starting in 2025, with Enigami being one of the main proponents of Wrap, having experimented with Wrap for at least a few years prior. There are a few variations on the concept, and I’m most interested in those running 3 or 4 Wrap users. I decided to focus on triple Wrap, reserving quad Wrap to feature once I write about Weepinbell.
Having decided on the team concept, it tends to follow a fairly rigid structure. Dragonair and Dragonite of course make the team, with Victreebel joining the team as the 3rd Wrapper due to being by far the best remaining option. Tauros is included, as it’s still the best sweeper in the game, while Starmie is a crucial defensive piece, able to sponge Blizzards for the numerous Ice-weak Pokemon, packing valuable coverage and the ability to spread para.
The final non-Wrap spot is where things may get interesting. For anyone with any experience at all in RBY, you might be tempted to default to Snorlax in the last slot, and that’s certainly a consideration. After all, it appreciates para support, and with very few truly terrible matchups it can really help to glue a team together. This was my logic, and I do stand by it, but there are other factors to consider that aren’t obvious without practical experience.
The first is that Wrap teams aren’t as aggressive with paralysis as they might seem. Most Wrap users have a base speed of 70+, which is faster than the majority of the slower viable Pokemon. In those matchups, Wrap is generally the better option since you already outspeed. By contrast, spending a turn to paralyse means the opponent’s probably able to retaliate with either their own status or significant damage, either of which is devastating for a Wrap user looking to either sweep, or trade paralysis with a faster threat later in the game.
Snorlax on the other hand, has the worst Speed stat of any non-NFE, so it really appreciates para support against foes where it’s not worth it for Wrap users. It also means that these slower foes can use Snorlax as an opening, whereas a Wrap user in the same spot would be able to prevent them from acting. The prime example is Exeggutor, which can comfortably go for sleep against a Lax, rather than being incapacitated by a faster Wrap.
Where am I going with this? Honestly, nowhere, other than highlighting that you may want to consider alternatives to Snorlax. As mentioned though, I still like Lax on this team, thanks to its efficacy into a broad array of matchups. Regarding movesets, I opted for BlizzBolt on Dragonair, while I tested both Agility and Hyper Beam on Dragonite, finding the latter superior. The extra finishing power was greatly appreciated, while Agility was usually unnecessary with sufficient paralysis spread.
I initially ran a lead Starmie with Psychic for Gengar and Thunderbolt for other Waters, but eventually dropped Tbolt for Blizzard to deal more damage to Exeggutor. Victreebel was initially a dual status set, but I eventually dropped Stun Spore for Hyper Beam. I found I wasn’t using Stun Spore that often thanks to teammate support, while Hyper Beam gives me an additional finishing option, especially against paralysed Flying types. Tauros was standard and Lax was the standard AttackLax set. Here’s the importable.
Replays
With a lot of teams, I saved a lot of replays, and I haven’t fully organised them. If you want to see these teams in action, I’d refer you to my Smogon post on this topic, I also continue to use all of these teams in tournaments.
Results
So after all those teams, what’s the verdict? Well, I’ll start with Dragonair in a vacuum, since I was using it without the presence of Dragonite. In this scenario, it’s usable but mediocre. It can be really valuable in a support role, securing free switches and landing the occasional high value paralysis, but its poor stats hold it back from dealing serious damage, and care needs to be taken to avoid just dying.
Really though, most of the time you’re running it alongside Dragonite, which means its teambuilding constraints are a much greater factor in its viability. Obviously, there’s no getting around the fact that you’re weak to Ice types and Gengar by running this pair, and they’re not the kind of Pokemon you can reactively switch in on most threats. Aside from Dragonite’s EQ immunity, you’re usually looking for opportunities for them to apply pressure, rather than playing them to check threats.
However, their different typings and the fact that they can tailor their roles somewhat with decent set variety means they form a solid core. Paralysis is definitely a better tool for gluing them together, as even though Agility sets are potent, their need for setup gives the opponent chances to retaliate. Either way, they can be effective together.
Dual Dragon teams were probably my favourite variant of Dragonair teams, as they have a unique dynamic of play, I don’t have to worry about justifying Dragonair like I do for my solo teams, and it’s not full Wrap. As for Wrap in general, it’s safe to say that it can work, but I really don’t like it. Obviously, it’s really not a fun way to play, and winning with it sometimes feels dirty. But more than that it just has a lot of flaws.
Wrap
The first is just that despite literally preventing the opponent from retaliating, Wrap isn’t always easy to pull off. The fact that basically every Wrap user has middling speed means that one of the most toxic moves ever created ends up being somehow reasonably balanced. Although core midgame pieces like Chansey and Snorlax get Wrapped, the majority of teams will still have faster threats that can threaten Wrap users, provided they avoid paralysis. This then makes strategic adjustments key to fighting against Wrap.
Wrap also has severe matchup issues, as stacking up on Wrap users can mean you’re walled by Gengar, and you’re probably stacking numerous Ice weaknesses, making Pokemon like Jynx and Articuno apocalyptic threats. I think these adverse matchups are far more prevalent than teams that are particularly weak to Wrap.
My last complaint with Wrap is reliability. It’s a strategy that hinges on spamming an 85% accurate move several times over to secure even a single KO. The reward of landing any single Wrap is quite limited, while a miss is devastating. When you consider the odds of chaining multiple Wraps together, it looks bleak- landing 4 Wraps in a row is comparable to a coinflip. Paralysis of course cripples any Wrap user, but moreover most Wrap users have glaring defensive weaknesses, such that if they miss, they can expect extreme damage in retaliation. This leads to a strategy where you’re dependent on luck, and you suffer severely when it turns against you.
Despite all my complaints, Wrap is still, unfortunately, viable. It hinges heavily on the ability to land high-value paralysis, but it’s a strategy that affords itself the tools to do so. Once that paralysis has been spread, along with some chip damage along the way, it can still prove incredibly oppressive. A fairly reasonable scenario would be that you appear to fall behind midgame, as trading paralysis appears incredibly costly, only to come back lategame as your sacrifices have paved the way for your win condition- faster threats paralysed, chip damage to minimise dependence on Wrap spam (as well as potentially a lategame sleep- you don’t use this early with Wrap).
Verdict
I think Dragonair is simultaneously both slept on, and a bit overstated. It’s a mediocre Pokemon in its own right, but capable of more than people give it credit for. Whether or not you agree with my belief in alternate Dragonair structures, at the very least it’s a highly valuable member of a viable, albeit niche strategy. It’s worthy of its place in D rank, and I consider it on a similar level to Kadabra, maybe slightly ahead.
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