Pretty much everyone that’s ever played a Pokemon game loves Eevee and at least a few of the Eeveelutions. But objectively, what is the best Eevee evolution? We have the answer.
The ability to evolve it into one of several different Pokemon makes Eevee a strong addition to many potential teams for a casual playthrough of a game. Once players make it to the post-game, there have always been a few different Eeveelutions that are viable in ranked play.
But with the Pokemon fandom now split up several ways between Sword and Shield, Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, and Pokemon GO, it’s worth going over the best Eevee evolution under each game’s umbrella, as well as some classics. Here is the best Eeveelution in all the modern Pokemon games.
Eevee frolics in the flowers!
For a very long while, Jolteon was the best Eevee evolution.
All the way back in Red, Blue, and Yellow, Jolteon was the fastest Pokemon in the game alongside Mewtwo and Aerodactyl. Access to the move Pin Missile made it one of the few counters to Mewtwo and Alakazam, making it a must-have Pokemon.
Pokemon Gold and Silver brought new types and attacks that made Alakazam and Mewtwo less dominant moving forward, but Jolteon remained a force thanks to the move Hidden Power. With the right IVs, Hidden Power gave Jolteon access to an ice-type attack to go alongside Thunderbolt and Shadow Ball. That gave Jolteon very strong type coverage to go alongside its excellent speed and high special attack.
Jolteon remained one of the fastest and hardest-hitting Pokemon for several generations until X and Y. The addition of Mega Evolution created a number of Pokemon that could match its speed or simply shrug off its attacks. This ultimately left Jolteon in the middle of the tier list due to its inability to handle common opponents and the fact it had so many hard counters in the form of Excadrill, Mega Kangaskhan, and others.
Pokemon Sword and Shield came out and removed Hidden Power, which has ultimately seen Jolteon slide into near-obscurity when it comes to competitive battling. With Shadow Ball as its only strong option outside of electric attacks, Jolteon is now lacking in firepower to a prohibitive degree.
Though Espeon has the highest CP ceiling of the bunch, ice-type evolution Glaceon is the best Eeveelution in Pokemon GO.
There’s a complete breakdown on this topic, but the short answer here is that while Espeon is a great Pokemon, there are many other strong psychic types. There are strong psychic mythicals in Mew and Celebi, legendaries such as Mewtwo and Lugia, and powerful non-legendaries such as Alakazam and Exeggutor.
By comparison, the list of ice types is relatively short. Though Glaceon does have competition from Mamoswine and Galarian Darmanitan, there aren’t many ice types that are stronger than Glaceon. Alongside the fact that Espeon’s maximum CP is only very slightly higher than Glaceon, and the gen-four Pokemon is the best of the bunch.
Players looking to shore up their Pokemon GO roster can look to the December Community Day. It will allow players to evolve Eevee more easily with some exclusive moves.
Umbreon will likely pan out to be the strongest Eevee evolution Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.
Though Espeon’s Magic Bounce ability and Vaporeon’s incredible tankiness will make them useful in some lineups, Umbreon was very good in the original Pokemon Diamond and Pearl competitive meta and could be set to dominate in BDSP.
There are a relatively limited number of powerful dark-type Pokemon as of the fourth generation and Umbreon is the most well-rounded of them all. It’s a powerful wall due to its base stats, and it also has a strong support option in Wish. The biggest boon to Umbreon since Diamond and Pearl was the addition of Foul Play in the fifth generation, which gave Umbreon a solid offensive option as well.
Lillie vs. Gladion | Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon—Ultra Legends | Official Clip
Sylveon is likely the strongest evolution of Eevee in Pokemon Sword and Shield, but it does have a good amount of competition.
The fairy-type Pokemon has great base HP and an incredibly high base Sp. Def stat, making it a very sturdy wall. It also has deceptively strong type coverage with its attacks, with Mystical Fire, Shadow Ball, a boosted Hyper Voice through Pixilate. This gives the Pokemon a number of possible offensive builds to go alongside the more natural bulky builds.
Umbreon also has some tools to do good work in Pokemon Sword and Shield, but the best Eevee evolution behind Sylveon is most likely Espeon. The Magic Bounce ability is a great way to derail enemy plans, particularly reflecting back attempts to lay Spikes or set up Stealth Rock. Couple that with the ability to build Espeon into a powerful choice sweeper, and there’s a lot to like about this evolution.
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