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>There are people who don't remember how shit Submission used to be
Actually, it probably still is shit. A select few mons could learn Cross Chop in Gen 2, but for almost everything (and very nearly everything that wasn't fighting-type), Submission was their best fighting move.
Almost all the strong moves in early gens were Special, so mons with good Special were strong in Gen 1, and Snorlax had one of the higher ones. It also had STAB on Body Slam, and paralysis was OP in gen 1. Also, STAB Selfdestruct in a game without Protect and shitty, glitchy Substitutes. And it comes with Rest right out of the box in gens which were really bulky and slow.
Tauros was great in Gen 1 for similar reasons.
