>>58864600Silver still won. Delibird’s counterpart is what? Gligar? +100 extra BST, sure, but nothing to use it on ingame. You could only get EQ on it from Stadium 2, which Silver players could also get. Its best stab was wing attack (egg move from Scyther btw) while Delibird got fly and icy wind immediately.
And the other flying duo? Skarmory is one of the few steel types in the game, and by virtue of having THE best defensive typing, and its gen 2 matchups, can wall out basically every physical attacker. Mantine is the special equivalent stat wise, but you get a water/flying with comparable bulk (95/100 is only slightly worse than 65/140), at a higher level in the form of the red Gyarados. Not to mention its typing doesn’t synchronize as well with its stat spread, either pre or post split.