In the Pokémon anime, the Masters Eight are the eight strongest trainers in the world, gathered for a tournament to decide who is the best of the best. As most fans know by now, Ash actually won the tournament in the anime, but when considering his team, it really wasn't the strongest available. So, whose team was the best, at least statistically speaking?

The Masters Eight consisted of six champions, taken straight from the games, as well as two anime original characters, those being Ash and Alain. Many of these champions are exceptionally daunting figures in the Pokémon games, although their teams in the anime were just a bit different from their usual teams in the games. Still, it's not hard to put the stats from the games and the teams in the anime together to figure out how their anime teams would do in a video game setting. Let's evaluate the teams of the Masters Eight trainers, and figure out whose is the best.

Not Every Masters' Eight Trainer Had a Full Team

Some Trainers Only Revealed a Few of Their Pokémon

Because of the way the Masters Eight was set up, with the first round being 3-on-3, and the later rounds being 6-on-6, several of the competitors who lost in the first round didn't reveal their full teams of six. Iris, for example, only has 5 known Pokémon, while Alain has 8, with no way of knowing which were his back three in the Masters Eight. Even game champion Steven Stone only has 4 known Pokémon, and one isn't evolved. To see who brought the best team to the Masters Eight, it'll be necessary to only look at those with a full team of six known Pokémon.

That leaves Diantha, Cynthia, Leon, and Ash, who isn't being considered. Diantha's team is impressive, consisting of (Mega) Gardevoir, Aurorus, Gourgeist, Goodra, Hawlucha, and Tyrantrum. Cynthia's team is also quite strong, made up of (Mega) Garchomp, Gastrodon, Roserade, Milotic, Spiritomb, and Togekiss. Leon's team includes (Gigantamax) Charizard, (Gigantamax) Rillaboom, (Gigantamax) Cinderace, Dragapult, Inteleon, and Mr. Rime. All 3 have teams with one pseudo-legendary, a good mix of types, and some special techniques up their sleeves.

Diantha's team, however, has a glaring weakness: Ice-types. Goodra, Tyrantrum, Gourgeist, and Hawlucha are all weak to Ice; similarly, Aurorus, Tyrantrum, and Gardevoir are weak to Steel. Cynthia is also quite weak to ice, with Garchomp, Roserade, and Togekiss sharing that weakness. Leon's team, on the other hand, has a common weakness in Rock, with Charizard, Cinderace, and Mr. Rime all weak to it. Leon and Cynthia have counters, though, to deal with their weaknesses, while Diantha doesn't. When it comes to overall composition, it's pretty clear that Cynthia's team is the strongest.

Cynthia's Team is Very Similar to Her Game Team

Cynthia's Team Mirrors Her Video Game Counterpart's Closely

Cynthia's Masters Eight team is actually quite similar to her team in Diamond and Pearl; the only difference is that she has Togekiss in the anime instead of Lucario, likely because Ash had a Lucario. Cynthia does use a Togekiss in Platinum, however, replacing Gastrodon. Cynthia's team is exceptionally well-balanced for different types, giving her access to Ground, Fairy, Flying, Grass, Poison, Water, Ghost, Dark, and Dragon. Most of her Pokémon also have diverse move-sets, giving access to even more types, such as Milotic with Iron Head or Togekiss with Zen Headbutt.

Of her team , Garchomp, Milotic, and Togekiss are all top-tier choices. Spiritomb is also a very interesting choice; it only has one weakness, Fairy, which was a very underused type in the Masters Eight in general. Spiritomb also has tricky abilities like Destiny Bond, which allow it to take out an opponent with it when it does finally faint. Gastrodon and Roserade are generally less powerful, but Gastrodon's immunity to Electric damage makes it a nightmare for Pikachu, and Roserade is a good choice for battles of attrition, able to poison opponents.

Given the teams that the Masters Eight trainers actually brought to the competition, it would seem that Cynthia was actually in the best position to win. Her Pokémon had a diversity of types, with only one (Gastrodon) being redundant, as well as a good range of moves to cover their weaknesses. Garchomp, especially in its mega form, has incredibly high attack, while Milotic is quite tanky, giving Cynthia a good balance of attackers and defenders as well. If Ash hadn't managed to outmaneuver Cynthia, there's a solid chance she would've been Pokémon's newest World Champion.