Why do some people care so much about tanky attackers?

Info: I am not trolling. This is an actual discussion that might help me and other players.

 

 

I've done multiple raids against legendary birds: 6 to 10 raids against each bird.

My usual team was:

Legendary	Counter 1	Counter 2	Counter 3	Counter 4	Counter 5	Counter 6	HP
Zapdos	Tyranitar (155)	Rhydon (159)	Golem (129)	Piloswine (152)	Piloswine (150)	Jolteon (104)	849
Moltres	Tyranitar (155)	Rhydon (159)	Golem (129)	Vaporeon (206)	Vaporeon (199)	Vaporeon (190)	1029
Lugia	Tyranitar (155)	Rhydon (159)	Golem (129)	Piloswine (152)	Piloswine (150)	Jolteon (104)	849
Articuno	Tyranitar (155)	Rhydon (159)	Golem (129)	Arcanine (139)	Arcanine (137)	Omastar (102)	821

* The number at the side of each pokemon is its HP. The last column means the sum of the HP of the whole team.

I mostly only used these teams (no tanky pokemon), and most of the times I was alive at the end of the battle. Even though some of these pokemon have base defense < 200.

Weak pokemon: Arcanine (base defense 166), Piloswine (base defense 147), Jolteon (base defense 201, but low HP).

 

So, once non tanky teams were able to survive against Moltres and Zapdos (base attack 251 and 253), why would a strong defensive team (Tyranitar & Mewtwo) not be a good option and why are people advising tanky pokemon (Lugia)?

 

Attack:

The graphs shared in this thread show that Tyranitar might deal 45% to 75% more damage than Lugia (Lugia needs 45% to 75% more time than Tyranitar). Mewtwo is an even bigger monster.

Defense:

Mewtwo has base attack of 300 (which is 20% more than Moltres and Zapdos), but Tyranitar and Mewtwo have base defense (182 and 212) which is 10% - 50% higher than the weaker pokemon I used against the birds. However, both have more HP than the weak pokemon.

And even if our teams are beaten, we can heal them, come back to battle and we will deal more damage than as if we battled using Lugia.

Stats comparison:

Pokemon	Base Attack	Base Deffense	Team HP
Mewtwo	300	182	888-912
Tyranitar	251	212	918-942
Lugia	193	323	972-996

* The Team HP considers 6 level 30 pokemon with IV 66.6-100%.

 

So, once time is a precious resource (Lugia needs time) and damage is important to get more balls (Lugia deals less damage), why would we need tanky pokemon, instead of pokemon which cause more damage, potentially end up alive and bring us more Premium balls?

The only reason I see to pick Lugia instead of Mewtwo/Tyranitar is: we don't have Tyranitar/Mewtwo.

 

 

My hasty conclusions:

1. with the current raid system, players who battle with lvl 30 pokemon do not need tanky attackers, because lvl 5 raid bosses will mostly be defeated before they defeat 6 optimal attackers whithin the time limit.

2. if we have few players and the raid boss can defeat 6 optimal attackers whithin the time limit, it is even more important to have strong attackers, because we can heal them, go back and do more damage than if we use tanky pokemon. (remember, the 2 guys who beat Tyranitar used Machamp, not Blissey)

3. When it comes to raids lower than level 5 or gyms, there is no reason whatsoever to use tanky pokemon, because Tyranitar & Mewtwo will be alive at the end of the time limit.

So, tanky pokemon seem useless in the current raid system.

 

EDIT: the formatting of the conclusion.