Well at least we can agree on the villian team leader ratings
Cyrus> Ghetsis>Guzma>giovanni>maxie=archie>lusamine>lysandre>whatever that tip shit rocket guy from gen 2 is called.
I know I know, I'm going to sound like a contrarian ass, I know. But I don't like rating villains on what they do in the story, rather I rate them as characters and in that regard Cyrus and Lysandre can suck a nut. They're boring ass mother-fuckers in the games they're in and don't have any gravitas at all save for their take over the world plots which, to me at least, provide the worst stories in the franchise.
Giovanni, Maxie, and Archie are about equal levels of stupid but charming. Giovanni's got a bad-ass flare to him even if he's technically a wimp and he carries himself well even nowadays. Maxie and Archie are the opposite of that; they're really stupid but somehow that makes them all the more endearing.
I have exceptionally high regard for Lusamine and Ghetsis. They're fantastic villains and wonderfully fucked-up. I have to put Lusamine lower because USUM botched her entire story-arc, but she was hardcore uncomfortable in the original Sun and Moon, and I give Game Freak mad props for going with that. Ghetsis, however, is such a fucking twistedly manic villain that I can't even believe he's in the Pokemon franchise at all. He has Final Fantasy levels of mania and wrath and you don't just get told that throughout Gen 5, you see it on multiple occasions. That encounter in N's castle in OG Black and White is so cringe in all the right ways. I can just picture him twisting and contorting as he uncomfortably tries to keep the facade of his plans from falling apart right in front of you, almost like he's arguing with himself.
Guzma, however, is on another level entirely. He's Giovanni perfected; Not some overlord trying to bring ruin with super-powered animals nor is he some deluded virtuoso hiding an obvious ulterior motive. Guzma is a thug with tons of merit as a trainer who commands the respect of his peers and even someone like Lusamine through sheer grit alone. He's a brute who actually feels like he can throw his weight around and even though he never has grandiose plans that can tell a story he feels like a genuine bad guy that would exist in a world like Pokemon. That he's also ridiculously charming and funny is a major plus.
And I don't think it needs to be said that fuck whoever the villains of Gen 2 were, for how worthless they are.
