For me, the lead pokemon isn't really important. What's important is that the lead pokemon has synergy with pokemon in reserve, so it can switch out almost for free. A lead zapdos is usually facing rockslide or ice beam from opposing lead tyranitars, and thus metagross is an acceptable switch in. But if we switch our lead pokemon from zapdos to jolteon, there's a good chance an opposing tyranitar will earthquake, and thus metagross becomes a risky switch in. I think we can be more liberal with lead pokemon, but the synergy of the team must still be present.
That being said, certain lead pokemon are probably still better, because they have fewer weaknesses, thus greatly limiting what our opponents can do and making our opponents moves more predictable. Zapdos, despite being electric, can't be hit with earthquake, and the fear of a substitute wards off toxic/thunder wave effects. However, if you do lead with zapdos, maybe this limits you to building around zapdos. And maybe those pokemon around zapdos aren't something we should be playing.
If lead pokemon are as influential as I think they are, then we must consider this when looking at data from winning teams. Maybe some pokemon correlate to a higher win percentage not because they're actually better, but rather because they synergize well with those winning teams lead pokemon. But in a way, nothing said here is new, as many veterans have already discussed ad-nauseam the importance of synergy on a team.
That being said, certain lead pokemon are probably still better, because they have fewer weaknesses, thus greatly limiting what our opponents can do and making our opponents moves more predictable. Zapdos, despite being electric, can't be hit with earthquake, and the fear of a substitute wards off toxic/thunder wave effects. However, if you do lead with zapdos, maybe this limits you to building around zapdos. And maybe those pokemon around zapdos aren't something we should be playing.
If lead pokemon are as influential as I think they are, then we must consider this when looking at data from winning teams. Maybe some pokemon correlate to a higher win percentage not because they're actually better, but rather because they synergize well with those winning teams lead pokemon. But in a way, nothing said here is new, as many veterans have already discussed ad-nauseam the importance of synergy on a team.