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Interactive Groudon Counters Guide

Groudon

Niantic has decided to bring our Dirt-zilla back for another round! With that also comes back its golden shiny form, if you get lucky. Groudon’s got quite the Swiss army knife of movesets that hit its best counters super effectively, so he takes some extra effort to prepare against contingencies. Buckle up and grab your notebooks, because he is going to school all of us on some of the less obvious Pokemon type advantages! That, or just tear down the school itself. At least it calms down in the catch screen!

In terms of utility, he is the undisputed best ground type. There are plenty of reasons to hunt this fellow out, being quite likely he’ll remain the best ground type up until the current generation of Pokemon.

AVAILABILITY: Thursday, June 27, 2019, at 1 p.m. to Wednesday, July 10, 2019, at 1 p.m. PDT (GMT −7)

Groudon Movesets

Oh Boy.

So ground typing, sounds simple right? Weak to Water / Grass / Ice. Not too bad. Here’s the thing – Groudon has movesets that hit all of those types super effectively. And by “hit” I mean almost certainly 1 hit KO unless you’re packing some weird resistances from typing.

So to simplify things some, let’s cover when to use which types.

• Earthquake  – Only one of his movesets where the counters are simple.  Water, Grass, Ice are all fine here. Despite STAB bonus making him hit very hard, this is actually by far his easiest moveset. Earthquake is one of the easiest moves to dodge in raids as well, but the dodge glitch makes dodging only a good idea if you are certain you would be able to survive regardless.
• Fire Blast –  Here’s where things start getting complicated. Remember Ice and Grass, two of the three types that are super effective? Yea, the best of those die 60+ times against him. There are a couple of interesting exceptions (discussed below) but in general: If you are facing Fire Blast, use Water Types. Kyogre (very appropriately) rises as its greatest adversary here.
• Solar Beam  – Now don’t get too cocky. Kyogre gets drop-kicked from the #1 choice to not even making the list! Solar Beam eviscerates all water types not named Gyarados. But luckily recent months have brought us many top tier Grass Pokemon who are ready to rise to the challenge.

 

General Groudon Counters

Groudon takes 1.6x damage from Water / Grass / Ice

Groudon can be beaten by 3 players in optimal weather, with max friendship and perfect level 40 counters or by 5 unfriended players using level 20 counters from this guide. When caught, Groudon will be between 2260 and 2351 CP without a weather boost. In Sunny/Clear weather, Groudon will be between 2825 and 2939C CP when caught.

Gyarados

•⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Bulk
•⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Damage
•⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Accessibility

Delightfully, Gyarados manages to holistically shape up as a superior water type here. His often forgotten Flying sub-type gives him very interesting survivability. Flying has double resistance to Ground which gives him a little bit of an edge there (although not actually enough to pull ahead of Kyogre). But even more importantly, flying sub-typing allows Gyarados to be Neutral to Grass instead of being weak!

This leads to an interesting situation where they are not #1 against any particular moveset, but on the whole, their consistency beats everyone else. If you don’t know the moveset, Gyrados is your safest bet to survive Groudon’s many 1 hit KO moves.

While 400 Candy to evolve is as steep as it gets, Magikarp has been common since the games inception, and has had many events boosting spawns. But If this is your first rodeo, there are many other options.

Roserade

•⭐⭐⭐☆☆ Bulk
•⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ Damage
•⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ Accessibility

The best option against Solar Beam! Poison Dual Typing helps out a lot here, giving double resistance . Despite appearances, its survivability is only a bit below Venusaur with a significantly better Time To Win.

However, it isn’t quite as uncontested against Ground Movesets, facing stiff competition with Water and Ice Types. Here its poison typing hurts more than it helps.

And for the love of Arceus, do not use Rosarade against Fire Blast.

Kyogre

Requires 4 players with level 35 Kyogre
•⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ Bulk
•⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ Damage
•⭐⭐☆☆☆ Accessibility

The traditional nemesis of Groudon is in a tough spot. On one hand, it is bar none the best Against Fire Blast, but it is knocked clear out of the rankings against Solar Beam. Kyogre’s effectiveness depends entirely on Groudon’s moveset. Gyarados also has certain advantages over it as a water attacker (discussed above) that make Kyogre not the clear cut king they typically are.

Mewtwo

Requires 4 players with level 35 Mewtwo
•⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ Bulk
•⭐⭐⭐☆☆ Damage
•⭐⭐☆☆☆ Accessibility

If you’re bummed about Giratina showing up to outclass Mewtwo as a Ghost-type, here’s a neat role for the Grumpy Purple Kitty. Much like Gyarados, Mewtwo’s typing allows it to be very consistent since it never takes super effective damage from Groudon. It hovers around the top 6 against Groudon’s 2 hardest movesets and only falters against Ground Moves because everyone else can finally catch a break. Mewtwo is a very a good option if you are trying to make a general team against multiple movesets. That said, Mewtwo isn’t exactly easy to come by, but at least you can chuck some Charge TMs at it if you want this moveset.

Feraligatr

Requires 4 players with level 35 Feraligatr
•⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ Bulk
•⭐⭐⭐☆☆ Damage
•⭐⭐☆☆☆ Accessibility

Hope you held onto some of these from Community Day! Their performance lies somewhere between Gyarados but their performance is very unreliable depending on circumstances. Against pure Fireblast, he manages to come ahead of Gyarados slightly, and against Solar Beam manages to cling at the end of the list (unlike Kyogre). We have alternatives to what he brings, but if you were playing on the right day, he is a very convenient choice to bring out here.

Leafeon

•⭐⭐⭐☆☆ Bulk
•⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ Damage
•⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ Accessibility

Leafeon is a new addition to the roster, and one that is very accessible! Provided you have 200 coins to drop on a mossy lure, or use the naming trick! Name an Eevee “Linnea” and you can get it without any other work when you evolve. Watch out though! This naming trick only works once, so make it count.

That aside, you really want the moveset of Razor Leaf/ Leaf Blade on Leafeon, otherwise almost every counter on this list is superior to it on average.

Glaceon

•⭐⭐⭐☆☆ Bulk
•⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ Damage
•⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ Accessibility

Lefeon’s chillier sibling is equally good, but equally terrified of Fireblast. If you are They are likely the most accessible ice type. While most of the playerbase won’t be anywhere near snow, if you do happen to find groudon on a snowy day Glaceon actually becomes the best counter sans Mewtwo!

You can aquire Glaceon if have 200 coins to drop on a glacial lure and evolve an Eevee under it. Or use the naming trick! Name a Eevee “Rea” and you can get it without any other work when you evolve. Watch out though! This naming trick only works once, so make it count.

 

 

Sceptile Vs.

Requires 4 players with level 35 Sceptile
•⭐⭐⭐☆☆ Bulk
•⭐⭐⭐☆☆ Damage
•⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ Accessibility

Manages to fall behind Rosarade in bulk somehow, even with a legacy move-but there is a *very* good chance you have one of these if you were playing recently. As the 3rd best counter against the dreaded solar beam, time to break them out.

Alternative Groudon Counters

Exeggutor – Alola

•⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ Bulk
•⭐⭐⭐☆☆ Damage
•⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ Accessibility

Last time Groudon came around Exeggutor was all the rage, and we finally had a Pokemon who could survive all of Groudon’s Charge Moves. Dragon Typing negates Fire Weakness, and gives double resistance to Solar Beam. Still, another strong candidate if you are trying to make a reliable team as opposed to a situationally optimal team.

Palkia Vs.

Requires 4 players with level 35 Palkia
•⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ Bulk
•⭐⭐⭐☆☆ Damage
•⭐⭐⭐☆☆ Accessibility

Has the distinction of double resisting Fire Blast, and only taking neutral damage from other movesets. Falls behind the aforementioned water types in pure damage, but against fire blast has superior survivability.

Venusaur Vs.

•⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ Bulk
•⭐⭐⭐☆☆ Damage
•⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ Accessibility

Basically an alternate to Rosarade, the first time a lot of people became aware of Poison duel typing being handy against Grass.

Breloom

•⭐⭐⭐☆☆ Bulk
•⭐⭐☆☆☆ Damage
•⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ Accessibility

Recently got a legacy move that made him a top tier grass type. Sadly his lower bulk doesn’t make Groudon a good place to show off, but he still tops the charts.

Weavile

•⭐⭐☆☆☆ Bulk
•⭐⭐☆☆☆ Damage
•⭐⭐☆☆☆ Accessibility

Shockingly he’s

even worse than Breloom! Mamoswine has no resistance to ground moves, and is actively weak to both  Solar Beam and Fire Blast! This Ice juggernaut may have beastly stats, but it just can’t keep up here.

Salamence

•⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Bulk
•⭐⭐☆☆☆ Damage
•⭐☆☆☆☆ Accessibility

Being a flying dragon is fantastic typing against Groudon, double resists both Grass and Ground, and has a typical resistance to Fire on top of that. While he doesn’t top the damage charts, he has the best bulk of any of Groudon’s counters. The only problem is it is pretty rough to get a high-level one. At least he has a community day coming up where we can finally bump up that accessibility.

Weavile

•⭐⭐☆☆☆ Bulk
•⭐⭐☆☆☆ Damage
•⭐⭐⭐☆☆ Accessibility

Very very inconsistent, but delightful against Ground movesets. Manages to jump ahead though when in Snow!

Tangrowth

•⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ Bulk
•⭐⭐☆☆☆ Damage
•⭐⭐☆☆☆ Accessibility

Sadly, Tangrowth was somehow cheated out of getting Grass Knot. It’s still great but outclasses by many many other Pokemon.

Latios

•⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ Bulk
•⭐⭐☆☆☆ Damage
•⭐⭐☆☆☆ Accessibility

Good bulk against Fire and Grass attacks, but honestly it’s doubtful you would need to resort to him.

Ho-Oh

•⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Bulk
•⭐⭐☆☆☆ Damage
•⭐⭐☆☆☆ Accessibility

My my how the mighty have fallen. Ho-Oh was the main answer we had to Groudon the first time he came out – pre-dating the plethora of interesting duel typing counters we get in later gens. The hidden Power lottery gives Ho-Oh a new trick and it still has phenomenal bulk against Solar Beam.

Articuno  in Snow

•⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Bulk
•⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Damage
•⭐☆☆☆☆ Accessibility”

Interestingly enough, Articuno vaults over almost every other mon in snowy weather, going from forgotten to one of your best options.

Shiftry

•⭐⭐⭐☆☆ Bulk
•⭐⭐☆☆☆ Damage
•⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Accessibility

Rather standard Grass Type in this context, but at least it’s accessible.

Carnivine

•⭐⭐⭐☆☆ Bulk
•⭐☆☆☆☆ Damage
•⭐☆☆☆☆ Accessibility

The very definition of inaccessible if you are outside a handful of American states.

Victreebel

•⭐⭐☆☆☆ Bulk
•⭐☆☆☆☆ Damage
•⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Accessibility

Poison Duel-Typing comes back, comes into the top 10 against Solar Beam.

Exeggutor

•⭐⭐⭐☆☆ Bulk
•⭐☆☆☆☆ Damage
•⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Accessibility

Far far lower on this list than his Giraffe necked cousin, Dragon typing gives a lot of help against Groudon.

Closing Thoughts

Groudon is a fearsome Pokemon to prepare against, but if any Pokemon was going to teach a healthy respect for the Earth – it’s them. Let’s work hard these coming weeks to reach the milestones trainers! Groudon isn’t going to be outclassed any time soon (at least until Niantic pulls more exclusive move shenanigans), and with it being super effective against 5 different types, they are a Pokemon you won’t want to miss out on!