Pokémon Go | The strongest Pokémon of Each Type

The strongest Pokémon in Pokémon Go depends largely on how you use them. Every game situation, from gyms, raids to PVP, brings new ways of thinking about the competitive use of Pokémon.

Pokémon Go | The strongest Pokémon of Each Type

We will divide this page into multiple sections, including the best Pokémon in Pokémon Go by type, as well as the best Pokémon to attack and the best Pokémon to defend against gymnasiums and raids.

The best Pokémon Go Pokémon by type

There are hundreds of Pokémon available in Pokémon Go, and hundreds more will come as the game adds more generations. Combines this with the fact that attacking and defending gyms, raids and PvP battles require different strengths in different areas, and it is immediately clear that there is no objectively stronger Pokémon for all scenarios.

Still, it is useful to know which are the strongest Pokémon in general and the easiest way to group them is by Type. Here are the strongest Pokémon of each Type at this point, including the best options for their attacks.

Be aware that we have chosen the best available attacks of each type and that they may not be the best to have the best damage for that Pokémon in general. Rayquaza, for example, does more damage (and generally has better use) as a Dragon-Type attack Pokémon with such attacks.

But it is also the strongest attacking Pokémon in Flying-Type if you equip it with Air Slash and Aerial Ace, as noted below. So use this table if you are trying to find a good Pokémon of a certain type. Beyond the virtual realm of Pokémon Go, enthusiasts like Danireon also appreciate the tangible joy of collecting Pokemon cards.

The best Pokémon Go Pokémon by Type:

Type	Best Pokémon	Best Usefulness	Fast Move (of this Type)	Charged Move (of this Type)
Normal	Blissey Snorlax Slaking	Defense Defense Defense	Pound Lick Yawn	Dazzling Gleam Body Slam Play Rough
Fighting	Lucario Conkeldurr Machamp	Attack Attack Attack	Counter Counter Counter	Aura Sphere Dynamic Punch Dynamic Punch
Flying	Rayquaza Honchkrow Moltres	Attack Attack Attack	Air Slash Peak Wing Attack	Aerial Ace Sky Attack Sky Attack
Poison	Roserade Toxicroak Victreebel	Both Attack Both	Poison Jab Poison Jab Acid	Sludge Bomb Sludge Bomb Sludge Bomb
Ground	Goudon Garchomp Rhyperior	Attack Attack Both	Mud Shot Mud Shot Mud Slap	Earthquake Earthquake Earthquake
Rock	Tyranitar Terrakion Rampardos	Both Both Attack	Smack Down Smack Down Smack Down	Stone Edge Rock Slide Rock Slide
Bug	Pinsir Scizor Yanmega	Both Attack Attack	Bug Bite Fury Cutter Bug Bite	X-Scissor X-Scissor Bug Buzz
Ghost	Giratina (Origin Forme) Chandelure Gengar	Attack Defense Defense	Shadow Claw Hex Shadow Claw	Shadow Ball Shadow Ball Shadow Ball
Steel	Metagross Dialga Excadrill	Both Attack Attack	Bullet Punch Metal Claw Metal Claw	Meteor Mash Iron Head Iron Head
Fire	Darmanitan Entei Moltres	Attack Attack Attack	Fire Fang Fire Fang Fire Spin	Overheat Overheat Overheat
Water	Kyogre Swampert Gyarados	Attack Attack Both	Waterfall Water Gun Waterfall	Hydro Pump Hydro Pump Hydro Pump
Grass	Roserade Alolan Exeggutor Tangrowth	Both Both Attack	Razor Leaf Bullet Seed Vine Whip	Grass Knot Solar Beam Power Whip
Electric	Raikou Electivire Zapdos	Attack Both Attack	Thunder Shock Thunder Shock Thunder Shock	Wild Charge Wild Charge Thunderbolt
Psychic	Mewtwo Metagross Latios	Attack Both Attack	Confusion Zen Headbutt Zen Headbutt	Psychic Psychic Psychic
Ice	Mamoswine Weavile Glaceon	Both Attack Attack	Powder Snow Ice Shard Frost Breath	Avalanche Avalanche Avalanche
Dragon	Rayquaza Palkia Garchomp	Attack Attack Both	Dragon Tail Dragon Tail Dragon Tail	Outrage Draco Meteor Outrage
Dark	Darkrai Hydreigon Tyranitar	Attack Attack Attack	Snarl Bite Bite	Dark Pulse Dark Pulse Crunch
Fairy	Togekiss Gardevoir Granbull	Defense Both Both	Charm Charm Snarl	Dazzling Gleam Dazzling Gleam Play Rough

The best Pokémon to attack in Pokémon Go

Take into account that this list has an editorial approach, instead of simply assigning a rank to Pokémon based on their most damaging attacks. This means that our experience, knowledge and evaluation have weight, in addition to raw numbers.

That said, several sources were extremely useful to help us decide: community work like this table, as well as cross-referencing with GamePress and Gameinfo, who approached this situation in different ways, in addition to calculations of varying depth of simulation combinations to simplest attack and defense DPS calculations.

We recommend that you take a look at everything mentioned above if you are looking for more detailed information, but be warned: it is much more complex.

To make the table below we take into account all the available information as well as our understanding of the metagame – this means that although Alakazam may be at the top of all raw damage tables with the Confusion and Future Sight attacks, it may not be as high on our list because of the lack of defense and coverage against guys.

The best Pokémon to attack in Pokémon Go

Rank		Pokémon	Quick Move	Charged Move	Best vs.	Explanation
1		Mewtwo	Confusion	Shadow ball	Many	Mewtwo is still the best all-rounder, with a higher attack compared to Rayquaza, even without perfect attacks. You can also use Focus Blast as a Fighting-Type option to clean up gyms.
two		Rayquaza	Dragon Tail	Outrage	Many	A set of exceptional attacks and a massive attack value puts Rayquaza at the top of the dragons, but be aware of the double weakness against Ice-Type attacks.
3		Kyogre	Waterfall	Hydro Pump	Fire, Rock and Ground-types	Rock and Ground are still quite common in defense. In addition to a surprisingly high attack, Kyogre has the ability to save you from the much-needed Revives and is the best Water-Type Pokémon. in the game
4		Lucario	Counter	Aura Sphere	Dark, Ice, Normal, Rock and Steel-type	Aura Sphere made Lucario the strongest fighting type Pokémon in terms of power and speed. You can easily defeat your usual defenses and are useful against many Raid bosses.
5		Dragonite	Dragon Tail	Outrage	Many	It is strong against almost everything, great resistance as well as offense. Outrage places it above Salamence as another great generalist Pokémon.
6		Garchomp	Dragon Tail	Outrage	Many	Similar to Dragonite, but with less resistance and a higher attack. Replaces Salamence as a Dragon-Type attacker.
7		Tyranitar	Smack Down	Stone Edge	Many	Strong against almost everything, but with some more weaknesses than Dragonite. He has difficulties against Hariyama. Smack Down is essential to extract everything from your Rock-Type, but Bite / Crunch makes you Dark’s best striker.
8		Mamoswine	Powder Snow	Avalanche	Flying, Ground and Dragon-types	The prevalence of Pokémon Flying, Dragon and Ground in gyms makes this Pokémon a fantastic option.
9		Darmanitan	Fire Fang	Overheat	Grass, Steel, Ice, Bug-types	Darmanitan became his release in the best pure Fire-Type Pokémon, dethroning Entei.
10		Raikou	Thunder Shock	Wild Charge	Flying and Water-types	Gyarados and other Water-types are common defenses, so Raikou remains Electric’s best pure striker.

The best Pokémon to defend in Pokémon Go

As in the section above, this list of best Pokémon to defend in Pokémon Go is based on our own experience, combined with the statistics from the sources mentioned above.

The best Pokémon to defend in Pokémon Go

Rank		Pokémon	Quick Move	Special Move	Best vs.	Explanation
1		Blissey	Zen Headbutt	Dazzling Gleam	Many	It is still the best, even after the stats change. Any moveset surpasses any other Pokémon. It takes forever to be defeated and even withstands those who counter- It is also super effective against Machamp.
two		Metagross	Zen Headbutt	Meteor Mash	Machamp	It is less generalist than the robust Normal Type, but it can be a major counterattack to its counterattack, Machamp.
3		Snorlax	Zen Headbutt	Hyper Beam	Many	Essentially another option to use instead of Chansey / Blissey.
4		Slaking	Yawn	Play Rough	Many	With a lot of attack and CP in particular, which keeps the gym difficult to reach for attackers. It is best when combined with Blissey / Snorlax / Metagross for more resistance.
5		Milotic	Dragon Tail	Surf	Many	Tough, but can surprise Dragon-Type attacks with Dragon Tail.
6		Dragonite	Dragon Tail	Outrage	Many, including Machamp	His part of Flying makes him resistant to Machamp, meaning that it is difficult for attackers to sweep the gym. Combination of strong attack and resistance.
7		Gyarados	Dragon Tail	Outrage	Many, including Machamp	A double weakness against Electric, but many attackers use this type. Flexible attacks, but it takes Tyranitar’s counterattack.
8		Exeggutor	Confusion	Seed Bomb	Electric, Fighting	Counter common types by resisting Electric, Fighting, Rock and Ground.
9		Togekiss	Hidden Power	Dazzling Gleam	Many	Sturdy and with good types make it a balanced defense.
10		Charizard	Air Slash	Dragon Claw	Dragons, Grass	You can surprise opponents with this sturdy Fire-Type that is Grass’s counterattack with his Air Slash, but also Dragons counterattack (and offers general coverage) with Dragon Claw. It is a good candidate to fill an empty seat!