Want to jump to a Pokemon? Click on their name here:
Snorlax, Lapras, Dragonite, Exeggutor, Slowbro, Poliwrath, Venusaur, Wigglytuff, Vaporeon, Muk, Hypno, Victreebel, Vileplume, Clefable, Nidoqueen, Dewgong, Gyarados, Arcanine, Omastar, Charizard, Tentacruel, Nidoking, Blastoise, Golduck, Kangaskhan.
Honourable mentions: Rhydon, Golem, and Machamp.
Honourable mentions: Rhydon, Golem, and Machamp.
Greetings trainers!
There are a number of sites out there with great quality of analysis tackling this very subject. A lot of that information is wonderful, but not everyone agrees on exactly where each Pokemon should get ranked. One great tier list can be found on pokemongo.gamepress.gg, which has a very strong list of Pokemon, and good justifications for each position. These guys are great, and you should definitely see their site for all sorts of Pokemon GO information.
However, one thing I find lacking from others' ranking systems is the logic of being an attacker vs. a defender. Obviously, very few people would attack into an Arcanine with a grass Pokemon. The folks at gamepress recognizes this, saying: "No grass shall pass." But what makes a good defender, a good defender? Is Arcanine a good defender because "no grass shall pass?" Or do Water types, which are extremely abundant, dampen Arcanine's potential? For instance, Pokemon like Vaporeon and Dragonite are likely to attack Arcanine, and Arcanine has a lot of trouble even denting these capable attackers.
Indeed, I feel that the one thing that is ignored in tier lists like these is the Pokemon's performance against its likely attackers. By taking into account the Pokemon's stats, useful moveset(s), and its performance against its likely attackers, I hope to strike a balance between simply having good stats, and being able to put those good stats to use. Most important to me is: how much relative damage does a defender do to its likely attacker(s)?
If you're interested in gym battle mechanics, you can scroll to the bottom of this page for an explanation of the main points, and any acronyms used.
S-Tier
Snorlax, Lapras, and Dragonite make up the S-tier: a status awarded only to those elite defenders that are good against most any attacker. There is no good way to attack into these Pokemon other than to power through them. No matter what attacker challenges them, it will take a big chunk of damage if not suffer a KO. These Pokemon are simply the cream of the crop, and there probably aren't any surprises here. |
Snorlax
Attack: 180Defence: 180 Stamina: 320 |
Zen Headbutt / Body Slam
Snorlax has a gargantuan Stamina stat, which is aided by the 2x multiplier for defending Pokemon. Normal typing is extremely difficult to hit effectively. Indeed, the only type that is super effective against Normal is Fighting, and Snorlax gets Zen Headbutt which punishes the use of Fighting types. If you have ever tried taking down a Snorlax with a Machamp, you'll know this all too well. Body Slam is a great charge move that is extremely difficult to dodge due to its short animation. Because the animation is so short, Snorlax can go back to using Zen Headbutt more quickly, which actually means Body Slam lets Snorlax do more damage-per-second than its stronger charge moves Earthquake and Hyper Beam.
The best attacker you can use to take down Snorlax is Dragonite. Dragonite hits like a truck, which is all you can really do to beat Snorlax. Arcanine and Vaporeon are also solid suggestions, but because Body Slam is so difficult to dodge, none of these Pokemon can get away unscathed.
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Lapras
Attack: 186
Defence: 190
Stamina: 260
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Ice Shard / Ice Beam
Ice Shard / Blizzard
Lapras has the good fortune of a whopping 260 Stamina stat, again aided greatly by the 2x multiplier. Its quick attack Ice Shard is also a source of very good damage, while it charges up either Ice Beam or Blizzard. The choice between the charge moves isn't that big a deal; Ice Beam's animation is slightly shorter and thus slightly harder to dodge, but both can be dodged readily. Ice Beam is just more obnoxious as it will fire off more frequently. Ice moves are resisted by very few Pokemon, and cover for what would be a problematic Grass weakness.
The best attacker you can use to take down Lapras is probably Arcanine. Arcanine's Fire-typing lets it resist Lapras' attacks, while Arcanine hits back with strong neutral moves. A good Fire Fang + Fire Blast Arcanine makes short work of Lapras, but even so you won't be able to take down a Lapras without receiving your fair share of damage. Snorlax with Lick + Hyper Beam or Body Slam also makes for a decent Lapras attacker, but is a bit potion-heavy. Finally, Vaporeon is a surprisingly good Lapras attacker, as its quick cooldown times allow it to dodge Lapras' biggest attacks. It feels wrong to use Water Gun + Hydro Pump to take down a Lapras, but it is one of the better options available.
The only way to beat Lapras and hold on to over half your HP is to dodge every one of its charge attacks. Because Lapras has so much HP, battles tend to be long and drawn out, which means there are a lot of chances to mess up your dodging. For this reason, Lapras earns a spot in the very special S-tier, despite having a number of Pokemon that can deal with it reasonably well.
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Dragonite
Attack: 250
Defence: 212
Stamina: 182
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Steel Wing / Dragon Claw
Steel Wing / Dragon Pulse
Dragonite lacks the insane HP of the S-tier defenders, but its insane Attack more than makes up for it. Steel Wing is Dragonite's strongest quick attack, and hits most would-be attackers at least neutrally. Steel Wing is also essential to ensure that Fairy types like Wigglytuff and Clefable cannot get a pass through your Dragonite. Dragon Claw is markedly weaker than Dragon Pulse, but its animation is so short that an opponent is unlikely to dodge. Dragon Pulse, on the other hand, will deal more total damage, and is not bad in terms of cooldown, so both are solid charge moves. Dragonite's damage output is truly impressive, making it a difficult foe to take head-on.
While this is true, Dragonite's crippling double weakness to Ice allow a number of Pokemon to get through. Lapras, Dewgong, and Cloyster can all take on opposing Dragonites even two times their CP and come out with a victory. This sounds like it should demote Dragonite from S Tier, and it's a tough call to make. However, Dragonite's naturally high CP makes it easy to overwhelm would-be Ice attackers. Because of its crazy high CP, it is normal to have to take on a Dragonite almost two times your attacker's CP, so very rarely is a Dragonite taken down without chunking most of its would-be attacker's HP.
Also, if you are tricked into bringing something like Cloyster, Dragonite has done its job in getting the attacking player to reduce the overall HP of the attacking team. So... it's kinda win-win. When the only way you can take down a defender while keeping your HP in the green is to bring a high-level Lapras, you're doing something right.
Tier 1
Tier 1 is comprised of Pokemon that you can't really take advantage of with any elite attacker. These Pokemon each trade damage extremely well, though their base stats aren't as overwhelming as the S-tier Pokemon. But the number of direct counters to Tier 1 Pokemon is similar to S-tier Pokemon; i.e. maybe 1 attacker can get a leg up on them, but that's about it. And even then, their respective damage output keeps them trading pretty efficiently for something controlled by fixed attack programming.
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Exeggutor
Attack: 232
Defence: 164
Stamina: 190
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Confusion / Psychic
Honourable mention: Confusion / Seed Bomb
Kicking off Tier 1, Exeggutor's mammoth Attack stat makes it a force to be reckoned with. Confusion / Psychic packs a wallop that few things can resist, not to mention it's a difficult combo to dodge. Exeggutor is kept out of S-tier due to its merely-"solid" defence, which means that damage racks up quick on both sides of the field when Exeggutor is defending. Nonetheless, a defender's job is to deal good damage before going down, and Exeggutor is one of the best at this. I mean, seriously! Using one of the strongest defending moves (Confusion), with STAB, and a 232 Attack stat? Even Arcanine takes a serious chunk from that.
Because Psychic is such a strong attacking type, nothing can really trade damage with Exeggutor cleanly. Seed Bomb is a strong alternative that can punish elite attackers like Lapras. But because Lapras doesn't resist Psychic anyways, using Seed Bomb just opens you up to be doubly resisted by Dragonite. It's still a fine charge move, and its DPS is solid, but Psychic is better in almost all instances.
The best Pokemon to attack with into an Exeggutor are Arcanine, Charizard, Dragonite, Lick Snorlax, and Lapras. Each of these can deal major damage to Exeggutor, but because Psychic-type moves go unresisted in this metagame, none of them appreciates facing an Exeggutor all too much. Still, they can trade damage to under half HP given a similar CP in attacker vs. defender. If the defender can do that much damage even to its choice counters, it's definitely doing its job.
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Slowbro
Attack: 184
Defence: 198
Stamina: 190
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Confusion / Ice Beam
Confusion / Psychic
Slowbro's Psychic-typing really helps it shine as one of the best defenders in the game. Other bulky Water types *cough* Vaporeon *cough* have a tough time dealing good damage to Exeggutor and common Grass types used to counter Water defenders. But Slowbro's Confusion is not only one of the strongest defending attacks, it's also perfect to punish would-be Venusaur, Victreebel, and Vileplume. The only Grass-type that can take on Slowbro is Exeggutor, and it doesn't really get a huge leg up on Slowbro because both Pokemon are trading resisted attacks. If Exeggutor is trying to charge up a Solarbeam, Slowbro can net some good damage with Ice Beam in the meantime. This also helps it hold off attacking Dragonites that simply try to power through everything.
Because Psychic-type moves are so rarely resisted, Slowbro's damage output remains strong against most people's elite attacking lineup. With the help of Ice Beam for coverage, Slowbro can fend off all of the normal counters for Water types. Using Psychic as a charge move is fine too, since in all other circumstances it's the stronger charge move. Psychic also has a shorter animation, making it more difficult to dodge. Both charge moves have their strengths, and neither really has what I'd call a weakness.
The same can be said about Slowbro. There really isn't a weakness you can take advantage of here. Lick Snorlax is probably the best counter to Slowbro, but Confusion hurts and Snorlax is potion-heavy, even if it does manage to stay in the green. Slowbro too is valuable for gym construction. Slowbro also resists both Ice and Fire, making it a strong Pokemon to place after a Dragonite or Lapras.
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Poliwrath
Attack: 180
Defence: 202
Stamina: 180
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Bubble / Ice Punch
Bubble / Hydro Pump
While Poliwrath lacks the crazy high stats of S-tier Pokemon, its stats are very good, and it makes up for it by having a crazy-strong quick attack in Bubble. Because the gym AI attacks at a fixed rate, Bubble's long animation isn't nearly as bad for defending when compared to attacking. Bubble is as strong as some charge moves, except it's a quick attack. That means that Poliwrath effectively starts off by attacking with something that has the power of a small charge move, and THEN it charges up its main charge attacks. Any Bubble Poliwrath makes a good defender, but Ice Punch gets the nod as an ideal set because it hits Poliwrath's Grass-type "counters" and Dragonite even harder. Hydro Pump is also good, since it allows you to just Bubble more often (which is hard to dodge efficiently), and will pack a punch if it does hit.
No Pokemon really truly counters Poliwrath except for Slowbro, which is not an ideal attacker at the top of most people's "spend stardust on this" lists. While its stats don't overwhelm would-be attackers like the S-tier Pokemon do, Poliwrath nonetheless battles with the best of them. When you've got Ice Punch Poliwrath, even Exeggutor will end up in the low yellow/red trying to take it down.
Poliwrath is also extremely valuable for gym construction. By resisting both Ice and Fire, Poliwrath makes for a strong Pokemon to place after a Dragonite or Lapras, often forcing a switch-out or simply finishing off the attacker.
Tier 2
Tier 2 defenders are very strong defenders in their own right. However, each has an unfortunate flaw that prevents them from trading damage as well as higher-tiered defenders. That said, slotting these Pokemon into a gym in the right spot can improve the gym's survivability greatly. But unlike the higher-tiered defenders, it's good to plan things out a bit more when you include any of these Tier 2 Pokemon.
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Venusaur
Attack: 198
Defence: 200
Stamina: 160
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Razor Leaf / Sludge Bomb
Honourable mention: Razor Leaf / Petal Blizzard
Razor Leaf is one of the strongest defending moves around. Against neutral attackers, Razor Leaf is just as good as Confusion, an undisputedly good defending move. That said, everything attacking into Venusaur will resist Razor Leaf, bringing its DPS down into Zen Headbutt territory. However, Venusaur's Poison typing comes as a blessing, as it gives access to Sludge Bomb, the main reason Venusaur gets to sit as highly as it does. Poison type moves are rarely resisted, and Sludge Bomb prevents the likes of Dragonite from simply powering through unharmed. The combination of both Grass and Poison attacks also makes it difficult to attack into Venusaur without taking big chunks of damage. Sludge Bomb's short animation also makes it difficult to dodge.
The major issue with Venusaur is that Dragonite can still break through by doubly resisting its Grass attacks. Charizard can also do the same, reducing a Base 15 attack down to an effective power of 9.6. Arcanine is also just a very strong attacker that can trade fairly well with Venusaur. But with all that said, just like Exeggutor, just because you can beat Venusaur doesn't mean you aren't taking chunks of damage in return.
The list of Pokemon that can deal well with Venusaur is really the same list that deals well with Exeggutor (sans Snorlax/Lapras), but because they resist Venusaur's quick attack, the damage trade gets tilted farther into the attacker's favour. Venusaur will still take down big chunks of their HP, but being reliant on Sludge Bomb to deal the major blows means that Venusaur trades very poorly with any trainer that is adept at dodging. But if placed after a Pokemon like Arcanine, Nidoqueen, or Rhydon, Venusaur can finish off or force out Water attackers like Vaporeon, and hit the incoming attacker with Sludge Bomb to make its worth known.
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Wigglytuff
Attack: 168
Defence: 108
Stamina: 280
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Feint Attack / Play Rough
Feint Attack / Dazzling Gleam
Wigglytuff is one of those Pokemon that definitely deserves more respect than it gets. Its CP is deceptively low for its combat ability, as its true strength lies in its gargantuan HP; its base Stamina is second only to Snorlax! And Chansey... w/e. Feint Attack is a strong defending move that is resisted by few, and can hit many strong attackers super-effectively; Pokemon like Exeggutor, Slowbro, and Hypno. Play Rough's short animation and strong damage output makes it a very solid charge move. However, Dazzling Gleam's animation takes just long enough that, in the long battles Wigglytuff has, it can often start launching multiple Dazzling Gleams in a row due to the defender mechanics increasing the maximum total energy of the defender. As such, after Wigglytuff takes the first attacker's charge move, it often has the energy to launch at least two Dazzling Gleams in a row, if not three. By taking fewer breaks to Feint Attack, Dazzling Gleam maintains a higher DPS later in the battle during the middle/end.
The key to what makes Wigglytuff a good defender is that very few things can take advantage of its typing. That said, Wigglytuff also rarely forces Pokemon out. The greatest utility Wigglytuff has in a gym lineup is to form an early-gym block to attacking Dragonites. Resisting Dragon-type moves is Wigglytuff's primary role in a gym. Players with strong Dragonites will often try to power through the random Pokemon near the starts of gyms using the strength of Dragon Breath / charge move. Wigglytuff's low CP helps put a very capable defender in the midst of the lesser defenders, which prevents attacking Dragonites from making the most of the early-gym grunts.
However, that low CP is also Wigglytuff's downfall. There's a psychological component to attacking gyms, and the higher the CP of the Pokemon in the gym, the less likely players are to attack it. It doesn't matter if this is justified (which sometimes, it isn't), it's the perception of the masses that makes this true. For the same reason, a Wigglytuff in a gym does nothing to ward off would-be attackers. And by the time Wigglytuff has earned some respect from the attacking player, it's often ready to be knocked out of the gym roster anyways. A very sad reality for a very capable defender.
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Vaporeon
Attack: 186
Defence: 168
Stamina: 260
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Water Gun / Water Pulse
Honourable mention: Water Gun / Aqua Tail
Vaporeon is one of the game's premier attackers, capable of running through any non-Grass type with the greatest of ease. This lends to people viewing Vaporeon as one of the best Pokemon in the game. However, while Water Gun is a fantastic attacking move, it's a pathetic defending move. To make up for this, Vaporeon has massive HP which is boosted by the gym defender mechanics, meaning it gets to use pathetic ol' Water Gun for as long as possible. Or... at least until it can charge up a Water Pulse. Once Water Pulse gets going, it can help cover for Vaporeon's poor damage output. But Vaporeon's relative damage output is nowhere near that of Pokemon like Poliwrath or the Confusion-using Exeggutor or Slowbro.
That said, Water Pulse has quite a long charge time for its damage output, giving opponents plenty of time to dodge if they want to. And even if they don't, it's actually got worse DPS than Bubble, just to provide some perspective. Yes, Vaporeon's best charge move is still inferior to Poliwrath's simple quick attack. For this reason, Aqua Tail can be preferrable as its animation is shorter, but you'll be left with a lower overall DPS since Vaporeon will go back to using Water Gun.
Pokemon like Dragonite, Exeggutor, Slowbro, Venusaur, Vileplume, Victreebel, Tentacruel, Gyarados, and even opposing Vaporeon, really keep Vaporeon from shining as a defender. That's a long list of Pokemon that can beat down a defending Vaporeon while retaining about half HP or better. But because Vaporeon draws battles out as long as it does, the opportunities to miss dodging Water Pulse arise often enough to help cover for Vaporeon's lackluster damage output. Vaporeon's water typing and high maximum CP also let it slip in after Lapras or Dragonite in a defending lineup, which can force opposing Lapras or Arcanine into a trade they don't want to get into.
Everything about Vaporeon is just not quite there for me as a defender, but because its maximum CP helps place it in the upper echelons of a gym, it can be slotted into gym lineups strategically to really stifle opposing attackers. It can also use its high CP to mentally ward off would-be attackers, as any gym with numerous 2000+ CP Pokemon tends to be a pain to take down.
Tier 3
Tier 3 is populated by a large group of Pokemon that tend to be one of three things. 1. inferior versions of higher-tiered Pokemon. 2. Pokemon with no major advantages over higher-tiered defenders, but some disadvantages. Or 3. Pokemon with crippling weaknesses. Nonetheless, these Pokemon are a cut above the random crap people throw in gyms, and placed correctly, can serve to improve a gym by countering specific likely attackers, while being competent in their own right. A few honourable mentions in Tier 3 include Muk, Hypno, and Victreebel, which each come up just short of greatness.
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Muk
Attack: 180
Defence: 188
Stamina: 210
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Poison Jab / Dark Pulse
Honourable mention: Poison Jab / Gunk Shot
Honourable mention: Poison Jab / Sludge Wave
It's strange to see a Pokemon with such great stats ranked so far down the list, but here we have Muk! A great Stamina combined with solid defences, Muk's stats are superior to the likes of Slowbro and Poliwrath. The issue with Muk is in its typing. Being a Poison-type, its weakness to Psychic-type attacks is a curse with a silver lining: it can at least attack relatively unresisted. Poison Jab does a good chunk to most anything, while Dark Pulse is a solid charge attack, but its damage output is a cut below where it needs to be due to Muk's lack of Dark-type STAB. Muk is also one of those Pokemon where it's very easy to obtain a solid moveset. Poison Jab does most of the work, while Dark Pulse simply fires more often than the other quick charge moves, keeping Muk's DPS high while being controlled by the gym AI. However, both Gunk Shot and Sludge Wave have good DPS, and are not terribly inferior.
Muk is really borderline Tier 2-3 honestly. It's got a great stat distribution for defending, and its quick attack is strong. But without a charge attack to really hit hard near the end of the battle, Muk can be overrun by attackers with strong charge moves. Obscure Rock-type Pokemon like Omastar, Golem, and Rhydon, can all tackle Muk relatively well too since they resist Poison Jab. The usual strong attackers fair well, including Dragonite. But Muk's best charge move does provide an answer to Slowbro (Dark Pulse).
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Hypno
Attack: 162
Defence: 196
Stamina: 170
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Confusion / Psychic
Honourable mention: Confusion / Psyshock
Hypno, or as we in western Canada refer to it, "f***ing Hypno," is a Pokemon that can be a great frustration to attackers. For one thing, Hypno is the strongest pure Psychic type currently in the game. That means you can't get around its typing and select choice attackers like you can with Exeggutor or Slowbro. No... you have to fight it head on. And it's gonna be using Confusion / Psychic: have fun son. What's more, Psyshock is just fine. Zen Headbutt isn't that much of a demotion either. So most Hypno out there will be capable. You never get to face that random Mud Slap Poliwrath. No sir, Hypno is always, always, a nuisance.
The best counters to Hypno are Lick Snorlax, Dragonite, and Bite Gyarados or Arcanine. Past that, you're just using a strong attacker to power through it, while taking Confusion / Psychic in return. The one thing that keeps Hypno out of the upper tiers is its poor attack stat, leading to a relatively low maximum CP. Not only does this mean Hypno's damage output isn't as good as say... Exeggutor or Slowbro, but it also keeps Hypno in the lower rungs of the gym. Hypno just doesn't command much respect, especially in areas where Drowzee spawn frequently. But for its relative CP, Hypno is a huge pain that makes a gym unappealing to attack, even to teammates; A Hypno at the front makes it incredibly difficult to earn prestige.
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Victreebel
Attack: 222
Defence: 152
Stamina: 160
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Razor Leaf / Sludge Bomb
Honourable mention: Razor Leaf / Leaf Blade
Victreebel is just a Venusaur with worse overall stats. That alone isn't enough reason to demote it to Tier 3, but Victreebel's disappointing Defence stat really takes some wind out of its sails. It's still a capable defender that can be placed in a good gym slot for strategic value. But Victreebel takes a lot more damage from attackers like Dragonite, Arcanine, and Charizard, and is unable to dish out damage quick enough to cover for its weakened defence. If Victreebel is fortunate enough to be taking on an attacker of lower CP, it will fair quite well. But Victreebel quickly loses ground when facing attackers of higher levels with strong attack stats.
It's important for defending Pokemon to have strong defences; this seems obvious, but I emphasize this for a reason. A strong attack stat can only take a Pokemon so far, because the gym AI attacks at a fixed 2-second interval. However, a defender is taking attacks far more often than it's dishing them out. If Victreebel had either the Defence or Stamina to give it a boost, it would be a shoe-in for Tier 2. But as it stands, it merely sits atop Tier 3, better than other Tier 3 defenders, but not by all that much.
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Vileplume
Attack: 202
Defence: 190
Stamina: 150
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Razor Leaf / Petal Blizzard
Vileplume is also like a worse Venusaur, but its overal stat distribution is better suited to defending than Victreebel's. If it had the same moveset as Venusaur, it'd be Tier 2-worthy. Unfortunately, Vileplume doesn't get access to Venusaur and Victreebel's best charge move, Sludge Bomb. This leaves Vileplume stuck with what was Venusaur's mere honourable mention: Petal Blizzard. Now, Razor Leaf / Petal Blizzard is a fine moveset, and it deals good damage to neutral defenders. But grass is an unfortunate attacking type to be stuck with, as a number of capable attackers can (doubly) resist Vileplume's attacks and hit it super effectively, including: Dragonite, Arcanine, Charizard, and Exeggutor. But Vileplume is certainly a cut above other Pokemon, with a strong quick attack and powerful charge attack. In the right gym order, it can force a switch out and deal decent damage to the switch-in, even if resisted.
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Clefable
Attack: 178
Defence: 178
Stamina: 190
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Zen Headbutt / Dazzling Gleam
Honourable mention: Zen Headbutt / Psychic
Clefable has a good stat distribution for defending, with a high total HP and solid Attack and Defence. Zen Headbutt gives it a good quick attack that is unlikely to be resisted, and also hits its would-be Poison-type counters harder (e.g. Nidoking). Dazzling Gleam is really what puts Clefable on this list. Dazzling Gleam's low energy cost, combined with its long cooldown time, help Clefable spam Dazzling Gleam constantly mid-battle. Clefable is also a good Pokemon to slot into the front of a gym and break up a would-be Dragonite sweep. Unfortunately, Clefable suffers from the same problems Wigglytuff does; few people will actively invest in Clefable, which keeps its CP low, preventing it from being intimidating. But Clefable will do good unresisted damage to most Pokemon that attack it, which makes it a solid defender to build a gym up from.
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Nidoqueen
Attack: 184
Defence: 190
Stamina: 180
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Poison Jab / Earthquake
Honourable mention: Poison Jab / Sludge Bomb
Honourable mention: Poison Jab / Stone Edge
Poison Jab makes for a great defending move, as its high base damage goes unresisted thanks to its typing. Two unfortunate flaws keep Nidoqueen from ascending higher. First, Nidoqueen's typing leaves it weak to Water, which severely cuts into its ability to defend against the likes of Vaporeon. Second, Nidoqueen's charge moves all take a full bar of energy to unload, which is fine... but not optimal. Earthquake is the most powerful attack, while Sludge Bomb has the next best utility and higher DPS while actually in use, and Stone Edge has the shortest cooldown and niche use. Each move is pretty solid, but the lack of STAB on Stone Edge leaves it ranked below the other options. While Nidoqueen isn't an ideal defensive typing, in practice, its solid damage output keeps it capable of trading well with most attackers, and it gets decent damage off onto something like a switching-in Vaporeon before getting washed away.
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Dewgong
Attack: 156
Defence: 192
Stamina: 180
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Ice Shard / Blizzard
Dewgong is literally just a mini-Lapras. It doesn't take hits as well as Lapras, and it doesn't deal damage out as well as Lapras. But it does totally block an attacking Dragonite, and few Pokemon can hit its weaknesses without being hit by super effective Ice moves themselves. While Electric attackers can do the trick, no robust Electric attackers exist; pretty much all Electric types are glass cannons. While Dewgong's typing and moveset are great, its merely "good" stats leave it trading about evenly with most neutral Pokemon. Its low maximum CP also prevents it from intimidating attackers, and leaves it knocked out of gyms early, similar to Wigglytuff and Clefable. Oh... and Arcanine runs through it pretty cleanly.
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Gyarados
Attack: 192
Defence: 196
Stamina: 190
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Bite / Dragon Pulse
Dragon Breath / Dragon Pulse (discontinued)
Honourable mention: ______ / Hydro Pump
Gyarados has great stats, but a poor movepool and a crippling weakness to Electric keep it from being a great defender. Unlike Vaporeon, Gyarados doesn't have a way to spam a worthwhile charge move (Twister is terrible), leaving it Dragon Pulse and Hydro Pump as its major forms of damage output. However, its Electric double weakness is actually somewhat of a blessing. Electric types are frail in Pokemon GO, and if someone bothers to bring a Jolteon or Electabuzz to take on a high-level gym, they've severely reduced the survivability of their team. As such, Gyarados' Electric-weakness can't be taken advantage of unless the attacker is capable of defeating the whole gym. If the attacker fails to defeat the whole gym because they brought an Electric type, simply by existing, Gyarados saved the gym 1500 prestige (the bonus you get for defeating all defenders). And when you're not taking advantage of Gyarados' Electric weakness, its superior stats keep it around long enough to trade damage with most Pokemon.
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Arcanine
Attack: 230
Defence: 180
Stamina: 180
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Fire Fang / Flamethrower
Honourable mention: Fire Fang / Fire Blast
Arcanine is a fantastic attacker thanks to its very high 230 Attack, and its solid defences. But on defence, its performance is lackluster. While Fire Fang is a reasonably good defending attack, Arcanine does exceptionally poorly against Vaporeon and Dragonite, which resist its Fire-type attacks and ram their way through. Omastar with Water Gun and Hydro Pump also decimates Arcanine by doubly resisting its Fire moves, and being potion-efficient while doing it. While Flamethrower is a decent charge move, its cooldown is long enough to still dodge. Because Arcanine's most likely attackers are going to be exclusively using Dragon Breath and Water Gun, dodging Flamethrower is not a big issue. However, Arcanine's incredibly high CP allows it to sit atop gyms, and it can be a great Pokemon to slot in behind a Dragonite as it trades very well with Lapras, or behind a Water type to take on likely Grass attackers. Arcanine's intimidating CP and valuable (though exploitable) Fire-typing can be used strategically to build gyms, but its weakness to Vaporeon and Dragonite make it unable to prevent a sweep from either of these Pokemon; even if Vaporeon or Dragonite enter the battle in the yellow. As the best Fire type in the game, and a reasonably available Pokemon, it earns a pass into Tier 3 for its ability to provide Fire-typing to gym lineups for strategic construction while also just being really high CP to give it as much of an advantage as possible over lower-level attacking players.
Tier 4
Tier 4 is full of good-but-not-great Pokemon. In most instances, there is a higher-tiered defender that does the same job, just better. These are Pokemon that are good at high CP, but definitely shouldn't be a priority for your stardust. Some of them can make reasonably good attackers though, so by no means are these bad Pokemon. But if your lineup runs deep, these are not Pokemon that will defend gyms better than other options.
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Omastar
Attack: 180
Defence: 202
Stamina: 140
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Rock Throw / Rock Slide (discontinued)
Water Gun / Rock Slide
Honourable mention: Water Gun / Ancient Power
Omastar's incredible rarity makes it a pretty obscure Pokemon that few have battled in gyms, but it performs admirably. Its previous quick attack Rock Throw (now discontinued) was a fantastic attack that was resisted by few and hit many key Pokemon super effectively (e.g. Dragonite, Lapras). However, I'll be ranking the currently-available Water Gun variant, which is disappointing in comparison. Omastar's typing makes up for this somewhat, as Rock-typing lets it resist a number of attacks without exposing it to too many crippling weaknesses. However, Rock/Water typing does leave Omastar ready to be decimated by strong Grass attackers, really reducing its utility. Its typing is exploitable, and its HP is pretty poor, but Omastar gets Rock Slide. Rock Slide is one of those attacks with just the right cooldown that the gym AI spams it, and its damage output can really leave a dent. But unfortunately, a strong Defence stat can only take you so far, and Omastar's poor stamina and weakness to readily-available Grass attackers really let it down.
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Charizard
Attack: 212
Defence: 182
Stamina: 156
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Wing Attack / Flamethrower
Honourable mention: Ember / Flamethrower
Charizard is weak to Water, Electric, and doubly weak to Rock. Its got solid stats, but its typing is easily exploited by a number of attackers. Double Rock weakness isn't that bad, but Charizard is essentially just a worse Arcanine in terms of stats. One neat niche it gets is Wing Attack, which will serve Charizard better against its likely attackers; people attack into Charizard with Pokemon that resist Fire, Ember's damage output is going to be worse in most instances. Charizard does doubly resist Grass though, so it's not terrible to slot it in after a Vaporeon or other Water type as it'll likely get to hit Grass types and then hit the switch-in neutrally.
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Tentacruel
Attack: 170
Defence: 196
Stamina: 160
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Poison Jab / Hydro Pump
Honourable mention: Poison Jab / Blizzard
Tentacruel gets Poison Jab, so that's solid. It's got good defence and reasonable HP. But its charge moves can be resisted by Slowbro, and its inferior stats compared with something like Nidoqueen prevent it from trading damage as efficiently in neutral situations. Unlike Nidoqueen, it's not weak to Water which is a major point in its favour. But its slightly lower maximum CP generally leaves it sitting near the start of a gym, where it fails to ward off defenders. In general, Tentacruel is actually quite a good defender for its CP; but it's never promising to have to say: "for its ____." Tentacruel just has inferior stats, a hard counter (Slowbro), and the same low-CP problem that Clefable and Wigglytuff have.
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Nidoking
Attack: 204
Defence: 170
Stamina: 162
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Poison Jab / Earthquake
Honourable mention: Poison Jab / Sludge Bomb
Nidoking is just a worse Nidoqueen. It's better for attacking with Poison-type STAB, but on defence its poorer Defence and Stamina make it objectively inferior. Same problems, but its worse at dealing with them.
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Blastoise
Attack: 186
Defence: 222
Stamina: 158
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Water Gun / Flash Cannon
Honourable mention: Water Gun / Ice Beam
Blastoise is a worse Vaporeon. Its HP is significantly worse, which is the most important defensive stat due to the 2x boost for gym AI. It also has slower-charging charge moves which means it will be using Water Gun more often throughout the battle. And neither of its good charge moves get a STAB boost, though at least Flash Cannon is unlikely to be resisted. But its long animation makes it easy to dodge.
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Golduck
Attack: 194
Defence: 176
Stamina: 160
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Ideal moveset(s):
Confusion / Psychic
Confusion / Ice Beam
Golduck has solid stats, but no moveset that really takes advantage of them to the fullest. While Confusion is a great move, not having STAB for it reduces its efficiency. Ice Beam is also a good move, and so is Psychic, but Slowbro once again jumps in to resist both. Without STAB on Confusion/charge move, Slowbro can really hold its own against Golduck. Exeggutor is also laughing against any non-Ice Beam Golduck. But Golduck is still a cut above other defenders. Its reduced defences relative to its Water counterparts are made up by having stronger attacks to use, but not by enough to outperform other low-tier defenders.
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Kangaskhan
Attack: 142
Defence: 178
Stamina: 210
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Mud Slap / Stomp
Not being from Oceania, I have no in-game experience with Kangaskhan. Its HP is great, but its attack is quite poor. It has a strong quick attack, but no great charge attack. Stomp at least seems difficult to dodge, and like it would charge up quite quickly, but Kangaskhan's low maximum CP prevents it from being an intimidating force in gyms. I'm sure it's solid, but I can't imagine it prevents anyone from wanting to attack a gym. It's probably a huge pain to battle when trying to earn a gym prestige though...
Gym Battle Mechanics
Gym battles have an attacker and a defender. The attacker is controlled by a player, while the defender is controlled by artificial intelligence (AI). There are a number of things Niantic has done to help the AI out, and a couple things that keep it in check. Here are the main details about AI defenders, and advantages that attackers have.
Defending Pokemon mechanics:
- The defending Pokemon's HP total is doubled to accommodate the gym AI.
- The defending Pokemon has two times the total energy.
- Pokemon gain 1 energy unit per 2 HP of damage taken. By having double the HP and double the energy bar, defenders get to spam low-energy charge moves near the end of a battle.
- The defending Pokemon attacks once every ~2 seconds, which changes DPS calculations to damage-per~2-seconds.
- Defending Pokemon attack twice in quick succession at the start of the battle, with the first attack occurring about ~1.5 seconds into the battle.
- The gym AI cannot switch, and cannot dodge.
Attacking Player mechanics:
- Attackers have normal HP.
- Attackers have normal total energy.
- Attackers can attack as often as their energy, and animation/cooldown allows.
- Attackers can launch their first attack about a half second before the defender's initial attack begins.
- Attackers can switch to different Pokemon, and can dodge the defending Pokemon's attacks.
Acronyms used
- STAB - Same Type Attack Bonus
- DPS - Damage Per Second
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