"Rocket Leader Counters and Team Compositions (Part 2, Do the Shuffle)"

#PokemonGO: TL;DRBurn Shields against the first pokemon with a type advantage quick moveUse fast charging charge moves to take advantage of the three second delayBuild a trio of Pokemon that have type advantage against all 7 potential enemy Pokemon-If you know which 3 Pokemon they're using, you can build a better teamPrioritize using Pokemon with strong resistances over strong offensesPrioritize resisiting quick moves over charge movesHigher CP Pokemon will do better than lower CP Pokemon in rocket battles. This might seem obvious, but just in case, prioritize higher level PokemonPut your lead in the 2nd slot, and when the battle begins quickly switch to it. Switching will stagger the enemy for a few seconds allowing you more time to build up your charge move.So I guess the Rocket Leaders have shuffled. Good news for people looking for a new challenge, bad news for people who were hoping they would only need to invest in a few Pokemon forever. Also bad for me since I get to write another thesis on the Rocket Leaders. Disclaimer, most of this is based on Pokebattler calculations and feedback from users I've given advice to. A lot of what I'm about to say is theoretical, and I'm hoping some of your feedback here will help refine this for future users.According to this graphic on GoHub the new lineups are:Arlo: Bagon | Charizard/Blastoise/Steelix | Salamence/Dragonite/ScizorCliff: Stantler | Marowak/Onix/Electivire | Tyranitar/Swampert/TorterraSierra: Absol | Alakazam/Lapras/Cacturne | Houndoom/Shiftry/GalladeEach Leader has a new lead, and retained only 2-3 of their old Pokemon each. Luckily, the typing has stayed at least somewhat consistent, and since the pool of good PvP Pokemon was already somewhat limited we should be able to incorporate some of our old counters.As before, it's important to keep in mind that strict DPS isn't going to do the trick. With only 3 Pokemon, you can't rely on DPS to carry you here. If you're going to rely on Charge moves, you'll need to remember to knock out both shields first. Defensive Pokemon are going to be more important than usual, so remember to use Pokemon that resist their attacks (especially their quick attacks) in addition to having super effective moves.(L denotes Legacy Moves)Arlo:Bagon uses Fire or Dark fast moves and Dragon, Fire or Dark charge moves. Use high CP Dragon or Ice fast moves with a fast charging charge move to burn his shields (Fairy would also work, except Charm is the only fast move and it charges too slowly to burn shields effectively). Since Bagon won't use Dragon fast moves, you can get away with leading a hard hitting Dragon type. I recommendGiratina (Dragonbreath + Dragon Claw/Ancientpower)Gyarados (Dragonbreath + Twister)Dragonite (Dragonbreath + Dragon Claw)Tyranitar (Bite + Crunch)You can use Charm to kill Bagon, but you won't be able to use Charm and break both Shields. Breaking Shields on the lead is still the most consistent strategy, so these Pokemon are recommended for that purpose.His second Pokemon will be either Charizard, Blastoise, or Steelix.Charizard uses Fire and Flying fast moves, and either Fire or Dragon charge moves. The same rock types we used against him last time should work this time too.Tyranitar (Smack Down L + Crunch)Alolan Golem (Rock Throw + Rock Blast)Rhyperior (Smack Down + Surf)Probopass (Rock Throw + Rock Slide)We can also use these Rock Pokemon against any Dragons Arlo might be using in the third slot, but if you don't have these and you know he has Charizard, you can try using your fancy new Terrakion, or give Waterfall + Surf Kyogre a whirl.Blastoise uses Dark or Water fast moves and Steel, Normal, Water, or Ice type charge moves.Virizion (Quick Attack + Leaf Blade)Hydreigon (Dragonbreath + Dragon Pulse)Dialga (Dragonbreath + Thunder)Dragonite (Dragonbreath + Dragon Claw)Palkia (Dragonbreath + Draco Meteor)Magenzone (Charge Beam + Wild Charge)Most of the best counters against Blastoise are grass types, with Virizion topping the charts according to Pokebattler. This entire list would be grass types, except grass types are profoundly unhelpful against anything else Arlo uses (except arguably Steelix? But even then...) so you're better off using one of the other counters if you're going in blind. They won't be quite a good as a strong Grass type, but it's better to have a slightly worse matchup against Blastoise than a worthless Pokemon 2/3rds of the time.Steelix uses Dragon, Electric, or Steel fast moves and Ground, Dark, or Steel charge moves. Steelix is weak to Fire, Water, and Ground moves. You'll probably want to stick to Fire or Water though since Ground won't hit his other Pokemon very hard.Heatran (Fire Spin + Flamethrower)Entei (Fire Fang + Flamethrower)Blaziken (Counter + Blaze Kick/Blast Burn L )Kyogre (Waterfall + Surf)Excadrill (Mud Slap + Drill Run)Water types and Flying types are a liability now that Steelix has Thunder Fang. Fire types can run double duty, countering Steelix as well as Scizor.His third Pokemon will be either Salamence, Dragonite, or Scizor.Salamence uses Fire, Dragon, or Dark type and Fire, Dragon, or Water charge moves. You'll want to hit it with Rock or Dragon moves.Tyranitar (Smack Down L + Stone Edge)Giratina (Dragonbreath + Dragon Claw)Hydreigon (Dragonbreath + Dragon Pulse)Rhyperior (Smack Down + Stone Edge)Dragonite (Dragonbreath + Dragon Claw)Gyarados (Dragonbreath + Twister)Ice types are a liability in this fight since Salamence can run Fire quick moves. You can try running Togekiss here, but you'll be relying heavily on quick moves instead of stunning with charge moves.Dragonite uses Dragon or Steel quick moves and Dragon, Flying, or Normal charge moves. It's double weak to Ice, but Rock is also very good.Dialga (Dragonbreath, Draco Meteor)Togekiss (Charm, Ancientpower)Giratina (Dragonbreath + Dragon Claw)Gyarados (Dragonbreath + Twister/Dragon Pulse L )Dragonite is a nightmare no matter how you slice it. Having a steel quick move means that the only truly "safe" Pokemon to use against it are Steel types, but Steel types don't have a place in the rest of the fight. If you're struggling to kill it on the 1st or 2nd try, consider swapping a Pokemon for Legacy Metagross, a Thundershock/Rock Slide Melmetal, or a double Ice Suicune.Scizor uses Steel or Bug fast moves and Steel, Dark, or Bug charge moves. You'll want to exploit it's double weakness to fire.Heatran (Fire Spin + Flamethrower)Blaziken (Counter + Blaze Kick)Entei (Fire Spin + Flamethrower)Dialga (Dragonbreath + Draco Meteor)Kill it with fire.A good combination of Pokemon for Arlo might be a Dragon type lead, a Rock type, and a Fire type. The idea being that a Dragon type can wear down Bagon's shields, a Rock type will cover Charizard/the other two Dragons, and a Fire type would cover Scizor and Steelix. This combination could have problems against a Bagon/Blastoise/Dragonite, since it would rely heavily on a Dragon type to kill the first two and Dragonite could potentially kill your rock type with a steel move. For now though, I think Dragonite/Golem (Alolan)/Heatran makes sense. If you really want to go the extra mile, you could put Stone Edge on Heatran so it can damage Dragonite and Salamence.Cliff:Stantler is Cliff's new lead. It runs either Psychic or Normal quick moves and Bug, Electric, or Normal charge moves. A psychic quick move makes our standout normal types a liability now, but there are other ways of dealing with Normal types.Giratina Alternate (Dragonbreath + Dragon Claw)Tyranitar (Bite + Crunch)Metagross (Bullet Punch + Meteor Mash L )Lucario (Counter + Power up Punch)Lucario's somewhat unique typing allows it to brave Psychic attacks, taking neutral damage instead of super effective damage. He's not nearly as good a counter as he was against Meowth, but he's not irrelevant. Giratina Altered form is the standout winner though.His second Pokemon will be either Marowak, Onix, or Electivire.Marowak uses either Fighting or Ground type fast moves and Ground type charge moves. Marowak is the easiest Pokemon to predict in the lot. Hit it with Grass or Water.Articuno (Ice Shard + Icy Wind/Ice Beam)Swampert (Mud Shot + Hydro Cannon L )Kyogre (Waterfall + Surf)Venusaur (Vine Whip + Frenzy Plant L )Torterra (Razor Leaf + Sand Tomb)Lugia, Dragonite, and togekiss are also top counters, but they don't do much against Cliff's other Pokemon. Articuno can hit Marowak and Torterra, a water type can hit Marowak, Onix, and TTar, a grass type can also hit Marowak, Onix, and TTar.Onix uses Normal or Rock quick moves and Steel, Rock, or Ground charge moves. You'll want to hit him with 4x effective damage from Grass or Water. Unlike Marowak, avoid using flying types against Onix.Torterra (Razor Leaf + Sand Tomb/Frenzy Plant L )Kyogre (Waterfall + Surf)Venusaur (Vine Whip + Frenzy Plant L )Swampert (Mud Shot + Hydro Cannon L )Lucario (Counter + Power up Punch)Pretty straight forward. Lucario can hit Tyranitar and potentially act as a lead against Stantler, so he gets a mention.Electivire uses Electric or Fighting fast moves and Electric or Ice charge moves. It's only really weak against Ground, but the best counters are defensive.Giratina Origin (Shadow Claw + Ominious Wind)Torterra (Razor Leaf + Sand Tomb)Giratina Altered (Dragonbreath + Dragon Claw)Venusaur (Vine Whip + Frenzy Plant L )If you're having trouble against Electivire, you can try using Golurk, which is a hard counter but doesn't do much against Cliff's other Pokemon.His third Pokemon will be either Tyranitar, Torterra, or Swampert.Tyranitar uses either Dark or Steel quick moves and either Dark, Fire, or Rock charge moves. Fighting does best against TTar, but you can also hit it with Ground, Grass, or Water.Lucario (Counter + Power up Punch)Kyogre (Waterfall + Surf)Torterra (Razor Leaf + Sand Tomb)Venusaur (Vine Whip + Frenzy Plant L )If you're having trouble against Tyranitar, you'll want to use a Fighting type. Lucario resists both of Tyranitar's quick moves and packs a lethal punch, but you could sub in Poliwrath if you needed to. If you need your Pokemon to pull double duty, consider a Grass or Water type.Torterra uses a Dark or Grass quick move and a Ground, Grass, or Rock charge move. The Grass quick move is Razor Leaf, a powerful DPS quick move that doesn't charge fast enough for you to need shields. Razor Leaf Torterra is one of the most difficult Rocket Pokemon to counter.Articuno (Ice Shard + Ice Beam/Icy Wind)Moltres (Fire Spin + Sky Attack L )Regice (Lock On + Blizzard)Dragonite (Dragonbreath + Dragon Claw)Torterra was arguably one of the most difficult Pokemon to take down last time due to the prevalence of Razor Leaf. Eventually, I started putting a dedicated Torterra counter (Articuno) on my Cliff loadout just in case. Articuno can also hit Marowak, so it's not a bad idea to bring it along. Very few Pokemon can adequately dent it, but if you find yourself losing against a Cliff that brought Torterra, a common counter to consider is Drapion with Ice Fang + Sludge Bomb.Swampert uses a Water or Ground fast move and a Water, Ground, or Poison charge move. You'll want to use grass attacks to take it down quickly.Torterra (Razor Leaf + Sand Tomb/Frenzy Plant L )Venusaur (Vine Whip + Frenzy Plant L )Dragonite (Dragonbreath + Dragon Claw)Any Grass type should do the trick. Leafeon and Roserade are non-legacy alternates and Tropius is strong if you have the regional.Going in blind against Cliff, I'll be running Giratina A/Torterra/Articuno. Giratina will make a strong lead, Torterra can cover any of Cliff's 2nd Pokemon as well as two out of three of his 3rd Pokemon. Articuno is a strong ace against a possible enemy Torterra.Sierra:Absol can have a Dark or Psychic fast move and a Dark, Bug, or Electric charge move. This is bad news for most of our Power up Punch users not named Lucario. Most calculators will suggest Charm, and while that WILL work for downing Absol quickly, it won't burn shields at all. Consider opting for a strong shieldbreaker instead. As of now, breaking shields on the lead is still the best strategy for these fights.Lucario (Counter + Power Up Punch)Donphan (Counter + Heavy Slam)Scizor (Fury Cutter + X Scissor)Hydreigon (Dragonbreath + Dragon Pulse)Lots of Pokemon can beat Absol, many can beat Absol and break his shield, a few can continue to threaten the rest of Sierra's Pokemon. This might be the time to build a Scizor for yourself.Her second Pokemon will be either Cacturne, Alakazam, or Lapras.Cacturne uses a Poison or Dark fast move and a Fighting, Dark, or Grass charge move. Cacturne is weak to Fire, Fighting, and especially Bug.Scizor (Fury Cutter + X Scissor)Lucario (Counter + Aura Sphere/Power up Punch)Heatran (Bug Bite + Iron Head)Forretress (Bug Bite + Heavy Slam)Scizor really shines here, which is going to be a running theme against Sierra. Lucario is also really good here, preferring its fancy new move Aura Sphere. You can also rock a funky Bug/Steel moveset on Heatran for kicks.Alakazam uses a Psychic fast move every time and a Psychic, Ghost, Fire, or Fighting charge move. Consider Dark or Bug moves.Scizor (Fury Cutter + X Scissor)Tyranitar (Bite + Crunch)Heatran (Bug Bite + Iron Head)Hydreigon (Bite + Dragon Pulse)Giratina O (Shadow Claw + Shadow Ball)Metagross (Bullet Punch + Meteor Mash L )There are better counters than Scizor, namely Tyranitar and Hydreigon, but Scizor is gonna do good work for you here and elsewhere. Heatran, Durant, and Foretress do their best Scizor impressions.Lapras uses Water or Ice fast moves and Water, Ice, or Normal charge moves. Lapras is weak against Grass, Electric, Rock, and Fighting moves.Lucario (Counter + Aura Sphere/Power up Punch)Magnezone (Spark + Wild Charge)Melmetal (Thundershock + Rock Slide)Leafeon (Razor Leaf + Leaf Blade)Venusaur (Vine Whip + Frenzy Plant L )I would opt for Lucario here, since Lucario has the most range against Sierra. If you're having a lot of trouble against Lapras, try Magenzone or Melmetal.Her third Pokemon will be either Shiftry, Gallade, or HoundoomShiftry uses a Dark or Grass fast move with a Dark, Grass, or Flying charge move. It has the same typing and weaknesses as Cacturne from earlier. Hit it with Fire, Fighting, or Bug.Scizor (Fury Cutter + X Scissor)Lucario (Counter + Aura Sphere/Power up Punch)Heatran (Bug Bite + Iron Head)Forretress (Bug Bite + Heavy Slam)Look, it's our friends from earlier! Moltres, Blaziken, Pinsir, Durant, and Heracross are also all good here. Have I mentioned Scizor yet?Houndoom uses Fire or Dark fast moves and Charge moves. Scizor is bad against this one. You'll want to use Fighting, Ground, Water, or Rock.Tyranitar (Smack Down L + Stone Edge)Terrakion (Rock Throw + Rock Slide)Kyogre (Waterfall + Surf)Hydreigon (Dragonbreath + Dragon Pulse)Tyranitar hits almost as many Pokemon as Scizor does. Solid choice. Terrakion is a close second.Gallade uses Fairy or Psychic fast moves and Psychic, Grass, or Fighting charge moves. It's weak to Fairy, Flying, and Ghost attacks.Lugia (Extrasensory + Sky Attack)Giratina O (Shadow Claw + Ominous Wind)Moltres (Wing Attack + Sky Attack L )Metagross (Bullet Punch + Meteor Mash L )Dragonite (Dragonbreath + Dragon Claw)Your saving grace against this guy is that Gallade is a very frail Pokemon. Even hitting neutral damage should bring him down quickly... on the other hand, he hits hard. Without a hard counter, you might end up needing all of your remaining Pokemon to take him down.My pick for a blind Sierra run would be Scizor/Tyranitar/Metagross. Scizor should have no trouble against Absol or the Dark/Grass types, TTar covers Lapras/Houndoom, and Metagross covers Alakazam/Gallade. You can sub Scizor for any Bug shieldbreaker or Lucario.Disclaimer, this is a work in progress. This is based heavily on calcs, sims, user feedback, and my own experiences. My goal is for this to help people, so any feedback here is good feedback. I'm capable of mistakes, so if you see one please let me know! The last one I posted helped a lot of people, my hope is that this will too. via /r/pokemongo https://ift.tt/2Mt3El1