Which Pokemon Are the Best Attackers in Pokemon Go?

At its core, Pokemon Go is about two things: catching Pokemon and using them to attack gyms and Raid Bosses. That’s why it’s important to know which Pokemon are the best attackers in Pokemon Go, both in terms of who has the strongest attacks, and which are the most valuable against common gym defenders and raid bosses.

Everyone has there personal favorites, but the website Gamepress has come up with what they feel is a definitive ranking based on the game’s current metagame. With the constant rollout of new Legendary Pokemon and the addition of raids over the summer, some Pokemon are considered a lot more valuable and viable now than they were when the game came out last year.

Gamepress’s rankings are based off of a number of factors including a Pokemon’s usefulness in high level raids and their performance against common gym defenders. And while different Pokemon are useful in different situations, Gamepress based its tier rankings off of which Pokemon are the most useful in the largest amount of scenarios.

So which Pokemon are the strongest in Pokemon Go? Keep scrolling down to find out:

C Tier

Gamepress’s C Tier is largely reserved for Pokemon that are useful only in specific situations. These are all powerful Pokemon, but their typing puts them in disadvantages against multiple high level Raid Bosses, or certain gym defenders. So, while a Fire Pokemon like Entei has one of the strongest Attack stats in the game, it’s not going to be useful in a Raid against Tyranitar, Suicune, or Vaporeon.

Here’s the full list of C Tier Pokemon along with their ideal movesets:

• Venusaur: Vine Whip or Razor Leaf/Solar Beam
• Victreebel: Razor Leaf/Solar Beam or Leaf Blade
• Heracross: Counter/Close Combat
• Scizor: Fury Cutter/X-Scissor
• Pinsir: Bug Bite/X-Scissor
• Entei: Fire Spin or Fire Fang/Overheat
• Gyarados: Bite/Hydro Pump or Crunch
• Moltres: Fire Spin/Overheat

B Tier

The B Tier is largely reserved for Pokemon that are considered “glass cannons” in battle, but are “must haves” in a lot of different raid situations. Gengar’s not going to last too long in a battle against Mewtwo, but it’s capable of dishing out a lot more damage than the average Pokemon. Lugia is also on this tier because while it has a decent Attack stat, it doesn’t have a type advantage against a lot of Pokemon.

Here’s the full list of B Tier Pokemon along with their ideal movesets:

• Gengar: Shadow Claw/Shadow Ball
• Houndoom: Snarl/Foul Play
• Lugia: Extrasensory/Future Sight
• Jolteon: Thunder Shock/Thunderbolt

A- Tier

The A- Tier is largely reserved for Pokemon considered to be the best of their respective type, but still have weaknesses preventing them from being useful in every situation. For example, Vaporeon is considered the strongest Water-Type attacker in the game, but it’s still useless in Raids against Raikou or Zapdos. Since a lot of these Pokemon are weak against other Pokemon that are very common in the metagame, they can’t really be considered the “top” attackers of the game. 

Here’s the full list of A- Tier Pokemon along with their ideal movesets:

• Alakazam: Confusion or Psycho Cut/Future Sight
• Omastar: Rock Throw/Rock Slide or Hydro Pump
• Zapdos: Charge Beam/Thunderbolt
• Vaporeon: Water Gun/Hydro Pump or Aqua Tail
• Espeon: Confusion or Zen Headbutt/Future Sight

A Tier

The A Tier Pokemon are some of the best situational Pokemon in the game. They have their weaknesses, sure, but these Pokemon are all capable of dishing out a lot of damage on a lot of different Pokemon.

You’ll recognize a few of the Pokemon on these lists if you’ve been following our coverage on how to beat certain Legendary Pokemon, but there’s at least one Pokemon that’s a surprise. 

Here’s the full list of A Tier Pokemon along with their ideal movesets:

• Raikou: Thundershock/Wild Charge
• Rhydon: Mud Slap/Stone Edge or Earthquake
• Golem: Rock Throw/Stone Edge 
• Exeggutor: Confusion or Extrasensory or Bullet Seed/Solar Beam
• Machamp: Counter or Karate Chop/Dynamic Punch

S Tier

The S Tier is reserved for Pokemon Go‘s strongest Pokemon, the Pokemon that are useful in just about every Pokemon situation. These Pokemon are so powerful, the other tiers are largely made up of Pokemon that you’d need to have on your team just to have a chance of bringing them down.

All three “stages” of Pokemon Go are represented in the S Tier. Dragonite was the strongest Pokemon during the game’s early months, then Tyranitar appeared on the scene with the other Gen 2 Pokemon, and now Mewtwo is dominating players’ attention during Legendary Raids. 

Here’s the full list of S Tier Pokemon along with their ideal movesets:

• Mewtwo: Psycho Cut or Confusion/Shadow Ball
• Tyranitar: Bite/Crunch or Stone Edge
• Dragonite: Dragon Tail or Dragon Breath/Outrage