Groudon Trio Guide
Groudon, much like its eternal rival Kyogre, is currently the strongest of its type in Pokemon Go. Unfortunately for Groudon, it's cursed with the terrible Earthquake. While it's still best-in-class, its position as top Ground-type is much more precarious than Kyogre's position as the top Water-type. Rhyperior, Mamoswine, and Garchomp could all surpass Groudon if given Earth Power, which is one of the few good Ground-type Charge Moves.
However, Groudon has a few tricks of its own. Its signature move, Precipice Blades, currently has insane stats in the Game Master; it also has its own Primal Reversion, similar to Kyogre. Receiving either one of these would instantly catapult Groudon into unrivaled territory for Ground-type DPS. Therefore, raiding Groudon for Candy and high-IV versions should be a top priority for anyone interested in strengthening their raiding rosters. As always, raiding in groups of 5 or less is optimal for maximizing rewards from each hard-earned Premium Raid Pass.
The Groudon duo is possible. With Rainy Weather, Best Friends, and against Fire Blast, Level 40 Kyogre has a TTW of ~582 seconds, with 15-16 deaths. There isn't really much else to say about the duo: Rain is necessary, Kyogre is the only Pokemon that is capable of duoing, and Fire Blast is the only moveset that can be duoed. This guide will therefore focus on the more practical Groudon trio.
- Dragon Tail hits much harder than Mud Shot, has better neutral coverage, and is generally harder to go against.
- While Earthquake is Groudon's only STAB Charge Move, it is also the variant with the lowest barrier to entry. For people without full teams of both Water- and Grass-types, Earthquake will be the easiest set to go up against.
- Fire Blast is deadly for Grass-types and a cakewalk for Water-types. Grass-types and Ice-types will all get oneshot by Fire Blast if not dodged. As such, only Water-types (and Mewtwo) are viable for the trio against Fire Blast.
- Solar Beam is deadly for Water-types and a cakewalk for Grass-types. Every Water-type except Gyarados will get oneshot by Solar Beam if not dodged. As such, Grass-types dominate the rankings against Solar Beam Groudon.
- Sun boosts the power of all of Groudon's Charge Moves; however, it also boosts the power of your own Grass-type attacks. Under Sunny conditions, a wide variety of Grass-types can trio Groudon - provided they're not up against Fire Blast.
- Rain boosts the power of your own Water-type attacks. Rain makes the Groudon trio much easier - provided you're not facing Solar Beam. Solar Beam will still slaughter your Water-types (except Gyarados and Palkia); Grass-types will see more success against Solar Beam, even if it's raining.
- Snow boosts the power of your Ice-type attacks. Under Snow, Mamoswine, Glaceon, and Weavile can all very comfortably trio Earthquake Groudon. However, Ice-types still need to avoid Fire Blast, and Mamoswine gets slaughtered by Solar Beam thanks to its part-Ground typing.
Viable Counters
Minimum viable levels assume Best Friends, No Weather.
Italics indicate a Legacy move.
Against Earthquake, Water-types, Grass-types, and Ice-types are all viable; this makes Earthquake Groudon a much more accessible fight than the other two variants.
Against Fire Blast, Grass- and Ice-types are nowhere to be found due to being OHKO'd by Fire Blast every few seconds. That leaves Water-types (and Mewtwo) as the only viable type; of those, only a handful are strong enough for a trio.
Grass-types are predictably dominant against Solar Beam; Kyogre and the rest of the Water-type squad get OHKO'd by Solar Beam if not dodged. The sole exception is Gyarados, who still manages trio viability at level 40 due to its part-Flying type granting it neutrality against Solar Beam. Palkia is neutral against Solar Beam too, but its lack of a Water-type Fast Move means it can't do trio-viable damage for this specific matchup.