Garchomp
Attack
Defense
Stamina
Best Movesets
Analysis
Garchomp was one of the most anticipated non legendary Pokemon of Gen 4, and those who grew up with the main series games vividly remember fighting it (and maybe using it). Does Garchomp leave a similar impression on Pokemon GO? Well it's still certainly a menacing Pokemon. As a Dragon-type attacker, it is a fairly solid choice, although the competition is large and Garchomp does not have the highest ATK stat. In that role, Garchomp sets itself apart due to the different resistances provided by its secondary Ground-type, and may find itself shining against Dragon-type bosses that carry Rock- or Electric-type moves. As a Ground Type, Garchomp is a stellar option due to its great moveset and raw power, and its niche against Electric Types in particular is stellar due to its triple resistance.
Offense
- Dragon Tail should be paired with Breaking Swipe for the flagship Dragon-type moveset.
- Outrage is great, but is weaker and less reliable than Breaking Swipe.
- Mud Shot is recommended if Garchomp is to be used as a Ground-type attacker.
- Earth Power* is better than Earthquake for PvE offense, but is more limited in accessibility.
- Fire Blast and Sand Tomb have no offensive relevance.
Defense
- Dragon Tail does thrice as much damage per hit as Mud Shot.
- Breaking Swipe is generally the way to go on defense, as it's 3-bar and hard to dodge. However, Outrage has some worth due to the raw damage that it unloads when it drops.
- Sand Tomb has the advantages of being off-type with Dragon Tail and harder than the other options to dodge, but it's not very strong.
- Earth Power* hits quite hard, but its long animation speed is easily dodged.
- Earthquake and Fire Blast are both 1-bar charged moves that are extremely easy to dodge.
Garchomp can score maximum Energy Generation with Mud Shot... but the substantially larger overall performance from a STAB Dragon Tail outclasses it most of the time.
For Charged Moves, you're going to want Twister. This move is pretty cheap and hits surprisingly hard, making it a very valuable Dragon Type move that can be spammed with ease to rack up quick damage or bait shields. Earth Power has high power and relatively low energy cost, making it the go-to most of the time, though Earthquake has higher DPE and can absolutely nuke coming off of Garchomp's tremendous Attack, though its higher energy cost makes it a bit harder to use. Sand Tomb is also worth considering to some degree, as it's fairly weak, but it can be used to bait shields while scoring Defense drops.
While Garchomp has a super strong collection of moves, the fact that it loses to so many top tier Pokémon make it all but unusable down in Great League.
