Dragonite is considered the superstar of gym defense, especially if evolved with Steel Wing as quick move. We are aware that Dragonite can be very intimidating in Gyms, but with this guide, you should be well equipped to beat Pokemon GO Dragonite!

Pokemon GO Dragonite counter and strategy

Dragonite is a Dragon/Flying type Pokemon, which results in a few Type Weaknesses:

• Ice 1.56x
• Fairy 1.25x
• Rock 1.25x
• Dragon 1.25x

Ice is Double Super Effective against Dragonite, which leads to some interesting counters, but before you start singing “Ice Ice Baby” and praising that Cloyster, let’s dig deeper and see how each Dragonite counter performs.

 

Dragonite Ice Counters in Pokemon GO

The best counters for Dragonite are Ice Pokemon. There is no running away from it, if you want to slam Dragonites consistently, you need Ice. Here are the icey Dragonite counters:

• Lapras with Ice Shard/Ice Beam or Ice Shard/Blizzard
  • Lapras will annihilate Dragonite due to Dragonite’s weakness to Ice and STAB bonus Lapras gains when using Ice moves
  • Lapras can beat Dragonites almost 1000 CP stronger than it’s CP
  • It’s a top tier defender, but also a beast against Dragonite as Steel Wing is not Super Effective against Lapras
• Cloyster or Dewgong with Frost Breath/Blizzard
  • However, both suffer from low stats and low maximum CP when compared to Dragonite. You need perfect dodge and some luck to utilize them as easily as you would use a Lapras
  • A useful cannon fodder in before you deploy that Lapras
  • Use as strong as possible – they can’t match Dragonites with much higher CP

 

Other Dragonite Counters in Pokemon GO

You’re lacking Ice Pokemon? No fear, there are some other interesting options, besides Lapras and Dewgong:

• A bigger Dragonite with Dragon Breath/Dragon Claw 
  • Dragonite has also weakness to Dragon Moves so using a bigger one makes a lot of sense
• Wigglytuff with Pound / Play Rough
  • Dragonite has a weakness to Fairy Types. Wigglytuff perform surprisingly well against Dragonite due to Play rough being Fairy Type move and benefiting from STAB
  • Not good against Dragonites with Steel Wing
    • Wigglytuff receives 0.8x damage from Dragon Moves, but 1.25x damage from
    • Steel Moves

• Gyarados with Dragon Breath / Hydro Pump
  • However… Dragon Breath is no longer available for newly evolved Gyarados, so use this option only if you have one with Dragon Breath

Pokemon GO Dragonite

Dragonite is usually considered a beast when it comes to gym defense, especially with Steel Wing. Dragonite is a Dragon/Flying type Pokemon and has the best base stats of any Pokemon in Pokemon GO currently. It’s typing has only one weakness: Ice, as it is Double Super Effective against Dragonite.

Dragonite can have the following moves:

• Quick Attacks:
  • Dragon Breath (Dragon, 20 DPS)
  • Steel Wing (Steel, 14.29 DPS)
• Charge Moves:
  • Dragon Claw (Dragon, 34.38 DPS)
  • Dragon Pulse (Dragon, 28.33 DPS)
  • Hyper Beam (Normal, 30.20 DPS)