Dialga in the Pokemon GO Meta: Overview and Analysis

March 1, 2019

Contents

Pokémon GO Dialga is a legendary Dragon Steel type Pokémon that is introduced in Generation 4 as part of the Creation Trio, along with Palkia and Giratina. Dialga has top-tier stats, sporting a post-nerf Maximum CP of 4038, an Attack of 275, a Defense of 211, and a Stamina of 205.

Comparisons

Steel-Types:

Steel-Type	Max CP	Attack	Defense	Stamina
Dialga	4038	275	211	205
Metagross	3791	257	228	190
Heatran	3754	251	213	209
Melmetal	3599	226	190	264
Magnezone	3205	238	205	172
Scizor	3001	236	181	172
Aggron	3000	198	257	172
Empoleon	2900	210	186	197
Lucario	2703	236	144	172

Dragon-Types:

Dragon-Type	Max CP	Attack	Defense	Stamina
Dialga	4038	275	211	205
Palkia	3991	280	215	189
Rayquaza	3835	284	170	213
Latios	3812	268	212	190
Dragonite	3792	263	198	209
Salamence	3749	277	168	216
Latias	3510	228	246	190
Giratina (Altered)	3379	187	225	284
Exeggutor (Alola)	3014	230	153	216

Movesets:

Fast Moves	Charge Moves
Dragon Breath Dragon Metal Claw Steel	Draco Meteor Dragon Iron Head Steel Thunder Electric

Dialga Meta-Analysis

Being able to see Dialga after its stat rework and 9% nerf is certainly disheartening. While it may have the resistances of Steel typing to make it somewhat prominent, the lack of a good move pool and the nerf really drop it from its expected usage.

Now seeing what Dialga has, it is almost as bad as it could have been. Draco Meteor is somewhat serviceable, being comparable to Outrage, but being worse on the aspect of a single bar charge move that opens up chances for lost energy. Meanwhile, Dragon Breath is a straight out nerf, it is worse than Dragon Tail in every way, so the ‘mons with Dragon Tail have a default leg up on the Time God. Palkia with Dragon Tail and Draco Meteor, as well as Garchomp with the glorious Dragon Tail and Outrage it has, will almost certainly do better.

Meanwhile, its Steel usage is pretty nice, to be honest. As predicted, it has the high energy gain Metal Claw, as well as the nice Iron Head to make for a decent charge move. This will easily place it among the top Steel types. However, it will not be the best, as Metagross with Meteor Mash eclipses Dialga.

Finally, it needs to be said that the Steel typing in combination with Dragon of Dialga makes is a resistant powerhouse. It is only weak to two types, Fighting and Ground, while boasting 10 resistances, with 2 double resistances to Grass and Poison, as well as being a Dragon not weak to Dragon. While this does open up Dialga to get smashed by Groudon and Machamp armies in a raid, it also allows it in gym battling to be almost unrivaled, boasting huge power and a wide number of resistances to tackle any potential gym defender. Not to mention it is a Dragon that is not weak to dragons, making it extremely viable in raids.

That being said, a Tl;Dr for this day can be that unless they decide to change Dialga around, this Legendary Dragon is going to play second fiddle due to bad Dragon moves and Metagross getting Meteor Mash.

Weather Influences:

Weather	Pros	Con
Sunny	No Pros	Boosts Super Effective Ground types
Partly Cloudy	No Pros	No Cons
Cloudy	No Pros	Boosts Super Effective Fighting moves
Rainy	Boosts Thunder	No Cons
Fog	No Pros	No Cons
Windy	Boosts Dragon Breath and Draco Meteor Boosts Raid Boss	No Cons
Snow	Boosts Iron Head and Metal Claw Boosts Raid Boss	No Cons

The biggest weather to look out for is Windy and Snow weather where Dialga as a raid boss gets boosted, while also looking to fight one in either Sunny or Cloudy where Groudon and Machamp will walk all over it.

Dialga Raid Counters:

Dialga Raid Counters

Dialga

WEAKNESS Fighting Ground

BOOSTED BY Windy Snow

Supreme Counter
Machamp	Counter Fighting	Dynamic Punch Fighting
It is a fact of life for Pokémon GO, if something is weak to fighting, Machamp will rear its head and go out swinging, boasting the highest neutral weather time to win over any other available counter to Dialga, save Breloom against non-Steel movesets.
Excellent Counters
Breloom	Counter Fighting	Dynamic Punch Fighting
Breloom is a glass cannon and should be kept to the lead slots in the fight. In any case, where Dialga does not have Steel moves, it will have a faster time to win than even Machamp at the cost of more faints.
Hariyama	Counter Fighting	Dynamic Punch Fighting
Fat Machamp is never far behind, with a very similar time to win compared to Machamp and Breloom, with usually fewer deaths than either counter.
Lucario	Counter Fighting	Close Combat Fighting
For those lucky enough to hatch Riolu and get it up to a high-level Lucario, this is your time to show off. Lucario has managed to fit in around Blaziken’s spot in the fighting meta, with this being a scenario where it improves on the fire chicken due to its resistance to both Dragon and Steel
Heracross	Counter Fighting	Close Combat Fighting
Toxicroak	Counter Fighting	Dynamic Punch Fighting
Groudon	Mud Shot Ground	Earthquake Ground
Groudon’s usefulness cannot be understated here, in fact, Groudon actually has as high, if not higher, times to win against Dialga when the weather is Sunny, and even placing in the top 6 when it isn’t, all while fainting significantly less than any other counter. Groudon is very worthwhile to use against Dialga.
Good Counters
Time to win rises considerably from here, and these Pokémon are best kept to B-teams or used when a large group is active. Like almost any boss, it sometimes comes to strong generalists like Rayquaza and Salamence, although this becomes dangerous if it has a dragon moveset.
Blaziken	Counter Fighting	Focus Blast Fighting
Gallade	Low Kick Fighting	Close Combat Fighting
Rhyperior	Mud-Slap Ground	Earthquake Ground
Poliwrath	Rock Smash Fighting	Dynamic Punch Fighting
Mamoswine	Mud-Slap Ground	Bulldoze Ground
Donphan	Counter Fighting Mud-Slap Ground	Earthquake Ground
Mewtwo	Psycho Cut Psychic	Focus Blast Fighting
Rhydon	Mud-Slap Ground	Earthquake Ground

Shiny Dialga

Shiny Dialga will most likely not be available at launch, but it is reasonable to assume it will be in the game at some point. Basically, Shiny Dialga just gets a little more green-tinted all over.

Regular Dialga	Shiny Dialga

Dialga Pokédex Entries

Diamond Entry: It has the power to control time. It appears in Sinnoh-region myths as an ancient deity.
HeartGold and SoulSilver Entry: This Pokémon completely controls the flow of time. It uses its power to travel at will through the past and future.
It was created, alongside the other two in the Creation Trio and the Lake Guardians, by what is thought to be the creator of everything: Arceus.
Its typing is unique, there are no other Steel Dragon type Pokémon in the series thus far.