It’s December 10th, trainers of Fighting-type Pokemon are still eagerly awaiting the coming of the new king of the Fighters, Conkeldurr. Machamp uneasily sits upon the throne knowing the concrete carrying beast is coming for his crown.

Then, December 11th, Niantic dropped the bomb that would rock the Pokemon Go meta to its core. Lucario, the Aura Pokémon, will be getting its signature Move – Aura Sphere. This put Lucario at the top of the Fighters and unseated Conkeldurr before it even took it.

So where does that leave Conkeldurr? Where does he fit into the Raid and Player battle meta? Fear not trainers! We’re going to answer that and more!

Let’s get into it!

Evolution Line

Timburr		Gurdurr		Conkeldurr
		50 Candies		Trade or 200 Candies

You can evolve a Timburr into Gurrdurr for 50 candies, you can then evolve Gurdurr into Conkeldurr with 200 more candies.  Or, if you trade it away it will evolve for the trainer you trade it away too. So if you find someone who’s willing to swap Gurdurr’s with you you can both get yourself a Conkeldurr. If you’ve managed to get yourself one with good IV’s it’s worth grinding out the candies to evolve one yourself. Using your lucky trade on a Gurdurr is another way to get your hands on a good IV one as well.

Stats

Conkeldurr Fighting
Max CP 3337
ATK 243		DEF 158		HP 233
Weak to			Strong Against
Fairy Flying Psychic			Normal Ice Dark Rock Steel

Conkeldurr’s stats are very impressive. At 243 Conkeldurr has the highest attack stat of any available fighting type in the game currently, and it’s 158 defence is only 1 lower than Machamp plus it has a higher HP stat. Conkeldurr has better stats than Lucario as well.

Moveset

Conkeldurr can learn the following moves in Pokémon Go:

Raid and Gym Battles

First, let’s look at where Conkeldurr fit’s into the Raid & Gym battle meta.

DPS

Conkeldurr falls solidly in as the #2 Fighting-type in the game currently in terms of DPS. Conkeldurr is bulkier than Lucario, so it’s TDO is much higher than Lucario. So in certain situations, it can perform on par, or better, than Lucario.

For example, Conkeldurr is the best option for Tyranitar with a time to win 0.1 seconds lower than Lucario, and 5 fewer deaths. Conkeldurr also outperforms Lucario against Regice, being the #3 counter vs Lucario at #12.

Best Moves – PvE

Counter and Dynamic Punch are Conkeldurr’s best moves by far. Poison Jab gives it some coverage against Fairy-types and Stone Edge gives it coverage against Flying-types.

Player Battles

Now let’s look at where Conkeldurr fits into the Player battle meta.

Conkeldurr performs very well as a fighting type in Master League, coming in as the 17th best overall and the best fighting type a full 13 places ahead of Machamp who is #2. Conkeldurr’s value in the master league comes as a closer, where he’s ranked #15.

In the Ultra league, there are better options. But at 52nd overall, and the 3rd best fighting type if you are in a pinch and happen to have one close to the CP cap then you could do worse.

In the great league, Conkeldurr is outperformed by several fighting types who have much better coverage with their move-sets. So invest your stardust somewhere else if you are in need of a fighting type.

Best Moves – PvP

Counter with Dynamic Punch and Stone Edge are your best best for PvP. Stone Edge will give Conkeldurr good coverage for flying types. If you’re worried about Fairy types, you could switch out Counter for Poison Jab.

Conclusion

Conkeldurr is a very meta-relevant Pokemon and will remain near the top of the list for generations to come.  Lucario is the current king of the fighting types, but Conkeldurr holds its own and even outperforms Lucario in more than a few situations.

In PvP, Conkeldurr is a solid option for Master League if you’re in the market for a fighting type, not so much in the other two leagues.

It is worth the investment of the stardust and candies if you get yourself one with good IV’s. Conkeldurr comes with the bonus of being able to get yourself a “Pokedex entry” with only a 50 candy investment by having another trainer trade you a Gurdurr.