Ever since Legendary Raids got introduced in July of 2017, Golem is one of the most useful and most used Pokemon in Pokemon GO. So if you were an active player over the last few months you probably have one or more of them powered up, but will Golem be useful in the future gen Meta?
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| Type Rock Ground | Boosted by Sunny Partly Cloudy | ||||||||||||
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Despite its great Defense stat it is often used as a Rock type offensive weapon. Its dual type helps him take less damage from Electric Fire Normal Rock and 2x Poison type Pokemon.
Golem in the past
Golem first got popular and really useful when Legendary birds Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres got introduced into the game. Golem was, and still is, the best counter for Legendary birds. (Only Omastar with Legacy moveset Rock Throw and Rock Slide was better against Articuno)
Golem was also one of the best attackers in Legendary raids against Ho-oh and Entei, and was also pretty useful against Lugia. Right now, with Rayquaza being the only Legendary raid available, Golem can still be useful, especially during Partly Cloudy weather when his Rock type attacks are boosted.
In the close future, with new Gen III Legendary raids probably coming, Golem will be usable during Partly Cloudy weather but not one of the best counters for incoming Legendaries. Also, Golem won’t really be usefull against Gen IV Legendary Pokemon either.
Unless we get Legendary birds back again in some kind of Pokemon event, Golem future isn’t looking to bright with new Rock type Pokemon coming relatively soon in Gen IV.
Golem rivals in future
Right now in Pokemon GO Golem is one of very few Pokemon that can have both Fast and Charge Rock type moves. Every other strong Rock type Pokemon like Tyranitar, Rhydon, Aggron, Kabutops or Omastar have only Charge move of that type. (Apart from Omastar with Legacy moveset)
But lets see how Golem stacks out against strong Rock type Pokemon Rampardos and Rhydon next evolution Rhyperior from Gen IV and against Legendary Gen III Pokemon Regirock.
| Pokemon | Type | Max CP | ATK | DEF | STA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Golem
|
Rock Ground | 2916 | 211 | 229 | 160 |
Regirock
|
Rock | 3087 | 179 | 356 | 160 |
Rampardos
|
Rock | 3179 | 295 | 114 | 194 |
Rhyperior
|
Ground Rock | 3869 | 241 | 224 | 230 |
Regirock is probably first of Golem rivals that will be introduced in Pokemon GO probably in form of Legendary Raid boss that would be easily countered with Kyogre and Machamp. It has the lowest Attack stat of the bunch but vastly superior Defense. Its stats are somewhat similar to Lugia, but with worst Attack and Stamina, and better defense.
Regirock will be a Rock type tank attacker with Rock Throw and Stone Edge (if Niantic doesn’t change anything). Sadly, like every other Legendary Pokemon, you won’t be able to put Regirock in a gym where it would thrive.
Rampardos is a Gen IV Rock type Pokemon that evolves from Cranidos. Rampardos has an insane Attack stat of 295 that is almost similar to Mewtwo (300). But his defense is really bad and he will be taking a lot of damage from opponents, good thing his Stamina is quite good so he won’t be fainting instantly.
If Rampardos gets a good Rock type moveset, and there is no reason why he shouldn’t, it will be one of the best glass cannons in the game no matter the type.
Rhydon is already a great attacker with great stats. Only things stopping it from being compared to Golem are his movesets. As we know, Rhydon can’t learn any Rock type Fast moves so we can’t use him as an effective Rock type attacker.
Rhyperior is Rhydon evolution introduced in Gen IV. Its every stat is great and his CP is elite. If Rhyperior gets Rock type moveset he will be superior to Golem in pretty much every way. And if it gets same, or similar movesets like Rhydon, it will be inferior to Groudon, but a good replacement for him.
Final thoughts
Golem will never again have the fame it had back in 2017 during Legendary birds raids unless we get them back again. We’ll soon have more Rock type attackers that will challenge Golem for that top place, but Golem won’t ever lose its place in Meta as it will always be a great choice against Fire and type Pokemon.
