Gym Defense in 2018: a comprehensive guide to gym meta and best defenders

This article is a complete guide to Pokemon GO’s gym defense and best defenders in 2018. It focuses on the Gym aspect of the meta game, how to optimize the defense of a gym, how to order defenders, which defender covers which type and which move set should it have. It’s a long article, so be sure to bookmark it and come back when you need to deploy a defender. If you’re on mobile, remember that each table can be scrolled horizontally.

Main Series Gyms

In the main series games you travel around a region testing your skill and the strength of your Pokemon at gyms across the land. Once all 8 badges have been collected, the trainer is allowed to enter the Pokemon League to challenge the Elite Four, and finally your journey culminates with a battle against the Region Champion! Unfortunately the gym system in Pokemon Go is not as glamours when compared to the main series games.

Gyms in Pokemon Go

Gyms in Pokemon Go offer trainers valuable items to use on their adventures, as well a place to battle against rival teams Pokemon for control. If a trainer places their own Pokemon into a gym, they are rewarded with up to 50 Poke Coins, regardless of how many days they have been in the gym, when they return.

Gyms also function as a host location for Raid battles. If your team has control, you will receive the “Gym Control” bonus; 2 additional Premier Balls to be used in the Bonus Catch Encounter, where you have a chance to capture the defending Raid boss.

That being said, let’s now take a look at defending a gym. Gym defenders are typically selected based on having high defensive and stamina stats. Normal type Pokemon dominate this aspect of the meta, and with a single weakness, that’s no big surprise. In fact, the majority of the most popular gym defenders all share a common weakness to Fighting type Pokemon.

So that brings up the following question: What should i put in a gym to help defend and break up the common weakness?

There are 2 types of gyms to primarily focus on, Theme Gyms, and Type Coverage.

Theme Gyms

A theme gym is when a group of trainers decide to add defenders to all follow a specific style. A few examples of different theme gyms are babies, Eeveelutions, or a specific typing (Fire, Water, Grass, etc.) Although theme gyms are not the most meta worth strategy, they are a fun way for members of the Pokemon Go community to come together and show off some amazing ‘mon they have collected on their adventures.

Type Coverage gyms

These are gyms specifically intended to withstand assaults from rival teams. Building a type coverage gym comes down to selecting defenders that either deal Super Effective damage to popular Pokemon that dominate the overall meta scene (moveset), or provide coverage for the weakness of its prior defender (typing). Ultimately, a type coverage gym will need a combination of both moveset and typing to be successful.

Moveset

Often times Pokemon have access to attack options that don’t specifically benefit from STAB, but happen to be Super Effective against that Pokemon’s weakness. An example of this is Blissey, a Normal type Pokemon, with a weakness to Fighting type attacks. Blissey has access to a Zen Headbutt , a Psychic Fast Attack, and Dazzling Gleam a Fairy Charge Attack, which are both excellent attacks against Fighting type Pokemon. By understanding the weaknesses of your Pokemon, you can select movesets to optimize their performance as gym defenders.

Typing

Typically, when adding a Pokemon to a gym you don’t know the moveset of your fellow defenders. Insulate your teams gym by adding Pokemon that are Super Effective against the prior defenders weakness. An example of this would be to add an Alakazam Psychic to a gym as a defender after a Blissey Normal. Alakazam will deal Super Effective Damage to an attacking teams Fighting type Pokemon that they used to defeat the Blissey. Additionally, keep in mind Pokemon with a common weakness. Tyranitar RockDark is weak to Fighting attacks, and is a poor option to add into a gym directly after Blissey.

Memorize the weakness table found here to ensure you are optimizing your gym defenses!

The following are some excellent Gym Defenders by type in the current meta based on overall stats and type coverage:

Normal

These 4 Pokemon account for the very top tier of gym defense, however, they all share a common weakness and should never be placed into a gym one after another.

Pokemon	Max CP	Atk	Def	Sta	Fast Attack	Charge Attack	Coverage	Resistance	Weakness
Blissey	3219	129	229	510	Zen Headbutt	Dazzling Gleam	Fighting	Ghost	Fighting
Chansey	1469	60	176	500	Zen Headbutt	Dazzling Gleam	Fighting	Ghost	Fighting
Snorlax	3355	190	190	320	Zen Headbutt	Heavy Slam	Fighting	Ghost	Fighting
Slaking	4548	290	183	273	Yawn	Play Rough	Fighting	Ghost	Fighting

Fire

Pokemon	Max CP	Atk	Def	Sta	Fast Attack	Charge Attack	Coverage	Resistance	Weakness
Arcanine	2839	227	166	180	Snarl	Wild Charge	Water Flying	Bug Fire Grass Fairy Steel Ice	Water Rock Ground

Water

Pokemon	Max CP	Atk	Def	Sta	Fast Attack	Charge Attack	Coverage	Resistance	Weakness
Vaporeon	3157	205	177	290	Water Gun	Aqua Tail	Fire Rock Ground	Fire Steel Water Ice	Grass Electric
Milotic	2967	192	242	190	Dragon Tail	Blizzard	Dragon	Fire Steel Water Ice	Grass Electric
Wailord	2258	175	87	340	Zen Headbutt	Blizzard	Fighting Dragon	Fire Steel Water Ice	Grass Electric
Quagsire	1929	152	152	190	Water Gun	Sludge Bomb	Fire Rock Ground Fairy	Electric Fire Rock Poison Steel	Grass

Grass

Pokemon	Max CP	Atk	Def	Sta	Fast Attack	Charge Attack	Coverage	Resistance	Weakness
Venusaur	2568	198	198	160	Razor Leaf	Sludge Bomb	Grass Fairy Water	Electric Grass Fairy Fighting Water	Fire Flying Ice Psychic
Exeggutor	2916	233	158	190	Extrasensory	Seed Bomb	Fighting Ground Rock  Water	Electric Grass Ground Fighting Psychic Water	Bug Fire Dark Flying Poison Ghost Ice

Electric

Pokemon	Max CP	Atk	Def	Sta	Fast Attack	Charge Attack	Coverage	Resistance	Weakness
Ampharos	2695	211	172	180	Volt Switch	Focus Blast	Water Flying Normal Rock	Electric Flying Steel	Ground

Ice

Pokemon	Max CP	Atk	Def	Sta	Fast Attack	Charge Attack	Coverage	Resistance	Weakness
Lapras	2603	165	180	260	Ice Shard	Surf	Grass Rock Ground Fire Dragon	Ice Water	Electric Grass Rock Fighting
Cloyster	2475	186	323	100	Ice Shard	Avalanche	Grass Dragon	Ice Water	Electric Grass Rock Fighting
Walrein	2606	182	176	220	Waterfall	Blizzard	Grass Rock Ground Fire Dragon	Ice Water	Electric Grass Rock Fighting

Fighting

Pokemon	Max CP	Atk	Def	Sta	Fast Attack	Charge Attack	Coverage	Resistance	Weakness
Machamp	2889	234	162	180	Counter	Dynamic Punch	Normal Dark Rock	Bug Rock Dark	Fairy Flying Psychic
Hariyama	2765	209	114	288	Counter	Dynamic Punch	Normal Dark Rock	Bug Rock Dark	Fairy Flying Psychic

Poison

Pokemon	Max CP	Atk	Def	Sta	Fast Attack	Charge Attack	Coverage	Resistance	Weakness
Muk	2709	190	184	210	Infestation	Dark Pulse	Psychic Grass Fairy	Bug Grass Fairy Poison Fighting	Ground Psychic
Swalot	1872	140	159	200	Infestation	Ice Beam	Psychic Grass Dragon	Bug Grass Fairy Poison Fighting	Ground Psychic

Ground

Pokemon	Max CP	Atk	Def	Sta	Fast Attack	Charge Attack	Coverage	Resistance	Weakness
Rhydon	3300	222	206	210	Mud Slap	Stone Edge	Flying Electric Ground Fire	Electric Fire Normal Rock Flying Poison	Grass Ground Steel Fighting Ice Water
Flygon	2458	205	168	160	Dragon Tail	Dragon Claw	Dragon	Electric Fire Rock Poison	Fairy Dragon Ice

Flying

Pokemon	Max CP	Atk	Def	Sta	Fast Attack	Charge Attack	Coverage	Resistance	Weakness
Dragonite	3581	263	201	182	Dragon Tail	Hurricane	Bug Grass Fighting	Bug Fire Grass Ground Fighting Water	Rock Fairy Ice
Aerodactyl	2608	221	164	160	Steel Wing	Ancient Power	Fire Rock Flying	Bug Fire Normal Flying Ground Poison	Electric Rock Steel Ice Water

Psychic

Pokemon	Max CP	Atk	Def	Sta	Fast Attack	Charge Attack	Coverage	Resistance	Weakness
Metagross	3637	257	247	160	Zen Headbutt	Psychic	Fighting Poison	Grass Normal Rock Fighting Flying Poison Steel Dragon Ice Psychic	Fire Bug Dark Ground Ghost
Alakazam	2887	271	194	110	Confusion	Shadow Ball	Fighting Psychic Poison	Fighting Psychic	Bug Ghost Dark
Espeon	3000	261	194	130	Confusion	Psybeam	Fighting Poison	Fighting Psychic	Bug Ghost Dark

Rock

Pokemon	Max CP	Atk	Def	Sta	Fast Attack	Charge Attack	Coverage	Resistance	Weakness
Golem	2916	211	229	160	Rock Throw	Rock Blast	Fire Flying	Electric Fire Normal Rock Flying Poison	Grass Ground Steel Fighting Ice Water

Ghost

Pokemon	Max CP	Atk	Def	Sta	Fast Attack	Charge Attack	Coverage	Resistance	Weakness
Gengar	2619	261	156	120	Hex	Sludge Bomb	Psychic Fairy	Bug Grass Normal Fairy Poison Fighting	Dark Ground Ghost Psychic

Dark

Pokemon	Max CP	Atk	Def	Sta	Fast Attack	Charge Attack	Coverage	Resistance	Weakness
Tyranitar	3670	251	212	200	Iron Tail	Crunch	Psychic Dragon	Fire Normal Dark Flying Poison Psychic	Bug Grass Fairy Ground Steel Fighting Water
Houndoom	2529	224	159	150	Snarl	Crunch	Psychic	Fire Grass Dark Steel Ghost Ice Psychic	Rock Ground Fighting Water
Umbreon	2052	126	250	190	Snarl	Foul Play	Psychic	Dark Ghost Psychic	Bug Fighting Fairy

Dragon

Pokemon	Max CP	Atk	Def	Sta	Fast Attack	Charge Attack	Coverage	Resistance	Weakness
Dragonite	3581	263	201	182	Dragon Tail	Outrage	Dragon	Bug Fire Grass Ground Fighting Water	Rock Fairy Dragon Ice
Salamence	3532	277	168	190	Dragon Tail	Hydro Pump	Dragon Fire Rock Ground	Bug Fire Grass Ground Fighting Water	Rock Fairy Dragon Ice

Fairy

Pokemon	Max CP	Atk	Def	Sta	Fast Attack	Charge Attack	Coverage	Resistance	Weakness
Gardevoir	2964	237	220	136	Confusion	Dazzling Gleam	Fighting Dragon	Fighting Dragon Psychic	Ghost Poison Steel

Steel

Pokemon	Max CP	Atk	Def	Sta	Fast Attack	Charge Attack	Coverage	Resistance	Weakness
Metagross	3637	257	247	160	Zen Headbutt	Flash Cannon	Rock Fairy Poison Fighting Poison	Grass Normal Rock Fighting Flying Poison Steel Dragon Ice Psychic	Fire Bug  Dark Ground Ghost
Aggron	3004	198	314	140	Iron Tail	Heavy Slam	Rock Fairy Dragon	Bug Normal Rock Fairy Flying Poison Dragon Ice Psychic	Ground Fighting Water
Steelix	2439	148	333	150	Dragon Tail	Crunch	Psychic Dragon Fairy	Bug Electric Normal Rock Fairy Flying Poison Steel Dragon Psychic	Fire Ground Fighting Water

Bug

Pokemon	Max CP	Atk	Def	Sta	Fast Attack	Charge Attack	Coverage	Resistance	Weakness
Scizor	2801	236	191	140	Fury Cutter	X-Scissor	Psychic Grass	Bug Grass Normal Fairy Poison Steel Dragon Ice Psychic	Fire
Pinsir	2770	238	197	130	Rock Smash	Submission	Rock Dark Normal	Grass Ground Fighting	Fire Rock Flying
Heracross	2938	234	189	160	Struggle Bug	Close Combat	Grass Rock Dark Normal	Bug Grass Dark Ground Fighting	Fire Fairy Flying Psychic