When Meteor Mash Metagross made its debut in Pokémon GO, it instantly became a meta staple. In fact, Beldum’s Community Day is probably one of the best Community Days of all time.
When Metagross was first released, it didn’t have access to Meteor Mash and Psychic was a terrible 1-bar move. Thus, Metagross was almost useless in the raid scene despite having amazing stats. Once it got access to Meteor Mash, its popularity skyrocketed and it became one of the best generalists in the game.
1 year later, Meteor Mash Metagross is still one of those Pokémon that you should power up in Pokémon GO. But how good is it now? Is it still as dominant as it used to be? Let’s dive in!
Meteor Mash Metagross in the raid scene
Metagross
SteelPsychic
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| Stats | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATK 257 | DEF 228 | STA 190 | |||
| Best PvE Moveset | |||||
| Bullet Punch Steel | Meteor Mash Steel | ||||
Metagross is a pseudo-legendary Pokémon, which usually translates into great stats in game. Metagross is no exception and rocks a very solid stat distribution, paired with a good moveset.
The main question you probably want us to answer is: is Metagross the best steel type attacker in the game? And the answer is yes, by far.
Steel type Pokémon deal super effective damage vs. Rock, Ice and Fairy type Pokémon. Some examples of raid bosses with these typings are Regice, Regirock, Kyurem (also Kyurem-B & Kyurem-W) and Terrakion. Future raid bosses with these typings include Xerneas and Diancie.
Wondering how it performs against them? Regular Meteor Mash Metagross is one of the TOP 5 counters in every single one of these raids excluding Regice and Terrakion, where it is still a TOP 10 attacker (they just have too many shadow/mega counters). Pretty solid, don’t you think?
But what about SHADOW Metagross?
Shadow Meteor Mash Metagross in Pokémon GO
If you thought that Meteor Mash Metagross was good enough, wait until you know what shadow Meteor Mash Metagross can do.
Shadow Pokémon are ridiculously overpowered due to the shadow bonus. Think of it as some sort of a permanent weather boost, on top of MM Metagross’ top-tier performance. Yeah, shadow MM Metagross is a monster.
In fact, if we take into account both DPS and TDO (weighting DPS a bit more in the equation, as it is the most relevant metric of the two) and we exclude Megas, shadow Meteor Mash Metagross is probably the 2nd best raid attacker in Pokémon GO as of now, just behind shadow Psystrike Mewtwo. That’s insane, right?
Shadow MM Metagross’ DPS is comparable to shadow Outrage Salamence, another top-tier attacker in the game. Metagross’ typing and bulk make it perform slightly better but both of them are the only real contenders against the king, shadow Psystrike Mewtwo.
How does this translate to the raids mentioned before? Well, shadow Meteor Mash Metagross is the #1 counter in all of them except vs. Terrakion (guess who is #1).
If you still don’t have a shadow Meteor Mash Metagross, go ahead and evolve all your shadow Beldum before it’s too late and the Hoenn event ends! Even if their IVs are trash, a 0/0/0 shadow MM Metagross will still outperform a 15/15/15 regular one by far.
Mega Metagross
If you’re not aware already, Metagross does have a Mega Evolution. Mega Metagross has a projected stat distribution of 300/289/190, which is just insane.
One fun fact you might want to know is that shadow MM Metagross outperforms Mega MM Metagross’ DPS, just to give you an idea of how ridiculously overpowered shadow Pokémon are. But don’t worry, you also need to factor in the 30% mega boost in raids and Mega Metagross’ additional bulk, which overall makes it a slightly better Pokémon. Still, shadow Metagross is an amazing Pokémon to have in your raid squad.
Mega Metagross will be the best steel type attacker by far and one of those megas you don’t want to miss out on.
Meteor Mash Metagross in PvP
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Metagross
SteelPsychic
|
||||||
| Best Master League Moveset |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bullet Punch Steel | Meteor Mash Steel | Earthquake Ground | ||||
Metagross can also be used in PvP. In fact, it is one of the best (if not the best) Pokémon to use in Master League Premier, and it also has some solid play in regular Master League.
Due to its stat distribution, I wouldn’t recommend using it in Great League or Ultra League, unless you want to go ultra spicy or if it has some play in some restricted cups.
Metagross has amazing matchups vs. fairy types (looking at you, Togekiss), ice types (such as Mamoswine) and most of the dragons (not vs. Garchomp, that’s for sure). Furthermore, it also rocks a nice set of resistances that allows it to have lots of neutral matchups.
Regarding Metagross’ moveset, Bullet Punch and Meteor Mash are almost mandatory. Earthquake will help you in some matchups where steel type moves are resisted (i.e. vs. Dialga), but you could also run Psychic if you want to add some STAB psychic type coverage to your team.
Shadow Metagross is not significantly better than regular Metagross in PvP. In the (Premier) Master League meta, shadow Metagross picks up one additional win vs. Snorlax (a bait-dependent matchup, by the way) but loses to its counters even harder due to its lower bulk. If you already have a regular MM Metagross powered up and double moved, I wouldn’t bother doubling up with a shadow variant.
Is Meteor Mash Metagross futureproof?
This is a question that some trainers might want to be answered too. Is Meteor Mash Metagross a safe investment?
And the answer is yes. Mega Metagross will be the best steel type attacker by far and that does not seem likely to change in the near future. The only Pokémon capable of dethroning it in the future are Sunsteel Strike Solgaleo and Behemoth Blade Crowned Sword Zacian.
Anyway, none of these options will be coming in a very long time. And even if they come, the stats of those moves are still unknown. So yes, do invest in your Meteor Mash Metagross and you won’t regret it.
Parting words
Let’s sum up the most important aspects of the article in the following tl;dr:
- Meteor Mash Metagross is still a meta staple. It usually makes the cut as one of the TOP counters whenever steel type moves are super effective in a raid battle
- Shadow Meteor Mash Metagross is ridiculously overpowered. In fact, it could be seen as one of the best Pokémon overall for raids and gym battles, if we don’t include megas in that comparison
- Metagross is the true definition of a generalist in Pokémon GO. Even if it’s not dealing super effective damage in a battle, its insane stats coupled with a nice set of resistances will make it a solid choice. If you want to know more about generalists, feel free to check out this article
- Mega Metagross is one of those megas you don’t want to miss out on!
- Meteor Mash Metagross is a safe investment
- Make sure you evolve all your shadow Beldum before the Hoenn Event ends to get Meteor Mash!!!
