February TGR Leaders Counters

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As reported by the wonderful people on the TSR Reddit, February has brought another series of changes to the Team GO Rocket Leader battles. Cliff will now lead with Pinsir, Sierra with Beldum, and Arlo with Mawile. But, that’s not all that changed, as the pool of Pokémon they have access to has also had a shakeup.

Let’s take a look at which of your Pokémon you should be taking into battle against each possible battle you could face during February. You will notice that Team GO Rocket counters are a little different than Raid counters. The ability to spam out super-effective Charged Moves is extremely important; you have to burn up those shields to take down the TGR leaders!

CLIFF

What can we say about Cliff? Lay off the protein powder homie! And maybe don’t shave a ball into your chin? Somewhere out there Will Smith is referring to you as a Ballchinion. Cliff is by far the easiest of the TGR Team Leaders. Here’s an in-depth look at how to defeat everything Cliff can throw at you.

1st Battle

PINSIR

New for February, Pinsir is weak to Fire-, Flying-, and Rock-types. Because of this we recommend using Moltres, Rayquaza, and Charizard to take down this bug.

Fire Spin Sky Attack	Air Slash Aerial Ace	Fire Spin Blast Burn

2nd Battle

ELECTIVIRE

Electivire is weak to one thing, and one thing only, Ground-types. Therefore, unsurprisingly, we recommend Garchomp, Excadrill, and Groudon.

Mud Shot Earthquake	Mud-Slap Drill Run	Mud Shot Earthquake

MAROWAK

Marowak is weak to Grass-, Ice-, and Water-types. Kingler, Kyogre, and Mamoswine should all make short work of it.

Bubble Crabhammer	Waterfall Surf	Powder Snow Avalanche

OMASTAR

Omanyte is double weak to Grass-types; therefore, we recommend the following three Grass-types to battle it with: Roserade, Torterra, and Sceptile.

Razor Leaf Grass Knot	Razor Leaf Frenzy Plant	Bullet Seed Frenzy Plant

3rd Battle

TYRANITAR

Tyranitar REALLY dislikes Fighting-types. Using a Fighting-type that can quickly get off its Charged Move will cut through Tyranitar like a hot knife through butter.

Counter Aura Sphere	Counter Dy. Punch	Counter Dy. Punch

SWAMPERT

Swampert HATES Grass-types, as it suffers from a double weakness to them. As you might guess, Grass-types make-up all three top counters.

Razor Leaf Grass Knot	Vine Whip Frenzy Plant	Bullet Seed Frenzy Plant

TORTERRA

Torterra is double weak to Ice-type moves. We Recommend either Glaceon, Weavile, or Articuno. Ice Ice Baby!

Frost Breath Avalanche	Ice Shard Avalanche	Frost Breath Blizzard

SIERRA

Sierra, girl, you got that sass, but we got sass of our own! Ain’t nobody got time for that whole “Mean Girl” routine! BYE FELICIA! Sierra is probably the 2nd hardest TGR Team Leader. Here’s our breakdown of how to say goodbye to everything Sierra can offer.

1st Battle

BELDUM

The second lead battle addition for February, Beldum, is weak to Dark-, Fire-, Ghost-, and Ground-types. You have a wide choice of Pokémon to choose from for this battle, but we recommend Darkrai, Blaziken, and Origin Giratina.

Snarl Dark Pulse	Counter Blaze Kick	Shadow Claw Shadow Ball

2nd Battle

LAPRAS

Lapras is weak to Electric-, Fighting-, Grass-, and Rock-types. Most of them should be able to get the job done, but here are our top three recommendations.

Counter Aura Sphere	Counter Dy. Punch	Thunder Shock Wild Charge

SHARPEDO

Sharpedo is weak to Bug-, Electric-, Fairy-, Fighting-, and Grass-types. For this reason, we recommend using Conkeldurr, Lucario, and Raikou.

Counter Dy. Punch	Counter Aura Sphere	Volt Switch Wild Charge

EXEGGUTOR

Exeggutor is DOUBLE weak to Bug-types. For this reason, Yanmega, Scizor, and Pinsir are the top three counters we recommend.

Bug Bite Bug Buzz	Fury Cutter X-Scissor	Bug Bit X-Scissor

3rd Battle

HOUNDOOM

Houndoom is weak to Fighting-, Ground-, Rock-, and Water-types. Swampert, Kyogre, and Terrakion can all beat it with relative ease.

Water Gun Hydro Cannon	Waterfall Surf	Smack Down Rock Slide

ALAKAZAM

Alakazam is weak to Bug-, Dark-, and Ghost-types. We recommend using Origin Giratina, Mewtwo, and Darkrai in this battle.

Shadow Claw Shadow Ball	Psycho Cut Shadow Ball	Snarl Shadow Ball

SHIFTRY

Shiftry is double weak to Bug-types, but also has weaknesses to Fairy-, Flying-, Fire-, Fighting-, Ice-, and Poison-types. Our recommendations are Scizor, Yanmega, and Pinsir.

Fury Cutter X-Scissor	Bug Bite Bug Buzz	Bug Bite X-Scissor

ARLO

Arlo; poor, misguided, slightly Emo Arlo. You’re angry at Candela; we get it. But, perchaps you’re going about dealing with it poorly? In our view, Arlo is the most difficult of the three TGR Team Leaders, here’s how to deal with him properly.

1st Battle

MAWILE

Our final lead addition for February, Mawile, is weak to Fire- and Ground-types. Blaziken, Charizard, and Groudon can all make short work of Mawile.

Counter Blaze Kick	Fire Spin Blast Burn	Mud Shot Earthquake

2nd Battle

BLASTOISE

Blastoise is only weak to Electric- and Grass-types. As such, we recommend using Raikou, Electivire, or Roserade.

Thunder Shock Wild Charge	Thunder Shock Wild Charge	Razor Leaf Grass Knot

CHARIZARD

Charizard is double weak to Rock-types and as such, all three top counters fit into this sub-typing.

Smack Down Stone Edge	Smack Down Stone Edge	Smack Down Rock Slide

STEELIX

Steelix is weak to Fighting-, Fire-, Ground-, and Water-types. We recommend using either Lucario, Blaziken, or Conkeldurr.

Counter Aura Sphere	Counter Blast Burn	Counter Dy. Punch

3rd Battle

SCIZOR

Scizor is double weak to Fire-types. Burn it. Burn it until it’s dead! Here are our top three recommendations.

Fire Spin Overheat	Fire Spin Blaze Kick	Fire Spin Blast Burn

SALAMENCE

Salamence is double weak to Ice-types but also suffers from weaknesses to Dragon-, Fairy-, and Rock-types. Here are our top three counters.

Psycho Cut Ice Beam	Powder Snow Avalanche	Frost Breath Avalanche

DRAGONITE

Dragonite is double weak to Ice-types and also has weaknesses to Dragon-, Fairy-, and Rock-types. The same counters for Salamence also work well here.

Psyco Cut Ice Beam	Powder Snow Avalanche	Frost Breath Avalanche

GIOVANNI

FINALLY! The TGR boss man himself, big daddy G, the evil genius, Giovanni. Unless it isn’t? Decoys aside, Giovanni isn’t all that difficult, you know what the first and last battles will be, and all three Pokémon you could face in the 2nd Battle, have the same weaknesses. Here’s our take on how to lay the beat down on Giovanni and send him back to the shadows.

1st Battle

PERSIAN

Persian is only weak to Fighting-types. Do you know what that means? Yup! Lucario time again! Lucario offers a pretty wide range of resistances against Persian’s moves, as well as a rounded fighting type move set. Power-up Punch is generally better for PvP, but Aura Sphere is a good option as well. Conkeldurr and Machamp are also viable.

Counter PuP	Counter Dy. Punch	Counter Dy. Punch

2nd Battle

Cloyster

Cloyster is weak to Electric-, Fighting-, Grass-, and Rock-types, giving you an array of options to choose from. Against an Ice move set, Grass is not the top priority of counters, but it will resist a Water-type set. Sceptile with Bullet Seed / Frenzy Plant would be your go-to Grass-type.

Smack Down Rock Slide	Counter PuP	Thunder Shock Wild Charge

STEELIX

Steelix is dual Steel- and Ground-type and, therefore, weak to Fighting-, Fire-, Ground-, and Water-type moves. Our recommendations to take down Steelix are Lucario, Conkeldurr, and Blaziken.

Counter Aura Sphere	Counter Dy. Punch	Counter Blast Burn

HIPPOWDON

Hippowdon is not an awfully difficult battle. It is weak to Grass-, Ice-, and Water-types. Your best bet is using Kyogre, Swampert, or Feraligatr.

Waterfall Surf	Water Gun Hydro Cannon	Waterfall Hydro Cannon

3rd Battle

Raikou

February brings us the Legendary Pokémon, Raikou. Raikou is weak to Ground-type moves only. Because of this, your choices are somewhat limited. We recommend trying out Excadrill, Groudon, or Rhyperior to take out Raikou.

Mud Slap Drill Run	Mud Shot Earthquake	Mud Slap Earthquake