Water Pokémon Weaknesses and Counters in Pokémon Go

Water Pokémon are a popular type to use in Pokémon Go because they only have two weaknesses and twice as many resistances. Their attacks are boosted by Rainy Weather, so expect to see a lot of other trainers using them if the weather predicts! This guide will help you get through the toughest battles against any type of Water Pokémon, including some of the strongest combinations!

Water Pokémon Weaknesses and Counters in Pokémon Go

One of the first things you need to know about choosing the right counters in Pokémon Go is that not all Pokémon are created equal. There is no one-size-fits-all against them. With each sub-type, moveset, and specialty comes the suggestion of a different technique to counter it. That being said, we’re going to cover a couple of things in this guide.

1. Water-type Weaknesses & Strengths: This will cover the basic resistances, weaknesses, vulnerabilities, and strengths that Water Pokémon have. This list will be the go-to list to reference when battling Water-type Pokémon, but not always.
2. Combination Water-type Weaknesses & Strengths: This part of the guide will cover the secondary types that Water Pokémon can have and put particular emphasis on secondary types that might alter their original Weaknesses & Strengths. It is crucial information to know if you’d like to know how to beat some of the strongest Water Pokémon.
3. Counters: In this last section of the guide, we will cover the counters for Water Pokémon and their sub-types. It will focus primarily on the Water Pokémon with sub-types that alter the normal Weaknesses & Strengths. This will be your best reference to the best counters against Water Pokémon, and, if possible, all the subtypes.

Weaknesses & Strengths

The dynamics for Water Pokémon make sense when compared to real-life science. They’re weak against Grass and Electric Pokémon, and strong against Fire, Ground, and Rock. Still, there are additional stats to know about Water-type Pokémon and Attacks. The list below provides the basic damage effectiveness against their respective types. If anything is not listed, it can be assumed that it applies standard damage/defense.

• Attacking 
  • Super Effective Against (160% Damage): Fire, Rock, Ground
  • Not Very Effective Against (62.5% Damage): Water, Grass, Dragon
• Defending
  • Weak Against (160% Damage): Grass, Electric
  • Strong Against (62.5% Damage): Fire, Water, Ice, Steel

Related: Best Water Type Pokémon in Pokémon Go - Pro Game Guides

Combination Weaknesses & Strengths

Sometimes when Pokémon have secondary types, the Weaknesses & Strengths of that type might negate, amplify, or add to the Weaknesses & Strengths of the Pokémon’s primary type. In this list, we’re going to cover specifically the sub-types that change the original Weaknesses & Strengths.

• Amplifying
  • Amplifies Weakness to Electric: Flying
  • Amplifies Weakness to Grass: Ground, Rock
• Negating
  • Negates Weakness to Electric: Grass, Electric, Dragon, Ground
  • Negates Weakness to Grass: Grass, Fire, Poison, Flying, Bug, Dragon, Steel
  • Negates Resistance to Fire: Grass, Ice, Bug, Steel
  • Negates Resistance to Ice: Grass, Ground, Ice, Dragon
  • Negates Resistance to Steel: Ice, Rock, Steel
  • Negates Resistance to Water: Fire, Ground, Rock

Counters

The best way to counter any Pokémon is to know its weaknesses and strengths, which are listed in the previous two sections of the guide. However, as mentioned before, some of these weaknesses and resistances can be altered with sub-types. So the question is: What do you do if the Pokémon has multiple types? Well, find another counter, of course!

We’re going to cover a few things with the lists below. First, we’ll explain how to counter against basic Water Pokémon. Then, we’ll list the best counters for all the sub-types of Water Pokémon.

Best Water Counters

For Water Pokémon with no additional sub-types, you’ll be looking to use Electric and Grass attacks and avoid Fire, Ice, Steel, and Water attacks. Note, these advantages do not mean you should counter or avoid countering with those types of Pokémon, but with those types of attacks specifically.

Grass Pokémon are the best to use against Water Pokémon. While Electric attacks do decent damage against them, Electric Pokémon aren’t resistant to Water attacks like Grass Pokémon. This means that if you’re looking for good offense and defense, Grass Pokémon will be best. If you are interested in finding the best of each of these types, you can follow these links: Best Grass Pokémon and Best Electric Pokémon.

Best Sub-type Counters

Since Water Pokémon have two weaknesses, trainers may use counters that negate them. While this can be an advanced technique to use against other unsuspecting trainers, we must remember that each type has its own weaknesses and strengths. This means that while some sub-types might negate a weakness, it could amplify other weaknesses or add new ones. The list below explains all the best counters for every sub-type of Water Pokémon.

Related: Best Normal Type Pokémon in Pokémon Go - Pro Game Guides

• Water + Electric: Ground Pokémon are strong against Electric, but Water Attacks are strong against Ground. This means that Grass Pokémon are your best option against Water + Electric Pokemon since they’re strong against Water and resistant to both.
• Water + Dragon: Dragon Pokémon are weak against their own type, but resistant to Water attacks. Water is resistant to Ice Attacks. This means that it’s best to use Fairy Attacks against Water + Dragon Pokémon.
• Water + Grass: The weaknesses against Ice and Fire Attacks for the Grass sub-type are canceled out by Water’s resistance to them. Your best options against Water + Grass Pokémon are Poison, Flying, Bug, or some combination of the three.
• Water + Ice: Ice is weak against Fire and Steel, but Water cancels out those Weaknesses. Rock is also effective against Ice, but it’s extremely vulnerable to Water Attacks. Therefore, the best type to use against Water + Ice is the Fighting Type, since it’s strong against Ice and not weak against Water.
• Water + Fighting: There are no weaknesses for the Fighting type that have an advantage over Water Pokémon. You can use any of the Fighting Type’s weaknesses as long as they don’t have a sub-type that is weak against Water.
• Water + Poison: Water and Poison cancel out each other’s advantages over Grass and Ground Pokémon. Ground is strong against Poison but weak against Water. Your best option in this circumstance is Electric Pokémon.
• Water + Ground: Grass Pokémon are strong against both Water and Ground. Grass attacks are therefore massively effective against them, even more so than usual.
• Water + Normal: Adding Normal type to a Water Pokémon mostly only adds to their weaknesses. On top of Electric and Grass Pokémon, you now have the added options of using Fighting or Ghost Pokémon.
• Water + Fire: Your best option against Water and Fire Pokémon (at the moment there is only one) is Electric Pokémon.
• Water + Flying: Both Flying and Water are vulnerable to Electric Attacks. Using them will do massive damage to Water and Flying Pokémon.
• Water + Psychic: Adding Psychic to a Water Pokémon doesn’t cancel out any weaknesses it has, so you could use any Water Weakness. However, Grass and Dark Pokémon are both resistant and effective against these Water + Psychic Pokémon.
• Water + Bug: Adding the Bug type cancels out Water’s weakness to Grass Pokémon. Rock is strong against bug, but weak against Water. Your best bet in this situation is Electric or Flying Pokémon.
• Water + Rock: Grass is super effective against both Water and Rock. If you are up against a Water + Rock Pokémon, deal only Grass Attacks and you’ll take it down quickly.
• Water + Ghost: Adding the Ghost type doesn’t cancel out any of Water’s weaknesses, so you can use the standard Electric or Grass lineup against Water + Ghost Pokémon. Alternatively, you can also now use Dark-type Pokémon.
• Water + Dark: Adding the Dark type doesn’t cancel out any of Water’s weaknesses. We recommend sticking with Electric or Grass Pokémon, or Fairy and Fighting if you notice they’re using a lot of Dark-type attacks.
• Water + Steel: The Steel and Water types cancel out the strength against Ground and weakness against Grass. We recommend using Electric Pokémon against Water + Steel Pokémon, as they are resistant and effective against them.
• Water + Fairy: Adding the Fairy type doesn’t cancel out any of Water’s weaknesses. We recommend using the normal lineup of Grass or Electric Pokémon against these types.

With this guide, you should be ready to take down any Water-type focused opponent! In summary, you’ve likely made the realization that the best Pokémon and Attacks to use will probably be Electric or Grass. Keep those ready and you should be able to handle your opponent, no problem!

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