Once upon a time, Poison-Type Pokemon were practically a joke. Psychic-Type Pokemon dominated Generation 1, and Poison-Type Pokemon could only hit a scant few Pokemon for Super Effective damage. Nowadays, Poison-Type Pokemon are a force to be reckoned with. Let’s break down how to counter Poison Pokemon.
Now that you know all of the strengths and weaknesses of Poison-Type Pokemon, how do you effectively beat them? It ultimately depends on the Pokemon in question, but you have a few options.
Poison Pokemon weaknesses and strengths
These are all of the weaknesses that Poison Pokemon have in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet:
- Ground
- Psychic
Here are all of the types that deal neutral damage to Poison Pokemon:
- Steel
And lastly, here are all of the resistances that Poison Pokemon have:
- Grass
- Fairy
- Fighting
- Poison
- Bug
Steel-type Pokemon, in particular, are also immune to Poison-type damage. If you’re up against multiple Poison-type Pokemon, bring a Steel-type Pokemon into the mix to make it much harder for them to weaken your team.
Option 1: Nuke it with its weaknesses
Poison-Type Pokemon have two weaknesses: Ground and Psychic. This presents an interesting dilemma. Psychic-Type Pokemon typically excel as Special Attackers, with Pokemon like Gallade acting as rare exceptions. Meanwhile, Ground-Type Pokemon are predominately physical attackers. Earthquake is one of the most powerful moves in the game, and monsters like Garchomp have the high stats to deal destructive damage with it.
In other words, the Type of Pokemon you want to use will depend on your enemy’s stats. Clodsire is a great example, since it’s a tanky Pokemon with especially high Special Defense. While you can use Psychic-Type moves, you’ll have a greater chance of scoring a one-hit KO with a ground-type Pokemon. Meanwhile, Psychic-Type Pokemon will be the preferred option against Pokemon like Toxapex.
It should be noted that many Pokemon in Scarlet & Violet favor Special Defense over Defense. This is especially true of Pokemon like Gengar that can nuke a Psychic-Type Pokemon before it can even act. This isn’t to say Psychic-Type Pokemon aren’t effective, but take this into consideration when you’re planning to counter a Poison-Type.
Option 2: Prioritize your own defense
Since the Poison-Type excels at Defense, you may encounter Pokemon that prefer to prioritize defense and harass you with status ailments. The move Toxic is particularly deadly, as its damage increases the longer your Pokemon is on the field. If you’re looking to keep all your Pokemon healthy, sometimes the best offense is a good defense.
Steel-Type Pokemon are a great answer to this problem. Not only are they immune to Poison-Type attacks, but they’re also immune to the Poison status effect altogether. That said, since Steel-Type moves only do neutral damage to Poison, you may have a hard time breaking down a bulky opponent with this strategy. Poison-Type Pokemon are also immune to the Poison status effect, though they’ll have an even harder time fighting back since the Poison-Type resists itself.
It’s worth noting that a Pokemon already suffering from a status ailment can’t be affected by another ailment aside from Confusion. A Pokemon that knows Poison Heal like Breloom can also turn the tables and get healed by being affected with Poison. However, these strategies extraordinarily risky and unreliable, so only take a gamble like this if you are in an incredibly niche situation.
Option 3: Look at its other type
Of all the Poison-Type Pokemon in Scarlet & Violet, only two are pure Poison-Type. These Pokemon are Muk and Swalot, and neither is dangerous enough for you to plan around specifically.
This gives you the freedom to counter Poison-Type Pokemon by taking its secondary type into account. For example, Amoonguss is a Grass/Poison-Type Pokemon that has appeared on many competitive teams. While Psychic is effective against it, you can hit it hard with Fire, Flying, and Ice-Type attacks by targeting its Grass-Type. In another example, Gengar’s Ghost-Type attacks will deal less damage to a Dark-Type than a Ground-Type, which would mean it would need a move like Focus Blast to deal any notable damage.
For many Poison Pokemon, Ground-Type attacks will be the best way to dispatch them quickly. Just remember to take your opponent and their team into account when considering your counterplay. In the competitive scene, your opponent will surely be trying to cover their common weaknesses with items like Air Balloon. There is no catch-all option to defeat a Poison-Type Pokemon, but if you keep all your potential options in mind, you’ll be able to come out on top.
Pokemon that counter Poison Pokemon
Here are some Pokemon Scarlet and Violet counters for Poison Pokemon:
- Garchomp – Its high attack stats combined with high-power Ground-type moves like Earthquake can quickly defeat Poison-type Pokemon before they can act.
- Rhyperior – Rhyperior also boasts a wide range of Ground-type attacks that easily counter Poison-type Pokemon while taking relatively little damage.
- Clodsire – Clodsire combines Ground-type attacks to damage Poison-type Pokemon significantly while also tanking several attack types.
- Gallade – Despite Poison-type Pokemon being resistant to Fighting-type moves, Gallade’s Psychic-type attacks more than make up for this, making it a noteworthy counter for many Poison-types.
What makes Poison-type Pokemon so strong?
Poison-Type Pokemon are powerful defensively. They resist a whopping five different Types by themselves, which only puts them behind Fire and Steel-Type Pokemon for the most resistances. Yet unlike those two, Poison-Type only takes Super Effective damage from two Types total. While Poison-Type Pokemon only hit Grass and Fairy-Type Pokemon for super effective damage, they also resist Fairy-Type Pokemon. Given the sheer power of Fairy-Type Pokemon, this gives Poison-Type Pokemon a powerful niche.
