Top 5 tips to beat Lance in Pokemon Gold and Silver

Attempting to beat Lance, especially in Pokemon Gold and Silver, is going to be a slugfest without proper preparation.

Lance’s team consists of some of the strongest Pokemon in the game: Gyarados, Charizard, Aerodactyl, and three Dragonites. Keep in mind that before Generation VI, Dragonites were almost unstoppable since no Fairy-type Pokemon were available in the game.

If any player steps into the Elite Four without some counters or strategies to beat Lance, they are setting themselves up for failure. With these tips, however, they should emerge victorious.

Note: This article is subjective and reflects the opinion of the writer.

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How to beat Lance in Pokemon Gold and Silver

#1 - Bring Ice coverage

Ice-type coverage is important to have while facing Lance (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Any team without Ice-type coverage will easily lose to Lance's Dragonites. Unfortunately, many of the Ice-type Pokemon in Gold and Silver aren’t great.

However, the Ice Punch technical machine can be purchased at the Goldenrod Department Store. There are many strong Pokemon who aren’t Ice-type, like Feraligatr and Nidoking, who can still learn Ice Punch. Players will definitely want at least one Pokemon with this move to beat Lance, if not multiple.

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#2 - Switch out on Dragonite

A mart player will always assume that the Dragonite has the coverage move that will defeat them (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Lance’s Dragonites are identical for the most part. However, they each have a unique coverage move: Blizzard, Thunder or Fire Blast. Since either of these moves can hit many Pokemon types and deal super effective damage, a smart player will always assume that the Dragonite has the coverage move that will defeat them.

For example, if Dewgong is brought in to KO Charizard with a couple of Surfs, Lance might bring out Dragonite. The player with Dewgong should always switch out, because they don’t want to lose Dewgong to a potential Thunder.

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#3 - Watch out for the level 50 Dragonite

It is important to remember that the level 50 Dragonite will always have Fire Blast (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Two of Lance’s Dragonites are level 49, but the other one is level 50. This is important to keep in mind because the level 50 Dragonite will always have Fire Blast.

Therefore, if a Steel-type or Ice-type Pokemon is up against either of the level 49 Dragonites, it isn’t threatened too much. However, once the player sees the level 50 Dragonite, they will need to switch their Pokemon.

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#4 - Bulky Water-type Pokemon do well here

Bulky Water-types do amazingly well against Lance (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Bulky Water-types do amazingly well against Lance. This is because most Water-type Pokemon can have Ice or Electric coverage.

Lapras is a great example of this. It can Surf the Charizard, Thunder the Gyarados, and Ice Beam two of the Dragonites. The player just has to watch out for the Aerodactyl, who can KO Lapras with Rock Slide. They also have to watch out for the Dragonite, who can overcome any Pokemon with Thunder.

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#5 - Other great Pokemon to bring

Steel-types and Rock-types are useful in the Lance matchup (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Magneton is another strong Pokemon to use in the Lance matchup. Steel is the only type in Generation II that can resist Dragon-type moves. Due to this, Magneton will resist every attack from the two level-49 Dragonites (the level 50 Dragonite will Fire Blast it). Magneton can also beat Aerodactyl and can Thunderbolt Gyarados.

Bulky Rock-types like Golem and Rhydon could also be big assets against Lance. Both Charizard and Aerodactyl do nothing to these Pokemon. Two of the Dragonites (the ones without Blizzard) are also walled hard by these defense Pokemon that can resist Hyper Beam.