Is Claydol good to use in battle in Pokemon GO?

Claydol has been part of Pokemon GO for three years now, and while it may not pack the punch of a lot of Pokemon in battle, it can be a solid defender thanks to its defensive stats and moveset.

Since its attack and stamina stats are somewhat underwhelming, Claydol has to rely on its defense and an efficient set of moves. Since Claydol is a dual Ground/Psychic-type, it is one of the few Pokemon within Pokemon GO that can achieve a Same Type Attribute Bonus for both of its moves in a moveset. This boosts its overall damage potential and makes it a steady if not spectacular defensive option.

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Pokemon GO: Examining Claydol's moves for PvP and PvE

Claydol isn't exactly a shutdown option in Pokemon GO PvP, but it can be used to some success in Great League (Image via Niantic)

In Pokemon GO, Claydol has access to some great Ground and Psychic-type moves to earn a STAB bonus from. It also has a few other moves of differing elemental types which can be used to cover a few extra opponent weaknesses. Claydol's learnable moves can be found below:

Fast Moves

• Extrasensory (Psychic-type)
• Confusion (Psychic-type)
• Mud-Slap (Ground-type)

Charge Moves

• Earthquake (Ground-type)
• Shadow Ball (Ghost-type)
• Psychic (Psychic-type)
• Earth Power (Ground-type)
• Ice Beam (Ice-type)
• Gyro Ball (Steel-type)

Claydol's moves, particularly its Charge Moves, cover the gamut and can take advantage of many different weaknesses if a trainer opts to teach them two different Charge moves. This way, it can acquire two moves that offer it its STAB bonus while also keeping a Charge Move in its pocket to exploit type advantages the opponent may not expect.

Top movesets for Claydol in PvE include Extrasensory + Psychic and Mud-Slap + Earthquake. These sets provide optimal STAB damage, but can be diversified in order to take advantage of type matchups. In PvP, popular picks for Claydol's moveset in Pokemon GO's Great League include Confusion + Earth Power + Psychic as well as Confusion + Earth Power + Shadow Ball. Some players may opt to use Extrasensory over confusion for its slightly increased energy gain, but Confusion beats it out in damage.

Ice Beam and Shadow Ball can both be solid secondary Charge Moves in PvP, as Shadow Ball isn't typically resisted by opposing Pokemon and Ice Beam gives Claydol a super effective move against Grass-type Pokemon, which Claydol matches up poorly against.

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