The best counters to use against Psychic-types in Pokemon GO (September 2021)

Whether trainers are trying to beat Raid bosses quicker, rank up in GO Battle League, or simply get better at Pokemon GO, it’s essential that they can take care of Psychic-type Pokemon.

Looking at the most powerful Pokemon in the game, a good number of them are Psychic-type. Pokemon like Metagross, Alakazam and Lugia can run through teams that don’t have an answer to them. That’s without mentioning Mewtwo who, at this point, is the GOAT of Pokemon GO.

Note: The article solely reflects the views of the writer.

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Which Pokemon can deal with the powerful Psychic-types in the game?

There are two ways to deal with Psychic-types: hit them for super effective damage, or resist their attacks. Offensively, Ghost, Bug, and Dark moves get super effective damage on Psychic-types. Conversely, Steel, Dark, and opposing Psychic Pokemon resist Psychic attacks.

First of all, the single best Pokemon at countering Psychic-types is Mega Gengar. Even though it takes super effective damage from Psychic (since Gengar is part Poison-type), Mega Gengar does so much damage that it doesn’t matter.

Looking at Raid counters for Alakazam, Mega Gengar ranks right at the top, winning in under 100 seconds. This is true for most other Psychic-type Raid bosses, even Mewtwo.

For any trainers who aren’t able to grind Mega Energy for Gengar, regular Gengar performs just fine. Other Ghost-type Pokemon that do well against Psychic-types include Giratina in both normal form and Origin form.

While these Pokemon do loads of damage, the best general counters to Psychic-type are Dark Pokemon. After all, the type was invented in Generation II for the sole purpose of countering Psychic-types. These Pokemon both resist Psychic and hit Psychic for super effective damage.

In terms of which specific Dark-types trainers will want to look for, Weavile continues to find its way into the top rankings for Psychic Raid counters. Its Snarl and Foul Play set has a huge damage output.

Other Dark-types that excel at beating Psychic-types are Hydreigon, Darkrai and Yveltal. Of course, most of these are legendaries, so trainers will want to look for those Tier 5 Raids to get these Pokemon.

Then again, many trainers don’t have access to legendaries. There’s no need to panic in this case, though, since many other Pokemon can still beat Psychic-types, albeit not as quickly. Both Chandelure and Bannette rank within the top 30 counters for Mewtwo, and that’s the toughest Psychic-type any trainer can run into.