2020 has been a big year for Pokemon GO, and not even Covid-19 seems to have slowed its growth. Niantic's genre-defining AR title has been kept fresh since its 2016 launch by a host of updates and seasonal events, which have done a great job of retaining player numbers. The latest of these Pokemon GO events, Dragon Week, has just come to a close, and many players are busy leveling-up their new draconic friends.
The most adorable of these Dragon-type Pokemon is undeniably Gible, a roly-poly Dragon/Ground with a big mouth and a bigger heart. Though not particularly powerful, Gible will eventually evolve into the more fearsome, but less cute, Garchomp. Garchomp is one of Pokemon's stronger dragons. However, to get the most out of it in Pokemon GO players will need to pick the ideal move-set.
The Mach Pokemon
A large part of Garchomp's strength in Pokemon GO comes from the Moves it can learn. Mud Shot, the first of its two Fast Moves, is among the quickest-charging abilities in the game. This means that a Garchomp with Mud Shot can unleash its powerful Charged Moves before an opponent has a chance to do the same.
The second of Garchomp's Fast Moves, Dragon Tail, is less flashy but still solid. As a Dragon-type Move it's a reliable way to deal high damage while still building up Charge. This is because there are very few Pokemon-types that are resistant to Dragon, with Steel and Fairy being the only two to watch out for. The Move is also super-effective against other Dragons, giving Garchomp an edge against some of the toughest opponents in the game.
Unleashing the Charge
Outrage has always been a powerful Move in Pokemon games, and Pokemon GO is no exception. In Garchomp's hands Outrage does ludicrous amounts of Dragon-type damage which can shred weaker opponents in a single hit. Another powerful Move in Garchomp's arsenal is Earthquake. A high-damage Ground move, Earthquake is a staple for practically every Ground-type Pokemon that can take it.
Sand Tomb, Garchomp's third Charge Move, is also Ground-type. While it doesn't deal as much damage as Earthquake, Sand Tomb is Garchomp's fastest-charging Charge Move. This makes it fairly mediocre in PvE Raids, but its fast charge combined with 100% chance to lower DEF make it a powerhouse in PvP. Ultimately, the strongest overall move-set for Garchomp is Mud Shot and Outrage, with either Sand Tomb or Earthquake taking the third slot.
Pokemon GO is available for most mobile devices.