Pokemon GO: Exploring Toxicroak's weaknesses and best counters

Toxicroak has seen a sudden surge of usage in Pokemon GO thanks to the recent addition of the Sinnoh Cup. Toxicroak's unique typing, as well as its relative ease of access, makes Toxicroak the perfect Pokemon for some teams.

Toxicroak debuted in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, and was the ace Pokemon of Galactic Admin Saturn. Saturn's Toxicroak was also the sworn enemy of Brock's Croagunk which contributed a huge part to Croagunk's development as a character, making it one of the most memorable Pokemon in the anime.

When constructing a team for Pokemon GO's Sinnoh Cup, Toxicroak's inevitable appearance should always be kept in mind. Given its unique attributes, it can be a difficult Pokemon to prepare for.

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Pokemon GO PvP Guide: Countering Toxicroak

A comprehensive look at Toxicroak

Toxicroak as it appears in the anime (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Toxicroak is the only fully evolved Poison and Fighting-type Pokemon in the franchise as of writing. This typing gives Toxicroak a lot of valuable resistance but fails to cover up the weak points shared among both of its types, Psychic-type attacks.

Since both Poison-type Pokemon and Fighting-type Pokemon are weak to Psychic-type attacks, these attacks do massive damage against Toxicroak.

The most notable thing to watch out for in terms of Toxicroak's stats in Pokemon GO is its attack stat of 211. This can make quick work of other glass cannon attackers and Fairy-type Pokemon.

The most exploitable weakness Toxicroak has is its low defense stat sitting at a wimpy 133. This opens up the opportunity for Toxicroak to die in one-shot by charged Psychic type attacks or even some Flying-type attacks.

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Pokemon that would serve as great counters for Toxicroak

One of the best counters for Toxicroak in Pokemon GO is Gallade. With its best all-round stat spread paired with its Psychic typing, Gallade is the best Pokemon to counter Toxicroak in Sinnoh Cup. Gallade is also the only fully-evolved Psychic-type Pokemon.

Hippowdon and Staraptor are also great counters due to their resistance to Toxicroak's attacks and high attack stats as well as their main attacking types dealing super-effective damage to Toxicroak.

While Toxicroak can be a difficult Pokemon for newer players to wrap their heads around in Pokemon GO's Sinnoh Cup, it has various exploitable weaknesses. Toxicroak's low defenses leave it open to any super-effective attack so players can easily trap a switched-in Toxicroak by switching to a bulky counter like Gallade or Hippowdon.