Is Lickitung with Body Slam good in Pokemon GO PvP and PvE?

Lickitung with Body Slam in Pokemon GO was first available during the Lickitung Raid Dat event of February 2020. This is a Normal-type Charged Attack, and Lickitung cannot learn it outside of special occasions without using a precious Elite Charged TM. The Pokemon GO 2024 World Championships Celebration event has brought back the chance to get a Lickitung that knows Body Slam.

This article breaks down the competitive viability of Lickitung with Body Slam in Pokemon GO PvP and PvE scenarios.

Note: This article is subjective and reflects the author's opinions.

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Is Lickitung with Body Slam good in Pokemon GO Battle League?

A Lickitung that knows Body Slam is one of the top contenders in the Great League of GO Battle League. Its immense bulk and favorable mono Normal-typing combined with the spamminess of this move contribute to this success.

Body Slam is a 35 energy Normal-type Charged Attack that deals 60 damage (72 when considering STAB). With Lick, it takes Lickitung 12 turns to get to its first Body Slam, which is on the faster side of things.

Here is a side-by-side comparison of how Lickitung compares to the Great League meta with and without Body Slam:

Lickitung with Body Slam's performance compared to other Normal-type Charged Attacks (Image via PvPoke)

With access to Body Slam, Lickitung goes 25W-16L-1D in the 1-1 shield matchup against the Great League meta. This number is nearly reversed as it goes 16W-26L-0D with Stomp instead of the Legacy Move. With Hyper Beam, the numbers are even worse, at 13W-29L-0D.

In 2-2 shield scenarios, Lickitung goes 22W-19L-1D with Body Slam. The numbers drop to 16W-26L-0D and 7W-35L-0D with Stomp and Hyper Beam, respectively.

Hyper Beam Lickitung outperforms all other variants in the 0-0 matchup owing to the move's closing prowess. However, no one runs Lickitung as a closer, given the availability of better options. In all other shield advantage scenarios, Lickitung with Body Slam is the way to go.

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Is Lickitung with Body Slam good in Pokemon GO raids and Gyms?

Lickitung in the anime (Image via TPC)

Lickitung has little utility as a PvE attacker in Pokemon GO. It can be one of the best Gym Defenders in the game, thanks to its immense bulk. However, Body Slam is not the recommended moveset in that case.

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How to get Lickitung with Body Slam in Pokemon GO

You can get Lickitung that knows body Slam by capturing one from the wild or 3-star raids during the Pokemon GO 2024 World Championships Celebration event. If you miss this opportunity, you must use an Elite Charged TM to get this move.

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Check out our other Pokemon GO guides:

• Ditto disguises
• Buddy Evolution Adventure Together guide
• Best Fast Attacks in Pokemon GO
• Sierra counters
• Cliff counters
• Arlo counters
• Giovanni counters
• Team GO Rocket Grunts