Pokemon GO: A look at Obstagoon's weaknesses

Obstagoon can be a very underrated bulky attacker in Pokemon GO.

This was a newcomer, introduced as an evolution to Galarian Linnone in Generation VIII. It’s not one of the top tier meta picks in the Ultra League, but it does see a fair amount of play. Where Obstagoon really excels, though, is in tournaments like the Holiday Cup, where type restrictions come into play.

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Which Pokemon can inflict the most damage on Obstagoon?

The rather unique Dark and Normal-type combination that Obstagoon has, actually allows it to hit most Pokemon for at least strong neutral damage. Normal-types usually struggle to hit Ghost, but Obstagoon’s Dark moves can patch up that weakness nicely.

This combination, though, also gives this Pokemon a huge weakness. Fighting-type moves are like Kryptonite to Obstagoon; both Normal and Dark-types are weak against Fighting-types. It also doesn’t help that many Fighting-types have enormously high Attack stats and damage output.

In the Holiday Cup, though, Fighting-types are incredibly scarce. All Pokemon in this format have to be at least part Normal, Ice, Grass, Electric, Flying or Ghost. Therefore, without Pokemon like Machamp or Hariyama to stop it, Obstagoon can really shine in this meta.

Fighting-types like Machamp do tons of damage to Obstagoon (Image via The Pokemon Company)

That doesn’t mean Obstagoon has run out of counters, though. Fortunately, there are a couple of Pokemon that have Fighting-type moves, even though they may not be a Fighting-type Pokemon themselves.

One example is Vigoroth, who gets access to the fast move Counter. Vigoroth can easily spam this move against Obstagoon and bring it to low health in a short amount of time. After that, Vigoroth can finish Obstagoon off with a Body Slam, or try to farm it down and save Body Slam for another Pokemon in the back.

Fighting-type moves also aren’t the only way to deal with Obstagoon. Fairy moves, although they don’t do as much damage, still hit Obstagoon for super effective damage.

Fairy-types will be seen everywhere in Ultra League due to how powerful Charm spam is. There aren’t too many Charm spammers in the Holiday Cup, though. The one prominent attacker with Charm in that format is Alolan Ninetails, which is a great Pokemon to use in general.