Best counters for Rhyperior in Pokemon GO

Rhyperior, the Drill Pokemon, is a very common Pokemon amongst Pokemon GO players due to its outstanding performance in Raid Battles as well as attacking Gyms. Players competing in Master League might even see it there due to its moderate presence in the tier.

Debuting in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, Rhyperior was added to the franchise as a trade evolution for Rhydon has been a desired team member of Pokemon veterans ever since. Rhyperior also made an appearance on Bertha of the Sinnoh Elite Four's team.

When going against any Pokemon in Pokemon GO, having general knowledge about the Pokemon and the game knowledge to play around any Pokemon assigned to a given role is the defining difference between winning and losing a battle.

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Defeating Rhyperior in Pokemon GO

Rhyperior as it appears in the trading card game (Image via The Pokemon Company)

When players first see Rhyperior in Pokemon GO, their first thoughts should be that it is tanky. A big, bulky Pokemon with incredible defensive prowess stat-wise best describes Rhyperior's presence in Pokemon GO's Battle League. With an above-average defense stat of 190 and an astonishing stamina stat of 251, Rhyperior appears to be almost unkillable. Rhyperior also boasts a massive attack stat of 241.

While Rhyperior has great stats, its Rock and Ground typing leaves it open to a variety of different types to be hit super effectively by. Rhyperior takes super effective damage from Water, Grass, Fighting, Ground, Steel, and Ice-type attacks. On the other hand, Rhyperior has a sizable amount of resistances as well. Rhyperior resists Normal, Rock, Flying, Fire, Poison, and Electric-type attacks.

Rhyperior's most exploitable weakness is its multitude of weaknesses to common attacking types in Pokemon GO like Water and Fighting. This leaves Rhyperior unviable in Great League due to the metagame tyrant Azumarill taking over the tier with its devastating Water-type attacks. Great and Ultra League also do not see Rhyperior very often due to the amount of Steel-type Pokemon dominating both leagues.

Rhyperior in Master League sounds like it would finally dominate due to the amount of Pokemon able to hit it heavily being so low. However, quality overtakes quantity in this case as legendaries like Kyogre and Zarude destroy Rhypherior thanks to their low energy costing charged attacks, quickly burning Rhyperior's shields before blasting right through it.

Rhyperior may appear to be a scary Pokemon to face off against in Pokemon GO when it is first sent out. However, with proper planning, players can easily exploit Rhyperior's slow speed and large number of weaknesses.