Pokemon GO: Is Druddigon any good?

Druddigon was one of several Dragon-types Pokemon introduced in Generation V. While it had some decent stats, it practically lived in the shadows of Hydregion and Haxorus. The same can be said for Pokemon GO, where it won’t outperform Dragonite anytime soon. Nonetheless, the creature might work well in certain formats.

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How good is this underrated Dragon-type Pokemon?

Druddigon’s shortcomings become apparent just through looking at its stats. 213 Attack is higher than Swampert’s, making it a good benchmark for the Great League. With only 170 Defense and 183 Stamina, it falls way short of the bulk that most other Dragon-types have.

Where Druddigon impresses is its movepool. Druddigon gets access to Dragon Tail, the best fast move any Dragon-type can hope for. This attack has a strong 15 base power (13 in PvP) and charges nine energy.

Druddigon’s charge moves are very budgeted in terms of energy. Both Dragon Claw and Night Slash use up a small 35 energy in PvP. Baiting shields is no problem for Druddigon since they can quickly access these moves.

Druddigon has been used by Iris, the champion of the Unova League (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Another interesting thing about Druddigon is that it’s a pure Dragon-type. Most other Dragons have a secondary type (Dragonite is part Flying, Garchomp is part Ground, etc.). This makes Druddigon suffer in some matchups but excels in others.

Druddigon isn’t 4x weak to Ice the way that Rayquaza, Flygon, Garchomp and many other Dragons are. This allows it to take an Ice Beam from potentially, say, a Slowbro and Night Slash it back a couple of times for a potential KO.

Since its only coverage is Dark-type (Night Slash) though, Druddigon is hard countered by Fairy-types like Azumarill. Druddigon also gets completely walled by Steel-types like Registeel and Galarian Stunfisk.

Therefore, Druddigon is a decent option, but not a great one. It’s probably the worst Dragon-type, excluding non-fully evolved ones, and it only performs in the Great League. It can still pick up KOs, though, just not as well as the more popular options.

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Disclaimer: This article reflects the opinions of the writer.