Pokemon GO Naganadel: Best moveset, counters, and is it any good?

With Naganadel's arrival in Pokemon GO, trainers have been hard at work evolving Poipole to obtain it. However, even after players have their Naganadel, there are a lot of factors they should consider regarding its battle viability. Specifically, what are Naganadel's best movesets and counters, and is this beast any good in combat?

All things considered, initial impressions suggest Naganadel is solid if unspectacular. Although it has some drawbacks as well, Naganadel benefits from a high Attack stat of 263 and an intriguing Poison/Dragon-typing in Pokemon GO. This article provides a closer look at the best movesets for Naganadel, the counters that can help defeat it, and ultimately circles back on how good this Ultra Beast can be.

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Best movesets for Naganadel in Pokemon GO

All Learnable Moves for Naganadel

Naganadel can learn six different moves in Pokemon GO (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Naganadel has a fairly diverse set of learnable moves in Pokemon GO and can learn six different moves, including two Fast Moves and four Charged Moves. These moves can be found below:

Fast Moves

• Poison Jab
• Air Slash

Charged Moves

• Dragon Pulse
• Sludge Bomb
• Fell Stinger
• Acrobatics

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Naganadel's best PvE moveset

What Naganadel does most is perform as a pure Poison-type attacker in Pokemon GO, and it just so happens that its highest damaging moveset is a Poison-type one. Specifically, the moveset Poison Jab + Sludge Bomb provides the highest damage per second (DPS) and the highest total damage overall (TDO) before fainting.

This is due in part to the fact that as a partial Poison-type Pokemon, using Poison-type moves with Naganadel triggers the Same Type Attack Bonus (STAB) that increases their damage.

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Best PvP moveset for Naganadel

Much like in PvE situations, Naganadel operates best in PvP through the use of a primarily Poison-type moveset, so players can keep Poison Jab + Sludge Bomb as their primary moves. However, to help Naganadel broaden the type of opponents it can counter in PvP, it's vital to pick up a second Charged Attack.

While many options from Naganadel's learnable move pool can work here, Poison Jab + Sludge Bomb + Dragon Pulse seems to be an ideal moveset. Since Naganadel is part Dragon-type, Dragon Pulse gains bonus damage from STAB while having a relatively low energy cost. The move also helps Naganadel take down Dragon-type opponents that can counter it.

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Best counters to beat Naganadel in Pokemon GO

Psychic-types like Mewtwo can be a major problem for Naganadel in Pokemon GO (Image via Niantic)

As a Poison/Dragon-type, Naganadel has four elemental weaknesses: Dragon, Ground, Ice, and Psychic-type moves. Trainers battling this Ultra Beast will want to keep that in mind while creating a game plan for battling it. Listed below are the best Pokemon and moves that trainers can find to deal exceptional damage to Naganadel and take it out quickly:

Best Counter Pokemon

• Rayquaza
• Mewtwo
• Groudon
• Garchomp
• Alakazam
• Salamence
• Dialga
• Latios/Latias
• Excadrill
• Dragonite
• Gardevoir
• Metagross
• Mamoswine
• Palkia
• Dusk Mane Necrozma
• Unbound Hoopa
• Rhyperior
• Landorus
• Lunala
• Zekrom
• Kyurem
• Haxorus
• Gallade
• Baxcalibur

Best Fast Move Counters

• Dragon Tail
• Psycho Cut
• Mud Shot
• Dragon Breath
• Mud-Slap
• Confusion
• Zen Headbutt
• Extrasensory
• Ice Shard
• Ice Fang

Best Charged Move Counters

• Outrage
• Psystrike
• Precipice Blades
• Psychic
• Roar of Time
• Scorching Sands
• Avalanche
• Spacial Rend
• Earthquake
• Sandsear Storm
• Draco Meteor
• Glaciate
• Breaking Swipe
• Dragon Claw
• High Horsepower

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Is Naganadel good in Pokemon GO?

Naganadel should serve well in PvE, but its applications in Pokemon GO PvP are much more niche (Image via The Pokemon Company)

As previously noted, Naganadel should be a solid fighter in Pokemon GO, but it is not exactly the best at what it does. By most indications, it should be a Top 10 Poison-type attacker in PvE environments like raids, but its effectiveness in battle severely drops off in PvP due to it having paltry base Defense and Stamina stats of 159 and 177, respectively. So, while It can deal good damage, this pokemon does not fare well against such damage in return.

Naganadel's flimsiness is complicated further by the fact that it doesn't have Charged Moves that are particularly cheap with regard to energy cost. Its weakness against Dragon-type moves also makes its utility in the PvP meta limited since dragons are seen so often in the GO Battle League.

All in all, trainers are best suited to use Naganadel in raids against Grass and Fairy-type opponents. It may have some niche uses in PvP against opponents like Zarude, Florges, or Xerneas, but it's hardly reliable enough to build a team around.