Melmetal's weaknesses in Pokemon GO

Melmetal is known in the Pokemon franchise as the only Pokemon in the franchise to be exclusive to Pokemon GO. Aside from the Pokemon HOME event where players were gifted one, there is no other way to obtain Melmetal in the main series without first evolving a Meltan in Pokemon GO.

With so many players having access to Melmetal, seeing one in Pokemon GO's Battle League is an inevitability; but how can players deal with such a massive threat like Melmetal? With its incredible defensive stats and solid attack, taking on a Melmetal may be a daunting task; however, this Pokemon is far from immortal.

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Countering Melmetal in Pokemon GO

Official artwork depicting Melmetal (Image via The Pokemon Company)

The first thing to know when attempting to take on any Pokemon in Pokemon GO is its typing; Melmetal is a Steel-type Pokemon which makes it weak to Fire, Fighting, and Ground-type attacks. However, Melmetal has a lot of resistances. It resists Bug, Dragon, Fairy, Flying, Grass, Ice, Normal, Psychic, Poison, Rock, and other Steel-type attacks.

Melmetal's stats in Pokemon GO indicate that it is more defensively oriented; however, this does not stop it from dealing massive damage. Melmetal has an attack stat of 226, a stamina stat of 264, and a defense stat of 190. Pokemon like Blast Burn Mega Charizard Y may be able to take advantage of Melmetal's lower defense stat. Still, it may not be the best option due to Melmetal's access to charged attacks like Thunderbolt, which Mega Charizard Y is weak to.

Melmetal has one huge weakness: it lacks access to a viable Steel-type move. Melmetal only has one Steel-type attack, Flash Cannon; this means that Flash Cannon is the only attack that receives the same type attack bonus given by Melmetal's Steel typing. Melmetal's viable movesets all run Electric-type attacks, which means both the best offense and defense against Melmetal is to bring a Ground-type Pokemon out against it.

A Ground-type Pokemon prominent in Master League, where Melmetal is most commonly ran, is Groudon. To make things better, Melmetal lacks access to any move that deals super-effective damage to Groudon. At the same time, Groudon has access to both Ground and Fire-type attacks while receiving a bonus to Ground-type damage due to the same type attack bonus.

When it comes to countering Melmetal in Pokemon GO, knowing its weaknesses is the key to taking it down. Its defense is its lowest stat which means that Super charged Attacks from Ground and Fire-type Pokemon can make short work of the powerful Steel type.