How to counter Dialga and weaknesses in Pokémon Go

Pokémon Go features a variety of different Pokémon that trainers can capture and steadily train them up over time. Some of these Pokémon are stronger than others, making them ideal candidates for some the player versus player combat available in the game, such as the Master League. There are no restrictions on the type of Pokémon you can use in this league, and a notable Pokémon almost all trainers are going to see is Dialga.

Dialga is a legendary Steel and Dragon-type Pokémon with a max CP of 4,038, an attack of 275, a defense of 211, and a stamina of 205. It’s only weak to Fighting and Ground-type Pokémon, limiting your choices to defeat it. You can expect to see Psychic, Flying, Water, and Grass-type Pokémon supporting it in the Master League. Your best approach to overcoming a Dialga is to rely on tanks to withstand the onslaught of the Pokémon’s attacks.

Dialga can also show up in five-star raids during rare events, and much of this still applies in those situations.

Pokémon to counter Dialga

The three best tanks capable of fighting Dialga are Groudon, Excadrill, and Rhyperior.

Groudon is an amazing all-around Ground-type because of how much damage it can produce, and it can take a beating. If you use one, you want it to know mud shot, earthquake, and solar beam. It’s hard to go wrong with one of them in your party. However, it is weak to Grass, Ice, and Water, so you need to cover those weaknesses if you use Groudon, which can be a little challenging to manage, but not impossible once you round out your Master League team.

Alternatively, Excadrill can do some excellent heavy lifting as a Ground and Steel-type. It’s not as powerful as Groudon, but serves as a great runner-up, especially for those who don’t have any legendary Pokémon to throw around. You want an Excadrill to know mud slap, rock slide, and drill run. An Excadrill that knows iron head does more damage, but to fight Dialga, you want to lean into that Ground-type weakness as much as possible.

The final choice for hearty tanks you can potentially use to take it down is Rhyperior, which is a Rock and Ground-type Pokémon. While stronger than Excadrill, it has plenty more weaknesses to Fighting, Grass, Ground, Ice, Steel, and Water-type moves. If you don’t have any other powerful Ground-types, Rhyperior is a good choice, but you need to prepare to defend it because your opponent can easily counter it with one of their other Pokémon choices. You want it to know smack down, surf, and earthquake. It would help to have a back-up Ground or Fighting-type Pokémon when using Rhyperior, but overall, make sure you can cover its variety of weaknesses, or you’re in trouble.

To ensure you don’t only have one Pokémon to fight Dialga, you can always try to bring out a Machamp, Swampert, Hippowdon, Golem, Conkeldurr, Hariyama, Heracross, or Breloom. These are good choices, not the best, but useful when you’re in a pinch or to have as a back-up option. The type of Pokémon you use to fight Dialga varies on your overall Pokémon roster, and you only have three options.

Dialga is a fearsome opponent, and you expect to see more in the Pokémon Go Master League as more players clash. There are dozens of Pokémon choices you can use in it, and there are no restrictions, so make sure to bring your best every time you battle because you only have 15 fights per day.