Finding A Use for a Genderless Pseudo-Legendary Pokemon

Metagross is a cool Pokemon. It’s a massive, stompy steel monster. Not only does it look cool, but it has a badass shiny and even more badass stats. Its only really scary weakness is Ground, with a hint of Fire, Ghost and Dark thrown in. In fact, back when Metagross first came out, it was resistant to Dark as well. No matter how you look at it, Metagross is just all-round awesome.

In Pokemon GO, Metagross is a undisputed Steel Type master. With its exclusive move Meteor Mash, Metagross is a great generalist. The only other Steel type that can threaten it is Dialga, but Dialga is a legendary and a hard one to obtain. Even as a psychic type, Metagross does alright.

But how useful is Metagross?

Sure, Metagross’s stats, moves and power all seem great. Being the best Steel type is a nice medal to have, but does that actually mean anything? After all, Genesect could be considered the best Bug type, but Bug is very niche in Pokemon Go.

Relying on Exclusivity

While Meteor Mash HAS been a bit more accessible lately, it’s still an exclusive move. Originally, outside of one 3 hour event and one weekend, you’d have to spend an Elite TM to get Meteor Mash. The move has been available in a few events in 2021, but the move is still pretty damn exclusive. When you consider having to remove Frustration, getting enough candy, all of that, it’s easy to be forced to use an Elite TM.

As for the rest of Metagross’s moves, they’re just not the same. Psychic isn’t a great move compared to the moves other Psychic types have. Flash Cannon is a very mediocre move and Earthquake lacks STAB. Having good stats is important, but having good moves is even better. A huge part of Metagross’s power is based on a very limited move.

The damage is there, but…

There’s nothing for Metagross to fight.

I say that, it’s not quite true. There’s been a few bosses that Metagross has been a great choice against. Articuno and Regice raids are a great option for Metagross. But at the same time, there’s plenty of other things that work… better. In Articuno’s case, Rock is a far better choice because of the double-weakness Articuno has. Even when Steel is a great option, a lot of the time there’s an easier and more numerous pick.

Throw in Weather Boosts and using a Steel Type becomes even harder overall. Sure, Metagross is great for Regice as well. But why use Metagross when you can throw a bunch of Machamps at it in Cloudy Weather? Especially when they get a nice 20% damage boost just because it’s cloudy?

The lack of bosses doesn’t help either. Steel doesn’t have many attacking strengths, it’s only super effective against Ice, Fairy and Rock. All three of these are… lacking in the Raid category. Aside from Togetic/Togekiss, Regirock, Regice, Terrakion and Articuno, there’s not much for Metagross to fight against.

At least Metagross shines in PvP.

Metagross’s real strength shines in PvP. While his other STAB moves are lackluster, Metagross has an amazing coverage move in the form of Earthquake. Earthquake, despite being a slow-charging move, helps Metagross defeat Pokemon that would normally hurt it. But Earthquake is also a great move against other Metagrosses as well. Really, the only thing that Metagross truly fears is a big, scary Ground type. In PvP though? That’s just, well, Groudon. Although, I say that, Ghost and Dark types are still a bit of an issue, but Metagross’s coverage is pretty damn great.

Combined with its great stats, Metagross is a beast in Master League PvP. Not so much in the smaller leagues though, since, at lower levels, Metagross doesn’t have nearly as much health.

Metagross is also pretty nice against Team Rocket grunts, due to being both tanky and a heavy hitter.

And at least Metagross will always have the Power of Cool.

At the end of the day, Metagross will always be cool, even if there’s no real use for it right now outside of the overly chaotic (and often buggy) PvP. But when we do get something that Metagross is strong against, it will kick ass…