Pokemon GO: How to Defeat Nihilego — Attacks, Counters, and Weaknesses

Pokemon GO‘s Nihilego is making the rounds in Raids once again. An Ultra Beast, Nihilego is an Alolan Rock and Poison-type Pokemon. If you’re looking to add it to your team or facing it in Battle League, you’ll want to know as much information about it as you can. Our guide tells you how to beat Nihilego in Pokemon GO and details its attacks, counters, and weaknesses.

Pokemon GO Nihilego Raid Guide

Nihilego Attacks

Nihilego has three Fast Attack choices:

• Pound (Normal)
• Acid (Poison)
• Poison Jab (Poison)

It also has four Charged Attacks:

• Rock Slide (Rock)
• Power Gem (Rock)
• Sludge Bomb (Poison)
• Gunk Shot (Poison)

All of its Charge Attacks benefit from the Same Type Attack Bonus (STAB) since they match Nihilego’s Pokemon types.

Nihilego Weaknesses

Since Nihilego is a Rock and Poison Pokemon, it’s weak to:

• Ground
• Psychic
• Water
• Iron

Moves of those types will hit Nihilego for extra damage, especially if dealt by a Pokemon of the same type. It’s super weak to Ground attacks, so you’ll want to include those Pokemon in your battle team.

Nihilego is strong against Flying and Fire-type Pokemon. It’s also resistant to Normal, Bug, Fairy, and Poison attacks. I’d suggest leaving any Poison-type Pokemon out of this battle, as any Pokemon of that type will do almost no damage.

Best Nihilego Counters

The best counters for Pokemon GO‘s Nihilego, regardless of whether it’s in a Raid or in Battle League, are Ground-type Pokemon. There are plenty of Ground Pokemon to choose from, including regular evolved Pokemon and Legendries. Here are a few good Ground Pokemon to choose from in my experience, along with a Steel, Water, and Psychic Pokemon that are also effective.

• Therian Landorus: Mud Shot, Earthquake, Earth Power
• Excadrill: Mud-Slap, Earthquake, Drill Run
• Krookodile: Mud-Slap, Earthquake
• Mewtwo: Confusion, Psychic
• Metagross: Bullet Punch, Earthquake
• Kingler: Mud Shot, Crabhammer

Krookodile and Excadrill are especially good in this matchup because they’re resistant to both Rock and Poison attacks.

That’s how to beat Nihilego in a Raid or during Battle League in PoGO. If you get lucky, you may even get a chance to catch a Shiny Nihilego after a Raid. For more Pokemon counters, event walkthroughs or how to get the various Eeveelutions, check out our Pokemon GO guides hub.