Best Iron Thorns counters in Pokémon GO

This table displays a list of best Iron Thorns counters in Pokémon GO with their Fast Attacks, Charged Attacks, DPS (damage per second), TDO (total damage output), faints, TTW (time to win), and score. The list is sorted by the score, which is calculated based on the DPS and TDO.

Simulation settings

Weather

Extreme↓

Raid Difficulty

3-Star Raid (3600 HP)↓

Attacker typing

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Attacker moves type

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Shadow PokémonShadow Pokémon

Mega PokémonMega Pokémon

Primal PokémonPrimal Pokémon

Best overall 👑

Primal Groudon

Mud Shot Precipice Blades *

Best performing move types

• 52.5%
• 18.0%
• 8.5%
• 8.0%
• 2.5%
• 1.5%
• 1.5%
• 1.5%
• 1.5%
• 1.0%
• 1.0%
• 1.0%
• 0.5%
• 0.5%
• 0.5%

#	Name	Fast Attack	Charged Attack	DPS	TDO	Faints	TTW	Score
1	Primal Groudon	Mud Shot	Precipice Blades *	57.09	4816.76	0	66.0s	140.3
2	Shadow Rhyperior	Mud-Slap	Earthquake	45.54	4253.11	0	82.4s	114.2
3	Shadow Garchomp	Mud Shot	Earth Power *	47.32	2791.62	1	81.2s	108.0
4	Shadow Golurk	Mud-Slap	Earth Power	42.08	4138.32	0	89.0s	106.7
5	Shadow Mamoswine	Mud-Slap	High Horsepower	48.88	2297.21	1	79.9s	106.5
6	Groudon	Mud Shot	Precipice Blades *	44.55	3098.65	1	85.4s	105.2
7	Shadow Rhydon	Mud-Slap	Earthquake	42.18	3367.57	1	89.6s	102.5
8	Excadrill	Mud-Slap	Scorching Sands	41.09	3181.70	1	92.1s	99.2
9	Rhyperior	Mud-Slap	Earthquake	37.98	4163.34	0	98.2s	98.5
10	Mega Swampert	Mud Shot	Earthquake	41.18	3008.67	1	92.2s	98.2
11	Shadow Golem	Mud-Slap	Earthquake	40.02	2979.73	1	94.8s	95.8
12	Landorus (Therian)	Mud Shot	Earthquake	41.94	2377.44	1	91.9s	95.0
13	Garchomp	Mud Shot	Earth Power *	39.30	2741.23	1	96.9s	92.9
14	Mamoswine	Mud-Slap	High Horsepower	40.66	2266.63	1	94.9s	91.8
15	Golurk	Mud-Slap	Earth Power	35.06	4021.77	0	106.3s	91.7
16	Shadow Donphan	Mud-Slap	Earthquake	40.80	2028.59	1	95.3s	89.9
17	Landorus (Incarnate)	Mud Shot	Earth Power	39.28	2258.03	1	98.0s	89.2
18	Primal Kyogre	Waterfall	Origin Pulse *	36.07	3043.61	1	104.5s	88.6
19	Rhydon	Mud-Slap	Earthquake	35.19	3303.51	1	106.7s	88.4
20	Shadow Swampert	Mud Shot	Earthquake	37.29	1910.93	1	104.1s	82.7
21	Golem	Mud-Slap	Earthquake	33.42	2918.41	1	112.6s	82.7
22	Shadow Flygon	Mud Shot	Scorching Sands	38.58	1630.75	2	102.1s	82.3
23	Krookodile	Mud-Slap	Earthquake	36.33	1945.90	1	106.5s	81.3
24	Terrakion	Double Kick	Earthquake	31.15	2899.16	1	120.5s	78.1
25	Donphan	Mud-Slap	Earthquake	34.04	2002.30	1	112.9s	77.7
26	Mega Kangaskhan	Mud-Slap	Earthquake	32.43	2372.06	1	117.1s	77.4
27	Shadow Magmortar	Karate Chop	Scorching Sands	36.43	1502.28	2	108.4s	77.3
28	Mega Sceptile	Fury Cutter	Earthquake	34.75	1729.70	2	111.9s	76.6
29	Shadow Ursaluna	Rock Smash	High Horsepower *	32.49	2085.54	1	117.7s	75.5
30	Shadow Metagross	Bullet Punch	Earthquake	30.71	2566.91	1	122.8s	75.3
31	Shadow Nidoking	Double Kick	Earth Power	35.44	1412.72	2	111.8s	74.7
32	Shadow Hippowdon	Ice Fang	Scorching Sands	32.73	1913.80	1	117.5s	74.6
33	Mega Blaziken	Counter	Focus Blast	33.47	1675.44	2	116.2s	73.9
34	Mega Aerodactyl	Rock Throw	Earth Power	29.51	2700.93	1	127.3s	73.7
35	Shadow Sandslash	Mud Shot	Scorching Sands	34.55	1446.19	2	114.1s	73.5
36	Kartana	Razor Leaf	Leaf Blade	31.71	1943.87	1	120.9s	73.0
37	Swampert	Mud Shot	Earthquake	31.20	1893.15	1	123.0s	71.7
38	Flygon	Mud Shot	Scorching Sands	32.07	1605.59	2	121.2s	70.8
39	Heatran	Bug Bite	Earth Power	27.71	2803.23	1	135.0s	70.7
40	Shadow Kingler	Mud Shot *	Crabhammer	34.22	1211.15	2	117.1s	70.4
41	Mega Blastoise	Water Gun	Hydro Cannon *	29.96	1986.64	1	127.4s	70.1
42	Shadow Arcanine	Snarl	Scorching Sands	31.95	1447.46	2	122.6s	69.1
43	Shadow Regirock	Lock-On	Earthquake *	26.78	2858.80	1	139.5s	69.0
44	Haxorus	Counter	Earthquake	31.07	1532.75	2	125.2s	68.4
45	Mega Beedrill	Bug Bite *	Drill Run *	32.27	1260.14	2	123.0s	67.7
46	Mega Gengar	Lick *	Focus Blast	26.22	2817.57	1	142.4s	67.7
47	Mega Alakazam	Counter *	Focus Blast	30.75	1442.72	2	127.0s	67.0
48	Shadow Torterra	Razor Leaf	Earthquake	30.05	1576.60	2	128.9s	67.0
49	Mega Gyarados	Waterfall	Hydro Pump	27.64	2158.75	1	136.9s	66.8
50	Kyogre	Waterfall	Origin Pulse *	28.13	1956.48	1	135.3s	66.4

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Iron Thorns type chart

When fighting Iron Thorns, keep in mind the following that Rock and Electric-type Pokémon are weak to Ground, Fighting, Grass, and Water type moves. They take reduced damage from Electric, Fire, Normal, Poison, and Flying type moves.

Weaknesses

Ground	256.0%
Fighting	160.0%
Grass	160.0%
Water	160.0%

Resistances

Flying	39.1%
Electric	62.5%
Fire	62.5%
Normal	62.5%
Poison	62.5%

Type chart shows the percentage (%) of damage taken from an incoming attack of a particular type.

About the results

Our guide provides detailed information on recommended Pokémon and moves that are most effective against Iron Thorns in Raid Battles. Whether you're looking for the best counters to take Iron Thorns down quickly with high DPS, or the tankiest counters that can withstand its attacks, our guide has something for every trainer.

The top-ranked Iron Thorns counter is Primal Groudon, followed by Shadow Rhyperior, Shadow Garchomp, and Shadow Golurk. The table also includes Shadow Mamoswine, Groudon, Shadow Rhydon, and Excadrill, among others. Each Pokemon's move type is indicated by an icon beside the move name.

The most effective move-types to use against Iron Thorns are:

About our ranking methodology

When calculating the best counters for any Pokémon, our simulator takes into account various factors, such as the defender's typing and average DPS against each attacker, the weather's influence, energy left over from using charge moves, Shadow Pokémon attack and defense stat changes, and more. During the initial phase of simulations, we calculate DPS and TDO for each attacker that is currently available in the game, and then we continue to rank them.

We use a ranking method developed by a Reddit user named /u/Elastic_Space, which is described in detail in this Reddit post. It is a fairly complicated, but very well thought-out mathematical model for predicting simulation results without actually running the simulations. It also correlates with field data almost too well not to be used.

Our Time to Win (TTW) and Faint numbers are also estimated, and should be taken with a grain of salt. Since we do not account for factors like Friendship and Mega damage boost, they will differ from actual experience in the field.