What are the best Grookey counters in Gen 8 LC?

Grookey is a serious threat in LC at the present, and very hard to counter. With Grassy Glide and Wood Hammer it can smash through quite a bit, Drain Punch gives it reliable recovery, Knock Off cripples the many Eviolite users in the tier, Acrobatics + Grassy Seed (or any consumable item, really) eliminates possible counters like Foongus, and Swords Dance just makes it even stronger. What’re some of the best counters to it, so it doesn’t sweep my entire team?

Pleaselog inorregisterto add a comment.

There’s no analysis right now for Grookey, so we can’t tell its counters from that. All the recommendations are based on what higher ladder >1700 around uses.

Mentioning the most frequent counters based on Grookey’s item usage by usage stats:

Source(Grookey’s check and counter section)

Among these, Foongus is most used for countering Grookey. Vullaby has the least, so I don’t agree with PrimalKyogre on that point. The EV spread on Vullaby is never Maximum Defense, so using Vullaby isn’t the best choice.

| Spreads || Jolly:0/236/76/0/0/196 31.835% || Modest:0/0/76/236/0/196 16.627% || Adamant:0/236/76/0/0/196 7.984% || Careful:116/0/76/0/156/116 4.491% || Modest:0/0/156/236/0/116 4.213% || Adamant:0/236/0/76/0/196 3.444%

Source: Vullaby’s used spreads in Usage stats

Most used EV spread sets are offensive. Therefore, do not use Vullaby as an Grookey counter. Plus, Vullaby’s a better U-Turn pivot with Berry Juice (47% and 67% respectively) compared to Eviolite and Roost (27% and 14% respectively). That makes Vullaby not a good choice to send to Grookey. So, what does ladder use the most for it?

Foongus @ EvioliteAbility: RegeneratorEVs: 124 HP / 156 Def / 156 SpDBold Nature- Giga Drain- Sludge Bomb- Synthesis- Spore

Foongus is honestly the best counter. In high ladder, Grookey carries Life Orb 71%, Evilolite 19% and Grassy Seed a mere 5%. Acrobatics isn’t even listed in the commonly used moves, therefore it’s your best bet for handling Grookey.

236 Atk Life Orb Grookey Wood Hammer vs. 124 HP / 156+ Def Eviolite Foongus in Grassy Terrain: 4-5 (16 - 20%) – possible6HKOafter Grassy Terrain recovery

236 Atk Grookey Acrobatics (55 BP) vs. 124 HP / 156+ Def Eviolite Foongus: 8-10 (32 - 40%) – 1.1% chance to3HKOafter Grassy Terrain recovery

On the other hand, Sludge Bomb is a nice OHKO.

0 SpA Foongus Sludge Bomb vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Grookey: 24-30 (114.2 - 142.8%) – guaranteedOHKO

Foongusis the best Poison-type counter for Grookey,Salanditis a nice check although it seems to take very less damage.

236 Atk Life Orb Grookey Wood Hammer vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Salandit in Grassy Terrain: 5-6 (23.8 - 28.5%) – 3.7% chance to4HKOafter Grassy Terrain recovery

Note that Salandit has a weakness to Stealth Rocks, which can leave you pretty vulnerable.Koffingalso works, although getting 3HKOed by Wood Hammer despite Eviolite and not getting any recovery can put into a disadvantage.

Woobatcarries Grassy Seed for to counter Grookey. Simple gives Woobat a +2 Defense boost, which despite its mere Def of 43 allows it to dodge a 3HKO nearly.

236 Atk Life Orb Grookey Wood Hammer vs. +2 76 HP / 252+ Def Grassy Seed Woobat in Grassy Terrain: 5-8 (20.8 - 33.3%) – 0% chance to 3HKO

Trubbishtends to get 2HKOed without Eviolite by Life Orb Wood Hammer, which is pretty threatening. Note that it need to carry Recycle + Berry Juice for recovery, leaving no space for Eviolite.

236 Atk Life Orb Grookey Wood Hammer vs. 116 HP / 100 Def Trubbish in Grassy Terrain: 12-16 (52.1 - 69.5%) – guaranteed 2HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery

But since the damage output causes it to use Berry Juice, it can swiftly get the OHKO on it, or Recycle the item back.

Oddish, Stunky and Skorupiare some other options. though note that any poison typedoesn’t lose to Grookeycan be used in the team. Rowlet, Ponyta and Bulbasaur are good options as well.

Tl;dr this are the most common counters. Note that for checking Grookey, any Pokemon that can outsped it forcing to use Grassy Glide, can survive one hit then land the OHKO can be used, but they aren’t counters all the time since they always need a free-turn to switch and don’t get recovery as always.

That’s all, hope this helps.

idk much about LC… Buthere are some who can outspeed Grookey as well as OHKO them.

Ponytahas high speed but shallow movepool. It can stall very well. It doesn’t allow the oponent to use Knock off its Eviolite.

76 Atk Ponyta Flare Blitz vs. 0 HP / 36 Def Grookey: 32-42 (152.3 - 200%) – guaranteed OHKO

Salandit is an awesome glass cannon.

188 SpA Salandit Sludge Wave vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Grookey: 32-42 (152.3 - 200%) – guaranteed OHKO188 SpA Salandit Flamethrower vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Grookey: 32-38 (152.3 - 180.9%) – guaranteed OHKO

Choice ScarfCharmandercan also be an option, but its Special movepool is poor and may not excel against other ‘mons.

196 SpA Charmander Fire Blast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Grookey: 36-44 (171.4 - 209.5%) – guaranteed OHKO

Choice ScarfVulpixis a better option (as @Swastik said).

196 SpA Vulpix Weather Ball (100 BP Fire) vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Grookey in Sun: 48-56 (228.5 - 266.6%) – guaranteed OHKO

Fletchlinghas awesome ability Gale Wings and resists Grookey’s Stab.

196 Atk Gale Wings Fletchling Dual Wingbeat (2 hits) vs. 0 HP / 36 Def Grookey: 24-28 (114.2 - 133.3%) – guaranteed OHKO

Here are some ‘mons who can tank Grookey as well as OHKO them.

Growlithehas intimidate and an okay movepool.

236 Atk Grookey Wood Hammer vs. 0 HP / 76 Def Eviolite Growlithe in Grassy Terrain: 8-9 (36.3 - 40.9%) – guaranteed 3HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery196+ Atk Growlithe Flare Blitz vs. 0 HP / 36 Def Grookey: 36-44 (171.4 - 209.5%) – guaranteed OHKO

Axewresists its stab and has good movepool. The opponent probably can’t expect it.

236 Atk Grookey Wood Hammer vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Axew in Grassy Terrain: 8-9 (38 - 42.8%) – guaranteed 3HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery220+ Atk Mold Breaker Axew Outrage vs. 0 HP / 36 Def Grookey: 21-25 (100 - 119%) – guaranteed OHKO

Finally,Vullaby, who can tank hits and Knock out Grookey, can play other major roles as well.

236 Atk Life Orb Grookey Wood Hammer vs. 196 HP / 236+ Def Eviolite Vullaby in Grassy Terrain: 6-8 (23 - 30.7%) – 99.6% chance to 4HKO76 Atk Vullaby Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 36 Def Grookey: 30-36 (142.8 - 171.4%) – guaranteed OHKO

Hope this helps.

How aboutVullaby?The No.1 Pokémon in the viability rankings resists Grookey’s STAB and can OHKO with Brave Bird. Here’s a set and some caulculations:Vullaby @ EvioliteAbility: OvercoatLevel: 5EVs: 196 HP / 236 Def / 76 SpDImpish Nature- Brave Bird- Roost- Knock Off- Defog236 Atk Life Orb Grookey Wood Hammer vs. 196 HP / 236+ Def Eviolite Vullaby in Grassy Terrain: 6-8 (23 - 30.7%) – 99.6% chance to4HKO

236 Atk Life Orb Grookey Grassy Glide vs. 196 HP / 236+ Def Eviolite Vullaby in Grassy Terrain: 4-5 (15.3 - 19.2%) – possible6HKO

236 Atk Life Orb Grookey Drain Punch vs. 196 HP / 236+ Def Eviolite Vullaby: 5-6 (19.2 - 23%) – possible5HKO

0 Atk Vullaby Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 36 Def Grookey: 26-32 (123.8 - 152.3%) –guaranteed OHKO

It can reliably switch in to and OHKO Grookey, as well as providing very valuable utility outside of this matchup. It truly lives up to it’s ranking ofNo.1 in LC

Go with Larvesta, it might be a good counter for it.

Larvesta @ Berry JuiceAbility: SwarmLevel: 5EVs: 76 HP / 80 Def / 196 SpA / 156 SpDModest NatureIVs: 0 Atk- Bug Buzz- Flamethrower- Psychic- Giga Drain