As one of the Team Rocket Leaders in Pokemon Go, Sierra can be tough to beat for both experienced and new players. We’ll cover everything there is to know about her March 2023 team, including weaknesses and best counters.
When Pokemon Go players get their hands on the Rocket Radar by defeating Grunts or completing event-related tasks, they get a chance to face one of the Team Rocket Leaders: Cliff, Arlo, or Sierra. These Leaders change their Pokemon regularly to surprise trainers so it’s never easy to defeat them.
In this guide, we’ll provide details on Sierra’s March 2023 Pokemon lineup with all the information you need to build the best Pokemon Go team to win the battle, including weaknesses and best counters.
- How to beat Sierra in Pokemon Go
- How to counter Beldum in Pokemon Go
- How to counter Sierra’s Flygon, Sharpedo, or Lapras in Pokemon Go
- How to counter Sierra’s Alakazam, Houndoom, or Shiftry in Pokemon Go
- Alakazam
- Houndoom
- Shiftry
- Best team to defeat Sierra in Pokemon Go
- How to beat Team Rocket Leaders in Pokemon Go
How to beat Sierra in Pokemon Go
Sierra doesn’t like to mess around in Pokemon Go and her March 2023 team composed of Shadow Pokemon has some really strong contenders you need to be careful of.
After the Team Go Rocket takeover event in February, Sierra’s lineup changed as seen below:
- First Battle: Beldum
- Second Battle: Flygon / Sharpedo / Lapras
- Third Battle: Alakazam / Houndoom / Shiftry
To beat Sierra, you’ll have to make sure that you have Pokemon that can provide different resistances and super-effective attacks.
How to counter Beldum in Pokemon Go
Beldum is a dual Steel and Psychic-type Pokemon, which means it’s weak against Dark, Fire, Ghost, and Ground-type moves. It’s also resistant to Dragon, Fairy, Flying, Grass, Ice, Normal, Poison, Psychic, Rock, and Steel-type attacks, so be careful who you pick for this fight.
Fire-type Pokemon can be a great asset here, whether you’re trying to run Sierra out of shield or simply destroy Beldum with massive firepower.
With that in mind, here are some of the best counters to defeat Beldum:
- Blaziken with Fire Spin and Overheat.
- Reshiram with Fire Fang and Overheat.
- Charizard with Fire Spin and Blast Burn.
- Chandelure with Hex and Shadow Ball.
- Darkrai with Snarl and Dark Pulse.
How to counter Sierra’s Flygon, Sharpedo, or Lapras in Pokemon Go
Flygon
As a dual Ground and Dragon-type Pokemon, Flygon is weak against Dragon, Fairy, and Ice-type attacks. That also means it can resist Electric, Fire, Poison, and Rock-type moves.
Dragon-type Pokemon usually pack a punch and tank a lot of damage, but be mindful that they’ll be at a disadvantage against other Dragon-type moves.
Here are some of the best counters against Flygon:
- Dragonite with Dragon Tail and Outrage.
- Kyurem with Dragon Breath and Blizzard.
- Zekrom with Dragon Breath and Outrage.
- Mamoswine with Powder Snow and Avalanche.
- Articuno with Ice Shard and Icy Wind.
- Weavile with Ice Shard and Avalanche.
Sharpedo
Sharpedo is a dual Water and Dark-type Pokemon, meaning its weaknesses are Bug, Electric, Fairy, Fighting, and Grass-type attacks. It will resist Dark, Fire, Ghost, Ice, Psychic, Steel, and Water-type moves.
Some of the best counters to take Sharpedo down are listed below:
- Lucario with Counter and Power-Up Punch.
- Machamp with Counter and Close Combat.
- Conkeldurr with Counter and Dynamic Punch.
- Terrakion with Double Kick and Sacred Sword.
- Breloom with Counter and Dynamic Punch.
Lapras
Lapras is a dual Water and Ice-type Pokemon, which means it’s weak against Electric, Fighting, Grass, and Rock-type moves. This Pokemon is only resistant to Ice and Water-type attacks, so you shouldn’t struggle much.
Every counter listed for Sharpedo will work against Lapras as well, but you can also think of a Rock-type Pokemon like Rampardos for a quick victory.
How to counter Sierra’s Alakazam, Houndoom, or Shiftry in Pokemon Go
Alakazam
Alakazam is one of the most iconic Psychic-type Pokemon, which means it’s weak to Bug, Dark, and Ghost-type moves. It will resist Fighting and Psychic-type attacks you use, so be mindful of the Pokemon you use to defeat previous opponents.
Since Ghost-type Pokemon are good against opener Beldum, you can also rely on those to take down Alakazam. Here are some of the best counters:
- Chandelure with Hex and Shadow Ball.
- Darkrai with Feint Attack and Shadow Ball.
- Hoopa with Astonish and Shadow Ball.
- Tyranitar with Smack Down and Crunch.
Houndoom
As a dual Fire and Dark-type Pokemon, Houndoom is weak against Fighting, Ground, Rock, and Water-type attacks. It’s resistant to Ghost, Steel, Fire, Grass, Psychic, Ice, and Dark-type moves, so be careful with your pick.
Fighting-type Pokemon are your safest bet, but you can also go with not-so-obvious choices relying on powerful Water-types.
These are some of the best counters to choose:
- Lucario with Counter and Power-Up Punch.
- Machamp with Counter and Close Combat.
- Conkeldurr with Counter and Dynamic Punch.
- Kyogre with Waterfall and Surf.
- Rampardos with Smack Down and Rock Slide.
- Tyranitar with Smack Down and Stone Edge.
Shiftry
Shiftry is a dual Grass and Dark-type Pokemon, so it’s weak against Bug, Fairy, Fighting, Fire, Flying, Ice, and Poison-type attacks. Its list of resistances is equally long since it can take Dark, Electric, Ghost, Grass, Ground, Psychic, and Water-type moves.
Fighting-type picks like Lucario will work well here, in addition to powerful Fire-types.
Here are some of the best counters to defeat Shiftry:
- Blaziken with Fire Spin/Counter and Blast Burn/Blaze Kick.
- Machamp with Counter and Close Combat.
- Darmanitan with Fire Fang and Overheat.
- Kartana with Air Slash and X-Scissor.
- Escavalier with Bug Bite and Mega Horn.
- Pheromosa with Bug Bite and Bug Buzz.
Best team to defeat Sierra in Pokemon Go
Since you can only pick three Pokemon to face Team Rocket Leader Sierra in Pokemon Go, you’ll need to cover different typings to be prepared for whatever she has up her sleeve.
Starting with a strong Fire-type is key to wiping Beldum fast, so we recommend either Darmanitan or Blaziken for the job. These picks can also tackle some of the other Pokemon Sierra has in store.
Fighting or Bug-type Pokemon can cover a lot of ground in these battles, with Machamp and Pheromosa being top choices here. As a dual Dragon and Electric-type Pokemon, Zekrom can round up the team by exploiting Lapras, Sharpedo, and Flygon’s weaknesses if needed.
As long as you cover many different typings you can take on Sierra’s lineup for March 2023.
How to beat Team Rocket Leaders in Pokemon Go
Alongside Sierra, Pokemon Go players can face other Team Rocket Leaders, so check out our guides on how to beat Arlo, Cliff, and Giovanni for more counter recommendations.
Image Source: Syafiq Adnan / Shutterstock
