How to beat Sierra in Pokemon Go (June 2023): Best counters & weaknesses

As one of the Team Rocket Leaders in Pokemon Go, Sierra can be tough to beat for both experienced and new players. Here’s everything there is to know about her June 2023 lineup, 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 defeating them is never an easy task.

In this guide, we’ll provide details on Sierra’s June 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 Murkrow in Pokemon Go
• How to counter Sierra’s Steelix, Swampert, or Staraptor in Pokemon Go
  • Steelix
  • Swampert
  • Staraptor
• How to counter Sierra’s Dragonite, Houndoom, or Charizard in Pokemon Go
  • Dragonite
  • Houndoom
  • Charizard
• 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 June 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 March, Sierra’s lineup changed as seen below:

• First Battle: Murkrow
• Second Battle: Steelix / Swampert / Staraptor
• Third Battle: Dragonite / Houndoom / Charizard

To beat Sierra, you’ll have to make sure that you have Pokemon that can provide different resistances and super-effective attacks against most of these opponents.

How to counter Murkrow in Pokemon Go

Murkrow is a dual Dark and Flying-type Pokemon, which means it’s weak against Electric, Fairy, Ice, and Rock-type moves. It’s also resistant to Dark, Ghost, Grass, Ground, and Psychic-type attacks, so be careful who you pick for this fight.

Electric-type Pokemon can be a great asset here, whether you’re trying to run Sierra out of shields or simply destroy Murkrow with massive firepower. Rock and Ice-type Pokemon are also worth considering since they can help take down other Pokemon Sierra might use.

With that in mind, here are some of the best counters to defeat Murkrow:

• Tyranitar with Smack Down and Stone Edge.
• Galarian Darmanitan with Ice Fang and Avalanche.
• Aggron with Smack Down and Stone Edge.
• Rampardos with Smack Down and Rock Slide.
• Xurkitree with Thunder Shock and Discharge.

How to counter Sierra’s Steelix, Swampert, or Staraptor in Pokemon Go

Steelix

As a dual Ground and Steel-type Pokemon, Steelix is weak against Fighting, Fire, Ground, and Water-type attacks. That also means it can resist Bug, Dragon, Fairy, Flying, Normal, Psychic, Steel, Electric, Rock, and Poison-type moves.

Sticking to super-effective moves will do the trick to get rid of Sierra’s Steelix as quickly as possible.

Here are some of the best counters against Steelix:

• Rhyperior with Mud Slap and Surf.
• Kyogre with Waterfall and Surf.
• Charizard with Fire Spin and Blast Burn.
• Terrakion with Double Kick and Sacred Sword.
• Galarian Darmanitan with Ice Fang and Overheat.
• Swampert with Mud Shot and Hyrdo Cannon.

Swampert

Swampert is a dual Water and Ground-type Pokemon, meaning its only weakness is Grass-type attacks. It will resist Electric, Fire, Poison, Rock, and Steel-type moves.

Some of the best counters to take Swampert down are listed below:

• Kartana with Razor Leaf and Leaf Blade.
• Roserade with Razor Leaf and Solar Beam.
• Venusaur with Vine Whip and Frenzy Plant.
• Torterra with Razor Leaf and Frenzy Plant.
• Sceptile with Bullet Seed and Leaf Blade.

Staraptor

Staraptor is a dual Normal and Flying-type Pokemon, which means it’s weak against Electric, Ice, and Rock-type moves. This Pokemon is resistant to Bug, Grass, Ghost, and Ground-type attacks, so you shouldn’t have much problem with your picks.

Every counter listed for Murkrow will work against Staraptor as well as long as you stick to Electric, Ice, and Rock-type moves.

How to counter Sierra’s Dragonite, Houndoom, or Charizard in Pokemon Go

Dragonite

Dragonite a dual Dragon and Flying-type Pokemon, which means it’s weak to Ice, Dragon, Fairy, and Rock-type moves. It will resist Bug, Fighting, Fire, Water, Grass, and Ground-type attacks you use, so be mindful of some of the Pokemon you use to defeat previous opponents.

Rock and Ice-type Pokemon that were good openers with Murkrow might work to take down Dragonite as well. Here are some of the best counters to use:

• Tyranitar with Smack Down and Stone Edge.
• Mamoswine with Powder Snow and Avalanche.
• Weavile with Ice Shard and Avalanche.
• Glaceon with Frost Breath and Avalanche.
• Kyurem with Dragon Tail and Blizzard.

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.

Charizard

Charizard is a dual Fire and Flying-type Pokemon, so it’s weak against Rock, Electric, and Water-type attacks. Its list of resistances might be a problem since it can take Fairy, Fighting, Fire, Ground, Steel, Bug, and Grass-type moves with ease.

Once again, Rock-type Pokemon are the way to go here, but some of the Electric and Water-type Pokemon mentioned before can also be great assets against Charizard.

Here are some of the best counters to defeat Charizard:

• Kyogre with Waterfall and Surf.
• Omastar with Rock Throw and Rock Slide.
• Rhyperior with Smack Down and Rock Wrecker/Surf.
• Terrakion with Smack Down and Rock Slide.
• Rampardos with Smack Down and Rock Slide.
• Gigalith with Smack Down and Meteor Beam.

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 Rock or Ice-type is key to wiping Murkrow fast, so we recommend either Darmanitan or Tyranitar for the job. These picks can also tackle some of the other Pokemon Sierra has in store.

Both Rock or Ice-type Pokemon can cover a lot of ground in these battles, with Rampardos and Mamoswine being top choices here. Grass-type Pokemon are key to defeating Swampert in seconds, but might not be as helpful with the rest of Sierra’s choices, so keep that in mind.

As long as you cover many different typings you can take on Sierra’s lineup for June 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.

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