How to Beat Every Cobblemon Gym: Leader Teams and Counters (2026)

Short answer: Complex Cobblemon (cobblemon.mc-complex.com) has 18 gyms, and every gym leader uses a full competitive team of 6 Pokémon with held items, abilities and real movesets. To beat a gym, bring Pokémon that hit its type super effectively, plan for each leader's key threat (like Cloyster's Shell Smash at the Ice gym or Azumarill's Belly Drum at the Fairy gym) and carry a way to deal with weather, hazards and Focus Sash. Below is every leader's team, in the order you unlock the gyms, with the best counters for each.

Before you battle​

• Bring 6 Pokémon, one of each species. Gyms use Gen 9 National Dex OU rules, so Pokémon banned in National Dex OU can't be used.
• Leaders play like real players. Every team uses held items, abilities and competitive moves like Stealth Rock, Swords Dance and priority attacks, so type advantage alone isn't always enough.
• Only one of your Pokémon can be put to sleep at a time (Sleep Clause), and moves that raise evasion or knock out in one hit are banned.
• Items are allowed, but using items in a battle removes the rarest rewards from that win.
• You can check a leader before you fight. Left-click a Gym Leader to see its reward list.

Grass Gym​

Gym 1 · /warp grassgym · Bring: Fire, Flying, Ice, Bug, Poison
Watch out for:

• Rotom-Mow holds a Choice Scarf and uses Trick to swap it onto your setup Pokémon, locking it into one move.
• Ferrothorn sets Stealth Rock and Leech Seed and hurts you on contact (Iron Barbs + Rocky Helmet). It is 4x weak to Fire.
• Mega Sceptile is fast and carries Dragon Pulse plus Vacuum Wave, a priority move for Steel and Rock types.
• Chesnaught has Bulletproof, so ball and bomb moves (Shadow Ball, Sludge Bomb, Focus Blast) do nothing to it.

Best counters: A strong Fire type does most of the work here (Charizard, Volcarona, Cinderace); give it Heavy-Duty Boots, since Ferrothorn sets Stealth Rock. Add a Flying type for Chesnaught and Rillaboom, and keep Mega Sceptile in check with an Ice, Fairy or Dragon attack.

Ice Gym​

Gym 2 · /warp icegym · Bring: Fire, Fighting, Rock, Steel
Watch out for:

• Alolan Ninetales sets snow and Aurora Veil, which cuts your damage for 8 turns (Light Clay). Brick Break and Psychic Fangs break it.
• In snow, Blizzard never misses and Beartic (Slush Rush) doubles its Speed.
• Cloyster holds a Focus Sash and uses Shell Smash, then sweeps with Icicle Spear and Rock Blast. Break the sash with Stealth Rock or a multi-hit move.
• Avalugg has a huge Defense plus an Assault Vest, and Mirror Coat punishes special hits. Hit it hard with Fire or Fighting moves.

Best counters: Steel types resist Ice and hit back hard (Scizor, Lucario), a Fire type like Cinderace covers Avalugg and Cloyster, and a Fighting type with Close Combat or Drain Punch handles Avalugg, Beartic and Weavile. Avoid Rock-weak Fire types like Volcarona and Charizard: Cloyster's Rock Blast and Beartic's Stone Edge will shred them.

Rock Gym​

Gym 3 · /warp rockgym · Bring: Water, Grass, Fighting, Ground
Watch out for:

• Tyranitar starts a sandstorm. Sand chips you every turn, boosts Rock types' Special Defense and doubles Lycanroc's Speed (Sand Rush).
• Garganacl uses Salt Cure, which drains you every turn (more on Water and Steel types), then stalls with Protect and Recover.
• Glimmora scatters Toxic Spikes when it is hit by a physical move. Use a special attacker on it.
• Hisuian Arcanine holds a Choice Scarf and uses Head Smash with no recoil (Rock Head).

Best counters: Bring a Water or Grass special attacker for Rhyperior and Garganacl and a Fighting or Ground type for Tyranitar and Arcanine. Swampert is a great pick: it is only weak to Grass, which this team doesn't carry. Steel types look good on paper, but most of this team carries Fire, Fighting or Ground moves for them.

Fighting Gym​

Gym 4 · /warp fightinggym · Bring: Flying, Psychic, Fairy
Watch out for:

• Mega Blaziken gets faster every turn (Speed Boost) and uses Swords Dance. Deal with it fast or it sweeps.
• Breloom opens with Spore. Bring a Grass type or something with Overcoat to be immune, and remember only one of your Pokémon can be asleep at a time (Sleep Clause).
• Toxicroak absorbs Water moves (Dry Skin), and Bewear takes half damage from contact moves (Fluffy).
• Mienshao and Bewear carry Ice moves for Flying types.

Best counters: Psychic and Fairy special attackers (Gardevoir, Alakazam, Clefable) are the safest picks, and a bulky Psychic type like Slowbro walls most of the team. Keep a fast or priority attacker ready for Mega Blaziken.

Electric Gym​

Gym 5 · /warp electricgym · Bring: Ground
Watch out for:

• Pincurchin sets Electric Terrain, which powers up Rising Voltage and makes Alolan Raichu twice as fast (Surge Surfer).
• Rotom-Wash floats (Levitate) and Magnezone holds an Air Balloon, so Ground moves miss them until the balloon pops.
• Magnezone traps Steel types (Magnet Pull) and carries a Fire move for them.
• Raichu has Grass Knot and Rotom-Wash has Hydro Pump for your Ground types.

Best counters: Gastrodon is ideal: it is immune to Electric moves and Storm Drain absorbs Water moves. Watch out for Alolan Raichu's Grass Knot, which is 4x effective on it. Pair it with a Ground/Dragon type like Garchomp, and avoid Steel types here, since Magnezone traps them.

Fire Gym​

Gym 6 · /warp firegym · Bring: Water, Ground, Rock
Watch out for:

• Torkoal sets harsh sun, which halves Water moves, powers up Fire moves and lets Scovillain use Solar Beam in one turn at double Speed (Chlorophyll).
• Hisuian Typhlosion holds a Choice Scarf and opens with Eruption, which is strongest at full HP.
• Mega Charizard X uses Dragon Dance and becomes Fire/Dragon, so it is weak to Ground, Rock and Dragon moves.
• Turtonator uses Will-O-Wisp on physical attackers.

Best counters: Change the weather to beat the sun: Tyranitar or Hippowdon (sand) or Pelipper (rain). Ground types like Garchomp and Hippowdon hit almost the whole team hard. Tyranitar is a strong pick too, but it is 4x weak to Body Press and Focus Blast, which Torkoal, Turtonator and Typhlosion carry.

Normal Gym​

Gym 7 · /warp normalgym · Bring: Fighting
Watch out for:

• Hisuian Zoroark is Normal/Ghost, so Fighting and Normal moves do nothing to it. It also appears disguised as another Pokémon (Illusion).
• Snorlax uses Curse and Rest with a Chesto Berry. Hit it hard before it boosts, or use Taunt.
• Slaking only acts every other turn (Truant). Use Protect on the turn it attacks, since it carries Pursuit for Pokémon that switch out.
• Ambipom opens with Fake Out, and Heliolisk absorbs Water moves (Dry Skin).

Best counters: A strong Fighting type (Lucario, Conkeldurr, Breloom) handles most of the team. Zoroark is only weak to Dark moves (Ghost moves don't affect it), so bring a Dark attacker: Kingambit and Tyranitar also resist its Shadow Ball, though Kingambit is weak to its Flamethrower.

Flying Gym​

Gym 8 · /warp flyinggym · Bring: Electric, Ice, Rock
Watch out for:

• Dragonite has Multiscale, which halves the first hit it takes, and Heavy-Duty Boots, so Stealth Rock won't break it. Use a multi-hit move or an Ice move (still 2x through Multiscale), and watch for Extreme Speed.
• Gliscor heals every turn with Toxic Orb (Poison Heal) and is 4x weak to Ice. So are Salamence and Dragonite.
• Corviknight sets up Iron Defense and attacks with Body Press. Use Fire or Electric moves on it.
• Salamence gets stronger every time it knocks a Pokémon out (Moxie).

Best counters: An Ice attacker (Weavile, Mamoswine, Baxcalibur) and an Electric attacker that floats over Earthquake (like Rotom) cover the whole team. Avoid Magnezone here: Salamence, Gliscor and Dragonite all carry Earthquake.

Psychic Gym​

Gym 9 · /warp psychicgym · Bring: Bug, Ghost, Dark
Watch out for:

• Indeedee sets Psychic Terrain. It powers up Expanding Force and stops priority moves like Sucker Punch from hitting grounded targets.
• Mega Gardevoir and Alakazam carry Fairy moves and Armarouge and Gallade carry Fighting moves for Dark types. Alakazam also has a Fire move for Bug and Steel types.
• Slowbro uses Future Sight and Teleport to switch out safely, healing as it leaves (Regenerator).
• Armarouge has a Focus Sash and Destiny Bond, so think before you knock it out.

Best counters: Dark types are immune to Psychic moves, so Kingambit and Tyranitar are good picks, but keep them away from Armarouge's Aura Sphere and Gallade's Sacred Sword (4x). Gholdengo resists Psychic and Fairy, and a Ghost or Flying attacker covers Gallade.

Water Gym​

Gym 10 · /warp watergym · Bring: Grass, Electric
Watch out for:

• Pelipper starts rain, which powers up Water moves, makes Hurricane never miss and doubles Barraskewda's Speed (Swift Swim).
• Azumarill traps you with Whirlpool and uses Perish Song: switch out before the count ends. Ghost types and U-turn or Volt Switch get you out of the trap.
• Azumarill also absorbs Grass moves (Sap Sipper), and Milotic and Greninja carry Ice Beam for Grass types.
• Alomomola reflects special attacks with Mirror Coat.

Best counters: Gastrodon (Storm Drain absorbs every Water move) and Ferrothorn (resists Water and takes neutral hits from Ice) are excellent. Add an Electric attacker like Magnezone or Rotom for Pelipper and Barraskewda.

Bug Gym​

Gym 11 · /warp buggym · Bring: Fire, Flying, Rock
Watch out for:

• Shuckle sets Sticky Web and Stealth Rock. Bring Defog or Rapid Spin, or a Flying type, to dodge the web.
• Volcarona uses Quiver Dance. It is 4x weak to Rock moves.
• Scizor uses Swords Dance and Bullet Punch priority. It is 4x weak to Fire.
• Ninjask gets faster every turn and uses Flail with a Focus Sash, and Araquanid takes half damage from Fire (Water Bubble).

Best counters: A Rock attacker like Tyranitar handles Volcarona and Yanmega (avoid Rhyperior, which is 4x weak to their Giga Drain), a Fire type handles Scizor, and an Electric or Rock move handles Araquanid.

Poison Gym​

Gym 12 · /warp poisongym · Bring: Ground, Psychic
Watch out for:

• Glimmora holds a Power Herb, so Meteor Beam fires on the first turn.
• Scolipede gets faster every turn (Speed Boost) and hits hard with First Impression on its first turn.
• Alolan Muk is Poison/Dark, so it is immune to Psychic and only weak to Ground.
• Amoonguss uses Spore and heals as it switches (Regenerator).

Best counters: Ground types (Garchomp, Excadrill, Hippowdon) hit Glimmora, Nidoking and Alolan Muk hard. Steel types are immune to Poison moves, but most of this team also carries Ground or Fire moves for them. Add a Psychic attacker for Crobat and Amoonguss, and keep Garchomp away from Nidoking's Ice Beam (4x).

Fairy Gym​

Gym 13 · /warp fairygym · Bring: Poison, Steel
Watch out for:

• Azumarill uses Belly Drum, then Aqua Jet priority at maximum Attack. Never let it set up.
• Grimmsnarl sets Reflect and Light Screen with priority (Prankster) and spreads paralysis with Thunder Wave.
• Mimikyu's Disguise blocks the first hit. Break it with a weak move or a multi-hit move first.
• Dachsbun is immune to Fire moves (Well-Baked Body).

Best counters: Steel types resist Fairy moves: Gholdengo is a strong pick, while Scizor needs to avoid Clefable and Mega Gardevoir's Fire moves (4x). A Poison type like Toxapex or Glimmora helps, plus a Grass or Electric attacker for Azumarill.

Ground Gym​

Gym 14 · /warp groundgym · Bring: Water, Grass, Ice
Watch out for:

• Hippowdon starts sand, and Garchomp holds a Bright Powder with Sand Veil, so your moves miss more often in sand.
• Excadrill doubles its Speed in sand (Sand Rush) and uses Swords Dance.
• Gastrodon absorbs Water moves (Storm Drain). Use Grass moves on it.
• Garchomp and Gliscor are 4x weak to Ice.

Best counters: An Ice attacker (Weavile, Mamoswine, Baxcalibur) and a Grass attacker (Rillaboom, Ferrothorn) cover the team. Your own weather (rain or snow) stops the sand, and a Flying or Levitate Pokémon dodges Earthquake.

Ghost Gym​

Gym 15 · /warp ghostgym · Bring: Ghost, Dark
Watch out for:

• Polteageist uses Shell Smash with a White Herb, then sweeps with Stored Power. Stop it before it moves.
• Gholdengo holds a Choice Scarf and uses Trick. It blocks status moves like Taunt and Will-O-Wisp (Good as Gold).
• Ceruledge has a Focus Sash and Swords Dance, and Close Combat for Dark types.
• Mega Gengar traps whatever it faces (Shadow Tag), and Normal and Fighting moves do nothing to Ghost types.

Best counters: Dark types are the best answer: Kingambit, Tyranitar and Weavile resist Ghost moves and Sucker Punch or Knock Off hits most of the team. Keep them away from Ceruledge's Close Combat (4x). Bring a fast Ghost attacker as backup.

Dark Gym​

Gym 16 · /warp darkgym · Bring: Fighting, Bug, Fairy
Watch out for:

• Kingambit gets stronger for every leader Pokémon you have already knocked out (Supreme Overlord). Save a Fighting or Ground type to finish it.
• Kingambit and Hisuian Samurott use Sucker Punch, which fails if you use a status move.
• Crawdaunt hits extremely hard with a Choice Band and Adaptability, including Aqua Jet priority.
• Hisuian Samurott sets Spikes with Ceaseless Edge.

Best counters: Fighting types (Lucario, Conkeldurr, Breloom) and Fairy types (Clefable, Iron Valiant) cover the team. Iron Valiant, Fairy/Fighting, hits almost everything here but watch for Kingambit's Iron Head.

Dragon Gym​

Gym 17 · /warp dragongym · Bring: Ice, Dragon, Fairy
Watch out for:

• Hisuian Goodra is Steel/Dragon, so it is only weak to Fighting and Ground.
• Baxcalibur is Dragon/Ice and uses Dragon Dance with Icicle Spear and Scale Shot.
• Raging Bolt uses Calm Mind and Thunderclap, which moves first when you are attacking.
• Garchomp sets Stealth Rock and Spikes and hurts you on contact (Rough Skin + Rocky Helmet), and Salamence holds a berry that halves the first Ice hit.

Best counters: Fairy types (Clefable, Iron Valiant) are immune to Dragon moves, and Steel types resist both Dragon and Ice moves. Bring a Ground attacker for Goodra and Raging Bolt (Fighting also works on Goodra), and an Ice attacker for Garchomp and Salamence.

Steel Gym​

Gym 18 · /warp steelgym · Bring: Fire, Ground, Dark
Watch out for:

• Gholdengo holds an Air Balloon and is Steel/Ghost, so it dodges Ground moves and is immune to Fighting. Use Fire or Dark moves.
• Corviknight and Celesteela are part Flying, so Ground moves miss. Use Fire or Electric moves.
• Archaludon holds a Power Herb, so Electro Shot fires on the first turn, and it gets bulkier every time it is hit (Stamina).
• Scizor uses Swords Dance and Bullet Punch priority, and Mega Metagross carries Ice Punch and Rock Slide.

Best counters: A strong Fire type hits most of the team: Cinderace is a safe pick, while Volcarona and Charizard need to stay away from Mega Metagross's Rock Slide (4x). Add a Ground attacker for Mega Metagross and Archaludon, and a Dark move for Gholdengo.

General tips for every gym​

• Bring a hazard remover. Many leaders set Stealth Rock, Spikes, Toxic Spikes or Sticky Web. A Pokémon with Defog or Rapid Spin, or Heavy-Duty Boots, saves a lot of HP.
• Break Focus Sash. Cloyster, Breloom, Glimmora, Ninjask, Armarouge and Ceruledge survive any single hit from full HP. Multi-hit moves and hazards get around it, or finish them with a priority move after the sash breaks.
• Fight the weather. The Ice, Rock, Fire, Water and Ground gyms set snow, sand, sun or rain. Your own weather setter (Tyranitar, Hippowdon, Pelipper, Alolan Ninetales) takes their speed and damage boosts away.
• Don't let setup Pokémon get going. Shell Smash, Belly Drum, Dragon Dance, Quiver Dance and Swords Dance users win if you give them a free turn. Hit them hard right away.
• Train your team first. EVs and good natures make a big difference against these sets. See How to EV Train in Cobblemon and the Cobblemon Team Building Guide.

Cobblemon gym leaders FAQ​

What Pokémon do the Cobblemon gym leaders use?​

What should I bring to the Grass gym in Cobblemon?​

Which Cobblemon gyms use weather or terrain?​

Do Cobblemon gym leaders use Mega Evolution?​

Do gym leaders use the same team every time?​