Gigantamax Lapras counters, weakness, and battle tips in Pokémon Go

Gigantamax Lapras is the sixth Gigantamax Pokémon introduced to Pokémon Go, and is available in Max Battles as part of the Gigantamax Lapras Max Battle Day on July 19 from 2-5 p.m. in your local time.

Lapras originally made its Gigantamax debut as part of another Max Battle Day on Dec. 8, 2024, but it’s returning to give players another shot at getting it. Now that there are many more Pokémon to use, it’s definitely worth reinvestigating what to use against this cruise ship creature.

Below, we list out some general Gigantamax Max Battle tips and counters for Gigantamax Lapras in Pokémon Go.

Gigantamax Lapras weakness

We’ll want to utilize Gigantamax Lapras’ weaknesses: fighting-, rock-, grass-, and electric-type moves. Originally, there weren’t too many counters for Lapras available, but now we’re really cooking with gas.

You’ll want to avoid using water- and ice-type moves, as Lapras has a resistance against those types.

Gigantamax Lapras best counters

With the above in mind, there’s a good number of counters to bring to Lapras. We recommend the following to focus on offensive moves:

Note that if the Lapras you’re facing off against has Blizzard or Ice Beam as one its moves, your Rillaboom and Venusaur will likely struggle. While Rillaboom will dish out the most damage logically, Machamp or Toxtricity are safer choices when it comes to resisting Lapras’ moves.

You can also bring the Dynamax versions of the above Pokémon (though, yes, they will deal less damage than their Gigantamax counterparts), with the same fast moves, with the exception of Dynamax Rillaboom, which will need Razor Leaf. (Since D-Max moves pull typing from the fast move, it’ll want this over Scratch, which we only recommend on G-Max Rillaboom because it’s faster and thus builds up the gauge more.)

As a reminder, there is a set of Timed Research that will give you an encounter with a Dynamax Passimian, Passimian Candy, and some particles ahead of the weekend. Dynamax Passimian is a viable counter for Lapras, but we would only recommend investing in and using it if you don’t have many Max-eligible Pokémon to begin with.

If you want to be an ally to your team, you can bring the following Pokémon with Max Guard and/or Max Spirit to help out defensively:

These moves will allow you to build up shields quickly, and they resist most of Lapras’ possible moves.

Even if you don’t have these powered up, consider just bringing the strongest Dynamax Pokémon you have. If you have a maxed out Dynamax Gengar and your Dynamax Venusaur isn’t leveled (and you don’t have the means to power it up), just bring your Gengar.

General Gigantamax Lapras tips

If you’ve been struggling in Max Battles, here’s some general tips to survive — and make sure you’re an asset to your team. Gigantamax battles involve way more strategy than the usual rampant tapping that you do in raids, so make sure to know what you’re doing before jumping in.