Pokémon Go Mega Sableye counters, weaknesses and moveset explained
How to defeat the mega evolved Dark and Ghost-type Pokémon.
Mega Sableye is the Mega Evolved form of Sableye - a fan-favourite and the best Dark/Ghost-type Pokémon in Pokémon Go.
Not only is this cheeky-looking Pokémon an absolute cutie, but its regular version, Sableye, is extremely powerful in Go Battle League.
Like all Mega Evolutions, Mega Sableye can’t be caught directly in Pokémon Go. Instead, you need to keep defeating it in Mega Raids until you’ve collected enough Mega Sableye Energy for its temporary evolution. Thanks to the summer 2022 Mega Raid rebalance, this can now be done in one Mega Raid if you defeat it quickly enough!
Below you’ll find Mega Sableye’s counters and weaknesses to help you succeed in Pokémon Go - just remember you need to have an Sableye in your Pokémon storage to perform its Mega Evolution.
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Mega Sableye counters and weaknesses in Pokémon Go
The fastest way to collect Mega Sableye energy is to defeat one in a Mega Raid. Below you’ll find the counters and weaknesses for Mega Sableye to help you achieve this:
- Mega Sableye types - Dark and Ghost
- Mega Sableye is weak against - Fairy
- Mega Sableye is resistant to - Normal, Psychic, Fighting and Poison
- Mega Sableye Mega counters - Mega Gardevoir as a Fairy-type is the obvious way to go, though it is followed closely by Mega Rayquaza thanks to how hard the Sky Noodle hits. If you don't have either of these, the next best option is Mega Diancie, but there is such a huge drop in its effectiveness its scary. At this point, it's just there to buff the rest of your party...
- Mega Sableye non-Mega counters - Fairy is vital here if you want an easy time on your hands. Incarnate Enamorus is the best bet, followed narrowly by Xerneas with the Legacy move Geomancy. After this, you're looking at Tapu Koko, Tapu Bulu and then Shadow Gardevoir. All of these Pokémon are better than Mega Diancie, which shows just how weak that Pokémon is. Finally, we have Xurkitree, but we're scraping the bottle of the barrel here.
- Number of players to beat Mega Sableye - Mega Sableye is extremely defensive, so you really shouldn’t expect to solo this one unless you’re the very best at Pokémon Go. Aim for a team of five to eight players at Level 40 who are bringing the right Pokémon to the battle! If you want an easy time, however, you're looking at nine or more players.
- Tactics - Fairy is Mega Sableye’s only weakness, so start with Mega Gardevoir and then fall back on your strongest Pokémon with Fairy-type attacks. If it’s a Fairy-type that gets STAB from using these attacks, that’s even better, but don’t overlook the likes of Xurkitree who happens to have a decent Fairy-type attack!
Mega Sableye CP in Pokémon Go
Below you’ll find the CP levels for battling for Mega Sableye and, if defeated, catching an Sableye after the fight in Pokémon Go:
- Mega Sableye Raid CP - 23,935 CP
- CP range for catching Sableye - 1047 to 1110 CP
- Weather (Foggy) when being caught - 1309 to 1387 CP
The Dual Destiny Season is here! It brings the Holiday Part 1 event with it. You can now catch Dynamax Pokémon through Max Battles. First, however, you need to visit Power Spots to collect Max Particles and complete the To the Max! quest. Don't forget to try out Routes, Gift Exchange and Party Play while you're hunting down rare Pokémon, fighting in the Go Battle League or competing in PokéStop Showcases.
Best Mega Sableye moveset in Pokémon Go
Mega Sableye occupies a very strange part of Pokémon Go. Purified Sableye is excellent in Go Battle League’s Great League, and is one of a very limited number of Pokémon that can get away with running the move Return. But Sableye’s high defense doesn’t mean much for a Mega Pokémon that isn’t eligible for Go Battle League.
Thanks to its low attack and overall low stats, Mega Sableye has two uses in Pokémon Go: filling a Pokédex slot and, if you really need it, pumping up the rest of the team when doing a raid that uses a lot of Dark or Ghost-type counters, where you want the Mega to stick around for longer than Mega Gengar or the upcoming Mega Tyranitar. However, given that raids are simply button-mashing exercises and dodging is almost never advisable, this tactic seems an exercise in futility.
So, when all is said and done, Mega Sableye is pretty much useless in Pokémon Go.
But if you’re a mega fan of this mega cute Pokémon - and why wouldn’t you be, just look at that grin - and want to give it a spin, you’ll be pleased to know that it can use a variety of Fast and Charged moves in Pokémon Go. The best Mega Sableye moves would be the combination of Feint Attack (Fast) and Foul Play (Charged) in raids as a Dark-type attacker.
Here are the Fast and Charged moves Mega Sableye can use in Pokémon Go:
Fast Moves:
- Feint Attack (Dark)
- Shadow Claw (Ghost)
Charged Moves:
- Foul Play (Dark)
- Power Gem (Rock)
- Shadow Sneak (Ghost)
Legacy Charged Moves:
- Return (Normal)
Remember, the Pokémon you catch at the end of the Raid can’t learn Return - only a Purified (ex-Shadow) Pokémon can learn this attack.
Everything we know about Sableye
The Darkness Pokémon, Sableye, dates back to the Hoenn region in Gen 3. Interestingly, it is one of only two Dark and Ghost-type Pokémon, along with Spiritomb. Neither of these Pokémon have any evolutions in their species line.
This cool little Pokémon was reportedly inspired by the Hopkinsville Goblin, from the US state of Kentucky - a reported UFO encounter back in 1955. More trivia for you, the DNA Pokémon Deoxys of the same generation is an alien encounter in the main series games!
While it may have been inspired by above, Sableye canonically lives underground. You can read the official Pokédex entries for these Pokémon below:
- Sableye: 'It dwells in the darkness of caves. It uses its sharp claws to dig up gems to nourish itself .'
- Mega Sableye: 'Bathed in the energy of Mega Evolution, the gemstone on its chest expands, rips through its skin, and falls out.'
Well, that sounds violent...
For those looking for a shiny, you’ll be pleased to know that shiny Sableye was released on at the start of the Halloween 2017 event. As a result, Mega Sableye is also in the game!
Shiny Sableye swaps its purple for gold, and its red gem for a green one. We can't wait to add such a cool Mega shiny to our Mega Pokédex!
Good luck defeating Mega Sableye in Pokémon Go!