Giratina in the Meta

 

Raid Meta –Dragon Breath/Dragon Claw

Giratina is a pretty lackluster Dragon-Type attacker. It’s most notably quality is its great bulk which rivals the likes of Palkia and Dialga- but that is entirely offset by its atrocious move-pool and attack stat. Its performance is somewhere between Flygon and Kingdra, which there are a dozen better Dragon-Type options over.  

 

Dragon-Type Raid Attackers

RANK	Pokemon	Moveset	DPS%	TDO%
100%	Rayquaza	Dragon Tail /Outrage	100%	87%	2.60	2.50	2.91	2.33	2.65
98%	Dialga	Dragon Breath /Draco Meteor	90%	93%	2.73	2.50	2.91	2.51	2.61
97%	Palkia	Dragon Tail /Draco Meteor	96%	92%	2.61	2.65	3.00	2.38	2.72
97%	Salamence (Legacy)	Dragon Tail /Outrage	98%	85%	2.68	2.60	3.00	2.36	2.75
95%	Garchomp	Dragon Tail /Outrage	92%	100%	2.64	2.67	2.99	2.44	2.87
95%	Dragonite	Dragon Tail /Outrage	92%	91%	2.73	2.64	3.06	2.42	2.84
88%	Latios	Dragon Breath /Dragon Claw	85%	82%	2.95	2.88	3.07	2.68	3.07
79%	Latias	Dragon Breath /Outrage	77%	85%	3.23	3.20	3.46	3.05	3.38
77%	Giratina (Origin Forme)	Dragon Tail /Dragon Pulse	74%	91%	3.33	3.24	3.70	3.02	3.43
74%	Alolan Exeggutor	Dragon Tail /Dragon Pulse	75%	60%	3.37	3.41	3.94	3.12	3.62
72%	Rampardos	Smack Down /Outrage	80%	48%	3.45	3.77	3.95	3.05	3.73
72%	Gyarados (Legacy)	Dragon Tail /Outrage	70%	67%	3.54	3.53	4.26	3.10	3.60
69%	Flygon	Dragon Tail /Dragon Claw	70%	54%	3.66	3.87	4.21	3.27	3.74
68%	Groudon	Dragon Tail /Earthquake	63%	69%	3.77	3.86	4.19	3.33	3.94
68%	Giratina (Altered Forme)	Dragon Breath /Dragon Claw	62%	91%	3.88	3.77	4.20	3.33	3.95
67%	Kingdra	Dragon Breath /Outrage	67%	57%	3.95	3.88	4.27	3.45	3.81
67%	Mew	Dragon Tail /Dazzling Gleam	62%	68%	3.99	3.69	4.32	3.60	3.87
64%	Snorlax	Lick /Outrage	54%	70%	3.97	4.04	4.38	3.48	4.33
60%	Lugia	Dragon Tail /Sky Attack	52%	87%	4.37	4.18	4.74	3.97	4.38
58%	Sceptile	Fury Cutter /Dragon Claw	57%	40%	4.85	4.07	4.42	4.14	4.78
58%	Milotic	Dragon Tail /Blizzard	55%	62%	4.43	4.35	4.71	3.82	5.04
57%	Deoxys (Attack Forme)	Zen Headbutt /Dark Pulse	74%	14%	4.96	4.23	4.66	3.99	4.70

Raid Meta –Shadow Claw/Shadow Sneak

Shadow Sneak is an awful move, and it can’t make up for how good Shadow Claw is. It’s frankly usually better to be running ancient power. They are hanging out around Zangoose and Froslass in terms of Ghost Attackers. Don’t use this Giratina as a Ghost-Type attacker unless you just need a tank.

 

RANK	Pokemon	Moveset	DPS%	TDO%
98%	Darkrai	Feint Attack /Shadow Ball	93%	70%	2.55	2.47	0.78	2.81	2.25
96%	Giratina (Origin Forme)	Shadow Claw /Shadow Ball	87%	100%	2.40	2.65	0.73	2.86	2.40
92%	Chandelure	Hex /Shadow Ball	97%	62%	2.47	3.03	0.87	2.86	2.24
92%	Mewtwo (Legacy)	Psycho Cut /Shadow Ball	86%	74%	2.69	2.71	0.71	3.01	2.43
85%	Gengar (Legacy)	Shadow Claw /Shadow Ball	100%	53%	2.83	3.01	0.83	3.38	2.35
75%	Raikou	Thunder Shock /Shadow Ball	72%	64%	3.16	3.31	0.96	3.80	2.90
75%	Banette	Shadow Claw /Shadow Ball	86%	41%	3.13	3.48	1.03	3.66	2.83
73%	Mismagius	Sucker Punch /Shadow Ball	76%	50%	3.19	3.75	1.07	3.74	2.80
71%	Drifblim	Hex /Shadow Ball	73%	53%	3.39	3.61	1.01	3.79	3.17
68%	Gardevoir	Confusion /Shadow Ball	65%	47%	3.74	3.46	0.90	4.23	3.19
68%	Alakazam	Confusion /Shadow Ball	73%	41%	3.68	3.87	0.98	4.21	2.95
66%	Lucario	Bullet Punch /Shadow Ball	70%	39%	3.63	3.50	1.10	3.93	3.86
66%	Spiritomb	Sucker Punch /Shadow Ball	65%	40%	3.63	3.91	1.11	4.11	3.42
64%	Haunter (Legacy)	Lick /Shadow Ball	88%	29%	3.85	4.14	1.00	4.25	3.29
61%	Zangoose	Shadow Claw /Night Slash	60%	30%	4.17	3.77	1.23	4.62	3.57
60%	Golurk	Astonish /Shadow Punch	60%	42%	3.89	4.28	1.20	4.59	3.59
60%	Giratina (Altered Forme)	Shadow Claw /Shadow Sneak	52%	71%	3.94	4.25	1.21	4.50	3.72
59%	Froslass	Hex /Shadow Ball	65%	38%	3.90	4.63	1.33	4.48	3.74
57%	Ursaring	Shadow Claw /Hyper Beam	51%	34%	3.94	4.63	1.41	4.43	4.27
56%	Typhlosion	Shadow Claw /Overheat	59%	42%	3.87	4.56	1.19	5.12	4.05
56%	Crobat	Air Slash /Shadow Ball	55%	43%	4.60	4.27	1.22	4.97	3.82
52%	Grumpig	Extrasensory /Shadow Ball	50%	39%	4.72	4.72	1.21	5.56	4.18
52%	Ninjask	Fury Cutter /Shadow Ball	65%	27%	4.75	4.71	1.57	4.97	4.39
51%	Mew	Shadow Claw /Overheat	52%	53%	4.16	5.18	1.27	5.58	4.70
51%	Chimecho	Extrasensory /Shadow Ball	51%	35%	4.79	5.04	1.37	5.60	4.12
50%	Glalie	Frost Breath /Shadow Ball	48%	33%	4.99	4.29	1.66	4.91	5.26
50%	Dusknoir	Hex /Ominous Wind	50%	37%	4.70	5.13	1.44	5.51	4.36
50%	Mr. Mime	Confusion /Shadow Ball	52%	29%	5.05	5.21	1.39	5.53	4.14
49%	Weezing	Infestation /Shadow Ball	52%	37%	4.83	5.17	1.52	5.27	4.72
48%	Kadabra	Confusion /Shadow Ball	64%	22%	5.53	5.72	1.27	5.37	4.32
47%	Golbat	Wing Attack /Shadow Ball	50%	30%	5.97	4.82	1.42	6.30	4.26
44%	Snorlax	Lick /Hyper Beam	41%	49%	4.27	6.69	1.85	4.95	6.54
41%	Xatu	Air Slash /Ominous Wind	44%	24%	6.27	6.39	1.89	6.22	5.16
41%	Gastly	Lick /Dark Pulse	56%	10%	6.28	6.29	1.66	6.69	5.17

PVP  Meta-Shadow Claw / Ancient Power AND Dragon Claw

While it can’t currently be caught with sub-1500 CP, Giratina actually is one of the very best (if not THE best) Pokemon in both Ultra League (<2500 CP) and Master League (All CPs) being a fantastic counter to Deoxys Defense, Armored Mewtwo, Vaporeon among others!

Gym Meta –

Giratina is not a good Gym Attacker, mostly because it has far far too many weaknesses, particularly to Fairy and Ice attacks, which are VERY common among the top Gym Defenders.

Top Raid Counters

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Rayquaza

• ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
  📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
  🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

  Rayquaza is the most recently available Dragon from Tier 5 raids. It is the highest DPS of all the currently available dragons and it is no surprise to see it topping the list here. Rayquaza is also the best looking shiny hands down especially if it is lucky with 15 attack! Yes, my wife and I both got lucky shiny 15 attack Rayquaza and will be using them for Giratina!

  -Best Matchup : Dragon Breath / Shadow Sneak

  -Worst Matchup: Dragon Breath / Dragon Claw

  -Weak: Dragon

With Level 35 Rayquaza, you need 3 players.

Palkia

• ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
  📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
  🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

  Palkia was last released during February 2019. It is a cut below Rayquaza in raw DPS usually, but it’s interesting Dragon/Water Typing leads to it often performing very well depending on the moveset. Its stats can make better use of it than Kingra. Candy will be pretty rough though as it’s only been released once so far.

  -Best Matchup : Shadow Claw / Shadow Sneak

  -Worst Matchup: Dragon Breath / Dragon Claw

  -Weak: Dragon

With Level 35 Palkia, you need 3 players.

Salamence

• ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
  📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
  🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

  Salamence Community Day was April 2019, which is when it received Outrage. It’s not really the best at any of the things it can do, but it’s still a top tier Dragon with powerful off-type movesets as well. You can find Bagon in 10k eggs, but they do not nest.

  -Best Matchup : Shadow Claw / Shadow Sneak

  -Worst Matchup: Dragon Breath / Ancient Power

  -Legacy Charge Move: Outrage

  With Level 35 Salamence, you need 3 players.

Garchomp

• ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
  🌐 Accessibility: ⭐☆☆☆☆

  Garchomp while a great Dragon AND Ground-Type (and one with a resistance to Rock and triple resistance to Electric) is very difficult to acquire for now. No nests, no events, very rare, very new. Gible do hatch in 10k Eggs, but are exceedingly rare in the wild.

  -Best Matchup : Dragon Breath / Ancient Power

  -Worst Matchup: Dragon Breath / Dragon Claw

  -Resists: Rock
  -Weak: Dragon

  With Level 35 Garchomp, you need 3 players.

Dragonite

• ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
  📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
  🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

  Dratini can be acquired from the “Jump Start” Special Research part 1 (the whole Quest line grants Dratini Candy and essentially hands you a Dragonite if you complete all the steps), as well as available as a shadow Pokemon. The “Catch a Dragon-type Pokemon” quest rewards one. Dratini were also available during community day in February 2018. You can likely find a friend to trade you a Dratini, if not a Dragonite if you ask nicely!

  -Best Matchup : Dragon Breath / Shadow Sneak

  -Worst Matchup: Dragon Breath / Ancient Power

With Level 35 Dragonite, you need 3 players.

Dialga Vs.

• ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
  🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
  🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

  Dialga Steel typing gives it nice resistances usually so it comes up a lot as a hefty Steel or Dragon-Type. It’s a Dragon that isn’t even weak to Dragons, meaning it is helpful against most Dragon Raid Bosses using Dragon-Type attacks. It’s legendary though, so expensive to trade for and acquire candy for. It is an excellent attacker in recent Team Rocket invasions so powering one up is not the worst idea in the world. In practice it often ends up the highest bulky Dragon-Type attacker over Rayquaza.

  -Best Matchup : Dragon Breath / Ancient Power

  -Worst Matchup: Dragon Breath / Shadow Sneak

  -Resists: Rock
  -Cancelled: Dragon

With Level 35 Dialga, you need 3 players.

Weather Counters  

---

here is a list of Pokemon that can perform similar or better than the typical #1 option (in this case, Rayquaza) with weather bonuses:

Pokemon		Weather		Fast Move		Charge Move		Estimator @ L35
	Rayquaza		WINDY		Dragon_Tail		Outrage	2.1
	(Legacy) Salamence		WINDY		Dragon_Tail		Outrage	2.1
	Palkia		WINDY		Dragon_Tail		Draco Meteor	2.1
	Dialga		WINDY		Dragon_Breath		Draco Meteor	2.1
	Garchomp		WINDY		Dragon_Tail		Outrage	2.2
	Dragonite		WINDY		Dragon_Tail		Outrage	2.2
	Mamoswine		SNOW		Powder_Snow		Avalanche	2.3
	(Legacy) Gengar		FOG		Shadow_Claw		Shadow Ball	2.3
	Giratina Origin Form		FOG		Shadow_Claw		Shadow Ball	2.3
	Chandelure		FOG		Hex		Shadow Ball	2.4
	Latios		WINDY		Dragon_Breath		Dragon Claw	2.4
	Rayquaza		NO_WEATHER		Dragon_Tail		Outrage	2.5
	Weavile		SNOW		Ice_Shard		Avalanche	2.5
	Hydreigon		FOG		Bite		Dark Pulse	2.5
	(Legacy) Mewtwo		FOG		Psycho_Cut		Shadow Ball	2.5
	Palkia		NO_WEATHER		Dragon_Tail		Draco Meteor	2.5
	Glaceon		SNOW		Ice Shard Fast		Avalanche	2.5
	Gardevoir		OVERCAST		Charm Fast		Dazzling Gleam	2.5
	Tyranitar		FOG		Bite Fast		Crunch	2.5
	Togekiss		OVERCAST		Charm Fast		Dazzling Gleam	2.5
	(Legacy) Salamence		NO_WEATHER		Dragon Tail Fast		Outrage	2.5

 

  Alternate Raid Counters

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Giratina Origin

• ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
  🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
  📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

  Giratina-Origin was released April 2019. While it is legendary, it is the best Ghost-Type around and an Okay Dragon-Type, so a worthwhile investment! NOTE: Giratina-Altered form is nowhere as good.

  -Best Matchup: Dragon Breath / Dragon Claw

  -Worst Matchup: Shadow Claw / Ancient Power

  -Weak: Dragon, Ghost

With Level 35 Giratina Origin, you need 3 players.

Chandelure

• ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
  🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
  📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
  🌐 Accessibility: ⭐☆☆☆☆

  Chandelure is incredibly hard to get right now. It was released September 17th, and you can only get Litwik from 10k eggs! Maybe there will be an event during October. It is the new highest DPS Ghost AND Fire-Type, so here’s hoping.

  -Best Matchup: Dragon Breath / Dragon Claw

  -Worst Matchup: Shadow Claw / Ancient Power

  -Weak: Rock, Ghost

With Level 35 Chandelure, you need 3 players.

Gengar

• ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
  🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
  📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
  🌐 Accessibility: ⭐☆☆☆☆

  Shadow Claw is legacy, but if you were lucky enough to play during Gengar Raid Day, Lick is just as good. Hex is a bit of a drop, but still usable. Gengar isn’t too difficult to acquire with Gastlys nesting and being a common night spawn, as well as being featured in annual Halloween events. Gastly are in 2k Eggs and can be shiny. Gengar is still great without the legacy move, but much less likely to be optimal.

  -Best Matchup: Dragon Breath / Ancient Power

  -Worst Matchup: Dragon Breath / Shadow Sneak

  -Legacy Fast Move: Shadow_Claw_Fast

  -Weak: Ghost

With Level 35 Gengar, you need 3 players.

Mamoswine

• ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
  🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
  📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

  Mamoswine evolves from Swinub which is a nesting species that has been in raids in the past. Swinub can also be found in Nests. It does however require a Sinnoh Stone to evolve which can be acquired randomly from your first trainer battle every day. Swinub has gotten a community day (February 2019) and was also featured in Christmas events. Finally, Swinub can also spawn in the pool of Pokemon from Glacial Lure Modules, which you can get from the shop for 200 coins.

  -Best Matchup: Dragon Breath / Dragon Claw

  -Worst Matchup: Dragon Breath / Ancient Power

  -Cancelled: Rock

With Level 35 Mamoswine, you need 3 players.

Latios

• ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
  🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
  📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

  Latios was last available April 2019 in raids, and August 2019 in Research Breakthroughs.With Level 35 Latios, you need 2 players.

  -Best Matchup : Shadow Claw / Ancient Power

  -Worst Matchup: Shadow Claw / Dragon Claw

  -Weak: Dragon, Ghost

With Level 35 Latios, you need 3 players.

Mewtwo

• ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
  🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
  📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
  🌐 Accessibility: ⭐☆☆☆☆

  Mewtwo is pretty inaccessible, as the useful form hasn’t been released recently. Luckily the moveset, however, isn’t exclusive to its EX raid period! Trading for one is probably the most likely way you’d be able to get one of these, and you can use the candy you got from catching Armored Mewtwo to power it up. That said, if you weren’t lucky enough to get an Ex Raid back during its era Shadow Ball period-you can’t get it now. When Mewtwo was released from its EX shackles for a global event-that move was removed from it’s TM pool. This used to be more unfortunate, but there are quite a lot of alternative Ghost-Type options at this point so don’t sweat it too much.

  -Best Matchup : Dragon Breath / Shadow Sneak

  -Worst Matchup: Shadow Claw / Shadow Sneak

  -Legacy Charge Move: Shadow_Ball

  -Weak: Ghost

With Level 35 Mewtwo, you need 3 players.

Hydreigon

• ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
  🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
  📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
  🌐 Accessibility: ⭐☆☆☆☆

  Hydreigon is incredibly difficult to get, being Psuedo-legendary rarity, and released September 17th. Someday it will get a community day, but until then just hope to be lucky out hunting and hatching.

  -Best Matchup : Dragon Breath / Shadow Sneak

  -Worst Matchup: Dragon Breath / Dragon Claw

  -Resists: Ghost
  -Weak: Dragon

With Level 35 Hydreigon, you need 3 players.

Weavile

• ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
  🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
  📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
  🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

  Weavile evolves from Sneasel, which is an uncommon Pokemon (that does still nest), and is an occasional 2 star raid boss. They hatch from 5k Eggs. It requires a Sinnoh Stone to evolve, which can be acquired (at random) from daily trainer battles. Sneasel has been featured in Winter Time events and Dark Events. Weavile has been a reward from “Catch 5 Poochyena or Houndour” quests. Sneasel can also spawn from Glacial Lure Modules. Weavile is generally the top Dark-Type in terms of raw attack power. While it looks frail, it can honestly tank a lot more than you’d expect-especially if we’re talking Psychic-Type damage. It also tops the charts as a Ice-Type attacker so is definitely worth aquiring.

  -Best Matchup : Dragon Breath / Shadow Sneak

  -Worst Matchup: Shadow Claw / Ancient Power

  -Resists: Ghost
  -Weak: Rock

With Level 35 Weavile, you need 3 players.

Tyranitar

• ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
  🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

  Accessibility will be a bit tough if you are only starting now as Larvitars do not nest and are rare. They are also in 10k eggs. Tier 4 Tyranitar Raids were a staple for quite a while, however. Larvitar can be found in ‘Make 3 Excellent Throws in a Row’ Quests. The family was last in raid bosses during Water Festival in Sept 2019. Larvitar community day (the only time you could get Smack Down) was June 2018. It isn’t the highest raw DPS Dark-Type anymore, but it has a ton of bulk on top of near optimal DPS. Weavile and Honchkrow trade with it depending on the matchup.

   -Best Matchup : Shadow Claw / Shadow Sneak

  -Worst Matchup: Shadow Claw / Ancient Power

  -Resists: Ghost

With Level 35 Tyranitar, you need 4 players.

Gardevoir

• ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
  🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
  📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
  🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

  Raltz nest, and were featured in Aug-2019’s community day. They are a decently accessible spawn in cloudy weather and also hatch from 10k eggs. In addition Kirlia is no stranger to 2 star raids.They do not however nest.

  -Best Matchup : Dragon Breath / Dragon Claw

  -Worst Matchup: Shadow Claw / Shadow Sneak

  -2xResists: Dragon
  -Weak: Ghost

With Level 35 Gardevoir, you need 4 players.

Glaceon

• ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
  🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
  📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
  🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

  Glaceon evolves from Eevee, which is a nesting species, who has also been featured in community day, AND in many many events. Eevee is also just a decently common Pokemon in general, with even increased spawns in Partly Cloudy weather which is fairly common. If all else fails, you can acquire a shiny Eevee from the “Jump Start” Special Research quest part 4/6. Eevee is also a quest reward for the “Evolve a Pokemon” Field Research quests. “A Ripple in Time” Special Research also rewards a normal Eevee in both part 3 and part 4. After acquiring enough Eevee candy, Glaceon can be acquired in one of two ways: Either, you get a Glacial Lure Module and evolve Eevee while within it’s boundaries, or you use a ONE TIME USE naming trick, naming your Eevee “Rea” prior to evolving.

  -Best Matchup : Shadow Claw / Shadow Sneak

  -Worst Matchup: Shadow Claw / Ancient Power

  -Weak: Rock

With Level 35 Glaceon, you need 4 players.

Absol

• ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
  🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
  📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
  🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

  Absol is a Raid (and very rarely, Field Research) exclusive Pokemon. That means you can only get its candy from raiding, or walking it as a 5k buddy. Rare candy is an option too but a bit inefficient. It has been spawning in the wild, and in 10k Eggs, during Shiny Mewtwo Week starting September 9th 2019. The family was last in raid bosses during Sept 2019 (Tier 4).

  Absol is a B list Dark Type, with similar DPS to Tyranitar, while having far less Bulk. It’s not optimal, but it’s quite a popular pokemon, and has a good attack stat.

  -Best Matchup : Shadow Claw / Shadow Sneak

  -Worst Matchup: Dragon Breath / Dragon Claw

  -Resists: Ghost

With Level 35 Absol, you need 4 players.

Exeggutor – Alola

• ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
  🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
  📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
  🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

  Alolan Exeggutor was very common upon it’s initial release but since then has been more tough to get. Unlike many Alolan Pokemon, he is available in the wild and not Alolan eggs . It is pretty uncommon a spawn however. In Go it does not evolve from Exeggcute, and can only be found evolved. They were at least nice enough to hardcode it to give 5 candies when caught (like other evolution Pokemon). Alolan Exeggutor has been found both as a Tier 2 and Tier 4 Raid Boss in the past.

  -Best Matchup : Shadow Claw / Shadow Sneak

  -Worst Matchup: Shadow Claw / Dragon Claw

  -Weak: Dragon

With Level 35 Exeggutor – Alola, you need 4 players.

Banette

• ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
  🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐☆☆☆☆
  📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
  🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

  Shuppets are uncommon but not too hard to find- and they nest, so getting some hopefully wouldn’t be too outlandish. They aren’t boosted in a common weather like Gastlys though. It’s an ok Ghost-Type but almost always inferior to Gengar. You can also find them in 5k eggs.

  -Best Matchup : Dragon Breath / Ancient Power

  -Worst Matchup: Shadow Claw / Shadow Sneak

  -Weak: Ghost

With Level 35 Banette, you need 4 players.

Houndoom

• ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐☆☆☆☆
  🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
  📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
  🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

  Houndoom ha the benefits of being a Dark-type that doesn’t involve a ton of extra work to evolve and find as a high level. You can find Houndours weather boosted in the common Sunny weather! It’s also a relatively common research reward as well. Houndour hatch from 5k Eggs.

  -Best Matchup : Dragon Breath / Shadow Sneak

  -Worst Matchup: Dragon Breath / Ancient Power

  -Resists: Ghost
  -Weak: Rock

With Level 35 Houndoom, you need 4 players.

Honchkrow

• ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐☆☆☆☆
  🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐☆☆☆☆
  📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
  🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

  Murkrow are very common (although less so than they used to be), but are only weather boosted in Windy and Foggy-which are generally rare. Honchkrow also requires a Sinnoh Stone to evolve, which can be acquired randomly from your first Trainer Battle each day. You can also get a Murkrow from the Special Research “A Troubling Situation” part 1/4. They don’t nest and do not hatch from Eggs.

  -Best Matchup : Shadow Claw / Shadow Sneak

  -Worst Matchup: Dragon Breath / Ancient Power

  -Resists: Ghost
  -Weak: Rock

With Level 35 Honchkrow, you need 4 players.

Rampardos

• ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐☆☆☆☆
  🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
  📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
  🌐 Accessibility: ⭐☆☆☆☆

  Rampardos is very difficult to acquire being fairly new and only having been featured briefly in one quest as Cranidos. It’s the highest DPS Rock Type.

  -Best Matchup : Dragon Breath / Shadow Sneak

  -Worst Matchup: Dragon Breath / Dragon Claw

With Level 35 Rampardos, you need 4 players.

Ursaring

• ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐☆☆☆☆
  🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
  📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
  🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

  -Best Matchup : Dragon Breath / Shadow Sneak

  -Worst Matchup: Dragon Breath / Ancient Power

  -2xResists: Ghost

With Level 35 Ursaring, you need 4 players.

Jynx

• ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐☆☆☆☆
  🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐☆☆☆☆
  📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
  🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

  Jynx is available in Win 3 Gym Battles Quests, and is a nesting species. Jynx has had increased spawns during winter ice type events as well, and is nice in that you can catch it at a high level in the wild and not need to evolve.

  -Best Matchup : Dragon Breath / Dragon Claw

  -Worst Matchup: Shadow Claw / Ancient Power

  -Weak: Rock, Ghost

With Level 35 Jynx, you need 4 players.

Mismagius

• ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐☆☆☆☆
  🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
  📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
  🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

  Mismagius is pretty expensive to acquire. Misdurveus are uncommon, and you need a Sinnoh Stone to evolve one. You can get it from Trainer Battles, but most of Mismagius use cases are covered by Honchkrow and Weavile. Misdurvus can be found in 2k Eggs and does nest.

  -Best Matchup : Dragon Breath / Ancient Power

  -Worst Matchup: Shadow Claw / Shadow Sneak

  -Weak: Ghost

With Level 35 Mismagius, you need 4 players.

Gyarados

• ⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐☆☆☆☆
  🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
  📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
  🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

  Magikarp can spawn from Glacial Lure Modules, and Catch 10 Pokemon quests. It is also currently a Tier 1 Raid Boss as of writing. Gyarados has been available for years now, but has a hefty 400 candy cost to evolve. Magikarp got boosted spawns during Water Festival 2019. They hatch from 2k eggs and do nest.

  -Best Matchup : Dragon Breath / Shadow Sneak

  -Worst Matchup: Dragon Breath / Ancient Power

  -Legacy Fast Move: Dragon Tail

  -Weak: Rock

With Level 35 Gyarados, you need 4 players.

Closing Thoughts

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Giratina isn’t that inspiring as a Raid Attacker, but it’s distinctive bulk does give it headlining distinction in the Ultra League Meta!

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