Hello students! My name is Professor Noctowl, and today, I wish to draw attention to Kartana. Kartana is the best non-mega Grass Type, making it great to bring alongside Pokemon like Mega Sceptile in a raid. Grab your notebooks, class is in session. For those who wish to do their research independently, our raw data can be found here. And for those who wish for a simple visual guide, go ahead and take a look at the below visual guide by CaptGoldfish.

NOTE: Some visual guides will be outdated for the duration of GO FEST. They will remain mostly accurate, but lack modern counters, such as the Mega Mewtwo duo, or Eternatus. Not only that, please note that some raids will not be covered in an article for GO FEST, due to the sheer volume. Our team has decided that the best call is to only cover raids who are within the top 10 counters in their type. If you’re looking for a counter that does not have an article, feel free to use pokebattler.com

Course Schedule

This counter is one of many GO FEST raids. There are too many to put a coherent schedule here, but rest assured, pretty much every legendary, mega, and shadow under the sun will be going at some point. Look to your local GO FEST event or the Pokebattler.com raid schedule to see exactly what raids will be going. However, note that Ultra Beasts are still regional. Kartana is in the NORTHERN HEMISPHERE.

That double weakness to fire really hurts Kartana in this, as it has no way to cover it explicitly. But it does have Ariel Ace and Sacred Sword, both of which will hit common fire secondary types.

Effectiveness	Types
Double Resist (0.4x)	Grass
Resist (0.6x)	Normal Poison Rock Steel Water Electric Psychic Dragon Fairy
Neutral	Flying Ground Bug Ghost Ice Dark
Super Effective (1.6x)	Fighting
Double Super Effective (2.6x)	Fire

Kartana’s moveset includes the following charge moves:

• Aerial Ace
• Night Slash
• X-Scissor
• Leaf Blade
• Sacred Sword

The Dean’s List consists of the top 5 counters to Kartana. As always, the Valedictorian, Salutatorian, and the Third Ranked will have their best moveset alternatives in a table with their rankings and a table detailing their defensive prowess against the charge moves listed above.

Mega Charizard Y A

Best Moveset: Fire Spin / Blast Burn

DPS★★★★★

Tank★★★★★

Reliability★★★★☆

1

Trainers
(Lvl 40)

Quick Move	Charge Move	Efficacy
Fire Spin	Blast Burn	100%
Ember	Blast Burn	96%
Fire Spin	Overheat	91%
Fire Spin	Flamethrower	86%
Fire Spin	Fire Blast	85%
Ember	Overheat	84%

Mega Blaziken A

Best Moveset: Fire Spin / Blast Burn

DPS★★★★★

Tank★★★★★

Reliability★☆☆☆☆

1

Trainers
(Lvl 40)

Quick Move	Charge Move	Efficacy
Fire Spin	Blast Burn	100%
Ember	Blast Burn	94%
Fire Spin	Blaze Kick	94%
Counter	Blast Burn	88%
Fire Spin	Overheat	87%
Ember	Blaze Kick	86%

Shadow Heatran A

Best Moveset: Fire Spin / Magma Storm

DPS★★★★★

Tank★★★★★

Reliability★☆☆☆☆

2

Trainers
(Lvl 40)

Quick Move	Charge Move	Efficacy
Fire Spin	Magma Storm	100%
Fire Spin	Flamethrower	91%
Fire Spin	Fire Blast	89%
Bug Bite	Magma Storm	84%
Bug Bite	Flamethrower	67%
Bug Bite	Fire Blast	63%

Defensive Grades for Top 3

Boss Move
Aerial Ace	—	⚔	🛡
Sacred Sword	🛡	—	⚔
Night Slash	—	🛡	—
Leaf Blade	🛡🛡	🛡	🛡🛡
X-Scissor	🛡🛡	🛡🛡	🛡🛡

Blacephalon A

Best Moveset: Incinerate / Mind Blown

DPS★★★★★

Tank★★★★★

Reliability★☆☆☆☆

2

Trainers
(Lvl 40)

Reshiram A

Best Moveset: Fire Fang / Fusion Flare

DPS★★★★☆

Tank★★★★☆

Reliability★★★★☆

2

Trainers
(Lvl 40)

Also Noteworthy: A: Shadow Moltres

We here at Pokebattler Pokémon Research Institute can’t expect you to have the best counters every time. So, here are some of our other best options, most of which will be easier to find than the members of the Dean’s List.

Mega Charizard X A

Best Moveset: Fire Spin / Blast Burn

DPS★★★★☆

Tank★★★★☆

Reliability★★★★☆

2

Trainers
(Lvl 40)

Shadow Ho-Oh A

Best Moveset: Incinerate / Sacred Fire+

DPS★★★★☆

Tank★★★★☆

Reliability★★★☆☆

2

Trainers
(Lvl 40)

Shadow Charizard A

Best Moveset: Fire Spin / Blast Burn

DPS★★★★☆

Tank★★★★☆

Reliability★★☆☆☆

2

Trainers
(Lvl 40)

Shadow Chandelure A

Best Moveset: Fire Spin / Overheat

DPS★★★★☆

Tank★★★★☆

Reliability★☆☆☆☆

2

Trainers
(Lvl 40)

Shadow Entei A

Best Moveset: Fire Spin / Overheat

DPS★★★★☆

Tank★★★★☆

Reliability★★★☆☆

2

Trainers
(Lvl 40)

Of course, besides our 10 best counters, there are plenty of Pokémon that also work against Kartana. Here are a few star choices, worthy of praise.

A	Shadow DarmanitanShadow BlazikenShadow EmboarShadow TyphlosionHeatranMega HoundoomCinderaceHo-OhShadow InfernapeVolcaronaShadow ArcanineShadow MagmortarMoltresShadow SalamenceChandelureMega SalamenceDarmanitanCharizardDelphox

Sometimes, the weather can be your most powerful ally. In certain weather conditions, certain Pokémon on our list excel. The most transformative cases are noted below.

Sunny/Clear

Mega Charizard X (0.9)Shadow Moltres (0.9)Shadow Ho-Oh (1.0)

Overall, Kartana is a bit of a tough raid. Only having 1 weakness, even if it is doubly weak, there are still defenses Kartana can have to block it out, and you will definitely need a good amount of people to take this Ultra Beast down. Of course, if you wish to do more research on your box’s best Pokémon for the job, Pokebattler.com itself can be a great help! Remember, the best counter is the one you have powered up and ready to go. I grant extra credit to those who use their best friend bonus and the weather to their advantage. Class dismissed!