Dynamax Raikou counters, weakness, and battle tips in Pokémon Go

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Raikou is joining the Max Battle hype in Pokémon Go, allowing you to take it on and possibly catch one that can Dynamax. It’ll be featured during a Max Battle Weekend event, running from March 15 at 5 a.m. until March 16 at 9 p.m. in your local time.

During this event, you’ll be able to claim more Max Particles each day (up to 1,600 from 800), you’ll get more Max Particles from Power Spots, the amount you have to walk to get particles will be cut down to 1/4, and Power Spots will refresh more often.

From March 10 until the Max Battle Weekend ends, the particle cost to power up Max Moves has also been cut to 3/4 the usual amount, so it’s a great time to build some counters.

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

Raikou is a solo electric-type Pokémon, meaning it only has one weakness: ground-type moves. There is a glaringly obvious best choice when it comes to taking down Dynamax Raikou because of this, but we’ll get to that in the next section.

All of that said, Raikou will take less damage from flying-, steel-, and electric-type moves, so try not to bring Pokémon with those moves, unless you’re using the fast moves to build up your max meter.

Dynamax Raikou best counters

There is a definitive answer to the best counter for Dynamax Raikou, and it’s Excadrill. As I’ve noted in the past, Excadrill remains one of the best investments for Max Battles, and now is no exception.

Here’s a wider, more specific list of best attackers:

Dynamax Excadrill with Mud Shot
Gigantamax Venusaur with Vine Whip
Dynamax Venusaur with Vine Whip
Gigantamax Gengar with Shadow Claw

Note that Raikou can have Shadow Ball as part of its moveset, putting Gengar at risk. If it does have this, make sure to swap your Gengar out and allow something else to tank. (You shouldn’t really be using Gengar to tank moves to begin with, but it’s worth pointing out that you should be extra careful here.)

For tanks, you’ll want to bring one or two of the following:

Dynamax Excadrill with Mud Shot
Gigantamax Venusaur with Vine Whip

There aren’t many strong other options, honestly. Most of the stronger attackers (like Charizard) or tanks (like Blastoise) will take increased damage from Raikou, so we’re not working with much here, but Excadrill is such a strong counter that you don’t really need a variety of options. You’ll want to bring at least one Excadrill and then fill up your team with any of the other Pokémon, if you got them.

That being said, until the Max Battle weekend ends, there is a Timed Research that rewards you with a Dynamax Drilbur, alongside tons of Drilbur Candy and Max Particles to help you power up a Drilbur/Excadrill. There isn’t too much of an excuse as to why you wouldn’t be able to bring one to the battle.

If you’ve been struggling in Max Battles, here are some general tips to survive — and make sure you’re an asset to your team. While Gigantamax Battles are tough, a Legendary Max Battle shouldn’t be as tough as that. You can slack a little, but you should still heed our advice:

Make sure you have enough players. High-efficiency players with maxed out investments will likely be able to solo Raikou, but this isn’t going to be realistic for most people. Try to go at it with three other players for the highest chance of winning. Note that unlike Gigantamax Pokémon, the Dynamax Legendary Pokémon have a max party size of four (rather than 40).
Don’t sleep on Max Spirit and Max Guard. Teams work best when there’s a variety of moves, not just maxed-out attacks. Each player should bring Pokémon with the defensive and healing moves unlocked as well. Max Guard will focus single-target damage towards you and reduce the damage taken and Max Spirit will heal the whole party, so these moves are really important to make sure your damage-dealers can keep dishing.
Remember to swap to super effective moves when it’s time to Dynamax. For Dynamax Pokémon, their max moves are determined by whatever type their fast move is. This means if you have a Cryogonal with Frost Breath, it will know Max Hailstorm. A Gengar with Lick will know Max Phantasm. Take advantage of this and make sure to swap to a Pokémon that will deal super effective damage to your target before Dynamaxing, if you can.
Focus on your fast moves. You want to spam your fast moves to build up that Dynamax meter and often times, using your charge move is actually a DPS loss when compared to the damage you could be doing with your max move will be. Spam those attacks!
Level up a few ‘mons, but you don’t have to go too hard. Depending on your group size, you absolutely do not need to max out all your Dynamax Pokémon to level 40-50. While this will make it easier on the rest of your group, if this isn’t an investment you can make, you don’t have to stress about it. Power things up as high as you can afford to, but don’t fret if you don’t have a maxed out Pokémon.
All that said, make sure to come as prepared as you can be. This is a team effort and there’s a chance that a full group of four can still fail. Do not just bring your unleveled Dynamax Wooloo expecting a free ride to a powerful Pokémon. (After all, if everyone does that, then you certainly won’t clear the battle.) Again, you don’t have to completely max out your Pokémon, but it will be better for everyone involved if you bring something helpful to the table.
Keep your eye out for a shiny Raikou! If you clear the raid, there is a chance that the Raikou you catch will be shiny — which also means it’ll be a guaranteed catch. Use a Pinap Berry to score extra candy if you get lucky enough to find a sparkly Raikou.