Xerneas Raid Trio Guide

Mega Gengar lacks a Poison Type Fast Move, meaning many will tend to discount it as a lesser pick for this raid. However, Mega Gengar makes up for this fact with a strong Poison Type Charged Move that enjoys a STAB bonus, a Fast Move that generates energy quickly, a tremendous attack stat, and a typing that helps it get past many of Xerneas' most threatening moves. While Gengar would love to get a Poison Fast Move in the future, it's still very much worth using here!

A bit light on the DPS side, Mega Scizor is a prime candidate for boosting Steel Types while on the field. It also has the advantage of being a Steel Type that's not weak to Close Combat, so it can win the TDO war with mega Aggron in some cases.

Mega Beedrill is the glass-cannon Mega for this raid, sporting great DPS but dubious survivability. It's a solid choice, but really should only be picked if you know that your raid team is invested heavily into Poison Pokemon or as a budget pick.

Mega Aggron trades a little DPS for a fair bit of TDO when compared to Mega Scizor, making it ideal for spreading around the Steel Type STAB bonus for larger teams. It's a solid Pokemon on every front, but Close Combat can cut its onslaught short without proper dodging.

A bit of a weak pick, Mega Venusaur can deliver, but it's best used as a budget option due to its lower DPS/TDO potential.

Shadow Metagross is one of the strongest things in this game, so naturally it's going to top this list with ease. It sports resistances to Tackle, Moonblast, and Giga Impact alongside a double resistance to Zen Headbutt, and it has no actual weaknesses among Xerneas' moves.

Basically the same story as Shadow Metagross, but still not quite as good. Still objectively great, but not quite as crazy.

While Nihilego doesn't quite have the DPS of some other counters, its TDO is insanely high. It's the prime tank counter here, but it's not relegated to "high TDO but slow" like many others, as it still has high DPS to back up its massive survivability.

A testament to just how much of a monster it is, Shadow Mewtwo is perfectly fine for this raid. In fact, it has better average performance than Roserade despite dealing neutral damage, which says a lot for how devalued Poison actually is.

Despite its fame as a Dragon Type tank, Dialga can moonlight in Steel Type damage as well. That said, it doesn't even have the TDO of most of the top attackers on this list, but it's still decent for staying in the battle.

An overall good Steel Type, Shadow Scizor has the advantage of not having any weaknesses in this raid, but the fact that Metagross has a similar claim means that it's relegated to utility only in the absence of its superior, or possibly if Xerneas is packing Megahorn.

Basically a worse Shadow Scizor, Genesect doesn't really have much merit beyond standing as a backup.

A solid Steel Type for this raid, Excadrill's main competency here is the fact that it double-resists Thunder, which can make it valuable for some runs.

The old classic, Gengar is a glass-cannon here that can put up a fight, but isn't exactly outstanding. It's held back by its lack of a Poison Type Fast Move, but it's still not a bad Pokemon by any means.

The original "good" Poison attacker, Roserade is perfectly fine here.

My how times have changed. We have not one, but two Aggrons on this list! Shadow Aggron can break through its low attack stat to a certain degree thanks to the Shadow bonus, but it's still wrecked by Close Combat in particular.

Jirachi is strictly on this list due to Doom Desire, which makes it just good enough to be worth considering. It's definitely not the best here but it's comparable with most of the Glass counters, ironically.

On average, Shadow Victreebel sports the highest DPS among the Glass counters on this list. However, it's still behind all of the Supreme counters while having significantly lower TDO.

Take Shadow Victreebel and trade a bit of DPS for a little TDO and VIOLA! You've got Shadow Vileplume!

A bit of an oddity, Overqwil is usable here. Not much else to say, honestly.

The Champ pumps iron, and punches with Steel fists.