Jirachi in the Raid and Trainer Battle Meta

Our wishes have come true and Jirachi’s release has been confirmed for GO Fest. Following the event, Jirachi will soon become available for all players around the world. This has Trainers asking, just how good is Jirachi? The article below details Jirachi’s performance in Raid and Trainer Battle content. Overall, Jirachi is just a small version of Metagross, but in Trainer Battles, being small has its perks.

• Confusion is preferred in sets focusing on Jirachi as a Psychic-type raid attacker and PvP use.

• Charge Beam is preferred for niche raid use focusing on Jirachi as a Steel-type attacker.

• Doom Desire is Jirachi’s signature move and is a must have in PvP.

• Dazzling Gleam is strictly superior to Psychic in both “Psychic-type” raid use and as a secondary PvP Charge Move.

Doom Desire Stats

PvE Stats

• Base Power: 80
• Energy Cost: -50
• Cooldown: 1.70s

PvP Stats

• Base Power: 80
• Energy Cost: -35 

In Gym/Raid content, Doom Desire’s speed and power put it in league with Community Day exclusive Charge Moves. In Trainer Battles/PvP content, Doom Desire’s low energy cost makes it the greatest Charge Move in the game (think of Altaria’s Sky Attack, but 10 energy faster). While this may make Doom Desire look overpowered on paper, the attack is still in line with other powerful, exclusive moves in Pokemon GO.

Despite Doom Desire having stats on the level of Community Day Charge Moves, Jirachi doesn’t have the stats or right Fast Moves to back it up. As a result, Jirachi has two choices: a) Be as mediocre as Flash Cannon Metagross or b) Be as mediocre as Mew and Celebi. If Meteor Mash Metagross didn’t exist and Pokemon GO didn’t buff Type Effectiveness with the release of PvP, Jirachi would upgrade from “totally useless” to having a cute niche as a Psychic/Steel-type Pokemon, but it woke up too late to experience that reality. Good news though! What Jirachi lacks in raid content, it makes up for in trainer battles!

Due to Doom Desire’s power, Jirachi has a great showing in all three leagues. This begs the question, which league should you build your Jirachi for? Ultimately the answer is which league you’ll find yourself participating in the most. A small word of caution: it may be best to not overly invest in Jirachi right away, as Hydro Cannon Swampert will soon be a major player in all three leagues and is a direct counter to our sleepy bean.

Great League

In the Great League, Jirachi combines the raw power of Confusion with the fastest and most powerful Charge Move in the game, Doom Desire. Between these two attacks, the only Pokemon that can reliably stop Jirachi’s onslaught are Mud Shot users, Steel-types with effective damage, and dedicated Psychic-type counters. In this pool of Pokemon, the following are most notable: Whiscash, Quagsire, Steelix, Bastiodon, Shadow Claw Mew, Umbreon, and Sableye. Azumarill has the opportunity to trade blows and even win with Hydro Pump, and Skarmory may be able to stand its ground with shield advantage, but neither is assured victory. Medicham may also overcome Jirachi with enough Power-Up Punches behind it and/or shield advantage. As far as Jirachi vs Deoxys-D goes, it’s a relatively even fight. Without shields, Doom Desire wins; with single shields, it comes down to prior damage/energy tipping the scales; with double shields, Counter wins.

While it’s nice that Jirachi doesn’t completely steamroll the Open Great League, its shared typing with Deoxys-D and Mew centralizes the meta even further around Psychic, Dark, and Ghost-type Pokemon. Perhaps it’s for the better that Silph keeps Mythic Pokemon banned from their tournaments; at least until Hydro Cannon Swampert restores order.  

Trainer Tip: Put your Haunter away, Trainers! Because of Haunter's Poison subtyping, Jirachi’s Confusion spam will make quick work of it. If you were relying on Haunter on being your Deoxys-D counter in the Open Great League, you may have to start looking at Dark-types.

Ultra League

In the Ultra League, Jirachi takes over Cresselia’s role as a Giratina Counter that can also beat Fighting-type Pokemon. In the wheel of Giratina counters, Jirachi beats Lapras, effectively removes Cresselia and Melmetal from the meta, and loses to Snorlax, Umbreon, Alolan Muk, and Steelix. While Jirachi demolishes most of the Fighting-types that give the rest of the wheel problems, Jirachi has to be careful of Lucario’s Shadow Ball and Shadow Claw Mew.

If you plan on using Jirachi in the Ultra League, consider pairing it with a Dark-type Pokemon or Snorlax. While Jirachi has an easy time with Dragon Breath Giratina, it runs into trouble against Shadow Claw variants. Dark-types and Snorlax have the opposite problem. By combining the two you can tag team any Giratina you come across while maintaining pressure on Fighting-type Pokemon and Mew. The combo’s primary nemesis is Steelix, so considering using a Shadow Claw variant of Giratina or Fighting-type Pokemon for your 3rd Pokemon.

Master League

Where Jirachi is a dominant force in the Great and Ultra Leagues, its use in the Master League is a bit more tame. Its performance is most comparable to Metagross but is more dynamic in its role. Like Metagross, Jirachi beats Dialga and Lugia. Unlike Metagross, Jirachi can trade blows with Kyogre, Garchomp, Groudon, and Dragon Breath Giratina. To make up for this Jirachi loses to Metagross. Unless you plan on using a maxed out Jirachi for raid content, it’s more advisable to keep Jirachi down in the other leagues where its power is more absolute; especially considering that Hydro Cannon Swampert is lurking just around the corner waiting to trivialize your stardust spending.

Jirachi has finally made it to Pokemon GO. While Jirachi is too late to make a good showing in the raid meta, it absolutely dominates in PvP across all leagues. This data may inspire Niantic to whip out the nerf hammer, but this author believes Niantic should stay their hand. Jirachi’s power in trainer battles is manageable and Hydro Cannon Swampert is but a month away. Will Swampert knock Jirachi out of the meta across all three leagues? Well, Swampert is doubly weak to Grass and Jirachi counters Grass-types. Barring any grievous nerfs to Doom Desire, Jirachi will probably be sticking around.