Reshiram is coming to Pokemon GO! From May 26th to June 16th, trainers will be able to battle and capture Reshiram in raids. At this time it doesn’t appear that Reshiram will be added to the GO Battle League rewards like previous raid bosses have been, so you may finally have to dust off your raid Pokemon and go outside. This article covers the best counters to the Reshiram raid and breaks down just how good it is in the raid and trainer battle metas.
Reshiram Basics
Reshiram’s max catch CP is 2307, and 2884 when boosted by Clear or Windy weather.
Reshiram is a Dragon + Fire dual type Pokemon. Unlike most Dragon-type Pokemon, Reshiram isn’t weak to Ice and Fairy-type attacks, and unlike most Fire-types Reshiram isn’t weak to Water. However, Reshiram still maintains weaknesses to Dragon, Ground, and Rock.
Reshiram carries the attacks Fire Fang, Dragon Breath, Overheat, Draco Meteor, Crunch, and Stone Edge. This suggests that using Dragon-type Pokemon such as Rayquaza may be risky half the time and Ground/Rock-type Pokemon such as Rhyperior will have a more consistent performance.
Reshiram can be tackled by 2 elite trainers if the weather is on their side. Well prepared trainers may consistently take Reshiram on with only 3 players. Most groups will want to have at least 5 decent trainers or more. Due to Reshiram’s powerful attacks, expect to relobby at least once during your raids.
The best overall counters to the Reshiram raid are Shadow Salamence and Shadow Dragonite, as they are the most consistent in enabling a duo. Given how rare and costly these Shadow Pokemon are, players may want to settle for Rayquaza, Salamence, Dragonite, and/or Rock Wrecker* Rhyperior. These Pokemon will enable smooth trios and can even duo with a weather boost. It’s worth noting that a 15 ATK IV Rayquaza reaches a special “best buddy breakpoint,” allowing its Dragon Tail to deal extra damage when maxed out as a best buddy. If you don’t think you’ll best buddy your Rayquaza before June 16th, Rayquaza will receive this very same bonus against the next presumed raid boss, Zekrom.
After these Pokemon, Rampardos, Haxorus, Dialga, Palkia, Dragon Tail + Outrage Garchomp, Terrakion, Groudon, Smack Down* Shadow and regular Tyanitar, Mud Slap + Earthquake Rhyperior, Drill Run Excadrill, Latios, and Reshiram itself make excellent options. Special shoutout to Excadrill as a powerful, budget option. Its general performance isn’t as impressive as others, but it is the only Ground-type to have a “duo worthy” damage output under Clear weather.
Should you be lacking the aforementioned Pokemon, bringing just about anything with Dragon, Ground, or Rock-type attacks should suffice. Just maintain reasonable expectations about your group size in trying to accomplish the raid.
Counters by Weather
The damage bonus given to Shadow Pokemon is equal to the bonus given by weather. Therefore, any Pokemon can perform on the level of a Shadow Pokemon when receiving a weather boost. By extension, any Shadow Pokemon recieving a weather boost may achieve even greater power. Given the dominance of the Dragon-type Pokemon, this section and the graph above will focus on the Rock and Ground-type Pokemon.
Under Partly Cloudy weather, Rampardos, Smack Down* Shadow Tyranitar, and Rock Wrecker* Rhyperior boost up to Shadow Dragon levels. When maxed out, these three become reliable for handling Reshiram with just two trainers. Smack Down + Stone Edge Rhyperior, Smack Down Tyranitar, and Terrakion also see their damage bump up from “very good” to “excellent” in standings. “Excellent” as in, as powerful as Rayquaza but much more tanky.
With Clear weather, Rhyperior, Groudon, and Excadrill rise significantly in power. Of them, only Excadrill buds into “duo” territory with its Drill Run moveset- though it will still struggle against Fire Fang and/or Overheat Reshiram. If you’re curious about Mud Shot + Earthquake Garchomp, with a weather bonus it only performs as well as its Dragon Tail + Outrage set, so it would be best to stick to that one for raids.
Rhyperior Tip
Rhyperior complicates its weather bonus by having powerful Rock and Ground-type Fast and Charge Moves. If you want to keep it simple, Mud Slap + Rock Wrecker* is Rhyperior’s best general set to use in both types of weather.
Like Rayquaza in any weather, a best buddy Groudon with Mud Shot can achieve a best buddy breakpoint in Clear weather. Similarly, a best buddy Rhyperior can reach best buddy breakpoints on its Mud Slap and Smack Down Fast Moves under Clear and Partly Cloudy weather respectively. Which Fast Move to use will depend on the weather. If you don’t want to worry about it, side with Mud Slap.
Breakpoints
| Pokemon | Breakpoint (41=Best Buddy) | Weather/Shadow Breakpoint |
|---|---|---|
| Rayquaza | 23.5, 34, 41 | 22.5, 34, 39.5 |
| Salamence | 21.5, 37 | 21, 37 |
| Dragonite | 21, 37 | 21, 38 |
| Rhyperior, Smack Down | 21.5, 32, 39 | 21.5, 34.5, 41 |
| Rhyperior, Mud Slap | 22, 37 | 21, 35.5, 41 |
| Rampardos | 21.5, 33.5, 39 | 22, 36 |
| Groudon, Mud Shot | 28.5 | 27, 41 |
| Excadrill | 22, 36 | 21, 39 |
Reshiram in the Meta
Raids
As a Fire-type Raid Attacker, Reshiram stands behind Shadow Moltres, Shadow Entei, and Shadow Charizard. If you factor in Reshiram’s bulk, it is still second place to Shadow Entei. While it’s not easy competing with Shadow Pokemon as a Raid Attacker, it is also very costly and unlikely for players to power up Shadow Pokemon for Raids in the first place. Being number 2 is not too bad when you can lucky trade, have good IVs, and do not need to unlock the 2nd Charge Move for a powerful, Fire-type Raid Attacker.
When it comes to being a Dragon-type, there is no competing with Rayquaza, let alone Shadow Salamence and Dragonite. With its Fire sub-type it could hold a niche as a Dragon-type that is neutral to Ice and Fairy-type attacks, but Dialga already holds that title. While Reshiram isn’t a bad Dragon-type attacker, there are many better options.
PvP
For Trainer Battles, Reshiram performs best in the Master League. There its defining quality is as a Dragon Breath user that can overcome Metagross, Heatran, and Togekiss (unless it has 2 shields). While those are great accomplishments, Reshiram struggles with key Master League Pokemon such as Dragonite, Kyogre, Melmetal, Groudon, Rhyperior, and, last but not least, Dialga. This suggests that Reshiram will fail to have much impact in Master League PvP.
Closing
Reshiram breathes new life into the raid scene. Not only is Reshiram a fan favorite Pokemon, but it marks the beginning of the Tao Trio. While Reshiram itself isn’t the most meta-impactful Pokemon, the other members of the Trio, Zekrom and Kyurem, are. We will also be that much closer to Kyurem-Black, a Pokemon whose power rivals that of a Shadow Pokemon. The Summer of Pokemon GO is starting to heat up!
