Blacephalon Raid Duo Guide

Table of Contents

Weather/Moves
Raid Guide
Best Counters
Raid Graph

HP	15,000	ATK	248.94	DEF	112.22

CP Range
Lvl 20	1797 - 1884	Lvl 25	2246 - 2355

Boosts Boss's Moves	Boosts Counters' Moves
Sunny / Clear, Fog	Sunny / Clear, Fog, Rain, Partly Cloudy

Move	Difficulty
Incinerate	Challenging
Astonish	Easy

Move	Difficulty
Overheat	Easy
Mystical Fire	Challenging
Shadow Ball	Intermediate

Overview

Blacephalon is one of the strongest Ultra Beasts in Pokemon Go when it comes to raids, and it's fortunately not horribly difficult to deal with. While it hits like a truck, it also has a huge number of very, very prominent weaknesses, meaning many of its counters can seriously damage it without breaking much of a stress. All-in-all, Blacephalon should generally be a relatively easy duo for many players, making it pretty manageable for those who want to farm it.

Approach

Team composition

The types that counter Blacephalon are Dark, Rock, Ground, Ghost, and Water.
- The top Dark Types are arguably the best all-around options here, sporting a tremendous mix of DPS and TDO that can make this raid a breeze, especially when facing down Ghost Type moves.
- Many of the top Rock Types also have outstanding overall performance, with high average TDO backed up by a resistance to Fire Type moves alongside a few big-names with high DPS to back them up. They also have the advantage of a fairly common boosting weather, which can make them optimal a fair portion of the time.
- Ground is a middle-of-the-road option, with one very notable exception. Most Ground Types take neutral damage from Blacephalon's entire moveset, making them universal counters regardless of the situation. It's also worth noting that Ground Types are boosted in Clear weather, which also grants a boost to any Blacephalon caught, so they can definitely be optimal picks in reality.
- Ghost is still a reliable type for countering this Ghost, but it's also pretty glassy while not holding as clear of an advantage as some other types on this list.
- Water has fewer powerhouse counters outside of Primal Kyogre, but it's still a great type that has the advantage of resisting Blacephalon's Fire Type moves, making it a great type to bring to this raid, especially in the rain.

Battling strategy

Dodging largely depends on the moveset and counters. Overheat and Shadow Ball are pretty strong and easy to dodge, so avoiding them will definitely be helpful. Meanwhile, Mystical Fire comes out frequently and is hard to dodge, so it might be best to just power through.

Raid Counter Search String

If you want to make finding the best counters for this raid as simple as possible, click on the button below to copy a Search String to your clipboard. Pasting this in the search bar in Pokemon Go will show a list of all of the Pokemon featured in this article to make building your strongest possible raid team a bit easier.

Primal Kyogre

Fast Move	Charge Move	Rating

Waterfall

Origin Pulse

Best

Primal Kyogre outright crushes this raid. It has a huge mix of DPS that is effectively higher than it seems due to its ability to boost Water Types even while benched, and TDO that is helped by its ability to resist Blacephalon's Fire Type moves. It's honestly hard to compete with Primal Kyogre, though its performance is almost identical to Primal Groudon under neutral weather. Honestly, the choice between the two comes down to the current weather and what other counters you and your Raid Group are utilizing.

Strengths: Incinerate, Overheat, Mystical Fire
Weaknesses: None

Primal Groudon

Fast Move	Charge Move	Rating

Mud Shot

Precipice Blades

Best

As stated, Primal Groudon's performance is almost identical to Primal Kyogre, but with a different preferred weather and a boost to Ground Types instead of Water Types. As such, it's an optimal choice to say the least.

Strengths: Incinerate, Overheat, Mystical Fire
Weaknesses: None

Mega Tyranitar

Fast Move	Charge Move	Rating

Best

Best

Mega Tyranitar is the premier tank counter of this raid. While it doesn't quite have the DPS of the Primals, its universal resistances to Blacephalon's moves makes it easily the longest-lasting counter to this raid on average.

Note that Bite tends to out-pace Smack Down by a bit, but not enough to need to utilize an Elite TM after Blacephalon leaves. Smack Down/Brutal Swing is fine.

Strengths: Incinerate, Astonish, Overheat, Mystical Fire, Shadow Ball
Weaknesses: None

Mega Gengar

Fast Move	Charge Move	Rating

Best

Best

Mega Gengar is the optimal DPS choice, standing above even the Primals when it comes to sheer speed. However, it's also extremely glassy by comparison, and will require skilled dodging to stay on the field for any major length of time.

Strengths: None
Weaknesses: Astonish, Shadow Ball

Mega Swampert

Fast Move	Charge Move	Rating

Best

The hulking Mega Swampert is a solid Pokemon with a lot of power, but it's basically a cross between the two Primals with less raw power behind it. It's not a bad Mega Evolution, and works wonders as a backup option, but it's noticeably weaker by comparison.

Strengths: Incinerate, Overheat, Mystical Fire
Weaknesses: None

Mega Diancie

Fast Move	Charge Move	Rating

Rock Throw

Rock Slide

Best

Generally the top Rock Mega, Mega Diancie falls behind Mega Tyranitar here due to the latter's ability to switch to Brutal Swing. That said, there's nothing wrong with Diancie, and it can put in great work.

Strengths: Incinerate, Overheat, Mystical Fire
Weaknesses: None

Mega Garchomp

Fast Move	Charge Move	Rating

Mud Shot

Earth Power

Best

While not the top Ground Type on this list, Mega Garchop still hits like a truck while resisting Fire Type moves.

Strengths: Incinerate, Overheat, Mystical Fire
Weaknesses: None

Mega Blastoise

Fast Move	Charge Move	Rating

Water Gun

Hydro Cannon

Best

The old-school Water Type Mega Evolution, Mega Blastoise definitley should not be underestimated. While it has fallen behind much of the competition, it still has the power needed to be worth acting as a backup Mega.

Strengths: Incinerate, Overheat, Mystical Fire
Weaknesses: None

Mega Houndoom

Fast Move	Charge Move	Rating

Snarl

Foul Play

Best

Resistances to all of Blacephalon's moves definitely gives Mega Houndoom some utility as a Mega pick.

Strengths: Incinerate, Astonish, Overheat, Mystical Fire, Shadow Ball
Weaknesses: None

Mega Banette

Fast Move	Charge Move	Rating

Shadow Claw

Shadow Ball

Best

As always, Mega Banette is Mega Gengar-lite. It can put in work, but it's not great.

Strengths: None
Weaknesses: Astonish, Shadow Ball

Shadow Rampardos

Fast Move	Charge Move	Rating

Smack Down

Rock Slide

Best

If you're after DPS, then look no farther than Shadow Ramparados. This Rock-Type titan destroys Blacephalon, and can potentially last longer than it might seem due to its resistance to Fire Type moves.

Strengths: Incinerate, Overheat, Mystical Fire
Weaknesses: None

Shadow Chandelure

Fast Move	Charge Move	Rating

Hex

Shadow Ball

Best

Blacephalon's type-mirror, Shadow Chandelure is a power-house of a Pokemon that has great performance. It will definitely want to dodge Shadow Ball, but that aside it will just about be able to deal a lot of damage while on the field!

Strengths: Incinerate, Overheat, Mystical Fire
Weaknesses: Astonish, Shadow Ball

Shadow Tyranitar

Fast Move	Charge Move	Rating

Best

Best

Shadow Tyranitar is the total package for this raid. A combo of great DPS and top-tier TDO backed up by a laundry list of resistances that virtually shut Blacephalon down entirely. Like with Mega Tyranitar, Bite is better, but don't TM away Smack Down.

Strengths: Incinerate, Astonish, Overheat, Mystical Fire, Shadow Ball
Weaknesses: None

Shadow Kyogre

Fast Move	Charge Move	Rating

Waterfall

Origin Pulse

Best

The top Water option, Shadow Kyogre is basically unparalleled in the Rain and/or if paired with Origin Pulse.

Strengths: Incinerate, Overheat, Mystical Fire
Weaknesses: None

Shadow Rhyperior

Fast Move	Charge Move	Rating

Best

Best

On paper, Shadow Rhyperior sits right around Shadow Kyogre, which should make it the ideal pairing with Primal Groudon. However, the fact that it needs to utilize Rock Wrecker to be good makes it a bit weaker with this pairing. That's not to say it's bad, quite the contrary in fact! Shadow Rhyperior is an extremely powerful mix of DPS and TDO, making it very much an optimal counter regardless of the situation.

Strengths: Incinerate, Overheat, Mystical Fire
Weaknesses: None

Shadow Groudon

Fast Move	Charge Move	Rating

Mud Shot

Precipice Blades

Best

Shadow Groudon lacks the resistances of Shadow Kyogre, meaning it has similar DPS but lower average TDO. But, regardless of that fact, it's still arguably the best Pokemon to pair with its Primal forme due to its high performance.

Strengths: None
Weaknesses: None

Shadow Crawdaunt

Fast Move	Charge Move	Rating

Snarl

Crabhammer

Best

A Shadow Boost, powerful Charged Move, and a comprehensive resistance list patches up Shadow Crawdaunt extremely well in this raid, and makes it surprisingly useful here despite a generally mediocre position in most raids.

Strengths: Astonish, Incinerate, Overheat, Mystical Fire, Shadow Ball

Weaknesses: None

Shadow Mewtwo

Fast Move	Charge Move	Rating

Psycho Cut

Shadow Ball

Best

Shadow Mewtwo doesn't like facing Shadow Ball, and it doesn't like Blacephalon's Fire Type moves either. Regardless, this classical monster still works well.

Strengths: None
Weaknesses: Astonish, Shadow Ball

Shadow Garchomp

Fast Move	Charge Move	Rating

Mud Shot

Earth Power

Best

Shadow Garchomp resists Fire Type moves thanks to its Dragon typing, and has an overall high performance.

Strengths: Incinerate, Overheat, Mystical Fire
Weaknesses: None

Shadow Excadrill

Fast Move	Charge Move	Rating

Mud Slap

Scorching Sands

Best

Shadow Excadrill is going to drop pretty quickly in the face of Incinerate in particular, but it does have great DPS.

Strengths: None
Weaknesses: Incinerate, Overheat, Mystical Fire

Shadow Gengar

Fast Move	Charge Move	Rating

Best

Best

Shadow Gengar sports high DPS, but low TDO. It's similar to Shadow Chandelure, but its lack of resistances makes it substantially glassier on average.