Welcome to Raid Review, where we take a look at the current raid rotation in Pokemon Go in order to see how valuable the current candidates are and what's worth your precious raid passes and what should generally be ignored! This is going to be a new, ongoing series for Gamepress, so hopefully it will be helpful. We're going to break down the proceedings into three-to-four different sections and work out the top choices for each, with consideration given to PvP and PvE alike, so let's get to it!
Note that this rotation also includes Mega Gyarados Raid Day, but it won't be covered here as we already have an entire guide devoted to that.
Five-Star and Mega Raids
Xerneas
Xerneas hit the game as a bit of a perennial disappointment. With an abysmal set of Fast Moves available, it seemed as though it had absolutely no hope. However, the buff to Tackle during the Go Battle League Season 12 update has given it some new viability in the Master League, where it can wreak havoc when shields are down. It doesn't work on every team, but it might just be a handy addition if you don't already have one!
Mega Manectric
Mega Manectric is generally considered to be the prime Electric Type Mega Evolution, hitting very hard and performing extremely well on most raids that call for its services. It has a bit of competition, but if you can only have one Electric Type Mega Evolution, then it's hard to go wrong with Mega Manectric!
Three-Star Raids
Magneton's evolution, Magnezone, is a solid raider that has a lot of general utility among Electric Type raids due to its unique and potent typing, high Attack, and good moveset, and it also has some clout in the Master Premier Classic in particular, so fishing for a high-IV individual isn't a bad idea at all. Rhydon, meanwhile is well known for Rhyperior's superior performance as a Rock Type attacker and solid work as a Ground Type attacker. Just be ready to wait for the next event that can grant Rock Wrecker or to drop an Elite TM on it. Piloswine's very own Mamoswine is another great attacker with some utility in PvP, so attempting to score a high IV individual might turn out useful in the long run. Finally, Togetic evolves into Togekiss and terrorize the Master League with its Fairy Type spam, so it would be a charming choice as well, especially since this family is traditionally fairly rare.
Overall, none of our Tier 3 offerings are bad, with each giving different potential utility. If you can solo any of these and lack the ability to consistently use your Raid Pass against Xerneas/Mega Manectric, they're far from a waste.
One-Star Raids
The one-star Raid Bosses are a bit less useful, objectively speaking. Sunkern and its evolution, Sunflora, have never been particularly useful, so that's an easy skip. Porygon is largely the same story, despite the existence of Porygon 2 and Porygon-Z. Slowpoke's family of Slowking, Slowbro, and Mega Slowbro have some utility, but they're all fairly niche for the most part. That said, they do have utility in specific cups, and Mega Slowbro's Water/Psychic Type boosts make it a good utility Mega to have available, so it's not the worst pick. Arguably, Onix is the most important option here, as Steelix has its utility in PvP, and Mega Steelix is at least a passable option in select raids, if only due to its various Mega bonuses as a Steel/Ground Type.
If you plan to aim for One Star Raids, then prioritize Onix whenever possible with Slowpoke as a runner up. The others may have their utility, but they sort of pale in comparison for the most part.
Four-Star Raids
This raid rotation just happens to feature Litwick Community Day, and with it will come special Four Star Raids featuring Lampent! Because these raids occur during the Community Day window, it's definitely worth hitting this raid as many times as possible, especially when you consider the fact that this give 10-IV floor Pokemon, not to mention just how impressive shiny Chandelure is!
Closing
Overall, this is definitely not a bad raid rotation. We have a number of standouts in each of the groups, with a Five Star/Mega Raid pairing that has some genuine use. However, nothing is truly "must have" on this list, so don't feel too driven to take down any of these raids if the opportunity doesn't present itself.
Our next Raid update is scheduled for October 20, so expect a new Raid Review then!
