Zacian (Hero)
The Hero of Many Battles Zacian is a Tier 5 legendary raid boss in Pokémon Go and marks its debut in the undoubtedly unexpected Ultra Unlock 3: Galar region event.
Zacian, along with Zamazenta, is among the two cover legendaries of the Pokémon Sword and Shield games. While its Crowned form, the more powerful version of Zacian, will be marking its presence in the game at a future date, we will be catching the Hero of Many Battles as a part of the Ultra Unlock 3 event.
Zacian can be caught with the following CP values:
- 2100 – 2188 CP at Level 20, no weather boost
- 2625 – 2735 CP at Level 25 with Cloudy weather boost
With a pure Fairy typing, Zacian is boosted by Cloudy weather and its counters include strong Steel and Poison type Pokémon such as Metagross, Dialga, Gengar and mega evolutions like Mega Gengar and Mega Beedrill. With such strong counters, Zacian can possibly be duo’d in ideal weather conditions and high-level counters. But to be safe, 4-5 high-level trainers can get the job done easily.
Zacian Crowned form is a monster with a mouth-watering Fairy and Steel typing, possibly making it the ultimate bane in the existence of Dragon types? That remains to be seen but for now, let’s check out the raid guide of Zacian!
Zacian: Stats and Max CP
|
Zacian
Fairy
|
|||||
| Max CP at Level 40 3829 Max CP at Level 50 4329 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATK 254 | DEF 236 | HP 192 | |||
| Weak to | Strong Against | ||||
| Poison Steel | Dark Dragon Fighting | ||||
Zacian Raid Counters
Since Shadow Pokémon are extremely expensive to power up and require specific events to remove Frustration with a Charge TM, they will NOT be listed as raid counters in this article. That being said, if you have the shadow form of a listed raid counter Pokémon powered up and TMed, use it.
The best counters for Zacian, based on the time required to win, are the following:
| # | Pokemon | Fast Move | Charge Move | Time to win | Deaths |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |
Metagross
|
Bullet Punch Steel | Meteor Mash Steel | 685.62s | 20.06 |
| 2. |
Nihilego
|
Acid Poison | Sludge Bomb Poison | 744.32s | 21.88 |
| 3. |
Dialga
|
Metal Claw Steel | Iron Head Steel | 790.97s | 24.19 |
| 4. |
Excadrill
|
Metal Claw Steel | Iron Head Steel | 810.13s | 27.56 |
| 5. |
Zacian
|
Metal Claw Steel | Iron Head Steel | 825.02s | 24.31 |
| 6. |
Genesect (Douse)
|
Metal Claw Steel | Magnet Bomb Steel | 809.47s | 29.19 |
| 7. |
Genesect (Normal)
|
Metal Claw Steel | Magnet Bomb Steel | 811.24s | 29.38 |
| 8. |
Genesect (Burn)
|
Metal Claw Steel | Magnet Bomb Steel | 809.96s | 29.38 |
| 9. |
Roserade
|
Poison Jab Poison | Sludge Bomb Poison | 801.21s | 30.69 |
| 10. |
Jirachi
|
Charge Beam Electric | Doom Desire Steel | 851.74s | 22.75 |
| 11. |
Gengar
|
Lick Ghost | Sludge Bomb Poison | 808.93s | 35.88 |
| 12. |
Deoxys (Attack)
|
Poison Jab Poison | Zap Cannon Electric | 798.08s | 64.00 |
| 13. |
Darkrai
|
Snarl Dark | Sludge Bomb Poison | 907.69s | 34.00 |
| 14. |
Toxicroak
|
Poison Jab Poison | Sludge Bomb Poison | 874.82s | 39.73 |
| 15. |
Salazzle
|
Poison Jab Poison | Sludge Wave Poison | 926.47s | 30.50 |
| 16. |
Scolipede
|
Poison Jab Poison | Sludge Bomb Poison | 920.99s | 29.83 |
| 17. |
Bisharp
|
Metal Claw Steel | Iron Head Steel | 927.38s | 25.33 |
| 18. |
Victreebel
|
Acid Poison | Sludge Bomb Poison | 911.71s | 37.44 |
| 19. |
Vileplume
|
Acid Poison | Sludge Bomb Poison | 933.49s | 32.00 |
| 20. |
Mewtwo
|
Confusion Psychic | Psystrike Psychic | 913.57s | 33.75 |
* marks a Legacy Move
Zacian Moveset Analysis
| Fast Moves | Charge Moves |
|---|---|
|
|
Metal Claw and Quick Attack won’t be any issue whatsoever for your Steel counters. However, Fire Fang will do super-effective damage.
Snarl generates energy very quickly and deals super-effective damage to Metagross.
Play Rough gains STAB, is pretty damaging but is resisted by both Steel and Poison types
Iron Head does quite a number on Poison types but is resisted by Steel types
Close Combat is a powerful move and despite lacking STAB, can KO your Steel types (except for Metagross) consistently.
Wild Charge does a lot of damage to almost all your counters and can hit frequently. So be wary of it.
Conclusion
Zacian has gained a decent set of moves and can definitely gain some playthrough in the Master League. It is worth noting that Zacian Crowned does not learn Iron Head and it would be replaced by the assumedly powerful Behemoth Blade. The future does look promising for Zacian Crowned and Zacian, for now, does have potential.
As such, it is definitely a worthy legendary Pokémon to raid.
Draw your swords and tame Zacian! All the best, trainers!