Trainers,
as announced earlier by Niantic, Zapdos is the next Legendary Raid Boss to be released, on Monday, August 7. In other words, a few hours after this post goes up, the Lightning Bird should be soaring the skies above you.
Our Zapdos Raid Guide is already up and running, but we wanted to offer a bit more of analysis in order to help you prepare
Zapdos Stats and Type Analysis
Stat wise, Zapdos is similar to Moltres — very high Attack and mediocre Defense meets easily counterable typing. Zapdos is by far the strongest electric Pokémon in the game (for now) and it can deal scary amount of damage.
| Stat | Zapdos | Moltres | Articuno | Lugia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sprite |  |
 |
 |
 |
| ATK | 253 | 251 | 192 | 193 |
| DEF | 188 | 184 | 249 | 323 |
| Boss CP | 42691 | 41953 | 37603 | 42753 |
Type Overview
Much like Moltres, Zapdos can easily be countered by strong rock and select ice attackers: Golem and Piloswine, rise to the occasion!
Be careful of using ground, as Zapdos receives not very effective damage from ground moves! Fix your Golems before the fight.
Zapdos counters are (almost) Moltres counters
Similar to how you’d approach a Moltres fight, approach Zapdos with your best Rock and Ice type attackers. Dragonite is a great choice also, especially as a substitute for lack of Golems.
Best Zapdos counters
- Golem with double Rock moves
- Dragonite with double Dragon moves
- Tyranitar with Stone Edge
- Jynx and Piloswine with double Ice moves
Do not use Blissey or Chansey! This is very important, as you are not contributing to the Raid at all. The damage output of a Blissey is comparable to a Horsea, which is absurdly low.
If you’re afraid of being knocked out, you should dodge more, not cheese survival with “last slot Blissey saviour”.
Parting words
Make sure you catch as many Zapdos as you can. Zapdos is a DPS beast in general, but more importantly, it will be a great counter for Ho-Oh once it gets released. Zapdos is the missing link in most line-ups, as a truly great Electric attacker was not available before.
Jolteon is strong, but too fragile, Ampharos is a bit bulkier, but too slow. Zapdos gets both right!
With that said, we wish you all the best today. Day one Zapdos, hype!
