Sawk (Shadow) Raid Guide

Sawk (Shadow)

Shadow Sawk is now available in Tier 3 raids throughout Europe, Asia and Australia in Pokémon GO. Shadow raids can only be accessed with in-person passes. Shadow Sawk is an immensely difficult tier 3 raid due to the Shadow Raid mechanism. You will need to be well prepared with top counters, correct movesets, powered up Pokémon, and most importantly, Purified Gems.

Keep an eye on the weather, Cloudy weather will boost Shadow Sawk, and make this already difficult raid, even harder.

You can catch shadow Sawk after the raid with the following CP values (starting at 6/6/6 IV):

  • 1458- 1593 CP, at Level 20 with no weather boost 
  • 1823 – 1991 CP, at Level 25 with weather boost, during Cloudy weather conditions

Sawk is a pure Fighting type Pokémon, and is weak to Fairy, Flying and Psychic type moves. Even though Sawk has a shiny variant in the game, Shadow Sawk encountered from raid battles won’t be able to be shiny. 

Related reading

Shadow Raid Information & Advice

As a shadow raid, Sawk will hit harder than ever before, so make sure your counters are powered up, have the right moveset, and aren’t weak to the raid bosses moves. These tier 3 raids are a tricky solo task for even the most prepared trainers, and you will need Purified Gems to defeat them. Shadow Raid Bosses will grow enraged as you battle them, boosting their attack and defence.

You will need to subdue Shadow Sawk using Purified Gems, a new item that can be assembled from Shadow Shards.

Shadow Shards are mysterious gem pieces that may be dropped by Team GO Rocket grunts, leaders, and from Shadow Raids. You will need to gather enough shards to use Professor Willow’s newly invented Shard Refiner, and in return you’ll be rewarded with a Purified Gem. Be sure to have collected as many as you can before you attempt a Shadow Sawk raid, as without them you won’t be able to return it to its normal, non-enraged state.

There are multiple ways Purified Gems can assist your battle against enraged Shadow Raid Bosses:

  • When you use a Purified Gem during a Shadow Raid, the enraged Shadow Raid Boss’s attack and defence will be lowered temporarily. This can give you the opening you need to take them down.
  • You and your fellow Trainers can use more than one Purified Gem during a Shadow Raid. If used at the same time, their effects will stack.
  • If enough Purified Gems are used, the enraged Shadow Raid Boss will be subdued—returned to its non-enraged state—which might give you the edge you need to defeat it!

Purified Gems will show in the bottom left corner of the raid battle when you are able to use them, so be sure to communicate with your raid group to stack their effects!

Shadow Sawk Counters

Since powering up Shadow Pokémon is exceedingly expensive and removing Frustration with a Charged TM depends on specific events, this article will NOT list them as raid counters. However, if you already have a listed raid counter Pokémon in its shadow form, powered up and TM-ed, feel free to use it. The figures in our database for DPS and TDO are calculated using Level 40 Pokémon with perfect IVs.

The best counters for shadow Sawk are the following:

# Pokemon Fast Move Charge Move TTW Faints
1. Alakazam (Mega) Confusion
Psychic
Psychic
Psychic
41.77s 0.75
2. Gardevoir (Mega) Confusion
Psychic
Dazzling Gleam
Fairy
46.85s 0.50
3. Latios (Mega) Zen Headbutt
Psychic
Psychic
Psychic
47.80s 0.50
4. Pidgeot (Mega) Gust
Flying
Brave Bird
Flying
52.77s 1.00
5. Latias (Mega) Zen Headbutt
Psychic
Psychic
Psychic
56.21s 0.38
6. Mewtwo Psycho Cut
Psychic
Psystrike
Psychic
60.59s 0.88
7. Gengar (Mega) Shadow Claw
Ghost
Psychic
Psychic
64.67s 0.38
8. Charizard (Mega Y) Air Slash
Flying
Blast Burn
Fire
63.23s 1.00
9. Slowbro (Mega) Confusion
Psychic
Psychic
Psychic
65.87s 0.63
10. Hoopa (Unbound) Confusion
Psychic
Psychic
Psychic
63.61s 1.75
11. Blaziken (Mega) Counter
Fighting
Brave Bird
Flying
65.16s 1.75
12. Hoopa (Confined) Confusion
Psychic
Psychic
Psychic
74.34s 0.38
13. Lunala Confusion
Psychic
Psychic
Psychic
76.07s 0.13
14. Articuno (Galarian) Confusion
Psychic
Brave Bird
Flying
74.49s 0.75
15. Banette (Mega) Shadow Claw
Ghost
Dazzling Gleam
Fairy
74.16s 1.00
16. Swampert (Mega) Water Gun
Water
Hydro Cannon
Water
76.17s 1.00
17. Alakazam Confusion
Psychic
Psychic
Psychic
73.35s 1.75
18. Salamence (Mega) Dragon Tail
Dragon
Draco Meteor
Dragon
77.24s 1.00
19. Moltres Wing Attack
Flying
Sky Attack
Flying
76.14s 1.38
20. Espeon Confusion
Psychic
Psychic
Psychic
74.54s 1.63
21. Metagross Zen Headbutt
Psychic
Psychic
Psychic
80.27s 0.60
22. Medicham (Mega) Psycho Cut
Psychic
Psychic
Psychic
75.22s 1.63
23. Latios Zen Headbutt
Psychic
Psychic
Psychic
77.63s 1.25
24. Yveltal Gust
Flying
Hurricane
Flying
82.17s 0.50
25. Azelf Confusion
Psychic
Future Sight
Psychic
76.07s 1.75
26. Sceptile (Mega) Bullet Seed
Grass
Frenzy Plant
Grass
74.99s 2.00
27. Tapu Lele Confusion
Psychic
Future Sight
Psychic
79.16s 1.38
28. Blastoise (Mega) Water Gun
Water
Hydro Cannon
Water
82.53s 0.75
29. Ho-Oh Extrasensory
Psychic
Brave Bird
Flying
83.06s 0.75
30. Charizard (Mega X) Fire Spin
Fire
Blast Burn
Fire
81.48s 1.00
31. Meloetta (Aria) Confusion
Psychic
Psyshock
Psychic
84.92s 0.50
32. Gardevoir Confusion
Psychic
Psychic
Psychic
81.90s 1.17
33. Rayquaza Air Slash
Flying
Hurricane
Flying
80.46s 1.38
34. Altaria (Mega) Peck
Flying
Dazzling Gleam
Fairy
80.25s 1.43
35. Gallade Confusion
Psychic
Psychic
Psychic
80.72s 1.50

 

Stats and Max CP

Sawk (Shadow) Fighting
Max CP at Level 40 2788 | Max CP at Level 50 3152
ATK 231 DEF 153 HP 181
Weak To: Strong Against:
Fairy Flying Psychic Bug Dark Rock

Moveset

Fast Moves Charged Moves
Low Kick Fighting Focus Blast Fighting
Poison Jab Poison Body Slam Normal
  Low Sweep Fighting
  Frustration Normal

 

And that’s all, Good luck with your shadow Sawk raids, and until next time, trainers!

Author & tags

phrixu
phrixu
Hey! I'm phrixu, a Pokémon GO player from the UK. I am dedicated to making Pokémon GO as accessible as possible, to the whole community!
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