Xerneas Raid Guide

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Xerneas

Xerneas is a Tier 5 legendary raid boss and was the first Fairy type legendary Pokémon in GO.

Xerneas can be caught with the following CP values:

  • 2073- 2160 CP at Level 20, no weather boost
  • 2591- 2701 CP at Level 25 with Cloudy weather boost

It has a mono typing of Fairy and as such, it is boosted by Cloudy weather and its counters include strong Steel and Poison type Pokémon such as Metagross, Dialga, Roserade and mega evolutions like Mega Gengar and Mega Beedrill.

As you will soon find out, Xerneas is quite bulky and as such, it would require 5-7 trainers to be on the safe side.

The shiny form is available if you are lucky. This shiny form is really cool, so good luck to everyone on getting that very rare shundo (100% IV shiny) to add to your Master League team.

Xerneas Shiny Xerneas
Pokemon GO Xerneas Pokemon GO Shiny Xerneas

Xerneas Raid Counters

Mega Pokémon will be listed separately below. 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 Xerneas, based on the time required to win, are the following:

# Pokemon Fast Move Charge Move TTW Faints
1. Gengar (Mega) Lick
Ghost
Sludge Bomb
Poison
386.27s 13.10
2. Beedrill (Mega) Poison Jab
Poison
Sludge Bomb
Poison
408.09s 23.10
3. Scizor (Mega) Bullet Punch
Steel
Iron Head
Steel
496.79s 14.50
4. Aggron (Mega) Iron Tail
Steel
Heavy Slam
Steel
513.53s 12.80
5. Metagross Bullet Punch
Steel
Meteor Mash
Steel
555.42s 15.40
6. Charizard (Mega Y) Fire Spin
Fire
Blast Burn
Fire
552.61s 17.80
7. Steelix (Mega) Iron Tail
Steel
Heavy Slam
Steel
585.83s 11.60
8. Venusaur (Mega) Vine Whip
Grass
Sludge Bomb
Poison
564.89s 16.60
9. Alakazam (Mega) Psycho Cut
Psychic
Psychic
Psychic
527.31s 23.70
10. Blaziken (Mega) Fire Spin
Fire
Blast Burn
Fire
542.35s 23.10
11. Nihilego Poison Jab
Poison
Sludge Bomb
Poison
601.01s 15.30
12. Gardevoir (Mega) Confusion
Psychic
Psychic
Psychic
580.22s 18.80
13. Latios (Mega) Zen Headbutt
Psychic
Psychic
Psychic
588.69s 18.70
14. Swampert (Mega) Mud Shot
Ground
Hydro Cannon
Water
596.19s 18.00
15. Banette (Mega) Shadow Claw
Ghost
Shadow Ball
Ghost
587.95s 21.80
16. Pidgeot (Mega) Steel Wing
Steel
Brave Bird
Flying
592.71s 23.60
17. Dialga Metal Claw
Steel
Iron Head
Steel
617.02s 18.60
18. Sceptile (Mega) Bullet Seed
Grass
Frenzy Plant
Grass
587.58s 25.13
19. Tyranitar (Mega) Iron Tail
Steel
Stone Edge
Rock
629.23s 18.40
20. Manectric (Mega) Thunder Fang
Electric
Wild Charge
Electric
632.52s 23.50
21. Aerodactyl (Mega) Steel Wing
Steel
Iron Head
Steel
626.81s 21.10
22. Melmetal Thunder Shock
Electric
Double Iron Bash
Steel
653.99s 17.10
23. Blastoise (Mega) Water Gun
Water
Hydro Cannon
Water
627.87s 22.30
24. Charizard (Mega X) Fire Spin
Fire
Blast Burn
Fire
645.52s 19.70
25. Zacian Metal Claw
Steel
Iron Head
Steel
669.06s 15.80
26. Genesect (Douse) Metal Claw
Steel
Magnet Bomb
Steel
653.46s 20.30
27. Genesect (Chill) Metal Claw
Steel
Magnet Bomb
Steel
653.12s 20.10
28. Genesect (Burn) Metal Claw
Steel
Magnet Bomb
Steel
652.70s 20.30
29. Genesect (Shock) Metal Claw
Steel
Magnet Bomb
Steel
651.47s 20.00
30. Genesect (Normal) Metal Claw
Steel
Magnet Bomb
Steel
652.38s 20.10
31. Groudon (Primal) Mud Shot
Ground
Precipice Blades
Ground
690.82s 14.00
32. Excadrill Metal Claw
Steel
Iron Head
Steel
650.95s 20.10
33. Roserade Poison Jab
Poison
Sludge Bomb
Poison
629.74s 26.44
34. Gengar Lick
Ghost
Sludge Bomb
Poison
656.15s 22.38
35. Deoxys (Attack) Poison Jab
Poison
Zap Cannon
Electric
623.38s 44.75

Stats and Max CP

Xerneas Fairy
Max CP at Level 40 3781| Max CP at Level 50 4275
ATK 250 DEF 185 HP 246
Weak to Strong Against
Steel Poison  Dark Dragon Fighting

Moveset Analysis

Xerneas learns the following moves in Pokémon GO:

Fast Moves Charge Moves
  • Tackle Normal
  • Zen Headbutt Psychic
  • Geomancy* Fairy
  • Moonblast Fairy
  • Megahorn Bug
  • Close Combat Fighting
  • Thunder Electric
  • Giga Impact Normal

*Denotes a legacy move only available via Elite TM or during certain special events.

With the addition of Geomancy as a fast move, Xerneas is finally a worthwhile Fairy type attacker! It makes it a much harder hitter, but it still won’t trouble your counters too much.

Tackle is an okay Normal type move that doesn’t deal super-effective damage to any type. The top counter, Mega Gengar, heavily resists Tackle. In fact, Mega Gengar is grinning because it reads ‘Tackle’ as ‘Tickle’. Tch!

Zen Headbutt is the worst psychic fast move. However, it deals super-effective damage to Mega Gengar. For Zen Headbutt, Metagross is your go-to Pokémon.

Xerneas has hard hitting charge moves, Moonblast gains STAB and hits extremely hard.

Close Combat can take off a chunk of HP from your Steel types. The Poison types are more effective here.

Thunder is kind of difficult to dodge and does quite a number, so be wary of this one.

Megahorn is decent but not too much of a threat.

Giga Impact can do a lot of damage but can be dodged, steel types are also effective here.

Xerneas is bulky and as such, would take a while to be defeated. Otherwise, with numbers on your side, Xerneas can be taken down with relative ease.


Conclusion

We have had many opportunities to get Pokémon like Meteor Mash Metagross, Mega Gengar and Mega Beedrill with free mega energy. So, stacking up your counters to beat Xerneas shouldn’t be too much of a problem. It’s all about having numbers on your side!

Xerneas is a top tier Master League Pokémon. Now with a fairy type fast move it will become mega tier as it has a lot of bulk.

If you didn’t have a good Xerneas before, this is a perfect time to get one as you also have the opportunity to get its really cool shiny variant. If you haven’t powered up a good Xerneas yet, this is your opportunity to get a good shiny one or Lucky Trade a friend to reduce the candy and stardust cost of getting a maxed Xerneas.

Happy raiding and happy shiny hunting!

Author & tags

babygengar
babygengarhttps://pokemongohub.net/post/author/babygengar/
Heya there! I'm Manjari, a Mystic trainer from India and one day, I will be walking across the lands like Ash! When not found with my keyboard and keywords, I can be found reading about ghost Pokémon lore or binge-watching Pokémon movies! 💜

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