Is Shadow Tornadus Incarnate any good for Pokémon GO Raids?

Shadow Tornadus Incarnate takes over Shadow Raids in Pokémon GO, and as expected, speculation is rife about its meta viability as a Flying type. Unlike the other Legendary Genies (except Enamorus), Tornadus Incarnate is particularly interesting given that it’s the only Incarnate Forme (among the original Gen 5 Genies) whose ATK stat is higher than the Therian Forme.

Shadow Tornadus Therian has the advantage of higher ATK, that is firther boosted due to the Shadow effect. On the other hand, the Therian Forme learns Bleakwind Storm. It is also the signature move for Tornadus, and unfortunately, only the Therian forms learn these signature moves in Pokémon GO.

So who ends up getting the upper hand, and how does Shadow Tornadus Incarnate stack up in a meta ruled by the mighty Mega Rayquaza and filled with several Mega Evolutions? Let’s go over this Legendary’s stats and movepool, and then gauge its standing in the Flying department.

Shadow Tornadus Incarnate Overview

	Incarnate Shadow Tornadus	Therian Tornadus
Typing	Flying	Flying
Max CP	3782	3635
ATK	266	238
DEF	164	189
HP	188	188
Weak to	Flying	Ground
Resists
Best moveset	Air Slash + Hurricane	Air Slash + Bleakwind Storm

There you go, it is clear as day that the comparison between the two boils down to how good their Flying Charged Attacks are. To put them into perspective:

• Hurricane: 105 DMG, 100 Energy cost, DPSxDPE OF 44.10
• Bleakwind Storm: 1050 DMG, 100 Energy cost, DPSxDPE OF 90.00

Did you see the DPSxDPE figure of Bleakwind Storm? It’s literally more than double what Hurricane brings to the table. Well, things are looking bleak (no pun intended) for Shadow Tornadus Incarnate. But can the Shadow effect save the day? Moreover, how does it perform against the rest of the Flying meta? Let’s break it down.

Shadow Tornadus Incarnate in the Flying-type Meta

Pokémon	Moves	DPS	TDO	Score
Mega Rayquaza	Air Slash Dragon Ascent	26.90	787.3	24.9
Mega Staraptor	Wing Attack Brave Bird+	21.48	547.7	19.7
Rayquaza	Air Slash Dragon Ascent	20.19	447.5	18.2
Mega Skarmory	Air Slash Drill Peck+	19.94	464.4	18.1
Shadow Moltres	Wing Attack Fly	19.83	377.8	17.6
Shadow Toucannon	Peck Beak Blast	19.30	279.2	16.5
Mega Pidgeot	Gust Brave Bird	17.23	369.8	15.5
Toucannon	Peck Beak Blast	16.54	287.2	14.5
Shadow Unfezant	Air Slash Sky Attack	15.90	230.2	13.6
Incarnate Shadow Tornadus	Air Slash Hurricane	15.80	251.3	13.7
Braviary	Air Slash Fly	15.25	321.0	13.7
Therian Tornadus	Gust Bleakwind Storm	15.07	327.8	13.6
Hisuian Braviary	Air Slash Fly	14.22	291.5	12.7

First things first, Shadow Tornadus Incarnate does deal higher damage than Tornadus Therian. While it doesn’t really come as a surprise, it is the only Incarnate Forme to outclass a Therian Forme in any capacity. Now, an eventual Shadow Tornadus Therian would leave Shadow Tornadus Incarnate behind, but it should be noted that none of the Shadow Incarnate forms of the other three Genies outclass their regular Therian counterparts! As such, Shadow Tornadus Incarnate does deserve a round of applause for that. 

That said, Shadow Tornadus Incarnate’s glory is short-lived. When you look at the bigger picture and take a look at how this Pokémon fares against the rest of the meta, it is a tad disappointing. Forget Legendaries, even Mega Staraptor and Mega Skarmory convincingly surpass Shadow Tornadus Incarnate in Flying-type performance. Among Shadows, Shadow Moltres, Toucannon, and Unfezant are far better. To add insult to injury, even regular Toucannon dishes out around 4.7% higher damage than Shadow Tornadus Incarnate. 😥 

The issue with Shadow Tornadus Incarnate in Pokémon GO

It’s not just the embarrassment of a Shadow Legendary being outclassed by a regular Bird; it’s also that powering up Shadow Incarnate Tornadus is very expensive and time-consuming. In contrast, you can easily max out a Toucannon and enjoy more value in Raid Battles. 

So even if you catch a 100 IV Shadow Tornadus Incarnate, it’s just not worth it. Of course, if Scopely decides to add Bleakwind Storm to Shadow Tornadus Incarnate’s movepool (which it rightfully learns in the mainline games), it will be stronger.

Pokémon	Moves	DPS	TDO	Score
Mega Rayquaza	Air Slash Dragon Ascent	26.90	787.3	24.9
Mega Staraptor	Wing Attack Brave Bird+	21.48	547.7	19.7
Rayquaza	Air Slash Dragon Ascent	20.19	447.5	18.2
Mega Skarmory	Air Slash Drill Peck+	19.94	464.4	18.1
Shadow Moltres	Wing Attack Fly	19.83	377.8	17.6
Shadow Toucannon	Peck Beak Blast	19.30	279.2	16.5
Incarnate Shadow Tornadus	Air Slash Bleakwind Storm	18.21	289.6	15.8
Therian Shadow Tornadus	Gust Bleakwind Storm	17.70	320.7	15.6
Mega Pidgeot	Gust Brave Bird	17.23	369.8	15.5
Toucannon	Peck Beak Blast	16.54	287.2	14.5

But the irony is that even then, Bleakwind Storm Shadow Tornadus Incarnate gets outclassed by Shadow Toucannon. Ah, this Legendary just can’t catch a break, and it’s all because of a Toucannon of all things!

Ultimately, do catch Shadow Tornadus Incarnate for the ‘dex entry if you don’t have it already, but otherwise, your time and resources should be spent elsewhere.