All Dynamax Raikou weaknesses and best Pokémon counters in Pokémon Go

The Dynamax Raikou raids have begun in Pokémon Go, and this fearsome adversary is ready to take on players worldwide. For those keen to challenge Dynamax Raikou, you’ll want to create a team to directly counter it, targeting every weakness it has.

As you might expect from this Legendary Pokémon encounter, it’ll take a lot of effort to bring it down, especially as a Max Battle. You can only use Dynamax Pokémon on your team for this encounter, which limits your options. If you’ve been keeping up with the steadily releasing Dynamax Pokémon, though, you should have multiple options. We’ll be breaking down every weakness to Dynamax Raikou and the best Pokémon to counter it in Pokémon Go.

All Dynamax Raikou weaknesses in Pokémon Go

Raikou is an Electric-type Pokémon from the Johto region. It’s exclusively weak to Ground-type moves, but it’s resistant against Electric, Flying, and Steel-type attacks. Because it’s only weak against Ground-type attacks, expect to bring some of your best Ground-type Pokémon. These are fantastic choices for this fight as those Pokémon are resistant to Electric-type attacks, which will be your primary focus for these battles.

Even though Raikou is in its Dynamax form, it has access to all its standard attacks. These are the moves that Dynamax Raikou could use against you and your teammates during this battle.

Beyond Shadow Ball, Raikou only has Electric-type attacks. You’ll want to avoid using Water or Flying-types during this battle, as they’re exceptionally weak in these moves. Although a Ghost or Psychic-type Pokémon could be weak to Raikou’s Shadow Ball, the chances of seeing this attack is low, but you should still keep it in mind when creating your three Pokémon team for this five-star Max Battle.

The best Pokémon to counter Dynamax Raikou in Pokémon Go

When you’re building a team to counter Dynamax Raikou, the best choices you can go with are Excadrill, Venusaur, and Metagross.

Excadrill is the best choice you can add to your team for this encounter. If you can make a full team of three Excadrills to use against Raikou, go with that. It’s an option you want to use for a tank or if you want to use it as an attacker. Excadrill is a Ground and Steel-type, making it resistant to all of Raikou’s attacks, and it has access to Ground-type moves. It’s fantastic in every category, but if you only have the ones, that’s still great. The best moveset to teach Excadrill is the fast move Mud Show and the charged moves Earthquake and Drill Run.

The next Pokémon we’ll recommend is Venusaur. It’s not as powerful as Excadrill since it doesn’t have Ground-type moves, but as a Grass and Poison-type, it’s plenty resistant to Raikou’s attacks. It’s a phenomenal tank to hold back against Raikou’s endless Electric-type moves, and if you have the Gigantamax version of Vensaur, it can unleash even more damage beyond the standard moves. It’s a solid choice to round out your team. The best moveset you can teach it is the fast move Vine Whip and the charged moves Frenzy Plant and Petal Blizzard. If you have a Gigantamax Venusaur, swap Petal Blizzard for G-Max Vine Lash.

The last Pokémon you can use on your team is Metagross, a Steel and Psychic-type Pokémon. The only downside to Metagross is it’s weak against Raikou’s Shadow Ball, but it shouldn’t show up too often. If it does, thankfully, this is a Pokémon with an exceptionally high defense stat that makes it even more difficult to defeat. The best moveset you can teach Metagross is the fast move Bullet Punch and the charged moves Earthquake and Meteor Mash.

Your options are limited when it comes to taking down Raikou. But by having the correct team with you, this should be a less challenging five-star Max Battle than previous ones that have appeared Pokémon. You’ll want to make sure to bring at least one or two other players with you to successfully beat this raid. We don’t recommend attempting this by yourself. When you’re finished, you’ll be able to catch a Dynamax Raikou.