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Interactive Rayquaza Counters Guide

Rayquaza

CAN IT BE?

That’s right! The Ozone Sky God themselves is returning to raid battles! Rayquaza is one of the franchises absolute most popular Pokemon, with both fantastic stats and design. Living high in the atmosphere, Rayquaza quells the cataclysmic fighting between Kyogre and Groudon when it broke out in the formative years of the Pokemon’s planet.

But Rayquaza isn’t just back on the raid menu-as is tradition, they are coming back rocking their shiny form! Rayquaza (like Charizard) was given a customized slick black shiny form, which is likely going to be quite a hot commodity for people looking to flex in raid battles.

Availability: July 31st to September 2nd.

Rayquaza in the Meta

Dragon Tail Outrage

Rayquaza is the #1 Dragon Type attacker in terms of raw damage no question. While there are strong circumstantial reasons to use many of the other top dragons, none match Rayray for pure destructive impact. Rayquaza’s primary failings are mediocre bulk and a crippling aversion to Ice type moves. It also shares a common struggle with all Top Dragon Type attackers not named Dialga, being weak to Dragon, which is the only situation Dragon Type damage is optimal. This furthers his glassy status.

Even so, Rayquaza is quite formidable even when not hitting for super effective damage, making it one of the most versatile raid attackers you can find. Rayquaza has one of the highest neutral DPS in the game, meaning that a jacked up Rayquaza can usually be used as an okay filler Pokemon in any situation where the Pokemon doesn’t hit him super effectively or resist him. This generalist status was far more significant before the Super-Effective damage modifier was buffed in raids, but it still can still serve this role for all but the most powerful Pokemon Trainers

Make no mistake, unless you are level 40 multiple times over, you should aim to get 1-2 maxed out Rayquaza to fill the 5th and 6th slot in almost any legendary raid.

Dragon Type Ranking:

NAME FAST CHARGE RANK GIRATINA LATIOS LATIAS GIRATINA_ORIGIN_FORM PALKIA Rayquaza Dragon Tail Outrage 100% 2.60 2.50 2.91 2.33 2.65 Dialga Dragon Breath Draco Meteor 98% 2.73 2.50 2.91 2.51 2.61 Palkia Dragon Tail Draco Meteor 97% 2.61 2.65 3.00 2.38 2.72 Salamence (Legacy) Dragon Tail Outrage 97% 2.68 2.60 3.00 2.36 2.75 Salamence Dragon Tail Draco Meteor 95% 2.77 2.64 3.05 2.38 2.75 Garchomp Dragon Tail Outrage 95% 2.64 2.67 2.99 2.44 2.87 Dragonite Dragon Tail Outrage 95% 2.73 2.64 3.06 2.42 2.84 Latios Dragon Breath Dragon Claw 88% 2.95 2.88 3.07 2.68 3.07

Air Slash Aerial Ace

In terms of Flying-Type damage, Rayquaza’s far less uncontested but is still possibly worthy of a slot.. Rayquaza’s Dragon dual typing isn’t too big a deal as most Pokemon weak to flying do not have good attacks vs. dragons. The typing als helps plenty by stacking s up resistance to Grass and negating Electric weakness. Unfortunately, Moltres’ typing is EVEN BETTER, resisting Grass AND Bug, and negating Ice weakness instead of doubling it (with a crippling weakness towards Rock instead). Sky Attack is also much stronger than Aerial Ace, so the rubber chicken comes out on top here.

Even so, Moltres is a Legacy option at this point, and has only just recently gotten a Flying Fast Move making it the undeniable #1 option. Rayquaza still crosses the sky’s as rivaling it in performance, and will likely come ahead if any Pokemon weak to Flying has some Rock or Electric attacks in store.

Flying Type Ranking:

NAME FAST CHARGE RANK MACHAMP BRELOOM TANGELA POLIWRATH PINSIR Moltres (Legacy) Wing Attack Sky Attack 99% 0.72 0.41 0.74 2.27 0.79 Rayquaza Air Slash Aerial Ace 91% 0.81 0.45 0.81 2.43 0.85 Honchkrow Peck Sky Attack 86% 0.85 0.45 0.82 2.65 0.90 Moltres (Legacy) Fire Spin Sky Attack 85% 0.83 0.47 0.71 2.97 0.77 Zapdos (Legacy) Thunder Shock Drill Peck 83% 0.90 0.55 0.96 2.49 0.97 Lugia Extrasensory Sky Attack 77% 0.86 0.57 1.06 2.68 1.14 Dragonite Dragon Tail Hurricane 75% 0.95 0.65 0.95 2.91 1.03 Yanmega Wing Attack Aerial Ace 75% 1.00 0.55 1.00 2.95 1.03

Rayquaza in Gym Combat:

Rayquaza as a Legendary can’t be used in gyms, but does has service as an attacker. While there aren’t any common Dragon type defenders aside from Dragonite, Rayquaza’s neutral DPS comes up again making Rayquaza fair remarkably well in most situations. Unfortunately Rayquaza fares poorly against some top defenders (eg. Tyranitar, Mamoswine, Gardevoir, Togekiss) while being merely mediocre against the Normal type kings (eg. Snorlax, Chansey, Slakoth). Even so, Rayquaza lands at #9 in the gym attacker rankings vs. the top defenders

Rayquaza Raid Boss Movesets

Aerial Ace Rayquaza’s easiest moveset, due to it being a weak charge move and high chance Rayquaza will not be able to actually use all it’s energy in combat.

Rayquaza’s easiest moveset, due to it being a weak charge move and high chance Rayquaza will not be able to actually use all it’s energy in combat. Ancient Power Rayquaza’s most difficult moveset for pure Ice type pokemon, hitting them super effectively. Notably Mamoswine and Swinub do not suffer from this, making them the safest choice. The Flying Dragon and Fairy type Pokemon also do not appreciate it.

Rayquaza’s most difficult moveset for pure Ice type pokemon, hitting them super effectively. Notably Mamoswine and Swinub do not suffer from this, making them the safest choice. The Flying Dragon and Fairy type Pokemon also do not appreciate it. Outrage Rayquaza’s most difficult moveset in general, and ripping through the Dragon Type Counters hit for weakness. Fairy Types do better here, but are still mostly absent from the rankings due to Ice types having double weakness (2.56x vs 1.6x damage) in their favor.

Unlike with many recent raid bosses, Rayquaza’s counters have minimal variance based on his movesets. Ice type hegemony is pretty tough to shake off here.

Weather Counters

Pokemon near or superior to #1 option with a weather buff.

Pokemon Weather Fast Move Charge Move Estimator @ L35 Mamoswine SNOW Powder Snow Avalanche 1.21 Glaceon SNOW Frost Breath Avalanche 1.28 Weavile SNOW Ice Shard Avalanche 1.30 Mewtwo SNOW Psycho Cut Ice Beam 1.43 Mamoswine NO_WEATHER Powder Snow Avalanche 1.46 Glaceon NO_WEATHER Frost Breath Avalanche 1.53

General Rayquaza Counters

Rayquaza takes 1.6x damage from Rock / Dragon / Fairy and 2.56x damage from Ice.

Rock Types resist Flying Moves.

Dragon Types are weak to Dragon Moves.

Fairy Types double resist Dragon Moves.

Ice types are weak to Rock Moves.

Rayquaza can be beaten by 2 players in optimal weather, with max friendship and perfect level 40 counters or by 3 unfriended players using level 20 counters from this guide. When caught, Rayquaza will be between 2102 and 2191 cp without a weather boost. In Windy weather, Rayquaza will be between 2627 and 2739 when caught.

Mamoswine



Powder Snow /



Avalanche

Requires 2 players with level 35 Mamoswine

⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Mamoswine is great here, there is no situation where Mamoswine doesn’t do phenomenally. Mamoswine is so good that if you only have 1 Mamoswine and you are fast with rejoining you can simply have a battle party of size 1 and still do fine, especially with dodging (Yes I expect videos). Mamoswine’s second type, ground is excellent for negating Rock weakness making Ancient Power less of a threat.

Mamoswine evolves from Swinub which is a nesting species that has been in raids in the past. Swinub can also be found in Nests. It does however require a Sinnoh Stone to evolve which can be acquired randomly from your first trainer battle every day. Swinub has gotten a community day and was also featured in Christmas events. Finally, Swinub can also spawn in the pool of Pokemon from Glacial Lure Modules, which you can get from the shop for 200 coins.

Glaceon



Frost Breath /



Avalanche

Requires 2 players with level 35 Glaceon

⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Glaceon evolves from Eevee, which is a nesting species, who has also been featured in community day, AND in many many events. Eevee is also just a decently common Pokemon in general, with even increased spawns in Partly Cloudy weather which is fairly common. If all else fails, you can acquire a shiny Eevee from the “Jump Start” Special Research quest part 4/6. Eevee is also a quest reward for the “Evolve a Pokemon” Field Research quests. “A Ripple in Time” Special Research also rewards a normal Eevee in both part 3 and part 4. After acquiring enough Eevee candy, Glaceon can be acquired in one of two ways: Either, you get a Glacial Lure Module and evolve Eevee while within it’s boundaries, or you use a ONE TIME USE naming trick, naming your Eevee “Rea” prior to evolving.

Weavile



Ice Shard /



Avalanche

Requires 2 players with level 35 Weavile



Feint Attack /



Avalanche

Alternative fast move

⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

Weavile evolves from Sneasel, which is an uncommon Pokemon (that does still nest), and is an occasional 2 star raid boss. It requires a Sinnoh Stone to evolve, which can be acquired at random from daily trainer battles. Sneasel has been featured in Winter Time events and Dark Events. Weavile has been a reward from “Catch 5 Poochyena or Houndour” quests. Sneasel can also spawn from Glacial Lure Modules.

Mewtwo



Psycho Cut /



Ice Beam

Requires 2 players with level 35 Mewtwo

⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

Mewtwo’s Psychic typing leaves it neutral to Ancient Power and have no type interactions with Rayray’s attacks.

Mewtwo is pretty inaccessible, as the useful form hasn’t been released recently. Luckily the moveset however isn’t exclusive to it’s EX raid period! Trading for one is probably the most likely way you’d be able to get one of these, and you can use the candy you got from catching Armored Mewtwo to power it up.

Jynx



Frost Breath /



Avalanche

Requires 2 players with level 35 Jynx

⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐☆☆☆☆

📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Jynx is available in Win 3 Gym Battles Quests, and is a nesting species. Jynx has had increased spawns during winter ice type events as well, and is nice in that you can catch it at a high level in the wild and not need to evolve.

Articuno



Frost Breath /



Ice Beam

Requires 2 players with level 35 Articuno

⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

Articuno while a very powerful Ice type, is double weak to Rock. Something to bear in mind if you are facing down ancient power.

Articuno was last available during its Legendary Raid hour, as well as being a possibility in the 7 Day Field Research rewards. It’s legendary though, so expensive to trade for and acquire candy for.

Alternative Rayquaza Counters

Piloswine



Powder Snow /



Avalanche

Requires 2 players with level 35 Piloswine

⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Just like daddy Mamoswine, Piloswine has a negated weakness to Rock!

Piloswine evolves from Swinub which is a nesting species that has been in raids in the past. Swinub can also be found in Nests. Swinub has gotten a community day and was also featured in Christmas events. Finally, Swinub can also spawn in the pool of Pokemon from Glacial Lure Modules, which you can get from the shop for 200 coins.

Porygon-Z



Hidden Power /



Blizzard

Requires 2 players with level 35 Porygon-Z

⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

🌐 Accessibility: ⭐☆☆☆☆

Porygon are very uncommon Pokemon usually, but can be found from “Win a Raid” Quests. Even if you collect enough candy though, you need an “Upgrade” to evolve it into Porygon 2 (which are in a pool of items that drop at random from stops infrequently, and are guaranteed to drop one on each of your 7 day streaks). Even then, to get Porygon-Z you need a Sinnoh stone Sinnoh Stone (which can be acquired from trainer battles at random). And for it to even be this useful, you need to get extremely lucky with a Hidden Power roll!

Note: Hidden Power Type is determined when the Pokemon is caught or traded. It will not change no matter how many Quick TMs you use

Cloyster



Frost Breath /



Avalanche

Requires 2 players with level 35 Cloyster

⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Shelder historically can be acquired from raids, Glacial Lure Modules, and nests. It’s been a fairly common spawn around water biomes as well.

Regice



Frost Breath /



Blizzard

Requires 3 players with level 35 Regice

⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

Available in Field Research 7 day Rewards, and previously in raids. It’s legendary though, so expensive to trade for and acquire candy for. Notably significant bulk. Please don’t power up a Regice, save your rare candy for powering up Rayquaza instead!

Mew



Frost Breath /



Blizzard

Requires 3 players with level 35 Mew

⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

🌐 Accessibility: ⭐☆☆☆☆

Available from completing the “A Mythical Discovery” Special Research. Which might not be that easy if you are just starting the game. Requiring earning 7 candies walking your buddy, hatching 3 eggs, battling in 12 raids, being level 25, having the Gold Kanto Medal, Catching a Ditto, Evolving a Magikarp, among other trials. On the other hand, its something very accessible to anyone regardless of where you live and it’s likely many have acquired their Mew. Even so, after you get it you need to get the right moveset on it, which is a massive ordeal in itself and could take significantly more than your entire stockpile of TMs to get. No 20 TMs of each type is not nearly enough to have a high chance of this moveset.

Walrein



Frost Breath /



Blizzard

Requires 3 players with level 35 Walrein

⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Spheal nest and are an available spawn from Glacial Lure Modules. With occasionally being featured in ice themed winter events.

Lapras



Frost Breath /



Ice Beam

Requires 3 players with level 35 Lapras

⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Lapras can be acquired from the “Jump Start” quest part 5/6, and the Win 5 Gym Battles quest. It has also occasionally been featured as a tier 4 raid boss.

Dialga



Dragon Breath /



Draco Meteor

Requires 3 players with level 35 Dialga

⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐☆☆☆☆

🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Dialga’s Steel typing luckily negates it’s weakness to Dragon and gives a resistance to Rock and Flying! It’s legendary though, so expensive to trade for and acquire candy for. It is an excellent attacker in recent Team Rocket invasions so powering one up is not the worst idea in the world.

Garchomp



Dragon Tail /



Outrage

Requires 3 players with level 35 Garchomp

⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐☆☆☆☆

🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

🌐 Accessibility: ⭐☆☆☆☆

Garchomp while a great dragon type, and one with a resistance to Rock-is very difficult to acquire for now. No nests, no events, very rare, very new.

Sandslash – Alola



Powder Snow /



Blizzard

Requires 3 players with level 35 Sandslash – Alola

⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐☆☆☆☆

🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

Alolan Sandslash is only available in Alolan Eggs, and have to be powered up even if you do get one. The candy from regular Sandslash can be used to power up though if you are truly desperate for Ice Pokemon or doing some crazy Unique Pokemon challenge (Hi Kaito).

Electivire



Thunder Shock /



Ice Punch

Requires 3 players with level 35 Electivire

⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐☆☆☆☆

🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

Electabuzz is available from “Use a Super Effective Charged attack in 7 Gym battles” quests, and does nest, but hasn’t been featured much in events. You also need a Sinnoh Stone to evolve, which can be acquired at random from trainer battles.

Palkia



Dragon Tail /



Draco Meteor

Requires 3 players with level 35 Palkia

⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐☆☆☆☆

🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐☆☆☆☆

📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Palkia’s Water dual typing here doesn’t grant in any privileges. It’s legendary as well, so expensive to trade for and acquire candy for.

Rampardos



Smack Down /



Rock Slide

Requires 3 players with level 35 Rampardos

⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐☆☆☆☆

🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐☆☆☆☆

📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

Rampardos is very difficult to acquire being fairly new and only having been featured briefly in one quest as Cranidos.

Dragonite



Dragon Tail /



Dragon Claw

Requires 3 players with level 35 Dragonite

⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐☆☆☆☆

🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐☆☆☆☆

📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Dratini can be acquired from the “Jump Start” Special Research part 1 (the whole Quest line grants Dratini Candy), as well as available as a shadow Pokemon. The “Catch a Dragon-type Pokemon” quest rewards one. Dratini were also available during community day and you can likely find a friend to trade you a Dratini if not a Dragonite if you ask nicely! Dragonite was similar to Rayquaza when raids first came out as a great filler Pokemon for various raids but is now eclipsed by its greener (or blacker in the shiny case) legendary twin. If you read this far, I hope you laughed at that terrible joke because Celandro added it after I wrote the article. Ha ha ha.

Starmie



Hidden Power /



Ice Beam

Requires 3 players with level 35 Starmie

⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐☆☆☆☆

🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐☆☆☆☆

📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

Starmie has been accessible since the games inception, with Staryu being common spawns in water biomes. As before, Hidden Power Ice is rare, don’t go searching for it.

Ninetales – Alola



Powder Snow /



Ice Beam

Requires 3 players with level 35 Ninetales – Alola

⚔️ Raw Damage: ⭐☆☆☆☆

🛡️ Survival/Bulk: ⭐⭐☆☆☆

📉 Consistency: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

🌐 Accessibility: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

Only available from Alolan Eggs, and rare even among Alolan Pokemon to hatch. This isn’t really Alolan Ninetales time to shine, but you can make it work if you are determined to dazzle.

Closing Thoughts

Suffice to say, Baequaza Rayquaza has quite a massive storm of hype awaiting his return! A monster attacker with or without Super Effective damage, beloved by millions and the box legendary of Gen 3, you will not want to miss out on this August Event!