Surprising nobody at this point, the Pokemon GO Ultra Bonus event has kicked things off by reintroducing the three legendary dogs of Johto back into the raid pool. For the entirety of this week, Raikou, Suicune, and Entei are the only legendaries you can come across in-game; in no part thanks to past weekly research rewards making way for the disappointing Flower Crown Eevee.
But while most of us would rather have seen Ho-Oh and Lugia headline the Johto Journey, part of the Ultra Bonus event, the return of Raikou, Suicune, and Entei adds slightly more variety to raids — winning players an extra type to build into future teams.
If you’re heading out into the big wide world to capture some legendary dogs this week, you’ll want to pay close attention to our Raikou, Suicune and Entei counters guide for Pokemon GO.
Johto Journey Raid Times – Pokemon GO Guide
Raikou, Suicune, and Entei will headline the Johto Journey event from Sept. 3, 2019, right into the following Tuesday, Sept. 10. Once that deadline passes, the trio will scatter once more, making way for Deoxys’ descent from the EX raid tier.
Any of the three dogs can spawn from a 5-star egg. They’re not limited to specific regions like the Sinnoh trio toward the end of August. It’s best to build preset teams for each so you’re prepared for whatever hatches!
Pokemon GO Raikou, Entei, Suicune – PVE Performance
Why should you go through the trouble of catching any of these large hounds in the first place? Even with the eventual inclusion of Ice Beam in the Suicune moveset, the Water-type doggo is still virtually useless in the face of Kyogre, Gyarados, Milotic, and even Vaporeon.
Entei, on the other hand, can take on many of the Ice-type Pokemon currently filling the raid pool during the Johto Journey event. They will take on both Sneasel and Piloswine with ease. It’s a fantastic counter, should legendaries like Articuno, Regice, or Registeel return, but Blast Burn starters from past community days will overtake it.
But it isn’t all doom and gloom. Despite almost three generations of new Pokemon arriving in Pokemon GO since, Raikou is still a well-respected generalist attacker, thanks to its fast blows and slim resistances. It’ll take on plenty of Flying and Water-type raids that come our way, while dishing out respectable damage to anything other than Ground and non-Flying dragons.
The other two are aren’t great catches, but unless you’re level 40 with a full team of dragons on your side, Raikou will find a place on your Pokemon GO team.
Entei Raid Guide – Pokemon GO
This isn’t Entei’s first rodeo, but returning players will have more counters to work into their teams since its last appearance as a raid boss. Being a Gen 2 Pokemon when we’re just weeks away from the start of the Pokemon GO Gen 5 release date means there are plenty more Pokemon in the wild capable of taking this thing on.
Entei is a fire-type Pokemon through and through. With so many level 40 trainers strolling around these days, there’s one lingering question: “Can you solo or duo Entei raids?” The quick answer to the first part of that question is no; you can’t solo Entei raids. There’s no fancy dual typing to exploit like Rayquaza just last week, and without 4x weakness to take advantage off, it’s a simple case of timing out — if Entei doesn’t reduce you to ashes before then.
A duo is technically possible, but you’d have to have utterly maxed-out counters, best friend bonuses, and the weather on your side to even stand the slightest chance of leaving with the dog on a leash. Stick to high-level trios if you have the counters, or look for more players to fill in the cracks.
Entei Raid Moves & Best PVE Moveset – Pokemon GO Guide
The majestic fire doggo lacks a massively complicated move pool. The vast majority of its moves stick to its typing, allowing for plenty of strong STAB (same-type attack bonus) moves against Ice and Grass-type Pokemon. However, its odd potential to have Iron Head as a charge move can allow Entei to take on the Rock-types it would usually buckle under. Without a similar fast attack, though, it’s likely just a way to combat Rampardos coming in to take it down.
Fast Moves
- Fire Spin
- Fire Fang
Charge Moves
- Overheat
- Fire Blast
- Flamethrower
- Iron Head
Once captured, you’ll likely want to go for Fire Spin + Overheat or Flamethrower depending on the use case.
Entei Raid Max CP Values – Pokemon GO Guide
Potentially trumping the dream of finding a shiny Entei at the end of a raid is spotting a creature with max CP values for the weather. Like any 5-star raid, Entei arrives at level 20, and is boosted to 25 in Sunny weather. Max CP values for Entei are 1984 in neutral weather, or 2480 when boosted by Sunny weather. If you spot something at or close to 1900 in neutral or 2375 in Sunny, you’re looking at shoddy IVs to dump for candy or trade to a friend to re-roll.
Shiny Entei Rates – Pokemon GO Guide
Like any legendary raid where a shiny encounter is possible, shiny rates are a fixed 1/20 with a guaranteed catch if shiny Entei shows up for you.
Entei Raid Counters – Pokemon GO Guide
As mentioned above, without dual-typing, there’s no way to get a 4x super effective strike against Entei. That makes counters in Ground, Water, and Rock simple but relatively boring. Kyogre, Feraligatr, and Crabhammer Kingler are all excellent choices both in and out of Rainy weather. Whereas those with access to rock-type moves like Smack Down Tyranitar, Rampardos, and Rhyperior will adore Partly Cloudy weather.
Dragons are helpful here due to their natural resistance to Fire-type attacks and potential access to Rock, Ground, and Water attacks.
Water-type counters
- Kyogre (Waterfall + Hydro Pump)
- Kingler (Mud Shot*/Bubble + Crabhammer)
- Feraligatr (Waterfall + Hydro Cannon*)
- Gyarados (Waterfall + Hydro Pump)
Rock- and Ground-type counters
- Rampardos (Smack Down + Rock Slide)
- Rhyperior (Smack Down + Stone Edge)
- Tyranitar (Smack Down + Stone Edge)
- Garchomp (Mud Shot + Earthquake)
Other counters
- Omastar
- Groudon
- Swampert
- Vaporeon
- Salamence
- Milotic
Suicune Raid Guide – Pokemon GO
Suicune, despite what old fans might have you believe, is a Water-type Pokemon. They are not a dual Water/Ice Pokemon, despite how it might look. That being said, Suicine still has access to Ice-type moves that do make for some interesting counters when paired with its surprising fast move: Extrasensory.
Being a Water-type Pokemon means Suicune is reliably weak to Electric- and Grass-type Pokemon or moves. Grass will largely take the edge thanks to community day starter moves like Frenzy Plant and the likelihood of a Clear/Sunny weather boost this time of year. But as many popular Grass-type Pokemon double up as Poison-types, Suicune’s potential for both Extrasensory and Ice Beam can cause problems, so watch out for that.
Suicune Raid Moves & Best PVE Moveset – Pokemon GO Guide
With its Hidden Power days behind it, Suicune is back to being a bit of a sad, wet puppy. Despite plenty of STAB potential in its movesets, this sorry excuse for a legendary gets beaten out by numerous non-legendary Water-type Pokemon. Ice Beam might help in very select situations, but without STAB, there are many more to fill that void.
Fast Moves
- Extrasensory
- Snarl
Charge Moves
- Hydro Pump
- Bubble Beam
- Ice Beam
- Water Pulse
Suicune Max Raid CP – Pokemon GO Guide
When going in to catch Suicune at the end of a raid, you’re looking for a max of 1704 CP in neutral weather and 2130 CP in Rainy weather. A piddly 1627 CP is the lowest it can be without a weather boost, so think about transferring a low CP Suicune to power up another if necessary. Otherwise, trade it for another, similarly low CP Suicune to re-roll the IVs.
Shiny Suicune Rates – Pokemon GO Guide
Like any legendary raid where a shiny encounter is possible, shiny rates are a fixed 1/20 with a guaranteed catch if shiny Suicune shows up for you.
Suicune Raid Counters – Pokemon GO Guide
Grass-type Pokemon will deal more reliable damage to Suicune for most players, but those without access to plenty of Frenzy Plant starters from past community days— like Sceptile and Venasaur — might want to look to Electric-type attackers to get the job done. Other legendaries like Zapdos and Raikou do well here. As usual, Mewtwo (with Thunderbolt) can really help out.
Electric-type counters
- Raikou (Thunder Shock + Wild Charge)
- Zapdos (Thunder Shock + Thunder Bolt)
- Electrivire (Thunder Shock + Wild Charge)
- Magnezone (Spark + Wild Charge)
- Luxray (Spark + Wild Charge)
Grass-type counters
- Venasaur (Vine Whip + Frenzy Plant)
- Sceptile (Fury Cutter + Frenzy Plant)
- Leafeon (Razor Leaf + Leaf Blade)
- Roserade (Razor Leaf + Grass Knot)
- Exeggutor (Bullet Seed + Solar Beam
Raikou Raid Guide – Pokemon GO Guide
The final legendary of the lot, Raikou, is a Pokemon we saw get a lot of use back when many 5-star raid battles were Flying-type Pokemon like Articuno and Lugia. It’s not quite as sought-after today. However, it still packs a mighty punch when needed. And it’s likely the best of your three options this time around.
Electric-type Pokemon have only one real weakness: Ground. This makes for some very obvious counters that we’ll get into down below. Returning players should have a couple of these already, but Pokemon GO veterans will have plenty of prime counters stacked up already. That makes a duo plausible, if still very tricky to pull off.
Raikou Raid Moveset & Best PVE Moveset
Like Entei, Raikou has a mountain of Electric-type attacks to rattle off with bonus STAB damage. But they only get one move outside of that to counter desperate players piling in with Mewtwo and glass cannon Psychic/Ghost attackers thanks to Shadow Ball. There’s not a lot to worry about here.
Fast Moves
- Thunder Shock
- Volt Switch
Charge Moves
- Wild Charge
- Thunderbolt
- Thunder
- Shadow Ball
Thunder Shock and Wild Charge is the moveset you should aim for with any captured Raikou, presumably to turn it into a lightning-fast Electric attacker.
Raikou Max Raid CP – Pokemon GO Guide
When heading into the capture screen to score your Raikou at the end of a raid, you want to be on the lookout for a max CP of 1972 in neutral weather or 2466 in Rainy weather. These are the perfect IV values for Raikou right now. If you see one hovering around 1889 CP in neutral weather, you have a damp dog to toss or trade.
Shiny Raikou Rates – Pokemon GO Guide
Like any legendary raid where a shiny encounter is possible, shiny rates are a fixed 1/20 with a guaranteed catch if shiny Raikou shows up for you.
Raikou Counters – Pokemon GO Guide
As Ground-type attacks are the only real counter against Electric-types like Raikou, your offensive options are relatively strict. The eventual addition of Earth Power and Mud Slap, however, have made a few older Pokemon far more capable Ground-type attackers since their initial debut. With Rayquaza gone for the foreseeable future, Mamoswine can be repurposed into a great Ground-type Raikou counter. Players from the Gen 1 days can rely on Golem, Rhydon/Rhyperior, and even Nidoking or Nidoqueen to pitch in.
Counters
- Groudon (Mud Shot + Earthquake)
- Garchomp (Mud Shot + Earthquake)
- Rhyperior (Mud Slap + Earthquake)
- Mamoswine (Mud Slap + Bulldoze)
- Donphan (Mud Slap + Earthquake)
Other Counters
- Sandslash (Mud Slap + Bulldoze)
- Swampert (Mud Slap + Earthquake)
- Nidoking (Fury Cutter + Earth Power)
Players with plenty of Dragon-type Pokemon can make the most of their natural resistance to Electric for some respectable neutral damage.
