Niantic
Kyogre, the flagship Legendary Pokemon of Pokemon Sapphire, is now available in Raid Battles in Pokemon Go from now until February 14, 2018 at 1:00 p.m. PST / 4:00 p.m. EST, giving you a whole month to capture it. Here are the best moves and counters to increase your odds of obtaining it.
Kyogre has a massive attack stat coupled with great defenses. It comes with a boosted CP of 2796 to 2910 and a catch CP of 2236 to 2328. It comes with the Quick Move Waterfall along with either Hydro Pump, Blizzard, or Thunder as its Charge Moves. As a pure water type, Kyogre is strong against fire, ice, steel, and water types yet weak against electric and grass types. So what we need is an electric or grass type that has enough attack to chew through Kyogre’s defenses and can defend well against the attacks of Kyogre.
User RyanoftheDay provided a great infographic on what movesets and Pokemon to use against Kyogre on The Silph Road subreddit.
RyanoftheDay recommends that you use a Raikou with Thunder Shock and Wild Charge. Water-type Kyogre is weak to electric attacks, making the behemoth fall pretty quickly to Raikou’s dual electric type attacks. Raikou has a high attack stat (second highest among all electric types according to GamePress) coupled with good defensive stats. He is also strong against nearly all of Kyogre’s possible moves. Thunder Shock has a lower cooldown and faster energy gain that Raikou’s other Quick Move, Volt Switch, with a similar damage per second according to GamePress. While both Wild Charge and Thunderbolt are good, Wild Charge has 10 higher attack power and only a slightly higher cooldown. Thunder is powerful but it requires too much energy to use. Try to get it up to over level 31 (2550 to 2918 CP with a Stardust cost of 6,000). To figure out what level your Pokemon is at, you can head to the Pokemon’s page on GamePress and head to the chart towards the bottom of the page while matching the Stardust cost to level up the Pokemon to the level. You can also use this website and enter your CP, HP, and Stardust needed to power up to find your IV and level.
RyanoftheDay also recommends that you use Sceptile with Leaf Blade and any Quick Move. Sceptile is a great choice due to his pretty high attack and his Leaf Blade Charge Move which has a low energy cost and is strong against Kyogre, according to GamePress. It’s quick moves, Fury Cutter and Bullet Seed, both have similar damage outputs but you’ll want to use Bullet Seed because it’s grass type. Sceptile is also resistant against Hydro Pump and Thunder but is weak against Blizzard. You want it to be at over level 35 (2053 to 2399 CP with a Stardust cost of 8,000).
Against a Kyogre with Thunder, your best bet is Groudon. As a ground type, it is highly resistant against electric type moves and it can hit Kyogre back hard with Solar Beam according to GamePress. The site recommends Mud Shot for a Quick Move as it has higher damage output and can be boosted by sunny or clear weather. Don’t forget that Groudon is still available to fight in Raid Battles and capture. But don’t wait too long as he’s only available until January 15, 2018 at 1:00 p.m. PST / 4:00 p.m. EST. Use a Groudon at over level 25 (CP of 2574 to 2910 with a Stardust cost of 4,000).
Against a Kyogre with Blizzard, you should use Ho-Oh. According to GamePress, the Legendary Pokemon has high defenses, takes neutral damage against Blizzard, and can hit back hard with Solar Beam. Extrasensory is preferred as a Quick Move as Kyogre is strong against Steel Wing. Use a Ho-Oh at over level 25 (CP of 2451 to 2778 with a Stardust cost of 4,000).
Other notable counters include Exeggutor and Venusaur as they are similar to Sceptile in that they are great grass types with strong dual grass moves. Zapdos is a great choice due to it’s dual electric type attacks but it’s weak against Blizzard. If you don’t have a Raikou or a Zapdos on hand, then the next best thing is Jolteon as it has a good attack stat along with dual electric type attacks and a not being weak to any of Kyogre’s attacks. Dragonite is also a strong choice due to its massive attack stat and strong attacks as well as it taking neutral damage against Thunder and resisting Hydro Pump (just don’t take it into battle with a Kyogre with Blizzard). Ludicolo isn’t as strong as the other Pokemon mentioned in this article but it can learn dual grass type moves and isn’t weak to any of Kyogre’s attack with the Pokemon being especially strong against Hydro Pump. You can also use another Kyogre against a Kyogre with Blizzard if you have one with Thunder.
Here’s another infographic by user torpedorunner detailing the effective moves and counters to use against Kyogre.
Keep in mind the weather when fighting Kyogre. If it is raining, then Kyogre’s Hydro Pump and Thunder will be boosted. However your electric type attacks against Kyogre will be boosted even more than they already are. If it is snowing, then its Blizzard attack will be boosted. If you have Pokemon with grass type attacks, try to fight a Kyogre in sunny or clear weather because those attacks will be boosted.
Have any other suggestions for good counters? Let us know in the comment section below.
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