Thanks to the hard work that Pokemon GO trainers put in throughout the recent GO Fest 2021 activities, three exciting Ultra Unlock Reward events have taken over the game. The third event is Galar themed and that means that there are a lot of brand new Pokedex entries for players to secure - including some iconic Legendary Pokemon.
This week will mark the debut of Pokemon Sword and Shield's Zacian in Pokemon GO and trainers will have a full week to track down, battle, and encounter the Fairy-type Legendary in Battle Raids (the other Gen 8 Legendary will be following shortly after). This new boss looks like a pretty tough one, so players should consider taking some time to form a powerful counter roster before Friday arrives and Zacian's Pokemon GO release becomes official.
First off, trainers need to know when and where to find Zacian. The gen 8 Pokemon is going to be appearing in raids from Friday, August 20, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. to Thursday, August 26, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. local time, During that window, players can visit Pokestops where it has hatched from a tier 5 egg to battle and encounter the new Legendary and add it to their Pokedex and collection.
Zacian is a Fairy-type Pokemon, which means that it is going to be weak to Poison- and Steel-types. That gives trainers some interesting options when it comes to forming their counter roster and they may get a chance to branch out from some of the most reliable and usual best counters in the game...
Best Zacian Raid Counters
Shadow Metagross - Bullet Punch, Meteor Mash
Mega Gengar - Lick, Sludge Bomb
Metagross - Bullet Punch, Meteor Mash
Mega Beedrill - Poison Jab, Sludge Bomb
Dialga - Metal Claw, Iron Head
Exadrill - Metal Claw, Iron Head
Shadow Mewtwo - Psycho Cut, Psystrike
Genesect - Metal Claw, Magnet Bomb
Jirachi - Charge Beam, Doom Desire
As always, trainers shouldn't feel like they need this exact lineup to have a successful Battle Raid. The Shadow Pokemon in particular are pretty hard to come by and the Mega Pokemon obviously involve spending some special resources. The main thing to focus on is just using the best Steel- and Poison-type Pokemon available. Don't hesitate spend some extra Candy, TMs, and Stardust to power up whichever Pokemon are available and see best suited for this challenge.
Take a look at the full calendar of events for August 2021 to find out what other activities are live or on the way over the next few weeks. Be sure to check back in the near future for more Pokemon GO strategy guides, news, and updates. Until then, good luck out there, trainers!
Pokemon GO is available on Android and iOS.
Source: Pokebattler