With Zacian, the first legendary raid Pokemon from Gen 8 has come to Pokemon GO. Zacian is one of the few Fairy-type legendary Pokemon. Its max CP reaches 3,829 at Lv. 40 and 4,329 at Lv. 50 — the highest among all Fairy-type Pokemon that are currently existing. 

Best counters for Zacian raids

By type, Zacian is strong against all Dragon, Fighting, and Dark-type Pokemon. To counter Zacian, you’ll need to prepare Poison or Steel-type Pokemon. Therefore, the best Pokemon to use in Zacian raids are Mega Gengar, Metagross, Dialga, or Roserade. Just about any Poison or Steel-type Pokemon will be super effective. As Zacian also has Steel-type attacks, Zacian is also a good counter against itself.

Best moves and skills for Zacian

As Fairy-type Pokemon are designed to counter Dragons, Zacian is extremely strong against all Dragon-types. Unfortunately, Zacian doesn’t have a Fairy-type Fast Move — the four Fast Moves that Zacian can learn are Metal Claw (Steel), Snarl (Dark), Quick Attack (Normal), and Fire Fang (Fire). The move with the highest DPS is Fire Fang, but Metal Claw and Snarl are decent moves as well. It’ll depend on which type of Pokemon you want to counter.

Zacian’s Charged Moves seem somewhat better than the Fast Move choices. For one thing, it has a Fairy-type Charged Move — Play Rough. For those who expected Moonblast, it’s tough, but it still works great against Dragons. You can include Play Rough for one of your two charged moves. The other available moves are Iron Head (Steel), Wild Charge (Electric), and Close Combat (Fighting). The most recommended Charged Move is Close Combat, as it has the highest Damage/DPS and can counter the most types.

So, how are your raids going? Hope you catch enough Zacians for all the dragon raids to come!