How to counter Zacian and Zamazenta in Pokemon GO

Niantic threw Pokemon GO fans a curveball with the announcement that a number of Pokemon from the Galar region were set to be added to the game.

The crown, or Crowned, jewels of this new batch of Pokemon are Sword and Shield legendaries Zacian and Zamazenta. The Pokemon lovingly dubbed as the sword doggo and shield pupper are set to be five-star raid bosses. Their Hero of Many Battles forms are set to test the mettle of trainers and potentially make them a strong addition to any team.

But as always, five-star raid bosses are a real challenge in Pokemon GO, where players need to pick their teams carefully to have a chance at success. Here are the best counters to Zacian and Zamazenta in Pokemon GO.

How to counter Zacian in Pokemon GO

The best counter to Zacian in Pokemon GO are poison and steel types. For now, at least.

Zacian actually has two different forms, with the Hero of Many Battles and Crowned forms having different typings and stats. The Hero of Many Battles form of Zacian will be the first one to arrive and be available in raids from August 20 to 26. 

Zacian’s Hero of Many Battles form is a pure fairy type, meaning its only weaknesses are poison and steel types. Fire Pokemon are resistant to fairy-type moves but Zacian’s quick move is almost certainly going to be a different type based on the attacks the Pokemon learns in Sword and Shield.

The best counters to Zacian are durable Pokemon with poison or steel typing and moves. The best options that players are likely to have in their arsenal are powerful steel types and grass-poison dual types including Roserade, Venusaur, Metagross, and Magnezone. Mega Beedrill raids will also be occurring during this time and will offer players another strong counter to Zacian.

Things change in a big way once the Crowned Sword form of Zacian arrive, though. The Crowned Sword form of Zacian is stronger than the Hero of Many Battle form but is actually easier to counter because of its fairy-steel typing. Players will be best-served approaching Crowned Sword Zacian the same way they would any other steel-type Pokemon.

Fire-type starters like Charizard and Emboar, and hard-hitting ground types such as Rhyperior and Mamoswine are all strong counters to Crowned Sword Zacian.

How to counter Zamazenta in Pokemon GO

Zamazenta is easily countered by players with psychic-type Pokemon. 

While Hero of Many Battles Zacian is the beneficiary of a limited pool of viable counters, there are plenty of different Pokemon to send out against the normal form of Zamazenta. Zamazenta is a pure fighting type, meaning he is weak to psychic, flying, and fairy-type moves.

Any given strong psychic or fairy type will do great work against Zamazenta, so be sure to send out Pokemon like Alakazam, Gardevoir, and Sylveon, as well as any powered-up legendaries or mythicals such as Mewtwo, Lugia, or Victini. Legendary flying types such as Moltres and Ho-oh are also options if they know flying moves.

As with Crowned Sword Zacian, Crowned Shield Zamazenta adds steel typing to become fighting-steel. This nullifies fighting’s weaknesses but opens the door for other types to shine.

Crowned Shield Zamazenta is countered by ground and fire types. Just like Crowned Sword Zacian, fire-type starters including Charizard, Delphox, and Blaziken, and bulky ground types including Torterra and Rhyperior can all do strong work against Crowned Shield Zamazenta.

How to get Crowned Zacian and Zamazenta in Pokemon GO

While players are looking forward to adding Zacian and Zamazenta to their parties in the near future, they’ll have to make do with the Hero of Many Battles forms. Though it’s unclear how the mechanics will work in Pokemon GO, the Crowned versions of these two are much better and this will likely translate to Pokemon GO as well.

So how can players get the Crowned versions of Zacian and Zamazenta in Pokemon GO? Unfortunately, they will likely need to wait until the Crowned Pokemon appear in raids at some point in the future.