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Pokémon Go Zapdos raid guide: best counters and movesets

Grab the Legendary electric-type bird

By Julia Lee
Photo: James Bareham/Polygon
Julia Lee (she/her) is a guides producer, writing guides for games like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Genshin Impact. She helped launch the Rift Herald in 2016.
Part of Pokémon Go guides and walkthroughs

Zapdos, the electric-type Legendary bird Pokémon, is one of Pokémon Go’s rotating five-star raid targets.

The electric-type bird Pokémon appears in raids every now and then and it’s definitely worth collecting.

To take on Zapdos, we recommend using ice- or rock-type Pokémon. Consider bringing any of the following counters:

  • Rampardos with Smack Down and Rock Slide
  • Rhyperior with Smack Down and Rock Wrecker
  • Tyranitar with Smack Down and Stone Edge
  • Mamoswine with Powder Snow and Avalanche

If you have Mega Evolved Abomasnow, you should definitely bring them. Ice-types like Weavile and Glaceon will also be useful, but because their defensive stats are so low, they won’t last long against Zapdos.

If you’re lucky, you may find it Shiny. Remember that if you find a Shiny Pokémon in a raid, you will catch it guaranteed, so use a Pinap Berry on it rather than a Razz Berry.

Shiny Zapdos with its normal version. Shiny Zapdos is just very slightly darker. Graphic: Julia Lee/Polygon | Image sources: Niantic/The Pokémon Company

Zapdos is a pretty good electric-type attacker. It excels the most with Thunder Shock and Thunderbolt, but Thunder Shock is unfortunately a Legacy move. If you don’t have it, run Charge Beam with Thunderbolt instead.

For more information on raids, check out our guide here.

Pokémon Go guides and walkthroughs