Until May 19th, Pokémon GO players can face off against the legendary Pokémon Virizion in five-star Raids. Here’s what you need to know before you take it on.
Pokémon GO: How to Defeat Virizion
To celebrate the release of Remote Raid Passes, Pokémon GO is holding a special Raid Hour event, which started at 1 PM local time on May 12th, and will extend until 1 PM on May 19th. During this event, the Grass/Fighting legendary Virizion, one of the Swords of Justice, is available as an encounter in five-star Raids in both normal and Shiny versions. There was a special Raid Hour for Virizion on the night of the 13th, but if you missed it, you aren’t necessarily out of luck as long as you can make it to a few Raids in the next few days.
The first step is preparation. Virizion is a Grass/Fighting-type Pokémon that is particularly vulnerable to Flying-type attacks. It’s also weak against Psychic, Fire, Fairy, Ice, and Poison damage. Thanks to its high Defense stat, most other kinds of attacks will inflict significantly less damage than usual against Virizion; it’s also specifically resistant against Water, Electric, Grass, Rock, Ground, and Dark.
While it may be tempting to bring a full crew of Flying types with Flying moves to deal with Virizion, it can also pay to have a plan B. An individual Virizion may know the Stone Edge Charge Attack, which is lethal against Flying Pokémon. You don’t want to deploy your only good flyer on Round One only to have it catch a Stone Edge to the face. Its other possible moves include Quick Attack or Zen Headbutt as its Fast Attack options, or Leaf Blade and Close Combat as Charge Attacks. Spend the first stages of the fight on defense to figure out what this particular Virizion has in store, and deploy your Pokémon accordingly. You may even want to bring a tanky Pokémon like Deoxys for the first round or two, while you’re feeling out the Virizion’s moveslist; Deoxys has good stats, and isn’t vulnerable to anything that could potentially be in Virizion’s arsenal.
Solid Pokémon to field against Virizion include Moltres, Honchkrow, Rayquaza, and Unfezant, each one equipped with two Flying-type moves like Wing Atack, Sky Attack, Air Slash, or Hurricane. If the weather is Sunny during your bout with Virizion, its Fire vulnerability can make it worthwhile to pull out an Entei or Chandelure; you can also bring out a Mewtwo to inflict Psychic damage. If you and a friend both have a strong Flying Pokémon in your collection, you should be able to take down Virizion with just the two of you. If you don’t have any good flyers in your collection, then you’re better off wearing Virizion down through force of numbers in a five- or six-person team.
Keep in mind that Virizion is a Legendary Pokémon, and as such, is naturally difficult to capture. Don’t be discouraged if it takes more than one attempt to add it to your collection, and be sure to make use of items like Golden Razz Berries to improve your chances of a successful catch.
We’re heading into a new week of the Throwback Challenge, and we’re revving up our Pokémon coverage here at Prima Games. Check out some of our other tips, tricks, and Pokémon news, including:
- How you earn PokeCoins is about to change
- The season 2 rankings in the Battle League are out
- How to play with your Buddy
Good luck with Pokémon GO‘s latest Throwback Challenge, trainers. We’ve got your back on this one. Keep in touch via our official Twitter, @PrimaGames.
