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Dragonite Raid Guide: How To Counter The Kanto Dragon In Pokémon GO

While Rayquaza is currently ruling Legendary Raids in Pokémon GO, trainers shouldn't forget about the other powerful Dragon-types available. As a part of Ultra Unlock Week One: Dragon Week, the popular Dragonite is featured in Tier Four raids. Tier Four raids are for Pokémon that cannot be taken down by a solo trainer but aren't of Legendary status like Rayquaza. Dragonite is popular both as a Raid attacker and in the PVP meta for GO Battle League, and Bleeding Cool is here to help with our Dragonite raid guide with the top counters so that you can beat this lovable beast and add it to your team.

Top Dragonite Counters

Pokebattler, which calculates all possible combinations of Pokémon and moves, lists the top 10 Dragonite counters as such:

• Shadow Mewtwo (Psycho Cut, Ice Beam)
• Shadow Weavile (Ice Shard, Avalanche)
• Mamoswine (Powder Snow, Avalanche)
• Galarian Darmanitan (Ice Fang, Avalanche)
• Weavile (Ice Shard, Avalanche)
• Glaceon (Frost Breath, Avalanche)
• Shadow Articuno (Frost Breath, Ice Beam)
• Mewtwo (Psycho Cut, Ice Beam)
• Shadow Lapras (Frost Breath, Ice Beam)
• Beartic (Powder Snow, Ice Punch)

It is recommended to power up your counters as much as possible, and creating that amount of strong Shadow Pokémon with their moves unlocked is a tall order for even the most practiced players. Here are ten additional non-Shadow counters that can help take down Dragonite with efficiency.

• Jynx (Frost Breath, Avalanche)
• Articuno (Frost Breath, Ice Beam)
• Piloswine (Ice Shard, Avalanche)
• Porygon-Z (Hidden Power Ice, Blizzard)
• Kyurem (Dragon Breath, Blizzard)
• Cloyster (Frost Breath, Avalanche)
• Abomasnow (Powder Snow, Weather Ball Ice-Tye)
• Rampardos (Smack Down, Rock Slide)
• Regice (Frost Breath, Blizzard)
• Palkia (Dragon Tail, Draco Meteor)

How Many Trainers Are Needed?

Like Rayquaza and Salamence, also currently in raids, Dragonite is double-weak to Ice-Type moves due to its dual typing of Dragon and Flying. Because of this weakness, using the top Ice-type will enable two-level 40 trainers with the top counters will be able to defeat Dragonite. Toward the end of the counters list, though, note that Rock-types and Dragon-types also deal Super Effective damage. It is recommended that at least three trainers team up to take on this Tier Four in any other circumstance besides the top counters maxed out, and trainers are not able to guarantee the use of the top counters, four-level 35+ trainers can take it down.

Catching Dragonite

Dragonite's catching sequence is nearly identical to Salamence, who has a huge catch circle, making it one of the easier Pokémon on which to hit Great and Excellent throws. It needs a medium-length throw aimed at the middle of the screen near its face. Dragonite will travel up and down the screen and, while it isn't Legendary, should be treated as such in order to catch, using the following technique.

Using the circle lock technique, players can hold down the ball until Dragonite's catch circle shrinks. Releasing when the circle is at its smallest point allows the circle to lock, guaranteeing an "Excellent" throw if the ball can hit that point. To make sure that can be done, throw the ball when Dragonite is finishing its attack. The attack is a smooth loop and strike at the player. The Pokémon will settle back into its place and, as it settles, throw the ball. The best berry to help catch the dragon is the Golden Razz Berry. Paired with "excellent" throws, this should lead to a successfully caught Dragonite.

Shiny Dragonite odds

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