Overview
Raikou is here for a raid day, and for the first time we will see it’s attractive shiny form. This guide assumes it will be a tier 4 raid like prior raid days. If it becomes tier 5, the counters don’t change. You just need more of them. Groudon & Garchomp are capable of a duo in clear, but this guide focuses on the trio. Those Groudon were made for Raikou Raid day, offering wonderful bulk and enough DPS to get the job done with margin. Garchomp trades increased bulk for mildly slower DPS, and is a wonderful choice as well. Trainers need to be aware of Shadow Ball. It will hit very hard and will cause you to have 2 to 3 times the number of deaths from other sets.
Approach
Team composition
The more Groudon & Garchomp, the better. Teams with 5 of each will likely never need to relobby even vs SB, but even if something bad happens there is enough DPS margin that it isn’t a problem Rhyperior, Rhydon, Donphan, and Mamoswine make great counters as well. Golem is a nice back end option. Salamence, Rayquaza, and Dragonite are trio viable in wind, with Mewtwo making the cut as well. Garchomp should run Dragon Tail and Earthquake in that scenario. The Dragons also make nice filler in non-windy weather. While the time to win may drop under 540, the number of deaths make them less attractive than the Ground types.
Dodging
Dodging is a luxury in this raid. Strong teams shouldn’t have to worry about the relobby Note, the dodge glitch is somewhat fixed and dodging is viable in trios.
Groudon
Garchomp
Rhyperior
Mamoswine
