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Tapu Koko Raid Trio Guide

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Tier 5 Raid Boss Guides
Tapu_Koko_Trio
Difficulty:

Doable at trainer level 30 with optimized counters or weather boost

HP15,000 ATK197.57 DEF143.04
CP Range
Lvl 20 1730 - 1810 Lvl 25 2162 - 2263

Notable Weather

Boosts Boss's Moves Boosts Counters' Moves
Rain, Windy, Partly Cloudy, Cloudy Sunny / Clear, Cloudy

Fast Move Difficulty

Move Difficulty
Volt Switch Intermediate
Quick Attack Easy

Charge Move Difficulty

Move Difficulty
Brave Bird Challenging
Dazzling Gleam Intermediate
Thunderbolt Intermediate
Thunder Intermediate

Overview

Tapu Koko is the guardian deity of Melemele Island in Alola, and in Pokemon Go it's ready to drop some serious power. This is a raid that can run the line between an easy duo and a hard duo not because Tapu Koko is so great, but because it only has two weaknesses; Poison and Ground, neither of which are considered huge priorities for raids due to their low average power. Obviously the list has some very prominent exceptions, but a power-deficit is pretty likely for the average player. Because of this one issue, people who have strong lineups ready are likely going to need to pick up the slack for many other raiders, and many raid groups may need more people to be able to take down this deified Legend.

Approach

Team Composition

  • Prioritize DPS if your raid team is running sub-optimal counters

  • Mega Gengar and Mega Swampert are the best Mega Evolutions to bring to this raid.

    • The former offers more raw DPS while the latter offers stronger team support due to good Ground Types being more powerful/common than good Poison Types

  • Doubling-up on Mega Swampert or Mega Gengar and having them be the only Pokemon on each person's team is a viable strategy, just be ready to drop a Revive and get back into the raid ASAP.

Battling Strategy

  • Dodging is generally good idea, especially when Tapu Koko is packing Brave Bird
  • Know when to let a Pokemon faint! If you're using a Pokemon with a single-bar move that will faint if it takes the next charged hit, consider if it's likely to get to its charged move before it naturally faints to Fast Moves. If it's on death's door, then simply continue attacking and let it faint to keep up maximum DPS.
    • Mega Evolutions may be exempt from this concept if they are providing STAB boosts to multiple other raiders

Best Raid Boss Counters

Mega Evolution Counters

Mega Gengar Mega Gengar
Fast MoveCharge MoveRating

Once again, Mega Gengar rises to the top of a Poison-weak raid despite lacking a Poison Type Fast Move. This absolute monster is the DPS king for this raid, and it has the advantages of resisting Dazzling Gleam and double-resisting Quick Attack, meaning it can be stupidly strong against that moveset in particular while still sporting solid performance against just about anything else. This should definitely be a priority!

Mega Swampert Mega Swampert
Fast MoveCharge MoveRating

Would you bring a Water Type Pokemon to an Electric Type raid? Well, you should! Mega Swampert's Ground typing gives it a net-resistance to Electric Type movesets, making it a very bulky counter to most of Tapu Koko's best stuff. It also has the advantage of boosting Ground Type attackers while on the field, meaning it will tend to be substantially more helpful to the team on average than Mega Gengar. While it lacks the back-breaking DPS of the Mega Ghost, it's still a very competitive option in its own right!

Mega Mega Beedrill
Fast MoveCharge MoveRating

Basically Mega Gengar, but with less longevity. Still a great option, but it is not going to survive Brave Bird if you don't dodge, and probably won't live through Thunder either... honestly, even Dazzling Gleam and Thunderbolt look a bit iffy too.

Supreme Counters

ShadowSwine Shadow Mamoswine
Fast MoveCharge MoveRating

The one-and-only Pokemon that we award the title of "Supreme Counter" to in this list, Shadow Mamoswine is head-and-shoulders above the rest. It double-resists Electric Type moves and hits like an absolute truck, meaning it will tend to have the best average performance by a wide margin in most cases. Just note that Brave Bird and Dazzling Gleam can be pretty threatening.

Good Counters

Shadow-Golurk Shadow Golurk
Fast MoveCharge MoveRating

A powerful Ghost with a double-resistance to Electric Type moves, Shadow Golurk is often overlooked yet very powerful in its own right. This is a solid all-around pick for this raid.

Nihilego Nihilego
Fast MoveCharge MoveRating

If you're bringing a non-Mega Poison Type to this battle, then this is your absolute top candidate. Nihilego has strong all-around performance that can't be denied, especially while Mega Gengar is on the field. It also sports the rare resistance to Brave Bird, making it a great filler to seal your team against the variance in Tapu Koko's moveset.

Landorus (Therian Forme) Landorus (Therian Forme)
Fast MoveCharge MoveRating

The feral form of Landorus is well known for its Ground type power, and this raid is no exception. While it falls a bit behind Shadow Golurk and only has a single resistance to Electric Type moves thanks to its Flying sub-type, it's a great option that can fill out a team while keeping up the DPS.

Shadow Mewtwo Shadow Mewtwo
Fast MoveCharge MoveRating

Welcome to example #1 of differences in the power behind different types: Shadow Mewtwo.

Despite not having any moves that can hit Tapu Koko for Super Effective damage, Shadow Mewtwo's huge stats and powerful moveset make it a solid counter that can rival many of the Super Effective options on this list. It's a bit frail, but it definitely drops some heavy damage.

Excadrill Excadrill
Fast MoveCharge MoveRating

Excadrill resists literally everything that Tapu Koko can possibly throw at it, including a 2x resistance to Electric Type moves! This is one of the safest effective counters, to the point where it can slot into any Tapu Koko team and put in some truly great work.

Mamoswine Mamoswine
Fast MoveCharge MoveRating

Just about everyone should have a small army of Mamoswine ready to go, so get rid of the classic Ice Type moveset and bring the pain!

Garchomp Garchomp
Fast MoveCharge MoveRating

It's pretty hard to contend with Garchomp's 3x resistance to Electric Type movesets, but it offsets that huge advantage with a weakness to Dazzling Gleam.

Shadow Nidoking Shadow Nidoking
Fast MoveCharge MoveRating

This is one of the few raid bosses that can let Shadow Nidoking show its true power, as its ability to brandish Poison Jab and Earth Power while having both be Super Effective is pretty rare! It's not the best Pokemon for the job, but it's very solid!

Landorus (Incarnate Forme) Landorus (Incarnate Forme)
Fast MoveCharge MoveRating

While not as good as its beast forme, the classic genie is still a good counter.

Fast MoveCharge MoveRating

Ah, the shadowed version of the classic Rock type sporting its lesser-used Ground moveset. Honestly, the best feature to Shadow Golem has to be its resistance to Brave Bird combined with its 2x Electric resistance. Oh, and it also resists Quick Attack just for good measure.

Glass Counters

ShadowVictreebel Shadow Victreebel
Fast MoveCharge MoveRating

Hit hard, hit fast, die horribly to Brave Bird.

ShadowVileplume Shadow Vileplume
Fast MoveCharge MoveRating

Same basic story as Shadow Victreebel.

Roserade Roserade
Fast MoveCharge MoveRating

The original "good" Poison Type, Roserade has solid performance, but it too is picked off easily by Brave Bird.

Shadow Stunky Shadow Skuntank
Fast MoveCharge MoveRating

Tank in name, not in practice.

Tank Counters

Fast MoveCharge MoveRating

Don't worry, buddy. The wait is almost over, and you'll have Precipice Blades soon....

Rhyperior Rhyperior
Fast MoveCharge MoveRating

Much like Shadow Golem, Rhyperior resists Brave Bird and Quick Attack while double-resisting Electric Type movesets. However, it trades a bit of DPS for a ton of TDO, making it a great near-universal tank pick.

Raid Graph