Primal Groudon Pokémon GO Raid Guide: Counters and candy tips

Primal Groudon is back in Pokémon GO raids during a special raid day event on March 23. Primal Groudon will be available to battle between 1400 and 1700 local time.

There is a host of event bonuses, and a paid event ticket, making this a great opportunity to get out and grind the best Ground-type Pokémon in the game.

Free event bonuses include boosted Shiny rates, five additional free raid passes and an increased Remote Raid limit. Trainers who want to pick up the $5 event ticket will get eight extra raid passes, increased Rare Candy XL chances and a boost to XP and Stardust rewards from Primal Groudon Raids.

Primal Groudon is an incredibly powerful Pokémon in Pokémon GO. However, it does have an achilles heel. As a Ground and Fire-type, it has a double weakness to Water-type Pokémon. It also has a single weakness to Ground-types.

That means that with a good team of Water-type Pokémon taking Primal Groudon down isn't as hard as it would appear. We have some good Pokémon to choose from when building a team of Primal Groudon counters.

Here are the best Primal Groudon counters in Pokémon GO:

In Pokémon GO there are a lot of Water-types we can deploy to take down Primal Groudon. This includes a large amount of Pokémon that can Mega Evolve. The Primal Kyogre Raid Day is the weekend before Groudon's, so you should have plenty of Kyogre available.

One word of warning though, the majority of these Water-types are only at their best with historic moves from Community Day's or other events. If you don't have those moves, your team will either be less effective or you'll have to use some expensive Elite TM's.

Primal Groudon, being a Ground-type, is also a good counter against itself. However of course, this is a double edged sword and your Groudon will be weak to the one you're fighting.

But, using Primal Groudon against Primal Groudon will yield bonus Candy and Candy XL.

Mega Evolutions can help you get more candy and XL candy with every catch. Having a mega level 3 active that boosts candy for Ground or Fire-types will give you an extra 2 candy per catch, as well as a 25% bonus to your XL candy chance.

Here are the Pokémon you can Mega Evolve to get more Groudon Candy in Pokémon GO:

Mega Swampert is probably the best choice on this list. However, if the Primal Groudon you are fighting has Solar Beam your Swampert will be quickly dispatched thanks to its 2x weakness to Grass-type moves.

The 2x weakness to Water-types does help Primal Groudon be a more manageable Pokémon GO raid to take down. You're looking at 3-4 lower level trainers (especially comfortable if you have Party Power or Friendship bonuses) being enough to win this raid.

For lower level trainers, 6-8 is the number you should be aiming for.

Don't forget the faster you finish the raid, the more Primal Energy you will be rewarded with. So, aim for the largest groups possible.

With Primal Groudon being so powerful in Pokémon GO, snagging a 100% IV Groudon after the raid would be an excellent outcome.

Here are the CP values to keep an eye out for when you're catching Groudon after a raid:

Weather boost can help you save candy, get better IVs and benefit from power boosts on your team. Here are the weather effects to keep an eye on when taking on these raids.

Sunny weather is pretty dangerous when fighting Primal Groudon in Pokémon GO. It will boost all of its attacks. Primal Groudon with Solar Beam is a very tricky fight, as it will harm your Water-type counters.

You might want to take this trade-off if you are in a big group, as your Groudon will be a higher CP at the end of the fight.

Rainy weather might be annoying to be outside in, but it will make a much easier fight against Primal Groudon.

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