The 5 Best Pokemon (GO!) For Legendary Raid Battles

The first wave of Pokemon GO Legendary Raid Bosses is nearly here – and today we're going to show you the best monsters to fight them. This list includes several of the best Pokemon in the game bar-none, but also includes a couple surprises. In our research over the past few weeks, as the Legendary Pokemon stats came into view and were updated behind-the-scenes, we saw this potential list change several times. Today, it's GAME TIME for LEGENDARY POKEMON RAID action!

The war for best Pokemon in Pokemon GO is a wild and varied affair. Pokemon that might be good for one battle might be the absolute worst for the next. With this batch of Legendary Pokemon in the first wave of Legendary Raid Battles, just a few Pokemon selections shine extra-bright.

SEE ALSO: Our top 10 for best all-round Raiders. That includes legendary raiders and standard raiders, too. Watch our for more falling rocks!

Both Dragonite and Gengar round out this list with their beefy combination of HP and high-powered hits. It's a fair bet that these monsters will do decent against any of the Bird Legends – but be cautious! Gengar is particularly powerful VS Lugia, but he's also known as a "Glass Cannon" to some due to his tendency to take high damage from some certain attacks – in other words: learn to dodge!

Fun Fact: Gengar is one of the chosen few Pokemon that are already part of the Raid Boss system. If you want to take on Gengar, good luck! Not that you'll really need it – as a Raid Boss, Gengar isn't particularly difficult to defeat!

If you're up against Ho-oh or Lugia, use Jolteon. Jolteon is the big boss when it comes to electric Pokemon (besides Zapados, of course), and Ho-Oh and Lugia are both weak against this type. Learn how to attain any of these evolutions in our most recent Eeveelution guide – with names and everything!

OF SPECIAL NOTE: The other two evolved forms of Eevee may look awesome, but they do not perform well against any of these mega-massive Legendary Bird Raid Boss Pokemon. In fact they're not especially good against any sort of Raid Boss – which is sad, because Umbreon is awesome to behold.

Believe it or not, this extremely strange-looking monster is excellent for battling most of the Legendary Bird Pokemon in a Raid Battle. This is because of its super-excellent abilities in the water Pokemon universe and the rock Pokemon universe.

Do not use Omastar against Lugia! The rest of the Legendary Pokemon in this first Bird Boss crew will be promptly destroyed. If you have no Omastar and need some heavy-hitting Water Pokemon business done, Vaporeon is the monster to go to – for rocks, there's always Tyranitar or Golem.

While Tyranitar is just as good as Golem on the battle-readiness scale for the first Legendary Bird Pokemon Raid Battles, there's something to be said for rarity. If you're able to get yourself 6 Tyranitar in time for this weekend's battles, by all means do it! I personally rate Tyranitar number 2 on this list only because Golem is so very much easier to attain and power up.

Also it's important to note that only ONE version of Tyranitar will be ideal up against the full Legendary Bird Pokemon gamut. That is a Tyranitar with both BITE and STONE EDGE. If you have this Tyranitar, you're SET. And OF COURSE Tyranitar has always been a boss for battles.

The most evolved form of Geodude currently in the game is the all-round best Pokemon to take on the first three Legendary Bird Pokemon. While others like Tyranitar come in a close second, the everlasting fury of this giant ball of rock cannot be denied – with basically any moveset, at that. If not because of Golem's strength, then because Geodude is not nearly as rare as the Pokemon that lead up to Tyranitar.

It's time to roll out! For all the information you could possibly want about this weekend's BIG EVENTS, have a peek at our Legendary Birds and GO FEST guide updated this afternoon! Also drop in on our fabulous Pokemon GO Central Facebook Page for all manner of updates, leaks, and codes for the future!