Pokemon Go Guide: How to Beat Articuno

After a year of waiting Legendary Pokemon have finally arrived in Pokemon Go. Articuno and Lugia are appearing now in gyms all around the world. These are tough creatures to fight though, and if you want to catch them then you need to win the honor in battle. While there’s plenty of strategies, I want to lay out the current best strategies for how to beat Articuno in Pokemon Go.

First off, these aren’t standard Pokemon battles. Raids in Pokemon Go take a lot of people to win. For Articuno the sweet spot seems to be around 10 trainers total. Whenever you see an Articuno atop a gym for a raid you will want to head there and hope that others arrive. Coordinate with each other to figure out how many players are available to join a group, then launch when everyone is ready. Once you’re teamed up you’ll want to pick the right team of Pokemon.

Articuno is a Flying/Ice type Pokemon, so you’ll want to check this type chart although it’s not just the Pokemon type, but also the type of the move you want to keep in mind. Ever since Legendary Raids began players have scrambled to figure out what are the best Pokemon to take into battle, and what moves they need to have.

The current understanding points to a few better options. To beat Articuno your team should likely have Omastar with Rock Throw and Rock Slide or Rock Blast as his charge move. Golem is a strong attacker as well, though he takes a lot of damage from Articuno’s Ice attacks, so perhaps you’ll want to dodge those (more on that later). You’ll want him to have Rock Throw, along with either Stone Edge or Rock Blast.

Tyranitar is pretty much awesome at everything, especially if he has Stone Edge. And finally toss in some nice Fire Types like Flareon or Arcanine, both with fire attacks. Finally you can decide for yourself if this will be enough to win. Snorlax and Blissey are terrible attackers, but can help keep you in the battle at the end. Some trainers get mad about these though, so only use if you have a big enough group to definitely win.

Once you have your team and the timer runs out you’ll be in the battle. This is unlike other gym battles in that you’ll want to use a different strategy. Dodging is less of a good idea. The timer is your main enemy, as you can rejoin if your Pokemon are knocked out. However, this does reset the Premier Ball bonus for damage dealt.

Spam attacks, tapping furiously and taking the hits as best you can. Charge attacks should be used sparingly, and only if they deal a lot of damage. The best strategy is to sneak them in shortly before your Pokemon is knocked out. This can be tough, so it’s really up to you based on how the battle is going.

Attack enough with a big enough group and you should pull off a victory. You’ll get your rewards and Premier Balls and then have the stressful opportunity to catch Articuno in Pokemon Go. Good luck.