How to beat Latias and Latios in Pokemon Go: Weaknesses & best counters

Latios and Latias are making a return to five-star raids in Pokemon Go, and we’ve got all the information on their weaknesses and the best counters to defeat them.

To kick off the Lunar New Year 2021 celebrations, Niantic are switching up the Pokemon you’ll find in raid battles. As well as Mega Gyarados joining Mega Raids, the five-star battles will welcome Gen 3 Legendaries Latios and Latias.

Trainers will be able to take on Latios and Latias from Tuesday, February 9, 2021, at 10 AM until Saturday, February 20, 2021, at 9 AM local time, with a chance to catch them and add them to the Pokedex if they’re defeated.

Being five-star raids with Legendary creatures, these won’t be easy fights, so we’ve put together a guide to take them down them as quickly and easily as possible. If you’re lucky, you might even find a Shiny version.

Latios and Latias weaknesses

The Legendary eon duo of Latios and Latias first appeared in the Hoenn region in Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire on the Game Boy Advance. They’re the same Pokemon, but one is male and the other is female.

Fortunately, unlike other Legendary groupings, Latios and Latias share the same type. This means that if you prepare a solid team to tackle one of them, you’ll already have a good team ready to tackle the other.

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Both of them are Dragon/Dark-type, meaning they have a number of weaknesses you can exploit. Latios and Latias are weak to Ice, Bug, Ghost, Dragon, Dark, and Fairy-type attacks, so focus on those.

Latias has a Boss CP of 48080, while Latios has a massive Boss CP of 52220. They’re also boosted during Windy conditions, meaning it’s best to avoid fighting them during that weather type if you can.

Best counters for Latias and Latios in Pokemon Go

The ultimate counter for these two Legendaries would be Mega Gengar with Lick and Shadow Ball. Many players won’t have access to this powered-up Pokemon, so the following counters are considered the best choices:

• Dialga: Dragon Breath and Draco Meteor
• Rayquaza: Dragon Tail and Outrage
• Darkrai: Snarl and Shadow Ball
• Salamence: Dragon Tail and Draco Meteor
• Dragonite: Dragon Breath and Draco Meteor

Not everyone will have spent time collecting these powerful Pokemon, especially casual players or those who are new to the game. Fortunately, there are some common alternatives that should still pack a punch:

• Weavile: Snarl and Avalanche
• Gengar: Shadow Claw and Shadow Ball
• Mamoswine: Powder Snow and Avalanche
• Gardevoir: Charm and Dazzling Gleam
• Granbull: Charm and Play Rough

Latios and Latios will also struggle to take down other Psychic-type Pokemon, although it’s worth pointing out that Psychic-type attacks themselves won’t do too much damage to the Legendaries.

Trainers looking forward to more Legendary raid battles will be glad to know that Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, and Mewtwo will be appearing in five-star raids next from February 20, 2021, until March 1, 2021.