Can you solo defeat Articuno in Pokemon GO 5-star raids?

Whether it is possible to solo defeat Articuno in Pokemon GO 5-star raids is something players worldwide will wonder about as the creature returns to 5-star raids in Niantic's mobile game. The Ice-type Legendary Bird made its Pokemon GO debut back in July 2017 and since then several powerful creatures have entered the game, making the question at hand a strong possibility.

Unfortunately, even with several powerful Pocket Monsters entering the milieu since Articuno's launch, it is still impossible to solo defeat Articuno in Pokemon GO 5-star raids. This article will elaborate on the conditions that prevent success as well as the minimum number of trainers you need to take down the raid boss.

Note: This article is subjective and reflects the author's opinions.

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Why is it impossible to solo defeat Articuno in Pokemon GO 5-star raids?

Shiny Articuno in Pokemon GO (Image via TPC)

Articuno is a defensively built beast, making it impossible to solo defeat it in Pokemon GO 5-star raids. With an Attack stat of 192 and a Defense of 236, the 15,000 HP health bar the critter boasts of in 5-star raids is extremely difficult to whittle down. This is despite having a double weakness to Rock-type attacks.

Articuno also hits sufficiently hard with its plethora of STAB Ice-type attacks, which means your raid attacker will likely faint multiple times during the battle, which will further cut down on the 300-second window you have to defeat the monster.

Under regular weather conditions, the top four Rock-type attackers against Articuno are:

• Mega Diancie with Rock Throw and Rock Slide and it takes 399.7s to take down the raid boss.
• Shadow Rampardos with Smack Down and Rock Slide and it takes 390.8 s to take down the raid boss.
• Shadow Rhyperior with Smack Down and Rock Wrecker and it takes 425.6s to take down the raid boss.
• Mega Tyranitar with Smack Down and Stone Edge and it takes 456.4s to take down the raid boss.

These timings come down relatively when the weather is Partly Cloudy, but not sufficiently to bring down the total time taken to defeat Articuno under 300 seconds. As a result, there is no situation where a presently available creature can solo defeat Articuno in Pokemon GO 5-star raids.

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Minimum number of players to defeat Articuno in Pokemon GO 5-star raids

Articuno in the anime (Image via TPC)

You need at least two to three high-level players with maxed-out best counters to Articuno to have any hopes of taking down this beast. Lower-level players with suboptimal counters must gather as many players as possible before challenging this raid. You can learn more about it in our Pokemon GO Articuno raid guide.

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Check out our other Pokemon GO guides:

• Ditto disguises
• Buddy Evolution Adventure Together guide
• Best Fast Attacks in Pokemon GO
• Sierra counters
• Cliff counters
• Arlo counters
• Giovanni counters