Players wishing to solo or duo Zapdos in Pokemon GO 5-star Max Battles can do so even if they missed the creature's debut during the Max Monday event on January 27, 2025. For now, the critter will be available erratically until Moltres takes over the cycle at 6 pm local time on February 3, 2025.
This article guides you on how to solo or duo Zapdos in Pokemon GO 5-star Max Battles.
Best counters and strategy to solo or duo Zapdos in Pokemon GO 5-star Max Battles
While duo-ing Zapdos is possible for free-to-play players, those wishing to solo the creature in 5-star Max Battles must invest in a Max Mushroom. Additionally, the latter category also benefits from having Pokemon from previous battles to give them a damage boost. Ideally, three such helpers should be present, to boost the damage by approximately 18.8%.
Check out the current Pokemon GO raid bosses that you can encounter in-game
Also read: Pokemon GO Zapdos Max Battle guide
Counters
When attempting to solo or duo Zapdos in Pokemon GO 5-star Max Battles, you have two options for defenders and three potential attackers. They are:
- Defender
- Excadrill with Metal Claw and Rock Slide
- Toxtricity with Spark and Wild Charge
- Attacker
- Gigantamax Lapras with Frost Breath (G-Max Resonance)
- Gigantamax Toxtricity with Spark (G-Max Stun Shock)
- Gigantamax Gengar with Shadow Claw (G-Max Terror)
Strategy
The attacking strategy is where the difference lies between the approaches to duo-ing or solo-ing Zapdos in Pokemon GO 5-star Max Battles.
For the former, you should have two Excadrill in your squad. Utilize it to soak up damage, but don't use any Charged Moves. It resists all of Zapdos' Charged Moves, meaning it will take little damage. However, you should still dodge targeted ones. Additionally, make sure to quit Zap Cannon lobbies, as the move is far too strong to stand up to.
During the Dynamax phase, switch into your Lapras and hit Zapdos with super-effective G-Max Resonance. Continue this process until you win. If necessary, include some healing rounds with Excadrill. However, in most cases, this shouldn't be necessary.
Also read: Why you shouldn't use Charged Attacks during Pokemon GO Gigantamax battles
When trying to solo Zapdos, you must first expend a Max Mushroom. After that, use Excadrill to soak up damage. This time, you should also use 3 - 4 Charged Attacks per charging cycle. Time it so you don't get hit by a targeted move while doing this.
The rest of the process is pretty much the same as before. Use Gigantamax Lapras during the Dynamax phase to deal massive damage with G-Max Resonance. Repeat until the Power Spot boss faints.
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
- Team GO Rocket Grunts
- Pokemon Go Evolution Calculator
- Pokemon Type Calculator
🚨 Calculate the Pokemon type effectiveness to win battles with our newly launched Pokemon GO Type Calculator 🚨