Pokemon GO Cloyster raid (December 2022): Best counters, weaknesses, and more

With Pokemon GO's Winter Holiday event right around the corner, players everywhere will soon have the chance to catch a bevy of different Ice-type Pokemon. One such creature that players may want to get their hands on is the Bivalve Pokemon, Cloyster.

Though its pre-evolved form, Shellder, is available through wild encounters and from seven kilometer eggs, players may find themselves more drawn to the challenge of taking on Cloyster in its 3-Star Raid Battle. Catching a Cloyster through raids is great for players looking to use it in battle since Pokemon caught in a raid have a higher chance of having better stats.

However, before players can capture a Cloyster from raids, they need to defeat it in battle first. These types of Raid Battles in Pokemon GO may prove to be a bit challenging for some players. With this in mind, it may be helpful to stock up on game knowledge before challenging this potent Raid Boss.

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Cloyster Raid Boss in Pokemon GO: Everything to know

Cloyster's Pokedex picture in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet (Image via The Pokemon Company)

The first thing to know about any Raid Boss in Pokemon GO before challenging it to a battle is its elemental type. Cloyster possesses the Water and Ice typing. Though its secondary Ice typing makes it significantly weaker than most Water-types, it makes up for this with its sturdy defense and great movepool.

In terms of its stat build in Pokemon GO, Cloyster is all defense. With a Defense stat of 256, it can seem almost unbreakable. However, its major weakness is its Stamina stat of 137. This gives it thick armor but not a lot of health to defend itself, so a barrage of supercharged attacks should be able to take it down.

Some of the best counters to Cloyster are creatures that can rapidly spam it with powerful, super-effective blows. Picks like Shadow Metagross with Meteor Mash, Cobalion with Sacred Sword, and Xurkitree with Discharge are some of the best possible creatures to bring to this Raid Battle, thanks to their super-effective damage output.

Since Cloyster's movepool mostly consists of Ice-type moves, players in need of a defensive check for this Raid Battle in Pokemon GO would benefit from adding picks like Avalugg, Magnezone, and Walrein to their team. With their defensive stats and typings, they can provide useful anchors for the Raid Party.

Raid Parties of three to five trainers should be assembled before taking on Cloyster. Though the number of players required varies depending on skill and account level, Cloyster's bulky defenses can prove a bit overwhelming for some. For example, two highly experienced players with Legendary Pokemon could get through this fight without much trouble, but there is safety in numbers, and one can never go wrong with having a large group.

For the shiny hunters out there, there is some bad news regarding this Raid Battle. Although Cloyster and Shellder can be obtained in their shiny variants in Pokemon GO, Niantic has confirmed that Shiny Cloyster will not appear in these raids.