Zamazenta will soon be coming back to a Pokemon Go Gym near you for a limited-time appearance in five-star raid battles. This Legendary Pokemon returns after a long absence along with Pokemon Go’s Pokemon World Championship event. We haven’t seen Zamazenta in raids in Pokemon Go for about a year since it and Zacian were initially released, so new players, and those who might be coming back from a break, are likely ready to battle the Warrior Pokemon and add it to their collections. Veterans also have the opportunity to earn more Candy and Candy XL to power up the ones they may already have.
Zamazenta Raid Schedule
Zamazenta will appear as a five-star raid boss starting 10 AM local time on August 18, and will remain in five-star raids until the same time on August 31, but it will be sharing that spot with its “sibling” Zacian. Raids do not generally follow a set schedule, and Zamazenta raids will appear randomly at Gyms around the world during this time period, but you will receive a notification from the game when a raid is about to begin nearby.
Your best chance to find a Zamazenta raid (or a lot of them) is during the Raid Hours in which Zamazenta will be exclusively featured. Every Wednesday from 6 PM to 7 PM local time, the majority of Gyms host five-star raids for Trainers to work together to take down. There are two raid hours occurring during Zamazenta’s stay in raids, but only the second one on August 31 will feature Zamazenta (August 24’s raid hour will exclusively feature [Zacian](insert link to Zacian guide)). As always, you’ll need your free daily Raid Pass or a Premium Battle Pass to join a raid in person, or a Remote Raid Pass to join a raid remotely.
Can I Catch a Shiny Zamazenta?
Despite this being Zamazenta’s second time being featured in five-star raids in Pokemon Go, its shiny form is still not available. This may make some Trainers decide to wait until its inevitable shiny release at some point in the future, but this is still a great opportunity to earn Candy and Candy XL to be able to power up any of the Zamazenta you may have caught.
Zamazenta Weaknesses and Counters
Zamazenta is a Fighting-type Pokemon. This means it is weak to Psychic, Flying and Fairy-type attacks. Some recommended Pokemon include:
Psychic: Mewtwo, Mega Latios, Hoopa Unbound, AlakazamFlying: Mega Pidgeot, Moltres, Honchkrow, StaraptorFairy: Gardevoir, Togekiss, Sylveon
A Mega Tip: A Mega Evolved Pokemon boosts the damage of all Pokemon in the raid by 10%, and the damage of all Pokemon using attacks that share a type with the Mega Evolved Pokemon by 30%. Coordinate those Megas with your raid group for added damage. Note: Mega Altaria boosts your allies’ Fairy-type attacks, but because of its defensively-oriented stats and lack of a Fairy-type fast move, it won’t contribute much damage of its own.
Don’t be afraid of the shadows: Shadow Pokemon deal 20% more damage than their non-shadow counterparts, so the shadow versions of any of the suggested Pokemon that have them can help you win.
Types to Avoid
Zamazenta’s Fighting-type attacks like Close Combat will deal super-effective damage to Dark, Steel, Rock, Ice, and Normal-type Pokemon, and other moves like Crunch can provide it coverage against the Psychic types that are typically strong against it. Also keep in mind that Fighting-type Pokemon like Zamazenta resist Dark, Bug, and Rock-type attacks. Stay away from these types of Pokemon.
Usefulness
Should you raid Zamazenta beyond registering it in your Pokédex? Zamazenta lacks a Fighting-type fast move, meaning it is mostly outclassed by other Fighting-type Pokemon as a raid attacker that can deal out more consistent Fighting-type damage like Machamp and Lucario. Zamazenta also has another form, the Crowned Shield form, which will likely get released in Pokemon Go at some point in the future. This form gets even better stats, gains the secondary Steel typing, and may have a different moveset that could make it more useful in raids. Zamazenta can’t be encountered at a low enough CP to be eligible for Great League, and doesn’t perform very well in Ultra League, but it does have some niche play in Master League. It’s by no means a necessity to have one, but its versatile arsenal of charged move and huge energy generation from Snarl can throw off unsuspecting opponents.
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