Pokemon GO Shadow Suicune: Best moveset, counters, and is it any good?

Modified May 08, 2024 14:07 GMT

A screenshot from the anime (Image via The Pokemon Company) — Shadow Suicune returned to Pokemon GO in Shadow Raids, but trainers want to know if this monster has any merit in competitive play (Image via The Pokemon Company)

Shadow Suicune has temporarily returned to Pokemon GO in the form of a limited-time Shadow Raid Boss. Here, players could obtain a variant of Suicune with the desired Shadow Boost, a state where a creature receives a huge buff to its attacking power at the cost of a bit of defense. With Suicune being a Legendary Pokemon, some players may suspect that this Shadow Boost only helps the monster's viability in the competitive scene.

While Shadow Suicune may not be the end-all-be-all of Legendaries in the mobile spin-off's competitive circuit, it can still stand confidently on its own four legs. Here's everything you need to know about Shadow Suicune in Pokemon GO.

Everything to know about Shadow Suicune in Pokemon GO

Suicune is a pure Water-type Pokemon, much like a lot of the game's other great tanks like Milotic, Politoed, and Vaporeon (Image via Game Freak)

Suicune's pure Water typing helps it more defensively than offensively. This elemental typing only leaves it vulnerable to Grass and Electric-type attacks, both of which are relatively uncommon in most tiers of competitive play in Pokemon GO.

Suicune is very defense-oriented with an Attack stat of 180, a Defense stat of 235, and a Stamina stat of 225. As such, the Shadow Boost from this variant should balance out these stats, giving Suicune's attacks a bit more of an impact in exchange for lowering its bulk a bit.

Powers of Shadow Suicune in Pokemon GO

Suicune has many great coverage options and access to the Hidden Power move. With Ice, Dark, Psychic, and whatever type Hidden Power may be. However, this is the moveset most players tend to see success with:

Snarl - Fast Attack
Scald - Charged Attack
Ice Beam - Charged Attack

This moveset utilizes Suicune's great same-type attack options and coverage, as well as generating a decent amount of energy with the use of Snarl. This also helps Suicune deal with popular Psychic and Ghost-types that it may encounter, like Cresselia or Giratina.

How to counter Shadow Suicune in Pokemon GO?

Shadow Suicune can be a very threatening opponent if trainers are not prepared to face it (Image via The Pokemon Company)

With Suicune in Pokemon GO needing to sacrifice a good amount of its defense with the Shadow Boost and restrictions to combat power in certain tiers, Shadow Suicune may have some trouble with other Water-types. Particularly, picks like Lanturn and Poliwrath have the tools in their kit to make quick work of the creature in its weaker state.

In the Master League, Shadow Suicune is in its element. Among Dragons and other Legendary Pokemon, Suicune can be a much stronger threat. However, it is still beaten by common metagame walls like Dialga and Giratina. It is also outclassed by Kyogre and loses to it in a one-on-one match.

Is Shadow Suicune good in Pokemon GO?

Suicune is a decent Pokemon for the status it has. Since it is not a Box Legendary, its stats will be lower compared to Kyogre, Giratina, or Dialga (Image via The Pokemon Company)

While there is always a better Water-type Legendary players can use in Kyogre, Shadow Suicune is still a very good pick. While the Shadow Boost does require trainers to express some caution if they want to use it, it can be a very rewarding change of pace compared to the rather stale metagame of Pokemon GO.

For more content on Pokemon GO, check out the following: