How to defeat Blacephalon in Pokemon Go, weaknesses & counters

How to defeat Blacephalon in Pokemon Go, weaknesses & counters
Images via Niantic | The Pokemon Company

Written by 

Daniel Megarry

Published 

23rd May 2024 17:26

Blacephalon is now available to battle in Pokemon GO, so it's time to brush up on the Ultra Beast's weaknesses and the best counters you can use to defeat it.

Ultra Beasts are a strange-looking bunch of creatures, but Blacephalon might take the cake when it comes to the weirdest one. Known as the Firework Pokemon in the Pokedex (because of a tendency to explode its own head), here's how you can topple it in Raid Battles.

Blacephalon's weaknesses

Blacephalon is a Fire/Ghost-type Pokemon, which means it's vulnerable to Dark, Ghost, Ground, Rock, and Water-type attacks.

On the other hand, it's resistant to Bug, Fairy, Fighting, Fire, Grass, Ice, Normal, Poison, and Steel-type attacks. These moves won't do much damage at all, so avoid using them wherever possible.

Best counters for Blacephalon

Here are some of the top Blacephalon counters as well as their optimal movesets:

Pokemon Moveset Sprite
Primal Kyogre Waterfall & Origin Pulse
Primal Kyogre
Click to enlarge
Mega Garchomp Mud Shot & Earth Power
Mega Garchomp
Click to enlarge
Mega Swampert Water Gun & Hydro Cannon
Mega Swampert
Click to enlarge
Hydreigon Bite & Brutal Swing
Hydreigon
Click to enlarge
Tyranitar Bite & Brutal Swing
Tyranitar
Click to enlarge
Rampardos Smack Down & Rock Slide
Rampardos
Click to enlarge
Rhyperior Smack Down & Rock Wrecker
Rhyperior
Click to enlarge
Greninja Water Shuriken & Hydro Cannon
Greninja
Click to enlarge
Excadrill Mud Slap & Scorching Sands
Excadrill
Click to enlarge
Chandelure Hex & Shadow Ball
Chandelure
Click to enlarge

If you don't have any of these counters, focus on your most powerful Pokemon that can target Blacephalon's weaknesses. Make sure they have attacks that match their typing, too, as they'll get STAB that way.

I'd recommend teaming up with at least eight other Trainers to guarantee victory. I took on Blacephalon with a full Raid lobby, so it was defeated in around 20 seconds, but it will take a lot longer with a smaller team.

Can Blacephalon be Shiny?

The bad news is that Shiny Blacephalon is currently unavailable in Pokemon GO, so you'll have to make do with regular Blacephalon for now.

It's very rare for a Pokemon to make its GO debut alongside its Shiny variant - especially when it's an Ultra Beast or Legendary. They're usually saved for future events to give Trainers a reason to battle them again.

Blacephalon in Pokemon GO
Click to enlarge

How to find Blacephalon

Blacephalon will appear in 5-Star Raids for Trainers in the Western Hemisphere. You can see a map of the region here, but as a general rule, this area includes the Americas, most of the United Kingdom, and Ireland.

If you're based in the Eastern Hemisphere, you can use Remote Raid Passes to join Blacephalon Raids. There are a number of ways to find these Raids, including Leek Duck's Raid NOW website or the Raids subreddit.

You can encounter Blacephalon in 5-Star Raids during the Ultra Space Wonders event from May 23 to May 29, 2024. It's unknown when it will return after this, but other Ultra Beasts have re-appeared fairly often.

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That's everything you need to know to defeat Blacephalon! Visit our Pokemon homepage to see more guides, like the upcoming Spotlight Hour schedule, the best team for the Great League, or this month's events.

Daniel Megarry
About the author
Daniel Megarry
Daniel is GGRecon’s Deputy Guides Editor. He graduated from university with a degree in Journalism & English Language before covering video games and LGBTQ+ culture at publications including Gay Times and Dexerto. His favourite games include Pokemon, Kingdom Hearts, Resident Evil, and anything Nintendo. You can reach him on [email protected].
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