In Pokémon GO, players can find and catch the legendary Pokémon Articuno in five-star raids now through July 7, 2022. During this window, players will encounter the Ice-Flying type Articuno in five-star raids. Additionally, Articuno will be the featured Pokémon during the special raid hour event on the evening of July 6, 2022. Articuno in Pokémon GO is immediately identifiable as a large blue bird Pokémon with a long blue tail and huge wings. Together, Articuno, Moltres, and Zapdos comprise the set of Legendary Birds.
Players should note that Articuno is an Ice-Flying type Pokémon. Accordingly, effective counters against this legendary Pokémon include Steel, Fire, and Electric-type moves, and Rock-type moves will deal quadruple damage. Some of the best Pokémon who can learn powerful Rock-type moves are Ramparados, Tyranitar, Terrakion, and Rhyperior. With these Pokémon, players will want to use movesets like Smack Down or Rock Throw paired with Rock Slide or Rock Wrecker. Other effective Pokémon against Articuno include Mega Aerodactyl in Pokémon GO, Electivire, Zekrom, Entei, and Mega Steelix.
In a raid against Articuno, players should avoid Bug and Grass-type Pokémon, as Articuno's Flying-Ice type is resistant to them. Accordingly, some traditionally powerful raid Pokémon like Torterra, Roserade, Heracross, and Scyther will not be effective in this fight. Players should also avoid Ground-type moves because Articuno is immune to them, such as Garchomp with Mud Shot and Earthquake. Because five-star raids only allow players a short window to defeat the boss, players will want to prioritize super-effective moves. Additionally, players will have an approximately one in twenty chance of encountering Articuno with a shiny variant in Pokémon GO. Instead of the usual blue, shiny Articuno is a very light icy shade of blue.
Pokémon GO: Five Star Raid Guide
Because Articuno is in five-star raids, it will likely require at least five high-level players or several more lower-level players to win. Once the raid is defeated, the player will still have to successfully catch the winged Pokémon, which may be difficult as legendary Pokémon in Pokémon Go have a low catch rate. Furthermore, players only receive a limited number of balls to make the catch. Luckily, players can participate in as many raids as they have passes for, so they have multiple chances to catch Articuno and collect as many as they wish or search for the shiny variant. Of note, legendary Pokémon caught this way can be traded between friends as a special trade in Pokémon GO.
Additionally, players can use berries to further improve their odds of successfully catching the Pokémon, such as a Razz Berry or Golden Razz Berry. For example, the Razz Berry will increase a player's odds by 1.5, while the rarer Golden Razz Berry increases their chances of a successful catch by 2.5. Golden Razz Berries can be obtained as rewards for completing raids or for completing some research tasks. To complete the set of Legendary Bird Pokémon, players can also find the Flying-Fire type Pokémon Moltres and the Flying-Electric type Pokémon Zapdos during special five-star raid events. Additionally, shiny Moltres and shiny Zapdos in Pokémon GO were previously featured in raids during special events.
Pokémon GO is available now on iOS and Android.