Is Xerneas good in Pokémon Go?

Whenever a new legendary Pokémon arrives in Pokémon Go, there’s a buzz of excitement from the many players as they try to defeat in five star raids. These legendary Pokémon are only in the game for a limited time, so everyone has to work together to act quickly to capture as many as they can before it disappears. From May 4 to 17, during the Luminous Legends X event, Xerneas is making its formal appearance to the game. We’ve broken down how to beat it in five star raid, its best moveset, and if it can be shiny. But is it good?

Xerneas is a Fairy-type Pokémon. It is weak to Poison and Steel-type moves but resistant to Bug, Dark, Dragon, and Fighting-type Pokémon. Because it’s effective at beating Dragon-types, most trainers would normally consider using it to counter this type of Pokémon specifically. Unfortunately, Xerneas fails by having some of the weaker stats for a legendary Pokémon and a poor moveset.

When you use Xerneas in PvP, it has a maximum CP of 3,781, an attack of 209, a defense of 158, and a stamina of 206. If you use it in PvE battles against Team Rocket or when raiding, it has an attack of 250, a defense of 185, and a stamina of 246. The stats are okay. Xerneas received the standard nerf all legendary Pokémon get when they make their way to Pokémon Go, but Niantic went a step further and made the stats a little bit worse.

The best moveset Xerneas can learn is the fast move tackle, followed by the charged moves close combat and moonblast. Close combat is super effective against Steel-types, giving Xerneas a small edge when fighting those, but its weaker defense makes it difficult to withstand those attacks. Plus, it doesn’t have the best attack to out damage most Steel-types that appear in the Master League.

Xerneas might be useful in PvE and raids, but you’ll have to be careful. You can pit it against the several Dragon-type Pokémon that will likely be appearing sometime in the summer. The shiny versions for Kyurem, Zekrom, and Reshiram are bound to show up again. It’s been a year since their initial appearance in 2020, and Niantic normally waits about a year before introducing a Pokémon’s shiny version again.

Overall, Xerneas is a good Fairy-type Pokémon, but it lacks its signature moves, a decent fast attack, and comes with mediocre stats. We wouldn’t recommend for you to use it in PvP, but it’s a decent raiding Pokémon.