In order to be successful in the raid battles, you should rely on the right counters when choosing your team. Below we have summarized the 10 best dragon attackers. These are especially useful when you’re fighting other Dragon Pokemon.
You can find out what strong counters there are from other types in our guide to the best attackers in Pokemon GO.
The 10 best dragon attackers in the ranking
- Rayquaza with dragon rod and tantrum
- dialga with Fire Breath and Draco Meteor
- Palkia with dragon rod and Draco Meteor
- Garchomp with dragon rod and tantrum
- Zekrom with breath of fire and fit of rage
- Brutalanda with dragon rod and tantrum
- Reshiram with Fire Breath and Draco Meteor
- dragonite with dragon rod and tantrum
- Maxax with dragon rod and dragon claw
- latios with fire breath and dragon claw
How did the ranking come about? For our list of the best dragon attackers, we’ve only used monsters you can get in-game. These include Pokemon that you can get in the wild, from eggs or through development, but also monsters from raids.
For completeness, we’ll cover the best Dragon-type Crypto Attackers as well as the best Mega Dragon-type Pokemon separately at the end of this article.
1. Rayquaza
Best Moveset: Dragon rod and tantrum
The strongest dragon attacker is Rayquaza. The Legendary Pokemon is from the 3rd generation and is of Dragon and Flying type.
Rayquaza convinces above all with a high attack value, but it can also really score in its endurance. With its move set of dragon rod and tantrum, it also deals a lot of damage to the opponent.
Can you catch Shiny Rayquaza? Yes, Rayquaza’s shiny form is already available in the game. You can recognize it by its black body. Rayquaza can occasionally be found in level 5 raids.
2. Dialga
Best Moveset: Breath of Fire and Draco Meteor
Dialga is a Legendary Steel and Dragon type Pokemon. It also benefits from strong Attack and Stamina stats, which are slightly weaker compared to Rayquaza. On the other hand, Dialga is a little better in defense and can therefore withstand more in combat.
In combat, Dialga relies on an attack combination of Fire Breath and Draco Meteor. However, this is slower than Rayquaza’s best moveset and takes a relatively long time before the Charged Attack can be used. But then it does a lot of damage.
Is there Dialga as Shiny? Yes, I can catch Shiny Dialga. With a bit of luck you can find it in a level 5 raid. Visually, it differs from its normal form by having a green body.
3. Palkia
Best Moveset: Dragon Rod and Draco Meteor
The counterpart to Dialga is the legendary water and dragon Pokemon Palkia, which also comes from the 4th generation. Purely in terms of attack value, Palkia is a bit stronger than Dialga, but doesn’t quite come close to Rayquaza.
In terms of stamina and defense, however, it can only fall back on solid values, which makes it more vulnerable in combat. It deals serious damage with its Dragon Rod and Draco Meteor moveset, but takes longer to charge Draco Meteor than Rayquaza’s Enrage.
Can you catch Shiny Palkia? Yes, Shiny Palkia is also already available in the game and can be found in the level 5 raid if you are lucky. The dazzling specimen has a pink body.
4. Garchomp
Best Moveset: Dragon rod and tantrum
The Dragon and Ground-type Garchomp is Kaumalat’s final evolution. Its Attack stat is slightly lower than Dialga’s. But it can score with a higher endurance value.
Like Rayquaza, it deals a lot of damage to the opponent with the attack combination Dragon Rod and Enrage. In addition, it is not only particularly strong as a dragon attacker, because Garchomp is also one of the best ground attackers in Pokemon GO.
Can you catch Shiny Garchomp? Shiny Garchomp is already available in Pokemon GO. To do this, however, you must first catch a Shiny Kaumalat and develop it via Knarksel to Knakrack.
You can find this regularly in eggs and field research, but also in the wild. You should look out for it, especially in windy and sunny weather. You can recognize the dazzling form of Garchomp by its grey-blue body colour.
5. Zekrom
Best Moveset: Fire breath and tantrum
Another strong dragon attacker is the legendary Pokemon Zekrom. The monster is from the 5th generation of games and is of the dragon and electric type.
Zekrom also scores with a very high attack value and can compete with Palkia. In terms of stamina, it is even slightly better than the water and dragon Pokemon. With Enrage, Zekrom has a powerful Charged Attack. However, the instant attack Fire Breath is slightly inferior to Dragon Rod.
Can you catch Shiny Zekrom? Yes, Zekrom can be found in the level 5 raids at irregular intervals and, with a bit of luck, can also be caught there in his dazzling form. But you have to look closely here, because the two variants differ only slightly in color from each other.
6. Brutalanda
Best Moveset: Dragon rod and tantrum
The Dragon and Flying Pokemon Brutalanda is the last evolution of Kidwurm and comes from the 3rd generation. It also convinces with high attack and endurance values.
However, its defense is only average, so it takes damage quickly in battle. In return, it does a lot of damage with its instant attack Dragon Rod and the Charged Attack Tantrum.
Can you catch Shiny Brutalanda? In order to get the shiny form of Brutalanda, you must first catch a Shiny Childworm and then evolve it into Brutalanda via Dreschel. You can find it in the wild, as well as in field research and eggs. You can recognize a dazzling Brutalanda by its green body.
7. Reshiram
Best Moveset: Breath of Fire and Draco Meteor
Reshiram is also a really strong dragon attacker. The legendary Dragon and Fire type Pokemon comes from the 5th generation of games. Just like the other legendary monsters, it can be found in the level 5 raids from time to time.
Reshiram’s Attack, Stamina, and Defense stats are identical to Zekrom’s. So it can really score in the attack. With a Fire Breath and Draco Meteor moveset, it has a strong Charged Attack, but it takes a long time to charge.
Because of this, Reshiram’s moveset is slightly inferior to Zekrom’s, which is why it only ranks 7th in the ranking of the best dragon attackers. On the other hand, when it comes to the best fire attackers in Pokemon GO, Reshiram is the most convincing.
Does Shiny Reshiram exist? Yes, you can catch Shiny-Reshiram. You can recognize it by the golden stripes on its tail.
8. Dragonite
Best Moveset: Dragon rod and tantrum
Not quite as strong, but still a top dragon attacker is the dragon and flying Pokemon Dragoran. The Pokemon from the 1st generation is the last evolution of Dratini.
Dragoran convinces with high attack and endurance values that compete with those of Garchomp. With dragon rod and enrage, it can also benefit from a strong attack combination that does a lot of damage.
Can you catch Shiny Dragoran? Dragonite is available in game in its dazzling form. To get it, you need to catch a Shiny Dratini and evolve it into Dragoran via Dragonair. Dratini can be found in the wild and regularly in field research. Shiny Dragoran has a green body and dark inner wings.
9. Maxax
Best Moveset: Dragon Rod and Dragon Claw
Another strong Dragon Pokemon is Maxax. The 5th generation monster is the last evolution of Milza. However, this little dragon is very rarely found in Pokemon GO.
Maxax has a massive Attack stat that rivals Rayquaza. However, its Stamina and Defense stats aren’t quite as strong, so it won’t last as long in battle.
In attack, Maxax relies on a combination of dragon rod and dragon claw. This is relatively fast and does some damage to the enemy.
Can you catch Shiny Maxax? No, Milza and its evolutions Sharfax and Maxax are not yet available as Shinys in Pokemon GO.
You can find out how to get Spleen in our corresponding guide:
Pokemon GO: This is how you get Spleen and that’s how strong it is
10. Latios
Best Moveset: Fire Breath and Dragon Claw
Latios is a legendary Dragon and Psychic type Pokemon. It comes from the 3rd generation. Latios’ Attack stat is slightly better than Dragonite’s. But it can score less in endurance and defense. So it can withstand less in combat.
With Fire Breath and Dragon Claw, it has two relatively fast attacks, but in this combination they do slightly less damage than the other attackers’ movesets. So it’s only enough for 10th place in our ranking.
Are there shiny latios? Yes, you can catch Shiny Latios. It is occasionally available in the level 5 raids. You can recognize it by its green body.
The best crypto dragon attackers
- Crypto Brutalanda with dragon tail and tantrum
- Crypto-Dragoran with dragon tail and tantrum
That’s why Crypto Pokemon are worthwhile: Unlike other monsters, the Shadow Pokemon benefit from a special attack bonus that deals 20% more damage to the opponent. On the other hand, they are a bit weaker in defense, which is why they don’t last that long in combat.
The best mega dragon attackers
- Mega Gyarados with Dragon Tail and Tantrum
- Mega Charizard X with Fire Breath and Dragon Claw
- Mega Charizard Y with Fire Breath and Dragon Claw
- Mega Ampharos with Volt Switch and Dragon Pulse
That’s why the mega developments are worthwhile: Some Pokemon have temporary Mega Evolutions in Pokemon GO. This can be triggered with the help of appropriate mega energy. Mega Evolutions are slightly stronger compared to other monsters.
Even though Mega Gyarados isn’t a Dragon-type Pokemon, but rather a Water- and Dark-type, it does a decent amount of damage with its Dragon Tail and Enrage moveset. Mega Charizard X and Y have a fast attack combo for that.
Mega Charizard X Perk: The use of Mega Charizard X is particularly worthwhile for you, because the Pokemon belongs to the Fire and Dragon type. Thus, his dragon attacks are strengthened and all other Pokemon of this type benefit from an additional attack bonus in the raid.
The same applies to Mega Ampharos. This Pokemon belongs to the Electric and Dragon types. However, it only has one Dragon-type Charged Attack, so it has to use Volt Switch’s Electric Attack for its Fast Attack.
Although its moveset is very fast and does a lot of damage, its electric attacks are less effective against other dragons, which is why it only comes in 4th place.
