"[RBA] Flex on 'em with these new Raids!"

#PokemonGO: Raid Boss shake-up is interesting, but not unpredicted. Dialga effectively only has 2 weaknesses, so Niantic decided to give everyone a double 1-up by giving us pretty much every possible counter among the Tier 1-4 Raids!​This is gonna be somewhat short, since it's only the analysis on the actual Tier 1-4's, I'm excluding Deoxys this time around because it's not really common to encounter unless you actively Raid on EX Raid Gyms.For a full Palkia analysis, check out this thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/pokemongo/comments/avyjuh/rba_dialgas_time_to_shine/​Raid Boss Analysis:​Tier 1:Magikarp* - Min CP: 132 / Max CP: 157 [Shiny potential] | Boosted in Rainy weather (Min CP: 165 / Max CP: 197)Dratini* - Min CP: 529 / Max CP: 574 [Shiny potential] | Boosted in Windy weather (Min CP: 661 / Max CP: 717)Makuhita* - Min CP: 424 / Max CP: 467 [Shiny potential] | Boosted in Cloudy weather (Min CP: 530 / Max CP: 583)Meditite* - Min CP: 359 / Max CP: 396 [Shiny potential] | Boosted in Windy/Cloudy weather (Min CP: 449 / Max CP: 495)Shinx* - Min CP: 458 / Max CP: 500 [Shiny potential] | Boosted in Rainy weather (Min CP: 572 / Max CP: 625)​Everyone likes shiny Magikarp, and Gyarados doesn't really serve much use among the Dialga counters we currently have access to, so I'd stay away from that one if you're not actively trying to find its shiny, I wouldn't bother with that one. Dratini is still good to actually spend a daily pass on, because Dragonite will always be a good Pokémon to have, so this gives somewhat easy access to 6-7 Dratini Candy! Makuhita is one of the few T1's to consider doing, if you're short on bulky Fighting-Type Pokémon. It's an okay alternative to Machamp and Breloom and a good filler for that 6th slot on your Fighting-Theme-Team! Meditite is really underwhelming, it doesn't boast great attacking capability, it's just there because it's another Fighting-Type that can potentially be used against Dialga. Shinx is still one of the fan-favorite shiny Pokémon, and I have to admit, that's all it's currently good for. Luxray unfortunately has no use in the current Raid Boss pool.All these bosses are very easy to solo, I'd rate them about 1 / 5 for each of these.​Tier 2:Breloom - Min CP: 1427 / Max CP: 1502 | Boosted in Sunny/Clear/Cloudy weather (Min CP: 1755 / Max CP: 1877)Alolan Exeggutor - Min CP: 1643 / Max CP: 1722 | Boosted in Sunny/Clear/Windy weather (Min CP: 2055 / Max CP: 2153)Combusken - Min CP: 886 / Max CP: 944 | Boosted in Sunny/Clear/Cloudy weather (Min CP: 1108 / Max CP: 1180)Monferno - Min CP: 843 / Max CP: 899 | Boosted in Sunny/Clear/Cloudy weather (Min CP: 1054 / Max CP: 1124)Mawile* - Min CP: 877 / Max CP: 934 [Shiny potential] | Boosted in Cloudy/Snowy weather (Min CP: 1096 / Max CP: 1167)​Firstly, we have a newcomer among the Raid Bosses, Monferno! It boasts a Fire/Fighting typing, just like Combusken does, and both are good options to consider, if you can gather enough candy to get their final evolutions, Infernape and Blaziken respectively, to take on Dialga. They have the same weaknesses, being Ground, Flying, Water and Psychic, so bring along an Alakazam or Espeon, maybe even a Mewtwo if you have one, or any hard-hitting Water-Types like Gyarados or Kyogre, to make quick work of these two fiery Fighting-Types! Alolan Exeggutor also makes a return to the Tier 2 Raids, which is fun and all, but not useful against Dialga in the slightest. It's weak to Dragon, Flying, Bug, Poison and has a double weakness to Ice, definitely not difficult to defeat if you have one of those Palkia or Latias laying around!Next up is Mawile, which has been here for such a long time, you'd think it'll never actually leave the Raid Boss pool, huh? A unique typing in Fairy/Steel, a reasonable movepool, but it just lacks power. Still has a cool shiny, though! Mawile's weaknesses are Ground and Fire, Rhyperior or any hard-hitting Fire-Type like Arcanine, Flareon or Entei take this thing down very easily.*Finally, we have Breloom! Breloom is a very good Fighting-Type Pokémon, often underrated because of how good Machamp is overall, but not everyone knows that Breloom actually has a higher base Attack stat than Machamp does! The only issue with Breloom, is that it has significantly lower stats in the other departments, which is very clearly seen in its base HP stat. (244/144/155 for Breloom vs 234/159/207 for Machamp) Breloom also boasts a double weakness to Flying, a weakness to Poison, Ice and Fire, all things that Machamp has less issues with, considering Machamp also gets access to Rock Slide, which somewhat balances its weakness to Flying-Types, but more on that in Machamp's own section!​Difficulty level: 2-3/5 | Breloom is definitely the most difficult one in this list, because it deals the most damage. If you have things that it's weak to, that aren't Ice (unless you have things like good Froslass), it's not that difficult.​Tier 3:Hitmonlee - Min CP: 1399 / Max CP: 1472 | Boosted in Cloudy weather (Min CP: 1749 / Max CP: 1840)Hitmonchan - Min CP: 1263 / Max CP: 1332 | Boosted in Cloudy weather (Min CP: 1579 / Max CP: 1665)Machamp - Min CP: 1667 / Max CP: 1746 | Boosted in Cloudy weather (Min CP: 2084 / Max CP: 2183)Donphan - Min CP: 1644 / Max CP: 1722 | Boosted in Sunny/Clear weather (Min CP: 2055 / Max CP: 2152)Alolan Raichu* - Min CP: 1238 / Max CP: 1306 [Shiny potential] | Boosted in Rainy/Windy weather (Min CP: 1548 / Max CP: 1633)​Welcome to Tier 3, where things really start racking up with these Raid Bosses! In terms of viability against Dialga, your main picks are definitely going to be Donphan and Machamp, they're going to be some of the best possible counters in the entire RBA all-round.Let's start with challenging-but-not-useful-in-the-long-run, Hitmonchan. Hitmonchan boasts excellent Defense for a Tier 3 Raid Boss, which is actually quite challenging for the early level 30's Trainers. In fact, it can prove to be so difficult, it's almost not possible to do alone if you're in your early 30's! If you really want to attempt this, make sure you exploit Hitmonchan's weaknesses to Psychic, Fairy and Flying, and come prepared with level 30+ Espeon, Alakazam, Gardevoir, Mewtwo, Honchkrow and Rayquaza, where the latter two have double Flying-Type movesets! For a somewhat easier time, try being around level 35 and bring the same mentioned Pokémon if you're attempting a Hitmonchan solo!*Still-challenging-and-still-not-very-useful, Hitmonlee. Hitmonlee has slightly lower Defense than Hitmonchan does, but in return, it hits a little bit harder. Stone Edge and Close Combat definitely put a dent in your Psychic-Type Pokémon, and will most likely KO your Flying-Type Pokémon, but it's still easier to solo in your early 30's as opposed to Hitmonchan. Same Pokémon apply as with Hitmonchan, just be prepared and start off with your glass cannon(s) in Alakazam and Espeon, before going on with the more tough stuff, like Mewtwo and Rayquaza for instance. Togekiss and Gardevoir are still good options, since they both have a double resistance to Fighting-Type moves!*Pancake-stacking, lip-smacking and definitely-not-snacking, Alolan Raichu makes a return once more! It's cute, it's pudgy, but what do we really need this for in Tier 3? I honestly expected Piloswine to return, but hey, I guess every tier needs a shiny, right? Alolan Raichu has meh Defense, so not difficult to take down if you're carrying Groudon or two, along with a Weavile, Houndoom, Honchkrow, Absol, Banette, Gengar or Tyranitar. It's weak to Bug, Ghost, Dark and Ground, and it can carry the move Psychic, which you'll know it has when your "recommended" team auto-selects a bunch of Tyranitar or other Dark-Type Pokémon like Houndoom. If it does carry Psychic, feel free to spam every single Dark-Type above level 30 you have, and you'll be perfectly fine. If it carries Wild Charge or Thunderpunch, steer clear from your Honchkrows and Yanmegas!Donphan rolls into the third tier, and it has a new move that compliments its Ground-Type, Mud-Slap! Mud-Slap and Earthquake are excellent moves on Donphan, which previously had to use Counter or Tackle as Fast Moves. Donphan has weaknesses to Grass, Water and Ice, and has good Defense and HP to back it up. It also carries a good Attack stat, being higher than Swampert, Golem and Flygon, and only 8 points lower than Rhydon, making it a very nice pick among Ground-Type Pokémon.Flex on 'em, Machamp! Four arms, muscles you bow down to, and strength to boot, Machamp is still one of the most versatile, and I dare say one of the best available Pokémon available up to this day. Excellent bulk, high Attack and a very good movepool, not insanely difficult to defeat, this is exactly what you'll want to actively use your free Raid Passes on, if you're not ready for Dialga. Build an entire army of Machamp, gather up the Machop Candy you need to power them up to the best you possibly can, and proceed to punch through several Dialga. Machamp has the same weaknesses as Hitmonlee/Hitmonchan, being Flying, Psychic and Fairy. and really dislikes the more bulky Psychic-Types, like Lugia, because it can barely touch them. However, Machamp was given a new move a little while ago, being Rock Slide! Rock Slide is a huge counter to its Flying-Type weakness, meaning that it can now effectively deal with primary threats like Dragonite, Togekiss and the likes, by carrying Rock Slide for Dragonite, and Bullet Punch + Heavy Slam/Rock Slide in its secondary moveslot against Fairy-Types like Togekiss and Gardevoir. I can't stress this enough, but get a couple of good Machamp while you can, they're really, really good for just about every situation, be it against Dialga, or to simply sweep through Gyms.*​Difficulty levels:Hitmonchan: 3.5 / 5Hitmonlee: 3 / 5Donphan: 3.5-4 / 5Alolan Raichu: 3-3.5 / 5Machamp: 3.5-4 / 5​Tier 4:Poliwrath - Min CP: 1405 / Max CP: 1477 | Boosted in Cloudy/Rainy weather (Min CP: 1757 / Max CP: 1847)Rhydon - Min CP: 1736 / Max CP: 1816 | Boosted in Sunny/Clear/Partly Cloudy weather (Min CP: 2170 / Max CP: 2270)Tyranitar - Min CP: 2103 / Max CP: 2191 | Boosted in Partly Cloudy/Foggy weather (Min CP: 2629 / Max CP: 2739)Alolan Marowak* - Min CP: 988 / Max CP: 1048 [Shiny potential] | Boosted in Sunny/Clear/Foggy weather (Min CP: 1235 / Max CP: 1311)Absol* - Min CP: 1370 / Max CP: 1443 [Shiny potential] | Boosted in Foggy weather (Min CP: 1712 / Max CP: 1805)​There we go, more interesting stuff! I guess they'll never fully get rid of Tyranitar as Tier 4, kinda like how they keep Mawile in Tier 2.. Same goes for Absol, honestly, even though Larvitar and Absol are hatches in 10KM Eggs, oh welp.Poliwrath makes another appearance as Tier 4 Raid Boss, and it actually quite useful this time around! With a weakness to Flying, Psychic, Grass, Electric and Fairy, you have a lot of options to take it down, like Gardevoir, Mewtwo, Espeon, Alakazam (tired of seeing those yet?), Togekiss, Electivire, Raikou and Zapdos to just name a few options!I recommend you take on a Poliwrath with at least 2 other high-level Trainers (35+), and bring your best Electric and Grass-Type Pokémon alongside your strongest Mewtwo, Espeon and Alakazam.Rhydon is another one of those fan-favorites everyone seemingly wants, to expand their army of Rhyperior, and with good reason. Rhyperior is an excellent Dialga counter, has very good bulk to compliment its high Attack stat, and can carry the moves Mud-Slap/Rock Smash and Earthquake to fully take on Dialga with barely no issues. Rhydon carries double weaknesses to Grass and Water, along with weaknesses to Ground, Fighting, Ice and Steel, so better get those Mamoswine, Exeggutor/Venusaur/Roserade, Machamps and Hariyama to work!Rhydon can be done with 2, really not that difficult to do so, even easier with 3 or more Trainers, just bring all your Gyarados, Kyogre, Roserade, Venusaur, and make sure that you're at least around your 30's to consistently take down Rhydon with other Trainers!Tyranitar just never leaves the Tier 4 scene, does it? Excellent Pokémon overall, but no real use against Dialga, unfortunately. Tyranitar greatly dislikes Fighting-Types, like Machamp and Hariyama, due to its double weakness to Fighting, but it also dislikes Grass, Ground, Fairy and Water-Types, like Gyarados, Roserade, Breloom, Kyogre, Mamoswine and Groudon.Walk in the park. Two Trainers with no weatherboost can deal with Tyranitar as early as level 30 if they each have at least 5 Machamp, it only gets easier with a weatherboost and higher-level Trainers. Alternatively, Breloom can be picked over Machamp if needed, but Machamp is the overall better option of the two.Alolan Marowak has a very cool shiny color, not gonna lie there, but does it contribute to Dialga? Unfortunately, it doesn't. It has a cool Ghost/Fire typing, and it does take quite some hits, but it just can't deal them back, sadly. It has weaknesses to Ghost, Dark, Water, Rock and Ground, so Pokémon like Rhydon, Rhyperior, Kyogre, Tyranitar, Gengar, Rampardos, Feraligatr (with Hydro Cannon) and Gyarados are very viable options.Be very wary of the fact that this one's a tough cookie to beat with only 2 Trainers! To attempt an Alolan Marowak duo, both Trainers must have at least 2 or 3 Tyranitar with Smack Down/Stone Edge, or Rampardos to replace those Tyranitar, all above Level 35 and preferably with a Partly Cloudy weatherboost! Rhyperior can take 1 slot at most, because most damage is really going to be dealt by Rampardos or Tyranitar. Being Ultra or Best Friends will really aid you further into completing this duo challenge!Absol is definitely my personal favorite among the current shinies, and it has a cool niche in it, being a Dark-Type glass-cannon Pokémon. Deals high damage and barely takes any hits, but the hits it does manage to get in, are good ones. Absol is weak to Bug, Fairy and Fighting-Type Pokémon, so bring stuff like Scizor, Pinsir, Yanmega, Venomoth, Togekiss, Machamp, Breloom and Hariyama, though you should be careful of its Fast Move, Psycho Cut. Pokémon like Yanmega and Togekiss should also be wary of Thunder, which Absol can occasionally carry.Absol is easily duo'd by 2 Level 33+ Trainers with access to 5 or more Machamp per Trainer, and a Breloom/Hariyama to fill the final slot. Cloudy weather isn't required, but preferred to make things go faster.​Difficulty levels:Poliwrath: 3.5 / 5 (3+ Trainers) | 4.5 / 5 (2 Trainers)Rhydon: 1.5 / 5 (3+ Trainers) | 2 / 5 (2 Trainers)Tyranitar: 2 / 5 (3+ Trainers) | 3.5 / 5 (2 Trainers)Alolan Marowak: 3 / 5 (3+ Trainers) | 4.5 / 5 (2 Trainers)Absol: 1.5 / 5 (3+ Trainers) | 1.5 -2 / 5 (2 Trainers)​For more info and an entire breakdown on Dialga, its counters and additional information, check out this thread I made not too long ago, it completely analyzes Dialga and your most optimal counters!https://www.reddit.com/r/pokemongo/comments/avyjuh/rba_dialgas_time_to_shine/​Phew, guess that's all there is to it for this shake-up! Hope this helps you in your raiding endeavors! Have a good hunt, and until next RBA, Trainers! via /r/pokemongo https://ift.tt/2IMKfwd