Pokemon Go Adds a Ton of New Raid Bosses

Pokemon Go has added over a half-dozen new Raid Bosses.Yesterday, Pokemon Go underwent a major [...]

Pokemon Go has added over a half-dozen new Raid Bosses.

Yesterday, Pokemon Go underwent a major shake-up by adding 20 new Pokemon to the game, including several new regional-exclusive Pokemon and a new Legendary. As part of the big changes, Pokemon Go also added eight new Pokemon as Raid Bosses. Most of the Pokemon are either Ice-Type Pokemon, presumably to help trainers stock up on Pokemon that would be effective against the new Legendary Pokemon Rayquaza.

The new Raid Bosses are:

Level 1: Snorunt, Swablu

Level 2: Dewgong

Level 3: Piloswine, Jynx, Azumarill

Level 4: Feraligatr

Level 5: Rayquaza

Unfortunately, most of these Pokemon won't really help players that are looking for effective counters to Rayquaza. While most of these Pokemon are Ice-Type Pokemon, most aren't strong enough to really make a dent against this powerful Pokemon. The one exception is Jynx, which can do a lot of damage but won't last very long against Rayquaza's souped up attacks.

As part of the Raid Boss shakeup, several Pokemon were also pulled out of the Raid Boss pool. Ivysaur, Charmeleon, Wartortle, Metapod, Magneton, Sandslash, Tentacruel, Marowak, Ninetales, Omastar, Scyther, Porygon, Alakazam, Gengar, Poliwrath, Victreebel, Nidoking, Nidoqueen, and Golem are no longer Raid Bosses....at least temporarily.

Not having access to Golem is a bit disheartening, as Golem is one of the best counters to Rayquaza. At this point, most Pokemon Go players should already have a Golem or two powered up from all their other Legendary Raid Battles, so pulling it from the Raid Pool shouldn't make too much of an impact for trainers looking to battle Rayquaza this weekend.

As of right now, we don't know whether these Raid Bosses are permanent additions to the game, or if they'll just remain in the game while Pokemon Go's "Gen 3" event is running through the February 13th. We're guessing that these new Raid Bosses will be permanent, but that the Raid Pools will get shifted once again when the "Gen 3" event ends next week.

This weekend presents a unique opportunity to do something different in Pokemon Go. If you're looking to get some raiding done this weekend, try to find a new Raid Boss to challenge and let us know how you did!

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