Pokémon Go refreshes its raid roster for first time

Will they make a Splash?

News by Tom Phillips Editor-in-Chief

Updated on Nov. 6, 2017

Hit smartphone app Pokémon Go has refreshed its list of in-game raids for the first time since the activity was introduced at the start of the summer.

Really, you would never bring a Pikachu to a Tyranitar fight.

The surprise move took effect over the weekend without any prior warning from developer Niantic.

Raid times were also shortened from an hour to 45 minutes after the raid egg hatches.

Some of the choices are interesting - 10k egg hatch Porygon is now a Tier 3 raid (and soloable), while Golem is a Tier 4. The Gen 2 starter evolutions have been replaced with Gen 1 starter evolutions Ivysaur, Charmeleon and Wartortle - all good for candy.

But other choices are bewildering. Magikarp has been replaced as a Tier 1 raid by Metapod, one of the most useless creatures in the game. Cubone evolution Marowak is now a Tier 2, right after the Halloween event which saw Cubone flood the game.

It's hard to see many of the new Tier 4s (bar Golem) attracting much interest, considering the higher numbers of players needed for them. Poliwrath? Victreebel? Nidoking/queen? Other options like Dragonite and Ampharos would have been far more popular.

On the upside, some older raids remain on the docket - notably Tier 3s Gengar and Machamp, as well as Tier 4s such as Tyranitar and Snorlax.

And, of course, the current Tier 5 legendary raids remain (here in Europe, we have thunder catdog Raikou).

You can read more on Raids in far greater depth in our guide to Pokémon Go Raids, but for ease here's the full list of raids as they now stand, below:

Tier 1