Pokémon Go Blacephalon counters, weaknesses and moveset explained

Blacephalon counters and weaknesses in Pokémon Go

In order to catch a Blacephalon you’ll first need to take it down in a raid battle. Below you’ll find the counters and weaknesses for Blacephalon to help you achieve this:

• Blacephalon type - Fire/Ghost-type
• Blacephalon is weak against - Dark, Ghost, Ground, Rock and Water-type attacks
• Blacephalon is resistant to - Fairy, Fire, Grass, Ice, Poison and Steel-type attacks
• Blacephalon is super-resistant to - Bug, Fighting and Normal-type attacks
• Blacephalon Mega counters - Primal Kyogre and Primal Groudon are your two strongest options, with the former being ever so slightly better. If you don’t have either of these, Mega Tyranitar and Mega Swampert are strong options, too.
• Blacephalon non-Mega counters - The Shadow version of Tyranitar, Kyogre, Rampardos, Rhyperior and Groudon are all very strong. Dawn Wings Necrozma stands out as stronger than most of these, however, so do make the most of Moongeist Beam if you have it. Beyond these recommendations, you’re looking at Tyranitar, Hydreigon, Kyogre and even Blacephalon itself.





• Number of players to beat Blacephalon - You’re looking at two-five Trainers with fully optimal Level 40 counters at the bare minimum. As always, the more the merrier.
• Tactics - Blacephalon has a very low Raid CP, so simply bring your strongest counters and tap the screen until it stops moving.

Blacephalon CP in Pokémon Go

Below you’ll find the CP levels for battling for Necrozma and, if defeated, catching a Necrozma after the fight in Pokémon Go:

• Blacephalon Raid CP - 25,958 CP
• CP range for catching Necrozma - 1797 to 1884 CP
• Weather (Sunny/Fog) when being caught - 2246 to 2355 CP

The Shared Skies Season is here! Adventure Week has returned and sees the shiny rates for certain Fossil Pokémon boosted! Go Fest 2024 may have been and gone, but you can still play around with the Fusion mechanic. Meanwhile, ticket holders can finish Go Fest 2024: A Shadowy Caper and The Dusk Settles. Don't forget to try out Routes, Gift Exchange and Party Play while you're hunting down rare Pokémon, fighting in the Go Battle League or competing in PokéStop Showcases.

Best Blacephalon moveset in Pokémon Go

Blacephalon is potentially one of the strongest Ultra Beasts out there, but it isn’t winning any awards for its current moveset. Since its attack stat massively outweighs its defense stat (315 vs 148), it’s not likely to make a splash in PVP any time soon, either.

This means that the Firework Pokémon was released to little fanfare or celebration. The current best Blacephalon moves in Pokémon Go are Incinerate (Fast), Shadow Ball (Charged) and Mystical Fire (Charged).

Here are all the Fast and Charged moves Blacephalon can use in Pokémon Go:

Fast Moves:

• Incinerate (Fire)
• Astonish (Ghost)

Charged Moves:

• Shadow Ball (Ghost)
• Mystical Fire (Fire)
• Overheat (Fire)

Everything we know about Blacephalon

Blacephalon, or UB Burst, is one of the second-wave of Ultra Beasts, released in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.

While it is designated as UB Burst and categorised as the Fireworks Pokémon, it’s hard not to see this Pokémon as a clown. This said, the 'exploding head' part of its design is clearly important - it is the only Ultra Beast to have a signature move, which is called Mind Blown, and its name in Japanese (Zugadon) literally translates as 'head does boom'. Even its English name hints at this, with a mixture of the words 'blast' and 'cephaly'... we can only imagine that the 'on' bit is a nod to the clown-like attire.

If you want to learn more about the Fireworks Pokémon, you can read its official Pokédex entry below:

• Blacephalon: 'It slithers toward people. Then, without warning, it triggers the explosion of its own head. It’s apparently one kind of Ultra Beast. A UB that appeared from an Ultra Wormhole, it causes explosions, then takes advantage of opponents’ surprise to rob them of their vitality.'

Sadly, shiny Blacephalon has not been released in Pokémon Go, meaning you won’t be catching it in raids any time soon.

As you can see below, shiny Blacephalon swaps its white for a navy blue, which makes it look a lot less clownish, and therefore a lot better!

Shiny Blacephalon after 29 Dynamax Adventure encounters!
byu/TrevorBevor45 inPokemonSwordAndShield

Thanks to Reddit user TrevorBevor45 for the handy preview.

Good luck defeating Blacephalon in Pokémon Go!