Guzzlord is making its debut in Pokemon Go Gyms near you for its first appearance in five-star raid battles. This Ultra Beast is the headliner of Pokemon Go’s first “Greedy Gluttons” event, with more information to come about the full details of that event.
Guzzlord Raid Schedule
Guzzlord will appear as the only five-star raid boss in Pokemon Go starting at 10 AM local time on November 8, 2022 and will remain available to battle until the same time on November 23. Raids do not generally follow a set schedule, and Guzzlord raids will appear randomly at Gyms around the world during this time period, but you will receive a notification from the game when a raid is about to begin nearby. Like other Ultra Beasts, Guzzlord raids will be signified by an Ultra Wormhole appearing on top of a Gym instead of a typical raid egg.
Your best chance to find Guzzlord raids is during the Raid Hours in which the Junkivore Pokemon will be featured. Every Wednesday from 6 PM to 7 PM local time, the majority of Gyms host five-star raids for Trainers to work together to take down. Guzzlord will be the featured raid boss in the raid hours on November 9 and 16, 2022. As with all raids, you’ll need your free daily Raid Pass or a Premium Battle Pass to join a raid in person, or a Remote Raid Pass to join a raid remotely.
Can I Catch a Shiny Guzzlord?
Unfortunately, like the rest of the Ultra Beasts, Guzzlord is not yet available in its shiny form. This is typical for new Legendary Pokemon and Ultra Beasts, where they are usually released at least once without their shiny before being brought back in the future with their shiny debut to spark new interest. Keep your eyes open for future events which might feature a chance to catch a shiny Guzzlord.
Guzzlord Weaknesses and Counters
Guzzlord is a Dragon and Dark-type Pokemon. This means it takes super effective damage from Fighting, Ice, Dragon, and Bug-type attacks. It also means that it will take double super effective damage from Fairy-type attacks, so these should be your first choices. Some recommended Fairy-type Pokemon include Gardevoir, Granbull, Togekiss, Primarina, and Zacian. If you don’t have strong Fairy types, these are some other recommended Pokemon to use against Guzzlord raids:
- Fighting: Mega Lopunny, Machamp, Conkeldurr, Lucario
- Ice: Mega Abomasnow, Mamoswine, Weavile, Glaceon, Galarian Darmanitan
- Dragon: Mega Charizard X, Salamence, Rayquaza, Dragonite, Palkia
- Bug: Mega Scizor, Genesect, Pinsir, Scizor, Yanmega
A Mega Tip: A Mega Evolved Pokemon boosts the damage of all Pokemon in the raid by 10%, and the damage of all Pokemon using attacks that share a type with the Mega Evolved Pokemon by 30%. Coordinate those Megas with your raid group for added damage. Note that while Mega Altaria will boost the damage of fellow Fairy and Dragon types in the raid, its defensively oriented stats mean it likely won’t output enough damage of its own to be worth using. Mega Charizard X, Lopunny, Scizor, or Abomasnow would be ideal Megas to use in Guzzlord raids.
Don’t be afraid of the shadows: Shadow Pokemon deal 20% more damage than their non-shadow counterparts, so the shadow versions of any of the suggested Pokemon that have them can help you win.
Guzzlord’s double weakness to Fairy-type attacks means that it should be relatively easy to take down even with small groups who focus on using Fairy Pokemon.
Types to Avoid
Dragon is a somewhat unique type in that it is super-effective against itself, meaning that Guzzlord can likely hit back against the Dragons used to challenge it. It also has access to Sludge Bomb to hurt Fairy-type counters, and the Dark-type attacks it is learns like Brutal Swing will deal super-effective damage against any Ghost or Psychic Pokemon used against it. Also keep in mind that Guzzlord’s typing resists Water, Grass, Fire, Electric, Dark, and Ghost attacks and double resists Psychic-type moves.
Usefulness
Is Guzzlord worth raiding after you’ve gotten the new Ultra Beast registered in your Pokedex? Guzzlord simply does not have the stats to perform well as a raid attacker or in the Master League, so trainers do not need to worry about grinding enough Candy XL to get any Guzzlord to level 50. Although it is double weak to the ever-present Charm, Guzzlord's huge HP and solid moveset (most of the time wanting to run with Dragon Tail, Dragon Claw, and either Crunch or Brutal Swing) look to give it viability in both Ultra League and Great League, though you'll need to trade to have a chance of getting one under 1500 CP.