To quickly defeat Lugia in Pokémon GO, you should use effective counters. We at MeinMMO will tell you what you need to know about Lugia and which monsters are best suited against the legendary Pokémon.
When can you encounter Lugia? Currently, you can find Lugia only through the Rocket Boss Giovanni. With the help of a Super Rocket Radar from the Special Research “Misunderstood Mischief”, you can track down Giovanni.
As the last of his three monsters, Giovanni will then use Lugia in battle. Once you have defeated him, you can catch the legendary Pokémon afterwards.
The best counters against Crypto-Lugia
What kind of Pokémon is Lugia? Lugia is a legendary Pokémon of the Psychic and Flying types. It comes from Generation 2. It is particularly weak against attacks from the Rock, Dark, Electric, Ghost, and Ice types.
These are the best counters: To quickly defeat Lugia, you should exploit its weaknesses and use appropriate attackers in battle. It is important to pay attention to the right moveset as well as a high level of the individual monsters.
The 10 best counters have been summarized for you with the help of the overview from Pokebattler below (via pokebattler.com):
| Pokémon | Moveset |
| Melmetal | Thunder Shock and Rock Slide |
| Zacian | Close Combat and Wild Charge |
| Yveltal | Close Combat and Dark Pulse |
| Caesurio | Close Combat and Dark Pulse |
| (Crypto-) Magnezone | Spark and Wild Charge |
| Regirock | Rock Throw and Stone Edge |
| (Crypto-) Raikou | Thunder Shock and Wild Charge |
| (Crypto-) Tyranitar | Catapult and Crunch |
| Mew | Snarl and Wild Charge |
| Alolan Sandshrew | Powder Snow and Ice Shard |
If you do not have any of these monsters available, you can also rely on the following alternatives against Lugia:
- Stoloss with Catapult and Stone Edge
- Magneton with Thunder Shock and Charge Beam
- Metagross with Bullet Punch and Meteor Mash
Mega Evolution: You can also effectively use one of the following Mega Evolutions against Lugia:
- Mega Rexblisar with Powder Snow and Meteorologist
- Mega Gyarados with Fire Fang and Crunch
- Mega Steelix with Thunder Fang and Crunch
- Mega Houndoom with Close Combat and Crunch
What other monsters Giovanni has besides Lugia in his team and how you can defeat him can be found in our counter guide to Giovanni:
Is Lugia worth it?
Is there a Shiny Lugia? Yes, Lugia can generally be obtained in its shiny form in the game. You can recognize it by its red belly. But beware: Giovanni currently does not have any Shiny Lugia in his possession. So you will not have any luck in obtaining a shiny specimen from him for the time being (via leekduck.com).
How strong is Lugia?
The legendary Pokémon shines especially in defense and stamina. In attack, it is somewhat worse but can still show solid values. Thus, it is primarily among the top candidates in the Ultra and Master Leagues (via pvpoke.com). However, there are better monsters for use in raids.
Since you can only receive Lugia from Giovanni in its Crypto form, it has the charge attack Frustration. This attack is not particularly strong, so you should change it if you keep Lugia in its Crypto form.
In the context of the current Rocket event, you have the short-term chance to forget Frustration from your Crypto Pokémon.
To redeem or to forget Frustration? Alternatively, you have the option to redeem Lugia. If you keep it as a Crypto Pokémon, its attack increases by 20%, making it somewhat stronger in this area. In return, however, the defense drops by the same value.
For use in raids, it makes sense to increase its attack value in Crypto form. However, looking at the PvPoke rankings, it becomes clear that the “normal” version of Lugia ranks better in the GO battle league than its Crypto variant.
If you want to use Lugia in the PvP league, it might therefore make more sense to redeem it. However, the redemption of legendary Crypto Pokémon is a controversial topic in the Pokémon community, as these monsters are particularly rare. If you prefer to keep the Crypto variant, you can have Lugia forget Frustration.
The best moveset for Crypto-Lugia in the PvP league is:
- Dragon Tail and Sky Attack + Air Slash.
However, Air Slash is an event attack, so you can only teach it with a Charged TM. For which 15 monsters it is also worth forgetting Frustration, we have summarized for you.
Who is Lugia worth it for? Anyone still looking for a strong Pokémon for the GO battle league should seize their chance. In addition, Crypto-Lugia gives you a new entry in your Crypto Pokédex.
Will you fight against Lugia? Which counters do you prefer to use against the legendary Pokémon? And have you had luck and managed to obtain a shiny specimen? Feel free to write your opinion on this here at MeinMMO in the comments.
What is this Shiny Pin all about? We took a look at what it’s all about and explain whether it exists in Pokémon GO.
