Palkia, the second of the Creation Trio of Sinnoh, has been released as a Tier 5 Raid. How does it stack up?
Gyms and Raids
As a generalist, Palkia looks to be a great generalist because it ranks #3 in DO@20. Compared to Rayquaza, Palkia is 1.8% lower in DPS, but 7.5% higher in TDO. Dragonite also has higher TDO but lower DPS than Rayquaza, and Palkia takes Dragonite's place since Palkia's TDO and DPS are both higher than Dragonite.
However, after the type effectivness bump in December, generalists are less useful now so lets look at opponents by type. Palkia is in the top 20 DO@20 against: Dragon (#1) , Electric (#5) , Fire (#8) , Ghost (#18) , Ground (#7) , Normal (#19) , Poison (#14) , and Rock (#14) . It can easily find a place in many gym battles.
As for move set, it looks like its best move set is Dragon Tail and Draco Meteor. But Hydro Pump is still a good charge move, and it has higher DPS when raining. Hydro Pump is also the best move set against groud, rock, and fire type pokemon. This might be a good opportunity for a second charge move, except I don't think I'll ever spend that much candy for a second legendary charge move.
Trainer Battles
It's very important to look at PvP seperately from Gyms and Raids. First, the moves themselves have different stats. In this case, Draco Meteor is still the highest DPS move set for Palkia. Again, when raining or against ground, rock or fire type pokemon, Hydro Pump is best.
Also, survivability wins in PvP which means looking for highest TDO and not DO@20. As with most legendaries, Palkia is too strong for Great and Ultra league battles. But in master league battles, Palkia with Hydro Pump is ranked #3 overall in TDO. It might find a spot in your specific team.
As for specific opponent types, Palkia has high TDO against Fire (#1) and Water (#1) , if the opponent is using fire and water moves.
Comments or Suggestions
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