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Hello, Trainers!
Flying right over my head this time around is the Mega Steelix raid! You may have already noticed this guy around already. It entered into the Mega raid rotation onWednesday, January 24th, 2024 at 10:00 am local timeand will last untilWednesday, June 26, 2025 at 10:00 am local time.
Mega Steelix has not been with us since last January, so it’s nice to see it back to end off our January raiding season. Keep in mind, you do not have to Mega-Evolve the Steelix that you catch during this event to get a Mega Steelix. If you have an Onyx or a Steelix in your inventory that you would prefer to Mega-evolve instead, you can! Just be sure to save up enough Mega energy by doing these raids. It will cost you200 Mega Energyto evolve Steelix into Mega Steelix, and40 Mega Energyfor subsequent Mega Evolutions.
Unfortunately, Mega Steelix will not help us too much with the current Raid rotations – Landorus and Shadow Ho-oh would probably decimate this guy. That said, Mega Steelix is a great addition to your Pokémon roster, especially if you do not have too many Mega Pokémon to work with.
It can be encountered at the followingCP Ranges:
Mega Steelix is one of the better-looking Mega evolutions out there. It will be available in both regular and shiny forms, as Steelix’s shiny form is already in the game. This is what Mega Steelix looks like in all its glory:
This raid should not be too difficult, so let’s get right into it.
Mega Steelix’sTypingis kind of funny, and let me show you why. Steelix is aGround- and Steel-TypePokemon, which gives it a slew of vulnerabilities which include:Fire, Water, Fighting, and Ground. Steelix is weak to one of its ownTypings. Luckily, though, that means that ourLandorusraids gives us a Pokemon we can use against Steelix effectively. This also means we have a ton of options available to us in terms of team-building.
If you’re able to, attempt to find one that knowsIron TailandEarthquake, as this moveset has the highest total DPS of all his other movesets. It’s also the best for PvP, if you want to use it in PvP.
Steelix’sTypinggives it a host ofresistancesto keep in mind. These include normal resistances to the following:Normal, Flying, Bug, Steel, Psychic, Dragon, Fairy, Rock, Electric, Poison.It is exceptionally tanky except to its specific weaknesses!
Steelix isweather-boosted during both Sunny and Snowyweather conditions. If you want to take it on during these conditions, you will net yourself a strong Steelix!
We recommend that you take Mega Steelix on with a team of at least3 Trainers, with powerful Pokémon. If your Trainer friends do not have very strong Pokémon to use here, you should tackle these raids with at least5 Trainers. More than that should be unnecessary, but the more people you have, the faster you will take Steelix down.
Make sure to take advantage of theParty Play bonuses! Party Play is basically free, especially if you are already friends with the people you are raiding with. The boost to Charge Attack damage is invaluable and really helps these raids go by quickly so you should absolutely take advantage. There is no reason not to!
Recommended Teams
Due to its Typing, we have a host of Pokémon that will be strong against Mega Steelix. These raids are not too difficult, but Mega Steelix is an extremely bulky Pokémon. It has an exceptional Defensive stat pool, and its Attack stat is also decently high, so keep that in mind while designing your team. You will probably want to pick tankier Pokémon in general, with average to higher Attack stats.
Keep in mind that any of these Pokemon in this list will be better if they are Shadow Pokemon. If you have the Shadow variation of any of these, use them instead of the regular form, as you will get a significant increase in damage that will help you take Mega Steelix down quickly.
Luckily, a lot of these Pokémon have been in the raid rotation within the last month. You may have a Reshiram, Terrakion, Pheromosa, and Landorus already – which gives you a head start compared to other Trainers who may not have any of these Pokémon.
Therian Landorus is in the current 5-star raid rotation! If you can get your hands on a Landorus, it is a great Pokémon to use for these raids. Therian Landorus is a great Pokémon in general, and will be relevant in the meta for the foreseeable future.
StartingSaturday, January 26thand going until the evening ofSunday, January 27th, will be theShadow Ho-ohraid. This Pokemon will also do very well against Mega Steelix with any of its Fire-Type moves. The reason why I did not list it above is because it has not been in the rotation in a long time, so newer Trainers may not have it.
Pokémon Go: Shadow Ho-oh Raid Guide
Ho-oh will be available starting Saturday, August 14, 2025, at 6:00 am local time until Sunday, July 17, 2025, at 10:00 pm local time.
If you do not have all of these Pokémon in Mega form, that’s okay. These Pokémon tend to do best in Mega form, but they will still perform well in these raids even if they are not Mega Evolved. The most important thing is to verify that their movesets are best-in-slot against Mega Steelix. Here are some of the Pokémon you can work with:
Good luck out there, Trainers!
Pokémon Go: Landorus Raid Guide
Landorus launches starting on January 24th, 2024, at 6:00 pm local time and will last until January 31 at 7:00 pm local time.
