Skip to content
PoGoBud
Shadow raid

Shadow Cranidos counters

rockShadow Tier 1

A Shadow raid boss hits harder than its normal form (Shadow Frenzy), and the Pokemon you catch afterwards is a Shadow. Purified Gems weaken it mid-fight; the simulation does not use them.

Lobby CP
5,292
HP
600
Timer
3:00
Attack
139
Defense
51
Difficulty
0.05
Pokebattler scale

Beating Shadow Cranidos should take 1 trainer with level 40 counters. Caught CP 922-1,040.

Weak tofighting1.6xground1.6xsteel1.6xwater1.6xgrass1.6x

Who to bring

Improve your raidweather · friendship · Mega in the lobby · Party Power · Adventure EffectsShow ▾

Friendship

every trainer in the lobby who is your friend

Mega in the lobby

a Mega boosts every trainer's attacks: 1.3x of its own type, 1.1x of others
Try a Steel Mega — most top counters attack with Steel

Party Power

Party Play: the charged move after a full meter does 2x

Of the game's eleven Adventure Effects only Behemoth Blade (Crowned Sword Zacian), Behemoth Bash (Crowned Shield Zamazenta) and Dynamic Punch+ (Mega Mewtwo X) change a raid; Roar of Time, Spacial Rend, Freeze Shock, Ice Burn, Sunsteel Strike, Moongeist Beam, Future Sight+ and Dynamax Cannon act outside raids. Dynamic Punch+ only counts against a Mega boss, so it changes nothing here. Sources: the full list, Behemoth Blade / Bash, Dynamic Punch+.

Best counters

Mega, Legendary, Shadow · level 40

The best Shadow Cranidos counters are Mega Mewtwo X, Necrozma (Dusk Mane), Shadow Landorus (Therian), Zamazenta (Crowned Shield), Shadow Conkeldurr & Shadow Metagross.

Suggested party of sixat most one Mega
  1. M. Mewtwo X
  2. Necrozma (Dusk Mane)
  3. S. Landorus (Therian)
  4. Zamazenta (Crowned Shield)
  5. S. Conkeldurr
  6. S. Metagross

7 more Megas ranked inside the top six — a party can hold only one Mega, so the best one stays and the next non-Mega takes the slot.

Ranked by Estimator (trainers needed); small print: time to winOrder byEstimatorOverall %

  1. 1Mega Mewtwo XMegaLegendarypartyPsycho Cut / Dynamic Punch+0.040:08
  2. 2Mega GreninjaMegaWater Shuriken / Surf+0.050:08
  3. 3Mega StarmieMegaPsywave / Liquidation+0.050:09
  4. 4Necrozma (Dusk Mane)LegendarypartyPsycho Cut / Sunsteel Strike0.060:10
  5. 5Mega LucarioMegaForce Palm / Aura Sphere0.060:10
  6. 6Shadow Landorus (Therian)ShadowLegendarypartyMud Shot / Sandsear Storm0.060:10
  7. 7Mega ChesnaughtMegaVine Whip / Seed Bomb+0.060:10
  8. 8Primal GroudonMegaLegendaryMud Shot / Precipice Blades0.060:10
  9. 9Zamazenta (Crowned Shield)LegendarypartyIce Fang / Behemoth Bash0.060:10
  10. 10Mega FalinksMegaCounter / Brick Break+0.060:11
  11. 12Shadow ConkeldurrShadowpartyForce Palm / Dynamic Punch0.060:11
  12. 13Shadow MetagrossShadowpartyFury Cutter / Meteor Mash0.060:11

More orders under All settings (Sort by). The top 15 in detail.

Build and order a party of six →Plan your raid lobby →

Raid alerts…

Top 15 Shadow Cranidos counters in detail

Click a row for damage per move, breakpoints and the energy cycle. Click a column to sort. All 30 ranked attackers, with every column, are under All settings.

Trainers1soloable
#AttackerMoveset
1Mega Mewtwo Xpsychicfightingjoint top pickpsychicPsycho CutfightingDynamic Punch+6,1120:080.040.05448.8%
2Mega GreninjawaterdarkwaterWater ShurikenwaterSurf+3,7840:080.050.05315.9%
3Mega StarmiewaterpsychicpsychicPsywavewaterLiquidation+3,7010:090.050.04843.3%
4Necrozma (Dusk Mane)psychicsteelpsychicPsycho CutsteelSunsteel Strike4,0990:100.060.04359.9%
5Mega LucariofightingsteelfightingForce PalmfightingAura Sphere3,8260:100.060.04274.4%
6Shadow Landorus (Therian)groundflyinggroundMud ShotgroundSandsear Storm3,9220:100.060.04270.2%
7Mega ChesnaughtgrassfightinggrassVine WhipgrassSeed Bomb+4,0930:100.060.04199.4%
8Primal GroudongroundfiregroundMud ShotgroundPrecipice Blades5,9020:100.060.04152.2%
9Zamazenta (Crowned Shield)fightingsteeliceIce FangsteelBehemoth Bash4,1720:100.060.04152.2%
10Mega FalinksfightingfightingCounterfightingBrick Break+3,6700:110.060.04036.1%
11Mega SceptilegrassdragonbugFury CuttergrassFrenzy Plant4,0560:110.060.03963.4%
12Shadow ConkeldurrfightingfightingForce PalmfightingDynamic Punch3,3370:110.060.03963.4%
13Shadow MetagrosssteelpsychicbugFury CuttersteelMeteor Mash3,7910:110.060.03899.6%
14Mega Mewtwo YpsychicfightingCounterpsychicFuture Sight+6,4280:110.060.03837.1%
15Mega BlazikenfirefightingfightingCounterfightingAura Sphere4,1610:110.060.03817.7%

Ordered by Estimator alone, fewest trainers needed first. . The place badge names each row's Overall place on hover.

Times are one trainer with six copies of that attacker, level 40 at 15/15/15, no weather, no friendship, no dodging, Shadow / Mega / Legendary attackers hidden — the same defaults pokebattler.com's own counter pages open with. Open the full counter tool to change any of them. "Details" opens the per-move damage, breakpoints and energy cycle against Shadow Cranidos.

Estimator is how many trainers of this strength the fight needs. Power is the share of Shadow Cranidos's HP that six of that attacker remove inside one raid timer, so over 100% means they finish it with time to spare. Faints is how many of the six go down inside that timer.

Simulating each boss moveset…

Cranidos weaknesses and resistances

Every one of the 18 attacking types against this boss's typing. GO multipliers: 1.6x super effective, 2.56x doubly, 0.625x resisted, 0.39x doubly resisted.

  • Weak (5)
  • Neutral (9)
  • Resists (4)

It resists normal0.625xflying0.625xpoison0.625xfire0.625x— bringing one of those is throwing damage away.

What Cranidos throws at you

Its standard movepool, with the damage window a dodge has to beat.

Fast moves

MovePowerEnergyDurationHits at
psychicZen Headbutt11+91.0s0.75s
normalTake Down7+81.0s0.75s

Charged moves

MovePowerEnergyDurationHits at
rockRock TombSTAB65-503.0s2.05s
rockAncient PowerSTAB70-333.5s2.85s
groundBulldoze80-503.5s2.60s

Catch CP

What the encounter after the fight can hand you.

IV spreadCP at L20CP at L25 (weather boosted)
6/6/6floor9221,153
7/7/79351,169
8/8/89481,185
9/9/99611,201
10/10/109741,217
11/11/119871,234
12/12/121,0001,250
13/13/131,0131,267
14/14/141,0261,283
15/15/15hundo1,0401,300

Caught CP range 922 - 1,040, or 1,153 - 1,300 when the weather boosts it.

A raid encounter is level 20 (level 25 weather boosted) and cannot roll an IV below 6/6/6 — a Shadow raid's floor is 6, not the usual 10. Anything outside the first range is not this raid's reward.

Shadow raid floor. A Shadow Raid encounter rolls a minimum of 6/6/6, so this band starts at 922, not at the 974 a 10/10/10 catch would give. pokebattler.com's own page for a Shadow boss prints that 10/10/10 value as its floor — it is applying the standard-raid rule — so expect its range to start 52 CP higher than this one. LeekDuck's published band agrees with the table above.

When it is in raids

From the raid schedule, refreshed daily.

Cranidos is not on the raid schedule right now. The simulation above is still exact for the tier chosen — any boss can be simulated, current or not.

All settings

Shadow Tier 1: 600 HP, 3:00 timer, boss Attack 139 / Defense 51 (15/15/15 at tier CPM 0.5974).

Attackers allowed
Share these exact settings
Every column, and pokebattler.com's own rank

On a phone the list shows estimator, time to win and faints. Overall, Power, win chance, CP, DPS and TDO appear on a wider screen.

#AttackerEst.TimeFaints
1
Mega Mewtwo X
psychicfightingmega
Psycho Cut / Dynamic Punch+
0.040:080.0
2
Mega Greninja
waterdarkmega
Water Shuriken / Surf+
0.050:080.0
3
Mega Starmie
waterpsychicmega
Psywave / Liquidation+
0.050:090.0
4
Necrozma (Dusk Mane)
psychicsteel
Psycho Cut / Sunsteel Strike
0.060:100.0
5
Mega Lucario
fightingsteelmega
Force Palm / Aura Sphere
0.060:100.0
6
Shadow Landorus (Therian)
groundflyingshadow
Mud Shot / Sandsear Storm
0.060:100.0
7
Mega Chesnaught
grassfightingmega
Vine Whip / Seed Bomb+
0.060:100.0
8
Primal Groudon
groundfiremega
Mud Shot / Precipice Blades
0.060:100.0
9
Zamazenta (Crowned Shield)
fightingsteel
Ice Fang / Behemoth Bash
0.060:100.0
10
Mega Falinks
fightingmega
Counter / Brick Break+
0.060:110.0
11
Mega Sceptile
grassdragonmega
Fury Cutter / Frenzy Plant
0.060:110.0
12
Shadow Conkeldurr
fightingshadow
Force Palm / Dynamic Punch
0.060:110.0
13
Shadow Metagross
steelpsychicshadow
Fury Cutter / Meteor Mash
0.060:110.0
14
Mega Mewtwo Y
psychicmega
Counter / Future Sight+
0.060:110.0
15
Mega Blaziken
firefightingmega
Counter / Aura Sphere
0.060:110.0
16
Mega Garchomp
dragongroundmega
Mud Shot / Earthquake
0.060:110.0
17
Mega Metagross
steelpsychicmega
Fury Cutter / Meteor Mash
0.060:110.0
18
Shadow Gallade
psychicfightingshadow
Low Kick / Sacred Sword
0.070:120.0
19
Mega Swampert
watergroundmega
Mud Shot / Hydro Cannon
0.070:120.0
20
Pheromosa
bugfighting
Low Kick / Focus Blast
0.070:120.0
21
Shadow Kingler
watershadow
Bubble / Crabhammer
0.070:120.0
22
Shadow Greninja
waterdarkshadow
Bubble / Hydro Cannon
0.070:120.0
23
Mega Gallade
psychicfightingmega
Low Kick / Sacred Sword
0.070:120.0
24
Mega Heracross
bugfightingmega
Counter / Upper Hand
0.070:120.0
25
Shadow Groudon
groundshadow
Mud Shot / Earthquake
0.070:120.0
26
Shadow Mamoswine
icegroundshadow
Mud-Slap / High Horsepower
0.070:120.0
27
Kartana
grasssteel
Razor Leaf / Sacred Sword
0.070:120.0
28
Shadow Blaziken
firefightingshadow
Counter / Aura Sphere
0.070:120.0
29
Shadow Machamp
fightingshadow
Karate Chop / Dynamic Punch
0.070:120.0
30
Shadow Excadrill
groundsteelshadow
Metal Claw / Earthquake
0.070:120.0
How accurate is this? Same top pick as pokebattler.com on 26 of 27 lists checked, 90% of its top tens shared; weakest on Mewtwo's default list (7 of 10).

Ranking. Our full ranking against the page pokebattler.com serves for the same boss and settings, on 27 boss and filter combinations read live (2026-10-04): 242 of 270 top-ten places shared, the same #1 on 26. On the six fixed reference bosses (read 2026-10-03): 85% top-ten overlap with its default filters, 83% with Shadow, Mega and Legendary on. A close top three is shown as a tie because the order inside it is below what we can measure.

Time to win. Graded with Pokebattler's own movesets against every boss moveset, average per boss: Tier 1 and 3 +0.1% to +1.2%; Tier 5 −2.9% to +1.3%; Mega −1.1% to +2.6%; Shadow Tier 5 −1.8% to +0.3%. One attacker can be off by more: median 1.6%, worst 15%, RMS per boss moveset 2.05%.

Known weak spots.
  • Mewtwo (Tier 5, default filters) shares 7 of Pokebattler's top 10: Absol, Incineroar and Salamence sit just outside ours, Polteageist, Cursola and Hisuian Typhlosion just inside.
  • Groudon (Tier 5, default filters) shares 7 of 10; its Grass and Water counters run 2-6% fast here.
  • Tier 5 times run about 2-3% fast for attackers that faint often, and 2-3% slow on Mega Charizard Y and Mega Beedrill, whose counters resist the boss.
  • Tier 1 lists are the least checked: Combee (Tier 1) shares only 3 of Pokebattler's top 10, with Gigalith first here where Pokebattler puts Rhyperior.

This boss on pokebattler.com (its Shadow boss page; the ordinary boss's page is a different, easier fight). Boss-by-boss accuracy report.

Ranked 30 attackers in 0.1 s (50 Monte Carlo runs each, seed 1). Same boss on pokebattler.com. The same ranking as JSON: /api/raids/rank.

Not signed in

Your Pokebox is kept in this browser.

Theme