Raid Review: December 2025

The days are short and cold... at least for those of us living in the areas of the Northern hemisphere that turn into the Earth's refrigerator for a few months every year. Regardless, it's time for a new month, and that means it's time for a new Raid Review. While this is likely not a complete list, as they love adding new raid bosses throughout the month, this does give us a good overview as to what are likely the biggest options!

• Cobalion, Terrakion, & Virizion: November 25 - December 4
• Kyurem: Dec. 4 - Dec. 13
• Reshiram: Dec. 13 - Dec. 22
• Zekrom: De 22. - Dec. 31
• Blacephalon: Raid Hour, Dec. 31

Among our Legendary options, we have a few definite stand-outs that are worthy of spending some raid passes on. To start with, the Swords of Justice: Cobalion, Terrakion, and Virizion. On the raid side, the only member of this trio that's really worthy of consideration is Terrakion with its solid Rock Type performance and great Fighting Type performance. It's been power-crept a fair bit as of late, but it's still a solid pick. On the PvP side, Cobalion and Virizion are decent in the Master League, while Cobalion is decent in the Ultra League and Virizion is legitimately great.

Worth noting: This trio is sporting their shared signature move, Sacred Sword, so be ready to drop some raid passes.

Moving on, we have the Tao trio; Reshiram, Zekrom, and Kyurem. It should be obvious at a glance that this is a chance to get the components of White Kyurem and Black Kyurem, but there's more to the story than that. Sure, all three are great raiders unto themselves, but they also have legitimate PvP utility as well: Kyurem is outstanding in the Ultra League, while Zekrom, Reshiram, and Black/White Kyurem are all poised to have great average performance in the Master League this upcoming season. All-in-all, there are A LOT of reasons to raid this trio, so check your team and figure out if this is where to throw those raid passes!

Finally, we have a single hour of Blacephalon, here to throw out some fireworks for the New Year. Blacephalon is a good raider for Ghost and Fire, and... that's about it. There is definitely worse, but it's a bit overshadowed by the Tao trio.

• Mega Aerodcatyl, Mega Medicham, & Mega Garchomp: Nov. 25 - Dec. 4
• Mega Gyarados: Dec. 4 - Dec. 13
• Mega Abomasnow: Dec. 13 - Dec. 22
• Mega Glalie: Dec. 22 - Dec. 31

We have a few solid options for this month's Mega raids. In terms of Mega Evolutions that are the tops of their types, we only have two: Mega Glalie and Mega Abomasnow. There are cases to be made for either of them standing as the best Ice Type Mega Evolution in the game, but at the end of the day it's very situational. That said, neither of these Pokemon are top performers when it comes to Ice Type performance, and primarily excel due to their ability to boost other Ice Types on the field, which is a niche that's becoming less and less important as major raids take fewer and fewer players to take down. It's also worth mentioning that we now have confirmation of at least one future Ice Type Mega Evolution that is guaranteed to overshadow these two, and one other that will very likely beat them by a wide margin.

Moving on, we have Mega Aerodactyl and Mega Garchomp. These two aren't the masters of their types, but they do have high average performance. Mega Aerodactyl is the silver medal for Rock Type Mega Evolution power, and is an overall decent option. Meanwhile, Mega Garchomp has high performance for both of its types, but it's frustratingly competing with a pair of titans that outright dwarf its power.

Finally, we have Mega Gyarados and Mega Medicham. Mega Gyarados is low-powered, but it can work in a pinch for Water and Dark, while Mega Medicham is nothing but a dex filler.

• Dynamax Darumaka: Dec. 1 - Dec. 7
• Dynamax Cryogonal: Dec. 8 - Dec. 14
• Dynamax Kabuto: Dec. 15 - Dec. 21
• Dynamax Spheal: Dec. 22 - Dec. 28
• Dynamax Omanyte: Dec. 29 - Jan. 4

Among the options available for Dynamax Pokemon, the biggest stand-out is definitely Darumaka due to the fact that Gigantamax Darumanitan is actually a really strong Fire Type damage dealer. The runner-up is Omanyte, as Dynamax Omastar has a strong niche for specific raids.