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Kartana has made a surprise appearance in Pokemon Go Gyms near you for a limited-time appearance in five-star raid battles. This Ultra Beast appeared in the Northern Hemisphere without announcement from Niantic on September 13. Its main series game counterpart, Celesteela, is taking its place in five-star raids in the Southern Hemisphere. This is Kartana’s first time being available in Pokemon Go, so players old and new alike can look forward to adding a new entry in their Alola Pokedexes.
Kartana Raid Schedule
Kartana is appearing as the sole five-star raid boss in the Northern Hemisphere from 10 AM local time on September 13, 2022 and will remain available to challenge in raids until the same time on September 27. Raids do not generally follow a set schedule, and Kartana raids will appear randomly at Gyms around the world during this time period, but you will receive a notification from the game when a raid is about to begin nearby. You’ll be able to easily identify a Kartana raid that is about to begin by the Ultra Wormhole taking the place of the usual raid egg on top of the Gym.
Your best chance to find a Kartana raid (or a lot of them!) is during the two Raid Hours in which the Drawn Sword Pokemon will be featured. Every Wednesday from 6 PM to 7 PM local time, the majority of Gyms host five-star raids for Trainers to work together to take down. The two Raid Hours that will occur during Kartana’s residency in five-star raids will be September 14 and 21. If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, you’ll need your free daily Raid Pass or a Premium Battle Pass to join a raid in person, or a Remote Raid Pass to join a raid remotely. If you’re in the Southern Hemisphere, there won’t be any Kartana raids appearing near you to join in person, so you’ll have no choice but to use a Remote Raid Pass.
Can I Catch a Shiny Kartana?
Like with most Legendary Pokemon’s debut appearances in Pokemon Go, Kartana’s shiny form has not yet been released. If you’re looking to get a shiny, you’ll have to hold off until a future return to raids. For now, you can raid Kartana to stock up on Candy and Candy XL to power up any Kartana you may want to use in the future.
Kartana Weaknesses and Counters
Kartana is a Steel and Grass-type Pokemon. This means it takes super effective damage from Fighting-type attacks and double super effective damage from Fire-type attacks. Some recommended Pokemon include:
Fire: Mega Charizard Y, Reshiram, Chandelure, MoltresFighting: Mega Lopunny, Machamp, Lucario, Terrakion, Conkeldurr
A Mega Tip: A Mega Evolved Pokemon boosts the damage of all Pokemon in the raid by 10%, and the damage of all Pokemon using attacks that share a type with the Mega Evolved Pokemon by 30%. Coordinate those Megas with your raid group for added damage.
Don’t be afraid of the shadows: Shadow Pokemon deal 20% more damage than their non-shadow counterparts, so the shadow versions of any of the suggested Pokemon that have them can help you win.
Types to Avoid
Kartana’s Grass-type attacks like Razor Leaf and Leaf Blade will deal super-effective damage to Rock, Ground, and Water-type Pokemon. Also keep in mind that Kartana’s typing provides it with many resistances. Normal, Poison, Psychic, Dragon, Fairy, Rock, Steel, Water, and Electric attacks all deal resisted damage, and Grass is doubly resisted. Stay away from these types of Pokemon.
Usefulness
Is Kartana worth raiding after you’ve gotten the new Pokedex entry? Kartana has the highest DPS of all currently released Grass-type raid attackers, surpassing even Mega Venusaur and all current Grass-type shadow Pokemon. The only Pokemon that looks like it will surpass it in the future is Mega Sceptile, but there’s no telling when that might be released. Kartana is certainly worth adding to your raid team for future Ground, Rock, and Water-type raid bosses.
The story is much different in PvP. Kartana is currently impossible to obtain below 1500 CP for use in Great League. In Ultra League, it doesn’t quite have the bulk necessary to compete. And while Kartana can reach over 4200 CP when fully maxed out, on par with other Master League contenders, its current moveset doesn’t allow it to perform very well there either. If it were to get a move update in the future and receive moves like Psycho Cut or Sacred Sword, that could change things, but for now it’s probably not worth building a Kartana for any level of PvP.
