At the start of Adventure Week and the Team Rocket takeover event, three new shadows have been released: Shadow Timburr, Shadow Archen and Shadow Tirtouga. Today, we will look at how Shadow Conkeldurr performs in raids, plus a quick peek at Shadow Archeops.

Main Points

Shadow Conkeldurr is one of the best non-mega fighting attackers, if not the new #1 non-mega.

I would rate it as being virtually equal to Sacred Sword Terrakion, though others may argue that it’s slightly ahead. Typing differences likely mean there are some arguments for having both. The best part is, unlike Terrakion, Shadow Conkeldurr doesn’t require any legacy moves and is easier to XL. (Shadow Conkeldurr also cleanly outclasses Shadow Machamp.)

More about Shadow Conkeldurr’s future competitors, as well as the theoretical ceiling of Shadow Archeops, are in later sections.

My analyses of other types are in this spreadsheet. You can also follow me on Twitter (X) and Threads!

Charts

Fighting attackers, in general

Comparisons

Note on Comparison between Shadow Conkeldurr and Terrakion

On paper, Shadow Conkeldurr vs. Terrakion looks like a classic “glass cannon vs. tank” scenario, with the former having 5% higher theoretical DPS and the latter being ~30% bulkier. Traditionally, this would mean that Terrakion would be a safer choice, and that Shadow Conkeldurr’s performance on the line chart (ASE) may be dragged down by the worst-case scenarios… But here, not quite.

Typing differences play a big role here, as Terrakion’s additional rock typing is underwhelming for defense. As a result, they are almost equally reliable, with Shadow Conkeldurr’s neutral performance slightly ahead on average. Terrakion’s typing can sometimes give it notable disadvantages that eliminate the bulk advantage, even though its sheer bulk can also pull it ahead of Shadow Conkeldurr just about as often.

• Some good scenarios for Shadow Conkeldurr: Focus Blast Regigigas, Focus Blast Darkrai, Focus Blast White Kyurem
• Some good scenarios for Terrakion: Giga Impact Regigigas, Draco Meteor Dialga, Shadow Ball Darkrai, Blizzard Black Kyurem, Moonblast Zamazenta-Shield

In theory, the most risk-free option is to have a team mixed with both Shadow Conkeldurr and Terrakion (possibly multiples of them). But these cases where typing and bulk have significant effects are rare, so it’s not a huge deal if you don’t.

Future Considerations for Shadow Conkeldurr

The biggest threat that Shadow Conkeldurr will face in the future is Shadow Terrakion, which will obviously be miles (15%) ahead. On the other hand, a slightly more realistic one is Shadow Lucario, even though their performance gap will be much smaller. (Of course, Shadow Lucario may be even more speculative than Shadow Terrakion in availability, so pick your poison.)

• Shadow Lucario with Counter offers similar performance to Shadow Conkeldurr, being a glass cannon that’s much faster but also much frailer. On the line chart (ASE), it would have landed in the same range as Shadow Conkeldurr and Terrakion.
• Shadow Lucario with exclusive Force Palm was discussed in my last article. It does come out ahead of Shadow Conkeldurr by about 7%.

As for other non-mega candidates, the only Pokemon (other than Keldeo) that can rise to a similar level as Shadow Conkeldurr (and Terrakion) generally require Aura Sphere or similarly overpowered hypothetical moves. It’s reasonable to think that’s way too unlikely, but for those who are still interested, here’s the list:

• Shadow Blaziken, Marshadow and Urshifu, if given Aura Sphere (they don’t have it in the currently assigned movesets)
• Iron Valiant (Gen 9), if given Low Kick and Aura Sphere (no movesets assigned in GM yet)
• Galarian Zapdos, with a signature move as strong as Aura Sphere, not any weaker

Shadow Archeops?

Many of you are familiar with Rampardos and its strength in raids, together with its shadow. What you probably didn’t know is that Archeops has extremely similar base stats in PoGo as another glass cannon. Its potential is entirely held back by the moves, with no double-rock or double-flying movesets. (Even its only rock-type move, Ancient Power, leaves a lot to be desired.)

As a result, Shadow Archeops is essentially unusable as a raid attacker today.

Below is a purely hypothetical speculation of the absolute best-case scenarios of (Shadow) Archeops, with existing moves in the game:

• Rock: Gaining Rock Slide would make Shadow Archeops a slightly worse Shadow Rampardos (primarily due to less favorable typing), but still another top-tier rock attacker nevertheless, together with Shadow Rhyperior. But Archeops can also theoretically learn Meteor Beam, and this much stronger move would likely make Shadow Archeops the best rock attacker, period.
• Flying: Getting Sky Attack can make Shadow Archeops a clone of present-day Shadow Salamence, or a near-top flying attacker that’s only behind Rayquaza and Shadow Moltres (slightly). A much worse but still legal option is Acrobatics, with which it drops to the levels of regular Moltres, regular Salamence and Shadow Honchkrow, but still better than today.

This is not suggesting that any of this may happen in the future. In fact, while they’re technically possible (e.g. in a future GBL move rebalance or an exclusive move event), people often put up good arguments against them ever happening. Unlike Rampardos, Archeops has a negative ability in the main series games, and some players think PoGo tries to stay true to that by purposely kneecapping its moveset. However, Archeops is far from the first Pokemon (or even the first Rock/Flying Pokemon) that is currently or formerly stuck with unusable movesets, so it’s also possible that it was just unlucky.

This article is not trying to argue whether any of these moves will happen or not, or what people should do about them. I just wanted to make this information available since Shadow Archen is now released, and what you want to do with your shadows is your own business.

Imgur Links and Additional Charts

General attacker charts: ASE and ASTTW*

• Fighting

Comparisons:

• Fighting

* indicates additional charts that are not in the main post.