Deoxys in each forme will be featured in Pokemon GO this month. Deoxys is a mythical Pokemon from outer space that has four formes: normal, attack, defense, and speed. In some Pokemon games, the formes can be changed, but in Pokemon GO, each of them has individual characteristics.

Best counters for Deoxys in Pokemon GO

As all formes of Deoxys are Psychic-type, it’s naturally weak against Bug, Dark, and Ghost-type Pokemon. However, depending on the skillsets of the raid boss, the best counters are different by forme.

Chandelure, Gengar, Giratina, and Tyranitar are general counters for Deoxys, but since the Defense forme of Deoxys can use Counter as its fast move, you shouldn’t use Tyranitar or Dark-type Pokemon against the defense forme. Besides that, it’s mostly the same.

Best moves and skillsets for Deoxys in Pokemon GO

Normal Forme (Attack: 345 Defense: 115 Stamina: 137)

The normal forme can learn two fast moves and three charged moves. For its fast moves, it can learn Zen Headbutt (Psychic) and Charge Beam (Electric). The charged moves are Hyper Beam (Normal), Thunderbolt (Electric), and Psycho Boost (Psychic). Unfortunately, all of these moves are very low-tier moves in Pokemon GO.

Before recommending the best skillsets, I must mention that the normal forme of Deoxys is not very good. Its attack stats are extremely high — in fact, it’s 7th overall. However, its excessively poor defense and bulk make it unviable in PVEs and PVPs. If you must give it the best possible moves, go with Zen Headbutt and Thunderbolt.

Attack Forme (Attack: 414, Defense: 46, Stamina: 137)

The attack forme can learn two fast moves and three charged moves. The moves are slightly different from the normal forme. The fast moves are Zen Headbutt and Poison Jab (Poison), and the charged moves are Dark Pulse (Dark), Zap Cannon (Electric), and Psycho Boost.

The best skill combination for the attack forme is Zen Headbutt and Dark Pulse, but the two moves have poor synergy. Using Poison Jab as its fast move could be better in certain situations. Another way is to use Zen Headbutt and Zap Cannon.

The attack forme may have extremely high attack stats — in fact, it’s No.1 among all Pokemon — but its low defense makes it unusable in most situations. For reference, Pikachu’s defense is 96. Deoxys attack forme is a very fragile glass cannon.

Defense Forme (Attack: 114, Defense: 330, Stamina: 137)

The defense forme also has two fast moves and three charged moves. It can learn Counter (Fighting) and Zen Headbutt as its fast move, and Psycho Boost, Thunderbolt, and Rock Slide (Rock) for its charged move.

In Pokemon GO, the defense form is the most viable among its four formes, but it’s still not that good in PVEs. Going with Zen Headbutt and Psycho Boost might be good to benefit from STAB, but Zen Headbutt is one of the worst fast moves in the game.

As the defense forme is much more valuable in PVPs, the recommended skillset is Counter and Rock Slide. Psycho Boost should be used as the secondary move. Thunderbolt can be used in place of Psycho Boost to counter Water-types and to avoid the debuff.

Speed Forme (Attack: 230, Defense: 218, Stamina: 137)

Deoxys may have a speed forme, but unfortunately, there is no speed stat in Pokemon GO, so they rounded up its stats. Its attack is stronger than the defense forme and the defense is stronger than the attack and normal formes.

As for its moves, it’s similar to the normal forme. The fast moves are the same, and the only difference is that Hyper Beam has changed to Swift (Normal). Like the normal forme, the best moves for the speed forme are Zen Headbutt and Thunderbolt.

The speed forme may be slightly better than the normal forme, but it still can’t do much in the world of Pokemon GO.

Overall, although there are several formes of Deoxys, the only useful forme is the defense forme. The purpose of the other three formes should be mainly to fill your Pokedex.