Pokemon Go players share simple tips to catch Raid Legendaries without Excellent throws

Niladri Sarkar
pokemon go 5-star legendary raids on gyms

Catching Legendaries from Pokemon Go 5-Star Raids is a nail-biting experience as they escape from the Premium Ball frequently. While most trainers depend on Excellent catches, it turns out that you can catch them even without landing these difficult throws.

Legendaries are among the strongest species in Pokemon Go, and aside from a few like the Galarian Birds, trainers can get these Pokemon by beating them in 5-Star Raids.

That said, these Legendaries have a low catch rate (ranging from 2% to 6%), and catching them is quite a task, making players resort to Excellent throws to bag them.

But now, it looks like you can get the job done without relying on Excellent throws, as revealed by a Reddit user named ‘jadedflames’ in a detailed post titled: “I regularly catch Five Star raid bosses without hitting Excellents and SO CAN YOU (a primer)” that explains how players can catch a Legendary from the much easier Great throws alone.

The OP, who has “completed 178 legendary raids, and have successfully captured 143 of them,” gave a summary of their post by mentioning: “Consistently hitting Great on Raid Bosses is more important than Occasionally hitting Excellents if you miss the circle the other times.”

Alongside the tip on maintaining consistent Great throws, the OP also emphasized key points such as Golden Razz Berry, bonus Premium Ball, Curveballs, and the “easy bonus” from upgrading medals, which confused a few Pokemon Go players.

To this, a user clarified: “The catch medals. Bronze, silver, gold, platinum,” before the OP stressed on the platinum catch medal to get a bonus chance at catching the Raid Legendary.

Other users shared some more tips. “If you have [your] Pokemon best buddy aim the ball to where it bounced on your buddy. The buddy will hit the ball with excellent and that will [aid in] catching the Pokemon,” a fan wrote, focusing on how a Buddy Pokemon can be of great help.

Another added: “Target locking and waiting for the attack animation pretty much guarantees catches on legendaries,” where even missing the Excellent circle can still ensure a Great throw.

pokemon go legendary raid boss great throw
Great throws have a much larger catch circle than Excellent throws.

One user who took on the Thundurus Therian Raids highlighted their experience: “I definitely do not hit excellent throws ever. But I have caught 4/6 Thundurus,” they stated before sharing the method they used: “I usually use Nanab Berries to keep them calm so I can make a decent throw. Sometimes Golden’s if I was nervous.”

The OP’s math surely adds up and it appears that Pokemon Go trainers no longer have to feel the pressure of landing only Excellent throws, rather focusing on getting consistent Great throws on Raid Legendaries.

Aside from Legendaries, check out how to get super rare species such as Frigibax and Larvesta in Pokemon Go.

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About The Author

Niladri is a Writer who specializes in Pokemon Go, Scarlet and Violet, and competitive VGC battles. With more than seven years of experience in copywriting and SEO content writing, Niladri has previously written for Pokémon GO Hub and Smogon. He has been covering Pokemon for CharlieIntel since June 2023. Niladri can be contacted at [email protected].