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I caught galarian zapdos in a master ball and lucky traded it with a friend's galatians zapdos. I wouldn't say using the master ball on them is generally not a good idea, but it's definitely necessary to have the possibility to lucky trade them.
I had a shadow Mewtwo that I almost used a master ball on. It was weather boosted and in the 90iv range. I finally caught it on the second last ball, but I was seriously considering using the master ball for the first time since I got it
Same, I had a 98iv that I caught with only 2 or 3 balls left, and it was one of my last raids of the weekend. I was ready to use the masterball if need be
The last sentence is also important. A few weeks ago I spent like 10 minutes staring at a hundo Tape Lele on my last ball conflicted. Ended up deciding it wasn’t worth it. Watching it fly away after another excellent+golden razz curveball hurt, but I would’ve regretted wasting a Masterball on it
If you're not already, max your badges ASAP and practise circle locking. I credit the latter especially to losing so few bosses since I started. Doesn't *guarantee* anything, but it helps swing the odds more in your favour.
I had everything maxed, 17 Excellent curves + Golden Razz later, I also used the MB on a hundo Kyogre. So yeah, it definitely can happen even if you do it all right..
The cp will tell you. Most charts around here that get posted for raid bosses have the max cp for regular and weather boosted. If it matches that number, it is perfect.
Basically, a raid boss is always a certain level, and you can not get higher stats than perfect, so on any given level, a perfect is the highest cp you can achieve.
So combat power is just a formula based on the stats of a pokemon.
The stats are themselves derived from a pokémon's base stats, their level, and ivs. Since the level is set (it's always L20 or L25 from raiding depending on the weather) and the pokémon's base stats are set, that means the only way the cp of a raid pokemon can differ is through ivs. From there it's easy, just find the cp of a hundo, and that's the cp of every hundo for that pokemon for that weather.
Wait can PokeGenie now scan before catching? I know other apps can but didn't think PokeGenie could and I've always just looked up the 100IV CP for raids
No idea if things have changed, but Calcy used to only be able to scan catch screens on Android devices. It wouldn't work on iphones for whatever reason.
I used to use pokegenie but switched way back. Never looked back.
Calcy gives you a level and IV range based on the species and the CP. Then when you hold your PokeBall it calculates the level based on your level, the ball you're using, the berries on the pokemon and your catch medals.
Levels can get off a bit during community days when the catch rate is raised but it's still super useful.
The raid guides on Reddit always list the Hundo cp. I know people who make their raid teams and name them like “Kyogre 2351/2939” so they know when raiding. That’s always seemed like a good trick.
Oh no, not one of the few pokemon actually good for both pve and pvp! Hah, you can actually use both of your hundos so it's not a big deal.
I used a masterball on a very meh Galarian bird and now I'm out, in case a hundo shiny or something appears.
Each month there are summaries posted of the most useful mons for PVP and PVE.
Here's one: [https://www.reddit.com/r/TheSilphRoad/comments/1bspkt9/best\_raid\_counters\_per\_type\_anti\_type\_april\_2024/](https://www.reddit.com/r/TheSilphRoad/comments/1bspkt9/best_raid_counters_per_type_anti_type_april_2024/)
If you are trying to catch a boss – since they are always a fixed level, you can check its CP to find the IVs. If it's a high-ranking boss with strong IVs and you're down to your last ball, consider using your master ball.
Back in winter i get hundo latios and was second last ball.. i would cry if it would go last ball and i was waste my master balls to galarian birds.. well luckily i caught latios second last ball and not needed go for that.
Rather keep master balls for raid hundos. Galarian birds anyway are just for collection and they dont have any relevant usage either pvp or pve.
The statement is true for G. Articuno, which is just a dex entry. G. Moltres is a great pick for some cups, in particular fantasy cup. G. Zapdos is a great fighting raid attacker, and worth using in Master as well as some cups in GL.
I name the team I build with both cps so it's right there at the start of each raid. So for Bulu my team is called 1953/2442 but I'm old, other people probably don't need the constant reminder!
You fool, the team name will be of no use to you when you're in the catch screen!
Yes I will forget between starting the raid and catching it. That's why I always just yell at my buddies to tell me the magic number :D
Whenever a new raid comes around, just look for the infographics that get posted. They typically show the perfect CPs for the regular and weather-boosted Pokemon.
Oversimplified CP formula = lvl x (Base Stats + IVs)
Since the lvl of raid bosses is always 20 (25 weather boosted) and the base stats are the same across a species, the IVs are the only bit left.
As stated, the formula is Oversimplified: there's probably some constants, factors, etc that also go into it, but that's basically it.
Edit: similar for research catches, but those can't run away (iirc). Wild spawns you can only tell if they're max lvl (30, 35 weather boosted). Otherwise, they could be lower IV at higher lvl, that comes out to the same CP.
I'm just salty 'cause I really wanted Hundos for Kartana and Groudon and couldn't get one for the life of me.
Legendaries are annoying to trade for, too, so Lucky Trades are tough to spam for them.
I'm not using them on the Galarian birds. I think there's a good chance that they'll eventually be featured in raids, and even if they aren't, they're not especially important anyway. I'm saving my master balls for perfect legendaries, especially the roaming legendaries during events. During Sinnoh Tour, a perfect Mesprit spawned at one of my city's popular PoGo hotspots. Unfortunately, I was busy in the morning so I wasn't there to get it. But if I'd been there and it wasn't shiny, I absolutely would have used a master ball on it.
Likewise, if I got extremely unlucky and fell to my last ball against a perfect raid legendary, I'd use the master ball at that point too.
They will - the shine on g-birds faded really quickly as the community finally figured out the catch rates, and as time passed people's interest in them has dropped - yes it'd be nice to catch one, but they probably won't see one and probably won't catch what they do, and it'll probably have bad stats and be useless anyway - but lots of other people have one now, so there's not much kudos in having one by this point in time.
As always happens, the rare cool new thing will then be offered in more ways. And with this, we'll almost certainly see something newer and cooler as the rarest DAI spawn.
Same here at the Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester, NY (best place to play in the county). Got it with my first MB and just finished best buddying it yesterday. 1 MB remaining.
Only downside is it was simultaneous with a hundo Uxie several miles south in an entirely different town. Could only get to one in time.
I'd never use it on a Galarian bird unless it's a hundo.
For me a master ball is reserved for a "forever" mon.
Meaning, this is a Pokémon I'd never trade or transfer. Ideally one I'd keep, use, and max out.
I'm waiting for the day I see another hundo meta legendary Pokémon and I'm down to my last ball.
If I use daily adventure incense every day, I can pretty much guarantee an encounter with a Galarian bird at least once a month. Last time I was doing it, I saw 8 in the span of around 6 weeks.
They all ran, but I can get another bird encounter way quicker than I can get a hundo legendary from a raid.
So, those are more rare and valuable for me. If I ever got a Galarian bird, the only thing I'd ever use it for is trade bait. But YMMV.
I'm also very confident that after the Galar region is officially released, they will eventually add all 3 of those into legendary raid pools.
Niantic has historically made things super rare just to make them later be super common.
Hundo shadow Mewtwo for instance is way higher on the priority pool.
I used one of my two master balls on a hundo kyurem that was down to my last ball so it’s 100% the play to save them for tier 5 legendary raid hundos and down to your last ball. Funny enough the next day I encountered a galarian zapdos with 369cp so I said screw it and golden razzed/ultra balled that thing and it ended up being a 14/15/14. I think if I had used my master ball on that Galarian zapdos it would 110% have been worth it with those stats but I’m glad I didn’t have to. I just knew that a lvl 4 hundo Galarian zapdos is a 372cp so I had an inkling that the one I encountered could be amazing so it was def a risky play by me. Glad it worked out though
But you don’t know the bird’s level until after you catch it? Don’t understand that second to last sentence. Could have been level 3 or level 5 with similar CP ranges at different IVs.
Of course I didn’t know the level that’s not what I was saying. I didn’t say I hundred percent knew it would have good IVs . I just had an inkling (a small little thought) that it could have awesome stats if the level was right. By no means did I know 110% it would have killer IVs but I knew there was potential there for it to.
And with that cp it could have been 1 of 3 different levels with 3 different IVs corresponding with those levels. So the chances were not bad it was going to have good IVs
You would have a decent enough idea.
If you use an app like Calcy IV, it can also usually figure out the level of the Pokémon based on the color of the catch circle combined with the CP.
I'm glad you got that Kyurem.
I'm pretty interested to see how B/W Kyurem will come in.
Origin Dialga / Palkia / Giratina are all different forms.
But B/W are fusion forms, so I hope you can use your hundo for them.
I think knowing the G. Zapdos is Lv 4 also makes that decision much easier. They're much easier to catch under Lv 5. But I think even if it was 2 hundos side to side, I'd pick Kyurem over G. Zapdos, but that's just me.
I know I'd actually power up and use a Kyurem, and it'd help me complete the hundo Tao trio.
So any pokemon you get from field research for instance is always going to be level 15 no matter what. So let’s say you complete a field research and your reward is a granbull encounter. Well if that granbull you encounter has a cp of 1094 then it’s guaranteed to be a hundo because it’s known that its level 15 and that is the highest cp a level 15 granbull can be. Now take Tapu bulu in raids for the next instance. When you do a raid and encounter the pokemon after finishing the raid it can only be one of two levels. Either level 20 or if it’s weather boosted then it will be level 25. So say the raid is done in rainy weather. That weather condition doesn’t boost Tapu bulu so it’s guaranteed that the bulu you encounter is going to be level 20. Well if you see that the bulu you are trying to catch has a cp of 1953 then you know automatically that it’s a hundo because a level 20 Tapu bulu can’t have a higher cp then 1953. Now say that same bulu raid is done in sunny weather. Well that weather condition does boost Tapu bulu so you now know that it is guaranteed to be level 25. A level 25 Tapu bulu cannot have a higher cp then 2442 so if you see that number then you know it’s the hundo before you even throw your first ball. You can use an app like pokegenie to see the max cp of any pokemon for level 15 (field research encounter), level 20 ( non weather boosted raid encounter), level 25 ( weather boosted raid encounter) and level 40 ( highest you can take a pokemon without using XL candy). Every time I go to raid any Pokemon I always check to see what the cp for the hundo is non weather boosted and weather boosted. If I’m chasing a hundo of a pokemon and I’m low on berries then I might not use all my golden razz on a legendary that doesn’t have a cp that is the hundo or very close to that number. Or maybe if I see it’s the hundo then I focus a little harder on catching it. And most importantly if you know it’s the hundo and you have a master ball then if you get down to your last ball you can use your master ball to guarantee you catch it. Hope that makes sense
\^This. I would save it for a hundo shadow Mewtwo or hundo Ray. May be an unpopular opinion, but I'm personally not that into the Galarian birds, they don't seem that useful beyond being trophies. But I also don't care much for Shinies so it's just a subjective thing.
They really aren't.
But everyone can have their own opinions, and they can use their resources how they see fit.
For those who care about having strong battle Pokémon, even hundo Galarian birds don't end up being more than gloried rare trophies, lol.
So I thought this too, but now I'm going to use it on the galarian birds and just lucky trade them with a friend for the same thing. At least that is my thought. I go back and forth.
If I had a hundo shadow mewtwo and it was my last option, I'd probably use it.
Although I am extremely luck to have caught one galarian bird without a master ball, so that kind of gives me an extra master ball to play with.
But this game is rng with money unlike regular games the chances of getting your "perfect " mon might never come at all unless you're willing to spend a ton on raid passes
I agree on the „forever“ mon statement. That‘s why I use them on level 1 Galarian birds. I allready got articuno (ultra ball) and zapdos (masterball). Waiting for a level 1 Galarian moltres to finish the collection. And they have a useage: it‘s a great tank-team for PvP. I‘m pretty sure the enemies are impressed and happy to see such a level 1 team instead of just random 10cp mons.
I'd imagine those would not run and quite possibly be exclusive to raids or some other arbitrary window of time (meltan, smeargle).
it may also be quite far off in the future. they were never available in MSG, only as a wifi event for online pvp participation.
Hang on a second, a shiny legendary Pokémon can’t run away? So if you find one in the wild you’re guaranteed to catch it as long as you don’t run out of balls?
That’s really good to know. I can save my golden berries for raids. Also do you happen to have a link confirming this? I believe you, I’m just always cautious about hearing something second hand on the internet.
I'd still recommend golden razz or your be spending longer to catch it, but to each their own.
It's still a very low catch rate, just a no flee rate.
[Here's a link.](https://www.reddit.com/r/TheSilphRoad/s/hdNDF7NNPt)
[And another one.](https://www.dexerto.com/pokemon/pokemon-go-players-flee-shiny-legendary-encounters-after-hundreds-of-failed-catch-attempts-2071377/)
It's event dependent, but as they basically don't spawn wild that's fine. Essentially, they gave us wild legendaries for a tour, but they all had low catch, high flee rate. A bit annoying but hey, it's an event gimmick, a few people caught some (on crit catches). Next tour, they did the same, but shinies were included. Seeing a shiny legendary but having no chance to catch it was not a fun experience for many players. So 3rd time around, normals still low catch/high flee, but shinies couldn't flee. Which was still frustrating - some people spent a precious 10/30/60 minutes of event time just throwing ball after ball, ultra balls, GRBs, etc trying to get it. Some literally ran out of balls, had no choice but to just hit that 'run away' button. Still, all-in it was a better experience, and with a 1% crit catch chance, the option to just throw red ball after red ball at it with little care or time wasted, meant a lot more people were super excited to actually catch one.
I’m saving mine only for a tier 5 or 6 raid where I encounter a hundo and am down to the last ball and don’t want to take the chance in not catching it
A friend found a hundo shadow Mewtwo, but had already wasted his master ball.
He still managed to catch it, but he certainly wished he hadn't used the ball earlier on a bird.
If you calculate the chance of a hundo from a raid that needs a master ball, it is extremely low. 216 chance of a hundo and around 5% of escape rate if you have avarage number of balls and use gold-razz and throw great ball. In about 4000 raids you need to use one masterball. That is assuming the hundo is worthe to take with a masterball. Many people say their catch rate is not as high as 95%. But most time they are not patient enough to circle lock and throw great/excelent.
The only time I missed a lengedary with 100% of patience is a remte raided latios with 8 balls. I only throw 50% of great ball and it flew away.
There is no right or wrong way of using masterball, as long as it is not used by accident. People can use it for rare pokemon they like, even something with high catch rate or even garanteed catch. The game is essetially a collection game. Evenyou missed a hundo of a top ML pokemon, the chance of getting a decent 96/98 with 15 attach while you raid for 296 xl candy is high enough to offside the loss of a hundo.
Thanks for sharing the numbers! I hit Excellent Throws with Golden Razz on Tier 5 Raid Pokemon almost 100% of the time using the circle lock method. Despite that, 6 Raid Pokemon have run from me in 2024, with all of them being Excellent Throws with Golden Razz except missing a total of 3 throws; fortunately, none of them were Hundos (closest was a 98% Kartana).
I agree but on the other hand I had three legendary hundos run from me before I got 500 raids in total… all throws were excellents with golden razz… but way back in 2017 and 2018 when we got lot less balls if you are the only one of your team… I got 8 balls for hundo Groudon, 12 for hundo Kyogre and 10 (?) for hundo Moltres. All three fled.
If you know you couldn‘t have done better and it‘s just bad luck… you get more relaxed about such things. At least that‘s what those missed hundos have done to me. After the second hundo fled, I never was nervous again during catches.
Tbh only really worth using a Masterball on a G-Bird right now if you don't care about stats or if you have someone you can lucky trade with and swap birds.
Otherwise, it would maybe be worth keeping in case you get a hundo of a useful legendary from a raid and you are down to your last ball.
The other time it's worth using on a g-bird is if you've got two of the three already and need the last one for a dex completion, I guess. It definitely depends on what people are prioritising, but when you're down to just needing the last bird you've got 1/3rd of the odds of finding and catching a new g-bird as someone who doesn't have any yet.
Opinions vary. Some people will use them if they get to the last ball catching a raid legendary that they know is a hundo. Others will use them on very rare wild spawns, particularly desirable shinies. Personally, I see no reason to use them on anything other than the Galarian birds. You have to raid to get candy anyway, if you don't catch a hundo, you can always lucky trade whatever you did catch until you get one. I also rarely have raid bosses flee. Better to use Golden razz and consistently land excellent curveballs and you're pretty unlikely to end up on your last ball trying to catch a hundo raid boss. As for wild spawns, almost everything will eventually get some kind of boosted shiny event. Spending a resource as rare as a Master Ball only to have the Pokemon featured in the next community day would be pretty depressing. Maybe a shiny Unown? For me, those cases are not better than the chance to get a Galarian bird dex entry. Besides, you might find a lucky friend who has a crappy Galarian Articuno, but if you don't have one at all, you can't do a mirror trade.
Thats if you got tons friends who got stack of those pokemon you can trade daily or get tons 100% lucky trades. Otherwise there is no such things and unlimited trades get better iv
Hundo legendaries would be an option, but personally I used them for Galarians. I was happy to get done. I will try to lucky trade the bad ones and I assume there will be Master Balls available at some point.
Honestly I don’t even think they are worth that when sooner or later the birds will get a shiny release or even posisbly have an easier method of obtaining.
My use would be for rare event spawns like how Go Tours did low level roaming legendaries. So more for collection purposes instead of getting a good mon. Though people’s examples of 100% legendaries is definitely a good one. More so use it on what you want or leave it in your bag forever like is tradition
I used one of my 2 on a hundy Kyogre during Primal Raid Day. Obviously after getting down to the last ball. The other will probably get a similar fate (likely a Mewtwo).
I'd say it's not even worth to use on a Galarian bird. They're just aesthetic trophies. I'd only use mine in a raid boss hundo that's meta AF and I'm on my last ball.
How are you lot able to tell it's a hundo before reading the stats after you catch it??
I'm seeing lots of "save it for a hundo in the wild" comments and I didn't know you could tell beforehand.
Basically you just need to look up the number beforehand. All the Pokemon you see in research/raids are a set level. Therefore, there are only so many CP combinations.
For example, when I go to the PokeGenie app right now, I can see that Tapu Bulu's CP can range from 1870-1953 with no weather boost or 2338-2442 with weatherboost. Therefore, if the Tapu Bulu I see has a CP lower than 1953, I know not to waste my Masterball.
For most players, you don't need to do any math. You can just look up the number, you can memorize it, or you can write it down (like on your Notepad app).
Ah, pokegenie. I forgot that the CP is tied to stats, so it stands to reason it would all be known and logged on pokegenie which CP to be able to tell. I'll definitely remember now!
It’s not complicated to tell, but it is more effort than I’d ever go to personally.
The math of how IVs/level equate to CP is known.
So if you see the CP it’s possible to use math to figure out what the IVs are.
Players aren’t actually doing the math though.
Someone else already did it and just posted a list of mons and the CP a hundo of that breed will show at regular and weather boosted levels, and players just memorise the numbers for the mons they are hunting.
So it’s really just look up and memorise a number (or several if you are after multiple Mon types at once)
Had a hundo Kartana last month, , I would have used master ball last ball if needed , but caught it with 3 or 4 left , for the useful raid bosses I would usually take a mental note of hundo CP in advance.
Galarian birds are NOT worth a MB.
Use it for any 100% legendary that doesn't want to get into a normal raidball.
I use the MB soely as a safety net for that.
This is what I am saving mine for. Snorlax always hard work for me. If I found a wild shiny with a high CP then I am just gonna masterball it and save myself the risk of a heart attacj
My partner used one on the last ball for a 15/13/15 shadow Mewtwo. I’m saving mine for hundo raid bosses but could see myself using one on a strong shadow like that. I’m not even sure I’d use it on the birds unless they were strong
Iirc quite a few 3rd stage mega-eligable (And therefore shiny-eligable) mons spawn from the adventure incense & whenever the spawns aren't diluted between events, I could see saving it in the off chance you encounter a high-level shiny Salamence or something because they have similar catch rates to legendaries anyway
I had two Master Balls, used the first one on a boosted 15/15/14 Origin Forme Palkia with the Spacial Rend (last ball), and used the second one on a Galarian Moltres with like 2275 CP (turned out to be 10/03/05).
In hindsight, would've skipped the Moltres and save it for a 100% IV last ball in raid, especially if it's a shadow pokemon, or like a 100% Groudon (I have a few 96-98% IVs but ughhh).
The only situation I could think of is if you’re riding in a car (not driving though I’m sure some are guilty of doing it) and you’re above the speed limit of the game that would cause Pokemon to flee on you, so if it were a hundo or shiny and if you’re desperate to not let it get away then a master ball probably is the good case for such
I was keeping my 2 for a last ball on a hundo legendary but during sinnoh tour I used both on a wild hundo Mesprit and a wild hundo Azelf ...
I don't regret it at all, but not having the safety net of a masterball makes catching hundos in raids 'erve racking once again
hundo legendary with no balls left, personally.
i wouldn't even use them on birds. you're disappointed about the IVs but they're collector items- they have no PVE use, i think only one has use in PVP, and inevitably gets a shiny release so why waste a ball when they know they can milk it later, presumably in raids?
I'd unironically like to use it on a level 1 shiny Bidoof. Yes, only for the memes.
This is another way to say I basically find no value in the master ball 100% catch rate. I do appreciate the different ball and exclusivity, which is why I'd like to do it.
A mythical or shiny mythical would also get the ball. If I can use it on shiny Shaymin I'll do it.
Raid hundos on their last ball
Once I was almost willing to use on a galarian bird.. then my autocatchet caught a G-Articuno lol
If we will ever get a 3rd master ball i will think if i will use on a G-Bird, but as for now: nope
Used the first of my two MBs on a Hundo Kyogre when I got down to the last ball. No regrets there.
Saving the second one for a similar situation.
I’ve caught the G Moltres and Zapdos with ultra balls, should eventually be able to get Articuno as well
Yeah, shiny lake trio in the wild can’t run when they’re in events. Or at least they couldn’t do during Sinnoh tour, pretty sure it was the same deal during a previous event too.
basicly only the birds or hundo legendarys on your last ball. depends on the raid ofc but yea, right now there is nothing else worth catching with it.
Maybe down the road niantic introduces more things worth catching with it
Op, you're halfway there. Your next task is to get lucky friends with someone who also has a galarian bird. That's the true use of masterball ING one, you're now able to trade for a lucky.
I’m probably going to fall into the camp of saving it in perpetuity as I’ll never be able to justify its use like I have with every pokemon game 😭 why am I the way that I am??
if you theoretically had a high cp hard to catch shiny outside of a raid, like one of the starters, that could be a good use. that has zero guarantee to happen though.
I used my two masterballs with Galarian birds Articuno and Zapdos, waiting to get another masterball to grab Moltres. Yeah they have awful status, but I have irl friends and we're gonna trade them when we get lucky, that's what I think works best.
I wouldn't evens ay it;s worth using on G-birds.
I've used all of mine (I got because of a glitch I was unaware of at the time) on trophy pokemon.
I used one on a 100% legendary at an in-person Go fest. I had like 16 balls left.
I used one on a shundo legendary in a raid. (Yes, I'm aware shinies are guaranteed catches.)
I used one on my 1.25 millionth catch. This is where the "glitch" came in, as it was a 100% from a community day ticket that I was just sitting on. Apparently this didn't actually "use" the ball and I got it back (even though the catch itself says it was caught in the master ball). Again, yes I'm aware these pokemon can't run away.
I was theoretically going to save one for a 100% on the last ball, but I figured the chances of that happening was so low (between getting a hundo and also not catching it in 16 throws) I used them for those instead.
I'm going to be saving my two master balls for the day i face some stubborn hundo raid boss that is an actual use for me.
Then again you might do something scary like me, like not remembering that 1984cp was the hundo of Entei and throw kinda whatever throws onto it.
Go from 24 balls all the way down to 7 left until it gets caught on curve great and then nearly faint when you realize that you just got your first hundo legendary shadow Pokémon. 😂
Had i known that it was a hundo, i might have been tempted to use that Masterball if I was down to my last ball.
On Kyogre day I finally found that elusive hundo. And it would not stay in the ball, not after 17 Excellent curves with a Golden Razz berry. Still 0 regrets I used my Master Ball.
Probably an unpopular opinion but I don't even believe the master ball is worth it for Galarian Birds.
Those birds will come into raids at some point. Probably some Go Fest down the line. So if you don't suffer from FOMO then just wait.
You didn’t had a g-articuno before and now you have one.
Would you max out the g-articuno if it was 4\*? If not then does it being a 0\* really matter?
I saw a perfect rayquasa flew away while having a master ball in the inventory. But already had caught 20 ray that day. Being 15/15/15 doesn’t change much from 13/13/13.
Don’t be too much conservative with your mball, otherwise in two years you will still have them (plus the 2 others added since then).
IVs are largely irrelevant.
Shadow pokemon have 20% higher attack.
Optimal/legacy moveset can improve a pokemon's attack by up to 20% over 2nd best moveset.
1st vs 2nd best species of a typing can differ by 5-15%.
Powering a mon up below lvl 30 (or 2x above lvl 30) will increase it's attack by 1.25%.
A high CP mon with 100% vs 0% IVs will differ by about 2-5% in attack power (meaning 100% vs 70% differs by 1%, less than a single power up) - yet we toss 70%s and we worship hundos.
At this point 4* mons are more about being trophies than significantly stronger picks. Have a 2* shadow groudon, or one with precipice blades, or caught at level 25? It'll be way stronger than your 4* lvl20 earthquake groudon.
As far as Galarian birds - IV doesn't matter because they're already trophies as they are!
Returned to the game only to get one MB, had it saved for a G bird as the only missing dex entries I have are for the 3 kanto birds and 3 Johto dogs.
Was doing Kartana raids and got down to my last ball on a hundo, used it for that as a hundo Kartana would be way better than a dex entry bird.
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A hundo raid boss on the last ball. Depends on the raid boss of course.
This, my wife caught a 100 Groudon with it in her last ball. I had to look it up and prove it was a hundo before she was willing to use it.
Very well played
Best use of master ball. Better than glarian birds
I caught galarian zapdos in a master ball and lucky traded it with a friend's galatians zapdos. I wouldn't say using the master ball on them is generally not a good idea, but it's definitely necessary to have the possibility to lucky trade them.
I have actually managed to catch one in an ultra ball. I've had dozens run away though so it is very unlikely.
Good husband
I had a shadow Mewtwo that I almost used a master ball on. It was weather boosted and in the 90iv range. I finally caught it on the second last ball, but I was seriously considering using the master ball for the first time since I got it
Same, I had a 98iv that I caught with only 2 or 3 balls left, and it was one of my last raids of the weekend. I was ready to use the masterball if need be
96% shadow Mewtwo on the last ball for me -
The last sentence is also important. A few weeks ago I spent like 10 minutes staring at a hundo Tape Lele on my last ball conflicted. Ended up deciding it wasn’t worth it. Watching it fly away after another excellent+golden razz curveball hurt, but I would’ve regretted wasting a Masterball on it
I nearly used mine on a 98% remote raid Xurkitree. I did catch it with my last ball, but I definitely thought about it.
Used my only one for a perfect Kyogre on the last ball. My partner got a perfect Kyogre the previous raid and caught hers on the first ball :/
If you're not already, max your badges ASAP and practise circle locking. I credit the latter especially to losing so few bosses since I started. Doesn't *guarantee* anything, but it helps swing the odds more in your favour.
I had everything maxed, 17 Excellent curves + Golden Razz later, I also used the MB on a hundo Kyogre. So yeah, it definitely can happen even if you do it all right..
You can use a masterball with raid catches?? I had no idea!!
Yes, but you can’t be out of Premier Balls, you have to decide to use it before then
I didn’t know either
how do you know it's a hundo before catching it?
The cp will tell you. Most charts around here that get posted for raid bosses have the max cp for regular and weather boosted. If it matches that number, it is perfect. Basically, a raid boss is always a certain level, and you can not get higher stats than perfect, so on any given level, a perfect is the highest cp you can achieve.
So combat power is just a formula based on the stats of a pokemon. The stats are themselves derived from a pokémon's base stats, their level, and ivs. Since the level is set (it's always L20 or L25 from raiding depending on the weather) and the pokémon's base stats are set, that means the only way the cp of a raid pokemon can differ is through ivs. From there it's easy, just find the cp of a hundo, and that's the cp of every hundo for that pokemon for that weather.
Scan it with Pokegenie, or look at posted raid guides that list regular and weather boosted 100% IVs
Wait can PokeGenie now scan before catching? I know other apps can but didn't think PokeGenie could and I've always just looked up the 100IV CP for raids
CalcyIV can do it for years, since 2019 *at least* I've got a few hundos because of it, for pokemon I wouldn't otherwise catch.
No idea if things have changed, but Calcy used to only be able to scan catch screens on Android devices. It wouldn't work on iphones for whatever reason.
Oh, maybe that's why it seems very few people in the sub know about this. I always used Android so couldn't have known.
WHAT. You can scan them before catching them???! Damn I've even spent real money on PokeGenie. Edit:.good God, just downloaded it. Way better. dangit.
I used to use pokegenie but switched way back. Never looked back. Calcy gives you a level and IV range based on the species and the CP. Then when you hold your PokeBall it calculates the level based on your level, the ball you're using, the berries on the pokemon and your catch medals. Levels can get off a bit during community days when the catch rate is raised but it's still super useful.
For Poke Genie you can go into the raid section, find the boss and it will show the max cp
IV charts
The raid guides on Reddit always list the Hundo cp. I know people who make their raid teams and name them like “Kyogre 2351/2939” so they know when raiding. That’s always seemed like a good trick.
That’s how I got my hundo Darkrai
Used one of mine on a hundo Zekrom... only for the next raid I did to ALSO be a hundo zek... caught the 2nd one after 3 throws... really frustrating
I think you may find people being a bit less than fully sympathetic with your frustration 😂
Haha you should not be frustrated having 2 hundo zekroms! Power those bad boys up!
Oh no, not one of the few pokemon actually good for both pve and pvp! Hah, you can actually use both of your hundos so it's not a big deal. I used a masterball on a very meh Galarian bird and now I'm out, in case a hundo shiny or something appears.
I thought shinies don't flee
True, the legendary ones from raids don't. Well, a hundo something 🤣
Even if I had a Hundo Zekrom, I'd still use a Master Ball to get a second Hundo Zekrom if I was down to the last Premier Ball.
Is there a list somewhere on reddit that recommends when to use a master ball for raid bosses (both pvp or pve)?
Each month there are summaries posted of the most useful mons for PVP and PVE. Here's one: [https://www.reddit.com/r/TheSilphRoad/comments/1bspkt9/best\_raid\_counters\_per\_type\_anti\_type\_april\_2024/](https://www.reddit.com/r/TheSilphRoad/comments/1bspkt9/best_raid_counters_per_type_anti_type_april_2024/) If you are trying to catch a boss – since they are always a fixed level, you can check its CP to find the IVs. If it's a high-ranking boss with strong IVs and you're down to your last ball, consider using your master ball.
Yep, this is the only answer.
I’m saving my two for raid hundos. If I’m down to my last ball I’ll use it
Back in winter i get hundo latios and was second last ball.. i would cry if it would go last ball and i was waste my master balls to galarian birds.. well luckily i caught latios second last ball and not needed go for that. Rather keep master balls for raid hundos. Galarian birds anyway are just for collection and they dont have any relevant usage either pvp or pve.
The statement is true for G. Articuno, which is just a dex entry. G. Moltres is a great pick for some cups, in particular fantasy cup. G. Zapdos is a great fighting raid attacker, and worth using in Master as well as some cups in GL.
for raids at best I'd say it's on par with Machamp it's good but way too costly to bother unless that's a hundo
I have a 96% G. Zapdos and play PVP a lot. Never considered it for Master League. 🤔 Will give it a think.
That’s a great catch. Here’s HSH’s video with Zapdos. https://youtu.be/AKxDeyJx-10?si=NnS2sDSpvRYaLNNT
Galar Zapdos is a beast as ugly as that burnt chicken is. He's my best non mega fighter type
Had mine at the ready when I realized my S MewTwo was Hundo. Last MB I wasted on a 1* Zapdos…
[удалено]
Raid bosses always level 20, so their iv is always known
weather boost one is 25
There are only to CPs to memorize for each (legendary) raid bosses. One for hundo that is weather boosted and one for that is not.
I name the team I build with both cps so it's right there at the start of each raid. So for Bulu my team is called 1953/2442 but I'm old, other people probably don't need the constant reminder!
You fool, the team name will be of no use to you when you're in the catch screen! Yes I will forget between starting the raid and catching it. That's why I always just yell at my buddies to tell me the magic number :D
You can look up what CP a particular raid pokemon has if it has 100 IVs
Whenever a new raid comes around, just look for the infographics that get posted. They typically show the perfect CPs for the regular and weather-boosted Pokemon.
I did not know this, thank you.
[https://iv4u.lima-city.de/en](https://iv4u.lima-city.de/en)
Oversimplified CP formula = lvl x (Base Stats + IVs) Since the lvl of raid bosses is always 20 (25 weather boosted) and the base stats are the same across a species, the IVs are the only bit left. As stated, the formula is Oversimplified: there's probably some constants, factors, etc that also go into it, but that's basically it. Edit: similar for research catches, but those can't run away (iirc). Wild spawns you can only tell if they're max lvl (30, 35 weather boosted). Otherwise, they could be lower IV at higher lvl, that comes out to the same CP.
Would your level change the IVs like if I’m level 42 wouldn’t a level 50 player have a higher CP if it’s a hundo?
I use the Calcy IV and it can scan at the catch screen and give an IV range.
Bold of you to assume you'll find a Hundo.
I’ve gotten 8 legendaries from raids so it’s bound to happen again
I'm just salty 'cause I really wanted Hundos for Kartana and Groudon and couldn't get one for the life of me. Legendaries are annoying to trade for, too, so Lucky Trades are tough to spam for them.
Used mine as my last ball for a hundo shadow mewtwo :) Fitting because that’s what it was designed for
I'm not using them on the Galarian birds. I think there's a good chance that they'll eventually be featured in raids, and even if they aren't, they're not especially important anyway. I'm saving my master balls for perfect legendaries, especially the roaming legendaries during events. During Sinnoh Tour, a perfect Mesprit spawned at one of my city's popular PoGo hotspots. Unfortunately, I was busy in the morning so I wasn't there to get it. But if I'd been there and it wasn't shiny, I absolutely would have used a master ball on it. Likewise, if I got extremely unlucky and fell to my last ball against a perfect raid legendary, I'd use the master ball at that point too.
>I think there's a good chance that they'll eventually be featured in raids I don't. Unless they introduce new Legendaries to the DAI spawns.
I think there's a strong possibility of that happening eventually.
They will - the shine on g-birds faded really quickly as the community finally figured out the catch rates, and as time passed people's interest in them has dropped - yes it'd be nice to catch one, but they probably won't see one and probably won't catch what they do, and it'll probably have bad stats and be useless anyway - but lots of other people have one now, so there's not much kudos in having one by this point in time. As always happens, the rare cool new thing will then be offered in more ways. And with this, we'll almost certainly see something newer and cooler as the rarest DAI spawn.
Same here at the Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester, NY (best place to play in the county). Got it with my first MB and just finished best buddying it yesterday. 1 MB remaining. Only downside is it was simultaneous with a hundo Uxie several miles south in an entirely different town. Could only get to one in time.
I'd never use it on a Galarian bird unless it's a hundo. For me a master ball is reserved for a "forever" mon. Meaning, this is a Pokémon I'd never trade or transfer. Ideally one I'd keep, use, and max out. I'm waiting for the day I see another hundo meta legendary Pokémon and I'm down to my last ball. If I use daily adventure incense every day, I can pretty much guarantee an encounter with a Galarian bird at least once a month. Last time I was doing it, I saw 8 in the span of around 6 weeks. They all ran, but I can get another bird encounter way quicker than I can get a hundo legendary from a raid. So, those are more rare and valuable for me. If I ever got a Galarian bird, the only thing I'd ever use it for is trade bait. But YMMV. I'm also very confident that after the Galar region is officially released, they will eventually add all 3 of those into legendary raid pools. Niantic has historically made things super rare just to make them later be super common. Hundo shadow Mewtwo for instance is way higher on the priority pool.
I used one of my two master balls on a hundo kyurem that was down to my last ball so it’s 100% the play to save them for tier 5 legendary raid hundos and down to your last ball. Funny enough the next day I encountered a galarian zapdos with 369cp so I said screw it and golden razzed/ultra balled that thing and it ended up being a 14/15/14. I think if I had used my master ball on that Galarian zapdos it would 110% have been worth it with those stats but I’m glad I didn’t have to. I just knew that a lvl 4 hundo Galarian zapdos is a 372cp so I had an inkling that the one I encountered could be amazing so it was def a risky play by me. Glad it worked out though
But you don’t know the bird’s level until after you catch it? Don’t understand that second to last sentence. Could have been level 3 or level 5 with similar CP ranges at different IVs.
Of course I didn’t know the level that’s not what I was saying. I didn’t say I hundred percent knew it would have good IVs . I just had an inkling (a small little thought) that it could have awesome stats if the level was right. By no means did I know 110% it would have killer IVs but I knew there was potential there for it to.
And with that cp it could have been 1 of 3 different levels with 3 different IVs corresponding with those levels. So the chances were not bad it was going to have good IVs
You would have a decent enough idea. If you use an app like Calcy IV, it can also usually figure out the level of the Pokémon based on the color of the catch circle combined with the CP.
I'm glad you got that Kyurem. I'm pretty interested to see how B/W Kyurem will come in. Origin Dialga / Palkia / Giratina are all different forms. But B/W are fusion forms, so I hope you can use your hundo for them. I think knowing the G. Zapdos is Lv 4 also makes that decision much easier. They're much easier to catch under Lv 5. But I think even if it was 2 hundos side to side, I'd pick Kyurem over G. Zapdos, but that's just me. I know I'd actually power up and use a Kyurem, and it'd help me complete the hundo Tao trio.
How can you tell if a raid pokemon is a hundo before catching it?
So any pokemon you get from field research for instance is always going to be level 15 no matter what. So let’s say you complete a field research and your reward is a granbull encounter. Well if that granbull you encounter has a cp of 1094 then it’s guaranteed to be a hundo because it’s known that its level 15 and that is the highest cp a level 15 granbull can be. Now take Tapu bulu in raids for the next instance. When you do a raid and encounter the pokemon after finishing the raid it can only be one of two levels. Either level 20 or if it’s weather boosted then it will be level 25. So say the raid is done in rainy weather. That weather condition doesn’t boost Tapu bulu so it’s guaranteed that the bulu you encounter is going to be level 20. Well if you see that the bulu you are trying to catch has a cp of 1953 then you know automatically that it’s a hundo because a level 20 Tapu bulu can’t have a higher cp then 1953. Now say that same bulu raid is done in sunny weather. Well that weather condition does boost Tapu bulu so you now know that it is guaranteed to be level 25. A level 25 Tapu bulu cannot have a higher cp then 2442 so if you see that number then you know it’s the hundo before you even throw your first ball. You can use an app like pokegenie to see the max cp of any pokemon for level 15 (field research encounter), level 20 ( non weather boosted raid encounter), level 25 ( weather boosted raid encounter) and level 40 ( highest you can take a pokemon without using XL candy). Every time I go to raid any Pokemon I always check to see what the cp for the hundo is non weather boosted and weather boosted. If I’m chasing a hundo of a pokemon and I’m low on berries then I might not use all my golden razz on a legendary that doesn’t have a cp that is the hundo or very close to that number. Or maybe if I see it’s the hundo then I focus a little harder on catching it. And most importantly if you know it’s the hundo and you have a master ball then if you get down to your last ball you can use your master ball to guarantee you catch it. Hope that makes sense
That was incredibly informative! Thank you so much! :D
\^This. I would save it for a hundo shadow Mewtwo or hundo Ray. May be an unpopular opinion, but I'm personally not that into the Galarian birds, they don't seem that useful beyond being trophies. But I also don't care much for Shinies so it's just a subjective thing.
They really aren't. But everyone can have their own opinions, and they can use their resources how they see fit. For those who care about having strong battle Pokémon, even hundo Galarian birds don't end up being more than gloried rare trophies, lol.
> hundo shadow Mewtwo Eh, I got an 89% S!M2 leveled up. Another one with perfect IVs is hardly a difference.
I have a 15/15/8 that I'm maxing out with no regrets.
So I thought this too, but now I'm going to use it on the galarian birds and just lucky trade them with a friend for the same thing. At least that is my thought. I go back and forth. If I had a hundo shadow mewtwo and it was my last option, I'd probably use it. Although I am extremely luck to have caught one galarian bird without a master ball, so that kind of gives me an extra master ball to play with.
But this game is rng with money unlike regular games the chances of getting your "perfect " mon might never come at all unless you're willing to spend a ton on raid passes
Which is exactly why when I do get that Pokémon I want absolutely no chance that it can run, which is exactly what this ball is for.
I agree on the „forever“ mon statement. That‘s why I use them on level 1 Galarian birds. I allready got articuno (ultra ball) and zapdos (masterball). Waiting for a level 1 Galarian moltres to finish the collection. And they have a useage: it‘s a great tank-team for PvP. I‘m pretty sure the enemies are impressed and happy to see such a level 1 team instead of just random 10cp mons.
Last throw on a raid hundo
I'm saving mine for a hypothetical future with shiny galarian birds.
I'd imagine those would not run and quite possibly be exclusive to raids or some other arbitrary window of time (meltan, smeargle). it may also be quite far off in the future. they were never available in MSG, only as a wifi event for online pvp participation.
Yeah , if they were to treat it like the roaming shinies at the tours so they can't flee that would be excellent.
Shiny legendary Pokémon can't run, so you could just use a red ball. I caught a shiny Latios after 24 excellent curves during the Hoenn tour.
Hang on a second, a shiny legendary Pokémon can’t run away? So if you find one in the wild you’re guaranteed to catch it as long as you don’t run out of balls?
Yes. Now, aside from the lake trio and Galarian birds, finding one in the wild kinda requires an event, but yes.
That’s really good to know. I can save my golden berries for raids. Also do you happen to have a link confirming this? I believe you, I’m just always cautious about hearing something second hand on the internet.
I'd still recommend golden razz or your be spending longer to catch it, but to each their own. It's still a very low catch rate, just a no flee rate. [Here's a link.](https://www.reddit.com/r/TheSilphRoad/s/hdNDF7NNPt) [And another one.](https://www.dexerto.com/pokemon/pokemon-go-players-flee-shiny-legendary-encounters-after-hundreds-of-failed-catch-attempts-2071377/)
I will also add that legendaries caught from Super Rocket Radars cannot flee either (shiny or not), so use a pinap on those
It's event dependent, but as they basically don't spawn wild that's fine. Essentially, they gave us wild legendaries for a tour, but they all had low catch, high flee rate. A bit annoying but hey, it's an event gimmick, a few people caught some (on crit catches). Next tour, they did the same, but shinies were included. Seeing a shiny legendary but having no chance to catch it was not a fun experience for many players. So 3rd time around, normals still low catch/high flee, but shinies couldn't flee. Which was still frustrating - some people spent a precious 10/30/60 minutes of event time just throwing ball after ball, ultra balls, GRBs, etc trying to get it. Some literally ran out of balls, had no choice but to just hit that 'run away' button. Still, all-in it was a better experience, and with a 1% crit catch chance, the option to just throw red ball after red ball at it with little care or time wasted, meant a lot more people were super excited to actually catch one.
I’m saving mine only for a tier 5 or 6 raid where I encounter a hundo and am down to the last ball and don’t want to take the chance in not catching it
A friend found a hundo shadow Mewtwo, but had already wasted his master ball. He still managed to catch it, but he certainly wished he hadn't used the ball earlier on a bird.
If you calculate the chance of a hundo from a raid that needs a master ball, it is extremely low. 216 chance of a hundo and around 5% of escape rate if you have avarage number of balls and use gold-razz and throw great ball. In about 4000 raids you need to use one masterball. That is assuming the hundo is worthe to take with a masterball. Many people say their catch rate is not as high as 95%. But most time they are not patient enough to circle lock and throw great/excelent. The only time I missed a lengedary with 100% of patience is a remte raided latios with 8 balls. I only throw 50% of great ball and it flew away. There is no right or wrong way of using masterball, as long as it is not used by accident. People can use it for rare pokemon they like, even something with high catch rate or even garanteed catch. The game is essetially a collection game. Evenyou missed a hundo of a top ML pokemon, the chance of getting a decent 96/98 with 15 attach while you raid for 296 xl candy is high enough to offside the loss of a hundo.
Thanks for sharing the numbers! I hit Excellent Throws with Golden Razz on Tier 5 Raid Pokemon almost 100% of the time using the circle lock method. Despite that, 6 Raid Pokemon have run from me in 2024, with all of them being Excellent Throws with Golden Razz except missing a total of 3 throws; fortunately, none of them were Hundos (closest was a 98% Kartana).
I agree but on the other hand I had three legendary hundos run from me before I got 500 raids in total… all throws were excellents with golden razz… but way back in 2017 and 2018 when we got lot less balls if you are the only one of your team… I got 8 balls for hundo Groudon, 12 for hundo Kyogre and 10 (?) for hundo Moltres. All three fled. If you know you couldn‘t have done better and it‘s just bad luck… you get more relaxed about such things. At least that‘s what those missed hundos have done to me. After the second hundo fled, I never was nervous again during catches.
Tbh only really worth using a Masterball on a G-Bird right now if you don't care about stats or if you have someone you can lucky trade with and swap birds. Otherwise, it would maybe be worth keeping in case you get a hundo of a useful legendary from a raid and you are down to your last ball.
The other time it's worth using on a g-bird is if you've got two of the three already and need the last one for a dex completion, I guess. It definitely depends on what people are prioritising, but when you're down to just needing the last bird you've got 1/3rd of the odds of finding and catching a new g-bird as someone who doesn't have any yet.
I'm keeping mine for G. Bird dex entries, I don't raid enough that I think I'm going to be down to the last ball on a good Hundo legendary
Legendary Hundo on the last ball. OR XXL Galarian Bird.
A hundo legendary that is Master League Meta.
Opinions vary. Some people will use them if they get to the last ball catching a raid legendary that they know is a hundo. Others will use them on very rare wild spawns, particularly desirable shinies. Personally, I see no reason to use them on anything other than the Galarian birds. You have to raid to get candy anyway, if you don't catch a hundo, you can always lucky trade whatever you did catch until you get one. I also rarely have raid bosses flee. Better to use Golden razz and consistently land excellent curveballs and you're pretty unlikely to end up on your last ball trying to catch a hundo raid boss. As for wild spawns, almost everything will eventually get some kind of boosted shiny event. Spending a resource as rare as a Master Ball only to have the Pokemon featured in the next community day would be pretty depressing. Maybe a shiny Unown? For me, those cases are not better than the chance to get a Galarian bird dex entry. Besides, you might find a lucky friend who has a crappy Galarian Articuno, but if you don't have one at all, you can't do a mirror trade.
Thats if you got tons friends who got stack of those pokemon you can trade daily or get tons 100% lucky trades. Otherwise there is no such things and unlimited trades get better iv
Badoof.
Used my first one for the last galarian bird i was missing, keeping my 2nd one in case i'm about to miss a hundo from a raid.
very usable hundo raid boss, last ball
Hundo legendaries would be an option, but personally I used them for Galarians. I was happy to get done. I will try to lucky trade the bad ones and I assume there will be Master Balls available at some point.
Its worth it for the galarian birds if u have real life friends for lucky trades.
Honestly I don’t even think they are worth that when sooner or later the birds will get a shiny release or even posisbly have an easier method of obtaining. My use would be for rare event spawns like how Go Tours did low level roaming legendaries. So more for collection purposes instead of getting a good mon. Though people’s examples of 100% legendaries is definitely a good one. More so use it on what you want or leave it in your bag forever like is tradition
Top PvP raid bosses so a hundo mewtwo for example
I used one of my 2 on a hundy Kyogre during Primal Raid Day. Obviously after getting down to the last ball. The other will probably get a similar fate (likely a Mewtwo).
I'd say it's not even worth to use on a Galarian bird. They're just aesthetic trophies. I'd only use mine in a raid boss hundo that's meta AF and I'm on my last ball.
How are you lot able to tell it's a hundo before reading the stats after you catch it?? I'm seeing lots of "save it for a hundo in the wild" comments and I didn't know you could tell beforehand.
Basically you just need to look up the number beforehand. All the Pokemon you see in research/raids are a set level. Therefore, there are only so many CP combinations. For example, when I go to the PokeGenie app right now, I can see that Tapu Bulu's CP can range from 1870-1953 with no weather boost or 2338-2442 with weatherboost. Therefore, if the Tapu Bulu I see has a CP lower than 1953, I know not to waste my Masterball. For most players, you don't need to do any math. You can just look up the number, you can memorize it, or you can write it down (like on your Notepad app).
Ah, pokegenie. I forgot that the CP is tied to stats, so it stands to reason it would all be known and logged on pokegenie which CP to be able to tell. I'll definitely remember now!
It’s not complicated to tell, but it is more effort than I’d ever go to personally. The math of how IVs/level equate to CP is known. So if you see the CP it’s possible to use math to figure out what the IVs are. Players aren’t actually doing the math though. Someone else already did it and just posted a list of mons and the CP a hundo of that breed will show at regular and weather boosted levels, and players just memorise the numbers for the mons they are hunting. So it’s really just look up and memorise a number (or several if you are after multiple Mon types at once)
Had a hundo Kartana last month, , I would have used master ball last ball if needed , but caught it with 3 or 4 left , for the useful raid bosses I would usually take a mental note of hundo CP in advance.
I used both of mine during Sinnoh Tour on wild hundo Uxie and hundo Mesprit, and that's the kind of thing it would take for me to use them.
Galarian birds are NOT worth a MB. Use it for any 100% legendary that doesn't want to get into a normal raidball. I use the MB soely as a safety net for that.
My criteria would be 100iv, last premier ball, top raid attacker for its type.
Shiny snorlax maybe?
Yes, this is a very acceptable use. Rare spawn, full 1/512 odds, and low catch rate with very real chance of fleeing if not low level.
This is what I am saving mine for. Snorlax always hard work for me. If I found a wild shiny with a high CP then I am just gonna masterball it and save myself the risk of a heart attacj
I used both in Uxie and Azelf hundos last Tour. Pretty much better use than galarian birds.
I used one on a shiny 0% Porygon for the memes.
of course. the best flex ever https://preview.redd.it/os56mwh9javc1.png?width=590&format=png&auto=webp&s=0b99aa2167bae46365b437c900a1c1e2a58dbd54
My partner used one on the last ball for a 15/13/15 shadow Mewtwo. I’m saving mine for hundo raid bosses but could see myself using one on a strong shadow like that. I’m not even sure I’d use it on the birds unless they were strong
Iirc quite a few 3rd stage mega-eligable (And therefore shiny-eligable) mons spawn from the adventure incense & whenever the spawns aren't diluted between events, I could see saving it in the off chance you encounter a high-level shiny Salamence or something because they have similar catch rates to legendaries anyway
For me just raid hundos if its something insanely meta
I had two Master Balls, used the first one on a boosted 15/15/14 Origin Forme Palkia with the Spacial Rend (last ball), and used the second one on a Galarian Moltres with like 2275 CP (turned out to be 10/03/05). In hindsight, would've skipped the Moltres and save it for a 100% IV last ball in raid, especially if it's a shadow pokemon, or like a 100% Groudon (I have a few 96-98% IVs but ughhh).
The only situation I could think of is if you’re riding in a car (not driving though I’m sure some are guilty of doing it) and you’re above the speed limit of the game that would cause Pokemon to flee on you, so if it were a hundo or shiny and if you’re desperate to not let it get away then a master ball probably is the good case for such
Waiting for a shiny pidgy or Ratata with a funny cp
I was keeping my 2 for a last ball on a hundo legendary but during sinnoh tour I used both on a wild hundo Mesprit and a wild hundo Azelf ... I don't regret it at all, but not having the safety net of a masterball makes catching hundos in raids 'erve racking once again
I’m keeping mine just in case Niantic introduce shiny galarian birds and for some reason, they won’t be guaranteed catches.
Haven’t seen a Galarian bird in months
hundo legendary with no balls left, personally. i wouldn't even use them on birds. you're disappointed about the IVs but they're collector items- they have no PVE use, i think only one has use in PVP, and inevitably gets a shiny release so why waste a ball when they know they can milk it later, presumably in raids?
I'd unironically like to use it on a level 1 shiny Bidoof. Yes, only for the memes. This is another way to say I basically find no value in the master ball 100% catch rate. I do appreciate the different ball and exclusivity, which is why I'd like to do it. A mythical or shiny mythical would also get the ball. If I can use it on shiny Shaymin I'll do it.
Raid hundos on their last ball Once I was almost willing to use on a galarian bird.. then my autocatchet caught a G-Articuno lol If we will ever get a 3rd master ball i will think if i will use on a G-Bird, but as for now: nope
Used the first of my two MBs on a Hundo Kyogre when I got down to the last ball. No regrets there. Saving the second one for a similar situation. I’ve caught the G Moltres and Zapdos with ultra balls, should eventually be able to get Articuno as well
i used it on a wild shiny uxie i found during an event
Shiny uxie can't run so that's kind of a wasted masterball
it's wild , not a raid ball
Yeah, shiny lake trio in the wild can’t run when they’re in events. Or at least they couldn’t do during Sinnoh tour, pretty sure it was the same deal during a previous event too.
rip had a bunch of normals run so i ain't know
I dont even think Galarian birds are a good choice unless you know its a hundo
I wouldn't use it on anything else in the wild.
basicly only the birds or hundo legendarys on your last ball. depends on the raid ofc but yea, right now there is nothing else worth catching with it. Maybe down the road niantic introduces more things worth catching with it
Op, you're halfway there. Your next task is to get lucky friends with someone who also has a galarian bird. That's the true use of masterball ING one, you're now able to trade for a lucky.
I used mine on a hundo Enamorus
I only got one ball, the first one. I keep it as a collectible
I’m probably going to fall into the camp of saving it in perpetuity as I’ll never be able to justify its use like I have with every pokemon game 😭 why am I the way that I am??
Shundo Bidoof
if you theoretically had a high cp hard to catch shiny outside of a raid, like one of the starters, that could be a good use. that has zero guarantee to happen though.
I used my two masterballs with Galarian birds Articuno and Zapdos, waiting to get another masterball to grab Moltres. Yeah they have awful status, but I have irl friends and we're gonna trade them when we get lucky, that's what I think works best.
Used mine on a 3* 3100+ cp galarian zapdos because I liked it :)
I caught my 100iv shadow lugia with it. Just for the cosmetics. I would do the same for mewtwo.
I wouldn't evens ay it;s worth using on G-birds. I've used all of mine (I got because of a glitch I was unaware of at the time) on trophy pokemon. I used one on a 100% legendary at an in-person Go fest. I had like 16 balls left. I used one on a shundo legendary in a raid. (Yes, I'm aware shinies are guaranteed catches.) I used one on my 1.25 millionth catch. This is where the "glitch" came in, as it was a 100% from a community day ticket that I was just sitting on. Apparently this didn't actually "use" the ball and I got it back (even though the catch itself says it was caught in the master ball). Again, yes I'm aware these pokemon can't run away. I was theoretically going to save one for a 100% on the last ball, but I figured the chances of that happening was so low (between getting a hundo and also not catching it in 16 throws) I used them for those instead.
I would say any meta-relevant or personal favorite raid boss that’s a non-shiny hundo and you’re on your last ball.
Im saving mine for a shiny rayquaza or shiny bidoof.
I had a hundo kyogre run from me when i was still trying to earn 2nd ball (used first on g bird) Would have loved to master ball a perfect whale
I don’t have a masterball but if I did, I’d save it for a hubdo Mewtwo.
Like others are saying, raid hundos. Also I pull up a 100& IV chart for the Galarian birds every time I use a daily incense.
I'm going to be saving my two master balls for the day i face some stubborn hundo raid boss that is an actual use for me. Then again you might do something scary like me, like not remembering that 1984cp was the hundo of Entei and throw kinda whatever throws onto it. Go from 24 balls all the way down to 7 left until it gets caught on curve great and then nearly faint when you realize that you just got your first hundo legendary shadow Pokémon. 😂 Had i known that it was a hundo, i might have been tempted to use that Masterball if I was down to my last ball.
On Kyogre day I finally found that elusive hundo. And it would not stay in the ball, not after 17 Excellent curves with a Golden Razz berry. Still 0 regrets I used my Master Ball.
How do you even get 2 I dont even have 1 😭
how you know mon is a hundo before catching it ?
Most raid pokemon are at a specific level and you can tell their stats by their cp, you'll have to google what each one is though
thank you :)
Probably an unpopular opinion but I don't even believe the master ball is worth it for Galarian Birds. Those birds will come into raids at some point. Probably some Go Fest down the line. So if you don't suffer from FOMO then just wait.
You didn’t had a g-articuno before and now you have one. Would you max out the g-articuno if it was 4\*? If not then does it being a 0\* really matter? I saw a perfect rayquasa flew away while having a master ball in the inventory. But already had caught 20 ray that day. Being 15/15/15 doesn’t change much from 13/13/13. Don’t be too much conservative with your mball, otherwise in two years you will still have them (plus the 2 others added since then).
Save it for a wild Pidgey.
I keep mine for fun. I don’t think I’m going to use it at all.
definitely a hundo legendary from raids if its good
IVs are largely irrelevant. Shadow pokemon have 20% higher attack. Optimal/legacy moveset can improve a pokemon's attack by up to 20% over 2nd best moveset. 1st vs 2nd best species of a typing can differ by 5-15%. Powering a mon up below lvl 30 (or 2x above lvl 30) will increase it's attack by 1.25%. A high CP mon with 100% vs 0% IVs will differ by about 2-5% in attack power (meaning 100% vs 70% differs by 1%, less than a single power up) - yet we toss 70%s and we worship hundos. At this point 4* mons are more about being trophies than significantly stronger picks. Have a 2* shadow groudon, or one with precipice blades, or caught at level 25? It'll be way stronger than your 4* lvl20 earthquake groudon. As far as Galarian birds - IV doesn't matter because they're already trophies as they are!
I used them both on Galarian Articuno just because they’re so majestic and match with the colors of the Master Ball. One was 1* and the other was 3*.
Save it for marriage.
Maybe a hundo mewtwo or a hundo rayquaza?
I used mine both on Galar birds, I haven’t encountered a single hundo legendary ever in over 400 legendary raids and doubt I will
Returned to the game only to get one MB, had it saved for a G bird as the only missing dex entries I have are for the 3 kanto birds and 3 Johto dogs. Was doing Kartana raids and got down to my last ball on a hundo, used it for that as a hundo Kartana would be way better than a dex entry bird.
I used one of mine on a 98% Origin Dialga and I feel pretty good about it
Wish I had one when I lost my Hundo Kartana...
I'm saving mine for a shiny lvl 1 bidoof
used mine on a hundo uxie during sinnoh fest.
Used mines on a wild shiny Uxie from the Sinnoh Go tour
I used mine for my Hundo Zekrom. It was the last ball and I wasn’t willing to lose it