Is Shadow Annihilape in Pokemon GO worth it?

Shadow Annihilape in Pokemon GO made its debut on October 8, 2024, with the start of the Galarian Expedition Taken Over event. You can get it by capturing a Shadow Mankey, evolving it into Shadow Primeape, and subsequently evolving that. Given, the arduous process of evolving Primeape in Pokemon GO, is it worth the effort?

Shadow Annihilape in Pokemon GO is a bit of a mixed bag, following the addition of Rage Fist to its moveset during the Mankey Community Day of November 10, 2024. While it outperforms its non-legacy form, the non-Shadow variant is much better in all respects. However, this only applies to the PvP arena, where the creature shines in both the Great and Ultra League.

This article broadly discusses why it is worth using Shadow Annihilape in Pokemon GO at the time of its release.

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Why Shadow Annihilape in Pokemon GO might be worse than its regular form

Annihilape in the anime (Image via TPC)

Shadow Annihilape in Pokemon GO PvP

Despite the Counter nerf in the Season 20 GBL balance updates, the introduction of Rage Fist to Annihilape's moveset has opened up incredible new potential for the Pocket Monster in both the Great and Ultra League metas of Pokemon GO Battle League.

Shadow Annihilape comes with additional damage output at the cost of lowered defenses. However, the reason you pick Annihilape in the first place is the balance between bulk and offenses that it brings to the table. If you want something that is frail but hits harder, you are better off going with Primeape.

In the Great League, Shadow Annihilape underperforms compared to regular Annihilape in all situations. For a reliably and bulky Fighter, the non-Shadow variant is the way to go.

In the Ultra League, Shadow Annhilape has the edge over the regular version only in the 2-2 shield scenario and when it has a shield advantage. Therefore, if you are building a team with Annihilape as the closer, the Shadow form might be the way to go. However, the regular form is a more reliable pick when it comes to lead matchups.

Annihilape in the anime (Image via TPC)

Shadow Annihilape in Pokemon GO PvE

Shadow Annihilape emerges as the 14th-best Fighting-type attacker in the game. On paper, it is also the 10th-best Ghost-type attacker, but with only Fighting-type Fast Attacks in its kitty, it will never be chosen in a situation where Ghosts are needed. This is because both Psychic and Ghost—the only two types Ghost-type moves hit super-effectively—resist Fighting-type attacks.

As for a Fighting-type attacker, there are plenty of cheaper yet more effective options out there to choose from, making it a difficult market for Shadow Annhililape to infiltrate.

The addition of Rage Fist, which is pretty much a Shadow Ball clone in PvE battles, does nothing to swing things around for the beloved Pig Pokemon.

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Check out our other Pokemon GO guides:

• Ditto disguises
• Buddy Evolution Adventure Together guide
• Best Fast Attacks in Pokemon GO
• Sierra counters
• Cliff counters
• Arlo counters
• Giovanni counters
• Team GO Rocket Grunts