Couldn't agree more. I turn to Aggron for all my raiding needs. I anchor with a Blissey to make sure I don't lose my damage bonus. Gengar and Cacturne are best used as gym defenders as Gengar is literally a ghost and is quite frightening while Cacturne has sharp points meant to deter any potential attackers. I've transferred all my Mewtwo because I just can't find a use for them.
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Why do people insist on using frail high dps counters in solo raids?
For me they either always get killed by a really difficult to dodge flying charged move like psychic or even worse, just outright trigger the self destruct glitch.
There is no way to use them sensibly, because eventually the frail counter will self destruct, kill around 1 more pokemon and restore the boss back to near full health. If this is a tier 2 it's still ok but if it's something like a Tangela or Claydol you had already lost and can kiss your ass goodbye.
In other words, Sharpedo, Absol, Gengar, Deoxys, Cacturne etc will trigger it around 90% of the time. I do not understand why people use them for high dps and screw themselves up at the very end. I had better luck with harder raid bosses just by hitting them with Tyranitars, Moltres etc. If you try to get ahead of the clock too hard, the game seems to just outright screw you up in the craziest ways possible.
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How difficult the charge move is to dodge has no impact on how likely it is to trigger phantoms. Possible explanations for why you encounter this problem so often include problems with phone performance and problems with connection stability.
All I can say is that I've successfully used Gengar, Sharpedo, Cacturne, Swellow, Victreebel, Shiftry, Manectric, Roselia and others in tier 3 solos dozens of times and phantoms screwing up the raid is much rare for me than it is for you. I'd estimate at most 5% of runs fail because of phantoms, most raids aren't even hard enough that this happening would cause a loss.
Also Moltres has the highest DPS against Tangela. There's literally no reason to use anything else if you can pack a team of Moltres. Not a great example for your post.
EDIT: As for the overall question of why people insist on DPS, it's because that's the hardest part in many raids. Survival is usually much easier and if you have enough DPS, you can afford to rejoin too.
It can feel that way when you're doing the raid, but consider the fact that you had to research what had good enough DPS and prepare those counters beforehand. They're different kinds of challenges, but DPS takes a lot more work to solve because you have to do it before attempting the raid. Survival isn't always easy either, but we have dodging to help with that. As long as there are no phantom hits, dodging generally lets you beat any raid as long as your team has the DPS. Notable exceptions are Confusion Alakazam/Jynx and VS Raichu against which even dodging all charge moves perfectly might not be enough with certain teams.
I also get the Dodge glitch consistently - I've never dodged a charge attack that would have killed me and NOT died due to the glitch. 100% glitch rate.
So I don't try to dodge them anymore. Sometimes I mess up (dodging a charge that I think I would have survived, then get the glitch) but mostly I just Dodge the charge moves I would have survived and if it would kill me I let it do so.
If I do get the glitch, I just swap to the next Pokemon immediately. I don't see why you're saying you lose so much time or another Pokemon? You should swap to the next and lose maybe a fast attack of damage and health?
DPS is king. TBF I mostly just do tier 5 raids, but still. It feels great to get 3 damage balls in a 8-10 person raid because I have a best friend in there and am using Shadow claw gengar and shadow ball mewtwos.
It's something completely different. If you dodge too much in a solo raid, the game will hit your pokemon (And sometimes even multiple pokemon in a row) with a phantom charged move and the boss will undo some damage. Sometimes it takes a series of dodges to get it, other times it activates nearly instantly. It is very noticable and if it's a hard enough raid like Tangela it is game set.
Because the higher the DPS, the more likely you are to win under the time, it's as simple as that really. If you can't dodge, then you are right, these frail powerhouses are of no use, if you can, then they should rightfully take their place in your line up. Be that user error, bugs or dodgy hardware, dodging isn't for everyone but it DOES work in solo raids & can be very helpful against some harder bosses to lead off with the glass cannons & get yourself ahead of the clock.
Wait... people actually use Deoxys, let alone Sharpedo and Cacturne? I've yet to see anyone power any of these up, let alone use them in raids. Sure, people may pull out glass cannons like Alakazam for a Machamp solo or Gengar on an Alakazam solo to get them ahead on the clock. I don't see the ones you used as examples as actually being used though.
Only people who do unique 6s or pokedrafts since there are better options for any raid if your goal is just beating it. I have 2 Cacturne (for each moveset) and a Sharpedo maxed (and will max another if I need it with HP) and they've certainly seen use. But I'd never recommend them for anyone for general raiding utility, there are just so many better options.
I very often use the glassiest of glass. I don't understand your comment about the boss regaining. If you're are in solo the heath restored is minimal, if you are in a group it only happens if the whole lobby wipes at the same time. Therefore in groups its good for one person to faint early and rejoin before the auto selectors aggron and lugia falls because it will actually prevent the damage restoration.
Maybe because they know what they're doing? Two main points regarding solo raids:
1. Survivability isn't about how long you can survive; it's about surviving longer than the raid boss.
2. In most cases, if you are dodging in solo raids, you are doing it wrong. DPS is absolutely the most important factor in solo raids, and dodging devastates DPS most of the time. That includes perfect dodging, which very few people realistically accomplish.
I considerAlakazam and Espeon to be "frail, high DPS counters," and when I use them in Machamp raids along with a single C/P Mewtwo, I consistently win with nearly a minute left. It doesn't matter that my team can only survive for 130 seconds, if I kill the boss after 125 seconds.
