Dynamax Legendary Pokémon: We Need More Communication!

Yesterday the first ever Dynamax Legendary Pokémon arrived in Pokémon GO, with Dynamax Articuno debuting for Max Mondays. Next week brings the arrival of Dynamax Zapdos, which looks set to be a trickier battle than D-Max Articuno. So with our first experience of legendary Pokémon in Dynamax Max Battles, how did it actually work?

I want to offer up some opinions and experiences based on my own community’s attempts at defeating Dynamax Articuno last night, with some tips and recommendations for making these sort of D-Max raids easier in the future.

First up, a little better communication from Niantic clarifying if D-Max Legendaries would work like standard D-Max battles with a group of 4, or if they would work like Gigantamax with lobbies of 40 made up of groups of 4, would have given us all a bit better prep time. A lot of our local community arrived expecting that they would be in a lobby of 40, like previous G-Max battle events. This meant they weren’t necessarily as prepared as they could have been, without moves unlocked, and without optimal super effective counters, as they thought they could be carried through like they had been with the G-Max battles.

A clear sunset sky shows a Dynamax Zapdos, Dynamax Articuno and Dynamax Moltres in the sky, with a Power Spot in the background. Text in the bottom left reads 'Pokémon GO Dual Destiny'

To combat the lack of information, we chose to ask our group to arrive 15 minutes before the Max Monday start time so that we could figure out the level of preparedness within the group. We started by figuring out those who had prepared teams that could act as any of the roles needed – attackers, healers or defenders.. We then tried to split those who weren’t as prepared so that ideally one would be in each group of 4. On our first attempt it didn’t work great, my first attempt failed, as well as a couple of other lobbies. We reshuffled those of us that failed, and every group was then able to defeat D-Max Articuno successfully on our second attempt. Some trainers then decided they were one and done (which is absolutely fine), while others, like myself, had saved their Max Particles to do more battles.

We headed off to the next Power Spot, and as our numbers had dwindled, we made sure to prioritise trainers we knew were well prepared, with trainers who had been unable to successfully catch their first D-Max Articuno. With our later attempts, we went for a bit more attack heavy groups, with Cinderace being a real standout for doing some seriously hefty damage. Our second and third Max Battles went down easily, and everyone in our group was able to catch at least one D-Max Articuno!

A screenshot from the Pokémon anime, of a Cinderace on a grassy area. It has it's feet on the ground, lunging to one side, with arms raised at shoulder level, looking ready to attack.

My biggest takeaway from last night is that because the Dynamax/Gigantamax system is so much more complicated, we need to share advice on how to prepare as much as possible within local communities. While with raids you may be able to carry those who don’t have good counters through, with these Max Battles only being able to be groups of 4, you need everyone to be prepared ideally.

We’d love to see more information in-game itself from Niantic. This is a whole new game mechanism, and we’ve had very little in-game information on how to actually participate in these Max Battles. A tutorial would be a huge help, and this would be a good opportunity for Niantic to utilise Professor Willow properly, and have him thoroughly explain how D-Max battles work. Not everyone uses resources like GOHub, so having something in-game would target all trainers and make these battles more accessible. Too many trainers don’t understand the need for preparation, or how the battles will work.

The other way we can spread information, is to make sure that in-person communication is more effective too. Planning our groups beforehand was a big help to us, and allowed us to ensure that everyone was able to partake in the battles, even if they didn’t have the best counters. If you see new faces at meet ups, add them to your local Campfire, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, however you normally organise, so that you can share advice in the future. Share information you have on how to prep for these battles, and just generally be welcoming and helpful.

Zapdos Pokémon GO
Zapdos Pokémon GO

Last night our group realised that they needed to put more work into their D-Max Pokémon, so ahead of Max Monday for Zapdos next week, we’ve been sharing information on best options for taking down Zapdos. We are hopeful that this means that next week when we ask who has prepared a team of counters for one of the roles, that there will be more hands up, than down.

With Zapdos next week, our biggest concern is the lack of super effective attacking options. With Cryogonal ranking as the best attacking option, it really highlights how slim our pickings truly are. Articuno and Lapras, while both super effective, are also weak to Zapdos, so are a much riskier option. It would have been good to see Niantic put another Ice type, or even a Rock type into the Max Battle pool ahead of the Zapdos debut, just to give us more options. Many of my local group hadn’t bothered with Cryogonal at all, and will now be scrambling to try and get one so they can make a better team.

Keep talking with your local community, and hopefully you can also see success for your Legendary Dynamax Pokémon. Communication and preparation are the two most important parts of this new battle mechanism.

It can feel very intimidating realising how much preparation is actually needed for these Max Battles, so the more information you can share with others, the less intimidating it will be. Once we’ve done a few of these tricker Legendary Max Battles, I have no doubt that it’ll start to click for everyone what needs to be done ahead of time.

Did you attempt any Dynamax Articuno last night? Despite the dark night, and the steady rain, we had an amazing squad turn out of around 20 people which is amazing to see for a dreary, and cold Monday night.

Author & tags

kittypokemonsalot
kittypokemonsalothttps://www.kittyramblesalot.com/
Pokémon GO Hub Editor in Chief and Writer. Turtwig obsessive, real life Psyduck, Pokémon GO AR Photographer, found footage horror fan.
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