Gigantamax Kingler Battle Guide: Counters, Teams, and More

Kingler (Gigantamax)

Gigantamax Kingler is a Tier 6 Max Battle in Pokémon GO. It costs 800 Max Particles to participate in this Max Battle, which will only be consumed if you defeat Gigantamax Kingler successfully. Gigantamax Kingler can be shiny from Max Battles. Gigantamax Kingler can be challenged by up to 40 Trainers.

Kingler is a pure Water type, so it is 2x weak to Electric and Grass type Pokémon. It resists Fire, Ice, Steel  and Water. Kingler is boosted by Rainy weather. It can be caught with the following CP: 1540 CP – 1616 CP.

Gigantamax Counters

Gigantamax Battles can be participated in by up to 40 Trainers. Those 40 Trainers are then split up into groups of 4 that work together. In each group of 4 we recommend two Trainers have teams focused on attackers, one tank/defender team, and one healer team.

⚔️ Best Attackers for Gigantamax Kingler

The best attackers for defeating Gigantamax Kingler are the following Pokémon:

Pokémon	Fast Move
Toxtricity (Gigantamax)	Spark Electric
Venusaur (Gigantamax)	Vine Whip Grass
Zapdos Dynamax	Thunder Shock Electric
Rillaboom Dynamax	Razor Leaf Grass
Toxtricity Dynamax	Spark Electric
Venusaur Dynamax	Vine Whip Grass

There are a variety of options available for Gigantamax Kingler, with both powerful Grass and Electric types to build your team. Your best Gigantamax options are Gigantamax Venusaur and Toxtricity.

Dynamax Zapdos will have debuted in GO days before Gigantamax Kingler, making it trickier to level up appropriately. If you do opt to use it, focus on levelling your Max Attack move on it to optimise damage, as your aim with Zapdos will be maximum damage, with another member of your team defending and healing.

Gigantamax options will do more damage than their Dynamax counter parts, so if you have them, use them. Luckily there are plenty of much more accessible Dynamax options: Venusaur and Rillaboom being the most readily available, plus Toxtricity. Make sure they all have the appropriate typed Fast Moves, Grass for the first two, and Electric for Toxtricity. 

🛡️ Best Defenders for Gigantamax Kingler

The best defenders to use against a Gigantamax Kingler are the following Pokémon:

Pokémon	Fast Move
Blastoise Gigantamax	Water Gun Water
Lapras (Gigantamax)	Water Gun Water
Venusaur (Gigantamax)	Vine Whip Grass
Metagross Dynamax	Zen Headbutt  Psychic
Blastoise Dynamax	Water Gun Water
Venusaur Dynamax	Vine Whip Grass

❤️‍🩹 Best Healers for Gigantamax Kingler

The best healers to use in a Gigantamax Kingler Max Battle are the following Pokémon:

Pokémon	Fast Move
Venusaur (Gigantamax)	Vine Whip Grass
Blastoise (Gigantamax)	water Gun Water
Lapras (Gigantamax)	Water Gun Water
Venusaur Dynamax	Vine Whip Grass
Blastoise Dynamax	Water Gun Water
Greedent Dynamax	Tackle Normal

Gigantamax Kingler Movepool

*Denotes a Legacy Move only available via Elite TM.

Gigantamax Bosses use 2 charged moves from their movepool, which can include legacy moves:

• One attack will damage all Pokémon currently active in battle and cannot be dodged.
• The other is as a more powerful attack that targets only one of the active Pokémon.

The single-target move deals double the regular damage, but it can be dodged by swiping when you get the warning above your Pokémon. They do not use any of their Fast Moves.

Gigantamax Kingler has access to Bug type move X-Scissor, which will do some major damage to your Grass type counters. If your teams are primarily grass based, it may be worth exiting and re-entering the battle to reroll the moveset in order to avoid X-Scissor. Water and Normal type moves will do neutral damage to your Grass counters.

Your Electric types are going to resist all potential moves which means it matters less which moveset Kingler has.

Why do we recommend not using Charged Moves in Gigantamax Battles

We don’t recommend using any Charge Moves in Gigantamax Battles. The main reasons we recommend not using charged moves during Gigantamax Battles are as follows:

• The amount of Max Energy generated per attack is based on damage dealt in relation to the maximum HP of the Gigantamax Boss, but has a minimum value of 1, because the formula uses rounding.
• Because of how bulky these Gigantamax Bosses are, there are no charged moves that can generate more than 1 Max Energy per use. In other words, you are losing time using Charge moves.
• Since the execution time of Fast Moves are a lot quicker than those of Charged Moves (charged attacks have a much slower animation), yet they generate the same amount of Max Energy, using only Fast Moves fills up the Max Meter faster.

For Gigantamax battles and Legendary Dynamax battles, using only fast moves is the best strategy. Be sure to advise your fellow Trainers of this when meeting up with your local community to optimise this strategy!

How Gigantamax Battles work

To participate in a Gigantamax Battles you have to be there in-person, at Power Spots, which are easily identified on the map by the purple marking and large ‘X’ above them. You can challenge Gigantamax Battles with up to 40 people, which will be divided into groups of 4 Trainers.

• Each person can bring up to 3 Dynamax Pokémon in their team, but participation is possible with just one Dynamax Pokémon.
• Only Dynamax and Gigantamax Pokémon can participate in this Max Battle. Existing non-Dynamax Pokemon are not eligible.
• Max Battles are turn based, differing from both raiding and GO Battle League. More strategy will need to be implemented for harder Max Bosses.

How to charge up your Max Meter?

In a Gigantamax Battle, tap the screen to use Fast Attacks as fast as possible, and ti fill up the Max Meter at the top of the screen. Your Max Meter is filled depending on how much damage you do, but never less than 1 Max Energy.

Since Gigantamax Bosses have incredibly high stats, it is not worth using Charge Moves – you are better off using Fast Moves. This is quite different from Dynamax Battles, so be careful.

How to dodge Boss Attacks

When three lines appear above a Pokemon’s head, it means it is being targeted by the Max Battle Boss. You can avoid this by swiping to either the left or the right.

The Dynamax Phase

When your Max Meter reaches its maximum, your Pokémon will automatically Dynamax/Gigantamax. You can fill it up by swiping towards the energy icons that appears from time to time, or by using your Fast and Charged Attacks. Once it is full, your Pokémon will Dynamax for 3 turns.

• You have a 3 second countdown to choose the Pokémon you wish to Dynamax / Gigantamax. You can pick any Pokémon, but it depends on which role you are fulfilling in your group. 
• Once your Dynamax Phase ends you can immediately switch back to another Pokémon in your team if you wish to.
• You can Dynamax more than once in a Max Battle, and will automatically Dynamax once your Max Meter refills.

If all of your Pokémon faint while battling a 3-star or higher level Boss with other Trainers, you can still help your allies by cheering for your them so that their meters fill faster.

Best Group Composition for Gigantamax Battles

For Gigantamax battles a maximum of 40 Trainers can enter the battle together, in lobbies of 4 Trainers. Generally, the best strategy for each group of 4 is to have :

• 2 attackers
• 1 defender
• 1 healer

This will allow your group to stay alive as long as possible, whilst also directing damage towards one specific trainer, and allowing maximum damage to take place.

It is advisable to keep in mind that Trainers are grouped together in the order of joining the lobby, so it may be worth planning to ensure that the most prepared Trainers with leveled up Max Spirit and Max Guard are paired with others who are only prepared for attacks.

It is also worth communicating with your fellow Trainers to ensure that those who may be less prepared, such as children who don’t have the resources of others, are included in groups that can help carry them through.

Max Guard

Max Guard can be used to add a maximum of 3 shields to your Pokémon. How much HP a single shield can absorb depends on the Max Guard level.

• 20HP for level 1
• 40HP for level 2
• 60 HP for level 3

When stacked to a maximum of 3 shields it gives you:

• 60HP for level 1
• 120HP for level 2
• 180HP for level 3

If you find you are re-entering your Dynamax Phase and you still have shields left, it would be recommended to top back up to 3 shields, then use your Max Attack for your other moves.

While shields are only applied to the Pokémon using them, it is a hugely important aspect of a Max Battle. Whilst shielded, the Max Battle boss will direct its focused attacks towards the Pokémon that is shielded only!

The defender therefore draws damage away from the other active Pokémon in battle, protecting them from the more powerful Max Battle attack. Dodging should still be attempted in order to reduce the damage received and keep your shields up for longer. We cannot under-estimate how important Max Guard is due to it drawing damage away for your whole group, it is absolutely key to utilise in your strategy.

Only one person in your group of four needs to use Max Guard, so communication is key here.

Max Spirit

Max Spirit heals not only Pokémon using it, but also any other active Pokémon on the battle field in your group of 4. The amount of health restored is based on the level of Max Spirit and the user’s maximum HP. Aim to level up your Max Spirit to at least level 2 for a dedicated healer.

This means that Pokémon with high stamina and HP stats are better healers, even if they don’t have optimal attacks for their Max Battle boss.

Sprites

Regular Sprite	Shiny Sprite