Is Dynamax Lugia Worth It in Pokémon GO? Full Meta Analysis & Rankings

Lugia Dynamax

This weekend, Lugia descends into Pokémon GO in its Dynamax form for the first time. For those who have raided Lugia before, or most recently, Shadow Lugia during the week leading up to the GO Wild Area 2025 event, you must have experienced how tanky the legendary bird could be.

Being a Pokémon with the 5th highest Defense value in the game, measuring at 310 DEF and 235 HP, Lugia is the Pokémon definition of a flying stronghold. Its relatively low attack value of 193 ATK only further cements its role as a tank for any content you want to take it to. As a tank, however, Dynamax Lugia faces extreme competition against frequently used elites such as Dynamax Blissey, Crowned Shield Zamazenta, Crowned Sword Zacian, Dynamax Latias, etc.

Can Dynamax Lugia break into this list and come close, even dethrone any of these tanks, or the legendary bird is just another good-to-have addition to the Max content roster?

The Current State of Tanks in Max Battles

In the current meta, Dynamax Blissey, Crowned Shield Zamazenta, Crowned Sword Zacian, and Dynamax Latias stand out as the go-to options for tanks with high DEF value, or in the case of Blissey, an extremely high HP pool that compliments its average DEF.

Stats value aside, these 4 alone also help cover resistance against 17 out of 18 different move types, leaving only Ground uncovered for now – an element that is resisted only by Flying, Bug and Grass.

Dynamax Lugia, being a Flying Pokémon, fits into the role of a tank against Ground like a glove, with double resistance to the element. Coupling with its innate Psychic type, Lugia also provides double resistance to Fighting – a type that is only single-resisted by Dynamax Latias, while the other 3 elite tanks mentioned above are either neutral, or weak to it.

A bulky tank with double resistance to Ground and Fighting – surely, nothing could go wrong for the legendary bird to cement itself as a formidable tank in Max content. Unfortunately, Dynamax Lugia comes with a crucial flaw…

Lacking a 0.5-second Attack is Crippling to Lugia

For those who have been around long enough, or have read our previous detailed guide on Max Battles, you must have known how important a 0.5-second Fast Attack (FA) is to a tank in Max content – and you can skip the next few paragraphs until we come back to Lugia. For those who are new, or need a refresher on this concept, read on.

With that in mind, let’s talk Lugia.

Having only Dragon Tail Dragon and Extrasensory Psychic under its Fast Attack arsenal, with both being 1-second long in animation, Dynamax Lugia is badly crippled as a tank. Taking twice as long to deal an instance of damage means that a party with 4 Dynamax Lugia would require double the amount of time to enter Max Phase, allowing the Max boss to land twice as many attacks on the team.

Therefore, as bulky as its stats may be, Dynamax Lugia unfortunately does not overtake any of the top tier tanks’ positions on neutral or single-resistance, and has to rely on its double-resistance against Ground and Fighting to prove its usefulness.

But even against these two types, is Lugia the undisputed #1 tank?

Lugia vs. Fighting-type Pokémon

Let’s use Gigantamax Machamp with Close Combat Fighting Charged Attack as an example.

Gigantamax Machamp

Every Close Combat from Gigantamax Machamp would deal 9.30% HP against Dynamax Lugia; but since it takes twice as long to charge up the Max Meter, this is equivalent to 18.60% HP if our legendary bird had a 0.5s Fast Attack. This number still puts Dynamax Lugia above all of the top 4 meta tanks, making it a top-tier tank vs. Fighting-type even though it lacks a 0.5s FA.

That said, and again just because of its Fast Attack, Lugia loses out to one single Pokémon that was not born to be a tank at all: Gengar. At 16.87% HP per Close Combat, Gengar is 10% better than Lugia at tanking Fighting-type moves.

This makes Dynamax Lugia, in numbers, the #2 best tank vs. Fighting in the current meta, even with a 1s Fast Attack.

Ranking	Pokémon	Resistance	% HP loss per Close Combat*	Best FA animation	% vs. Dynamax Lugia
1	Gigantamax Gengar	3x Fighting	16.87%	0.5s	+10%
2	Dynamax Lugia	2x Fighting	9.30%	1s	–
3	Dynamax Latias	1x Fighting	22.14%	0.5s	-16%
4	Dynamax Blissey	2x weak to Fighting	32.01%	0.5s	-42%
5	Crowned Sword Zacian	Neutral to Fighting	36.33%	0.5s	-49%
6	Crowned Shield Zamazenta	1x weak to Fighting	47.61%	0.5s	-61%

* Calculation done using Pokémon @ level 40, 10/10/10 IV. 

Lugia vs. Ground-type Pokémon

Let’s use a Pokémon that is not yet released as of this moment, but will definitely see its release sooner or later – the ultimate representation of Ground-types: Dynamax Groudon, using Precipice Blades Charged Attack as an example. 

Groudon Dynamax

Every Precipice Blades would deal 26.34% HP against Lugia. This number puts Lugia just very slightly ahead of Butterfree with 3x Ground resistance (52.91% HP), while ahead of the 4 elite tanks, and way ahead of Articuno which is another Flying-type tank (38.49% HP).

This makes Dynamax Lugia, in numbers, the #1 best tank against Ground in the current meta, even with a 1s Fast Attack.

Ranking	Pokémon	Resistance	% HP loss per Precipice Blades*	Best FA Animation	% vs. Dynamax Lugia
1	Dynamax Lugia	2x Ground	26.34%	1s	–
2	Gigantamax Butterfree	3x Ground	52.91%	0.5s	-1%
3	Dynamax Blissey	Neutral to Ground	58.27%	0.5s	-10%
4	Dynamax Articuno	2x Ground	38.49%	1s	-32%
5	Dynamax Latias	Neutral to Ground	KO	0.5s	x
6	Crowned Shield Zamazenta	1x weak to Ground	KO	0.5s	x
7	Crowned Sword Zacian	1x weak to Ground	KO	0.5s	x

* Calculation done using Pokémon @ level 40, 10/10/10 IV. 

How futureproof is Dynamax Lugia?

It’s hard to gauge the exact moment that Lugia will get power crept, but one thing is for sure: it will be.

Against Fighting, Dynamax Lugia will remain a top-tier tank until Dynamax Lunala (and if ever possible, Dynamax Dawn Wings Necrozma) enters the scene, which by then will be the undisputed #1 tank for this element. Another Pokémon that can potentially dethrone Lugia here is Dynamax Oricorio (Sensu).

Ranking	Pokémon	Resistance	% HP loss per Close Combat*	Best FA Animation	% vs. Dynamax Lugia
1	Dynamax Lunala	3x Fighting	8.31%	0.5s	+123%
2	Dynamax Oricorio	3x Fighting	15.24%	0.5s	+22%
3	Gigantamax Gengar	3x Fighting	16.87%	0.5s	+10%
4	Dynamax Lugia	2x Fighting	9.30%	1s	–

* Calculation done using Pokémon @ level 40, 10/10/10 IV. 

Against Ground, Lugia faces much more competition with a lot of common Pokémon, such as Scyther, Vespiquen, Gyarados, Salamence, Dragonite, Altaria… threatening its spot. The moment any of these Pokémon is released in-game, Lugia will quickly move down the pecking order.

Ranking	Pokémon	Resistance	% HP loss per Precipice Blades*	Best FA Animation	% vs. Dynamax Lugia
1	Dynamax Vespiquen	3x Ground	35.46%	0.5s	+49%
2	Dynamax Scyther	3x Ground	39.63%	0.5s	+33%
3	Dynamax Gyarados	2x Ground	46.47%	0.5s	+13%
4	Dynamax Dragonite	2x Ground	45.64%	0.5s	+15%
5	Dynamax Altaria	2x Ground	51.01%	0.5s	+3%
6	Dynamax Salamence	2x Ground	51.51%	0.5s	+2%
7	Gigantamax Butterfree	3x Ground	52.91%	50s	+2%
8	Dynamax Lugia	2x Ground	26.34%	100s	–

* Calculation done using Pokémon @ level 40, 10/10/10 IV. 

Conclusion

Despite being a formidable stronghold with extremely high DEF and HP, the lack of a 0.5s Fast Attack considerably cripples the tanking ability of Dynamax Lugia.

Being #2 tank against Fighting and Ground in the current meta is a notable feat; but eventually in the future, when more Dynamax Pokémon get released that can provide as much resistance, and with 0.5s Fast Attack, Lugia will quickly lose its spot.

Until Lugia is given a 0.5s Fast Attack ala Suicune with Water Gun, it will probably be useful in 5* Dynamax battles against Fighting and Ground typing, or 6* Gigantamax battles against the same types, but only if you have a sizable crowd to join the battle with you. Otherwise, if you intend to take on the Dynamax / Gigantamax bosses as a solo, duo, or just with a smaller crowd in general, the slow Max Meter build up from Lugia will not be at all helpful.