How time flies! It’s been nearly 2 years since the debut of the Legendary Kanto Birds in Max Battles. Back then Dynamax Articuno, Moltres and Zapdos came to Pokémon GO with much fanfare, as trainers were still easing into a brand new mode that was just released months prior. Many were in need of a notable upgrade to their roster filled with Wooloo’s and Skwovet’s (yes, I was one of them too).
21 months later, however, the Ice Bird returns with a completely opposite level of hype, and it becomes much more difficult to justify whether it is still worth farming for or not…
Stats & Role in Max Content: Dynamax Articuno
Dynamax Articuno
Ice
|
|
|---|---|
| Max CP | 3450 |
| ATK | 192 |
| DEF | 236 |
| HP | 207 |
| Weak to | Rock (x2) Electric Fire Steel |
| Resists | Ground (x2) Bug Grass |
| Fast moves |
|
| Max Move |
|
– 1.0sWith an ATK value that is less than 200, not having access to any 0.5s fast move, and hard-locked to Ice Max move, it is almost quite clear just by looking at stats alone that Articuno is not going to excel at any field. Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean Articuno can’t get any job done, it just doesn’t have to be the best at it.
Considerably Outclassed as an Ice Attacker
Even though Ice attackers are already thin in number in Max Battles, Articuno still can’t break into the top three. It sits at #4, far behind Weavile (who arrives in October 2026), Glaceon, and Gigantamax Lapras. The outlook only gets worse from here. Once every Ice-type Pokémon eventually joins the roster, Articuno falls all the way to #21.
If you need an Ice attacker for your Max team, Dynamax Weavile and Dynamax Glaceon would be much smarter choices, are they are less costly and easier to farm. It is simply not worth it to chase after Articuno for this role.
| Ice | ||
| Ranking | Pokémon | Damage Output vs. D-Max Articuno |
| 1 |
Dynamax Weavile
|
+27% |
| 2 |
Dynamax Glaceon
|
+24% |
| 3 |
Gigantamax Lapras
|
+11% |
| 4 |
Dynamax Articuno
|
– |
| 5 |
Dynamax Cryogonal
|
-1% |
Surprisingly Good Tank against One Single Type
Dynamax Articuno‘s Ice/ dual-typing gives it a double resistance to Ground-type attacks, and a surprisingly decent one at that. With high DEF value, it ranks #3 in the current pool for tanking against that typing, a spot it holds onto respectably even once every Pokémon eventually joins Max Battles at the eventual #8.
However, that’s as far as the Ice Bird flies, unfortunately. The lack of a 0.5s fast move keeps Articuno from becoming more of a generalist tank. Outside of Ground, it ranks far from the top across every other typing, even against the current, more limited pool of Max Battle-ready Pokémon.
| Element | Current Pool | All Released |
| Ground | #3 | #8 |
| Bug | #10 | #39 |
| Grass | #15 | #54 |
| Dark | #21 | #97 |
| Dragon | #21 | #103 |
| Ghost | #21 | #118 |
| Fighting | #24 | #187 |
| Fairy | #25 | #96 |
| Normal | #26 | #144 |
| #27 | #106 | |
| Poison | #29 | #171 |
| Ice | #30 | #130 |
| Water | #30 | #140 |
| Psychic | #31 | #154 |
| Electric | #65 | #431 |
| Steel | #74 | #442 |
| Fire | #73 | #408 |
| Rock | #97 | #651 |
Verdict
Despite bearing the status of a Legendary Pokémon (and a rather iconic one at that to the childhood among many of us), Dynamax Articuno is unfortunately no more than a rare collectible, and hardly a meta Pokémon in Max Battles. As an attacker, it is already far-outdamaged by Dynamax Glaceon, and that ranking will just get worse once Dynamax Weavile comes. As a tank, there is a niche use for Articuno as one against Ground-type attacks, but the lack of a 0.5s fast move makes it significantly more difficult to use it to charge up the Max Meter in battles.
You can consider catching one for nostalgic value; however, honestly speaking there is no need to burn premium resources to over-farm for a high IV one, if meta matters to you.
