PvP Priorities for December Community Day 2023

December Community Day 2023

Date & Time 📆

• Saturday, December 16, 2023, from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. local time
• Sunday, December 17, 2023, from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. local time

Event Bonuses 🎁

Highest Priority

The below are, in my view, the highest priority picks for both hunting and evolving for PvP this community day. They are all meta relevant, noticeably improved with their legacy move, and worth investing your time and resources into.

Walrein

Walrein is still very decent in the Great and Ultra Leagues – but having its community day moves is a non-negotiable. The exclusive fast move Powder Snow allows Walrein to power out its exclusive charged move Icicle Spear quickly, and being able to hit flyers for at least neutral damage is valuable, particularly in the Great League. If you’ve been sitting on a shadow to evolve, now is absolutely your time to take advantage of its exclusive moveset availability.

Ursaluna

Ursaluna is actually pretty decent in the open Master League. Getting access to High Horsepower is genuinely really tough, because outside of a full moon, you can’t evolve Ursaring, and even then you won’t have access to the exclusive move when you do. Don’t sleep on this opportunity!

Chesnaught

Chesnaught is a bit of a sleeper pick across all 3 leagues (including Master League Premier Cup), and is one of my sneaky faves. Frenzy Plant is objectively better than Grass Knot, so now is a good time to upgrade your Grass type output. It can get a bit caught out against Flying and Fire types, but in the right team it can be a fantastic fit.

Tyranitar

Tyranitar with Smack Down is honestly, only ok in most PvP situations. However, it’s not a bad idea to take advantage of access to the move so that you’ve got access to both a good Smack Down variant and a Bite variant. This is because Mega Ttar is pretty awesome on the PvE scene, coming in at #3 for Rock type attackers and #1 for Dark types! I know this is a PvP analysis… but it’s hard to ignore those numbers. If you are yet to get a good Smack Down TTar for your roster, now is the time.

Sandslash (Alola)

Alolan Sandslash prefers to run Shadow Claw as its fast move, so if you want to build one with Shadow Claw and one with the non-exclusive Powder Snow, then now’s your chance. I personally think the shadow variant is way better. So if you are able to hunt some down from the Ice and Steel Rocket Grunts in the short term, you can still take advantage of the opportunity to get its exclusive move through evolution (as Frustration only prevents you from getting access to charged moves, not fast moves). Given A-Shrew won’t be in the wild for this event, I think the shadows are the way to go.

Haxorus

Haxorus has recently been the unlucky recipient of this season’s nerf to its main weapon in its arsenal, Breaking Swipe. This isn’t the time to go into the disappointing flow on effects from Niantic trying to nerf Steelix… what I would say is that Haxorus with Breaking Swipe is still decent. It’s always going to play the glass cannon role, and it is now a coin flip whether it will get the attack drop in battle, but Breaking Swipe is still a strict upgrade from the alternative Dragon Claw. I would evolve one for each league if you don’t yet have them built, and see how the meta plays out.

Blastoise

Blastoise isn’t necessarily meta anymore, and it really needs Hydro Cannon to have any play whatsoever. Although you don’t see many around, the high bulk Blastoise is actually a bit of a menace in the Ultra League, withstanding an insane amount of damage and getting to its Hydro’s with surprising speed. Also, Mega Blastoise is still really good in PvE, currently #3 for Water type attackers.

Poliwrath

Poliwrath with Counter is new meta. Having just received access to Icy Wind and the buffed Scald, Poliwrath is going to be absolutely everywhere powering through teams. The shadow is also really good – and like A-Slash, you don’t need to have removed Frustration to win out here. 

Greninja

Greninja’s community day was only in August, so even new players should have access to the exclusive move Hydro Cannon. Even so, you need Hydro on your Greninja, period. The numbers don’t lie – in the Great League, Greninja in an even shield scenario is very good, and with a shield advantage is almost unbeatable. One day we might even get Ash Greninja, so it’s not a bad idea to be saving your 4 stars for the future.

Charjabug

I was personally surprised at how impactful Volt Switch has been for Charjabug in the Great League. Although it feels like it doesn’t change its winning matchups, the extra damage output helps it out quite a lot. Although the community day was very recent, you can take advantage of the opportunity to get one now.

Charizard

Alright. If you’ve been playing PvP over the past few seasons, you’ll know just how crazy good Charizard has become in the meta. While you would think this is because of Blast Burn, it’s really because of the buff to its non-community day but other legacy move, Wing Attack. Wing Attack’s increased energy gains allows Zard to reach its Blast Burns with lightning pace, threatening shields early or sweeping teams in a closing role. 

Annoyingly, you’re going to end up with Dragon Breath as the fast move this weekend, so you’ll need to spend a Fast TM of some kind (unless you want the DB variant, which isn’t really viable anymore). Without going into all the sims, let’s just say that:

• YES you do want to use an Elite Fast TM for Wing Attack;
• YES you do want to build the Shadow version for both the Great League and Ultra League;
• and YES, it is totally worth it.

Medium Priority

These guys fit into the decent, but not super relevant category – or their commday has been so recent that its unlikely you’ll need to prioritise highly (looking at you Wooper).

Jumpluff

Jumpfluff really does want Acrobatics in its arsenal, particularly now that it has access to the fast move Fairy Wind to help it get to its expensive charged moves quickly. Jumpfluff is probably at its best in limited metas, but does have some niche play in the open Great League. If you’re still hanging onto a shadow, the results are even better!

Sandslash

Even with the cheap charged move Night Slash in its arsenal, Kanto Sandslash struggles to make a big impact in the Great League meta. Its typing leaves it with loads of weaknesses, and it isn’t really strong enough to take down much of the meta. Evolve one for sure, but probably worth holding out on building one until the right limited meta comes along.

Hydreigon

I personally love Hydreigon but it’s probably not your highest priority build right now for PvP. You don’t see too many Hydreigon’s in the open Master League meta, as it’s just too flimsy to hold on for long in neutral or losing matchups. What you do want Brutal Swing for is PvE. Hydreigon is currently ranked #5 for Dark type attackers, dealing out super fast damage thanks to its quick window and cheap energy requirements. 

Obstagoon

The meta has moved a little bit in recent times, and Obstagoon isn’t around as much in the open meta right now. Obstruct is a bit of a funny move for Goon. Its effect of increasing your own defence and lowering your opponents really encourages a specific style of play – a closing role with shields to get the most out of Goon’s defence. It’s worth reviewing JRE’s previous analysis to understand in a bit more depth what Obstruct means for Goon and whether it’s worth it for you.

Delphox

I want to like Delphox in PvP, I really do. Blast Burn unfortunately isn’t turning this fox into a meta pick, but it is decent enough in the right circumstances. It helps it out in PvE a lot, but isn’t super high priority.

Conkeldurr

Conkeldurr with Brutal Swing is more of a sidegrade than a strict upgrade, but I quite like it. Conkeldurr is probably most relevant in the Master League, where its bulk can shine. It probably prefers running Stone Edge in that higher CP meta, but Brutal Swing is definitely viable. 

Quagsire

For those of us who played last season’s dreaded Catch Cup, you’ll be sick of seeing Quagsire running around. Aqua Tail isn’t a strict upgrade for Quag, but does help it deal out Water type damage that was previously lacking in its arsenal. I would personally recommend building one with Aqua Tail and one with Mud Bomb, to give you the flexibility you need based on the meta.

Slowbro

Slowbro with Surf is a pretty decent anti-meta pick in the Great League! Its ability to effectively take down meta staples such as Medicham, Charizard, Gligar and Stunfisk, makes it an interesting spice pick. It has decent bulk but is a little slow to reach its charged moves, meaning it does have trouble pressuring shields. Still, Surf is a must for Slowbro to function well as it gives it a decent charged move to play with.

Slowbro (Galarian)

As above, Galarian Slowbro also really wants Surf in its moveset as a cheaper charged move to bait with / pressure shields. G-Bro is more of a limited meta pick, featuring heavily in the Love Cup.

Slowking (Galarian)

… See above! For a more in depth analysis on G-King and its slow variants, JRE has previously done a bigger deep dive for you.

Low / No Priority

I won’t dive into these guys too much, but needless to say they either don’t cut the mustard in PvP at all, or their exclusive move is one you actively want to avoid!

Bewear

I kinda like Bewear, but not with Drain Punch. Any combo of Stomp, Superpower and Payback are my recommended movesets. In particular, Payback let’s it play a pretty decent anti-Ghost role and hit back hard against Psychic types. Bewear is ok overall, but Drain Punch ain’t it.

Staraptor

Staraptor, particularly the shadow, is actually pretty decent in the 1-shield scenario! It is nice to have Fly in its arsenal too now, helping it to deal out quick charging Flying type damage without the debuffing issues associated with its usual alternative, Brave Bird. Do you need Gust though? With Wing Attack now a superior energy generating fast move, I think that Gust is personally worth a miss to avoid the TM tax. If you are looking at the Starbird in PvE, then Gust appears to be the way to go, but it’s marginal overall.

Gigalith

Roggenrola is a fan favourite, but was done dirty in PvP with its community day move Meteor Beam. It makes Gigalith decent as a Rock type attacker, but doesn’t help it in trainer battles to have any real relevance.

Golem (Alola)

Alolan Golem is decent in limited metas, but usually prefers either Volt Switch or Rock Throw over its legacy move Rollout to function at its best in battle. Rollout just doesn’t output enough damage to allow it to farm down its opponents, relying on either the debuffing Wild Charge or the expensive Stone Edge to finish them off. Evolve one for sure, but it’s not a priority this weekend.

Chandelure

Chandelure is actually really quite decent in PvP – but not with Poltergeist. Shadow Ball is the way to go. Save yourself the Charged TMs and evolve your Litwick later on.

Dragonite

Dragonite in PvP is now, frankly amazing – particularly as a shadow. But this is with the charged moves Dragon Claw and Superpower – not Draco Meteor. Draco is just too expensive and a little bit overkill on the Dragon damage. You really want the Fighting type coverage. Catch as many Dratini as you can for the XL candy, but save your evolutions for another day.

Noivern

Nope. Boomburst sadly does nothing for Noivern today.

Mamoswine

Mamoswine is objectively good, particularly in the Master League. But not with Ancient Power, go with the non-legacy moveset of Avalanche and High Horsepower. Avoid the Charged TM tax, but definitely hunt for the hundo for your future build!

Ampharos

Ampharos is a bit of a swiss army knife, able to hit almost all typings for at least neutral damage with its charged moves. Dragon Pulse doesn’t help Ampharos any more in PvP, preferring Brutal Swing and Trailblaze / Focus Blast / Thunder Punch for its charged moves. Save yourself the Charged TM tax and wait until after the commday to evolve your Mareep.

Slowking

Regular Slowking isn’t as good in PvP as its cousins, although Surf is strictly an upgrade for it. It’s worth evolving some during the community day, but it’s not really a priority build at this point.

Clodsire

Clodsire is everywhere in the Great League now, having been a very recent community day recipient. This means you probably already have one built, and you probably also know that Megahorn isn’t what Clodsire needs to be effective – you want to be running with the charged moves of Sludge Bomb / Stone Edge and Earthquake. 

December 2023 Complete Community Day Exclusive Moves List

Pokémon	Exclusive move
Charizard	Dragon Breath (fast attack) Dragon and Blast Burn Fire
Blastoise	Hydro Cannon Water
Sandslash (Alola)	Shadow Claw (fast attack) Ghost
Sandslash	Night Slash Dark
Golem (Alola)	Rollout (fast attack) Rock
Poliwrath	Counter (fast attack) Fighting
Slowbro	Surf Water
Slowbro (Galarian)	Surf Water
Slowking	Surf Water
Slowking (Galarian)	Surf Water
Ampharos	Dragon Pulse Dragon
Politoed	Ice Beam Ice
Jumpluff	Acrobatics Flying
Quagsire	Aqua Tail Water
Tyranitar	Smack Down (fast attack) Rock
Walrein	Powder Snow (fast attack) Ice and Icicle Spear Ice
Staraptor	Gust (fast attack) Flying
Togekiss	Aura Sphere Fighting
Mamoswine	Ancient Power Rock
Gigalith	Meteor Beam Rock
Conkeldurr	Brutal Swing Dark
Chandelure	Poltergeist Ghost
Haxorus	Breaking Swipe Dragon
Hydreigon	Brutal Swing Dark
Chesnaught	Frenzy Plant Grass
Delphox	Blast Burn Fire
Greninja	Hydro Cannon Water
Noivern	Boomburst Normal
Vikavolt	Volt Switch (fast attack) Electric
Bewear	Drain Punch Normal
Obstagoon	Obstruct Dark
Ursaluna	High Horsepower Ground (needs Full Moon)
Clodsire	Megahorn Bug

And that’s a wrap! Hopefully this has helped you to work through what your priority picks are for the weekend and where to direct your attention for your evolutions.

As always, you can find me on Twitter or Instagram for more PvP analysis. Good luck with your shiny hunting, and stay sun / winter safe out there! 

See ya later,

JTizzle