Why you should care about Dynamax and Max Battles

Although Niantic has managed to drum up enough excitement about Max Battles, we’ve seen a fair share of negativity and scepticism online, mostly focused on one question: why should we care about Dynamax Pokémon and Max Battles in general? 

In fairness, it is a valid question, as right now Dynamax is a self-contained feature:

• Dynamax Pokémon are only usable in Max Battles, 
• Older Pokémon are not allowed in Max Battles,
• Rewards are mostly same as Raids, even slightly less rewarding for Tier 1 Max Battles

However, there are quite a few reasons why we think you should care about Dynamax Pokémon, and especially about higher tier Max Battles. Let’s go through the reasons together, and you can see if the new feature scratches your itch in one way or another.

Reasons to like Max Battles

Tailored for smaller groups

Regular raids are big, often clunky, and require third party apps to coordinate, especially for bosses that require 7+ Trainers to complete.

We are happy that Niantic decided to build a feature that can be completed with a group of close friends! In all fairness, using PokéGenie to queue for every new legendary, spending money on Remote Raid Passes, and waiting in queues was getting very frustrating.

It’s free, separate from Raids, and very free to play. Not to mention, it’s aimed at four players with 3 Pokémon each – seems very simple to hop in and out!

Good rewards, doesn’t use Raid Passes

Max Battles don’t require a Raid Pass, you can get free items from completing them, and you should be able to solo most of the lower tier raids. This in its own sounds compelling to us, especially given that Rare Candy is one of the rewards.

What Max Battles do require are Max Particles, which are consumed only if you manage to defeat the boss, and can be earned by interacting with Power Spots for free. In our eyes, this feature strikes a good balance between free-to-play, and the inevitable “purchase MP from the store”.

New Galar Pokémon will most likely be released through Dynamax first

Games set in the Galar region are infamous for their usage of Max Battles to introduce special Pokémon, and we don’t expect Niantic to do anything else. With that being said, participating in this feature is likely to be beneficial for future collection purposes, so we suggest you do give it a try.

From new Pokémon to Legendaries, we are expecting to see much more Max Battles out there in the coming months.

Eternatus is almost guaranteed to be released through Max Battles

Eternatus

Eternatus is the final legendary Pokémon from the games set in the Galar region. It goes without saying, Eternatus has a solid fan base online, and the Pokémon is quite notorious to get.

We expect it to be exclusively available through Max Battles, if Niantic plans to play along the established Pokémon lore.

Completing the Dynamax and Gigantamax Pokédex

With every new feature, and every new generation, there is a Pokédex goal that gets created for all the completionists out there.

Completing your Dynamax and Gigantamax Pokédex entries will only be possible by participating in Max Battles, so if you are one of those players, you know what to do.

Gigantamax

If you don’t know, here are the Dynamax and Gigantamax rules:

• Every Pokémon can D-Max, becoming an empowered version of itself
• Only select Pokémon can G-Max, becoming a completely unique Gigantamax form

We are incredibly excited for these, as they introduce a dazzling array of unique looking Pokémon. Plus, every G-Max form gets a special move, with a special effect. Check it out below!

Pokémon	G-Max Form	G-Max Move	G-Max Move Type	G-Max Move Effect
Venusaur		G-Max Vine Lash	Grass	deals passive damage to non Grass opponents
Charizard		G-Max Wildfire	Fire	deals passive damage to non Fire opponents
Blastoise		G-Max Cannonade	Water	deals passive damage to non Water opponents
Butterfree		G-Max Befuddle	Bug	inflicts Poison, Paralysis, or Sleep
Pikachu		G-Max Volt Crash	Electric	inflicts Paralysis
Meowth		G-Max Gold Rush	Normal	increases prize money, inflicts Confusion
Machamp		G-Max Chi Strike	Fighting	increases Crit Chance
Gengar		G-Max Terror	Ghost	prevents opponent from switching out
Kingler		G-Max Foam Burst	Water	lowers opponents’ Speed by 2 stages
Lapras		G-Max Resonance	Ice	sets Aurora Veil
Eevee		G-Max Cuddle	Normal	inflicts Infatuation to opponents of opposite gender
Snorlax		G-Max Replenish	Normal	50% chance to restore a consumed Berry
Garbodor		G-Max Malodor	Poison	inflicts Poison
Melmetal		G-Max Meltdown	Steel	prevents opponent from using the same move twice in a row
Rillaboom		G-Max Drum Solo	Grass	move can be used regardless of ability, always base 160 power
Cinderace		G-Max Fireball	Fire	move can be used regardless of ability, always base 160 power
Inteleon		G-Max Hydrosnipe	Water	move can be used regardless of ability, always base 160 power
Corviknight		G-Max Wind Rage	Flying	removes field effects (screens, hazards, terrains)
Orbeetle		G-Max Gravitas	Psychic	sets Gravity effect
Drednaw		G-Max Stonesurge	Water	sets Stealth Rocks
Coalossal		G-Max Volcalith	Rock	deals passive damage to non Rock opponents
Flapple		G-Max Tartness	Grass	lowers opponents’ Evasiveness
Appletun		G-Max Sweetness	Grass	cures allies’ Status Conditions
Sandaconda		G-Max Sandblast	Ground	inflicts Sand Tomb
Toxtricity		G-Max Stun Shock	Electric	inflicts Poison or Paralysis
Centiskorch		G-Max Centiferno	Fire	inflicts Fire Spin
Hatterene		G-Max Smite	Fairy	inflicts Confusion
Grimmsnarl		G-Max Snooze	Dark	50% chance to inflict Yawn
Alcremie		G-Max Finale	Fairy	heals allies for 1/6 of their max HP
Copperajah		G-Max Steelsurge	Steel	sets Steel type entry hazard (similar to Stealth Rocks)
Duraludon		G-Max Depletion	Dragon	removes 2 PP from opponents’ last used move
Urshifu (single strike)		G-Max One Blow	Dark	hits through protecting moves, even Max Guard
Urshifu (rapid strike)		G-Max Rapid Flow	Water	hits through protecting moves, even Max Guard