In Pokémon GO, the Gigantamax forms of Charizard, Blastoise, and Venusaur will appear over the weekend. We will look at how to defeat them.
What kind of event is this? The Gigantamax weekend runs from Saturday, October 26, 2024, at 10:00 AM to Sunday, October 27, 2024, at 8:00 PM.
During this time, the Kanto starters will appear in their powerful Gigantamax form. This form is extremely strong and also brings a special move that only this Pokémon species can master. Catching them should be worthwhile. You can read all the information about the rewards in the Gigantamax event here.
The challenge: The Gigantamax monsters will be among the hardest bosses in the game. On one hand, they are incredibly strong, and on the other hand, you have only limited counters available, as you must also use Dynamax monsters. And there are still not that many.
How many trainers do I need? Niantic mentions a challenge for 10 to 40 trainers at the same time. Whether you actually need 10 trainers remains to be seen—but definitely assume that it will be very difficult with fewer trainers.
Update: The first trainers from other countries, where the event has already started due to the time difference, are reporting extremely difficult raids. Some say they couldn’t succeed even with over 20 players. Especially if players don’t bring good or highly leveled counters, they will be defeated quickly. Furthermore, when catching, you really need to throw well to prevent the monsters from fleeing (via reddit).
So prepare yourself very well! To have a chance, you should definitely use the right counters and heed some tips.
Best counters against Gigantamax Charizard, Blastoise, and Venusaur
Basically, Gigantamax battles are similar to regular Dynamax battles. However, up to 40 trainers can participate at the same time, who are then divided into up to 10 teams of four. Here, you should now use the best possible counters.
The best counters against Gigantamax Charizard: As of now, the best counters against Gigantamax Charizard are:
- Dynamax Inteleon, the evolution of Sobble. It is well-suited as a Water starter to fight against Charizard.
- Dynamax Blastoise, the evolution of Squirtle. The Water type can also be decisive here.
- Dynamax Gengar: Can take a hit and deal good damage, even if the typing does not match.
The best counters against Gigantamax Blastoise: Blastoise is weak to Grass and Electric. So use:
- Dynamax Gossifleur, the evolution of the Grass starter Grookey.
- Dynamax Venusaur, the evolution of Bulbasaur.
- Or Dynamax Gengar – the typing doesn’t match here either, but it can still be worth it.
The best counters against Gigantamax Venusaur: Venusaur is weak to Fire, Ice, Flying, and Psychic. Thus, you have several options.
- Dynamax Metagross with Psychic moves is a good choice.
- Dynamax Charizard can score with Fire moves.
- And Dynamax Gengar is also a good option.
What about my other Dynamax Pokémon? You can of course also use your other Dynamax Pokémon. However, the better the counters, the higher your chances of success. Accordingly, you should best use monsters against which there is a type weakness in the Gigantamax Pokémon. The battle will already be difficult enough.
Tips to consider during the Gigantamax battle
Things to pay attention to:
- You can only use Dynamax monsters.
- Adapt the quick move of your monsters to receive a Dyna attack of that type.
- Level up your Dynamax Pokémon and attacks as much as possible.
- Use shield and healing moves as well, not just attacks.
- Dyna particles are only consumed upon victory, so if in doubt, try again.
- If you were defeated, use the “Cheer” feature so that other trainers can fill the Dyna gauge faster.
- Dodge the attacks of the Gigantamax monster, don’t just attack.
- When Dynamax energy appears during battle, you don’t just have to tap on it, but swipe your Pokémon over there. Then you’ll get extra energy for the Dyna gauge.
- Leave a Pokémon at the power source after the battle to help other trainers in their fight. Check which power sources have a lot of monsters stationed at them to give you a bonus in battle.
Difficult bosses over the weekend: Overall, the Gigantamax monsters are likely to be among the most powerful challenges you can face in Pokémon GO. How the battles ultimately unfold remains to be seen over the weekend. We want to hear from you about how your battles went: Did you challenge them, how did it go?
Do you have any additional tips? Tell us in the comments and exchange ideas with other trainers. And if you want to know what’s next in Pokémon GO: Here are all events in November 2024 for Pokémon GO.
