As previewed thus far, Pokemon Go’s upcoming Community Day round-up event from December 21st-22nd is bit of a letdown this year. Yes, Dynamax Beldums can finally become beasts, but the past year’s choices were mostly PvP picks, and even there it’s a mixed bag after recent nerfs. That may make things a bit easier if Niantic doesn’t give us bag upgrades since despite being an upgrade behind, research on how low our bag space has been is still pretty accurate.
For today’s Massively on the Go, we’re going to briefly go over the overall highlights both to help you manage that storage – as well as your time and sanity.
December Community Day/Weekend 🔜
New: Special backgrounds for featured Pokémon! 🎉#PokemonGO pic.twitter.com/yysw169USQ
— G47IX (@g47ix) December 6, 2024
G47IX often does good overviews, so the above is pretty useful for the bare basics of the event. It looks like a lot is going on, and there kind of is, but I say most players can ignore a lot of what’s being brought out this year unless you see a favorite pokemon or a shiny you’re missing.
What we’re doing is distilling just the pokemon being featured and focusing on their uses. Triangle “very useful” is more about raiding but generally includes PvP use and even gym defense. Naturally, the other two are fairly self-explanatory, but I’ll try to get into some of the PvP guts, mostly in terms of the constant Leagues over potential special leagues (like Fantasy cup, which only allows Fairy, Dragon, and Steel-types).
The short version for non-PvPers who need non-legendaries is to focus on catching Popplio for Water, Grubbin for Bug, and Axew for Dragons. Bring Shadow versions (with Frustration TMed off) of Bagon, Beldum, and Cyndaquil. Also, bring some Dynamax Beldum. These are what you’ll want to catch and evolve during the event. Some players may also want Timburr, but evolve it after the event if you only care about raids, though its CD move, Payback, can be useful in PvP or when taking gyms.
For some more details, obviously Chansey is useful for gym defense, but depending on how long you’ve been playing and what your local scene is like, it may or may not be valuable, especially as its CD move is a side grade at best. You may wish to evolve it after the event.
Goomy’s line is strictly useful in PvP, in all leagues, truth be told. The same kind of holds true for the Mankey line, which can also be used in gym defense, but you’ll probably need to adventure with it before the event to evolve it into its final form. Be warned: Its PvP usefulness varies between Primeape (who actually also gets its CD move) and Annihilape. Also be warned that Primeape requires an Elite Fast TM to be at its PvP best. Somewhat relatedly, Kanto Rapidash has uses in Ultra League, but its value is questionable outside of spicy picks elsewhere in the current scene.
Popplio’s line is quite good, being a good Water or Fairy ‘mon for those on a raid budget. It’s useful in Master League, and it’s not a bad gym defender in situations where you don’t have other defenders weak to Grass-types, or at least, if placed safely away from one.
On the opposite side of that is Cyndaquil and Bagon’s lines. I wouldn’t put either in a Gym, but both has useful Shadow versions you’ll need to have prior to the event and have Frustration removed. Typhlosion has Ultra League uses while Salamence has some use in PvP.
Beldum, though, is pretty special. It’s particularly useful as a Steel-type in raids, and with its Dynamax version having been released recently, now is the time to evolve your best ones. Plural. Get a few for that. Heck, you may want some with two Charge Moves available, as it’s also a good Psychic type, even in normal raids where you may be lacking other options. It’s useful in PvP as well, and its Psychic kit is especially handy in gym defense. And if you have a Shadow one prepared, it’s even better to evolve during this round up! Don’t forget, though, it has a Mega in the future, so you may want a perfect one ready for that, whenever that day arrives.
Then there’s the Galarian Slows. They’re a pain to evolve, and as with Mankey above, we don’t know whether Niantic will make that any easier, so assume you need to prep them ahead of time if you want. They have gym defense use, but Clodsire tends to be better, is in a similar niche, and is easier to evolve.
Poliwag’s family isn’t bad for Ultra League PvP, and even after the nerfs, Poliwrath still stands out. The Toge-line, however, is all around more useful. While it doesn’t need the CD move for raids, it is useful for PvP and even gym defense. The Wooper lines kind of fall in between these two families, as they aren’t useful in raids but do have PvP uses: Quagsire in Great League, Clodsire in Great and Ultra. As mentioned above, Clodsire’s also a nice gym defender if you need it.
Timburr’s line was already strong, but if you have a Shadow one, it can be even more beastly. It doesn’t need its CD move for raids, but it has its uses in Rocket Battles and attacking gyms; Machamp, for the most part, does better in PvP, in either its normal or its Shadow form.
Axew’s line is nice for a Dragon as it doesn’t suffer a “quad weakness” to any type, unlike most Dragons. You still probably want to keep it out of gyms and maybe away from PvP, but its good for some raids and can be used as a generalist in gym attacking.
While Froakie’s line was once the stuff of legends, it’s now basically just useful for PvP and rocket battles. Grubbin’s similarly niche, as it’s best as a Bug Raider (so it doesn’t need its CD move), but can technically have its middle form, Charjabug, keep its CD move for Great League, though it’s not a high ranker these days.
As for Megas, Mega Sceptile on Saturday nets the broadest xp/candy boost, with Mega Rayquaza being in second but trading out Grass types for Beldum at the end of each hour. Sunday is even harder, as nothing dominates. Primal Kyogre (Bug/Electric/Water), Mega Ray or the Mega Latis (Dragon and Psychic), Mega Medicham (Fighting/Psychic), and Mega Slowbro (Water/Psychic)Â all pick up three ‘mon. Just go with whatever you need candy for the most. I will note that Beldum and Popplio have the most use, which would make Mega Slowbro potentially the best Mega for most players.
And that’s about it for this year. As always, this may be updated in case Niantic decides to make certain pokemon easier to evolve. Just remember, whether or not you decide to come back and check for updates, stay safe out there, trainers!
12/22 Update: Niantic clearly did not make anything easier to evolve during the event, plus there was a hidden bonus: +1 regular and XL candy per trade. If you’re reading this on Sunday and was unaware, make sure to take advantage of it!
Massively OP’s Andrew Ross is an admitted Pokemon geek and expert ARG-watcher. Nobody knows Niantic and Nintendo like he does! His Massively on the Go column covers Pokemon Go as well as other mobile MMOs and augmented reality titles!
