Dynamax has been a major point of debate in the Monotype community so the council decided we should have a specific Dynamax in Monotype thread dedicated to giving the community a way to communicate their feelings on the topic. We wanted to give the mechanic a true chance to exist in Monotype before pulling the trigger, so we waited a full month since its release and one week of the Welcome to Sword and Shield Monotype tour, which was specifically hosted for the sake of metagame development. Today, the council formally voted on whether it should be allowed to decide what path our tier would continue on for the rest of this generation. The title spoils it: Dynamax will be banned from Monotype. Unfortunately, Dynamax has proven itself to be an utterly broken mechanic in the Monotype metagame during this time and all seven members of the council agreed it needed to be banned. As Gigantamax is a special case of Dynamax, it is also banned from Monotype by extension.
Tagging The Immortal to implement. Thank you!
The council posted most of our thoughts in the Dynamax thread but to sum up the general problem with Dynamax:
Tagging The Immortal to implement. Thank you!
The council posted most of our thoughts in the Dynamax thread but to sum up the general problem with Dynamax:
Dynamax is exceedingly unpredictable. Unlike Z-Moves and Mega Evolutions in the past, Dynamax can be used by any Pokemon at any time. It is certainly the case that there are some Pokemon that are better than others at Dynamaxing, and it is fairly obvious what the game plan might be from a teambuilding perspective. However, Dynamax is extremely flexible, so during the course of a game, that game plan will shift and every turn brings with it the question of whether Dynamax will be used or not for both sides. To make matters worse, Choice item users can break out of their Choice lock at any time as well. The value of scouting Choice users is diminished greatly when that information does not guarantee that your switch-in is safe. The notable example used in our thread was Choice Scarf Excadrill vs Toxapex, which is a huge mess of 50/50s: will Excadrill stay in to Dynamax, what move would it use if it does, will the Toxapex stay in to risk Max Quake, will it Max Guard to counter the potential Dynamax, etc. The game can devolve very quickly in scenarios like this to being 50/50s every single turn. The sheer unpredictability of this mechanic severely hinders the competitiveness of the metagame.
Dynamax is more than just unpredictable, though, as it brings ridiculous power to the table. The most obvious problem in the Dynamax suite is Max Airstream, which not only has increased damage (unlike Max Knuckle and Max Ooze) but also boosts the user's Speed by one. When considering the elevated damage output, this lets many sweepers get out of hand very quickly if they're given even a turn to set up. The easiest way to see just the extent to which Max Airstream is broken is by just looking at Flying teams, which is comprised of simply dual screens + Max Airstream sweepers. While Gyarados, with its Moxie + Max Airstream providing what's basically a free DD evrey turn, is by far the most prominent of sweepers, almost anything with Flying coverage can easily take advantage of it. For example, even Barraskewda can boost to +1 Speed in order to outspeed Choice Scarf Trace Gardevoir with non-STAB two-turn Bounce thanks to Dynamax. Slower Pokemon
Dynamax would not be what it is without Max Moves providing incredibly powerful secondary effects beyond just Max Airstream. The terrain and weather Max Moves are just as powerful in the right hands. Max Flare and Max Geyser boost their own damage by setting weather, something doubly powerful in the hands of Swift Swim sweepers. A similar story can be told for Electric-, Grass-, and Psychic-types that can set their own terrain and immediately boost their own damage. Of these, Max Mindstorm is especially notable for blocking priority, which is an incredibly powerful option for sweepers like Polteageist, Barraskewda, and Hatterene. These moves show the problem extends beyond just particular Max Moves. Even the "less powerful" Max Moves in Max Knuckle and Max Ooze can be snowbally in the right hands.
Dynamax brings insane defensive utility as well that makes fast sweepers all the more dangerous. Doubling health effectively halves damage taken, which turns every sweeper into a tank that's difficult to take out. Setting up your sweeper becomes so much easier when you can rest assured that even a double into a supposed check is unlikely to stop your sweep. For example, for Dragon teams, double switching out to Duraludon on Gyarados as it Dragon Dances is almost worthless, as even a Max Lightning fails to OHKO a Dynamax-boosted Gyarados, which means it has much more leeway in trying to set up. Trace Gardevoir can give up its Choice Scarf boost temporarily in order to fire off powerful Max Mindstorms and Max Overgrowths against Water teams, as even rain-boosted Choice Band Barraskewda can't OHKO it from full. Pokemon like Barraskewda, Excadrill, and Hatterene that abuse Life Orb during Dynamax are even more durable because the recoil is halved to 5%.
For all of these reasons, the council agrees with the overall consensus from the Dynamax in Monotype thread: Dynamax is simply too good for our metagame.
Dynamax is more than just unpredictable, though, as it brings ridiculous power to the table. The most obvious problem in the Dynamax suite is Max Airstream, which not only has increased damage (unlike Max Knuckle and Max Ooze) but also boosts the user's Speed by one. When considering the elevated damage output, this lets many sweepers get out of hand very quickly if they're given even a turn to set up. The easiest way to see just the extent to which Max Airstream is broken is by just looking at Flying teams, which is comprised of simply dual screens + Max Airstream sweepers. While Gyarados, with its Moxie + Max Airstream providing what's basically a free DD evrey turn, is by far the most prominent of sweepers, almost anything with Flying coverage can easily take advantage of it. For example, even Barraskewda can boost to +1 Speed in order to outspeed Choice Scarf Trace Gardevoir with non-STAB two-turn Bounce thanks to Dynamax. Slower Pokemon
Dynamax would not be what it is without Max Moves providing incredibly powerful secondary effects beyond just Max Airstream. The terrain and weather Max Moves are just as powerful in the right hands. Max Flare and Max Geyser boost their own damage by setting weather, something doubly powerful in the hands of Swift Swim sweepers. A similar story can be told for Electric-, Grass-, and Psychic-types that can set their own terrain and immediately boost their own damage. Of these, Max Mindstorm is especially notable for blocking priority, which is an incredibly powerful option for sweepers like Polteageist, Barraskewda, and Hatterene. These moves show the problem extends beyond just particular Max Moves. Even the "less powerful" Max Moves in Max Knuckle and Max Ooze can be snowbally in the right hands.
Dynamax brings insane defensive utility as well that makes fast sweepers all the more dangerous. Doubling health effectively halves damage taken, which turns every sweeper into a tank that's difficult to take out. Setting up your sweeper becomes so much easier when you can rest assured that even a double into a supposed check is unlikely to stop your sweep. For example, for Dragon teams, double switching out to Duraludon on Gyarados as it Dragon Dances is almost worthless, as even a Max Lightning fails to OHKO a Dynamax-boosted Gyarados, which means it has much more leeway in trying to set up. Trace Gardevoir can give up its Choice Scarf boost temporarily in order to fire off powerful Max Mindstorms and Max Overgrowths against Water teams, as even rain-boosted Choice Band Barraskewda can't OHKO it from full. Pokemon like Barraskewda, Excadrill, and Hatterene that abuse Life Orb during Dynamax are even more durable because the recoil is halved to 5%.
For all of these reasons, the council agrees with the overall consensus from the Dynamax in Monotype thread: Dynamax is simply too good for our metagame.