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It's time for the first suspect of Random Battle, where we'll be taking a look at the Dynamax (and, as pictured above, Gigantamax) mechanic. Dynamax, at its worst, has the ability to blow up small weaknesses in teams to levels that can't be handled. Whichever team better utilizes their Max turns can run away with games by shifting momentum strongly enough that you can't come back. Various different elements of the metagame are enabled and exaggerated by Dynamax; Weakness Policy's inherent risk of taking a supereffective move is removed by doubling your HP. "Setup" Pokemon don't necessarily need setup moves thanks to Max Flare / Max Geyser / Max Steelspike / Max Ooze, and more importantly, Max Knuckle and Max Airstream, and they retain all their attacking moves after the Max turns are over. Furthermore, gaining the additional offensive power from Dynamax also comes with a dramatic increase in bulk, making offensive answers that remove this threat from play very difficult to come by. However, Dynamax isn't always a gamebreaking mechanic. In many games, it's a strategic tool that elevates your defensive capability in order to deal with the many threats found in Random Battle, but it requires some skill and forethought to utilize adequately.
Random Battle has always been based on the standard Smogon tiers, with Pokemon levels increasing as we go from Ubers down to PU. However, Dynamax is now banned from every singles tier, with Ubers opting for a complex banlist instead. This brings up two issues: Random Battle being inconsistent with what is allowed in standard tiers, and the levels of Pokemon being inaccurate as they're based on non-Dynamax tiers. Since Dynamax is such a large part of gen 8 and Random Battle itself, it's a pretty big step to ban it and I would like to leave that decision to the community. The result of this suspect test will guide the future of gen 8 Random Battle. Should Dynamax be banned, we will continue to follow standard tiers and the levels of Pokemon will become an accurate representation of their competitive ability. Furthermore, all movepools/abilities/items that are generated will be re-written to take into account the non-Dynamax metagame. Should Dynamax be voted to remain in Random Battle, we will look to divert away from standard tiers and create our own level system, as well as possibly our own restrictions instead of directly following the banlist of tiers. In addition, Pokemon movepools/abilities/items will continue to be optimized for the Dynamax metagame.
Debate is wonderful and welcomed, but just make sure your post adds to the discussion around Dynamax and avoid personal jabs or unnecessary one-liners.
Ladder Period
Start: Thursday, April 2nd 11:00 AM EDT (UTC-4)
End: Thursday, April 16th 11:00 AM EDT (UTC-4)
All games must be played on the [Gen 8] Random Battle ladder on a fresh alt with a name of the form "RBDS (name)." For example, I might register the name "RBDS immortal" to use during this suspect test.
To qualify to vote in this test, you must fulfill BOTH of the following requirements:
Hi I'd like to start off some of the discussion by giving my input on dynamax in Random Battles. The way I see it there are three arguments for keeping dynamax in Random Battles. I am going to go over each of these here briefly.
1. Dynamax is balanced
Wow I'm starting this one off with a banger of an unpopular opinion. Dynamaxing a Pokemon does three things for it: (typically) Raises moves' Base Power, add secondary effects to moves, and doubles a Pokemon's HP. I feel like the conversation around dynamax usually focuses on those first two effects and their uses in setting up Pokemon to sweep games, but I believe that third effect, doubling HP, is probably the most important one. If your opponent dynamaxes first, their dynamax turns will, naturally, end first. There are plenty of ways to waste some of your opponents dynamax turns, whether it be switching into resists or straight up sacking something, but even if your opponent was able to get a few boosts up from their turns dynamaxed, the doubling of your own Pokemon's HP, pending matchup, is often enough to take the hits necessary to revenge the the foe that was just Dynamaxed. Not to mention this extra bulk can be used to stop non-dynamax sweeps as well. People often waste their dynamax early, and if you're smart enough to hold off and your opponent gets something set up later in the game, earlier losses are mitigated by being able to turn any remaining Pokemon into a temporary behemoth.
2. Keeps our limited pool fresh
Alright so we all know how big of a deal it was that Gen 8 cut half of the Pokemon from the dex. Generation 8 formats, including Gen 8 Random Battles, thus have fewer Pokemon available than their Generation 7 counterparts. In Random Battles, at least, I can say that this narrowing of the format was mitigated by the addition of dynamax. Playing with dynamax adds an extra layer to the game that allows for new dynamics each game, even when you repeatedly see the same Pokemon. Sure, Gen 8 Random Battles (Pre-DLC additions) may have only had ~250 Pokemon, but some of them served different roles depending on whether you intended to dynamax them. Barraskewda would normally be a hard hitting Choice Band user, but if you dynamax into a Max Geyser, suddenly you're outspeeding Pokemon at +3 speed. Gyarados usually Dragon Dances to set up, but now it can Max Airstream into Moxie KOs to pick up those Speed and Attack boosts a whole new way. Without dynamax, Gen 8 Random Battles becomes a gutted version of Gen 7 Random Battles.
3. It's fun, dammit
Dynamax adds an extra layer to the game that we haven't seen before, not with megas and not with z-moves. It gives each team a Queen on the chessboard to deploy at a time of their choosing, and so long as each team has one the match is even. Some may choose to use it early, some may choose to save it, but in the end it's just another layer to the game that keeps things fun and entertaining.
If it wasn't clear, I am aggressively in favor of saving dynamax in Gen 8 Random Battles. I've been playing every manner of Random Battles that this ban would affect (Gen 8 Rands, Monorands, Random Doubles, Hackmons Cup) since the generation was released, and I've never considered dynamax to be anything but beneficial for the randomized metas. I believe such a ban would be exceptionally detrimental to Random Doubles, as dynamax is inherently intended to be a pro-doubles mechanic. Contrary to the most of the opinions I've heard on the matter, I also believe dynamax to be beneficial to Monotype Random Battles, as it allows a team that's initially given a type advantage to get the most out of any Pokemon that can buck that disadvantage, as well as for reasons I gave in point 1. Gen 7 will always exist without dynamax, and it even has more Pokemon! I strongly encourage anybody on the fence about this decision to help keep dynamax alive on Pokemon Showdown in some regard, and leave their dynamax-free Random Battles to Gen 7.
Dynamax has made random battles less fun for me. I am more of a casual randbats player, with my peaks in the low 2000s. However, gen 8 random battles have been significantly less fun than their counterparts in other generations. The game frequently just ends the second a mon boosts--before, shell smash/DD/SD etc. were threats, but not game ending ones. The pace the format takes with dynamax is one that is unfun for me.
Remember, this is Random battles. Random. As in, one game you can get a bunch of PU and under shitmons and the next get 3 Ubers. In theory Dynamax is more balanced here because there's no guarantee anyone will get a crazy sweeper, but at the same time, there's no guarantee anyone won't. There's no way of knowing ahead of time, there's no real counterplay to it other than dealing with the Dynamax Kyurem you or your opponent now has. There's no indication that you or your opponent could be be saving their Dynamax a certain mon, because anyone could Dynamax any mon, and only they know what they have until they switch it in. There's just too much inconsistency adding this mechanic in an environment already designed from the ground up to be inconsistent.
Remember, this is Random battles. Random. As in, one game you can get a bunch of PU and under shitmons and the next get 3 Ubers. In theory Dynamax is more balanced here because there's no guarantee anyone will get a crazy sweeper, but at the same time, there's no guarantee anyone won't. There's no way of knowing ahead of time, there's no real counterplay to it other than dealing with the Dynamax Kyurem you or your opponent now has. There's no indication that you or your opponent could be be saving their Dynamax a certain mon, because anyone could Dynamax any mon, and only they know what they have until they switch it in. There's just too much inconsistency adding this mechanic in an environment already designed from the ground up to be inconsistent.
It's almost as if pokemon of different tiers have different levels in randbats for a reason. If you played in generation 7 randbats, you would remember how the most dangerous threats weren't Ubers, they were Linoone, Sigilyph, Swellow. All absolutely horrible pokemon to play on OU. Dynamax made it so instead of having a bunch of potentially good pokemon to get on your team, you have 5% of them being good (any sweeper with a flying/fighting move and potential to abuse it's own weather), and 95% of garbage. In fact, Dynamax only makes good pokemon better, and bad pokemon worse. It has no real counterplay and just removes all the variety there is in the mode.
I don't necessarily mind Dynamax buffing stats/moves, but I have two main problems with it.
1. Makes it far too easy for safe set-up mons to sweep.
Due to moves like Max Airstream buffing speed, or Max Knuckle/Max Ooze buffing attacking stats, any tanky pokemon can pretty much become a set-up sweeper in 3 turns. While normally there are counterplays to set-up sweepers, even bulky ones, dynamax gets around those which leads me to my second point...
2. Dynamax overrides all of the natural counterplay options to sweepers/other dangerous offensive mons.
Normally, you could stop a set up sweeper by encore-locking them, taunting them to stop them from setting-up further, or phazing them with roar or whirlwind. Choice band/specs give many offensive pokemon terrifying power levels, but the natural counterplay is to either predict correctly and swap in something that resists/is immune to the incoming choice-attack, or to sacrifice something and then swap in something else that can deal with it. Since Dynamax gives you 3 turns of being free from choice lock, it gives these mons the ability to switch to boosted-up coverage options to easily deal with their checks, before going back to spamming choice-boosted attacks to blow holes in your team which lost its primary counterplay option.
I'm only a amateur player, but I play exclusively Gen 8 Randoms and I don't think Dynamax is an issue at all. It adds a fun level of anticipation and strategy to the matches - you never know what Pokémon your opponent is going to Dynamax and when. I don't think it's unbalanced for a number of reasons:
Firstly, you can take a Dynamaxed Pokémon out even if you yourself aren't Dynamaxed. It's still challenging, but I've done it quite a few times before - so they're not game-breakingly powerful. I think the previous gimmicks of Z-crystals, Mega Evolutions, and Primal Forms were much less fair - prior to Gen 8 I found myself being swept in Randoms all the time, but I've yet to be swept by a Dynamaxed Pokémon.
Secondly, Dynamaxing is not always in your opponent's favor. I'm terrible at anticipating when my opponent will Dynamax, so one of my favorite things to do is allow them to take out one or two of my Pokémon that are at low health, then Dynamax myself once theirs wears off (or stall them out with a few Max Guards) before taking revenge. At worst, I usually lose one team member to this strategy and have to stall for a few turns. At best, I get a good sweep out of it with minimal losses.
Thirdly - like I mentioned before - it adds a nice element of suspense to the matches. With enough experience you can predict what moves your opponent will use or what Pokémon they will switch to, but you can't really predict when they will Dynamax. Some do it in the middle of the match. Some do it right at the end. A rare few do it right away. I've lost a few matches that were really down to the wire because I forgot my opponent hadn't Dynamaxed yet and he pulled it out just as we were both in the red - and I'm totally okay with that. I like that it keeps me on my toes. It's almost like some battles are a sort of nuclear standoff - neither side wants to Dynamax first, but both have to be prepared for the possibility. It's tense, and gobs of fun.
In short, I think Dynamaxing adds a nice layer of tension and strategy to Gen 8 Randoms and isn't unfair in the least. I can see how it would be an issue outside of randoms, but as far as randoms go...my vote is to keep it in.
Dynamaxing has issues. The mere fact that this suspect is happening is enough to convince me of that. The mechanic itself can turn entire games around in a flash just by clicking a button when a Braviary is on screen. It also makes it a lot harder to recover from a bad situation if you had to waste your Dynamax to counter a setup sweeper. However, all of this is brought down by a single sentence:
Without Dynamaxing, Gen 8 Random Battles are simply a watered-down version of Gen 7 ones.
Gen 8 lacks many of the things Gen 7 has: Mega Evolutions, Z-Moves, and a little under half the Pokemon. The last issue was slightly remedied by the addition of DLC mons, but my point still stands. Without the wild card of Dynamaxing, there really isn't much of a reason to battle in Gen 8 compared to any previous generations.
In addition to this, Dynamaxing does have plenty of positives to it. Since both players can use it, it provides another strategic element to the format. Having trouble with a Shell Smash sweeper? If you can Dynamax, you can prevent them from gaining much progress on you. Even if they have also Dynamaxed, you can force them to waste it by going big yourself and using Max Guard to stall. It also gives a lot of less relevant mons a chance to shine.
My opinion: don't ban. While Dynamax has more flaws than benefits, if you remove it, it becomes a boneless, stale version of Gen 7's random battles. If you really, really hate the mechanic, you can just go back there.
Dynamax as a mechanic is not devoid of skill or strategic thinking - I've observed time and again some of the best randbats players do wonders with this mechanic. Either by safeguarding their dynamax up to the most crucial point, utilizing Max Guard strategically, making their way out of an unwinnable matchup by taking down through early Dynamax an opponent pokemon that would otherwise have a field day and so on.
It remains true, however, that Dynamax adds a complexity to this game that can sometimes feel overwhelming - random battles is by definition a format of limited information and equally often than not, a series of reasonable plays could prove disastrous had the hero been aware of the opposing's team composition. It is understandable that this is the essence and charm of randbats but then it feels that the Dynamax mechanic has the potential to exaggerate this condition to frustrating levels.
In all honesty, I believe that a format without Dynamax would be a more competitive and skill-based one and I tend to lean towards that. Still, I cannot deny that highly skilled players have managed to utilise dynamax in such a creative way that banning it would feel like missing out on an important aspect.
Dynamax turns every randbat game into the same thing- some kind of setup sweeper that overpowers the enemy's team. Just like it did to OU. Just like it does to VGC. Dynamax is a mechanic designed to just overpower the battle and end it. And that's what happens in Randbats currently.
I miss a Randbats where some games were setup, some games were balance, some were defensive, but there was VARIANCE. When Dynamax exists, it's no fun. I'd like to see the statistics on how popular randbats is compared to how it was, vs. how Smogon has grown altogether. Is it relatively less popular? Because most of the people I know have stopped playing it, mostly due to Dynamax.
Slightly off-topic, but I would also love to see natdex Randbats, because I agree that current Randbats feels somewhat watered down.
I haven't qualified for the suspect test yet, but I would like to bring something up. With how random battles are, you can have situations where it's mostly low tier pokemon against ubers. Normally this is already difficult to combat, especially considering many uber sets are sweepers or just incredibly powerful, but with dynamax you have no chance. Even 1 uber can destroy you.
I have a battle from a few weeks ago, the replay long lost, where I had a team of mostly low tiers. My opponent was making many poor plays and I was winning 4-2. I fainted their second to last pokemon and a zekrom sweeper set came out. Now, I had nothing against it. The few hopes of defeating it were quickly crushed with the possibility of the zekrom dynamaxing. The zekrom set up d-dances and subs, and then dynamaxed. And even a dynamax of my own couldn't live just one hit. Obviously it won, and I could not help but think of how unfair that was. I was destroying my opponent who had better pokemon than me, and I would have even stood a chance against that zekrom if not for dynamax. I made all the best possible plays I could in that situation yet I stood no chance. Facing ubers in random is already frustrating enough, but dynamax ubers make me want to not even bother.
If I can get up to a qualifying position, I will most certainly vote ban.
Dynamax as a mechanic is not devoid of skill or strategic thinking - I've observed time and again some of the best randbats players do wonders with this mechanic. Either by safeguarding their dynamax up to the most crucial point, utilizing Max Guard strategically, making their way out of an unwinnable matchup by taking down through early Dynamax an opponent pokemon that would otherwise have a field day and so on.
It remains true, however, that Dynamax adds a complexity to this game that can sometimes feel overwhelming - random battles is by definition a format of limited information and equally often than not, a series of reasonable plays could prove disastrous had the hero been aware of the opposing's team composition. It is understandable that this is the essence and charm of randbats but then it feels that the Dynamax mechanic has the potential to exaggerate this condition to frustrating levels.
In all honesty, I believe that a format without Dynamax would be a more competitive and skill-based one and I tend to lean towards that. Still, I cannot deny that highly skilled players have managed to utilise dynamax in such a creative way that banning it would feel like missing out on an important aspect.
I agree that there is definitely strategy and skill involved with Dynamax. The reward for making the right moves (or the consequences for making the wrong ones) tend to be much larger.
I've been a Randbats only guy for a few years now and I'm honestly pretty torn about Dynamax. At first it was really overwhelming, but I kind of enjoy the fact that it gives lots of different and unexpected Pokemon the chance to shine. Yes, it sucks to get decimated by the usual big men on campus. But tanking a hit with Dynamaxed Farfetch'd and coming back from the dead with a countersweep is a very uniquely Gen 8 Randbats experience.
Should Dynamax be voted to remain in Random Battle, we will look to divert away from standard tiers and create our own level system, as well as possibly our own restrictions instead of directly following the banlist of tiers.
I think this is an important aspect that might be overlooked. I think a version of the meta where dynamax leads to rewarding gameplay exists with some tinkering, but that's hard to say without experimenting. As it stands, dynamax is likely ban-worthy, but this could very well be simply due to sets not being made with dynamax in mind.
I haven't laddered much in randbats for a couple months, so I'll work on my reqs before adding in more nuanced thoughts.
I think this is an important aspect that might be overlooked. I think a version of the meta where dynamax leads to rewarding gameplay exists with some tinkering, but that's hard to say without experimenting. As it stands, dynamax is likely ban-worthy, but this could very well be simply due to sets not being made with dynamax in mind.
I haven't laddered much in randbats for a couple months, so I'll work on my reqs before adding in more nuanced thoughts.
I have a battle from a few weeks ago, the replay long lost, where I had a team of mostly low tiers. My opponent was making many poor plays and I was winning 4-2. I fainted their second to last pokemon and a zekrom sweeper set came out. Now, I had nothing against it. The few hopes of defeating it were quickly crushed with the possibility of the zekrom dynamaxing. The zekrom set up d-dances and subs, and then dynamaxed. And even a dynamax of my own couldn't live just one hit. Obviously it won, and I could not help but think of how unfair that was. I was destroying my opponent who had better pokemon than me, and I would have even stood a chance against that zekrom if not for dynamax. I made all the best possible plays I could in that situation yet I stood no chance. Facing ubers in random is already frustrating enough, but dynamax ubers make me want to not even bother.
This pretty much summarizes the experience trying to play the game. There's little to no indication that the opponent has something in the back, especially because Dynamax can just be used to brute force through a wall or counter earlier. If they haven't used it and are close to losing, sure that's a nice way of knowing... but do you have a counter for it? Which sweeper is it? Have you already used your Dynamax? Can you work with what you have to beat an invisible, potentially auto-winning threat?
Dynamax is fun when you're rolling, not so much when you're getting rolled. Best I can describe it is Random Crits in TF2; sure, they're wacky and "fun", but it devalues actual good plays and encourages spam. When I do 234 damage with the Skullcritter, and I kill every class except Heavy in one hit, sure, it's fun and funny! But when the rocket glows shiny and is aimed right at me and my Medic, I just feel sad and bummy. Dynamax goes like "yes! my Reshiram Dynamaxed! I win! Fun!" to "Oh no... they had a Reshiram... there's the Dynamax... guess that's that... not fun."
Casual ladder player that mostly plays a lot with friends (s/o TJ and Keppy).
I would like to point out that a broken or unhealthy element doesn't necessarily mean it is devoid of skill. A top player could easily use it better than say a 1300 ladder player. Knowing when to use it, what to use it on, how much value they will get out of it, knowing that if they use it now could it backfire later, ect. Dynamax does have some skill involved. However the mechanic has been proven to be insane in the tiers mentioned in OP. Battles center around it a lot of the time, even if nobody pops it until the final 3 turns. Just about every turn given these games are so offensive you are constantly worrying about if they Dynamax how am I going to get around this, and if you don't have the defensive tools then you're just simply out of luck. Going back to the Top player vs ladder opponent, let's say there is a top randbats player who has memorized most if not all of the sets every mon can run. That doesn't always translate to them being able to deal with Dynamax. This applies to Tiers but I would almost say this especially applies here given the tools you and your opponent have are completely out of your control. This inherent element of not knowing (possibly until it's too late) removes a lot of the possible positional counter play and defensive counter play with you sometimes just having a bunch of awful mons. Random battles is always inconsistent but Dynamax just amplifies it way too much in my opinion. A mon that already did well vs you is going to do better, and a mon that normally wouldn't suddenly is +1 speed and has double the HP.
This is a moot point but after the initial Dynamax ban, I've been playing much more of the older generations of random battles. I'm very happy to hear some people actually have more fun with it enabled, it's just not something I have fun with.
As a player who has been playing randbats daily for the last 5 years and fluctuating between top 500 and top 10 my personal experience of this gen's randbats is between bad and horrible. Whoever gets a hard set up mon with dynamax available wins the match 90% of the time, Cloyster, barbaracle, blastoise, mewtwo, weavile, slurpuff, gengar and basically any mon with a +2 set up and a flying move. Having an enemy down 4v1 or him having me 4v1 and the last mon being a set up+ dyna to easily sweep has been so frequent that takes the fun away of the game and leaves a bad taste ( this has always been an issue but it was very specific and rare, e.g. power herb xerneas) The fact that dynamaxed mons take half damage from poison/life orb/etc has been the final nail in the coffin for me.
Facing ubers in random is already frustrating enough, but dynamax ubers make me want to not even bother.
If I can get up to a qualifying position, I will most certainly vote ban.
Dynamax is fun when you're rolling, not so much when you're getting rolled. Best I can describe it is Random Crits in TF2; sure, they're wacky and "fun", but it devalues actual good plays and encourages spam. Dynamax goes like "yes! my Reshiram Dynamaxed! I win! Fun!" to "Oh no... they had a Reshiram... there's the Dynamax... guess that's that... not fun."
Pokemon at its core is based on RNG, this is a game mode even further embracing that. For the experience that you're citing there's been countless times where someone hastily wasted a dynamax and it gets completely walled by a Vileplume or something.
Random battles suspect testing dynamax is so telling, the mechanic is clearly broken, taking any team you might get and just blowing too big a hole with 0 reprocussions.
Ladder player that hit #1 a couple of times in gen 8 and a bunch more in gen 7 and 6.
Dynamax is clearly broken and we know it. All this talk about how it is "balanced" because both of teams get to do it makes no sense. I won't talk much about how strong and broken the moves and their side effects are and how doubling your hp can turn a Lunatone into a monster. I will talk about the shift of play stile.
All the match is extremely influenced by Dynamax. You are in constant worry about when will the other player Dynamax and he plays the same way. This isn't healthy. You always have to restrict your thinking. The fact you need to worry at times "ok will I kill this or will he dyna" is stupid. You cannot make a reliable game plan. You need to save it to use it at the perfect time but maybe save it to counter HIS dyna and this is hard and forcing you to play in weird ways. I personally feel relieved when both player have Dynamaxed, so we can continue playing normally and more freely.
The main problem however is the fact that any match of random is unbalanced, because well random teams. However, with good plays and predict you can overturn this or at least make the match more balanced. However, in a match between two skilled players, the player with a small advantage can exploit it dynamaxing said pokemon and securing the advantage, usually guaranteeing the win.
Also, some people are talking about "just switch and make it waste the dynamax turns". Are you serious? This is extremely hard to do because even a resisted move with that power, usually boosted by sun, rain, terrains is gonna hurt. Especially with random teams!
The only thing I admit is that this is fun. It's fun to sweep, yeah. It's fun to see giant mons.
Unfortunately as a guy who try to play random battles a bit competitively, trying to get #1 or high ladder, I have to say it should be banned.
As a ladder player who peaks top 10-50 for the past couple generations on multiple accounts, here are my thoughts on Dynamax in randbats:
1. No Team Preview: unlike other metas in gen 8, randbats starts with 2 teams with 5 unrevealed mons. That means a few things with regards to dynamax:
Strategic mid-game dynamax- mid-game dynamaxing is a good strategy when you've seen half of the opponent's team. For example, if you have say a DD Zekrom versus a bunch of electric types, it might be a good bet to dynamax immediately to get an early lead of 2-3 mons to severely cripple the opponent. From there, one of three things might happen
sweep/severely cripple- your DD Zekrom at +1/+1 6-0es/KOes a few mons, making it extremely difficult for the opponent to come back and win the game
countered by opposing dynamax- let's say the opponent has a Copperajah and dynamax/g-maxes and hits you with a max starfall/max quake/max guard. Because they dynamaxed a turn afterwards, they will be at an advantage because of their higher hp, making the rest of the game rather even because both sides used up dynamax.
countered by opposing regular mon- even if it's a +1/+1 Zekrom, a mon like specs dragapult still outspeeds and KOes due to speed and level difference or ferrothorn because of natural resistances/bulk/protect.
there is also the added component double switching, which is even more potent because the opponent simply does not know what your other three mons are.
Late-game dynamax- a much safer strategy, the player can scout the entire team, identify the wincon, and dynamax accordingly in the situation. This has been covered ad nauseum/ is rather self explanatory and doesn't really have any relation with team preview
2. Tiered Stats Differences: another unique aspect of randbats is the wide range of levels (Uber 72, OU 80, UU 82, RU 84, NU 86, Special cases 90) and the even EV spread of 84 across every stat. These stats have some repercussions on Dynamaxing:
Completely Different Speed Tiers- Mons that are naturally faster at level 100 and a +speed nature are actually slower in randbats. For example, Inteleon outspeeds Zamenzenta by 3 points and Ninjask is king.
limited Uber KO abilities/Tankiness- A +3 Crunch by Zacian after a SD only does ~77% to a Celebi. in Ubers, that would KO 1000%, but in randbats, Celebi would actually live and OHKO back with a +2 leaf storm! The sheer level difference makes these Uber mons far weaker than anticipated.
3. Movesets are King in Randbats: based on what the people behind randbats weight the probabilities of moves appearing in sets, some unlikely mons are massive threats in the meta. Here are some examples:
CM unburden Drifblim, QD Bellossom, RP Golurk, DD Scrafty, etc.
Ultimately, I think Dynamax is a completely different beast in randbats compared to other metas, and banning the mechanic is irresponsible and reckless.
These days I'm predominantly a random battles player. Last gen I basically exclusively played a variety of random formats and ZU, and since ZU hasn't been created yet in Gen VIII I've been playing various random formats for the last few months since SwSh dropped. I'm also #23 on the annual Random Battles roomtour leaderboard, so I think I have enough clout to comment on this.
I'm in favour of banning Dynamax. However, not a racist brought up a great point which is that if Dynamax is banned in Random Singles, I don't believe this means it should also be banned in Random Doubles. Dynamax was clearly created with double battles in mind, and it's entirely balanced in RanDubs. However, it over-simplifies gameplay in singles way too much and makes playing the games unfun. Finally, I think it'd be unfair to the RanDubs community to have a mechanic banned from their game because of a suspect test that didn't occur on their ladder. I think it's important to have clarification over whether this suspect test affects both singles and doubles. I don't think it would change the outcome (those who want it banned in singles would likely take the hit to doubles as collateral damage) but I do think it's much preferable to suspect test the two formats individually.
First, I'd like to play devil's advocate and consider reasons why Dynamax may be balanced. Against The Ban Dynamax's counterplay is Dynamax: The most common argument surrounding why Dynamax is balanced, which we also saw in every tier's discussion when they considered banning Dynamax, is that the mechanic counters itself. Sure, Dynamax breaks through Protect, but if you Dynamax your own Pokémon you get Max Guard which it can't break through. If your opponent boosts their speed too much with Max Airstream, you can use your own Max Airstream and even the speed out. If your opponent boosts their defence or offence too much with max moves, you can just boost the opposite corresponding stat to wield their blows. This means that the mechanic cannot be overpowered, because both players have the exact same overpowered mechanic going into the battle.
It helps to even the playing field when teams are unbalanced: In past generations, sometimes it seems like players lose when the teams are rolled. Even with Dynamax, certain threats like Zacian can be the equivalent of an auto-loss depending on the other player's team. Dynamax gives these players who seemingly have a significant disadvantage a trump card that can turn the tables. Furthermore, every Pokémon can use the mechanic which means that theoretically, even Farfetch'd can become a threatening sweeper, diversifying the roles that Pokémon play and adding dynamics to the course of the battle. This is also pertinent to Monotype Random Battles, where a player who starts out with a type disadvantage can use the one Pokémon who has a favourable matchup against the opponent and tear apart those holes.
It adds another dimension to battles: Proponents of the mechanic usually praise the additional complexity it provides in battling. It essentially adds 4 moves to each Pokémon's moveset -- a Raikou with Calm Mind, Thunderbolt, Scald and Aura Sphere also has Max Guard, Max Lightning, Max Geyser and Max Knuckle to use, if it so chooses to activate Dynamax. This therefore makes battling more fun.
Utilising Dynamax successfully requires skill: It's very easy to misplay Dynamax. Especially in randoms, where team preview doesn't exist, a Dynamax which is intended to sweep can be stopped totally by a faster Substitute user. A Dynamax which is intended to boost stats in preparation for a sweep can be stopped by a Ghost- or Steel-Type for attack and special attack respectively. And if you don't secure your W with your Dynamax, chances are your opponent will afterwards with their own. Dynamax isn't an auto-win button, but requires timing, and that's just an additional skill that players have to harness and take into account.
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This is a fairly good case for keeping Dynamax around, but I believe the counter-case is more persuasive. I'll go into detail about it now.
For The Ban All Dynamaxes are equal, but some Dynamaxes are more equal than others: Let's be real, Dynamax is not even balanced within itself. The effects of the types that lower the opponent's stats (Normal-, Bug-, Ghost-, Dragon-, and Dark-Type) are far worse than their counterparts which boost the user's stats (Fighting-, Flying-, Poison-, Ground-, and Steel-Type). Hail is an inferior weather compared to rain and sun, and situationally sandstorm if the special defence boost to Rock-Type Pokémon is pertinent. Misty Terrain is, for the purposes of Dynamax, worse than the other terrains because Dynamax is an inherently offensive mechanic, and Misty Terrain doesn't boost the power of Fairy-Type moves whereas the other terrains do for their respective types. This means that even though theoretically every Pokémon can use Dynamax to great effect, in reality this isn't the case, and most teams have one Pokémon who as soon as the battle begins the player identifies as their Dynamax user. Think Gyarados, Togekiss and Hawlucha at the extremes, but in the spoiler is a more comprehensive list:
Ludicolo - Rain Dance (Swift Swim)
Drednaw - Rain Dance (Swift Swim), Attack Boost (if Superpower)
Arcanine - Sunny Day, Attack Boost
Mudsdale - SpDef Boost, Attack Boost, defence boosts due to ability anyway so can become quite impenetrable
Gengar - SpAtk Boost
Seismitoad - Rain Dance (Swift Swim), SpDef Boost
Gyarados - Literally an auto-win after one Max Airstream
Steelix - SpDef Boost, Def Boost, helps set up Dragon Dance afterwards
Sirfetch'd - Attack Boost, Speed Boost
Hatterene - Psychic Terrain, G-Max Smite
Togekiss - Max Airstream -> Flinch Win
Rhyperior - Rock Polish -> Dynamax -> Weakness Policy activates -> Win
Beartic - Hail (Slush Rush), Attack Boost
Lucario - Attack Boost, Defence Boost
Hawlucha - Attack Boost, Speed Boost
Charizard - Speed Boost, Sunny Day
Mewtwo - Psychic Terrain makes Psystrike unbearable, Aura Sphere for Dark-Type Pokémon
Cobalion, Terrakion, Virizion - Attack Boost, Defence Boost (Cobalion), Special Defence Boost (Terrakion (Sandstorm)), Grassy Terrain (Virizion)
Solgaleo - Autotomise -> Dynamax -> Weakness Policy activates -> Win
Boltund - If sets up with Bulk Up, appreciates the terrain and weather and high BP Max Moves
Crustle - Appreciates high BP Max moves after Shell Smash
Musharna - Appreciates bulk and terrain after Calm Mind
Kingler - Rain to boost STAB after Agility is a good wallbreaker
Crawdaunt - Rain to boost STAB after Dragon Dance
Gallade - Attack Boost & Psychic Terrain, but lacks the power to KO with max moves without a Swords Dance first
Raichu-Alola - Choice between Electric and Psychic Terrain is nice
Scrafty - Max Moves after Dragon Dance are nice, Moxie + Max Knuckle get to obscene Attack Stat levels but usually requires setup first to offset bad speed
Stunfisk-Galar - SpDef boosts shore up its Curse Def boosts, Def Boosts if Curse hasn't been used yet either
Barbaracle - Max Moves after Shell Smash
Braviary - Speed Boost, Attack Boost (let down by Max Knuckle being weak and not getting STAB)
Weavile - Max Moves after SD
Noctowl - Speed Boost after Nasty Plot
Sigilyph - Speed Boost, Psychic Terrain
Mimikyu - Max Moves after a SD
Turtonator - Max Moves after Shell Smash
Sandaconda - SpDef Boosts shore up Coil Def boosts
Octillery - Rain Dance, SpAtk Boost
Durant - Max Moves are accurate without a Hone Claws, and even more powerful after one, Def Boosts technically but not that useful, permits it to use Bug-Type STAB after first turn on the field
Flygon, Haxorus - Avoids locking into Outrage after its boosts, SpDef and Attack Boosts respectively
Aegislash - Def Boost, Attack Boost if Sacred Sword, usually much better after a SD
Polteageist - Powerful STAB after a Shell Smash, but Stored Power is the same BP
Falinks - Attack Boost, bulk after No Retreat with Dynamax is actually fairly good
Frosmoth - Max Moves after Quiver Dance
Mantine - Speed Boost, Rain Dance (Swift Swim)
Lapras - Aurora Veil G-Max Move, Rain Dance
Darmanitan - Attack Boost, Sunny Day
Duraludon - Defence Boosts work well with Body Press, Max Wyrmwind removes the SpAtk drop from Draco Meteor
Stonjourner - Rock Polish likes Max Moves, Sandstorm makes its atrocious SpDef more bearable, Weakness Policy (budget Rhyperior)
All Rotom Forms - Electric Terrain, all forms besides base form appreciate their secondary effects too
Tyranitar - Max Moves after Dragon Dance
Kommo-o - Attack Boost, Max Moves after Dragon Dance
Blastoise - Max Moves after Shell Smash
Kyurem-Black - Max Moves after Dragon Dance, avoids locking into Outrage
Slurpuff - Max Moves after setup and Unburden activate
Mew - Psychic Terrain, Speed Boost, Attack Boost, better after a Swords Dance
Celebi - Max Moves after Nasty Plot
Zekrom - Max Moves after Dragon Dance, Electric Terrain
Lunala - Psychic Terrain, Max Moves after calm Mind
Zeraora - Electric Terrain, Attack Boost
Inteleon - Rain Dance, Speed Boost
Cinderace - Sunny Day, Attack Boost
Vileplume - SpAtk Boost
Pelipper - Speed Boost
Mamoswine - SpDef Boost isn't awful, and Attack Boost but without STAB
Roserade - SpAtk Boost
Hitmons - Attack Boost
Goodra - Max Moves
Wishiwashi - Max Moves, Rain Dance
Pangoro - Attack Boost
Machamp - Attack Boost
Coalossal - Sandstorm for the SpDef boost is kind of OK to help with setting up hazards afterwards, but has to waste 2 turns of Dynamax for this boon
Conkeldurr - Attack Boost
Barraskewda - Rain Dance (Swift Swim) and Attack Boost, but it's already faster than almost everything and powerful enough to KO most things without the attack boost.
Espeon, Jolteon, Leafeon - Terrains boost STABs, Espeon and Leafeon have setup moves they can use beforehand
Meowstic-F - Psychic Terrain
Farfetch'd - Speed Boost after a Swords Dance
Toxicroak - Attack Boost
Whiscash - Appreciates Max Moves after Dragon Dances
Throh, Sawk - Attack Boost
Gothitelle, Reuniclus, Beheeyem - Psychic Terrain
Chandelure - Sunny Day, powerful Max Moves
Torkoal - Max Moves and bulk after a Shell Smash, but often better to have Recover handy if it has it
Hippowdon - SpDef Boosts
Heatmor - Low BP moves normally so Max Moves are good, Sunny Day
Heliolisk - Electric Terrain, Rain Dance for Dry Skin
Rapidash(-Galar) - Sunny Day and Psychic Terrain respectively
Basculin - Move freedom, Rain Dance, Attack Boost
Galvantula - Max Moves
Seaking - Rain Dance (Swift Swim)
Ribombee - Max Moves after Quiver Dance (assuming webs are already set which is priority)
Passimian - Attack Boost
Gardevoir - Psychic Terrain
Copperajah - Signature entry hazard is cool but it's not enough to trump the above Pokémon
Manectric - Gives options to switch between moves, more powerful Max Moves, Electric Terrain, Sunny Day
Grapploct - Attack Boost
Escavalier - Def Boost, Attack Boost, move freedom
Snorlax - Bulk and power after Curse, Attack Boost or SpDef Boost depending on set
Dhelmise - Low BP moves so Max Moves are pretty nice, Def Boost
Kyurem - Max Moves
Kyurem-White - Max Moves
Alcremie - Bulk after Calm Mind
Mr. Rime - Psychic Terrain, but usually better off sticking bulky and using Slack Off
Gigalith - Attack Boost, SpDef boost (but automatic Sandstorm usually means it isn't necessary)
Darmanitan-Galar - Max Moves and high speed to make use of it but loses use of its Choice Scarf
Eiscue - Hail resets Ice Face
Tsareena - Attack Boost, Grassy Terrain, loses Synthesis and no way to boost Speed can leave it vulnerable when Dynamax finishes
Dragapult - Max Moves
Venusaur - SpAtk Boost
Hydreigon - Max Moves
Klinklang - Defence Boosts and Electric Terrain after a Shift Gear
Oranguru - Good after a Trick Room and/or Nasty Plot
Keldeo - Rain Dance, Speed Boost
Flapple - Max Moves after Dragon Dance, offsets Hustle inaccuracy
Decidueye - Max Moves after Swords Dance
Bisharp - Max Moves after Swords Dance
Golurk - Gets functional Ghost-Type STAB, SpDef boosts
Perrserker - Max Moves after Swords Dance
Incineroar - Sunny Day, Attack Boost
Primarina - Rain Dance
Melmetal - Attack Boost, Defence Boost
Rillaboom - Grassy Surge obsoletes Max Overgrowth
Orbeetle - Wall
Butterfree - Prefers having Sleep Powder at the ready, not powerful enough to break everything even in Dynamax
Vikavolt - Offensive types are easy to switch around and still frail in Dynamax so it's usually wasted
Corviknight - Body Press trumps Max Knuckle, prefers to just keep using Bulk Up and Roost
Greedent - Prefers to continue setting up, Gyro Ball > Max Steelspike
Unfezant - Not powerful enough and prefers to try and use Super Luck + Scope Lens for crits
Thievul - Prefers having Foul Play and Parting Shot available
Obstagoon - Might as well just stick to Facade and Knock Off, likes having Bulk Up available
Dubwool - Relies on Body Press
Shiftry - Has no real use for Dynamax
Liepard - Utility moves just turn into Max Guard
Diggersby - Prefers having priority open to it, powerful enough without dynamaxing
Cincinno - All moves are 125BP anyway
Ninetales(-Alola) - Already set up weather, Alola likes Aurora Veil any time
Delibird - Lol
Glalie - Moody trumps Dynamax. Dynamax can technically help get Moody boosts up, but if you have to waste your Dynamax on setting its Moody up you've misplayed your Glalie completely
Froslass - Wants utility moves access
Claydol - Utility / Wall
Xatu - Not powerful enough after maxing, always wants access to Roost
Abomasnow - Technically can be used for a little bit of additional bulk, but Blizzard / Wood Hammer are fine and usually wants to keep Leech Seed open as an option if it has it
Quagsire - Wall
Ninjask - Too weak to make use of it
Shedinja - Lol
Vespiquen - Wall
Bronzong - Wall
Drifblim - Needs access to its utility at all times
Eldegoss - Wall / Utility
Cherrim - Overcast is utility, Sunny already has Sunny Day and doesn't need more power on its STAB or Weather Ball
Skuntank - Max Ooze boosts wrong stat, better off just keeping Sucker Punch open
Dusknoir - Wall
Dusclops - Wall
Milotic - Wall
Garbodor - Utility
Centiskorch - Prefers just using Coil and its normal moves. It technically can work for Dynamax but in my experience it's been a waste 100% of the time and Centiskorch performs just as well without it, since it's so matchup reliant anyway
Dugtrio - Too weak to use Dynamax properly
Dugtrio-Alola - Same, plus has more utility and if desperate Iron Head flinch chance can be the most useful this mon ever is
Swoobat - Stored Power is just as good as Max Mindstorm, doesn't really need Psychic Terrain or speed boosts, likes having access to Roost
Persian(-Alola) - Prefers having access to Hypnosis whenever, too weak after a NP to OHKO in Dynamax anyway so stick to 2HKOing outside of Dynamax
Ferrothorn - Wall / Utility
Gourgeist - Utility / Choice Band is more of an offensive pivot than a sweeper and Dynamaxing doesn't allow it to sweep, so it's a waste
Pikachu - lol
Vaporeon - Wall
Umbreon - Wall
Glaceon - Wants Wish
Sylveon - Wants Wish
Appletun - Wall
Meowstic-M - Utility
Aromatisse - Wall
Araquanid - Offensive pivot, webs utility
Wobbuffet - lol
Lanturn - Offensive pivot, wants access to utility moves
Stunfisk - Needs access to healing at all times, technically enjoys the SpDef boosts but it's not good enough to capitalise on it sufficiently
Shuckle - lol
Gastrodon - Wants Recover
Golisopod - Prefers utility / priority
Corsola-Galar - Wall
Corsola - Pivot
Cursola - Needs Strength Sap at all times -- way too vulnerable after coming out of D-Max and always gets KO'd immediately
Grimmsnarl - Utility / Bulk Up sets can kind of use it but it's usually unnecessary. G-Max Snooze is nice but it's a waste more often than it's a play
Salazzle - Utility
Weezing(-Galar) - SpAtk Boost is on the right STAB, but they're utility Pokémon and will never sweep anyway
Sudowoodo - Prefers just having Sucker Punch access and isn't bulky enough to capitalise on D-Max
Clefable - Wants healing
Whimsicott - Utility
Mandibuzz - Utility
Drapion - Like Skuntank, this typing is just awful for a physically-oriented Pokémon. Almost always a waste even after a SD and better off saving the D-Max
Malamar - Superpower > Max Moves, wants access to Rest moves
Sableye - Utility
Mawile - Too weak even after SD, wants Sucker Punch
Maractus - Utility
Qwilfish - Utility
Jellicent - Wall
Toxapex - Wall / Utility
Cramorant - Only use is its ability, which D-Max nullifies
Cofagrigus / Runerigus - Wall / Utility
Trevenant - Prefers Horn Leech healing to Max Overgrowth, usually bulky enough without D-Max. Can use it but it's usually a waste because of typing
Shiinotic - Wall / Utility
Morpeko - Aura Wheel is powerful enough anyway and provides speed boosts, likes access to Foul Play
Togedemaru - Not powerful enough after D-Max, wants Wish and Spiky Shield
Wailord - Click Water Spout instead
Lunatone / Solrock - Access to healing is too important, or Will-o-Wisp for Solrock
Dracozolt / Arctozolt / Dracovish / Arctovish - Bolt Beak / Fishious Rend are better, can't do enough with the D-Max to make it worthwhile
Type: Null - Just ResTalk
Jirachi - Flinch win instead
I believe that list includes every single Pokémon in Gen VIII Random Battles and the purpose of it is to demonstrate that there is a clear hierarchy in the utility that Dynamax has, depending on the Pokémon. Of course, my perception isn't law and you may disagree with particular placements for certain Pokémon. However, the main takeaways are:
Dynamax has no use for defensive or utility Pokémon, only offensive Pokémon
How good a Pokémon is at abusing Dynamax roughly correlates with how good the Pokémon is to begin with, the primary exceptions being certain weather abusers
A significant portion of the top 2 tiers use Dynamax after already setting up with stat-boosting moves
Certain Pokémon who were big offensive threats in Gen VII cannot take advantage of Dynamax well, and are thus left in the dust
This leads me into my second point Dynamax makes gameplay stale and less strategic: Gone are the days of scouting out your opponent's team before figuring out what your team's best counter is, because if you have any Pokémon who are good at abusing Dynamax, all you need to do is set up and win because matchup no longer matters and the Pokémon can just OHKO its would-be counters. This makes offence vs offence matchups pretty stale, because every game is centred around a set-up sweeper and the only win condition that either player is working towards is getting their Dynamax abusing ace set up the fastest. Even worse than this, however, is that offence is now, bar none, the premier playstyle. And this is exclusively standard offence -- hyper offence loses to powerful Pokémon who speed boost, and bulky offence loses to Pokémon who boost their offences too much, and if you're hoping to win with a bulkier team when your opponent has one of the top tier Dynamax users, you have an extremely unfair uphill battle that usually is lost no matter what you do. In a format where players don't even get to choose their own teams this is awful, and removes loads of strategy from the game. The whole purpose of random battles is to adapt your playstyle based on what team you have, but with Dynamax the optimal option for every player in every battle is to try and turn their team into offence somehow, even if it isn't catered to that style. It stales gameplay immensely.
It causes far more battles to begin on an uneven playing field: It's always been true that sometimes players essentially lose randbats when the teams are rolled, but in past generations that's either due to extremely unlucky matchup, or if facing an extremely small number of threats such as GeoXern, which there is still counterplay against for the most part due to requiring a turn of setup. In Gen VIII the number of matchups which are critically disadvantageous to a given player is way higher, because there are 20+ Pokémon who outright abuse Dynamax, and if any of them have a good matchup against your team you're pretty much done if the other player plays even reasonably well, and most Pokémon from Tier 2 and 3 Dynamax abuse can steamroll an advantageous matchup as well if played correctly. This means that while it's valid to say that Dynamax theoretically evens matchups because the player who starts on the backfoot has a powerful trump card, the inverse tends to be truer in practice: Pokémon who already have a good matchup abuse the hell out of Dynamax and win games without even trying.
The skill required to use Dynamax is basic: Above a rating of 1400 or so on the ladder, both players should have more than a sufficient handle on when it's optimal to Dynamax. It's a deceptively simple mechanic: we all know what Pokémon are broken with Dynamax, and we all know whether or not that Pokémon's first Max Move will either OHKO the opponent opposite it on the field, or get the counter that switches in into 2HKO range. If the answer to both of those is yes, you Dynamax and set up a sweep. If the answer to both of those is no, you consider whether any Pokémon on your team could do that, and if the answer is no then you Dynamax anyway if it beats enough holes into the opponent (excluding if they have a sufficient defensive Dynamax in which case you save it). Furthermore, you consider your opponent's own considerations of these questions, and if they're ever in a position where their answers are yes, you Dynamax defensively. That's really all there is to this mechanic generally, which is a large part of why it makes games so stale -- the theoretical extra dimension it provides to battling is extremely shallow, not to mention restrictive.
Dynamax is insufficient counterplay to Dynamax: This is a controversial statement, but hear me out. It's true that if the opponent uses their Dynamax prematurely, your own Dynamax is a valid counterplay in terms of neutralising the threat. However, it is, outside of a faster Substitute or sleep user, the only valid counterplay, and once you have used your own Dynamax defensively, you lose the option to use it offensively. This means that in the best case scenario, where the defensive Dynamax occurred on the same turn as the offensive Dynamax, the mechanic has just been mostly wasted for both players. In the second-best case scenario, the opponent who pulled the trigger first still gets the benefits of that first Max Move, before the defensive Dynamax is used on the subsequent turn. Furthermore, Max Guard fails 50% of the time when used in succession, meaning the offensive Dynamax still gets 2 opportunities to set up or boost most of the time, still presenting the offensive Dynamax with a clear advantage. Overall, this means that defensive Dynamax functions more so as a check than a counter to offensive Dynamax, limiting what the offensive Dynamax can do but not outright beating it. But it may even fail to qualify as a check because it still disadvantages the defensive Dynamax player by removing their own offensive Dynamax option. Finally, Dynamax is weighted far too much towards favouring offence, while the best Pokémon to use Dynamax defensively are defensive Pokémon, naturally, as they can either heal off the damage of the offensive Dynamax afterwards, or are the only option who can endure Max Moves after Max Knuckle of Max Ooze. This means that they don't get any mileage out of the Dynamax to then turn around and use offensively, because they're not offensive Pokémon. This paragraph is based on the assumption that both players use their Dynamaxes competently, which is a necessary assumption when discussing balance, so examples where your defensive Dynamax allowed you to turn the tide of the game just means that your opponent misplayed their own.
Dynamax forces players to think in the short-term: The fact that your opponent can become a behemoth, both literally and in terms of gameplay, at any moment forces players to always be ready to counter that option. This prevents long term plans where players can save a set-up sweeper for an opportune moment, for instance, because that Pokémon may be forced to act defensively against a Dynamax due to nothing more than its typing being good against the opponent who Dynamaxed. Strategy games are supposed to be based around making long-term plans, which Dynamax restricts massively by suddenly giving one side too much power and forcing the opponent to adapt there and then. And this still isn't interesting, because if the opponent has the tools to adapt then they can do so very easily, and if they don't then they lost due to matchup.
Dynamax's dilution of skill makes it not fun: I'm glad that some people find this mechanic fun but, trying to measure "fun" as objectively as possible, it simply isn't. I believe most of us will be in agreement that a game that is a battle of skill and wits is more fun than playing the lottery. Most of us will agree that the charm of random battles is catering your playstyle depending on what team is rolled, which Dynamax directly detracts from. That beginning on a roughly even playing field is more enjoyable than steamrolling the opponent, or being steamrolled yourself. That certain Pokémon being able to win regardless of matchup makes the game stale. It's great that this mechanic is fun for some people, but insofar as it's possible to measure fun, Dynamax really isn't it.
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I hope this is a good starting point for the discussion surrounding this mechanic in the context of Random Battles. I tried to present both sides based on the discussion I've seen of them in the past, but this is naturally biased toward banning Dynamax because to me there's a far stronger case for it. On an even skill level, Dynamax dilutes and restricts each player's ability to demonstrate their skill. Therefore, the mechanic should be banned.
