Gigantamax Butterfree counters, weakness, and battle tips in Pokémon Go

Gigantamax Butterfree is the latest addition to the list of Gigantamax Pokémon introduced to Pokémon Go, and is available in Max Battles as part of the Gigantamax Butterfree Max Battle Day on Aug. 3 from 2-5 p.m. in your local time.

This big bug will only have niche uses (as is the way for bug-type Pokémon), but if you like to collect Gigantamax Pokémon, you’ll want one for your collection regardless.

Below, we list out some general Gigantamax Max Battle tips and counters for Gigantamax Butterfree in Pokémon Go.

Gigantamax Butterfree weakness

Gigantamax Butterfree has a ton of weaknesses: flying-, rock-, fire-, electric, and ice-type moves. On top of that, Butterfree actually has doubled weakness against rock-type moves, though we won’t be able to make much use of that yet.

You’ll want to avoid using ground-, fighting-, bug-, and grass-type moves, as Butterfree has a resistance against those types.

Gigantamax Butterfree best counters

With the above in mind, there’s a good number of counters to bring to Butterfree. We recommend the following to focus on offensive moves:

• Gigantamax Cinderace with Tackle (G-Max Fireball)
• Gigantamax Toxtricity with Spark (G-Max Stun Shock)
• Gigantamax Charizard with Dragon Breath (G-Max Wildfire)
• Dynamax Darmanitan with Fire Fang (Max Flare)

You can also bring the Dynamax versions of the above Pokémon (though, yes, they will deal less damage than their Gigantamax counterparts). If you’re running D-Max versions of the above, Cinderace and Charizard will both want Fire Spin instead as their fast moves. Since D-Max moves pull typing from the fast move, it’ll want this over the listed attacks, which we only recommend on the G-Max versions because they’re faster and thus builds up the gauge more.

As a reminder, there is a set of Timed Research that will give you an encounter with a Dynamax Darumaka, Darumaka Candy, and some particles ahead of the weekend. It’s actually a pretty decent option if you don’t have Toxtricity, Cinderace, or Charizard, so don’t sleep on this Timed Research.

If you want to be an ally to your team, you can bring the following Pokémon with Max Guard and/or Max Spirit to help out defensively:

• Crowned Shield Zamazenta with Metal Claw
• Crowned Sword Zacian with Metal Claw
• Dynamax Corviknight with Sand Attack
• Dynamax Blissey with Pound

These moves will allow you to build up shields quickly, and their bulk will let them last long against Butterfree.

Even if you don’t have these powered up, consider just bringing the strongest Dynamax Pokémon you have. If you have a maxed out Dynamax Gengar and your Dynamax Charizard isn’t leveled (and you don’t have the means to power it up), just bring your Gengar.

General Gigantamax Butterfree tips

If you’ve been struggling in Max Battles, here’s some general tips to survive — and make sure you’re an asset to your team. Gigantamax battles involve way more strategy than the usual rampant tapping that you do in raids, so make sure to know what you’re doing before jumping in.

• Make sure you have enough players. High-efficiency groups with maxed out investments can take down the Butterfree with fewer people, but practically, if you don’t have hundreds of spare candy and even more Stardust laying around, this isn’t going to be an option for you. Make sure you have as many people as possible to ensure that you get your musically inclined cruise ship-shell creature.
• Don’t sleep on Max Spirit and Max Guard. Teams work best when there’s a variety of moves, not just maxed-out attacks. Each player should bring Pokémon with the defensive and healing moves unlocked as well. Max Guard will focus single-target damage towards you and reduce the damage taken and Max Spirit will heal the whole party, so these moves are really important to make sure your damage-dealers can keep dishing.
• Remember to swap to super effective moves when it’s time to Dynamax. For Dynamax Pokémon, their max moves will be whatever type their fast move is. This means if you have a Rillaboom with Razor Leaf, it will know Max Overgrowth. A Gengar with Shadow Claw will know Max Phantasm. Take advantage of this and make sure to swap to a Pokémon that will deal super effective damage to your target before Dynamaxing, if you can.
• Level up a few ‘mons, but you don’t have to go too hard. Depending on your group size, you absolutely do not need to max out all your Dynamax Pokémon to level 40-50. While this will make it easier on the rest of your group, if this isn’t an investment you can make, you don’t have to stress about it. Power things up as high as you can afford to, but don’t fret if you don’t have a maxed out Pokémon.
• That all being said, make sure to come as prepared as you can be. This is a team effort and there’s a reason why groups of 30-40 people can still fail. Do not just bring your unleveled Dynamax Wooloo expecting a free ride to a powerful Pokémon. After all, if everyone does that, then you certainly won’t clear the battle. Again, you don’t have to completely max out your Pokémon, but it will be better for everyone involved if you bring something helpful to the table.
• Keep your eye out for a shiny Butterfree! If you clear the raid, there is a chance that the Butterfree you catch will be shiny — which also means it’ll be a guaranteed catch. Use a Pinap Berry to score extra candy if you get lucky enough to find a sparkly Butterfree.