Pokémon Go Gigantamax Lapras counters, weaknesses and tactics explained

Gigantamax Lapras counters and weaknesses in Pokémon Go

In order to battle a Gigantamax Lapras, you first need to do three things:

• Have 800 Max Particles
• Have IRL friends who play the game
• Find a Power Spot with a Gigantamax Lapras

While the upside to Max Battles not using Raid Passes is that this is obviously a money-saver for the player. The downside is that you need to find people to play with in real life, rather than remoting in. As with previous Gigantamax battles, we strongly recommend travelling to an urban centre for a pre-arranged meet-up. You have little chance of doing this solo or with a small group in a rural area.

Once you have achieved these lofty feats, you can begin the Max Battle and attempt to take down Gigantamax Lapras. Don't worry if you fail the first time - your Max Particles aren't taken until you win the battle; as long as you have enough Revives and Potions, you can keep trying until you run out of battery! Below you’ll find the counters and weaknesses for Gigantamax Lapras to help you win the Max Battle:

• Gigantamax Lapras types - Water and Ice-type
• Gigantamax Lapras is weak against - Grass, Electric, Fighting and Rock-type attacks
• Gigantamax Lapras is resistant to - Ice and Water-type attacks
• Gigantamax Lapras top counters - Gigantamax Toxtricity (Spark) and Gigantamax Venusaur (Vine Whip) are your top two attackers, followed by Dynamax Machamp (Counter), Dynamax Toxtricity (Spark), Dynamax Venusaur (Vine Whip), Dynamax Falinks (Counter), Dynamax Dubwool (Counter), Dynamax Rillaboom (Razor Leaf) and Dynamax Greedent (Bullet Seed).

• Number of players to beat Gigantamax Lapras - You’re looking at 10 at the absolute minimum. More would be ideal, up to a maximum of 40. Remember, you will be split into teams of four, so don't worry if you don't see everyone in your lobby!
• Tactics - Unlike bog-standard raids, the tactics here are a little more complicated...
  First, be aware that your Fast move governs your D-Max move, so make sure they a Fast move that Gigantamax Lapras is weak against (ideally the one we suggest above).
  Unfortunately, Lapras's Ice typing provides natural coverage against Grass-type Pokémon. If you're relying on Gigantamax Venusaur, for example, you'll want to make the most of Max Guard. As soon as you Gigantamax, spam three Max Guard to protect your Pokémon. When you next Dynamax, you will have a choice: either top those shields up if you need to, hit Gigantamax Lapras with a powerful Max attack.
  If you don't have Max Guard, make sure you partner with someone who has Max Spirit, and is aware that you will be shields down as it were. A little teamwork goes a long way!
• Rewards for beating Gigantamax Lapras - For taking down a 6* Gigantamax Lapras, you will receive 25,000 Stardust, 25,000 XP, 1 Rare Candy XL, 30 Lapras Candy, 1 Lapras Candy XL and 10 Premier Balls. Don't forget to crack a Star Piece and a Lucky Egg beforehand if you want to maximise your Max rewards!

The Dual Destiny Season is here! It brings the Holiday Part 2 event with it. You can now catch Dynamax Pokémon through Max Battles. First, however, you need to visit Power Spots to collect Max Particles and complete the To the Max! quest. Don't forget to try out Routes, Gift Exchange and Party Play while you're hunting down rare Pokémon, fighting in the Go Battle League or competing in PokéStop Showcases.

Gigantamax Lapras CP in Pokémon Go

Unlike with Raids, there is no visible CP on a Max Battle boss. Instead, it just has a giant health bar that gets slightly smaller with each hit. It's also worth noting that because these battles take place in their own special arena, there is no weather boost available.

Below you’ll find the CP levels for Gigantamax Lapras in Pokémon Go:

• CP range for catching Gigantamax Lapras - 1435 to 1509 CP
• CP for perfect Gigantamax Lapras - 1509 CP

Best Lapras moveset in Pokémon Go

Gigantamax Lapras is currently the only Ice-type Max Pokémon in Pokémon, and only the third Water-type Max Pokémon in Pokémon Go. This means that as far as Max Battles go, you're almost certainly going to want this as an Ice-type attacker.

That said, if you want to use your fancy new Lapras in Go Battle League, you are welcome to do so. Be aware, however, it won't be in its Gigantamax form! It's hardly fair for you to show up with a 78'+ (24m+) behemoth to take down the opponent's Rattata, is it?

Lapras is ok in Go Battle League - it's not standout, but it will win you some matches. In Great League, its best moves are Ice Shard (Legacy Fast), Surf (Charged) and Skull Bash (Charged). In Ultra and Master League, you swap Skull Bash for Ice Beam (Legacy Charged). These aren't incredibly movesets by anyone's standards, but when you have a Pokémon as bulky as this, even an average moveset can go a long way!

Here are all the Fast and Charged moves Gigantamax Lapras can use in Pokémon Go:

Fast Moves:

• Frost Breath (Ice)
• Water Gun (Water)

Charged Moves:

• Blizzard (Ice)
• Hydro Pump (Water)
• Skull Bash (Normal)
• Surf (Water)

Legacy Fast Moves:

• Ice Shard Breath (Ice)

Legacy Charged Moves:

• Ice Beam (Ice)
• Dragon Pulse (Dragon)

Everything we know about Lapras

The Transport Pokémon, Lapras, is iconic. Dating back to the first generation, this delightful Pokémon won many hearts as one of Gym Leader Misty’s Pokémon during Pokémon Gold, Silver and Crystal. Since then, we have ridden it across bodies of water in more Pokémon games than we can count.

Lapras appears to be based on the Loch Ness monster, with the beta version of the Gen 1 games referring to this Pokémon as Nessie (anyone watching Dan Da Dan at the moment might have realised that this is also the Japanese for the Loch Ness Monster). It's possible that Nessie was combined with the folk talk of the fisherman Urashima Taro, who rescued and rode a sea turtle. This might explain the shell on Lapras's back!

Another interesting piece of trivia is that despite its Water/Ice-typing, some Lapras have psychic powers and can use telepathy to speak with humans. It's one of the very few Pokémon that do this in the anime/manga, with both Santa's and Sabrina's Lapras doing so.

Gigantamax Lapras is clearly on a whole other level. While all Pokémon can Dynamax in Sword and Shield, only specific Pokémon can Dynamax, and Lapras is the only Ice-type Pokémon capable of doing so. As if this wasn't cool enough, they took the opportunity to redesign the Transport Pokémon asking the question 'ok, but what if Lapras was also a cruise ship?'

If you want to learn more about Lapras and Gigantamax Lapras, you can read their official Pokédex entries below:

• Lapras: 'Able to understand human speech and very intelligent, it loves to swim in the sea with people on its back. It ferries people across the sea on its back. It may sing an enchanting cry if it is in a good mood.'
• Gigantamax Lapras: 'Over 5,000 people can ride on its shell at once. And it’s a very comfortable ride, without the slightest shaking or swaying. It surrounds itself with a huge ring of gathered ice particles. It uses the ring to smash any icebergs that might impede its graceful swimming.'

5000 is a fair amount of people - good job, Lapras. At first brush, it doesn't look like a comfortable ride, but if that's what the Dex says, we have to believe it!

It's also good to know that shiny Lapras is in the game, which means that shiny Gigantamax Lapras is in the game too! As you can see below, Shiny Lapras is a lovely shade of purple!

I need to settle an argument, is shiny Lapras purple or pink?
byu/gunsmokey24 inpokemongo

Thanks to Reddit users gunsmokey24 for the handy preview! And in answer to their question, definitely purple.

Good luck defeating Gigantamax Lapras in Pokémon Go!