I didn't get the chance to post earlier, and I think everything has pretty much been said about Dynamax; I agree with most of the positions already posted. I originally played devil's advocate for it, but at the end of the day it is a ridiculous mechanic that destroys gameplay. I've had my fair share of fun using it, but for sustainability purposes it should be removed. Prior to the games being released, I had predicted that the SS metagame would require much more thinking than prior. While this is correct, it has proven that there is such a thing as too much thinking. With Dynamax, the line between predicting and guessing has become blurred. It's unfortunate that we need to get rid of the main mechanic of the generation, but it is the necessary measure to make a truly competitive metagame that rewards the better player most of the time. My main concern is that the generation will quickly become stale because of the lack of options and competitive disparity between types.



What I would like to address is the talk of keeping Gigantamax while banning Dynamax. While it would be a way to preserve the generation's mechanic, there are some drawbacks.



First, let's look at the positives:



- Every type has access to at least one Gigantamax Pokemon



- In many cases, Gigantamax Pokemon are less broken than their Dynamax counterparts. For example, Corviknight is unable to get speed boosts, Drednaw cannot set Rain and does not have Swift Swim (in Gigantamax), Charizard cannot set Sun to increase its fire power.



- You know exactly what Pokemon can Gigantamax



- The biggest abusers of the new mechanic will be gotten rid of such as Gyarados and Togekiss



Now, the negatives:



- While monotype generally has a "all types are equal but some are more equal than others" approach, the difference might just be too large. Certain Gigantamax Pokemon are bound to be deemed broken, and their bans can completely shift a type's position in the metagame. For example, let's say Gengar Gigantamax is broken and has to be banned. This leaves Ghost as the only type without the ability to Gigantamax, heavily disadvantaging it. This situation could be taken similarly to Mega Pokemon, with Mega Sableye being banned in ORAS, however the loss of a Gigantamax Pokemon might be much greater than losing a Mega. This is of course hypothetical, but should be considered.



- The bulk and the power and abilities of Max Moves still make this an overwhelming mechanic that might be too much to handle. In fact, the removal of Defensively Dynamaxing to counter the Gigantamax threat makes it even harder to handle. In certain matchups, a Gigantamax Pokemon will easily have 3 turns with 3 kills. So while you might know what is going to Gigantamax, it does not mean you have a reliable way of beating it.



While I have listed more positive points, the damage of the negatives severely outweighs them in my opinion. I regretfully do not believe it is feasible to have a relatively balanced metagame with Gigantamax staying. However, I am willing to give it the benefit of the doubt if we were to test it in a contained metagame without Dynamax like Lycan said. I would be happy to see it be manageable and preserve it, but just don't think that is possible.



Whatever course of action is taken, I hope we can settle these issues ASAP. While we have no major tournaments at the moment, it would be best not to have the metagame change entirely in the middle of a circuit tour or major tour team. I highly doubt there will still be any big issues by the time MPL comes around, but it would be ideal to have a properly defined metagame by the time the first seasonal happens.



I have added the Gigantamax options for every type below, in order to show how drastic the difference is between types.



Gigantamax Distribution by Type:



Bug: Butterfree, Orbeetle, Centiskorch

Dark: Grimmsnarl

Dragon: Flapple, Appletun, Duraludon

Electric: Pikachu, Toxtricity (Unreleased)

Fairy: Hatterene, Grimmsnarl, Alcremie

Fighting: Machamp

Fire: Charizard, Centiskorch

Flying: Charizard, Butterfree, Corviknight

Ghost: Gengar

Grass: Flapple, Appletun

Ground: Sandaconda

Ice: Lapras

Normal: Meowth, Eevee, Snorlax

Poison: Gengar, Garbodor, Toxtricity (Unreleased)

Psychic: Orbeetle, Hatterene

Rock: Drednaw, Coalossal

Steel: Melmetal (Unreleased), Corviknight, Copperajah, Duraludon

Water: Kingler, Lapras, Drednaw