Dynamax, the “gimmick” of Generation 8. Everyone has an opinion on it after Sword and Shield did away with Mega Evolution and Z-Moves. Is it a good thing? A bad thing? A cash grab? Regardless of what you think, Dynamax has proved a central tenet of VGC in this generation by essentially combining the previous two gimmicks. 

As the game describes, Dynamax allows you to make your Pokémon huge for three turns and use Max Moves that can dynamically change stats, set weather and terrain, and spawn other field conditions. But what does it actually mean to make a Pokémon “huge?” And in VGC formats with Dynamax, how can you make the most out of this phenomenon? 

Enter two new items introduced with SwSh and its DLC: Dynamax Candy and Max Mushrooms. 

Dynamax Candy

Dynamax serves more than just the aesthetic purpose of taking advantage of the Switch’s HD graphics. When a Pokémon is Dynamaxed, its HP stat increases. How much it increases depends on how much Dynamax Candy it’s been given. In Dynamax formats, you’ll want to give as much Candy to your Pokémon as the game allows — 10 pieces — which will double your Pokémon’s HP stat while Dynamaxed. 

Let’s take a look at how to do this in-game. 

One can determine how much Dynamax Candy a Pokémon has eaten by pulling up that Pokémon’s Summary, or by going to the Box. There will be a bar in these areas that shows a Pokémon’s “Dynamax Level,” which is just the game’s way of saying “this is how much Candy you’ve fed this Pokémon.” Here’s what that looks like for a Pokémon that hasn’t eaten any:

As you can see with the highlighted rectangles, the Dynamax Level bar for this Spectrier is empty. If I were to Dynamax this in a battle, its HP would only increase by 50%. In VGC, where battles take place at Level 50, my Spectrier would have 175 HP. But if I Dynamaxed it like this, it would have 263 HP instead of 350. That’s a lot of health I’m giving up! Check out Bulbapedia here for a deeper explanation.

But feeding my Spectrier some Dynamax Candy is simple. I go to my Bag, select 10 Candies from the list, and feed. 

If I go back to the Summary or the Box, I can see that my mission has been a success.

That’s all there is to Dynamax Candy! It’s a quick and straightforward process, but can sometimes be forgotten when putting a team together, so make sure you don’t forget this important step. Otherwise you’ll be fighting with Pokémon that don’t have as much bulk as they could. 

When putting together a full team for a tournament or event, many players choose to fully feed their Pokemon all 10 Dynamax Candy — including Pokémon generally used as support members like Whimsicott, Amoonguss and Grimmsnarl. The general consensus is to be prepared for a worst-case scenario where you’ll be forced to Dynamax one of these Pokémon, and you want to have as much health as possible. 

If you’re ever running short on Dynamax Candy, you can obtain more through Raid Battles. Another feature added in Generation 8, Raids give out a varying amount of Dynamax Candy, generally between one and three pieces each. Some rare (Blissey, Delibird) or special event Raids (Mewtwo) can give out even more. Battling in five-star Raids, or uncommon purple beam raids, are usually the fastest way to get more Candy. 

Lastly, for restricted formats, remember that Zacian, Zamazenta and Eternatus will not need Dynamax Candy as they cannot Dynamax. 

Max Mushroom Soup

For Pokémon that can also Gigantamax, there’s a similar process that needs to be taken into account as well: Max Mushrooms. 

Let’s say you want to build a team around G-Max Venusaur, a very popular Pokémon throughout most Generation 8 VGC formats. You’ve bred the perfect Bulbasaur with the right nature, IVs and ability, and you’ve trained it up to be the Venusaur with the EVs you want. But you still need to make it capable of Gigantamaxing. 

If you’ve completed the Isle of Armor storyline, you’ll be able to do this quick and easy. Go to the Dojo and talk to this character. He’ll ask for three Max Mushrooms, which he’ll then feed to your Venusaur as Max Soup. You now have a Venusaur capable of Gigantamaxing! Check your Venusaur’s summary for the special Gigantamax symbol next to its name. If you ever change your mind, you can undo the process for another three mushrooms. 

Max Mushrooms are once again collected by completing Raid Battles. The mushrooms spawn around the Isle of Armor, with a new cluster popping up after every three Raids. So if you ever run low on Dynamax Candy or Max Mushrooms, you can kill two birds with one stone by completing more and more Raids. 

There’s one final wrinkle here involving Urshifu, the Pokémon introduced as the Isle of Armor mascot. In order to make an Urshifu capable of Gigantamaxing, you’ll also need to provide the NPC with one helping of Max Honey. You’ll obtain a Max Honey by finishing the Isle of Armor story, but if you’d like another, you can get one by battling Vespiquen in Raid Battles at the six dens on Honeycalm Island. 

Now that you know how to use Dynamax Candy and Max Mushrooms, you can fully take advantage of Dynamax in battle!