Although not allowed in every VGC format, Legendary Pokémon are powerful creatures that can make a huge impact in battle. There are three types of Legendary Pokémon: Restricted, Sub-Legendary and Mythical. 

Restricted Legendaries are immensely powerful and are usually restricted to one or two on a team at any given time. Pokémon such as Kyogre and Xerneas are monstrous attackers capable of sweeping teams single-handedly.

Sub-Legendaries, while not as strong as Restricteds, can be very powerful in either offensive or supportive roles, or sometimes even both! Pokémon like Regieleki and Tapu Fini have seen great success with a great variety of sets. 

Also included in the Sub-Legendary category are Ultra Beasts - these alien Pokémon utilize their otherworldly ability Beast Boost, gaining +1 to their highest stat after taking a KO. Almost all of the Ultra Beasts have seen success in some form in VGC, but especially Nihilego, Celesteela, Kartana and Stakataka. 

Finally, we have Mythical Pokémon - these mysterious creatures have never been allowed for use in VGC due to how difficult they can be to obtain. Maybe this is a good thing, though - Pokémon like Magearna and Marshadow would surely be incredibly powerful!

Now, you may be left with the question - how do I get Legendary Pokémon for myself?

Obtaining VGC-ready Legendary Pokémon

The first step here is figuring out which Legendary you’re looking to catch, and how to find it in Sword and Shield. 

Most Legendaries in Sword and Shield are available through Dynamax Adventures. Any Legendaries not found in Dynamax Adventures will have their locations detailed here.

At the bottom of this page you can find listings for all Legendary Pokémon that can be encountered as final bosses in Dynamax Adventures.  

Dynamax Adventures

Looking for perfect Legendaries in Dynamax Adventures requires a little more attention than other methods like Soft Resetting, but is also far more engaging.

First, you’ll need the path for the Legendary you’re looking for. There are a few ways to get a specific path: searching for a random adventure and getting lucky, asking people online, or buying it from Peonia. We recommend asking online - it tends to be much faster! Peonia will sometimes offer to sell you a path for a few Dynite Ore, so you should check if she has the path you (or a friend) might be looking for. In the case that a friend is looking for a path you’ve already completed and caught the Legendary from, you can put that Legendary at the front of your party and talk to Peonia - she’ll sell you the path for it again. The Legendary must be the one you caught in the Max Lair, and you will not be able to catch the Legendary again at the end of the Dynamax Adventure.

After getting the path, you’re all set to embark on your Dynamax Adventure! There’s a relatively big range in difficulty depending on the final boss Pokémon. Click here for a list of all available encounters in Dynamax Adventures - you’ll be wanting to pick Pokémon that have moves that can hit the final boss for super effective damage. Keep an eye out for moves like Wide Guard, too - quite a few of the bosses love to click spread moves, and this should help keep them in check. 

Make sure to catch all Pokémon you find in Dynamax Adventures as they have an extremely high shiny rate (1/300, 1/100 with Shiny Charm). The Pokémon do not appear shiny in battle - only on the summary screen at the end. Even if you have no interest in shinies, they may make great bartering chips in trading later on! Also, all Pokémon from Dynamax Adventures have 4 or more perfect IVs - they’re very useful for breeding! 

Upon defeating the Legendary, you’ll be presented with a summary screen. Here, you’ll be shown all the Pokémon you caught during the adventure, and be given the chance to choose one to keep. You’ll be able to view their stats and nature before choosing - we’re going to use this to calculate the Pokémon’s IVs and decide whether we want to keep it or not. Create a new team on Pokémon Showdown, and add the Legendary you just caught. Adjust it to Level 70 and set it to the Nature it has in game. Next, tweak the IVs on any stats that don’t match what you have in game - the Necrozma I caught had an Attack stat of 156 and a Special Defense stat of 136, so I reduced those IVs until they hit the numbers I had in game. 

You can repeat this process as many times as you like - you’ll get up to 10 Dynite Ore per Dynamax Adventure. I chose not to keep this Necrozma as I was looking for 0 Speed.

Wild Encounters

Legendaries encountered in the wild in Sword and Shield: Articuno-G, Zapdos-G, Moltres-G, Cobalion, Terrakion, Virizion, Keldeo

Getting the stats you’re looking for on wild encounters (as well as static encounters and gifts) is a lot faster than Dynamax Adventures. For wild encounters, find the Pokémon you’re looking for in the Overworld, and then make sure to save your game. Then, run into the Pokémon to battle it. Catch the Pokémon and then check its stats using the Judge function in the PC. You can then reset to your save if it doesn’t have the stats you want (such as if you need a Speed or Attack stat of 0). Wild Legendaries will have minimum 3 perfect IVs.

Wild encounters are the only Legendaries in Sword and Shield that can have Marks.

Static Encounters

Legendaries that are Static Encounters in Sword and Shield: Eternatus, Zacian, Zamazenta, Calyrex, Glastrier*, Spectrier*, Regirock, Regice, Registeel, Regieleki, Regidrago, Regigigas

Resetting static encounters is nearly identical in method to resetting wild encounters. Save in front of the Legendary you wish to reset for (you’ll need to do this before any cutscenes that Legendary has that lead directly into their battle), battle and catch the Legendary, and then check its stats with the Judge function in the PC.  

* Encountered as part of Calyrex Ice Rider and Calyrex Shadow Rider, the fusion uses Calyrex’s IVs. The horses have their own separate IVs that can be viewed when separated with the Reins of Unity.  

Gift Pokémon

Legendaries received as gifts in Sword and Shield: Type:Null, Cosmog, Poipole

Resetting gift encounters is, once again, nearly identical to resetting wild and static encounters. Save in front of the person who gives the gift you wish to reset for (the lady in the Battle Tower for Type:Null, the grandma in the house for Cosmog, and the lady in the Max Lair for Poipole), receive the gift, and then check its stats with the Judge function in the PC. All three of these gifts cannot be shiny..

Mystery Gift Pokémon are often locked to a set of stats, and cannot be reset for in Sword and Shield regardless.

Changing Formes

If the Legendary you’ve been looking for has alternate formes, you’ll need to change it to the forme you’re looking for before taking it into battle. Most forme transformations are done by using an item on the Pokémon - you can get these items by showing the Pokémon to the market salesman in Stow-on-Side. 

This includes:

DNA Splicers (Kyurem)

N-Solarizer / N-Lunarizer (Necrozma)

Zygarde Cube (Zygarde)

Douse / Chill / Shock / Burn Drive (Genesect)

Adamant Orb (Dialga)

Lustrous Orb (Palkia)

Griseous Orb (Giratina)

Soul Dew (Latias / Latios)

Reveal Glass (Tornadus / Thundurus / Landorus)

Silvally’s Memory items are obtained along with the Type:Null gift in the Battle Tower.