Judge-a-Pokémon Express: Gigantamax starters!
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Codraroll
Welcome, everyone, to the Isle of Armor! With the release of the first DLC for Pokémon Sword and Shield, we are also getting a handful of new Gigantamax formes. Most notably, starter Pokémon other than Charizard have Gigantamax formes now! Predictably, these are the two other Kanto starters and the three Galar starters. These giant new designs surely are impressive. Or are they? Let us hear what the Judge-a-Pokémon Express panelists have to say!
| Venusaur | Blastoise | Rillaboom | Cinderace | Inteleon |
| Click on the images to reveal everyone's thoughts! | ||||
Max. Optimizer
Ken Sugimori planted the seed for the Bulbasaur family tree over two decades ago, and it sure has blossomed quite a bit over the course of time. While I was initially fairly surprised that Charizard was seemingly the only member of the Kanto region's iconic starter trio to receive a Gigantamax forme, I am glad to see that Venusaur and Blastoise were not left out after all. While James Turner had to try to turn a new leaf in regards to the classic design of Venusaur that has been ingrained into our memories, he skillfully managed to preserve the roots, and the new design consists of a healthy mélange of old nostalgic and new innovative elements. In this sense, the evolution of Venusaur's designs, ranging from its standard forme and its Mega Evolution forme to the current new Gigantamax forme looks and feels like a natural progression, similar to that of an actual flower that grows bigger over time. Interestingly enough, Venusaur seems to have adopted traits from many different plants over the course of time. While its standard forme draws inspiration from the Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula), hence its name English name "Venusaur", and while its Mega Evolution forme draws additional inspiration from the corpse lily (Rafflesia arnoldii), just like Vileplume, the inspiration behind its current new Gigantamax forme clearly stems from the Licuala orbicularis parasol palm. The deep-rooted motif of the sun in this design makes perfect sense too, especially considering that Venusaur's hidden ability is Chlorophyll, the green pigment that allows plants to perform photosynthesis to absorb energy from sunlight, and that it also has access to the moves Synthesis, Solar Beam, Sunny Day and Weather Ball. In conclusion, I like the design, as I feel like amusing takes on elements from our real world still make for the best Pokémon designs.
Kaiju Bunny
I’ll be honest when I say that when I first this thing, I was a smidge disappointed. I feel like they were on a good track with Mega Vensaur, but instead of building onto the whole “jungle” aspect, they just made the flower cover almost half of its entire body. If they’re going for a giant flower, doesn’t Vileplume already cover that? Gigantamax Venusaur’s flower doesn’t even really sport an interesting design pattern like Gigantamax Charizard’s belly and Gigantamax Blastoise’s arms and legs. Perhaps I’m being too critical though… Based on what we’re able to see in the video about these new forms in general, I almost see a tail I think? At least it has that going for it as far as being interesting. In addition, I’ll mention that I do enjoy seeing the “crown” atop its back. I think it ties relatively well into Galar’s whole theme of royalty, even if Venusaur seems less than royal to most. I’m also rather excited to find out what its potential G-Max move could be! Venusaur is already an incredibly bulky Pokémon, so seeing some secondary effect that builds off of and bolsters that sounds like it’d be in order. Perhaps it lays down Leech Seed? Or we get something like G-Max Befuddle where a random status condition is inflicted onto the foe? I could probably ramble on with thoughts and ideas, but I can only hope and pray that it’s not something useless. c’:
Lockjaw
Like it was with its Mega Evolution, what went through most changes wasn't Venusaur itself, but the flower on its back. Only this time our big friend looks exhausted with that huge umbrella; just look at its eyes. I think they could have give more details to its design, since they only have changed its eye color, added light green spots on it, and left its leafs to be crushed by its petals. But, as a whole, Venusaur's Gigantamax design is okay in comparison to its Water-type starter fellow.
Blitzamirin
Fortunately for us, the other two members of the Kanto Starter Trio weren't left on the wayside this generation! At first glance, Venusaur itself isn't particularly interesting. The flower just grows bigger and droops over it... and that's it. Add the random markings Charizard gets, and that's the Gigantamax. At least, that was the first draft of the design. A key difference that can be seen in the finalized artwork is the use of its vines, and supplementary artwork, as well as its in-game model, highlights these further. While Venusaur has traditionally been associated with vines with moves such as Vine Whip and Frenzy Plant, this is strangely absent in official art or its regular in-game sprites and models at a glance. In my opinion, the fact that it's being shown like this now highlights an underutilized aspect of Venusaur's design motif and concept-wise makes this Gigantamax forme far more attractive to me.
Pikachu315111
Overflowing flower! Much like its Mega Evolution, Venusaur’s Gigantamax forme doesn’t change the basic body but the flower on its back. This time around, while Venusaur also grows, the flower grows even more until it's covering Venusaur like it’s a shell or umbrella. It looks fine, it gets that kaiju feeling across with how big the flower has grown and probably looks the most distinct of the Kanto starter Gigantamax formes. Still, there feels to be a bit of blandness. I look at Mega Venusaur and, while the flower doesn’t grow in size, it gains lateral shoots, leaves, and vines. However, Venusaur itself also gets a flower on its head and markings on its face, a small change but one that shows that attention has been given to Venusaur’s entire being. For Gigantamax Venusaur, they just made its flower big and called it a day; they didn’t even do anything interesting with the cloud ring.
Base 80 HP will give it plenty of bulk when doubled. I can imagine Venusaur’s G-Max move having one of two effects. Leech Seed has been a move often associated with the Bulbasaur family, so inflicting that on the opposing Pokémon would be thematically appropriate but only benefits Venusaur even if all opposing Pokémon are seeded. For the second choice, we need to look at G-Charizard’s G-Max Wildfire. That move copies the effect from the Pledge Moves combinations, Fire Pledge + Grass Pledge. That leaves Gigantamax Venusaur with the Grass Pledge + Water Pledge combination, creating a swamp on the opponent’s side of the field that quarters their Speed for 4 turns. Either effect would be good, though the Speed quartering sounds like it would be the most useful not just for Venusaur but your entire party (if you're not running a Trick Room team).
Estronic
Not gonna lie, Gigantamax Venusaur is looking pretty fresh with that bowl cut. Those thinking that it looks terrible definitely don't have a sense a fashion.
Who am I kidding, this thing looks stupid. Maybe it can put its flower to use and hide its face from the shame it deserves.
Codraroll
When Mega Venusaur was created back in 2013, the designers must surely have had a handful of different designs to choose between. I am fairly certain, however, that all of them involved changes to the plant on Venusaur's back, with very little variation in what the animal itself looked like. The toad-like main body of Venusaur is merely a platform for the—arguably more interesting—plant on its back. So when the time came to give Venusaur another super-form, it seemed inevitable that the designers again looked to the plant while leaving the animal mostly unchanged. Gigantamax Venusaur is given a facial expression as if it's about to sneeze, and the eyes look a little more bloodshot than usual, but the plant on the back remains the star of the show. Well, it and the vines coming out of its ... rear end? The end result is a more turtle-like overall appearance, with the flower covering so much of Venusaur that it starts to lead your thoughts in the direction of Mareanie or Toxapex. While "make the plant bigger, again!" is hardly a very original design idea, it gives Gigantamax Venusaur a very distinct silhouette. It wears the plant like armor, as opposed to Mega Venusaur's wilderness design. It really shows how the same basic design concept—"make the plant bigger!"—can yield very different results.
On a sidenote, can anybody make any sense of the lighting on Gigantamax Venusaur in the artwork? Venusaur's body appears lit from below, yet the petals are illuminated as well, as if the light source is to its side. But despite large gaps between the petals, not a ray of light falls on Venusaur's face. And to make it all worse, the vines are lit from below only, despite them being right next to the petals which receive light from the side—and the vines cast no shade. Gigantamax forms have a tendency to be all over the place with their lighting, but on Venusaur this quirkiness is especially noticeable.
Rabia
Naturally, the creators of Venusaur's Gigantamax forme had to stay true to the original evolution line's theme of "the plant gets bigger," meaning we ended up with a Venusaur that looks stuck in the middle of an angsty teen's emo phase.
JustoonSmitts
What is Game Freak's obsession with making Venusaur's flower bigger when it changes formes? The flower is literally encompassing its entire body. This just feels extremely lazy to me. How cool would it have been to have Venusaur have an entire jungle on its back akin to its Mega Evolution? Granted, that's not the most original idea either, but it would have been a little more inspired than.... this.
Max. Optimizer
Generally speaking, the iconic Kanto starter trio Pokémon have come a long way ever since their introduction over two decades ago, and I never get tired of seeing them adopt new formes every now and then, be it the Mega Evolution formes during Gen 6 and Gen 7 or the current Gigantamax formes in Gen 8. Pokémon has always been about getting stronger, evolving, and adapting to new surroundings, and this is what James Turner skillfully managed to gun for while giving old iconic Pokémon like Blastoise creative and fresh new looks: give that tortoise even more cannons, tortoises love cannons. While Blastoise had already managed to come out of its proverbial shell in the headcanon of many people, thanks to its newly acquired access to the move Shell Smash in Gen 8, the announcement of its Gigantamax forme definitely made even bigger waves. While it may have taken Blastoise quite a while to unfold its full potential, it's still important to keep in mind that the "slow and steady" approach has the potential of "winning the race" in the end regardless, as evidenced in the famous "The Tortoise and the Hare" fable by Greek fabulist and storyteller Aesop. I genuinely feel like Gigantamax Blastoise, in conjunction with the move Shell Smash, will definitely live up to its already threatening design, and I can already imagine it quite literally blowing many players in Battle Stadium Singles (BSS) out of the water, all while putting them in a sheer state of "shell-shock". This tank is by no means a loose cannon and, thanks to its bulk, it can take several hits, meaning that it will not turn turtle in defeat easily. I for one see myself having a blast using it in the official formats on cartridge in the future.
Kaiju Bunny
Now with Gigantamax Blastoise, I got super pumped (no Hydro Pump pun intended). The aggressive look, the little designs trickling around his arms and legs, the guns atop his shell, it fits together excellently. You could argue it might be too much gun or perhaps they did nothing else interesting, but I think the design is simple enough where it’s not borderline Digimon crazy and actually still manages to make a giant tortoise seem intimidating and powerful. I can see this thing swimming through the ocean with its back sticking out like a naval ship! It may not be as flashy as Gigantamax Charizard, but I think the concept Gigantamax Blastoise gives is definitely more prominent, which is something I’m personally always a fan of. Unlike with Gigantamax Venusaur, I’m actually at a loss of what Gigantamax Blastoise’s G-Max move could possibly be. Blastoise on its own is also rather bulky, but it has more offensive prowess than Venusaur does. Perhaps it sets up Aqua Ring for itself? Or maybe something a little more obscure like G-Max Stonesurge. Perhaps the move becomes a bolstered Rapid Spin without the Speed boost? Maybe it unleashes Whirlpool? Whatever it happens to be, same as with Venusaur, I just hope it’s not something worthless and/or unviable. ;;
Lockjaw
It's just a big Blastoise with a upgrade on his shell.
Blitzamirin
Blastoise here has decided to steal Turtonator's gimmick and convert it into a far more useful weapon. Shell Trap? Screw that: 31 adjustable cannons of differing sizes and, according to legend, the power to blow holes straight through mountains. Furthermore, the symmetrical hexagon pattern at the back of its shell in addition to a color change that is very complementary makes Blastoise an incredibly pleasant design to look at. Even its signature move, G-Max Cannonade, sounds AND looks awesome. I never thought I'd even say this, but Blastoise exudes every aspect of the word "badass" with this design, and I for one cannot wait to use it.
Pikachu315111
Sieging shell! Taking a cue from Gigantamax Lapras and Duraludon, Gigantamax Blastoise turns its shell into a fortress with gun batteries around the base and pointing upwards at the top. While the gun batteries are the replacements for Blastoise’s shoulder cannons and on paper sound like a fun idea, in practice the result is less than desired. Nothing was done to Blastoise itself, and by removing the shoulder cannons, it now just looks like a bipedal turtle with a spiky shell. I think they went too stylized and should have made the cannons be a bigger single barrel instead of smaller double barrels. To me, it’s a downgrade from Mega Blastoise, which may not have had many cannons but sure knew how to make them look threatening and without taking away Blastoise’s charm.
Huh, I thought Blastoise had way more HP than base 79, but that’s still fine enough when doubled. For its G-Max move’s effect, I want to quickly discuss Gigantamax Charizard’s G-Max Wildfire. That move copies the effect of the Pledge moves combination Fire Pledge + Grass Pledge. If they do the same for Gigantamax Blastoise, it’ll likely copy the effect of the Water Pledge + Fire Pledge combination, creating a rainbow on the user’s side of the field that doubles the chance of move’s secondary effects activating for four turns. Not a bad effect normally, especially if they let the turn counter reset each time used, but I’m having doubts if that fits Gigantamax Blastoise’s design. Maybe increase both Defense and Special Defense by one stage? Though that completely ignores all the cannons. Maybe it also increases accuracy by one Stage? Or make it so all your Pokémon are unable to miss for four turns, I think that fits. Well, whatever they do, this is Game Freak’s problem.
Estronic
Mega Blastoise had a pretty cool design, upgrading to a bigger back cannon alongside two new arm cannons, but it wasn't anything too extra. Gigantamax Blastoise is practically the definition of extra with its many cannons on its back. Perhaps whoever designed this got too inspired from battleships and thought that the more guns they put on it, the more people will enjoy its design. The design doesn't really seem practical in battle either? Sure, Gigantamax Blastoise has the strength of a hundred armies on its back, but what about the front? It has nothing to protect itself other than its stubs for arms, and by the time it's able to actually turn around, it'll most likely already getting ready to rest up back in its Pokeball.
Rabia
YOOOOOOO LOL WHAT IS THIS????? Bro, this looks like something straight ripped from a Call of Duty game; they straight up turned my man Blastoise into a whole naval battleship good LORD. This thing looks like it alone could end an entire war just by showing up. I seriously cannot imagine anyone looking at this absolute UNIT and going "ah yes this is where I stake my life." Out of all the Gigantamax formes for old and new starters, I definitely love this one the most. Not even Charizard can compare to this mountain of a man.
Don't think I didn't see y'all cop Turtonator's stance, though. Nobody turns their back to 'em like the original.
Codraroll
The designers of Pokémon appear to have taken some special care to ensure that the Gigantamax forms of the Kanto starters didn't resemble their Mega Evolutions too much. Mega Blastoise went in the obvious direction and upgraded Blastoise's cannons, by combining the two shoulder cannons into a larger dorsal cannons and adding a pair of awkward arm launchers (and a goatee. Don't forget the goatee). Gigantamax Blastoise went in a similar, but different direction. This time, Blastoise has installed the mother of all plumbing systems to be able to fire water in at least nine different directions. Like with Gigantamax Venusaur, the animal portions of Gigantamax Blastoise remain mostly untouched. I don't even think there is a goatee. In a sense, the turtle is merely the platform for what goes on on its back.
While I like the fortress aesthetic, I must admit it doesn't make a lot of sense when you analyze it in detail. Gigantamax Blastoise has cannons poking in every direction except straight ahead, and its shell blocks its field of vision, so it can't attack in any direction it can see. The biggest cannons all point skywards unless Blastoise leans over to the point it's in danger of toppling—and that pose would also squeeze its tail pretty badly between its shell and the ground. Firing water in an arc is hardly an effective way to attack a ground-based enemy either—water has a tendency to spray all over the place when launched like that, so it would hit the foe as rain instead of a powerful jet. The classic Dynamax clouds also appear tacked on and stupid in this design; they aren't swirling in a plane parallel to the ground, and they'd be whisked away as soon as the dorsal cannons fire.
JustoonSmitts
I'll admit, I was a bit leery of Gigantamax Blastoise after it was revealed in the first DLC trailer, but now that I've seen the official artwork and how it's animated in-game, it's clearly the better designed of the two new Kanto Gigantamax forms. Turning its shell into a fortress and giving it more cannons on the back is a neat idea. I also like the pattern it gains on its arms and tail. It looks aggressive, and the fact that its shell faces the opponent showcases its defensive capabilities. I kind of wonder what its G-Max Move will do? Maybe a Whirlpool effect? Maybe it'll be lethal with a Shell Smash boost? Guess we'll have to see.
Max. Optimizer
I am genuinely glad to know that the family tree of my favorite Galarian starter Pokémon will be able to continue branching out and blossoming even further thanks to its new Gigantamax forme. In one of our previous Judge-a-Pokémon Express editions I had already welcomed the opportunity to place great emphasis on the fact that I absolutely love Rillaboom's design and, as it turns out, James Turner managed to drum up an even more impressive design for its Gigantamax forme that, in the words of Icelandic singer and songwriter Emilíana Torrini, has my heart "beating like a jungle drum." Interestingly enough, one notable difference that sets Gigantamax Rillaboom apart from other Gigantamax Pokémon is the fact that only its drum grows into a bigger drum kit, whereas Rillaboom itself does not change much and remains relatively faithful to its roots. I feel like this is a clever design choice that helps keep the emphasis on the fact that Rillaboom is capable of using a tool to play music. This is especially interesting when we keep in mind that, while the ability to craft and use tools is predominantly attributed to humans, apes and monkeys have been observed to use tools such as branches and stones as well. In a similar vein, the author Steven Mithen states in his book titled "The Singing Neanderthals: The Origins of Music, Language, Mind and Body" that ape calls are considered direct evolutionary precursors to the ways in which we humans developed our use of language and music over the course of time. Not only Gigantamax Rillaboom's design is fun to look at, so is its new signature move G-Max Drum Solo. As a matter of fact, it strongly reminds me of the Deep Forest Bloom jutsu used by Hashirama Senju in the Naruto universe.
Ryota Mitarai
From a lone gorilla that loves to drum on its bongo to a borderline psychotic Metallica drummer, Gigantamax Rillaboom is a proof that power does corrupt anyone that gets it. People used to question if Rillaboom even lived in the neighborhood, and now Gigantamax Rillaboom is reported to the police every night for noise disturbance. Look at its G-Max move too, it ignores abilities, which can be considered as some of the laws in the Pokémon world. Rillaboom couldn't handle the responsibility that came with this power and became a criminal. It's just a matter of time before its music career comes to an end, not because it lacks the talent, but because it will be jailed for all the crimes it has done for the sake of popularity and "being cool."
Kaiju Bunny
… Have such mixed feelings about Gigantamax Rillaboom. If it wasn’t meant to be a Pokémon, I think I’d be in love with the design. Nothing screams badass to me quite like a giant wooden drumset that probably busts out some killer jungle solos. Additionally, while the Bayonetta-like hair seems kinda silly the more I look at it, I think it works out on the surface. Perhaps my only gripe I have with this design is the fact that it looks like a boss belonging to a separate videogame, not a Gigantamax Pokémon. It always makes me wish we could maybe have more diverse design changes? I mean look at Gigantamax Toxtricity, but maybe I’m making my standards too high. Overall though, I enjoy the concept, looking forward to seeing this Pokémon jamming out as it attacks n.n
Kalalokki
In its base forme, this is definitely my least favorite of the three starters, mostly because of its dumb idle animation in the games. So I'm happy that its Gigantamax forme makes up for it big time. Long gone is the dumb ape with its single little meek drum, and instead we get a full-fledged rockstar, complete with a massive full drum kit and a newfound ability to control its hair as arms for some reason. These new arms are kinda cool in theory, but it kinda seems like a waste that they're only going to be used on the drum kit. Imagine it being able to just ditch the drums and pummel an opponent in to the ground with its hair, that would've been a much better use of them.
Lockjaw
I have a great theory about Grookey's wooden stick. When it evolves into Thwackey, it splits up in half, and, when it evolves to its final form, both sticks becomes Rillaboom's drumsticks. That's right, you get two evolution concepts for the price of one. And this Gigantamax confirms my theory, since its sole drum becomes a huge set of drums. I love this forme; this was really unexpected to me, although I think this forme shouldn't be called "Gigantamax Rillaboom", but "Drummer Gigantamax Rillaboom". Donkey Kong definitely is proud of its Pokémon version.
Blitzamirin
I... don't have much to say on Gigantamax Rillaboom. It's a design that's pretty clever in a variety of ways: the massive drum kit immediately stands out, and the Pokémon itself isn't the main focus... yet the designer accentuated the hair in its design, so it ties all the components together. Rillaboom serving as a unified, one-man band is a simple, clean, and elegant idea that I think is pretty awesome.
Pikachu315111
Frenzied forest! Instead of making itself bigger, Gigantamax Rillaboom has the wooden drum it carries grow into a forest that forms a complete drum kit (with more wood drums and mushroom cymbals). Rillaboom itself goes through a slight transformation, with its leafy hair growing long and turning into four more appendages to drum with as well as looking like the forest’s canopy. It’s a very clever design, though Rillaboom does look a bit out of place with how big the drum kit is, and its single vine hair sticking straight up looks silly (though I’m going to guess they’ll explain that’s how its controlling its leafy hair limbs).
With base 100 HP, Gigantamax Rillaboom is looking good with its HP doubled. G-Max Drum Solo is a tad disappointing, as it shares its effect with the other Gigantamax Galar starters' G-Max Moves, ignoring the target's ability. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great effect, but aside from typing it removes an element of originality they strived to do for all the G-Max Moves, to make each Gigantamax feel different. For Galarian Rillaboom, they could have taken inspiration from its signature move, Drum Beating, and had it decrease all opposing Pokémon’s Speed and increase G-Rillaboom and its allies Speed all by 1 stage. Or, in addition to decreasing all foes' Speed by one stage, it creates tangling vines on the opponent's side of the field, which will also decrease the Speed of any Pokémon the opponent sends out (a copy of Sticky Web with a new coat of Grass-type paint).
Estronic
Firstly, I'd just like to remind everyone that Rillaboom is and will always be a horrible name. Now that's out of the way, I'm pretty conflicted when it comes to Gigantamax Rillaboom's design. It could be swinging those humongous vines at foes, sweeping them entirely off their feet, but it instead chooses to play the drums with it. I'm not really a music expert, either, but I'm sure two drumsticks is just enough to sound good. I don't know about you, but listening to percussion in the background of a song three times over probably won't sound the best.
Rabia
I guess Game Freak decided that "Frenzy Plant but as a Pokémon that makes music" would be a unique and cool design choice. Well, it's certainly unique, although I'm not too sure I'd call it cool.
Codraroll
As I've said so often in the past, I don't like how humanoid the starter Pokémon have become in the recent few generations. It's like the designers have an occupation in mind when they design the Pokémon, and not necessarily a creature. The result is that the Pokémon becomes entirely defined by its intended occupation, and ends up looking like a human in a costume doing a human thing, instead of a magical monster. G-Max Rillaboom is perhaps the prime example so far of a Pokémon being defined by the job it does. The prime design element of the Gigantamax forme is the giant drum set for Rillaboom to operate. It is a big instrument, with the drummer itself being a secondary element. In theory, any humanoid Pokémon (or for that matter, human) could be put behind the drums without impacting the design much. Heck, you can barely make out Rillaboom in the artwork. Rillaboom gets a few new appendages to play the big drums with, because it is so small compared to the drum set, but this seems rather unnecessary to me. Why not just make Rillaboom itself bigger, so it becomes proportional to the drum set? Is it because that would underline how the drum set is designed for any human-shaped creature, meaning that Rillaboom's existing design wouldn't need to change to operate it if the two were just scaled properly? See, that's the problem with humanoid designs that define the Pokémon by the job it does: essentially, any humanoid Pokémon could do the job. You could just as easily put Inteleon or Cinderace behind those drums (just as Rillaboom could play soccer or carry a gun). This insistent focus on what the Pokémon does, instead of what it is, ends up making the creature itself unimportant to its own design. That's a pretty big fail in my eyes.
JustoonSmitts
At least Rillaboom takes my forest idea to an interesting level. I actually really like this execution. The drums turn into an entire drum set with symbols, and the ivy vines it had branch out with their own drumsticks to really jam out. I'll be honest, it looks a lot more like a Grass-type than it did before. Easily my favorite Gigantamax of the Galar trio.
Max. Optimizer
It would appear that James Turner managed to pull yet another rabbit out of his hat. Before I share my thoughts regarding its impending arrival in the official competitive formats, I wanted to welcome the opportunity to kick things off by stating that the Gigantamax forme's body posture, especially in conjunction with the crossed arms and the big grin from rabbit ear to rabbit ear, improves Cinderace's already self-confident and formidable appearance even further. It is in my opinion safe to assume that it will make a lot of opposing trainers feel like rabbits caught in the headlights once it Gigantamaxes and starts using its new signature move G-Max Fireball. I initially did not even realize that the fireball has Cinderace's face on it. While a rabbit's foot is usually considered a good luck charm, I highly doubt that the foot of our gym bunny will bring good luck to opposing Pokémon that get to make contact with it. I could very well imagine myself going down the rabbit hole in the Battle Stadium Singles (BSS) format by using Gigantamax Cinderace for kicks and for laughs. While pranksters have for example been known to work the rabbit's foot on other players in that format by tricking an Eject Button onto their opponent's Dynamax/Gigantamax Pokémon, this does ironically not work with the Red Card item, meaning that, unlike in real football, Cinderace does not risk getting penalized and sent off the pitch for establishing physical contact with opposing Pokémon. And thus I conclude my thoughts regarding Cinderace's Gigantamax forme. I think that it is safe for me to assume that I have been talking about it for so long in its absence to the point where its ears must be burning by now, especially now that they are longer than ever.
Ryota Mitarai
Ever since it was a little Scorbunny, Cinderace dreamed to be a blazing (pun intended) soccer player. Unlike many players that were in soccer because of the money, Cinderace wanted to become a famous soccer player because it loved soccer. Its passion for it was so huge that the fireball it loved to kick developed a personality on its own. When Cinderace entered the professional league, the whole love it had for soccer just disappeared. It saw how horrible human beings and Pokémon were towards others that didn't support their team and how high the amount of cheating that other players tried to pull off was. Because of that, Cinderace became a "criminal" called Gigantamax Cinderace that targeted anyone that did anything that "offended" its dear soccer, and its fireball also became somewhat hostile.
I do have to admit, though, its long ear is actually very pretty. It really makes Cinderace look beautiful in its own way.
Kaiju Bunny
Big fire bun. Of course I have some major bias, but I actually find it pretty interesting that they turned Cinderace into a breed of lop rabbit. I’m also a huge fan of the new pose it takes as it stands on the sun a giant soccer ball made of fire with an honestly adorable little face on it. I never really understood how something could be cool but also threatening, but I definitely see it now! I’d hate to receive a Pyro Ball from this thing, but it makes me wonder how it’d be able to attack so quickly while trying to control such a huge ball, but it’s Pokémon, where ghosts with no hands can learn punching moves, so I suppose anything can happen, right? I also like how they’ve really focused on the soccer theme with Cinderace, which is even evident in its G-Max Move after it lands in the animation. Basically, I love it uwu
Kalalokki
I'm not a fan of the overly humanized starters that have been a trend for the last few generations, and Cinderace fits right in to that category. So if I just imagine its body as a tiny speck on top of that awe inspiring fireball, its Gigantamax version is a huge step up, giving me the same vibes of Fire Fist Ace's technique Dai Enkai Entei. The fireball even has cute eyes and a mouth, but it's topped off by the weirdest unibrow I've ever seen. I don't know why Cinderace grew giant droopy wing-looking ears, and I frankly don't care. Its shtick of just kicking fireballs, small or big, against enemies is getting a bit tiring too; hopefully we'll get an animation of it just body slamming a foe with that thing instead, truly reducing them to cinders.
Lockjaw
I'm sure they've increased Cinderace's ears in this form in order for this Pokémon to become more noticeable. Although the rabbit just got bigger ears, I like the concept of its design. You don't see a Pokémon riding a burning Spirit Bomb very often; it's like Cinderace has used 100% of its power in order to create that sphere, fighting anime style. Also, Cinderace's fireball animation taking the shape of a rabbit when it explodes is a quite interesting touch. Let's just admit it looks amazing.
Blitzamirin
This design is an interesting one. My first thought upon seeing it was "is that a Kirby enemy?"... Seriously, the Pyro Ball having a face looks like straight out of the Kirby franchise... and it's pretty cute, if a bit unsettling. Cinderace itself gets longer ears and is said to have the strongest legwork of all Pokémon: The thought of a Cinderace just forgoing conventional battle rules and just kicking the heck out of a Dynamax Pokémon is pretty hilarious! That said, one has to ask themselves how it's going to perform in soccer now. The Pyro Ball alone won't fit in any potential goal, and how are you gonna pass that monstrosity to other teammates when you're so big to begin with?
Pikachu315111
Orbicular inferno! Who needs to grow bigger when instead you can be riding atop a huge, F***-OFF fireball? That’s Gigantamax Cinderace’s thinking as it lets out its inner shonen protagonist and creates the instrument of the big bad’s destruction. And no, the fireball looking like Cinderace’s face doesn’t take away from its intimidation. Cinderace itself has an even more serious face and crossed arm posture, its overflowing power channeled into and through its ears, making them grow long and resembling a pair of angel wings. It’s just so blatantly shonen I can’t help but love it. In the anime they better have Goh’s Cinderace (you know his Raboot is going to evolve) Gigantamax against Eternamax Eternatus and score the decisive blow with G-Max Fireball! Speaking of which.
Base 80 HP is fine when doubled. G-Max Fireball may look cool as all hell, but sadly they copped out with its effect, making it the same as that of the other Gigantamax Galar Starters’ G-Max Moves, ignoring the target’s ability. It’s a nice effect to have for sure—I wouldn’t think any ability would be able to stop a giant fireball—but they’ve tried to make all other G-Max Moves effects unique, so why stop now, and with the starters of the generation? A giant fireball should obviously urn everything that it hits, maybe even have it burn away all hold items the opponent’s Pokémon have. Or, in addition to burning all opponent’s Pokémon, have it leave the opponent’s side of the field scorched so that any other Pokémon the opponent sends out also gets burned.
Estronic
Gigantamax Cinderace gives off some very big anime vibes, but it still unfortunately fails to tickle my fancy. The only changes it gets are bigger ears, which look terrible, and a big ball to stand on, which doesn't seem practical in a battle. If its foe happen to knock it off balance, it'll just be a moderately bigger Cinderace with inconveniently sized ears. Would it even be able to use its fireball against Water-types? They'll probably just put it out as well, unless it's so hot it'll just evaporate the water. But wouldn't that mean it would be practically be disastrous to everything around it? Maybe I'm thinking too hard.
Rabia
I'm not sure if those are supposed to be ears or not. Regardless, thanks, I hate it.
Codraroll
The theme for the Gigantamax forms of the Galarian starters appears to be "The Pokémon, mostly unchanged, stands atop a big object". G-Max Cinderace suffers the same problem as its brethren, in that the object and not the creature is the important thing to the Pokémon design, meaning that any humanoid creature could stand atop the object and nothing would effectively change. Incineroar, Machoke, or even Lucario could have been placed atop the objects without it making much of a difference. Although, to be fair to Cinderace, the fireball isn't an obviously human-made object designed with humans in mind. It is a big ball of fire, and it appears to even have a mind of its own with that giant face, eyebrows and everything, giving it somewhat of a personality.
However, it does underline Cinderace as a bit of a one trick bunny. The big ball is there for Cinderace to kick, and that's where the design begins and ends. What else can G-Max Cinderace do, when you think about it? Fire a Flamethrower from a position that's far away and difficult to aim from? Jump off the giant fireball and engage the foe in close combat, with its long ears trailing the ground as it runs? No, this design is built around the idea of kicking a very big thing, even if it makes all other actions much more difficult or impractical. I'm sure it will look good in the intended battle animations, but when you think about it trying to do anything else, it surely seems rather awkward.
Also, how can the design of Cinderace itself be so dark (especially the shadow halfway up the ears) when it is standing atop a huge ball of blazing fire?
JustoonSmitts
So make Cinderace's ears longer and give it a gigantic fireball with its face on it and... BOOM! a Gigantamax. Yeah.... I may like Cinderace a lot, but I don't like this Gigantamax. Like with Venusaur, this just seems lazy to me.
Max. Optimizer
I spy with my little eye a design that is clearly spiraling out of control. Before I continue sharing my thoughts regarding Inteleon's Gigantamax forme, I wanted to welcome the opportunity to politely ask not to shoot the messenger over the use of puns and idioms in the paragraph you are about to read; I only ever aim to please after all. Anyway, Gigantamax Inteleon uses its now spiral-shaped tail to build itself a sniper perch, allowing it to catch sight of any opposing Pokémon, as well as to take proper aim. From a competitive point of view, I can definitely see Gigantamax Inteleon becoming relevant in the official Battle Stadium Singles (BSS) format for example. The reason behind that assumption is the fact that the signature Gigantamax moves of the Galar region starter trio, in this case Gigantamax Inteleon's G-Max Hydrosnipe, can bypass the abilities of the Pokémon on the opposing side of the field. Some of the players among our readers that are familiar with the format will for example already have entertained the thought of using Gigantamax Inteleon in order to catch a very specific omnipresent Pokémon in the crosshairs: Mimikyu. I feel like, despite the fact that Gigantamax Inteleon will be really good in this format, one will also have to have to adopt the mindset and the modus operandi of an actual spy and wait for the right opportunity to strike, in order to avoid ending up wasting one's valuable Gigantamax turns and shooting oneself in the foot. All things considered, I am genuinely looking forward to trying Gigantamax Inteleon out at some point and have a plethora of opposing Pokémon, in the words of Bon Jovi, "shot through the heart", it is all part of the game that we call Pokémon after all.
Ryota Mitarai
Inteleon is perhaps the most "criminal" one of the three starters. Apparently Inteleon also becomes something like a snake when it becomes Gigantamax Inteleon? I have lived a lie my entire life, because I thought Inteleon was a frog and not a snake. Its sniper also reminds me of those straws that naughty children use to shoot paper balls at others, especially with the saliva that the paper is covered in.
Kaiju Bunny
When I first saw this thing, I thought the tail was absolutely ridiculous, but now that I’m more comfortable with the design, I think it works out well enough. The high perch and fact that Inteleon is laying down like an actual sniper make for perfect support for Snipe Shot. Also to be quite honest, the “water gun” actually looks pretty threatening, and I think it perfectly complements Inteleon’s whole appearance overall of being sleek and skillful. I still can’t help but picture what would happen if someone just knocked the tail from under it, which makes me laugh a little every time, but I’m guessing Inteleon wouldn’t let anyone get close enough, eh? I like the direction they took with emphasizing a sniper theme as well, as nothing really came to mind to me at all with how it could be played on more without just adding a ton of watery weapons to Inteleon’s belt, so I’m happy with what they decided with c:
Kalalokki
If you haven't noticed a pattern in these Gigantamax starters, it's that they mostly just get giant accessories in their new formes: a big drum kit and a big fireball. So when it comes to my personal favorite starter in Inteleon, its big accessory is... a giant water snake-looking tail that it perches upon as a sniping tower? Really? I mean, I get that its theme is a sly assassin type of character, but it's just such a weird sight. Like, what happens if someone just attacks its tail to bring the whole tower down; surely that must be a great weak point. Can it even use its tail for anything else than that stupid tower? While I do like the fact that Inteleon finally forms a physical sniper rifle using water, I think this whole concept is just too wacky and unrealistic.
Lockjaw
I know the evolution line of our adorable and dear Sobble was disappointing, but I'm sure Inteleon's Gigantamax forme is gonna make us eat our words, right? Or not... the concept of this Pokémon itself is interesting, but when they tried to put it into practice, they ruined everything, especially with this forme. It looks weird. The other starters look weird too, but in an interesting way. But Fortnite Gigantamax here, no. I'm sorry, my dear secret agent, sniper and Battle Royale player lizard thing, but you just have disappointed me again.
Blitzamirin
Inteleon takes the essence of sniping and cranks it up to eleven. The concept is really cool, with Inteleon's tail not only looking like a flowing water spiral, but also doubling as a lookout tower so it's able to shoot victims from high above. In fact, due to the way Inteleon can pose itself, these are probably the freest 360 no scopes you could ask for! Against normal Pokémon, the design actually has fantastic execution, as they can't possibly reach Inteleon while it can easily defeat them. In fact, they probably wouldn't see it coming, keeping Inteleon's identity secret and preserving the secret agent motif. However, I severely question its efficiency if the opposing Pokémon can Dynamax in return. The Dynamax Pokémon can just launch a random Max Move to its tail and make it collapse... and due to the size of the battlefield, can anyone imagine Inteleon being any good at shooting at point blank range? So many things would be near eye level with it. Heck, things like Gigantamax Coalossal are straight up bigger than Inteleon. Seems pretty counterproductive to me!
Pikachu315111
Sky-high sniper! Probably the Galar starter that goes through the most drastic change, Gigantamax Inteleon’s tail lifts it over a hundred feet into the air, even above the cloud ring, where it then forms a sniping platform. Its shooting finger creates a long water harpoon that gives it the appearance of a sniper rifle, though according to its description on the official website it’s the membrane in its eyes that allow it to hone in onto its targets. Though despite all the changes, I feel it’s kind of the weakest of the Gigantamax Galar Starters’ designs. It just doesn’t have that “WOW” factor that Gigantamax Pokémon are supposed to give you. Rillaboom becomes a forest, Cinderace is atop a giant fireball... and Inteleon’s tail grows really, really long. GameFreak have yet again confused “ridiculous height” with “interesting design” without doing any designing with the height.
Base 70 HP keeps Inteleon in a comfortable HP amount when doubled but just barely. G-Max Hydrosnipe ignores the target’s ability, which is fitting, but the problem with this is that it's also the effect of the other Gigantamax Galar starters’ G-Max Moves. Gigantamax Inteleon is the only one that really should have this, as it’s the same effect as that of its signature move Snipe Shot. Well, actually if it was a stronger version of Snipe Shot it would also have an increased critical hit ratio and ignore moves that redirect attacks. But I can see how that may make things too complex, so instead keep the ability ignoring effect but have it set up a field effect on your side of the field that lets any of your Pokémon ignore a target’s ability.
Estronic
As goofy as people make its design out to be, Gigantamax Inteleon is probably my favorite one out of the whole bunch, despite my burning hatred for Inteleon itself. It's certainly not a great design, but I'm just really fond of the quirkiness of it, despite Inteleon being based off of more of an adult theme than most Pokémon (which is still pretty tame, considering it's basically a water gun it's using). However, its design in practice doesn't seem practical at all. I doubt it can hit anything directly under it, and even if it does, it'll most likely accidentally shoot its own tail and fall over. Regardless, I'm still enjoy the creativity put into Gigantamax Inteleon, and while it isn't groundbreaking creativity, it's at least more creative than a giant ball.
Rabia
Surely this is how they tried to justify giving Inteleon Sniper for its hidden ability instead of something, oh I don't know, good? Imagine having arguably the coolest theme out of all the new starters and getting absolutely scuffed in the ability department because of the logic "oh it snipes things lololol." Now, imagine still having arguably the coolest theme out of all the starters and getting absolutely scuffed AGAIN in the Gigantamax forme department because of the logic "oh it snipes things lololol." perdemos
Codraroll
This is it, folks. The moment when somebody threw their hands up and said "I've got nothing." When after almost nine hundred Pokémon designs, plus however many hundred alternate forms, of Pokémon using their magical abilities to shoot fire, generate electricity, make the ground quake or fight martially in a hundred different ways with arms, claws, teeth, heads, feet, or tails, the designers decided to cop out and just give a Pokémon a gun.
This isn't merely a bad design. It's a betrayal of the design concepts that have guided Pokémon so far. The culmination of three consecutive generations of Pokémon starters based solely on the idea of the Pokémon doing a job, rather than being a creature. Gigantamax Inteleon's sole claim to battle prowess is that it carries a firearm (well, waterarm, but still). It's a weirdly skinny person in a mask and body paint shooting a gun at other Pokémon from atop a platform. While I always hated Inteleon's base forme, at least it stood on the battlefield and faced its enemies by spraying water from some kind of organ inside its fingers. Gigantamax Inteleon climbs to a high place and shoots a rifle. Granted, the high place appears to be formed using its tail, but the way it coils into a platform for Inteleon to sit on makes that idea hard to notice. Also, wouldn't an enemy's first action in battle be to get below the platform so Inteleon can't aim, then wallop the tail until Inteleon faints? Wouldn't counterfire from an enemy (particularly Electric-types) using ranged attacks blow Inteleon clear off the platform into a 40-meter fall? It's an awfully exposed position with no safe exits. This design is illogical, bad, and all-around awful on so many levels. I used to consider Incineroar my least favorite starter Pokémon, but I guess it has now been dethroned.
JustoonSmitts
Inteleon's Gigantamax forme is ludicrous. All they did was make it's tail longer and make it coil at the base to make a ledge to snipe things with its new literal Water Gun. Funny idea, I guess, and I suppose that's why Inteleon has Sniper as a hidden ability. But in all seriousness, I don't really know how to feel about this design. It appears lazy at first glance but the concept does tie into its spy theme. It's ok, I guess.
Codraroll
It looks like none of these designs had the panelists agreeing. All of the Gigantamax forms appear to have been somebody's favorite and least favorite, or at least liked by some and disliked by others. It goes to show that we react differently to the same things, which is a good thing in my opinion. A design that can only evoke one response from everybody can only work on one level and won't have much going for it. The Gigantamax designs work on many different levels, some of which we like and some of which we dislike. And some we may not even notice at first. We are all different, after all. Either way, I think we are all looking forward to seeing these new formes in action and try them out in battle ourselves. Perhaps our whole impression of the designs will change over time as we use them in the game? That's how Pokémon has always worked for me, at least. I think that in ten years' time, I can look back at the designs with completely different ideas about them. But in the meantime, there are many more designs out there to judge! See you again in the next iteration of Judge-a-Pokémon Express!
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