Community Day Weekend Compendium - December 2018

• Increased spawn rates for all Community Day Pokemon featured in 2018:

  • Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle, Pikachu, Eevee, Dratini, Cyndaquil, Chikorita, Mareep, Larvitar, and Beldum will appear more frequently

  • Nov 30, 2018 4:00 P.M. EST — Dec 3, 2018 2:00 A.M. EST

  • Shiny variants are available (though it is currently unknown if shiny rates are boosted)

• Previous Community Day moves are also obtainable again during this window

  • Pokemon must be caught or evolved between Nov 30, 2018 4:00 P.M. EST — Dec 3, 2018 2:00 A.M. EST to learn the exclusive moves

  • TMs will not work

• Additionally, a bonus window held during the traditional CD times (below) will grant the following bonuses

  • 2x Catch XP

  • 2x Catch Stardust

  • ½ Egg Hatch Distance

  • 3 Hour Lures

Our last Community Day in 2018 celebrates a year’s worth of spawns, bonuses, exclusives moves, and fun memories. This guide will explore all that Community Day has to offer to make your Community Day explorations as successful as possible. Before you embark, don’t forget to also prepare for the real weather and everything that comes along with that. Keep your real bag fully upgraded and, depending on the weather, make sure to bring along a jacket, rain poncho, water, sunscreen, as well as lunch, snacks, water, medical necessities, battery packs, fully charged devices, other protective gear, and water again, for good measure. Pace yourself and take breaks if needed to not get burnt out. Most importantly, keep it fun!

For clarity, we will be referring to the event as a whole as Special Community Day Weekend (or SCDW for short). Inside that event, there is also a 3-hour special bonus window (SB) in each region. Because of the limited nature of this event, players may have different priorities during the SB. As a whole, this compendium will focus on SCDW unless otherwise specified.

There are a few ways that spawns have been handled in various day-long events that are worth keeping in mind for the special Community Day weekend. There has never previously been a Community Day featuring 11 different Pokemon, so it is not possible to know for sure how it will be handled. We also can't know the exact shiny rate for sure though it likely sits at around 1 in 24.5 for traditional Community Days.

Decay vs Consistent

Some events really reward players that are out when the event first starts. Events occasionally launch with a higher density of uncommon spawns. Towards the end of the event, less featured Pokemon will appear. CD usually features consistent spawns throughout but some longer events have been known to frontload rare Pokemon.

We could also see a boost in spawns or shiny rates during each region's respective SB window. Keep an eye on online reports and make that time available if possible.

EDIT: @NianticHelp has recently reported "you will see increased shiny form Pokemon of the featured Pokemon across the entire weekend. The 3-hour window is just for bonus rewards."

Biome or Bust

Some events bump up the rates of featured Pokemon but limit those effects to specific biomes. We haven’t seen an event like this in some time, but it’s worth paying attention to. If all you see are Bulbasaur and Eevee, then Larvitar may be biome locked.

It’s important when considering these possibilities to have some perspective. There are 11 Pokemon featured during this SCDW. Your “nearby” can only see 9 Pokemon at a time so it’s impossible to see all 11 at once. All previous CD have had consistent spawns that aren’t biome dependant and it’s likely this weekend is the same. Still, 11 featured Pokemon is a lot. That doesn’t leave room for many other Pokemon in the wild.

It is likely that the majority or even entirety of spawns is replaced with the 11 featured SCDW Pokemon. This should be visible while playing everywhere during this event. For the most part, you can participate in SCDW by playing wherever and however you normally would. Playing more can give you more rare Pokemon with exclusive moves, but unlike previous Community Days, a majority of your play will probably come naturally in between raids and other non-Pokemon Go-related activities like holiday shopping. While it’s always worth spending your daily Raid passes, consider that these wild spawns during CD will be much more worthwhile than Cresselia.

In addition to your best local grinding spots (Returning and new players- ask around and figure out where established players are planning to play!), keep an eye on nests and the weather this weekend.  

Featured Nesting Pokemon

Featured Non-Nesting Pokemon

However, during events with increased spawns of non-nesting Pokemon we often experience what is referred to as a “nest shift” where these Pokemon are added to the nesting pool. It would seem likely that the 4 non-nesting species may nest this weekend. Look out for nesting areas with even more increased rates on these Pokemon this weekend. It may be worth hanging there and alerting fellow nearby trainers.

Featured Pokemon can be boosted in a variety of different weathers. Pay attention to forecasts and your in-game weather. If you’re limited on time but have some flexibility, choosing to play when the desired Pokemon is boosted will help you in finding high IV versions.

Players with flexible but limited time should also consider playing less during the week for an action-packed weekend. Finish writing your papers and buying those presents to leave your weekend open for some sweet catching action.

Berries and Balls

Start saving today. Similar to the tip about play time, your balls and berries are better to spend this weekend than during the week, especially Pinap berries. Maxing out your Item Bag and Pokemon Storage remain the most cost-effective purchases in the game that very quickly pay for themselves. Max out your bags as soon as possible and make use of all the extra items available from gifts, Adventure Sync, and research.

0-116 Incense

Obviously, you won’t Incense the entirety of the 58-hour SCDW. For many players, this weekend will be a great use of an Incense, though. Incense is of greater utility for those with limited time and those that have missed previous CDs and want to play catch up. If you’re limited on Incense, save them for your most active play sessions to make the most of the 30-minute windows. Incense spawn a Pokemon every 1 to 5 minutes based off distance traveled. Make sure to use them when you’re able to move around unless you’re particularly bored.

Additionally, consider what you want to get out of SCDW before using Incense, especially if you’re running low. Community Days are likely to continue into 2019, bringing new featured Pokemon and exclusive movesets. If you’ve already got enough shiny Smack Down Tyranitar, you may want to save Incense for next year.

Special Bonuses Preparation

During your region’s typical Community Day hours:

Lure Modules

Lure Modules can be viewed similarly to Incense. Only Lures started during the SB window will last the bonus 3 hours. Lures started before that will still spawn event Pokemon though, so feel free to use them early (for this CD/SB only).

1-6 Star Piece

Community Day is always a good Star Piece opportunity for many players that don’t otherwise make room for Star Piece grind sessions. This goes double when we have double Stardust on catches. Pursue weather boosted and evolved spawns for even more Stardust. Try to use at least one Star Piece during your most active 30 minutes this Community Day and combine that with other Stardust-granting activities like claiming research and batch hatching. There are no actual bonuses for hatching eggs this event but if you’re going to do so anyway, and going to use Star Pieces anyways, combine those for bonus stardust!

Some players have suggested that 3x Catch Stardust may be gone in favor of the new split offering double dust and XP. This would cater to both players while not ignoring either, and serves as a nice happy medium. If you believe this to be true, this even becomes one of the best opportunities to use Star Pieces.

1-6 Lucky Egg

Double the catches on XP adds up a lot and can make catching a lot more fun. The Bonuses for first, curved, Nice, Great, and Excellent throws are also doubled (or quadrupled on an Egg) so aim for consistent Great throws as those bonuses really add up.

Still, these XP gains pale in comparison to leveling up friendship. Those low on Lucky Eggs should definitely put eggs towards Friendship or schedule your friendship level ups to increase during Community Day. Remember too that Community Day is a great time to start making new friendships! To maximize your time grinding Stardust, try to schedule gift openings 5-15 minutes before the start of the special bonuses in your region.

A list of previous and current contents can be found on our Legacy Special Box list (as well as cost analysis breakdowns).

This Community Day Special Box again falls flat. It is not a discount on Incubators alone. Those already planning purchasing Incubators can essentially pick up 2 Star Piece, 2 Lucky Eggs, and 30 Ultra Balls for 30 coins here. But how does that deal compare to other deals in the shop?

Factoring in Star Piece, this is a 12.73% discount, ranking it the 67th best LSB ever offered- not great. The current Special Box also contains 3 Incubators for 480 coins, but with far superior supplemental items. This is the only box offering Star Piece, giving it some merit, but the sale is still not great.

Though 30 Ultra Balls may seem tempting for those running low while catching all these sweet Pokemon, Item Storage remains a much better deal. Item Storage pays for itself quickly for those low on items finding their bags full while spinning stops.

During SCDW, this year’s previous exclusive CD moves are made available again. Many of these moves are incredibly powerful options for new players and hardcore alike. The following rankings are based on GamePress’ Attackers Tier List and Pokemon List ratings.

Use this list and infographic to prioritize which Pokemon to catch, Pinap, and spend time IV checking during CD.

Exclusive Charge Move: Meteor Mash

Beldum is arguably the most important SCDW spawn due to its rarity. It is also time sensitive in that Metagross needs it’s exclusive move to function. With Meteor Mash, Metagross becomes one of the best generalists in the game with reasonable additional type coverage to boot. Metagross is incredibly bulk, topping the list for the new metric on our Comprehensive DPS Spreadsheet; DPS^3*TDO (explained briefly here).

It’s use as a bulky generalist is strong enough that we published Top 5 Defenders Against Metagross! Metagross also has more longevity than any other Community Day Pokemon. While a Steel attacker is more niche, Metagross’ place as the top Steel attacker is here to stay for the foreseeable future making it worth prioritizing heavily throughout SCDW.

A beautiful shiny is a nice bonus. Again, this guy is bulky. A shining silver Metagross is a wonderful addition to gym defense.

Original CD Article

Larvitar

Exclusive Fast Move: Smack Down

Tyranitar remains one of the most powerful and useful Pokemon in the game. Amassing Larvitar candy is a must for SCDW. One thing separating Tyranitar from (non-Eevee) CD Pokemon is its incredible power still without its exclusive moveset. For this reason, many trainers will want multiple maxed Rock and Dark Tyranitar, which can take a lot of candies. Catch and appraise each one you see and continue to improve your battle parties. This monster of a Pokemon is worth every Pinap Berry, Ultra Ball, and Stardust you have.

Tyranitar’s exclusive move makes it the best Rock attacker in DPS and TDO. It will eventually lose out in DPS to Gen 4’s Rampardos though will hold strong with 30-50% more TDO in a given situation.

Tyranitar holds a high position on the Attackers Tier List because it also functions as an amazing Dark attacker. While there are other great options with higher DPS, Tyranitar is comparable and with significantly more TDO. This TDO bump often means battle parties with Tyranitar don’t have to rejoin- which can result in higher DPS than frailer options. The Mythical Darkrai from Gen 4 threatens Tyranitar’s spot in your roster, though if it’s Mythical status limits its availability, Tyranitar will still be needed. Gen 4 is also just ripe with Psychic Legendaries, so the sooner you make a strong Tyranitar team the better.

Consult the original CD article for additional tips on stocking up on Larvitar candy before and after SCDW.

Dratini

Exclusive Charge Move: Draco Meteor

Dragonite also doesn’t require it’s exclusive move. In fact, it’s better without it! Still, Dragonite is an impressive and useful Pokemon made even stronger with the Gen 4 rebalance. For new players especially, stock up on Dratini candy for your Dragonite army. Completing your Dragon badge will also equally help towards raiding Dragon type Pokemon in the future.

Dragonite is currently the best non-legendary Dragon in terms of DPS and TDO because its current competitor, Salamence, has access only to Draco Meteor, leading to energy waste and DPS loss. Future Dragon types and Rayquaza returning threaten Dragonite’s place in the meta but also give a Dragonite a great use. Make use of SCDW to get a some great attackers without the use of raid passes. Dragonite is also a solid defender as it’s Flying typing has it resist Machamp punches.

One note to reiterate from the original CD article, waiting till after SCDW to evolve your Dragonair will save you TMs if you want the optimal 2-bar Outrage. If you just want a Dragon move and to save TMs completely, you can settle for Draco Meteor by evolving during the event.

Bulbasaur

Exclusive Charge Move: Frenzy Plant

Venusaur was our first “must have” exclusive CD move Pokemon and it holds up. Though Roserade threatens its title for the highest Grass DPS, the 2-bar Frenzy Plant alongside the bulkier Venusaur usually puts it on top.

Grass Pokemon need a sunny weather boost to outperform top attackers from different types, but with that they are a clear winner. Venusaur will be outclassed eventually if Sceptile also gets Frenzy Plant but should otherwise stay on top till then. It also resists Machamp, being part Poison, making it a solid defensive option.

Original CD Article

Charmander

Exclusive Charge Move: Blast Burn

Charizard with Blast Burn is an extremely powerful Fire type in a similar position to Dratini/Dragonite. It is the highest non-legendary Fire DPS and TDO. It is outclassed by the Legendary Moltres but is a much cheaper investment. In the future, Blaziken and Infernape with Blast Burn could take Charizard’s spot. Charizard will still have one of the best shinies though. You can’t take that away.

On defense, it resists both Machamp and Metagross. It is double weak to Rock attacks, so Tyranitar will certainly smack it down, but you can’t win em all.

Original CD Article

Eevee

Exclusive Charge Move: Last Resort

Ignore Last Resort. That move didn’t really pan out. Evolve one if you’re a hardcore collector, but it’s use is very marginal.

That said, many Eeveelutions are still great! Espeon barely trails behind Alakazam as the 2nd highest DPS non-legendary Psychic type. Flareon is similarly comparable to Charizard as the 2nd best non-legendary Fire type. Jolteon and Vaporeon are great too. Jolteon makes the shortlist of top 6 Electric types and is much more common than any more powerful option. Vaporeon sits around 6th-8th place among the extremely contested Water types.

Umbreon and Vaporeon also serve as solid defenders. Last Resort is actually worth mentioning here as the move’s neutral coverage will output more damage to optimal counters. For Umbreon, that will mean making an Eevee your buddy (probably not worthwhile) or using the name trick. More info about Eeveelution requirements can be found in this section of the original CD article.

That’s not all though for our little Eevee. Generation 4 brings two additional Eeveelutions to the table; Leafeon and Glaceon. Leafeon sits around 4-8th place among the even more contested Grass types. Glaceon has it a little easier. It trades a little DPS for TDO compared to current top dog Weavile. Both will eventually be outclassed by Mamoswine.

Eevee’s strength lies in how versatile and useful it can be towards filling out almost any battle parties. In addition, it’s extremely common in some biomes. This can make it seem like an awkward CD Pokemon for some (and a blessing for others) but collectors may prioritize Eevee spawns over everything else on CD because there’s so many more shinies to collect too. Don’t forget to save some shinies too for the Fairy-type Sylveon in Gen 6.

Cyndaquil

Exclusive Charge Move: Blast Burn

Typhlosion is worse than Charizard with equal stats due to having a worse fast move. This makes Typhlosion the 6th highest DPS Fire type. While this has some use for PokeDraft and unique challenges, it will never be the top choice. Again, it’s worse than Charizard straight up, so catch those!

Original CD Article

Squirtle

Exclusive Charge Move: Hydro Cannon

Blastoise is a similar story to Typhlosion. 6th highest Water DPS isn’t bad but there’s always going to be better options.

Squirtle’s original CD included the special research “Catch 5 Squirtle” and rewarded event Squirtle wearing sunglasses. It’s currently unknown if SCDW will feature any themed research at all or any Squirtle Squad members at all. Consult the linked article for some mechanical tips on how themed research has functioned during past CDs.

We may see sunglasses Squirtles in the future, in research, for all of SCDW, for just the SB, or some combination thereof. If it returns to research this event, two things to consider from last time;

• 405 is Squirtle’s perfect CP at level 15.

• If a stop rewarded a Shiny Squirtle, it did so for ALL trainers (IV still randomized)

Low priority spawns

The remaining SCDW spawns are much lower priority. None of them represent meta-relevant Pokemon. Catch these Pokemon for Stardust or dex entries/gender dex completion. Pikachu can also be caught to contribute to the Pikachu Fan medal (300 for gold).

With so much happening during SCDW, it’s important to set goals for yourself to keep your head straight. Decide how many Metagross, Tyranitar you want to evolve. Do you want extra for trades? How much candy do you want to save for powering them up? Consider that a full evolution requires 123 candy. That is 31 catches + transfers or 18 catches w/ Pinaps + transfers. That is also not considering trading. When picking a trading partner, there’s two different options to consider each with their own benefits.

Play with your partner.

• Carpool
• Catch the same spawns (for even trades) and split the role of IV checking
• Can start trading even before CD ends

Play 10km (6.21 mi) distance from your trading partner.

• 1 additional candy (2) per trade.

Play 100km (62.14 mi) distance from your trading partner.

• 2 additional candies (3) per trade.

For this Community Day in particular, you also can play with a trading partner in multiple locations and trade your Pokemon from location 1 for their Pokemon from location 2 and vice versa.

Here are some additional features to keep in mind about trading:

• Players are limited to 100 trades + 1 special trade per day. This is reset after your phone goes past midnight.

• Swapping a Shiny will count as a Special Trade and can also be done once daily.

• Pick a trade partner you have high friendship with. IV floor increases with friendship tier.

  • Great Friendship- 2/2/2 IV floor

  • Ultra Friendship- 3/3/3 IV floor

  • Best Friendship 5/5/5 IV floor

• Pokemon caught farther than 10km (6.21 mi) apart award 2 candy when traded.

• Lucky Pokemon have an IV floor of 12/12/12

  • Lucky Pokemon trades are more common when trading older Pokemon.

  • Accounts with less than 10 Lucky Pokemon can guarantee a Lucky trade by trading away a Pokemon from July or August of 2016.

Typically during Community Days, featured Pokemon have their Base Catch Rate changed to 40%. This higher catch rate makes for a much easier time catching. While this has been a staple of many recent CDs, it is not typically seen in multiple day events.

Previous CD guides outline catch rates for various levels using our easy-to-use Catch Rate Calculator. It also pays off tremendously to  learn how to consistently throw Great! Throws (+ video link).

For IV checking, the simplest tip is to sort by CP (or #, which also sorts by CP) and look at one species at a time. From there, scroll through, highest to lowest, looking at Pokemon levels. You can quickly check a Pokemon’s level by how much Star Dust it would cost to power up. This cost is halved for Lucky Pokemon. For example:

35 - 8000

34/33 - 7000

32/31 - 6000

31/30 - 5000

29/28 - 4500

27/26 - 4000

These values can be used to determine high-level Pokemon at a quick glance.

As you’re scrolling, IV check Pokemon until you find something with a lower Stardust cost. You can filter out, rename, or transfer any Pokemon with a high level and a low CP found this way. These Pokemon will have lower IVs. That means they may make for battle ready attackers but will have lower battle potential when powered up. Such options can still be great for saving Stardust.

For example, let’s start by scrolling through a species and checking all of our level 30, 5k dust Pokemon. Now, as soon as we scroll to a Pokemon requiring 4500 dust, we know any 5k dust Pokemon will have lower IV. We can skip those and only check 4500 dust options. When we see our first Pokemon that requires 4k dust to power up, we know that any 5k or 4500 dust Pokemon will be lower IV and can skip those again.

This concept is explained and demonstrated in this video tutorial.

The basic tip is skip anything with a higher dust cost than something you've already checked. There will still be some redundancy with multiple levels having the same dust to Power Up.

If you have something 800 CP 4500 dust and another 799 CP 5000 dust, the 5000 dust one is a higher level but with lower CP- so it'll have poor IV.

It is also worthwhile to develop a naming system that you can easily recognize. Use a symbol, letter, or word to designate Pokemon for trading. Abbreviate key appraisal phrases in a way you can remember so you know which to IV check and don’t appraise the same Pokemon multiple times. After using an IV calculator for key Pokemon, remember to rename (so you can decide what to evolve), transfer, or just evolve the Pokemon.

It has been an amazing year of Community Days. Many of you have played and caught and evolved Pokemon on their first rotation throughout the year though maybe you’ve missed a Community Day here or there. For this, the special Community Day weekend celebration is an amazing chance to make up for what you may have missed. It is also a reminder to not stress about exclusive movesets and fear missing out. Community Day sets its aim on fun for all, giving everyone powerful Pokemon, and offering something for everyone.

It’s also about Community! With the return of all previous featured Pokemon and exclusive moves, there’s less stress and more room for community fun! Use Community Day to grow your Community, set up competitions, AND power up your game. It has been a pleasure to write guides for the past year and grow the TSR subreddit and GamePress community.  The goal of these articles has always been to help you, the players, make the most out of Community Days and Pokemon GO in general.

This compendium is packed with loads of information that new and dedicated players alike can get something out of. If you enjoyed the article, consider sharing our infographic and dropping a link in your community’s group chat! We are all a community and I wouldn’t put these guides together if it wasn’t for you all. So thank you. Thank you for a wonderful year of Community Days, and a wonderful community. Here’s to many more. May all your Beldum be shiny!