Pokemon Sword and Shield August 2020 Max Raid Event Guide

It’s a new month, which means it’s a new opportunity to get a new set of powerful Pokemon in Max Raid battles. The new Pokemon Sword and Shield August 2020 Max Raid Event is live, and it’ll be running all the way through August 31. This month’s theme is Water/Ground, so all the Pokemon with a boosted appearance chance in Raid dens are some mixture of those two types. There’s also one Rock type thrown in as one of the rare Gigantamax offerings.

Pokemon Sword and Shield August 2020 Max Raid Event Guide

Max Raid events are found in the Wild Area, where beams of light are protruding from little mounds in the ground. If the light is purple, that means it’s a more difficult challenge, and the more powerful and rare Pokemon can appear. Completing Max Raid battles not only net you Pokemon with special abilities you can’t get anywhere else, you’ll also win important items such as pearls for your efforts.

Related: Pokemon Sword and Shield: Rock and Steel Max Raid Event Guide

The boosted Pokemon are arranged in rarity groups, from one to five stars.The following Pokemon are boosted:

• Chewtle
• Feebas
• Wooper
• Silicobra
• Hippopotas
• Shellos
• Feebas Quagsire
• Gastrodon
• Milotic
• Hippowdon
• Drednaw
• Sandaconda

For Drednaw, you’ll only find it as a Gigantamax Raid, which only appears in the two-star groups and higher. Sandaconda is the event’s second Gigantamax boosted Pokemon, and that won’t appear until the three-star pools, meaning you’ll encounter it at a minimum of level 40. If you don’t have the recently-launched Isle of Armor DLC, participating in these Max Raid events is one of the only ways you can get a Pokemon with its Gigantamax Factor enabled.

Last month’s Max Raid event was primarily focused on Rock and Steel, so it looks like this month runs counter to that typing for the most part. If you aren’t interested in these Pokemon, don’t write off the whole month just yet. Max Raid events can be interrupted by weekend invasion events, which will disrupt the month with a limited time appearance of totally different Pokemon. Keep your eyes peeled for that!

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Are you stoked to see these Pokemon show up in the Max Raid pool for August 2020, especially the Gigantamax Drednaw and Sandaconda? Are you new to Pokemon Sword and Shield, and excited to dive into your first Max Raid event? Let us know what you’re up to in the Galar region over on the official Prima Games Facebook and Twitter channels!