Community Day July 2020 Guide

• Drastically increased spawns for the Pokemon Gastly
  • Obtainable from catches, hatches, research, and raids
  • An increased Shiny rate (roughly 1 in 23) during Community Day hours
• 3-hour Incense
• 1/4 Hatch Distance (for eggs incubated after the event starts)
• Take a Snapshot during Community Day for a Gastly Photobomb (up to 5 times)
• One-time purchasable Community Day Bundle
  • (Likely) 1,280 PokeCoins
  • 1 Elite Fast TM
  • 30 Ultra Balls
  • 2 Super Incubators
  • 2 Incense
• Special Research story: The Great Gastly!
  • $1 or equivalent local currency
  • does not include an in-game medal 
• Additional gifts from Buddy Pokemon This bonus will not be active this Community Day
• All Haunter evolved into Gengar during Community Day hours learn the exclusive move Shadow Punch
  • TMs and learning a New Move will not give you this exclusive move
  • Must evolve a Haunter during CD in your region (or up to two hours after)
  • Have a stable internet connection and consider doing a test evolve, as Niantic acknowledges server issues can and do happen during CD, yet refuses to compensate/correct this known issue.

Community Day and Covid-19

Niantic has altered Community Day events to be more suited to the pandemic allowing them to be fully enjoyed while at home. For additional Coronavirus considerations, check out our article on that subject as well.

Those looking for additional Community Day tips can check out February's guide, our last before worldwide lockdowns. Wear a mask and practice social distancing if you do decide to go out and play.

Where applicable, this section will be updated to include new information as our friendly NZ “beta testers” experience CD before anyone else in the world. On Community Days with new, unpredictable features, the only way to know for sure how they’ll function is having others experience it first. Check back here before CD to see if there’s any last-minute tips you need to know!

Playing in NZ? Thanks! We monitor reports on The Silph Road carefully, though you can also submit reports here on GamePress or directly to NoLucksGiven on twitter. Additionally, it is even more recommended you have a stable internet connection and consider doing a test evolve, as Niantic acknowledges server issues can and do happen (especially in your region) during CD, yet refuses to compensate/correct this known issue.

2 Incense

Each Incense lasts 3 hours, meaning 2 will allow you to play the entire event while Incensed, a necessity for those hoping to play while at home.

Turn on vibrate or connect your Pokemon Go+. Incense Pokemon are actually invisible for a few seconds after spawning. Navigating through other menus can help reload the map and make these Pokemon appear quicker.

Some Star Pieces

If your grindy catching playtime is limited to Community Days, it can make them an okay time to use a Star Piece. However, you only have to use a Star Piece for 15 minutes during double dust events to make it better than a Star Piece with no associated bonuses. For this reason, it's probably best for most players to refrain from using any this event.

Lucky Egg

Because your friends might also be playing during CD, now may be the perfect time to coordinate friendship level ups. 6-hour Community Days are long enough that you don't miss much by cracking an egg, though this also means coordinating level ups might be more difficult to agree on a time for.

Plenty of Pokeballs

Make it a priority to open as many gifts as possible each day to restock on Pokeballs before the event. After the event, keep opening to prepare for the next one!

Increase your storage capacity so you can keep opening. This will allow you to stockpile more balls when you’re not playing as much to prepare for events like this.

With Go Fest right around the corner, this tip is especially relevant. Keep opening gifts to acquire as many Pokeballs as you can!

You’ll certainly want to keep an egg in your infinite orange incubator throughout the event, but don’t be tempted by the reduced hatch distance for paid incubation. For many players, this is not a bonus at all.

Though you’ll hatch eggs faster, this bonus will not allow you to hatch more eggs. If you’re low on Incubators, this is basically an irrelevant bonus.

In the same way that we view Incubators and Super Incubators the same in price analysis on the legacy special box list, 1/4 hatch distance doesn’t really improve what you’re hatching. 

If you’re currently batch hatching, feel free to keep doing so, and do so throughout Community Day, if you please. If you’re not batch hatching now, there’s 0 reason to start during CD. It's not crazy to start incubating but this event shouldn't be considered as a factor as it wont give you extra candy, dust that it wouldn't outside of the event. Reasons to not hatch includes saving incubators for future, events, future Pokemon and shiny releases, as well as not wanting to bother with hatch animations during CD.

While the last point is certainly valid during Community Day, you should still keep an egg in your infinite orange incubator at all times. The 1/4 Egg Hatch Distance bonus actually does allow your orange incubator to hatch more eggs, since it has unlimited uses. Though mitigated with this bonus, 7km eggs in your orange incubator should still be avoided. Two more things to consider;

• Only incubations started during CD will have reduced distance

• Reduced distance remains in effect after the event ends

Saving Incubators

One of the best uses in the game for paid Incubators is Community Day events featuring 10km hatchable Pokemon. During Ralts, Larvitar, and possibly Beldum CD, the featured Pokemon was obtainable via eggs at an increased rate. For Ralts CD, 100% of eggs acquired contained Ralts (Note: Egg contents are determined when the eggs enter your inventory, though the shiny rate is only increased if hatched during Community Day). Because of this, saving incubators to use for future Community Days featuring rare Pokemon is extremely advisable.

While it is unknown what percentage of eggs will hatch Piplup, this may be a feature worth taking advantage of, based on your personal preferences.

Gastly is largely considered meta relevant, meaning some players may chose to incubate this CD.

Here are a few other things to keep in mind right before Community Day starts for making the most of the granted bonuses.

• If coordinating Lucky Egg friendships, encourage your friends to egg and advance friendships before the event starts. This allows you to focus on catching once Gastly start spawning!
• Avoid incubating as the Community Day hours approach (based on your level of activity) so you’re not left with half-baked eggs. It can be quicker to wait a few hours instead if you’re not playing or walking in the time leading up to Community Day.
• Existing spawns can change to Gastly. Clicking on Pokemon to catch or even just to shiny check will prevent them from turning into Gastly. It’s fine though to check for shinies you don’t yet have. If you want to catch the most Gastly, avoid clicking on spawns as Community Day is about to begin.
• You can only complete research from each stop once daily.  If you complete a task at a given stop, you cannot receive the “Catch 3” task from that stop during Community Day. Occasionally, receiving the task from a stop will lock it into its non-CD task.
  • Tasks revert to their pre-CD tasks when CD is over but you cannot receive research from Stops where you completed “Catch 3” or the original research.
  • Because of this, you may decide to skip over stops during CD that you know give desirable research (from Discord, Facebook, etc.) or complete them before CD starts.
  • Many players may do the opposite, choosing not to complete Research in areas they know they will be during CD for easy rewards.
  • Check to see if you have completed the Research Task of a given Pokestop by the indicator in the top right corner of a Pokestop

Now, with those in mind, there is still room for choice. If you’ll be playing all Community Day then you might not care about one spawn point here and there, and catching weather boosted Machop or shiny checking a Wailmer may be worth it to you. Likewise, you may not find it necessary to fill your inventory with Community Day eggs.

Use this time before the event starts to prep; spin stops, transfer Pokemon, open gifts (and level up friendships), Raid, check-in, and obtain/give out Meltan boxes.

Rewards for special research "The Great Gastly!" are currently unknown though it can be expected you'll receive an encounter each of Gastly, Haunter, and Gengar, as well as Stardust and some unexciting premium items (no Star Pieces, Incubators, or Raid Passes). This has mostly been an over-costed bad buy in the past, but it's only a buck, so many players will purchase it anyway. Also note that "The Great Gastly!" will not award an in-game badge like previous special research has.

During Community Day, Field Research Tasks are changed to “Catch 3 Gastly” with the following rewards;

• 500 Stardust
• 2 Ultra Balls
• 5 Great Balls
• 2 Pinap Berries
• 1 Golden Razzberry
• Gastly encounter (CP range 487-527)

The featured May Community Day Bundle will be a one-time purchase, likely costing 1280 PokeCoins and containing 1 Elite Fast TM, 30 Ultra Balls, 2 Star Piece, and 2 Super Incubators.

An Elite Fast TM isn't particularly exciting since most exclusive moves are Charged moves. Some previously Legacy moves can be learned via Elite Tms only, though the use of Elite TMs is mostly limited to hardcore PvPers. Eventually, the average player will have an excess of EFTMs with nothing to spend them on. If there's something you want to TM now, obviously this item will have additional value for you. An Elite Fast TM can also be obtained by reaching Rank 7 in the Go Battle League during season 2.

Taking a snapshot of one of your Pokemon will trigger a special Photobomb during this event. This occurs during the first picture in any photo shoot. Gastly will photobomb up to 5 times during the event! This is only 5 extra Gastly spawns in the grand scheme of things, but can be helpful for those that are low. Spawns follow similar rules to Incensed spawns (one on the map at a time and quick catching is funky). It's also an easy way to progress the Photobomb bagde.

Shiny Seedot did not appear shiny in the Photobomb and on the world map. This is a change to previous Shiny Photobomb encounters. Make sure you click it after taking a pic!

Community Day Raids and Eggs and Rocket Grunts

It’s a coinflip whether or not this CD will feature these elements, though April and May did not. Once the event has started in NZ, we’ll update this space. Check back later!

While Shadow Punch doesn't exactly deliver anything exciting for Raiding and Gym content, Gengar doesn't need a new move to pack a punch! Gengar still the highest DPS non-Shadow Ghost/Dark Pokemon, making it incredibly useful in Raids. It is quite frail and weak to Psychic-type attacks, so some other options like Chandelure, Darkrai, and Giratina-Origin Forme might be slightly better returns on your Stardust. Still, Gengar's ability to stay on top in DPS is impressive!

Because Gengar's weakness is its frailty, there is actually something to be said for the addition of Shadow Punch, a "3-bar" move. While you should never use Shadow Punch instead of Shadow Ball, in combination, A Shadow Punch right before Gengar dies can more efficiently use all of its energy.

While we have no clue how Mega Evolutions will be implemented in Pokemon Go, now's a great time to point out that Gengar can Mega Evolve as well! Mega Gengar could easily reclaim its crown as the undisputed not even slightly close best Ghost-type attacker. With stats equivalent to the main series games, Mega Gengar would rival Giratina's TDO while dealing over 50% more DPS.

Haunter is already a fantastic Pokemon in the Great League, earning it a 4/5 on our Great League Tier List. Since it caps below 2000 CP, there's no real home for it in the Ultra or Master Leagues.

On the other hand, Gengar has seen almost no PvP usage. Well, that's about to change. Haunter's strength in PvP is its ability to pressure shields and scare opponents with Shadow Punch, something Gengar couldn't do before this weekend. Now, Gengar is a better Haunter (bulkier) in the Great League!

In the Ultra League, Gengar is a new format staple, able to threaten current top players like Cresselia, Giratina-Origin, Mewtwo, and Escavalier, while having solid game on many of the remaining field of Pokemon. Expect to see a lot of Gengar in the Ultra League on Monday.

In the Master League proper, Gengar is too frail to tango. In the Premier Cup, Gengar does have some merit, again, threatening many top Pokemon. Metagross and Togekiss both have to fear the Ghost-type! However, the prevalence of Snorlax and Dragonite in the Premier Cup certainly make Gengar a risk to play.

PvP Ready CPs

Finding Pokemon that can be evolved to be near the CP-cap in PvP leagues can save a lot of Stardust. Before evolving, consult a CP/IV calculator to confirm your Gastly will stay below the CP thresholds. Looking for Gastly with CP around or below these thresholds can be great for trainers interested in PvP with limited resources;

For Great League Haunter, look for Gastly with CP 889-932 and below.

For Great League Gengar, look for Gastly with CP 584-637 and below. Haunter will have CP 989-1021 in this range.

For Ultra League Gengar, look for Gastly with CP 977-1065 and below. Haunter will have CP 1650-1699 in this range.

Gengar is an exciting Pokemon, made more exciting by the prospect of a Mega Evolution on the horizon. While we can't be sure how Megas will be implemented in Pokemon Go, we can all agree that Shiny Mega Gengar is super sweet!

Shadow Punch is also exciting for those looking to battle with the Gen 1 Ghost-type, especially considering Gengar is the face of battling in Pokemon- and what a scary face it is!

A new vote for upcoming Community Day Pokemon is also just around the corner, so there's plenty of upcoming Pokemon Go content to get excited for!