Author: Trafficblast

Pokemon Go is bringing back another fan-favorite Legendary for a limited time this weekend. As a reward for completing enough Global Challenges during the recent Pokemon Go Fest event in Yokohama, Japan, Suicune, one of the three Legendary dogs from Pokemon Gold and Silver, is returning to the game for a special Raid Day on Saturday, August 17.

Suicune hasn’t appeared in Pokemon Go very often, which makes this weekend’s Raid Day a good opportunity to add one to your collection if you’ve previously missed it. That’s not the only reason to be excited for the event; you’ll also be able to encounter a Shiny Suicune in Raids. The Legendary will only be around for a brief time, however, so to help you prepare for the event, we’ve rounded up all the most important details about this weekend’s Suicune Raid Day below.

What Time Does Suicune Raid Day Start?

Much like Pokemon Go’s monthly Community Days, this weekend’s Suicune Raid Day will take place around the world for three hours, from 4-7 PM local time. During that window, the Legendary Pokemon will appear in Gyms as a five-star Raid boss. Once the event ends, Suicune will leave the game again, giving you only a couple of hours to catch it.

Shiny Suicune

Suicune will be a common sight in Gyms during Saturday’s event, so you should have no trouble finding a Suicune Raid during the aforementioned hours. Even if you’ve previously captured Suicune, you’ll want to participate in a few Raids, as you may come across a rare Shiny Suicune during the event. This variant sports a blue mane rather than a purple one, making it look even more majestic.

However, the odds of finding a Shiny Legendary in Pokemon Go are quite rare, and there’s no definitive way of knowing in advance if a Raid will produce a Shiny Suicune. If you’re hoping to snag a Shiny one this weekend, you’ll need to be persistent and participate in as many Suicune Raids as you can during the event.

How To Participate In Raids

Before you can jump into a Raid Battle, you’ll first need to have an item called a Raid Pass. Fortunately, you can get one of these for free from the first Photo Disc you spin at a Gym each day. You can typically only carry one of these free Raid Passes at a time, but Niantic will be giving out up to five free Raid Passes during the Suicune Raid Day, so everyone should be able to participate in a few Raids without any trouble.

Once you’ve gotten a Raid Pass, you’ll need to physically head to a Gym where a Suicune Raid is taking place and challenge the Legendary to a battle. Five-star Raid Bosses like Suicune are very powerful, so you’ll need to team up with several other players in-person if you’re hoping to bring the Legendary down. If your group manages to defeat Suicune, each player who participated in the Raid will receive a handful of Premier Balls along with a chance to catch it.

Tips For Battling Suicune

Suicune is a pure Water-type, which makes putting together a team of counters fairly easy. Water Pokemon are vulnerable to Grass and Electric Pokemon, so you’ll want to use as many of those types as possible when challenging the Legendary. Magnezone, Luxray, Electivire, and Leafeon should all prove to be effective against Suicune; however, you’ll need to be careful when using Grass-types, as Water Pokemon typically know Ice-type attacks that hit them for super-effective damage.

While Dragon Pokemon don’t have a type advantage over Water Pokemon, they do resist Water attacks, which makes them a good option for rounding out your team. However, Fire, Rock, and Ground Pokemon all have a significant disadvantage against Water-types, so you should avoid using those when challenging Suicune.

Other Pokemon Go Bonuses

In addition to the Suicune Raid Day, Niantic has made a few other bonuses available in Pokemon Go as rewards for completing the latest batch of Global Challenges. From August 13-20, you’ll earn triple the normal amount of Stardust for each Pokemon you capture or hatch. You’ll also receive 3,000 Stardust for participating in Raids, and any Star Pieces you use during the week will last for an hour rather than 30 minutes.

Amazon has been offering some solid deals for gamers lately, many of which have been exclusive to Prime members, such as free loot for games like Apex Legends and Red Dead Online, a free Nintendo Switch Online membership, and even some PS4 and Xbox One games for effectively free. All those perks have been offered through Twitch Prime, which is included with any Amazon Prime membership, but the latest games offer is available for anyone to take advantage of. For a limited time, you can buy one, get one 50% off on select PS4 and Xbox One games.

To take advantage of the deal, you can browse the games listed on the offer page and add two you want to your cart. During checkout, you’ll see the discount applied–it’ll be 50% off the cheaper game, which is a solid savings if you pick two games around the same price.

Plus, many of these games are already discounted–like Kingdom Hearts 3, which is only $29.88, and Days Gone, which is selling for $38. There are some recently released titles available as part of the deal, like Dragon Quest Builders 2 and Madden NFL 20, and even Elden Ring, the From Software-George RR Martin collaboration announced at E3 2019, is included.

See some of the games available below, and check out the full offer at Amazon. As is usually the case with Amazon, there’s no knowing how long this offer will be available, and the discounts reflected below will likely fluctuate, so don’t wait if you see a game you’ve been wanting at an appealing price.

Buy one, get one 50% off on games at Amazon

EA’s latest NHL game, NHL 20, isn’t scheduled for release until September, but some lucky fans got access to the pro ice hockey game this week presumably due to a store error. EA’s community manager wrote on Twitter today that the “ceremonial faceoff” for NHL 20 came a little early this year, as some players got into their pre-ordered version of the game on Xbox One ahead of launch.

One person was banned by Xbox, but EA is working with Xbox to have that reversed. Those who were lucky enough to get the jump on NHL 20 due to the mistake will not be penalized in any way, EA added; they also won’t face a punishment for capturing gameplay.

Any footage you come across online from this accidental release comes with the caveat that it’s not final and subject to change. Additionally, some of the content in the mistakenly released early version of NHL 20 won’t be there in the full release.

Players who got to play NHL 20 early (it’s not immediately clear if the game is still available) should be aware that EA will wipe Hockey Ultimate Team and World of Chel progress at launch. Additionally, EA pointed out that people who got in early will still be able to open their pre-order HUT packs and exclusive World of Chel content when NHL 20 officially releases.

This is all very strange and unusual, and EA did not say if it was a mistake of its own or one made by Xbox. This doesn’t appear to have happened with the PlayStation 4 version of NHL 20.

NHL 20’s beta took place back in July, and EA Sports is now addressing feedback for launch on September 6 across PS4 and Xbox One. Like other EA games, it is expected that a time-limited version of NHL 20 will arrive multiple days early for EA Access members.

Toronto Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews is on the cover of NHL 20. The game also brings back the pond hockey mode from NHL 19, while it also has its own unique spin on battle royale. In addition, NHL 20 makes a major change for the commentary and broadcast package.