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The Pokemon Go Great League format is one of the most restrictive, yet fun, in the game allowing only Pokemon that have 1500 CP or less to enter. It means many seldom-used Pokemon to get in on the action as the restriction eliminates many high-powered ‘mon.
There will be three rounds of the Great League in Season 11 of the Pokemon Go Battle League, each running for one week. The first run will begin Wednesday, June 1, the second starts on June 22, and the third, and final, run begins on July 13. There are also times when the Great League will run simultaneously with the Ultra and Master Leagues. Refer to our Season 11 guide for all the dates and times.
With so many Pokemon to choose from in the popular mobile game, we’ve compiled a list of great, pun intended, options both past and present to use in the upcoming Pokemon Go format including what moves to have and which Pokemon to look out for.
Azumarill
Type: Water/Fairy
Weakness: Electric, Grass, Poison
One of the best Pokemon to use in the Great League is Azumarill. It’s great defensive stats and typing make it an amazing option to use. Its Water and Fairy typing gives it just three weaknesses, but it is Azumarill’s Fairy-typing that makes it one of the best choices to take into the Great League.
Fairy-type moves are strong against the powerful Dragon-type as well as Dark and Fighting types. As you’ll see from the other Pokemon on this list, Azumarill will be able to handle Pokemon like Altaria, Umbreon, Medicham and Scrafty.
As for Azumarill’s moves, Bubble has to be your go-to fast move thanks to its Water-type and impressive energy generation. For the charged move, Ice Beam must be an option to damage Grass types like Venusaur. Play Rough has to be Azumarill’s second charged move and gives it a supereffective STAB attack Dragon, Fighting and Dark types.
Altaria
Type: Dragon/Flying
Weakness: Ice, Dragon, Rock, Fairy
With so many weaknesses, you’d be forgiven for not expecting a Pokemon like Altaria to be so popular in Great League. The fact of the matter is, since it’s part Dragon-type — and strong Dragon-types are scarce at this level — Altaria is an utter beast. Swablu is a common Pokemon, though you do need 400 candy to evolve one, so you better get searching if you don’t have an Altaria already.
Dragon Breath should absolutely be your charged move of choice to, you know, take advantage of the Dragon-type nature of Altaria. It also has 3 EPT and 4 DPT, making it incredibly valuable. You’re also going to want one of your charged moves to be Sky Attack because while Flying-type moves aren’t always the best, Sky Attack is cheap so you can dish out attacks on the regular. If you’ve got a second charged move, trainers can opt for Dragon Pulse to deal extra Dragon-type damage against other Altaria or you can opt for Dazzling Gleam, or the Community Day-exclusive Moonblast, to deal with other Dragon types as well as Dark and Fighting types.
Skarmory
Type: Steel/Flying
Weakness: Electric, Fire
Skarmory is a popular choice for two reasons; Steel-types don’t have many counters in the current meta, and Skarmory has been in the game for ages, so most people will have one at a decent CP. Like Altaria, the Flying-type aspect isn’t as useful, but you’ll see plenty of Skarmorys in the Great League.
Air Slash needs to be your choice for the fast move with 3 EPT and DPT, because the other option is Steel Wing and Steel-type moves aren’t very good offensively. Sky Attack absolutely must be your first choice charged move because it benefits from Same Type Attack Bonus (STAB: when a move is the same type as the Pokemon, it gets +25% damage) and is the cheapest in terms of energy cost. If you have a second charged move, avoid Brave Bird at all costs and get Flash Cannon.
Alolan Ninetales
Type: Ice/Fairy
Weakness: Rock, Poison, Steel, Fire
Like many other Fairy types in Pokemon Go, Alolan Ninetales is a great option for the Great League. Any Fairy-type who can learn the Fast Attack, Charm is a must-have on any team. Alolan Ninetales can learn Charm, which is great against Fighting types like Medicham and Scrafty while also being a menace for any Dragon types you’ll run into like Altaria.
When it comes to Alolan Ninetales’ Charged Attack, trainers have options. We recommend ponying up the candy to unlock its second slot so the Ice and Fairy-type can take on different types of Pokemon in battle. Weather Ball Ice is a must in this format. It doesn’t take a lot of energy to use, which is great for eliminating your opponent’s shields and can deal good damage against Dragon and Grass types. For the second slot, a trainer has a choice. They can use Dazzling Gleam to have a powerful Fairy-type attack or they can use Psyshock, a Psychic-type move that also doesn’t take a lot of energy to use but can help take out any Poison types that Alolan Ninetales may be weak against like Venusaur.
Alolan Marowak
Type: Fire/Ghost
Weakness: Ghost, Dark, Water, Ground, Rock
Another regional variant from Alola, this version of Marowak has seen a lot of use in the Pokemon Go Great League. While it does have quite a few weaknesses, most of them won’t be a factor in the Great League as most of the most used Pokemon aren’t of those types.
For its Fast Attack, Fire Spin is the preferred move. It has the most optimal damage and energy gain of Alolan Marowak’s three Fast Attack options. Hex, while gaining more energy, deals less damage and only deals super effective damage to Psychic and Ghost types, which are few and far between in this format.
As for its Charged Attack we recommend the combination of Bone Club and Shadow Ball. The latter is great for taking on other Alolan Marowak you may come across in the Great League while Bone Club doesn’t need a lot of energy to use. This allows for Alolan Marowak to break your opponent’s shields easier and gives the Pokemon a move to deal with Steel and other Fire types.
The one Pokemon Alolan Marowak doesn’t want to deal with is Umbreon, so we recommend bringing a Fairy type on your team to counter it. Alolan Marowak’s Fire typing also makes it a great pivot when going up against Fairy types as it resists those types of moves.
Sableye
Type: Ghost/Dark
Weakness: Fairy
A huge pro for using Sableye is its unique typing. The Hoenn-region Pokemon is weak to just Fairy-type moves, giving it the ability to last longer in battle than most. With so few attacks being able to hit Sableye super effectively, trainers should consider using it as a lead to damage as many Pokemon as possible and draining your opponent’s shields using moves that gain energy fast.
Shadow Claw is the optimal Fast Attack for Sableye to use as it’s not resisted by many Pokemon and earns plenty of energy. Shadow Sneak and Foul Play are great Charged Attacks that don’t need a lot of energy stored to use. While they don’t deal a lot of damage, trainers should use them to draw out shields.
As for its weakness, trainers should avoid Pokemon like Azumarill and Alolan Ninetales. However, Sableye will excel against Pokemon like Jellicent, Defense Forme Deoxys and Trevenent.
Bastiodon
Type: Rock/Steel
Weakness: Fighting, Ground, Water
Bastiodon is one of the best defensive Pokemon you can use in Great League (and is another part Steel-type… noticing a trend?) and it can also deal some serious damage. The main thing you want to watch out for with Bastiodon is when you’re up against Fighting or Ground-type Pokemon because they’ll deal double damage.
Despite it only have 2.66 EPT, Smack Down is your best choice for fast move over Iron Tail. You’ll also want Stone Edge as your first choice for the charged move because even though it costs quite a lot of energy, it deals an insane amount of damage, especially against Altaria. If you’ve got a second charge move, go for Flamethrower to deal with any Pokemon you face that are weak to fire-type moves.
Swampert
Type: Ground/Water
Weakness: Grass
As a Ground/Water-type, Swampert only has one major weakness; Grass-type Pokemon. As long as you’re not up against a Venusaur, Tropius, or Meganium, Swampert can be crucial in your fight to victory. Even Electric-type moves are stifled thanks to the dual typing of Ground and Water.
Always go for Mud Shot when you’re rocking Swampert in Great League, because it offers 4.5 EPT. The DPT isn’t too high though, which is why having two charged moves here is important; one that you can repeatedly use in the form of Hydro Cannon (unfortunately a community day exclusive) or Surf. Combine either of those with Earthquake for a devastating pairing. Alternatively, if you are coming up against a lot of Grass-type Pokemon, you can swap Earthquake for Sludge Wave.
Medicham
Type: Fighting/Psychic
Weakness: Flying, Fairy, Ghost
Medicham is a great option for the Great League as it is an excellent attacker and has moves that gives it more versatility than other Fighting types.
Counter is one of the best Fast Attacks in all of Pokemon Go. Its Fighting typing makes it good against a lot of Pokemon, especially Steel types like Bastiodon. As for its Charged Attacks, Power-Up Punch is a Fighting-type attack that boosts its Attack one stage even if it’s blocked, allowing for Medicham to steamroll other Pokemon.
Psychic is another powerful STAB attack that lowers the opponent’s defense, but Ice Punch may be a better option as it gives Medicham some coverage against Flying types and some Grass types you’ll likely see in battle like Venusaur and Trevenant.
Umbreon
Type: Dark
Weakness: Bug, Fairy, Fighting
Umbreon is an interesting choice for Great League because of its bulk. It can take a lot of damage because the only Fairy-type trainers have to worry about is Azumarill. And while Fighting-types like Medicham and Scrafty have become more prominent in the Great League Umbreon can still be a great wall against them.
Snarl should be your pick for fast move because it offers 4.33 EPT, even though it has just 1.66 DPT. Feint Attack can be considered for the damage increase of 3 DPT (and 3 EPT) but most of the time, the energy gain will be crucial with Snarl. Three charged moves can be considered; Foul Play is the cheap option so combined with Snarl, you can dish out charged moves on the regular, plus you can compliment that with Dark Pulse for a little extra damage. With the most recent Eevee Community Day, Umbreon can now learn Psychic as a Charged move giving it an option to use against Fighting types. It’s also Umbreon’s best option, aside from Last Resort, to battle Azumarill. e.
Deoxys (Defense)
Type: Psychic
Weakness: Bug, Dark, Ghost
Another defensively-minded Pokemon, Deoxys (Defense forme) is the only Psychic-type on this list which instantly gives it a big advantage. The only problem is how tough it is to get one since it has so far only been available in ex-raids. So unless you’ve either been walking with Deoxys for miles and miles, or made it eat a hundred rare candy, you won’t be able to have two charge moves on this bad boy yet.
With that said, you’re going to want to go with Counter for the fast move. It has 3.5 EPT and 4 DPT which makes it a solid choice, plus it’s a Fighting-type move which is a great “counter” (see what I did there?) to the multiple Steel-type Pokemon mentioned above. For the charged move, choose between either Rock Slide or Thunderbolt. Psycho Boost used to be the best option but it now gives Deoxys a negative attack debuff after use which isn’t ideal.
Venusaur
Type: Grass/Poison
Weakness: Fire, Flying, Ice, Psychic
Venusaur may be the easiest Pokemon to get on this list if you’ve been playing for a while, because it’s the evolution of one of the Gen 1 starters and has had its own community day. It’s a great counter against Pokemon like Azumarill and Swampert, and once again it’s somewhat tanky, especially for a Grass-type.
If you want to generate energy quickly to use Venusaur’s powerful charge moves, go for Vine Whip as the fast move. It offers 4 EPT (and 2.5 DPT), while the alternative, Razor Leaf, only has 2 EPT but does deal an impressive 5.5 DPT. Great if you want to rely on the fast move, but hard to outright recommend. Frenzy Plant is by far the best charged move if you got it during community day, but if you didn’t then Sludge Bomb is a great Poison-type choice. If you’ve got a second move space and don’t have Frenzy Plant, go for Solar Beam.
There you have it, our top ten picks for the best Pokemon Go Great League team. Whenever the meta significantly changes, we’ll add any new Pokemon to this list. For now, good luck in the Battle League, trainer!
Pokemon Go Great League Remix
Pokemon Go Battle League Great League Remix
The Great League Remix offers trainers another way to battle in this format. However, the top 20 Pokemon used in the last season will not be allowed in the Great League Remix.
In Season 11, the Great League Remix format happens for just one week from Wednesday, June 1 until Wednesday, June 8.
If you’re still looking for Pokemon to bring into the Great League, take a look at these 20 Pokemon. These are the most popular picks and can help you in battle:
- Venusaur
- Alolan Ninetales
- Azumarill
- Umbreon
- Skarmory
- Swampert
- Sableye
- Medicham
- Altaria
- Walrein
- Deoxys (Defense)
- Bastiodon
- Drapion
- Scrafty
- Jellicent
- Galarian Stunfisk
- Talonflame
- Trevenant
- Obstagoon
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