Many trainers have spent a long time building up a team for the Battle League in Pokémon GO, which can be shaken up by the new update. MeinMMO author Paul Kutzner is one of them.
I have been involved since Pokémon GO was launched in 2016 and have been diligently catching, collecting and training my Pokémon, with both short and long breaks.
One aspect of the game didn’t interest me much most of the time: the Battle League. Even though I knew that there were strong advantages to playing in the Battle League, it just didn’t appeal to me.
This changed in August 2023. I thought I’d give the Battle League another chance. And I didn’t regret it: In addition to a few hours of fun, there were also lots of special candies and some raid bosses as rewards for me.
But some of my monsters in the Battle League may soon be devalued.
Pokémon GO shows the new season “Dyna-Max” in the trailer
More videos
Autoplay
Favorite attacker soon just for decoration?
What is changing in the Battle League? With the new update in Battle League bringing some changes to the meta, a good portion of my team could soon become useless.
While the update reduces the timer for swapping monsters, it also changes many instant and charged attacks. This could cause major changes in the meta and devalue some of the Pokémon I’ve built up over the last 12 months.
What does my team look like? So far, I’ve only been building Pokémon for the Super League. This mode is cheaper than the Hyper League and you can play Pokémon here that would otherwise have no relevance. I find that quite appealing.
For these reasons, I also completely avoid the Master League.
This is what my team for the Superliga looks like
When naming Pokémon, I like to note down the respective combination of IV values. This means, for example, that the Viscogon in the first picture, named “GL42,” has the 42nd best combination of IV values for the Great League.
How do I build Pokémon? When building my team, I like to get inspiration from pvpoke.com. Here I look to see which Pokémon are recommended with which attack combination.
However, I don’t rely on it completely, but like to try out other attacks and, above all, play the combination of Pokémon that suits me best.
In addition, I don’t just rely on Pokémon for the regular Super League, but I also like to raise Pokémon for the special cups like the Halloween or Sun Cup.
Which of my Pokémon are affected? With the new data from pvpoke.com, you can already see the first Pokémon that I enjoyed playing and that have lost a lot of ground with the update.
Shadow Golbat is a Pokémon that I liked to start battles with. With the new update, this Pokémon has slipped to 371st place in the Great League.
Epitaff and Akkup, which I liked to bet on, have also slipped down significantly due to the update. While Epitaff was previously in the top 10, it is now ranked 144th.
Akkup, the small Pokémon with the types Bug and Electric, is now also only found at place 130. This Pokémon was also often used by the best trainers in the Super League in the past.
Whether I will continue to have fun with these Pokémon in the Great League in the future remains to be seen. I have had many good times with these monsters in the Battle League and will definitely shed a tear when they are defeated by other monsters in the near future.
What about you? Which Pokémon did you like to use in the Battle League that will now be more difficult to play? Let us know your opinion in the comments. If you want to know which events are waiting for you in Pokémon GO in September 2024, take a look at the relevant overview.