Pokémon Go Holiday Cup – Ultra League Edition: Best Pokémon

Sweat off your holiday gains in Go Battle League with these Pokémon

Contents

1. Holiday Cup – Ultra League Edition: Best Leads
2. Holiday Cup – Ultra League Edition: Best Safe Switches
3. Holiday Cup – Ultra League Edition: Best Closers
4. Holiday Cup – Ultra League Edition: Best Attackers

Just like we raise our own weight class over the holidays, Pokémon Go upgrades the running Holiday Cup from its Great League Edition to its Ultra League Edition. This change of shifts is happening on December 29, 2022, at 1 pm PT.

Holiday Cup – Ultra League Edition will subsequently run until January 5, 2023, 1 pm PT. This is the perfect timeframe to be active in Go Battle League, as every win will net you triple the usual reward in stardust.

This Go Battle League competition runs on the same limited ruleset as its predecessor aside from raising the maximum amount of competition points (CP) a participating Pokémon can sport. In Ultra League Edition, all Pokémon with up to 2,500 CP may take part, if they belong to the Normal, Grass, Electric, Ice, Flying, and Ghost types.

Get ready to sweat off some of those Christmas dinner calories with the best Pokémon for Holiday Cup – Ultra League Edition in Pokémon Go based on statistics and simulations provided by PvPoke.com.

Holiday Cup – Ultra League Edition: Best Leads

These Pokémon aggressively apply pressure on your opponent right from the start of a duel and can survive even tough battles for a long time – they are perfect to open a match up, enabling you to score an early knockout or set up a strong counter play.

1. Aurorus (Powder Snow, Weather Ball (Ice), Meteor Beam)
2. Giratina (Altered) (Dragon Breath, Dragon Claw, Ancient Power)
3. Charizard^(S) (Wing Attack, Blast Burn, Dragon Claw)
4. Obstagoon (Counter, Night Slash, Cross Chop)
5. Togedemaru^(XL) (Thunder Shock, Wild Charge, Gyro Ball)
6. Magnezone^(S) (Spark, Wild Charge, Mirror Shot)
7. Abomasnow^(S)(XL) (Powder Snow, Weather Ball (Ice), Energy Ball)
8. Dubwool^(XL) (Double Kick, Body Slam, Payback)
9. Shadow Luxray (Spark, Wild Charge, Psychic Fangs)
10. Alolan Golem (Volt Switch, Stone Edge, Rock Blast)

(S) = Regular form and Shadow form perform comparably; (XL) = The Pokémon requires Candy XL to reach its optimal power level.

Holiday Cup – Ultra League Edition: Best Safe Switches

If the opening pairing is to your disadvantage, you should consider switching out your lead for another Pokémon. This is where this category comes into play. They are either strong leads themselves or are specialized in countering some of the most popular leads. In any case, a switch will preserve your original lead to fight later on in the battle and perhaps force your opponent to also adapt their strategy on the fly.

1. Aurorus (Powder Snow, Weather Ball (Ice), Meteor Beam)
2. Charizard^(S) (Wing Attack, Blast Burn, Dragon Claw)
3. Kyurem (Dragon Breath, Glaciate, Dragon Claw)
4. Giratina (Altered) (Dragon Breath, Dragon Claw, Ancient Power)
5. Dubwool^(XL) (Double Kick, Body Slam, Payback)
6. Abomasnow^(S)(XL) (Powder Snow, Weather Ball (Ice), Energy Ball)
7. Obstagoon (Counter, Night Slash, Cross Chop)
8. Piloswine^(XL) (Powder Snow, Avalanche, Stone Edge)
9. Regice (Lock On, Blizzard, Earthquake)
10. Bewear (Shadow Claw, Superpower, Stomp)

Holiday Cup – Ultra League Edition: Best Closers

These Pokémon are particularly useful when there are no shields left in play on either side – they are incredibly tough themselves or end battles quickly thanks to powerful charge attacks.

1. Piloswine^(S)(XL) (Powder Snow, Avalanche, Stone Edge)
2. Aurorus (Powder Snow, Weather Ball (Ice), Meteor Beam)
3. Regice (Lock On, Blizzard, Earthquake)
4. Mamoswine^(S) (Powder Snow, Avalanche, Stone Edge)
5. Staraptor^(S) (Wing Attack, Brave Bird, Close Combat)
6. Magnezone^(S) (Spark, Wild Charge, Mirror Shot)
7. Raikou^(S) (Volt Switch, Wild Charge, Shadow Ball)
8. Shadow Electivire (Thunder Shock, Wild Charge, Ice Punch)
9. Shadow Moltres (Wing Attack, Sky Attack, Overheat)
10. Shadow Magneton^(XL) (Thunder Shock, Magnet Bomb, Discharge)

Holiday Cup – Ultra League Edition: Best Attackers

These Pokémon perform best when fighting a trainer who still has shields, while you no longer have shields yourself. They combine important resistances and strong fast attacks to compensate for this disadvantage. For this reason, you rarely see Shadow forms in this role – they take more damage than their regular counterparts, making them a risky card to put on the table.

1. Giratina (Altered) (Dragon Breath, Dragon Claw, Ancient Power)
2. Aurorus (Powder Snow, Weather Ball (Ice), Meteor Beam)
3. Obstagoon (Counter, Night Slash, Cross Chop)
4. Virizion (Double Kick, Leaf Blade, Sacred Sword)
5. Celesteela (Smack Down, Body Slam, Heavy Slam)
6. Alolan Sandslash^(XL) (Shadow Claw, Ice Punch, Bulldoze)
7. Pidgeot^(XL) (Wind Attack, Feather Dance, Brave Bird)
8. Articuno (Ice Shard, Icy Wind, Ancient Power)
9. Alolan Golem (Volt Switch, Stone Edge, Rock Blast)
10. Mandibuzz^(XL) (Snarl, Foul Play, Aerial Ace)

As was a theme in the Great League Edition of this competition, Wing Attack users have massively profited from a recent buff to the move and have soared into top spots in these rankings. Aurorus is another big winner of the Season 13 update, gaining access to a powerful attack in Meteor Beam that catapulted it towards the elite.

Legendary ice dragon Kyurem also reaches new heights in this tournament, as it was finally blessed with its signature move Glaciate, which is a huge upgrade to its offensive potential.