Pokémon Go Master League: Best Pokémon
It’s time for the heavy weights! The Master League is ready to roar in Pokémon Go, running from March 15 to 22, 2024. This is the heaviest weight class the mobile game has to offer in its competitive PvP portion, which means you’ll need to bring all those Legendary and Mythical Pokémon as well as Ultra Beasts to the table to have a shot at victory. During this time, you can look forward to earning quadruple Stardust rewards for winning duels.
There are no limits whatsoever, when it comes to which Pokémon are allowed to take part. That can be quite overwhelming, so we’ve put together a list of the best Pokémon for Master League to get you started on your team building process. Our choices are based on statistics and simulations provided by PvPoke.com.
You’ll want to make sure to pump each of your participating Pokémon full of XL Candy before sending them out to battle in this league, which is why you won't see our usual (XL) markers in this guide. Pokémon boosted with XL Candy are the default here.
Master League is home to the mightiest Pokémon.
Niantic
Pokémon Go Master League: Best Leads
These Pokémon are hyper aggressive, applying pressure on your opponent right from the beginning of a match. They can drag out even tough battles for a long time – this makes them ideal to open a duel up, enabling you to score an early knockout or set up a strong counter play.
- Palkia (Origin Forme) (Dragon Breath, Aqua Tail, Spacial Rend)
- Zygarde (Complete Forme) (Dragon Tail, Crunch, Earthquake)
- Palkia (Dragon Tail, Aqua Tail, Draco Meteor)
- Dragonite (Dragon Breath, Dragon Claw, Superpower)
- Groudon (Mud Shot, Precipice Blades, Fire Punch)
- Solgaleo (Fire Spin, Psychic Fangs, Iron Head)
- Landorus (Therian Forme) (Mud Shot, Sandsear Storm, Stone Edge)
- Giratina (Altered Forme) (Shadow Claw, Dragon Claw, Ancient Power)
- Giratina (Origin Forme) (Shadow Claw, Shadow Ball, Ominous Wind)
- Meloetta (Aria) (Quick Attack, Psyshock, Dazzling Gleam)
Pokémon Go Master League: Best Safe Switches
Should the initial pairing be to your disadvantage, consider switching out your lead for another Pokémon. This is where Safe Switches come into play. They are either strong leads themselves or are specialized in countering some of the more popular members of that class. 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, equalizing the battle once again.
- Landorus (Therian Forme) (Mud Shot, Sandsear Storm, Stone Edge)
- Shadow Mewtwo (Psycho Cut, Psystrike, Shadow Ball)
- Palkia (Origin Forme) (Dragon Breath, Aqua Tail, Spacial Rend)
- Kyurem (Dragon Breath, Glaciate, Dragon Claw)
- Giratina (Altered Forme) (Shadow Claw, Dragon Claw, Ancient Power)
- Zygarde (Complete Forme) (Dragon Tail, Crunch, Earthquake)
- Meloetta (Aria) (Quick Attack, Psyshock, Dazzling Gleam)
- Palkia (Dragon Tail, Aqua Tail, Draco Meteor)
- Groudon (Mud Shot, Precipice Blades, Fire Punch)
- Mewtwo (Psycho Cut, Psystrike, Shadow Ball)
Pokémon Go Master League: Best Closers
The Pokémon in this category are especially useful when there are no shields left in play on either side – they are incredibly tough themselves thanks to their high hit points and many resistances or end battles quickly thanks to powerful charge attacks.
- Palkia (Origin Forme) (Dragon Breath, Aqua Tail, Spacial Rend)
- Ho-Oh(S) (Incinerate, Brave Bird, Sacred Fire)
- Groudon (Mud Shot, Precipice Blades, Fire Punch)
- Giratina (Origin Forme) (Shadow Claw, Shadow Ball, Ominous Wind)
- Zygarde (Complete Forme) (Dragon Tail, Crunch, Earthquake)
- Reshiram (Dragon Breath, Fusion Flare, Draco Meteor)
- Xerneas (Geomancy, Close Combat, Moonblast)
- Zekrom (Dragon Breath, Crunch, Wild Charge)
- Shadow Dragonite (Dragon Breath, Dragon Claw, Superpower)
- Landorus (Therian Forme) (Mud Shot, Sandsear Storm, Stone Edge)
Pokémon marked with (S) perform similarly in their regular and Shadow forms.
Pokémon Go Master League: Best Attackers
These Pokémon perform best when fighting an opponent 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 pull out at this stage of a match.
- Zygarde (Complete Forme) (Dragon Tail, Crunch, Earthquake)
- Solgaleo (Fire Spin, Psychic Fangs, Iron Head)
- Giratina (Altered Forme) (Shadow Claw, Dragon Claw, Ancient Power)
- Palkia (Origin Forme) (Dragon Breath, Aqua Tail, Spacial Rend)
- Palkia (Dragon Tail, Aqua Tail, Draco Meteor)
- Dragonite (Dragon Breath, Dragon Claw, Superpower)
- Giratina (Origin Forme) (Shadow Claw, Shadow Ball, Ominous Wind)
- Landorus (Therian Forme) (Mud Shot, Sandsear Storm, Stone Edge)
- Kyurem (Dragon Breath, Glaciate, Dragon Claw)
- Lugia (Dragon Tail, Sky Attack, Aeroblast)
Master League has gone through quite the shuffle this time around, mostly due to the introduction of Palkia and Dialga's Origin Formes. Well, not that poor Dialga has made an impact: It's all about this hot, new Palkia, which is present in all categories and has become a dominating force. Even the old, standard Palkia got an upgrade thanks to the new season's buff to Aqua Tail.
Apart from the PvP program, you should check out this month’s Raids, Field Research, and Spotlight Hours.
