Pokémon Go Single-type Cup – Great League Edition: Best Pokémon

Use these Pokémon to triumph in Single-type Cup

Contents

1. Single-type Cup: Best Leads
2. Single-type Cup: Best Safe Switches
3. Single-type Cup: Best Closers
4. Single-type Cup: Best Attackers

Versatility is great, but sometimes concentrating on a single strength is also the right way to go. You certainly won’t have any choice in that regard during Single-type Cup: Great League Edition in Pokémon Go, another limited format in Go Battle League.

Single-type Cup will run from June 22 to July 6, 2023, alongside Ultra League for one week and then Master League Premier for the second week. In the time from June 29 to July 6, 2023, you will gain triple Stardust rewards for winning battles, so getting a great team together for Single-type Cup could be quite lucrative.

This Go Battle League competition runs on a special ruleset limiting participating Pokémon to a maximum amount of 1,500 competition points (CP). In addition, you may only field Pokémon with a single type, as the name suggests. Cresselia and Deoxys (Defense Forme) are banned from this cup for being too strong under these circumstances.

Show your opponents that size matters not with the best Pokémon for Single-type Cup – Great League Edition in Pokémon Go based on statistics and simulations provided by PvPoke.com.

Single-type Cup: Best Leads

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

1. Machamp^(S) (Counter, Cross Chop, Rock Slide)
2. Shadow Machoke (Karate Chop, Cross Chop, Dynamic Punch)
3. Shadow Luxray (Spark, Wild Charge, Psychic Fangs)
4. Machoke (Karate Chop, Cross Chop, Dynamic Punch)
5. Primeape (Counter, Night Slash, Ice Punch)
6. Haxorus (Counter, Breaking Swipe, Night Slash)
7. Vigoroth (Counter, Body Slam, Bulldoze)
8. Pinsir^(S) (Fury Cutter, Close Combat, X-Scissor)
9. Luxray (Spark, Wild Charge, Psychic Fangs)
10. Sirfetch’d (Counter, Leaf Blade, Night Slash)

(S) = Regular form and Shadow form perform comparably.

Single-type Cup: 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 class 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 opener to fight later on in the battle and perhaps force your opponent to also adapt their strategy on the fly.

1. Vigoroth (Counter, Body Slam, Bulldoze)
2. Shadow Donphan (Counter, Body Slam, Earthquake)
3. Shadow Luxray (Spark, Wild Charge, Psychic Fangs)
4. Shadow Muk (Poison Jab, Thunder Punch, Dark Pulse)
5. Dragonair (Dragon Breath, Aqua Tail, Body Slam)
6. Sirfetch’d (Counter, Leaf Blade, Night Slash)
7. Grimer^(S)(XL) (Poison Jab, Mud Bomb, Sludge Bomb)
8. Primeape (Counter, Night Slash, Ice Punch)
9. Luxray (Spark, Wild Charge, Psychic Fangs)
10. Dubwool (Double Kick, Body Slam, Payback)

(XL) = Pokémon requires Candy XL to reach optimal battle performance.

Single-type Cup: 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, which can’t be deflected without a shield.

1. Registeel (Lock On, Focus Blast, Zap Cannon)
2. Hitmontop (Counter, Close Combat, Stone Edge)
3. Hariyama (Counter, Close Combat, Heavy Slam)
4. Falinks (Counter, Superpower, Megahorn)
5. Shadow Registeel (Lock On, Focus Blast, Zap Cannon)
6. Regirock^(S) (Lock One, Focus Blast, Stone Edge)
7. Hitmonlee^(S) (Double Kick, Close Combat, Stone Edge)
8. Meganium (Vine Whip, Frenzy Plant, Earthquake)
9. Shadow Machamp (Counter, Cross Chop, Rock Slide)
10. Shadow Hitmontop (Counter, Close Combat, Stone Edge)

Single-type Cup: 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. Wobbuffet^(XL) (Counter, Return, Mirror Coat)
2. Aromatisse (Charm, Moonblast, Psychic)
3. Umbreon (Snarl, Foul Play, Last Resort)
4. Spritzee^(XL) (Charm, Thunderbolt, Draining Kiss)
5. Slurpuff (Charm, Flamethrower, Energy Ball)
6. Sylveon (Charm, Moonblast, Psyshock)
7. Shadow Granbull (Charm, Close Combat, Crunch)
8. Shadow Bayleef^(XL) (Razor Leaf, Grass Knot, Ancient Power)
9. Lickitung^(XL) (Lick, Body Slam, Power Whip)
10. Ninetales (Fire Spin, Weather Ball (Fire), Overheat)

Single-type Cup certainly puts the spotlight on Fighting-types, but offers a surprising amount of diversity as well, making for a varied and exciting meta that’s very much rooted in old traditions – namely that of Fast Attacks like Counter and Charm being king when it comes to the offense, Wobbuffet being a tough lad, and the Regis coming in clutch as closers.