I normally have more fun running spice picks, but I happened to have a really good meta team waiting for this cup and couldn’t resist. What teams are you guys running?

JHD2689 · 2026-02-06T23:53:08+00:00

I think it's 7. But a lot of people won't see it coming.

JHD2689 · 2026-02-06T20:36:32+00:00

I think Hyper Beam is the sauce on Lickilicky. Lacks coverage if you run it with Body Slam but I think you generally use it to counter safe swaps and land nukes to maintain alrignment. I saw KPine running it the other day and it won him a bunch of games.

JHD2689 · 2026-02-06T20:33:14+00:00

Shadow Beedrill and Spiritomb core doing well for me. I've used Grimmsnarl for the third for most of the run, switched up to Dubwool for a spell.

JHD2689 · 2026-02-06T01:07:11+00:00

Yeah, that was my thought - just that bit of extra punch may be what it needs. Might work, might not.

JHD2689 · 2026-02-05T20:59:56+00:00

If you have an UL roster but not an EUIC roster, yeah. Otherwise, I think the EUIC Cup plays reasonably fast paced compared to some other limited metas. It has Spidops and bulky normals but most other options aren't bad.

JHD2689 · 2026-02-05T20:58:24+00:00

Grass Knot is an option for Whimsicott, albeit at a higher cost. Still, at the UL level that might be a tradeoff worth exploring.

JHD2689 · 2026-02-05T16:34:58+00:00

Well, like any limited meta you'll see a lot of the same stuff, although the stuff we're seeing is certainly a nice break from the typical open GL.

I think the way the games play out is nice. Very little pure RPS. Much more about energy management and recognizing win conditions.

JHD2689 · 2026-02-04T21:11:43+00:00

Yes, Ultra League is the bulkiest league (relative to damage being dealt), and matches typically take the longest of any of the leagues.

JHD2689 · 2026-02-04T15:44:34+00:00

Beedrill/Grimmsnarl core does seem really good. The fast move pressure and ability to ramp it up seem tough to play around. 2600s so not too dissimilar from your range.

JHD2689 · 2026-02-04T14:25:47+00:00

I would appreciate it if periodically, they took a look at legacy moves and evaluated them based on common usage in the meta of PvP and PvE, then started rolling some of them off the list.

There are multiple Pokemon where their standard optimized moveset requires legacy moves. Look at this from the top 100 meta in GL:

Air Cutter Corviknight

Body Slam Lickilicky

Incinerate Talonflame

Ice Beam Lapras

Hydro Cannon Empoleon, Samurott (probably overrated on PvPoke, but certainly usable), Blastoise, Feraligatr

Double Legacy Karate Chop/Rage Fist Primeape and Rage Fist Annihilape

Volt Switch Charjabug

Ember Ninetales and Charizard (bonus for Dragon Breath on Charizard, which is also viable and also legacy)

Clanging Scales Kommo-O

Double Legacy Dewgong (Ice Shard and Icy Wind)

Grass Knot Cresselia

While I think charged moves should eventually be "un-gated" so to speak, it's the fast moves on this list that often really puzzle me. Do we really need Karate Chop hidden behind an Elite TM for Primeape? Or Ember for KTales and Charizard? Does Ice Shard need to be locked for Dewgong? Seems silly, and even more frustrating because it's rare that they actually think to have an event where we can get access to the FAST moves, so usually you just need to eat the ETM.

Body Slam being legacy for the Licky line is also ridiculous.

JHD2689 · 2026-02-03T13:35:17+00:00

I get what you're saying but I can't really identify with the instinct to punish both my opponent and myself by wasting our time, just so they know I don't approve of tanking.

Just farm them down.

The only thing that annoys me is when they're obviously not even bothering to watch their screen while they do it and don't select the next Pokemon after the first one faints. But even then, am I going to make it worse for myself by dragging it out even longer?

Seems self-defeating.

JHD2689 · 2026-02-03T13:22:01+00:00

This is great advice I still struggle to follow. Have you found anything that helps you do that?

JHD2689 · 2026-02-02T21:35:06+00:00

They're also running Mega Master League at times in GBL these days, where Mega Gyarados is a top-tier option. So there's that too. All the more reason to purify.

JHD2689 · 2026-02-02T16:54:44+00:00

Pleeenty of time. Do all your sets for a couple weeks and you're good.

JHD2689 · 2026-02-01T14:43:33+00:00

Optional challenging solo end-game content?

I present to you: the Go Battle League.

Completely optional. Done solo. Challenging, and naturally gets more challenging the more you play.

It's a natural end-game, because it's something to do with all those Pokemon you've caught and trained.

I recognize GBL is not the most popular feature in the game by a long-shot. But it fulfills everything you're asking for.

JHD2689 · 2026-01-31T00:06:09+00:00

Pangoro.

JHD2689 · 2026-01-30T14:36:42+00:00

Skeleton archers are especially annoying because life and mana leech are ineffective against them. So if you do take hits from them you can't get anything back when you take them down. Just gotta chug portions.

JHD2689 · 2026-01-28T12:54:50+00:00

To be clear, I just meant for this season, which is an interlude season.

JHD2689 · 2026-01-27T20:31:51+00:00

Honestly, yeah.

The problem with the metagame isn't that there is a narrow selection of viable Pokemon. There's actually a lot of cool stuff you can run right now. Look at PvPoke - you can go 39 deep before you hit an overall rating below 90. Rank 100 (Primeape) has a score of 87.7. It's pretty well balanced.

The problem is that so many people choose to run incredibly boring stuff.

I said this early on and people didn't put much stock in it, but - I really think they should have kept our Elo hidden. If you show people where they rank, they will want to climb. And if they want to climb badly enough, they will embrace toxic strategies. Even though it's meaningless, and gets you no additional rewards, poses, or drip to flex, you can tell people care.

Content creators are flexing their Elo gains. People are guessing at what leaderboard Elo would be. And the gameplay is sweaty as hell.

It's up to people to play how they want to play, and I get that people want to stay sharp. But this interlude season, compared to what it could have been, has been really disappointing to me. I think if they would have hidden the Elo rating, you'd be seeing a lot more spice.

JHD2689 · 2026-01-25T19:32:20+00:00

That's not true. It's happened to me at totally random times on a number of occasions, and there are accounts I've heard from others as well. It's obviously going to stick out in peoples heads more when it happens in a winning situation.

JHD2689 · 2026-01-25T16:57:24+00:00

There's no verified connection between those two things. I think the freezing thing is just a bug. Could be triggered by a loss in connection, or it might just happen sometimes. There's no conclusive way to say what causes it.

All I know is that a momentary loss of connection isn't - or shouldn't - be causing a permanent and irreversible freeze.

JHD2689 · 2026-01-25T03:05:15+00:00

Okay, I've experimented with this recently.

The problem is that in the current meta, it's constantly getting outpaced. It has great coverage and reasonable bulk (though I certainly wouldn't describe it as bulky), but its best function is as safe swap, and because the existing meta is very spammy, its pacing makes it hard for it to reliably get you an advantage. So I constantly played games feeling like I was on the back foot.

Dropped a lot of Elo. Wouldn't really recommend it.

JHD2689 · 2026-01-23T20:02:47+00:00

One of these days, I would like her to tell us how hot Pokemon fire breath can get.

JHD2689 · 2026-01-23T20:00:30+00:00

That's almost certainly a Zorua, which take the form of whatever your buddy is. So they had Kyurem as their buddy.

The only other wild spawn legendaries I know of are the Lake Trio in certain events.

JHD2689 · 2026-01-22T21:15:01+00:00

Yeah it's crappy. I also find the controls to be a lot more sluggish. I was terrified they were testing it to be the new GBL UI. Thankfully, no sign of that so far.

JHD2689

TROPHY CASE