By Ana Hoffman, Contributing Writer

The current GO Battle League Season started on September 1, 2023, and with it came the introduction of many balance changes to Pokémon GO Trainer Battles. These changes impact both the GO Battle League and the Play! Pokémon competitive circuit. Full details on these changes can be found on the official Pokémon GO Live blog.

As the changes have percolated through the GO Battle League and events like the Pittsburgh Regional Championship and the Barcelona Special Event, there are some clear winners and losers as a result of the updates, ultimately creating a metagame with much more neutral play—that is, battles with no clear type advantage for either Pokémon—than previous ones.

The rankings of top Flying-type Pokémon, and their role as a counter to prominent Fighting-type Pokémon, have shifted. Similarly, the usage of prominent Ground-type and Steel-type Pokémon have also changed slightly in response. Grass-type Pokémon have seen an increase in prominence as well.

Pokémon with Added Power

One of the most impactful changes to the Pokémon GO Trainer Battle metagame was a decrease to the energy cost of the Flying-type Charged Attack Aerial Ace. This one adjustment caused a shift in Flying-type presence both in the GO Battle League and in the recent Pittsburgh Regional Championship. Flying-type Pokémon that can learn Aerial Ace—such as Gligar, Mantine, and Mandibuzz—all have seen an increase in usage, especially compared to the former top Flying-type picks Noctowl and Altaria.

The change to Aerial Ace has also helped Serperior become a top Grass type. It has seen increased prominence since it can learn Aerial Ace as well as the hard-hitting Frenzy Plant. Serperior has also benefited from the metagame shift towards Flying-type Pokémon that have a second type weak to Grass-type attacks, like Gligar and Mantine. The ability to do neutral amounts of damage to these Pokémon with Grass-type attacks can be crucial.

A decrease in both the damage and energy cost of the Ground-type Charged Attack Dig also contributed to Gligar’s increased presence. After battling in Pittsburgh, I can speak firsthand to its newfound potency! While other Pokémon that can learn Dig like Linoone and Oinkologne have seen some GO Battle League usage, they have advanced more into fringe viability than into the central metagame.

Also impacting the Ground-type landscape is the addition of the move Scorching Sands. This powerful Ground-type Charged Attack has a chance of decreasing the opponent’s Attack, much like Scald. Notable among the Pokémon that can now use Scorching Sands is Diggersby, which was present on multiple teams in the Pittsburgh Regional Championships. The Digging Pokémon enjoys newfound speed and debuff potential from the move, and it can now more comfortably forego the Charged Attack Fire Punch for the hard-hitting Hyper Beam. While other Scorching Sands users have not broken out into the spotlight yet, Ninetales is a historically viable Pokémon that appreciates the addition of Ground-type coverage to its previously Fire-exclusive move set.

The Bug-type Charged Attack X-Scissor gained in both power and energy cost, making Bug-type Pokémon like Golisopod and Beedrill more potent with their same-type attack bonus. The ability to learn the Dragon-type Charged Attack Breaking Swipe has propelled Steelix into the core metagame of the Ultra League as well as the Great League. Additionally, the entire Magnemite evolutionary line has gained the ability to learn the Electric-type Fast Attack Volt Switch, causing all of them to appear more frequently in the GO Battle League as a result. Finally, Greedent gaining the ability to learn the Ground-type Fast Attack Mud Shot has brought back a former Ultra League powerhouse and given it some additional potential in the Great League as well.

While changes appeared focused on shaking up the Great League metagame (and to a lesser extent the Ultra League, due to the Pokémon and strategies common to both), some could still be relevant to the Master League in particular. The changes to X-Scissor could help Golisopod and Scizor both eke out some relevance in the Master League as some of the most powerful Bug types. Scizor and Ursaluna are also now able to learn the new Grass-type Charged Attack Trailblaze, which could help both of them against strong Water-type Pokémon like Kyogre and Primarina. Like Steelix, Rhyperior gained the ability to learn Breaking Swipe in this move set update, which adds to its Master League prowess.

Pokémon Declining in Strength

Though this update mostly increased the power of underutilized Pokémon, there were also some changes, especially to Charged Attacks, that attempted to rein in previously established powerhouses. Most notable was an increase in energy cost to the Flying-type Charged Attack Sky Attack, making Pokémon like Altaria and Noctowl that typically use it take longer to reach their most efficient Charged Attack option. The impact of this change is arguably the largest in this update, causing Flying-type Pokémon like Gligar, Mantine, Mandibuzz—and even Flying-type Pokémon without Aerial Ace like Charizard and Dragonite—to all gain ground in a type formerly dominated by a few clear favorites. The change has also opened up the opportunity for Grass-type Pokémon that had been held down by Sky Attack to see additional play, as seen by Trevenant and Shadow Venusaur in addition to Serperior.

This update also saw the Psychic-type Charged Attack Psychic have its base power reduced by 5, largely targeting Medicham, which saw a massive usage rate of 85% at the World Championships in Yokohama. While Medicham is still very potent, that usage rate scaled down in Pittsburgh to 72.4%. While Psychic is most notably used by Medicham, the change also impacts some Trainers that use Umbreon, such as the World Championships Runner-Up xXRubixMasterXx.

The Ground-type Charged Attack Earthquake also received a power decrease of 10. While Swampert is still doing great, making it onto Wdage’s championship-winning team at Pittsburgh, other Pokémon such as Galarian Stunfisk, Gliscor, and Walrein have been much more impacted. While Meganium wasn’t setting the metagame on fire prior to this change, its status is an interesting juxtaposition with Serperior as another bulky Grass-type Pokémon with access to Frenzy Plant. Unfortunately, Meganium lost some of its game-closing power because of the change to Earthquake.

In the Ultra and Master Leagues, the change to Sky Attack predominantly impacts Lugia, and the change to Psychic is largely inconsequential. Galarian Stunfisk, Swampert, Metagross, Snorlax, Regirock, and Haxorus all may be rethought because of Earthquake’s power decrease. Still, as with previously discussed changes, these are generally also less pronounced in the higher Combat Power Leagues.

Important Newly Introduced Pokémon

In addition to the direct changes to moves in Pokémon GO, the game has recently seen the addition of quite a few new Pokémon with varying levels of tournament viability.

Carbink was first globally introduced during GO Fest 2023 in August, so it just became eligible for Play! Pokémon tournaments with the new 2024 season, and it’s started seeing serious GO Battle League play. It is a very potent Rock- and Fairy-type Pokémon that is sure to be a standout in the GO Battle League and potentially even tournament play if used by talented Trainers.

Starting with the Season Adventures Abound, various Pokémon first discovered in the Paldea region have been appearing in Pokémon GO, leading to some additional interesting changes for the competitive metagame. Among the first-partner Pokémon of Paldea, Skeledirge in particular has interesting Fire and Ghost dual-typing. The Singer Pokémon additionally offers powerful Charged Attack coverage with the Fairy-type Disarming Voice and Ghost-type Shadow Ball, and it has proven powerful in both the Great and Ultra Leagues in my experience.

The introduction of the Frigibax evolutionary line has added two interesting players in Trainer Battles, as both Arctibax and Baxcalibur can learn the powerful move set of Dragon Breath, Dragon Claw, and Avalanche, all boosted by the same-type attack bonus. While their Ice typing is a defensive liability, the offensive power of these two makes for some interesting play. I could see future potential for both in tournament play, especially Arctibax—even more so if Gligar and its vulnerability to Ice-type damage sticks around.

The Current State of the Competitive Format

While competing in Pittsburgh and making it into the top 8 of the tournament, I saw a substantial number of changes from the World Championships metagame in the new 2024 season. I personally adjusted my team from the North American International Championships to remove Noctowl and add Gligar, and I think it was an extremely worthwhile change of Flying-type pressure that vastly improved my matchup against Steel-type Pokémon like Registeel.

Across the board we saw Noctowl, Altaria, and Galarian Stunfisk all fall from their usual spots in the top 12 most-used Pokémon, while Gligar rose to take a spot there alongside its counters such as Azumarill, Alolan Sandslash, and Alolan Ninetales. Registeel benefitted from fewer Galarian Stunfisk and a more comfortable Medicham matchup and saw an increase in usage compared to the World Championships, despite the addition of Gligar as a strong counter to it.

Running down the performance of some of these Pokémon in Pittsburgh, Gligar made it to the Grand Finals on the team of runner-up LyleJeffsIII. It had a higher usage rate among the top eight finishers than in the main tournament, being featured on five of the eight teams, including my own. Champion Wdage, adjusting to the changes in moves, utilized Shadow Dragonite and Defense Forme Deoxys, replacing Altaria and Medicham respectively. And other Trainers like third place finalist HotPoket777 brought a multitude of Pokémon previously discussed, utilizing Mantine, Serperior, and Diggersby in his party of six.

While there is a lot of time to see the metagame solidify throughout this season, a lot of the tournament felt more neutral in its play. I had matchups that were fairly one-sided as expected, such as Lickitung v. Trevenant, but far fewer of them than in previous tournaments, and the same has been true of the GO Battle League. While the top five most-used Pokémon have very high usage rates, all of them have considerable counter-play against each other due to their typing, coverage, or bulk. And while that is not a sure sign of a healthy metagame, it certainly felt like it led to a very skilled top eight—Trainers who knew how to navigate matchups based on energy, shield, and health advantage rather than relying on blowout matches that reward alignment above all else.

Final Thoughts

We’re still in the process of discovering how this large variety of move changes, move additions, and new Pokémon will impact the competitive Pokémon GO Trainer Battle scene. While new picks will likely emerge throughout the next few months, some things are very clear. The balance of power among Flying-type Pokémon has shifted and the Aerial Ace users are here to stay. Trainers looking to use Ground-type Pokémon will give more consideration to Diggersby and Gligar than in the past. Galarian Stunfisk is further losing ground in the Steel-type niche, while Registeel and Alolan Sandslash have gained prominence. Carbink is here, but not as scary as presumed on its initial release. Grass-type Pokémon are back in a big way, enjoying a metagame with plenty of Lanturn and Azumarill, and fewer Flying-type Pokémon that resist Grass-type damage.

I am interested in learning how Trainers continue to use these new and adjusted Pokémon to further success in their battles, both in the GO Battle League and the competitive circuit of Play! Pokémon. My advice to a reader looking to adapt to the changes is to check your Pokémon storage for a Gligar and enjoy the fun!

For more Pokémon GO strategy and analysis, visit Pokemon.com/Strategy.