By Payden "ItsAXN" Bingham, Contributing Writer

The latest Season of Pokémon GO, Max Out , is here, and with it comes one of the largest expected metagame shifts to date. Many top-performing Pokémon from previous Seasons have been drastically reduced in strength, and some Pokémon that have never been viable have shot to the top. The power of some attacks has changed, too, which will also affect competitive strategy. Counter, Wing Attack, Steel Wing, and Mud Shot—all incredibly impactful Fast Attacks in previous competitions—will generate less energy. Expect to see more Mud Slap, Fairy Wind, Poison Sting, and Karate Chop in Pokémon GO battles thanks to this update, opening the door for a wide variety of picks, both new and old.

Covering New Ground

The big winner of this moveset update in the Great League is Clodsire, a Pokémon who has both a massive amount of bulk and a fantastic moveset. The main reason why Clodsire was less played previously was because so many different popular Pokémon had favorable matchups against it. Now that Gligar, Skarmory, Whiscash, and Quagsire are nowhere near as strong, almost all of Clodsire’s worst matchups are out of the picture. Combine this with an increase in damage to its Fast Attack Poison Sting, and there has never been a better time to be a Clodsire fan. Overcoming this Pokémon will be critical for players in this new Season, with picks such as Feraligatr, Gastrodon, and Diggersby trying to keep it in check.

Speaking of Gastrodon, there are some big changes to Ground-type Fast Attacks. Mud Shot, an extremely common move on Quagsire, Whiscash, Swampert, Stunfisk, Galarian Stunfisk, Landorus, and Greedent, has been reworked. Mud Shot now deals a bit of extra damage in exchange for less Energy generation. While this will likely reduce the effectiveness of a lot of these Pokémon who relied on spamming Charged Attacks, Mud Shot is still a viable move and could still see some play.

Mud Slap, on the other hand, has gained both damage and Energy generation, looking to take Mud Shot’s place as the premier Ground-type Fast Attack. Gastrodon, Marowak, and Golurk will all be able to take advantage of this update, giving a fresh new take on what Ground types can do in the Great League. In the Ultra League, Gastrodon and Golurk also have a chance to shake up the metagame. In Master League, Rhyperior and Excadrill both look to take over as dominant Ground-type Pokémon, being premier counters to Dialga and Dusk Mane Necrozma.

New Challengers Approaching

With the update to Counter, the “fighter” role (the Pokémon responsible for doing Fighting-type damage) that has been so heavily dominated by Medicham and Annihilape in the past is now up for grabs. Karate Chop has always been a strong attack, but it was underwhelming compared to how powerful Counter was. Now that Karate Chop generates even more Energy than before, Pokémon such as Machamp and Pangoro stand out as picks to look out for. Machamp has had play in the Great League, Ultra League, and Master League in previous years, and now that many of the Pokémon it used to struggle against are out of the way, it may once again find itself on top. The ability to learn Cross Chop, as well as either Rock Slide, Stone Edge, or Payback as coverage moves, will make it a powerhouse when given shields.

Pangoro is a newcomer to the scene, and a unique Fighting type option. In the past, the top Fighting types were those that could beat the other “fighters,” but Pangoro is the complete opposite. Pangoro’s Dark typing makes it weak to other Fighting types, but it provides key coverage against the Ghost types that have proven to be Fighting type answers in the past. The moveset of Karate Chop, Night Slash, and Close Combat provides Pangoro not only with great coverage but also the capacity to deal an incredible amount of damage. The main drawbacks to Pangoro are its lack of bulk, along with its massive weakness to Fairy types. But even after all that, proper shield usage and energy management by Pangoro users could prove to be tricky to overcome.

Transforming Rollout

Another Fast Attack that heavily benefits from the updates this Season is Rollout. While pressure from Rock-type Fast Attacks has been rare in the past, the increase to Rollout’s damage and the addition of the move to more Pokémon’s movesets look to fundamentally change the role of Rock type moves.

Dunsparce, Miltank, and Lickilicky all have incredibly quick-charging movesets and strong coverage options to take advantage of Rollout in the Great League. Dunsparce’s Rock-type and Ground-type Charged Attacks make it an incredible generalist, with the ability to break through many common cores. Miltank’s ability to learn Thunderbolt and Ice Beam, along with the cheap Charged Attack Body Slam, will keep opponents guessing. And Lickilicky, finally out of Lickitung’s shadow, will be a powerful counter to Ghost types utilizing Shadow Ball as coverage.

The Wind of Change

Fairy Wind is another Fast Attack that benefits from this update, gaining a slight damage increase. This attack was already exceptionally strong, having the same damage and Energy generation as Mud Shot before its rework this Season. Giving Fairy Wind even more damage will bring many different Fairy types to the forefront, allowing for a more diverse selection to choose from.

Clefable has been a top Fairy Wind user in both the Great League and Ultra League since the attack was released, but it has always struggled to find its footing due to its clunky nature—having only expensive Charged Attacks and Fast Attacks that did almost no damage meant that knocking out low-health Pokémon proved difficult. With extra damage for its Fast Attack and the decrease in Energy cost for the Charged Attack Swift, almost all of what held Clefable back is gone.

Galarian Weezing is another Fairy Wind user that has seen play in both the Great League and Ultra League in the past. Similarly to Clefable, Galarian Weezing will greatly appreciate the extra Fast Attack damage. It also benefits from changes to Brutal Swing, which gives it a remarkably quick Charged Attack. Galarian Weezing also can learn Overheat, which helps to counter Steel-type Pokémon, as well as Play Rough, which deals a large amount of Fairy-type damage. The flexibility in Galarian Weezing’s moveset and the extra damage it now deals could potentially make it a top-tier pick.

Swift (Wigglytuff’s Version)

While Wigglytuff can’t use Fairy Wind, it benefits from a different change this Season. Swift will now cost even less Energy than before, giving Wigglytuff the rare combination of the Fast Attack Charm along with a 35-Energy move. As Wigglytuff was already a strong meta pick before this change, this Swift buff will keep it at the top.

Turn Up the Heat

Fire-type Pokémon have been on the outskirts of viability ever since the start of the GO Battle League. With the recent Incinerate buffs, Pokémon such as Talonflame and Skeledirge in both the Great League and Ultra League, as well as Ho-Oh in the Master League, have made their mark. However, Incinerate’s power has caused some Fire types who can’t learn it to fall behind. So this Season, the Fast Attack Fire Spin has been given a damage increase to help those without Incinerate keep up.

Ninetales and Alolan Marowak have been top-performing Fire Spin users in previous Seasons, and they can only stand to benefit from this change. Alolan Marowak in particular seems to be rising to the top, with buffs to Fire Spin and to its cheap Charged Attack Bone Club. With the extra damage on these two attacks, Alolan Marowak could see itself seated at the top of the Great League meta.

Gentle Declines

We’ve talked about many Pokémon rising to the top, so now let’s turn to some that will no longer be as strong as they were before. Whether it’s directly because of the update, or collateral damage from other Pokémon rising to the top, some key staples from previous Seasons will no longer be as strong.

First and foremost, the Energy-generation decrease on Counter will prove to be extremely costly to Fighting-type Pokémon. Annihilape, Vigoroth, and Poliwrath all depended on the combination of Fast Attack and Charged Attack pressure to win many matchups. While Counter still does the same amount of damage as before, charging up Charged Attacks so much slower will likely push Counter users to the outskirts of viability rather than being what defines the meta.

Surf is another move that has been reworked this Season, dealing more damage while costing more Energy in return. The main Surf users are Lanturn in the Great League, Jellicent in the Great and Ultra League, and Kyogre in the Master League. All of these Pokémon relied on Surf as a quick-charging move to have consistent damage output and the ability to bait opponents. While the damage increase is welcome, the fact that Surf is slower to charge will limit the potential of these Pokémon. While a Lanturn that knows Spark may still have a place as one of the few hard answers to Feraligatr, all these Surf users are almost certain to drop in usage.

Fast Attack pressure has always been a part of the GO Battle League, with two of the defining moves being Razor Leaf and Smack Down. Shadow Victreebel and Bastiodon have been an incredibly strong pairing for years running these moves respectively. With the new Season, these two Fast Attacks will do slightly less damage. This may encourage new Pokémon that previously struggled against them to come out on top. While this damage decrease will make Shadow Victreebel and Bastiodon less popular, these attacks still do exactly what they did before. So with proper alignment, this pairing will still be hard to overcome, though hopefully this update will open up a bit more flexible play against them.

Flying-type Pokémon have been a cornerstone of competitive play since the very beginning. In fact, some teams in both the GO Battle League and the official Play! Pokémon circuit have featured multiple Flying-type Pokémon in the same roster. Skarmory, Gligar, Gliscor, Mantine, and Altaria have historically been some of the best picks due to their versatility. Skarmory, hampered by the Steel Wing Energy generation decrease along with the Sky Attack rework, will no longer be able to reach Charged Attacks as quickly as it does now. Altaria may finally suffer the same fate as Skarmory, also because of the Sky Attack changes. Gligar, Gliscor, and Mantine will no longer have the consistent Charged Attack pressure they had before because of Wing Attack’s lower Energy generation. With all these Flying-type Pokémon taking a step back, it may open the door for some more Grass types to come back into the fray, such as Venusaur, Serperior, and Chesnaught.

Body Slam has been one of the best Charged Attacks in the game for years. It costs very little Energy, deals a fair amount of damage, and very few Pokémon types resist Normal-type attacks. Lickitung, Vigoroth, Dragonair, and Greedent have all taken advantage of this cheap Charged Attack, giving them flexible play in many different matchups. However, with the new Season’s update, Body Slam’s damage has been greatly reduced, making it on par with the Charged Attack Dragon Claw. It won’t necessarily be a bad move, but it’s nowhere near what it once was.

Lickitung may be able to hang on competitively due to its extreme bulk and neutral play, but Vigoroth and Greedent may not be able to recover. Greedent has to deal with both the Mud Shot rework and this Body Slam change, and Vigoroth has it even worse. Its entire moveset of Counter, Body Slam, and Rock Slide was decreased in effectiveness this update. Dragonair may be able to stay in the mix due to having another strong Charged Attack, Aqua Tail. It also has high Fast Attack pressure with Dragon Breath, but with new Dragon types such as Guzzlord and Goodra looking to rise to the top, it’s going to have some competition.

While many of these updates are straightforward, the top Pokémon in the GO Battle League are always changing. This is just a small sample of Pokémon that could potentially rise to the top in this new Season, and where the competitive metagame heads from here is only limited by the ingenuity and innovation of the players. Many strong Pokémon from previous Seasons may still be viable, and many new picks are sure to make waves. With this likely to be the largest meta shift in Pokémon GO’s history, the options are limitless.

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