By Caleb Peng

As we head into the month of November, the final month of the Pokémon GO Adventures Abound Season, Trainers around the world are looking to battle for their final rankings in the GO Battle League. From newer players trying to hit the Ace Rank for the first time to seasoned players fighting for that highest leaderboard position, everyone will have a chance to battle it out in the upcoming Electric Cup and Catch Cup.

In this article, we will be diving into the unique metagame (or “meta”) of the Electric Cup and the seasonal Catch Cup. The Electric Cup will take place from November 3 to 17 and the Catch Cup will follow from November 17 to 24. The Electric Cup’s first and second weeks will run concurrently with the Great League and Ultra League, respectively. The Catch Cup will be the only format available during its week.

The first and last time we had the Electric Cup, it took place in January and February of this year, during the Mythical Wishes Season. The cup’s rules dictate that every Pokémon used must be Electric type and 1,500 CP or below. Stunfisk, Heliolisk, Charjabug, and Vikavolt are banned from use. While these rules haven’t changed from last time, there are still new factors to watch out for.

This Season introduced a number of changes to the moves and move sets of available Electric-type Pokémon. The Fast Attack Spark saw an increase in damage at the tradeoff of slower energy generation. Magnemite, Magneton, and Magnezone can now all learn the Fast Attack Volt Switch, which is an upgrade for Magnezone in particular. Mareep, Flaaffy, and Ampharos can now learn the Charged Attack Trailblaze, providing them with a Grass-type attack to increase their type coverage. In addition, Pawmi from the Paldea region was introduced to Pokémon GO, and its Evolutions Pawmo and Pawmot have entered the meta, both with the intriguing type combination of Electric and Fighting.

Magnezone is one of the Pokémon that benefits the most from this shakeup. Volt Switch allows Magnezone to gain energy faster than it could with Spark, fueling a quicker Wild Charge (which still hits hard, even if it is resisted by many Pokémon in the Electric Cup meta). Magnezone can also use Mirror Shot, a cheaper Charged Attack with a 30% chance of lowering the opponent’s Attack that is especially useful for baiting out Protect Shields.

The changes to the Fast Attack Spark are generally seen as a downgrade to the move for the Electric Cup. Although it does more damage in an environment where most Pokémon resist Electric-type damage, its slower energy generation is a significant blow to its utility. This mostly impacts Lanturn, but in this meta, Water Gun is typically its preferred Fast Attack anyway since so few notable Electric-type Pokémon resist Water-type damage. Given the strength of Lanturn in the Electric Cup, though, Spark may still be useful for those Lanturn-versus-Lanturn matchups. Trainers will have to decide if the tradeoff is worth using it instead of the more generally useful Water Gun.

The Charged Attack Trailblaze not only provides Mareep and its Evolutions with extra type coverage, but it’s also guaranteed to increase the user’s Attack. Of Mareep, Flaaffy, and Ampharos, Ampharos is the Pokémon Trainers are most likely to choose from this group to use in the Electric Cup. With access to the Dark-type Charged Attack Brutal Swing, Ampharos can hit the entire pool of Pokémon most often used in the Electric Cup meta for neutral or supereffective damage when combined with Trailblaze. Shadow Ampharos is also an option if you want to pack an even bigger punch and make your opponents think twice about shielding against Charged Attacks. With Lanturn being one of the bulkiest and strongest Pokémon in this meta, the addition of Trailblaze to Ampharos presents a serious threat to many top teams.

The addition of Pawmi and its Evolutions provides more variety to the Electric Cup meta. Pawmo only has access to Electric-type attacks, so it may not be used much. Pawmot, on the other hand, can learn the hard-hitting Fighting-type Charged Attack Close Combat, which provides it with supereffective coverage against Steel-type Pokémon like Magnezone and Togedemaru, as well as against Rock-type Pokémon like Alolan Geodude and its Evolutions. Close Combat hits most Pokémon in the meta for at least neutral damage as well, making it a viable choice for Electric Cup teams.

Staple Pokémon from the last Electric Cup that will still have a big impact include Hisuian Electrode, Galvantula, and Luxray. Hisuian Electrode’s Electric- and Grass- typing allows it to resist Water-type damage, neutralizing opposing Lanturn. Galvantula’s access to the Fast Attack Fury Cutter and Charged Attacks Lunge and Energy Ball provide it with incredible coverage against the entire meta pool—though Magnezone, which is predicted to become a more popular choice, does notably resist all of those moves. Luxray is the only Pokémon in the Electric Cup that can learn a Ground-type Fast Attack, which hits the entire meta pool for neutral or supereffective damage. But there’s a caveat: the aforementioned Fast Attack Luxray can learn is Hidden Power, which is a random, unchangeable type for each individual Luxray. Those lucky enough to have a Luxray with Ground-type Hidden Power will immediately see its value in this format.

The last Electric Cup was quite popular for a metagame where many of the Pokémon had the potential to be competitive in every matchup, making shield usage and energy management critical. Here are some sample teams that you could try out this time around:

• Lanturn, Magnezone, Galvantula

• Hisuian Electrode, Ampharos, Luxray

• Alolan Graveler, Hisuian Electrode, Pawmot

For the Catch Cup: Adventures Abound Edition, players are only allowed to use Pokémon caught during this current Season. In addition, Mythical Pokémon are ineligible, and all Pokémon must be 1,500 CP or below.

The Catch Cup is always a mixed bag of Trainers either running only newly caught and raised Pokémon or those who caught top meta Pokémon earlier in the Season and raised them specifically for the Catch Cup. Although running strong meta picks is always a great strategy, it doesn’t mean it’s the only way to win.

With the recent November Community Day featuring Wooper and Paldean Wooper, Pokémon GO introduced Clodsire to the game, which will be an instant contender for the top spot in the meta. Its dual Poison- and Ground- typing provides incredible coverage against many frequently used Pokémon in the Great League including Medicham, Registeel, Serperior, Azumarill, Lanturn, and Carbink. Clodsire’s natural bulk gives Trainers more time and flexibility to make mistakes in battle. As a newly introduced Pokémon with a lot of potential, expect to see Clodsire hit the ground running for the Catch Cup. This in turn will likely move many players to devise counterstrategies against this new threat. Ground-type Pokémon such as Swampert and Galarian Stunfisk may rise in usage along with Ghost-type Pokémon such as Froslass and Jellicent.

Mythical Pokémon, such as Deoxys and Mew, are ineligible in this format, allowing Pokémon like Medicham to shine even more in absence of such difficult matchups. And since Trainers can only use Pokémon caught during this Season, some popular Legendary Pokémon and Ultra Beasts, such as Registeel, Tapu Fini, and Buzzwole, will almost certainly be absent. These factors help slim down the larger Great League meta pool to a more predictable one for Catch Cup.

But there are still other Pokémon new this Season that could make an impact. Many players only recently started using Carbink, and given its strength in the Great League, I expect to see many freshly trained Carbink in action in the Catch Cup. This Season’s Team GO Rocket Takeover introduces new Shadow Pokémon such as Whiscash and Bastiodon, which many Trainers will be trying out for the first time. Shadow Whiscash is a strong counter to Clodsire, giving Trainers more reasons to run it in the Catch Cup. Bastiodon in general is known to be hit or miss—utterly dominant in the right matchups and a complete liability in the wrong ones. Players who have enjoyed that playstyle with Bastiodon in the Great League will likely try their hand with a Shadow Bastiodon performing a similar role in the Catch Cup.

Finally, we’ve had in-person regional events this Season that featured Pokémon relevant to the GO Battle League, such as Meditite, Lickitung, Carbink, Shieldon, Chinchou, Alolan Vulpix, and Wooloo. Trainers who attended one of these events will likely have the resources to raise their Pokémon into strong contenders, so be prepared to face them on the battlefield.

To help prepare for the Catch Cup meta, the Adventures Abound Season rewards Trainers with Pokémon encounters if they win enough matches in a single set of the GO Battle League. I recommend saving Pokémon you encounter this way—especially Marill, Meditite, Frillish, Carbink, Lickitung, Skarmory, Phantump, Mareanie, Scrafty, and Wooloo—because they or their evolved forms could have important roles on your Catch Cup team. It’s also important to note that Pokémon caught during the Adventures Abound Season by other Trainers are eligible, barring the other restrictions. This means that Pokémon you get in trades can be used in the Catch Cup if the original Trainer caught it during this Season. Many of the best Trainers in the world use Pokémon traded from friends in the GO Battle League, so this is another great way to build your Catch Cup team.

The Catch Cup can be full of surprises when it comes to teams you may encounter, but here are some counter-picks in case the meta develops the way we predict it will:

• Alolan Sandslash, Umbreon, Clodsire

• Lickitung, Medicham, Carbink

• Gligar, Swampert, Jellicent

As we head towards the end of the GO Battle League: Adventures Abound Season with the Electric Cup and Catch Cup, I wish you the best in your battles. Everyone has different goals they’re aiming for, but I hope we’re all united in our goal of creating great memories while battling opponents from around the world. Good luck, have fun, and keep on tapping!