World Championship Fever!
Brian
2 years ago
THE BATTLE RAGES ON!
The World Championship is here and with it comes the PGO World Championships event! While your favorite players are throwing down for the PvP crown, trainers around the world can take part in this heavily PvP focused event. A perfectly potent production for promising Poke pugilists.
The event is running from August 18th 10 AM (local time) until August 23rd 8 PM (local time) and features special spawns, event field tasks, event raids, and Challengers at Pokestops featuring teams inspired by the Regional Champions battling at Worlds! In this article I will cover what is available in this event and how important it is to catch/grind that particular spawn.
Couple notes. You have to be at least level 31 to collect XL candy and unless otherwise
noted the IVs I list as target/ideal will be assuming a level 50 cap and the requisite XL candy. For a quick explanation on how PvP IVs work refer to this article. I would recommend using the rank checker of your choice, such as GOStadium, to see how good the IVs on your mons are. IVs matter but aren't everything. I would rather run a poor PvP IV Skarmory than a perfect PvP IV Fearow. As always different trainers will have different needs and have different access to resources, but this event has so much to offer that there is something for everyone.
Without further ado, let’s dive into this event’s offerings!
Evolve
I think starting with the evolve bonus of this event makes sense because it hasn’t been covered enough and is incredibly important for newer (and even some more experienced) battlers. During this event you will be able to evolve Gengar that know Shadow Punch, Gyarados that know Aqua Tail, Metagross that know Meteor Mash, Rhyperior that know Rock Wrecker and Talonflame that know Incinerate. These Community Day exclusive moves are unequivocally necessary for Gengar, Gyarados, Metagross, and Talonflame in PvP. Rhyperior doesn't always use Rock Wrecker in PvP, but it almost always does in Master League, which is really the only league Rhyperior is any good in anyways. So at least evolve your hundo/best one for the move.You can always TM the moves away later so I would recommend evolving for these moves during the event just to be safe.
Catch
I will do my absolute best to differentiate between what is in the wild and what is in tasks, but be sure to refer to Pokémon GO World Championships Event - Leek Duck for a nice visual guide to keep how you get what from where straight and for field task info.
Spawns
Nidoran/Nidoqueen: Nidoqueen is an incredibly strong and commonly seen Pokemon in both the Great and Ultra League GBL. Though many battlers prefer the shadow variant, plenty of trainers prefer normal Nidoqueen as well. It can’t hurt to have one at the ready. Instructions on counting to 5 not included.
Meditite/Medicham: Medicham was incredibly strong BEFORE the GO Beyond update. The extra bulk from going to level 50 only cemented its place as a titan of Great League. No shadow to worry about, so get the best Medi you can and grind hard for those 296 XL Candy. (Note: the best Medi for Great League is 4/15/15)
Mankey/Primeape: Primeape is a decent pick in some limited formats like Kanto Cup but that's about it.
Swablu/Altaria: This Flying Dragon has been one of the best Pokemon in Great League since the beginning. I think the Community Day exclusive move Moonblast is slightly more optimal as a second Charge move (in addition to Sky Attack) but it doesn't make a huge difference. If you don’t have an Altaria don't be afraid to build the best one you get from this event. You can probably make a Moonblast one in December.
Spheal/Sealeo/Walrein: Speaking of Pokemon you see too often in GBL…Walrein. Walrein’s combo of Community Day exclusive moves Powder Snow into Icicle Spear is just too strong. Shadow Walrein beats Play Rough Azumarill in the 1 Shield Scenario going straight for (resisted!) Spears. That’s wild. Another mon where the jury is out on whether the Shadow or normal variant is preferable. Grab the best possible PvP IV Spheal/Walrein-to-be for each league and just hold them for now. I wouldn’t recommend burning the two required EliteTMs just yet because a) you may be able to evolve for the moves in December and b) there could be a move rebalance before next season.
Machop/Machamp: Shadow Machamp is preferable for both PvP and PvE. Regular Machamp can work in Ultra and Master League, but I wouldn't worry about it here.
Croagunk/Toxicroak: Toxi was arguably the best Counter user in Great League GBL once upon a time, playing an integral part in HouseStark’s run to become the first Rank 10 player in the world season 1. Those days may be behind us, but Toxicroak is still a solid pick in Open Great League and often an incredible pick in limited metas such as the recent Hisui Cup. Technically viable in Ultra League, but not something I would worry about if you’re newer to PvP.
Mudkip/Swampert: Swampert is an incredible Pokemon. Mud Shot. Busted. Hydro Cannon. Super busted. Swampert is one of a select group of Pokemon that is viable across all 3 major leagues (Great, Ultra, Master), but really shines in Great and Ultra. Needs the Community Day move Hydro Cannon to be its best self, so you might need to use an EliteTM to have your Swampert firing on all cylinders.
Sableye: Purified Sableye is by far the best variant and Shadow is probably still better than the normal variant. Don't miss this opportunity (in combination with the Season of GO’s XL Candy trading bonus) to farm the hard to get XL Candy for XL Purified Sable.
Dewpider/Araquanid: Araquanid hasn’t quite made the Open Great League impact that some thought it would, but it’s still a good Pokémon to counter the powerful Walrein/Trevenant core.
Scraggy/Scrafty: Usually Scraggy is only available in Eggs and as a GBL reward so this is a great and rare opportunity to find them with PvP IVs.
Galarian Stunfisk: One of the best Pokemon in Great League and another mon usually found only in Eggs/Raids/Tasks. Great opportunity to find one with PvP IVs.
Raid
Pokemon caught from raids have a boosted IV floor and as such will usually not have the best possible PvP IVs. IVs aren't everything but if you can flip these with a Good/Great friend, that would increase your chances at getting one that is high ranked.
Marill: Azumaril is an amazing Pokemon in Great League, but there have been so so many events featuring Marill spawns.
Barboach: Whiscash’s best days are behind it and Barboach is a nesting/event spawn often enough. Save your passes.
Scraggy: Maybe worth it for the XL, but a wild caught Scraggy will be more likely to have good PvP IVs.
Galarian Farfetch’d: Evolves into a Sirfetch’d, an interesting anti-meta pick. BUT BUT BUT a raid level GFetch’d evolves into a Sirfetch’d above 1500 and can’t be used in Great League.
Lickitung: Lickitung is an amazing bulky Pokemon in Great League. Lickitung needs an EliteTM for Body Slam. The best PvP IV Lickitung require 250-296 XL candy to power up all the way to/near 1500. Use this information how you will.
Skarmory: Skarm is another member of the old guard for premium Great League choices. That being said, you will want a traded or wild caught Skarm for PvP and they aren't THAT seldomly available as seasonal/event spawns.
Zacian: Zacian is really good in Master League. Like really really really good. You want this hundo.
Zamazenta: Worse than Zacian. Fringe Master League meta and mostly used in the popular Caleb Peng Double Doggo line. If you have to choose between the two, raid Zacian.
Research
Some of the wild spawns are also in tasks, but in this section I will be only covering task encounters that won’t be in the wild. Refer to the previously linked LeekDuck event page for full listings and overlap.
Field Tasks
Magikarp: Gyarados is a good option in Ultra and fringe/limited meta pick in Great League. Very strong in Master Premier...assuming we ever get to play that format again
Beldum/Metagross: Really only useful in Master League.
Galarian Zigzagoon/Obstagoon: Good mon, but just had a community day
Fletchling/Talonflame: Decent mon in the Great league and very strong choice in Ultra League, where it needs to be a hundo. Task encounters are useful for farming for the perfect Fletch.
Chikorita/Meganium: Meganium’s star has faded some and you would have to use an EliteTM to get the necessary and Community Day exclusive, Frenzy Plant.
Gastly/Gengar: Haunter used to be really good in Great League. Gengar is sometimes ok in Ultra. Not too much to see here, but make sure to evolve a Gengar for Shadow Punch if you don’t have one already!
Bulbasaur/Venusar: Not that rare of a spawn and, similar to Meganium, Venu requires an EliteTMed Frenzy Plant to be effective in battle.
Special Timed Research
A special code from the Worlds Twitch stream will give trainers access to a timed research storyline that introduces them to battles and gives them three encounters to form one of three premade teams. If you miss this, it isn't THAT big of a deal,l as most of these mons are pretty obtainable. Still, a pretty cool way to encourage newer battlers. The three team options are:
Team 1: Pelliper, Ariados and Galarian Stunfisk
Team 2: Skarmory, Swampert, and Drapion
Team 3: Talonflame, Venusaur, and Jellicent.
KakunaMatata aka PVPoke did an amazing Twitter thread comparing the teams (also if you aren't already following him on Twitter, what are you doing?). His lean seems to be towards team 2 and its classic Skarm/Swamp core. This seems like a good pick. The only caveat is that if these mons DO NOT come with their Community Day moves, then I would probably give team 1 the edge as it wouldn’t require any EliteTMs to use. I would not be a fan of using EliteTMs on research IV floor Pokemon. I or someone at GOStadium will tweet it out when we know more about how this works.
(UPDATE: Talonflame comes with its move, Incinerate, but that is the only one. This makes me lean pretty heavily towards team 1 if only for the GStunfisk, but it's not that big a deal whatever you decide!)
New #BATTLERS
I wanted to do a quick section for any new battlers coming here after seeing the Worlds stream and getting excited about PvP. First of all, WELCOME! PvP is so much fun and opens up a whole new world to the game. If you are a hardcore player who just never did PvP, then just refer to my checklist at the end of the article. If you are brand new or more casual player, I wanted to give a more condensed and easy to attain/build list of mons from this event so that you can get battling with a competent team ASAP, preferably without need for EliteTMs.
As a side note, my best advice would be to get to level 31/40 ASAP so you can start collecting Candy XL.
Great League
Galarian Stunfisk (Mud Shot + Rock Slide & Earthquake)
Altaria (Dragonbreath + Sky Attack & whatever you want)
Toxicroak (Counter + Mud Bomb & Sludge Bomb)
Scrafty (Counter + Power-Up Punch & Foul Play)
Nidoqueen (Poison Jab + Poison Fang & Earth Power)
Skarmory (Air Slash + Sky Attack & Brave Bird)
Sample team: Scrafty (lead) + Skarmory + Nidoqueen
Ultra League
Nidoqueen
…
Ultra League is hard to get into right away and a lot of the cheaper options need Community Day exclusive moves. Keep at it!
Conclusion and Checklist
This is a great event. There's plenty to do and work towrads for new battlers and seasoned veterans alike. PvP IVs to hunt for. XL Candy to grind. Exclusive moves you can evovle for again. Thank you Niantic!
Don't let this event pass you by. Grind the good spawns, use at least your free passes (and probably some more), and get those evolves done in time. Most importantly have fun and enjoy Worlds this weekend!
Checklist
Leaving a checklist of things to have built/ready to be built by the end of the event. Maybe you already have some or most of this done already. Awesome! But I’m betting there will be at least a couple things you can still build or improve.
Listing as the final/target mon you will be evolving to
Great League PvP IVs
Nidoqueen
Primeape
Altaria
Walrein
Swampert
Toxicroak
Araquanid
Scrafty
Galarian Stunfisk
Skarmory
Talonflame
Great League Not PvP IVs (hundo or higher than zero attack)
Medicham
Lickitung
Ultra League PvP IVs
Nidoqueen
Walrein
Swampert
Toxicroak
Sirfetch’d
Ultra League Not PvP IVs (hundo or higher than zero attack)
Scrafty
Galarian Stunfisk
Talonflame
Altaria
Skarmory
Master League (hundo)
Swampert
Zacian
Zamazenta
Metagross
Gyarados
Machamp
Pokemon to work towards XL Candy
(remember that you all trades give you an XL candy of the mon you are trading away for the rest of this season)
Meditite
Fletchling
Sableye
Scraggy
Galarian Stunfisk
Nidoran
Lickitung
XL Projects if you’ve run out of other things to do
Swablu
Croagunk
Skarmory
Primeape
Mudkip