Pokémon GO Great League Top Teams and Competitive Strategies

Step into Pokémon Go’s Great League, where strategy meets accessibility under the 1,500 CP cap, creating a thrilling battleground for trainers of all levels. Whether you’re a newcomer eager to sharpen your competitive edge or a seasoned player seeking to dominate the meta, assembling the perfect team is your key to victory. From stalwarts like Feraligatr, Mandibuzz, and Clodsire to dynamic newcomers like Galarian Corsola and Morpeko, the Great League offers a diverse roster that rewards clever synergy and tactical prowess. Ready to climb the ranks and outsmart your opponents? Discover the best Great League teams that will elevate your gameplay and keep you ahead in the ever-evolving Pokémon Go PvP scene.

Great League is the nearest thing Pokémon Go has to a level playing field, and while it still has its quibbles, it is a great place to learn the competitive ropes, try out some Pokémon, and enjoy some battles with friends.

We explain the best Great League team to get you started in Pokémon Go, and where the Great League meta is right now.

What is the Great League meta right now?

The current Great League meta in Pokémon Go is characterized by a diverse and dynamic pool of Pokémon due to the 1,500 CP cap, which allows many versatile and unexpected choices to thrive. Notably, Pokémon like Clodsire remain dominant, with counters such as Diggersby gaining popularity. Serperior has also emerged as a strong core breaker, contributing to a more rock-paper-scissors style of play. Additionally, Dunsparce is valued as a solid neutral pick. The meta continues to evolve with new Pokémon and moves, making team composition and type coverage crucial for success in Season 23 of the GO Battle League.

We’re hot on the heels of the biggest Pokémon tournament ever, and while Pokémon EUIC 2025 saw some familiar faces such as Primeape, Marowak, and Galarian Corsola leading the teams of our most famous competitors, in comes another big shake-up to add some new flavor.

We’re now in the “Might & Mastery” season, and alongside it, Niantic has introducing a couple of refreshing changes for some Pokémon and moves, which spell great news for some, and terrible news for others.

Two moves in very similar positions are the fairy-type attack Dazzling Gleam, and the dark-type move Foul Play, with both seeing a slight drop on their attack power, but also a decrease in energy cost. This means that it is now quicker to charge these moves so players can use them more, which is essential to break down shields quickly and force tactical swaps.

One huge buff comes to Rock Tomb, which gets increased attack power and decreased energy cost, which is then followed up with the fact it is now guaranteed to lower the opposing Pokémon’s attack by one stage. What a turnaround – and huge for high-tier Pokémon with this in their arsenal such as Claydol.

Finally, some other big changes include reduced energy cost for Psyshock, a huge increase in power for Aqua Jet alongside a decrease in energy cost, and Sludge has had a notable buff making it a thorn in the side for Fairy-type Pokémon everywhere.

As always, it’s interesting to see which Pokémon come out on top of these changes, and for the moment it seems like Lapras and Sableye have had the biggest glow-up this season. Meanwhile, previous stalwarts like Primeape, Feraligatr, and Pangoro have fallen slightly from grace.

Great League best team suggestions

The Great League in Pokémon Go, capped at 1,500 CP, offers a balanced and accessible competitive environment where team composition is key to success. The best teams typically include Pokémon that complement each other’s strengths and cover weaknesses effectively. Popular top-tier picks include Feraligatr, Mandibuzz, and Clodsire, known for their strong type coverage and bulk, making them resilient in battle. Other notable Pokémon for Great League teams are Morpeko (Full Belly), Shadow Dusknoir, and Shadow Galarian Wheezing, which bring unique moves and strategic advantages. Building a versatile team that can adapt to the shifting meta and counter common threats is essential, and having multiple team options ready can help you climb the ranks more efficiently.

With the lower CP limit of 1,500, you should be able to get most of these Pokémon with little problem. Here’s our best team suggestions for the Great League:

• Clodsire, Sableye (Shadow), and Diggersby
• Lapras, Mandibuzz, and Morpeko (Full Belly)

Let’s go through them separately.

Clodsire, Sableye (Shadow), and Diggersby

Oh Clodsire, first in most of the rankings, and first in our hearts. While the new evolution of Paldean Wooper has an unassuming look in its eyes, it’s actually a huge threat. This is mostly down fantastic defensive typing and stats, as well as access to some pretty handy moves. The dual Poison and Ground-type makes Clodsire a menace for a lot of common threats like Azumarill and Drapion.

You want to run Poison Sting as a Fast Move to generate energy quickly, then follow up with Charged Moves Sludge Bomb and Earthquake. Just like in the mainline games, Earthquake is just one of the best offensive moves across the board, only furthered by STAB bonus here. However, if you are running into problems with Pokémon like Talonflame, you can run Clodsire with Stone Edge instead of Sludge Bomb, but Earthquake has to stay.

Sableye makes a big comeback this season thanks to one change, the addition of Dazzling Gleam. Here you want to run the Shadow form to round out it’s stats, swapping a bit of defensive bulk for offensive capabilities, which work especially well alongside this new move.

Being dark- and ghost-type means, while Sableye has a pretty glaring fairy-type weakness, it resists very common threats such as psychic-, poison-, and fighting-type Pokémon. This gives the plucky little purple Pokémon an edge over Drapion, Clodsire, and many more.

For its fast move you want to run Shadow Claw which helps with other ghost-type Pokémon like Annihilape. Then, while Dazzling Gleam is the star of the show, Foul Play makes use of that STAB dark-type bonus to help with some newer opponents like Grumpig and Claydol.

Finally, Diggersby is a great bulky Pokémon that works as a fantastic wall to save for your final pick. Quick Attack does exactly what it says on the tin, with the move quickly helping to build Charged Moves so Diggersby can cause even more problems.

While Diggersby does have a couple of glaring weaknesses, like grass- and ice-type Pokémon, it also has access to the Charged Move Fire Punch, so it can blindside opponents while also causing problems for Steel-type threats like Corviknight.

Rounding out the set is Scorching Sands, a good STAB Ground-type move which helps to take down any Poison-type foes such as the ever-present Clodsire, Drapion, and Toxapex.

This team’s best moves, IVs, and alternative suggestions:

The Great League in Pokémon Go offers a competitive yet accessible PvP experience with a 1,500 CP cap, making it an ideal arena for trainers to experiment with various Pokémon and strategies. The best teams often include versatile and bulky Pokémon that complement each other’s weaknesses, such as Feraligatr, Mandibuzz, and Clodsire, which are highly recommended for their type coverage and durability. Other strong contenders include Azumarill, Primeape, and Galarian Corsola, each bringing unique strengths to the battle. The meta is dynamic, with Pokémon like Morpeko and Shadow Dusknoir rising in prominence due to their effective move sets and type advantages. Building a balanced team with diverse types and dual charged moves is crucial to maximize success in the Great League battles.

• Clodsire alternatives: Drapion (Shadow), Toxapex, and Nidoqueen
• Sableye (Shadow) alternatives: Malamar, Golurk (Shadow), and Spiritomb
• Diggersby alternatives: Lickitung, Hippowdon (Shadow), and Buneary

Lapras, Mandibuzz, and Morpeko (Full Belly)

What a comeback Lapras has made this season. The bulky water-type Pokémon was never too far away from the top of the competitive tables, but some weak moves and bad coverage have kept it away from the spotlight.

Well, no more, as Lapras now has the Fast Move Psywave, and the Charged Move Sparkling Aria, helping both with coverage and pure attack power. This means Lapras can now stand tall against major threats like Clodsire, and is a thorn in the side of competitive mainstay Diggersby.

It does still have a few different weaknesses, with electric-, fighting-, grass-, and rock-types all causing problems. This means switching into Pokémon like Serperior can be a huge problem. But with these new move changes and its already impressive bulk, Lapras is now one of the biggest problems in all of the Great League.

Next, Mandibuzz has been a huge threat for a while in competitive Pokemon Go, and though there have been lots of changes to the Pokemon around it, this dark- and flying-type threat is still one of the very best in the game. That dark-type STAB bonus means Snarl hits hard, causing huge problems for popular Pokémon like Annihilape, meanwhile you can round out the moveset with Dark Pulse and Aerial Ace.

Mandibuzz will have to be careful with other competitive mainstays like Morpeko causing it some big problems, but overall it’s balance of fantastic bulk and admirable Attack stats mean that this fearsome Flying-type is ready to rise above the competition for another season.

Finally, rounding out this team is a Pokémon that is mostly here to deal with its teammates: Morpeko (Full Belly) is one of the most recent additions to the Pokemon Go roster. Upon its arrival last season, it caused such a stir that it was temporarily banned.

Now after some tweaks it is back in action, and despite some pretty lackluster defense, it works as a great switch-in threat with high enough attack and a decent spread of moving typings. Thunder Shock hits fast, and it hits hard, causing instant issues for threats like Lapras, Azumarill, and Feraligatr.

Similarly, Aura Wheel will send those Water-type Pokémon packing, and it even gives Morpeko a boost to it’s Attack, setting it up to sweep unsuspecting teams. Finally, round out this moveset with either Psychic Fangs or Outrage, just to pick up the offensive blind spots.

This team’s best moves, IVs, and alternative suggestions:

• Lapras alternatives: Dewgong, Walrein, and Feraligatr
• Mandibuzz alternatives: Umbreon, Galarian Moltres, and Honchkrow
• Morpeko (Full Belly) alternatives: Zapdos (Shadow), Electivire, and Emolga

In summary – 0ne of the most exciting things about Great League is that there are just so many viable options. We’ve picked a select few here, but there are still some massive threats such as Malamar, Galarian Corsola, Grumpig, and Togetic. It means you can experiment, and all without spending too much Candy to get them up as close as possible to that ceiling of 1,500 CP.

Meanwhile, as mentioned, while Master League demands as close to perfect IVs as possible, here you want to find Pokémon with 0 Attack IVs and high Defence and Stamina to get your Pokémon as high level as possible before hitting the CP limit.

Which Pokémon teams dominate the current Great League meta

The current Great League meta in Pokémon Go is dominated by versatile teams that balance bulk, type coverage, and shield pressure. Among the top-performing teams are:

• Feraligatr, Morpeko, and Clodsire: This trio remains a staple due to their complementary typings and ability to cover each other’s weaknesses effectively.

• Diggersby, Primeape, and Galarian Corsola: A strong lineup that mixes Bug, Fighting, and Ghost types, offering good coverage and shield control, with Diggersby as a neutral lead and Primeape exerting pressure.

• Shadow Galarian Weezing, Jellicent, and Serperior: This team excels with strong type diversity and resilience, countering many meta threats.

• Morpeko, Ariados, and Shadow Feraligatr: This team leverages Morpeko’s Aura Wheel for boosted damage and combines it with Ariados and Shadow Feraligatr for a mix of Dark, Fighting, and Water coverage.

• Azumarill, Clodsire, and Mandibuzz: Known for their bulk and ability to absorb hits, this team is effective at creating advantageous switch situations despite lacking high damage output.

Other notable mentions include teams featuring Drapion as a popular safe swap due to its spammy moves and resilience, and teams with Cradily and Talonflame providing solid support roles.

Overall, the meta favors teams that can balance offense and defense while exploiting type advantages, with Pokémon like Galarian Corsola and Morpeko making significant impacts following recent buffs and adjustments.

Which Pokémon are currently most dominant in the Great League meta

The most dominant Pokémon in the current Great League meta include:

• Clodsire: Frequently topping rankings due to its excellent bulk, Poison/Ground typing, and access to powerful moves like Earthquake and Sludge Bomb, making it a strong counter to popular threats such as Azumarill and Drapion.

• Talonflame: A top-tier pick benefiting from its double resistance to Bug-type moves, which are prevalent in the meta, and its high win rate against common opponents like Galarian Corsola and Fortress.

• Dusclops: Highly ranked for its bulk and utility, often paired with Mandibuzz and Corsola for a balanced defensive core.

• Jumpluff: Valued for its Grass/Flying typing, bulk, and coverage, especially in a meta that is currently lacking strong Flying-type options after recent move nerfs.

• Drapion: A popular safe swap with spammy moves and good overall stats, fitting well into many team compositions.

• Morpeko: Known for its fast attacks and ability to quickly pressure shields, often used alongside Feraligatr and Clodsire for a well-rounded team.

• Primeape: Rising in prominence as a Fighting-type lead with powerful fast moves, often paired with Corsola for coverage and bulk.

Other notable mentions include Azumarill, Mandibuzz, and Galarian Corsola, all valued for their bulk and coverage in the current meta landscape.

This meta is characterized by a combination of bulky Pokémon with spammy moves and type diversity, with Bug-type moves being particularly influential due to recent buffs, making counters like Talonflame and Corsola essential picks.