Pokémon Go Ultra League team recommendations
The most effective creatures to compete in the middle league.
Putting together a strong Pokémon Go Ultra League team is worth investing in as part of the regular Go Battle League roster.
The Ultra League returns for every Go Battle League season in Pokémon Go to test your most effective team possible at under 2500 CP. The Ultra League is perhaps the most skill-testing of the three main Leagues. There is a much bigger pool of Pokemon to choose from than with the Great League, thanks to the higher CP limit.
However, without the no-holds-barred freedom of the Master League where the overall Best Pokémon rule, you’ll still need to keep an eye out for the perfect IV of each Pokémon you want to use, if you want to be the very best at PvP.
This all means that choosing the best team from the Pokémon you have available to you can be quite tricky - especially in light of the recent move shake-up, which has completely turned the meta on its head.
There are some clear winners and losers following this rebalancing, and certain types and moves that shine in this league. This page explains our Ultra League recommendations based on the current Ultra League meta, allowing you to piece together an effective Ultra League team.
On this page:
Things to know about putting together an Ultra League team in Pokémon Go
While the Ultra League isn't as cheap to form a team as the Great League, due to there still being a CP cap of 2500, you mostly won’t be maxing out Pokémon in the same way you would the Master League - keeping your Stardust and Candy costs down.
However, it's worth noting that since the Go Beyond update raising the Pokémon level cap to 50, XL Pokémon have really changed the way that Ultra League plays out, and some of the best Pokémon in this meta require a big Candy XL investment, making them somewhat less accessable than others.
Candy XL is only unlocked once trainers reach Level 30, although you will need to get to Level 40 to use it. So, if you’re not quite there yet, you will need to decide whether you’re going to invest in Pokémon that will eventually need to go beyond Level 30 to compete, or if you want to work with a team that already shines now.
Though with a slightly higher CP to work with, you'll notice more Legendaries appearing - so hopefully you've been catching them in Raids or weekly Research throughout the years.
That said, there are still enough common catches that work as excellent alternatives, or can be easily recommended if you want to keep costs down. (A second move for a Legendary is, by and large, very expensive.)
Like the Great League, Community Day starters are a welcome source of easy-to-find Pokémon with stronger moves than usual, so if none of our recommendations suit your needs, that's another great place to start so you can begin climbing the ranks.
Remember - no matter what League you participate in, you are after Pokémon with a decent amount of bulk (the ability to survive charged moves - type weakness depending - so you can fire off a few of your own) and those that best counter or expose weaknesses in the current meta (which is a term for what the community is using at present).
Though there are specific Pokémon and types that dominate the meta, remember with the Go Battle League (and player versus player battles in general) you'll be going in blind; so even if you cover yourself with a wide range of offence and defence options, no team is invincible.
Still - even with a few of the below Pokémon in your team, you should be able to fare better than if you just selected those as close to the 2500 CP cap as possible.
The Dual Destiny Season is here! It brings the Holiday Part 1 event with it. You can now catch Dynamax Pokémon through Max Battles. First, however, you need to visit Power Spots to collect Max Particles and complete the To the Max! quest. Don't forget to try out Routes, Gift Exchange and Party Play while you're hunting down rare Pokémon, fighting in the Go Battle League or competing in PokéStop Showcases.
Our Pokémon Go Ultra League recommendations, from Clefable to Tapu Fini
There is no one 'best' team you can choose - since, as mentioned previously, you don't know what you are up against - and not everyone has access to every type of Pokémon.
Instead, here is a general list of recommended Ultra League Pokémon to build a team from, with a wide range of sources that should suit all players, whether you've been collecting creatures since day one or just started playing.
When forming a team, note you are only allowed one of each in the Go Battle League, and ideally you'd want to build a team with different type strengths and defence.
Our Pokémon Go Ultra Team recommendations, as of September 2024, in the National Pokédex order:
Clefable
Type: Fairy
Perfect IVs: 0/15/13
Recommended moves: Fairy Wind (Fast), Swift (Charged), Moonblast (Charged)
Clefable Weaknesses: Poison and Steel
Clefable has long been an incredible tank, dating back to the very first Pokémon game. This bulky, spammy Pokémon is also an incredible choice in Ultra League, thanks to its ability to lay down significant shield pressure with fast-charging Fairy Wind playing into a neutral spam bait move - Swift.
Its major downside, if you can call it that, is that it relies heavily on opponents taking the bait and burning through their shields so you can sneak in a Moonblast for major damage. Seasoned players may not fall for this trick.
If you can get it to work though, you’re looking at easy wins against Virizion and Giratina Altered, and reasonable wins against Greninja, Lickilicky and Cobalion - most of whom are meta Pokémon. Losses will come from the less meta relevant but not uncommon Tentacruel, Skeledirge, Talonflame, Swampert and Cresselia.
Shadow Machamp
Type: Fighting
Perfect IVs: 0/15/14
Recommended moves: Karate Chop (Legacy Fast), Cross Chop (Charged), Stone Edge (Legacy Charged)
Machamp Weaknesses: Fairy, Flying and Psychic
Machamp is never a bad choice, and right now it is a strong meta option in Ultra League. There are a few things you ought to know though, if you’re considering the Superpower Pokémon.
First up, it obviously doesn’t use Superpower. Weirdly, it doesn’t use Counter either - we know, we laud this as one of the best moves in the entire game, but Machamp is something of a special case because it is so dang glassy. Look at it - it clearly knows how to throw a punch; somehow though, it’s all attack and no defense. We’re going to lean into this strategy with a Shadow Machamp, boosting attack and lowering defense by 20% each. It’s an all-arms-blazing scenario.
This also means that we absolutely need to spam the heck out of the opponent, and Karate Chop is perfect for this, building up energy for Charged moves 50% faster than Counter. This means that we can get to Cross Chop very quickly to slap their shields down to nothing - if a Cross Chop hits, it can do significant damage. Once their shields are gone, it’s all Stone Edge for the win. Remember: chop, chop.
This will bring you decent wins against Talonflame, Skeledirge, Lickilicky, Cobalion and Virizion. But remember that glassiness we mentioned? Losses will come very rapidly from Trevenant, Cresselia and Giratina Altered, and a little slower from Tentacruel and Shadow Swampert.
If you don’t have the Shadow version, you can still do pretty well with Machamp, but be aware that your match-ups change completely. Now we’re looking at wins against Greninja, Lickilicky, Talonflame, Shadow Drapion and Cobalion, but you now lose to Skeledirge, Cresselia, Giratina Altered, Swampert and Virizion.
Shadow Feraligatr
Type: Water
Perfect IVs: 1/15/14
Recommended moves: Shadow Claw (Fast), Hydro Cannon (Legacy Charged), Ice Beam (Charged)
Feraligatr Weaknesses: Electric and Grass
This Water-type Pokémon has been making waves in Ultra League, both with its stronger Shadow variant and its regular version. Both are top-10 Pokémon in the meta, but the Shadow really is top-tier.
This spammy, dynamic Pokémon really has a lot to offer. Three different move types (Ghost, Water and Ice) means that it covers a lot of your weaknesses, while also laying down incredible shield pressure (thanks to Hydro Cannon).
Match-ups are pretty similar between the two versions, though the Shadow version is clearly superior. Shadow Feraligatr beats Talonflame, Skeledirge, Giratina Altered, Shadow Swampert and Cresselia, but loses to Virizion, Greninja, Cobalion, Lickilicky and Swampert. The regular version pretty much just swamps Swampert (to a win) and Cresselia (to a loss). Either way, this is a very impressive Pokémon in the current meta.
Swampert
Type: Water / Ground
Perfect IVs: 0/14/13
Recommended moves: Mud Shot (Fast), Hydro Cannon (Legacy exclusive), Earthquake (Charged)
Swampert Weaknesses: Grass
Swampert has long been a meta-dominant Pokémon in Ultra League, though it continues to fall from the very top spots as more Pokémon are released and moves are shaken up.
With both Hydro Cannon and Earthquake, Swampert can deal with many meta relevant types, such as Talonflame and Steel-type Cobalion. It’s worth noting here that Hydro Cannon is vital - that move alone is the reason it puts up such good numbers in this league. If you have a good-IV Swampert without this Community Day move, it’s well worth using one of your rare Elite Charged TMs.
As a starter, it's also one of the easier to find on this list (especially if you participated in Community Day) and cheapest to invest in, especially as you'll want that second move.
In terms of results, Swampert can bring in easy wins against Skeledirge, Tentacruel, Shadow Drapion, Cobalion and Talonflame. Losses will come from Virizion (almost instantly), Greninja, Giratina Altered, Cresselia and Lickilicky.
Shadow Swampert, meanwhile, has slightly different results: Lickilicky is now a winning match-up for you, while Talonflame becomes a loss.
Walrein
Type: Ice / Water
Perfect IVs: 0/15/15
Recommended moves: Powder Snow (Legacy Fast), Icicle Spear (Legacy Charged), Earthquake (Charged)
Walrein Weaknesses: Electric, Fighting, Grass, Rock
Walrein and Shadow Walrein were once both top-five Pokémon in the Ultra League before the shake-up, thanks to their spamminess and flexibility; however, with Icicle Spear being nerfed, Walrein has fallen a few places down the league tables.
Despite this, and its fall from popularity, it remains a very good Pokémon, especially if you still have one built, or if you have a glut of Elite TMs. It still beats Giratina and Swampert, but just does so slightly slower than it used to.
Use the Shadow version if you have it, and look forward to wins against Shadow Drapion, Greninja, Giratina Altered, Swampert and Virizion. Losses will come from Cobalion, Skeledirge, Talonflame, Cresselia and Lickilicky.
The regular version, as always, has different matchups, the main one being that it will beat Pidgeot but lose to Virizion.
Registeel
Type: Steel
Perfect IVs: 1/10/15
Recommended moves: Lock On (Fast), Focus Blast (Charged), Flash Cannon (Legacy Charged)
Registeel Weaknesses: Fighting, Ground, Fire
Registeel was a firm favourite in the Great League, and its strengths translate to the Ultra League too, thanks to few meta weaknesses (fighting, in particular, is out of favour in the Ultra League), and its ability to take on top-tier Pokémon.
Despite a multiple shake-ups over the years, Registeel’s staying power extends to its top-10 position in the rankings.
The issue, of course, is that this is an expensive Pokémon to run - you will need to invest a lot of Stardust and Candy XL to get perfect Registeel, which its 2500 CP at Level 50 with the above IVs.
If you can afford it, this will net you wins against Golisopod, Cresselia, Lickilicky, Tentacruel and Greninja. However, it will lose very quickly to Talonflame, and less quickly to Virizion, Skeledirge, Giratina Altered and Cobalion.
Lickilicky
Type: Normal
Perfect IVs: 0/14/15
Recommended moves: Rollout (Fast), Body Slam (Legacy Charged), Shadow Ball (Charged)
Lickilicky Weaknesses: Fighting
Every meta needs a Normal-type tank - here, it is Lickilicky. Its only weakness is to Fighting-type Pokémon, and it runs a Ghost-type Charged move to take care of those pesky handy Pokémon, along with the Ghost-types at the top of the meta. Beyond that, we’re looking at Rollout as a fast-charging move and Body Slam as shield bait.
But even the bulkiest, spammiest Pokémon have downsides - here it’s the lack of super-effective damage against most of the non-Ghosties in Ultra League.
As such, you can expect wins against Talonflame, Skeledirge, Giratina Altered, Cresselia and Swampert. Losses should come from Cobalion, Virizion, Registeel, Shadow Swampert and Tentacruel.
Giratina (Altered)
Type: Ghost / Dragon
Perfect IVs: 1/12/15
Recommended moves: Shadow Claw (Fast), Dragon Claw (Charged), Shadow Sneak (Charged)
Giratina weaknesses: Dark, Dragon, Ghost, Ice, Fairy
If there is one Pokémon you should probably include in your Ultra League team, it’s Giratina Altered. This Pokémon has consistently been top-tier for several years, pulling in wins against some impressive Pokémon during this time.
Giratina is Legendary, however, and until it reappears in Raids or weekly Research, cannot be found easily without trading.
In the current meta, you should expect wins against Virizion, Cobalion, Skeledirge, Tentacruel and Talonflame. However, you should swap out when you see Lickilicky, Walrein, Shadow Drapion, Cresselia or Greninja.
Cresselia
Type: Psychic
Perfect IVs: 1/15/13
Recommended moves: Psycho Cut (Fast), Grass Knot (Legacy Charged), Moonblast (Charged)
Cresselia Weaknesses: Bug, Dark, Ghost
This is another Pokémon that, while it wouldn't shine in comparison to other Legendaries if CP wasn't capped, has great stats that allow it to punch above its weight in the Ultra League.
Cresselia is generally a strong all-rounder with a fast-charging Fast move and two relatively cheap Charged moves. Grass Knot is great against Swampert and Tentacruel, while Moonblast will wreck Giratina Altered. Yes, this is a Psychic-type that can beat a Ghost. Virizion and Cobalion are also easy wins.
Beware, however, Talonflame, Skeledirge, Shadow Drapion, Greninja and Lickilicky, which will all have Cresselia beat.
Cobalion
Type: Steel / Fighting
Perfect IVs: 1/15/12
Recommended moves: Double Kick (Fast), Sacred Sword (Legacy Charged), Stone Edge (Charged)
Talonflame Weaknesses: Fighting, Fire, Ground
The addition of Double Kick really gave Cobalion a foot (paw?) up in the Ultra League, taking it from firmly 'meh', to the top of the meta. Having a usable Fast move really does make that much of a difference.
What we have now is a Pokémon that is not only very bulky and defensive, but very spammy too, thanks to the low-energy Sacred Sword attack. Stone Edge works as an excellent coverage move too, helping rack up wins against Walrein, Lickilicky, Greninja, Shadow Drapion and Tentacruel, which is great news for fans of the goodest steel boi.
Losses will come from Skeledirge, Talonflame, Giratina Altered, Cresselia and Virizion. Speaking of which, if you don't have a decent Cobalion, Virizion is an acceptable alternative, swapping Stone Edge for Leaf Blade. Terrakion, however, is still just bad, so don’t bother with him in PVP.
Talonflame
Type: Fire / Flying
Perfect IVs: 15/15/15
Recommended moves: Incinerate (Legacy Fast), Fly (Charged), Flame Charge (Charged)
Talonflame Weaknesses: Rock, Electric, Water
Talonflame is the strongest Fire-type Pokémon in Ultra League, thanks to its incredible fast move, Incinerate. It is one of the best Pokémon to start with, switching out only if it comes up against a poor match up. Also, the fact that it gets to Level 50 and is still eligible for Ultra League puts it head and shoulders above a lot of the meta.
The issue is that it is notoriously weak to other meta-relevant Pokémon like Swampert (and anything else vaguely wet), and loses to the bulk of Pokémon like Giratina and Lickilicky.
However, with the abundance of Grass-types coming in to beat these Pokémon, Talonflame’s Fire-typing only gets better. In all, you should expect to beat Virizion, Cobalion, Cresselia, Shadow Drapion and Skeledirge.
Another issue is that Candy XL is almost essential, or you won’t get Talonflame close to 2500 CP. If, however, you have the Candy XL and a Talonflame with good IVs, this is a Pokémon that can be very, very strong indeed.
Pangoro
Type: Fighting/Dark
Perfect IVs: 0/14/15
Recommended moves: Karate Chop (Fast), Close Combat (Charged), Night Slash (Charged)
Pangoro Weaknesses: Fairy. Fighting and Flying
Pangoro is currently the strongest Fighting-type in the meta, which is pretty handy considering the number of Pokémon weak to a gentle tap.
As with Machamp higher up in this list, Pangoro runs Karate Chop as a fast-charging move. Night Slash is the next move you should use, thanks to its spamminess and its one-in-eight chance of boosting your attack by two stages. Close Combat is there as a nuke, but be aware that it will drop your defense by two stages.
In all, this is a pretty spammy and dynamic Pokémon, but it has the obvious drawback of being a very technical and inconsistent Pokémon. Its lack of bulk isn’t much of a positive either.
If you can get past these, however, you’re looking at a very strong Pokémon, with wins against Lickilicky, Cobalion, Shadow Drapion, Greninja and Giratina Altered. Losses will come from Virizion, Cresselia, Tentacruel, Talonflame and Skeledirge.
Malamar
Type: Dark/Psychic
Perfect IVs: 3/15/15
Recommended moves: Psywave (Fast), Superpower (Charged), Foul Play (Charged)
Malamar Weaknesses: Bug and Fairy
Malamar is a very strong Pokémon. Not only is it bulky and agile, but it has a dynamic set of moves that can lay down decent shield pressure. In all, it is a Pokémon you have to respect.
Psywave is a fast-charging move that plays nicely into Foul Play. Superpower is nice to have, but it is guaranteed self-debuff on your attack and defense by one stage each, so should ideally only be used when you have a super-effective attack against a shields-down Pokémon.
One such Pokémon is Lickilicky, though you can also pull in wins against Giratina Altered, Cresselia, Cobalion and Virizion. Be aware that you will lose to Alolan Ninetails, Swampert, Talonflame, Pidgeot and Charizard.
Zygarde Complete
Type: Dragon/Ground
Perfect IVs: 1/14/10
Recommended moves: Dragon Tail (Fast), Crunch (Charged), Earthquake (Charged)
Zygarde Weaknesses: Ice (2x), Dragon and Fairy
If you can stomach the thought of collecting any enough Zygarde cells to achieve completion, you are looking at running the strongest Pokémon in Ultra League.
Zygarde Complete is extremely bulky, running Dragon Tail as a decent Fast move and Crunch as a vaguely spammy move. Should you get the opponent with their shields down, you’re looking at Earthquake as a nice nuke with STAB damage.
You simply have to be aware of anything vaguely chilled, thanks to Zygarde Complete’s double-weakness to Ice-type moves. This means swerving Alolan Ninetails and Walrein, along with Tentacruel, Tapu Fini and Venusaur.
But, if you can jump through each of these hoops, you can pull in wins against Lickilicky, Giratina Altered, Talonflame, Cresselia and Virizion - all of whom are meta Pokémon.
Tapu Fini
Type: Water / Fairy
Perfect IVs: 1/13/15
Tapu Fini Weakness: Electric, Grass, Poison
Recommended moves: Water Gun (Fast), Surf (Charged) and Nature’s Madness (Legacy Charged)
Tapu Fini can be an annoying Pokémon to build as it has 16 different Hidden Power attacks - all of which are awful - and Water Gun. If you want to build a Tapu Fini for Ultra League, be prepared to burn a lot of Fast TMs.
The good news is that it's a lot easier to get the Charged moves you need - Surf is one of the four moves you can get with a Charged TM, and is a spammy move that helps bait shields. Nature’s Madness simply requires an Elite Charged TM, but guaranteed a one-stage debuff to your opponent’s defense.
The great news really is Tapu Fini's bulk, which helps it go (presumably) toe-to-toe with Talonflame, Greninja, Shadow Drapion, Skeledirge and Cobalion.
The downside, of course, is the other side of that coin: the bad match-ups. Beware the Poison attacks of Tentacruel and the Grass attacks of Virizion and Cresselia. Giratina Altered and Lickilicky round out the list of Pokémon to look out for.
Best of luck in the Ultra League!