Pokémon Go Weather Cup best team recommendations
Fire, water, ice or rock? How to put the best team together.
The Weather Cup is here! As with the recent Fighting Cup, this Pokémon Go Go Battle League special cup comes with a set of interesting beam-building restrictions. So, if you’re ready to find out whether you can tough it out in Go Battle League, now’s the time to start looking at the best Weather Cup team in Pokémon Go.
Unlike the previous Weather Cup, which followed Ultra League rules, this time we’re back to working with Great League limitations in Pokémon Go apply here. This means that we’re back to the 1500 CP.
On top of that, we have the usual type restrictions, although the term 'weather' is a little vague. In reality this means that only fire, water, ice and rock-types are allowed.
If you’re looking for other Go Battle League recommendations, see our Great League page.
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Things to know about putting together a Weather Cup team in Pokémon Go
The best thing about the 1500 CP limit is that cost of entry is particular low, in terms both in terms of Candy and Stardust. Of course, if there’s overlap between the Weather Cup and your Great League team – if you run a Swampert, for example – you have to spend less resources to be competitive.
So, how do you pick Pokémon for an element-based cup? With so many different options, the trick isn’t necessarily to look at the four eligible types, but what Pokémon are available that are one of those types. Water types are extremely common and powerful in this meta, so we need to look at what beats water, and what you can pair with your water types to get around this weakness.
Swampert is a prime example here, as a water and ground-type that loses its weakness to electric-type attacks due to its to second typing. It is, however, crushingly weak to grass-type attacks, which is where Cradily comes in. This rock and grass-type is perfectly eligible as it has one of the required types, but thanks to its Bullet Seed/Grass Knot combo, it makes short work of the water-type Pokémon at the top of this meta. Understanding and maximising this kind of coverage is the key to turning the tide in the Weather Cup.
Thanks to the decreased CP limit, there are no Legendary Pokémon for you to consider at the top of the meta. Again, this helps keep the cost of entry down, making it more accessible to the wider community.
Remember, although there are specific Pokémon that dominate this meta, 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 1500 CP cap as possible.
The Dual Destiny Season is here! It begins with the Just My Cup of Tea event, which also sees the arrival of Sinistea and the Dual Destiny quest in Pokémon Go! 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 Weather Cup recommendations
There is no single '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 Pokémon species.
Instead, here is a general list of recommended Weather Cup 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. Plus, even if you don’t have any Legendary Pokémon, you can still be very competitive in this cup.
Remember 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 previous example of Cradily, covering rock’s weakness to water with its grass typing once again shines through.
It’s also worth noting that if you want to really compete, each of your Pokémon need two Charged moves. If you want to skimp on Stardust and only run the one move, do so at your own peril – you have been warned.
Our Pokémon Go Weather Cup team recommendations in order of their appearance in the National Pokédex – while there is some overlap with our Great League guide, make sure you read the full entry as we may be recommending some move changes:
Lanturn
Perfect IVs: 0/13/14
Weakness: Grass, Ground
Moves: Spark (Fast), Surf (Charged), Thunder Bolt (Charged)
With water-types being incredibly common in this meta, grass-types are incredibly strong – Lanturn shows this in its own weakness to grass-type attackers. However, Lanturn also leans into attacking water types with its electric-type attacks, helping it take down the likes of Pelipper and Charizard even quicker.
Lanturn also has that sought-after combo of being both bulky and spammy, and can applying a great deal of shield pressure between the fast-charging Spark attack and the Surf attack to bait out their shields early on.
The problem, of course, is a recurring theme in this meta – weakness to grass. Cradily and Abomasnow will make short work of Lanturn, and Swampert’s ambivalence to electric-type attacks means that for all its bulk, Lanturn loses pretty quickly in that match-up.
Blaziken
Perfect IVs: 1/15/15
Weakness: Flying, Ground, Psychic and Water
Moves: Counter (Fast), Blast Burn (Exclusive Charged), Blaze Kick (Charged)
Given how wet this meta is, a fire-type Pokémon is clearly a bold choice.
The reason the fighting fire chicken makes the list is purely because we expect a lot of people to lead with Cradily, Bastiodon or Abomasnow, or if they want something more left-field, Alolan Sandslash. Blaziken will earn you easy wins against these.
And if they immediately switch to a water-type to counter your Blaziken, you swap to Cradily, Abomasnow or Lanturn to take back the advantage.
On paper, it’s a solid plan. Previously, we recommended Brave Bird as a Charged Move, so if you don’t have the exclusive Blast Burn, this will do; however, be aware that it will nuke your own defences, so you you don’t want to come out swinging too quickly with that move.
Instead, Blast Burn is a little cheaper and hits a little harder, so if you can get your hands on it, it’s worth considering!
Swampert
Perfect IVs: 0/14/14
Weakness: Grass
Moves: Mud Shot (Fast), Hydro Cannon (Exclusive Charged move), Earthquake (Charged)
It should come as absolutely no surprise to anyone that Swampert and Shadow Swampert are just good. With a single weakness to grass types and a resistance to rock types, it’s a solid pick in this meta.
Mud Shot and Earthquake, just as in Ultra League, are a great combo – one is very fast and other hits like a truck. But the real secret tech (that absolutely everyone knows about) is the Community Day move Hydro Cannon, which hits incredibly hard for how much energy it costs.
But, for all its spamminess, there’s a lot of grass at the top of this meta, so you should expect to run into (and lose quickly to) the likes of Cradily and Abomasnow.
Ludicolo
Perfect IVs: 0/15/15
Weakness: Bug, Flying and Poison
Moves: Razor Lead (Fast), Leaf Storm (Charged), Ice Beam (Charged)
Despite being a relatively slow Pokémon, Ludicolo hits hard enough to be worth considering in the Weather Cup. Razor Leaf does heavy damage to anything weak to it, including the likes of Swampert, Tapu Fini and the other water-type Pokémon flooding the meta.
The trick with Ludicolo is knowing when to use which move, with Leaf Storm dropping your attack by two stages. Where possible, you should use Ice Beam until you need to risk your big attack.
Ludicolo, sadly, loses to Cradily, Alolan Sandslash and Abomasnow, mostly because it just doesn’t hit fast enough.
Cradily
Perfect IVs: 0/15/15
Weakness: Bug, Fighting, Ice and Steel
Moves: Bullet Seed (Fast), Grass Knot (Charged), Stone Edge (Charged)
Cradily is one of the strongest Pokémon in this meta, thanks to the combination of its extreme bulk and the lack of meta-relevant weaknesses. The fact that it has an incredibly spammy Fast move; a solid, high-damage Charged move to apply shield pressure with; and a very high-damage nuke in the form of Stone Edge is all just proverbial gravy.
When it comes to matchups, pretty much anything with water typing will fold to it, along with Abomansow, which is fantastic
The issue is that it loses to the other ice-types in the meta, along with Bastiodon and Toxapex. Just know when to switch out and you’ll have a great time with this Pokémon.
Bastiodon
Perfect IVs: 0/15/14
Weakness: Bug, Fighting, Ice and Steel
Moves: Smack Down (Fast), Stone Edge (Charged), Flamethrower (Charged)
Look who’s back – Bast again. Early noughties rap aside, Bastiodon is an excellent Pokémon, and you should strongly consider running it if you have one built already.
For those who haven’t had the pleasure, this is the epitomie of bulk (obviously – just look at it!). It has incredible defence and will stick around for a long time, handing out a lot of damage in the process. The issue is that given its bulk, it is very slow and applies low shield pressure. So, it’s not pure upside, no matter how good it is.
That said, it’s a favourite in competitive play for a reason. Here, you can beat the likes of Charizard, Abomasnow, Ludicolo and Cradily, which is fantastic. However, beware Swampert, Lanturn and Blaziken, as they will have you beat very quickly
Abomasnow
Perfect IVs: 0/15/15
Weakness: Fire, Bug, Fighting, Flying, Poison, Rock and Steel
Moves: Powder Snow (Fast), Energy Ball (Charged), Weather Ball (Charged)
Weather Ball Abomasnow is a demon in Ultra League, so it stands to reason that it’ll be a scary Pokémon in the Weather Cup, too.
But, of course, the real terror here isn’t the icy weather ball or even Powder Snow – though that does devastate Cradily at the top of the meta – it’s the sneaky grass-type Energy Ball that will utterly devastate Tapu Fini, Swampert and Lanturn.
As ever, this spammy, dynamic Pokémon that applies a lot of shield pressure is just a great choice whenever you get to use it. The downsides, really, are that the Shadow variant is the better option, which makes you all the more vulnerable to its wide range of weaknesses.
Abomasnow loses to some more of the left-field options in this meta, including Mr Rime and Regirock, though it also loses pretty hard to Bastiodon, Blaziken and Cradily.
Toxapex
Perfect IVs: 0/15/15
Weakness: Electric, Ground and Psychic
Moves: Poison Jab (Fast), Brine (Charged), Sludge Wave (Charged)
Toxapex is relatively new to Go Battle League, but it certainly came out swinging as one of the new all-stars.
First and foremost, its befense stat is incredible — not quite Bastiodon, but not far off, either. Coupled with the fact that it has no-meta relevant weaknesses in this cup, but is resistant to fire, water and ice(among other things), Toxapex is a great shout.
The only real downsides is that Brine and Sludge Wave aren’t amazing, and you lose pretty rapidly to the likes of Swampert, and eventually lose to Bastiodon and Lanturn. Still, with wins against Abomasnow, Pelipper, Ludicolo and Cradily, this is a decent list to keep in mind.
Weather Cup end date in Pokémon Go
The Weather Cup will run until Thursday, 26th January and finish at the following times:
- UK – 9pm (BST)
- Europe – 10pm (CEST)
- East Coast US – 4pm (EDT)
- West Coast US – 1pm (PDT)
Good luck in Weather Cup!