Pokémon Go Halloween Cup – Great League Edition: Best Pokémon

The spooky season is in full swing in Pokémon Go, which naturally applies for Go Battle league in the form of Halloween Cup: Great League Edition, another limited format for the mobile title’s PvP mode. Halloween Cup will run from October 22 to 29, 2024, alongside the Great League Remix.

This Go Battle League competition runs on a special ruleset limiting participating Pokémon to a maximum amount of 1,500 competition points (CP). Since this tournament is all about the spooky Halloween fun, only Pokémon with the types Poison, Bug, Ghost, Dark, and Fairy may be fielded.

Give your opponents nightmares with the best Pokémon for Halloween Cup – Great League Edition in Pokémon Go based on statistics and simulations provided by PvPoke.com.

Pokémon Go Halloween Cup – Great League Edition: Best Leads

These Pokémon aggressively pressure your opponent right from the beginning of a duel and can survive even tough battles for quite a while – they are perfect to open a match up, enabling you to score an early knockout or set up a strong counter play.

1. Clodsire (Poison Sting, Earthquake, Stone Edge)
2. Morpeko (Full Belly) (Thunder Shock, Aura Wheel, Psychic Fangs)
3. Greninja (Water Shuriken, Hydro Cannon, Night Slash)
4. Galarian Weezing [S] (Fairy Wind, Brutal Swing, Play Rough)
5. Shadow Drapion (Poison Sting, Crunch, Aqua Tail)
6. Shadow Grimer [XL] (Mud Slap, Mud Bomb, Sludge Bomb)
7. Qwilfish (Poison Sting, Aqua Tail, Ice Beam)
8. Azumarill [XL] (Bubble, Ice Beam, Play Rough)
9. Shadow Golurk (Mud Slap, Shadow Punch, Dynamic Punch)
10. Alolan Marowak (Fire Spin, Bone Club, Shadow Bone)

[XL] = Pokémon requires Candy XL to reach optimal battle performance; [S] = Regular form and Shadow form perform comparably.

Pokémon Go Halloween Cup – Great League Edition: Best Safe Switches

If the opening pairing is to your disadvantage, you should consider switching out your lead for another Pokémon. This is where this class comes into play. They are either strong leads themselves or are specialized in countering some of the most popular leads. In any case, a switch will preserve your original opener to fight later on in the battle and perhaps force your opponent to also adapt their strategy on the fly.

1. Clodsire (Poison Sting, Earthquake, Stone Edge)
2. Qwilfish (Poison Sting, Aqua Tail, Ice Beam)
3. Shadow Drapion (Poison Sting, Crunch, Aqua Tail)
4. Hisuian Qwilfish (Poison Sting, Aqua Tail, Shadow Ball)
5. Shadow Galarian Weezing (Fairy Wind, Brutal Swing, Play Rough)
6. Drapion (Poison Sting, Crunch, Aqua Tail)
7. Ariados (Poison Sting, Lunge, Trailblaze)
8. Morpeko (Full Belly) (Thunder Shock, Aura Wheel, Psychic Fangs)
9. Greninja (Water Shuriken, Hydro Cannon, Night Slash)
10. Golisopod (Shadow Claw, X-Scissor, Liquidation)

Pokémon Go Halloween Cup – Great League Edition: Best Closers

These Pokémon are particularly useful when there are no shields left in play on either side – they are incredibly tough themselves or end battles quickly thanks to powerful charge attacks, which can’t be deflected without a shield.

1. Clodsire (Poison Sting, Earthquake, Stone Edge)
2. Carbink [XL] (Rock Throw, Power Gem, Moonblast)
3. Azumarill [XL] (Bubble, Ice Beam, Play Rough)
4. Galarian Moltres (Sucker Punch, Ancient Power, Brave Bird)
5. Shadow Mawile (Fairy Wind, Iron Head, Play Rough)
6. Toxapex (Poison Jab, Brine, Sludge Wave)
7. Shadow Sableye [XL] (Shadow Claw, Foul Play, Power Gem)
8. Klefki (Astonish, Foul Play, Play Rough)
9. Froslass (Powder Snow, Avalanche, Shadow Ball)
10. Mandibuzz (Snarl, Dark Pulse, Aerial Ace)

Pokémon Go Halloween Cup – Great League Edition: Best Attackers

These Pokémon perform best when fighting a trainer who still has shields, while you no longer have shields yourself. They combine important resistances and strong fast attacks to compensate for this disadvantage. For this reason, you rarely see Shadow forms in this role – they take more damage than their regular counterparts, making them a risky card to put on the table.

1. Carbink [XL] (Rock Throw, Power Gem, Moonblast)
2. Clodsire (Poison Sting, Earthquake, Stone Edge)
3. Mandibuzz (Snarl, Dark Pulse, Aerial Ace)
4. Azumarill [XL] (Bubble, Ice Beam, Play Rough)
5. Toxapex (Poison Jab, Brine, Sludge Wave)
6. Wigglytuff (Charm, Icy Wind, Swift)
7. Umbreon (Snarl, Foul Play, Last Resort)
8. Forretress (Volt Switch, Earthquake, Mirror Shot)
9. Mawile (Fairy Wind, Iron Head, Play Rough)
10. Aromatisse (Charm, Moonblast, Thunderbolt)

Morpeko is making quite the debut in this format, although only in its Full Belly form. Clodsire is another powerful addition since last year, achieving strong rankings in all categories. However, there are enough familiar names such as Carbink, Azumarill, and Mandibuzz to decrease the amount of investment you have to make to participate in this cup.

For more Pokémon Go, check our overviews for the weekly Spotlight Hours and 5-Star Raids.