Pokémon GO Great League: Best Pokémon

It’s time to get back to the basics: The Great League returns to Pokémon GO, running from June 24 to July 8, 2025. Great League is the simplest discipline in GO Battle League, Pokémon GO’s PvP mode, and thus is the perfect ground to get started on your trainer battle journey. To add a bit of extra motivation to your competitive fire, the Stardust rewards for wins will be quadrupled from June 24 to July 1, 2025.

There are no restrictions on what type of Pokémon you can field, though there is a maximum limit on competition points (CP) these creatures can possess. In Great League, this is set at 1,500 CP. That also means that this competition is very easy on your Stardust and Candy XL budget, as you won’t have to power up your Pokémon all too much.

We’ve put together a list of the best Pokémon for Great League in Pokémon GO to get you started on your team building process. Our choices are based on statistics and simulations provided by PvPoke.com.

Pokémon GO Great League: Best Leads

The Pokémon in this class are aggressors, able to apply pressure on your opponent right from the start of a battle. They can also drag out tough battles for a long time thanks to their bulk. This allround effectiveness makes them perfect to open a match up, enabling you to score an early knockout or set up a strong counter play.

1. Primeape [S] (Karate Chop, Rage Fist, Close Combat)
2. Pangoro (Karate Chop, Close Combat, Night Slash)
3. Shadow Jumpluff (Fairy Wind, Aerial Ace, Acrobatics)
4. Togedemaru (Thunder Shock, Fell Stinger, Wild Charge)
5. Jellicent (Hex, Surf, Shadow Ball)
6. Toxtricity (Acid, Wild Charge, Power-Up Punch)
7. Dusknoir (Astonish, Dynamic Punch, Shadow Punch)
8. Gastrodon (Mud Slap, Body Slam, Earth Power)
9. Gligar [S] (Fury Cutter, Aerial Ace, Dig)
10. Clodsire (Poison Sting, Sludge Bomb, Earthquake)

Pokémon marked with [S] perform comparably well in both their regular and Shadow forms.

Pokémon GO Great League: Best Safe Switches

If you’re not happy with the initial pairing, you should consider switching out your lead for another Pokémon. That’s the role of a Safe Switch. They are either strong leads themselves or are specialized in countering some of the most popular leads. Putting them in will let you score an elimination, disrupt your opponent’s game plan, or at least preserve your lead for the later stage of the match.

1. Primeape [S] (Karate Chop, Rage Fist, Close Combat)
2. Samurott [S] (Fury Cutter, Hydro Cannon, Megahorn)
3. Feraligatr [S] (Shadow Claw, Hydro Cannon, Ice Beam)
4. Shadow Sableye (Shadow Claw, Foul Play, Power Gem)
5. Shadow Dewott (Fury Cutter, Aqua Tail, X-Scissor)
6. Golisopod (Fury Cutter, X-Scissor, Aqua Jet)
7. Shadow Galarian Weezing (Fairy Wind, Sludge, Brutal Swing)
8. Shadow Drapion (Poison Sting, Crunch, Aqua Tail)
9. Emolga (Thunder Shock, Acrobatics, Discharge)
10. Shadow Gligar (Fury Cutter, Aerial Ace, Dig)

Pokémon GO Great League: Best Closers

These Pokémon come in quite handy when there are no shields left in play on either side – they are incredibly tough thanks to their high bulk and many resistances or they can end battles quickly due to their access to powerful charge attacks.

1. Shadow Electivire (Thunder Shock, Ice Punch, Wild Charge)
2. Shadow Toxicroak (Poison Sting, Dynamic Punch, Shadow Ball)
3. Shadow Primeape (Karate Chop, Rage Fist, Close Combat)
4. Clodsire (Poison Sting, Sludge Bomb, Earthquake)
5. Registeel [S] (Lock On, Focus Blast, Zap Cannon)
6. Carbink (Rock Throw, Power Gem, Moonblast)
7. Shadow Raikou (Thunder Shock, Wild Charge, Shadow Ball)
8. Galarian Moltres (Sucker Punch, Fly, Brave Bird)
9. Electivire (Thunder Shock, Ice Punch, Wild Charge)
10. Morpeko (Full Belly) (Thunder Shock, Aura Wheel, Psychic Fangs)

Pokémon GO Great League: Best Attackers

This class is specialized in fighting an opponent who still has shields without commanding shields yourself. These Pokémon combine strong resistances and potent fast attacks to compensate for this disadvantage. For that reason, you rarely see Shadow forms in this role – they take more damage than their regular counterparts, making them a risky card to pull out at this stage of a match.

1. Forretress (Bug Bite, Sand Tomb, Rock Tomb)
2. Steelix (Thunder Fang, Psychic Fangs, Breaking Swipe)
3. Diggersby (Quick Attack, Fire Punch, Scorching Sands)
4. Mandibuzz (Snarl, Dark Pulse, Aerial Ace)
5. Bastiodon (Smack Down, Stone Edge, Flamethrower)
6. Dusclops (Hex, Ice Punch, Shadow Punch)
7. Clodsire (Poison Sting, Sludge Bomb, Earthquake)
8. Carbink (Rock Throw, Power Gem, Moonblast)
9. Araquanid (Bug Bite, Water Pulse, Bubble Beam)
10. Galarian Corsola (Astonish, Night Shade, Power Gem)

Great League appears to be quite stable in its top ranks with established powerhouses such as Primeape, Pangoro, Feraligatr, Electivire, and Mandibuzz continuing to thrive. Additions such as Toxtricity are making their presence known, however, and some old names such as Jellicent and Steelix are returning to the forefront of the meta as well.

If PvP isn’t your thing and you’d rather beat up Team GO Rocket instead, check out our complete guides with the best counters to Giovanni, Arlo, Cliff, and Sierra.