Pokémon GO Great League Remix: Best Pokémon

Pokémon GO Great League Remix once again spices up GO Battle League’s bread-and-butter competition by banning some of its most popular monsters, allowing other Pokémon to shine for a little while.

Great League Remix will run from October 14 to 21, 2025, featuring quadruple Stardust rewards for wins and the regular 1,500 competition point (CP) limit on participating Pokémon. There are no type restrictions of any sort, though the 20 most popular Pokémon among trainers ranked Ace and above in the Great League have been banned in this particular ruleset. 

Here are the monsters you’re not allowed to use in this iteration of Great League Remix:

• Blastoise
• Primeape
• Marowak
• Azumarill
• Dunsparce
• Scizor
• Galarian Corsola
• Altaria
• Cradily
• Dusclops
• Empoleon
• Bastiodon
• Gastrodon
• Togekiss
• Stunfisk
• Talonflame
• Dedenne
• Corviknight
• Annihilape

If you’ve counted only 19 Pokémon on this list, you’d be correct — somehow, the developers managed to put Togekiss on there twice, leaving one ban spot open.

Show your opponents that size matters not with the best Pokémon for Great League Remix in Pokémon GO based on statistics and simulations provided by PvPoke.com.

Pokémon GO Great League Remix: 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. Araquanid (Bug Bite, Water Pulse, Bubble Beam)
2. Dragonair [S] (Dragon Breath, Wrap, Aqua Tail)
3. Zweilous (Dragon Breath, Body Slam, Dark Pulse)
4. Kingdra (Dragon Breath, Swift, Outrage)
5. Goodra (Dragon Breath, Aqua Tail, Thunder Punch)
6. Pangoro (Karate Chop, Close Combat, Night Slash)
7. Dusknoir (Astonish, Dynamic Punch, Shadow Punch)
8. Bellibolt (Sucker Punch, Zap Cannon, Parabolic Charge)
9. Tinkaton (Fairy Wind, Play Rough, Bulldoze)
10. Gligar [S] (Fury Cutter, Night Slash, Dig)

Pokémon marked with [S] perform similarly in their regular and Shadow forms.

Pokémon GO Great League Remix: 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. Crustle (Fury Cutter, X-Scissor, Rock Wrecker)
2. Shadow Drapion (Poison Sting, Crunch, Aqua Tail)
3. Turtonator (Incinerate, Brutal Swing, Dragon Claw)
4. Shadow Dewott (Fury Cutter, Aqua Tail, X-Scissor)
5. Fearow (Peck, Drill Peck, Drill Run)
6. Drapion (Poison Sting, Crunch, Aqua Tail)
7. Shadow Feraligatr (Shadow Claw, Hydro Cannon, Ice Beam)
8. Diggersby [XL] (Quick Attack, Fire Punch, Scorching Sands)
9. Goodra (Dragon Breath, Aqua Tail, Thunder Punch)
10. Shadow Samurott (Fury Cutter, Hydro Cannon, Megahorn)

Pokémon marked with [XL] require Candy XL upgrades to reach the optimal performance level.

Pokémon GO Great League Remix: 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. Aegislash (Shield) [XL] (Psycho Cut, Shadow Ball, Gyro Ball)
2. Carbink [XL] (Rock Throw, Rock Slide, Moonblast)
3. Registeel (Lock On, Focus Blast, Zap Cannon)
4. Clodsire (Poison Sting, Earthquake, Stone Edge)
5. Kommo-o (Dragon Tail, Clanging Scales, Upper Hand)
6. Regidrago (Dragon Breath, Dragon Energy, Hyper Beam)
7. Crustle (Fury Cutter, X-Scissor, Rock Wrecker)
8. Galarian Moltres (Super Punch, Fly, Brave Bird)
9. Lapras (Psywave, Sparkling Aria, Ice Beam)
10. Tinkaton (Fairy Wind, Play Rough, Bulldoze)

Pokémon GO Great League Remix: 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. Araquanid (Bug Bite, Water Pulse, Bubble Beam)
2. Carbink [XL] (Rock Throw, Rock Slide, Moonblast)
3. Forretress (Bug Bite, Sand Tomb, Rock Tomb)
4. Steelix (Thunder Fang, Psychic Fangs, Crunch)
5. Diggersby [XL] (Quick Attack, Fire Punch, Scorching Sands)
6. Tinkaton (Fairy Wind, Play Rough, Bulldoze)
7. Shadow Forretress (Bug Bite, Sand Tomb, Rock Tomb)
8. Mandibuzz (Air Slash, Foul Play, Aerial Ace)
9. Shadow Steelix (Thunder Fang, Psychic Fangs, Crunch)
10. Guzzlord (Dragon Tail, Brutal Swing, Sludge Bomb)

Great League Remix continues to stay fresh and accessible, this iteration having reduced the number of Shadow Pokémon among its top ranks. Dragons are definitely on the upswing here, sweeping into the power vacuum left by the banned top contenders, while familiar faces like Steelix return into the spotlight to fill the void as well.

If battling other players 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.