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Pokémon Go Ultra League: Best Pokémon

Toughen up your teams with these creatures

Marco Wutz

Niantic

The Ultra League is one of the most popular competitions in Pokémon Go’s PvP mode, the Go Battle League. It returns into the rotation of available disciplines from December 10 to 17, 2024.

Table of Contents

  1. Pokémon Go Ultra League: Best Leads
  2. Pokémon Go Ultra League: Best Safe Switches
  3. Pokémon Go Ultra League: Best Closers
  4. Pokémon Go Ultra League: Best Attackers

The upper limit for competition points (CP) in this format is 2,500 CP, but you won’t have to worry about any type-related restrictions: Being an open competition, you can field whichever Pokémon you like in Ultra League.

We have collected all the best Pokémon for Ultra League in Pokémon Go based on statistics and simulations provided by PvPoke.com, so you don’t have to worry about figuring out the meta.

Pokémon Go Ultra League: Best Leads

These Pokémon are very aggressive, applying pressure on your opponent right from the beginning of a match. They can drag out even tough battles for a long time – this makes them ideal to open a duel up, enabling you to score an early knockout or set up a strong counter play.

  1. Primeape [S][XL] (Karate Chop, Rage Fist, Close Combat)
  2. Dusknoir [S][XL] (Astonish, Shadow Ball, Shadow Punch)
  3. Aurorus (Powder Snow, Weather Ball (Ice), Meteor Beam)
  4. Clefable [XL] (Fairy Wind, Swift, Moonblast)
  5. Gastrodon [XL] (Mud Slap, Earth Power, Body Slam)
  6. Pangoro (Karate Chop, Close Combat, Night Slash)
  7. Annilihape (Counter, Rage Fist, Close Combat)
  8. Malamar [XL] (Psywave, Superpower, Foul Play)
  9. Drifblim [XL] (Astonish, Shadow Ball, Icy Wind)
  10. Shadow Galarian Weezing [XL] (Fairy Wind, Brutal Swing, Play Rough)

Pokémon marked with [XL] require Candy XL to reach their best performance levels, Pokémon marked with [S] perform comparably well in both their regular and Shadow forms.

Pokémon Go Ultra League: Best Safe Switches

Should the initial pairing be to your disadvantage, consider switching out your lead for another Pokémon. This is where Safe Switches come into play. They are either strong leads themselves or are specialized in countering some of the more popular members of that class. In any case, a switch will preserve your original lead to fight later on in the battle and perhaps force your opponent to also adapt their strategy on the fly, equalizing the battle once again.

  1. Shadow Feraligatr (Shadow Claw, Hydro Cannon, Ice Beam)
  2. Primeape [S][XL] (Karate Chop, Rage Fist, Close Combat)
  3. Drapion [S][XL] (Poison Sting, Aqua Tail, Crunch)
  4. Feraligatr (Shadow Claw, Hydro Cannon, Ice Beam)
  5. Shadow Galarian Weezing [XL] (Fairy Wind, Brutal Swing, Play Rough)
  6. Shadow Ursaring (Shadow Claw, Swift, Close Combat)
  7. Shadow Walrein (Powder Snow, Icicle Spear, Earthquake)
  8. Typhlosion [S] (Incinerate, Blast Burn, Thunder Punch)
  9. Giratina (Altered Forme) (Shadow Claw, Dragon Claw, Shadow Sneak)
  10. Clefable [XL] (Fairy Wind, Swift, Moonblast)

Pokémon Go Ultra League: Best Closers

The Pokémon in this category are especially useful when there are no shields left in play on either side – they are incredibly tough themselves thanks to their high hit points and many resistances or end battles quickly thanks to powerful charge attacks.

  1. Registeel [S][XL] (Lock On, Focus Blast, Zap Cannon)
  2. Shadow Raikou (Thunder Shock, Wild Charge, Shadow Ball)
  3. Regirock [S] (Lock On, Stone Edge, Focus Blast)
  4. Turtonator [XL] (Incinerate, Dragon Pulse, Overheat)
  5. Shadow Feraligatr (Shadow Claw, Hydro Cannon, Ice Beam)
  6. Galarian Moltres (Sucker Punch, Ancient Power, Brave Bird)
  7. Shadow Primeape [XL] (Karate Chop, Rage Fist, Close Combat)
  8. Shadow Electivire (Thunder Shock, Wild Charge, Ice Punch)
  9. Zygarde (Complete Forme) (Dragon Tail, Crunch, Earthquake)
  10. Tentacruel [XL] (Poison Jab, Scald, Blizzard)

Pokémon Go Ultra League: Best Attackers

These Pokémon do best when fighting an opponent who still has shields, while you’re out of shields. They combine important resistances and powerful 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 pull out at this stage of a match.

  1. Steelix [XL] (Dragon Tail, Psychic Fangs, Crunch)
  2. Gastrodon [XL] (Mud Slap, Body Slam, Earth Power)
  3. Clefable [XL] (Fairy Wind, Swift, Moonblast)
  4. Zygarde (Complete Forme) (Dragon Tail, Crunch, Earthquake)
  5. Giratina (Altered Forme) (Shadow Claw, Dragon Claw, Shadow Sneak)
  6. Shadow Steelix [XL] (Dragon Tail, Psychic Fangs, Crunch)
  7. Galarian Weezing [XL] (Fairy Wind, Brutal Swing, Play Rough)
  8. Cobalion (Double Kick, Sacred Sword, Stone Edge)
  9. Cresselia (Psycho Cut, Grass Knot, Moonblast)
  10. Mandibuzz [XL] (Snarl, Dark Pulse, Aerial Ace)

Ultra League got a big shake-up last season, but the changes for the ongoing season could not be more miniscule if they tried – the meta has remained remarkably stable. While that may be a little boring, it’s great news for your Stardust reserves, since you won’t need to invest into fresh competitors.

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

Published |Modified
Marco Wutz
MARCO WUTZ

Marco Wutz is a writer from Parkstetten, Germany. He has a degree in Ancient History and a particular love for real-time and turn-based strategy games like StarCraft, Age of Empires, Total War, Age of Wonders, Crusader Kings, and Civilization as well as a soft spot for Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail. He began covering StarCraft 2 as a writer in 2011 for the largest German community around the game and hosted a live tournament on a stage at gamescom 2014 before he went on to work for Bonjwa, one of the country's biggest Twitch channels. He branched out to write in English in 2015 by joining tl.net, the global center of the StarCraft scene run by Team Liquid, which was nominated as the Best Coverage Website of the Year at the Esports Industry Awards in 2017. He worked as a translator on The Crusader Stands Watch, a biography in memory of Dennis "INTERNETHULK" Hawelka, and provided live coverage of many StarCraft 2 events on the social channels of tl.net as well as DreamHack, the world's largest gaming festival. From there, he transitioned into writing about the games industry in general after his graduation, joining GLHF, a content agency specializing in video games coverage for media partners across the globe, in 2021. He has also written for NGL.ONE, kicker, ComputerBild, USA Today's ForTheWin, The Sun, Men's Journal, and Parade. Email: marco.wutz@glhf.gg

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