Pokémon Go Weather Cup: Best Pokémon

Rain on your opponent’s parade with these monsters

Contents

1. Pokémon Go Weather Cup: Best Leads
2. Pokémon Go Weather Cup: Best Safe Switches
3. Pokémon Go Weather Cup: Best Closers
4. Pokémon Go Weather Cup: Best Attackers

Get out your umbrellas, sunglasses, and, uh, construction site helmets, because Weather Cup returns to Pokémon Go’s Battle League from January 19 to 26, 2023, at 1pm PT / 4pm ET / 9pm GMT / 10pm CET.

Weather Cup is a limited format, which means that you’ll need to know about a few special rules, which differentiate this discipline from standard open formats like Great League, Ultra League, and Master League.

The upper limit for competition points (CP) in Weather Cup is 1,500 CP, just like in the good-old Great League. In addition to that, only Pokémon of the Fire-, Water-, Ice-, and Rock-types may participate in this event – hence the need for head protection, because apparently it’s going to rain rock everywhere.

We have collected all the best Pokémon for Weather Cup 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 Weather Cup: Best Leads

You’ll want one of these Pokémon to open up the battle on your side. Their aggressiveness puts pressure on your opponent right from the beginning, while they are tough enough to survive a bit of punishment. This gives you time to think over your next steps and might give you an advantage in a battle of attrition. Ideally, of course, you achieve a quick first knockout.

1. Cradily (Bullet Seed, Stone Edge, Grass Knot)
2. Swampert(S) (Mud Shot, Hydro Cannon, Earthquake)
3. Lanturn (Spark, Surf, Thunderbolt)
4. Abomasnow(S) (Razor Leaf, Weather Ball (Ice), Energy Ball)
5. Pelipper (Wing Attack, Weather Ball (Water), Hurricane)
6. Bastiodon(XL) (Smack Down, Stone Edge, Flamethrower)
7. Lileep(XL) (Bullet Seed, Ancient Power, Grass Knot)
8. Shadow Alolan Sandslash (Shadow Claw, Ice Punch, Bulldoze)
9. Araquanid (Bug Bite, Bug Buzz, Bubble Beam)
10. Toxapex (Poison Jab, Brine, Sludge Wave)

Pokémon marked with (S) perform very similarly in their Shadow and regular versions. Pokémon marked with (XL) require Candy XL to reach their maximum potential.

Pokémon Go Weather Cup: Best Safe Switches

Should the initial pairing be to your disadvantage, you need to consider switching out your lead monster 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 category. 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. Lileep(XL) (Bullet Seed, Ancient Power, Grass Knot)
2. Cradily (Bullet Seed, Stone Edge, Grass Knot)
3. Araquanid (Bug Bite, Bug Buzz, Bubble Beam)
4. Pelipper (Wing Attack, Weather Ball (Water), Hurricane)
5. Lanturn (Spark, Surf, Thunderbolt)
6. Seaking (Poison Jab, Drill Run, Icy Wind)
7. Ludicolo (Razor Leaf, Ice Beam, Leaf Storm)
8. Shadow Cradily (Bullet Seed, Stone Edge, Grass Knot)
9. Gyarados (Dragon Breath, Aqua Tail, Crunch)
10. Shadow Lileep(XL) (Bullet Seed, Ancient Power, Grass Knot)

Pokémon Go Weather Cup: Best Closers

Once no shields are left in play on either side, you’ll want to use one of these Pokémon. They are incredibly tough thanks to their high defense and plenty of useful resistances or can knock out an opponent in one blow with their powerful Charged Attack.

1. Cradily(S) (Bullet Seed, Stone Edge, Grass Knot)
2. Regirock (Lock On, Stone Edge, Focus Blast)
3. Araquanid (Bug Bite, Bug Buzz, Bubble Beam)
4. Regice (Lock On, Blizzard, Thunder)
5. Lileep(XL) (Bullet Seed, Ancient Power, Grass Knot)
6. Bastiodon(XL) (Smack Down, Stone Edge, Flamethrower)
7. Shadow Poliwrath (Mud Shot, Dynamic Punch, Ice Punch)
8. Toxapex (Poison Jab, Brine, Sludge Wave)
9. Pelipper (Wing Attack, Weather Ball (Water), Hurricane)
10. Quagsire (Mud Shot, Earthquake, Stone Edge)

Pokémon Go Weather Cup: Best Attackers

If you’re left without shields while facing an opponent who still has that option available, these Pokémon are your best friends. 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. Abomasnow(S) (Razor Leaf, Weather Ball (Ice), Energy Ball)
2. Ludicolo (Razor Leaf, Ice Beam, Leaf Storm)
3. Lanturn (Spark, Surf, Thunderbolt)
4. Lombre(XL) (Razor Leaf, Grass Knot, Ice Beam)
5. Araquanid (Bug Bite, Bug Buzz, Bubble Beam)
6. Bastiodon(XL) (Smack Down, Stone Edge, Flamethrower)
7. Toxapex (Poison Jab, Brine, Sludge Wave)
8. Jellicent (Hex, Bubble Beam, Shadow Ball)
9. Whiscash (Mud Shot, Mud Bomb, Blizzard)
10. Lileep(XL) (Bullet Seed, Ancient Power, Grass Knot)

Lileep and Cradily largely rule this meta ever since Weather Cup was initially established thanks to their Rock-Grass-typing, which offers such great defense under this ruleset. Other than that, Water- and Grass-types make up most of the elite Pokémon in this meta, bringing a variety of offensive moves to the table.

The old Razor Leaf meta also rears its head in this format, with Abomasnow and Ludicolo coming out on top of the best attackers. At least you’ll have plenty of options without having to use Candy XL to power up your Pokémon.

For more Pokémon Go, check out the overviews of the monthly Spotlight Hours and 5-Star Raids as well as our weekly event calendar.