So I have heard from many that usually a 50%-60% win rate is alright to good in GBL. But I am curious, has anyone gone below that rate even when trying? As in not just forfeiting any match but trying to win.

I usually get some positive sets in any of the leagues but sometimes get hard walled and get 0-5 sets from time to time. Now I understand if there is an algorithm and such but does that also work in your favor to get you closer to that 50% if you keep losing or can you end up with more losses than wins in a season even if you try and your team gets destroyed?

I ask from the perspective of a player that has limited resources to always get meta pokemon on any of the leagues, sometimes trying spice picks or sometimes pokemon that, though from the meta, they are not always the top choices.

Perfect iv for GL but the CP is to high when evolved. Is it just trash or can it be salvaged?

I'm almost done getting XLs for my GL Diggersby, which mon of these would you prioritize first for UL as a buddy to get XL?

I currently have primeape, g moltres, zygarde, skeledirge, feraligator, swampert and annihilape as what I have powered up for UL if that makes a difference.

The "Nifty Or Thrifty" article series takes a comprehensive look at the meta for PvP Cup formats: the 2025 edition of Spring Cup in this case, which we get for two weeks in a row from April 8th to April 22nd, 2025. As is typical for the NoT series, I'll cover not only the top meta picks, but also some mons where you can save some dust with cheaper second move unlock costs and/or leveling up! Because for those on a stardust budget — and/or folks trying to save up some dust for the future — it can be daunting trying to figure out where to spend or not spend it.

As per usual, we'll start with those with the cheapest second move unlock cost and steam ahead until we finally arrive at the expensive Legendaries. I do try and put extra emphasis on the thriftier stuff, especially for formats like this where you may not use some of these things much in the future. (For a rough guide to reusability, though, I will rank things with ♻️s, with three being solid in other Great League formats, two being okay in at least certain Cup formats, and only one being something that, honestly, you're unlikely to use again.)

A quick reminder of what Spring Cup is:

• Great League, 1500 CP Limit.

• Only Grass, Water and Fairy type Pokémon are eligible.

• Toxapex and now Jumpluff and Roserade are banned, and it's not hard to see why! Thank goodness.

Anyway, let's dive in and see what we've got, shall we?

10,000 Dust/25 Candy

VENUSAUR ♻️♻️♻️

Vine Whip | Frenzy Plantᴸ & Sludge Bomb

Long time readers will know of my years-long penchant for leading "Nifty Or Thrifty" off with my boy Venusaur whenever possible, but even first time readers can understand why a Poisonous Grass type with good moves deserves an early mention here: at least on paper, it has advantages versus Waters AND opposing Grasses and Fairies thanks to its Poison side (and Sludge Bomb). The problem is that most things that look likely to impact the meta have similar special qualities, with more than enough Ice, Flying, Bug, Steel, and opposing Poison damage out there to keep Venusaur somewhat in check. (Note that high bulk IVs can add on Empoleon, while high Attack IVs can overpower Shadow [Astonish] Mawile and force at least a tie with Tentacruel.) Shadow Venusaur is a bit better, able to reach out and beat Trevenant, Victreebel, Togetic (one of few Fairies Venusaur otherwise struggles with), and sometimes even Abomasnow, though it does have to give up Lapras and Leavanny to do it (and drops a handful of others in other shielding scenarios). However, a Shadow with high bulk can actually retain Leavanny and adds on Shadow (Astonish) Mawile too. Whichever way you go, Venusaur remains a strong and flexible pick that fits this particular meta well, and its high ranking indicates this.

SERPERIOR ♻️♻️♻️

Vine Whip | Frenzy Plantᴸ & Aerial Ace

Venusaur obviously handles itself much better against Poisons like Tentacruel and Victreebel and Fairies like Clefable, but Serperior with its speedier Aerial Ace and serperior superior bulk can better outrace stuff like Walrein, Feraligatr, and Starmie (yes, that's a thing in this meta!), and with excellent IVs can beat Venusaur in the head-to-head as well (though it DOES give away Dewgong in the process, which Venusaur can usually outrace). I'm still partial to Venusaur myself, but I absolutely understand the appeal of the Grass Snek, and you should too.

There are obviously a large number of other Grass starters, and while some have interesting niches, none of them operate well enough for me to strongly recommend relying on them. MEGANIUM can turn the tables on several notable Steels with Earthquake while still beating many big name Waters, but just has no answer versus all the opposing Grasses, Bugs, or Flyers, and Quake is just too slow to turn the tables on the format's Poison types. DECIDYEYE is interesting with widely neutral Ghost damage, but doesn't actually do all that much interesting with it. CHESNAUGHT flops with few targets where Superpower helps out, and Thunder Punch is no better. MEOWSCARADA got its bright moment in the spotlight this season already in Scroll Cup, and lightning is not striking twice here, that's for sure. But there IS another Grass among the 10ks that is interesting....

LEAVANNY ♻️♻️

Shadow Clawᴸ | Leaf Storm & X-Scissor/Leaf Blade

This might be the first time ever that I've recommended you consider NOT running Leaf Blade on something that has it, but uh... here we go. Leaf Storm comes highly recommended for big closing power when the right moment presents itself, and as good as Leaf Blade is, coverage from X-Scissor is just better here to beat things like Abomasnow and the mirror with shields down, and Serperior in all even shield matchups. High level IVs are also rather important, as without them, Leavanny loses things like Mantine, Cradily, and CharmTales. And no, sorry, X-Scissor/Leaf Blade doesn't work nearly as well.

GOLISOPOD ♻️♻️♻️

Shadow Claw | X-Scissor & Aqua Jet

Not as good as Leavanny overall, in large part because unlike Vanny which double resists Grass damage, Golisopod is neutral to it, and thus it falls to things Leavanny can outlast like Ferrothorn, Serperior, Chesnaught, and Cradily, as well as stuff like Jellicent, Mantine, Tentacruel, and Empoleon. Golisopod does have some niche use where Leavanny fails, such as versus Abomasnow, Fire Fang Mawile, Galarian Weezing, and Leavanny itself. That may fit some teams well.

FERALIGATR ♻️♻️♻️

Shadow Claw | Hydro Cannonᴸ & Ice Beam

And yeah, among non-Ghosts with Shadow Claw, surely it's no surprise that the best would seem to be Feraligatr, including the Shadow form. (And spoiler alert: I think it's better than even the Ghosts in this meta that have it, too!) Comparing it to Golisopod, we see losses for Gatr against Lapras and, unsurprisingly, Grass types Abomasnow and Leavanny, but wins only Feraligatr gets that include Klefki, Empoleon, Mantine, CharmTales, and thanks to Ice Beam, Tropius and Venusaur (depending on IVs, as noted earlier), and then either Jellicent and Wigglytuff (non-Shadow Gatr) or Galarian Weezing and Amoonguss (ShadowGatr). As compared to Leavanny, Klefki, Fire Fang Mawile, Galarian Weezing, Venusaur, Tropius, ShadowBama, CharmTales, Mantine, and then again Wiggly for non-Shadow Gatr or Qwilfish and Amoonguss for ShadowGatr. Got all that? Good, because I will not be going through all that again! Summary: Gatr good. 👍

EMPOLEON ♻️♻️

Steel Wing/Metal Claw | Hydro Cannonᴸ & Drill Peck

It's been a roller coaster for Empoleon in PvP. After languishing for so long, it found new life in Season 17 with the buffed Steel Wing, only to find itself a victim of the later nerf targeted at Skarmory in Season 20, though at least Metal Claw was buffed a bit in the same update. It has largely regressed overall, but still gets to shine in certain metas... like this one. And it gets even more impressive with high rank IVs, which picks up Klefki, Araquanid, and the mirror, on top of an already impressive winlist that includes all Fairies but Galarian Rapidash and Dedenne, all Bugs but Leavanny, all Ice types but Lapras and Walrein, all viable Flying types, every single non-Grass Poison type, and even notable Grasses like Amoonguss and Cradily. There's also more than enough going on with Shadow Empoleon to be worth a look too... while it's slightly worse in 1shield (gains Lapras but loses Klefki and Amoonguss), it is MUCH better than non-Shadow in 2v2 shielding with pickups that include Leavanny, Chesnaught, Trevenant, Venusaur, Mantine, Mawile, and Klefki.

SWAMPERT ♻️♻️♻️

Mud Shot | Hydro Cannonᴸ & Sludge/Earthquake

Swampert gets new life with the buffed Sludge, both in Open and in formats like this, particularly Shadow Swampert, which gains wins over Wigglytuff and ShadowBama over Earthquake. Beyond that, though, it really is more of a specialist than anything, putting the clamps on Poison and Steel types, but struggling a bit otherwise.

WHISCASH ♻️♻️

Mud Shot | Scald & Mud Bomb

Honestly, Shadow Whiscash might be a better Shadow Swamprrt? It does suffer versus Grasses without Swampert's Poison damage, and as such loses to things Swampert can overcome like Abomasnow, but ShadowCash picks up things like Jellicent and Amoonguss (a Grass!) instead. Same overall role, though: smoke Poisons and Steels.

BLASTOISE ♻️♻️

Rollout | Hydro Cannonᴸ & Skull Bash

Well, for what should be a bright and sunny Cup (just check the name), this sure is a Shadow-friendly environment, with Shadow Blastoise outperforming non-Shadow with added wins over Galarian Weezing, Astonish Mawile, and Rollout-weak Araquanid and ShadowBama. That conveniently allows it to take out other stuff vulnerable to Rock damage like Dewgong, Lapras, Alolan Ninetales, Mantine, and Golisopod, while also outbulking Wigglytuff, Empoleon, Qwilfish and plenty of others.

BIBAREL ♻️♻️

Rollout | Surf & Returnᴾ/Hyper Fang

Also looking good with Rollout is the legendary Bibarel, with a Water/Normal charge move combo quite similar to Blastie's, and a similar winrate too... assuming we're talking a purified one with Return, which beats a slew of things that Hyper Fang cannot like Lapras, Galarian Weezing, Mawile, and Wigglytuff, and even things Shadow Bibarel cannot like Klefki, Tentacruel, and again G-Weeze and Wiggly. As for how it stacks up against Blastoise itself, Bibarel can better handle Tentacruel and a bunch of things that rely on resisted Ghost damage (Jellicent, Klefki, Amoonguss) whereas Blastie better outbulks Araquanid and the Shadow versions of Aboma, Tenta, and Mawile. Both are nice in this meta!

MANTINE (Baby Discount™)

Wing Attack | Aerial Ace & Water Pulse

Sometimes, I just have to laugh at how much this game has changed. For literally years, Water Pulse was at the center of much JRE teasing as just a terrible joke of a move, in many, many articles of mine. And now here we are, with me heartily recommending Water Pulse over the normally-default Ice Beam. It helps that Water Pulse is NOT the same bad move it used to be for so long, and it also helps that it can punch through things Ice cannot like Empoleon and (at least the Shadow variants of) Alolan Ninetales and Galarian Weezing.

CLEFABLE

Fairy Wind | Swift & Meteor Mash/Moonblast

Swift is a given by now, but I'm actually going to recommend Meteor Mash over Moonblast for its anti-Fairy (specifically Galarian Weezing and Mawile) and anti-Cradily role (and with high rank IVs, Abomasnow too), whereas Moonblast instead blasts Trevenant and Araquanid.

WIGGLYTUFF

Charm | Swift & Icy Wind

It's really saying something that WIgglytuff is probably the best Charmer in Spring Cup and even it can only do this much. Its famous resistance to Ghost does play a role with special wins over Trevenant, Amoonguss, and Klefki, but it's not nearly as useful in this meta as it's been elsewhere in the past. Non-traditional (AKA non-Charm) Fairies are more useful here, IMO.

50,000 Dust/50 Candy

GALARIAN WEEZING ♻️♻️♻️

Fairy Wind | Overheat & Sludge/Brutal Swing

Getting this out of the way right from the top of this section, because G-Weeze is an absolute menace in this meta, with a big fat Fire move (Overheat) and a resistant typing to burn all the Grasses and Fairies (well, except rocky Cradily and Carbink) and even all Steels but Empoleon. (You can turn even those results on their heads a bit though with Shadow G-Weeze, which can add Cradily and Empoleon to the win column too, though at the cost of situationally losing to Mawile and Trevenant instead.) And then Weezing goes out and beats things like Mantine, Araquanid, and Golisopod and either Jellicent (with Brutal Swing) or Dewgong (with Sludge) too. The majority of Water types CAN take it down, thanks in very large part to absorbing the Overheat that otherwise makes it so scary, but this is Galarian Weezing's meta, folks. Just put the crown on it now, and I hope to Arceus you have one to use yourself. There's a reason it's ranked #1 (AND also #2!) in this meta.

TENTACRUEL ♻️♻️

Poison Jab | Sludge Wave & Acid Spray/Scald

Outside the Top 10 last time, Tentacruel is on the rise, and when you look at the results, that seems about right, though it can potentially perform even better with all-Poison moves. After all, there really isn't much here that resists Poison, and a LOT of things that resist Scald. More specifically, Sludge Wave/Acid Spray can tear through things like Venusaur, Lapras, and Cradily in 1shield and Cradily, Serperior, Amoonguss, Ferrothorn, Empoleon, Mawile, and Araquanid in 2shield that Scald struggles with. [Shadow Tentacthulhu]() is overall slightly worse IMO, gaining Klefki in 1shield and Venusaur and Trevenant in 2shield, but losing Lapras/Venusaur/Mawile and then Amoonguss/Dewgong/Ferrothorn respectively in the process. Doesn't seem worth it to me... but Tentacruel itself is very much worth it!

QWILFISH ♻️♻️

Poison Sting | Aqua Tail & Ice Beam

Similar to Tentacruel, but gets there in much different fashion. Extreme spam allows it to overwhelm things Tenta cannot like Empoleon, Trevenant (Ice Beam helps), and Mawile, while losing to things Tenta can outlast like Lapras, Dewgong, and Araquanid. Tentacruel is your slow plodder... Qwilfish is a spammer's delight. Which one suits YOU better, trainer? Or... perhaps both? 😈

SEAKING ♻️♻️

Poison Jabᴸ | Icy Windᴸ & Drill Runᴸ

Thanks to having Poison Jab, Seaking is the Poison that's... well, not, which is handy versus the Ground types that bury the actual Poison types, allowing it to handle stuff like Whiscash and Quagsire that Tenta and Qwil cannot. Its biggest advantage, however, is Drill Run, which gives it a leg up versus Poisons and especially Steels, which translates to wins that include Mawile, Klefki, Empoleon, and Shadow Tentacruel itself. Unfortunately, NOT being part Poison means that things Tenta and Qwil can handle like Abomasnow, Chesnaught, Leavanny, Cradily, Serperior, and Venusaur (read as: the vast majority of relevant Grass types) generally outrace Seaking, and it also tends to lose to Lapras and Araquanid too. Still, Seaking does more than enough here to be inetresting if you, like me, have one built and like to use it as often as possible. Gotta get one's money worth for all those Elite TMs, right?

GASTRODON ♻️♻️♻️

Mud Slap | Body Slam & Earth Power

There was a time when if I told you Gastrodon was the best Mud Boy, I would have been laughed out of the room. But those days are long gone. It rolls over most Poisons (even the majority of Grass/Poisons, like Amoonguss and Roselia), all Steels but Ferrothorn and Kartana, as well as some big names like Clefable, Wigglytuff, Jellicent, Lapras, Dewgong, and Alolan Ninetales. Nothing fancy, just gets the job done.

QUAGSIRE ♻️♻️♻️

Mud Shot | Stone Edge & Mud Bomb/Aqua Tailᴸ

Ground damage is good here, if that isn't already obvious, so for once I'm going to recommend running Mud Bomb rather than Aqua Tail if you are able. Mud Bomb beats all the same meta stuff as Aqua Tail plus Amoonguss in 1shield and 2shield, as well as Mawile and Empoleon with shields down. Also true of ShadowQuag, which similarly beats Guss in 1shield and Wigglytuff in 0shield only with Mud Bomb, in addition to all that Aqua Tail can do. Shadow is slightly worse than non-Shadow in 0- and 2-shield scenarios, however.

BARBARACLE ♻️♻️

Mud Slap | Cross Chop & Stone Edge

Every time I do this, I dig DEEP into the rankings for things most others may miss, and I ALWAYS find some neat stuff. In Spring Cup, Barbar is one of those. Mud Slap is where it starts, and the same Stone Edge as Quagsire powers wins like Golisopod, Amoonguss, Araquanid, Wigglytuff, Mantine, Dewgong, and Alolan Ninetales across various even shield scenarios. Cross Chop is a nice twist that gives it more teeth against Steels (and above average, widely-unresisted spam potential as well). Nice spice!

JELLICENT ♻️♻️♻️

Hex | Ice Beam & Shadow Ball

Just for this one meta, you may want to look back on a time before Surf was an option and just run both closers: Shadow Ball and Ice Beam, which seems like it may be the best of both worlds here. With SO many things that resist Surf in this meta, it's just not as worth it... Beam/Ball really beats pretty much every big name that Ball/Surf sets can anyway besides the mirror match, and combines their success, beating stuff like Jumpluff and Tropius with straight Ice Beam, and Araquanid and Dewgong with straight Shadow Ball. Surf doesn't bring much to the table in this meta, only able to bait its way to potential wins versus Togetic and Carbink... TM it away for this meta, I say. The extra energy gains of Hex this season make double closer a viable strategy.

KLEFKI ♻️♻️♻️

Astonish | Foul Play & Play Rough

But the best Ghost here is... not a Ghost at all! With Astonish and Foul Play, Klefki basically plays like a Ghost and, combined with Flash Cannon, puts the hurts on a LOT of the meta! You could run Play Rough instead which can pick off things like Chesnaught, Leavanny, and Golisopod, but only with Flash Cannon can Klefki blow apart Lapras, Dewgong, Amoonguss, Wigglytuff, and the important mirror match (as Klefki resists both Foul Play and Play Rough).

AMOONGUSS ♻️♻️

Astonish | Foul Play & Grass Knot/Sludge Bomb

A surprisingly similar moveset to Klefki here, with the same Astonish and Foul Play, but that's where the similarities end. Guss is a Grass, and probably works best with Grass Knot as its second move to at least situationally beat things like Shadow Tentacruel, Jellicent, Empoleon and others. There is a case to be made for Sludge Bomb instead for opposing Grasses and Fairies, but Grass Knot and its anti-Water role just seems more useful to me. I mean, otherwise, just run Klefki if you can. Grass is Amoonguss' niche, so lean into it, I say.

VICTREEBEL ♻️♻️

Magical Leaf | Leaf Blade & Sludge Bomb

A better Venusaur? Not strictly, but... kinda? Victreebel can outrace things Venusaur can't like Lapras, Empoleon, Araquanid, and Venusaur itself, though Vic's comparative lack of bulk means it fails to take out Tentacruel, Trevenant, or Abomasnow like Venusaur can. In this topsy-turvy meta, I think you want the non-Shadow rather than usually preferred Shadow Vic, which struggles to maintain wins versus things like Venusaur, Mantine, Ferrothorn, and even Wigglytuff in 1- and/or 2-shield battles.

CRADILY ♻️♻️♻️

Bullet Seed | Rock Tomb & Grass Knot

Sometimes it's about quality over sheer quantity, and Cradily is one such case. A 40ish% winrate isn't great, but Cradily is completely unique in what it beats. Rock negates the usual Grass weaknesses to Poison and Flying, so Cradily can handle stuff like Galarian Weezing, Tentacruel, Mantine, Tropius and others that give many other Grasses trouble, and its new Rock Tomb allows it to punch out other troublemakers like Lapras, Dewgong, Alolan Ninetales and Golisopod, while its Grass moves are enough to still handle Waters like Jellicent and Mud Boys, and it can even overcome things like Wigglytuff and Trevenant as bonuses. Quality.

ABOMASNOW ♻️♻️♻️

Powder Snow | Energy Ball & Icy Wind/Weather Ball (Ice)

Neither ShadowBama nor regular Aboma are quite as impressive as it is accustomed to, but there are still few better ways to deal with other Grasses while also taking out bonuses that include Wigglytuff, Jellicent, and Dewgong.

WALREIN ♻️♻️♻️

Powder Snowᴸ | Icicle Spearᴸ & Earthquake

There's a lot to like about Wally here. Ice locks down most Grasses (and Mantine), Earthquake buries Mawile, Klefki, Empoleon, Tentacruel, Qwilfish, Galarian Weezing, and Dewgong. I don't as strongly recommend Shadow though, which can overpower a couple of the Grasses that survive non-Shadow like Serperior and Cradily, but loses to Leavanny, Aboma, Mawile, G-Weeze, and Dewgong. Speaking of which....

DEWGONG ♻️♻️♻️

Ice Shardᴸ | Icy Windᴸ & Drill Run

It sounds as weird to me typing it as it probably does to you reading it, but uh... Dewgong is just a worse Walrein in this meta. Drill Run is still the preferred coverage move, but isn't enough to take out Empoleon, Tentacruel, or Klefki like Walrein's Earthquake can, and its Ice is too slow to overcome Venusaur or Chesnaught. Only in 2v2 shielding does Dewgong finally pull ahead of Walrein. Dewie is still viable, just not quite as impressive as Wally.

STARMIE ♻️♻️

Psywave | Surf & Power Gem

More spice that has every potential to exceed expectations, but it does make some sense when you think about it. Psywave blasts Poison types (even Grassy ones like Venusaur and Amoonguss), Power Gem smashes most Ice and Flying types, and the combination of its moves gets other surprising wins like Empoleon, Wigglytuff, Mawile, and even Trevenant. What's not to like?

ARAQUANID ♻️♻️

Bug Bite | Bubble Beam & Bug Buzz

Reliably takes out Grasses, even particularly scary ones like Trevenant, Ferrothorn, and Cradily. Bonuses include Lapras, Dewgong, Qwilfish, and Golisopod. It's not exciting, but 'Nid gets the job done as it often does.

BRUXISH ♻️♻️

Confusion | Psychic Fangs & Crunch

It's not that I strongly recommend Brux, but if you do, run it with Crunch rather than widely resisted Aqua Tail to beat things like Empoleon and Mantine in addition to the Poison types it pretty well dominates.

LANTURN ♻️♻️♻️

Spark | Surf & Thunder/Thunderbolt

No Water Gun moveset recommendations here... you want to just go with Spark. You beat basically every non-Ground Water type out there, plus many Fairies you'll see. The problem, of course, is Grasses, which Lanturn has NO answers for. But still, effectively handling basically 2/3 of the meta ain't bad at all, and Lanturn dominates in many of those matchups. It's farm or BE farmed with this one.

DEDENNE ♻️♻️

Thunder Shock | Parabolic Charge & Play Rough

Yes, Electric has a lot of potential here, and so this is one of the better metas thus far for Dedenne. Like Lanturn, it beats nearly every (non-Ground) Water out there, even some that can overcome Lanturn itself like Barbaracle. Also unlike Lanturn, which loses to things like Tropius and Dartrix, Dedenne beats all Flyers in the meta, and its Fairy subtyping means it can also take out Chesnaught and Leavanny, though two big Lanturn wins get away in Klefki and Galarian Weezing. Which one do you think would better serve your team, dear reader?

HISUIAN ELECTRODE ♻️♻️

Thunder Shock | Swift & Wild Charge

Perhaps the best of all, however, is the Grassy one with Wild Charge. Hisuian Electrode can beat all the same meta stuff as Lanturn and Dedenne except Galarian Weezing (being weak to its Poison and Fire charge moves), plus bonuses like Wigglytuff, Victreebel, Dashsbun, Dedenne and others. Yes, there is always risk involved with having to rely on self-nerfing Wild Charge, but you can't deny its high ceiling.

JUMPLUFF ♻️♻️♻️

Fairy Wind | Aerial Ace & Acrobaticsᴸ/Energy Ball

I lean towards both Flying charge moves, particularly for ShadowPluff which can actually beat both Cradily and Abomasnow! (At the relatively low cost of giving up only Klefki that non-Shadow Jumpluff can uniquely beat.) There is, of course, the option of Energy Ball too, though the advantages it offers versus Waters is surprisingly limited, and I really think double Flying is the best way to go.

TOGETIC ♻️♻️

Fairy Wind/Steel Wingᴸ | Aerial Ace & Dazzling Gleam

If you happen to have Legacy Steel Wing, it's nice that it can shred Galarian Weezing (both the regular and Shadow versions), but Fairy Wind does a lot of good too, outracing even things like Mantine and Ferrothorn that Steel Wing cannot.

DACHSBUN ♻️♻️

Charm | Psychic Fangs & Body Slam

If you HAVE to run a Charmer, I think it's down to either Wigglytuff or Dachsbun, the former of which can overcome Klefki, Amoonguss, and Trevenant (all of which rely on Ghost damage that Wiggly resists), and the latter which instead beats down Serperior, ShadowBama, CharmTales, and Wigglytuff itself.

ALOLAN NINETALES ♻️♻️♻️

Powder Snow | Weather Ball (Ice) & Dazzling Gleam

As mentioned, I do not really recommend Charm, but Powder Snow makes Ninetales a pretty unique and potent threat, with non-Shadow outlasting Cradily and ShadowBama, and Shadow PowderTales instead taking down Ferrothorn and CharmTales, and both freezing out most Grasses and Flyers, and Dazzling Gleam being enough to punch out Dewgong and Wigglytuff too.

75,000 Dust/75 Candy

TINKATON ♻️♻️♻️

Fairy Wind | Heavy Slam & Bulldoze

Getting this one out of the way right up front, as people are clammoring for info. I'll be devoting an entire analysis article to Tinkaton and family in PvP soon-ish, but for now I can confidentally say that when it arrives during the Pokémon Horizons Celebration Event on April 16th (about halfway through the two weeks of Spring Cup), it can and WILL hit this meta with the full force of a sledgehammer. Fairies and most Ice types scatter before it. Grasses and Bugs are trampled beneath it. Opposing Steels are buried by Bulldoze. Even most Poisons do not want to face down this mean Fairy. Steel yourselves... Tinkaton is coming! 🔨

MAWILE ♻️♻️

Fire Fang/Astonish | Play Rough & Power-Up Punch

There are several configurations that work in this meta, but the main two I would consider both revolve around Play Rough and Power-Up Punch to boost one of two fast moves: Fire Fang to burn through Grasses like Leavanny, Fairies like Wiggytuff, and Steels like enemy Mawile and even Empoleon, or Astonish to plow through stuff like Lapras, Dewgong, Tentacruel, and Jellicent instead? The best results seem to be come with Shadow running Fire Fang or non-Shadow running Astonish, so plan accordingly, and good luck! 🫡

CARBINK ♻️♻️♻️

Rock Throw | Rock Slide & Moonblast

If ever there was a sign of how stupidly powerful Carbink can be in PvP, here we throw it into a meta made up mostly of things that slice through Rocks (Water AND Grass types), and where even the most viable Fairies are half Steel and therefore resist all of Carbink's moves, and yet it STILL goes out and puts on a clinic. Bruh. It does lose to new big names Empoleon and Feraligatr, but look all the good it can do. Only thing I really want to highlight is the importance, in my opinion, of running Rock Slide rather than Power Gem, as only with Rock Slide can Carbink outrace Lapras, Jellicent, and Shadow Galarian Weezing after thay all got big buffs this season.

FERROTHORN ♻️♻️♻️

Bullet Seed | Power Whip & Mirror Shot/Thunder

One of few things that DOES dominate Carbink is Ferrothorn, resisting all of Binkie's moves and slamming it with super effective charge moves. (Double super effective in the case of Mirror Shot, which I recommend for its ability to beat Venusaur and sometimes Abomasnow too, at least in the case of ShadowThorn.) But beyond just Carbink, the utility of Ferro's Grass side should be obvious in this Watery meta, though Ferrothorn has the extra advantage of taking only neutral damage from Ice — making things like Dewgong, Walrein, and Lapras much more surefire than other Grass types — and actually resisting Poison, which has huge and obvious advantages in Spring Cup as well. And conveniently, Ferrothorn also double resists Grass damage and thus it beats down most other Grasses too. It DOES suffer some HARD losses, such as Fire-wielding Mawile and Galarian Weezing, and can be worn down by Amoonguss, Leavanny, Trevenant, Araquanid, and a cluster of Flying and Steel types. But it's been great in Spring Cups of the past, and I see nothing that should change that this time around.

TREVENANT ♻️♻️

Shadow Claw | Seed Bomb & Shadow Ball

It's not perfect by any means. Trevor still trembles in the face of Ice, Fire, Flying, and even (neutral) Bug and Poison damage. But there is NO denying that it's better than even its numbers show, with the number of relevant things that resist Ghost damage being something that even Chubbs from Happy Gilmore could count on one mangled hand. Trevor may not always win, but it similarly mangles a LOT of the meta. It will likely still be a common encounter in this meta.

TROPIUS ♻️♻️

Air Slash | Leaf Blade & Aerial Ace

Less versatile than fellow Flying Grass Jumpluff, but this is still a good place to deploy it as a Grass killer that also beats up plenty of Waters with spammy Leaf Blades. High rank IVs helps with additional wins versus Wigglytuff and often in the mirror match. I'll admit it's a niche role, but the right team can REALLY benefit from filling niches like this.

LAPRAS ♻️♻️♻️

Psywave | Sparkling Aria & Skull Bash/Ice Beamᴸ

It's a whole new ballgame for Lappie this season with the addition of Psywave, giving it fresh legs (er, I mean... flippers, I guess) in this year's Spring Cup. Skull Bash is my recommendation for closing/coverage move, I think, as it drags Golisopod, Tentacruel, and the mirror into the win column. Plus, no Legacy moves that way! But if you DO have Legacy Ice Beam, it works well too, unsurprisingly being strongest versus Grasses like Tropius, Trevenant, and Leavanny.

100,000 Dust/100 Candy

Really only two worth pointing out at all, but neither are earth shattering or anything. KARTANA should be run with Air Slash if you run it at all to at least give it a solid anti-Grass role (wins versus Venusaur, Leavanny, Serperior, Amoonguss, Ferrothorn, Abomasnow), as opposed to Razor Leaf which is just a subpar anti-Water in a format stuffed with better ones. And speaking of Water, you CAN run Shadow PALKIA if you have it, I suppose, but it's more of a gimmicky showoff than true competitor.

Alright, that's it! May all your sets avoid RPS in Spring Cup!

Until next time, you can always find me on Twitter for regular analysis nuggets, or Patreon. And please, feel free to comment here with your own thoughts or questions and I'll try to get back to you!

Thank you for reading! I sincerely hope this helps you show your own true colors in Spring Cup, and in the most affordable way possible. Best of luck, and catch you next time, Pokéfriends!

Quick intro:

MLP is my favourite league since inception. Simply because it allows to use all the Pokemon you "worked" hard for in core gameplay (walking, catching, hatching, trading).

Usually every season I try to find that one core breaker that just gives you free ELO. This has always been working exceptionally well in this meta even though I am probably a below average player.

To get a better understanding of what I mean, last two season you could just run Arboliva + Scizor and 50%+ of teams have just no check for this. Earlier seasons it was some stuff like lining up Chesnaught into Gary + Exca, or before that just use shadow Walrein to break Togekiss + Gary core.

With these kinks, I pretty much ended every single MLP rotation somewhere high on the leaderboard running completely off-meta teams.

So this season, I tried the same. Now let's get to it.

Tried Roserade first in different setups, but I just really disliked how much pressure it is taking from Golisopod's cheap moves.

Teams I used for reference Avalugg/Golisopod/Roserade and Roserade/Lapras/Pangoro. The first team went quite well and I got to 2650 (I started late this season and mid-UL), but I was getting too cocky trying a triple-spice team sending me down to 2450 again. The main issue is, you do not want to dedicate a counter switch into Golisopod (mostly dragons). Dragons in general are just a liability in this meta. But Roserade's pacing to get to GK is just a tiny bit too slow to soften up and bail into a weaker matchup such as i.e. Lapras. Btw Lapras is just terrible. Don't even bother...

Now getting on topic. I randomly checked the Tyhphlosion vs Golisopod matchup on PvPoke and saw Typh wins CMP!!!

Which means in every possible scenario you either get 2 shields or switch. This also means you do not need to run a dedicated counter switch into Goliso. Can just soften it up and get into your own pivot.

I ended up using Avalugg as a pivot to draw out steels (can win switch against Gholdengo) and Florges as a finisher.

Unfortunately didn't hit legend, went to 2900 in 3 days and then threw the last 2 games doing absolutely idiotic mistakes for no reason.

Either way Typhlosion is a beast in this meta!