"Welcome to Great League PvP: (part 6) Teams (Azumarill, Flyer, and Grass leads)"

#PokemonGO: Hello I’m back with the writing. The Great League (GO Battle League) meta has been consistently changing, and there’s no way I can cover all of them. In this part and the next part, I will be featuring more than 30 teams (grouped by lead Pokémon). I hope there will be fewer move changes in the future (ok tbh I’m just lazy and don’t have time to update my original parts every month 😅)What is the definition of a good team comp? There isn’t really anything specific. Generally, a good team consists of a core and a Pokemon that counters few opposing Pokemon that may break the core. Here are some examples and analysis:Azumarill as leadAzumarill is a great option as a lead due to its awesome bulk, typing, and coverage moves. The hardest meta losses are against Grass. Have you ever encountered a Grass lead in GO Battle League? There might be, but they are quite rare. Grass leads are more common now than ever in the Azumarill meta.### Azumarill + Registeel + MeganiumPotential counters: Marowak (Alola), MeganiumGreat against: Fairy, Psychic, SteelMeganium is tanky and hits hard. Frenzy Plant kills Azumarill left and right; Earthquake deals heavy damage to Registeel.Marowak (Alola) with Shadow Ball is deadly to this team if Meganium doesn’t land Earthquake. A good IV Azumarill can win, though, being able to tank 2 Shadow Balls.Against Steel, Meganium can win with Earthquake, Azumarill with Hydro Pump, Registeel with Focus Blast These moves are end-game nukes and performs best after shields are down.Azumarill + Skarmory + WhiscashPotential counters: Hypno, Mantine, MewGreat against: Altaria, Froslass, Togekiss, Sableye, FightingSkarmory + Mudboi is always a good core, covering each other’s weakness hard. That said, Thunder Punch Hypno is the core breaker, and Azumarill doesn’t really solve that. They don’t lose hard, though.This team is safe from those Altarias flying around hunting noobs. Azumarill also tanks Togekiss Charms like a boss.Azumarill + Registeel + Deoxys (Defense)Potential counters: Lanturn, Registeel, Quagsire, Raichu (Alola)Great against: Mantine, Scrafty, Vigoroth, Fairy, SteelDeoxys (Defense) is still decent even after the Psycho Boost nerf. The team doesn’t lose to its counters hard, but also doesn’t win by a large margin. Overall it is great for general coverage and neutral matchups.Azumarill + Toxicroak + ProbopassPotential counters: Bronzong, Deoxys (Defense), Hypno, Jirachi, Quagsire, Swampert, WhiscashGreat against: Bastiodon, Magneton, UmbreonOuch, even with a Steel tank, it still seems pretty weak to Hypno. Plus, more weakness to Mudbois. So how does this team work? Toxicroak can deal with Steel tanks; Probopass for Flyers; Azumarill for general coverage.Bastiodon can be used in Probopass’ spot if you have one.Azumarill + Vigoroth + UmbreonPotential counters: Toxicroak, Tropius, VenusaurGreat against: Haunter, Muk (Alola), Sableye, Swampert, Whiscash, SteelVigoroth is still useful outside of Jungle Cup, it’s ranked 41 on PvPoke with a 87.6 score.Grasses have an upper hand against this team, while Toxicroak (especially near full HP) is hardly stoppable after Azumarill is down.Mudbois and Steels are afraid of this team, which is generally decently spammy and tanky enough to survive at least 1 Charged move.Flyer as leadAs described above, Altaria can handle noobs most non-meta Pokémon well, making it a great lead at lower ranks. Even more, it is still decent against meta Pokémon (until it faces a Steel), that’s why it is the No. 1 sorry No. 2 now in PvPoke ranking.Skarmory is similar to Altaria, trading Dragon for Steel typing and killing Grass Pokémon. Note that it is way more expensive than Altaria to add the second Charged move.Charizard also works in the right matchup, and Blast Burn hits very hard when unshielded.Altaria + Deoxys (Defense) + RegisteelPotential counters: Mew, Raichu (Alola), WhiscashGreat against: Bronzong, Cresselia, Scrafty, Vigoroth, Venusaur, VictreebelThe only way the team can fight back to Daddy Cash is Altaria shielding the Blizzard. Deoxys (Defense) can put in a good fight, but Psycho Boosts nerfing attack really hurts it badly over time.The team is also a bit iffy against Raichu (Alola) and Mew (with Ice Beam + Wild Charge), lacking reliable counters to them.Vigoroth seems like a good safe switch into this team, but no, it isn’t, every Pokémon here beats it. Don’t switch out if you encounter one switched in (Vigoroth with energy lead is quite dangerous).As for Grass Pokémon, welcome to farm city. Farming up to 100 energy before killing them with a Charged move is highly recommended whenever possible.Altaria + Whiscash + HypnoPotential counters: Froslass, Mantine, Umbreon, WhiscashGreat against: Bronzong, Deoxys (Defense), Haunter, Lanturn, Toxicroak, Raichu (Alola), QuagsireYou need Dazzling Gleam on Altaria to cover Dark. However, even with Dazzling Gleam, a perfect PvP IV Altaria still barely loses to Umbreon with 3 HP left. If you go straight Sky Attack, you can theoretically win if you fire it off at the right turn. However, it is practically impossible with the lags and missing a turn = lose.A Froslass switch-in can beat this team, using Charged moves fast. Even Whiscash can’t guarantee a win.It’s great against many things, but definitely not specific.Skarmory + Deoxys (Defense) + AzumarillPotential counters: Haunter, Hypno, Lanturn, Mew, Raichu (Alola)Great against: Azumarill, Bronzong, Cresselia, Froslass, Jirachi, Medicham, Scrafty, Toxicroak, VigorothLanturn and Raichu (Alola) can give this team trouble; all 3 are weak to it. Hypno covers Skarmory + Azumarill with Thunder Punch, and Deoxys (Defense) with Shadow Ball.Meanwhile, the team is pretty safe against common Fighters thanks to their typing.Skarmory + Medicham + LanturnPotential counters: Deoxys (Defense), Haunter, Hypno, Raichu (Alola)Great against: Bronzong, Forretress, Muk (Alola), Scrafty, VigorothSkarmory + Lanturn is a nice core. Medicham covers the Mudbois where their matchups are a bit iffy. Overall it is weak against Psychic (blame Medicham here), but good against Dark.Skarmory + Tropius + AzumarillPotential counters: Bastiodon, Mew, Melmetal, Registeel, Skarmory, Raichu (Alola)Great against: Clefable, Forretress, Medicham, Quagsire, Swampert, Togekiss, Toxicroak, Vigoroth, Whiscash, WigglytuffPretty tough to beat, right? Steel tanks seem to be good answers to this team, countering Skarmory very hard. Though Hydro Pump Azumarill beats it IF the little water mouse can get it. Big if.But that is a looooooooong list of Pokémon the team is great against. Fighters can do nothing in even matchups. The team is too tanky for Charmers to Charm down.Skarmory + Swampert + VenusaurPotential counters: Altaria, Mantine, SkarmoryGreat against: Azumarill, Mew, Scrafty, Vigoroth, Whiscash, WigglytuffAgain, Skarmory + Water is great. But this time the Water is a Mudboi, making it perform slightly worse against Flyers. Venusaur doubles up Water coverage, which is … pretty nice I think? Considering Water is common.There is NOTHING in Great League meta that counters all 3 Pokémon hard.Skarmory + Azumarill + WhiscashPotential counters: Lanturn, Raichu (Alola)Great against: Froslass, Jirachi, Muk (Alola), Quagsire, Sableye, Togekiss, ToxicroakKieng has featured this team in his own video. Azumarill is generally the safe switch in a bad matchup. You may check the video here, I’m sure he is better at explaining this team’s pros and cons.In my perspective, Raichu (Alola) with energy can be a threat as it might beat all 3 (you do have to land Grass Knot against Whiscash, though).Catch the Grass with Skarmory and win.Skarmory + Sableye + Deoxys (Defense)Potential counters: Lanturn, UmbreonGreat against: Cresselia, Jirachi, Medicham, ToxicroakSableye performs great with energy advantage and is only weak to Fairy, making a decent safe switch. Even when it’s up against Azumarill, it can usually survive the switch clock by double shielding. You don’t even need to have Power GemHowever, this team has a huge weakness to Umbreon if Skarmory can’t take it low enough.Charizard + Lapras + SwampertPotential counters: Mew, Quagsire, Sableye, Swampert, Umbreon*Great against: Froslass, Hypno, Muk (Alola), Skarmory, Steelix, Wigglytuff, *You double up on Water, that’s great. Lapras will be your safe switch when necessary. If a Grass bypasses Charizard, it’s not a big rip if you still have Lapras. Raichu (Alola) with a shield advantage is devastating to this team.Grass as leadMost likely you’re going to switch out in an unfavorable matchup, so double up the safe switch if necessary.Meganium + Marowak (Alola) + LaprasPotential counters: Altaria, Bastiodon, Haunter, ScraftyGreat against: Bronzong, Clefable, Raichu (Alola)If Altaria passes Lapras, then you will be in big trouble. Scrafty also has great matchups against this team thanks to its typing.Marowak (Alola) and Lapras are monsters with a slight energy lead. This IS a pro. When facing this team, soft counters might not work well if you don’t switch fast enough.Tropius + Lanturn + AzumarillPotential counters: Haunter, Magneton, Raichu (Alola), Tropius, VenusaurGreat against: Scrafty, Toxicroak, Vigoroth, FairyYeah…, they’re weak to Electric. But hey, can’t complain when they have resistances to Fighting.Meanwhile, they outbulk (and obviously outspam Charmers). They might not be common, but when you face one, be prepared to win pretty easily.Try to catch Altaria with Azumarill and Skarmory with Lanturn. Sacrifice Tropius if you face Altaria in the lead. Being weak to Grass isn’t just for show after Tropius is down, though. Ice Beam might take the Grasses low, but unlikely to kill.Mid-conclusionAzumarill and Flyer leads are great because they pair well with many Pokémon and have excellent resistances.Well, that’s 16 teams analyzed. More coming soon later this week. I promise I will publish all teams in the series before Season 1 Great League ends. via /r/TheSilphRoad https://ift.tt/2Ql6aMi