Pokémon GO Battle League

The GO Battle League (Japanese: GOバトルリーグ GO Battle League), sometimes shortened to The GBL, is a feature in Pokémon GO which allows for competitive, online trainer battles. This was introduced by Niantic on January 28, 2020.[1] The GO Battle League takes course over a Battle League Season[2] so that the league can provide different tournaments, cups, and rewards each and every season. Only trainers who are above level 10 can participate.[3]

The cover logo for the GO Battle League

In April 2020, the GO Battle League Leaderboard was introduced to show the top 500 trainers in the world.[4]

Every day, players get five battle sets and to earn more, they have to walk 5 kilometres (3.1 mi).[5] This walking requirement was temporarily removed in response to lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic.[6]

Tournaments and Leagues

Leagues

The Great League was the first option out of the three Leagues introduced in the GO Battle League. The Great League only allows Pokémon with a CP (Combat Power) of 1,500 or lower to participate.[7] The Ultra League was the second League rolled out which only allows Pokémon with a CP no higher than 2,500.[8] The last League is called the Master League which has no limit on the number of CP a Pokémon has.[9] Starting from November 30th, 2020, Pokémon can be powered up beyond level 40 using Candy XL, prompting a Master League Classic format where Pokémon powered up with Candy XL are excluded.[10]

Cups

Cups are limited-time, usually themed formats that have limitations on participating Pokémon in addition to their CP. The first Cup introduced in the GO Battle League was the Premier Cup. The Premier Cup bans any Legendary and Mythical Pokémon and has a limit on CP depending on the ongoing League.[11][12] The second Cup was planned to be the Flying Cup, which only allows Flying-type Pokémon, and yet again, bans any Legendary and Mythical-type Pokémon. The participating Pokémon must have a CP under 1,500.[13] Season 4 introduced the Halloween Cup, which allows only Poison-, Ghost-, Bug-, Dark-, and Fairy-type Pokémon, excluding the Legendary and Mythical Pokémon. This is the first Cup where there is a restriction to the type of the participating Pokémon (the Flying Cup was the first Cup of this kind announced, but was delayed and actually held after the Halloween Cup). The Little Cup introduced in Season 5 was the first time where a CP limit (500) other than 1,500 and 2,500 was applied in Trainer Battles. The Kanto Cup from Season 5 introduced Pokémon region as a restriction. The Catch Cup from Season 5 introduced the catch time of Pokémon as a restriction.

Summary of GO Battle League Cups
GO Battle League Cups Running seasons CP limit Participating Pokémon Types Other restrictions
500 1500 2500 ∞
Premier Cup (Master League) 2–4, 6 × All No Legendaries and Mythicals
Premier Cup (Ultra League) 3, 4, 6 × All No Legendaries and Mythicals
Halloween Cup 4 × Ghost, Poison, Dark, Bug, Fairy n.a.
Flying Cup 4 × Flying n.a.
Little Cup 5 × All n.a.
Kanto Cup 5, 6 × All Kanto Pokémon only
Catch Cup 5 × All
  • Only Pokémon caught during the Season
  • No Mythicals
Holiday Cup 6 × Normal, Grass, Electric, Ice, Flying, Ghost n.a.
Special Cup (TBA) 6

Seasons

Pre-season

The pre-season of the GO Battle League started on January 29, 2020[14] and ended on March 13, 2020.[15] The pre-season included only the Great, Ultra and Master League, however, it did not have any GO Battle Cups.[16] In the pre-season, trainers could earn rewards such as, gaining a encounter with the Legendary Pokémon Giratina and Tornadus, and also trainers above rank 4 were offered the Premium Battle Pass.[17]

Season 1

Season 1 was the first season of the GO Battle League. This lasted from March 13th, 2020[18] and ended May 11, 2020.[19] In the season, the Great League ran from March 13th, 2020 to March 27, 2020. The Ultra League ran from May 27, 2020 to April 10, 2020, and the Master League ran from April 10th to the 24th. All 3 leagues were available to play on April 24th.[20][21][22][23] Players earn items and encounters with rare Pokémon as rewards for winning and climbing up Ranks.[24] At the end of the season, players who reached at least Rank 7 receive an Elite Charged TM.[25]

Season 2

Season 2 was the second season of the GO Battle League. It ran from May 11, 2020[26] and ended July 27, 2020.[27] Season 2 introduced the Premier Cup, a new format in the GO Battle League.[28] The Great League ran from May 11th to June 1st, the Ultra League ran from June 1st to June 22nd, and both the Master League and Premier Cup ran from July 6th to July 20th.[29][30][31] All three leagues and the Premier Cup were available from June 29th to July 6th, upon the start of the Master League and Premier Cup solo. The Season 2 rewards stayed the same as in Season 1, except trainers received an Elite Fast TM instead of an Elite Charged TM for reaching Rank 7. [32] In addition, trainers could be rewarded with different Pokémon encounters.

Season 3

Season 3 was the third season of the GO Battle League. It run from July 27th, 2020[33] to September 14th, 2020, upon the start of Season 4.[34] Season 3 introduced the Flying Cup, yet another format in the GO Battle League.[35] The Great League ran from July 27th to August 10th, the Ultra League and the Premier Cup solo ran from August 10th to August 24th. The Season 3 Premier Cup had a 2,500 CP limit, whereas in the second season, it had no limit.[36] The Master League and the CP no-limit Premier Cup ran from August 24th to September 7th.[37] The Flying Cup was planned along with the GO Battle Night,[38] but both were postponed.[39] All 3 leagues and the Premier Cup were available to play from September 7th to the 14th.[40] Mostly all of the rewards are the sane as Season 2, but the reward encounters have changed, with Pidgeot starting at rank 1, the Galarian Zigzagoon starting at rank 4, the Galarian Farfetch'd starting at rank 7, Rufflet starting at rank 8, Scraggy starting at rank 9, and Pikachu Libre starting at rank 10. If the player reaches battle rank 10, a brand-new avatar pose and avatar item are rewarded.[41]

The dominance of Registeel in both the Great League and the Ultra League ended in this season due to the nerfs to both of its staple charged moves Flash Canon and Focus Blast. The role of a dominant Steel-type Pokémon in the Great League was picked up by Galarian Stunfisk. Buffs to various Ice-, Ghost-, and Flying-type moves popularized Pokémon like Drifblim and Abomasnow and increased the use of Pokémon like Honchkrow and Zapdos. Some Pokémon like Pelipper and Empoleon gained access to new movesets and became more popular.[42][43]

Season 4

Season 4 introduced the Halloween Cup, which is another format in the Go Battle League.[44][45] Season 4 ran from September 14th to November 9th.[46] The Great League ran from September 14th, 2020 to September 2020, the Ultra League and it's respective Premier Cup ran from the 28th to October 12th, 2020.[47] The Master League and its own Premier Cup ran from the 12th to 24th October, 2020.[48] Halloween Cup ran from October 26th to November 3rd and allowed only Ghost-, Poison-, Dark-, Bug-, and Fairy-type Pokémon with a CP limit of 1,500.[49] All three leagues and the Premier Cup were made available from November 3rd to 9th.[50] Players can reach ranks 3 through 9 by winning certain numbers of battles.[51] The rewards are to stay the same as the third season.

Flying Cup, which was planned for Season 3, was eventually held on November 5th along with the originally planned GO Battle Night bonus. Pidgeot acquired in the duration of the Cup learns the new Flying-type move Gust.[52]

With Season 4 came a new Bug-type charged move Lunge and the buff of several existing Bug- and Fire-type charged moves.[53] The popularity of the Bug-type Pokémon Galvantula in the Great league shot up as a result.[54]

Season 5

Running from November 9th to 30th, Season 5 was only 3 weeks long and the shortest season yet.[55][56] This was the first season where players Ranks were solely dependent on the number of battles won.[57] Unlike previous seasons which were each split between 3 Leagues, Season 5 featured 3 unique Cups: the Little Cup from November 9th to 16th allowing only unevolved-and-evolvable Pokémon with a CP limit of 500, the Kanto Cup from November 16th till 23rd confining to Pokémon originally discovered in the Kanto region with a CP limit of 1,500, and the Catch Cup from November 23rd through 30th limiting to non-Mythical Pokémon caught after the start of Season 5 and with a CP under 1,500.[58] Legendary Pokémon were back to the catch reward pool starting at Rank 7.

Season 6

The 3-League format along with Premier Cup for Ultra and Master Leagues returned in Season 6, the first half of which ran from November 30th, 2020 to January 11th, 2021.[59] The Rank system was overhauled and now had 24 ranks (up from 10). Ranks of up to 20 required participating and winning a certain number of battles, while the final 4 ranks required a certain MMR rating.[10] Since Pokémon can be powered up beyond level 40 using Candy XL as of the start of Season 6,[60] Master League was further split and now included Master League Classic which excluded Pokémon powered up with Candy XL. Holiday Cup was scheduled for December 28th, 2020 to January 4th, 2021 which was limited to Normal-, Grass-, Electric-, Ice-, Flying-, and Ghost-Type Pokémon with a CP of 1500 or lower. The second half of Season 6 started right after the end of the first half and is expected to run through March 1st, 2021. The familiar format of the three main Leagues, Premier Cups, and Kanto Cup returned, and a Special Cup is planned from 8th to 15th of February.[61]

References
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  3. "Pokémon GO: GO Battle League". Niantic Support. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
  4. "View globally ranked Trainers with the GO Battle League leaderboard, and celebrate with GO Battle Day: Marill!". Pokémon GO. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
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  8. "The Ultra League caps the CP of participating Pokémon at 2500". Retrieved October 6, 2020.
  9. "Aug 25, 2020 — For two weeks in every Go Battle League each season, the Master League will be the focus - meaning you have to come up with the best team possible". Retrieved October 6, 2020.
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  11. "The Premier Cup is the first specialist tournament to be released for the Go Battle League in Pokémon Go". Retrieved October 6, 2020.
  12. "The Premier Cup has a few special rules (designed to provide added challenge and fun) that differ from standard PvP combat in Pokemon GO". Retrieved October 6, 2020.
  13. "In the Flying Cup format, only Flying-type Pokémon will be allowed (obviously), but the CP limit for Pokémon will be 1,500, which is similar to the Great Ball League". Retrieved October 6, 2020.
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  16. "The GO Battle League's preseason concludes with all three leagues available. Pick and choose between the Great League, Ultra League, and Master League!". Retrieved October 6, 2020.
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  23. "All three leagues will be available from Friday, April 24, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. to Friday, May 1, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. PDT (GMT −7)". Retrieved October 7, 2020.
  24. "Metagross will be your guaranteed first encounter reward for Season 1". Retrieved October 7, 2020.
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  26. "Season 2 begins on Monday, May 11, 2020, at 1:00 p.m". Retrieved October 7, 2020.
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  28. "May 5, 2020 — With additional balancing changes, Season 2 brings a new format called Premier Cup!". Retrieved October 7, 2020.
  29. "May 5, 2020 — GO Battle League Season 2 Guide · The Great League will run from Monday, May 11, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. to Monday, June 1, 2020, at 1:00 p.m." Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  30. "The Ultra League will run from Monday, June 1, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. to Monday, June 22, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. PDT". Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  31. "The Master League and the Premier Cup will run from Monday, July 6, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. to Monday, July 20, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. PDT". Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  32. "end-of-season rewards will stay the same as in Season 1". Retrieved October 8, 2020.
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  34. "Season 4 begins on Monday, September 14, 2020, at 1:00 p.m." Retrieved October 8, 2020.
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  37. "The Master League and its Premier Cup will run from Monday, August 24, at 4 p.m. EDT to Monday, September 7, at 4 p.m. EDT". Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  38. "the all-new Flying Cup during the limited-time GO Battle Night event!". Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  39. Comments: 0, rawmeatcowboy |. "Pokemon GO Battle Night and Flying Cup postponed". GoNintendo. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
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  44. "Pokémon Go recently announced that its Go Battle League is about to enter Season 4". Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  45. "The Pokémon Go Battle League has been going strong since! New events and cups, and the Halloween cup wraps up Season 4". Retrieved October 8, 2020.
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  47. "The Great League will run from Monday, September 14, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. to Monday, September 28, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. PDT (GMT −7). The Ultra League and its Premier Cup will run from Monday, September 28, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. to Monday, October 12, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. PDT (GMT −7)". Retrieved October 8, 2020.
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