Niantic recently spiced up Pokémon Go’s Battle League with the Element Cup. Even if you have a go-to lineup you’ve been having great success with in the Battle League, the restrictions of the event will make you think outside of the box.
If you’d like to participate in the Element Cup, you’ll only be able to use Grass, Water, and Fire-type Pokémon who are first in their evolutionary line. Considering the CP cap is also at 500, you may need to spend a good few minutes looking at your Pokémon collection.
Though you can come up with various combinations as long as you check all the boxes, some clearly better choices can increase your odds of winning. When picking out your Pokémon for the Element Cup, you should focus on finding the ones that satisfy the CP conditions as close as possible. Any Pokémon that isn’t close to 500 CP will be the weakling of your squad and cause you to lose in an endurance battle.
Here are the best Pokémon to use in Pokémon Go‘s Element Cup.
Bulbasaur
Veteran players may have a hard time finding Pokémon that will fit the bill for the Element Cup since most of their Pokémon will be powered up. Getting your hands on a starting Pokémon will be relatively easier than finding anything else. You may even have a Bulbasaur ready, if you’ve been playing Pokémon Go with the same level of enthusiasm you had while watching the anime as a kid.
Bulbasaur’s fast move, Vine Whip, will work well against a number of Pokémon. Though you can get a little creative with your charged moves, Seed Bomb will just be too good to pass up.
Bulbasaur will be a strong pick against Pokémon with Water, Grass, Electric, Fighting, and Fairy types, while you may find yourself struggling against Flying, Ice, Psychic, and Fire-type Pokémon.
Vulpix
Filling the Fire slot may look easy at first, but your options will automatically go down to one if you’re looking to assemble the best squad possible.
Vulpix simply outclasses all the other Fire Pokémon for this event. Its effectiveness against Grass-type Pokémon can be clutch at times. Complete your Vulpix with Ember as its fast move. As long as its charged moves go, you’ll need to decide what you’ll want to counter. Weather Ball will maximize your Fire damage output, while Body Slam will be a more neutral choice.
Tirtouga
Ducklett is one of the popular choices for the Element Cup and you may get snowballed if you don’t have a proper counter in your lineup. Tirtouga is arguably one of the best counters against Ducklett with a balanced combo of bulk and speed.
Water Gun will be the fast move to have and you’ll also have an easier time while picking out a charged move. Most of Tirtouga’s charged moves are underwhelming so you’ll be better off with Body Slam in the long run.
Ducklett
If you can’t beat them, you may want to consider joining them. Ducklett’s versatility makes it one of the best picks to have in all sorts of lineups.
With a Ducklett pick, you’ll be set against Fire and Grass-type Pokémon. Most players choose Wing Attack as their fast move and you’ll have a couple of viable options when it comes to Ducklett’s charged moves. Both Aerial Ace and Brave Bird are decent enough for covering all bases.
When Ducklett’s the centerpiece of your squad, you should consider gearing the rest of your team to counter Pokémon Ducklett is weak against. This cute duckling struggles against Electric and Rock-type Pokémon.
Cottonee
If Ducklett hasn’t given it away, Pokémon who are members of two types will be key toward achieving success in the Element Cup. As a Grass and Fairy-type Pokémon, Cottonee, is an excellent pick to counter Grass and Water-types.
Though it doesn’t look like a decent pick if you’re looking to compliment a Ducklett, its power level makes it so your opponent will need to worry about countering you more than you’ll need to consider the weaknesses of your Pokémon.
Charm is also one of the stronger fast moves out there and Cottonee doesn’t lack variety when it comes to charged moves. Both Grass Knot and Seed Bomb are good enough to make the cut.
Seel
Players looking to go against the flow will need to stack up their rosters that can efficiently counter both Cottonee and Ducklett.
Though both Ice Shard and Lick are excellent Fast Moves, Ice Shard will be the better pick if you’re looking to counter Ducklett and Cottonee. Aqua Tail or Icy Wind are both viable candidates for the charged attack slots, but you may want to have Aqua Tail just in case since it’s a Water move.
Chinchou
Chinchou is another great pick for squads that are looking to counter Ducklett. While Chinchou may be mediocre at best, it can beat any Ducklett without struggling.
You’ll want to deck out your Chinchou with Electric-type moves to increase your odds of winning in various other matchups. Spark is arguably the best option as a fast move while you can experiment with charged moves. Since you don’t get to use your charged moves that much the Element Cup, going with a charged move of another type than Electric can work better to cover multiple bases.
The Element Cup in Pokémon Go’s Battle League will wrap up on July 12.
