The best Pokémon for Master League in Pokémon Go

The Pokémon Go Battle League is wrapping up its preseason with a round of Master League, meaning players can now use teams without a CP cap in competitive battles until the next rotation. 

There is not a guaranteed strategy to win in the Master League, as it is PvP and not just against an NPC trainer, but there are some very powerful Pokémon that lend themselves to being better suited for the high-level competition. 

Great League and Ultra League rely on CP caps to force players to use specific Pokémon without relying on Legendary Pokémon too much, this is something you don’t need to take into account in the Master League. Instead, focus on building out your team with Pokémon that can hit hard and cover each other’s weaknesses. 

So instead of just dropping team compositions on you and trying to provide you with standard sets that most people will be using, here are a few Pokémon that you can use as the centerpiece of your team. 

1. Dialga

Dragon/Steel-type is an absolutely stellar thing to have on any team and is very easy to build around. Not only that, but Dialga has one of the highest attack stats in the game, while also being bulky enough to live most hits that would be aimed at it. 

When building around Dialga, your main focus should be making sure it won’t be taken by surprise by any Ground or Fighting-type attacks. That makes Pokémon like Togekiss, Giratina, or any good Grass-type a good combination with the time-based legend. 

Giratina (Origin)

Another Legendary Pokémon that deserves to be at the top of the standings due to its great typing and offensive firepower. It is a little funny that the bulkier form (Giratina Altered) was preferred in the Ultra League, but the offensive potential is more than worth the lessened defenses. 

If you plan on using Giratina (Origin) you better prepare your team with some good coverage, the best combo right now is pairing it and Dialga together and then using either Togekiss or Swampert in the third slot. 

Kyogre 

The last of the incredibly common Legendary Pokémon in the early days of the format, Kyogre has nice coverage, good bulk, and amazing offensive stats that make it the king of Water-type options when taking into account the upper meta. It fits nicely onto pretty much any high-level team since it is only weak to Electric and Grass-types, which are not very common in the Master League. 

If you plan on using it, make sure to have a decent Steel-type to help cover your Dragon-type opponents, or at least another Dragon-type like Giratina or Dialga to help carry the load. 

Melmetal 

Melmetal probably won’t be your first option if you have a Dialga, but it is still very strong and gets access to good Steel and Electric-type moves. If you plan on trying to effectively deal with Water or Flying-types it is a good addition to your team, but Ground-types are very prominent in the meta so be very careful when using it. 

Depending on your team composition, you might also substitute any Steel move with a Rock move for maximum coverage. 

Mewtwo

A wall breaker with access to strong Psychic-type attacks and other moves like Flamethrower or Dynamicpunch, Mewtwo has the potential to really help a lot of teams. You probably won’t build your entire team around it, but it does have the versatility and power to run through your opponents in the right scenario. 

Palkia

Water/Dragon-type is something very hard to beat, and with the ability to learn Fire, Water, and Dragon-type moves, Palkia can be the ace for a lot of varying situations. There are few options better when talking about ways to deal with some pesky top tiers. 

Togekiss

Though it has fallen off a bit, Togekiss is still a very viable threat when paired with other Pokémon like Dialga. Charm allows it to lower stats while your other mons attack, so don’t overlook the potential of stalling out a battle using the Fairy-type. 

There are a lot of other solid options that are currently making the rounds in some pretty prominent team compositions. According to Silph.gg, here are the five most popular team compositions currently being run in the Master League. 

Feel free to try any combination you like even if it doesn’t appear on this list. The meta is constantly changing due to this being the first run of the Master League and also just part of the Go Battle League preseason. 

The real challenge will begin once Season One of the Battle League kicks off sometime next month.