An exciting original cup is coming to Pokemon Go’s Battle League. It’s called the Retro Cup, and a set of interesting rules mean there’s a whole new set of ‘best’ Pokemon to take into battle.
Season 7 of the Go Battle League is well underway, and trainers will now have a brand new cup to compete in alongside the traditional Master League and Master League Classic: the Retro Cup.
In this unique cup, which has been described by Niantic as being a “throwback” for longtime trainers, only the first 15 Pokemon types will be allowed. This means all Dark, Steel, and Fairy-types are excluded, and there’s also a limit of 1,500 CP.
Pokemon Go Retro Cup start date & time
The new Retro Cup will begin in the Go Battle League on Monday, May 10, 2021, at 1PM PT | 4PM ET | 9PM BST. It will run until Monday, May 17, 2021, at 1PM PT | 4PM ET | 9PM BST.
So you’ll have a week to climb the ranks of the Retro Cup and prove yourself to be one of the greatest trainers of all time. With a unique set of restrictions, we’ve rounded up the best Pokemon to use below.
Best team for Pokemon Go Retro Cup
As with the rest of the Go Battle League, it’s hard to say what a ‘best team’ looks like in the Retro Cup, because you’ll never know what Pokemon you’re going up against. You can have a very solid team, but a lot of it comes down to typings. There are some standouts, though.
Until this point, Fairy and Steel-types have been the Dragon-slayers of PvP, but as both of those types are banned from the Retro Cup, expect to see Dragons everywhere. As a result, you’ll want a Dragon on your team, but also something to counter them.
With popular Go Battle League choices like Azumarill and Skarmory removed from the equation, below you’ll find five of the best Pokemon to take into the Retro Cup for a high chance of victory.
Abomasnow
- Fast move: Powder Snow
- Charged moves: Weather Ball (Ice) and Energy Ball
- Strong against: Electric, Grass, Water, and Ground
- Weak against: Fire, Flying, Poison, Rock, Bug, Steel, and Fighting
Abomasnow may have a lot of weaknesses, but it’s well-matched against some of the most common superstars you’ll see in the Retro Cup, including Altaria, Whiscash, Dewgong, Jellicent, and even Shadow Machamp.
Powder Snow is your best fast move, as it provides fast energy generation. This can then be used for the charged move Weather Ball (Ice), which costs low amounts of energy but deals high DPE, and the Grass-type Energy Ball which gets STAB and increases coverage.
Altaria
- Fast move: Dragon Breath
- Charged moves: Sky Attack and Dragon Pulse
- Strong against: Ghost, Dark, and Psychic
- Weak against: Fairy, Fighting, and Bug
Altaria has bulk and impressive damage capability, with its only major flaw being a double weakness to Ice-type attacks. It’s also one of the best counters to Retro Cup standouts like Hypno, Cresselia, and Medicham.
Dragon Breath is one of the best fast moves in Pokemon Go, so definitely use that. As for charged moves, Sky Attack is relatively quick to generate and does decent damage, while Dragon Pulse benefits from STAB.
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Gyarados
- Fast move: Dragon Breath
- Charged moves: Aqua Tail and Crunch
- Strong against: Fighting, Water, Steel, Bug, Fire, and Ground
- Weak against: Electric and Rock
Gyarados is probably the most accessible options on this list with a relatively cheap second charged move. If you have one with good IV stats that’s still under the 1,500 CP limit, it’s a solid choice for the Retro Cup.
The fast move Dragon Breath lets you take down Dragons like Altaria without being a Dragon itself, while Crunch is great against Psychic and Ghost-type opponents, and Aqua Tail covers you against anything else you’ll come up against.
Regirock
- Fast move: Lock-On
- Charged moves: Stone Edge and Focus Blast
- Strong against: Normal, Poison, Flying, and Fire
- Weak against: Water, Steel, Grass, Fighting, and Ground
With the popular Registeel out of action here, fellow Legendary titan Regirock makes a fine replacement as a closer in the Retro Cup with its incredible Defense stat – if you have one that’s within the 1,500 CP restriction, that is.
The fast move Lock-On has very poor damage output, but features the best energy generation in the game, allowing you to quickly save up for some devastating charged attacks: Stone Edge is great for general use, while Focus Blast is incredibly powerful.
Hypno
- Fast move: Confusion
- Charged moves: Shadow Ball and Thunder Punch
- Strong against: Fighting and Poison
- Weak against: Bug, Dark, and Ghost
Without Dark and Steel-type Pokemon around to beat them down, Psychic-types are going to be a popular choice in the Retro Cup, and one of the best you can have on your team is the slow but bulky Hypno.
Confusion is the best fast move here, with the bonus of STAB. As for charged moves, Shadow Ball can help negate its weakness to Ghost-types, while a secondary attack like Thunder Punch gives it wider coverage.
- Read More: The best team for Pokemon Go’s Great League
While Hypno is a solid choice for your Retro Cup team, you’ll also want to make sure you have a decent counter for it like Altaria, as there are likely going to be plenty of Hypno to face off against in this cup.
That’s it for our recommendations. It will be interesting to see which Pokemon come to the forefront and reign supreme in the Retro Cup when it goes live on May 17, 2021.
You can see the current Pokemon Go Battle League Season 7 schedule here.