Ultra League so boring?
Or is it just me?
Great League has all that Ultra has, with the immense amount of until now neglected Pokemon for more twists and turns. With the exception of a few legends that couldn't possibly have been caught below 1500 CP, it's all the Great League can be anyway. In addition, lower investment entry point will make it way more competitive and strategic, instead of just grinding more candy/dust.
And as Master League is all about the most powerful of the powerful, it's cool as well.
So what is it in Ultra for anybody, honestly?
Answers
I quite agree - Master will see only a few Pokemon species useful - so it will not be very strategic and more like basic paper-scissors-rock, but the raw power has its call.
But, how come does Ultra allow for greater variety? All Great is missing is a few legendaries that can't possibly make it there, but it adds something around twice the number of Pokemon to the "possibly useful" pool. All the mechanics work the same, except the numbers being scaled down. What's more to optimize in Ultra that can't be done in Great?
No, you actually can't - a lot of your weather-boosted happy raid catches (including those Tyranitars) sit useless for Ultra.
Also, catching an average-sized Larvitar or Dratini to fit Tyranitar or Dragonite into the Great is not exactly a big feat, especially with field research... not that Tyranitar is gonna shine there. Remember, you're looking for low-ATK critters for both CP-capped leagues. BTW, for Great League, Altaria is your awesome Flying Dragon now (Tyranitar has no low-ATK equivalent).
This is in no way "more variety".
Also, a low-level Kyogre is nothing of interest for Ultra (ranks only 525 on the TDO chart). For single-type Water, Blastoise reigns supreme, however you really want to go looking into double types like Water-Steel (Empoleon) or Water-Grass (Ludicolo) to make things interesting. And Great offers you Water-Electric (Lanturn) and Water-Fairy (Azumarril) as a bonus (Lanturn).
Master league isnt the most powerful of the powerful, if that were the case, we'd see rayquaza and most other top tier legendaries, and from what ive heard, people haven't been using Ray, raikou, groudon and even mewtwo as all can be hard countered (and with mewtwo and most other legendaries few are willing and able to drop 100 cand and 100k dust for a second move). We are soing a lot of the pseudo legendaries yes, but those can also be hard countered out. Ive seen nothing but variety in the matches my friends have been playing, and we dont use any pre established rules.
Actually, the opposite is true.
It's the racing against the clock in raids that redefined "powerful" to be just DPS - completely unlike the original games. And now PvP is bringing back balance between attack and defense, so likes of Lugia are now as useful. And Lugia actually is much more powerful than Rayquazza, as it's the only "big" Legendary that hasn't received the 9% nerf. Out of the flying dragons, I actually think that Salamence might turn out to be the most useful, having access to Water and Fire charge moves.
So yes, Groudon has some bad luck due to typing, mostly because Ground can't hit back Flying, so it's more of a specialist than generalist. It still can shred likes of Dialga, Tyranitar, Raikou, Entei and Metagross to pieces.
But a Focus Blast + Shadow Ball (Thunderbolt gives more DPS, but SB+FB complement each other very well) Mewtwo is a surprisingly versatile opponent, and a highest neutral TDO counter to both Lugia and Metagross.
When someone says "most powerful of the powerful" which legendaries jump to mind habitually between these 2, Lugia or Rayquaza? Most wouldn't even consider lugia that because we're so hard stuck into raid mentalist, so I might have misinterpreted what you were meaning by that given what we presently define for the best/powerful legendaries is all raid oriented.
I dont think we would see salamence a lot, its bulk isnt that good (on par with rayquaza), and theres other pokemon with better PvP dragon moves and better bulk. Its fire and water moves do provide good coverage, but I dont know how much better It would be than something like a hydropump gyarados, or at release Palkia, who has the same charge moves and the better fast move dragonbreath.
Lugia didnt get the 9% nerf?
The extra candy cost also does really hold them back, most people have excess over 200 larvitar/beldum/dratini and many other species candy, they dont really have the same for legendaries, you cant trade them as often (also cost a lot of dust to trade) and are nearly impossible to get candy for when out of rotation aside from Rarecandying or buddying. The 100 candy cost is going to likely slow them down at least for the time being for those without massive candy reserves.
Yes, Lugia didn't get the 9% nerf, that's why it still always was in the top CP league despite the very low ATK. In the original games, it has exactly the same stats as Ho-Oh, but with flipped Attack and Defense. Now look how much higher Lugia is now in the TDO chart.
Ah, Ho-Oh was also unnerfed once, but only for a few hours, likely due to a glitch.
I caught a boosted unnerfed Ho-Oh. A person or two on this board quickly took the plunge and brought it to 4K+...about an hour after that nerf was back and Niantic healed everyone’s Pokémon at the very same time.
I think ultra is fine, I have a lot of Pokemon from 2375 to 2500 so I can play one way, but the next drastically alter my choices
If you count the overall points together Lugia always was the best Pokemon in go.
You just didnt realise it cuz all was about DPS.
And about Candy/Stardust cost: It's called Masterleague for a reason. Freaks and semi-freaks should have an edge over a casual that doesnt invest time in the game.
It's ok as it is but a little ridiculous that some of the best Pokemon (CD Starters) only cost 10k/25c
I've actually enjoyed the Ultra league immensely. Don't get me wrong, the Great league is also fantastic, but of the battles I've participated in, I've seen the most variety of Mons in Ultra.
That said, I've enjoyed battles in all 3 leagues. Master league has typically proven to be the most predictable though, with most teams that I've gone up against consisting of some combination of Mewtwo, Tyranitar, Metagross, Kyogre, and Dragonite.
Superleague:
I have a Team there which never lost so far (minus 1-2 lag battles). People seem not to know what to use. However, any smart Trainers will use Starter CD Day to evolve one just under 1500 from now on and than its even worse than 2500 league.
I think they should nerv those moves. It's kinda ridiculous that some of the best pvp Pokémon are the cheapest to get the 2and move on. Same time I'm salty not to have a <1500 Meganium
Well, a single Mantine, Skarmory, or Alolan Sandslash will shred both your Altaria and your Venusaur. A single Magneton might even be able to beat them all. Azumarril wil easily best Altaria and Blastoise and even has some teeth to fight Venusaur back (it will fail, sure). Dragon Pulse Ampharos, Sealeo/Walrein and Lapras will as well hit Altaria and Blastoise very hard, again not being that vulnerable to Venusaur.
Plenty of options I see here.
Of course there are counters. At the end of the day we are playing an advanced version of rock/paper/scissors
And to be fair you found Pokémon which are good choices for PVP. But somehow nobody uses them + it's expensive to get them the 2and move. Also the combined use would probably leave you open to counters as well.
Anyway, the chances of winning with this team are high and its cheap. The idea is not to use it 10x times in a row (although in my enviroment I get away with it).
Also it is not forbidden to change a position with a fighting/electric Type from time to time to make you less vulnerable to Ice Beam users.
I personally find the Ultra League to be the most interesting - there are quite a few 100% Pokémon I can now finally use in battle, and they've been dominating those in my local community. Things like Magneton with Spark, Zap Cannon and Magnet Bomb, Victreebel with Razor Leaf, Leaf Blade and Sludge Bomb, and Swampert with Mud Shot and Surf have been my personal favourites to use there
