Learn which Pokémon to look out for in Pokémon GO’s new GO Battle League World of Wonders Season after the latest round of attack rebalances

Anew GO Battle League Season—titled World of Wonders—has begun. As with every Pokémon GO Season, it brings new bonuses, Pokémon appearances, scheduled GO Battle League Cups, and attack rebalances for Trainer Battles. In this article, we’ll focus on the attack rebalances, which affect both the GO Battle League and the Pokémon GO Championship Series.

The new Season lasts from March 1, 2024, until June 1, 2024, at 10:00 am local time. Compared to the updates in the last Season—Timeless Travels—which saw impactful changes that catapulted Skarmory, Poliwrath, and Whiscash up the rankings, the updates during World of Wonders lean more towards maintaining the status quo. Nevertheless, some Pokémon that hovered on the margins—such as Dragonair and Obstagoon—will get a small boost, while Feraligatr may have the opportunity to claw its way to the top. Other GO Battle League–specific formats, most notably the Ultra Premier format, have also received a few shake-ups. Read on to see how you can make the most of the new Season and metagame.

Before we get to the Pokémon that benefited from this update, there’s a lot to look forward to in the structure of the Season itself. As usual, the GO Battle League contains exclusive rewards not available elsewhere in the game, including an encounter with Pikachu Libre at Legend rank, a free Timed Research Pass that awards Elite TMs, and avatar items for hitting Ace, Veteran, Expert, and Legend rank. Further, Trainers can earn quadruple Stardust from win rewards whenever Master League is available (March 15–29, April 12–26, and May 10–30). During these periods, securing just one win in a set of five battles will award 3,600 Stardust.

There will be a GO Battle weekend that gives Trainers access to four times as many daily battles as usual, and a first-ever bonus during the European International Championships from April 3 to April 7, which allows 10 sets per day. Finally, beloved formats like Ultra Premier and Master League Premier will make their return, while new formats like Jungle Cup: Great League will make their debut.

The Fighting-type Charged Attack Cross Chop and the Water-type Charged Attack Aqua Tail both increase from 50 to 55 power, making them just as efficient and spammy as the popular Weather Ball. Such damage adjustments are often small, but they can still be a significant benefit to multiple Pokémon, even those already played in the competitive scene. For example, Dragonair, most potent in its Shadow form, has been critical to Trainers’ success in both the Pokémon GO Championship Series and in the GO Battle League. Typically, it runs two low-energy Charged Attacks—Aqua Tail and Body Slam—to accompany its damage-oriented Fast Attack, Dragon Breath. While Aqua Tail will still be less efficient than Body Slam after the adjustment, the increased damage will help Dragonair fare slightly better against Ghost-type Pokémon like Sableye or Steel-type Pokémon like Bastiodon.

Several other Pokémon will also benefit from the change to Aqua Tail. For example, Quagsire, which gained access to Aqua Tail as its Community Day-exclusive move, typically has Mud Bomb and Stone Edge as the two Charged Attacks in its arsenal. However, Aqua Tail has a cheaper energy cost than either of these, and the increased damage makes it more efficient than Mud Bomb in neutral matchups. Thus, Quagsire could see a rise in usage, joining Whiscash as the premier “mud boy” (a community moniker for dual Water- and Ground-type Pokémon) in the Great League. A few other Aqua Tail-wielders could also enjoy increased play: Drapion, often used as a safe switch in both the Great League and Ultra League; Goodra, which gains access to Aqua Tail for the first time as an upgrade to Muddy Water; Gyarados, which will be a standout pick in both the Ultra League Premier and Master League Premier formats; and Palkia, which is a top Pokémon in the Master League, especially fresh off its Origin Forme debut during February’s GO Tour: Sinnoh.

The increased damage to Cross Chop will bolster the performance of Fighting-type Pokémon and Pokémon of other types selected for their ability to use Fighting-type attacks, particularly Machamp and Obstagoon. While both enjoyed periods of success in the open Great League, they have often taken the back seat to other Fighting-type Pokémon such as Medicham and more recently, Annihilape and Poliwrath. Like Dragonair, Machamp is most powerful in its Shadow form, which deals 20% more damage. While Machamp and Shadow Machamp will likely remain outside the central meta in the open Great League, at the very least they should make an impact during the Ultra League Premier rotation.

Obstagoon, on the other hand, has enjoyed success even in open Great League formats, appearing on five Regional Champions’ teams during the 2023 circuit. Although Obstagoon has recently fallen off in favor of newer Fighting-type Pokémon, the improvement to Cross Chop could make it a more attractive option again. Like Machamp, even if Obstagoon does not rise to its former prominence in the open Great League, it will at least have the chance to shine in formats like Great League Remix and Ultra Premier.

Cross Chop is not the only change coming to Fighting-type Pokémon; there’s also been an adjustment to the Fighting-type Charged Attack Brick Break that will have an impact. Brick Break is now guaranteed to drop the opponent’s Defense by one stage in exchange for a slightly higher energy cost. Further, Brick Break will be added to the move pool for several Pokémon including Kommo-o, Throh, Sawk, Krookodile, and Crabrawler.

Its most likely primary use will be for Hakamo-o and potentially Kommo-o. When combined with the quick, heavy pressure of the Fast Attack Dragon Tail, a debuffing attack like Brick Break can open up interesting strategies for Trainers to win through Fast Attack damage alone. Although these Pokémon may not appear often in open formats, Hakamo-o can shine in limited formats such as the Evolution Cup, which was featured during Timeless Travels, while Kommo-o could see play in Ultra League Premier.

Besides Cross Chop, several other Charged Attacks have been adjusted. The Ghost-type Charged Attack Shadow Bone will now deal 80 damage, up from 75. Shadow Bone is only available to one Pokémon—Alolan Marowak—which gained access to it during a Raid Day. Alolan Marowak’s interesting Fire and Ghost typing allows it to resist multiple combinations of Charged Attacks from meta staples such as Lickitung and Azumarill. However, Alolan Marowak’s prime was a couple of years ago, as it still lacks a strong secondary Charged Attack to accompany Shadow Bone and has since become outclassed by fellow Fire- and Ghost-type Skeledirge.

Araquanid will finally be receiving long-awaited access to heavy Water-type damage with the Charged Attack Water Pulse. When Araquanid debuted in Pokémon GO, the Water- and Bug-type Pokémon received a lot of attention as being one of the very few besides Golisopod able to resist the common and versatile combination of Ice-type and Ground-type damage dealt by Pokémon such as Alolan Sandslash and Dewgong. However, one of several things holding it back was that its only source of Water-type damage was the Charged Attack Bubble Beam, which emphasizes debuffing at the cost of damage output.

Water Pulse itself has also been updated, costing less energy and dealing more damage. Araquanid is the primary beneficiary of this change. Although there will still be Charged Attacks out there more efficient than Water Pulse, Araquanid has enough bulk to potentially fire off multiple Charged Attacks within a game. Araquanid is unlikely to become a top metagame pick because of these changes, but it is already viable in some restricted formats, and the door is now open for future updates and improvements.

While the rebalances for Cross Chop and Aqua Tail might be small boons for Pokémon that are already viable, one change will tip the scales for a Pokémon virtually unseen up to now: Feraligatr, which now can access the Ghost-type Fast Attack Shadow Claw. Like many other Water-type Pokémon that evolve from a first-partner Pokémon, Feraligatr has access to the extremely efficient and cheap Water-type Charged Attack Hydro Cannon. Shadow Claw is a fantastic Fast Attack with a healthy balance of damage and energy generation. Feraligatr will now be able to charge the energy required for Hydro Cannon in only 5 seconds, which is drastically faster than the 7.5 seconds it used to take when relying on Waterfall.

With the Dark-type Charged Attack Crunch as its secondary Charged Attack, Feraligatr has similar offensive coverage to the Water- and Dark-type Greninja, while carrying more bulk and superior defensive typing. With Shadow Claw, Feraligatr can easily defeat commonly used Pokémon in the Great League such as Annihilape while holding its own against Cresselia, Trevenant, and even Azumarill. We can expect to see Feraligatr making a splash at the very least in limited formats such as Great League Remix and Ultra Premier, and perhaps even making a foray into the open Great League and Ultra League.

Feraligatr isn’t the only Pokémon with a new Fast Attack that speeds up its damage output. Gallade will receive access to the Psychic-type Fast Attack Psycho Cut. Like the Ground-type Mud Shot and Fairy-type Fairy Wind, Psycho Cut generates energy extremely quickly, second only to the Normal-type Lock On. Gallade was once a force to be reckoned with in the Ultra League thanks to an amazing combination of Charged Attacks in the Grass-type Leaf Blade and Fighting-type Close Combat—two of the most efficient Charged Attacks in the game in terms of damage output and energy cost. While Gallade previously relied on the Psychic-type Confusion for its Fast Attack, Psycho Cut will allow Gallade to make the most of its Charged Attack arsenal. In fact, Gallade will be able to use Leaf Blade after just four seconds, faster than any other Pokémon. We can expect to see Gallade reclaim its throne in the Ultra League Premier format and potentially be a fun flavor pick in the open formats as well.

Finally, a minor but long-awaited update to attack availability has arrived. Some legacy attacks that were not learnable even by Elite TM will finally be generally available. Specifically, Diglett, Dugtrio, Graveler, and Golem will be able to learn the Ground-type Fast Attack Mud Shot, Lileep the Grass-type Fast Attack Bullet Seed, and Gastrodon the Ground-type Charged Attack Earthquake. While none of these additions are particularly impactful for competitive play, Trainers will be happy to have previously unavailable options now open. In fact, Lileep with Bullet Seed might even be a fun pick in future Little Cup formats such as the Jungle Cup.

Overall, the updates for World of Wonders are relatively conservative in maintaining the current open Great League meta. The most impactful changes for the open Great League format, which we will see reflected in the Pokémon GO Championship Series, revolve around Water-type damage, with Aqua Tail dealing more damage and Feraligatr potentially rising in usage. However, limited formats in the GO Battle League such as Ultra League Premier and even Master League Premier could see major shifts with Aqua Tail’s buff and Pokémon such as Gallade and Feraligatr receiving new Fast Attacks. Interestingly, no attacks or Pokémon were directly weakened in this update, so if any Pokémon fall in usage, it will be due to an indirect effect. As the World of Wonders opens up, Trainers will develop strategies that both utilize and respond to changes in the GO Battle League.

About the Writer

Sophtoph
Sophtoph is a contributing writer for Pokemon.com. She has been an avid enjoyer of the GO Battle League since its release and has reached the top 10 on its global leaderboards. She can often be found sharing her battles at Twitch.tv/sophtoph or with her Pokémon GO Battle League-dedicated Discord community.

Source: Pokemon.com