The Catch Cup of GBL

Over the course of this month, the Go Battle League (GBL) of Pokémon Go has been trying a few novel things, some of which attempt to experiment and prove that it can deal with specific ways of battling. After last season ended, the season began on a "miniature" note for a week, followed by a "retro" atmosphere. To close up the season, yet another completely different challenge is implemented up until tomorrow as the last day of the season. As suggested in the title, that would be called the "Catch Cup".

The starting point for this is a Great League basis, allowing Pokémon up to CP 1500. The primary restriction is... only Pokémon that have been caught from the day this season started (November 10) up to the current day may be used in battle. Except for a banning restriction added just before this began on the 24th a few days ago, which disallows Melmetal and Genesect for obvious and crafty reasons, there are no other restrictions besides the primary one. And that makes for certain neat consequences that are realized in battle.

As a result of that primary restriction, Trainers effectively had to "start from scratch", using up what they can muster over approximately the past three weeks. Many of the key Pokémon from events and/or Research during that time are therefore fair game, including from the two editions of Community Day this month, as well as Uxie as one of the Lake Trio. In fact, for that reason, Electabuzz, Electivire, Magmar, Magmortar, and Uxie are often seen, with the rest being made up of odds and ends from much of the events of the month.

After having battled within the above restrictions, there are a few things that I can say. My experience has been hit-or-miss in that, even with a makeshift team, sometimes I can win a few in a row but then fail to win the next few ones. Interestingly, some of these battles were closely decided, being that either the opponent or I was able to win with just a little bit of HP left. With such an impromptu method of team construction, precise stats may not matter as much and whatever works may just work, though not all the time.

With the Catch Cup, Trainers are forced to use what they can obtain prior to or during the competition. It's a way of leveling the playing field that demands new, dynamic, and currently accessible strategies, even if some of those may be easily predictable. It becomes the third and final "experiment" of this season in GBL before moving on to a new season. Though there may or may not be room for this or other similar "experiments", it is still neat to know that Trainers can still come through regardless of (odd) restrictions that may be in place.

One year ago: Pokémon Go Event Rollup, 11/29/2019

Two years ago: Multiple Pathways to Evolution?

Three years ago: The Words of a Pikachu