Great League, Remixed

As with the Silph Arena, particularly as evidenced by its themed cup this month, the Go Battle League or GBL might be apt to try new things for its PvP battling formats, seeing as it can and has done so. Currently, it has something simple in place along with the "vanilla" Great League format, and that would be a slight rehash of the Great League format, entitled the "Great League Remix". This format was devised based on data gathered from the previous run of the Great League during the current season of the GBL.

That data would be the top 10 most frequently used Pokémon at that time, which for the Great League Remix becomes the "ban list". The banned Pokémon are Venusaur, Raichu, Marowak, Azumarill, Umbreon, Skarmory, Swampert, Galvantula, Stunfisk, and Talonflame. Remarkably, for the three Pokémon with regional forms (Raichu, Marowak, and Stunfisk), both the original and regional forms are banned, and thus if one counted forms instead, there are 13 forms in total that are banned. Because they are frequently used, the restriction becomes significant. 

With certain Pokémon being banned, this allows room for other Pokémon to come out more frequently, some of which are tops in the meta. Medicham, Bastiodon, and Altaria have always been leading contenders with or without the banned species, and they are likely to be used more frequently at this point. Some of the more surprising leaders include Cresselia (particularly with a certain move), Wobbuffet (but powered up with Candy XL), and Machamp (as a Shadow Pokémon). All of these have the potential to be present given the means.

Based on experience, other Pokémon that can support the meta and are not part of the banned list also have the potential to be more present. A big one that I've noticed is Politoed, and it's no surprise, as it has appropriate stats for Great League. The "big two" Fairy types of Clefable and Wigglytuff remain quite useful in some regards and every so often appear; I notably prefer the usage of the latter myself. In general, though, the possible support Pokémon are still varied, and it may be suggested to prepare for anything.

On the whole, it seems that while the banning of certain Pokémon doesn't change the landscape of the Great League too much, with certain Pokémon being more available to fill in the slots left behind by the absent Pokémon. Yet even so, there's still enough intricacy for anyone participating to watch out for, enough that it does become something even just a bit different and new. In that sense, the "remix" is as intended, with the same sound of the Great League but a slightly new arrangement of it.

One year ago: On Pokémon and Computing

Two years ago: The Fullness of the Cup

Three years ago: Cosplay: GAME - Games Animation Marketplace and Exhibition

Four years ago: True Colors (...of a Logo)