Early on, the season truly lived up to its name with a themed format called the Fantasy Cup. In this case, it takes a base of the Ultra League and restricts types to Dragon, Steel, and Fairy. Further, in an act of early anticipation, the species of Galarian Stunfisk and Cobalion are banned, and it is easy to see why: the latter's Fighting type and the former's Ground type are sweeping strengths in even a regular Ultra League, and thus they are banned. As this is also the debut of the cup, it may be that a Great League edition could follow later on, but this Ultra League start is a fine one.
A week later, the Color Cup came into being. Going to a Great League base, the format restricts the types to Grass, Fire, Water, and Electric. If this sounds all too familiar, that's because it may be described as the "Summer Cup" with two less types or Silph Arena's Rainbow theme with one less type included. It seems that a lot of tangents can be made with a format with just these types, this new format being one of them. It may be worth it to imagine what may come next.
Last month, there was something called the Mountain Cup, and it had a fascinating set of restrictions. The allowed types were Rock, Ground, Ice, and Steel, all things one may expect to find on a mountain. There was also a species ban: Swampert, the ever-popular "mud boy", though one may wonder why others of the same type are also not banned - likely because they don't pose as much a threat as this one. The restrictions still allowed for some earthly dynamics to occur.
Just last week, the Spring Cup made itself present. Its types were restricted to Grass, Water, and Fairy, and Toxapex (a Water and Poison combo, and a current "rising star" in PvP) was banned. With just three types, team selection had to make sense, and the Poison type - which may be found with the first two types - makes itself appear to be necessary. Regardless, it was a rather apropos themed format.
Overall, "apropos" seems to be an appropriate descriptor just for this first half of the GBL season, which is part of the overall Season of Rising Heroes. Four new themed formats - a big number for such a time - became present, each with their own complexities and twists, surfacing just like the heroes that would rise in this season. Even with me being "out of the loop" recently, I can vouch for all these in their qualities and deem them part of a dynamic start to the season.
One year ago: Keeping a Balance for the World Championships
Two years ago: Whence I Am, Whence We Are
Three years ago: Levels and Half-Levels in Pokémon Go
Four years ago: Cosplay: INOCHI 2019 - Sengoku Jidai
Five years ago: Shiny Here, Shiny There
Six years ago: Friendly Plays
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