I don't play Pokemon GO for the GO Battle League (GBL), but I find it enjoyable in the rare times* that I do.
You can see from this chart that Electric is usually the first Pokemon of the trainers I battle with. This makes sense because Lapras is a water type. This is followed by fire and fighting types as the first Pokemon because Lapras is an ice-type weak against fire and fighting moves.
I am surprisingly looking forward to the next season of GBL. Let me know your thoughts on this data in the comments below.
* I sometimes get addicted to it that I'll play a week straight then won't play for two months.
Despite its issues and how
frustrating it is to lose. I find joy in figuring out which team works best
based on the Pokemon I have available.
I also recently discovered the GO BattleLog app - it's a crowdsourcing application where you enter all your battles, and the app aggregates everything to update the PvPoke.com site. For fun, below are some
of the teams I have tried and the results.
I only started playing GBL again three days ago because I was bored, and the Kanto Cup was ongoing.
Team 1: Nidoqueen, Dewgong, and Raichu
The first team I tested is Nidoqueen, Dewgong, and Raichu. In the ten battles I did with this team, they only won three times. A 30% winning rate is unacceptable - I don't like to lose, so I know I need to change things up. Below is the chart of the composition of teams that I battled against.
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These charts are from using Nidoqueen, Dewgong, and Raichu Click the image to enlarge. |
Team 2: Dragonair, Dewgoing, and Raichu
I changed one Pokemon from my Team 1, and my winning rate increased from 30% to 39%. Although, I did more battles with this team. I did 23 battles and won 9 of them. It still doesn't feel good to lose so often. It means that I am winning 2 out of the 5 battles. Because Dragonair is my first Pokemon, I faced more teams with Fairy- and Ice-type.
I am beginning to understand how crucial the type of your first Pokemon is.
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These charts are from using Dragonair, Dewgong, and Raichu Click the image to enlarge. |
Team 3: Dragonair, Hypno, and Lapras
This team I used for 25 battles, and I won 63% of the time! It's crazy! My weakness with this team is still Fairy-type, but either Hypno or Lapras can deal with them.
I also faced Alolan Marowak a lot. I get it, though. It's a Dark-type which is strong against Hypno, and a Fire-type which can defeat Lapras (ice-type). However, my Lapras and Dragonair both have water-type charge attacks, which helped.
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These charts are from using Dragonair, Hypno, and Lapras Click the image to enlarge |
Bonus Team: Lapras, Hypno, and Snorlax
My hubby doesn't like GBL, so I play it for him. He has stronger Pokemon, so I went with a team composed of Lapras, Hypno, and Snorlax. The winning rate of this team is 71%! I used it for three days, and it won 53 battles out of 75. Crazy! I love it.
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This is the chart of all battles by Pokemon type against Lapras, Hypno, and Snorlax. |
You can see from this chart that Electric is usually the first Pokemon of the trainers I battle with. This makes sense because Lapras is a water type. This is followed by fire and fighting types as the first Pokemon because Lapras is an ice-type weak against fire and fighting moves.
Why is this team still winning? Lapras can handle the fire-type first Pokemon since it has a water-type Charge attack. While it won't survive the electric type and fighting type, Snorlax and Hypno can almost always finish the job.
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This is the type of Pokemon faced by a Lapras, Hypno, and Snorlax team where they won. |
The real difficulty with this team is when the fighting Pokemon is the last. Hypno is heavily damaged by then, and I only have Snorlax left, which is almost useless against a fighting type.
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This is the type of Pokemon faced by a Lapras, Hypno, and Snorlax team, where they lost. |
I am surprisingly looking forward to the next season of GBL. Let me know your thoughts on this data in the comments below.
All screenshots are from my account in gobattlelog.com. I highly recommend the app to understand the type of Pokemon you usually face with the team you have.