Best Master League teams to use in Pokémon Go

The Master League in Pokémon Go’s Go Battle League features the best of the best, thanks to its lack of CP cap — meaning titans of the Pokédex lock heads in heated battles, and only the very best trainers stand to reach the top of the rankings. 

Whether you’re looking to introduce your Pokémon to battling for the first time, or simply want some tips for the current Master League meta, we’re breaking down the top threats in the Master League and which Pokémon to add to your team with this full guide.

What is the Master League meta right now?

The Master League has seen a few changes thanks to the latest shift in meta, ushered in alongside the latest season called “Dual Destinies”.

In terms of recent changes, only a few of the recent move tweaks really affect Master League. The moves Fire Fang, Ice Fang, and Thunder Fang all now generate energy quicker, while Thunder Shock, Fire Punch, Ice Punch, and Thunder Punch, have all become more powerful. This works out well for Thunder Shock user Zapdos, and Ice Fang user Avalugg. 

One major debuff is to Bulldoze, which now does less damage, but has a chance to decrease the opponent’s defense. The only Master League Pokémon that really could utilize this are Zygarde or Mamoswine, so for now, if you have Zygarde it’s better to run it with Earthquake instead. 

Some of the Season 20 changes introduced as part of the “Max Out” season are also still at large, mostly the increased damage added to the move Sucker Punch, which has seen the Pokémon Yvetal fly up the ranks. Meanwhile, buffs to Mud Slap have helped the humble Rhyperior maintain a spot in the big leagues. 

Finally, a few things to keep in mind. Mega Pokémon are not allowed in the Master League, but from Feb. 25, there will be a Master League: Mega Edition event. This guide will not cover Mega Pokémon as they are not normally allowed in Master League, and this upcoming event is an exception. 

Overall, in terms of new additions, no Pokémon have really shaken up the Master League since Dusk Mane and Dawn Wings Necrozma made their debut as part of Pokémon Go Fest Global 2024, and these two still dominate the upper ends of the competitive ladder, alongside some stalwart picks. 

Hopefully some currently teased, or at least expected Pokémon, will shake things up further, like the presumed release of Black Kyurem and White Kyurem during the Unova Tour event in early 2025. Otherwise, some Pokémon could get their signature moves or buffs with move changes in the near future.  But for now, we’re working with what we’ve got, and until then, here’s our best team suggestions.

Master League best team suggestions

Assuming sourcing legendaries is no problem, we have two best team recommendations for the Master League:

• Yvetal, Dusk Mane Necrozma, Kyurem
• Zygarde (Complete Forme), Ho-Oh, Origin Forme Palkia

Let’s go through them separately.

Yvetal, Dusk Mane Necrozma, Kyurem

The “Max Out” season was very kind to Yvetal, as buffs to the move Sucker Punch mean the Dark and Flying-type Pokémon can start doing damage quickly, especially to Steel-type threats like Dusk Mane Necrozma, In fact, Yvetal is a key counter to Dusk Mane thanks to it’s Charged Moves like Dark Pulse which can wipe out the opponent. 

Oblivion Wing is Yvetal’s Signature move, hitting Grass, Bug, and Fighting-type Pokémon for Super Effective damage. Buzzwole does not want to get hit with this, and it also causes a huge issue for other top-tier Pokémon like Zarude. 

Next up, Dusk Mane Necrozma is just one of the most powerful Pokémon in the game. If you have just one Necrozma or can only fuse it into one of the two fusions, Dusk Mane is the top pick thanks to its amazing stats and great type coverage. 

Dusk Mane Necrozma is a menace thanks to its 277 Attack stat, while its mixture of moves means nobody gets away. Shadow Claw can hit Mewtwo, Dark Pulse hits Giratina, and its signature move Sunsteel Strike hits any Fairy-type Pokémon like Xerneas like a truck. It’s going to be expensive to power it up, but it’s beyond worth it. 

After getting its signature move Glaciate, Kyurem has claimed it’s spot as the best Ice-type attacker in the game, especially with the secondary Dragon-type to add some bulk. Add Dragon Claw and Dragon Breath to help chip away at major threats like Palkia Origin and Dialga Origin. 

In fact, the STAB Ice-type moves make Kyurem a huge threat for Zygarde while resisting any Dragon-type moves, and Glaciate will also take a huge chunk out of Yvetal and Zygarde. With just 170 DEF, Kyurem is something of a glass canon, so hopefully those upcoming Unova fusions help this Ice-type Legendary to freeze out some other powerful picks. 

This team’s best moves, IVs, and alternative suggestions:

• Yvetal alternatives: Galarian Moltres, Hydreigon, Shadow Annihilape
• Dusk Mane Necrozma alternatives: Rhyperior, Solgaleo, Ursaluna
• Kyurem alternatives: Shadow Dragonite, Hisuian Avalug, Goodra

Zygarde (Complete Forme), Ho-Oh, Origin Forme Palkia

First up in this team is the Dragon and Ground-type Legendary Zygarde, which fans can expect to see more of in the upcoming Pokémon Legends Z-A. For a lot of Pokémon Go players you may already have a Zygarde thanks to the “‘From A to Zygarde’” Special Research, but what you may not have, is the most powerful form. 

Added as part of the Routes update, Zygarde is… fine, in its regular form, but you’ll need to travel Routes, interact with Matteo, or find stray Zygarde cells on your walk to eventually earn it’s Complete Forme. 

So, Zygarde is possibly the most accessible of many of these Legendary Pokémon, but only if you can stomach the huge amount of work needed to travel Routes and find Zygarde cells. Anyway, if you do manage to earn the Voltron-esque Complete Forme then you have earned yourself one of the most powerful Go Battle League Pokemon in the entire game. 

Zygarde has phenomenal bulk, and because of this can afford to even swallow the occasional Super Effective hit so you can keep your shield and your options open. Mostly, Zygarde is the answer to Dusk Mane Necrozma, as that STAB Earthquake will decimate the fearsome fusion. But otherwise, Crunch is bad news for Giratina, and Dragon Tail also helps to take care of Dragonite. 

Next, off the bat Ho-Oh is one of those Pokémon where it pays to have the Shadow Form if you can. Changes to moves like Incinerate helped Ho-Oh become a huge problem for Grass and Steel-type Pokémon (especially Dusk Mane Necrozma), and that Shadow Attack-bonus will help push Ho-Oh over the line. But, if you have a regular Ho-Oh don’t fret as this is still a great pick. 

Mostly, Ho-Oh is a fantastic wall to some threats like Dialga, Dragonite, or Mewtwo. You’ll need to be careful of Rock-type moves like Rhyperior’s Rock Wrecker, but that’s why it’s worth having a Water-type on the team to round out the elemental offence. 

Finally, both Origin Forme Palkia and Origin Forme Dialga are phenomenal Pokémon, but when it comes to Go Battle League, Palkia has a slightly higher Attack stats and can reach a higher CP. Plus, while Dialga has great bulk, it is outclassed by fellow Steel-type Legendary Dusk mane Necrozma. 

Crucially, both STAB Dragon and Water-type moves from Origin Forme Palkia – in the shape of Dragon Breath, Aqua Tail, and Signature move Spacial Rend – hit some key Go Battle League players. Zygarde in particular does not want to be matched up against Palkia, which is why they work great together on the same team. Plus, Spacial Rend is just a wildly powerful move in its own right, which can cause huge problems for regular threats like Giratina and Dragonite. 

This team’s best moves, IVs, and alternative suggestions:

• Zygarde alternatives: Rhyperior, Therian Landorus, Ursaluna
• Ho-Oh alternatives: Skeledirge, Incineroar, Galarian Moltres
• Palkia (Origin Forme) alternatives: Shadow Gyarados, Feraligatr, Baxcalibur

Non-Legendary best Master League team

Not everyone wants to spend money on Pokémon Go raids. Or, you just may have missed some of the most important raids or Special research tasks over the years. So, if you want to jump into competitive but don’t quite have the elusive Legendary you need, here’s a team of Pokémon where most players can catch ‘em all:

• Florges, Rhyperior, Shadow Gyarados 

The humble Flabebe may not look like much, but it’s evolution Florges has been making huge waves in the competitive scene thanks to STAB Fairy-type moves and access to lots of Grass moves as well. Charged move Moonblast, meanwhile, is a huge problem for Pokémon like Zygarde, Yvetal, and Palkia. 

You might be surprised at Florges’ bulk as well, which make it a great alternative to Xerneas if you don’t have access to the Legendary stag. It does not match up well against Dusk mane Necrozma, or Ho-Oh, but it’s still likely the best Fairy-type Attacker in the game. 

What can be said about Rhyperior, the little rhino that could. It has consistently made a space for itself in the top of the competitive scene, you’ll just need a lot of XL Candy to get it to the CP cap needed. High attack, great type-coverage, and the powerful move Rock Wrecker make this a real threat. Though, if you don’t already have it, Rock Wrecker will require an Elite TM. 

The reason Rhyperior is seen so much in Go Battle League is partly because it’s easy to build, but also because Ground-type is one of the best offensive types. Meanwhile, the STAB power of Rock Wrecker can wipe out an Yvetal before it’s had a chance. Of course, it has a huge weakness to Water-type moves, which is why you generally always need either a Water-type Pokémon or at least a Grass-type. Rhyperior is always waiting in the wings. 

Yes, Gyarados is here mostly because of Rhyperior. However, Shadow Gyarados has access to Dragon Breath, Aqua Tail, and Crunch. Dragon Breath is great for threats like Dialga. Crunch can hit Psychic-type Pokémon like Dusk Mane Necrozma, and of course Aqua Tail uses that powerful STAB damage to wipe out Rhyperior, Zygarde, and Landorus.

The reason for Shadow over the regular here is because of the additional Attack power, which will really push moves like Aqua Tail over the edge. If you don’t have a Shadow Magikarp or Gyarados, you can run the regular Gyarados or some other picks for your third slot could easily be Primarina, Feraligatr, or even Swampert. 

This team’s best moves, IVs, and alternative suggestions:

In summary — Master League can be really fun if you have the Pokémon, but to make competitively viable, you will have to invest a lot of Candy XL, or Rare Candy XL. Almost every Pokémon ideally needs to be at their CP limit, so on top of using Candy XL, it’s beneficial to be as high a Trainer Level as possible and to make your biggest threat (say Zygarde) a Best Buddy and your current Buddy for the CP boost. 

On top of that, while other leagues are more forgiving with IVs, such as Great League where it’s better to have 0 Attack but high Defence and HP, Master League demands the best. You are almost always aiming for a Perfect IV Pokémon (you can use the search string ‘4*’ in Pokémon Go to find your perfect IV Pokémon), or if not, then as near as possible