The Pokémon Go’s Battle League competitions are fierce, and if you want to compete in some of the harder battles, you’ll want to battle in the Master League Classic. It’s the highest category of competitions. You’ll be able to use any Pokémon you want, and there is no CP maximum, so you want to bring your best choices. However, the only restriction is you cannot bring a Pokémon that has been powered up by XL candy, which means a majority of the players in this competition will be using a majority of the powerful legendary Pokémon that they can bring. These are some of the best Pokémon you can use in these battles.
Best Pokémon for the Master League Classic
Garchomp
If you’re looking for a budget Dragon-type, Garchomp fits the bill. It’s also a Ground-type, making it a good choice to take on Ho-Oh, Snorlax, and Melmetal. If you don’t have Groudon or other legendary Dragon-types, Garchomp is a solid choice, even without any XL candy giving it a sizeable boost in the Master League Classic.
Giratina (Origin)
Giratina (Origin) has always been a solid Pokémon, and it continues to perform in the Master League Classic. You’ll want to use it to defeat Mewtwo, Ho-Oh, Lugia, Kyogre, Latios, Mew, Melmetal, and Groudon. It’s an excellent counter pick to several meta Pokémon in the Master League Classic. Still, you want to make sure to partner it up with a Pokémon capable of taking down Dragon and Ghost-types, such as Togekiss or Dragonite.
Groudon
Groudon has been one of the best Master League choices in the Battle League, and it continues to be a good choice in the Master League Classic. Not too much has changed with it by taking out XL candy, so it’s only stronger. If you have a Groudon with top-tier stats and IVs, we’d recommend using that in this competition rather than the regular Master League. Groudon becomes even harder to beat in these battles.
Gyarados (shadow)
Gyarados (shadow) has even more attack power than the standard Gyarados, making it a superb choice for this competition. While it does better with XL candy, before that mechanic had been introduced, it was doing quite well in the Master League. It’s capable of defeating Garchomp, Reshiram, Groudon, Mewtwo, Swampert, and even Palkia. It’s going to lose to several Pokémon that know any Electric-type attacks, such as Melmetal.
Mamoswine (shadow)
Mamoswine is a glass cannon. It’s capable of doing quite a bit of damage as a Ice and Ground-type Pokémon, but it lacks suitable defenses. However, you can lean into that with using the shadow version of this Pokémon, reserving it for your second choice to switch in to deal heavy damage to powerful legendary options. A shadow Mamoswine can win against Lugia, Dragonite, Dialga, and both Giratina Pokémon. Because of its lower defenses, you don’t want to use it immediately.
Melmetal
Melmetal remains one of the best Pokémon you can use in the Master League and the Master League Classic. It has wonderful type coverage with its moveset, and it’s hard to beat. It can typically lose against Groudon, Mewtwo, and Kyogre, but those Pokémon have to be lucky. Groudon is probably the Pokémon that is best to take it out, so unless another Master League combatant has this Pokémon, Melmetal will sweep away most competitors.
Reshiram
Reshiram is another Dragon-type Pokémon that you’ll probably have to fight quite a bit of the time. While there are several Water-type Pokémon that can counter it, if you save it to battle against Togekiss, Giratina (Origin), Darkrai, and even Metagross, you can grab victory. You need to be careful when battling Dialga and Kyogre, through. Despite Dialga being a Dragon and Steel-type Pokémon, it can typically win against Reshiram if you’re not careful.
Snorlax (shadow)
Snorlax has plenty of defenses and has even more health to make it an annoying Pokémon to try and defeat. If you have a shadow Snorlax, it’s even harder to defeat this Pokémon as it keeps all of its health, loses a bit of defense, and regains those lost stats with an even more powerful attack. That makes it one of the best Pokémon in the Master League Classic, capable of being a solid tank and hold the last line in your Pokémon team to give you victory. You can choose to use it as your lead or as your final Pokémon.
Thundurus (Therian)
Previously, Zekrom had been at the top of the food chain when seeing Electric-type legendary Pokémon in the Master League. However, with Thundurus (Therian) entering the game, it does even more damage than Zekrom, knocking the Dragon-type Pokémon off the throne and placing the crown on its head. Because this Pokémon is still new, it’s unlikely players will see this Pokémon too much, at least, right now. That will change in the next few months as players grind Thundurus (Therian) candy.
Zekrom
While Thundurus (Therian) is stronger, Zekrom is still a great choice, and in some situations, it’s still better. It’s a Dragon-type Pokémon that can withstand most of the beatings other Dragon-type Pokémon give it. It can destroy any of the Flying-type Pokémon that appear in the Master League Classic, such as Ho-Oh, Lugia, or Dragonite. Zekrom might not be seen as much during the summer of 2021, but it has time to remain in the spotlight for just a bit longer during the spring.
