It’s been a year, but the Summer Cup has returned to Pokémon Go for the start of the Season of Hidden Gems. This will be one of the first competitions for everyone to compete in alongside the standard Great League battles.
There will be a handful of limitations prepared that you will need to make sure you follow and respect, making sure your team composition is prepared to take on other players. Before you jump into these battles, we want to highlight some of the best Pokémon you can use in the June 2023 Summer Cup Great League, and have created a Pokémon tier list to make your life easier.
Summer Cup Great League Tier List
The Summer Cup is a competition where you can only use Bug, Electric, Fire, Grass, or Water-type Pokémon. Any Pokémon you bring to the competition must also be no more powerful than 1,500 CP. This is for the Great League edition of the competition and will happen from June 1, 2023, to June 8, 2023.
The Best Summer Cup Great League Lead Pokémon
Your Lead Pokémon will be the first Pokémon you use in your roster. You will likely perform a handful of attacks with it against your opponent, potentially using it until it faints, or you may swap to one of your two other Pokémon. Your Lead choice on your Pokémon Go team will want a healthy balance of attacks and defense, with a rounded number of resistances and as few weaknesses as possible. We recommend reserving at least one of your shields for this Pokémon.
| Tier | Pokémon |
| S | Diggersby, Dubwool, Luxray (Shadow), and Pidgeot |
| A | Charizard (Shadow), Cradily, Munchlax, and Toxapex |
| B | Ninetales, Pelipper, Quagsire (Shadow), and Vigoroth |
| C | Buzzwole, Lurantis, Mantine, and Tropius |
| D | Abomasnow, Pinsir (Shadow), Swampert (Shadow), and Zangoose |
The Best Summer Cup Great League Switch Pokémon
The Switch Pokémon will be the one with the highest amount of attack power. Typically, this choice will be a hard counter to anything that could counter your Lead Pokémon, and you usually want to swap to this Pokémon first before you go to your Closer choice. Because this Pokémon is considered the counter option, you can expect this Pokémon in Pokémon Go to have a high amount of attack power and few defenses. You want to reserve at least one shield for it, potentially two.
| Tier | Pokémon |
| S | Diggersby, Dubwool, Munchlax, and Vigoroth |
| A | Charizard (Shadow), Galvantula, Miltank, and Zangoose |
| B | Beedrill, Charjabug, Cradily, and Lickitung |
| C | Ariados, Bewear, Pelipper, and Roserade |
| D | Luxray, Scolipede, Snorlax, and Zapdos |
The Best Summer Cup Great League Closer Pokémon
The Closer Pokémon on your team will have the highest defenses. This Pokémon will be the one with the highest amount of defense power, capable of withstanding heavy attacks from your opponent. It should have as few weaknesses as possible, with several resistances to other Pokémon attacks. We recommend not saving any of your shields for this Pokémon while competing in this Pokémon Go competition.
| Tier | Pokémon |
| S | Diggersby, Staraptor, Togedemaru, and Victini |
| A | Buzzwole, Emolga, Swampert, and Toxapex |
| B | Chansey, Chesnaught, Magcargo, and Magnezone (Shadow) |
| C | Dunsparce, Jumpluff, Torkoal, and Trevenant |
| D | Blaziken, Dubwool, Pidgeot, and Raikou |
