Moves
| Fast Moves |
Steel Wing, Air Slash |
| Charged Moves |
Drill Peck, Iron Head, Brave Bird |
| Recommended Set |
Air Slash + Drill Peck and Brave Bird |
It’s Skarmory 2.0! In the Great League they even have almost identical stats, becoming effectively interchangeable. The few different matchups generally end up in Corviknight’s favor, thanks to Drill Peck sometimes taking one less fast move to charge. For example, it can tank 2 Ice Beams from Azumarill and get to Drill Peck twice plus a final Brave Bird to win at a shield disadvantage — something that not even a rank 1 Skarmory can do. That said, keep in mind that Drill Peck isn’t quite as good as Sky Attack on its own, so it may end up slightly more reliant on landing Brave Birds. In the Ultra League, though, the gap widens: Corviknight is far bulkier than Skarm there, as it can actually reach the 2500 CP threshold. Most of their simulated 1v1 matchups are still quite similar, but in practice the higher tankiness will almost certainly make the new bird in town the superior one.
Moves
| Fast Moves |
Smack Down, Incinerate |
| Charged Moves |
Rock Blast, Rock Slide, Flame Charge |
| Recommended Set |
Smack Down or Incinerate + Rock Slide and Flame Charge |
Despite the atrocious typing (the same as Magcargo, with double weaknesses to Water and Ground) this goofy mine monster has got plenty of bulk and an incredibly powerful moveset to make up for it. In the Great League it could be the first actually relevant Fire-type since Alolan Marowak — along with the pre-evolution Carkol, which has the same stats but is much more expensive to build (requiring Level 50 instead of ~Level 24). Of course, Coalossal can’t handle Fighting-types, but it can beat Marowak itself, take down Galarian Stunfisk quite cleanly with Incinerate, and power through most neutral matchups, even tougher ones like Umbreon. It might be even more interesting in the Ultra League, once players manage to gather enough XL candies to bring it there: it’s one of the few pokémon to rival Umbreon in tankiness there! Just to give you an idea, that means it can sometimes survive a doubly super effective Earthquake from Galarian Stunfisk… yeah. It should also be viable with both fast moves to fill slightly different roles, which only adds to its merits.
Moves
| Fast Moves |
Powder Snow |
| Charged Moves |
Icy Wind, Weather Ball Ice, Surf |
| Recommended Set |
Powder Snow + Surf and Icy Wind or Weather Ball Ice |
Only slightly less tanky than Dewgong, it’s very comparable to it. Losing the Water typing has its pros (against Grass and Electric) and cons (against other Water-types), and they kind of balance out. Powder Snow does a little less damage than Ice Shard, but the energy generation it picks up should be worth it, especially since Surf is so much better than Water Pulse. Also, unlike Dewgong, it won’t cost you two Elite TMs!
Worth noting, though. Eiscue isn’t always this bulky. In the main series, its ability Ice Face makes it very bulky until it takes a hit, at which point it changes to No Ice mode. If that’s the version of Eiscue we get, you can basically disregard everything written above. The No Ice version lacks the bulk to be good.
Moves
| Fast Moves |
Acid, Spark, Poison Jab |
| Charged Moves |
Acid Spray, Discharge, Wild Charge, Power-Up Punch |
| Recommended Set |
Poison Jab + Power-Up Punch and Wild Charge |
The unique Poison/Electric typing leaves Toxtricity with only a double weakness to Ground and a single one to Psychic. Its moveset is just as unique, and although that likely won’t be enough to overtake Nidoqueen as the current premier Poison-type, this punk-looking frog still holds some potential as a spicy glass cannon. Power-Up Punch and Wild Charge is a powerful combo on paper, though it will probably be tough to work with in practice, as it relies quite heavily on shield baiting and smart charged move timing, and Toxtricity’s low bulk isn’t very forgiving in that regard.
Moves
| Fast Moves |
Metal Claw, Dragon Tail |
| Charged Moves |
Dragon Claw, Flash Cannon, Hyper Beam |
| Recommended Set |
Dragon Tail + Dragon Claw and Flash Cannon |
While Duralodon may have the same incredible Dragon/Steel typing as Dialga, capping out under 3100 CP means it’s definitely not going to make a splash in Master. In Great and Ultra League, it has bulk comparable to Dragonite, with the same Dragon Tail + Dragon Claw moveset. That said, while the Steel secondary typing is absolutely advantageous in Master, it’s significantly less so in Great and Ultra where we’re actually flush with strong Counter users. It may be an interesting and spicy alternative to Altaria and Dragonite, but it’s likely not replacing them any time soon.
Moves
| Fast Moves |
Dragon Tail, Hex |
| Charged Moves |
Shadow Ball, Outrage, Dragon Pulse |
| Recommended Set |
Dragon Tail or Hex + Shadow Ball and Outrage |
Take Giratina-Origin. Make it a lot less bulky. Stop it from baiting with Ominous Wind. Now you’ve got Dragapult. It absolutely hits hard, but lower bulk and loss of speed really don’t do it any favors. That said, Giratina isn’t allowed into Master Premier, so that might be where Dragapult gets to see play. Definitely not in the lower formats, though. Far too squishy there.
Moves
| Fast Moves |
Powder Snow, Water Gun |
| Charged Moves |
Brine, Avalanche, Ancient Power |
| Recommended Set |
Powder Snow + Avalanche and Ancient Power |
While Brine and Ancient Power aren’t the most exciting moves in the world, Arctovish is still able to perform on par with the other top Water/Ice-type Pokémon we already have (Dewgong in Great League, Lapras in Ultra). Certainly a mon to keep an eye out for.
Moves
| Fast Moves |
Powder Snow, Thunder Shock |
| Charged Moves |
Discharge, Avalanche, Ancient Power |
| Recommended Set |
Powder Snow or Thunder Shock + Avalanche and Discharge |
Arctozolt has decent bulk, unique typing, and a solid moveset. While it doesn’t really do anything particularly special in terms of matchup spreads, it seems like it could certainly be a solid pick in both the Great and Ultra Leagues.
Moves
| Fast Moves |
Dragon Tail, Thunder Shock |
| Charged Moves |
Discharge, Dragon Pulse, Ancient Power |
| Recommended Set |
Dragon Tail + Discharge and Ancient Power or Dragon Pulse |
This weird looking critter is a little bit lacking in the charged move department. That said, it’s a pretty interesting mon, bringing Zekrom’s rare typing down to the lower leagues. Its main use would probably be with Dragon Tail in Ultra, sorta like Kingdra or Dragalge (with whom it has comparable bulk). It might even see play in some Great League limited formats.
Moves
| Fast Moves |
Bullet Seed, Dragon Breath |
| Charged Moves |
Fly, Seed Bomb, Dragon Pulse, Outrage |
| Recommended Set |
Dragon Breath + Fly and Seed Bomb |
Interesting typing, interesting moveset… but very glassy. Because there are better Grass-types and better Dragon Breath users, it’ll probably end up stuck as a spicy (or just bad) pick, potentially outside of some restricted formats. More interesting, though, is its other evo branch, Appletun.
Moves
| Fast Moves |
Bullet Seed, Astonish |
| Charged Moves |
Energy Ball, Seed Bomb, Dragon Pulse, Outrage |
| Recommended Set |
Bullet Seed + Seed Bomb and Outrage |
Appletun is a lot bulkier than Flapple, leaving it a little tankier than Nidoqueen and Alolan Muk. That helps it a lot. Its Grass/Dragon typing is pretty interesting as well. The coverage leaves it totally walled out by Steel-types, but it does really well against, say, Swampert.
Moves
| Fast Moves |
Thunder Shock, Water Gun, Poison Jab |
| Charged Moves |
Discharge, Thunderbolt, Bubble Beam |
| Recommended Set |
Poison Jab or Thunder Shock + Bubble Beam and Discharge |
Poison Jab and Bubble Beam give this thing an interesting niche compared to other Electric-types. However, keep in mind that it will likely end up playing second fiddle to the actual Poison/Electric-type, Toxtricity. Pinchurchin is a bit bulkier, but it lacks the raw power, which very well may hold it back.
Moves
| Fast Moves |
Powder Snow, Bug Bite |
| Charged Moves |
Icy Wind, Ice Beam, Hurricane, Bug Buzz |
| Recommended Set |
Powder Snow + Icy Wind and Hurricane or Bug Buzz |
This movepool might have you impressed at first, but Frosmoth is extremely squishy and not even Powder Snow and Icy Wind could be enough to save it. As an Ice-type not weak to Fighting it ends up filling a similar role to Alolan Ninetales and Froslass, which are tough to surpass. Still worth catching Snom though. They’re so cute!
Moves
| Fast Moves |
Confusion, Take Down |
| Charged Moves |
Avalanche, Energy Ball, Psyshock, Psychic |
| Recommended Set |
Confusion + Avalanche and Energy Ball |
Ice Rider Calyrex has
hella stats. Capping out at 4235 CP at Level 40, a significant amount of its performance is just due to how big it gets. A big downside to it, though, is its typing. Ice/Psychic is terrible defensively, and it kinda shows. You lose to Melmetal, Kyogre, Mud Shot Groudon, Ho-Oh, and Giratina-Origin. That said, we don’t wanna downplay its wins, either. You manage to beat a lot of the non-Dialga Dragons super consistently, as well as Togekiss, Giratina-Altered, and Yveltal. If it sees play, it will be because it can just outstat things. Keep in mind that we’re running Confusion + Avalanche and Energy Ball here, since Avalanche has great neutral coverage and Energy Ball gives you a useful hit against Kyogre.
Moves
| Fast Moves |
Confusion, Take Down |
| Charged Moves |
Shadow Ball, Energy Ball, Psyshock, Psychic |
| Recommended Set |
Confusion + Psyshock and Shadow Ball |
If you thought Ice Rider’s stats were impressive then do I have a mon for you. Shadow Rider Calyrex caps out at 4540 CP, at 40,
with the 9% nerf. So. That said, it actually seems to perform worse in practice. Shadow Ball’s good, don’t get us wrong, but Avalanche is a lot more impressive. Due to Confusion’s poor coverage and average energy generation, Shadow Rider Calyrex seems to have a tendency to fold in shielded scenarios. That’s not to mention a brutal double weakness to Ghost and Dark, leaving it
very unhappy when presented with, like, Giratina and Yveltal. Interestingly, Shadow Rider might be more reliant on getting its signature move Astral Barrage than Ice Rider is on Glacial Lance.
Moves
| Fast Moves |
Counter, Rock Smash, Waterfall |
| Charged Moves |
Close Combat, Brick Break, Dynamic Punch, Aqua Jet |
| Recommended Set |
Counter + Close Combat and Brick Break |
So, technically, Rapid Strike Urshifu has Water-type coverage in its charged moves. In practice, Aqua Jet is so horrible that it isn’t even worth running. This means you’re probably running a full Fighting moveset. That isn’t necessarily bad, though. Urshifu (in both of its forms) is notable in that it’s the first Counter user that has the CP to realistically compete in Master League. The Water form is notable in that it has solid resistances against Kyogre, stopping it from getting just out-statted like many Master League wannabe threats. It also resists Dialga’s Iron Head, which...might matter sometimes? Rapid Strike Urshifu does have a signature move in Surging Strikes, a powerful Water-type attack. So if Aqua Jet gets buffed, or Surging Strikes gets implemented, it’ll likely look even better.
Moves
| Fast Moves |
Counter, Rock Smash, Sucker Punch |
| Charged Moves |
Close Combat, Brick Break, Dynamic Punch, Payback |
| Recommended Set |
Counter + Close Combat and Payback |
This other Urshifu variant does have a strong coverage move in Payback, which allows it to strike back very hard against Giratina. That comes at the cost of a weakness to Fighting itself, and being more relegated to the role of a closer if running Payback means giving up the much weaker, but more consistent damage and baiting potential from Brick Break. All in all, these martial artist bears all perform very similarly to each other, and both look like pretty fun additions to a future Master League format. Much like Rapid Strike, Single Strike has a signature Dark-type move in Wicked Blow. If it’s better than Payback, Urshifu will look even more impressive!
Moves
| Fast Moves |
Dragon Tail, Poison Jab |
| Charged Moves |
Cross Poison, Dragon Pulse, Flamethrower |
| Recommended Set |
Dragon Tail + Cross Poison and Flamethrower |
We saved the best for last in this section. Whenever Niantic decides to drop it, Eternatus will be absolutely huge, both literally (it’s canonically the biggest pokémon discovered so far) and figuratively, as a Master League threat. Well, maybe we should say king instead of threat… Sitting at 4429 CP at level 40, and a whopping 5007 at level 50, it will easily surpass Lugia as the bulkiest pokémon in the format. On top of that, it’s a Dragon-type with a very solid moveset. That means that it will just obliterate most things, sometimes even the ones that it
really shouldn’t, like Zacian, Togekiss or (with some baiting luck involved) Dialga, Excadrill and Groudon. Much like Dialga, as long as it keeps the current movepool, it looks like one of those pokémon for which you either bring a dedicated counter, or you bring your own and go into the mirror match, or you just have a really bad time… But maybe that’s a good thing. Dialga has reigned alone for way too long in the Master League.
Eternatus has a second form, “Eternamax.” It’s never been released to the players in main series, and hopefully that holds here. Eternamax Eternatus caps out at 8187 CP at Level 40, and has a literal 100% winrate against every single Pokémon. Even at a 2-shield disadvantage. With a stat product nearly 4x as high as Lugia’s, this thing absolutely cannot be allowed to see play.
