So basically....Forget everything we knew.
Its interesting how different pokemon and moves preform in PvP than they did in raids and gyms.
Answers
I think you mean ultra league, great is 1500cp.
Things I noticed:
-Metagross wrecks most things in ultra anyway
-Including Giratina if it's only packing DC for a charge move
Steel types felt really strong in both ultra and great because they randomly resist so many matchups. Coverage for them might be pretty vital.
Thank you yes, Ultra is what I meant.
Different opinion (probably unpopular) here, MM Metagross felt disappointingly unsatisfying to use in PvP. Even without receiving energy from damage taken I should be able to fire off a Meteor Mash in 4.5 seconds due to Bullet Punch's EPS gain, yet it took so much longer. After the match the person I was battling asked what the deal was with holding off on using it for so long.
Got in quite a few battles tonight, and these were some of my biggest takeaways.
• Some charge moves that have the same energy cost outside of PvP (play rough and ice beam, for example), charge up at different rates. When I was using Azumarill in the 1500 league, PR was consistently fully charged before IB was.
• If two people send battle requests simultaneously, neither will get a notification until after they've exited the battle prep screen. At that point, both will get the notification, and accepting it won't do anything.
• Kingdra is stupidly good in the Ultra League (it tears through things ridiculously fast even just spamming DB), and Cresselia takes forever to KO in the Great League.
• Metagross is really good in the Master League, pretty good in the Ultra League, but pretty lackluster in the Great League.
• Blissey isn't as groan-inducingly annoying to fight against as I had feared.
• Overall, a very fun system!
I'm enjoying the battles so far. I feel like they're a little simple...? But I'm sure there'll be some kind of stats update for it down the road.
My biggest gripe is with the shields. I assumed they were going to block up to 80% of the damage of the charge attack, but it basically blocks 99%! Way too much in my opinion.
The shield should be reducing the attack power, not negating it all together. Because now one-bar (and even two-bar) pokemon are much less valuable, they'll die before they get anything off : /
It should be a little gamble combined with how much tapping the enemy did and the super effectiveness and power counted together. Block at least 60%, but possible to be up to 90%? I dunno.
It's pretty fun, won 4 out of 6 games so far. I try to use non-legendaries even in Master League.
So far I've got these favorites for PVP:
Rhyperior with Mud Slap + Earthquake & Stone Edge (good vs Zapdos and other flying types)
Gyarados with Waterfall + Hydro Pump & Outrage
Bastoise with Water Gun + Hydro Cannon & Ice Beam (good when pitted against grass)
Magmortar with Fire Spin + Fire Punch (will get Brick Break for defense against rock types)
Piloswine with Ice Shard + Avalanche (will add Bulldoze for defense against fire)
Honchkrow with Snarl + Dark Pulse & Brave Bird (defense against fighting and bug).