Pokémon GO Guides - Rules and Tips for the Halloween Cup

For the first time since the Battle League release, GO wears the costume. From 26 October to 2 November Lega Master and its Premier Cup give way to a new type of goal limited to a few types: the Halloween Cup. This special type of cup follows particular rules:

• It is played in the Mega League: Only Pokémon with CP equal to or less than 1500 are allowed
• Type restrictions: only Pokémon that have at least one type of Poison, Bug, Dark, Fairy or Ghost are allowed
• Provided they comply with these two conditions, there are no restrictions on the number of Pokémon that you can use.

Tips for facing the Cup

To find all the Pokémon that qualify for the Cup in one go, you can first sort them by PL. Then, by pressing on the magnifying glass at the top right of your box, paste this string of text: pl-1500 & poison, beetle, dark, goblin, ghost. By doing so they will all appear in order of PL, and you just have to choose.

If you are not used to participate in the GO Battle League and just fight to get the sweet tooth MT Star Player of the month, but you want to compete in this particular event, there are a couple of things you will want to pay attention to.

The IVs (evaluation) of Pokémon

It is not always essential to use Pokémon with maximum stats - and indeed this completely precludes the Mega League for some Pokémon, taking them beyond the limit of PL allowed. But pay attention to the Attack stat: in the event that you and your opponent press simultaneously to use a charged move, this stat will determine who goes first. If your Pokémon has it much lower, though, it's only natural that not even a full IV Attack stat can do much.

Two charged moves

It is often crucial to have a Pokémon with two charged moves. In some cases it is very expensive in terms of stardust and candy, but among the many Pokémon available there are of course some budget choices (indicated below).

Type coverage

In the pool of moves available for each Pokémon - despite being extremely limited compared to the games of the main series - there are some very useful pearls. Even a move that does not benefit from STAB (additional damage because of the same type as the user) can save your life in some situations.
Marowak form Alola learns for example Ossoclava, a Ground-type move that gives him an advantage over Fire Pokémon like him - transforming the matchup from a tie to an advantage for you.

The podium

Azumarill in first position on the podium is like a returning nightmare. A must have in the teams of many even in normal Mega League battles in GO Battle League, it remains one of the most formidable contenders where the Fairy type is involved. It takes advantage of the fast Bubble move to generate a modest amount of energy, and a loaded moveset that offers great coverage.
It's up to you to choose which ones: Ice Beam is the fastest to load, Carineria and Hydropump are a little more expensive in terms of energy. Each of the three offers cover from different types, with Hydro Pump and Cuteness that can help you in some situations to escape even from a matchup with another Azumarill.

Galvantula, the Electro / Beetle spider earns second place by being able to stand up to Azumarill. To do this you can take advantage of the quick move Invertivolt (while Tagliofuria offers better cover against other Beetles), coupled for sure with the charged Electro Discharge. For the second charge you can decide to run for cover against the Beetles or the Grass with Buzz or Assault (the second is recommended), or from the Rock or Earth with Energipalla - aware that it does not benefit from STAB and that it will not be able to knock down opponents in one fell swoop.

Mawile - a Folletto / Steel Pokémon that, although it has not exceptional stats, makes up for it with a large number of resistances and a very good coverage. Choose for yourself which quick move is right for you between Ice Fangs, Fire Fangs and Bite (depending on the coverage you need): the latter is a bit inferior to the others in terms of energy generation, and perhaps not too useful in this half.
The Crescipugno charge will help you get rid of your opponent's shields in no time. Choose the latter between Carineria and Metaltestata - the latter faster to load, both benefit from STAB. But watch out for the Fire type, from which Mawile remains uncovered in any case.

The core breaker

The fourth place is earned by a contender who will surely carve out his place in the cup. This is the form Marowak's Alola, a Fire / Ghost-type Pokémon that already makes headlines in the regular Battle League. Do not look at it from top to bottom like an ordinary jollino. In fact, it has three quick moves - Slam, Fire Spin and Rock Smash, of which the first two benefit from the additional type damage.
In general situations, Misfortune is preferable, fast and providing excellent energy gain. Fire Spin, with a worse energy gain, could earn you more wins.

Alolan Marowaks from Pokémon GO's PvP landscape often use the combo of moves loaded Ossoclava / Shadow Ball. Ossoclava is very quick to prepare, offers great coverage in general, and can also help you quickly consume opposing shields. Shadow Ball, benefiting from STAB, can translate your attack into a large amount of damage even in neutral situations.

Using this Pokémon in the Halloween cup, however, has its price, given an important number of weaknesses that lurk around the corner (for example, the Ghost, Dark and Water types). If you want to test yourself, you can get an Alolan Marowak from level 3 raids.

Other valid allies

The four main contenders, however, have a large number of opponents to watch out for. Haunter and Gengar, for example, they can win a matchup against Azumarill or Marowak without too many problems, with more difficulty (and more than anything else on par) with the remaining two of the top 4.

The moveset recommended for both is identical, and consists of Shadow Claw, Shadow Fist and one between Mud Bomb or Shadow Ball (remembering that for Gengar Shadow Fist is a legacy move). The difference between the two lies in Gengar's greater defense, and Haunter's easier access to Shadowfist, which is still a great choice.

Against Azumarill too the Grass types they can come in handy, with Venusaur always at the top of the list. When using them, however, it is good to keep in mind that the meta is made up of Beetle, Fire and Poison types that can give it a hard time - against the latter the only one to have a chance is Venusaur.

The Rock types Crustle and Tyranitar they can help you in any case (except Azumarill), super useful against Ghost types - Tyranitar especially - and only countered by Azumarill.

Honorable mentions

The following Pokémon are also great choices, I recommend you check them out:

• Sableye: a fantastic safe switch, to be sent out to take a breather and at the same time weaken the opponent. The Purified version gets strong from the charged move Return, which being Normal-type and quick to load is a great weapon. The normal version also covers the role very well, being careful of Umbreon and any Pokémon that can use Charm.
• Dark / Poison (Skuntank, Muk Alola, Drapion): This interesting combination of types is uniquely weak to the Earth type - not found in large quantities in the meta. In situations of advantage shields may also be able to beat some of the protagonists of the meta, while in other situations they still do quite well in resisting them.
• Umbreon / Zweilous: The two Dark types are great ways to counterattack the Specters that make up the anti-meta. Zweilous, also being a Dragon-type, has several more resistances than Umbreon and has access to Dragospiro, a quick move that is dangerous for anyone who doesn't count on the Fairy-type.
• Lotta (Toxicroak / Obstagoon / Scrafty): Although the meta seems to consist of heavy counters for this type, actually each of the Pokémon in this triad can come in handy. Toxicroak, for example, is not afraid of the Poison-type - being also a Poison-type - and he can get the better of Azumarill and Grass-types (except Victreebel with two shields) and Dark. The Fighting / Dark-types Obstagoon and Scrafty have the better of the Ghost. Obstagoon with Sporcolancio has some hope of victory against Azumarill, Scrafty instead has more against Mawile.
• Charm: the aforementioned users of the quick Charm will be in big trouble against the Dark type, in difficulty only with those who can resist the Kobold type (Marowak, Mawile, Venusaur, Victreebel, Beedrill). Certainly a great weapon against Azumarill and Galvantula, especially in the case of Gardevoir Shadow which also counts on an increase in statistics - but he must be careful with Haunter and Gengar. Wigglytuff on the other hand has the better of these two, being also Normal type. Finally, the relatively recent arrival Whimsicott is arguably Azumarill's best counter, but his Grass-type makes him weak to Fire.

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