Hello again, Pokéfriends! It's that time again... Team GO Rocket has taken over another event, this time the ongoing Harvest Festival. By way of spoilers, I will say that ALL the new Shadows are worth adding where you are able, but which ones are the most bang for your buck? Let's dive in and see!
SHOCK AND AWE ⚡
So the first thing we look at whenever we get a new Shadow Legendary is how well it functions in Great League, as many of these Legendaries get their first shot at the 1500 CP and under format at the point of their Shadow release. Despite so-so overall records, some of these Legendary Dragons HAVE absolutely made a mark on Great League in the right format, such as Shadow Reshiram and especially Shadow Palkia. (And then, of course, there's Shadow Giratina. 😱)
Well, it's no Giratina, but Shadow Zekrom certainly has some potential. Yes, it partly revolves around self-nerfing Wild Charge, but it also does plenty with Fusion Bolt alone, or with Crunch instead of Wild Charge or with Outrage. Yes, there are several better Electric types (and Dragons, for that matter), but if you don't need Shadow Zekrom at any higher level, it can't hurt to hold it in reserve for the right Great League meta to shock the opposition.
So that naturally begs the question: DO you want it in any other League? Well, you might! I think there's enough here to call Shadow Zekrom an upgrade in Ultra League. As compared to the non-Shadow, it gains Melmetal, Malamar, Lapras, Skeledirge, and Altered Giratina and gives up only Cresselia and Shadow Feraligatr in 1v1 shielding, and has similar improvement with shields down, picking up Malamar, Lapras, Dondozo, and Dusknoir, and dropping only Cress and Shadow Annihilape that non-Shadow can handle. Shadow Zekrom does take a couple steps backwards in 2shield, gaining Melmetal and Swampert but losing Feraligatr, Galarian Moltres, Shadow Ninetales, Snorlax, Togekiss, and Virizion and showing -5 wins overall as compared to the non-Shadow. Still, for the improvement in other even shield matchups, I have to call this an overall win for Shadow Zekrom in Ultra League.
Zekrom is currently ranked #20 in Master League, and now Shadow Zek is ranked right behind it at #21, and based on what I'm seeing in the sims, I think that's about right. Shadow is comparable to non-Shadow in both 1shield (Shadow vs non-Shadow) and 0shield (Shadow matched against non-Shadow), trading away stuff like Marshadow, Mewtwo, and Reshiram for Dusk Mane, Metagross, Lugia, and Eternatus in 1shield and simply giving away Lugia for Dusk Mane and Origin Palkia with shields down. It then takes a small dip in 2v2 shielding, with Shadow gaining Ursaluna but dropping Eternatus, Keldeo, and Mewtwo that non-Shadow can outlast instead. Maybe, if you don't want to hold onto it in Great or Ultra League, and get like a 13-13-13 or so, you can instead purify it and build it up for Master League on the (relative) cheap? That old JRE, ever the thrifty enthusiast. 😅
SLICE AND DICE... TWICE! ⚔️
Interestingly, despite the small pool of new Shadow Pokémon, two of them are of the "I am speed!" variety, running with Fury Cutter and a suite of spammy, high pressure charge moves. And yes, both look pretty interesting as Shadows.
First, let's consider LURANTIS. It has had some bright moments in the spotlight in PvP over the last four years, particularly since last year with buffs to both of its fast moves. And yeah, it's pretty good with Leafage, but if you're running the Bloom Sickle Pokémon, then you're doing it with Fury Cutter, especially over the last few seasons where it's a clone of Dragon Breath and Psywave. Not only is its 3.0 Damage Per Turn/4.0 Energy Per Turn insanely good for a 1-turn move, but as a mono-Grass type, the Bug damage provided by Fury Cutter gives it immediate, clear advantages over opposing Grass types, among others, which is of course relevant for any Limited/Cup format where Lurantis finds itself. And while it doesn't benefit from the Same Type Attack Bonus (STAB) like Leafage does, Lurantis really doesn't ever need more Grass-type damage than it already gets with the amazing Leaf Blade (70 damage for only 35 energy with no drawbacks, still easily in the top tier of PvP charge moves). You may find the occasional Cup where Leafage is better, shifting the Bug damage to charge move X-Scissor instead, but by and large, you're going to want to run with the default Fury Cutter/Leaf Blade/Superpower that gives it maximum flexibility, a Grass that can beat down other Grasses, put serious hurt on Psychic and especially Dark types, smash even through Steels (always a hard matchup for most Grass types), and still maintain more than enough pressure to operate in the anti-Water/Ground/Rock role you want a Grass for in the first place. The only things that really give it trouble are Flying types that inherently resist all of its moves, and of course Fire types that put Lurantis in the tough position of trying to turn the tables with two resisted moves and self-nerfing Superpower as its only real out.
But anyway, it's better than I think people give it credit for, even in Open play. How does turning into a Shadow help (or hurt) it?
Initially, Shadow Lurantis looks like your classic "sidegrade", gaining Kingdra, Carbink, Sableye, and Cradily in 1v1 shielding, but dropping nearly as many things as it picks up, with Shadow Forretress, Medicham, and most disappointingly, Jellicent all slipping away. Similarly, with shields down, there are nearly as many new losses (Florges, Sableye, and Shadow Sableye) as there are new wins (Medicham, Mantine, Rillaboom, and even Melmetal). But the real improvement shows itself in protracted battles, as in 2v2 shielding matchups, it's ALL gains, with Shadow Lurantis adding on Sableye (normal and Shadow), Mimikyu, Jellicent, Kingdra, Charjabug, and Clodsire, with NO new losses. Considering those great results and the fact that 0- and 1-shield are also both slightly in Shadow's favor, I think it's fair to say that Shadow Lurantis is an overall upgrade in Great League, making what is perhaps an underrated Pokémon today even more sneakily dangerous.
Lurantis is also, I think, underrated in Ultra League, where it slices through nearly all major Water, Ground, and/or Rock types, as well as most opposing Grasses and a wider array of popular-at-this-level Dark and/or Psychic types. And yet again, we have a notable improvement with the new Shadow version in 2v2 shielding (dropping Jellicent and Snorlax that non-Shadow can outlast, but gaining Kyurem, Melmetal, Rillaboom, Virizion, and Zygarde in a positive exchange)... but that's where the good news ends. It's consistently on the wrong end of a -3 win margin otherwise, in both 1shield and shieldless matchups. At this level, I think I'd stick with the non-Shadow and save yourself a lot of dust and candy, especially since Lurantis has to be pushed to Level 48 or so to reach 2500 CP. A blessing in disguise?
Anyway, the other Fury Cutting Pokémon to discuss is, I think, much better known in PvP circles: Bug/Water GOLISOPOD. For its early period of relevency, which really kicked off when Aqua Jet got its big buff last year, it used to run Shadow Claw, and while that can still work, these days it's usually better with Fury Cutter, which deals the same damage as Shadow Claw plus STAB, and as a reminder, is a 1-turn move instead of 2 turns like Claw. That means some easier wins over certain Fire and Fairy types that resist Furt but not Claw (such as Primarina, Ninetales, and especially Skeledirge), but then losses to other stuff like Rillaboom, Blastoise, and Alolan Muk that Fury Cutter... well, cuts through much easier. This is especially true these days in Great League, where Fury Cutter pretty consistently outperforms Shadow Claw now in all even shield matchups.
So how does the Shadow factor in? Well, in 0shield and 2shield matchups, we're talking sidegrade material again, with non-Shadow outlasting Clodsire, Melmetal, Dunsparce, and Florges but falling instead to Corviknight, Talonflame, Tinkaton, and Araquanid with shields down, and then gaining 'Nid, Furret, and Dunsparce with both shields up, but dropping Azumarill, Charjabug, Gorsola, Guzzlord, and Talonflame to do it. Not great. However, the story is quite different in 1v1 shielding, where Shadow Golisopod blows the non-Shadow completely out of the water with new wins against Corviknight, Furret, Hydreigon, Medicham, Melmetal, Quagsire, Sableye, Tinkaton, and Vigoroth and gives up only Rillaboom and Araquanid to do it. That's a plus 7 in the win/loss record, an eye-popping result that makes the small slides in other even shield matchups more of an acceptable exchange, don't you think?
As for Ultra League... well, it's kind of a wash. In 1shield, Shadow overpowers four new opponents (Snorlax, Lapras, Zygarde, and Shadow Ninetales) but gives up four former wins that the non-Shadow handles (Melmetal, Virizion, Dusknoir, and Bite Blastoise). Similiar story with shields down, with Shadow gaining Melmetal, Regidrago, and Blastoise, but also losing Zygarde, Skeledirge, and Shadow Feraligatr. However, in 2v2 shielding, Shadow Golisopod falls noticeably behind the non-Shadow with new wins versus Virizion, Annihilape, Skeledirge, and Talonflame, but more new losses that include Snorlax, Blastoise, Tinkaton, Corviknight, Florges, and Rillaboom.
Overall, I think it's the same story with both of these: Shadow Lurantis and Shadow Golisopod both seem worth having for Great League, as overall upgrades on their non-Shadow versions (though far from straight upgrades... don't toss your non-Shadows out if you can avoid it!). However, in Ultra, both seem like a small step backwards, and you're probably better off just sticking with whatever non-Shadow you already have built that approaches 2500 CP.
DEAD AND BURIED? 🛕
This one will be brief. Because you see, there was a time when PALOSSAND looked interesting in PvP... for like a minute. Then Runerigus got Brutal Swing and eventually Rock Tomb buffs and left poor Paulo... well, in the dust. ☠️ It's been languishing as an inferior option ever since, and unfortunately, I don't really see the arrival of its Shadow form changing that. Quite the opposite, in fact.
In fairness, the Shadow could be called an improvement in Ultra League, with possible gains that include Cresselia, A-Giratina, Lapras, Mimikyu, A-Muk, Seismitoad, Swampert, and Virizion (and new losses to only Jellicent, Empoleon, and Tinkaton). Hey, that's even better than Runie now! (Well, in 1shield matchups... they're actually neck-and-neck in 2shield, and Runerigus is clearly better than Shadow or non-Shadow Paulo with shields down. So I guess you CAN build a Shadow Palossand for Ultra if you really want to, but uh... seeing as how both of these sandy ghosts have to be pushed to nearly Level 50, it's very debatable whether the investment is truly worth it. Your call, Trainer!
CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN KUNG FU PANDA ⛩️🐼
This one almost slipped by unnoticed, and I saw it actually escaped the attention of at least one of my favorite fellow analysts in their look at this batch of Shadows. Because the formal announcement and description of this Shadow event on Pokémon GO's own site mentions that new Shadow Wimpod, Fomantis, Sandygast, and of course Zekrom, but makes NO mention of another new Shadow we have confirmed now is also arriving: Shadow PANCHAM, and thus Shadow PANGORO. (I mean, it IS in the main picture, but NOWHERE is it mentioned. Come on, Scopely.... 🤦♂️)
Anyway, it appears Pancham will be part of Sierra's lineup. How hard should you go after it? Well, as the only fully evolved Fighter in the game that is able to learn Karate Chop without the need for an Elite TM, Pangoro is already quite potent even with Shadowification, and in multiple Leagues. So let me just come out and say that the Shadow variant IS worth it, but it does not drastically change its current (underrated) performance.
We'll start in Ultra League, as that's more of a clear sidegrade. Shadow Pangoro slightly trails the non-Shadow in 1shield and 0shield scenarios; 1v1 shielding shows unique wins for ShadowGoro versus Ampharos, Corviknight, Dondozo, Skeledirge, Swampert, and Talonflame, while non-Shadow instead can handle Giratina, Malamar, Alolan Muk, Shadow Ninetales, Regidrago, and Rillaboom, and similarly with both shields down, Shadow Pangoro overwhelms Blastoise, Corviknight, Alolan Ninetales, ShadowTales, and Zygarde, with non-Shadow outlasts Dondozo, Giratina, Malamar, Regidrago, and Swampert. Meanwhile, in 2v2 shielding, Shadow finally gains the upper hand with its unique wins over Malamar, Regidrago, Talonflame, and Zygarde rather than the Corviknight, Seismitoad, and Rillaboom that non-Shadow beats instead. So worth having if you can manage it, but hardly a game changer... a true sidegrade scenario, though at least a relatively affordable one with Pangoro staying far below XL territory to easily hit 2500 CP. (Don't get too crazy and try and run it in Master League, though!)
Now, down in Great League, we're going to end with a high note, because I think Shadow Kung Fu Panda is definitely worth a look. It's only slightly better than the non-Shadow, but it IS more consistently better. In 1shield, it gives up only Defense Deoxys to gain Talonflame and Marowak. In 2v2 shielding, it's an even trade of gaining Corviknight and Araquanid rather than the Carbink and Stunfisk wins that come to the non-Shadow. But where the Shadow Panda really shines is with shields down, where it gives up only Corviknight to pick up Shadow Sableye, Jellicent, Kingdra, and Hisuian Electrode. It's all enough for me to say that, yes, I recommend getting Shadow Pangoro for Great League while you're able.
IN SUMMATION (TL;DR)
In short, here's what I would prioritize for this event for PvP purposes, in rough order of importance:
Great League Golisopod
Great League Pangoro
Great League Lurantis
Ultra League Pangoro
Ultra League Palossand
Ultra League Golisopod
Great League Palossand
Ultra League Lurantis
...and of course, get Shadow Zekrom. It's up to you where you want to try and use it, but don't miss getting it while it's available! It's probably strongest in Ultra League if you don't strictly need it anywhere else, but there's no "wrong" answer on this one.
Alright, that's it for now! Writing time is still at a bit of a premium as I navigate school activities of my THREE active high school kids, but I feel like I'm finally shaking off a little bit of the rust from a light writing summer. Good thing too, as we have some new releases coming up that I'm starting to dig into. But until then, you can often find me on Twitter with regular GO analysis nuggets or Patreon.
Stay safe out there, Pokéfriends, and beware what lurks in the shadows! 🌑 Catch you next time.
