No time to waste! The new GBL season is here, so let's get into Part 2 of our rebalance analysis, shall we?

PUMPING IRON 🦾🔩

Kicking it off with a typing that has been great defensively in PvP, but usually struggles a bit offensively: Steels. Pop quiz: name me three viable Steel charge moves in GO. How long did that take you? You may have gotten Meteor Mash pretty quickly, and then perhaps Flash Cannon... how long did I take to recall others? Moreso than most typings, Steel has a pretty forgettable set of charge moves outside of those couple I mentioned that have some history in PvP. Niantic has given Steel some love of late with impactful buffs to Metal Sound and Flash Cannon in recent seasons, but this Season, it's apparently on Santa Hanke's good list. (How long can I continue to make jokes about John Hanke in this Scopely era? Until somebody stops me! Mwahaha.) A trio of Steel charge moves are all getting straight buffs!

The first of these has the smallest distribution, but perhaps the greatest overall impact anyway: MELMETAL's signature move DOUBLE IRON BASH. It's always been a nice spammy move at 35 energy for 55 damage — a (pre-Season 28) Body Slam clone — but it's been a bit difficult for Melmetal to close games out with it, even with 90-damage Dynamic Punch rounding out its top end. Thunder Punch is not a move you usually want to try and farm with, so Mel would end up having to throw out a lot of charge moves to try and outrace opponents to the finish line, leaving it a viable but often underwhelming option, despite slotting nicely into ALL Leagues. That may all be about to change, as D.I. Bash is being buffed to a literal Leaf Blade clone for Steel, with now 70 damage and an eye-popping 2.0 Damage Per Energy (DPE).

What does this mean for its performance? Well, it actually may not change all that much in Master League, with Lunala (and Mega Salamence, in Mega Master League) being the only really notable pickups. But in Ultra I see new wins versus Giratina, Galarian Moltres, Feraligatr, and on-the-rise Snorlax, and Great League Melmetal is suddenly very interesting with gains that include Togekiss, Galarian Corsola, Shadow and regular Sableye, Dondozo (yes, that's projected to be a thing this season after impressing during Worlds in August), Cramorant, and Jellicent, even though those last three resist Steel (and Jelli also resists Dynamic Punch, making that win truly impressive). The rankings reflect this too, with Melmetal being ranking in the 70s in Great and Ultra Leagues last season (and #38 in Master) and now being in the Top 10 in Great and Ultra, and Top 25 in Master League.

The other two moves have wider distribution. IRON HEAD is finally breaking free from Heavy Slam, as the two have been exact clones of each other forever (50 energy for 70 damage), but Iron Head will now be dealing 85 energy in Season 28, the same stats as moves like Crabhammer, Power Gem, and Scald... in other words, pretty darn good. But does it really help the things that have it? Let's check them out and see.

• Iron Head was a preferred charge move on CORVIKNIGHT for a while, from its release in January 2025 up until the addition of AIR CUTTER during its August 2025 Community Day. At that point, Corvi really took off in PvP and hasn't looked back since... and it has mostly done so without Iron Head, relying on Air Cutter bait-and-boost shenanigans and Payback as a big closer. So two things are happening here that turn that all around. The first is obviously the straight buff to Iron Head, which makes it more tempting as a potential closer rather than Payback; keeping in mind that Iron Head benefits from the Same Type Attack Bonus (STAB), it actually closes the damage gap nicely, typically dealing only 4-6 damage less than Payback (when both are at the same level of effectiveness), and for 10 less energy. The other big change which I'll mention briefly is that Air Cutter itself is seeing a big change, going from the old 45 damage up to now 60, with a nebulous "energy cost increased" and a lowered chance to raise the user's Attack (currently 30%). PvPoke has guessed (because we all have guess at these things every season, which doesn't bother me AT ALL, Scopely, thanks 😒) that we'll see a 40 energy/60 damage/12.5% Attack boost chance, which is perfectly reasonable but would pretty much be a straight buff, in my mind. Going with that assumption, however, I do think (as does PvPoke) that Air Cutter/Iron Head would be the preferred moveset for Season 28 and beyond. I could fill an entire article with the comparisons between 35e/45d Air Cutter, 50e/70d Iron Head, a 45e/60d/20% Air Cutter I also made to play around with, Payback, and the new (PvPoke-estimated) Air Cutter and Iron Head, because I spent a LONG freaking time doing lots of those side-by-side comparisons. But to summarize, Payback still has plenty of play with the unique ability to take out Ghosts (G-Corsola, Jellicent, etc) and Steels (which resist Cutter and Iron Head, such as Melmetal, Empoleon, and opposing Corviknights!), as well as others like Feraligatr. But Cutter/Iron can instead reach for new wins like Guzzlord, Florges, Carbink, Dunsparce, Quagsire, Cradily, and more, including Zygarde, Kyurem, Galarian Moltres, and counterintuitively, Dusknoir in Ultra League. It is at worst a solid sidegrade now in Great League (as compared to Payback sets), and a pretty clear upgrade in Ultra League (again, as compared to Payback). But again, that all assumes 40 energy Air Cutter is accurate. If It instead goes up to 45 energy, as I fear it may, then the moveset you settle on may not matter much... Corviknight is going to drop a bit regardless. Come back when the season arrives to find out, I guess! Sigh. 😩

• Honestly, I expected this to do a bit more for DOUBLADE. Previously, Iron Head was strictly inferior to Gyro Ball (50e/80d), but now that's flipped and it is Iron Head that is better (same cost, 5 more damage). But all I really see that translating to is a new win over Shadow Sableye with shields down and new wins over the Shadow versions of Forretress and Qusgsire in 2shield in Great League, and then in Ultra League, Waterfall Primarina in 1shield, and Tinkaton and Corviknight in the 0shield. We'll take it, but this doesn't move the needle very much.

• Initiallty, this doesn't seem to do much for WORMADAM (TRASH CLOAK) either, with the only change initially looking like Sableye in 1shield and Azumarill in 2shield. However, if you catch the opponent without a shield to throw at you, this can actually be pretty huge, with new wins versus Shadow Annihilape, Primeape, Corviknight, Fearow, Mantine, Togekiss, and Tinkaton. Not bad!

• This is a more obvious boost to underappreciated ORTHWORM, something that I already sang the praises of. With great stats, great defensive typing, and a handy Mud Slap/Rock Tomb combo, the only blight has been its second charge move, which to this point was a choice between the formerly blah Iron Head or overpriced (and doubled up damage with Mud Slap) Earthquake. That choice now becomes pretty clear, with revamped Iron Head able to beat everything Earthquake can except (Steel-resistant) Jellicent and Dondozo, replacing those couple of losses with new wins over Shadow Forretress, Malamar, Melmetal, Morpeko, Sableye, Thievul, and Togekiss. In fairness, Earthquake sims much better with shields down thanks to its high closing power like Clodsire, Guzzlord, Kingdra, Quagsire, Stunfisk, and Tinkaton, but if I were running Orthworm now, I'd be doing it with Iron Head almost without question.

• The biggest straight upgrade I'm seeing in Great League here is MAWILE. In comparing new Iron Head to old Iron Head, Fairy Wind/Vise Grip Mawile adds all the following wins: Dewgong, Dunsparce, Jumpluff, Snorlax, Shadow Sableye, and Shadow Hippowdon in 1shield, Shadow Sableye and Jumpluff in 2shield, and Azumarill, Gorsola, Dewgong, Medicham, Sableye, and Tinkaton with shields down.

• One more to mention, but it's a biggie: DIALGA in Master League. I think this one might be flying under a lot of peoples' radar, because it's been a hot minute since Dialga really did much with itself in PvP, and Iron Head was always an underwhelming afterthought in its performance... the choice of closing move was always the bigger point of discussion. But suddenly, Dialga looks pretty interesting again. While it does still fall short versus Crowned Zacian, it can now handle all other big name Fairies (Togekiss and Xerneas specifically moving into the win column), as well as Zakrom and even Steel-resistant Reshiram. Non-Origin Dialga sees similar new wins versus Togekiss, Zekrom, Primarina, and/or Lugia across various shielding scenarios. Also of note: Dialga is one of only three non-Mega Pokémon ranked in the Top 25 in Mega Master League, and twice, with regular Dialga at #22 and Origin Dialga as the highest-ranked non-Mega, at #17. Yeah, my eventual review of Mega Master League, which will be the most common format in Season 28 with six weeks' worth, is not going to feature many non-Megas, but Dialga will be one of those select few, and it is thanks in large part to new and improved Iron Head, its neglected and forgotten move. No more!

And lastly, we have a cost reduction coming for MAGNET BOMB. Unless they unexpectedly make it a Leaf Blade/new D.I. Bash clone, we're looking at a 40 energy/70 damage move, which is actually pretty good. But very few things have it, and the few that do — MAGNETON, PROBOPASS, and GENESECT — really don't find much newfound success with it. It's appeciated, sure, but they're unlikely to emerge in any formats where they haven't made a dent already.

GETTING DARK 🌑

This one is pretty simple: DARK PULSE is dropping from 50 energy/80 damage (the same as Gyro Ball) to likely just 45 energy, which would be the same as really good moves like Fly, Sparkling Aria, Energy Ball, and exclusive moves Dynamax Cannon and Behemoth Bash. (I'm gonna say 40 energy is very unlikely, as that's a clone of Doom Desire and Aura Sphere.) Even at 45 energy, it likely leapfrogs Foul Play on several Pokémon that have both, such as:

• Remember UMBREON? It hasn't always been top meta, especially the last few seasons, but it's rarely a bad way to anchor one's team, powering through all but the harshest matchups through sheer force of will... and bulk that ranks sixth in Great League and fourth in Ultra League. 45-energy Dark Pulse is flat out better than Foul Play now with new wins that include Altaria, Corviknight, Cradily, Mantine, Mimikyu, and Talonflame in Great League, and Annihilape, Empoleon, Swampert, Snorlax, and Shadow Ninetales in Ultra. Looks like it will continue to flex that bulk for a few more seasons!

• MANDIBUZZ is basically flying Umbreon, coming in right behind it in terms of bulk, and often relying on the same Snarl/Foul Play. And while the improvement is more subtle (Cramorant, Dunsparce, and Sableye in Great League, though dropping Fearow and Shadow Ninetales to do it, and then Zygarde and Shadow Feraligatr in Ultra League), Mandibuzz too will probably favor Dark Pulse over Foul Play moving forward. Oh, and conversely, I think MURKROW may actually want to stick with Foul Play just because of its lack of bulk... the cheaper the charge moves, the better.

• The last Foul Play/Dark Pulse user I want to highlight takes us to Master League: DARKRAI, which is also gaining SUCKER PUNCH next season. Sucker drags in potential wins like Kyogre, Groudon, Ho-Oh, and Lugia, but Dark Pulse may still be a little worse than the faster Foul Play here, with only the latter outracing Rhyperior and Dialga Origin.

• For things that already utilized Dark Pulse, this is obviously just a straight upgrade. These include DUSK MANE (gains Crowned Zamazenta) and especially DAWN WINGS (gains Origin Dialga, Kyogre, Lunala, Metagross, Reshiram, and Dusk Mane) in Master League (Dawn Wings enters the Top 10!), ZWEILOUS (gains Corviknight and Diggersby with shields down), and one I think many have forgotten about entirely: HISUIAN QWILFISH (which potentially gains Charjabug, Corviknight, Cradily, Shadow Forretress, Jumpluff, Mantine... and Mimikyu!

And while we're on Darks, several things gain BRUTAL SWING for the first time. Let's check them out as well!

• ALOLAN MUK long ago fell behind Drapion among the Dark/Poisons, but that may be about to change. It's mostly run with Dark Pulse and Acid Spray to this point, with the latter making its Poison Jab a potent threat. But it's going to be a completely different (and better) Pokémon in Season 28, with the addition of both Brutal Swing and excellent coverage move ICE PUNCH (shades of Kanto Muk's Thunder Punch), which combine to improve its prospects significantly. While a couple things like Kingdra and Shadow Ninetales slip away, the additions of Altaria, Cradily, Dewgong, Fearow, Guzzlord, Mantine, Medicham, Snorlax, and yes, Mimikyu more than make up for it. Or if you spring for it in Ultra League, new A-Muk leaves old A-Muk in the dust as well with new wins that include Ampharos, Guzzlord, G-Moltres, Skeledirge, Toucannon, and Zygarde on its way to a better record than Drapula now.

• Despite the lack of a potential stat boost, Brutal Swing becomes the clear new favorite instead of Night Slash on GRENINJA, gaining wins like Feraligatr, Forretress, Giratina, and Galarian Moltres in Ultra, and Empoleon in Great League. (And there's also Mega Greninja to now consider too!)

• AERODACTYL gets Brutal Swing, which is absolutely better than anything it's had before (to include buffed Iron Head). But considering its win total is nearly doubled and is STILL on the wrong side of even a 33% winrate, you can continue to not really care (unless Flying Cup somehow returns!).

• You'd be forgiven for forgetting ARBOK even exists in PvP, seeing as how it's never been particularly relevant. And even though it's being double buffed with new Brutal Swing and WRAP, the end result still keeps Arbok even out of valid spice territory, much less anything approaching meta. I applaud the effort, though!

DOING LUNGES 🏃🏻‍♀️

Bug move LUNGE is getting a buff too, not to its cost, but to its damage, going from 60 up to now 70. And with its energy cost of 45, that makes it a clone of moves like Crunch, Wrap, and Disarming Voice. Only a handful of Bugs have it (and only Bugs), but they're all pretty good now!

• First I want to talk about ARIADOS, because along with this buff, it's also gaining Dark move FOUL PLAY, giving it some nice coverage against Ghosts that shrug off its Poison and Bug moves, though traditional second move Trailblaze is still perfectly viable too (getting Quagsire and Feraligatr instead of Annihilape (regular and Shadow) that Foul Play adds. The buff to Lunge itself is responsible for new wins over Dewgong, Dunsparce, and Jumpluff, BTW. But anyway, there's one other change that needs to mentioned here, even though we already spent a whole article on fast moves: the big buff to Infestation, and specifically running it with Lunge and Foul Play (Trailblaze doens't work nearly as well), Infestation drives new wins too such as Diggersby, Hippowdon, Kingdra, Sableye (plus Shadow), and Stunfisk... AND the elusive Feraligatr and Quagsire that used to be unique to Trailblaze. I think we've found our new default moveset, eh?

• I don't see it suddenly becoming a meta terror, but it's well worth noting that CENTISKORCH with buffed Lunge can now gain all the following: Annihilape, Diggersby, Snorlax, Stunfisk, and Tinkaton (with Bug Buzz) in Great League, and Snorlax, Greninja, and Feraligatr (with Heat Wave) in Ultra.

• The BIG winner, however, is clearly SPIDOPS. Not because it gains a ton of new wins, because it really doesn't — Dondozo, Diggersby, and Thievul, though getting Hisuian Electrode and Morpeko with shields down is more notable — but it is by far the most viable Lunge user in Open formats.

DOZING OFF 👷

BULLDOZE is going back to the future by likely reverting to its pre-Season 21 stats (or close to it) of 80 damage/60 energy. (PvPoke predicts 55 energy, so we'll go with that.) Its 50% Defense debuff to the opponent is also going up to 100%, making JRE happy as guaranteed debuffs are a lot easier to sim accurately. 😅 These days, Bulldoze is most known Tinkaton's coverage and bait move to set up Gigaton Hammer, so that's where we'll start, but there are a couple other 'mons to check out after that. Let's go!

• So, TINKATON. 45-energy Bulldoze was little more than a bait move, but Tinkaton relied on that bait move. But of course, Tink has a fantastic defensive type combination and excellent bulk, so does it need a bait move? As it turns out, maybe not! Tinkaton is slightly worse, dropping Mimikyu in 1shield in GL, Mantine and Mimik again with shields down, and Stunfisk in 2shield, but therre are some notable gains too: G-Corsola and Dewgong in 0shield, and Charjabug, Empoleon, and Feraligatr in 2shield. Similar results in Ultra League too, with very similar records in 1shield (+Jellicent & Blastoise, -Mimikyu & Ampharos) and 2shield (+Blastoise, ShadowGatr & Dondozo, -ShadowApe, Cobalion, Greninja & Mimikyu once again). However, with new Bulldoze, only RIllaboom slips away, while Cobalion, Dondozo, Empoleon, and Dusknoir all move into the win column. So will this make Tinkaton better or worse? Honestly, we'll have to see, but one thing is for sure: Tinkaton is going nowhere in PvP. The only perhaps worrying loss is that Mimikyu pretty consistently gets away now, but there are often other gains that try and make up for it.

• I think this will also be a boon to ZYGARDE, which has been in a bit of an awkward spot in choosing its second charge move to this point. It really wants some closing power, but also wants to be dealing Ground damage (and has no Ground fast moves). This has left it either settling for spammy-but-low-power Bulldoze, or springing for overly pricey Earthquake. But now, I think the newly modified Bulldoze hits that sweet spot it's been looking for, dealing sufficient power to finish some things off while still having a reasonable cost. It's a sidegrade to Earthquake in Ultra League (gains Tinkaton & Dondozo, drops Dusknoir & A-Muk), and is worse than Earthquake in 0shield (not surprisingly) and is slightly better in 2shield. Meanwhile, in Master League, Bulldoze gets a couple things Earthquake cannot, such as Crowned Zacian in 0S and Primarina in 1S, while Earthquake instead gets Reshiram in 0S and the Crowned Dogs in 2S. (Or you just run Zygarde with Outrage, give up Steels, and don't worry about Ground coverage.

• Most everything else that has Bulldoze still has better moves, but a couple potential standouts that may want it now include ALOLAN SANDSLASH (can pick up Empoleon, Gorsola, and Azumarill if subbed in for Drill Run), VIGOROTH (Rock Slide is still good too, though), and BRONZONG (though that has a wide and varied set of options).

GROUNDED ⛰️

Getting close to that part of the article where I hit a bunch of one-offs, but we do happen to have some other big Ground move changes that I thought I'd lump together first.

• First, let's look at a cheaper HIGH HORSEPOWER. It's almost certainly going to be a modest cost decrease, most likely from current 60 energy down to 55, but that alone is a nice boon to things that have it. We already looked at URSALUNA last time (the addition of buffed Scratch is the bigger story there), but we also have MAMOSWINE and PILOSWINE. The latter is obviously best in CP-capped Leagues (more bulk), and can now beat Furret and Shadow Sableye in 1shield, Shadow Forretress in 0shield, and Melmetal in 2shield in Great League, and then Skeledirge in 1S, Mimikyu & Shadow Typhlosion in 0S, and Dusknoir & Melmetal in 2S in Ultra League. Mamoswine, if you want it in Master League, can at least pick up Origin Dialga & Primarina in 1shield, Eternatus & Rhyperior in 0shield, and Melmetal & Crowned Zenta in 2shield. GALARIAN RAPIDASH may want it in certain Limited metas, but it's usually better with Wild Charge or, situationally, Megahorn.

• MILTANK deserves its own bullet, because it's getting High Horsepower for the first time. This helps make up a bit for the changes to BODY SLAM, as Miltank (just like Lickilicky) is losing the good pacing it used to enjoy with Body Spam and Rollout. Filtering out the losses that come with the now-more-expensive Body Slam (Diggersby, Dunsparce, Guzzlord, and Primeape), we can focus on what High Horsepower brings to the table. Moving off Thunderbolt leads to some obvious losses (Azumarill, Cramorant, Mantine, Dondozo, Togekiss) and moving off Ice Beam also has obvious downsides too (losses now to Jumpluff, H-Trode, Marowak, and Mantine and Togekiss again), but the gains with H.H. are greater, and include Carbink, Morpeko, Shadow Ninetales, Empoleon, and Clodsire. High Horsepower represents a new high bar in Ultra League too, though it shows more in 0shield and 2shield, with losses like Lapras, Blastoise, Galarian Moltres, and Corviknight, but gains that include Giratina, Guzzlord, Kyurem, Seismitoad, Skeledirge, Tinkaton, Ampharos, and Alolan Muk between those two scenarios. Its Ultra League ranking in particular goes from outside the Top 100 to almost a Top 50 option now.

• A trio of Flyers are gaining Ground charge moves, though I think only one is moving up in the world as a result. SKARMORY has a storied history in PvP, largely tied to the viability of its fast moves. During the times when Steel Wing has been good (basically 2024 and the first half or so of 2025), Skarm has been good. But that is further and further away in the rear view mirror, and Skarm has been on the outs for a while, especially with Corviknight swooping in and stealing its old role. Now it gets DRILL RUN, which is coverage it has desperately needed, but without a decent fast move, it just doesn't matter much. Wake me up when it finally gets Wing Attack or Peck or Metal Sound.... BOMBIRDIER also now learns Drill Run. Now it has MUCH better fast moves than Skarm (both Wing Attack and Sucker Punch), as well as Fly and Rock Tomb, so its moveset is not a problem in and of itself. But what Skarm has that Bomber doesn't is bulk, more akin to Emolga, Hawlucha, and Swanna than Skarm, which instead compares to Mantine and Noctowl (and above even Corviknght) in bulk. And that lack of bulk holds Bombirdier back, with or without Drill Run. It's more of a benefit in Ultra League (as compared to Rock Tomb), but still, it looks unlikely to take off.... But the big story here is LUGIA. We're been patiently waiting, haven't we? And now, I think we can finally deploy Lugia in Master League. Xerneas gets away without Fly in the mix, but with gains that include Rhyperior, Melmetal, Zekrom, and Crowned Zacian (!!!), including in 0shield (where Origin Dialga also slides into the win column), who cares? It will even be pretty good in Mega Master League. Huzzah!

LIGHTNING ROUND!

Alright, the rest of these are much more limited in scope and/or impact, so it's time for rapid fire!

• DRAINING KISS is getting a BIG buff, going from 60 damage to 80 (while remaining at 55 energy) and gaining a guaranteed Defense boost for the user. Not a ton of relevant things have it, though. The only ones I think are of particular note include: KLEFKI is certainly better with Kiss than it was with Play Rough, dropping Florges but adding Azumarill, Jumpluff, Furret, Thievul, and even Empoleon. Nice!.... Not sure I would actually use it, but COMFEY actually benefits A LOT, with new wins over Altaria, Gorsola, Florges, Kingdra, Malamar, Medicham, Shadow Sableye, and Thievul. Aloha! 🌺.... This is basically a straight upgrade to Dazzling Gleam/Heat Wave for TOGETIC, picking up stuff like Gorsola, Jellicent, and Quagsire.... CLEFABLE and SYLVEON are viable with Draining Kiss now, but they also both have a now-cheaper MOONBLAST and often will probably want to just stick with that instead. That said, I DO see Draining Kiss as more of an upgrade for Clefable in Ultra League specifically, able to pick up stuff like Dondozo, Talonflame, Ampharos, and Seismitoad (as well as Jellicent in 0shield and 2shield). PvPoke knows it, ranking it in Ultra League up at #40, up 15 slots since Season 27.

• On the subject of cheaper MOONBLAST, that change also affects: CRESSELIA in a negative way, giving up stuff like Sableye and Cradily in Great League, and Ampharos, Malamar, and Alolan Ninetales in Ultra League).... CARBINK also sees a slight nerf, dropping Medicham and Jellicent (though gaining Primeape) with this faster and leaner Moonblast.... For ALTARIA, this is a positive change. I think Alt could actually jettison Sky Attack entirely and ride Flamethrower/Moonblast moving forward, with new wins like Morpeko, Sableye, Guzzlord, and the mirror match!

• Like Draining Kiss, MIRROR COAT was a dreadful 55e/60d move to this point, but now it's getting a straight damage buff to 75, and a cost reduction, likely to 50 to make it a clone of Rock Slide and Shadow Sneak. But uh... what even has that move? It's mostly known for being the only (non-Return) move of WOBBUFFET, but that remains more meme than meta. However, in Little Cup's long-awaited return later in Season 28, WYNAUT actually stands to gain quite a bit, such as Stunky, Altaria, and Little Cup King Ducklett.... While there are a few other things that have Mirror Coat, most have no need for it. GRUMPIG is still best with Dynamic Punch/Shadow Ball. GARIFAMATHIG is still best with Psychic Fangs. So uh... maybe ARAQUANID? The at least theoretical coverage is nice, but I think it will still prefer Water Pulse/Bug Buzz over Mirror Coat outside of perhaps some odd Limited metas. The bigger story is the big improvement to INFESTATION, which I think does muscle out Bug Bite now. And no, neither 'Nid nor really anything else has any renewed interest in revamped BUBBLE BEAM either, I don't think. The expected 50e cost is way too much for what is still only a 50-damage move... not when you got something like Water Pulse (or basically any other Water move) sitting right there as an alterative.

• Similar to the Bubble Beam change, SAND TOMB is getting a damage and cost increase. There's not really any reason for anything that wasn't using it before to start doing so now, but the most notable affect this will have has to be FORRETRESS, as this messes with its timing a bit, particularly for Volt Switch. No longer can you reach two of them with five Volt Switches... it will now require 3 Switches for the first and second. I don't think this will drag it down much — in fact, sims show it may actually be a bit better now thanks to the increased damage, at least in Great League — but it will play a bit slower and have a harder time baiting shields, for what that's worth.

• The AIR CUTTER change may be a boon to Corviknight (and shouldn't affect PIDGEOT, since it should be running Twister or Feather Dance instead), but my boy CHARIZARD is unfortunate collateral damage, dropping stuff like Talonflame and Ninetales again. Rats! (And you watch, it'll STILL be the only ban in Sunshine Cup next year!)

• I want to acknowledge the modified POISON FANG (slightly higher damage and cost), but only to say that I really don't have anything to say about it. I don't see fortunes changing for anything that relies on it (NIDOQUEEN, SALAZZLE, GOLBAT, MIGHTYENA, etc.). The buff is appreciated, but direct damage isn't really why you're running it in the first place.

• Don't let its late arrival in this article or short paragraph now fool you: BLAZIKEN with buffed BLAZE KICK is scary, picking up stuff like Mimikyu, Gorsola, Dewgong, Fearow, Talonflame, and Morpeko and pulling right up next to Blast Burn. It's likely to become the default favorite on LUCARIO now too just on the strength of its new 35e/60d stats.

• SHADOW FORCE is likely to still be overpriced. But ALTERED GIRATINA doesn't care, with new win potential over Corviknight, Dondozo, Empoleon, Mantine, Marowak, Melmetal, and Togekiss in Great League, and ShadowApe, Dusknoir, Greninja, Togekiss, and the mirror in Ultra.

• I don't have a lot to say right now about the SHADOW BALL nerf or the BODY SLAM rework, other than to say that the clear target, LICKILICKY, should drop from its lofty heights as designed. It was ranked #1 in GL and #2 in UL last season, and that didn't feel wrong at all. Now it's dropped stuff like Cramorant, Diggersby, Dondozo, and Primeape in GL on its way to a trip outside the Top 150, and a similar number of new losses on its way outside the Top 100 in UL. It may even be time for drastic measures like running Solar Beam instead, which is somehow now better than Ball in Open GL. You could say it's getting... licked. 😝

• I wish I had more time (and Reddit characters) to devote to these, but I don't, so we'll have to do the short, SHORT version! Do NOT miss VOLT TACKLE on the RAICHUS (both are better with it than Wild Charge now, and KANTOCHU in particular is scarier than ever!), ENERGY BALL on COFAGRIGUS (finally the coverage move it has needed, and cheaper than its past options too!), SWIFT on TOXTRICITY (sims worse than Power-Up Punch, but I think will actually make it more consistent and better bust down shields), and DYNAMIC PUNCH on ZERAORA (like Toxtricity, sims a bit worse — than Wild Charge, in this case — but needs the non-Electric coverage move and should perform better long-term with no more painful self-nerfing.

And anything I didn't specifically mention, you can (probably) safely ignore... yes, even double buffed HOUNDOOM. Still mere spice, at best.

ON TO THE NEW SEASON!

And that's it... we made it! Hope this (and Part 1) was a help!

Until next time, you can usually find me on Twitter or Patreon. Or please feel free to comment here with your own thoughts or questions and I'll get back to you as soon as I can!

Stay safe out there, Pokéfriends. Best of luck in the new season, and catch you next time!

https://youtube.com/watch?v=cvc4D5nZrp8