Terms to know for the Battle League in Pokémon Go

The Pokémon Go Great League is the first tier in the Battle League PvP system. For those looking to enter the Pokémon Go PvP scene, it’s a great place to get your feet wet and learn about what it takes to reach the highest rank. While you can have quality Pokémon to take into battle, you need to understand a handful of essential terms to stand up against equally skilled opponents. These terms are going to help you plan out your strategy to how you create your Pokémon line up and give you the best chance to beat your opponents and advance to the next rank. 

Shields

Each side receives a limited amount of shields. You can use these shields at any time during the Pokémon Go fight, but when they’re gone, you’re out of them. You need to strategically time when you want to throw up a shield to protect your Pokémon. You usually want to do it if a critical Pokémon is about to be knocked out by your opponent, or a particularly powerful charged attack is incoming.

Attackers

These Pokémon are your ideal attackers who are likely going to draw out your opponent’s shields. Their best aspect is how much damage they can dish against your opponents at a high rate of speed. You want your attackers to apply massive attacks against more defensive opponents. The Pokémon you consider your attackers likely don’t have the best defenses. Still, they make up for it with how much they can reliably take down other Pokémon before they go down.

However, you don’t want a full team of attackers. Having too many glass cannons can leave your line-up vulnerable against sturdier Pokémon capable of dealing considerable damage to them. Spread out your roster as much as possible, and if you can, throw them out when you know your foe no longer has any shields to deal severe damage against them.

Defenders

When you need to hunker down and protect yourself, your defensive Pokémon are going to hold up against your opponent’s fearsome Pokémon. The Pokémon you consider your defenders have a series of decent attacks to dish out, but mostly, they’re ready to accept all of the damage your opponents want to dish out. Any Pokémon you consider a defender likely won’t need to make use of your shields, so don’t waste them. Hold on to your shields for your more fragile Attackers. You want this to act as your final line of defense.

Starters

The Pokémon you consider to be your Starter begins the battle. They’re the ones you have upfront. An ideal Pokémon you want to use for a starter will have exceptionally few weaknesses, a decent series of attacks made to force your opponent to change their strategy, and are versatile. It isn’t straightforward to choose your Starter because there are several factors to consider. The more you feel your Pokémon can adapt in this role, the better they are to take on anything your foe brings out. You may even want them to have more attacks than defenses to force your opponent to come up with a new Pokémon right off the bat.

Closers

When you need a Pokémon to remain steadfast and are capable of getting you to the finish line, you need a good closer. Closers are a little bit like defenders, except these are going to serve as your final choice, with a mixture of capable of attacks, and some study defenses. You want to throw these out against your opponent when you know they have no shields left. Also, these Pokémon seldom need any shields, and you should reserve those for the Pokémon who you need to remain standing that don’t have the best defenses.