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Writer's pictureDakota Ricci

Beating the Box Part 1: Great League

Updated: Nov 10, 2020

Beating the box is a team building concept I first heard about from Zyonik. It's building your team in a way so that each member of your team can handle the Pokemon at the top of the meta. Be sure to check out pvpoke if you haven't heard of it because it is the best resource out there for anybody looking to get into Pokemon Go pvp. That is where we got the ratings for our coverage, bulk, safety, and consistency.


The great league box looked the same for years with Azumarill, Registeel, Altaria, and defense form Deoxys sitting comfortably within it. However, the recent move updates for season three have seen a rise in ice type Weather Ball users and a rise in dark types that have the bulk to stand up to them. Making the box look like this heading into season 3:



This style of team building becomes crucial the higher you climb up in the rankings, where meta teams become more common. Beating the box still requires the fundamentals of having a good lead, safe switch, and cover. There are few Pokemon that can hard counter multiple Pokemon in the box by themselves.


Teams that beat the box


Azumarill lead team



Azumarill is one of those few Pokemon that defeat most of its peers at the top of the meta. It has key wins against the other three members of the box with only a defense Deoxys running Thunderbolt being a serious threat. Azumarill and Skarmory have great synergy with Skarmory covering the Pokemon that threaten our Azumarill such as Maganium and Tropius. Vigoroth is a fantastic safe switch in the open great league meta with Counter being able to go after the Umbreon and Scrafty, Bulldoze to hit those steel tanks like Bastiodon or Registeel, and Body Slam to spam neutral damage and get shields. Skarmory is also great at using its bulk and resistances to stay in matchups and get shields with Sky Attacks. Azumarill is the G.O.A.T. and can come back from behind in a lot of matchups and can put a bad beating on a team that isn't prepared for it.


Umbreon Safe Switch Team



Tropius by itself is very strong against the meta, having close wins against all four members of the box. Tropius can't do it all itself so you have Umbreon to switch into in case we lose lead. Umbreon has a lot of neutral matchups and can spam Dark Pulse and Foul Play, forcing shields if the opponent doesn't have a clean answer. Alolan Marowak can sweep late game with those hard-hitting Shadow Balls if we get those shields early.



Stunfisk (Galarian) Closer Team



Like Azumarill and Skarmory in our first team, Altaria and Meganium work very well together. Meganium having access to Earthquake makes it so that it can handle those tanks like Bastiodon that try to wall our Altaria. Azumarill is a serious threat to Altaria as well and Meganium has a very clean win in that match up. It can tank one Ice Beam from the Auzmarill and then farm extra energy and take it out with Frenzy Plant. Galarian Stunfisk has great resistances with its steel typing and a fantastic move set of Mud Slap, Rock Slide, and Earthquake. Mud Slap gains energy very quickly and spamming Rock Slide is a solid plan in a lot of neutral matches and can take out those opposing fliers that threaten our Meganium.



The great league has a fantastic open meta and has plenty of space for you to explore with your favorite Pokemon. Make sure to head over to pvpoke to check out their rankings to see what your Pokemon is capable of, as well as the team builder to see how well your Pokemon work together. Stay tuned for next's week article where we talk about beating the box for Ultra League and its premier cup. Check out our Youtube channel and follow us on social media to join the fellowship and stay up to date for future content. Thanks for reading and have an awesome day.



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