March Is for Meta, but What Is the Meta?

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In order to improve our coverage of Meta-relevant articles and really give our readers a chance to get the most out of their Pokémon, our writing team has dubbed this month as “March is for Meta”.

Whether it’s using the very best Pokemon for the job in gym defense or raid battles to knowing which upcoming Pokemon are going to have a big presence and affect the game in some way.

So what is the Meta?

This is the collective name given to everything at the top end of the game. Namely in Pokemon Go this literally means “which Pokemon are the best for the job” or “Which Pokemon are the most useful.” This can be across all gym battles, gym defense or against raid bosses.

Knowing which Pokemon are “Meta-relevant” can mean the difference between effectively wasted candy and evolutions to having the edge in a raid battle.

You will see the same Pokemon names crop up again and again in articles relating to the Meta. This is solely because in the current state of the game, these Pokemon are the most useful and the most relevant in the game and are worth evolving to or powering up (at least to certain points, these are called breakpoints and can be found in a separate article coming later this month.)

Why should i care about the Meta?

It should be a consideration of all players but is generally only worried about by players over a certain level (25ish.) When saving candies, evolving Pokemon, walking your buddy and clearing out gyms, The Meta (that is the best Pokemon for the job) should always be in the back of your mind.

Questions we’re trying to answer this month:

  • Which Pokemon would best defend this gym?
  • Which Pokemon is worth saving candies to evolve a good IV Pokemon and which should i just evolve to get the Pokedex entry?
  • If i evolve X will it be better then Y?
  • Which Pokemon are worth my precious Stardust?
  • Will the upcoming legendaries be of any use in the future?
  • What about Gen 3? will any of those Pokemon be relevant?

We will try and answer all of the above questions and more. If you have any requests, let us know in the comments below.

So which Pokemon make the cut?

The below chart shows the current Meta-relevant Pokemon and what they’re good for.

Pokemon Type Usage in Meta
Tyranitar Rock & Dark One of the most versatile Pokemon in the current Meta. Good to take on Mewtwo, lots of legendaries, gym bosses etc.
Mewtwo Psychic High DPS Psychic attacker
Gyarados Water & Flying Tyranitar, Charizard and Aggron Raids, future Regirock Raids and a viable Mewtwo counter
Kyogre  Water Tyranitar, Charizard and Aggron Raids, future Regirock Raids
Groudon  Ground  Future Regirock and Registeel Raids, Aggron Raids
Machamp Fighting Tyranitar, Aggron and Absol Raids, future Regirock, Regice and Registeel Raids

The collection of Pokemon that are currently relevant will always be small. This is because when more generations of Pokemon are released, some are better than currently existing Pokemon in the group and may push others out. A prime example of this would Blissey being introduced in Gen 2 and replacing Chansey as the better defender due to its superior stamina.

We also have an article on easily obtainable Meta-relevant Pokemon here.

Author & tags

ShinyHunterLiam
ShinyHunterLiam
I am a passionate writer and blogger that's obsessed with all things Pokemon but Shiny Pokemon are my favorite thing to collect. Likes: Ramen, his shiny Shinx. Dislikes: Anything with more than 2 legs, Octopi & Goats.

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