GO Battle League Seasons Upcoming Changes

GO Battle League will be going through some significant changes as Season 10 comes to a close. These long-awaited changes may come as no surprise as Niantic wants to better prepare the PvP system for the Pokémon GO World Championship Series starting late next month.

From the Official Announcement

Trainers,
As we head into the final week of GO Battle League Season 10, we wanted to let you know that the next Season of the GO Battle League will be a change of pace from our usual Seasons. We’ll be pausing ratings during this new Season to allow our development team to focus on GO Battle League adjustments without disrupting competitive play.

What Does This Mean?

Niantic has confirmed that the next season of GO Battle League will be an opportunity to test out new features and fixes which will hopefully solve a decent chunk of current issues which have a negative impact on battlers and even viewers of the game.

In order to do this, player ratings or ELO as the competitive scene like to call it will be put on pause as to not disrupt competitive play during this adjustment.

Date & Times

GO Battle League Season 10 will be extended until March 1, 2022, at 1:00 p.m. PST (GMT –8) rather than the previously announced end date of February 28, 2022.

The next Season will begin immediately on March 1, 2022, at 1:00 p.m. PST (GMT –8) and run concurrently with the next in-game Season until June 1, 2022. at 1:00 p.m. PDT (GMT –8). GO Battle League seasons will run concurrently with in-game Seasons moving forward.

What Will Happen Next Season?

  • Rankings will cap at Rank 20, and there will be no visible ratings.
  • Cups will rotate weekly and will feature re-runs of former special cups.
  • The Season will be used as an opportunity to test some possible new formats for GO Battle Days and their reward structures.
  • Attack changes or attack availability updates—as typically seen at the beginning of most GO Battle League seasons— will not be made in order to maintain stability for Pokémon Battles as the World Championship Series circuit begins.
  • Rankings for Season 10 will be used to determine early registration eligibility for the Pokémon GO World Championship Series.Let’s break this down,

Rankings will be capped at Rank 20. This means that for next season, players will not be able to advance to further tiers such as Ace, Veteran, Expert and Legend.

Next season will consist of re-runs from former special cups. To date, we have had 14 unique cups. It is not yet confirmed which cups will be run in what order but to refresh your mind, here is a list of all past cups which we may see again for next season:

GO Battle League Cups Running seasons CP limit Participating Pokémon Types Other restrictions
500 1500 2500
Premier Cup (Master League) 2–4, 6, 9 onwards × All No Legendaries and Mythicals
Premier Cup (Ultra League) 3, 4, 6 onwards × All No Legendaries and Mythicals
Halloween Cup 4, 9 × Ghost, Poison, Dark, Bug, Fairy n.a.
Flying Cup 4 × Flying n.a.
Little Cup 5 × All Unevolved and evolvable
Kanto Cup 5-8 × All Kanto Pokémon only
Catch Cup 5 × All
  • Only Pokémon caught during the Season
  • No Mythicals
Holiday Cup 6 × Normal, Grass, Electric, Ice, Flying, Ghost n.a.
Love Cup 6 × All
  • Only red or pink Pokémon
  • No Legendaries and Mythicals
Retro Cup 7 × All but Steel, Dark, Fairy n.a.
Element Cup 8 × Fire, Water, Grass Unevolved and evolvable
Little Jungle Cup 9 × All but Steel, Fairy, Ghost No Legendaries and Mythicals
Sinnoh Cup 10 × All Only Pokémon from the Sinnoh Region can participate.
Johto Cup 10 × All Only Pokémon from the Johto Region can participate.

No attack changes or attack availability updates. This means that there will be no new Fast/Charge moves added next season since Niantic does not want to change the dynamic of gameplay right before a large scale event.

Finally, Niantic mentions that your end of season rank will determine early registration eligibility. In order to be able to gain access to register early to the Pokémon GO World Championship Series, players must have hit Legend rank (3,000 points) which is the highest rank in GO Battle League.

Please stay tuned for additional details on the upcoming Season.
We appreciate your understanding as we continue to work on creating a better GO Battle League experience for everyone. Stay tuned!

Please be aware of your surroundings and follow guidelines from local health authorities when playing Pokémon GO. Upcoming events are subject to change. Be sure to follow us on social media, opt in to receiving push notifications, and subscribe to our emails to stay updated. For the latest on in-game events and feature updates, be sure to check this help center article.

Parting Words

The PvP community can either look at this as a good or bad decision. Good as in Niantic is finally buckling down to sort out major issues within the PvP system and bad because we will have a whole season of unranked GBL gameplay.

Personally, I believe this will be good for the long run. As of now, there are simply too many issues that can cause a negative experience while battling and as long as Niantic can tackle these bugs/issues, I think it will be worth the wait. Plus we can use this season to just relax and test out off-meta Pokémon to come up with brand new creative teams and strategies.

Adam ‘Avrip’

Author & tags

avrip
avrip
Writer/Editor for the Pokémon GO Hub. PvP enthusiast. 2023 Perth Regional Champion. 9th at Yokohama World Championship. Collector and enthusiast of rare Pokémon retro memorabilia. GBL Legend Multiple Seasons. Sold my soul to Niantic on 07/07/2016.

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