Hello again, Pokéfriends! The latest GO Rocket Takeover Event is upon us, this time intruding in the middle of Adventure Week. Let’s check our relatively small newest batch of Shadow Pokémon and see how they might perform in PvP. But first, our customary Bottom Line Up Front:
B.L.U.F.
- Shadow Cresselia (or even purified Cresselia?!) is a good one to add to the collection, and a surefire way to get Cress into Great League if it continues to elude you otherwise. It’s probably just a sidegrade wherever you use it, but a good one!
- The biggest winner overall has to be Shadow Conkeldurr, which moves WAY up the ranks in Master League and is no worse than a solid sidegrade elsewhere. Timburr is the one to grind for this event, folks!
- Shadow Lugia remains a competitive sidegrade option and is worth looking for a good one while it’s available… if you dabble in Master League play, at least.
- The other newly Shadowed Pokémon are overall better, but remain below the competitive cutoff all the same. Boooo.
Alright, on to the detailed analysis.
CRESS GOOD? 🌙

Way back in the early days of PvP on a Discord server that was probably the largest around for PoGO PvPers (but is now, sadly, basically dead), there was a long-running inside joke: “Cress good?” This started when a certain user asked this question basically every week, contemplating how hard to lean into relying on Cresselia for PvP success, and how hard to work to try and acquire one in Great League. It eventually turned into a quote everyone used and even got its own emoji after a while.
All that to now beg the question: “SHADOW CRESS good?”
Well, the first thing to note is that for those who have had trouble squeezing one into Great League — or at least finding one with decent PvP IVs — every single Shadow Cresselia will fit in Great League. And that’s good news because it appears that Shadow Cress is, at worst, a solid sidegrade to non-Shadow. Shadow does give up some big names — Annihilape, Lickitung, and Galarian Stunfisk — but it also gains big ones like Feraligatr, Pelipper, and Talonflame. In 0shield, Shadow beats Talonflame again, while non-Shadow can instead overcomes Alolan Sandslash (only with Powder Snow, though). However, unfortunately in 2v2 shielding, Shadow does fall a bit behind with losses to Dewgong, Lanturn, Mantine, and sometimes Dragonair that non-Shadow can still outbulk.
And the story is much the same in Ultra League. Shadow Cress is a solid sidegrade in 1v1 shielding (as compared to non-Shadow, gaining Greninja, Golisopod, and Jellicent in exchange for giving up Altered Giratina, Feraligatr, and Tentacruel, and an upgrade with shields down, picking up a-Giratina, Golisopod, Jellicent, CharmTales, and Ampharos, losing only Gliscor, Umbreon, and Tentacruel in the process (which non-Shadow can outlast). And once again, 2v2 shielding is a downgrade for ShadowCress, gaining Greninja and Tentacruel, but losing to Jellicent, CharmTales, Tapu Fini, Gyarados, and Ampharos that non-Shadow manages to fend off.
There’s one more possibility to consider in Ultra League as well: purified Cress, with big fat neutral closer Return. It too has the looks of an intriguing sidegrade in 1v1 shielding (gaining Gliscor, Golisopod, Venusaur, and the mirror when slotted in over Grass Knot, and dropping Feraligatr, Walrein, Tapu Fini, and Gyarados), an arguable upgrade with shields down (gains: Pidgeot, Charizard, Talonflame, Venusaur, Golisopod, CharmTales, Ampharos; losses: A-Giratina, Feraligatr, Swampert, Cresselia), and an unfortunate downgrade in 2v2 shielding (drops Guzzlord, Jellicent, Swampert, Walrein, Gyarados, Ampharos). Tiy can kind of split the difference with Grass Knot instead of Moonblast, and that holds up decently well in 0shield and 2shield, but REALLY falls off in 1shield. I think at this level that double bombs (Return and Moonblast, or perhaps Return and Future Sight) are the better way to go, and register as a passable sidegrade with upside.
That said, unless you manage to acquire multiple Shadow Cresselias AND get one with worthy, post-purified stats, I’d probably just hang onto it as a Shadow for now. But that’s me! Certainly far stranger things one can do in PvP than purify Cresselia.
PACKING A PUNCH 🥊

Enough of that sidegrade-ish stuff though. Let’s get to some real power and some clear upgrades! Starting with the biggest, most impactful new Shadow of this entire batch: CONKELDURR. 💪 Particularly in MASTER LEAGUE.

Sometimes my job as an analyst is somewhat nuanced, like the Cresselia analysis above. Finding the tradeoffs and balancing between them, showing the pros and cons and letting the reader decide which (equally valid) direction to go with their own team. And then sometimes… you have Shadow Conkeldurr in ML, which is just so clearly better than non-Shadow that I could almost stop right here. It’s not a straight upgrade, as non-Shadow alone has the bulk to hang in there and beat Yveltal and outrace Mud Shot Garchomp, but the pickups are far more numerous AND impressive: Dragon Tail Garchomp, Kyogre, and both of the new Necrozma fusions forms (Dusk Mane AND Dawn Wings). It maintains this upward trajectory in other even shield scenarios too, beating Dawn Wings and now Mud Shot Garchomp in 2v2 shielding (suffering no new losses), and beating Gyarados (and forcing at least a tie with Palkia) and losing only Yveltal with shields down. (Though, granted, the overall results for Conk without shields isn’t good regardless.) The improvement is equally eye-catching even if you run Stone Edge instead of the generally recommended Dynamic Punch (exclusive Community Day move Brutal Swing is necessary and really what puts Conk on the map in any significant way in the first place), with Shadow Conk with Stone Edge gaining Metagross, Kyogre, Swampert, Zacian (lacking Play Rough, at least), and again, both fusion forms of Necrozma, and giving up only Gyarados, Yveltal, Zarude, Zekrom, and Reshiram in the process.
Conkeldurr had already quietly passed once-mainstay Fighters in Master League like Machamp and Heracross. But now? PvPoke doesn’t have Shadow Conk ranked at the time of this writing, but based on performance, it seems to now be on the same level as things like Marshadow, Annihilape, and the Swords Of Justice. And it’s not just how much it beats, but WHAT it beats. Marshadow and Annihilape can sometimes take out Dragons more easily than Conkle thanks to their Ice Punch, but neither have a real shot at the Necrozma fusions. It capably handles Dialga (including Origin), Steels in general (including Metagross), Darks, Rocks, Ice, and a variety of big names like Ursaluna, Swampert, Reshiram, Zekrom, Snorlax, and big bad Kyogre (which most Fighters really struggle with). Yes, still must avoid Fairies, Psychics, Flyers, and most Ghosts despite Brutal Swing. But Shadow Conkeldurr is about to become very interesting in Master League, folks.
In other Leagues, however, we’re back to a sidegrade discussion. In Ultra League, basically every notable new win for Shadow Conk (Poliwrath, Virizion, Pidgeot) is counterbalanced by a new loss (as compared to non-Shadow like Feraligatr, PowderTales, and Shadow Swampert. Or in Great League where Shadow Conkle can beat Sableye, Mandibuzz, Talonflame, and Venusaur, but loses to Lanturn, Swampert, Whiscash, and Shadow Poliwrath that non-Shadow Conk can vanquish.
So in short… heck, I’d try and get a Shadow one for each League if you can manage it! But if I had to pick one League to prioritize, it would definitely be Master League for those that can afford it. It represents the new best Conkeldurr, and arguably the best Fighter of all in that format now! Good luck with your hunt, dear readers.
HOCKING ANOTHER LUGIE 😮💨

SHADOW LUGIA is decidedly not new… I analyzed it back in 2021 and again last Halloween. But just to briefly review again….
Lugia does perform well as a Shadow, at least in Master League where it can really… well… stretch its wings. As compared to non-Shadow, you gain Togekiss, Xerneas, Gyarados, Mewtwo, and even Metagross despite it resisting all of Lugia’s damage, though non-Shadow makes much of that up by uniquely beating Origin Palkia, Reshiram, Ursaluna, and sometimes Garchomp. They remain relatively close in shieldless matchups too, though non-Shadow Lugia pulls a bit ahead of Shadow Lugie if things move to 2v2 shielding. Still, I recommend holding onto any good Shadow ones and not purifying in this case, as Return doesn’t do a lot for Lugia.
ROCKS AND A HARD PLACE 🐢🪨🐦
So first the good news: the new Shadow versions of PvP afterthoughts CARRACOSTA (Tirtouga) and ARCHEOPS (Archen) are both overall better than their non-Shadow counterparts.
Now the bad news.

- Water/Rock types are already hard enough to use in PvP, with some very rough vulnerabilities (Fighting and Ground, double weakness to Grass just like the Mud Boys, and weak to Electric to top it all off) that generally outweight its resistances (Poison, Flying, Ice, Fire, and Normal). I mean, heck, just consider that none of them are able to break out in freaking Fossil Cup going on right now in GBL! Carracosta has some interesting and varied moves with Water Gun and Rock Throw for fast moves, and generally Body Slam paired with Surf or Ancient Power for charge moves. (Liquidation, a more recent addition, is there now too, just not preferred.) As I said, Shadow IS an improvement, particularly for the Water Gun/Body Slam/Ancient Power moveset, gaining Bastiodon, Carbink, Skarmory, and Mandibuzz, it’s just that it remains at a dismal winrate in the low 20s, even at its best. And no, Ultra League is not really any better, even though it again represents a notable improvement over non-Shadow. Carracota, like its fellow watery Fossils, remains a sad afterthought in PvP. It’s a real shame, as I LOVE its design and potential, but alas…

- It always feels like Archeops (and Archen) are just one move away from greatness. “Maybe if they had a Flying charge move like Aerial Ace or Sky Attack, or a better Rock move, or something!” I’ve heard many suggestions, and made one or two myself over the years. But the fact of the matter is this: even then, with more ideal moves, I just don’t see it happening, Shadow or not. Fellow Flying Rock Aerodactyl has never been able to get it done with better bulk and arguably better moves, so what chance does Archeops and its dozen less HP and 25ish less Defense have? This is Haunter/Rampardos levels of bulk we’re talking about here, folks. All that to say that: is Shadow Archeops an improvement? As compared to non-Shadow, in a word, YES, with new wins like Mantine, Gligar, Vigoroth, Poliwrath, and Shadow Swampert and giving up only Altaria, Annihilape, and Shadow Poliwrath in return. But is it enough to pull Archeops or Archen into competitive territory? That’s a stone cold NO. Sorry.
IN CONCLUSION
By means of closing this out, here’s how I rank your PvP priorities during this Shadow grind:
- Shadow Conkeldurr: sidegrade for Great/Ultra League, potent upgrade in Master League
- Shadow Cresselia: desirable sidegrade in Great/Ultra League
- Shadow Lugia: solid sidegrade for Master League
- Shadow Carracosta/Archeops: Upgrade but still mostly unviable
Alright, that’s it for today. Hopefully this is a help to you as you hunt and raid! Until next time, you can always find me on Twitter with regular GO analysis nuggets or Patreon.
Stay safe out there, Pokéfriends, and beware what lurks in the shadows! 🌑 Catch you next time.