Hello again, Pokéfriends! Are you ready for some Giants… in Little League?
Never after I wrote up my last analysis on the Legendary Giants with their exclusive moves did I expect I’d be revisiting them so soon… but I REALLY didn’t expect to EVER be analyzing them in Little League! After all, I thought we’d be a little lucky just to get them all in Great League this time around, but lo and behold, the Regis caught during the Ancients Recovered repeatable timed special research are not only able to be caught at a level low enough to get into Great League, but they can be as low as Level 1, and that means they’re eligible even in Little League! And MANY of you have been asking me all week thus far: ‘JRE, how are the Regis in Little League?’
Well, I am a man of the people, so I carved out a little time to answer exactly that: how ARE the Regis in Little League? Let’s see, going from least viable to one that could actually be pretty amazing!
NOT GREAT, NOT TERRIBLE
- REGICE is the least interesting. As I’ve mentioned multiple times in the past, Ice is just a terrible defensive typing, bolstered in PvP only because it has really good and widely effective moves, or because it’s often paired with other typings (Water in particular) that help mask that, on its own, Ice is vulnerable to four types of damage (Fire, Fighting, Rock, and Steel) while resisting only one (other Ice). Regice comes with only one (viable) Ice move, and it’s the most expensive one in 75-energy Blizzard. Big expensive moves are problematic enough, but particularly in Little League where it’s often speed and spam that is emphasized, since (nearly) everything in a 500 CP-capped League has only double digit HP. Blizzard can one shot most things, yes, but by the time you crank up to actually use it, AND get it past shields, Regice is likely dead already. And exclusive move Thunder is little better at 60 energy, representing Regice’s cheapest charge move. The only Regi that is saddled with a full suite of slower charge moves is Registeel, who of course overcomes that with great bulk and a MUCH better defensive typing. And thus, Regice really flounders, particularly harshly if things go to 2 shields. About the ONLY scenario where it does some damage is, unsurprisingly, with shields down. But ALSO unsurprisingly, that’s true of basically all of the Regis anyway, so not exactly a big point in Regice’s favor. If you get one small enough for Little League, sure, keep it for the novelty. But this is one I’d be very comfortable just leaving out… well, in the cold. 🥶
- Probably not a shock (pun game on POINT today, folks! 😜) that REGIELEKI is little better. Yes, it comes with the super cheap Thunder Cage now, which is great, but it still has the problem of being the glassiest of the Regis (and it’s not even close) and also a so-so typing. Electric actually isn’t bad defensively (weak to Ground, but only Ground while resisting Flying, Steel, and Electric. The bigger problem is that, being limited to Electric damage (other than the tiny chip damage of Lock-On), there’s only so much that Regieleki can do offensively. Obviously most Flyers (Altaria is a notable exception) and non-Ground Water types fumble, and it can overpower a handful of other meta names like Alolan Sandshrew, Vulpix, Obstagoon, Igglybuff, and even Chansey, but it’s hard to rely on outside of obvious Electric wins. (And as with Regice, lousy in 2v2 shielding, and decent but far from great with shields down.) Sure, hang onto it if you find a good sub-500 CP one (anything Level 6 or even 7 and below probably makes it), but honestly, you can do much better in Little League with things like Pikachu (and you don’t even need the obvious Libre, either!).
OKAY, I’M INTRIGUED
- So as mentioned earlier, REGISTEEL comes with good bulk (roughly equivalent to Dewpider, Seel, and Cottonee, as a few close examples) and a good typing in Little League. Fighting is relatively rare, leaving only Ground and Fire types to watch out for, with resistances to Bug, Dragon, Fairy, Flying, Grass, Ice, Normal, Psychic, Rock, and Steel damage, and a double resistance to Poison. But it’s held back a bit by one of the same issues that plagues Regice: its moves are just too dang expensive. There’s also the issue of Steel not being a typing that usually shows up as an allowable type in Little League Cups, so you may not have many instances where you can deploy Registeel anyway. But absolutely, if you find one, keep it. The potential is much higher here than anything we’ve covered above, though with the same dichotomy as the others between 2shield (really weak) and shieldless (pretty amazing!) scenarios.
- REGIROCK has always been a little underrated in PvP, in my opinion. Its main issue has been continually getting outshined by Registeel. But in Little League? Regirock takes the pole position, performing even a touch better than Registeel not just in 1v1 shielding, but even with shields down. Stone Edge is just a great weapon with a cost that makes it more threatening than anything Registeel has got at Little League level, and Earthquake (the exclusive, event-only move) is fast enough to get important wins like Galarian Stunfisk, Chinchou, Onix, and Nidoqueen. I like this one! But it’s still not the best…. 👀
NOW WE’RE TALKING!
- Yep, it’s REGIDRAGO. Sure, Dragon itself is not a great typing in a League with super prominent Fairy and Steel types always near the top of any Little League meta they find themselves in, but my oh my, the moves! The pressure that comes with Dragon Breath and Breaking Swipe is immense, even if the Attack debuff on the opponent never triggers. But even Regidrago’s top-end closing move now, Dragon Energy, is only 45 energy, making this by far the most effective Regi in Little League with a record keeps pace with or often completely leaves behind even the best Dragons currently in Little League. Regidrago does lose to a couple of those prominent Dragons (Altaria, Deino) and can get worn down by things like Wynaut and Mini Mud Boys, but check out some of the things it handles that stuff like, say, Altaria and Dratini cannot: Umbreon, Onix, Mandibuzz, Wooper and more. It’s right there among the best of the best, and nearly all of that comes with just spamming out Breaking Swipe as early and often as possible. And of course, the more you use Swipe, the more likely you get the Attack debuff to trigger and get even better results than this. Oh, AND Regidrago is the only Regi to keep up a solid performance not just with shields down, but in 2v2 shielding as well, where it actually improves while all the other Regis badly falter. Yep… Little League is Regidrago’s to dominate if you get one that’s eligible. Good luck!
IN CONCLUSION
So just like my last analysis that concluded that Regidrago and its two event-exclusive moves is the chase Pokémon for Great and Ultra Leagues, turns out it’s the one to target for Little League as well! Registeel and Regirock continue doing their thing as well, but Regidrago is really worth the grind if you can swing it. Fingers crossed for you! 🤞
Alright, that’s it for today. Hopefully this is a help to you as you grind through the Ancients Recovered raid bonanza special research! Until next time, you can always find me on Twitter with regular GO analysis nuggets or Patreon.
Stay safe out there, Pokéfriends, and may all your Regis be teeny tiny! Catch you next time.
P.S. – Thought I forgot about REGIGIGAS? I didn’t. It’s just that, as in other Leagues, it is hot trash. One more appropriate GIF for the road!
(Header Image credit to artist Kasugai (De-Tteiu))
