Pokemon GO Willpower Cup 2025: A Guide For The Trainers

With the Summer Cup Great League edition wrapped up, it is time for the arrival of the much-awaited league in Pokemon GO GBL. Yes, we are talking about the Pokemon GO Willpower Cup 2025. Side by side with the Masters League Mega Edition, we will also have the Willpower Cup starting from 16th September 2025 to 23rd September 2025.

Whether you are a beginner who just started the game and does not have the resources to build a team for the Pokemon GO Masters League, or you are someone who simply avoids it, this is the perfect opportunity to rank up in GBL due to the meta of the competition, along with the banned Pokemon list.

For the trainers around the world, the rewards are more than just ranking progress, as trainers will receive 4x Stardust from win rewards. However, please note that the 4x Stardust rewards do not include end-of-set rewards.

Only Fighting-, Psychic-, and Dark-type Pokemon are eligible for the competition. However, Gardevoir, Zorua, and Zoroark are banned from the competitions.

Keeping everything in mind of the Pokemon GO Willpower Cup 2025, we have curated a list of the top five teams that you can use to get the best out of the competition.

Pokemon GO Willpower Cup 2025: Top 5 Teams

Keeping the eligibility criteria and the banned Pokemon in mind, here are the top 5 teams for Pokemon GO Willpower Cup 2025:

Team 1: Claydol, Moltres (Galarian), Shadow Murkrow

Claydol is the ranked 1 Pokemon for this league due to its move set and balanced stats that allow it to win a lot of leads. All the weaknesses of it are covered by Galarian Moltress and Shadow Murkrow. However, it is suggested to use Galarian Moltress as a safe switch for flipping the scenario or baiting out the hard counter of Claydol. Shadow Murkrow is glassy but a great closer. This is the best team for the Pokemon GO Willpower Cup 2025.

Here is the rating of team 1 based on coverage, bulk, safety, and consistency:

Team 2: Shadow Drapion, Claydol, Mandibuzz

In this team, Claydol is used as a safe switch. Due to that, the safety rating is better than that of Team 1. Shadow Drapion is a pretty safe lead due to its move set. Any counters to it are covered by Claydol and Mandibuzz.

Here is the rating of team 2 based on coverage, bulk, safety, and consistency:

Team 3: Pawniard, Claydol, Galarian Rapidash

This team is the perfect answer when you are encountering meta Pokemon in the league. Moreover, while the bulk in Pokemon GO is low, the consistency of this team is great, given the off-meta picks and the coverages, too, from the unique move set.

Here is the rating of team 3 based on coverage, bulk, safety, and consistency:

Team 4: Shadow Murkrow, Claydol, Annihilape

This is one of the best ABC flexible teams. Shadow Murkrow as a lead is indeed a surprise. However, in a one or two-shield scenario, you can win a lot of leads. Moreover, Annihilape is a perfect closer in the format.

Here is the rating of team 4 based on coverage, bulk, safety, and consistency:

Team 5: Cresselia, Pawniard, Metang

This is the 5th team in our Pokemon GO Willpower Cup guide. In this team, you can consider Metang as the safe switch. Cresselia is hardly hard-countered in this format. Any time it does, you can use Metang to flip the scenario. Moreover, you can also use it to bait out a later hard counter to it. Pawniard can close the match just fine!

Here is the rating of team 5 based on coverage, bulk, safety, and consistency:

Pokémon GO Summer Cup Great League Edition: Top 5 Teams Used By The Trainers

As we head into the much-awaited Pokemon GO Willpower Cup 2025, let us take a look back at what teams were the highlights of the previous competition, i.e., Summer Cup. Here are our top 5 teams used by the trainers all around the world for Summer Cup Great League Edition in the season of Pokemon Go Tales of Transformation:

Team 1: Cradily, Shadow Emploeon, Shadow Gyarados

Cradily was a must-pick for every trainer out there, whether you are a seasoned trainer or you are simply getting started in Pokémon GO PvP.

With acid, rock tomb, and grass knot, it has the perfect coverage to stand its ground in the lead by itself. Shadow Empoleon is the perfect safe switch due to Hydro Cannon, which perfectly counters the fire-type Pokémon that counters Cradily. Moreover, with Drill Peck, the water-type Pokémon can battle it out with the counters of the opposition. Lastly, we have Shadow Gyarados, whose moveset is the perfect hard counter for any Pokémon that has winning chances against Cradily.

Here are the moveset details of this team:

Here is the rating of team 1 based on coverage, bulk, safety, and consistency:

Team 2: Victreebel, Shadow Gyarados, Kingdra

This ABB lineup was glassy indeed. However, it was a powerful lineup that can catch your opponents off guard, given that it is not a popular lineup to see, and many of these are corebreakers to a lot of teams.

Any time trainers encountered a bad lead, they opted to switch into Gyarados. It baited out the hard counters for Kingdra. They dealt with the counter with Victreebel and then finished off with Kingdra's unique move sets. It was one of the best teams for the Summer Cup Great League Edition.

Here is the full move set of this team:

Here is the rating of team 2 based on coverage, bulk, safety, and consistency:

Team 3: Stunfisk, Togekiss, Shadow Alolan Ninetales

This was one of the most successful lineups in this season's Pokémon GO Summer Cup Great League Edition. Given the unique move sets of these Pokémon, it is no wonder that the lineup performed so well. Moreover, each of these is corebreaker to many meta lineups. Since Togekiss' charm is switched with Peck, it builds energy quickly, and in a two-shield scenario, it sets the game for the trainers. Shadow Alolan Ninetales is the perfect Pokémon to close the game for you once you deal with the Togekiss' counter with Stunfisk.

Here are the full move sets of this team:

Here is the rating of team 3 based on coverage, bulk, safety, and consistency:

Team 4: Shadow Scizor, Cradily, Gastrodon

This team has taken Marcy454 to rank 15th in the Global Leaderboards in Season 23. Shadow Scizor was one of the best leads in the Summer Cup due to its versatile moveset and the buffs it gets over time. Cradily was the perfect counter to any possible lead loss. Moreover, Gastrodon finished up the game with its Body Slam spam, along with Water Pulse being the perfect move to deal with another Scizor counter in the back.

Here are the full move sets of this team:

Here is the rating of team 4 based on coverage, bulk, safety, and consistency:

Team 5: Turtonator, Cradily, Toedscruel

Toedscruel was one of the most fun and underrated picks in the Summer Cup Great League edition. Turtonator as a lead protects both of the grass-type in the back from ice and bug type, and the backline covers Turtonator with their unique move set. This team was one of the most fun and off-meta picks in Pokémon GO Summer Cup Great League Edition.

Here are the full move sets of this team:

Here is the rating of team 5 based on coverage, bulk, safety, and consistency:

Check out our guide to find out what the Pokemon GO Great Battle League rewards encounters are in the Tales of Transformation season.