Pokémon Go Kanto Cup team recommendations, restrictions and dates explained

Publish date: 2023-01-25

The Kanto Cup is a limited-time event occurring the Go Battle League of Pokémon Go to celebrate the final week of the Season of Legends.

To spice the Go Battle League up, and provide you with a bit of a challenge, the Kanto Cup has a number of restrictions which must abide if you want to partake in it.

Your performance in the Kanto Cup will also not affect your Battle League rating, so it's the perfect time to have some fun with Pokémon you wouldn't normally use.

Below you can find our Kanto Cup recommendations which will help you create a powerful Kanto Cup team.

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Pokémon Go PvP gameplay: AI battle against Blanche

Kanto Cup restrictions in Pokémon Go explained

There are two restrictions to keep in mind if you're planning on partaking in the Kanto Cup in Pokémon Go.

The first is that, as the name suggests, you can only use Pokémon from the Kanto Pokédex in this special cup. The Kanto Pokédex runs from number one to 151, which is from Bulbasaur to Mew.

You can use the Alolan and Galarian variants of the Kanto Pokémon, like Alolan Sandslash and Alolan Ninetails, if you so wish.

The second restriction is that only Pokémon with a max CP of 1,500 or lower can partake in this cup. This means you can't use any of your heavy hitting Kanto Pokémon.

It's also important to note that, while not a restriction, your Go Battle League rating won't be affected by the Kanto Cup, so feel free to have some fun with your teams.

Our Pokémon Go Kanto Cup recommendations from Ninetails to Dragonair

Like every league or special cup for the Go Battle League, there is no definite 'best' team for the Kanto Cup, because you'll have no idea which Pokémon you'll be facing.

Still, thanks to the restrictions in place, there are a number of Pokémon who stand out against the rest, which we've listed below.

First, however, it's a good idea to review the Kanto Cup's restrictions before you start playing, so, with these rules in mind, you can carefully examine which Pokémon fit within these restrictions.

As always, it's a good idea to have a mixture of Pokémon types and have one Pokémon who can quickly build up their Charged attack in an attempt to force your opponents to use their shields.

The Kanto Cup is also a good time to spend some of your spare Stardust for either unlocking a second Charged move or powering up a Pokémon - just remember to stay within the CP limit!

Our Pokémon Go Kanto Cup recommendations in National Pokédex order:

Ninetails

Type: Fire-type
Recommended moves: Feint Attack or Fire Spin (Fast) / Overheat, Return, Solar Beam or Weather Ball (Charged)
Ninetails weaknesses: Ground, rock and water-types

If you want a fire-type for your Kanto Cup team, then Ninetails is perfect and it all thanks to Weather Ball. This multi-type charged attack's type depends on the type of its user, so, when performed by Ninetails, it transforms into a powerful fire-type move which can easily destroy any bug, grass, ice or steel Pokémon.

You should also highly consider teaching Ninetails Feint Attack as its Fast Move. Due to the dark-typing of this attack, Ninetails will have a small advantage over psychic and ghost-type Pokémon. This is perfect for taking out Hypno and Alolan Marowak, which are both popular choices for the Kanto Cup.

Wigglytuff

Type: Normal and fairy-type
Recommended moves: Charm (Fast) / Ice Beam or Play Rough (Charged)
Wigglytuff weaknesses: Poison and steel-type

Wigglytuff is, by far, the best fairy-type choice for the Kanto Cup due to it being part normal-type, which negates any ghost-type damage going it's way. This means Wigglytuff is an excellent defense against the Gen 1 ghost-types and Pokémon which use ghost moves, like Hypno.

Aside from this advantage, if you decide to unlock Wigglytuff's second move, then you can turn it into a great dragon-type slayer. With Ice Beam and Play Rough as its Charged moves, you'll be able to easily focus upon any dragon-types weaknesses.

Vileplume

Type: Grass and poison-type
Recommended moves: Razor Leaf (Fast) / Leaf Blade, Moonblast or Sludge Bomb
Vileplume weaknesses: Fire, flying, ice and psychic-types

Vileplume is a good choice as your grass and poison-type Pokémon, firstly, because it has a tendency to last a little longer in battle than the other choices like Victreebel.

When it comes to moves Razor Leaf is great at dealing a lot of damage quickly to ground, rock and water-type Pokémon. You may even find that they faint long before you can unleash one of Vileplume's Charged attacks.

We highly recommend ensuring Sludge Bomb is one of Vileplume's Charged attacks, so you can unleash this poison-type move on any fairy or grass-type Pokémon you encounter.

Dewgong

Type: Water and ice-type
Recommended moves: Ice shard (Fast) / Blizzard or Water Pulse (Charged)
Dewgong weaknesses: Electric, fighting, grass and rock-types

While you might be tempted to include Lapras in your team, Dewgong is a good choice if you don't want to pay a considerable amount of Stardust to increase its CP level. This isn't to say that Dewgong is simply a Larpas substitute, because it can definitely hold its own in the Kanto Cup.

Blizzard is a strong ice-type Charged Move, which can deal great amounts of damage to dragon, flying grass and ground-type Pokémon. This means that Dewgong can not only combat any troublesome dragon-types you might find yourself facing, but can also travel popular choices like Vileplume.

It's also worth checking to see if you have a Dewgong which knows the Legacy Moves - Aqua Jet or Icy Wind. These moves are still good choices for Dewgong, even though both currently can't learn them.

Alolan Muk

Type: Poison and dark-type
Recommended moves: Snarl (Fast) / Dark Pulse or Sludge Wave (Charged)
Alolan Muk weaknesses: Ground-types

There are only four dark-type Pokémon to choose from for the Kanto Cup and, even though dark is only it's secondary type, Alolan Muk is still the best choice.

Thanks to being a poison and dark-type Pokémon, Alolan Muk starts by taking out all the grass and fairy-type Pokémon, before moving onto the ghost and psychic-types. This means it can easily target a number of popular choices, like Hypno and Wigglytuff, which you can expect to see in the Kanto Cup.

Just make sure you unlock its secondary move, so Alolan Muk can know both Dark Pulse and Sludge Wave, so you can reap the rewards from both type advantages.

Hypno

Type: Psychic-type
Recommended moves: Confusion (Fast) / Focus Blast, Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Shadow Ball or Thunder Punch
Hypno weaknesses: Bug, dark and ghost-types

Hypno is a great choice for any Kanto Cup team due how only a couple of dark, ghost and a few psychic-types have the ability to quickly defeat it. It's advantages start with Confusion - a solid Fast move, which will help you defeat fighting and poison-type Pokémon.

It's worth doing some experimenting with Hypno's Charged moves to see which combination you like best. After unlocking Hypno's second move, you can go for the good combination of Focus Blast and Shadow Ball or you can try one of the elemental punches to give your Hypno a surprise heavy hitter for certain Pokémon types.

Alolan Marowak

Type: Fire and ghost-type
Recommended moves: Fire Spin or Hex (Fast) / Bone Club or Shadow Ball (Charged)
Alolan Marowak weaknesses: Dark, ghost, ground, rock and water-types

If you fancy having a ghost-type in your Kanto Cup team, then Alolan Marowak is a great choice due to its dual typing.

The fire-type moves will allow you to easily defeat bug, grass, ice and steel-types, while the ghost-typing will ensure you have an advantage psychic Pokémon and other ghosts, which can be very useful.

It's also a very good idea to unlock Alolan Marowak's second move, so that you can add Bone Club to its roster. This will give you the option of a ground-type move perfect for finishing off electric, fire, poison, rock or steel-type Pokémon.

Snorlax

Type: Normal-type
Recommended moves: Lick (Fast) / Body Slam, Earthquake or Superpower (Charged)
Snorlax weaknesses: Fighting-type

Despite its reputation for being lazy, Snorlax is an excellent choice for the Kanto Cup, though you may have to invest a lot of Stardust to ensure it's properly ready.

If you decide to make the Stardust investment, then you'll discover Snorlax is exactly the Pokémon you need to defeat a tricky opponent as long as they're not a fighting-type Pokémon. Snorlax will be destroyed by any fighting-type Pokémon, so keep it safely hidden away if one enters the field.

Just remember to ensure you have enough Candy and Stardust for Snorlax before you start training one up.

Dragonair

Type: Dragon-type
Recommended moves: Dragon Breath (Fast) / Aqua Tail, Dragon Pulse or Return (Charged)
Dragonair weaknesses: Dragon, fairy and ice-types

Like with Snorlax, ensuring your Dragonair is properly prepared for the Kanto Cup will most likely cost you a considerable amount of Stardust and Candy, so make your decision carefully.

If you do decide to back Dragonair always ensure you unlock it's second move and teach it Aqua Tail. This water-type move makes Dragonair even deadlier by giving it the opportunity to deal a great amount of damage to fire, ground and rock-type Pokémon.

Dragonair is also a good choice for battling other dragon-type Pokémon.

Kanto Cup dates and times in Pokémon Go explained

The Kanto Cup is running during the final week of the Season of Legends, meaning it's available from Monday, 24th May to Monday, 31st May, with it ending at the following times:

Good luck in the Kanto Cup!

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