Pokémon GO GBL Beginner's Guide — Basics

GBL (Go Battle League) is Pokémon GO's real-time 3-vs-3 player battle mode. Two trainers each field a party of three Pokémon, and the first to knock out all three of the opponent's Pokémon wins. This article covers just the essentials a first-timer needs to know.

1. The three leagues

GBL has three leagues with different CP caps: the Great League (CP 1500 or below), the Ultra League (CP 2500 or below), and the Master League (no limit). The lower the cap, the more the battle comes down to movesets and type matchups rather than raw base stats; in the Master League, legendaries and the highest-CP Pokémon lead the way.

2. Moves — fast moves and charged moves

Each Pokémon uses one fast move and up to two charged moves. You throw the fast move continuously to build energy, and once you have enough, you unleash a high-damage charged move. Which moves a Pokémon knows (its moveset) can dramatically change how the same Pokémon performs.

3. Two shields

Each player can use two shields per battle. A shield blocks the damage of the opponent's charged move. Knowing when to throw a shield and when to save it is the core skill of GBL. Rather than blocking every charged move, the key is the judgment to hold your shields for the moves that genuinely threaten you.

4. Switching and your lead

You can switch Pokémon during a battle, but after switching you can't switch again for a set time (the swap cooldown). Because of this, your choice of lead — the first Pokémon you send out — and your timing for safely pulling it back when you're at a disadvantage decide wins and losses.

5. Next steps

Once you have the basics down, checking what you meet most in the current league (the live meta) and which Pokémon are strong (the tier list) helps a lot in real matches. Use GBL Note's live meta and tier list to see what's trending right now.