I was lucky enough to catch a shiny Poliwag today (whilst in the passenger seat on a road trip). And, with the abundance of Politoed running rampage in the Great Battle League this month—now would be the best time to cover this ‘mon.
Best Politoed GO Battle moveset
Your best set in GO Battle League for Politoed is: 👇
Politoed’s best Fast Attack:
- Mud Shot
Politoed’s best two Charged Attacks:
- Weather Ball (Water)
- Blizzard
Politoed is a defensive Pokémon, with good HP and DEF stats and a somewhat potent ATK stat. It’s not uber bulky to tank and carry a team through an entire match—but its defensive stats are more than enough to take a few hits while out-speeding most foes in the current metagame to fire back with a few water balls. 💦
Mud Shot allows Politoed to charge up energies quickly. Weather Ball Water is your go-to Charged Attack, packing a decent punch with its 60 points in power and only 35 energy points to fire off.
The secondary Charged Attack is Blizzard and allows Politoed to take out popular Flying-, Dragon-, and Grass- types running around in the Great League, such as Altaria, Venusaur, or Meganium. It’s also the only other non-Water-type move that Politoed has access to (excluding Return for purified Pokémon). The alternatives: Hydro Pump and Surf, though stronger, are pretty redundant since Weather Ball is the much more efficient option.
Politoed’s stats in Pokémon GO
Politoed has an ATK stat of 174, HP stat of 207, and DEF stat of 179. With its stats—Politoed belongs to the Great League and Ultra League in Pokémon GO.
Generally speaking, in PVP battles, especially the Great League—any Pokémon with higher HP and DEF than ATK is ideal. In Pokémon GO, the ATK stat adds double to a ‘mon’s CP. Thus, lower ATK stats allow you to have a Pokémon with more stats in total, with the same level of CP.
Politoed’s ideal EV spread in Pokémon GO is 0 ATK/15 HP/15 DEF for the Great League—to guarantee max defensive power and stats (for 1500 CP).
How to get Politoed in Pokémon GO
- Evolve a Poliwhirl with 100 Candies + King’s Rock.
- Catch Politoed in the wild (rare).
- Catch it from a Raid Battle.
- Rinse and repeat—there really is no secret.
Poliwrath vs. Politoed in Pokémon GO
Ah yes, the ultimate questions.
There are three main differences between Politoed and Poliwrath.
The typings
The first: Politoed is a mono-Water-type Pokémon, and Poliwrath is a dual Water-/Fighting-type.
Water typing is regarded as one of the best defensive types in the franchise, with only two weaknesses: Grass and Electric. Poliwrath, with its added Fighting-type, gives it 3 more weaknesses: Fairy, Flying, and Psychic.
On the other hand, Politoed resists 4 types of attacks: Fire, Water, Ice, and Steel attacks. Poliwrath has 6 resistances: Fire, Water, Ice, Bug, Rock, and Steel. Defensively, I’d be indifferent. It all depends on your preference and well the current metagame.
The stats
Politoed, as mentioned, is a defensive type. It relies on tanking non-effective hits while outpacing opponents with Weather Ball. Its ATK/HP/DEF spread is 174/207/197.
Surprisingly, Poliwrath’s stats are 182/207/184—which is very similar to Politied. It’d say it’s a tie.
The attack moves
This section is, of course, what sets the two of Poliwag’s evolutions apart. Politoed deals Water- and Ice-type attacks. Poliwrath shares the ideal Fast Attack Mud Shot. But, its go-to Charged Attack is the Fighting moves Dynamic Punch or Power-Up Punch, which punishes the defensive Steel-type. The secondary attack is also an Ice-type (similar to Politoed in Pokémon GO)—Poliwrath has access to Ice Punch.
Politoed vs. Slowking in Pokémon GO
A fascinating search query this is! Slowking is a Water-/Psychic-type. It charges energies less quickly, with the fastest move being Water Gun. Its other move is Confusion, a power-heavy but low-energy-charging Fast Attack that is rendered useless as all Charged Attacks require lots of energies.
And it has access to Blizzard, Psychic, and Fire Blast as Charged Attacks. All three are very powerful but also very slow (they require much energy to fire off). Thus, even with a tanky ATK/HP/DEF spread of 177/216/180, Politoed is the better Pokémon for PVP in Pokémon GO.
Funnily enough, though—if Politoed and Slowking were to face each other, Slowking would come out on top—as both of Politoed’s Charged Attacks are non-effective against the slow king.
But Politoed against the rest of the metagame, that’s an opposite story. The last time I saw Slowking as some usage was a few months back—where there was a Gen I/Kanto-only cup—and even then—Slowbro had more use than its sibling.
Shiny Politoed in Pokémon GO
I have not evolved my shiny Poliwag yet, but shiny Politoed looks like this in the game.
aiangato 