Evergreen
Great, Ultra and Master League: CP Caps and Choosing Pokémon for Each
The three standard battle leagues compared: the 1,500 and 2,500 CP caps, the uncapped Master League, and how to choose and power up Pokémon for each one.
Almost every PvP format in Pokémon GO, from the GO Battle League to Trainer Battles with friends, is built on one of three standard leagues. Only a CP ceiling separates them, but that one number changes which Pokémon are worth raising, which IVs you want and what a team costs to build.
The three leagues at a glance
| League | CP limit | What tends to do well | Typical investment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Great League | 1,500 CP | Bulky Pokémon with modest Attack, including species with a naturally low CP ceiling and some middle evolutions | Usually the lowest, though the bulkiest low-Attack builds can still need Candy XL |
| Ultra League | 2,500 CP | Fully evolved Pokémon that land close to the cap, often only after being powered past level 40 | Medium to high: Candy XL is often part of the bill |
| Master League | No limit | Pokémon with the highest base stats, mostly Legendary Pokémon plus a few powerful non-Legendary species | The highest: maximum level and near-perfect IVs are the aim |
Themed cups usually borrow one of these caps and add rules on top; our guide to cup formats covers those extra restrictions, including the much lower caps used by "little" formats.
How a CP cap actually works
A Pokémon is eligible if its current CP is at or below the limit. Nothing is scaled down for you: one point over the cap and it can't be entered. At the time of writing there is no way to lower a Pokémon's level or undo an evolution, so powering up or evolving past a cap is effectively permanent. In a capped league you are looking for the strongest version of a Pokémon that still fits under the ceiling. If CP and IVs are still new to you, the core mechanics guides on the Trainer Hub homepage explain both.
Great League: 1,500 CP
Many species reach 1,500 CP well before their maximum level, so the winners are those that pack the most bulk under that limit. Low base Attack with high Defense and Stamina lets a species climb to a high level before touching the cap. Azumarill is a long-running example: its Attack is modest and its bulk is excellent, so a low-Attack copy only reaches 1,500 CP at a very high level and gets to use nearly all of that bulk, which is also why the best copies can need Candy XL.
- Don't assume the final evolution is best. If a final form overshoots 1,500 at a low level, an earlier stage powered higher can be stronger.
- Search for candidates. A storage search such as 0-1attack&3-4defense&3-4hp lists low-Attack, high-bulk copies; our search strings guide explains the syntax.
Ultra League: 2,500 CP
The higher cap lets many fully evolved Pokémon in, but a lot of them only get close to 2,500 CP once powered beyond level 40, which needs Candy XL on top of Stardust and a high enough Trainer level to unlock those levels. The logic matches Great League (reach the cap with as much bulk as possible), it just costs more. Ultra League is also where some bulky Legendary Pokémon find a home: too big for Great League, outclassed at the top of Master League.
Before committing, check how much Candy XL a pick needs and whether you can realistically earn it. A Pokémon far below 2,500 even at maximum level will usually be outmatched.
Master League: no cap
With no ceiling, Master League rewards raw stats, which in practice means mostly Legendary Pokémon plus a small group of powerful non-Legendary species. Here the usual intuition holds: higher IVs and higher levels are better, and a perfect or near-perfect copy is the goal. It is the most demanding league on resources, so most players build for it slowly. Limited-time variants without Legendary and Mythical Pokémon have appeared at times, giving everyone else a way in.
Why lower Attack IVs can win in capped leagues
In Great and Ultra League, a perfect appraisal is often not the best copy. In the CP formula Attack counts in full, while Defense and Stamina (HP) count only through their square roots, so a point of Attack raises CP faster than a point of bulk. A low-Attack, high-Defense, high-HP copy can therefore be powered to a higher level before it touches the cap, and ends up with more stats overall. PvP players measure that as the "stat product" (Attack × Defense × HP at the cap), which is what community-made IV ranking tools sort by. In a close mirror match, the difference can mean surviving one more fast move.
One trade-off: at the time of writing, simultaneous charged moves are resolved in favour of the higher Attack stat (what PvP players call CMP), so some players keep a little more Attack on Pokémon that often face their own species. Those ranking tools need the species and IVs typed in yourself; our appraisal guide explains how to read the in-game stat bars closely enough to narrow them down.
A quick way to sort your Pokémon by league
- Judge the species first. Great League body (modest Attack, lots of bulk), Ultra League body (reaches 2,500 with some Candy XL) or Master League heavyweight?
- Evolve before you power up. Evolution raises CP sharply, so evolve first, then power up towards the cap.
- Power up carefully. Check the resulting CP before every confirmation, including multi-level power-ups, so you don't overshoot the limit by a few points.
- Mark finished Pokémon. A favourite star prevents accidental transfers and a tag or nickname such as "GL" marks it as done, but neither blocks power-ups, so check before you tap.
Which league should you start with?
For most players, Great League is the right first step: the cheapest to build for, with the widest range of useful Pokémon. Our Great League team building guide walks through cores, safe swaps and closers once you have a few candidates. Ultra League makes a natural second project, and Master League a long-term goal.