Meowscarada, Skeledirge, and Quaquaval: Analyzing Paldean starters for Pokemon GO Battle League

Pokemon GO recently introduced the starters from the Generation IX entries. Sprigatito, Fuecoco, and Quaxly are now available through various means in Niantic's mobile game. Usually, they may spawn in the wild or be found through Eggs. During the "A Paldean Adventure" event, they will have boosted wild spawn rates and may be encountered through Special and Field Research rewards.

Upon catching these critters, you might feel tempted to try them out in the game's PvP arena. The open Great and Ultra League are the best arenas for this purpose since they feature strong critters but with a limit to their potential. However, before diving into a trainer battle or investing Candy, Stardust, TMs, and more into building one of these critters, you might want to determine the most worthwhile option.

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Are Sprigatito, Floragato, and Meowscarada good in Pokemon GO PvP?

Meowscarada (Image via Sportskeeda)

At the outset, using Sprigatito or Floragato doesn't make much sense in the Great League since Sprigatito barely reaches 1200 CP at level 50, and Meowscarada outclasses it in all respects at the same level.

That said, Meowscarada is a Grass- and Dark-type critter. It has a base 233 Attack, 153 Defense, and 183 Stamina. Its best moveset consists of Leafage as Fast Attack, with Night Slash and Grass Knot serving as Charged Moves.

Being a frail critter, Meowscarada is dependent on dealing high amounts of Charged Attack damage in a short while. It is also weak to seven elemental types. To make matters worse, it lacks any coverage against the types it's weak to. Overall, Meowscarada is not a viable pick in any GO Battle League format.

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Are Fuecoco, Crocalor, and Skeledirge good in Pokemon GO PvP?

Skeledirge (Image via Sportskeeda)

Like Sprigatito and Floragato, there is not much point in investing in Fuecoco and Crocalor for the Pokemon GO Battle League.

Skeledirge is a Fire- and Ghost-type critter whose base Attack is 207, Defense is 178, and Stamina is 183. Its ideal moveset includes Incinerate as Fast Attack, with Flame Thrower and Disarming Voice serving as Charged Moves.

Skeledirge is a bulky attacker. Its elemental typing leaves it with five weaknesses, but its double resistance to Bug, Fighting, and Normal is enough compensation. Skeledirge also gets access to the Disarming Voice, a low-energy Fairy-type move that punishes Dark-types.

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Are Quaxly, Quaxwell, and Quaquaval good in Pokemon GO PvP?

Quaquaval (Image via Sportskeeda)

Quaxly and Quaxwell are not great picks for Pokemon GO Battle League for the same reasons as the first two evolutionary stages of the other starters.

Quaquaval is a Water- and Fighting-type Pocket Monster with 236 Attack, 159 Defense, and 198 Stamina. Its best moveset consists of Wing Attack as Fast Attack, with Aerial Ace and Close Combat listed as Charged Moves.

In all ways, Quaquaval is a better version of Staraptor since it gets more resistance thanks to its part-Water typing, and it has a Flying-type bait move that does not debuff it. The critter is still quite glassy, but similar to Greeninja, this is compensated by a high offensive output.

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Which is the best Paldean starter in Pokemon GO Battle League?

Between Meowscarada, Skeledirge, and Quaquaval, the Fire-type starter stands as the best Paldean starter for Pokemon GO Battle League. This is because it can dish out damage and absorb it just as well. While Meoscarada and Quaquaval deal more raw damage than Skeledirge, they have very shallow HP bars and require much more assistance and planning.

That said, none of these critters are meta picks for trainer battles in Pokemon GO, so you must determine your teams and strategies to get value out of them.