Where Is the Love (Cup)?
Someone please tell Niantic that it's Valentine's Day in case they forgot.
In celebration of Valentine’s Day, Niantic naturally has chosen Master League and—let me just check my notes—Evolution Cup for the current rotation. Wait—what? What about Love Cup?
As someone who is more casual about Pokémon GO and GO Battle League these days but still likely more avid than most, one of the most frustrating aspects of being an end user is witnessing the game shy away from its more popular formats in favor of less lauded and arguably less creative limited metas. In fairness, even the most hardened Niantic haters among us would probably expect some recycling of material across the seasons.
That said, which limited metas get a reprise is grounds for contention. GO Battle League has featured multiple iterations of monotype Cups including Electric Cup, Fighting Cup, and Psychic Cup. From my anecdotal observations, these Cups weren’t all that well received in their first go-around. Despite the apparent negative feedback, Niantic brought them back again. Even if we accept the notion that these metas have coincided with larger in-game events featuring those Pokémon types and thus have had thematic relevance, running Cups that are even more top-heavy than the open metas from which they are meant to be safety valves doesn’t seem justified. Above all else, it’s boring and potentially lazy on Niantic’s part.
No Cup, meanwhile, is as universally reviled as Catch Cup, which evidently is now a fixture of the final weeks of the GBL season. Niantic first trotted out Catch Cup as part of a non-ranked interlude season which saw a compressed timeline and the introduction of a handful of experimental formats. Even then, with the stakes low, the initial reaction was one of beguilement. So the catch—pardon the pun—is that you can’t use Pokémon you’ve already powered up and double moved? You have to build all new Pokémon, including potentially rebuilding things you’ve already created? What is the appeal here?
Years later, Niantic hasn’t abandoned Catch Cup despite the public outcry against it. To this effect, it has pretty much doubled down on the whole idea. The season of Timeless Travels features not one, but two versions of Catch Cup: the standard Great League (1500 CP max) format and a new Little Cup (500 CP max) variation. It’s not an interlude season either. The battles count toward rank/rating. Moreover, these are the only choices for that rotation. If you don’t want to ready all-new Pokémon for battle, your only choice is not to play. Two weeks from the end of the GBL season, if you’re still pushing for a certain goal, throwing away a whole week feels like a subpar option. And Arceus help you if you don’t have the resources to blow to mark the occasion, namely Stardust.
Formats like Catch Cup feel like a direct affront to the fanbase, especially more casual players or battlers who have limited ability to grind for resources whether because of time constraints, money constraints, mobility issues, or any combination of these factors and other considerations. They might not be “pay-to-win” in the sense of real-world currency being used, but they are yet pay-to-play as regards in-game currencies/supplies. Even if Niantic is well-intentioned in aiming to design a Cup that levels the playing field for seasoned veterans and newer players alike, the price is a steep one. For those Trainers craving a departure from finishing the season with low-stakes or no-stakes Kanto Cup, as was the standard in past seasons, the proverbial cure is decidedly worse than the disease.
Re Love Cup vs. Evolution Cup, the dyad that is the crux of the matter here, once more we have an instance of a well-regarded format giving way to a less savory alternative. As it has been presented in the past, is Love Cup perfect? Of course not. No meta is. Personally speaking, I’m not even its staunchest defender. A limited meta based on the color of the Pokémon? Not necessarily the best criterion for a Cup’s eligibility. For me, the redeeming quality of Love Cup is seeing Pokémon you wouldn’t normally see in open Great League as viable options. Alongside Lickitung and Medicham, longtime GL meta staples, Pokémon like Alomomola, Cherrim (Sunshine), and Magcargo are relevant. Yes, even Cherrim! He’s just a little guy!
Fair or unfair, the consensus is a positive one in favor of Love Cup. Moreover, it’s thematically relevant because of Valentine’s Day. Instead, though, we get Evolution Cup, a middling limited meta of which the defining feature is that Vigoroth is eligible and therefore dictates the construction of almost all teams put forth in its name, as Vigoroth usually does. Perhaps Niantic could’ve gotten around having Vig dominate at the top of the rankings by simply banning it, thereby making Evo Cup more palatable. Perhaps banning Vig would’ve only made it worse. Again, however, Love Cup could’ve been the order of the day. In an alternate reality, we could be enjoying some Electrode vs. Wigglytuff action as we speak. But that’s not our reality.
Niantic has made it clear that, even if they’re not immediately responding to player criticism, people within the organization are paying attention. Such was the assertion by Michael Steranka in the wake of more than one #HearUsNiantic protests to unpopular game changes. Bypassing GO Battle League fan favorites in favor of irrelevant, undesirable limited metas, however, communicates the sentiment that John Hanke and Co. hear us, but aren’t listening all that intently. That and/or GBL just isn’t a priority for the makers of Pokémon GO. In Niantic’s partial defense, only a minority of users regularly battle, so maybe they feel it’s not worth the effort. On the other hand, by merely throwing up their hands, the company is ensuring that engagement stays low, and more seriously, risks losing even its most determined battlers.