The Ultra League and its Premier Cup are about to return to Pokémon GO. After 2 weeks of Great League with its 1500 CP limit, players will once again be able to wield characters up to 2500 CP. This changes the meta in many unexpected ways, opening up new strategies and tiers of choices for your team. To help you put it all together here’s our Pokémon GO Ultra League and Premier Cup guide showing you the best Pokémon for your teams in April and May 2021.
Best Ultra League Pokémon for April and May 2021
The Ultra League kicks off in Pokémon GO on Monday, April 26th at 4pm Eastern Time. It will last for 2 weeks, ending on May 10th, when the Master League will begin. Below we have broken down the best Pokémon to use on your Ultra League team in April and May 2021. Some of these will require Candy XL to power up fully to their most competitive level. These are marked with (XL) if they would not appear on the list otherwise. You always want to get as close to the 2500 CP cap as possible, with the ideal IVs usually being low Attack with high Defense and HP.
For your team you usually want to pick one or two from this list then fill in type gaps using the other fields. See what damage they will resist and what they might be weak to. Then try to make sure you have no clear type that will wipe out your team or you might struggle against in other ways.
| Pokémon | Type | Fast Attack | Charged Attack | Resists Against | Weak to |
| Cresselia | Psychic | Psycho Cut | Grass Knot, Moonblast, or Future Sight | Psychic, Fighting | Bug, Dark, Ghost |
| Registeel | Steel | Lock On | Flash Cannon or Focus Blast | Poison, Steel, Rock, Psychic, Normal, Ice, Grass, Flying, Fairy, Dragon, Bug | Fighting, Fire, Ground |
| Talonflame (XL) | Fire and Flying | Incinerate | Brave Bird | Grass, Bug, Steel, Ground, Fire, Fighting, Fiary | Rock, Electric, Water |
| Abomasnow (XL) | Grass and Ice | Powder Snow | Weather Ball (Ice) | Water, Ground, Grass, Electric | Fire, Bug, Fighting, Flying, Poison, Rock, Steel |
| Giratina (Altered Forme) | Ghost and Dragon | Shadow Claw | Dragon Claw | Normal, Fighting, Water, Poison, Grass, Fire, Electric, Bug | Dark, Dragon, Fairy, Ghost, Ice |
| Galarian Stunfisk (XL) | Ground and Steel | Mud Shot | Rock Slide or Earthquake | Poison, Rock, Electric, Steel, Psychic, Normal, Flying, Fairy, Dragon, Bug | Fighting, Fire, Ground, Water |
| Articuno | Grass and Ice | Ice Shard | Icy Wind | Ground, Grass, Bug | Rock, Electric, Fire, Steel |
| Politoed (XL) | Water | Mud Shot | Weather Ball (Water) | Water, Steel, Ice, Fire | Electric, Grass |
| Swampert | Ice and Flying | Mud Shot | Hydro Cannon | Steel, Rock, Poison, Fire, Electric | Grass |
| Mandibuzz (XL) | Dark and Flying | Snarl | Foul Play | Psychic, Ground, Grass, Ghost, Drak | Electric, Fairy, Ice, Rock |
Those are the best Pokémon for your Ultra League team in April and May 2021, but there’s another option available with the Premier Cup.
Best Premier Cup (Ultra) Pokémon for April and May 2021
The Premier Cup debuts alongside the main Ultra League and has the same 2500 CP cap, but adds an additional restriction of its own. Legendary and Mythical Pokémon are excluded, which shakes up all of the tier lists and meta completely. Check out the list below, and once again we have noted with (XL) those that would not appear on the list had they not been powered up via Candy XL.
| Pokémon | Type | Fast Attack | Charged Attack | Resists Against | Weak to |
| Galarian Stunfisk (XL) | Ground and Steel | Mud Shot | Rock Slide or Earthquake | Poison, Rock, Electric, Steel, Psychic, Normal, Flying, Fairy, Dragon, Bug | Fighting, Fire, Ground, Water |
| Swampert | Ice and Flying | Mud Shot | Hydro Cannon | Steel, Rock, Poison, Fire, Electric | Grass |
| Abomasnow (XL) | Grass and Ice | Powder Snow | Weather Ball (Ice) | Water, Ground, Grass, Electric | Fire, Bug, Fighting, Flying, Poison, Rock, Steel |
| Scrafty (XL) | Dark and Fighting | Counter | Foul Play | Dark, Rock, Psychic, Ghost | Fairy, Fighting, Flying |
| Jellicent (XL) | Water and Ghost | Hex or Bubble | Shadow Ball or Ice Beam | Normal, Fighting, Water, Steel, Poison, Ice, Fire, Bug | Dark, Electric, Ghost, Grass |
| Mandibuzz (XL) | Dark and Flying | Snarl | Psychic, Ground, Grass, Ghost, Dark | Electric, Fairy, Ice, Rock | |
| Machamp | Fighting | Counter | Dynamic Punch or Close Combat | Rock, Dark, Bug | Fairy, Flying, Psychic |
| Politoed (XL) | Water | Mud Shot | Weather Ball (Water) | Water, Steel, Ice, Fire | Electric, Grass |
| Skarmory (XL) | Steel and Flying | Air Slash | Brave Bird or Sky Attack | Poison, Grass, Bug, Steel, Psychic, Normal, Ground, Flying, Fairy, Dragon | Electric, Fire |
And that’s our Pokémon GO Ultra League and Premier Cup guide with the best Pokémon for your teams in April and May 2021.
