So, time for an overview of the latest edition of Spring Cup! Unfortunately this is arriving a little bit after the format has actually arrived (call it a… late bloomer? 
), so let’s get right to it with some JRE Tips & Tricks.
First, a quick reminder of what Spring Cup is (and isn’t):
- Great League, 1500 CP Limit.
- Only Grass-, Water-, and/or Fairy-type Pokémon are allowed.
Banned: Jumpluff, Roserade, Toxapex
Banned: Jumpluff, Roserade, ToxapexOkay, enough intro. Let’s dive in!
A POISON PARADISE 
You’re toxic, I’m slippin’ under
With a taste of a poison paradise
I’m addicted to you
Don’t you know that you’re toxic?
This is the reason for the odd header image: Spring Cup, more than I think ever, is about to become quite toxic. Poison has obvious advantages versus the format’s Grass and Fairy types, and nearly all of them happen to resist Water damage as well. In other words, a Poisonous Grass or Water Pokémon is a direct counter to a huge slice of the meta.
And there are a goodly number of highly competitive ones to choose one, many of them improved since our last time in Spring Cup. Here are the better ones that have seen direct buffs since we were last in this meta in April of 2025:
Venusaur
GrassPoison
VENUSAUR was never bad, but it has definitely seen a renaissance since getting Sludge last September. That of course includes Spring Cup, where Sludge adds a bunch of new meta wins as compared to old Sludge Bomb, including Lapras, Shadow Walrein, Feraligatr, Araquanid, Pelipper, Shadow Victreebel, and Shadow Cacturne (yes, that’s a thing now too!), and Hisuian Electrode, Trevenant, Jellicent, Seaking, Tinkaton, and Shadow Galarian Weezing in 2shield. Venusaur enjoys a Top 20 ranking and I think more than earns it.
Victreebel
GrassPoison
As much as I love my boy Venusaur, I would be a bad analyst to NOT point out that VICTREEBEL is more of a threat overall, and it’s largely because it comes with a high pressure Poison fast move Acid, massively buffed the season after our last visit to Spring Cup. While Venusaur’s comparatively higher bulk can outlast things Vic cannot like Dewgong and Shadow Tentacruel, Victreebel instead outraces (non-Shadow) Venusaur, Shadow Abomasnow, Amoonguss, Trevenant, Gourgeist, Shadow Empoleon, Golisopod, Qwilfish, Walrein, Alolan Ninetales, Togekiss, and Galaria Weezing. Heck, just peel back the curtain on the entire meta and Victreebel’s dominance becomes crystal clear… less than 10% of the meta can handle it in 1v1 shielding! No wonder Vic is ranked #2!
Amoonguss
GrassPoison
The other major Poisonous Grass that ranks well is bulky AMOONGUSS. It’s not on the same level as Vic (or I would say even Venusaur), but it can get around things that resist Poison (Ghosts, mostly) thanks to Astonish. Its bulk takes it a long way, and I thought it was still worth a mention even though it really has nothing new since last time… I think it may be a little underrated.
Tentacruel
WaterPoison
On the Water side, top of the heap is certainly TENTACRUEL. It’s seen several updates over the last year, including the addition of Poison Sting, but I think it, like Victreebel, wants Acid instead now. I also think, at least in this meta, it also wants Payback, which is important versus other Poison types (especially Poisonous Water types, which resist Tenta’s Poison damage and Scald, but it’s also a nice neutral beatstick against most everything meta that’s not a Fairy). As compared to the Grass/Poisons (particularly Victreebel), Tentacthulhu has obvious advantages versus certain Icy Waters like Dewgong and Flyers like Mantine, as well as getting wins like Cradily, Shadow G-Weezing, and Abomasnow, and it is Tentacruel, not Victreebel, that usually wins the one-on-one between them too. Victreebel, by contrast, has obvious advantages versus Electrics (Hisuian Electrode, Lanturn), Ferrothorn, Trevenant, Amoonguss, Jellicent, and both Lapras and (somewhat surprisingly) Walrein. Both are top options here, and like Victreebel, Tentacruel is ranked comfortably in the Top 5.
Qwilfish
WaterPoison
QWILFISH, if I’m being honest, is just a lesser Tentacruel here. (And that includes ShadowQwil too.) That said, its lighting quick playstyle suits some players better (maybe you’re one them, dear reader?) and you will certainly see it around. Remember that you’ll usually see it with Ice Beam, so Flyers especially beware!
TAKING FLIGHT 
Speaking of Flyers, they deal very widespread neutral damage while having obvious advantages over big Grass types (at least those that don’t rhyme with “Bray Silly”).
Pelipper
Water
MANTINE is ranked the highest, but I have to say, I think I like PELIPPER a lot more, despite being ranked all the way down at #37. Mantine is a bit better with shields down where Aerial Ace and Ice Beam combine for speedy wins as opposed to Pelipper‘s pretty widely resisted Weather Ball (Water), but in other scenarios, Pelipper is just flat out better, particularly Steel types (where Weather Ball is a better weapon than Mantine’s moves) and even other Water types like Tentacruel, Qwilfish, Seaking, Feraligatr, Empoleon, and others despite their obvious resistance to Weather Ball, as well as Abomasnow and Galarian Weezing as nice bonuses. I DO like Mantine here too, but I think it’s more Pelipper that is “back” with this season’s (re-) buff to Wing Attack, and even in this meta that heavily resists Pelipper’s spam more than Mantine’s, Spring Cup demonstrates that too.
Gyarados
Water
Unfortunately, I think this is just the wrong meta for GYARADOS to show off what it’s got in PvP these days. It IS a legit Great League option now, but Spring Cup with all its Fairies and heavy Grass damage is just not a good fit.
Dartrix
Grass
Interestingly, DARTRIX stands out among Grassy Flyers by shying away from more Flying-type damage (namely, Peck) and instead leaning more into Grass damage with Leafage, which does drop Victreebel (and obviously struggles more with Grass types in general) but can gain Carbink and a bunch of Water types like Feraligatr, Lapras, Seaking, and even Empoleon. Not bad, eh? I do NOT feel nearly as good about TROPIUS, who could really use a better fast move… got that, Scopantic? Even something like Gust would be lovely.
Togekiss
Fairy
This is one of those super rare metas where I think TOGEKISS may want to park the new hotness of Aura Sphere on the bench. It DOES have its uses, of course, particularly versus certain Ice types (sneaking in situationally wins over Abomasnow or Walrein here and there). But Psyshock and good old Flamethrower just seem to have more going for them in Spring Cup. Flamethrower flips the mirror, and also a number of Steels Klefki, Ferrothorn, and sometimes Mawile), and also Tinkaton and Gourgeist with shields down. Unfortunately, while TOGETIC is also, I think, at its best with Fire coverage (the new-to-Togetic Heat Wave), it’s a little lacking by comparison.
HEARTS OF STEEL 
Fire damage is good on Togekiss because of Steels, who also conveniently resist Flying, Poison, Grass, Fairy, and seven other types of damage. Four of the top 10 ranking slots are occupied by Steel types, as well as eight of the top 25, so they’re obviously going to be big in this meta. Let’s look at a few of them!
Ferrothorn
GrassSteel
Top of the pile — not just of Steel types, but top of everything — is FERROTHORN. And it makes a LOT of sense as to why. Its only weaknesses are Fire and Fighting, both pretty uncommon in this meta (especially the latter, as there are just too many Flyers and Fairies for Fighting types to be super viable), it takes only neutral damage from Flying and Ice, and resists all of the following types of damage that are prevalent in Spring Cup: Water, Fairy, Poison, Steel, and Grass (2x), among others. It’s not perfect, struggling against Bugs, certain Grasses with solid answers like Venusaur, Trevenant, Amoonguss, and especially Abomasnow, and certain Fairies that can wear it down (Alolan Ninetales, Klefki), as well as Pelipper. But that’s really about it, and even those matchups can flip back Ferro’s way depending on shielding and pacing. Ferrothorn’s ranking makes perfect sense to me.
Empoleon
WaterSteel
EMPOLEON is ranked #3 (AND #5). The bad? Being part Water leaves it vulnerable to Electric and even somewhat to Grass (taking neutral damage). The good? Just about everything else. Things with Ground moves are an issue (Seaking, Walrein), and certain Waters that bring a big neutral beatstick (Jellicent’s Shadow Ball and Shadow Tentacruel’s Payback). Those five losses make up more than Empoleon’s list of core meta losses, and the rest are Ferrothorn, Gourgeist, or, as mentioned, Electrics. Empoleon is ready to feast on the Spring Cup meta, folks. And I generally favor the non-Shadow here, as Shadow Empie can power through stuff like Geist and Shadow Wally, but drops several Grasses (Vic, Trevor, even Leavanny and Shadow Cacturne), and somehow even Feraligatr. Not worth, IMO.
Kartana
GrassSteel
Well, I have to say, I never thought KARTANA would ever look this good in Great League, but here we are. Thanks in large part to Leaf Blade, it rips through all meta Waters without a secondary typing that resists Blade and Fury Cutter, and all meta Grasses but Guss and Geist. Ironically, it is against Fairies that this Steel type has the most trouble, with Fury Cutter and often Sacred Sword being resisted, leaving it awkwardly relying on Leaf Blade (which happens to be resisted by the Steely Fairies, of course). But dang, it looks fantastic here overall.
Mawile
SteelFairy
Leading off a trio of Steely Fairies, MAWILE is ranked with Astonish, which certainly has plenty of merit with special wins over Carbink, Golisopod, Qwilfish, Mantine, and Pelipper. But I’m a little surprised that Fire Fang (bootsed by Power-Up Punch) isn’t the default with its own unique wins like Victreebel, Trevenant, Gourgeist, Tinkaton, and of course the mirror match. To each their own, I suppose. It’s nice to have options and a little bit of intrigue as the opponent has to wait a fast move or two before deciding how to swap!
Klefki
SteelFairy
My opinion, however: if you want Astonish, just run KLEFKI. It manages to capture mostly the same performance as Astonish Mawile (+Gourgeist, Jellicent, and Lanturn, and then –Walrein, Pelipper, and Trevenant), and many players still won’t know how or when to burn their shields, as Klafki has been considerably rarer than Mawile in the history of PvP. (I recommend Foul Play and Flash Cannon, by the way.)
Tinkaton
FairySteel
That just leaves TINKATON. Yes, she’s a pretty amazing little gal in PvP these days, I’m just not quite so sure about Tinkaton in Spring Cup. It’s certainly viable and does a lot of good, and has some decent flexibility with Play Rough overcoming a bunch of Water types (Lapras, Dewgong, Lanturn, Seaking, Araquanid, and Golisopod) or Flash Cannon instead knocking out a number of Fairies (G-Weezing, Mawile, Togekiss) and Grasses (Vic, Trev). She’s fine, this just isn’t a meta where Tinkaton does… well, a ton of special things.
ELECTRIC BOOGIE 
Time for another song!
…wait, come back!
Are you coming with me?
Come let me take you on a party ride
And I’ll teach you, teach you, teach you
I’ll teach you the electric slide
You can’t resist it
It’s electric boogie woogie, woogie
You can’t do without it
It’s electric boogie woogie, woogie
That intro may be longer than this section. I just wanted to mention that there are a trio of Electric types that have a lot going for them in Spring Cup, one for each of the three allowed typings.
Hisuian Electrode
ElectricGrass
HISUIAN ELECTRODE‘s big advantage is its Grass subtyping, which importantly resists Grass, Water, and Electric damage. As a result, it can beat every non-Ground Water type in Spring Cup, even the scary Ice and Bug ones, as well as all other Electric types in the Cup, and all Flyers but Dartrix. If that wasn’t enough, thanks to Wild Charge, it can outrace Wigglytuff, Klefki, Mawile (even with Fire Fang), and Shadow G-Weezing too.
Dedenne
ElectricFairy
DEDENNE also handles all core meta Water and Flying types, though it’s slightly less versatile beyond that, getting Mawile and Tinkaton but not a ton else of note. Serviceable for sure, and can get scary fast with repeat uses of Parabolic Charge.
Lanturn
WaterElectric
And then, of course, there’s LANTURN. I don’t think it really needs any introduction, but yes, it has its uses here.
FIRED UP! 
And last section for this article, we have a little bit of Fire, which obviously suffers versus Water types, but performs very well otherwise (particularly against flammable Grass and Steel types), as hinted with choices above like Flamethrower on Togekiss and Fire Fang on Mawile. Anyway, on to the last bit!
Volcanion
FireWater
There’s only one actual Fire type (gonna be a while before half-Grass Scovillain, and there is STILL no Fairy/Fire type in the franchise): VOLCANION. And yes, it’s actually good, thanks in large part to this season’s addition of Scald to give it decent pacing. Any of its big closers work, but my recommendation is probably Sludge Bomb, which can outrace Amoonguss and Walrein, though worth noting that Overheat can instead boil Dewgong and Araquanid.
Gourgeist
GhostGrass
GOURGEIST is decidedly NOT a Fire type, but it can do a pretty good imitation with Incinerate powering out more traditional Grass/Ghost moves. It doesn’t put up the gaudiest numbers or anything, but it has the right moves to scare just about everything in this meta, and gets scary in long, drawn0out battles especially. Plan accordingly!
Galarian Weezing
PoisonFairy
GALARIAN WEEZING goes here because I didn’t really have a better place for it above… but also because, yes, I definitely recommend Overheat alongside Sludge, giving G-Weeze answers to basically everything but Water types, including Steels!
Dachsbun
Fairy
And while Overheat on G-Weezing is pretty expected now, NOBODY expects the DACHSBUN Inquisition! It’s obviously known as a decent Charmer, but who remembers that it got Fire Fang last December? There’s a very good chance most opponents don’t. Use that to your advantage. Fire Fang + Psychic Fangs debuffs is downright terrifying if you’re not a Water type.
NOW GO GET ‘EM! 
That’s all I got for now… the format has already arrived! Hopefully this gives you some ideas on what to use (and what to plan to face) in this format over the next week (and again in a few weeks when Spring Cup returns for a second time!). Until next time (likely analysis on the next Community Day), you can always find me on Twitter for near-daily PvP analysis nuggets, or Patreon. And please, feel free to comment here with your own thoughts or questions and I’ll try to get back to you!
Thank you for taking the time to read. I sincerely hope this helps you master the latest version of Spring Cup, and in the most affordable way possible. Best of luck, and catch you next time, Pokéfriends!
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