Hello again, Pokéfriends! The latest GO Rocket Takeover Event is here, coming pretty quickly after the last one in August! Let’s throw up our customary Bottom Line Up Front and just dive right in!

B.L.U.F.

• Keeping it simple, your priorities (and likely in this order) are Mankey (for Primeape now, and potentially Annihilape for the next Community Day), Heatran, and then Galarian Zigzagoon (though probably not for the Pokémon you think!).

• Annihilape may return to more relevance after the recently teaser on social media that may be for November Community Day, but Shadow Primeape is looking pretty good right now. Get whatever Shadow Mankeys you can while they’re here!

• Heatran has use in Master League, of course, but also gains some new intrigue in Great League as a nice upgrade to traded research level Heatran.

• Unfortunately I don’t see this bringing Obstagoon back, but Shadow Galarian Zigzagoons are worth it… to purify?

• There are others, but none really gain newfound PvP relevance.

On to the deep dive analysis!

TURNING UP THE HEAT? 

Heatran (Shadow)

FireSteel

And the B.L.U.F. for this section is this: arguably the biggest “get” from this batch is Shadow HEATRAN, which is nice since many of the new Shadow Legendaries have been a bit of a bust. Heatran is basically better across the board as a Shadow.

Briefly, just a reminder that Heatran, once a joke with its initial moveset of Fire Spin (which was once so lackluster that some folks ran Bug Bite instead!) with Iron Head, Stone Edge, and wildly expensive *Fire Blast as its only charge moves. But it’s only gotten better and better since. Fire Spin has been twice buffed (last December and again last month), Flamethrower was added in 2019, and then people really started paying attention when Earth Power and exclusive move Magma Storm were added in June of 2023. Suddenly Heatran was looking pretty interesting!

First off, Great League. Now some of you likely already have a Heatran with 1500 CP or less already if you followed my advice and traded for a research level one during the Road To Sinnoh Raid Challenge earlier this year. But even that required a trade with the right IVs. As with most Shadow Legendaries, getting one under 1500 CP is a guarantee for Shadow Heatran. Now your luck of the draw is getting decent PvP IVs rather than a somewhat lucky trade.

And I’m happy to report that Shadow Heatran in GL is an improvement over non-Shadow, albeit a rather slight one. When packing Stone Edge, Shadow gains Guzzlord and Chesnaught, though it does typically lose a win that non-Shadow can get over Lickilicky. With shields down (0 shields used by either player), Shadow gains nice wins over Mandibuzz, Shadow Sableye, and Shadow Drapion and a tie with Lickilicky, as opposed to wins over Talonflame and non-Shadow Sable that non-Shadow Heatran holds on to. And in 2v2 shielding, Shadow Heatran is strictly better than non-Shadow with additional wins versus Sableye, Arctibax, and even Clodsire!

The ratios are very similar with Earth Power too. The differences between Shadow and non-Shadow Heatran are exactly the same in 1v1 shielding (+Guzz and Chesnaught, -Lickilicky) and similar in 0shield (+Shadow Drap, Shadow Sableye, minus Sableye), but in 2v2 shielding, the dominance of Shadow over non-Shadow is even more extreme, with Shadow beating everything non-Shadow can PLUS Sableye, Arctibax, Clodsire, Mandibuzz, and Dewgong!

There’s really not much to talk about in Ultra League, with Shadow and non-Shadow both being pretty dull, but of course, where Heatran has made the most noise to this point has been in Master League, where it can burn through obvious Grasses, Fairies (even Charm Primarina), and Steels (even Dialga and Origin Dialga), but its Steel typing (and Stone Edge) also allows beating down stuff like Dusk Mane and Solgaleo, Mewtwo, Mamoswine, Yveltal, and Ho-Oh. It’s actually a really good resume… that stays about the same with Shadow Heatran, dropping Ho-Oh in 1shield and 2shield. The tradeoff is that with shields down, Shadow beats everything non-Shadow can plus Melmetal and Altered Giratina.

As for Earth Power, In 1v1 shielding, Shadow Heatran retains the same wins as non-Shadow plus Yveltal (obviously on the strength of its Fire moves and not resisted Earth Power) and trades away Yveltal to gain Melmetal instead with shields down.

End result? There are some advantages with Shadow Heatran in Master League, but honestly my recommendation would be to keep it in Great League as a nice spice option. It’s more clearly an improvement at that level than either higher League anyway. But of course, if you are (understandably) considering Shadow Heatran for PvE, then who am I to stop you? Go for it, and just rest in the knowledge that if you decide to double dip with it and use it in PvP as well, it still works fine there too. Huzzah!

Just remember that, being an exclusive move, Magma Storm (which is basically a must-have for PvP) requires an Elite TM.

GOONIE NEVER SAYS DIE? 

(Apologies ahead of time for all the jokes coming from The Goonies, a defining film for hopefully many of you and one you MUST watch if you’ve never seen it. Ahem… onward!)

Obstagoon (Shadow)

DarkNormal

Thank you, Niantic, for finally giving us the potential of Shadow OBSTAGOON!

…and darn you to heck, Niantic, for only doing it after you nerfed Counter and massacred our boy in PvP. This should have been Obstagoon’s time… our time! That was all over the second we rode up Troy’s bucket Goonie got nerfed.

Shadow or not matters little in Ultra League anymore, where Goonie was once more than “good enough”, but no more. So “heeeeeeeeey you guuuuuys!”, down we go to Great League.

If your dream, your wish, was that Obstagoon may return to its former glory in Great League as a Shadow… well, I’m sorry to say that was also my dream, and it didn’t come true. (“So I’m taking it back!”) Shadow is an acceptable sidegrade to non-Shadow, beating Feraligatr, Cresselia, Shadow Quag, and Shadow Sableye as opposed to the Goodra, Arctibax, Mandibuzz, and Shadow Typhlosion that non-Shadow Goon can outlast, but it’s not appreciably better. The one comparison where there IS noticeable improvement (at least on paper) is with exclusive bait move Obstruct, where Shadow pretty well blows non-Shadow out of the water like the cannons of One-Eyed Willie’s ship (sorry for non-Goonies fans for which all these references must seen very bizarre!), dropping only Cress and Arctibax to instead gain wins over Gatr, ShadowQuag, ShadowSable, Shadow Typhlosion, Shadow Drapion, and Shadow Marowak. (Kanto, not Alolan.)

Linoone (Galarian Shadow)

DarkNormal

However, I don’t want to leave you completely empty-handed… maybe we can at least come out of this with a marble bag of jewels, just like Mikey. Because while Obstagoon may not be springing back into action as a Shadow… well, neither is GALARIAN LINOONE, but it can at least perhaps impress when purified and gaining Return as a nifty, STAB closing move! G-Loonie had Dig nerfed out from under it, but check it out now with Return! While it does drop a handful of former wins (specifically the Shadow versions of A-Wak, A-Slash, Sableye, and Typhlosion), look at all the gains: Feraligatr, Dunsparce, Lickilicky, Mandibuzz, Shadow Marowak, Shadow Quagsire, Greninja, Dewgong, Abomasnow, Goodra, and even Cresselia! That’s a very impressive list, actually. Not saying Galarian Linoone is suddenly meta… but it HAS suddenly risen to the same level as Obstagoon and may be preferred in Limited metas now. How crazy is that? It also represents not only a slight upgrade for GALARIAN ZIGZAGOON in Little League, but a significantly cheaper build thanks to the reduced leveling costs of purified Pokémon!

(For the record, a purified Obstagoon doesn’t fit in Great League and Return Goonie still stinks in Ultra, so boo. Thanks a lot, One-Eyed Hanke! )

So sure, hit up Cliff for some Shadow Galarian Zigzagoonies while you can. Just not sure you want to bother evolving it all the way up to Obstagoon. One could say it’s like setting booty booby traps for the Fratellis.

Okay, done now with Goonies references. I’ve told you everything! Except about how in third grade, I cheated on my history exam, and in fourth grade, I stole my uncle Max’s toupee and I glued it on my face when I play Moses in my Hebrew School play, and… well, that’s enough torment for now.

RETURN TO MONKE? 

Annihilape (Shadow)

FightingGhost

So we’ve been teased that Mankey Community Day may be coming in November (after Niantic’s video shared on social media), and from datamining we know it is 99.9% confirmed to be getting Rage Fist. I would LOVE to have it as a fast move to perhaps bring ANNIHILAPE back to prominence, but it seems more likely to be a charge move.

Primeape (Shadow)

Fighting

If that is confirmed, I will of course be doing a full Community Day analysis, to include Shadow Anni. But for now, what I can say is that Shadow PRIMEAPE may have some sauce.

Many players seem to like running Primeape (with Legacy Karate Chop after its big buff this season) with Night Slash and Legacy Cross Chop. And that’s fine enough, I suppose. But to REALLY reach Ape’s full potential, you gotta go with the potent (but self-nerfing) Close Combat, which does now lose to Cross Chopping Machamp, but potentially gains ALL of the following: Feraligatr (including Shadow), Gastrodon, ShadowQuag, ShadoWak, Chesnaught, Malamar, and Goodra. And here’s the good news: ShadowApe picks up Mandibuzz, Oranguru, Shadow Sableye, and Serperior on top of that, all while dropping only Skeledirge. That’s over a 62% winrate now, folks, and even higher winrate than fellow Karate Choppers (and basically top Fighters now) Machamp and Pangoro!

And also in Ultra League, ShadowApe can similarly stand tall with Pangoro and Machamp, picking up wins versus Feraligatr, Malamar, Mandibuzz, and Pangoro itself as compared to non-Shadow, which instead gets only Greninja as a unique win. Note that Primeape is recommended with Ice Punch coverage rather than Night Slash at this level, but honestly that’s more of a preference than anything… Night Slash works fine too.

Ooooooh yes, I would scoop up some Shadow Monke while you are able, regardless of what happens with Rage Fist and Annihilape. Save SOME for Community Day, obviously, but nothing at all wrong with building one or two Shadow Primeape in the here and now.

ANYTHING ELSE?

Honestly, that’s about it. I know we ARE getting other new Shadows, but I checked them out and none of them are really anything to write home about.

Shadow ESCAVALIER would have been much more exciting before the Counter nerf, but now it’s just sad in Ultra League and somehow a downgrade in Great League.

SCOLIPEDE is a small upgrade over non-Shadow, but it has trouble breaking out with so many other good Poisons and Bugs out there. Worth hunting down if you can, I suppose.

Not so much for ACCELGOR or BUTTERFREE though, which are no better (and usually worse) than their non-Shadow counterparts and remain even outside looking in on Limited metas, much less Open play.

And if you’re deciding whether or not Shadow GIGALITH is worth it, then I have taught you nothing over the years.

Alright, that’s it for now! I’ll get back to trying to finish off Sunshine Cup meta analysis, and get out of your way so you can go beat up some GO Rockets! Until next time, you can always find me on Twitter with regular GO analysis nuggets or Patreon.

Stay safe out there, Pokéfriends, and beware what lurks in the shadows! Catch you next time.

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