The “Nifty Or Thrifty” article series takes a comprehensive look at the meta for PvP Cup formats: our fourth iteration of Psychic Cup, in this case. As is typical for the NoT series, I’ll cover not only the top meta picks, but also some mons where you can save some dust with cheaper second move unlock costs and/or leveling up! Because for those on a stardust budget — and/or folks trying to save up some dust for the future — it can be daunting trying to figure out where to spend or not spend it.

So as I try to usually do, I will start with those with the cheapest second move unlock cost and steam ahead until we finally arrive at the expensive Legendaries. I do try and put extra emphasis on the thriftier stuff, especially for formats like this where you may not use some of these things much in the future. (For a rough guide to reusability, though, I will rank things with s, with three being solid in even Open Great League play, two being okay in at least certain Cup formats, and only one being something that, honestly, you’re unlikely to use again outside of Psychic Cup.)

Additionally, for ease of reference, I will use a to mark things that have been notably buffed since last time (most of them just weeks ago at the start of this season) and a for things that are brand new to the Psychic Cup meta, or at least to this analysis article covering it. Those that are highlighted will absolutely be impactful, so don’t skip past them!

Very briefly, a reminder on what Psychic Cup is:

• Pokémon must be at or below 1,500 CP to enter.

• Only Psychic-type Pokémon are eligible.

• Mew is banned.

Yes, that’s it! So let’s goooooooooo!

10,000 Dust/25 Candy

So while I try and review the meta pretty comprehensively in these writeups, I cut my teeth way back when I started (over 550 articles and 5 years ago!) by keying in on budget-friendly options to help folks that don’t have every possible Pokémon already built and/or buckets of stardust just sitting around waiting to be spent. All that to say… I usually focus on the 10k category as much as possible, as they’re typically the cheapest things to build from the ground up. Unfortunately, for this particular Cup that hardly has any starters or anything, there’s barely anything here. But there ARE at least a couple very valuable diamonds in the rough, so let’s take a look at this unfortunately small group.

CHIMECHO  (Baby Discount)

Chimecho

Psychic

Astonish | Psyshock & Shadow Ball

Sadly it remains on the outside looking in on Open Great League, but the buff to Astonish makes Chimecho finally, FINALLY very effective in metas like Psychic Cup. Yes, that IS nearly a 90% winrate versus the entire format! Though more specifically to the core meta, it’s still undone by Malamar and Ghost-resistant Oranguru and Girafarig, and struggles to outpace Galarian Slowbro, Victini, and Galarian Rapidash. But beyond them? There’s not much else that can resist a full Ghost moveset like this. You may think that the wins are heavily reliant on widely resisted Psyshock baiting shields and setting up Shadow Ball, but even with baiting completely off, the results are mostly the same, with just Claydol and a couple others taking advantage. Heck, remove Psyshock from the equation entirely and you STILL get a positive winrate versus the core meta and beat 4 out of 5 things in the entire format. If you have a Chingling baby form sitting around, take full advantage of the Baby Discount and double move before evolving to save yourself 65k stardust. Good luck!

ALOLAN RAICHU 

Raichu (Alola)

ElectricPsychic

Volt Switch | Wild Charge & Thunder Punch/Trailblaze

AhChu long had the distinction of being the only 10k ‘mon ranked inside the Top 10 in Psychic Cup, but in a sign of the times, it’s been bumped just outside that tier. But it’s still very good! AhChu’s big advantage in this format is being one of very few things with a full moveset that can hit (nearly) everything for neutral damage… only Claydol and a couple Grass types dull Electric damage. Generally that all-Electric set is what you’re going to want, but there IS a case for the new Trailblaze, especially with shields down, with which it can at least win the mirror, outpace Cresselia, and at least threaten Claydol. Either way, AhChu is very good at chunking things down, and obviously is a nice threat to the popular Water types in the meta especially.
Alola Raichu Wallpaper

DELPHOX 

Delphox

FirePsychic

Fire Spin | Mystical Fire & Blast Burnᴸ

Plus side: as with Alolan Raichu, Delphox dishes out largely unresisted damage, and the Fire typing also comes with handy resistances (like Fairy and Steel). The big downside is falling victim to Water, Ground, and Rock damage that all have a place in this meta, as well as having no advantages against the rising number of things that deal Dark or Ghost damage, and that means Phoxy is held back more than in the past. It still has a role, but is now just a worse (though cheap!) Victini and even Armarouge.

SWOOBAT 

Swoobat

PsychicFlying

Air Slash | Psychic Fangs & Fly

If you look at the entire meta, there’s more good to be found with Swoobat than bad, with wins over Chimecho, Galarian Slowking, Oranguru, Shadow Gallade, and Girafathingy standing out in particular. But uh… none of those are marked down in the established core meta, so those results look about as bad as it gets. There IS a lot more to offer than that, but uh… yeah, it’s harder to justify this one at all anymore.

And thus ends the 10ks, with even that last one being admittedly a reach. Just not a good format for the thrifty, folks. I tried!

50,000 Dust/50 Candy

While the 50k category is typically the largest, with the dearth of 10k options this time around, it’s especially important this time as probably the best place to try and get “thrifty”. Let’s dive in!

MALAMAR 

Malamar

DarkPsychic

Psywave | Foul Play & Hyper Beam/Superpower

Well, you likely don’t need me to tell you this is an obvious top pick in this format, just as it’s out there breaking down doors across Great and even Ultra League now. There are several things in this format that have solid Dark/Ghost moves to wail on most everything else for super effective damage, and several things that double resist Psychic damage (all the Steels in the format, for example), but there is nothing else in Psychic Cup that really does both… and Malamar actually triple resists Psychic! (Psychic resists Psychic, and Dark double resists Psychic, hence the Dark/Psychic Malamar triple resists. See, I can do maths!) It’s very dominant not just against the core meta, but versus the entirely of the format too. Basically bring a Fairy or something with Charm (or a couple specific things like Claydol, Jirachi, and sometimes Shadow Metang or Metagross), or Malamar could shred your whole team. Thank goodness it doesn’t have a Dark fast move as well or it’s likely NOTHING would be able to beat it. And things don’t get much better in other shielding scenarios either. The only real question is which second move to run alongside Foul Play. I still (perhaps stubbornly) lean towards Hyper Beam New preferred fast move Psywave, despite generating a bit less energy than former fave Psycho Cut, still reaches Beam in meaningful spots, and the other charge move options will never deal better than neutral (and usually resisted) damage anyway. Superpower at least deals neutral to enemy Malamar and Steel, Rock, and Ice types, but you really won’t find yourself wanting that nearly as often as you may want the pure KO power of Beam, which can add things like Shadow Gallade and the mirror match in 2shield, at least.

BRUXISH 

Bruxish

WaterPsychic

Bite | Psychic Fangs & Crunch/Aqua Tail

Former and still terror of Psychic Cup, Brux is one of only two Pokémon in the entire format (Bronzong being the other) that has a full Dark moveset, with Bite and Crunch. Not that it NEEDS charge moves… it beats 83% of the entire format with JUST Bite! That said, I DO still encourage running Crunch, along with Psychic Fangs. Even though Fangs is almost always resisted, it makes each subsequent Bite hurt much worse. (Though oft-neutral Aqua Tail coverage is fine too, if you prefer that.) About the only things that really give Brux trouble are Fairies and Fighters (and Malamar) that take only neutral damage from Dark, Grasses which can exploit Bruxish’s Water typing (as long as Brux has a shield, it even Bites through Alolan Raichu!), Chimecho with its lethal Ghost moves, new and improved G-Bro and Oranguru with their Brutal Swings, and Cresselia with its Grass Knots. Brux can chew though just about everything else, and usually doesn’t have to worry about how many shields the opponent has left… though it DOES need a shield of its own, lest it drop off rather significantly. But make no mistake: Bruxish remains absolutely terrifying in this meta.

GALARIAN SLOWBRO 

Slowbro (Galarian)

PoisonPsychic

Poison Jab | Brutal Swing & Scald

G-Bro used to have issues with speed, initially releasing with 50-energy Sludge Bomb as its cheapest charge move, and thus it was held back from its true potential in Psychic Cup. The addition of Surf on its Community Day fixed that somewhat, but now it’s gotten to the point that it doesn’t even need Surf or even Sludge Bomb, with Scald now replacing the former (and no Elite TMs required!) and Brutal Swing now coming not only as an even spammier move than even pre-nerf Surf, but also a move that’s super effective versus all but six Pokémon (Darks, Fairies, Fighters) in the entire Cup… and it still beats all of those except for Malamar thanks to its Poison side. I mean, heck, just check out what little it can’t beat, as it’s a very short list. Need I say more? G-Bro is rightly ranked at #3 in the format.

GALARIAN SLOWKING 

Slowking (Galarian)

PoisonPsychic

Hex | Shadow Ball & Surfᴸ/Sludge Wave

Well well well, how the turn tables. Last time in Psychic Cup, this really WAS the king, with its full Ghost moveset and Surf having been added to give it the bait move it had been missing. But just like that, with the arrival of Season 20’s massive rebalance, while G-King is still really good, it’s been surpassed by G-Bro, Chimecho, and others who are jiust overall better now. Galarian Slowking DOES still do some things better, beating G-Bro and Fairies like Galarian Rapidash thanks to its Poison typing (which Chimecho cannot do) and Steels like Metang and Bronzong which G-Bro can’t do, but it loses things like Bruxish, AhChu, and Chimecho that those others can defeat, and Claydol that Chimecho can overcome (just like G-Bro… their weak-to-Ground Poison typing dooms them in that one). Again, still good, but sliding backwards a little bit as other things rise up.

SLOWBRO 

Slowbro

WaterPsychic

Water Gun | Surfᴸ & Scald/Ice Beam

As in past Psychic Cups, it seems like Slowbro should be able to do more than it can, coming in with a widely unresisted moveset that deals super effective damage to Claydol and big Fire types. But when you peel back the curtain and give it a long hard look, it just doesn’t do as much as it feels like it should, in normal or Shadow form. There will be teams that absolutely benefit from it, but just don’t ask it to do much beyond its very niche role. And Kanto Slowking is obviously identical.

BRONZONG 

Bronzong

SteelPsychic

Feint Attack | Payback & Heavy Slam/Psyshock

If you’ve ever run Bronzong before, it was probably with Confusion and Psyshock. Heck, you may not have even known it had Feint Attack, because who would ever run that? Well, players in Psychic Cup want exactly that, along with Payback, to deal super effective damage to darn near everything in the format. (Only a half dozen Pokémon — consisting of Fighters, Fairies, and one notable Dark type — manage to take only neutral damage from Dark moves.) Problem is that Feint Attack generates only the average 3.0 Energy Per Turn, and Payback is pretty costly at 60 energy, so despite being decently bulky and having a very favorable Steel subtyping that allows Bronzong to double resist Psychic damage and resist nine other relevant typings, Zong needs a good second move that does decent damage for an affordable cost. Psyshock is good for baiting, at least, and helps beat Galarian Slowbro and sometimes win the mirror, but there is certainly consideration here for Heavy Slam, which at least costs only 50 energy, gets STAB, and is resisted only by the few Fires, Waters, and Steels in the format, plus Alolan Raichu; but it’s super effective versus Fairies like Galarian Rapidash and can still do in G-Bro if Zong has good IVs.

GALARIAN RAPIDASH 

Rapidash (Galarian)

PsychicFairy

Fairy Wind | Body Slam & Megahorn

Yes, Body Slam gor nerfed, but somehow, G-Dash is rated #1 this time around. How? Megahorn is still able to smack around everything for super effective versus much of the meta (Steels, Fires, Fairies, and Flyers take only neutral), and double super effective versus Malamar, one-shotting it from even full health. But I think what really elevates its performance this time is the buff to Fairy Wind, and especially with a decent Attack IV (with which it can add even Fairy and Body Slam resistant Bronzong to the win column, and usually win CMP in the mirror match), G-Dash is quite solid here. You do need to avoid the Galarian Slows (especially G-Bro) and usually Fire types as well, but G-Dash is the ONLY thing in the format that can topple Malamar AND Claydol in 1v1 shielding and will certainly be fixture in this meta, perhaps now more than ever. I don’t know that I would run the brand new Wild Charge (which doesn’t do a ton of good for it here except make the mirror easier), but there IS a case for High Horsepower to at least have a Hail Mary against those pesky Steels and Poisons… though Claydol often then slips beyond your grasp….

CLAYDOL 

Claydol

GroundPsychic

Mud Slap | Shadow Ball & Ice Beam/Scorching Sands/Rock Tomb

Finally, Niantic’s years-long pet project is complete. They have tweaked Claydol so obviously and so often that it almost became a joke, adding Earth Power in May 2019, Mud Slap in July 2019, Ice Beam and Shadow Ball in January 2021, Rock Tomb when that move was revamped in November 2021, and finally Scorching Sands last September. And now the final touch, with Mud Slap getting its big buff this season Clearly somebody over there REALLY wants to make ‘Dol work. It worked decently last time in Psychic Cup, but required the somewhat awkward Rock Tomb to do so, debuffing the opponent and giving Claydol the time it needed to hang in there and Slap things down or finish them with the obviously-awesome-in-this-meta Shadow Ball. But with the buffed Mud Slap, ‘Dol can now finish things off faster, giving more credence to running something slightly faster than Tomb like Ice Beam now… and allowing it to generally outrace Malamar, which is huge. It’s not that Claydol has a crazy high win percentage against the entire meta like some of the stuff earlier in this article does, because its overall win percentage is actually more modest. But it’s an amazing anti-meta pick, burying not just the Fires and Rocks and Galarian Slows and Alolan Raichu as you’d expect, but Malamar (as mentioned), Oranguru, Shadow Gardevoir, and even stuff like flying Swoobat too! Claydol fans, this meta remains your best chance to take Claydol out for… well, a spin.

ARMAROUGE 

Armarouge

FirePsychic

Incinerate | Flame Charge & Flamethrower

A total newcomer this year, Armarouge is basically a better Delphox, though that meta list doesn’t show all the good it does. In addition to adding Victini (despite ALL its damage being resisted!) and Shadow Girafathingy, Armie can also beat Chimecho, Shadow Gallade, Galarian Slowking, and Alolan Raichu that Phoxy cannot… as well as Delphox itself. Burninate ALL the things!

GIRAFARIG 

Girafarig

NormalPsychic

Tackle | Psychic Fangs & Trailblaze/Thunderbolt

Honestly, my ol’ Girafabuddy isn’t looking as hot as it once did in this meta, despite the big buff to Trailblaze since then. Yes, Farigamiraf still resists Ghost damage, giving it a nice niche versus stuff like Chimecho, G-King, Hoopa and such. And it still does in Claydol, which is no small feat. But beyond that? There’s not a whole lot that Geoffamarig can push through among the top meta picks, if I’m being honest, and it’s no better with Shadow Flaaffymajig. If you HAVE to beat the Ghosts, this is your bro, but beyond that… hey, there are still memes to consider.

BEHEEYEM 

Beheeyem

Psychic

Astonish | Rock Slide & Dark Pulse

Speaking of Ghost damage, raise your hand if you immediately thought of Astonish Beheeyem when you found out Psychic Cup was coming back. Okay, you in the back, put that hand down because we all know you’re lying. You likely won’t find any use for this thing outside of this specific format, but for this one week of Psychic Cup, Beehee gets to rock. Despite lackluster PvP stats and a nerfed Rock Slide, that plus Astonish plus the only Dark Pulse in Psychic Cup (aside from its pre-evolution that we’ll look at later) makes for a surprisingly awesome performance that includes some of the tougher outs like Galarian Rapidash, Galarian Slowking, Alolan Raichu, Bronzong, and Claydol. If you’re a Beehee fan, THIS is your chance.

MEOWSTIC  

Meowstic (Male)

Psychic

Sucker Punch | Energy Ball (& Thunderbolt?)

Even better than Ghost damage is Dark damage, and Male Meowstic comes with plenty of that in the form of newly buffed Sucker Punch. In case you missed the memo, Sucker Punch now has the stats of Seasons 1-19 Counter, which is fantastic, so much so that MeowMix can do this with Sucker Punch alone. Of course, its charge moves DO help, particularly Energy Ball which adds on a win versus Cresselia and Claydol as long as it’s not running Scorching Sands. (Or with excellent PvP IVs, even if Claydol does have Sands!) This is no mere spice pick, folks… in a sentence I never thought I would type: Meowstic is legit meta in this format. Go and reap the rewards!

You’re not going to get anywhere near that kind of performance from Female Meowstic, however. Yes, it has Shadow Ball and generally unresisted Grass moves, but… no. The results are just not good.

• Medicham

  FightingPsychic

• Hypno

  Psychic

• Lunatone

  RockPsychic

• Xatu

  PsychicFlying

There are others that have made the cut in the past that don’t now, like MEDICHAM (can still pick off Malamar but very little else of note), HYPNO (this meta has sadly just passed it by), LUNATONE (even with Psywave it just doesn’t carve out a real niche), and XATU (maybe a niche versus Claydol, but generally chokes away a very good anti-Psychic moveset). You may see them pop up here and there, but they’re really no better than mediocre spice at this point. Sorry!

75,000 Dust/75 Candy

Well, there’s no sugar coating it… there are some very good picks in this and the 100k section, requiring heavier investments and pushing all “thriftiness” off the raft. Let’s see what we’ve got….

GARDEVOIR 

Gardevoir

PsychicFairy

Charm | Triple Axel & Shadow Ball

It’s not so much that Gardevoir itself has improved, but the meta around it has changed in such a way that a good Charmer can do some very, very useful things. First and foremost, of course, is completely shutting down Malamar. Literally nothing beats Malamar more rapidly or more soundly than Shadow Gardevoir, though if you don’t have a shield, Mal CAN reach a Foul Play in time that can strip Gardevoir into single digit HP, so keep that in mind. But a heavy dose of Charm can do a lot of other good too, bowling over the likes of Claydol (as long as you resist the urge to throw Triple Axel and commit to the Charmdown), Galarian Rapidash, Bruxish, Alolan Raichu, Oranguru and Girafamajiggywitit, Beheeyem and more. Heck, avoid Steel and Poison and most Fire and there is barely anything that can resist the Charmdown. That said, for protracted battles, Triple Axel makes Charm all the more deadly, and Shadow Ball is obviously a great play if the opponent is out of shields. Just make sure to save a shield for yourself, as Gardevoir falls off significantly without one.

GALLADE 

Gallade

PsychicFighting

Psycho Cut/Charm | Leaf Blade & Close Combat

I mean, you can still run it with Charm (and Leaf Blade) as some folks did in the past, but the new hotness is Psycho Cut. While it’s resisted by basically everything, what it does is spam Leaf Blade like crazy, and while the numbers are still so-so, Claydol and Waters certainly want NO parts of it, and even Steels like Bronzong and Jirachi quake in fear of Close Combat. In 2v2 shielding, even Malamar falls to it.

METANG 

Metang

SteelPsychic

Metal Claw | Gyro Ball & Psyshock/Return

In a sign of this crazy meta, Metang — Shadow in particular — is actually really solid here, despite a very awkward moveset. It can actually outslug Malamar despite dealing only neutral damage back, and resisting Poison and Fairy means that Galarian Slowbro, Galarian Rapidash, Gardevoir, and even Cresselia are a breeze. The downside is losing badly to Ground (read as: Claydol), Fire, and Water (which resists Steel damage), among others. Still, you can do worse as a flexible pivot on your team of three.

If you have one at 1500 CP or less, you can even consider METAGROSS, though it doesn’t really have a prayer against Malamar and is clearly a step or two behind Metang here.

ORANGURU 

Oranguru

NormalPsychic

Confusion | Brutal Swing & Trailblaze/Foul Play

As much as I love my GeoffoBridges , I have to admit that in this meta (and probably in most metas where Normal/Psychic types have relevance), Oranguru is just better now. With Brutal Swing, it almost doesn’t matter that Confusion is slow and widely resisted… Swing does stuff in anyway. As for the second move, I WANT to recommend Trailblaze and still would have no problem with anyone running it, but Foul Play is arguably better, dealing more straight damage for the cost (FAR more if it’s hitting for super effective damage, which it usually will) and leading to extra wins like Metang and non-Shadow Girafamafigg.

100,000 Dust/100 Candy

We’re almost done! There ARE some impactful Legendaries and Mythicals to cover, so let’s blow through and bring this on home!

VICTINI 

Victini

PsychicFire

Quick Attack | V-Create & Overheat

Yes, Quick Attack Victini is still quite solid in Psychic Cup. The most unfortunate new loss is to Malamar, which can now finish off Vic with a second Foul Play JUST as Victini reaches the energy necessary to finish Mal off. It comes down to a turn or two difference, and with the way the game is running right now, hey… you may still win that race! But even with that and the scary Claydol lurking out there, Vic remains a good investment for this format. Keep smoking ’em (literally!) if you got ’em!

LATIOS 

Latios

PsychicDragon

Dragon Breath | Dragon Claw (& Solar Beam?)

If you have managed to get one under 1501 CP, congrats! It’s fun to use here, owing to its resistances to Fire, Electric, Grass, and Water that are all prevalent coverage moves in Psychic Cup. It also gets bonuses like Claydol, Oranguru, and G-King. Steels and Fairies resist Dragon damage, but other than them, Latios is a good generalist that piles on damage very, very quickly regardless of the opponent’s supply of shields. You do need to have an escape plan if a Steel or especially Fairy shows up, though.

CRESSELIA 

Cresselia

Psychic

Psycho Cut | Grass Knotᴸ & Moonblast

The name of Cresselia’s game is bulk and neutral damage charge moves, but that can only take it so far here. The issue now is that it used to be able to overcome Claydol with Grass Knot, and Malamar with Moonblast, but now it generally loses to both. It’s still quite a bit better with shields down, if you can engineer that scenario, but it has lost a step for sure. Still viable, and still fine in Great League in general, but falling down a bit in this format.

JIRACHI 

Jirachi

SteelPsychic

Charge Beam | Doom Desire & Dazzling Gleam

If you ever needed a sign that this is a very strange meta that turns a lot of norms on their collective heads, it is this: Charge Beam is a recommended move. Even better: Charge Beam is a recommended move on something that doesn’t get STAB with it and DOES with significantly better PvP move Confusion. But of course, Confusion is widely resisted and Charge Beam is widely not, so that’s what we’re going with. And you know what? It actually works, dominating not just Fairies as you’d expect with Doom Desire crashing in over and over, but also the big Normals (Oranguru and Geereefmareef) and big bad Malamar. That last one is really won by way of super effective Dazzling Gleam, but it’s only because of the energy gains of Charge Beam that Jirachi gets there in time anyway. Just this once, it’s time to TM away from Confusion for a week. Just make sure to switch back when Psychic Cup is over and you wanna use Jirachi again.

GALARIAN ARTICUNO 

Articuno (Galarian)

PsychicFlying

Psycho Cut | Ancient Power & Brave Bird

Sure, if you’ve been lucky enough to A.) encounter one under 1500 CP, B.) actually catch the blasted thing, and C.) had enough resources to get it double moved, then yeah, you can use it here as a showoff flex. And then go buy some lottery tickets.

SHADOW MEWTWO 

Mewtwo (Shadow)

Psychic

Psycho Cut | Shadow Ballᴸ & Psystrikeᴸ

Speaking of showing off…. Mewtwo ties with Alakazam for fastest Shadow Ball in the format. And while regular Mewtwo under 1500 CP is still a pipe dream, many players have Shadow Mewtwo which is a spicy little speedster here. If you like fast battles (win or lose) and blazes of glory, look no further.

HOOPA 

Hoopa (Confined)

PsychicGhost

Astonish | Shadow Ball

Ah, just as it seemed the 100k section was ending in a whisper, here comes JRE from the top rope with a new contender! While even I wrote Hoopa off in my initial analysis back when it was released in… checks notes …2021?! Holy crap, how time flies. But yeah, turns out all it needed to make something of itself was the big buff to Astonish, which I didn’t think would EVER happen when I wrote about Hoopa Confined three years ago. it doesn’t even need a second move… just Astonish and Shadow Ball your way to victory, though of course things we’ve highlighted that resist Ghost damage (Normals, and Malamar takes only neutral) are big issues, and other things that deal Ghost or Dark damage back usually persevere thanks to Hoopa’s (lack of any semblance of) bulk. But come on… it’s Hoopa. The fun factor is massive, and the results look more than encouraging enough to take it out for a spin. When else will you get the opportunity?

• Lugia

  PsychicFlying

• Celebi

  PsychicGrass

• Uxie

  Psychic

• Deoxys (Defense)

  Psychic

Alas, poor LUGIA. You deserve better than to keep having Sky Attack nerfed out from under you like this…. I’ve touted CELEBI in this meta before, but no longer. Sure, it still blows through Claydol and Bruxish and resists everything Alolan Raichu can throw at it for a victory there too, but there are other ways to do that and still have more left in the tank. This is TOO niche even for my blood…. I was hoping UXIE might make something of itself now with the buff to Swift, but ooooooof, that is NOT the case…. DEFENSE DEOXYS is just SO sad now with the nerf to Counter. I almost feel bad for him.

…almost.

FEELIN’ LUCKY?

In this extra section, I cover a few mons that are no less “nifty” than those in the main article above, but require maxing or at least almost maxing out, so they are FAR from “thrifty”!

WOBBUFFET 

Wobbuffet

Psychic

Charm | Mirror Coat & Returnᴸ

Well, if you’re going to run it at all now, it probably has to be with Charm, as Wobb is one of the unfortunate (and likely unintended) victims of the nerf to Counter. And uh… it takes out Malamar, Gardevoir, and somehow Oranguru… and really not much else. If you’ve already built it and just want to get more use of it, sure, it can work in a niche role. But that’s about the best I can say about it.

ELGYEM 

Elgyem

Psychic

Astonish | Dark Pulse

MUCH more expensive yet slightly worse Beheeyem (loses AhChu that Beehee can overcome), mostly due to having no viable second charge move. (You CAN run Psychic, but… why? It gains you nothing.) If you like maxing out crazy stuff just to imagine the look of confusion and then horror on your opponent’s face, this little dude is for you! Or if you want to run Elgy AND Beehee, you spice lord monster, you.

But I have worked, and can happily now declare that this article is a wrap! As always, I hope my ramblings help you balance the cost of where to save yourself some hard-earned dust (and candy!) and put together a competitive and FUN team. If I was successful in that, then it was all worth it.

Until next time, you can always find me on Twitter for regular 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 reading! I sincerely hope this helps you master Psychic Cup (again!), and in the most affordable way possible. Best of luck, and catch you next time, Pokéfriends!

The post Nifty Or Thrifty PvP: Psychic Cup (Max Out Edition) appeared first on Pokémon GO Hub.