Unfortunately most of the Mythicals are not that great atm. Marshadow, Keldeo and Meloetta are the only usable if you ask me. Zarude fall off very long ago and Volcanion is too slow also Ho-Oh does the job better
Really? As someone who's never played the MSG, I'd always assumed the shiny was available with the release of a Pokemon. I didn't know they held back until later games.
Edit: okay, did I ask something wrong? Why is this question getting down voted?
Mythicals rarely see their shiny release in the past 5-10 years. Zarude got theirs faster than most just because of a global dynamax raid den challenge. Meloetta finally just got it's shiny after 13 years with the Pokemon HOME completion of certain MSG Pokedexes. Even Victini hasn't had its shiny release and neither has volcanion. I know there are more I am missing, but overall, we won't see the shiny in Go before the MSG (Meloetta MSG release was announced most likely in preparation for the Go Tour this year).
Honestly it's a waste in general. Zygarde isn't super sensitive to IVs. I have a 14/10/15 and compared to the 15/15/15 best buddy no matches vs the meta flip in the 1S
i would drop Dmax excadrill and metagross to C or D tier because how easy they are to farm. Maybe less so in future with a bigger Dmax pool but for now they are basically guaranteed every month vs legendaries that may take months or even years to rotate around.
The dmax and gmax don't need perfect IVs. The utility is miniscule.
I think the value is League viable stuff that's hard to farm as the best value propositions. This would be mythicals then non-tm-able moves shiny legendaries.
Urshifu has GMAX forms which will be released eventually. And even currently it's not the best in any of its typings. Why would I waste a bottlecap on a Dynamax Urshifu?
This is just my speculation. Urshifu is special in the sense that it is only GMaxable with Max soup + mushrooms in MSG, so I think the way to obtain GMax is similar in Pokemon Go. Seeing it is a special release (1 + 1 paid), I think its likely to be a Max soup candidate.
I think Diancie should certainly be in A if not S, it is a one of Mythical with a Mega that makes it the best rock attacker in the game and potential to get better over time with Diamond Storm. Understandably it’s shiny not being released keeps it from S+, but B is far too low for it.
100% agree, It is the best looking mega hands down. Its so majestic. Im teetering between using my bottle cap on Zarude, Diancie, Marshadow, Shiny Shaymin, Zarude or Kubfu/Urshifu.....but really its between Zarude & Dancie, I just get a lot of use out of Zarude in PVE that im leaning that way, but I love that Mega Diancie
He explained in the notes that the shiny not being released is exactly why it's that low and also explained it's based on his opinions. I personally agree with his Diancie ranking too. I thought the list was pretty good tbh
Gold bottle capping regularly available raid legendaries (groudon, available last week. Kyogre, available right now. Zacian and zamazenta which will be on go fest in less than 2 weeks, etc) seems goofy AF. Calling those S tier bottle caps feels like a very bad choice when getting a pretty good one has rather low barriers, especially when compared to one time mythicals
If you play ML, you really need a hundo, which based on the list the trainer at minimum dabbles. Maybe goofy but at the end of the day, it's just taking advantage of the battle vs RNG. I don't have a hundo of any of those. I was actually going to use mine on a shiny lucky Zamazenta if I didn't get a good enough one during Go Fest. Using it on a mythical that I wouldn't be able to power up any time now to have a flex on the bench vs making something usable at it's peak performance in a meta is arguably goofier, at least to me
Just because you personally can't max the mythical doesn't mean that in a vacuum, it's not a more effective use of the cap. I absolutely understand your perspective on it, but I think that saying hundos is mandatory in ML is also disingenuous except likely at the very highest levels. The difference between very good and hundo is often a few stat points, and those few stat points have to explicitly change a matchup for them to be mandatory.
Ultimately, cap what you want, it's a game and you should do what makes you happy, but I think if you can get it in a raid within the month, using a premium paid GBC on it is in most cases not the most effective use of it in a vacuum.
Well I typically am on the leaderboards multiple times per season and play as a ML specialist in grassroots pvp scenes, so that would be considered the highest levels, but even still, if you're investing the resources for a ML legendary, you'd want the best IVs possible. For a lot of mon, you really do want the hundo before you start seeing dips in performance, such as Dawn Wings Necrozma: 14 attack drops quite a bit and 14 defense loses Palkia-O (one of the most common mon in the meta). In a lot of cases 15/15/14 is the most settling you can do, so I don't view throwing the bottle cap at a legendary you like, especially a shiny lucky, as a bad choice at all.
There's a lot of demand for Rare XLs so prioritizing a mythical makes it even more expensive at the end of the day.
I don't disagree with much of this, but we will likely have silver bottle caps at some point, and I think those are much better suited to tuning up a shiny lucky legendary. It's pretty high odds to get a lucky shiny with two maxed out stats (or even 14hp for a mon with a functional hundo llke the dogs).
I have a shiny level 48 Groudon with two elite TM moves, it’s best buddied, it has a special background from wild arena, and it’s max level primal evolved. It’s definitely what I’m going to use my bottle cap on, even though Groudon was just available in raids. I don’t do a ton of PvP, but Groudon is still a monster in PvP and one of the best raid attackers.
Professor Willow has been carefully taking care of my beloved starter since I needed the space and had no idea what I was doing. Don't even remember what I chose 9 years ago
I got a shiny press too fam, only thing holding me back is the fact whenever they allow smeargle in little cup they make it a “Catch cup” only which is mad wack because I won’t ever be able to use my shiny press.
Wow that's odd, do you (or anyone else) know why that is?
Its HP and Speed stats remain the same in the base games, does it have anything to do with that penalty that certain Pokémon get when their CP hits a certain number?
White Kyurem is excellent in PvP and PvE, so I really feel like that isn't a wasted choice. You'll want two of them for the many double weak to ice raids that exist also
I feel their logic is Mythicals(most except Genesect, Hoopa and Darkrai)are Two per account, 1 normal and 1 shiny.
If you have a mythical why not wait for the shiny form to make a Shundo instead of Hundo.
Among the shiny Mythicals only Meloetta sees some use in ML(it is pretty good), any other Shiny one time mythical released in the game are not Meta at all.
Meloetta was meta last season, its going to be significantly worse this season with Zacian/Zamazenta being the meta defining pokemon. If you're bottlecapping something for ML play, Meloetta is not it in my opinion.
Keldeo, Marshadow, Volcanion, Urshifu, Solgaleo/Lunala are all things that are either never coming back or not for a very long time/in limited quantity and are much more meta relevant than Meloetta is now. Also, we will get more bottlecaps in the future too. If the Dogs didnt exist id agree 100% with OP but its unfortunately a season too late to recommend using the cap on this at least in my opinion.
Keldeo is fair option, to my dismay I don't have one.
For Volcanion, a mythical that will be given in research which will end much later than the Go Fest, the bottlecaps won't last that long.
Lunala just might return yk, cause shiny release is on line and the season trailer hinted at it, Lunala comes in raids so will Solgaleo
Urshifu are most likely coming back in a certain way because of their Gigantamax but again can be a limited release so it is fair, but wasting bottlecaps on D-max Urshifu when G-max will be coming seems wasteful to me.
PS : I will be using my bottlecaps on O Palkia with LA background cause O Palkia is my favorite mom.
Yeah I am really wishing I had a Keldeo. Urshifu and Cosmog evolutions will definitely return in some capacity, we wont see gmax urshifu for a very long time though imo and its relevant now with no way to get another one, so its a valid use if you want one to use for the next few seasons.
Volcanion research will be able to be completed over the weekend, thats what mine is going on unless I get a GL eligable one by some miracle.
One answer could be that the bottle cap has to be used within a limited time doesn't it? So you don't have the luxury of holding onto it forever - you gotta work with what you've got now.
It’s ranked 13 in master league and that’s in a meta that’s not really favorable for it. It seems to be the consensus priority from what I’ve been hearing from master league players.
I'm using mine on a shiny Zacian. Easily farmed if you do hundreds of raids? Yes. But it is meta in Raids, Dynamax and PvP and is future-proof for a very long time
I mean sure I'm going to go hard during go fest too, but not only is that Osaka background shiny kinda one of the kind deal, but it is also excellent for raids and especially on dynamax battles.
I did get a 14/15/15 Zacian as well from those Osaka invites, but hey who wouldn't take background shundo if they could.
I never got a decent iv origin palkia with spacial rend and I happen to have a shiny with terrible iv’s - I’m pretty happy to use it there since I have plenty of xl’s to max it
I would use it on the shiny if it maxes all stats. It might be more work if there are a lot of challenges tied to the bottle cap but worth it in my opinion
It’s just that I also have the same lucky shiny background on both Dialga and palkia, with adventure moves so I’m gonna have to use it on one of them (1 in 2000 raids gets that)
it's actually not a waste for me. I'm planning on using it on a zard gmax shiny 10/14/10 which have sentimental value. it was the first gmax my community defeated, took so much effort and I was the only one with a shiny (plus I like so much max battles)
It's a PvP Pokemon, for Master League specifically.
It has been decent for a while, but not spectacular. Last season though, it got a buff because Psyshock got buffed from 45 energy to 40 energy, making Meloetta much more viable. It's also good because it's got great bulk.
Though many are debating its position here seeing that it's coming into a meta with the Crowned Forms.
I would have to disagree with Dialga O being that high the with the crowned forms upcoming global release it'll be getting hit by close combat from both of them.
I think it's fine in S. They've had multiple opportunities to make the moves TMable and haven't and it's hard enough to get a good IV on them before we start talking about the 1/10 thrown on top with the moves.
It's one of the more solid options when it comes to viable mythical Pokémon for Master League. It's pretty spammy which is rare in a league where most are running big booms. Good typing also that doesn't get countered easily by the core meta. Plus, we only get one shiny, so making it a shundo is just cool if you're into that. All that being said, it's my top pick as well. For those not playing Master League I can 100% see it being an easy skip.
I'm yet to claim my Meloetta.
It got so close to the fest date, so I thought why not just wait and get a shiny Meloetta with the Go Fest 2025 tag as well.
That is a pretty cool way to make it even more special! My original non-shiny one was almost the research IV floor. My shiny one just barely cracked into 3-star territory, so I'm pretty excited at the chance to turn it into a shundo.
Many are ranked high and should not even be considered (I mean as an example; Regielki & Regidrago are BOTH in the B tier ahead of actually useful pvp / pve Pokemon. Another bizarre B is the DMax Blissey (who is an easy S tier for his healing; but he does NOT need perfect IV just high HP + level up Spirit)
Even more terrible is G Articuno at an A tier??? Why???
A Gold on a 95-98% seems like a waste to me, especially if only one IV needs training.
I have plenty of almost hundos but they will stay almost hundos unless they release Silver Bottlecaps and are priced at something more sensible than $20.
Obvious candidates though are Mythicals and Meme Mons (but not worth powering up my Army of Shiny Doofs and Shuckles at $20 a pop)
I think I settled on my 2 star shiny Mew because it would be cool to one day have a Kanto 100% living dex and that’s the only way I’m ever gonna get it. Plus a shundo Mew just sounds amazing.
Bottle caps only really make sense if you play master league and Meloetta is a top pokemon there. For anything else, you're basically just doing it for bragging rights and/or because you like the pokmeon, so for the vast majority of players it's either "you're wasting your money" or "use it on your favourite" depending on your PoV.
I would have thought Zygard would be undisputed #1. You only ever get a single one, and it takes forever and a day to evolve, requiring you to to murder your feet in the process.
I think so too. I feel they will give us a special masterwork research or go fest special research to get the shiny Zygarde and some mega energy like they did for Diancie. Maybe they never allow Zygarde to be in a raid and everyone can get one of normal and shiny. Given how time consuming it is to evolve 100% Zygarde and max it to level 50- I am 100% committed to use my bottle caps on it. It’s good for raid (mega or normal) and a beast for ML. I understand that a lot of ppl wanna get a shundo Meloetta but I simply don’t have the resources to build it to level 50. For me I would rather split my rare xl among different Pokémon’s when they need it rather dump everything into one. But then again, it all comes down to players, whatever makes you happy
I honestly think Zygarde (non-Mega but shiny eligible) will be the big chase Pokemon for Kalos Tour. Here's my mindset though:
We don't know how far in advance the higher ups at Niantic (now Scopely) get information from GameFreak/TPC regarding new titles. They obviously get info in advance, no doubt, but I don't know if they're getting information years in advance. Maybe 1-1.5 years or so would be my guess. We also know that they often plan Go out roughly 9-1.5 years in advance, obviously with some things changing in that time. But the key framework is often set well in advance.
In terms of Tours, we've had pretty clear "headliners" for each one and I'm sure they had the ideas for a while. Hoenn Tour was the Primals, Sinnoh Tour the Origins, and Unova Tour the Kyurem Fusions. I imagine that in the early stages, if they were thinking about it, they may have just been thinking about normal Dialga and Palkia with Roar of Time/Spacial Rend with adventure effects for Sinnoh Tour, but they obviously then had the Origin Forms at their disposal when planning, so they likely added that later on.
What about Kalos though? I imagine in their earlier planning 2-3 years back, they likely didn't have much info about Legends Z-A, much less anything happening with Zygarde. My theory is that they introduced Zygarde as a single encounter Route-centric Pokemon to make it more sought after and special, so when Kalos Tour eventually came around, having it come to raids and shiny eligible would feel special and worthy of a Tour headliner. And obviously, they could also throw in one or some of its four signature moves, probably with an Adventure Effect(s).
Although, I imagine any added signature move wouldn't be that much (or any) of an upgrade in PvP, seeing that Complete Zygarde is obviously a beast as-is. But I could see a better PvE move like how Behemoth Bash made Zamazenta a great Steel attacker. Perhaps we'll get Core Enforcer as a move that's a mild upgrade over Outrage in PvP but helps it rival some top Dragon attackers in PvE.
This is purely speculative of course, but even ignoring Legends Z-A, a potential Kalos Tour in 2026... what would you guess they'd feature as the big raid boss? Hoenn was Primals, Sinnoh was Origins, and Unova was Kyurem Fusions. Kalos doesn't have nearly as much and there is some debate, but my prediction is that Zygarde will finally become raidable and shiny-eligible.
I could obviously be way off and totally wrong, but I still think it's very possible. If it does happen, you would inevitably have people huffing and crying that they spent $20 to make their Zygarde perfect only to have it come to raids and be shiny eligible 7-8 months later.
Only mythicals will have the separate tier. Mythicals have one regular and one shiny per account. You can argue that both are equally rare. For other legendaries, you can easily just choose the shiny one, so I don't consider regular version.
Yes, but Mewtwo is lowered because of it's availability. Shadow Mewtwo raids make a purified hundo 1/37 chance to obtain. I know there is no definite rank for every one. Someone might not have been able to raid on that 2 days making it inaccessible.
I really want to use bottle caps on my Apex shadow Ho-oh and Apex shadow Lugia. Some one did an analysis and found that shadow was stronger for Raids and I don’t think the move+ does anything in PVP.
I would put a Shiny Background Palkia Origin with spacial rend in the SS. Its the third best in ML rankings and we still cant get the damn atack with elite TM.
I appreciate that you included Dmax and GMax in this list. Even though the IVs matter much less than PVP, for some people if Max Battles are their favorite type of gameplay (vs raids, PVP) it might make sense for some Shiny max pokemon.
For people who don't play a lot of master league what's the utility in a Hundo/shundo that they'll barely use.
I have the Crown forms high on my list of options for this reason. They will be useful in everything. PVP, raids, max battles.
It has a huge gain in IV because it does not have a 10/10/10 floor.
It is viable in GL/UL and you can train only its defense and HP to get a good PVP IV. It was viable in ML some time ago with the buff of sucker punch. The other 2 just do not have much play. If counter is buffed back to 4/3.5, G Zapdos may also be S tier.
I think I’m going to use mine on my Keldeo. I’m like 60% sure. My list of options are Keldeo, zygarde, diancie, 15/15/13 shiny mew, 14/15/14 Galarian zapdos, 15/13/15 shiny palkia-o, zarude, 15/13/15 shiny dawn wings, marshadow, a terrible IV shiny Galarian Moltres, a shiny zacian or shiny Zamazenta, 15/15/13 rapid strike urshifu or my Volcanion. I’m on 6/7 for the shiny meloetta research so depending on what IVs I get then that’s a possibility. Right now I have functional hundos of both Zac and Zama and will grind hard for the hundos of each during go fest. I think my top two choices right now are Keldeo and zygarde.
I just realized today that Keldeo was released 2.5 years ago and only in paid research. Free options are usually given out not too long after the paid option, but they have kind of screwed us with this one. I would have paid the $8 if I had known they wouldn't release it for years.
Zygarde its both missing its Shiny and also its signature move. Same for Marshadow, Keldeo, Zarude, etc.
The best options at moment are the Kyurem/Necrozma, Palkia/Dialga Origen, Mew/Celebi/Shaymin, the Primal trio and Zacian/Zamazenta, specially if you have their Shiny with background versions.
Personally, I have several Silver Cap candidates that I can transform into a 98% (which are good enough for me). If we were to get a Golden Cap for free, I would probably choose Aria or Mew. Or maybe pick my original 10/10/10 starter (Incredible that Niantic never added a yearly storyline for it. Such a wasted opportunity).
Any shiny background for a top pve or pvp Pokemon should be S tier. They are the one thing in the game that I am 100% confident will NEVER return again (the specific background - could be same city but a different picture - Example recently osaka).
Like I can see even armored mewtwo or fragment hat pikachu could come back again for fan service/if scopely wants more $ (very small chance but it could happen). I don’t think wormhole bg necrozma or osaka rayquaza etc will ever comeback.
This is a great point. Even considering the ML, the g birds have the most IV gain potential because their IVs are completely random. The only comparable ones in this category would be the lake trio but they’ve also been available in raids multiple times so it would be much easier to grind for good IVs. The birds are theoretically unlimited, but in practice they’re quite difficult to obtain. Way more challenging than anything that’s ever been in a raid.
It being PVP relevant gives it a boost over the other birds. Personally if I ever got a cap I would choose between a shiny mythical that hasn’t been in raids or a shiny g bird. Everything else wouldn’t be a consideration for me.
I’ve personally powered up 8 non-shadow mewtwo. Honestly I have regret because I’ve almost never used them. Psychic just isn’t the best attacking type very often at all. Since shadow mewtwo arrived mine only get used when my 3 powered shadow mewtwo all faint. There have been lots of opportunities to get a hundo now so the rarity isn’t there either. I’m guessing OP used similar reasoning.
Shiny Shadow Mewtwo would definitely be S+ tier if shadows are included! Mewtwo has been the face and the ultimate mega boss Pokemon in the first few main series games/shows/movies/stores/irl Pokemon conventions and centers. It is also top dps of its type. Looks super cool with pale skin, and light purple looks to mix with the dark purple shadows lit up by red Shadow Eyes.
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Shiny Shadow Shundo Mewtwo has a superb ring to it!
People seem to forget that Zygarde will be getting a mega with the new game coming out. Expecting it to be released in PoGo during Kalos Tour, where they’ll give us 1 more Zygarde and Mega Candy. I don’t expect Zygarde to be in raids, either
What do you guys think? Mainly thinking about function in ML.
I understand Zygarde could be re-released in the shiny form for an upcoming Kalos event. Arguably one of the best white shinies apart of Mega Gengar. It also is being rumoured to have a Mega form.
Keldeo has another form, and shiny isn't yet available but will probably be made available. Keldeo also had a limited pay2obtain use. It's #2 behind Terrakion for fighting.
Completionism choice seems to go to Shiny Meloetta?
We cannot make new posts about bottle caps in this sub now so I will post my revised version here! I searched for possible background added background pokemon one by one. Zygarde and Gigantamax pokemon are put to lower tiers. All other unlimited pokemon with possible shiny are changed to shiny, and their regular counterparts are not rated.
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u/Schlapor122 Jun 18 '25
Zygarde is rarely seen since the rise of Kyurem. With Zacian coming do you a favour and don't use your bottle cap on it