Pokémon GO’s upcoming GO Battle League Season 28 move rebalance could do more than adjust a few rankings. Low Kick and Scratch give several older PvP picks new ways to compete, while Bite and Take Down look far less transformative than their reach or damage numbers might suggest. The clearest possible comeback belongs to Defense Deoxys, with Vigoroth also threatening to return to the battlefield.
Bite appears on 90 Pokémon, second only to Tackle’s 137 users, and more than 40 of those Bite users already have some relevance in limited formats. Its damage is planned to fall from 4.0 damage per turn to 2.0, but its energy generation will increase. If that rise goes from 2.0 energy per turn to 4.0, Bite will become a one-turn clone of Sand Attack. That would give it better timing than several moves with higher numbers on paper, though the reduced damage will create plenty of new losses.
Some of the exact costs remain uncertain, including Bite’s new energy value, Brine’s upcoming cost, and Body Slam’s planned cost. The matchup results below should be read as projections for the Season 28 changes rather than results from a live format.
A PvP Analysis on the GBL Season 28 Move Rebalance – Part 1: Fast Moves
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Low Kick gives older fighters another chance
Low Kick is receiving a smaller numerical buff, moving from 2.5 damage per turn and 4.0 energy per turn to 3.0 damage per turn and 4.0 energy per turn. That puts it on Shadow Claw’s damage and energy profile, but Fighting typing gives the move a different set of targets.
Annihilape and Primeape are the obvious names to watch. Annihilape will still rely on Low Kick, but the improvement is partly offset by a Rage Fist nerf. Great League Annihilape looks close to a trade, gaining matchups such as Ninetales, Quagsire, and Wigglytuff while losing Malamar and Medicham. Shadow Annihilape may prefer Shadow Ball in some setups, since that option recovers several matchups even after its own reduction. Ultra League brings a rougher tradeoff for regular Annihilape, while Shadow Annihilape can add wins against Regidrago, Tentacruel, and Galarian Moltres while giving up several established matchups.
Primeape gains a more interesting non-legacy option, although Karate Chop remains the better fast move when available. The change is much cleaner for Chesnaught, where Low Kick can replace Vine Whip in many builds and provide enough Fighting damage to beat targets such as Annihilape, Feraligatr, Cradily, and Hisuian Electrode without relying as heavily on Superpower. The extra damage also opens more room for Frenzy Plant and Thunder Punch combinations, as the projected matchup spread shows.
Bewear also benefits from the same stats as Shadow Claw, with STAB giving Low Kick an edge. It loses some of Shadow Claw’s coverage, but new wins against Forretress, Kingdra, Quagsire, Ninetales, Cradily, and Hisuian Electrode make the trade worthwhile. Lopunny is another surprise winner. A Triple Axel and Thunder Punch setup gains seven Great League wins, including Hisuian Electrode, Primeape, Thievul, Seaking, Shadow Sealeo, and both versions of Sableye. It reaches 23 core meta wins with a win rate above 50 percent.
Master League adds two more interesting cases. Keldeo gains only a couple of projected wins, including Zarude and occasional Yveltal, while Mega Gallade benefits much more from the extra fast-move damage. Its improved Low Kick can add Groudon, Kyogre, Therian Landorus, Meloetta, Solgaleo, Yveltal, Zygarde, and both Crowned forms in the tested setup.
Defense Deoxys has been held back by earlier nerfs to Rock Slide and Counter, but Season 28 gives it both a stronger fast move and a better payoff for reaching its charged attacks. Low Kick adds wins against Galarian Weezing, Wigglytuff, Togekiss, Talonflame, Mantine, and Primeape in Great League simulations.
Defense Deoxys has the strongest comeback case
The larger change is Psycho Boost, which will rise from 70 damage to 85 damage at the same 35-energy cost. Each use still lowers the user’s Attack by two stages, so timing shields and swaps will remain important. Even without advanced swap play, the projected gains include Cradily, Quagsire, Ninetales, and Morpeko in Great League. Ultra League also offers new possibilities against Annihilape, Ninetales, and Ampharos, though the format is less favorable overall.
Repeated Psycho Boosts become especially attractive after shields are removed, while a well-timed swap can reduce the impact of the Attack drop. Simulation results may undersell Defense Deoxys because they do not fully capture how much value it can get from baiting shields, accepting the Psycho Boost drawback, and returning later in a battle. Its projected Great League matchup spread still shows a clear improvement before those tactical choices are considered.
Bite creates sidegrades for Water types
Toxapex is a good example of why a widely distributed fast move will not automatically reshape the entire format. Brine will increase from 60 damage to 100, although its higher energy cost is not yet fully clear. A likely 60-energy cost would make Bite’s faster energy generation especially useful. Bite can give Toxapex wins against Jellicent, Empoleon, Corviknight, Gourgeist, Melmetal, and Fearow, but the loss of fast-move damage also lets Pokémon such as Dewgong, Furret, Guzzlord, Kingdra, Medicham, Thievul, and Galarian Weezing escape. The Brine change may matter more than the choice between Poison Jab and Bite.
Feraligatr can use Bite to beat Lickitung, Snorlax, and Dunsparce, which resist Shadow Claw’s Ghost damage more heavily. Shadow Claw remains the safer choice in most formats, especially for Shadow Feraligatr, where Bite gives up a long list of existing wins. The Bite Feraligatr results show the appeal, while the Shadow Feraligatr results make clear that this is a matchup option rather than an automatic replacement.
Blastoise may get the most practical use from Bite. Rollout has better paper stats at 2.33 damage per turn and 4.33 energy per turn, but its three-turn timing can force overcharging before Hydro Cannon. Bite reaches 40 energy in 10 turns, while Rollout reaches 39 after three uses and needs three more turns to overcharge. That makes Bite a real sidegrade, with new wins against Sableye, Malamar, Corviknight, Medicham, and Galarian Corsola. Rollout still has the edge against targets such as Togekiss, Altaria, Thievul, and Empoleon.
Wartortle also gains a large group of new targets, including Corviknight, Cradily, Cramorant, Dewgong, Empoleon, Feraligatr, and Medicham. Greedent is the bigger Bite winner in Ultra League. The move adds projected wins against Lickilicky, Toucannon, Kingdra, Walrein, Talonflame, Skeledirge, and Shadow Ninetales while giving up only Florges, Empoleon, and Drapion in the same setup. Its projected Ultra League results frame Bite as a targeted upgrade rather than a universal replacement. Morpeko, Drapion, Grimmsnarl, Zweilous, Hydreigon, Gyarados, Tyranitar, and Dunsparce will generally still have better fast-move choices outside specific limited formats.
Scratch brings back Vigoroth and opens new options
Scratch is expected to become a Normal-type fast move with roughly 3.0 damage per turn and 4.0 energy per turn. Vigoroth is the main reason to pay attention. Its future depends heavily on Body Slam, which will rise from 55 to 65 damage but also cost more energy. A 40-energy Body Slam would restore much of Vigoroth’s old pacing, while a 45-energy version could make Brick Break and Rock Slide the preferred combination.
Either way, Vigoroth should gain a much faster route to charged moves than it has had with Tackle. Brick Break can provide wins against Cradily, Diggersby, Kingdra, and Mimikyu, while a cheaper Body Slam would favor targets such as Clodsire, Cramorant, and Mantine. The final Body Slam cost will decide whether this is a full return or a narrower revival.
Rillaboom also gets a proper PvP fast move at last. Its combination of Scratch, Earth Power, and Drum Beating gives it useful coverage in all three main leagues, and the projected moveset is stronger without its Community Day move. Drum Beating supplies Grass-type pressure similar to Icy Wind, while Earth Power handles the coverage role.
Ursaluna receives an even larger boost in Master League, with Scratch more than doubling its projected win total and adding targets such as Origin Forme Dialga, Groudon, Lugia, Meloetta, Mewtwo, Reshiram, Zekrom, Zygarde, Togekiss, Yveltal, and Crowned Zacian. The projected results show why Scratch could finally turn Ursaluna’s strong stats into a more useful Master League role.
Scratch also gives Grafaiai a valid spice option. It trades away a couple of existing wins but gains Azumarill, Charjabug, Cramorant, Hisuian Electrode, Fearow, Shadow Feraligatr, Furret, Kingdra, Primeape, Talonflame, and Togekiss. That is not enough to make Grafaiai a standard pick, but it is a much better starting point.
Take Down looks powerful but has limited reach
Take Down will receive the largest raw damage increase of the group, rising from 5 damage on a three-turn move to 14 damage. That would equal roughly 4.66 damage per turn, the highest direct damage rate among fast moves, while its energy generation will also increase. A projected rise from 2.66 to 3.0 energy per turn would still leave it behind the strongest energy moves.
Normal typing keeps Take Down from dealing super-effective damage. Rock, Steel, and Ghost types resist it, with Ghost Pokémon taking especially little damage. More importantly, very few PvP-relevant Pokémon have access to the move. Bibarel actually performs worse with Take Down than with Rollout, losing more than half of its previous wins in the tested setup.
Dubwool is the real discovery. Take Down flips matchups against Altaria, Charjabug, Clodsire, Cramorant, Florges, Galarian Weezing, Malamar, Shadow Ninetales, Quagsire, Wigglytuff, Mimikyu, and Jellicent, leaving only Guzzlord in the loss column among the highlighted targets. Oinkologne also benefits, with its female form gaining a projected four wins overall compared with Mud Slap. The Take Down setup can add Charjabug, Dewgong, Diggersby, Fearow, Florges, Furret, Guzzlord, Lickilicky, Mantine, Medicham, and Primeape, although the final results will still depend on how much Body Slam changes.
Infestation and new fast moves round out Part 1
Infestation is moving from 2.0 damage per turn and 4.0 energy per turn to 3.33 damage per turn and 4.0 energy per turn. Jumpluff and Cradily may use it as sidegrades, while Drapion will probably continue favoring faster energy options. Swalot improves but remains a niche choice.
Volbeat has the best case among the Pokémon receiving Infestation for the first time. Lunge will also gain 10 damage, and Thunderbolt gives Volbeat a way to pressure Flying types that normally make life difficult for Bug Pokémon. Illumise gets Shadow Ball, but its limited charged-move options leave it looking much less convincing beside Silver Wind.
Several smaller additions could still matter in the right format. Audino gets Charge Beam, which is only a modest 2.0 damage per turn and 3.66 energy per turn but is far better than Pound or Zen Headbutt. Crobat receives Gust, and Flamigo gets Peck as an upgrade over Wing Attack. Peck gives Flamigo projected Great League wins against Hisuian Electrode, Feraligatr, Kingdra, and Shadow Ninetales, along with Ultra League wins against Jellicent, Tentacruel, and Galarian Moltres.
Victreebel’s Sucker Punch is a more unusual sidegrade that exchanges some Fairy and Water matchups for wins against Galarian Corsola, Sableye, Melmetal, Dewgong, and Empoleon. Snorlax gains Psywave, giving it its first fast move above 3.0 energy per turn. Its final standing will depend on how much Body Slam costs after the rework. Kingambit is another Pokémon to watch, although its Low Kick results are being saved for the next part alongside its improved Iron Head.
Mega Gallade also deserves attention because the official Season 28 schedule includes Mega formats across all 12 weeks, with six weeks each featuring Mega Ultra League and Mega Master League.
Season 28’s fast-move changes will not affect every Pokémon equally. Some produce cleaner upgrades, such as Defense Deoxys, Vigoroth, Rillaboom, Dubwool, and Volbeat. Others, including Feraligatr, Toxapex, and Bibarel, gain new options that may only work in certain cups. The next part will need to settle the other half of the rebalance, especially the new charged-move costs that determine how many of these fast-move improvements survive in practice.
Which Season 28 fast move are you watching most closely? Share your thoughts in the comments, and follow us on X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram, Steam, and Telegram for more Pokémon GO coverage.
Pokémon Go
Developed by Niantic Labs, The Pokémon Company
Pokémon Go is an augmented reality mobile game that uses GPS to let players locate, capture, train, and battle Pokémon in real-world locations. Players explore their physical surroundings to find PokéStops for items, battle at Gyms for team control, participate in Raid Battles cooperatively, and compete in the Go Battle League's player-versus-player format. The game is free-to-play with in-app purchases and features Pokémon from across multiple generations of the franchise.
- Genre Role-playing (RPG), Simulator
- Platforms Android, iOS
- Perspective Third person, Bird view / Isometric, Side view
- Modes Single player, Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO)
- Release July 6, 2016
- Publisher Niantic Labs
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