Everything you need to know about the Pokémon Go Master League

The Pokémon Go Fighting League consists of three divisions: the Great League, the Ultra League, and the Master League. Each of them works the same way where you choose from three different Pokémon to fight an opponent. However, each of the leagues has different restrictions, but the Master League allows trainers to bring their best Pokémon with no limits.

How to fight in the Master League

To fight, you must have access to the battle league. Each player receives the first five battles for free, and you fight freely against other trainers in Pokémon Go. After these first five battles, each player must start unlocking access to their next round of battles. To do this, you can choose to go with the basic premium option. The base means you have to walk three miles before you can enter again. The premium pass is a premium raid, and for you to walk two kilometers. You only have access to three different battle sets per day, consisting of five battles each. This equates to 15 total fights per day.

The Great League has a max CP of 1500, and the Ultra League has a max CP of 2500. The Master League has no restrictions and you can use any Pokémon in your collection. You want to think carefully about your choices, finding the combination that works best for you to cover one of your Pokémon's weaknesses, optimizing any markers that could potentially dominate your team. There is a lot of trial and error, but right now it's preseason. Niantic plans to make gameplay changes after that for the first season of Battle League Pokémon Go.

How to Rank in the Battle League

There are 10 different ranks in each Pokémon Go league. You can advance the top five ranks only by playing through the battle league, and you will rank regardless of whether you win or lose. When you reach rank five, you can only increase your ranking if you win battles. However, if you lose, you don't move down the leaderboard. Once you reach rank eight and above, you not only have to win battles to advance, but losing battles can drop you down the overall rankings.

• Everyone starts at row 1
• Rank 2: Complete five matches
• Rank 3: Complete 10 matches
• Rank 4: Complete 15 matches
• Rank 5: Win five matches
• Rank 6: Win 10 matches
• Rank 7: Win 15 matches
• Rank 8: Have a battle rating of 2500 or higher
• Rank 9: Have a battle rating of 3000 or higher
• Rank 10: Have a battle rating of 3 or higher

Rewards

You receive rewards at different levels in the battle league, depending on how many victories you get for the battles. The rewards are split into a set, and the big rewards are random Pokémon encounters. There is a pool of potential Pokémon that you can come across, at random, based on your ranking. For example, when you reach rank four you have a guaranteed chance of encountering a Scraggy, and then after that it enters the pool of random Pokémon that you can encounter if you win four battles in a row.

• From one to three: Machop, Oshawatt, Snivy, Snorlax, Tepig
• Ranks four to six: Machop, Meditite, Oshawatt, Scraggy, Skamory, Snivy, Snorlax, Tepig
• Ranks 7 to 10: Deino, Lapras, Larvitar, Litwick, Machop, Meditite, Oshawatt, Scraggy, Shieldon, Skamory, Snivy, Snorlax, Tepig

At the start of the Master League, you have two weeks to fight your way through the ranks, going through as many battles as you allow for the day against formidable opponents. You want to use the best possible teams to beat other players. Right now, it's preseason. The first season of the Pokémon Go Fighting League is slated to begin in March, but for now, you have until February 24 through March 9 to participate in the Master League. When the first season kicks off, you have the chance to meet a rare free Pikachu to add to your collection.