The Pokémon Go battle league offers many rewards for every player of any level to win. Even though they are not the best players in the game, there are several useful rewards at each level. For example, any player who has reached at least rank four has the option of catching a random Pokemon if they win four out of five matches in their rank. For a limited time, these Random Pokémon encounters include Legendary Pokémon, such as Darkrai, and soon, Giratina (Altered Forme), and then potentially other Legendaries. Because these much sought-after rewards are offered at a lower rank, some players have chosen to rank Tankers.
Rank tanking is when a high ranking player bends over backwards to lower their overall ranking. They do this because other lower ranked coaches are much easier to fight. A coach who is at rank four is much easier to fight than a coach who is at rank eight. Thus, the stronger players try to lower their ranking to fight the weaker trainers, thus guaranteeing their opportunities to meet a Legendary Pokémon. Although the encounters are random, it increases their chances of receiving the reward for having that chance.
Does the rank tank matter? It's important that the developers of Niantic do something, which they will likely do once Pokémon Go's first season arrives. The first season of the Battle League begins on March 13. At this point, they can factor in the type of rewards that go into the game to prevent this type of behavior. The first season of the Battle League will likely offer a variety of rewards for players who stay on the highest ranking. We know of a handful of rewards, such as the ability to capture a Libre Pikachu at rank 10, or encounter Rufflet at rank seven, a Pokemon making its debut in the first season before debuting in an upcoming Safari Zone.
For now, tier tanking will continue to occur, which could prevent lower tier Pokémon Go players from participating in some of the higher tier rewards offered in the game. This is not guaranteed to happen, and some players may never meet a powerful trainer who is supposed to be a higher rank if they are at a lower level. But it does happen, and it's likely that Niantic will fix this issue in the future. We'll know when the first season arrives on March 13.
