Pokémon GO came into prominence in 2016 and soon took over the world. This successful Pokémon mobile game follows the usual pattern of previous franchise entries. Although with a twist – it uses GPS from mobile devices to capture, train, battle, and collect Pokémon, which appear as if they are part of the real world. Trainers capture and train their Pokémon to become the best of the best, but the players also need to join certain Pokémon gyms to perform raids on opposing ones. This article will discuss how to choose a team in Pokémon GO.
To choose the best Pokémon GO team in the game, you need to consider a few important details – how many people are in the certain team, your friends’ teams, and in the end, your preferences. Each team has pros and cons, but the most important detail when choosing the optimal team for you is to check out your surroundings and which team your friends picked – having more teammates and allies in Pokémon GO is probably the most important aspect of the game.
We will discuss this topic further by mentioning each Pokémon GO team and providing you with entry descriptions. Moreover, mention the popularity of each team and ultimately provide you with our reasoning on how to pick Pokémon GO gym teams. If you are interested, stay with us until the end of the article.
Introduction To Each Pokémon GO Gym Team
We all know by now that players receive experience points for various activities they do in the game. Leveling up is important in Pokémon GO; players get to a certain level and unlock new features that expand Pokémon GO’s overall experience.
Gyms and Raids were always important in the Pokémon games, and Pokémon GO only expanded on this feature by creating the whole online aspect of the game. The premise is simple – a Trainer can join one of the three available gym teams in the game.
The blue team stands for Team Mystic, red for Team Valor, and yellow for Team Instinct. Each team has unique descriptions and features; player beginners usually pick teams by their preferences.
These are overall descriptions of each team in Pokémon GO:
- Team Valor (Red team) – this team relies on strength in battle. Valor’s members believe that Pokémon are stronger and more warm-hearted than humans, which prompts their goal of enhancing their natural power.
- Team Mystic (Blue team) – the pragmatic team of the bunch, the blue team stands behind analytics of every situation. They believe that Pokémon have immeasurable wisdom and are interested in the evolution aspect of Pokémon.
- Team Instinct (Yellow team) – as the name suggests, the yellow team values Trainer’s instincts. Moreover, the yellow team members believe that Pokémon have tremendous intuition and are interested in learning about its connection to the egg hatching process.
As you can see, each team values different aspects of Pokémon breeding, training, and more. When players join the Gyms at level five, players are included in raids and have access to the gyms where they can heal and breed their Pokémon.
There are also Trainer battles, where players of each faction are battling with each other, essentially the player versus player aspect of Pokémon GO.
Game developers added more features to the game, specifically, Team GO Rocket Battles in 2019, when Team Rocket in the Gyms – players could battle these NPCs and earn the opportunity to capture and purify a “Shadow Pokémon.”
Now that we know the basic descriptions and features of each Gym, we can move on to the main topic of this article.
How To Choose a Team in Pokémon GO? (Full Explanation)
Every new Pokémon Trainer wants to be unique in their philosophy and ways of upbringing their Pokémon, which is totally valid. However, game mechanics and good partnerships are also really important at the end of the day. Don’t get us wrong, picking teams that suits your philosophy is also a good strat, but at the end of the day, more awards and experience points are gained for having teammates together battling other Gyms.
For example, Team Mystic is the biggest faction out of the three, and according to recent information, the blue team has the biggest player base. The cons of being on this team are the availability of gyms, especially in rural areas. As we mentioned before, the player base is the biggest in Team Mystic, and the possibility of teaming up with teammates is much higher.
Another con is that Team Mystic owns more Gyms. However, on the other side, the blue team always has Gyms full of Pokémon, which will present itself as a problem to some players because they cannot rest and heal their Pokémon.
All in all, Team Mystic offers more trainers for Raids and Gym Battles, which is quite important. Team Valor has fewer players but still has more than Team Instinct. It is the most balanced team of them all and, overall, the best choice for most players – the relative availability of the gyms, decent player base, and the fact that this team was considered quite aggressive are all good factors.
Lastly, Team Instinct has the smallest player base or the yellow team. The lack of Gyms is a huge issue, but at least the members of this team can always fight enemy Gyms. All in all, it is still good to join, but the lack of teammates can be an issue in the grinding department of Pokémon GO.
Overall, the best way to choose teams is where your friends are, the availability of the Gyms, and just player base numbers. Some players might find these facts as an issue, but at the end of the day, even if Pokémon GO is trying to do its best in unfair inequality between factions and your friends’ teams, the player base is still really important in teamwork-based games.
You are trying to become the best possible Pokémon Trainer, and the way to get there is to choose the best team possible.
