Pokemon Go Fest 2024 Guide

Global GO Fest is fast approaching! And with most of the details in, it seems like the perfect time to prepare for Pokémon GO‘s biggest event of the year. In this guide we will cover what to expect, what to prioritize, and how to best take advantage of the overwhelming amount of offerings. We will go over the spawns, the different hourly habitats and the raids. We will focus on it from three main perspectives: that of a PVP-only trainer, that of a generalist that tries to experience a decent amount of everything, and that of a non-PvP enjoyer focusing mainly on PvE and shiny hunting. I figure that between these three lenses, we will be able to help almost anyone develop a good plan of attack for the weekend. We will then try to help you decide which hours to prioritize and which hours might be good for a break based on your play style.

Global GO Fest basics:

Global GO fest will take place this weekend, July 13th and 14th from 10AM to 6 PM local time. Spawns on Saturday will appear in 4 hourly rotating habitats (for a total of two cracks at each): Dawn Meadow, shining day, creeping dusk, and darkest night. On Sunday Pokémon from the first day will be appearing all together with no rotating habitats. There are additional bonuses for everyone including longer ration hourly refreshing field research (on Saturday) and surprise snapshot encounters. There are additional bonuses for ticket holders including better shiny odds, more special trades, free raid passes, exclusive incense encounters and special 7km eggs.

Now let’s jump into the star of the show, the habitat guides.

DAWN MEADOW

Dawn Meadow is an interesting habitat to evaluate because well there are a lot of nice things to go for, there’s nothing, outside of the shiny Sun Crown Pika, that I would call must have.

CONFIRMED SPAWNS

Ticket Only

Pidgey evolves into Pidgeot and is a good if not always great pick for Great and Ultra Legaue formats, coming in at rank 31 and 8(!) respectively on PvPokes rankings. A fairly common spawn overall though.

Snivy’s final evolution, Serperior, Ferroseed’s, evolution, Ferrothorn, Wingull’s evolution, Pelliper, and Galarian Stunfisk all fall into a similar range for me priority wise. They are not quite strong enough to see consistent play in open, but will find plenty of use over time as strong picks in the right limited cups. Ferrothorn in particular seems to keep finding limited meta play due to its nice defensive Steel typing.

I’d group Hoppip’s final evolution, Jumpluff, with the Community Day exclusive move Acrobatics, Axew’s final evolution Haxorus with the Community Day exclusive move Breaking Swipe, Cottonee’s evolution Whimsicott and Inkay’s evolution Malamar together as decent limited cup picks and that’s about it. To its credit , Malamar is core meta in Psychic Cup whenever we actually get to play that format. It should be noted that hundo Galarian Stunfisk sees some play in Ultra League formats and hundo Haxorus sees play in Master League Prem.

Hoothoot’s evolution Noctowl hasn’t recovered from the Sky Attack nerf and is a common enough spawn to not worry about.

Heatmor and Girafarig can be skipped as anything other than shiny chases.

Where this habitat actually shines is in its offerings for Little Cup players. Ducklett and Cottonee are great plays in open Little Cup and absolute stars in limited Little metas. Ferroseed and Galarian Stunfisk have also seen play in limited cup formats like Little Element and Little Jungle cup.

HABITAT PRIORITY GUIDE

PVP Only: (rough tiers)

1: Pidgey*, Snivy* and Ferroseed* and little cup ducklett + cottonee

2: GFisk, Hoppip*, Wingull*, and Inkay*

3: Axew*, Whimsicott and the other little cup stuff

4: Pour one out for Hoothoot*

Generalist: PVP Only tiers 1+ 2 and shiny Pika.

No PVP: any shiny you need but especially the Pika, Ducklett (new), Heatmor (rotating) and GFisk.

SHINING DAY

Shiny Day has a lot to offer for everyone. It’s not the most exciting habitat but there’s a lot of decent if not exciting stuff. It’s a great habitat for someone who took a long break or is newer to the game.

CONFIRMED SPAWNS

Ticket Only

Charmander and Dratini are important spawns. Charizard and Dragonair/Dragonite are all good picks for PvP and Mega Charizard Y is an incredible Fire type attacker for raids. Dragonite can also be a decent PvE option.

Dunsparce and both of Jangmo-o’s evolutions have play in various metas. They may mostly feature in limited cups, but these are definitely spawns I wouldn’t skip. Add in the chance of picking up Jangmo-o’s new shiny and you’re going to want to click on every little dragon you can.

Hisuian Sneasel’s evolution Sneasler, Fomantis’ evolution Lurantis, Roselia’s evolution Roserade and Helioptile’s evolution Heliolisk all fall in the range of useful in various PvP circumstances but you could go your entire time in this game without using them and be fine.

I had to give Dedenne its own section. It’s not quite as good and useful as Dunsparce and the Jangmo-o family but it’s way better for PvP than the other also-rans of this habitat. Worth catching and checking but nothing to stress over.

Tyrunt isn’t particularly useful for PvP but it is a relatively newer and rare shiny.

HABITAT PRIORITY GUIDE

PVP Only: (rough tiers)

1: Charmander*, Dratini*, Jangmo-o* and Dunsparce

2: Dedenne and H-Sneasel* if only because it’s tricky to get Sneasler for Great League.

Generalist: Charmander* for PvP and Mega, Dratini*, Jangmo-o*, Dunsparce and Dedenne for PvP. Shiny Jangmo-o.

No PvP: Charmander for Mega Charizard. Shiny Sneasel, shiny Tyrunt, shiny Dedenne and of course Shiny Jangmo-o.

CREEPING DUSK

Creeping Dusk is, in my opinion, bailed out pretty hard by Moon Crown Pika and shiny Emolga. There’s some decent stuff to go for but if it weren’t for the shiny Pika chance, this would be an incredibly skippable hour.

CONFIRMED SPAWNS

Ticket Only

Gible is by far the most overall useful spawn in this hour. Its final evolution, Garchomp, is a great raid attacker and it’s Mega Evolution is quite decent if you don’t have access to Mega Rayquaza and Primal Groudon. It’s also a pretty good pick in Master League Prem. I know it had a Community Day, but that was a while ago and I bet a lot of current players didn’t play it. It really does need that Com Day exclusive move Earth Power to be at full power for raids which is kind of a bummer.

I’ll put Grubbin, for its middle evolution Charjabug, and Phantump for its evolved form, Trevenant, together as the hours top spawns for PvPers. Charjabug is definitely the better and more useful of the two, but it had a community day and people should have it. The relative scarcity of Phantump outside of October events and its awesome (and rare) shiny pulls it pretty even with the Electric Bug in terms of priority. If you’re new to PvP you won’t want to miss out on getting good PvP IVs for these two.

I’ll mention Litwick, for its final evolution Chandelure, as a good but not amazing Fire and Ghost type attacker for raids. It’s just so glassy and had a Community Day making it not that rare. Grab it if you need it, but don’t stress.

One of Eevee’s evolutions, Umbreon is a classic mainstay of the Great League meta. Though it’s power and popularity have waned over the years, if you somehow don’t have an Umbreon this is a good time to fix that.

Emolga and Spinarak, for its evolution Ariados, are limited cup only type options in the Great League. I’d argue Spinarak is a little more useful, but Emolga has that new and rarer shiny so click on these two as you see fit.

HABITAT PRIORITY GUIDE

PVP Only: (rough tiers)

1: Grubbin*, Phantump*

2: Eevee*

3: Emolga, Spinarak*

Generalist: If you’re playing this hour you’re catching all the PvP stuff, farming Gible/Gible XL and hunting the other spawns for shinies as you see fit.

No PvP: Shiny hat Pika, Gible for Garchomp/Mega Garchomp and whatever other shinies you’re wanting.

DARKEST NIGHT

There’s plenty to go for in this habitat if you PvP…not so much if you don’t.

CONFIRMED SPAWNS

Ticket Only

By far the best habitat exclusive incense spawn. Its evolution, Mandibuzz, is a good choice for open Great League and often a top meta option in limited formats like Halloween Cup. It’s also good in Ultra League, but needs to be a hundo there. This is getting a bit more narrow in terms of appeal, but an exciting part of this being a wild spawn is the chance to get Vullaby under 500 CP. It’s a good, not great, Little Cup option, but outside of a limited number of events it’s been a pain to get one under the limit. Add in the fact that it has a fantastic shiny and this is the quality of incense spawn that I wish every habitat had.

Gligar is a great PvP spawn. It’s an amazing option for Great League, being very good in open and often a star in limited metas. Its evolution, Gliscor, is ok in the Great League and decent in Ultra League.

Carbink hasn’t come to dominate the open Great League meta like some originally feared, but that shouldn’t be taken to mean that it’s not a very good option for Great League formats. Add in the difficultish to farm XL and this shapes up to be the perfect time for you to get the IVs and XL you need.

Amaura’s evolution, Aurorus, fills a pretty narrow role in PvP, but it’s solid set of moves make it an effective option when the time comes. Deino’s middle evolution, Zweilous, has fallen off a cliff in terms of usage and given way to Guzzlord as the primary Dark/Dragon, but Deino itself is an effective option in many Little Cup formats. Both spawns fall under the “don’t skip them but don’t stress them” banner.

Mudkip is a spawn worth highlighting. It’s final evolution, Swampert, is a stalwart of both the Great and Ultra Leagues. It’s even seen some play in Master League formats! That’s a lot of value. Mega Swampert pales in comparison to Primal Kyogre for Water types and Primal Groudon for Ground types but can fill in as a valiant replacement for either if you don’t have them. Can’t miss spawn.

Teddiursa’s evolution, Ursaluna is a decent option for PvP, especially in Master League formats like Master League Prem and is probably the only other non-incense spawn of this habitat with more value than just a shiny chase.

HABITAT PRIORITY GUIDE

PvP only: (rough tiers)

1: Gligar, Carbink, Vullaby*, Mudkip*

2: Gliscor, Little Cup Deino

3: Amaura, Little Cup Vullaby, Tediursa*

Generalist: PvP Only Tier one, Little Cup Deino, Mega Swampert, and whatever shinies you want to chase

No PvP: Mega Swampert and whatever shinies you want to chase, especially the newer Crabrawler and still reasonably rare Vullaby.

POKEMON GO FEST: SUNDAY

Sunday is harder to give you a guide for, because it’s just all of Saturday’s spawns mashed together. I think a good way to approach it is to go through your day 1 haul on Saturday, determine what higher priority things you’re still missing and then really focus on those spawns when you can Sunday. I’ll try to give you a list of of what I would consider a good baseline of a “successful weekend haul” for each play style.

PvP Only: (2 rough tiers)

1. Gligar*, Jangmo-o*, Dunsparce, Carbink, Vullaby*, Mudkip*, Grubbin*, Phantump*, Little Cup Ducklett and Cottonee, Pidgey*, Snivy* Ferroseed and GFisk
2. Dratini*, Charmander*, Eevee*, Emolga, Spinarak*, Wingull*, Hoppip*, Inkay*, Dedenne, Axew*, Whimsicott, Teddiursa* and Little Cup Deino and Ferroseed

Generalist: PvP only’s Tier 1 and then Mega Charizard, Garchomp and whatever shinies you want but probably focusing on the costumes, Unown and the newer shinies Jangmo-o, Emolga, Crabrawler and Ducklett.

No PvP: Mega Charizard, Garchomp/Mega Garchomp, Mega Swampert, Dragonite and any and all shinies you might want but again focusing on the costumes, Unown and newer shinies Jangmo-o, Emolga, Crabrawler and Ducklett.

RAIDS

I’m just going to do all GoFest specific raid analysis in one section. The tier 1 and tier 3 raids are all shiny chases (the Pikas, the Eeveelutions and Jangmo-o) and the tier 5s are all Ultra Beasts.

If you’re into PvP, Guzzlord is a good one to raid and then tarde with newer friends to try and get a good one for the Great and Ultra leagues.

Kartana is a SUPREME PvE pick. It’s the best non-mega Grass attacker in the game and will be for a long time.

Xurkitree is a very good Electric type raid attacker.

Nihilego is an excellent Poison type attacker (in the rare cases where you need that) and an okayish Master League option.

The real star of this raid group though, is Necrozma. The recent debutante has taken

Master League by storm, but with a twist! It’s true power comes by merging with Lunala to form Dawn Wings or with Solgaleo to form Dusk Mane. Dawn Wings comes in at number 7 and Dusk Mane comes in at number 15 on PvPokes Master League rankings. Anecdotally, from the smaller sample size we’ve had so far, they look to be meta staples moving forward. If I had to pick I would lean towards fusing for Dawn Wings.

If you don’t care about any of that, you might be interested in knowing that Buzzwole, Phermosa, Xurkitree and Necrozma are newer shinies. If nothing else that could be a deciding factor for which raids you decide to do.

THE DREADED BREAK HOUR DILEMMA

These events can be tough because as much as you might want to just GO GO GO the whole time, that’s not always feasible or healthy. So here would be my best recommendation for which hour to make your break/lunch hour for Saturday based on your playstyle/goal this weekend.

• PvP Only: Creeping Dusk

• Raid and PvE Lovers: Dawn Meadow but Creeping Dusk would also be fine

• Shiny Hunter Only: Probably Darkest Night. You really don’t want to miss the Pikas and overall I’d say the shiny quality of Shining Day is a little better than Darkest Night.

• Generalist: This is the tough one. When to break for the person who wants EVERYTHING. My personal break will probably be during the second Shining Day hour. I already have most of that stuff and I feel like Jangmo-o is maybe slightly more likely to get a future event/CD than Crabrawler?

BEST HOUR FOR....

On the flip side these are probably the best habitats to focus on based on your playstyle/goals.

• Newer PvPer: Darkest Night by a wide margin, but Dawn Meadow also has some nice stuff.

• Hardcore Raider: Shining Day with a close second to Creeping Dusk

• Shiny Hunter Only: Creeping Dusk. Dawn Meadow is also a good shiny hour but Emolga Espurr and the bugs feel slightly more FOMOish to me than the non Pika offerings of Dawn Meadow.

• Generalist who wants to do everything: Probably Dawn Meadow? It has a very good mix of chase shinies and PvP offerings.

CLOSING

And that just about sums up everything we need to go over the weekend. I get that the amount to prepare for and do and catch this weekend can seem overwhelming. But at the end of the day you need to remember that it’s just not THAT big of a deal. Yeah there’s a lot of good stuff but there’s no one-time PvP spawn that you’ll never see again or some insane game changing raid boss that will never come back. Make the most you can of the event but don’t let it consume you. Pokémon GO is a game. Games and hobbies are supposed to be fun.

With that said I wish you the best of lucking cleaning your storage and getting your Pokeballs ready for the hunt and I sincerely hope that you have a fantastic event this weekend. Until next time trainers.

-Brian