Are you ready for what might be THE best of the Forces Of Nature in Master League? No exaggeration, because there's your Bottom Line Up Front of this analysis: I will put forward that THERIAN ENAMORUS is about to become the best of the Forces Of Nature in Pokémon GO Master League! So why isn't it being hyped more? Because I think people are overlooking a key aspect of its moveset that pushes it into that territory. Come with me and let's analyze how and why that is!

ENAMORUS (THERIAN FORME)

Fairy/Flying Type

ULTRA LEAGUE:

Attack: 178 (177 High Stat Product)

Defense: 150 (149 High Stat Product)

HP: 131 (133 High Stat Product)

(Highest Stat Product IVs, Best Friend Trade: 5-14-13, 2496 CP, Level 27)

MASTER LEAGUE:

Attack: 223

Defense: 182

HP: 163

(Assuming 15-15-15 IVs; 3830 CP at Level 50)

So the obvious first point in its favor is the typing. Fairy is great in Master League in particular with so many Dragon types at the top of the meta (and bonus Fairy-weak Dark and Fighting types as well). But throw in Flying as a subtype and things get even more interesting, with the resulting Fairy/Flying combo coming with nearly as many DOUBLE resistances (Dragon, Fighting, Ground, and Bug, as well as single-level resistances to Dark and Grass) as it has single-level weaknesses (Ice, Electric, Rock, Poison, and Steel). Now while there are unfortunately a decent number of big Steel and Ice moves in the Master League meta, the rest are relatively rare encounters, whereas (resisted) Dragon, Ground, and Fighting damage are pretty common. Long and short of it, there is more in favor of Enamorus' typing than there are negatives. Heck, just ask LONG-time ML staple Togekiss.

Stats-wise, it's not great, but it's fine. Bulkier than Thundurus and Tornadus, and just barely behind Landorus (in both of its formes), though it does trail behind most other meta Fairies in Master League (Zacian, Xerneas, Togekiss, Florges, and even Tapu Bulu and Lele).

Fast Moves

• Fairy Wind (Fairy, 2.0 DPT, 4.5 EPT, 1.0 CoolDown)

• Astonish (Ghost, 4.0 DPT, 3.33 EPT, 1.5 CD)

• Extrasensory (Psychic, 2.66 DPT, 3.33 EPT, 1.5 CD)

So obviously it's Fairy Wind, right? Best energy generation, better-than-written damage thanks to the Same Type Attack Bonus (STAB), and a typing that is oh so potent in Master League in particular.

Weeeeeeeell… I'll just say that you should put a pin in this one for now, because there is another very good candidate here that may surprise you. We'll circle back on this shortly, I promise.

Charge Moves

• Mystical Fire (Fire, 60 damage, 45 energy, Recuces Opponent Attack -1 Stage)

• Fly (Flying, 80 damage, 45 energy)

• Earth Power (Ground, 90 damage, 55 energy, 10% Chance: Reduce Opponent Defense -1 Stage)

• Moonblast (Fairy, 110 damage, 60 energy, 10% Chance: Reduce Opponent Attack -1 Stage)

Whole new ballgame here. Just days ago, Therian Enamorus was still stuck with the same lackluster suite of charge moves as the Incarnate forme, with Dazzling Gleam and Grass Knot alongside survivor Fly, but now those are both out, replaced by Moonblast (the clear Gleam replacement, and it's fair to call it an overall upgrade as a closing move) and then both Earth Power and Mystical Fire replacing Knot as coverage moves.

You might be surprised to hear that this actually doesn't increase the pacing for Enamorus. Mystical Fire may feel a bit faster, but it actually costs exactly the same energy as Fly, tying it for cheapest charge move available. Earth Power (if you ever want it, which honestly would require a kind of funky Limited meta, probably one stuffed with Ground-weak Poison types or something) is slightly more expensive than the old Grass Knot. And Moonblast, while arguably a better move than Dazzling Gleam, is actually a hair slower too… though you may never notice, as Fairy Wind awkwardly reaches only 54 energy after six fast moves, so another fast move is required to reach the 55 energy needed for Gleam, at which point you have enough for Moonblast anyway. (And for what it's worth, Astonish is the same, generating 10 energy each, so you have to use six of them to get the 60 energy needed for Moonblast AND the same amount to slightly overcharge for the energy needed for Gleam.)

But this is still undoubtedly an upgrade overall, for reasons that go a bit beyond simple numbers. You'll see what I mean as we finally get into some sims….

MASTER LEAGUE

So comparing the old moveset compared to the new replacements initially shows little room for excitement.While Mystical Fire/Moonblast represents the new high bar and achieves new wins over Mewtwo, Tapu Lele, Kyurem Black, Zekrom, and fellow Therian Landorus, but it also gives up former wins versus Eternatus, Reshiram, Florges, and Kyogre for mostly a wash overall… just +1 win. And the results are actually minus 1 win with shields down, with the old knocking aside Xerneas, Tapu Lele, Primarina, and Reshiram, but the new falling a little short with unique wins over only Eternatus and Kyurem Black and White.

But where you DO see eye-raising improvement is in 2v2 shielding, mostly thanks to Mystical Fire stripping shields and nerfing the opponent's Attack over time. Mystical/Moonblast beats literally everything that the old best could while more than doubling the win total with new pickups against Origin Dialga, Florges, Kyogre, Therian Landorus, Mewtwo, Primarina, Reshiram, Tapu Lele, Togekiss, Hero Zacian, and Zekrom. Pretty impressive stuff.

But what if I told you that Therian Enamorus is probably even better than that overall, and doesn't even need one of its newly added moves to do it? Yes, you stick with Moonblast and Mystical Fire, but what we haven't considered to this point is the fast move. Fairy Wind should be a no duh with its best-in-show energy generation and on-type damage, right? Would you believe me if I told you that Astonish makes a very strong argument of its own? While it is slightly worse than Fairy Wind in 2v2 shielding (giving up former wins versus Kyurem, Black and White, Origin Palkia, Zekrom, Hero Zacian, Togekiss, Yveltal, and Kyogre), even there you can see its new potential with new wins over Xerneas and Astonish-weak Psychic types Lugia, Lunala, and both of Necrozma's fused forms. But where Astonish really shines brightly is in 1v1 shielding, giving up Yveltal, Zekrom, and the Kyurems again, but gaining all of the following to more than make up for it: Eternatus, Origin Dialga, Reshiram, Kyogre, Dawn Wings and Dusk Mane Necrozma, Lunala, Lugia, Togekiss, Florges, and Xerneas, and improvement of +7 wins overall.

And since I know you're now wondering, no, Astonish did NOT find that kind of success previously. Not even close. The key, it would again seem, is more the doing of Mystical Fire than it is old Dazzling Gleam or new Moonblast, as the latter still being paired with Fly leads to very tepid results. It's nice that Mystical Fire can keep the exact same pacing of Fly (both costing 45 energy) while providing great coverage and that important Attack debuff alongside.

So what does this all mean for Therian Enamorus in Master League? Well, Crowned Zacian aside, it can outperform all other current Fairies except Xerneas with shields down, Florges with both shields in play, and ALL of them in 1v1 shielding. Just comes down to whether you want the better 1v1 shield results (Astonish) or spammier Mystical Fires for top 2v2 shielding results (Fairy Wind). But whichever way you go, YES, this is one you will want in your collection for Master League battles going forward. Of that I have no doubt.

ULTRA LEAGUE

Not quite as much success here, honestly. I mean, it's not bad, and certainly better than how it used to look, with new wins that include Florges, Togekiss, Kyurem, and a bunch of flammable things like Corviknight, Cobalion, and Gourgeist. (Though Gastrodon and Ludicolo douse the flames enough to escape when they fell to Fly previously.) But it's not exactly an inspiring performance when you have other Fairies like Florges, Tinkaton, fellow Flyer Togekiss, and even things like Clefable out here just doing the job better. Enamorus can flex in Master League where it leaves most of them behind, but in a CP-capped League where the competition is stiffer, it still leaves much to be desired, I am afraid. This is one you want to build up ALL the way and not look back.

IN SUMMATION

Master League new meta? Honestly, not quite… Enamorus still fails to take down the Crowned Hounds (though Zacian is tantanizingly close), top meta Steels like Metagross (Mystical Fire slays others like the Necrozmas, but it's obviously not perfect), has no real answers for stuff like Ho-Oh, and has that awkward choice between hating on Dragons with Fairy Wind or being more flexible with Astonish. But is this one of the better new Master League options we've seen ina while? To that, I think I can say "yes" with little hesitation. If you can afford to do so — and your significant other/sweetheart/date won't ditch you on Valentine's Day for grinding a digital monster — this one does seem worth the grind if Master League is your thing. Happy raiding, folks!

Until next time, you can always find me on Twitter with regular GO analysis nuggets or Patreon.

Good luck on your grind, and catch you next time, Pokéfriends!

P.S. – Oh, and I almost forgot… if Therian Enamorus ever gets Springtide Storm, I think that would replace Mystical Fire, removing coverage but performing slightly better anyway, gaining Yveltal in 1shield and 0shield, and Origin Palkia, Zekrom, and Xerneas in 2shield. So there's nowhere to go but even higher up!