Posted in: Games, Mobile Games, Niantic, Pokémon GO | Tagged: Celebi, Niantic, Niantic Labs, pokemon, pokemon go

Pokémon GO's Best & Worst of 2020: Complete 2020 Rankings

The year 2020 is wrapping up, and it has been a year of major change in Pokémon GO. Trainers have seen the game add both new features and new species, all the while adjusting to the ever-changing situation with the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdowns that followed. Now, let's take a look back at what has been a defining year for Niantic's worldwide mega-hit game and determine the Best and Worst of 2020 in every aspect of Pokémon GO. Now, after a week of ranking, here are the full results. Click on each topic to see the full breakdown of why these were Niantic's best and worst moves in this wild year.

Worst New Pokémon Releases

5. Deerling's Winter Form

4. Vanillite

3. Runerigus

2. Galarian Mr. Mime

1. Galarian Mr. Mime again, because… the hell?

Best New Pokémon Releases

5. December Kalos Rollout: Fennekin, Froakie, Chespin, & more

4. Scraggy & Rufflet

3. Trade Evolution Releases: Timburr, Roggenrola, Axew, & more

2. Espurr

1. Galarian Ponyta & Sirfetch'd

Rare spawns can enrich Pokémon GO, but sometimes, a certain level of rarity can seem less like a fun challenge and more like a paywall.

Worst Raid Bosses

5. Forces of Nature Trio

4. Mega Blastoise

3. Darkrai

2. Heatran

1. Kyurem

Best Raid Bosses

5. Reshiram & Zekrom

4. Genesect

3. Origin Forme Giratina

2. The Lake Trio

1. Articuno, Zapdos, & Moltres

A major lesson for Niantic to learn here comes in both positive and negative ways. Kyurem absolutely grinded the raiding community to a halt in December, so my personal hope is that Niantic sees how the short raid stay with Legacy moves on returning Pokémon, like the Kanto Birds, is how trainers want to see species return to raids.

Worst Events

5. Dragon Week

4. Fashion Week

3. Animation Week

2. Holiday 2020 Event

1. Magikarp Community Day

Best Events

5. Seasons Change

4. Wooper Watch

3. Sinnoh Celebration

2. Throwback Challenges

1. GO Fest 2020

Some of the year's events were hit or miss in Pokémon GO but, personally, I found something fun in each and every one of these. Yes, even the Magikarp Community Day that no one, absolutely no one, asked for.

Worst New Features

5. Candy to Candy XL Conversion

4. Tagging

3. Raid Tier Consolidation

2. Mega Evolution (on debut)

1. AR Mapping Tasks

Best New Features

5. GO Battle League

4. Shadow Bonus

3. Level Requirements

2. Buddy Adventure

1. Remote Raids

2020 was a year of major change for Pokémon GO and we saw Niantic adapt in multiple ways. Not only did they adjust raiding to make it possible to do so from home, but they also fixed Mega Raids in many ways after the initial launch's backlash.

Worst Shiny Releases

5. Ferroseed

4. Jynx, kind of

3. Unown

2. Rufflet

1. Deino

Best Shiny Releases

5. Wooper

4. Riolu

3. Vulpix

2. Spiritomb

1. Celebi

Hopefully, Niantic takes note from this year that the player base isn't exactly fond of limited-time, raid/Egg-exclusive Shinies. Shiny Pokémon like Rufflet would be great if made a raid mainstay like Timburr, but these limited-window releases end up leaving Pokémon GO trainers disappointed.

Best Pokémon of 2020

5. Timburr

4. Gible

3. Riolu

2. Shadow Mewtwo

1. Rhyperior

It's been a great year, fellow trainers. I hope you've had a lot of fun and caught many Shinies along the way. I'll be here with you in 2021 with daily Pokémon GO updates, species spotlights, and paying guides right here on Bleeding Cool. Thanks for reading, and thanks for being part of the worldwide community that keeps the amazing world of Pokémon alive.

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