Game Guide Policy

Last updated: May 2026 · Author: Marcus K., Editor-in-Chief

This page describes the standards behind every guide article on Pogodex: raid counter lists, GO Battle League tier lists, “is this Pokémon worth powering up” verdicts, event ticket assessments, and feature analyses. It complements How We Verify Data (which covers the testing methodology) by adding the editorial standards specific to guide-writing.

1. What counts as a guide

For purposes of this policy, “guide” means any article that gives the reader a recommendation about an in-game decision: which Pokémon to power up, which counters to use, which league to ladder in, whether to buy a ticketed event pass, which moveset to acquire. Pure information articles (Pokédex entries, mechanic explainers, event announcements without recommendations) are subject to our broader Editorial Standards rather than this guide-specific policy.

2. Hands-on testing requirement

Every guide on Pogodex involves hands-on testing in-game before publication:

Raid counter lists — counters we recommend have actually beaten the relevant raid in our testing, with documented setups (see Section 4).
PvP tier lists — tier-listed Pokémon have been laddered in the current GO Battle League season at relevant rank ranges, with minimum sample sizes (50 games for new entries).
“Worth investing” verdicts — the Pokémon in question has been powered up to the recommended level using stardust earned through normal play, and used for at least two weeks in the relevant content.
Event ticket assessments — the ticket has been purchased on a real account and the event completed during its window, by Kai or a member of the regional Discord.

Testing is performed across multiple accounts and trainer levels (50, 48, 47) and corroborated through the regional raid Discord (~200 trainers) where applicable. The full methodology is on How We Verify Data.

3. Verdict categories

Pogodex guides use a small set of verdict categories, applied consistently across articles:

Recommended — the Pokémon, team, or item is a strong choice for the use case, given current meta and reasonable assumptions about the reader’s roster.
Conditionally recommended — recommendation is contingent on specific roster gaps, league context, or event timing. Article specifies the conditions.
Niche — useful for a specific role or matchup but not a general-purpose recommendation.
Not recommended — better alternatives exist; the analysis explains why.
Verdict deferred — insufficient testing data or rapidly changing meta means we are not yet ready to verdict. Article will be updated when testing concludes.

4. Documented setups

Raid counter recommendations and PvP team recommendations document specific setups so readers can reproduce them:

Pokémon species, level, IVs (or “any decent IVs” where the recommendation is robust).
Fast move and charged move (where the moveset matters).
Whether the Pokémon should be Best Buddy boosted, Mega-evolved nearby, or weather-boosted.
For PvE: time-to-kill in our test, deaths, weather conditions during the test.
For PvP: matchup spread (which leads it counters, which it loses to), shield assumptions, expected win rate.

5. Sample acceptance and brand outreach

Where a brand outside Pokémon GO (gaming accessory makers, third-party hardware) provides a sample for review:

The sample is identified at the top of the article: “Sample provided by [brand].”
The editorial verdict is independent of the sample’s source.
The sample becomes Pogodex property after the review; it is not returned, nor is it sold for revenue.
Sample provision does not give the brand approval rights over the article.
Sample provision does not prevent us from publishing a “not recommended” verdict.

For Pokémon GO itself, we cannot accept samples from Niantic because we do not have an arrangement with Niantic and Niantic does not provide samples to third-party fan publications in a way that would be operationally meaningful.

6. Sponsored content

Sponsored content is editorial content that has been paid for by a brand. Pogodex’s policy on sponsored content:

Sponsored content is clearly identified as “Sponsored” at the top of the article and in the title.
The sponsor cannot dictate factual claims; the editorial team verifies the article’s accuracy.
The sponsor can require that their product be discussed but cannot require a positive verdict; if the team’s verdict would be “not recommended,” we will offer to decline the sponsorship rather than publish a misleading positive verdict.
Sponsored content does not affect the editorial recommendations in non-sponsored articles. The editorial wall is real (see Editorial Standards).
Sponsored content is identified to search engines via appropriate markup (rel=”sponsored” on outbound links).

7. Update commitment

Guide articles carry a “Last updated” date. The team commits to:

Updating raid counter lists within 7 days of any change to the relevant boss’s pool or any release that changes the meta.
Updating tier lists within 48 hours of any GO Battle League balance update.
Reviewing “worth investing” verdicts within 30 days of any significant balance update affecting the relevant Pokémon’s role.
Updating event ticket assessments after the event concludes (the assessment becomes a retrospective).

8. Reader feedback on guides

Reader feedback on guides is encouraged. We learn most from:

“Your counter list said X but in my raid we needed Y” reports with documented context.
PvP matchup reports that diverge from our recommendations, particularly at higher ranks.
Region-specific observations where local meta or event differences matter.
Edge cases we did not consider in our original analysis.

Substantive reader feedback can result in article updates with credit to the reporter (where they consent to credit). The reporting channel is info [at] pogodex [punto] space.