Getting an excellent throw in Pokémon Go is a lot like getting a Super Super Rare (SSR) or platinum-rated character or item in a gacha game. Compared to gacha games, though, you can train yourself to constantly churn out excellent throw after excellent throw. With our guide to perfecting your throw, we will have you pitching out pokéballs like a Major League Baseball pitcher going for the third strike!
Also See: Pokémon Go Hacks and Tricks
Inside This Article
- What Are Pokémon Go Excellent Throws?
- How to Make Pokémon Go Throws
- General Pokémon Catching Tips
- How To Throw A Curveball?
- Sirfetch’d and Pokémon Evolutions
What Are Pokémon Go Excellent Throws?
So, what exactly are pokémon go excellent throws? Well, compared to how players caught pokémon in the main Pokémon game series starting with Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow until the Pokémon Sword and Shield generations, Pokémon Go does things differently. Every pokémon game has its own mechanics on how to weaken and catch a pokémon. Rather than weakening enemy pokémon, chucking Ultra Balls at it, and praying for successful shake checks, Pokémon Go has a more interactive way to increase your chances of capturing a pokémon.
That way is through making curveballs and “nice, great, and excellent throws” when tossing different types of pokéballs at the wild pokémon. These types of throws give a statistic multiplier to your chances of catching a pokémon with nice, great, and excellent throws. Here are the bonuses you’ll get for nailing each type of throw.
- Nice Throw = 1.15x Bonus
- Great Throw = 1.5x Bonus
- Excellent Throw = 1.85x bonus
Aside from the rating of the throw, you can also spin your pokéball to create a curveball that gives an additional 1.0 multiplier, aside from the rating. Along with the multiplier, getting the different rated throws and throwing a curveball also give more experience points (XP) than the usual, something you would need to save up on if you plan to go on raids and gym battles.
Do note that the capture multiplier does not do anything to increase or decrease an encountered pokémon’s individual value (IV) or effort value (EV).
Also See: Best Pokémon Go IV Calculator Apps.
How To Make Pokémon Go Throws
Those that have played the game would notice two circles around wild pokémon they want to catch in Pokémon Go. The outer circle is permanent and does not move while the second circle loops in size from as big as the outer circle to a small dot in the center, similar to an archery target. Using the same idea as the archery target, you can split the target into five sectors from the fifth outer white sector to the fifth bullseye sector. This comparison works since getting Pokemon Go’s excellent throw requires you to hit when the circle is near the bullseye, while nice and great throws require it to be in other sectors.
Though you can increase the catch multiplier by using throws, you will know how difficult it is to catch a specific pokémon depending on what color the inner circle is since it changes between green, yellow, orange, and red, indicating an increased capture difficulty. It is generally better to increase your chance to at least a yellow before attempting to catch a pokémon to save on effort and items.
Also See: Pokémon Go’s Best Attack Movesets.
General Pokémon Catching Tips
Before we tell you exactly how to make Pokémon Go’s excellent throw, you should first do a few things to give yourself a better chance to do it. The first is to turn off AR or Augmented Reality mode as it does not just spare your smartphones’ battery life; it also makes the pokémon encounter screen much simpler and basic. Another thing you can do is to stock up on Great Balls and Ultra Balls as they also give a higher catch multiplier compared to the basic Pokéball. Aside from that, you should also stock up and get to know the Poké Berries available in-game.
Among these berries, the ones you would find most important when trying to get Pokémon Go’s excellent throw are Razz and Nanab berries. Razz berries placate a pokémon and help deter them from escaping even after you have tried to throw a pokéball at them. Nanab berries, meanwhile, help calm opposing pokémon and have them stop moving around the capture screen.
That said, let us move on to how you perform an excellent throw in Pokémon Go!
How to Make a Nice Throw in Pokémon Go?
The most basic throw and the easiest among the three, getting a “nice throw” in Pokémon Go is not that hard and only requires you to do the following:
1. Walk around until you find the Pokémon you want to catch.
2. Hold or touch your pokéball to bring up the two capture rings.
3. Wait for the inner ring to be at most 1/4th of the way in or the second sector in our archery target analogy.
4. Toss the pokéball at the pokémon.
5. Wait for the pokémon capture screen.
How to Make a Great Throw in Pokémon Go?
Though a bit harder, a great throw’s 1.5 capture multiplier, which is the second tier in Pokémon Go’s rated throws, is so tempting. Doing it requires you to do the following:
1. Encounter the pokémon you want to catch.
2. Grab your pokéball and wait for the two capture rings.
3. Hold onto the pokéball and wait for the inner ring to be at most 2/4th of the way in or the third sector.
4. Throw the pokéball at the pokémon.
5. Wait for the pokémon capture screen.
How to Make an Excellent Throw in Pokémon Go?
Finally, we will explain how to do an excellent throw in Pokémon Go. This takes a lot of practice and training to do so does not mean immediate success after just a few times. Doing so requires you to do the following:
1. Find and challenge the Pokémon you want to catch.
2. Hold or touch your pokéball to bring up the two capture rings.
3. Wait for the inner ring to be at most 3/4th of the way in or the fourth sector in our archery target analogy.
4. Throw the pokéball at the pokémon.
5. Wait for the pokémon capture screen.
Bonus: How to Throw a Curveball?
As we explained earlier, you can increase your chances of catching a pokémon you want not just by making nice, great, or excellent throws in Pokémon Go; you can also combine them with curveballs. Quite similar to a baseball pitcher’s classic move, curveballs in Pokémon Go also mean that you’re giving a pokéball a “spin” while throwing it towards a wild pokémon. All you have to do is do the follow these steps:
1. Grab or hold the pokéball with your finger.
2. Without letting go of the pokéball, then turn your finger clockwise or counterclockwise.
3. Keep turning your finger in a circular motion until you can see the pokéball spin.
4. Wait for a chance at an excellent Pokémon Go throw.
5. Pitch a curveball at the pokémon while keeping in mind that your throw will deviate left or right depending on the spin.
Sirfetch’d and Pokémon Evolutions
Hopefully, after you have looked through this article and read all the advice we have given, we have adequately explained how you can do an excellent throw in Pokémon Go! Do remember that the best way to consistently pitch curved excellent throws is to practice a lot. While we did tell you all about the additional capture multipliers and XP boosts from curved rated throws in Pokémon Go, there is another specific use for this mechanic.
Due to the unique way a Galarian Farfetch’d evolves to Sirfetch’d in the main series games, Pokémon Go also introduced a unique mechanic for its version of Sirfetch’d. Rather than evolving with three critical hits, a Galarian Farfetch’d in Pokémon Go evolves with players having to land ten excellent throws in addition to giving it 50 candies. Sirfetch’d isn’t the only pokémon with a unique evolution system, though. Due to the large amount of pokémon Eevee can evolve to, Eevee’s different “eevolutions” also have unique mechanics.
This article is part of our ongoing Pokémon Go series that aims to help players create their ideal pokémon team. Other articles in the series include tiered lists on the best pokémon separated into types like the best poison pokémon or the best steel pokémon, as well as a list of Pokémon Go Hacks and Tips.
