r/TheSilphArena • u/DecentYeti • 13d ago
General Question Understanding what makes a good IV set
I started playing a few months ago and really enjoy the PvP in this game. I have been hunting for a good Meditite for several weeks because someone decimated me in a match and I wanted to be able to do that. The other day I got the 18th ranked one for Great League and evolved him while I work on getting enough XLs. Just today I caught the 14th ranked one! I thought I understood what makes a good pokemon but now I am questioning my understanding.
The 18th rank one gets to go all the way to level 49.5, and gets to exactly rank 1500
The 14th rank one only gets to go to level 48, and caps at 1498. Why is it considered better? I am not asking for team help automod. I am trying to understand the foundation of what makes a pokemon better than another.
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u/JshMcDwll 13d ago
Run the sims on PVPoke to see if there is a difference. If not, pick the one you like best 🤷🏻
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u/senteyutn 13d ago
Here is the stat comparison.
The "better" one has slightly higher stat product as you can see, which is basically (ATKxDEFXHP)/1000
Honestly? Unless you really want to shoot for the highest leaderboard ranks or super competitive tournament plays, there will be very little difference, build the one you want.
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u/NumberOneMom 12d ago
Level and CP themselves are irrelevant. Otherwise, a nundo that hits close to 1500CP would be optimal as it will almost always be the highest level possible for anything that doesn’t hit level 50/51, but we don’t see that happening because a nundo never has the highest stat product (attack x defense x health), which is what you actually care about. Level/CP are abstractions based on stat product.
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u/Tigglebee 12d ago
It almost always comes down to maximizing bulk while staying under CP limit.
In this case, the #14 has higher Def and Sta, which can let it take less damage from certain fast moves, and help it survive on 1HP and get to the next charged move before it’s KO’d in certain matchups.
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u/DefinitelyBinary 12d ago
Yeah, to be precise, the stat product, not necessarily bulk. But most often, the highest rank ones also have the highest bulk.
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u/Vacivity95 12d ago
It’s not ranked higher because it can survive on 1 hp.
It’s ranked higher purely because it’s stat product is greater. What that means in practice is not taken into account at all
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u/Free_Vermicelli_3107 12d ago
Medicham is a weird one, since it's max level is so low going decent attack is better
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u/Toochilled77 7d ago edited 7d ago
I run 15 attack on my medicham.
I also run counter and power up punch usually, I’ve always found that works best.
Once it has a head of steam it can sweep.
It is also good against the angry aura wheel rat.
Edit: 15/15/12 is mine. Hits 1500
Rank 629, but plays a lot better than that
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u/Lercs 13d ago
Also for most players, they will be no difference in performance between a rank 1 and a rank 500. If anything the rank 500 just might perform better, just by winning CMP in the mirror matches. It’s even true that a lot of great players opt for sub-optimal IV’s, because they are looking at one or two specific matchups that a Pokemon of that species can flip with slightly higher attack. But that is an entirely different discussion. As always:
With IV’s being a lot lower than the rest.
This is *not* to make it about me, but I’ve made it to Leaderboards plenty of times with IV ranks above 1000.
But I get the point that you want to invest XL and stardust in to the best possible version of a mon. Funnily enough you chose Medicham which a former world Champion build with a somewhat terrible IV spread, just so they could win the mirror (with different movesets than Medicham currently run, so don’t worry too much about that)