PvP IV Deep-Dive: Lanturn

In general, Water Gun is preferred over Spark. Spark offers greater energy gains, and can be useful against some Flying and Water-type opponents. However, Spark’s subpar damage often causes it to fall behind Water Gun. Water Gun, on the other hand, offers a consistent stream of damage with decent energy gains. Overall, the choice comes down to if you want Lanturn to have more Water or Electric damage more so than energy gains.

The tables below feature the IV spreads that meet some of the more important stat checks highlighted in the article. It’s important to review the guide itself to make sure you’re getting what you want out of your Lanturn. For example, you may want even more Def for consistency.

General Bulk (105.5 Def, 196 HP)

• Sort list by Def for a more accurate “ranking”
• Lower Def/HP can be made up for with higher HP/Def at a 1:2 Def:HP ratio
  • False positive ratio table for search strings (103.4 Def, 192 HP)

Premium Bulk/Def Focus (106.04 Def, 192 HP)

• Keep the 1:2 Def:HP ratio based on 105.5 Def and 196 HP in mind
  • For example, I can’t filter out 106.5 Def with 192 HP, which isn’t “premium”
  • Sorting by Stat Product doesn’t help this issue, as Atk weights can give higher Stat Product

Water Gun Atk Focus (No Table)

• There’s too much variation in the Atk and Bulk to make a table for Atk Lanturn
• The Atk weights are meant as consolation prizes if you don’t have one of the bulk weights, and also to highlight high-end specific advantages
  • In short, the table would either be too general or too hyper-specific to make sense for this guide

In the Great League, both Water Gun and Spark Lanturn prefer having high bulk weights, with a favoritism towards Def. The minimum recommended stats are 105.5 Def with 196 HP. Lower Def/HP can be made up for with higher HP/Def at a 1:2 Def:HP ratio. However, it’s recommended not to thrift on Def too much, unless you’re not concerned about several key matchups. Overall, high Def is the preference. 

The main Def Breakpoints are as follows (based on Rank 1 opponent unless stated otherwise):

• 104.83+ Deoxys Defense Forme, 0-0 & 1-1 Spark, 0-1 & 1-2 Water Gun
  • 105.5, 105.74, 106.41, 107.08 cover other Deoxys Atk weights to max
• 105.49+ Altaria, 0-0 Spark
  • 107.3 for Trevenant Atk/Mirror Slayer Altaria (highlighted here)
• 104.19-105.46 Azumarill, 1-2 Water Gun
  • Range based on Rank 1 to slight Atk weight Azumarill
• 105.62+ Bastiodon, 1-2 Water Gun
  • Expect to miss this, as many players can’t build XL Bastiodon
• 102.92+ Cofagrigus and Runerigus
  • Can make the difference in a handful of Sand Tomb based scenarios vs Runerigus
• 104.78+ Toxicroak, 1-1 Spark and Water Gun
• 101.32+ Shadow Dragonite
• 100.84+ Shadow Venusaur

The 196 HP (made consistent with the 105.5 Def) helps against Umbreon (1-1), Sableye (1-1), Vigoroth (1-1), Galar Stunfisk (1-0), and Drapion (1-2), along with a variety of other matchups in less even situations.

If you fall below the recommended bulk, your Lanturn isn’t unusable. If you are planning on building a “less than ideal” bulk Lanturn, you may want to try to get some Atk Breakpoints out of it. That way, your “early” built Lanturn could still have value in a future where you obtain a high bulk one. 

For standard GO Battle League and general purpose, bulk Lanturn is the way to go. However, if you don’t have a high enough bulk Lanturn, its Atk Breakpoints make for some spicy consolation prizes. Given the right limited format or specific meta goals, there could be some real utility in going for Lanturn’s Atk Breakpoints. 

Water Gun Lanturn’s Atk Breakpoints are as follows(based on Rank 1 opponent unless stated otherwise): 

• 103.76-107.23 Shadow Nidoqueen, 2-2, 1-1 & 1-2 potential
  • 103.76 based on Atk Shadow Nidoqueen
• 105.76 Altaria, 2-2 potential, 1-0 & 2-1 (not as useful as the Def BP)
• ~105.97 Atk Obstagoon, 0-1, 1-1, & 2-2
• 106.45-107.48 Sableye, 0-0 & pressure
  • 107.48 accounts for slight Def weights
• ~107 Froslass, 0-1, 47 damage Surf
• 107.43+ Tapu Fini, Surf Only wins across the board
• 108.45 Lickitung, 1-1 & 2-2

Spark Lanturn only appears to have 1 relevant Breakpoint at ~104.81 Atk for the Araquanid 0-1. 

Given how low these Atk Breakpoints can push Lanturn’s bulk, there doesn’t appear to be a clear cut minimum Def/HP to keep in mind. Therefore, it would be best to keep stat product in mind, while keeping an eye on your potential for Def Breakpoints. Just to reiterate, high Bulk/high Def Lanturn is the ideal, these Atk weights are either a) consolation prizes or b) part of some galaxy brain, meta specific strategy. 

Lanturn isn’t the #1 pick for the Ultra League, but it does have its own unique Water/Electric niche. Given that Lanturn’s max CP at level 50 is 2357, the 15/15/15 is the ideal. For Lanturn’s specific stat checks, as long as you have at least 14/14/14 you should be safe. Thrifting lower than that can cause some matchup inconsistencies for a Pokemon that’s already struggling to spice into the Ultra League. If you have a couple of Lucky Traded Lanturn that just miss the grade, try running some matrix sims on PvPoke to see which matchup changes are most important to you. 

It’s been 2 long years, but Lanturn is back in the Great League meta. Given how exclusive the most ideal Lanturn IVs can be, fingers are definitely crossed for a couple Chinchou Spotlight Hours in the near future. Hopefully the Atk Breakpoints can hold have-not players over until then. That, or maybe Pokemon GO would be so gracious as to have an IV altering feature added soon? The competitive scene is heating up with the 2023 World Championship Series. It’d be nice of Pokemon GO to even the playing field for non-ToS breaking players.