Decidueye has always lived in Trevenant’s shadow in Pokemon GO. With the addition of Spirit Shackle and Frenzy Plant in Decidueye’s movepool (as well as the recent Astonish buff and Seed Bomb nerf), Decidueye can be a powerful sidegrade to Trevenant- with unique coverage and debuff potential. It’s difficult to say right now where things precisely fall in the Decidueye vs Trevenant debate, but one thing is clear: you’ll probably want a good IV Decidueye, likely multiple due to the Charge Move variety. The Decidueye PvP IV Deep Dive aims to guide players through Decidueye’s stats and highlight the best Decidueye PvP IVs, focusing on Astonish, Leafage, Frenzy Plant, Spirit Shackle, and Brave Bird based movesets.
Note: this guide discusses the hidden true stats of Pokemon in Pokemon GO. In order to see these true stats you need to use an IV checking app (CalcyIV, Pokegenie) or an IV checking website (GOStadium, PvPIVs.com, or PvPoke itself). To make things simple, the guide also features standard PvP IV tables.
If you’re not familiar with PvP IVs, check out this PvP IVs Simplified video:
PvP IV Tables
Decidueye
- Attack: 210
- Defense: 179
- Stamina: 186
Fast Moves: Astonish, Razor Leaf, Leafage, Magical Leaf
Charged Moves: Shadow Sneak, Energy Ball, Brave Bird, Spirit Shackle, Frenzy Plant
The tables hyperlinked 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 Decidueye. For example, you may want a slightly higher Atk or Def weight for higher Breakpoint potential.
Frenzy Plant (FP), Spirit Shackle (SS), and Brave Bird (BB) based matchups will be highlighted when relevant.
General Good - All Fast Moves (115.29 Def, 118 HP)
- Note: may bring Def down to 113.7 for 120 HP (extra list)
Astonish - General Good (115.52 Def, 118 HP)
- 127.61 Atk for Trevenant CMP, Gligar 2-1 and Artibax 2-1 potential
- 127.84 Atk for Lickitung 1-0 potential (FP) and Emolga CMP
- >116 Def for Shadow Dragonair 0-0, 1-1, and 2-1 potential
- Note: 0/15/10 may 1-1 Vigoroth
- 119-120 HP for Cresselia 2-2 consistency (FP BB)
- 120 HP for Trevenant 2-1 potential (no BB), Lickitung 1-0 potential (FP), and Sableye 2-1 consistency
- Note: may bring Def down to 113.7 for 120 HP (extra list)
Leafage - Slight Atk Weight (127.61 Atk, 115.29 Def, 118 HP)
- 119 HP Shadow Poliwrath 1-2 potential
- Tie or win, Shadow Poliwrath IVs depending
- Highlight: 113.7 Def w/ 121 HP may 2-1 Bronzong and have greater Shadow Poliwrath 1-2 potential
- 1/9/15 (Rank 9) > 0/10/15 (Rank 8) but both are great
- Highlight: 116.71+ Def may 1-0 and 2-1 Shadow Dragonair and 2-2 Sir Fetch'd
- 0/14/11 (Rank 1) for general use, 0/15/10 (Rank 7) has more Def but 1 less HP
Decidueye in the Great League
Given how slow Decidueye can be in battle, Decidueye’s best Great League PvP IVs primarily focus on its bulk needs. 115.29 Def with 118 HP covers the majority of situations. 115.29 can cover Atk Weighted Fire Spin Alolan Marowak better (1-0 with Leafage + Spirit Shackle) and CMP Focused Sableye better (2-1 with all Fast Move variations), along with making 118 HP more consistent for the HP based matchups.
For Astonish, 118 HP is based on (but aren’t limited to) the Shadow Poliwrath 1-1, Bronzong 2-2 (no throw), Cresselia 1-2, Shadow Whiscash 1-2 (FP), Galarian Stunfisk 0-0 (FP), and RS/PB Deoxys Defense Forme 0-1. 120 HP may enable the Trevenant 2-1 without Brave Bird, the Lickitung 1-0 (FP), while also making the Cresselia 2-2 and Sableye 2-1 more consistent. Given that 120 HP can enable the Sableye 2-1 without even having the Def Breakpoint, Decidueye could reasonably shave its Def down to 113.7 Def. A higher Def Decidueye will still want 118 HP, but >116 Def could enable the Shadow Dragonair 0-0, 1-1, and 2-1, as well as the Vigoroth 1-1. This makes the Rank 7 (0/15/10) stand out a bit.
For Leafage, 118 is based on the Carbink 2-1 (no FP). You’ll probably want 119 HP though to better enable the IV based win/tie conditions for the Shadow Poliwrath 1-2. 121 HP can be even stronger, as it could enable the 1-2 win vs Shadow Poliwrath with an early Spirit Shackle debuff, as well as outlast Bronzong in the 2-1. This can make the Rank’s 9 (1/9/15) and 8 (0/10/15) standout. As with Astonish, Leafage can manage Shadow Dragonair better with higher Def. Even greater Def (116.71+) may even enable the Sir Fetch’d 2-2, making the Rank’s 1 (0/14/11) and 7 (0/15/10) look good.
For Atk weights, all Fast Moves will want to be mindful of Trevenant CMP (127.3-128), and maybe Emolga CMP (127.8+). Astonish is mostly eyeing up 127.61+ for the Gligar 2-1 and Artibax 2-1. Leafage is similarly looking at 127.61+ for the Gligar 2-1, but also for the 0-1 potential (BB), the Spark Lanturn 0-1 (SS only), the Wigglytuff 1-1, and 2-1 potential (no FP), Pelipper 0-0 (FP), and Azumarill 1-1 potential (no FP).
Even higher Atk weights (128.22+) on Astonish may help with the Shadow Charizard 1-0, Lickitung 1-0, and Moonblast Cresselia 1-2 but it can be very IV dependent on the opponent.
For Leafage, they could enable the Altaria 1-0 (BB Breakpoint), Toxicroak 1-1 and 2-2, Dewgong 1-0 (SS only), Dubwool 1-0 (FP), and possibly the Clodsire 2-2, but are once again very IV dependent on the opponent.
Closing
Given that Decidueye has very similar stats to Trevenant, it’s great to see it finally getting the respect it deserves. While Astonish and Leafage are far cries from Shadow Claw’s raw power, the utility of Spirit Shackle and threat of Brave Bird enables Decidueye to stand out from its fellow Grass/Ghost-type cousin. With the Gen 7 starters wrapping up their Community Days soon, it’ll be interesting to see if the Gen 8 starters will finally be debuting in Pokemon GO, or if they’ll be skipped again in favor of Gen 9.
