With the addition of Zap Cannon, Registeel is once again a dominant force in both the Great League and Ultra League PvP formats in Pokemon GO. Unlike most Fast Moves, Lock-On only does 1 damage, so Registeel doesn’t have many incentives to pad its Atk stat. Given that Trainers have to trade in order to lower Registeel’s Atk IV and that Registeel can only be traded once per day, the question is, how much bulk is enough? Or rather, how many trades is someone willing to do?
The Registeel PvP IV Deep Dive below highlights Registeel’s most significant Def and HP checks for Great League and Ultra League PvP, along with PvP IV Tables to highlight which IVs have these stats. To set reasonable expectations, the probability of getting any one of those IVs from a Trade with a Good Friend, Great Friend, Ultra Friend, and Best Friend, along with average Stardust costs, are also included. Recommended stat checks for a “Raid Only” Registeel are also included.
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 PvP IV tables.
If you’re not familiar with PvP IVs, check out this PvP IVs Simplified video.
Great League
Raid Only Registeel doesn’t look too bad if it has at least 186.7 Def and 127 HP. This bulk is based off of potentiating success in 1-1 shield scenario mirror match. The 0-0 and 2-2 mirrors are mostly based on Charge Move Priority (CMP), but the 2-2 can be anyone’s guess with Zap Cannon usage (where Zap Cannon doesn’t appear to influence the other situations).
The Rank 1 (11/15/15) and Rank 2 (10/12/11) Raid Only Registeel can start to touch the lower limit of what Traded Registeel can pull off in terms of Def Breakpoints, but 6-19 (based on 51%-90% probability) Good Friend Trades can reasonably net you a Registeel with 127 HP and 190.09 Def for some critical Def Breakpoints. Also, 129 HP stands out for better potientating the 2-2 mirror.
The Trade Goal Def Breakpoints are as follows:
- 188.81-190.09, Sableye 1-1 and/or 2-2 (Bulk vs Bulk depending)
- 8/14/14 used for upper limit
- 187.12-190-192.56, Galar Stunfisk 1-0 & 2-1
- Limits based on 0/12/15, 5/14/14, and 10/15/15
- 191.97-193.18, Vigoroth 1-1 potential
- 1/10/14 used for upper limit
- 190.08-191.63+, Lickitung (Nice, but not critical)
- ~191.22, Obstagoon 1-1 (Provided they don't boost or have CC)
190.09 is the soft goal for Trade Def as it can reasonably improve Registeel’s Sableye, Galar Stunfisk, and Lickitung matchups. 191.97+ Def could be nice for greater consistency and Vigoroth, but given how few Registeel can meet that Def with good HP (79/3375), and the narrow range the Vigoroth Breakpoint operates in, you have to take a hard look at your Pokemon and decide exactly how many Special Trades you’re willing to dedicate to Registeel and how many players you can reasonably find to trade Registeel to you. If you happen to get a very high Def one, congratulations, but try not to worry about it.
Great League IV Tables and Odds
Probabilities are based on 51%-90%, Stardust is based on the average between the two. Overall, it’s recommended to settle on 190.09 Def 129 HP if you don’t plan on dedicating all of your Special Trades to Registeel for 3 months to a year. 190.09 Def 127 HP is a decent stopping point too if you happen to get one and don’t really want to keep trading for Registeel.
- 6-19 Raids
- Good Friend: 12-37 Trades (490k Stardust)
- Great Friend: 15-50 Trades (520k Stardust)
- Ultra Friend: 20-64 Trades (67k Stardust)
- Best Friend: 49-145 Trades (78k Stardust)
- Good Friend: 31-98 Trades (1.29mil Stardust)
- Great Friend: 47-153 Trades (1.6mil Stardust)
- Ultra Friend: 87-280 Trades (294k Stardust)
- Best Friend: 474-1531 Trades (800k Stardust)
Ultra League
Raid Only Registeel in the Ultra League performs best if it has at least 240.5 Def and 165 HP. With this level of bulk, Registeel has higher potential to overcome Walrein in the 1-2, Shadow Swampert in the 1-0, and has more potential in the mirror. To add, this level of bulk also gives Walrein potential to throw two Charge Moves against Scrafty in the 0-0, forcing it into a 0-0 loss or to go down a shield for the win.
As in the Great League, the Rank 1 (10/15/14) and 2 (10/15/15) Raid IV Registeel can start to scratch the surface of what Trade IV Registeel can achieve, but roughly 8-24 Good Friend Trades could open up new possibilities for Registeel. With at least 244.4 Def and 167 HP, Registeel stands to overcome Best Buddy Galvantula in the 2-2, Charizard in the 1-1, Walrein in the 1-1, and Escavalier in the 1-2. Given the potential gains, Trade IV Registeel is recommended. If you already built a Registeel that doesn’t meet 244.4 Def and 167 HP and aren’t interested in trading for and building another, lesser IV Registeel are still good.
Ultra League Tables and Odds
Probabilities are based on 51%-90%, Stardust is based on the average between the two. Overall, it’s recommended to settle on 244.4 Def 167 HP. Given that Ultra Friend Trades doesn’t appear to decrease your chances too much and is significantly cheaper Stardust wise, it’s recommended to prioritize trading Registeel with Ultra Friends.
- 6-18 Raids
- Good Friend: 8-24 Trades (320k Stardust)
- Great Friend: 8-26 Trades (272k Stardust)
- Ultra Friend: 10-32 Trades (33.6k Stardust)
- Best Friend: 20-64 Trades (33.6k Stardust)
Closing
Registeel once took the meta by storm with the addition of Lock-On. Galarian Stunfisk then showed up and took its job. With Zap Cannon, Registeel now has utility against Water-types Stunfisk couldn’t imagine having, along with a unique nuke-debuffer role to keep would-be-counters in line. It may still have its hangups against Galarian Stunfisk, but Registeel is far from playing 2nd fiddle to it now.
As far as Trade IVs go, Registeel represents how unbalanced Pokemon GO’s PvP meta can be without a reliable way to control our IVs. How fair is it that someone could spend 3 months trading 90 Registeel exclusively with Good Friends and not get a premium IV spread where someone else could swap Registeel just once and just happen to get the Rank 1? This same burden is magnified when it comes to event Mythicals, such as Mew, and Shadow Pokemon, which you can’t reliably obtain.While the competition isn’t as fierce in GBL, when it comes to the Pokemon GO Championship series, IVs can easily be the difference between progressing towards the Gold or going 0-2 and dropping.
