Shadow Registeel is coming to Pokemon GO. Starting February 1st, 2023, Shadow Registeel will be Giovanni’s Legendary Shadow of choice. Given how much Registeel dominates in the Great League and Ultra League PvP formats, Shadow Registeel sounds quite intimidating. But how good is it, really? The article below breaks down the pros and cons of Shadow Registeel, if it’s worth your Super Rocket Radar, as well as its best PvP IVs. In general, if you’re into PvP, you’ll probably want to pull at least one. If you’re even more into hoarding radars for other Legendaries, Shadow Registeel is pretty skippable.
Shadow Registeel Basics
Shadow Registeel is an odd one, as its Lock-On damage doesn’t improve with the Shadow Bonus. Only Shadow Registeel’s Charge Move damage increases while its bulk suffers. The result is, Shadow Registeel will generally have the same win conditions as normal Registeel, but many more lose conditions. This should make Shadow Registeel 100% not good, but Shadow Registeel can still have its advantages.
General PvPoke simulations reveal that Shadow Registeel can get KOs on Sableye, Swampert, Shadow Swampert, Toxicroak, and Noctowl in scenarios that normal Registeel could miss out on. What’s trickier to identify are the scenarios where Shadow Registeel can farm something down with Lock-On damage that the normal Registeel would have to throw an extra Charge Move to KO. While we haven’t investigated every scenario to reveal all this potential, it is good enough where you may want to consider getting at least 1 Shadow Registeel should these matchup changes be significant.
There is also the future to consider, where Pokemon GO either buffs Metal Claw or gives Registeel yet another new Fast Move to play with. You can’t trade Shadow Pokemon, so if you miss out you miss out forever. So in general, if you’re really into PvP, it would be mindful to pick up a Shadow Registeel or two for the Great League and/or Ultra League. Ironically enough, 2 pulls has a 90% probability of getting “good” IVs on Registeel for the Great League as well.
Shadow Registeel PvP IVs - Great League
Overall, Shadow Registeel wants at least 183.28 Def to cover Swampert (considering a 122.3 Atk weight on Swampert) and at least 125 HP. Fortunately, there are 674/1000 possible IV combinations that meet these minimum stat goals (70% probability with 1 radar, 90% probability with 2). Neither stat check breaks Registeel if missed, so if you happen to miss either or both, it isn’t recommended to burn more Super Rocket Radars trying to chase after them. Shadow Registeel is worth it enough to pull 1 for Great League or 1 for both Great and Ultra League, but even with premium IVs, it’ll probably collect dust on the bench.
Speaking of premium IVs, if Shadow Registeel happens to have 130 HP, it can pick up additional wins against Obstagoon (2-1), Lanturn (0-0), Air Slash Mandibuzz (0-1), Pelipper (2-2), and Victreebel (1-1 & 2-2 potential). Unfortunately, there are only 17 IV spreads out of 1000 that can get 130 HP. You’d need to spend 40 Super Rocket Radars to have a 50% probability of getting one of them and we don’t get nearly that many in game (nor is Shadow Registeel even worth that many). Similarly, 191.5 Def can turn Shadow Registeel’s Altaria losses into wins via a post-debuff Def Breakpoint, but only 18 IV combinations can achieve this Def. If your Shadow Registeel happens to make either of these stat checks, congratulations!
Wrap Up
Shadow Registeel is certainly an addition to Pokemon GO. Given how poorly the Shadow Bonus synergizes with Lock-On, it is barely worth pulling for unless you’re a true PvP enthusiast- not that some niche advantages aren’t there. Does the debut of Shadow Registeel suggest Regirock and Regice will be up next? Regice could actually make use of the Shadow Bonus with Frost Breath, at least. We’ll see once we get there.
