Pokemon GO has finally made it possible to use a Sneasler in the Great League without having to find a player that happened to hatch one before reaching level 16 that totally isn’t an alt account. Sneasler isn’t exactly a revolutionary Pokemon in the Open Great League meta, but it can be a dominating pick in limited formats. Now that using one isn’t as controversial or exclusive, we put together the Sneasler PvP IV Deep Dive to help figure out which Sneasler IVs are worth hanging onto.
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
The tables below feature the IV spreads with a hyperlinked table 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 Sneasler. For example, you may want a slightly higher HP weight for more consistency and there are higher Def considerations.
Mirror Slayer (148.73 Atk, 110 HP)
- Priority is roughly 114 HP > 111 HP with higher Atk > 112-113 HP
- 110 HP is “safe enough” but 111+ HP is a lot more comfy
High Bulk (96.1 Def, 110 HP)
- Def based on the 10/14/13 Lickitung, so you can modify Def based on how much you value that matchup
Sneasler in the Great League
Sneasler overall isn’t the most consistent option for the Open Great League meta. Therefore, Sneasler’s ideal IVs would probably be best preparing for the mirror matchup in some limited Sneasler heavy meta. Given the self-debuffing nature of Sneasler, it’d likely be best to focus on the Atk Breakpoint (148.73) and cover the HP check for its mirror matchups (110 as a min, usually 111+ vs other Atk Sneasler) rather than chase its Def. 114 HP may allow you to throw a Close Combat near the end of a 1-1 where you ate an X-Scissor and not get fully farmed down if the opposing Sneasler shields it (making it a 1-2 soft loss or a 1-2 win if they thought they had it in the bag, to illustrate).
As for the Open Great League, Sneasler isn’t all that great so it’s hard to drop a pin on where its priorities are. The Pokemon has a CVS receipt worth of Atk and Def Breakpoints, few of which you can hit at the same time without draining its precious HP, and even less that appear all that important. Perhaps if X-Scissor or Aerial Ace get buffed there’d be more to talk about.
Some worthwhile stat checks to think about and hoard until a future where they might matter include: 96.1 Def (Lickitung 0-0, vs 10/14/13 Lickitung), 92.42+ Def (Rank 1 XL Bastiodon 2-1 with X-Scissor only), 146.71 Atk (Umbreon 2-2 & 1-2 potential), 148.45 Atk (1-2 & maybe 0-0 potential vs Rank 1 Registeel). If you have any IVs that hit these checks with at least ~108, they could be worth holding onto. That, or they could be wasted bag space.
Closing
All in all, it’s a good thing that Pokemon GO has made Sneasler available for the Great League without having to make alt accounts to cheat it in. This Pokemon can make a big splash in limited metas, so it could be worthwhile to be prepared with one that can handle the mirror well. Depending on the limited meta though, other stat checks could be important. Unfortunately, Sneasler is inconsistent enough where it’s hard to say precisely where its priorities lie.
