Whimsicott PvP IV Deep-Dive

Cottonee and Whimsicott’s Shiny versions are getting added in Pokemon GO. To kick off the debut, Pokemon GO is having boosted Cottonee spawns in parks from 3/26 10am to 3/27 8pm local times a la the Lush Jungle weekend park spotlight event. Given that Whimsicott shows up every so often in Cups and is overall a decent Open Great League pick, we decided to put its PvP IVs under the microscope and created the Whimsicott PvP IV Deep Dive. Charm smarter, Charm harder. 

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:

Any player can Charm down their opponent, but a skilled player will know when to hold throwing their Charge Moves, how much chip damage their Charmer will want before swapping in to finish an opponent off, and which Charge Move they can reach before their opponent will reach a KOing Charge Move. The Breakpoint section goes over some intended usage regarding these scenarios, but it is highly advised to review the specific matchups on PvPoke.com.

Whimsicott Breakpoints

Whimsicott has two primary flavors in the Great League: Sour Apple and Blue Raspberry Slight Atk weight and moderate Atk weight. For consistency, the moderate Atk weight (121.26+) is favored, as it is more likely to net you match flipping Breakpoints on Azumarill, Vigoroth, Gunk Shot Obstagoon, and Sableye. The slight Atk weight (119.47+) has the perk of more bulk options, while still enjoying consistent Breakpoints on Medicham, Talonflame, Trevenant, and the mirror.

Slight Atk weight highlights: 

• 119.47, Medicham 0-0 Charge Move clipping with 1 Fast Move advantage on Medicham
  • “Clipping” as in, Medicham won’t reach the final Ice Punch, even when up 1 Fast Move from you swapping Whimsicott in
• 119.43+, Mirror match vs the Rank 1
• 118.79-120.3, Trevenant 1-0 No Bait CM Clipping with 1 FM adv. on Trevenant
  • Atk range based on Rank 1 to max Def
• 118.54, Shadow Mawile 0-0 Grass Knot can KO with 2 FM adv. on Whimsicott
• 117.58, Shadow Swampert 1-0 CM Clipping with 1 FM adv. on Swappert
• 117.37-118.77, Talonflame 1-0 Moonblast can KO with 2 FM adv. on Whimsicott

Moderate Atk weight highlights:

• 121.26+, Ferrothorn 1-0 potential vs Mirror Shot, 2-2 potential vs Flash Cannon
• 121.16-122, Obstagoon 0-0 CM clipping with 1 FM adv. on Obstagoon (Gunkshot)
• 120.93, Vigoroth 1-0 CM clipping with 1 FM adv. on Vigoroth
  • Based on 0/15/10, higher Def Vigoroth won’t have enough HP to flip
• 120.38-121.11, Azumarill 1-1 potential, improved farming vs non-Ice Beam
• 120+, Shadow Machamp 0-0 CM clipping with 1 FM adv. on S!Machamp
  • Avoids taking a Rock Slide to the face
• 118.51-120.73, Sableye 0-0 potential to tank Return provided Sableye has prior Fast Move damage
  • Return does ~62% damage, Sableye reaches Return with <12 HP, so if Sableye swaps in you’ll want to deal at least 12 Fast Move damage to Sableye before swapping into Whimsicott.

Even higher Atk weights (not recommended due to inconsistent performance)

• 122.54+, Drapion 1-1 potential
• 122.29+, Meganium 0-0 Grass Knot KO
  • 134+ Def can net you the 0-0 without using a Charge Move instead
• 122.15, tying the Mirror match vs the max Def
• 122.01-122.81, Lickitung 0-0 and 1-1 potential, and 2-2 CM clipping
• 121.87, Alolan Ninetales 2-2 potential vs Powder Snow, 1-0 potential vs Charm
  • Based on Rank 1, so actual Atk needed may be lower

Balancing Whimsicott’s bulk isn’t difficult, you can follow Stat Product for that. That said, having 132.25 Def is recommended to help flip the Hatch IV Charm Alolan Ninetales. The Atk weight for Alolan Nintales to flip the Deoxys Defense Forme matchup is within that range too, so both random opponents and prepared opponents could be expected to have that Atk weight. To add, at least 131.65 Def can potentiate the 0-0 vs Air Slash Mandibuzz. For an even greater Def weight, 134+ can flip the Meganium 0-0 matchup without having to throw a single Charge Move. 

When it comes to potentiating the mirror match, you’ll want as much Def as you can get. The recommended 121.26 Atk calls for at least 137.94 Def to reliably avoid the Atk Breakpoint. This suggests that ideal mirror matchup Whimsicott IVs would be either the 1/15/1 or the 1/15/0. Given that this limits Whimsicott’s Atk to 119.7, it’s not recommended to focus so heavily on the mirror.

Whimsicott PvP IV Tables

All tables use the Def Breakpoint for a Deoxys Defense Forme Atk weighted Alolan Ninetales (basically Egg Hatch Alolan Ninetales) as a general “good” point, as Whimsicott doesn’t have many other matchups to ground its bulk against. If you happen to get a Whimsicott with an Atk weight of your liking, but trades 132.25 Def for significantly higher HP, it probably won’t be “worse” than these spreads.

• 119.47 Atk 132.25 Def - Slight Atk
• 121.26 Atk  132.25 Def - Moderate Atk
• 121.87 Atk 132.25 Def - Alolan Ninetales Slayer
• 122.81 Atk 132.25 Def - The Lickitung Slayer
  • This weight is recommended if you just want to turn off your brain and CHARM, and either don’t have, or want to hit harder than, the Rank 1 or Rank 2. 

If you thought Charm couldn’t get big brained, Enter: The Whimsicott PvP IV Deep Dive. This Spotlight Weekend is a bit more welcomed than Spotlight Hours, as players have more time to participate (as in more are actually able to participate). One unfortunate drawback is the focus on parks. What is or isn’t a park can be misconstrued by Pokemon GO and many locations throughout the world don’t have parks large enough to make the increased spawns noticeable. Hopefully Pokemon GO will extend the Spotlight Weekend love to more biomes than just parks.