Togedemaru in PvP: Under The Lights Analysis

Howdy folks! Unfortunately I lost an entire day of writing and still have Weather Cup meta analysis AND Community Day articles to finish, but I didn’t want to leave you completely hanging on the potential impact of TOGEDEMARU, so let’s get into a quick analysis so you can get back to hunting and I can get back to writing much longer articles!

B.L.U.F.

• As with other meta PvP Electrics, Togedemaru’s game is baits and Wild Charge KOs, but its bait move gives it a unique twist….
• In the end, it’s roughly on par with Magnezone and things like the Raichus, but has a potentially even higher ceiling. Read on to see how high!

Alright, now for the deeper dive….

Togedemaru Stats and Moves

Togedemaru ElectricSteel

Great League Stats

Ultra League Stats

So the stats clock in as pretty “standard” for an Electric type, aligning very closely in Attack and overall bulk with Raichu and especially with fellow Steely Electric Magnezone, who has very slightly more Attack than Togedemaru and basically has its Defense and HP swapped (120 Defense and 102 HP in Great League, on average).

Togedemaru is slightly bulkier than both of those two comps, but not as much as something like Dedenne (who has about 3 more Defense and higher HP by double digits). It’s roughly average on the Electric type stat spectrum.

The more unique thing is that Steel subtyping, shared only with the Magnemite / Magneton / Magnezone family.

That typing combination rather famously has TWELVE resistances, which are, in alphabetical order: Bug, Dragon, Electric, Fairy, Flying (x2), Grass, Ice, Normal, Poison (x2), Psychic, Rock, and Steel (x2).

But perhaps just as famously, it comes with some key drawbacks, being vulnerable to Fire and Fighting damage, and doubly weak to Ground (a typing which also double resists Electric damage).

Obviously this thing wants nothing to do with the Galarian Stunfisks and Swamperts and Diggersbys and on-the-rise Runeriguses out there. But hey, everything’s weak to something, right? No death knell here. Let’s add in the moves and then put everything together.

Fast Moves

• Thunder Shock – Electric type, 1.5 DPT, 4.5 EPT, 1.0 CD
• Spark – Electric type, 2.0 DPT, 4.0 EPT, 1.0 CD

Neither of these are bad moves, and while most would default to the higher energy gains of the more respected Thunder Shock, as you’ll see, there may be a solid case for Spark as well.

But first, the charge moves:

Charge Moves

• Fell Stinger – Bug type, 20 damage, 35 energy, Raises User Attack +1 Stage
• Wild Charge – Electric type, 100 damage, 45 energy, Lowers User Defense -2 Stages
• Gyro Ball – Steel type, 80 damage, 60 energy

Togedemaru Moves Analysis

Fell Stinger and Wild Charge lead the pack

Yes, there’s Wild Charge, the same move that makes Magnezone and the Raichus and many others so dangerous in PvP. Combined with Thunder Shock or Spark, and we’re looking at pretty standard stuff.

Except there’s a major twist here. Magnezone, itself an Electric/Steel type, also runs off Spark/Wild Charge, but of course the drawback of slashing one’s own Defense makes Wild Charge a move you don’t want to overuse.

It works on the Raichus because they can bait a shield first with Thunder Punch, and it works with Magnezone because it too can bait with Mirror Shot, a 35-energy Steel move that is usually JUST for baits, as it deals only 35 damage (but does, at least, carry a 30% chance of lowering the opponent’s Attack).

Related reading:

• A Comprehensive PvP Analysis on the GBL Season 12 Move Rebalance
• GO Battle League Season 12 Move Rebalance: PvP Analysis Part II

There are occasional other uses for Mirror Shot to try and get some chip damage in against unfavorable opponents (Grass and of course Ground types, for example), but its real use is to nab a shield from an opponent terrified of taking a Wild Charge to the face… and then doing just that a couple turns later now that their protective shield was meaninglessly wasted on a low power Mirror Shot.

Togedemaru can do that too, only its bait move perhaps has a bit more going for it. While it hits for even lower damage than Mirror Shot, it comes with a guaranteed stat modifier, this time an Attack buff to the user.

That means that not only can Fell Stinger nab shields, but it makes the following WIld Charge even stronger afterwards.

It also raises the power of subsequent fast moves too, of course, but with them being on the lower end of power (just 1.5 and 2.0 base DPT, remember), the impacts of that will be felt quite a bit less. However, we WILL touch on that a little bit more in a second.

So, in the end, Togedemaru operates quite similarly to Raichu (and Alolan Raichu) and Magnezone (shown in its more impactful Shadow version for the purposes of this comparison) in PvP. However, Maru has a higher (potential) win rate than any of them, even the scary ‘Zone! So what’s going on here?

That initial Togedemaru sim was run with Spark to most closely compare with Magnezone in particular. Maru is able to beat everything that Shadow Zone does with the sole exception of Bastiodon… and adds on Umbreon, Venusaur, and Scrafty that ‘Zone is NOT normally able to overcome.

And this is thanks in large part to the Attack boost from Fell Stinger… versus Scrafty a single Stinger makes Wild Charge KO, and with Venusaur and Umbreon, two Stinger boosts enables Wild Charge to become lethal (even with Venusaur being Electric-resistant!).

Now, yes yes, this is all assuming the opponent takes the bait and shields a Fell Stinger and lets a later Wild Charge through… different shielding decisions can lead to not outright disaster, per se, but definitely a degraded performance. But uh… that’s no less true of Magnezone and the others, so I hardly consider that a knock on Maru.

There’s also the option of likely-more-popular Thunder Shock, a very viable sidegrade that loses Cofagrigus, Alolan Marowak, and those standout wins over Scrafty, Umbreon, and Venusaur to instead outrace Lanturn, Shadow (Ember) Ninetales, Toxicroak, and now Bastiodon as well.

But… wait a second, why does it lose to some of those others it could beat with Spark if it was a buffed Wild Charge landing the killing blow before, and Thunder Shock gets to that Charge even faster? That doesn’t make sense.

And lo and behold, it’s a case of sims being a little silly, as it goes either Fell Stinger happy (spamming nothing but Stinger against Venusaur, for example) or Wild Charge crazy (using nothing BUT Charge versus Umbreon, as another example).

Smart play and getting the same baited shield you did with Spark means that Thunder Shock Maru CAN still beat Venusaur and Umbreon, though Scrafty and the rest are still just out of reach. But still, Venu and Umbry bring that (potential) win total up to 25, which is looking mighty fine, don’t you think?

I did also take a look at other shielding scenarios to see if there’s a clearer “favorite” between Spark and Thunder Shock. In 2v2 shielding, Spark looks to be neck and neck with Thunder Shock, though that is again not quite the whole story, as Umbreon again shows as a win for only Spark, whereas Thunder Shock can still replicate that result despite showing as a loss normally.

Similarly, a loss is shown for Thunder Shock versus Alolan Marowak, but in reality, it can win in the exact same fashion that Spark does, with Thunder Shock actually being MORE, not less, reliable in outracing A-Wak.

Silly sims really struggle sometimes with Maru, but that’s the sort of thing that happens with baity moves and big self-nerfing closers combined into one Pokémon package! But again, Thunder Shock is actually better than it appears at first glance, and pulls slightly ahead.

But the real decider, for me, is in shieldless matchups, where Thunder Shock finally, clearly, leaves Spark in the dust.

While Spark DOES pulls a rabbit out of its hat by uniquely beating Cresselia (and yes, this is legit, as the extra damage from many Sparks makes the difference, with Thunder Shock + two Wild Charges leaving Cresselia alive with less than 10 HP, but enough to finish Maru off), everything else is coming up aces for Thunder Shock, with it uniquely outracing DDeoxys, Froslass, Lanturn, Sableye, and Toxicroak. Ka-chow! Sometimes it’s as simple as just being speedier, and that’s definitely the case here.

So in the end, I think it’s fair to say that in any Great League meta where things like a Raichu or especially Magnezone are viable, Togedemaru will be right there with them… and perhaps is a better ‘Zone now? Say it ain’t so!

Of course, topping out below 2500 CP means that Togedemaru does fall a bit behind thing like the Raichus in Ultra League, but hey, it stays right there with Magnezone. Still, though… Maru has to be fully maxed for that, where Zone doesn’t even have to break Level 30, so… you do the math.

Gyro Ball… what?

Trying to wrap this up, but there IS one more thing to briefly mention. What if you don’t want to play games with Fell Stinger? There is another option: Gyro Ball, which is not a great PvP move by any means (same stats as the subpar-but-sometimes-necessary Bulldoze), but does at least deal some soldi Steel-type damage.

That could come in very handy against things that resist Electric damage, no? In the end, the winrate obviously drops, but not too badly. The losses now include things like Vigoroth, Toxicroak, Obstagoon, Sableye, Water Gun Lanturn, and Bastiodon, but hey, you DO at least get a more consistent win over Venusaur. So… there’s that?

Yeah, Gyro Ball is probably a little too safe, but there may come an odd meta where it does better. Just keep a charge TM at the ready in case that ever occurs, but honestly… yeah, Fell Stinger, despite its risky nature, is certain to (almost?) always be the better call.

Parting words

Well, uh… so much for “short” haha. Oh well. On to other analyses for me, and on to testing your mettle for you! Good hunting!

Until next time, you can always find me on Twitter with near-daily PvP analysis nuggets or Patreon, if you’re feeling extra generous.

Thanks for your faithful readership, and stay safe out there, Pokéfriends. Catch you next time!