"How to easily determine if an Anchor is worth it!"

#PokemonGO: Intro.The recent discussion on Anchors by u/fhod_dj_x sparked my interest on the subject. One reasonable criticism of fhod's post was the data seemed a bit choppy and the examples all over the place, so I sought to reduce the argument down to a simple equation that anyone could easily figure out through Pokebattler (my sim of choice). What I found was determining Anchors and their value is pretty simple on the surface, but can get stupidly complicated if you really dig into it (since Pokebattler is a simulator that has to make assumptions on various factors in battle).What is an Anchor??An Anchor is a Pokemon whose TDO (Total Damage Output) is higher than other Pokemon's TDOs.Commonly associated with low DPS high survivability Pokemon (like Lugia, Snorlax, Rhydon) but not restricted to them!!Not all low DPS high survivability Pokemon are Anchors.The term comes up when talking about non-supreme options (which are technically anchors that are so good it's not even a debate to use them or not) or subpar raid boss counters if you don't have more optimal options.Anchors are technically relative to the TDO of your other Pokemon.How to easily determine if an Anchor is worth itIt's simple: (Raid Boss Max HP/"Time to Win")x(1/# of deaths)I did 14 calculations with this through Pokebattler last night and I discovered something intriguing!My results lined up near-perfectly with Pokebattler's "Overall" function.So unless there are candidates that break the mold, you can use "Overall" to point out Anchor worthy Pokemon. It may be how u/Celandro does it. I PM'd him about it last night but he's been pretty busy lately and hasn't gotten back to me about it yet.When to use AnchorsIf you can run through the battle with your Supreme and high DPS option Pokemon without losing all 6, then you don't really need to select one.If you're certain that all 6 of your Pokemon will faint in the fight, then you may want to look into slotting in a true anchor or two (ones whose "overall"/TDO is superior to other options you have)Examples of AnchorsSnorlax is an Anchor vs Shadow Ball Mewtwo IF you don't have 6 Tyranitar (assuming all same level, Tyranitar has a higher TDO despite experiencing more deaths).Rhydon is an Anchor vs Zapdos IF you don't have a Golem or Piloswine (once again, assuming same levels, both have a higher TDO).Articuno is an Anchor vs HP Lugia IF you don't have Zapdos, Tyranitar, or Gyarados (same as before).Examples of FALSE AnchorsBlissey vs Shadow Ball Mewtwo UNLESS you don't have a Tyranitar, Snorlax, Houndoom, or Scisor (even then, it may be more worthwhile to just reload the team).Vaporeon vs Articuno UNLESS you're lacking in roughly 20 other Pokemon with higher TDO's.The big thing to take home isAnchors are not low DPS high survivability PokemonAnchors are high TDO Pokemon, commonly associated with having low DPS and high survivability.It doesn't matter how long you or your Pokemon survives the fight, your personal TDO does. If you use a high survivability low TDO Pokemon, your TDO will suffer, the raid will last longer, and you'll likely get less premier balls. This is the main argument of fhod's post.I hope this clears things up on the issue and makes things easier for trainers to pick out which Pokemon are "good" Anchors.I would like to finish by pointing out that I understand the flaws in using this method to determine how "worth it" Anchors are. If I figure out a better but still easily explainable process I will let you know! via /r/TheSilphRoad http://ift.tt/2xA2ryq