"Shadow Pokemon: Examining the Top DPS Charts"

#PokemonGO: The Shadow Pokemon update has been live for a full day now. Giving Shadow Pokemon a significant 20% bonus to damage (with a corresponding penalty to defense), this will obviously shake up the raiding top DPS lists dramatically once we gain the ability to TM away Frustration. However, the question is, which types are most affected by this update, and which shadow species are most worthy of being powered up?Before moving forward, I should empathize- don't make any hasty decisions with your stardust! There are a few reasons to move cautiously:The overwhelming community response seems to be that 20% is way too much. It's entirely possible that Niantic will lower the damage bonus in a few days or even weeks. It's also possible that a similar bonus to Purified Pokemon is also planned. Anything could happen before we gain the ability to TM away Frustration later this month.Lower defense means every shadow species is a glass cannon- they hit hard, but also go down quick. I'm not going to get into TDO comparisons here because the calculations are a little more involved than DPS. Just keep their fragility in mind, and supplement your team with high-TDO anchors to avoid relobbying.We don't know if Shadow Pokemon will ever be able to learn exclusive or legacy moves. Some shadow species like Metagross and Swampert really suffer from losing their best moves, so it may be worth keeping your best IVs un-evolved in case this ever becomes an option.These numbers reflect 100% IVs. Most of us have less good IV Shadow Pokemon than regular ones (especially legendaries), so the actual performance boost is probably going to be less than what's listed. That said, shadow bonus is MUCH bigger than IV bonus, so even a bad shadow will beat a regular hundo.With that out of the way, let's get into which types had their rankings upset, as well as which Shadow Pokemon are the best. To keep things simple I've only included single-type movesets, with a couple exceptions (like Darkrai). All original DPS data is from GamePress. DPS numbers may be very slightly off than the actual due to rounding- you can see some examples of the "actual" numbers on RyanSwag's Twitter.(Color code: Purple is shadow, green is legacy move, blue is legendary, red is unreleased species)BUGhttps://preview.redd.it/mmgj5wx67kk41.png?width=308&format=png&auto=webp&s=91eb19779f1ae04311dc40909b647e5ad9819a13Pinsir, Scizor, and even Scyther beat out the unreleased Volcarona and Genesect, giving Bug-types a much-needed boost. Unfortunately, it's still not enough, as Fighting-types and Ghost/Dark-types are still the better Dark and Fighting counters respectively.DARKhttps://preview.redd.it/hgv5twpt8kk41.png?width=349&format=png&auto=webp&s=976321b438e5fe50d755d8ac0c7b6c8bfc01826bOf all the types, Dark is the most represented among Team Rocket (go figure). However, only a few species are strong enough to consider over Darkrai. Weavile is the best, but Absol, Houndoom, and Sharpedo are also slightly superior, and Tyranitar comes very close.DRAGONhttps://preview.redd.it/mblnllr68kk41.png?width=353&format=png&auto=webp&s=7f4ff8345e6114d88e2e3ebcda401cc12907de35Bow down to Salamence, the new DPS king of Pokemon Go. Dragonite is no slouch either, with added bulk to offset its shadow penalty while still beating the projected DPS for Kyurem Black. Unless Rayquaza comes back with Dragon Ascent, these two are the official anti-Dragons of choice.ELECTRIChttps://preview.redd.it/xq14p1ix3kk41.png?width=352&format=png&auto=webp&s=7898f592423d3bfae00a3b195071d66cb3dc6a4cThe strong get stronger. All four top Electric-types (Raikou, Electivire, Magnezone, and Raikou) have shadow forms, making poor Thundurus obsolete the day it comes out, and deleting the hype for Zekrom. Notably, Shadow Electivire does 10% more damage than Rampardos versus Flying-types, and 25% more damage than Roserade versus Water-types!FAIRYhttps://preview.redd.it/z4kk6l939kk41.png?width=311&format=png&auto=webp&s=e52c62c4c249be2b8bbfbdf6c6b77c4c5e5cf294The list of viable Fairy-types is very short, and top girl Gardevoir is the only one to have a shadow form. However, its DPS still falls short of Mewtwo and the dragons.FIGHTINGhttps://preview.redd.it/o7hoxl0k5kk41.png?width=363&format=png&auto=webp&s=01f75850bd371062959ab694323bbde9c6dec390With all the shakeups in this type recently, it's a bit of a relief to see the rankings completely untouched. Things will change dramatically if we ever see Shadow Machop or Timburr, of course.FIREhttps://preview.redd.it/gzfxc77l2kk41.png?width=322&format=png&auto=webp&s=e816738350a04465cb8324667d50b1fd5c89365cMoltres retakes its throne as the Fire-type king, defeating newcomer Darmanitan and upcoming rival Reshiram. Entei also resumes its spot as a solid #2. The old runners-up Blaziken and Chandelure lose to quite a few oddballs- you know it's a weird update when Arcanine is relevant again.FLYINGhttps://preview.redd.it/6b2znphj6kk41.png?width=309&format=png&auto=webp&s=15d79af8d53e11762d58a03d25e0d993d9e00a33Moltres and Rayquaza continue to rule the skies. Shadow Murkrow seems on-brand for Team Rocket, so they might not be able to hold that position forever.GHOSThttps://preview.redd.it/pbyb1kmw7kk41.png?width=355&format=png&auto=webp&s=db513dc2752794110560342e6755ed3d21df5eb0Move over, Gengar- there's a glassier, cannon-ier... glass cannon in the form of Banette. (However, be aware that Dark-types have identical super effective targets, so consider just investing your dust in Weavile instead.)GRASShttps://preview.redd.it/goj8cfgd5kk41.png?width=352&format=png&auto=webp&s=33af3c54ac3391dee037d788cff99e1740a8b4adRoserade's time in the sun is over. The new lord of grass is Exeggutor, but Victreebel, Shiftry, and Solar Beam Venusaur all come very close. Even Porygon-Z technically has higher DPS if you can find a Hidden Power Grass.GROUNDhttps://preview.redd.it/2tyhhw796kk41.png?width=315&format=png&auto=webp&s=f7bac0f029ae672e829846a3f6a612b7a833946dAnother type that emerged completely unscathed. Your Ground-types are safe until Landorus makes landfall.ICEhttps://preview.redd.it/10b2fyx35kk41.png?width=337&format=png&auto=webp&s=24b6e4974a40cfff62d9d1a3c43502628975b18cThere's only one shadow Ice-type worth talking about, and that's Weavile, with a 15% DPS increase over Mamoswine. This puts it on the very short list of species that have held the top DPS slot for two types simultaneously, alongside Rayquaza, Moltres, and Roserade.NORMALhttps://preview.redd.it/kicpx03k1kk41.png?width=340&format=png&auto=webp&s=0b78fe874c80048a0a942c2e542cbf01e8cc5c8bNormal-type attacks can't deal super effective damage and are mostly useless for raiding. But in case you're keeping score at home, Porygon-Z is the top Normal-type, beating upcoming mythical Meloetta.POISONhttps://preview.redd.it/pwlsui9r5kk41.png?width=327&format=png&auto=webp&s=1470080ceee37624e836da73e05ed86e7247e7beVictreebel and Vileplume get the dubious honor of taking the top Poison spots from Roserade. They still can't compete with Metagross or Fire-types, so don't expect to start using a Poison moveset.PSYCHIChttps://preview.redd.it/eu05mpfx6kk41.png?width=347&format=png&auto=webp&s=47b0c260f82fad64775a1d252136e925e3a9fc94Turns the only thing that can really compete with Mewtwo would be... Shadow Mewtwo. Alakazam does come pretty close, and would just barely beat Psystrike Mewtwo if Psychic became non-legacy. (Poor Wobbuffet.)ROCKhttps://preview.redd.it/vjvu19lm7kk41.png?width=337&format=png&auto=webp&s=407d58915b71a368e3deff1830161ab03663bd9dThis is a bit of a weird one, as Tyranitar is the only shadow Pokemon currently with access to a legacy move. If you had the foresight to evolve a Smack Down Shadow Tyranitar last month, congratulations- you have a direct upgrade to Rock Wrecker Rhyperior. Either way, Rampardos is still #1.STEELhttps://preview.redd.it/rrja41chdkk41.png?width=500&format=png&auto=webp&s=ce166f00c5c1179992b8cc0b35670bb6fc9819a7If you needed reminding how good Meteor Mash is, it's enough for Community Day Metagross to maintain a sizable lead over its shadow sibling (the only legacy moveset species to do so!). Sometimes, moves ARE everything.WATERhttps://preview.redd.it/jxgxnnd03kk41.png?width=330&format=png&auto=webp&s=3725555e5ceb887277b36df21616becddef36eb1It's been a rough time for Kyogre. First Kingler of all Pokemon passes it in DPS, and now ultra-glass cannon Sharpedo takes the lead. Gyarados is also back to party like it's 2016. Swampert basically breaks even from losing Hydro Cannon (but if it ever gets access to it it'll rise to #1).How about a couple more charts? Here's all the Shadow Pokemon that beat the previous #1 DPS in their type, sorted by how much they improved on the previous record.https://ift.tt/2vClY66 here's the top 25 DPSers in the game. It really illustrates just how drastic this change to the game was.https://ift.tt/38mTNW6 this bonus remains as-is, it will really change how we think about creating raid teams. Shadow Pokemon will become an extra-expensive, top-tier goal to work towards, and people will have to really farm those Rocket battles to get decent IVs on the best species. Meanwhile most regular Pokemon, even legendaries, will be thought of as the inferior version, used mainly for their anchor capability. I hope you like that purple flames aesthetic! via /r/TheSilphRoad https://ift.tt/2wsMUoK