"Why but WHY do lower IVs give you a big fat advantage in a mirror match? My brain just broke."

#PokemonGO: So after my 13/13/15 Snorlax running lick with superpower and body slam kept losing in mirror matches in the Catch Cup, I almost lost my mind. I mean, I probably would have if not for the almighty PVPoke gods who came to my glorious rescue and cleared things up. As a side note, I just discovered this site a week ago, and so only recently have crawled out into the light after living in a dark cave for the entirety of my PokemonGo existence. Screw all of you for not telling me sooner...you will PAY FOR IT after I memorize all of PVPoke and beat you in the Go Battle League (I say that with love :) )Ok on with it...if anyone actually gets far enough to read my question, it will be a goddamn miracle. Here it is: When running battles on PVPoke, I learned that out of two Snorlaxes running identical movesets, the one with 5/13/15 IVs will beat the one (MY ONE) with 13/13/15 IVs. Holy hell. In that moment, my world and everything I've ever trusted to be true BURNT TO THE GROUND while Niantic laughed from the sky. Now, like a drug addict who's hit rock bottom, I have to start over and build anew. You know what else I have to do? Put my head on my pillow at night knowing I threw away all my snorlax candy on what I thought was the best one I ever caught.If someone here could please help me understand IVs and how exactly they work, well you'd be a savior. Here are my specific questions:Does anyone actually know how IVs work? I mean, they seem super freaking complicated.Do lower IVs come into play during other scenarios? So non mirror matches but otherwise close matchups?Are 3 star and hundos worth more than bragging rights? When, if ever, are they helpful in PVP battles?Are IVs a case-by-case situation? And if so, how should we think about evaluating our IVs when deciding which mons to keep in the Pokedex and which ones to transfer over to good 'ol Professor Willow?Many thanks in advance for your help on this one.Finally, to those of you who read this far, I love you. via /r/pokemongo https://ift.tt/2J62QnU