Introduction
Effort Values, called EVs for short, are extremely important aspects of competitive battling. They can make a team unique, and how you spread them is often times what decides the outcome of a battle. In some cases, a few more Speed EVs to outspeed that pokemon wins you the game. Another example would be the right amount of Special Defense EVs you invest on a, say, Hippowdon to survive a MixApe Grass Knot. You cannot afford to waste a single Effort Value, and this may help you gain a better understanding of these small but significant digits.
1)Limits
As most of you know, a pokemon can have up to 255 in a single stat, and up to 510 in total. Since a particular stat is raised by 1 point for every 4 EVs, it is highly recommended for you to go only up to 252 EVs in a stat, so you have an extra 6 EVs or 1 stat point when you max your EVs in two stats.
However, it is not always the best thing to do when you decide to max a pokemon's EVs in two stats, and leave the rest in another one, as most pokemon need a significant amount of EVs in more than two stats. I am not saying that 252 / 252 / 6 EV spreads are always bad, just that it is not always the smartest investment of EVs. Max / Max / Half EV spreads are usually seen on frail sweepers, where Speed and an attacking stat are the only places worth investing. Gliscor and Hippowdon are exceptions to this, as they are bulky physical walls, however 40 Special Defense EVs over Defense is an option on Hippowdon, to help survive against the standard Mixed Infernape's Grass Knot.
You can accomplish more things with more though out EV spreads on most other pokemon, though.
2)Giving your pokemon their EVs
A common misconception about EVs I see people making is that EVs are less important than actual moves. I can't help but to disagree. I know that in battles, you get used to seeing those four moves on a pokemon, while EVs are invisible to you, however, these EVs are what make your moves work.
What makes your Pokemon heal more with Leftovers? A HP EV divisible by 16. A maximum investment in your Weavile's Attack EVs is what powers up your moves. EVs are like the crew members who work backstage in a play; you don't see them, but their work helps make the actors stand out. Cheesy examples aside, my point is that you have to consider your EVs while you set up your move and nature choices. For example: you have this "pokemon x". Pokemon x needs 252 Speed EVs to outspeed Jolteon, but has no use apart from that. You analyze that pokemon further, and you find that you need only, say, 40 Special Defense EVs for a standard Jolteon's Thunderbolt to turn into a 2HKO. This is perhaps a better option, as you can now focus on your Attack EVs to guarantee an OHKO on the same Jolteon, who can only take away about half your health in a single hit. Note that "pokemon x" is not based on a real pokemon, I was just giving an example. I recommend making use of MetalKid's damage calculator before you create a custom EV spread, to make sure you have all the important things covered. That's another point I wanted to make; you cannot make EV spreads out of the blue. I see a lot of people do this, and it is a mistake that can very much cost you a game. You always, always have to do two things before making a custom spread. Number one, think about it. What does this special spread do for me? What important things will I be able to cover with ___ amount of EVs? If you want say, your Dusknoir to counter Infernape, how many EVs will you place in HP? Defense and Special Defense? What about the attack EVs I'll need to OHKO it with Earthquake? You get my drift. The second thing is to research. This is an incredibly crucial part; first, find out all the things you need or want to sweep, or the things that pose an offensive threat to you. Make sure your EVs do what you want them to do.
Okay, wall of text over.
3)EVing Defensive-minded pokemon
Most walls focus on two stats: HP, and either Defense or Special Defense, depending on what you want it to be. Skarmory, Hippowdon, Gliscor and Forretress are Physical Walls, and giving them overly big amounts of Special Defense would not be working to maximize their potential, and vice-versa with Special Walls. There are few exceptions, though. Blissey, although a Special Wall, almost always requires 252 Defense EVs, because her godly base HP stat is extremely, incredibly high, that she can take Physical hits a little better than other Special Walls. This does not apply to many defensive pokemon, as Blissey's base HP is the highest in the game, and is over double the ones of most others.
HP EVing is almost always the first priority of most defenders. 252 HP EVs are used on most walls, Physical or Special, mainly because it gives you the best Leftovers HP recovery, the most common item on defensive-oriented pokemon. Maximum HP recovery with Leftovers is also obtained by obtaining a the higest HP stat of that pokemon divisible by 16. This stat differs between different base HPs.
This Leftovers recovery rule isn't particularly useful to a pokemon with a mediocre base HP stat, though.
Walls with a very high base HP to begin with seldom need maxed HP, a good example would be the aforementioned Blissey.
Next, the Defense and Special Defense. On MOST defensive pokemon, (notice the emphasis on MOST), a nature that benefits its higher defensive stat is more useful, reducing the need for an extremely large amount of EVs in the defensive stat it uses to, well, defend. (Defense on Forretress, Special Defense on Milotic.) These particular stats aren't too strict ot precise on EVing, so try to see how many you'll need for, say a Creseelia to survive a Banded Garchomp's Dragon Claw. Be creative, but not wasteful.
Attack or Special Attack EVs are also used on walls like Bronzong, Blissey and Skarmory, who need a certain amount of EVs to take down a certain pokemon before the reverse happens. Like, Bronzong needs, say 96 Attack EVs to KO Weavile before it poses a threat with a CB Night Slash. Something like that.
4) EVing Offensive-minded pokemon
Your stats to focus on are obviously, Attack and Special Attack. It is not uncommon at all to see a maxed Attack or Special Attack stat on a sweeper, especially if that sweeper is not bulky, and HP, Defense or Special Defense EVs will not be much help. Bulky sweepers like Gyarados or Heatran normally run HP or Defense EVs, as they have great typing and can take hits fairly well. If you are running a spread on a bulky attacker, run the same drill; check to see how many EVs you need in other stats, in this case, HP, Defense and Special Defense, to survive a certain threatening move.
End
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Okay, so this is my first C&C, and I can tell it needs work. This is the first version of the article, so I may revise it to be better if people find it useful. Please post what you think, or what needs work.
Effort Values, called EVs for short, are extremely important aspects of competitive battling. They can make a team unique, and how you spread them is often times what decides the outcome of a battle. In some cases, a few more Speed EVs to outspeed that pokemon wins you the game. Another example would be the right amount of Special Defense EVs you invest on a, say, Hippowdon to survive a MixApe Grass Knot. You cannot afford to waste a single Effort Value, and this may help you gain a better understanding of these small but significant digits.
1)Limits
As most of you know, a pokemon can have up to 255 in a single stat, and up to 510 in total. Since a particular stat is raised by 1 point for every 4 EVs, it is highly recommended for you to go only up to 252 EVs in a stat, so you have an extra 6 EVs or 1 stat point when you max your EVs in two stats.
However, it is not always the best thing to do when you decide to max a pokemon's EVs in two stats, and leave the rest in another one, as most pokemon need a significant amount of EVs in more than two stats. I am not saying that 252 / 252 / 6 EV spreads are always bad, just that it is not always the smartest investment of EVs. Max / Max / Half EV spreads are usually seen on frail sweepers, where Speed and an attacking stat are the only places worth investing. Gliscor and Hippowdon are exceptions to this, as they are bulky physical walls, however 40 Special Defense EVs over Defense is an option on Hippowdon, to help survive against the standard Mixed Infernape's Grass Knot.
You can accomplish more things with more though out EV spreads on most other pokemon, though.
2)Giving your pokemon their EVs
A common misconception about EVs I see people making is that EVs are less important than actual moves. I can't help but to disagree. I know that in battles, you get used to seeing those four moves on a pokemon, while EVs are invisible to you, however, these EVs are what make your moves work.
What makes your Pokemon heal more with Leftovers? A HP EV divisible by 16. A maximum investment in your Weavile's Attack EVs is what powers up your moves. EVs are like the crew members who work backstage in a play; you don't see them, but their work helps make the actors stand out. Cheesy examples aside, my point is that you have to consider your EVs while you set up your move and nature choices. For example: you have this "pokemon x". Pokemon x needs 252 Speed EVs to outspeed Jolteon, but has no use apart from that. You analyze that pokemon further, and you find that you need only, say, 40 Special Defense EVs for a standard Jolteon's Thunderbolt to turn into a 2HKO. This is perhaps a better option, as you can now focus on your Attack EVs to guarantee an OHKO on the same Jolteon, who can only take away about half your health in a single hit. Note that "pokemon x" is not based on a real pokemon, I was just giving an example. I recommend making use of MetalKid's damage calculator before you create a custom EV spread, to make sure you have all the important things covered. That's another point I wanted to make; you cannot make EV spreads out of the blue. I see a lot of people do this, and it is a mistake that can very much cost you a game. You always, always have to do two things before making a custom spread. Number one, think about it. What does this special spread do for me? What important things will I be able to cover with ___ amount of EVs? If you want say, your Dusknoir to counter Infernape, how many EVs will you place in HP? Defense and Special Defense? What about the attack EVs I'll need to OHKO it with Earthquake? You get my drift. The second thing is to research. This is an incredibly crucial part; first, find out all the things you need or want to sweep, or the things that pose an offensive threat to you. Make sure your EVs do what you want them to do.
Okay, wall of text over.
3)EVing Defensive-minded pokemon
Most walls focus on two stats: HP, and either Defense or Special Defense, depending on what you want it to be. Skarmory, Hippowdon, Gliscor and Forretress are Physical Walls, and giving them overly big amounts of Special Defense would not be working to maximize their potential, and vice-versa with Special Walls. There are few exceptions, though. Blissey, although a Special Wall, almost always requires 252 Defense EVs, because her godly base HP stat is extremely, incredibly high, that she can take Physical hits a little better than other Special Walls. This does not apply to many defensive pokemon, as Blissey's base HP is the highest in the game, and is over double the ones of most others.
HP EVing is almost always the first priority of most defenders. 252 HP EVs are used on most walls, Physical or Special, mainly because it gives you the best Leftovers HP recovery, the most common item on defensive-oriented pokemon. Maximum HP recovery with Leftovers is also obtained by obtaining a the higest HP stat of that pokemon divisible by 16. This stat differs between different base HPs.
This Leftovers recovery rule isn't particularly useful to a pokemon with a mediocre base HP stat, though.
Walls with a very high base HP to begin with seldom need maxed HP, a good example would be the aforementioned Blissey.
Next, the Defense and Special Defense. On MOST defensive pokemon, (notice the emphasis on MOST), a nature that benefits its higher defensive stat is more useful, reducing the need for an extremely large amount of EVs in the defensive stat it uses to, well, defend. (Defense on Forretress, Special Defense on Milotic.) These particular stats aren't too strict ot precise on EVing, so try to see how many you'll need for, say a Creseelia to survive a Banded Garchomp's Dragon Claw. Be creative, but not wasteful.
Attack or Special Attack EVs are also used on walls like Bronzong, Blissey and Skarmory, who need a certain amount of EVs to take down a certain pokemon before the reverse happens. Like, Bronzong needs, say 96 Attack EVs to KO Weavile before it poses a threat with a CB Night Slash. Something like that.
4) EVing Offensive-minded pokemon
Your stats to focus on are obviously, Attack and Special Attack. It is not uncommon at all to see a maxed Attack or Special Attack stat on a sweeper, especially if that sweeper is not bulky, and HP, Defense or Special Defense EVs will not be much help. Bulky sweepers like Gyarados or Heatran normally run HP or Defense EVs, as they have great typing and can take hits fairly well. If you are running a spread on a bulky attacker, run the same drill; check to see how many EVs you need in other stats, in this case, HP, Defense and Special Defense, to survive a certain threatening move.
End
_______________________________________
Okay, so this is my first C&C, and I can tell it needs work. This is the first version of the article, so I may revise it to be better if people find it useful. Please post what you think, or what needs work.
