Is Ditto worth using in Pokemon GO?

Ditto is immensely popular in Pokemon GO, but its popularity doesn’t really come from its usefulness in battle.

Ditto was created all the way back in Generation I. Since then, it has had one signature mechanic: it can transform into an opposing Pokemon. It can definitely be fun to troll friends by using a Pokemon that copies theirs. Using Ditto in PvP or Raids, though, is a whole different discussion.

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How much does transforming into Pokemon help?

First of all, when Ditto transforms in Pokemon GO, it does not create an exact replica. It will gain the opposing Pokemon’s typing, moveset, Attack and Defense, but not its Stamina or HP.

This could mess up potential strategies trainers could use with Ditto. Suppose someone wanted to copy a Blissey, seeing that it’s such a bulky Pokemon. In theory, Ditto could transform on a weakened Blissey, defeat it, and then use its defensive stats to maybe outlive the remaining opponents in a match.

In practice, though, this won’t work. Blissey only has 169 Defense, but 496 Stamina and 400 Max HP, which makes Blissey so hard to knock out. When Ditto transforms, it will copy the 169 Defense, but not the 496 Stamina or 400 HP.

Instead, it will keep its own Stamina stat, which is at 134. Ditto also has a Max HP of 117. Pokemon with these stats are not going to be able to soak up much damage, and fold to any strong attacker.

This also affects offensive strategies that trainers could use with Ditto. One common use that trainers have given Ditto is a Dragon-type counter. This will still be a losing strategy in many cases.

If a Ditto were to 1v1 a Dragonite, for example, Ditto would be in real trouble. Dragonite has more Stamina (209) and Max HP (177) than Ditto, so even if Ditto could hit Dragonite with super-effective attacks, its health would run out before Dragonite’s.

One way Ditto becomes useful in this regard is if the Dragon-type is already weakened. In a Dragonite Raid, for example, a trainer could use a strong Pokemon to weaken Dragonite and, hopefully, get it to burn its Draco Meteor. From there, Ditto could take out the vulnerable threat.

Outside of this really niche circumstance, Ditto is not very useful. Most of the time, it will be copying movesets that won’t even hit the opponent hard, since most types are not very effective towards themselves.