GBL Box / Guides / What SCP is
What SCP is — Attack, Defense,
and HP in one number
When you are choosing a Pokémon for the GO Battle League, rank and stat product on their own do not always tell you enough. SCP folds the actual Attack, Defense, and HP values into a single number, and unlike rank it lets you compare across species.
How SCP is calculated
SCP is derived from the stat values you reach after powering up to the CP cap.
Worked through for the rank 1 Feraligatr in the Great League (IVs 0/11/13):
Multiplying three stats together grows as a cube, so raising it to the power of 2/3 brings the figure back to roughly the same scale as CP. Because the digits line up with CP, the number is easy to hold in your head.
Within one species, SCP says what rank already says
SCP is a monotone transform of the stat product, so within a single species a lower rank always means a lower SCP. Checked across all 4,096 IV combinations for Feraligatr, there is no exception.
So if all you are doing is choosing between individuals of the same Pokémon, rank and SCP lead to the same answer. This is not where SCP earns its place.
Across species, rank cannot compare anything
Rank and stat product percentage are relative positions inside one species' 4,096 combinations. Every species has a rank 1 sitting at 100%, so those figures cannot measure one species against another.
SCP comes straight from the stat values, so it can. Here are the rank 1 individuals of six Great League species.
| Species (its rank 1 individual) | Attack | Defense | HP | SCP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Azumarill | 91.6 | 136.6 | 196 | 1,818 |
| Registeel | 93.6 | 191.7 | 134 | 1,794 |
| Skarmory | 103.7 | 168.8 | 123 | 1,667 |
| Medicham | 105.9 | 140.3 | 142 | 1,644 |
| Talonflame | 119.9 | 114.4 | 136 | 1,515 |
| Feraligatr | 122.5 | 118.9 | 126 | 1,498 |
Great League (CP 1500 cap), ordinary individuals. All six sit at 100% of their own species' top stat product.
All six are rank 1 at 100%, and yet SCP runs from 1,498 to 1,818. Azumarill carries more than 20% more than Feraligatr — a gap that no amount of staring at rank or percentage will show you.
Higher SCP does not mean stronger, though. Feraligatr's Attack is 122.5 against Azumarill's 91.6, so the order reverses on damage. SCP is the total of bulk and damage traded off against each other, not a verdict.
Which number to read when
- Stat product (%) — how far an individual sits from the ideal within its own species
- SCP — which of two different species carries more overall
GBL Box puts both on the same screen, so you can switch between them depending on whether you are picking within a species or thinking about a team.
Related
Values are calculated with the same formulas the app uses (RankCalc) and match what the app displays. No shadow or best buddy bonus; power-up cap PL50.