What's more important, a good moveset or a higher level?

[Ach7AC]

Me and my sister were having this discussion and i believe that having a good moveset is more important than having a high level however she thinks the moveset is more important. What do you think is more important?

I'd say moves. Levels are only important for two things, which are stats and learning additional moves. In order to utilize their stats to the fullest extent, a Pokemon would need the corresponding moves. Like how a physical sweeper would need good Physical moves such as Brick Break.

 

[Satoshi Ookami]

That seems rather unlikely. Level 100 has high stats, one tackle from a level 100 to a level 1 would squash him or her.

Okay... let's have a situation.

You have let's say... Hydreigon level 100.
I have Smeargle (because I love that thing xD) on level 1.

You attack with whatever you have and because I have my strategy, Focus Sash saves me from dying. I use Endeavor.

Situation after 1st round: Hydreigon 1HP, Smeargle 1HP.

I use Extremespeed, Hydreigon's down.

I won.

 

[Clark]

I think the whole F.E.A.R. strategy is a probably a bad example. I mean, it is one way a Lv1 Pokemon can defeat a Lv100 Pokemon, but it's a very particular and exclusive strategy, and anyone who recognizes it can easily avoid it by switching Pokemon, or making use of weather effects. (And anyone who knows what F.E.A.R. is is going to recognize it immediately upon seeing a Lv1 Pokemon appear in a battle with otherwise high-level Pokemon.) On top of that, only a small handful of Pokemon can use it at all. F.E.A.R. certainly doesn't render levels irrelevant.

 

[Ho-Oh]

As a competitive player I prefer movesets, however in-game I just had sucky movesets from the most part and as long as I had a high enough level I won (I grinded waaaayyyy too much), so ya, levels in-game imo. n_n

Also you can have a bad moveset, high level and have an EV trained Pokemon and you can do really well, but for actual human players, ofc it's moveset.

 

[Saturated Hue]

I think they're equally important in-game. I tend to keep distance from stuff like Lilligant whose only decent offenses, aside from a possibly adequately powerful Hidden Power, consists of Giga Drain, Petal Dance, and other Grass-type moves. Having one type as your only offensive option (especially if it's an offensively weak type such as Grass) impacts in-game play as much as levels do, IMO.

Competitively, though, since most of the Pokemon are already at Level 100, movesets are more important.

 

[Pokemon Trainer UV]

No doubt for me.
It's definitely the moveset.
Level does have an effect, but a good moveset can easily wipe out even higher leveled Pokemon. I've seen enough low level sweeps of higher level Pokemon to know this.
Also earlier today in Liquid Crystal, I beat my Rival's higher level Croconaw with my Cyndaquil that knew Flame Wheel, Ember, Quick Attack, and Mud Slap.
I used Mud Slap to make the Croconaw lose a lot of accuracy, and then finished it off with several Embers and a final Quick Attack.

 

[Katie the Friendly Ghost]

As a competitive player I prefer movesets, however in-game I just had sucky movesets from the most part and as long as I had a high enough level I won (I grinded waaaayyyy too much), so ya, levels in-game imo. n_n

Also you can have a bad moveset, high level and have an EV trained Pokemon and you can do really well, but for actual human players, ofc it's moveset.

Pretty much this. Playing the main game you can get away with a bad moveset most of the time if you're high enough leveled. Obviously with the competitive aspect even level and moveset isn't enough sometimes to secure the victory.

 

[Spinosaurus]

Pretty much this. Playing the main game you can get away with a bad moveset most of the time if you're high enough leveled. Obviously with the competitive aspect even level and moveset isn't enough sometimes to secure the victory.

But you can also get away with a low level if you have a good enough moveset. It pretty much goes both way.
The question is...what's better and easier? This is actually a big question that differentiates the good Pokemon from the bad ones.

 

[TheronElite]

Look up F.E.A.R strategy and B/W's Sturdy Abuse. It is in fact quite possible to beat a team of 100's with level 1's. More so thanks to Sturdy now. There are a lot of videos on Youtube.

I had no idea. I'd have said moveset anyway, but this just solidifies it.

 

[Brendino]

For in-game I would definitely go with movesets. As long as you have a good balance within your party, you shouldn't have much of a problem beating higher level opponents with a little strategy (I generally take on the Elite Four about 10-15 levels lower than the Champion for a good challenge, and win a majority of the time).

Battling against other people I would say that movesets are even more important, since most only train with level 100s anyway.

 

[Trixy]

In game, it's either or. If you have a super high level, you can defeat most Pokemon. If you have a fitting moveset, you can defeat most Pokemon.

 

[chella182]

It really just depends how you play. You can just consistently go into gyms 5 levels higher than them, have a good type advantage and win, or you can employ strategy with a good moveset and be the same level as them (or maybe lower!) and emerge victorious. Just depends how you like to play.

 

[Fire Flyy]

Higher Level, having a high level can transcend type advantages, stats, ivs, pretty much anything, which is the main difference from competitive environments and stuff like the battle frontier. I was able to own any league with my lv 70+ starter even if its moveset had all the same type of moves, so I'd definitely say level is more important.

 

[Altairis]

Movesets for me, even though levels are almost equally as important imo. You could chose a Charmander as a starter, or you could trade a Charmander over that knows like Dragon Dance/Fire Blast and dominate everything (or maybe it's just because those moves are overpowered early in the game?) Anyway you could do a lot more with a better moveset, if you have a Zebstrika with Flame Charge, you could defeat grass types easier than if you didn't.

 

[J-Money808]

When I first started playing pokemon, during the red/blue days, i thought level was powerful, but nowadays it's hands down moveset.

 

[Bourne-mouth]

On the competitive side, movesets are a lot more important. You could use a multitude of moves to your advantage. I have seen battles which are won by lower levelled Pokemon because of their movesets.

In-game however, high level is far more important.

 

[Nick]

In-game, type advantage is the most important, but after that, I think level is. Then movesets. But overall, when you're battling actual people, movesets are by far much more important. Competitively, stats are more important.