The Pokemon combine: speed, weight class and all 22 slots

The drill sheet: seven tests, one grade

A real combine exists to answer one question: does the body do what the film says it does? All 22 Football only has a stat sheet and a size reading, so the combine is the translation layer. Each drill maps onto exactly one input the grading formula reads, and running them in order tells you whether a body is a starter or a wasted pick.

1. 1. The 40-yard dash — Speed. The headline test, and the one that lies most often. Speed enters the formula as the speed stat divided by 180, so anything above 180 is a perfect mark. It is weighted at 50% for the four receiver and cornerback jobs, 45% at running back, and 0% at eight of the 22 slots.
2. 2. The bench press — Attack. The power number. Attack carries 40% of the edge rusher grade, 35% of the tight end grade, 35% of the outside linebacker grade and 30% of the running back grade. It is close to irrelevant for the kicker and for both corner jobs.
3. 3. The squat and the sled — Defense. The anchor test. Defense is the first stat at left tackle, both guard jobs, right tackle, center, both defensive tackles and middle linebacker. It is a reading of whether the body wins when it has to hold ground, not when it gets to run.
4. 4. The collision circuit — HP. Durability across repeated contact. HP is 30% of the line grades, 35% of the kicker grade, 30% of both defensive tackle grades and 20% of middle linebacker. It rewards bodies that survive sixty snaps, which is why every 500 kg wall body scores well here.
5. 5. The skill drill — Special attack. Throwing, catching and separating. Sp. attack is 45% of the quarterback grade, 25% at both receiver jobs, and 15% at center, which is the one place a lineman's passing skill quietly matters.
6. 6. The coverage read — Special defense. Reading the play and breaking on the ball. Sp. defense is 25% at tight end and both corner jobs, 20% at the safeties, 30% at kicker and 15% at left tackle and guard.
7. 7. The weigh-in — Height and weight, worth 28% of the grade. Every other drill feeds the 62% stat term. This one is measured against the job's band and peaks in the middle of it, so the combine is a two-part test: how fast, and how fast for a body that size.

The seventh drill is deliberately last on the sheet because it is the one that ruins combine champions. A receiver who runs the fastest 40 in the building but weighs 4 kg is not a steal, he is a weight-class problem, and the board will price him accordingly.

The weight-class problem

Speed does not travel on its own in this model. The size term is 28% of every grade, and it is scored against the job's band with the highest value at the midpoint. Height is 45% of that term and weight is 55%. A body at either edge of the band scores zero on that measurement, and anything beyond the edge stays at zero.

That single rule explains almost every strange combine result in the pool. Both receiver jobs use a 20-70 kg band, so a 4 kg body fails the weight measurement outright no matter how fast the legs are. Flutter Mane runs 135 with 135 special attack, which is a genuine burner profile, and grades 56 at its best slot because 4 kg scores zero on the size term. Iron Bundle runs 136 at 11 kg, and the kicker band's 3-45 kg range is the only place that body is even close — it still finishes at 52, because the job reads hp, defense and special defense and the stat term stalls. Meanwhile 662 of the 1,025 bodies weigh 45 kg or less, and most of them are ignored by the four jobs that matter most on the outside, because those jobs want 20-70 kg or 30-130 kg and nothing else.

The flip side is just as useful. Avalugg pairs a slow 28 speed with 505 kg and grades 74 at left tackle, because the line band runs 120-960 kg and 505 kg sits near the middle of it. Snorlax runs 30 and grades 67 at defensive tackle at 460 kg. A combine sheet read in the right order is speed, then band, then the stats the job actually reads — and for the seven heavy jobs, the speed column is the one you can skip.

The 20 fastest bodies in the pool

This is the combine leaderboard. Every row is the speed stat as measured, the slot where that body reaches its highest grade anywhere on the board, and the reason the number turns into that grade. Ties in speed are broken by the best grade in any slot, then alphabetically, which is why three bodies at 130 speed sit in the final rows.

Read the third column top to bottom and the leaderboard collapses on itself. The fastest body in the pool grades 62, the second-fastest grades 45, and the best receiver in the game — Zeraora — is the seventh-fastest. Fourteen of these twenty rows top out below 62 at every one of the 22 jobs. Speed gets you on the sheet; band fit decides whether the sheet means anything.

Where the pool actually sits

Median speed across all 1,025 draftable bodies is 65. Half the pool runs 65 or slower, and the burner tier is tiny: 23 bodies at 130 or better, and 44 at 120 or better. That scarcity is the reason four jobs — both receivers and both corners — are fought over every single draft.

How the speed number converts, slot by slot

The combine stops being a leaderboard the moment you read the weights. Speed is the first stat at four jobs and an afterthought at six more, and it is not read at all by eight of the 22 slots — which is why the fastest body in the pool can be a wasted pick in the right jersey and a great one in the wrong jersey.

The combine is a filter, and it filters hard

Of the 44 bodies in the pool with 120 speed or better, only five reach a 65 grade at any position: Zeraora at 72 at WR1, Deoxys Normal at 68 at quarterback, Kilowattrel at 67 at WR1, and Alakazam and Darkrai at 65 at WR1. Eighteen of the 44 never clear 55 anywhere. Those are brutal numbers for anyone who drafts off the speed column alone. The pool hands out the raw trait generously, and then the size band and the typing term take most of it back.

Alakazam is the case that proves the point. At 120 speed it is the slowest body on that five-name list, and it still grades 65 at WR1 — because 1.5 m and 48 kg sits inside the receiver band and psychic is on the WR1 bonus list. Darkrai does the same thing at 125 speed and 50.5 kg. Both beat bodies with 40 more points of speed and the wrong weight class, because a receiver who cannot be measured into the band has no route to a grade. It is the same logic behind picking a 28-speed tackle over a 150-speed kicker candidate: the test you can pass matters more than the test you can win.

The four-question combine checklist

1. Speed, capped at 180. Anything above 180 is a perfect mark, so do not pay extra for 200 when 180 scores the same.
2. Height and weight against the job's band. The size term is 28% of the grade and peaks at the middle of the band, not at either edge. A body outside the band starts the interview 28 points down.
3. Typing against the job's bonus list. A primary type on the list is worth 22 points of the typing term and roughly two or three grade points overall — exactly enough to break a tie.
4. The second stat the job reads. Receivers want special attack at 25%; safeties want attack at 25-30%; running backs want attack at 30%; the heavy jobs want defense and hp.

Run the checklist on any fast body and the decision takes seconds. Zeraora passes all four. Regieleki fails question two with a 145 kg frame. Ninjask fails question two badly enough that nothing else matters. Electrode passes three and grades 59 at free safety, which is a legitimate starter if the secondary jobs are what is left on your board. To test more bodies, narrow the pool by generation first: the Gen 1 format holds the shallowest speed well in the game, with 151 bodies and only one true burner above 140.

Pokemon combine FAQ