The ×0.75 Spread Tax: Turning "Just Short" Into "Just Enough"

BASIC — Hook: the single click you're staring at

Both opposing Pokémon are chipped. Your Garchomp this turn: do you click Earthquake to grab both at once, or Dragon Claw to cleanly remove one? You make this read dozens of times a game in doubles. Get it wrong — spread leaves both standing — and you get double-targeted and lose your win condition. This lesson makes you do the math in your head before you commit.

BASIC — Core: the minimum correct model

The instant a move hits two or more targets, its damage is automatically multiplied by ×0.75. Not a bug — it's a core doubles rule.

Burn this back-solve into memory: power you need = single-target KO power ÷ 0.75. For a spread move to reliably KO, its on-paper damage has to be roughly 33% higher than a single-target hit would need (1 ÷ 0.75 ≈ 1.33). Every "this OHKOs for sure" instinct from singles gets a 0.75 haircut before it's true in doubles.

Common spread moves: Earthquake (whole field, including your partner), Rock Slide (both opponents), Surf (both opponents + partner), Heat Wave (both opponents).

INTERMEDIATE — Worked → Faded: do the math on paper

Fully worked. Garchomp's Earthquake hits a full-HP, mediocre-defense Heatran (4× weak to Ground). Say the single-target roll is 96%–113% of its HP — across the 16 equiprobable steps, 11 clear the bar, so about 11/16 ≈ 69% to KO one-on-one.

Now it's doubles and the quake also clips the mon beside it. Every target eats ×0.75: 96% × 0.75 = 72%, 113% × 0.75 = 85%. New range 72%–85% — even the top roll doesn't reach full HP. KO odds drop from 11/16 to a flat 0/16. The scary-looking 4× weakness becomes pure chip the moment it goes spread.

Your turn. Your Rock Slide single-target on some Flying-type calcs to 90%–106% (about 7/16 to KO). Guess: in doubles, hitting both, does it still KO? Multiply each roll by 0.75 and see where the ceiling lands. (Answer: 106% × 0.75 ≈ 80% — the top roll can't reach full HP, 0/16. Another "looks like a kill, is actually just chip.")

INTERMEDIATE — When/Decision: when to click spread

Run this if-then chain:

• If the post-penalty damage (after ×0.75) puts both targets into KO range → click spread. This is doubles at its best: the double KO.
• If post-penalty reliably kills only one and just chips the other → ask: will that chipped mon turn around and remove your piece next turn? If yes, switch to a single-target move and kill the bigger threat outright.
• If post-penalty kills neither → don't gamble on spread. Single-target focus-fire one into guaranteed-dead range instead.
• Edge bonus: Rock Slide's 30% flinch rolls independently per target. Even when the damage falls short, flinching one opponent can buy you a whole turn — here the value isn't on the damage line at all.

INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED — Exceptions: where the simple rule breaks

1. No penalty when it hits only one target. If the opponent has one mon left, or the other is a Flying-type immune to your Earthquake, you're actually hitting a single target — damage snaps back to full 100%, no 0.75. Don't reflexively cut it.
2. Earthquake / Surf hit your own partner. Only a Flying-type, an Levitate user, or a partner holding Air Balloon is immune — everyone else eats 75% friendly fire. Build your teams so the quake-user stands next to something immune.
3. Mega Evolution changes the base stats — recalc the range. In Champions you Mega via the Omni Ring holding a Mega Stone (one per team). The Mega form's Attack/Sp. Atk often jumps a tier, and the post-penalty damage may just cross the line — never conclude from the un-Mega'd numbers.
4. Don't paste in 252-EV figures. Champions is Lv 50, IVs locked at 31, with 66 free Stat Points (cap 32 per stat). Singles articles built on 252 investment will read high — recompute in the calculator with this format's spreads.

INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED — Mistake-Autopsy: the exact loss

The scene. Your calculator (single-target by default) shows Earthquake doing 105% to that 4×-weak mon. "Easy OHKO," you think, and open with a field-wide quake for the double KO. Both survive, your frail partner just ate 75% from your own move, and the opponent double-targets and removes your Mega win condition.

Root cause. You read "single-target 105%" as if it were "spread 105%." The real number: 105% × 0.75 = 79% — nowhere near a kill.

The fix. Always multiply first. The instant you see two targets for a spread move, mentally ×0.75 the single-target number before judging. A 105% single-target hit is only 79% spread — it never enters KO range. Flip it to remember it: for a spread move to reliably KO, the single-target number has to clear 133% first.

INTERMEDIATE — Predict-then-Reveal: guess before you click

Q: Your Heat Wave calcs (single-target) to 88%–104% on one mon, about 4/16 to KO. In doubles, hitting both opponents, does it still have any chance to KO either one?

Do the math yourself: each roll × 0.75.

Reveal: Top roll 104% × 0.75 ≈ 78% — it can't even touch the full-HP ceiling. 0/16, kills nobody. This is exactly the "looks just short, is actually miles short" trap. Any borderline 88%–104%-type range collapses entirely once it eats the 0.75. To KO through spread, the whole single-target range needs to sit at 133%+.

ADVANCED — Now-Do-This: drill it on your own team

Open the damage calculator and run this deliberate-practice loop on your real team:

1. Pick your main spread attacker (your Rock Slide or Earthquake user), set this format's spreads (Lv 50 / IVs 31 / 66 points; switch to the Mega form if it Megas).
2. In single-target mode, calc the range on a common opponent and note the KO count (X/16).
3. Switch to doubles/spread mode and read the post-penalty range — watch 11/16 collapse to 0/16 with your own eyes.
4. The real task: find your spread KO line. Keep adding offensive Stat Points (or pick a weaker target) until even the lowest roll of the post-penalty range clears the bar (≥16/16). Memorize who you can actually OHKO through the penalty — so next game, you already know the outcome before you press Earthquake.