After the Choice Specs boost, Jolteon's Special Attack stat climb to a whopping 478. Thunderbolt deals massive damage to anything that does not resist it and is even capable of OHKOing max HP / max Special Defense Calm Togekiss 80% of the time, factoring in Stealth Rock. Because Thunderbolt already takes a large chunk of HP away from Salamence, Hidden Power Grass is used to more easily combat Swampert and Mamoswine, two Pokemon that otherwise wall the set. But if you do not care about those, then Hidden Power Ice will allow Jolteon to OHKO opposing Dragonite, Salamence, and Gliscor, and will provide coverage resisted only by Magnezone in OU. Shadow Ball is Jolteon's best option against the Rotom formes, and it hits Celebi hard, although it doesn't have the power to OHKO. It is also Jolteon's strongest attack against Gliscor if Jolteon opts to use Hidden Power Grass. Baton Pass may seem out of place on this set, but by "dry passing", Jolteon is capable of scouting many of its potential counters, allowing the trainer to switch in another Pokemon accordingly and predict properly the next time Jolteon is sent out. Signal Beam can be used in place of either Shadow Ball or Baton Pass, allowing Jolteon to OHKO Celebi and deal slightly more damage to Tyranitar, but its use is limited outside of that.
It won't come as a total shock to learn that the Electric Eeveelution we love hasn't changed too much from Advance to DP. The idea here is to employ one of the fastest Substitute/Baton Pass combinations in the game while "falling back on" a respectable 319 Special Attack stat. This provides for not only the third most powerful Thunderbolt in OU, but also a reasonably powerful Hidden Power Ice or Hidden Power Grass which will cover Jolteon's inherent weakness to Ground-type Pokémon. HP Ice is recommended because Salamence poses such an enormous threat, and it also allows a OHKO on Gliscor and reasonable damage to Celebi and Breloom. Rhyperior and Swampert are the only Pokémon that make HP Grass appealing; however it is unlikely that Jolteon will OHKO the former in a Sandstorm, and even more unlikely that it will OHKO the latter at all. Furthermore, Swampert is a prime target for Baton Passing a Substitute to a Pokémon like Gyarados or Salamence since they resist the STAB Water and Ground that it is likely to use, and can become major threats with a single Dragon Dance as Swampert takes a second turn to break the Substitute. Jolteon can reminisce about its GSC days and Growth with the addition of Charge Beam to its movepool. This will allow Jolteon to boost its own Special Attack stat as it takes hits to its 95 base Special Defense, and quickly pass them to the sweeper of your choice when Jolteon is threatened. Sadly, the fact that the chance to raise special attack is only 63%, paired with the huge difference in power compared to Thunderbolt, makes Charge Beam an inferior option.
With the specified EVs, Jolteon's Substitute will always survive neutral Hidden Power from 319 Special Attack (or 110 base Special Attack with a neutral nature) in addition to other notable moves like Celebi's Grass Knot and Blissey's Ice Beam. The speed EVs ensure that Jolteon is slower than opposing Jolteon, allowing it to pass a Subsitute while remaining faster than most Gyarados even after a Dragon Dance; 4 HP EVs and 8 SpD EVs can be reallocated to speed to beat +1 max speed neutral Gyarados if it makes you feel more comfortable. Light Screen support is very welcome here to boost the durability of Jolteon's Substitutes. Any Jolteon can serve as an intermediary switch to absorb Electric-type attacks or Thunder Wave, but this particular build gives Jolteon additional options to Baton Pass something useful. With such defensive EVs, Jolteon is a safe switch into Zapdos, avoiding even a 3HKO from most sets. Additionally, Zapdos's build can be determined by the damage dealt by Heat Wave: If it deals 26 - 31%, Zapdos is most likely neutral natured with 0 SpA EVs; if Heat Wave deals 35 - 42%, then Zapdos is probably positively natured with max Special Attack. Jolteon can stall out the former by alternating between Wish and Substitute and Magnezone's Hidden Power can be treated the same way. It takes time to learn how to use this moveset effectively, but if you persevere you will be pleasantly surprised by its effectiveness.
Jolteon finds new ways to exploit one of the fastest (while still purposeful) Substitutes in the game with Yawn. Ideally, Blissey or Electivire or some Special wall switches in to a Yawn, then you Sub because you don't care if they stay in since you'll either be passing a Substitute the next turn or the turn after. If you don't suspect the initial switch has a Choice Scarf (that would let it surpass 394 Speed) or a priority move like Ice Shard or Quick Attack, this is a pretty foolproof way to pass a Substitute to the Pokémon of your choice. In addition, this set is a great way to rack of Stealth Rock damage, depending on how much your opponent cares about letting one of his Pokemon fall asleep.
Best with Stealth Rock and/or Spikes support, this Jolteon can be quite the pest. Fake Tears on the switch will strongly encourage your opponent to switch again, even though most things switching into Jolteon aren't going to be OHKOed even with -2 SpD. Wish will keep Jolteon alive against Seismic Toss/Thunder Wave Blissey, but keep in mind that she may be running the now-popular Flamethrower / Toxic combination. Other OptionsRoar allows Jolteon to deal with Pokémon like Raikou and Ninjask. Thunder Wave is annoying as always, and Jolteon, unlike Blissey, can actually get away with using it on the wrong Pokémon because of its Speed and Baton Pass. Agility can work well with Baton Pass, but this strategy is better utilized by Zapdos, who is statistically better suited for that type of set (the only advantage that Jolteon has over Zapdos is its higher Speed, which is negligible after an Agility boost anyway). On the YawnPasser set, Jolteon can use Wish over Yawn, which will allow Jolteon to heal even in unfriendly weather, but makes him vulnerable to both status effects and OHKOs from strong Physical Attacks. Charge Beam is a passable option and is Jolteon's only way of boosting its Special Attack, but Jolteon will need Thunderbolt on the same set to deal any kind of significant damage. Life Orb is not recommended on Jolteon due to the fact that it does not secure any significant KOes that the Leftovers sets do not. Signal Beam has rather limited use, but it does OHKO Celebi when boosted by Choice Specs. EVsYou could make a case for 374 Speed on Jolteon, which would outspeed every unscarfed pokemon in OU besides Aerodactyl, Weavile, and Ninjask, and would allow Jolteon an extra 20 points in any stat. However, the recent spike in Aerodactyl use, Weavile's prominence as an anti-lead and a Dragon counter, and the fact that +1 speed Adamant Gyarados sits at 391 speed are all reasons to just give Jolteon 252 EVs. OpinionIn the massive metagame shifting cause by the changes in Diamond / Pearl, it is nice to see that Jolteon has kept not only its role from ADV, but also its tier placement. Jolteon's improved Volt Absorb, which now restores its HP by 25% of its max if hit with Thunder Wave in addition to every other electric attack, actually grants the rather frail Pokémon more switches than appear possible with its weak Defense and only-decent Special Defense. Jolteon can now switch into Pokémon like Starmie and Magnezone with little risk and set up a Substitute to pass to any team member it wants. The fun part is that Jolteon, used in tandem with Pokémon like Gyarados, Salamence, Gengar and Mismagius, can really open the doors to some fast sweeps. The fact that Blissey is (and has always been) the premier Special Wall in D/P actually plays right into Jolteon's hands, as there are a number of Pokemon in D/P which will avoid having the passed Substitute broken by an Ice Beam or Flamethrower, and set up easily in the extra turn that Blissey takes to break the Substitute. In fact, given both the change to Volt Absorb and the fact that there are many instantly-threatening options Jolteon can pass to, you should probably have something powerful in store for just about any Special wall in the game. CountersAs with Espeon, there are not many things that technically "counter" the true goals of a fast SubPasser, but there are indeed Pokémon who can both switch in to Jolteon with little to no risk and pose an immediate threat to it. At the top of this list would be Electivire and its Motor Drive, which can use Jolteon's Thunderbolt against it to outspeed the charged cat and threaten an Earthquake that will OHKO. Tyranitar will shrug off Thunderbolt thanks to the Special Defense boost granted to it via Sand Stream, and will indirectly counter repeated attempts to pass Substitutes thanks to that same ability. Most Jolteon do not carry Shadow Ball or Signal Beam, so Celebi is often a good switch-in since it will never take more than 40% damage from Hidden Power Ice even with no EVs in Special Defense. Porygon2 can switch into Thunderbolt by Tracing Jolteon's Volt Absorb, and can proceed to wear away at it with Ice Beam while recovering off any damage dealt to it by Hidden Power. Gardevoir too can Trace to take the Thunderbolt, and relative Hidden Powers won't do loads. Choice Specs Shadow Balls are worrying, but otherwise Gardevoir can Calm Mind up against it. Jolteon counters itself, obviously—pretty much every Electric Pokémon can switch into Jolteon without too much of a threat. Pokémon like Cresselia, Blissey, Snorlax, and Regice can switch in rather effortlessly, but I cannot stress enough that there is technically no counter to a fast SubPasser, especially one that can easily OHKO common phazers such as Skarmory, Swampert, and Suicune. |
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