Pet Mod JolteMons (Complete) [Random Battle is Leader's Choice]

[Yoshiblaze]

Is the spreadsheet updated/complete? This looks like a really interesting meta, but some things in this thread don't line up with the doc.

Hello, and welcome to JolteMons!
The spreadsheet should be up-to-date (other than the Pokemon Adjustments page, which purposely shows the state of those subs when they were voted in, the "Changes By Pokemon" page is up-to-date for those), but if there's anything that's inconsistent or inaccurate, then please let me know either on my wall, in DMs, or on Discord (linked in the OP)

 

[Yoshiblaze]

A little late, but I've finally got those survey results to announce!

In the hide box below, I'll post the results to each question and a little blurb, but it's quite long, so you can skip to the TL;DR afterwards if you want to

Results

It got close at the end, with the last 3 people to respond saying that we should have another regular OU Tournament, but the majority still rules, so we will move on to the Mega Lucario Suspect Test

(horrible cropping oops)
Very clear cut here, Mega Gallade will be nerfed

What wasn't as clear was how it should be nerfed, with a 3-way tie between giving it Inner Focus, giving it another useful ability (as two people used the "Other" option to basically say that), and removing Lightning Lance. While we heavily considered giving it another useful ability, we ultimately decided to remove Lightning Lance. Lightning Lance having pseudo-STAB was really what pushed Gallade over the edge, so while Close Combat is absolutely nuclear, Fighting-resists like Tapu Fini, Clefable, and (Mega) Slowbro can now handle even a boosted Gallade better and Flying-types don't have to be as scared. However, Gallade will still have its nuclear CC and now has room to run Zen Headbutt for Buzzwole, so I'm interested to see if it'll still be an A-Rank or higher mon

Another clear winner here, Celesteela will be nerfed

Another messy result as 3/7 responses want Aeroblast removed, while the rest had assorted suggestions. While Aeroblast won the majority, the ideas of "making Flare Boost incur burn damage" and "giving it an ability that's similar to pre-buff Flare Boost" intrigued me, as Celesteela's broken state really was an accident due to us forgetting that it got Flare Boost before it got buffed, so trying to turn back the clock was an option I wanted to explore. After a lot of discussion, we settled on this compromise: we will have a thread poll for 1 day between giving Celesteela Berserk and removing Aeroblast. Berserk is probably the closest ability we have to Flare Boost and lets Celesteela play similarly to Agility Goltres, with Meteor Beam instead of Nasty Plot, while removing Aeroblast was the poll winner, so it's fair to still consider.

Another kinda close one, but nonetheless, Aegislash (and Doublade) will lose Curse

No one really had a suggestion for anything else we should look at right now, but I'd like to highlight this response because it was funny

Lastly, it looks like everyone thinks that Mega Lucario should be unbanned as of now. Let's see if any of these opinions flip when the suspect test concludes

If you didn't read the above, basically:
- We will officially start the Mega Lucario Suspect Test tomorrow
- Gallade will lose Lightning Lance
- Aegislash will lose Curse
- Celesteela will either lose Aeroblast or have Flare Boost replaced by Berserk, which will be decided in a 1 day thread poll. When this poll ends, the Mega Lucario Suspect Test will officially start.

And that's it! Like I said above, the Mega Lucario Suspect Test won't officially begin until tomorrow, but if you wish to get a head start, here's a challenge command you can use to challenge others in a suspect test environment:
/challenge [username], gen8joltemons @@@ +Lucarionite

That's all for now, see you tomorrow!

 

[Yoshiblaze]

A day has passed and by an 8-4 vote, Celesteela will lose Aeroblast!

Also, after some outcry yesterday, we also decided to remove the damage that Arid Absorption deals to opposing Water-types, as it gave too much reward to Ground-types when a Water-type came in. The extra healing and Attack boost are still present, as is the self-damage when used by a Water-type for balance

Now begins JolteMons' first official suspect test!

np: Successor - Mega Lucario Suspect Test

Mega Lucario received Iron Fist in place of Adaptability all the way back in Slate 3. While there was some support of dropping it to OU immediately afterwards, I initially held off, promising an official suspect test once the meta was complete. Well, now that the meta is completely, it's time to honor my promise!

The argument for Mega Lucario being unbanned is that it becomes WAY weaker without Adaptability. Meteor Mash and Bullet Punch's boost goes down to 25% with Iron Fist from ~33% with Adaptability, which is notable, while Close Combat receives any boosts, which is super significant as the terrifying power of that specific move is a big reason why Mega Lucario was broken before. Without Adaptability, every Lucario set is easier to deal with, as Lucario's 145 Attack isn't that impressive for a Mega (for comparison, Mega Gallade has similar bulk and Speed, but 165 Attack and has an ability that boosts Close Combat). Not to mention, Special sets are extremely weak with no boosts, to the point where they might not even be worth running or only for the surprise factor. Furthermore, Mega Lucario still has some of the weaknesses it had before, like a great but not amazing Speed tier that allows many of the top tier fast Pokemon to revenge kill it, and being walled by stuff like Landorus, Runerigus, Buzzwole, and more. It also has major 4MSS.

On the other hand, one can argue that Mega Lucario should stay banned because Iron Fist still makes it too powerful. While it lacks the nuclear power of Adaptability Close Combat, Iron Fist is still a great ability that still boosts its Steel STAB and now boosts its coverage, namely Ice Punch and Thunder Punch, letting it break past would be checks or counters more easily, like Landorus, Slowbro, and Zapdos. It's also still very fast, quite strong, and can push itself even further with SD. Thus, it's somewhat comparable to Mega Gallade, but weaker and it revenge kills Mega Gallade and doesn't insta-die to Ghost moves.​

The suspect test run for the rest of the week, concluding with this weekend 's roomtour on Sunday at 4 PM EST (moved to Sunday since FERU is having one on Saturday).

This suspect test will have a formal vote, like a typical suspect test, and like a typical suspect test, you have to qualify in order to vote in it. However, since Pet Mods have significantly smaller playerbases than stuff like OU, and I don't wanna lock anyone out of voting because of skill, these requirements should be very easy to obtain.

Suspect Test Voter Requirements:
- Battle 3 times in the Suspect Test format (1 time if you're a council member) without forfeiting. The battle must be 6v6 to count.
OR
- Play at least one battle in the weekend's roomtour without forfeiting

Be sure to post replays in the #replays channel on Discord for proof (be sure to specify in the message both of the battlers, in case the replay gets overwritten later). I'll keep a list of qualified battlers and then DM you for your vote when the time comes.

That's all for now! The recent nerfs and the suspect test ladder are live right now, so I hope you have fun testing out Mega Lucario! See you soon!

 

[G-Luke]

Of course, I'll preface this by saying most of this is an optics issue, rather than a competitive one. Very few changes here would impact a competitive tier, but it can be worth arguing for if wanted.

I've been saying this for a long time coming, but now that the Mega Lucario suspect is underway and the conclusion to such is rapidly becoming clear (it's probably gonna drop), I want to reengage the discussion on how bloated Joltemons OU's Tier List. If you include Mega Luke, OU is currently sitting at 68 Pokémon. That is really really beefy for an OU based tier, with for example Gen 7 OU being around 50, and Nat Dex 50+, and I'd think cutting down on that somewhat would be a lot more reasonable for players. So I will be discussing Pokémon that are currently OU that I think a reasonable argument exists for them to drop to either UU or UUBL depending on their power level.



Drop Level --> UU
Aegislash's brief stint of effectiveness in OU ended once it lost access to the modified Curse, which acted as Leech Seed that only Normal and Ghost types are immune to, and are commonly used to pair up with another ghost to wear down their typical defensive checks like Mega TTar or HDB Goltres. Without Curse, its defensive set loses its big punch factor that allows it to abuse its checks and defensive Pokémon in general. Now it still is decent due to Reaper Cloth, but I still think its just nowhere near as good as it used to be.


Drop Level --> UU
This Pokémon is just not good lol. It being OU at this point is kinda crazy, as it folds to every hazard setter outside of Landorus-Therian, and it still takes a buttload of damage from that initial Knock Off. I think people conflate it with Darmanitan Galar Zen, but that Pokémon has largely proven itself to be highly effective regardless of it's presence. I think its just barely better than what Xatu is in standard, trading actual stats with a very barebones movepool. I'd rather this thing drops to UU (where it may not fare much better lol).


Drop Level --> UU
I think Chesnaught is a case of new toy syndrome tbh. Mon is easily worn down and does not threaten most of the tier's chief hazard control due to them all hovering above Spikes and being able to nuke it out the sky with Flying moves. It's also very easy to wall since it relies on Grass Fighting coverage. Chesnaught imo is just a sidegrade Tangrowth, and I do not think it should be in a tier above it.


Drop Level --> UUBL
mega Diancie is a cool mega option, and does fine as an offensive SR setter that can support fellow Fairy types in eliminating checks. Even so, its a bit awkward tonpilot and due to its crappy defensive typing and need to run a defense lowering nature, has very limited defensive utility to a team outside of Knock Off, Magic Bounce and Dragon moves. There are also some matchups where Mega Diancie just does not pull it's weight at all, espwcially considering it's weakness to a wide variety of priority moves. I thin k this Pokemon is a UUBL boy.


Drop Level --> UUBL
Mega Charizard Y is imo in a very similar spot as Diancie, solid Mega that can break apart teams relavtively well, but one that requires a large amount of support. Mega Zard Y doesn't strike me as something that is imo much better than the likes of Mega Gardevoir rn, and I think Mega Houndoom is a much more splashable Fire type wallbreaking Mega to use atm due to its superior speed tier and access to Nasty Plot, therefore I do not think both of these need to occupy the very same niche. Even so, Mega Zard Y x Keldeo sounds like a great offensive core, but we have yet to see much evidence to that regard.


Drop Level --> UU
I think this one is more long the lines of something that has not been explored, but no one has ever used this thing in OU and it has to contend with the overwhelming amount of Dark types and Pursuit (why is almost no one using Pursuit LMAO) running around. It theoretically should serve as a Tapu Lele hard counter but alot of existing Steels bully Tapu Lele fine as is so I am not sure here. I just do not think this Pokémon has ever justified it's OU ranking.


Drop Level --> UU or UUBL
Similar reasonings with Jirachi here, the roles Jirachi performed in base OU are less effective here in JolteMons, and the scary as evr Pursuit and the hyper presence of Dark types gives me little reason to think about using the Pokémon. Just like Jirachi, it should theoretically be Mega Medicham's best splashable check on Balance, but with the advent of Shadow Punch (why????) being a viable option, Mew has the potential to be easil dispatched. Not sure if it would be too much for UU so UUBL is still an option.


Drop Level --> UU
Sorry, I have simply not been convinced that this Pokémon is a stellar choice for OU. Earl's stellar debut run aside, I have yet to see Rotom-Mow do much in battles, and while I think its safe to say Shell Bell is the best option available, a lot of times I feel like I'd rather slot in a Rotom-Wash here in its place. I think this is the most contentious mention here and I could be easily convinced otherwise, but as for right now I think this could drop.


Drop Level --> UUBL or OU by Technicality
Mon is ass. We know no one is ever using Slowbronite unless they really want Slowbronto absorb them Knock Offs. Not sure if it technically can go to UUBL, but if not at least OU by techicallity.


Drop Level --> UUBL
Terrakion feels like a major matchup fish. Concussion and the addition of Accelerrock breathe new life in to the Pokémon sure, but I do not think this new life does much to alleviate its big problems it does have in OU. CB sets are extremely prediction reliant to function, and SD sets always run the risk of big 4MSS, missing out on coverage or priority. AoA sets just do not hit as hard as you like, and Scarf feels to awkward to pilot to efficiently work, even twith the ability to essentially always beat other Scarfers. It's shoddy as hell defensive typing also never did it any favors as well. It is a decent wallbreaker imo but it defineitely requires heavy support to pull off, thus I think it is more in line as a UUBL threat.

Some miscellaneous things to note - I think the meta is swamped with bulky Water types atm and realistically I think a couple would fall off as tehy cannabilize each other's usage (Looking at you, Alomomola). I'd like further testing into Beedrill as well, I am not ready to assert that the beast has fallen into UUBL territory, but teams have gravitated away from relying on Corviknight to serve as their chief means of answering it due to the popularity of BeeZone offensive cores, and have now started to move into Pokémon like PhysDef Landorus -T, Gliscor or Cressilia, all of which bully this Pokémon to the ends of the Earth. Parental Bond gimmicks are played out, Fling sets have fallen off, how do we feel about Dada Zarude atm. Does it still serve it's purpose as an OU threat? I think so, but it feels weird to use sometimes. Mega Medicham has gotten way too much annoying tech over all of slates that allow it to break past a bunch of traditional Medicham checks. It can't do it all at once (it has SEVERE 4MSS) but I don't like how easy it is to get screwed because they decided to bring the right move to beat the right Mega Medi check that day. Something to think about. Stop abandoning Defiant on Zapdos-Galar lmao. Choiced sets should always invest in this with Big Lando being as popular as it is. We have yet to settle the Pelipper v Politoed debate, so I'd like to see a resolution on that sooner rather than later.


Well, thats been what, Ten Pokémon who I think could easil drop the bucket and settle into UU or UUBL, going from 68 to 58~59 still feels big but not crazy imo. Maybe looking into miscelleanous could be used to start discussion on stuff as well, to think somewhat more critically at their stuff.

 

[Yoshiblaze]

And the Suspect Test OU Tour has concluded! How did Lucario do?

Tour 5 - JolteMons Suspect Test OU - Double Elimination - 5 Entrants
1st: The Damned
2nd: Ema Skye
3rd: Superior Serperior
4th: Beaf Cultist

Usage Stats

JolteMons Suspect Test OU Roomtour Usage Stats

+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon            | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Moltres-Galar      |    7 |  38.89% |  57.14% |
| 2    | Landorus-Therian   |    6 |  33.33% |  33.33% |
| 2    | Tapu Koko          |    6 |  33.33% |  33.33% |
| 4    | Weavile            |    5 |  27.78% |  20.00% |
| 5    | Politoed           |    4 |  22.22% |  75.00% |
| 5    | Pelipper           |    4 |  22.22% |  75.00% |
| 5    | Swampert           |    4 |  22.22% |  75.00% |
| 5    | Ferrothorn         |    4 |  22.22% |  75.00% |
| 5    | Zapdos             |    4 |  22.22% |  75.00% |
| 5    | Wishiwashi         |    4 |  22.22% |  25.00% |
| 5    | Lucario            |    4 |  22.22% |  25.00% |
| 12   | Garchomp           |    3 |  16.67% | 100.00% |
| 12   | Beedrill           |    3 |  16.67% | 100.00% |
| 12   | Tapu Lele          |    3 |  16.67% | 100.00% |
| 12   | Terrakion          |    3 |  16.67% | 100.00% |
| 12   | Mew                |    3 |  16.67% | 100.00% |
| 12   | Magnezone          |    3 |  16.67% | 100.00% |
| 12   | Corviknight        |    3 |  16.67% |  33.33% |
| 12   | Medicham           |    3 |  16.67% |  33.33% |
| 12   | Empoleon           |    3 |  16.67% |  33.33% |
| 12   | Houndoom           |    3 |  16.67% |  33.33% |
| 12   | Buzzwole           |    3 |  16.67% |  33.33% |
| 12   | Rhyperior          |    3 |  16.67% |  33.33% |
| 12   | Jirachi            |    3 |  16.67% |  33.33% |
| -    | Gourgeist-*        |    3 |  16.67% |  33.33% |
| 12   | Gourgeist-Small    |    3 |  16.67% |  33.33% |
| 26   | Volcarona          |    2 |  11.11% |  50.00% |
| 26   | Serperior          |    2 |  11.11% |  50.00% |
| 26   | Hippowdon          |    2 |  11.11% |   0.00% |
| 26   | Toxapex            |    2 |  11.11% |   0.00% |
| 26   | Dragapult          |    2 |  11.11% |   0.00% |
| 26   | Blacephalon        |    2 |  11.11% |   0.00% |
| 32   | Clefable           |    1 |   5.56% |   0.00% |
| 32   | Lopunny            |    1 |   5.56% |   0.00% |

Leads

+ ---- + ----------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Leads                   | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ----------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Politoed                |    4 |  22.22% |  75.00% |
| 2    | Gourgeist-Small         |    3 |  16.67% |  33.33% |
| 3    | Tapu Lele               |    2 |  11.11% | 100.00% |
| 3    | Blacephalon             |    2 |  11.11% |   0.00% |
| 3    | Landorus-Therian        |    2 |  11.11% |   0.00% |
| 6    | Medicham                |    1 |   5.56% | 100.00% |
| 6    | Beedrill                |    1 |   5.56% | 100.00% |
| 6    | Serperior               |    1 |   5.56% | 100.00% |
| 6    | Empoleon                |    1 |   5.56% |   0.00% |
| 6    | Wishiwashi              |    1 |   5.56% |   0.00% |

Replays

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/dragonheaven-gen8joltemonssuspecttest-2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/dragonheaven-gen8joltemonssuspecttest-3
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/dragonheaven-gen8joltemonssuspecttest-5
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/dragonheaven-gen8joltemonssuspecttest-6
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/dragonheaven-gen8joltemonssuspecttest-7
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/dragonheaven-gen8joltemonssuspecttest-9
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/dragonheaven-gen8joltemonssuspecttest-10
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/dragonheaven-gen8joltemonssuspecttest-12
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/dragonheaven-gen8joltemonssuspecttest-14

Some Quick Takeaways:
- Mega Lucario only got 4 uses (and that's with new toy syndrome being a factor) and only 1 win during its own suspect test tournament. Take that for what you will.
- I mentioned that no one's tested the theoretically good Politoed on rain a couple hours ago and thus someone brought rain to the tour. So, if you lost to rain today, that's on me. Oops
- Moltres-Galar my beloved
- Daily reminder that Volcarona is like really really really good, use it
- Jirachi and Mew sightings
- 0 usage for Mega Gallade, Celesteela, and Aegislash after their nerfs
- Mega Medicham really stole the show from both Mega Gallade and Mega Lucario, huh
- We saw someone get to Soul Blade Lvl. 5 with a Weavile today, making that the new world record for Soul Blade Level in an actual game afaik, which one non-game ending KO away from obtaining the ULTRA SOUL BLADE


With that done, we can move on to the suspect test vote!
Below are all the users who have qualified to vote in the suspect test. I will DM each one of you on either Discord or the Smogon Forums (or you can DM me first) for your vote. When I do that, answer with either Unban or Do Not Unban for what we should do with Mega Lucario.

Qualified Voters

zxgzxg
Superior Serperior
G-Luke
Yoshiblaze
tkmof~11209 (idk what his smogon account is lol)
AquaticPanic
analysis geek
Beaf Cultist
The Damned
Moretto
Ema Skye

The vote will conclude as soon as every person above gives me their answer or when a majority is reached. With 11 voters, the magic number is 6.

That's all for now, see you when the votes come in!

 

[Yoshiblaze]

okay so the suspect test vote ended in 13 minutes

i am not joking

i posted that last post at 6:42
the deciding vote was put in at 6:53
i wanted to wait a bit cuz that's way too fast, but i decided that it was funny and am posting now

So, in blazing fast time, here are the results of the Mega Lucario Suspect Test!

By a vote of 8-1, Mega Lucario will be officially unbanned! A huge thank you to everyone who voted! If you haven't voted yet, you still can! I can't offer you any progress towards a tiering contributor badge or anything, but you at least get the bragging rights of voting in a suspect test, so that's something, right?

That's all for now, I get back to you soon for what we'll do next! See you later!

 

[Yoshiblaze]

Alright, after a little break, here's what we'll be doing next!

Now that the Mega Lucario Suspect Test has concluded and now that the meta's changed a little bit, now would be an appropriate time for a VR shift!
The way we'll do this VR shift will be a little different than we did in the past, so be sure to see how I explain it in the #vr-suggestions channel on Discord.
After we're done with the VR shift, we'll then do a tiering shift, dropping a bunch of things into UU and potentially rising some things too, depending on your suggestions.
After this, we'll decide whether we should have an OU or UU roomtour this weekend.

Also, as a more minor note, it's been a little while since the initial Slate 10 meta, so a couple resources are little outdated, particularly the Good Cores post, so if you have any suggestions for it, I would love to have them!

 

[Yoshiblaze]

The VR and Tiering Shifts are now complete! If you have any questions or objections, then please head to the #vr-suggestions channel on our Discord

First, the VR changes:

Rises and New Additions

Weavile: A+ to S-
Medicham-Mega: A to A+
Empoleon: A- to A
Corviknight: B+ to A-
Gourgeist-Small: B+ to A
Serperior: B+ to A-
Lucario-Mega: UR to B
Politoed: UR to B

Drops

Gallade-Mega: S- to A-
Celesteela: A+ to A
Mawile-Mega: A- to B+
Aegislash: B+ to C+
Articuno-Galar: B+ to B-
Charizard-Mega-Y: B+ to B
Chesnaught: B+ to B
Hawlucha: B+ to B
Jirachi: B+ to B-
Mew: B+ to B-
Rotom-Mow: B+ to B
Raikou: B- to UR
Rhyperior: B- to C+
Haxorus: C+ to C-
Magmortar: C to UR
Krookodile: C- to UR
Samurott: C- to UR

We also did some tiering shifts! These were mostly based on the recent tiering shifts , though a couple were done just to slim down OU as has been suggested:
Articuno-Galar - OU to UU
Aegislash - OU to UU
Charizard-Mega-Y - OU to UUBL
Chesnaught - OU to UU
Diancie-Mega - OU to UUBL
Hawlucha - OU to UUBL
Jirachi - OU to UU
Lucario-Mega - OU to UUBL
Mew - OU to UU
Rotom-Mow - OU to UU
Terrakion - OU to UUBL

We'll keep a close eye on a couple of these drops to see if they end up being too much for UU, namely Mew

Now, the natural next step would be to have a UU roomtour this weekend, since we're more or less done with OU. However, since UU just had a big shakeup, it's entirely understandable if people don't want to jump into a roomtour right away. Plus, a couple mons in OU could warrant a teensy bit more testing. Thus, I'll have a forum poll open for the next 24 hours to decide whether we should have an OU or UU roomtour (or no roomtour at all) this weekend.

That's all for now, see you tomorrow!

 

[Yoshiblaze]

Oh yeah, forgot to announce this yesterday, but by a vote of 7-1-0, this week's roomtour will be UU!

As UU is in its infancy, this will be a crazy roomtour in an extremely volatile metagame, so make sure you're ready for anything! See you there!

EDIT: Oh yeah, this weekend's roomtour will be on Sunday at 4 PM EST since I'm busy Saturday

 

[Yoshiblaze]

Quick little roomtour today, let's see what went down!

Tour 6 - JolteMons UU - Double Elimination - 5 Entrants
1st: The Damned
2nd: Superior Serperior
3rd: Yoshiblaze
4th: ViZar

Usage Stats

JolteMons UU Roomtour Usage Stats

+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon            | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Mimikyu            |    8 |  57.14% |  75.00% |
| 2    | Steelix            |    6 |  42.86% |  83.33% |
| 3    | Meloetta           |    5 |  35.71% |  80.00% |
| 4    | Flapple            |    4 |  28.57% |  75.00% |
| 5    | Alakazam           |    3 |  21.43% | 100.00% |
| 5    | Golisopod          |    3 |  21.43% | 100.00% |
| 5    | Hydreigon          |    3 |  21.43% |  66.67% |
| 5    | Muk                |    3 |  21.43% |  66.67% |
| 5    | Infernape          |    3 |  21.43% |  66.67% |
| 5    | Skarmory           |    3 |  21.43% |  66.67% |
| 5    | Mandibuzz          |    3 |  21.43% |   0.00% |
| 12   | Scizor             |    2 |  14.29% |  50.00% |
| 12   | Ariados            |    2 |  14.29% |  50.00% |
| 12   | Typhlosion         |    2 |  14.29% |  50.00% |
| 12   | Scrafty            |    2 |  14.29% |  50.00% |
| 12   | Honchkrow          |    2 |  14.29% |  50.00% |
| 12   | Archeops           |    2 |  14.29% |   0.00% |
| 18   | Sylveon            |    1 |   7.14% | 100.00% |
| 18   | Rotom-Mow          |    1 |   7.14% | 100.00% |
| 18   | Salamence          |    1 |   7.14% | 100.00% |
| 18   | Lycanroc-Dusk      |    1 |   7.14% | 100.00% |
| 18   | Runerigus          |    1 |   7.14% | 100.00% |
| 18   | Centiskorch        |    1 |   7.14% |   0.00% |
| 18   | Greninja           |    1 |   7.14% |   0.00% |
| 18   | Latios             |    1 |   7.14% |   0.00% |
| 18   | Cobalion           |    1 |   7.14% |   0.00% |
| 18   | Breloom            |    1 |   7.14% |   0.00% |
| 18   | Azelf              |    1 |   7.14% |   0.00% |
| 18   | Uxie               |    1 |   7.14% |   0.00% |
| 18   | Camerupt           |    1 |   7.14% |   0.00% |
| 18   | Cinderace          |    1 |   7.14% |   0.00% |
| 18   | Tapu Bulu          |    1 |   7.14% |   0.00% |
| 18   | Jirachi            |    1 |   7.14% |   0.00% |
| 18   | Lumineon           |    1 |   7.14% |   0.00% |
| 18   | Nidoqueen          |    1 |   7.14% |   0.00% |
| 18   | Aegislash          |    1 |   7.14% |   0.00% |
| 18   | Ditto              |    1 |   7.14% |   0.00% |
| 18   | Sneasel            |    1 |   7.14% |   0.00% |
| 18   | Samurott           |    1 |   7.14% |   0.00% |
| 18   | Altaria            |    1 |   7.14% |   0.00% |
| 18   | Regieleki          |    1 |   7.14% |   0.00% |
| 18   | Tangrowth          |    1 |   7.14% |   0.00% |
| 18   | Pincurchin         |    1 |   7.14% |   0.00% |
| 18   | Raichu-Alola       |    1 |   7.14% |   0.00% |
| 18   | Mamoswine          |    1 |   7.14% |   0.00% |

Leads

+ ---- + ----------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Leads                   | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ----------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Meloetta                |    2 |  14.29% | 100.00% |
| 1    | Ariados                 |    2 |  14.29% |  50.00% |
| 1    | Steelix                 |    2 |  14.29% |  50.00% |
| 4    | Rotom-Mow               |    1 |   7.14% | 100.00% |
| 4    | Skarmory                |    1 |   7.14% | 100.00% |
| 4    | Golisopod               |    1 |   7.14% | 100.00% |
| 4    | Breloom                 |    1 |   7.14% |   0.00% |
| 4    | Azelf                   |    1 |   7.14% |   0.00% |
| 4    | Cinderace               |    1 |   7.14% |   0.00% |
| 4    | Regieleki               |    1 |   7.14% |   0.00% |
| 4    | Mandibuzz               |    1 |   7.14% |   0.00% |

Replays

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/dragonheaven-gen8joltemonsuu-41
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/dragonheaven-gen8joltemonsuu-42
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/dragonheaven-gen8joltemonsuu-44
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/dragonheaven-gen8joltemonsuu-43
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/dragonheaven-gen8joltemonsuu-45
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/dragonheaven-gen8joltemonsuu-47
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/dragonheaven-gen8joltemonsuu-48

Some quick takeaways
- Mimikyu being on top of the usage stats is pretty interesting. It's super strong, and I'm not saying that just because I lost because of it twice, but this tier is chock full of good Steel-types to check it like Cobalion, Mega Steelix, Scizor, and Skarmory, so I wouldn't call it the tier king as of now
- Speaking of Mega Steelix, it made a huge impact as a physical wall this tournament, potentially making it the best defensive Steel in the tier
- After a lot of hype for it on Discord, 0 Florges usage is interesting
- Out of the recent drops, none of them really performed that well or were used much, though I wouldn't say that's representative of how good mons like Rotom-Mow, Jirachi, or Aegislash really are, they're all great
- Buzz Off Ariados Webs won a game, that's funny
- Not much else happened I'm ngl, just a wholesome little tournament for the most part

And that's it! Over the course of the week I may try to put to together a rough Viability List (no subranks or anything, just High/Mid/Low) with sample sets to make teambuilding easier. Nothing jumped out as broken to me during this tournament, but we'll be keeping an eye out for things and making bans when needed.

In other news, if you didn't already know, JolteMons OU will be a part of the first ever Pet Mods Premier League! This is a super exciting step in Pet Mods history and we're glad to be a part of it! If you're interested in signing up or don't know what it is, then check out the general information thread and the player sign-ups thread.

That's all for now, see you soon!

 

[Yoshiblaze]

The planned tournament today at 4 didn't happen due to low turnout, but if there's enough interest, I will open sign-ups for another roomtour in a couple hours, so if you weren't available for the 4 PM slot, then you'll have another chance!

In other news, this week we have little event planned that will hopefully give us some OU sample teams before PMPL: a teambuilding competition.

A teambuilding competition is exactly what it says in the title. You build a team that fits the prompt and then people vote on it, with the best team winning. Here are some more detailed rules I stole form the OU Teambuilding Competition Thread if you're curious:

• Entry submission: Post team in the thread itself with import and explanation in hide tags. Please, when you are submitting a team, try not to slash movesets / items in the importable. The finished product should be the build you are most confident in. It is fine to do minor set changes throughout the week, but if you want to give another option for one of your Pokemon, note it in the Explanation instead.
• Disputes / Copying: Obviously, there is potential for disputes over copying or people making similar entries. In general, if your team entry has the same Pokémon and similar move sets to an earlier entry, it will be disqualified. If anyone tries to abuse this by reserving an early post in the thread for their entry, please bring it to my attention and they'll be disqualified. If you are caught doing this there is a high possibility you will not be allowed to post in the building stage for an indefinite amount of time.
• Discussion and team changes: One part of the process is to have discussions about the teams and the core. While I'd like to keep this from being a speedy RMT thread, suggestions of improvements to entered teams are allowed. In the interests of fairness though, I'd ask that any suggestions don't involve anything more major than move set changes, and that if you've already submitted a team you don't change the Pokémon in it. Basically, just be sure that you're happy with the team before you send it in.

For this teambuilding competition, the prompt is just that the team you build must be an OU Team, with no Pokémon or archetype restrictions. This is because this competition is supposed to give us sample teams before PMPL, so having a Pokémon restriction would limit our options. Plus, since we don't have a giant playerbase or anything, testing you teams would become harder if everyone is using the same thing.

For your team to be eligible for voting, it must be complete (with no slashed moves), fit the prompt (which shouldn't be hard for this one), and you must give a brief explanation of what the team does (at least 2 sentences, likely more). Adding replays is not required, but it will likely make your team more appealing for voting. As for what you should shoot for, try to make your team both viable and creative.

For voting, simply vote for your favorite team and the team that gets the most votes wins. You can't vote for yourself since you only vote for one option). The winner of the competition gets a custom role on the JolteMons Discord and their team becomes JolteMons' first official OU sample team! Other team submitted in the competition can also become official sample teams depending on how good they are.

Submissions for the competition will last until Friday, with voting ending next Sunday.

Also, if a roomtour does happen today, I'll edit it into this post so competition submissions

That's all for now, happy teambuilding!

 

[Yoshiblaze]

First things first, submissions for the competition will be extended to Sunday! This will allow you to test your teams during this weekend's roomtour, which will be OU and likely on Saturday.

Second things second, here's my submission:

Regieleki Balance

This team is a fairly simple offensively-leaning balance team featuring one of the better Unranked mons in Regieleki. The basic idea is that Regieleki forces your opponent to switch into either a Ground-type or a bulky Grass-type, which broken mon Weavile can easily abuse, with backup options in Heatran and Gourgeist to handle the Grasses and Grounds that Weavile can't like Ferrothorn and Mega Swampert. Landorus + Heatran is a standard defensive core to set Rocks while Fini keeps me from getting 6-0'd by Ash Gren and Trick Scarf is super nice on a team as momentum based as this one, as crippling a check to Gourgeist or Weavile could just be game over for the opponent. I chose to use Nasty Plot Gourgeist since I already had a Scarfer in Tapu Fini, making it a nice lure for Goltres with NP into Moonblast. Heatran being Magma Storm + Taunt + Toxic also elminates Blissey for Gourgeist, so Focus Blast nor Fire Blast are needed. Last thing to note, I have Assurance on Eleki instead of ESpeed or Explosion as a last resort option against Scarf Gourgeist if Weavile dies, which works especially well if they're forced to switch in Gourg after their Ground dies as Assurance OHKOes after Rocks and deals a good ~45% otherwise.

 

[The Damned]

Whoa, my lazy self is the second person to post something? Also, apologies (again) for just disappearing right before the Lucario-Mega vote and for also not being around last weekend (and for being able to use Discord in general--accursed computer issues).

Anyway, provided I'm actually awake and don't oversleep or have yet more computer issues (sigh), this is the team I'll be using whenever the OU roomtour is--whether tomorrow or Sunday or delayed in case of Rain. I hope it's not the last though since this is a Sun team as I figured I would try my hand at making a weather team for this meta finally. Also figured I'd finally use the other mon I helped buff via Items since I don't remember using Regigigas yet unlike Mimikyu even though I vaguely feel like I did already [/terribly memory even before 2020 made everything into a temporal abyss that blends together]:


Burning On: A (Bad) JolteMons OU Sun Team

So obviously the most single important thing of any weather team is to have weather setters, preferably at least two with one of those preferably being an automatic setter. Similarly, you should have at least two abusers of the weather (beyond the setters themselves if that applies) as well as checks to the more obvious problems that type of weather will encounter, both from other weathers and the general type weaknesses of that weather where possible. More "hyper offense" teams can get away with not worrying as much about the last point I suppose but everything else still applies. So with those basics explained to people who doubtless already know them, I'll just go through each mon point by point.

Insert Team Select Theme Here

Houndoom(-Mega) [a.k.a. Sun Abuser #1] = I wanted to give this Mega a try finally given that I never touched it back when it was an arguably broken terror in this mod with both Sludge Bomb and the added Fiery Wrath backed up by the new Sheer Force before it got booped on the snoot by the rolled-up Nerf newspaper. Still, I figure it should be viable enough in OU still, especially in Sun even if no longer has Solar Power to melt everything in sight, including itself. So the team is built around it as much as it is Sun even though Houndoom-Mega can thankfully function independently of Sun and no longer dies from it. The set is the standard one currently recommended by Yoshiblaze.

Torkoal [a.k.a. Sun Setter #1] = The de facto Sun setter supreme and automatic slot on any Sun team unless you're either really devoted to regular Ninetales or in a tier below Torkoal, cut off from its godly light, or Drought is, you know, banned in that tier (or you're using Charizard-Mega-Y on a Sun & Sand team I guess). Honestly, given how standard Torkoal is for Sun teams, there's not much to say about it beyond the fact I'm using both Stealth Rock and Rapid Spin on it as recommended by Yoshiblaze even though that feels a bit ambitious but not Body Press or Arid Absorption since those make Torkoal hilariously free to Blacephalon, which is, uh, a pretty bad mon to let in for free as it is, much less when you're strengthening its already nuclear Fire STAB. So Earth Power it is for Blace and other mons, especially since Arid Absorption got nerfed a bit anyway even though Arid Absorption is still usable.

Keldeo(-Resolute) [a.k.a. Sun Abuser #2] = Vapor Control automatically made Keldeo one of the best Sun abusers period, especially since of Gen 8's DLC it now has a STAB pivot move in Flip Turn, which also gets boosted by Sun even if its Attack in the negative here. While Specs's sheer power is something (stupid) to behold in Sun, however, I elected to go with Choice Scarf since this team really needs counterplay to quite a few other naturally faster mons like Alakazam-Mega, Dragapult, Regieleki, Terrakion, Zeraora, +1 Garchomp, +1 Volcarona, and other Choice Scarf mons. Hell, I added it almost solely for Darm-Galar-Zen given that automatically changes the weather to Hail whenever it switches in, and Keldeo resists both sides of its STABs. That said, Keldeo can't exactly freely switch into much, Hydro Pump can miss, and if Regieleki is Timid or Jolly for some reason, then you're still screwed since Regieleki is just that fast. Oh well.

Moonduck [a.k.a. Sun Setter #2] = Originally got the idea to use this both from its use on Sun teams in previous gens as well as vaguely considering using Gravitas on it to make sure that Houndoom's Fire Blast and Keldeo's Hydro Pump can't miss in Gravity. Levitate seems more useful, however, especially if it's a support mon that is a bit of momentum sink, so clearly it should get Teleport, and you likely do want to use Lunar Dance on it at someone point, which it has to still be conscious for. Its EVs are currently the same ones that Yoshiblaze is recommending, which means I admittedly have no idea why it has 108 Speed EVs to be honest. Shrug.

Regigigas [a.k.a. Bulky Mon #3 given Torkoal and Ducktales] = Beyond just wanting to make sure I indeed used the new, improved, and now actually usable Regigigas, in theory it's actually a pretty decent support mon on Sun even though Regigigas doesn't directly support Sun or benefit much from Sun. After all, Thick Fat means Regigigas resists Fire now, and immunity to both Trick and Ghost type moves makes it basically the one of the few defensive checks to Blacephalon even if the lack of healing definitely hurts overall. Access to Knock Off is also nice even if a lot of the better items in this meta are immune to that, including Sacred Ropes themselves, but that's honestly just a nice bonus to being a Ghost-immune mon given Ghost moves are stupidly spammable still--thanks for literal nothing, Game Freak. Finally, it also helps to have a mon that can just muscle past both Blissey and Chansey without either Sun being up, being Choice Locked into Sacred Sword, or needing a bunch of +SpA. The set is the recommended set by Yoshiblaze, with Fire Punch chosen over Ice Punch.

Venusaur [a.k.a. Sun Abuser #3] = Last but hopefully not least, we get to the one of the best abuser of Suns in the official metas that has yet (?) to prove itself in the JolteMons meta as well as the probably the still best Chlorophyll mon. Speaking of Chlorophyll, I was tempted to use Leafeon before going for this, but that was back when I was more seriously considering using Gravitas on Cresselia given Leafeon has Mud Spike now to help it's still somewhat anemic coverage. Leafeon's coverage still "meh" at best and Sappy Seed unfortunately being capable of missing, however, is why I ultimately chose to go with Venusaur despite the temptation. Speaking of temptation, when it comes to Venusaur, I usually go with Weather Ball since I enjoy that silly move, but "Tapus Must Die" is a reasonable OU creed, so Sludge Bomb it is since that way you at least don't get forced out even if Sun if you K.O. something without Growth boosts and then Tapu Lele at above 66% HP switches in haughtily, unfortunately secure in the knowledge that nothing that Venusaur has besides (Life Orb) Sludge Bomb OHKOs. Pretty standard set otherwise, so the final thing to say is that it's also nice to have a mon that absorbs Toxic even when Sun isn't up unlike Leafeon.

With all that said, Shout outs to both the King of Fighters series for the naming theme of this team as well as this Flying Press article on Sun (in UU) from six (ugh) years ago.

P.S. Thank gods for Smogon auto-saving since Chrome decided to crash me again on this computer. Ugh. So tempted to go back to Mozilla or even to start using Opera while I'm still stuck on this forsaken thing before it too probably just fatally crashes at this point. [/"Death is but a doorway, time is but a window, I'll be back"]

 

[Yoshiblaze]

Today's OU Roomtour has concluded! Let's see what happened!

Tour 7 - JolteMons OU - Double Elimination - 5 Entrants
1st: G-Luke
2nd: zxgzxg
3rd: Beaf Cultist
4th: Superior Serperior

Usage Stats

JolteMons OU Roomtour Usage Stats

+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon            | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Landorus-Therian   |    7 |  38.89% |  57.14% |
| 1    | Weavile            |    7 |  38.89% |  28.57% |
| 3    | Cresselia          |    6 |  33.33% |  66.67% |
| 3    | Tapu Koko          |    6 |  33.33% |  50.00% |
| 5    | Kartana            |    5 |  27.78% |  80.00% |
| 5    | Houndoom           |    5 |  27.78% |  60.00% |
| 5    | Moltres-Galar      |    5 |  27.78% |  40.00% |
| 5    | Heatran            |    5 |  27.78% |  40.00% |
| 9    | Blissey            |    4 |  22.22% |  75.00% |
| 9    | Tapu Fini          |    4 |  22.22% |  50.00% |
| 11   | Gliscor            |    3 |  16.67% | 100.00% |
| 11   | Slowbro            |    3 |  16.67% | 100.00% |
| 11   | Victini            |    3 |  16.67% |  66.67% |
| 11   | Ferrothorn         |    3 |  16.67% |  33.33% |
| 11   | Torkoal            |    3 |  16.67% |  33.33% |
| 11   | Keldeo             |    3 |  16.67% |  33.33% |
| 11   | Regigigas          |    3 |  16.67% |  33.33% |
| 11   | Venusaur           |    3 |  16.67% |  33.33% |
| 19   | Buzzwole           |    2 |  11.11% | 100.00% |
| 19   | Tyranitar          |    2 |  11.11% | 100.00% |
| 19   | Rotom-Mow          |    2 |  11.11% | 100.00% |
| 19   | Corviknight        |    2 |  11.11% |   0.00% |
| 19   | Medicham           |    2 |  11.11% |   0.00% |
| 19   | Wishiwashi         |    2 |  11.11% |   0.00% |
| 25   | Volcanion          |    1 |   5.56% | 100.00% |
| 25   | Nidoking           |    1 |   5.56% | 100.00% |
| 25   | Goodra             |    1 |   5.56% | 100.00% |
| 25   | Dragapult          |    1 |   5.56% | 100.00% |
| 25   | Rillaboom          |    1 |   5.56% | 100.00% |
| 25   | Melmetal           |    1 |   5.56% | 100.00% |
| 25   | Zeraora            |    1 |   5.56% |   0.00% |
| 25   | Alomomola          |    1 |   5.56% |   0.00% |
| 25   | Alakazam           |    1 |   5.56% |   0.00% |
| 25   | Greninja           |    1 |   5.56% |   0.00% |
| 25   | Heracross          |    1 |   5.56% |   0.00% |
| 25   | Rhyperior          |    1 |   5.56% |   0.00% |
| 25   | Beedrill           |    1 |   5.56% |   0.00% |
| 25   | Magnezone          |    1 |   5.56% |   0.00% |
| 25   | Zapdos             |    1 |   5.56% |   0.00% |
| 25   | Rotom-Wash         |    1 |   5.56% |   0.00% |
| 25   | Muk-Alola          |    1 |   5.56% |   0.00% |
| 25   | Infernape          |    1 |   5.56% |   0.00% |

Leads

+ ---- + ----------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Leads                   | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ----------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Tapu Koko               |    4 |  22.22% |  50.00% |
| 2    | Houndoom                |    1 |   5.56% | 100.00% |
| 2    | Keldeo                  |    1 |   5.56% | 100.00% |
| 2    | Tyranitar               |    1 |   5.56% | 100.00% |
| 2    | Buzzwole                |    1 |   5.56% | 100.00% |
| 2    | Rotom-Mow               |    1 |   5.56% | 100.00% |
| 2    | Nidoking                |    1 |   5.56% | 100.00% |
| 2    | Dragapult               |    1 |   5.56% | 100.00% |
| 2    | Ferrothorn              |    1 |   5.56% |   0.00% |
| 2    | Heatran                 |    1 |   5.56% |   0.00% |
| 2    | Torkoal                 |    1 |   5.56% |   0.00% |
| 2    | Victini                 |    1 |   5.56% |   0.00% |
| 2    | Regigigas               |    1 |   5.56% |   0.00% |
| 2    | Blissey                 |    1 |   5.56% |   0.00% |
| 2    | Beedrill                |    1 |   5.56% |   0.00% |

Replays

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/dragonheaven-gen8joltemons-26
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/dragonheaven-gen8joltemons-28
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/dragonheaven-gen8joltemons-30
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/dragonheaven-gen8joltemons-33
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/dragonheaven-gen8joltemons-32
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/dragonheaven-gen8joltemons-35
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/dragonheaven-gen8joltemons-36
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/dragonheaven-gen8joltemons-39
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/dragonheaven-gen8joltemons-40

Some Quick Takeaways:
- Glad to see some people use the teams they've entered/plan to enter in the teambuilding competition
- Landorus and Weavile contiune to prove why they're S-Tier (though that 27% win rate for Weavile is a bit suspect)
- Mega Houndoom got some good usage for the first time in awhile and it did pretty well
- Tapu Koko, Cresselia, Goltres, and Heatran round out the upper echelon of usage and yeah that makes sense
- Nidoking my goat
- Regigigas sighting! And it put in work, too
- More people should use Victini, it's a sick mon
- 0 Gourgeists is a huge shocker, but 1 big Dragapult usage meant that the tournament wasn't lacking in Ghost-type terror
- Nothing super crazy happened this tournament, but it was really fun to watch, JolteMons OU is quite rad

With that done, the teambuilding competition will continue for another 24 hours, so be sure to get in any last second submission! See you then!

 

[G-Luke]

Get that shit cham winrate to 0 you love to see it

 

[Beaf Cultist]

Alright, I've never done one of these before, so I'll just shamelessly copy The Damned's formatting :)

The S Tier Experience (FiniVile Balance)

Nothing too out of the ordinary here. Pretty standard defensive cores and pretty standard breakers, with the only major differences being those of the meta itself (it's about the meta. love the meta). The main game plan is to open up the opponent's team with Tapu Koko and Heatran for a Weavile sweep in the lategame, with Fini taking advantage of those same openings in case Weavile kicks the bucket too early. Coincidentally ended up sharing 4 mons with YB, so that's pretty funny.

i like minisprites :)

Not too much to say here, but I couldn't help myself.

Moltres-Galar: One of the best SpDef walls in the tier, showing its full force here. Perfectly walls every viable Ghost, as well as blanket checking the vast majority of the specially offensive meta. Also serves as the team's defogger, so while you do resist Knock Off, you'd rather not lose your Boots if possible. Toxic over Hurricane is very important against certain bulky attackers, particularly CM users, and you don't give up on too many relevant matchups (the most notable being Safeguard Volcarona, which gets destroyed by Heatran anyway).

Landorus-Therian: Standard defensive Lando. Serves as the team's Electric answer and sets rocks, doing both of which just as reliably as always. Keeping it healthy throughout the game is very important on this team in particular, as without it Electrics go wild on the rest of the team. Not much else to say about this one, it's Lando.

Tapu Koko: Shell Bell Koko is arguably the best Koko set, and it's certainly great on this team. HP Ice allows you to break through annoyances like Gliscor, Lando, and Nidoking, as well as filling out all 4 attacks (for maximum Shell Bell potential!). Serves as a great way of breaking through some of Weavile's main answers, such as Keldeo, Mega Gyarados, and Colbur Berry Body Press Slowbro (wtf G-Luke), and is generally great against the Waters that otherwise annoy the rest of the team.

Heatran: Similar to Landorus, this is just standard SR Tran. Destroys Ferro (another common Weavile answer) as well as most other Steels, with Magma Storm+EP annihilating all but the fattest of fatmons (read: Empoleon). Also serves as a pretty good partner to Goltres, taking care of the special Rocks and Electrics that our friendly neighborhood Regen bird would struggle with. Three Toxic users may seem a little strange at first, but the team handles Poisons and Steels pretty well and Toxic allows Tran many more opportunities to cripple offensive threats.

Weavile: The team's main breaker. SD Weavile is just as amazing here as it is in regular NatDex (arguably moreso thanks to how commonplace Wishiwashi is as a team's bulky Water), and Soul Blade legitimately makes sense on it here (seeing how it would be netting the majority of KOs for this team anyway). Scavenge allows for some hilarious interactions (I managed to beat a Helmet Ferro 1v1, immediately followed by a Helmet Corviknight, and lived), and with every kill you get, it becomes harder for the opponent to stop the inevitable weasel.

Tapu Fini: Backup wincon in case Weavile doesn't pan out, as well as providing the Team with much-needed Ice and Water resistances. Another very important mon to keep healthy, as while it's around mons like GDZ and Wishiwashi are mere annoyances, but once it dies they can become very painful for the rest of the team to handle. EVs are from the sample set but could probably be changed to handle some specific threats better.

Weaknesses (or so I say, but these all ended up being extremely standard lol):

Knock Off: Pretty crazy to say about a team with 4 Dark resists, but nothing really wants to take a koff. Your best bet is hoping Fini can make do without Lefties for the rest of the battle, but it'll generally come down to which no-recovery bulky mon you need the least in each game.

Weather: Team's in dire straits against any Rain team that can beat Fini, and Goltres being your only answer to every mon on Sun is a big yikes. Weather matchups require some pretty tight gameplay to squeak out a win, but since neither Rain nor Sun are particularly common it shouldn't be too big of an issue.

Electrics: Keeping Lando alive at least as long as the opposing Electrics are around is absolutely imperative, as without it your defensive core implodes when faced with the tier's many powerful Electric attacks from mons like Tapu Koko, Zeraora, Regieleki, Rotom-Mow, and more.


The team's been tested a good bit, but if anyone notices some glaring flaw let me know on Discord. Otherwise, this was pretty fun, and I'd be glad to do it again (for UU. Do it. You won't.)

 

[Yoshiblaze]

Voting time!

Vote for your favorite team out of the 3 options and the team with the most votes is the winner!

When voting, please refer the teams as Team A, Team B, or Team C

Click the sprites or the Team Letter below to quickly look at each team's post


Team A By Yoshiblaze


Team B By The Damned


Team C By Beaf Cultist

Voting will close in 24 hours

 

[Beaf Cultist]

didn't want to vote first since my vote was pretty obvious, but if no one else will then i'll go right ahead :)

Team C

 

[ViZar]

my vote isn't as valid since I'm not too involved but...

Team A > Team C > Team B

 

[G-Luke]

Team A > Team C > Team B

 

[Yoshiblaze]

dang this was the longest 24 hours of my life

As per the voting rules, I only considered the first vote for each of the ranked-choice style ballots, but I believe the winner would be the same either way, so here are the results!

Votes

Team C - 1
Team A - 2

Team A by Yoshiblaze wins! Congratulations!

Yoshiblaze's team will officially be JolteMons OU's first sample team and, because I did like all 3 teams, both of the other teams will be added as samples as well.

And that's all for now! I'll get back to you on what we'll do next. Also, if you missed the teambuilding competition but still want to donate sample teams (including if you want to donate anonymously if you don't want to reveal strategies prior to PMPL), then just send your team my way on Discord or in this thread!

See you later!

 

[Yoshiblaze]

It is currently later!

With the Pet Mods Premier League starting tomorrow with its draft, and with JolteMons OU being a part of it as you know, I would like to announce some plans for immediate future. Basically the TL;DR is that we're gonna take a hiatus during the tournament, though there is a lot more to it than just that.

- During PMPL, there will be no weekly roomtours - Most, if not all, of our roomtour regulars will get drafted in PMPL, so as to not distract them from their weekly games or overload them, we will pause our weekly roomtours for at least the first few weeks of PMPL. If there's enough interest, we may hold UU roomtours during this time, though.
- If there's interest, we will hold a Community Create-A-Team during PMPL - This would just serve as a fun thing to keep us busy while roomtours are paused, while also giving us another sample team for the new players coming in to have. I do want to gauge interest first, so this likely won't start until Monday at the absolute earliest.
- During PMPL, all tiering changes will be paused unless they are urgent. Urgent tiering changes won't go into effect until the week after they're implemented - This is just to keep the metagame from changing during the tournament, since that's unfair to the competitors, especially the many new faces we'll have. Jolte OU has been tested pretty extensively, so I don't think anything super broken is going to pop up, but if it does, we'll implement bans/nerfs for the week after. Essentially, once a week begins, the metagame is locked until the next week, like how regular tier tournaments handle rises/drops due to usage.
- Any possible suspects tests won't occur until after PMPL - Again, another thing to keep the meta from changing during the tournament. Currently, the only suspect test on my radar right now is Mega Metagross (since it has Neuroforce now), with a very outside chance of us looking at Mega Blaziken as well.
- After the suspect tests (if we have any), we'll get back to developing UU - Since we've had UU for so long, we likely will only need 2 or so more weeks of UU development after any suspect tests. After that, we'll start on RU. I can't give you a timeframe because idk when PMPL is even ending, but my rough estimate is that we'll start July with RU development.

And while I won't be playing in PMPL, I'll still be watching closely, so be sure to give it your all! In the meantime, I'll post some weekly analysis to keep you up-to-date on what happens, give my personal insight, and spark discussion, and I'm really looking forward to it!

That's all for now, see you tomorrow with coverage on the PMPL Draft!

 

[Yoshiblaze]

The Pet Mods Premier League Draft has concluded!

After a very wild and VERY pricey experience, we have all our final rosters, which means that we can make Power Rankings that will end up being wildly inaccurate by the end of the tournament!

I will be doing exactly that, ranking every team based on how strong they are in JolteMons!

Before I start, just a few things to keep in mind. First, this is all just my opinion, I'll probably end up being super wrong at the end of the day because that's just how power rankings are. And second, please don't take anything I say or your team's ranking too harshly, this is just for fun and a low ranking doesn't mean that I think your team sucks or anything, it's just a prediction that will likely be wrong.

Also, I'll only be ranking each team collectively rather than having both a team and individual ranking, since the latter would take awhile and would probably be even more inaccurate.

Also, any player name in italics denotes that that player either signed up for "all" or didn't specifically sign up for JolteMons but I know they can play it if needed. Players that aren't in italics are either managers or players that specifically did sign up for JolteMons.

With that, let's get to the rankings!

#1 - Manicuno Manicunos - earl, G-Luke, RTM, TGtz8920
If you've played JolteMons or are in the JolteMons server, you probably could've guessed that this team would be #1 before the draft even started. Both of the best 2 JolteMons players, earl and G-Luke, co-manage this team and bought themselves, immediately guaranteeing them the top spot. Just between the two of them they boast multiple roomtour wins, immense metagame knowledge, innovative teambuilding, and positive records on basically everyone, so it's a no brainer that they'd take the top spot. My only slight concern is that earl and Luke might be needed for FEUU and Alternatium (for Luke specifically), so if they're both unavailable for Jolte then their lack of depth in that slot leaves a lot to be desired. However, since they were able to pick up both Moretto and guttrainer as Alternatium players, it shouldn't be too hard for one of them to play JolteMons every week.


#2 - Phantomire Gourgeists - zxgzxg, Spook, Beaf Cultist
Managed by regic boat and Vipotis, I believe that the Gourgeists are the clear #2 team in this slot as they have the other 2 JolteMons regulars in zxgzxg and Beaf Cultist. zxgzxg is a great player and council member, so he comes with a lot of important experience and knowledge. While he did go for an absolutely insane 30.5k, the second highest of the 63 drafted players and literally a quarter of the team's funds, I'm confident he'll be able to get the Gourgeists a few wins in this slot. And, if he's assigned to Restrictions or FEUU instead, they have good depth in Beaf Cultist, who's a good player in his own right and very passionate, which is a huge plus. They also have a wild card in Spook, who's basically the mad scientist of JolteMons teambuilding. You never know what to expect out of him, and in a BO1 format, that's absolutely huge. Not to mention, they are named after one of the best mons in the tier, so they have to do good.


#3 - Po-Town Probopass - Gravity Monkey, Clasmia, Nalorium, analysis geek, DuckeryDoodle, megaspoopy00
The team with by far the most players signed up for JolteMons, Hemetemesis and pupugugu's Po-Town Probopass are here to prove that quanity is quality. I had a really hard time ranking 3, 4, and 5, but I give the Probopass the edge over the next 2 teams because of Clasmia. Clasmia won the only roomtour they ever played in back in slate 5 with little metagame knowledge, so it's not super farfetch'd to say that they could pull off another performance like that. Plus, analysis geek is quite familiar with the current metagame, DuckeryDoodle is pretty experienced as well, and I have a lot of trust in Gravity Monkey to perform if needed. Like I said, the gap between 3 and 5 is tight, but I think all these factors give Po-Town a slight edge.


#4 - Close Combat Comrades - Bobsican, anique, scorbunnys, StitChuu
The Comrades led by Rezz0 and JolteMons council member Paulluxx just edge out #5 in my opinion because I feel more confident in knowing what I'll get. While he only signed up for FEUU, Bobsican and his stall teams can and will be an absolute pain for those unprepared, nearly winning multple roomtours off the back of them. scorbunnys is also a notable player here, having a good presence in the JolteMons Discord and a lot of National Dex knowledge, so they should do absolutely fine. I can't speak for anique or StitChuu, but with what they have, they can definitely net a couple wins. Plus, maybe having Paul as a captain gives them a power up?

#5 - Workers' Union of Gensokyo - Squawkerz, adem, dex, DuoM2, Mr. Bossaru
Managed by anaconja and cityscapes and possibly the best overall team in the tournament, the Union is a bit of a wildcard for JolteMons. The only player they have that specifically signed up for Jolte was Squawkerz, who I know is a quite capable and experienced battler, but I haven't seen him play the tier at all, so I can't gauge how good he might be. Council member DuoM2 is also a member of this squad, though he doesn't play the meta much. I am reliably told that dex is, like, one of the best players in the entire draft, so just based on that alone plus Squawk's experience, I wouldn't be surprised if putting them at #5 ages badly.


#6 - Tier 1 Boomers - Xrn, Noctrine, NEON_Voyager
And last but certainly not least, we have Old Dance Jacket and KeroseneZanchu's Tier 1 Boomers. While they do land at the bottom, it's because of a lack of skill or anything, but a lack of familiarity. I don't know how any of their players may perform as they're new faces to me or I know them for playing a different meta (in NEON's case). Plus, the rest of their team doesn't have anyone notable that can help them team build, so I can't speak much on that front either. That being said, this means that the Boomers are the biggest wild card, even more so than the Union,, so other teams definitely won't know what to expect from them, which they can likely use to their advantage, so do not underestimate them.

And that's the power rankings!
I'll be posting a weekly analysis of what goes down every week, so I'm very excited to see what goes down!

I'll see you then!

 

[Yoshiblaze]

Week 1 of PMPL is still going, but all 3 JolteMons battles have concluded for Week 1, so let's recap what happened!

This will just be a quick overview of each game, going over each team and certain plays.

With that, let's start with the first game played in Week 1, dex vs anique!

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dex (Worker's Union of Gensokyo) vs anique (Close Combat Comrades)

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So, immediately from team preview, you could tell that this game wasn't gonna last long. Both players, who are new to JolteMons but both experienced battlers in general, brought Hyper Offensive teams, with dex bringing Rain and anique bringing "Lead Lando + 5 Setup Mons".

dex definitely had the matchup advantage, as Swampert could destroy anything other than Mega Gyarados, who Ferrothorn handles, and if Swampert couldn't get it done, Manaphy could. On Rain, I usually prefer to use Ash-Greninja or Lumineon over Manaphy, but here it works to dex's advantage as Manaphy can actually beat Mega Gyara while Gren can't and Lumineon can only chunk it a bit with HP Electric (though they did have a Tapu Koko, so they could've ran Nature Power Lumineon to beat Gyara lol), so that was a good bring here.

However, despite having a losing matchup, I wouldn't count out anique, as all they need is a couple free turns with Volcarona or Mega Gyara and then can just win, which they could easily get from Ferro or Goltres.

The battle starts fast, as you'd expect, with anique sacking Lando for Rocks and dex getting rain up, leading to Gyarados coming in on Pelipper, who immediately switches out for Ferro. Here, I think anique did try to set up a bit too early, as Ferro was able to take out Gyara after it failed to OHKO Ferro with Crunch. Though I can't blame anique for using Gyarados early, as it was the only thing other than maybe Celesteela that could immediately threaten dex's team in Rain and if Gyarados had Life Dew it actually could've used Ferro as setup bait.

From there, stuff just starts dropping likes flies, as you'd expect, as anique's Goltres takes out Ferrothorn, then after some pivoting, dex's Mega Swampert comes in to clean up the rest of anique's team, giving dex and The Union a W. dex definitely had the matchup there, so I wouldn't beat myself up too hard over that if I was anique, as after Gyarados died, the only way they could've stopped Mega Swampert would be to burn it with Volcarona's Flame Body, but then they'd have a Manaphy and Tapu Koko to deal with. Overall, just a tough matchup for the Comrades, but they can probably bounce back.

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Gravity Monkey (Po-Town Probopass) vs RTM (Manicunos Manicunos)

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Next we have the Probopass's Gravity Monkey vs the Manicunos' RTM. Gravity Monkey is a well-tenured member of the Pet Mods community and has a lot of experience in SylveMons, though this is the first time I've see him play JolteMons, making it another matchup of battlers new to the format, though Gravity Monkey still has the knowledge advantage as he actively followed the mod during its creation. However, RTM's managers do happen to the best the Top 2 JolteMons players, so they had the best coaching you could ever ask for going into this.

At team preview, we're met with 2 Hyper Offense teams again. Seems to be a theme this week. Anyway, RTM is running Webs with Araquanid, while Gravity Monkey is running Screens. Webs have basically zapped out of existence after Galvantula and Vikavolt lost Buzz Off, but against a screens team, Webs have a huge advantage since they often don't run hazard removal. Gravity Monkey's team also has a pretty poor matchup against Mimikyu, with everything dying to it if they're at -1 Speed (then again, what screens team doesn't have a bad matchup against Mimkyu). That being said, Gravity Monkey may be able to simply overpower RTM's teams with the bulk from screens. Mega Banette is an out there pick, but it's honestly probably the most threatening thing on Grav's team, bodying RTM's team after a Shift Gear if Mimikyu's Disguise is broken, so let see if Gravity's able to get that done.

Turn 1 ends up being huge, with RTM leading Araquanid and immediately 2HKOing Gravity Monkey's Tapu Koko after predicting that Gravity would Taunt on Turn 1, giving Gravity only 1 screen for the rest of the battle, which puts Gravity in an awkward spot immediately. Gravity goes Gourgeist in response and does take out RTM's threatening Gapdos. RTM then goes Serperior and reveals that they're running a screens set, which was quite unexepected. RTM gets amazing mileage out of it, paralyzing Gourgeist, getting both screens up, and breaking its Substitute to allow Mimikyu to revenge kill it. This brings in Landorus for Gravity as RTM goes Araquanid to get webs up. Mimkyu does pretty much win the game (barring a Play Rough miss on Terrakion or Goltres) with Webs up, so Gravity has to go all in on a Landorus sweep now, which he does by SD'ing up. However, Araquanid is just too bulky, especially behind Reflect, for Lando to take out, forcing it to explode on it to KO. This allows RTM's Gourgeist to clean up the rest of Gravity's team, even OHKOing Goltres as it was an offensive set, givng the Manicunos the win.

Another case of a tough matchup for the loser, as Webs + Gourgeist/Mimikyu were all insanely good against Gravity Monkey's team and the unique Serperior set really threw a wrench in Gravity's plans. The Liquidation on Turn 1 was also huge, as having a Light Screen up would've been potentially helpful against Gourgeist, though it would've been tough to beat Mimikyu either way. Thus, this battle has a similar takeaway, the Probopass can definitely bounce back with a better matchup in the future. As for the Manicunos, RTM made a lot of really good plays, so even without earl or G-Luke playing, the Manicunos may still be the best JolteMons team in the tournament, which is a terrifying prospect for their future opponents.

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Beaf Cultist (Phantomire Gourgeists) vs Xrn (Tier 1 Boomers)

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Lastly, we have JolteMons veteran Beaf Cultist facing Xrn, who's new to Pet Mods as a whole. I said in my Power Rankings post that I expect big things from The Gourgeists, even without zxgzxg playing, because of Beaf Cultist's experience. That being said, you can't count out the Tier 1 Boomers despite of their lack of experience as they could pull out literally anything, so Beaf should definitely stay on his toes in this battle.

As for teams, we finally have some non-Hyper Offense teams as Beaf brings a fairly standard balance team, outside of a unique Mega Venusaur, while Xrn brought the legendary BEEZONE core and 4 stupidly bulky mons in Slowbro, Ferro, Clef, and Goltres. At team preview, nothing seems like they could go too crazy, Beaf will just have to make sure to play careful with his Corviknight around Magnezone (though at least he has Gapdos to check Beedrill), and Xrn will have to make sure to keep his Slowbro healthy as it walls most of Beaf's team. Mega Venusaur is also interesting here as it does have Rash Powder to burn things, letting it just sit on Xrn's entire team outside of Zone and Slowbro (though, spolier alert, we do see later that Xrn's Goltres has Hurricane, so Venu couldn't wall that either). That being said, I'm more of a Vileplume believer myself, lol.

Nothing too major happens early, as Beaf burns Goltres with Venusaur, Xrn gets Rocks up with with Clef, both players do a lot of pivoting. One interesting part is when Corviknight comes out for Beaf on Xrn's Goltres. It probably just shows how aggressive of a player I am, but I was surprised to see Xrn not switch into Magnezone to trap it as Beaf was able to Defog away the Rocks and Roost up after Goltres did some chip with Fiery Wrath and U-Turn. This ended up being the only time Corviknight came out, so this was Xrn's only chance to trap it. I definitely wouldn't call it a misplay, as Beaf very easily could've just U-Turned on any of the 3 turns that Corviknight was out, so Xrn was clearly just playing it safe, but it was an interesting interaction nonetheless. On the flip side, it was quite bold of Beaf to not immediately U-Turn after sending out Corviknight, but it ended up working in his favor. And, again, this obersavtion probably just shows that I'd play Magnezone more aggressively than others.

Ironically, Magnezone does come out a turn after Corviknight switches out, eating a Clefable Mystical Fire. Mystical Fire was an interesting choice for Clefable, as usually you'd see Flamethrower on Calm Mind sets for the power. As I said in chat later, I assume Beaf ran it to emulate Mega Latias sets that run Mystical Fire to weaken the foe and make it easier to heal and Calm Mind up, though Latias only run Mystical Fire because it doesn't learn Flamethrower or Heat Wave. Mystical Fire actually works to Beaf's favor here, weakening Magnezone enough to where Flash Cannon + Future Sight doesn't KO Mega Venusaur the next turn, but it does come back to bite him later. Kinda.

A couple turns later, Xrn hard switches Ferrothorn into Beaf's Darm, and I only want to mention it because I was thinking Xrn would do that just so Darm KO'd itself with Flare Blitz recoil + Iron Barbs and it would've been really funny, especially since Xrn has a hard counter in Slowbro, but Beaf just U-Turned instead.

For the next few turns, Clefable gets a Calm Mind up as Magnezone comes it, so Xrn Volt Switches on it to sac Ferrothorn to Mystical Fire. However, this backfires on Xrn as Mystical Fire is so weak that it doesn't KO Ferro at 66% even at +1. This was actually huge for Beaf, as Xrn was kinda banking on Mystical Fire killing there to get in Zone for free, so Beaf can now use Ferro as setup bait. This led to Xrn making a risking play by hard switching in Beedrill to stop Clefable before it gets too many Calm Minds, but Beaf decided to Mystical Fire after only using Calm Mind once on Ferro, KOing Beedrill and putting Xrn in a very awkward situation. Magnezone is able to KO Clef the turn after, but it came at a huge cost, as a couple turns later, Gapdos chunks Slowbro with a Banded Brave Bird which invited in Magnezone, who had its Volt Switch blocked by Garchomp, who got up a Swords Dance and OHKO'd Xrn's Clefable, giving Beaf and the Gourgeists a forfeit win.

At the end of the day, that was certainly an interesting turn of events. Had Beaf just been running Flamethrower, Xrn would've been in a much better position as he wouldn't have had to sac Beedrill to get Magnezone in and Beedrill's speed control could've prevented Garchomp from sweeping later. However, Xrn might have still lost at the end of the day because of the sheer power of Banded Gapdos and Beedrill's inability to OHKO Garchomp, but the way it turned out in the end was very funny.

Other than the unfortunate Mystical Fire situation, there wasn't much else that Xrn could've done in hindsight, as staying in with Ferrothorn could've allowed Clefable to get to +6 and out of Magnezone revenge kill range. My only thought right now would be to stay in with Ferro to pressure with Power Whip, but I think Clef could still get to plus +6 in that situation, so I see why they made the aggressive switch. This biggest weakness here was likely just a lack of speed control on Xrn's team, as only Beedrill outsped Garchomp and Gapdos, so either them could wreck havoc when Beedrill goes down, which ended up happening. Other than that, Xrn had a compotent team, so adding another fast mon that can exert offensive pressure and Xrn should be a threat in the coming weeks.

As for Beaf, he's off to a good start on what I expect to be a good run for him. Just, don't run Mystical Fire Clef anymore. It can't backfire so right again, right?

And that's that! Interesting Week 1 for JolteMons for sure, curious to see how the future weeks go as a lot of people who knew to JolteMons are being tasked with playing JolteMons, so it'll be fun to see how they develop after getting their first taste of the meta.

I'll see you next week (or maybe the week after depending how long this extension lasts, or maybe earlier, who knows)!

 

[Yoshiblaze]

Okay, so, here's the situation.
I got bored, decided to write an Article for JolteMons, which I've done in the past for SylveMons in the SylveMons Resource thread.
Now, usually, I'd post this in the SylveMons Resource thread with all the other articles and JolteMons Resources. But, articles aren't really resources, so it being the SylveMons Resources thread would make it even less visible than the JolteMons Resources there. Not to mention, the PMPL Weelky Recaps are essentially articles, too, so it overall feels appropriate to post this here instead.

With that, on to the article:

Playing With the Big Boys Now: National Dex Ubers in JolteMons OU
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JolteMons OU is pretty different from National Dex OU, with many newly viable Pokemon coming from lower tiers like Wishiwashi, Empoleon, and Gourgeist, as well as numerous buffed old threats like Weavile and Mega Medicham. However, another big reason why JolteMons is unique from National Dex OU is its multitude of legal Pokemon locked away in Ubers in NatDex. Through the wide range of changes these once overpowered monsters received, they've ended up in many different place viability-wise. So, in this article, let's see how they all turned out.

The Good

Dragapult

Sets

Dragapult @ Choice Specs
Ability: Infiltrator / Clear Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Draco Meteor
- U-turn
- Flamethrower / Thunder / Hydro Pump

First up and arguably the best of the former Ubers is Draco Dropping Expert Dragapult. Ironically one of the least changed former Ubers, being unbanned after Slate 1 when we decided to ban Z-Moves, Dragapult has been a consistent top threat ever since. Even with the rise of other great Ghost breakers in Gourgeist and Blacephalon, Dragapult has held on to its top spot in the metagame thanks to its blistering Speed tier, access to U-Turn, and deceptive power. Gourgeist and Blacephalon just wish they could just click U-Turn when there's a Weavile in the back ready to Pursuit trap you. Dragapult does hate the dominance of Moltres-Galar and, to a lesser extent, Cresselia, and it also hates more teams being prepped from Ghost-types thanks to its aforementioned Ghost breaker brethren, but, at the end of the day, it's not that bad because that Speed stat can get you anywhere. Literally and figuratively.

Darmanitan-Galar-Zen

Sets

Darmanitan-Galar @ Chill Pill G
Ability: Snow Cloak [Turns into Snow Warning]
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Ice Punch
- Flare Blitz
- Earthquake
- U-turn

I consistently forget that this thing even Ubers in National Dex because of its base form, but it is, so it counts for this list. A product of another unique thing about JolteMons, being its many signature items, we have Galarian Zen Darmanitan. 160 Attack and 135 Speed with an amazing offensive typing, great coverage, U-Turn, and Snow Warning to break Focus Sashes and chip switch-ins sounds broken on paper, and it sure feels like it if you run into it unprepared. In truth, while G-Darm-Z is an amazing Pokémon, it does face a few challenges down in OU, namely being stonewalled by any good bulky Water, sans Empoleon and Toxapex, having literally 0 Defensive utility unless you really need to switch into an Ice Beam, and getting chipped fast by Stealth Rock and Flare Blitz recoil. At least it doesn't take 50% from Rocks because of how the Chill Pill works, but it's still on a timer the second it comes out. Plus, it doesn't face competition as an Ice-type wallbreaker from Weavile, who isn't as easily walled by Water-types and has nice tools in Swords Dance, Ice Shard, Pursuit, and Knock Off. That being said, Weavile isn't that much better than G-Darm-Z and Weavile is an S- Tier mon, so I'd say G-Darm-Z is in a great place right now.


Alakazam-Mega

Sets

Alakazam @ Alakazite
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Expanding Force / Psyshock / Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam / Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
- Recover

Another stupidly fast thing that hates Goltres existing, it's Mega Alakazam. While rarely seen nowadays, MegaZam is still a huge threat on the off chance you run into it, especially if your team lacks a Goltres, as it can and will outspeed and OHKO or 2HKO your entire team after some chip. After it got unbanned and before people realized just how good Goltres was, MegaZam PsySpam teams with Tapu Lele were a dominant (expanding) force, tearing through unprepared teams with great ease. Even now, being the fastest thing on the VR and having Trace in a meta that added a bunch of broken abilities are both very nice to have, giving the Master of Spoons a fine spot in the meta.

Tornadus-Therian

Sets

Tornadus-Therian @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Defog

Tornadus-Therian @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Hurricane
- Focus Blast
- Heat Wave

Just about sneaking into the "Good" section by virtue of being OU, it's Tornadus-Therian. In a meta with another, much more popular Regenerator Flying-type in Goltres, it's easy to forget about the original unkillable bird. But, even with all the advantages Goltres has, Tornadus still very much has a place on teams that appreciate its unique strengths over the Dark bird, like not being weak to Fairy, being much faster, and packing Knock Off and a stronger STAB move. Plus, Nasty Plot sets can be a nasty surprise for an unsuspecting foe, boasting coverage that Nasty Plot Goltres could only dream of in Focus Blast and Heat Wave. So, while things aren't entirely up for Tornadus-Therian, it's very much existent in JolteMons OU and that's okay.

The Mid

Lucario-Mega

Sets

Lucario @ Lucarionite
Ability: Inner Focus [Becomes Iron Fist]
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Bullet Punch / Meteor Mash
- Ice Punch / Thunder Punch

This is probably my favorite Pokémon in the entire metagame and even I have to admit that this thing is the definition of mid. You know it's bad when you get unbanned in a suspect near unanimously and then immediately placed into into UUBL and no one questions it. That being said, Mega Lucario is extremely fun to use and can be an absolute demon lategame. It massively competes with the 4 other good Fighting-type Megas in Gallade, Medicham, and Lopunny, but Lucario having Swords Dance, outspeeding Gallade, having the defensive utility of being a Steel-type, and having the strongest priority among them gives it a niche on its own. I'm so glad people pushed us to suspect test it, I could never thank you enough for it.

Cinderace

Sets

Cinderace @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Libero
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Pyro Ball
- High Jump Kick / Electro Ball / Court Change
- Sucker Punch / Electro Ball
- U-turn

I've got to say, I really expected more out of the Ace of Galar, but Cinderace is quite mediocre currently. Its Speed tier is great, it can pivot with U-Turn, has neat utility in Court Change, and a broken move in Pyro Ball, but even with all that, it still falls flat in a lot of areas. It can't muscle through its checks like Gliscor without vanilla Libero or Z-Moves, its pretty frail and hard to get it, and, the biggest thing, it's pretty outclassed by Galarian Darmanitan, who plays similarly but does almost anything Cinderace can better. Cinderace can at least avoid Stealth Rock damage with Boots, but with hazard control being fairly easy to come by, support G-Darm isn't very difficult, making that less of a big positive. Perhaps people will look more into Cinderace because of this post, you could experiment with Court Change or running items like Shell Bell or Choice Band, but for now, Cinderace is just meh. A great Pokémon in UU, however.


Moody

Sets

Decidueye @ Cursed Belt
Ability: Moody
EVs: 8 HP / 252 Atk / 104 Def / 4 SpD / 140 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Poltergeist
- Leaf Blade
- Roost / Brave Bird

Mesprit @ Leftovers
Ability: Moody
EVs: 84 Atk / 252 SpA / 172 Spe
Modest Nature
- Moonblast
- Thunderbolt / Hidden Power [Fire]
- Nasty Plot
- Protect

Mesprit @ Leftovers
Ability: Moody
EVs: 180 HP / 116 Atk / 4 SpA / 4 SpD / 204 Spe
Timid Nature
- Moonblast
- Stored Power / Hidden Power [Fire]
- Calm Mind
- Protect

Technically Moody should be in "The Bad" as both of its OU-viable users are barely that, but I do think Moody still has untapped potential. Plus, you are way more likely to randomly lose to a Decidueye than any of the mons in "The Bad" section. That being said, Decidueye and Mesprit are still quite mediocre. The new Moody is extremely fun to build with, as figuring out optimal EV spreads to make sure that your lowest stat is just right makes crafting EV spreads a fun game, but in battle, Moody is usually a bootleg Speed Boost, which is not great. Decidueye at least has the distinction of getting its Z-Move banned, which would've never happened without Moody, so I have to respect it. Getting a Moody boost with Glalie before Mega Evolving is also a funny thing to think about, though I'd save that for the lower tiers.

The Bad

Kangaskhan-Mega

Sets

Kangaskhan (F) @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- Double-Edge
- Power-Up Punch
- Sucker Punch / Earthquake

Unfortunately for Mega Kangaskhan, this isn't VGC nor is it 2014, so it can't body everything by just spamming Double-Edge and Power Up-Punch anymore. While Kangaskhan has great bulk, useful priority in Fake Out, and the aforementioned Power-Up Punch to set up with, its biggest downfall is being a pure Normal-type. Normal isn't exactly a good typing for an offensive Pokémon nowadays and, even in that role, it;s unfortunately outclassed by Mega Lopunny and the much worse Regigigas, Thus, Mega Kanga laments in UU, unable to simply toss away its problems.

Shaymin-Sky

Sets

Shaymin-Sky @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Leaf Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Seed Flare
- Sky Soiree
- Earth Power
- Healing Wish

Shaymin-Sky @ Leftovers
Ability: Leaf Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Seed Flare
- Sky Soiree
- Substitute
- Leech Seed

Who knew one little change could make this much difference, huh. Shaymin-Sky lost Serene Grace for the decent Leaf Guard, putting a stop to its 100% Seed Flare SpD drops and 60% Air Slash flinch shenanigans, but it did gain a great move in Sky Soiree. Despite this, Shaymin is one of two things in this article that isn't even on the OU VR. Shaymin really does have a lot of good qualities, like Seed Flare and Sky Soiree letting it snowball if it can stay on the field for long enough, good coverage in Earth Power, amazing Speed, and decent utility in checking Ground-types and being a Grass-type that straight up resists U-Turn thanks to Leaf Guard. However, the reason why it's not seen at all in OU is probably just because there are so many other viable Flying-types that you can get so much more out of. Goltres, Torn-T, Lando-T, Gliscor, Celesteela, and Corviknight, while not quite the same as Shaymin, all have better qualities, either being a better setup move, better bulk, U-Turn, or better utility. If Shaymin had any one of those, especially U-Turn, I could see it getting more usage. But for now, it has to deal with being just an ultra niche pick that may win you a game occassionally. At least it's great in UU.

Darmanitan-Galar

Sets

Darmanitan-Galar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Gorilla Tactics
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Ice Punch
- Flare Blitz
- Earthquake
- U-turn

Darmanitan-Galar @ Salac Berry
Ability: Zen Mode
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Belly Drum
- Fire Punch
- Earthquake
- Substitute

Right, this thing is Ubers in NatDex. Well, here it's an Ice Darmanitan and Darmanitan isn't even good in UU. It's rough. Just take a Chill Pill and become A+ Tier in OU, okay?


Sand Veil/Snow Cloak

Sets

Glaceon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Power of Alchemy (Glaceon) [Effects of Snow Cloak and Snow Warning]
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Blizzard
- Freeze-Dry
- Meltdown
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Today I learned that Sand Veil and Snow Cloak are banned from National Dex OU. Go figure. Anyway, these abilities suck. Like, badly. And that's after we buffed them. Don't get me wrong, they give very useful effects, a free SpD boost just for being in Sand is great for stuff that typically has low SpD and Sand Force is a super cool ability so having a Hail version of it is really cool, too. The big problem is that having their only decent effect restricted to weather makes them hard to justify ever running, especially since most of the Pokemon with them have better abilities. Sure, you could run Sand Veil Garchomp and pair it with TTar so you can take 30% from a Cresselia Moonblast or something, but why do that when you can just run Rough Skin, one of the best abilities in the game? Or why run Snow Cloak Weavile on a Hail team when you could run Scavenge Weavile on a normal team or Arctozolt on a Hail team? It's unfortunate, but it just happens to abilities sometimes. By far the best user of either of these abilities is Glaceon, only because it summons its own Hail to activate Snow Cloak with Power of Alchemy, and it doesn't sniff OU viability (though I'll admit, I've seen it put in more work than some other unranked mons).

The Future?

In this section, I'll quickly go over a couple current National Dex and JolteMons Ubers that may drop into JolteMons OU in the future.

Metagross-Mega

Sets

Metagross @ Metagrossite
Ability: Clear Body [Becomes Neuroforce]
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Bullet Punch
- Earthquake / Ice Punch
- Thunder Punch / Ice Punch

The next suspect test we have planned is currently for Mega Metagross. While a bit insane sounding, it becomes a lot less crazy when you consider that it lost Tough Claws for Neuroforce. Neuroforce really isn't a great ability when your opponent can simply play around the threat of getting hit by a super effective move, so losing Tough Claws gives Megagross a huge drop off in power. Not to mention, even when Neuroforce activates, it's still weaker than Tough Claws. On the flip side, I imagine that this suspect test won't be nearly as clear cut as the Mega Lucario one was because of Mega Metagross' insane stats. 145 Attack is pretty unimpressive for a Mega, but 80/150/110 bulk and 110 Speed are both crazy. So, while Metagross is sure to be walled by plenty of things, the suspect test may come down to whether or not anything can kill it before it ends up mowing through half your team. Should be an interesting bridge to cross when we get there.


Blaziken-Mega

Sets

Blaziken @ Blazikenite
Ability: Speed Boost [Becomes Overclock]
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Flare Blitz
- Close Combat
- Thunder Punch

Blaziken @ Blazikenite
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- U-turn
- Overheat
- Close Combat
- Thunder Punch

The next most feasible candidate for a suspect test is Mega Blaziken. The reasoning for this one is very simple, as Mega Blaziken lost Speed Boost for Overclock. While base Blaziken kept Speed Boost and can still net Mega Blaziken a boost or two before Mega Evolving, once Mega Blaziken Mega Evolves, its stuck with the speed tier it has, which is especially awkward if Blaziken is forced out. From there, it's basically a suped-up version of Overclock Infernape that can murder things with Overheat and Close Combat. However, Mega Blaziken still possesses insane power and since Blaziken still has Speed Boost pre-Mega and only needs 1 boost to tear the entire tier apart if it wants to, I can't say I see myself supporting a suspect test for it as of now. Never say never, however.

Arceus-Bug

Sets

Arceus-Bug @ Insect Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 248 HP / 164 Def / 96 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Judgment
- Ice Beam
- Recover
- Stealth Rock

Nah, I'm joking, this thing's never getting unbanned lol.

It's always fun to use Pokemon that you often never see in competitive settings, it's one of the best parts about Pet Mods. While this usually applies to normally bad Pokemon, the opposite holds true as well. Thus, in a meta where both things are true like JolteMons, it makes it really fun to see the mighty Darmanitan-Galar-Zen and Mega Lucario face off with stuff like Gourgeist and Wishiwashi. You're playing with the big boys now, I hope you have fun doing it!