Just like PMPL I, we're back with recaps of all the JolteMons games this! These recaps are essentially summaries of each of the JolteMons games in the week, including some of my thoughts about the matchup and some plays, as well as JolteMons-specific insight for spectators not familiar with the tier.
VS
VS
VS
See you next week for more JolteMons content!
Temporary Link
/ 
/ 
/ 
/ 
/ 
vs 
/ 
/ 
/ / 
/ 
For the first game we're gonna talk about, we have vstra of the United Tropius Company going up against Fluore of the Phantomire Gourgeists, each being extremely skilled NatDex players making their JolteMons debuts. Each player brought quite well-rounded teams with nothing too crazy on either. Fluore actually brought a team that Beaf Cultist used to win during Week 5 of PMPL I, which makes sense as Fluore's captain zxgzxg was the one who helped build that team back then, so it's neat to see it show up again here. It features a cool pick in Mega Sceptile, who was blessed with a great ability in Optimistic, preventing self-stat drops, letting it spam Leaf Storm to its heart's content. It does really struggle with Steel and Flying-types, however, especially Steel-types that aren't weak to Focus Blast, which vstra has in Mega Metagross. Mega Metagross' unban via suspect test after PMPL I was the most major meta development after that tournament ended, so I was really excited to see it in action at a high level, great to see it immediately. As for the matchup, it seems about even, which each player having a couple mons that could run through the other's team (Weavile and Metagross for vstra and Sceptile and Nidoking for Fluore), but each of them need a lot of help to get there.
The game starts with vstra leading Dragapult and Fluore starting with Clefable, prompting an immediate U-Turn from Pult, straight into Metagross. However, Metagross is forced to eat a Thunder Wave on the switch, severely hampering its threat level and it now can't threaten to outspeed and 1 or 2HKO 5 of Fluore's mons anymore (depending on its set). This is obviously absolutely huge for Fluore. Both Clefable and Metagross switch out the next turn for Heatran, with vstra's being revealed to be the Air Balloon set, countering Fluore's unless it has Flash Cannon. vstra goes straight for Eruption, predicting a switch, which actually damages Fluore's Heatran as this team actually runs Flame Body Tran to hope to burn Weavile, so Fluore's Heatran takes a massive chunk of damage as it gets Rocks up. Without Flash Fire Tran, Fluore doesn't really have an Eruption switch-in, going into Urshifu-Rapid Strike the next turn and taking over 50% from another Eruption.
vstra swtiches Tapu Fini into a Surging Strikes and then a U-Turn from Urshifu, with the U-Turn bringing in Nidoking on a Defog from Fini. As always, Nidoking is an absolute menace and can 1 or 2HKO vstra's entire team, and in JolteMons it can do it in 2 ways. Special Nidoking sets are still great, of course, but in JolteMons it's a lot more common for Nidoking to run physical sets thanks to the addition of 2 strong Sheer Force-boosted STAB moves for it in the Poison-type Acidic Fists and the Ground-type Mud Spike, plus a minor buff to the Elemental Punches to 85 BP that makes them that much better as coverage options. Plus, Nidoking even gets a Sheer Force-boosted STAB priority move in Poison Dart to circumvent its low Speed, though using it means that you have to forgo either Ice Punch or Fire Punch. Unfortunately for vstra, Fluore's Nidoking does carry Ice Punch, causing their incoming Landorus-T to take 77%. At the very least, had it been a special Nidoking, it would've died instantly instead, plus the hit did get some Rocky Helmet chip on Nidoking. vstra doubles out into Weavile, predicting another Ice Punch, as Fluore goes into Zapdos. Potentially predicting a switch into Heatran, vstra goes for Knock Off, doing a nice 50% to Zapdos but unfortunately getting paralyzed by Static. Fluore did go for Discharge, so this had a decent chance of happening anyway, but that paralysis really sucks for vstra, as there goes another mon that outspeeds Nidoking, leaving only Dragapult to outspeed it.
Speaking of Nidoking, after vstra's Heatran is able to draw first blood by trapping and KOing Clefable with Magma Storm + Taunt + Eruption, Nidoking is free to come back in and threaten a KO. Landorus comes in and avoids a Mud Spike, but after falls to an Acidic Fists after taking an Ice Punch. It appears that vstra didn't go for Ice Shard, which wouldn't have killed (judging from Weavile Knock doing 49% to Zapdos, I think it was Boots), but it would've put Nidoking in range of Dragapult's Shadow Ball, which also threatens a 1 or 2HKO on the rest of Fluore's team. My guess is that vstra figured that Fluore would switch to Heatran or Urshifu on Ice Shard to not take the chip damage and used Knock instead, or they predicted another Ice Punch and wanted to go for the kill with Triple Axel.
In any case, Dragapult is able to come in and 2HKO Heatran with a Specs Shadow Ball, bringing in Sceptile for Fluore, who's also looking quite scary, especially since it doesn't have to fear Weavile's Ice Shard later. Despite this, vstra is able to get into a nice position, taking a chunk from Sceptile's Leaf Storm with Metagross, but almost KOing Urshifu with Metagross and getting Dragapult in for free the following turn on a Close Combat, letting it get a kill, which ends up being on Zapdos.
From here, stuff starts dropping like flies, starting with vstra sacking Landorus to a Sceptile Dragon Pulse, then Fluore sacking Urshifu to a Metagross Meteor Mash. Nidkoing comes in and takes out Tapu Fini with a combination of Mud Spike and Poison Dart. Dragapult comes in, but because of the Misty Terrain, it unfortunately can't OHKO Nidoking with a Draco Meteor, so it's forced to Shadow Ball, which leaves Nidoking just a sliver of HP as Nidoking takes Pult out with an Ice Punch. This looks like it should be game for Fluore as Nidoking can outspeed and KO both Heatran and Metagross with ease. However, vstra can win on the off chance that they're running Bullet Punch on Metagross, which can KO Nidoking, then Metagross can also KO Sceptile with an Ice Punch or a Meteor Mash into Bullet Punch, depending on their set. Bullet Punch isn't terribly common on Metagross, with it usually preferring to pack 2-3 coverage moves alongside Meteor Mash, but it's certainly not a bad option. Sure enough, Metagross does have Bullet Punch... but unfortunately it gets fully paralyzed, allowing Nidoking to KO it and Heatran with 2 more Mud Spikes, securing the win for Fluore and Gourgs.
Obviously a super unfortunate outcome for vstra there. A couple very slightly different plays could've guaranteed vstra the win at the end, but hindsight's 20/20 and with the plays they did make, they won in most timelines, it just turned out that this isn't one of them. That said, both players played very well as expected, they'll both be people to keep your eyes on as the tournament goes on.
/ / / / / vs / / / / / For the first game we're gonna talk about, we have vstra of the United Tropius Company going up against Fluore of the Phantomire Gourgeists, each being extremely skilled NatDex players making their JolteMons debuts. Each player brought quite well-rounded teams with nothing too crazy on either. Fluore actually brought a team that Beaf Cultist used to win during Week 5 of PMPL I, which makes sense as Fluore's captain zxgzxg was the one who helped build that team back then, so it's neat to see it show up again here. It features a cool pick in Mega Sceptile, who was blessed with a great ability in Optimistic, preventing self-stat drops, letting it spam Leaf Storm to its heart's content. It does really struggle with Steel and Flying-types, however, especially Steel-types that aren't weak to Focus Blast, which vstra has in Mega Metagross. Mega Metagross' unban via suspect test after PMPL I was the most major meta development after that tournament ended, so I was really excited to see it in action at a high level, great to see it immediately. As for the matchup, it seems about even, which each player having a couple mons that could run through the other's team (Weavile and Metagross for vstra and Sceptile and Nidoking for Fluore), but each of them need a lot of help to get there.
The game starts with vstra leading Dragapult and Fluore starting with Clefable, prompting an immediate U-Turn from Pult, straight into Metagross. However, Metagross is forced to eat a Thunder Wave on the switch, severely hampering its threat level and it now can't threaten to outspeed and 1 or 2HKO 5 of Fluore's mons anymore (depending on its set). This is obviously absolutely huge for Fluore. Both Clefable and Metagross switch out the next turn for Heatran, with vstra's being revealed to be the Air Balloon set, countering Fluore's unless it has Flash Cannon. vstra goes straight for Eruption, predicting a switch, which actually damages Fluore's Heatran as this team actually runs Flame Body Tran to hope to burn Weavile, so Fluore's Heatran takes a massive chunk of damage as it gets Rocks up. Without Flash Fire Tran, Fluore doesn't really have an Eruption switch-in, going into Urshifu-Rapid Strike the next turn and taking over 50% from another Eruption.
vstra swtiches Tapu Fini into a Surging Strikes and then a U-Turn from Urshifu, with the U-Turn bringing in Nidoking on a Defog from Fini. As always, Nidoking is an absolute menace and can 1 or 2HKO vstra's entire team, and in JolteMons it can do it in 2 ways. Special Nidoking sets are still great, of course, but in JolteMons it's a lot more common for Nidoking to run physical sets thanks to the addition of 2 strong Sheer Force-boosted STAB moves for it in the Poison-type Acidic Fists and the Ground-type Mud Spike, plus a minor buff to the Elemental Punches to 85 BP that makes them that much better as coverage options. Plus, Nidoking even gets a Sheer Force-boosted STAB priority move in Poison Dart to circumvent its low Speed, though using it means that you have to forgo either Ice Punch or Fire Punch. Unfortunately for vstra, Fluore's Nidoking does carry Ice Punch, causing their incoming Landorus-T to take 77%. At the very least, had it been a special Nidoking, it would've died instantly instead, plus the hit did get some Rocky Helmet chip on Nidoking. vstra doubles out into Weavile, predicting another Ice Punch, as Fluore goes into Zapdos. Potentially predicting a switch into Heatran, vstra goes for Knock Off, doing a nice 50% to Zapdos but unfortunately getting paralyzed by Static. Fluore did go for Discharge, so this had a decent chance of happening anyway, but that paralysis really sucks for vstra, as there goes another mon that outspeeds Nidoking, leaving only Dragapult to outspeed it.
Speaking of Nidoking, after vstra's Heatran is able to draw first blood by trapping and KOing Clefable with Magma Storm + Taunt + Eruption, Nidoking is free to come back in and threaten a KO. Landorus comes in and avoids a Mud Spike, but after falls to an Acidic Fists after taking an Ice Punch. It appears that vstra didn't go for Ice Shard, which wouldn't have killed (judging from Weavile Knock doing 49% to Zapdos, I think it was Boots), but it would've put Nidoking in range of Dragapult's Shadow Ball, which also threatens a 1 or 2HKO on the rest of Fluore's team. My guess is that vstra figured that Fluore would switch to Heatran or Urshifu on Ice Shard to not take the chip damage and used Knock instead, or they predicted another Ice Punch and wanted to go for the kill with Triple Axel.
In any case, Dragapult is able to come in and 2HKO Heatran with a Specs Shadow Ball, bringing in Sceptile for Fluore, who's also looking quite scary, especially since it doesn't have to fear Weavile's Ice Shard later. Despite this, vstra is able to get into a nice position, taking a chunk from Sceptile's Leaf Storm with Metagross, but almost KOing Urshifu with Metagross and getting Dragapult in for free the following turn on a Close Combat, letting it get a kill, which ends up being on Zapdos.
From here, stuff starts dropping like flies, starting with vstra sacking Landorus to a Sceptile Dragon Pulse, then Fluore sacking Urshifu to a Metagross Meteor Mash. Nidkoing comes in and takes out Tapu Fini with a combination of Mud Spike and Poison Dart. Dragapult comes in, but because of the Misty Terrain, it unfortunately can't OHKO Nidoking with a Draco Meteor, so it's forced to Shadow Ball, which leaves Nidoking just a sliver of HP as Nidoking takes Pult out with an Ice Punch. This looks like it should be game for Fluore as Nidoking can outspeed and KO both Heatran and Metagross with ease. However, vstra can win on the off chance that they're running Bullet Punch on Metagross, which can KO Nidoking, then Metagross can also KO Sceptile with an Ice Punch or a Meteor Mash into Bullet Punch, depending on their set. Bullet Punch isn't terribly common on Metagross, with it usually preferring to pack 2-3 coverage moves alongside Meteor Mash, but it's certainly not a bad option. Sure enough, Metagross does have Bullet Punch... but unfortunately it gets fully paralyzed, allowing Nidoking to KO it and Heatran with 2 more Mud Spikes, securing the win for Fluore and Gourgs.
Obviously a super unfortunate outcome for vstra there. A couple very slightly different plays could've guaranteed vstra the win at the end, but hindsight's 20/20 and with the plays they did make, they won in most timelines, it just turned out that this isn't one of them. That said, both players played very well as expected, they'll both be people to keep your eyes on as the tournament goes on.
Temporary Link (Requires you to be in the Pet Mods Discord to view)
/ 
/ 
/ 
/ 
/ 
vs / / 
/ / / 
Next, we have Baloor of the Worker's Union of Gensokyo versus scorbunnys of the Think-A-Ton Crew. Baloor is a defending SPL Champion while also representing the defending PMPL Champions, while scorbunnys is one of two Jolte players this week that played in PMPL I. Both teams are nothing crazy in JolteMons terms, as each could almost pass for regular NatDex teams until you notice scor's Wishiwashi. The usual ZU mon is a stellar mon in JolteMons, being Water/Dragon, gaining Core Enforcer and Recover, and having a signature item that replaces its ability with Intimidate and boosts the power of Water moves, making it a great wall and tank. The most uncommon thing on either team is Mega Mawile, who's great but rather uncommon with its super low Speed and competition from Mega Metagross, Melmetal, and Mega Scizor. Mawile should have a pretty great time here, though, because it can do something that the other strong and bulky Steels can't do easily: beat Wishiwashi. Depending on its set, it can also OHKO everything on scor's team aside from Heatran. On paper, the rest of Baloor's team can't do much damage to scor's team, but U-Turns from Goltres, Koko, and Gliscor can make getting Mawile in easy, so that's not much of an issue if they play their cards right. Meanwhile, scor is kinda in the same boat, with the majority of their damage coming from Kyurem and potentially a Scarf Landorus, Kyurem not needing much help to tear apart Baloor's team.
The game starts and both sides get up some hazards, with Toxic Spikes from Baloor's Toxapex and Spikes from scor's Ferrothorn. After 1 TSpike, Baloor brings in Goltres as Ferrothorn gets another Spike up. Baloor then throws us all for a loop, revealing Nasty Plot on Goltres, while Ferrothorn does very little damage with a Knock Off that suddenly matters a lot less. Offensive Moltres-Galar is a menace of course, but the reason why it's an S-Tier mon in JolteMons is for its SpD Regenerator sets, being the premier defensive pivot of the tier and keeping a ton of otherwise terrifying threats in check, like Mega Alakazam. Nasty Plot is still a decently common set, especially on Hyper Offense, in JolteMons it's usually safe to assume to the Goltres is defensive until proven otherwise. Whether Baloor was just using a good set regardless of how common it is or used scor's JolteMons experience against them by bringing an unexpected set for a common mon, either way Goltres is in great position to do some damage. scor brings Clefable in on Goltres, who immediately snipes it out of existence with a Hurricane. Heatran comes in next, but it falls to 2 Fiery Wraths after missing a Magma Storm. scor is then able to stop the bleeding by KOing Goltres with a Stone Edge from Scarf Landorus, which in hindsight they probably should've tried before sending out Heatran (or going Kyurem instead), though I can understand if they panicked and forgot in the moment.
A few calmer turns commence, with each Ferrothorn Knocking each other Off and getting up all their hazards, both sides switching into their Ground/Flying-types, and all of those hazards being Defogged away by scor's Landorus. Being locked into Defog forces scor to switch out against Baloor's Gliscor, bringing in Wishiwashi, but a U-Turn from Gliscor allows Baloor to bring in Tapu Koko, forcing another switch from scor, this time to Ferrothorn, answered by another U-Turn from Baloor (which does 26% to Ferrothorn, revealing that Koko is Banded), leading us getting back to the Ferrothorn mirror. Baloor's much healthier Ferrothorn has the advantage here, though, forcing another switch from scor into Wishiwashi, who can beat Ferro 1v1 with Scalds + Recover + not being weak to Power Whip anymore, letting Baloor get Rocks back up. Baloor switches Ferro out for Toxapex, leading to a bunch of turns of Wishiwashi and Pex Scalding each other a whole bunch (after Pex gets a Toxic Spike up and Wishiwashi suppresses Regenerator with Core Enforcer). The crazy part is that it takes a ridiculous 15 Scalds between both Water-types before either one got burned, with Pex finally burning Wishiwashi with its 6th Scald. The chance of Scald not burning 14 times in a row is a crazy 0.678%. I swear Scald hasn't been changed at all in JolteMons, this was just some insane luck by both sides. Wishiwashi is finally able to burn Pex with its own Scald three turns later, after using 13 Scalds.
After a bit more chip damage is dealt to Pex, both sides switch out after the Scald war, with Baloor bringing in Koko on a Wishiwashi Recover, then scor bringing Ferrothorn in on a Koko U-Turn that almost KOes it. This brings in Mawile, who can get a kill on any of scor's mons with a Fairy or Ice Punch for Lando. scor sacs Ferrothorn to Mawile's Enchanted Punch (a Physical Fairy-type Psyshock, being a physical move that targets Special Defense - This move is also learned by Tapu Koko, making its Banded set possible), bringing out Landorus to force Mawile out into Gliscor. Lando Defogs to get rid of the Rocks and Toxic Spike that Kyurem wouldn't appreciate, forcing it to switch next turn. This allows Baloor to U-Turn on scor's incoming Wishiwashi, bringing Toxapex back in for a cameo, getting a Toxic Spike up and then immediately switching out again, with Tapu Koko coming in on a Core Enforcer it's immune to.
With scor's Landorus not being defensive, scor opts to sac Wishiwashi to Koko's Enchanted Punch to get Lando in for free. Baloor is able to switch in Gliscor on Lando once again, but this time scor U-Turns into Kyurem, who forces a KO, with Baloor sacking Toxapex. However, this lets Tapu Koko come in and KO Kyurem with Enchanted Punch. Landorus can't beat the rest of Baloor's team by itself, leading to scor forfeiting and giving the Union's Baloor the win.
The Nasty Plot Goltres was a great bring, with its impact directly leading to Baloor's win. While the game still took 44 turns and required Baloor to play well, scor's life was made so much harder since they didn't have Clefable or Heatran to tank hits, particularly the latter as both of Baloor's physical Fairies that Heatran could check ended up getting the rest of the KOs. scor did their best to climb out of the deficit, but ultimately it was just a bit too steep without Heatran plus a few small misplays stacking up. However, this is nothing to get too down over, I trust that scor will regroup and do well in the rest of the tournament. On the other hand, Baloor played extremely well here, making the right play pretty much every turn and the uncommon but viable sets of Nasty Plot Goltres and Banded Koko really paid dividends, good stuff from them.
/ / / / / vs / / / / / Next, we have Baloor of the Worker's Union of Gensokyo versus scorbunnys of the Think-A-Ton Crew. Baloor is a defending SPL Champion while also representing the defending PMPL Champions, while scorbunnys is one of two Jolte players this week that played in PMPL I. Both teams are nothing crazy in JolteMons terms, as each could almost pass for regular NatDex teams until you notice scor's Wishiwashi. The usual ZU mon is a stellar mon in JolteMons, being Water/Dragon, gaining Core Enforcer and Recover, and having a signature item that replaces its ability with Intimidate and boosts the power of Water moves, making it a great wall and tank. The most uncommon thing on either team is Mega Mawile, who's great but rather uncommon with its super low Speed and competition from Mega Metagross, Melmetal, and Mega Scizor. Mawile should have a pretty great time here, though, because it can do something that the other strong and bulky Steels can't do easily: beat Wishiwashi. Depending on its set, it can also OHKO everything on scor's team aside from Heatran. On paper, the rest of Baloor's team can't do much damage to scor's team, but U-Turns from Goltres, Koko, and Gliscor can make getting Mawile in easy, so that's not much of an issue if they play their cards right. Meanwhile, scor is kinda in the same boat, with the majority of their damage coming from Kyurem and potentially a Scarf Landorus, Kyurem not needing much help to tear apart Baloor's team.
The game starts and both sides get up some hazards, with Toxic Spikes from Baloor's Toxapex and Spikes from scor's Ferrothorn. After 1 TSpike, Baloor brings in Goltres as Ferrothorn gets another Spike up. Baloor then throws us all for a loop, revealing Nasty Plot on Goltres, while Ferrothorn does very little damage with a Knock Off that suddenly matters a lot less. Offensive Moltres-Galar is a menace of course, but the reason why it's an S-Tier mon in JolteMons is for its SpD Regenerator sets, being the premier defensive pivot of the tier and keeping a ton of otherwise terrifying threats in check, like Mega Alakazam. Nasty Plot is still a decently common set, especially on Hyper Offense, in JolteMons it's usually safe to assume to the Goltres is defensive until proven otherwise. Whether Baloor was just using a good set regardless of how common it is or used scor's JolteMons experience against them by bringing an unexpected set for a common mon, either way Goltres is in great position to do some damage. scor brings Clefable in on Goltres, who immediately snipes it out of existence with a Hurricane. Heatran comes in next, but it falls to 2 Fiery Wraths after missing a Magma Storm. scor is then able to stop the bleeding by KOing Goltres with a Stone Edge from Scarf Landorus, which in hindsight they probably should've tried before sending out Heatran (or going Kyurem instead), though I can understand if they panicked and forgot in the moment.
A few calmer turns commence, with each Ferrothorn Knocking each other Off and getting up all their hazards, both sides switching into their Ground/Flying-types, and all of those hazards being Defogged away by scor's Landorus. Being locked into Defog forces scor to switch out against Baloor's Gliscor, bringing in Wishiwashi, but a U-Turn from Gliscor allows Baloor to bring in Tapu Koko, forcing another switch from scor, this time to Ferrothorn, answered by another U-Turn from Baloor (which does 26% to Ferrothorn, revealing that Koko is Banded), leading us getting back to the Ferrothorn mirror. Baloor's much healthier Ferrothorn has the advantage here, though, forcing another switch from scor into Wishiwashi, who can beat Ferro 1v1 with Scalds + Recover + not being weak to Power Whip anymore, letting Baloor get Rocks back up. Baloor switches Ferro out for Toxapex, leading to a bunch of turns of Wishiwashi and Pex Scalding each other a whole bunch (after Pex gets a Toxic Spike up and Wishiwashi suppresses Regenerator with Core Enforcer). The crazy part is that it takes a ridiculous 15 Scalds between both Water-types before either one got burned, with Pex finally burning Wishiwashi with its 6th Scald. The chance of Scald not burning 14 times in a row is a crazy 0.678%. I swear Scald hasn't been changed at all in JolteMons, this was just some insane luck by both sides. Wishiwashi is finally able to burn Pex with its own Scald three turns later, after using 13 Scalds.
After a bit more chip damage is dealt to Pex, both sides switch out after the Scald war, with Baloor bringing in Koko on a Wishiwashi Recover, then scor bringing Ferrothorn in on a Koko U-Turn that almost KOes it. This brings in Mawile, who can get a kill on any of scor's mons with a Fairy or Ice Punch for Lando. scor sacs Ferrothorn to Mawile's Enchanted Punch (a Physical Fairy-type Psyshock, being a physical move that targets Special Defense - This move is also learned by Tapu Koko, making its Banded set possible), bringing out Landorus to force Mawile out into Gliscor. Lando Defogs to get rid of the Rocks and Toxic Spike that Kyurem wouldn't appreciate, forcing it to switch next turn. This allows Baloor to U-Turn on scor's incoming Wishiwashi, bringing Toxapex back in for a cameo, getting a Toxic Spike up and then immediately switching out again, with Tapu Koko coming in on a Core Enforcer it's immune to.
With scor's Landorus not being defensive, scor opts to sac Wishiwashi to Koko's Enchanted Punch to get Lando in for free. Baloor is able to switch in Gliscor on Lando once again, but this time scor U-Turns into Kyurem, who forces a KO, with Baloor sacking Toxapex. However, this lets Tapu Koko come in and KO Kyurem with Enchanted Punch. Landorus can't beat the rest of Baloor's team by itself, leading to scor forfeiting and giving the Union's Baloor the win.
The Nasty Plot Goltres was a great bring, with its impact directly leading to Baloor's win. While the game still took 44 turns and required Baloor to play well, scor's life was made so much harder since they didn't have Clefable or Heatran to tank hits, particularly the latter as both of Baloor's physical Fairies that Heatran could check ended up getting the rest of the KOs. scor did their best to climb out of the deficit, but ultimately it was just a bit too steep without Heatran plus a few small misplays stacking up. However, this is nothing to get too down over, I trust that scor will regroup and do well in the rest of the tournament. On the other hand, Baloor played extremely well here, making the right play pretty much every turn and the uncommon but viable sets of Nasty Plot Goltres and Banded Koko really paid dividends, good stuff from them.
Temporary Link (Requires you to be in the Pet Mods Discord to view)
/ 
/ 
/ 
/ / 
vs 
/ 
/ 
/ / /
Lastly, we have what was actually the first game played this week, the Dachsbuns' Xrn up against the Comrades' hidin. Xrn is the other player this week that played JolteMons in PMPL I, where they had an absolutely stellar performance, while hidin is another great player making their JolteMons debut. For their teams, both players leaned more offensively than the other games this week, with Xrn running Rain and hidin running PsySpam. While hidin's team posseses an adequate level of bulk, it's clear from preview that this game is gonna be about hitting hard and fast. Because of that, I'd give the advantage to Xrn, since Swampert in Rain and and Ash Gren outspeed nearly everything and hit them all for crazy damage. However, hidin's Lele, Medicham, and Dragapult are all pretty hard for Xrn to switch into, so if they're able to exert enough pressure then they have a great shot to win.
Xrn gets Rain up immediately with Pelipper while hidin leads Dragapult, which Thunder Waves Xrn's incoming Ferrothorn after they immediately switched Pelipper out, revealing Pult to be the Hex/Dragon Darts set. hidin brings in Medicham on a Ferrothorn Stealth Rock, letting it Mega and get a free hit. Xrn brings in Zapdos, which takes a ton of damage from a Zen Headbutt from Medi, predicting the switch. hidin opts to not risk the speedtie, bringing Dragapult back in, taking a lot of damage from a Zapdos Hurricane.
Ferrothorn comes back in for Xrn, taking a Dragapult Dragon Darts, which activates its Eject Button, a neat tech, allowing Xrn to immediately bring in Swampert. hidin switches Dragapult out for Landorus-T to get an Intimidate off. Xrn goes for Waterfall, but Landorus still manages to take it. hidin doubles into Goltres, who takes less than 50% from another Swampert Waterfall. hidin triples into Mega Medicham, but even at -1, Medi still takes just over 50% from Swampert's Flip Turn, which allows Xrn to get Greninja in. With Goltres healthy however, Greninja isn't too threatening yet, with hidin's incoming Goltres taking very little damage from a Dark Pulse.
Xrn's Pelipper comes in to reset the rain as Goltres Defogs the Stealth Rocks away, with Xrn doubling into Manaphy, which takes some chip damage from Goltres' Fiery Wrath. After shrugging off an Ice Beam, Goltres U-Turns out into Medicham, who's able to get a free kill, with Xrn opting to sac Zapdos to High Jump Kick. However, this activates Zapdos' Static, crippling one of hidin's best Pokemon. With Medi paralyzed, hidin opts to sac it to Swampert's Waterfall. This allows Landorus to Intimidate Pert and then double out into Goltres but, with Goltres being slightly weakened by Manaphy beforehand, it's in 2HKO range of Waterfall, forcing hidin to triple out, bringing in Dragapult which still dies to a -1 Flip Turn. With Pult gone and Goltres slightly weakened, if Ash Greninja manages to get a KO, it'll be an amazing spot.
Xrn's Manaphy comes in, with hidin sending out Tapu Lele in response. This prompts Xrn to switch into Ferrothorn while Lele reveals that it's actually a Calm Mind set. hidin switches Lele out for Melmetal, revealing that it might not have Focus Blast or HP Fire, or they were predicting a switch, which does happen as Xrn switches Pelipper in, setting Rain once more. Melmetal is still an absolute menace in JolteMons, even more so since it received a multitude of buffs. However, in return for getting all those buffs, Melmetal lost access to Thunder Punch to keep it balanced, so when Xrn switches out Pelipper for Manaphy, Manaphy only has to take a Double Iron Bash on the switch, though it still does a good amount of damage. hidin switches to Goltres as Manaphy Rests back up to full HP, revealing that it's running Cursed Belt as its item, since its Rest gets disabled. The Cursed Belt disables the first status move you use for a few turns, but in return your attacks deal 1.2x damage while one of your moves is disabled. It's often used on setup sweepers, which Manaphy is, though optimally you'd want it to activate after using Tail Glow. However, this pays off for dex, as the Cursed Belt boost plus an unfortunate crit allows its Ice Beam to nearly KO Goltres, who U-Turns out into Lele. This leaves Goltres too low to switch into Greninja or Swampert right now, which is extremely dangerous.
Lele gets a Calm Mind up and deals nice damage to Manaphy with a couple Draining Kisses, but it takes a ton of damage from two Manaphy Surfs before Xrn swtiches into Ferrothorn on another Draining Kiss. Lele is able to KO Ferrothorn with a follow up Focus Blast, revealing that hidin likely was predicting a switch or conditioning earlier. Pelipper comes in again to reset rain, tanking a strong Draining Kiss before U-Turning out into Swampert. hidin has to sac Landorus to get an Intimidate off before going into Goltres, then switching again to Melmetal for Regenerator recovery. On the latter switch, Swampert Flip Turns into Manaphy. Manaphy and Melmetal nearly KO each other with Surf and Double Iron Bash respectively, but the faster Manaphy is able to finish Melmetal off with another Surf. Lele comes back in to revenge kill Manaphy, but without Lando's Intimidate, hidin can no longer switch into Swampert's Waterfall, so after a few turns and a Pelipper sac to reset rain, Xrn is able to pick up the win for the Dachsbuns.
Both players played pretty well, with the game being as back and forth as you'd expect from the matchup. Ultimately, hidin just had the misfortune of running into a Rain team when their only Water resist was Dragapult, that plus the paralysis on Medicham sealed their fate. Both players should continue to do well in future.
/ / / / / vs / / / / / Lastly, we have what was actually the first game played this week, the Dachsbuns' Xrn up against the Comrades' hidin. Xrn is the other player this week that played JolteMons in PMPL I, where they had an absolutely stellar performance, while hidin is another great player making their JolteMons debut. For their teams, both players leaned more offensively than the other games this week, with Xrn running Rain and hidin running PsySpam. While hidin's team posseses an adequate level of bulk, it's clear from preview that this game is gonna be about hitting hard and fast. Because of that, I'd give the advantage to Xrn, since Swampert in Rain and and Ash Gren outspeed nearly everything and hit them all for crazy damage. However, hidin's Lele, Medicham, and Dragapult are all pretty hard for Xrn to switch into, so if they're able to exert enough pressure then they have a great shot to win.
Xrn gets Rain up immediately with Pelipper while hidin leads Dragapult, which Thunder Waves Xrn's incoming Ferrothorn after they immediately switched Pelipper out, revealing Pult to be the Hex/Dragon Darts set. hidin brings in Medicham on a Ferrothorn Stealth Rock, letting it Mega and get a free hit. Xrn brings in Zapdos, which takes a ton of damage from a Zen Headbutt from Medi, predicting the switch. hidin opts to not risk the speedtie, bringing Dragapult back in, taking a lot of damage from a Zapdos Hurricane.
Ferrothorn comes back in for Xrn, taking a Dragapult Dragon Darts, which activates its Eject Button, a neat tech, allowing Xrn to immediately bring in Swampert. hidin switches Dragapult out for Landorus-T to get an Intimidate off. Xrn goes for Waterfall, but Landorus still manages to take it. hidin doubles into Goltres, who takes less than 50% from another Swampert Waterfall. hidin triples into Mega Medicham, but even at -1, Medi still takes just over 50% from Swampert's Flip Turn, which allows Xrn to get Greninja in. With Goltres healthy however, Greninja isn't too threatening yet, with hidin's incoming Goltres taking very little damage from a Dark Pulse.
Xrn's Pelipper comes in to reset the rain as Goltres Defogs the Stealth Rocks away, with Xrn doubling into Manaphy, which takes some chip damage from Goltres' Fiery Wrath. After shrugging off an Ice Beam, Goltres U-Turns out into Medicham, who's able to get a free kill, with Xrn opting to sac Zapdos to High Jump Kick. However, this activates Zapdos' Static, crippling one of hidin's best Pokemon. With Medi paralyzed, hidin opts to sac it to Swampert's Waterfall. This allows Landorus to Intimidate Pert and then double out into Goltres but, with Goltres being slightly weakened by Manaphy beforehand, it's in 2HKO range of Waterfall, forcing hidin to triple out, bringing in Dragapult which still dies to a -1 Flip Turn. With Pult gone and Goltres slightly weakened, if Ash Greninja manages to get a KO, it'll be an amazing spot.
Xrn's Manaphy comes in, with hidin sending out Tapu Lele in response. This prompts Xrn to switch into Ferrothorn while Lele reveals that it's actually a Calm Mind set. hidin switches Lele out for Melmetal, revealing that it might not have Focus Blast or HP Fire, or they were predicting a switch, which does happen as Xrn switches Pelipper in, setting Rain once more. Melmetal is still an absolute menace in JolteMons, even more so since it received a multitude of buffs. However, in return for getting all those buffs, Melmetal lost access to Thunder Punch to keep it balanced, so when Xrn switches out Pelipper for Manaphy, Manaphy only has to take a Double Iron Bash on the switch, though it still does a good amount of damage. hidin switches to Goltres as Manaphy Rests back up to full HP, revealing that it's running Cursed Belt as its item, since its Rest gets disabled. The Cursed Belt disables the first status move you use for a few turns, but in return your attacks deal 1.2x damage while one of your moves is disabled. It's often used on setup sweepers, which Manaphy is, though optimally you'd want it to activate after using Tail Glow. However, this pays off for dex, as the Cursed Belt boost plus an unfortunate crit allows its Ice Beam to nearly KO Goltres, who U-Turns out into Lele. This leaves Goltres too low to switch into Greninja or Swampert right now, which is extremely dangerous.
Lele gets a Calm Mind up and deals nice damage to Manaphy with a couple Draining Kisses, but it takes a ton of damage from two Manaphy Surfs before Xrn swtiches into Ferrothorn on another Draining Kiss. Lele is able to KO Ferrothorn with a follow up Focus Blast, revealing that hidin likely was predicting a switch or conditioning earlier. Pelipper comes in again to reset rain, tanking a strong Draining Kiss before U-Turning out into Swampert. hidin has to sac Landorus to get an Intimidate off before going into Goltres, then switching again to Melmetal for Regenerator recovery. On the latter switch, Swampert Flip Turns into Manaphy. Manaphy and Melmetal nearly KO each other with Surf and Double Iron Bash respectively, but the faster Manaphy is able to finish Melmetal off with another Surf. Lele comes back in to revenge kill Manaphy, but without Lando's Intimidate, hidin can no longer switch into Swampert's Waterfall, so after a few turns and a Pelipper sac to reset rain, Xrn is able to pick up the win for the Dachsbuns.
Both players played pretty well, with the game being as back and forth as you'd expect from the matchup. Ultimately, hidin just had the misfortune of running into a Rain team when their only Water resist was Dragapult, that plus the paralysis on Medicham sealed their fate. Both players should continue to do well in future.
See you next week for more JolteMons content!
/ 
/ 
vs 
/ 
/ 
/ 
vs 
/ 
/ 
/ 
/ 
/ 
/ 
/ 
/ 
/ 
/ 
vs 
