Jess Is Underrated

[@Mangs1337]

We need to start a petition for bringing back her giant pencil in the reboot camp.

[@ignisbad9158]

How much did Panzergraf pay you to make this video?

[@drago77blu38]

She might show it when she pop's her power/super power in the Re-boot!

[@JestaShezarrTeamA]

They need to fix her looks she looks so meh compared to Sami tbh

[@Hone_mor2525]

AND HIRE MANGS AS THE VOICE ACTOR FOR FLAK

[@Bergioyn]

She kinda needs a new head as well. She looks like a parrot in the footage we have at the moment...

[@KillerChairYT]

She also gets the day to day bonus of having a theme that slaps

[@Nemer49994]

"The smaller it is... the better it is for Jess." Mangs, 2022.

[@aphato2770]

Reverse size queen

[@clownplayer7265]

Emm, phrasing?

[@BaniniThePanini]

Her -pencil- tank shell would suggest otherwise.

[@windmage01]

Damn, she'll love me then.

[@theoutlander1411]

Only in fog.

[@piratasensei9669]

I'm a Jess main and I love your character development towards her

[@clydefrosch]

in actual game, jess and her resupply powers ought to allow her to scout in fog, right? by moving/canceling.

[@Mangs1337]

That is actually not a bad point in favor of GBA Jess.

[@whyisdiscostevetaken]

it's risky, but it's a risk she has the liberty to take

[@thebrazillianguytm2186]

I think that AWBW should make separated Tiers for maps with Comm Towers, because they change pretty much the way the COs works

[@mavairick]

Two com tower Javier wants to know your location :)

[@nictouris6054]

the Javier tier

[@aa01blue38]

Comm towers do change the way the COs work, but so do number and layout of bases, number and layout of airports, terrain heaviness, map openness, funds-to-base ratio, HQ safety, number of contested properties, front width, front depth, map size, center strength, etc, etc. That... would be a lot of tier lists.

[@mavairick]

@@aa01blue38 Are you trying to say that... It'S mAp DePeNdEnT ?

[@arcturus64]

This video was sponsored by Panzergraf.

[@mauricesteel4995]

"Hey, AW playerbase, if i am so bottom tier, why am i so hecking cute and valid?"

[@cpukabuto2132]

No cute and valid. Only strong and respectable. Long live the queen!

[@michaeljonathan9715]

*Jess start becoming Base Light map & Fog of War map*. Now she is one of the strongest T4 CO (situationally) now.

[@Wolftatze]

All of this is true. Jess has terrifying potential in enacting an all-out tank rush. Which kinda fits, given the real-life inspiration for Green Earth. Its not surprising how few people actively use her, I was once like this. I had played many strategy games (turn based and real time) before when I picked up Advance Wars 2 for the first time, and I always tended to play defensively and cautious. Struggling with her missions, I remembered the Green Earth part of the campaign to be absolutely brutal (I also was pretty young back then). I only switched up my playstyle years later to a far more aggressive approach, playing games like Sins of a Solar Empire and XCom that rewarded rush tactics far more than hunkering down. And when I started playing Advance Wars again after a pause of maybe 6 years, I noticed that I didn't struggle with her anymore. It just had become natural to rush, and she fit in there perfectly.

[@aganaom1712]

jess is the literal vehicle equivalent of sami except instead of mechs it's tanks i would definitely appreciate if jess got a buff that reduced vehicle movement penalties through different types of terrain. that would make her recons terrifying

[@cpukabuto2132]

Yes. Yes. All the yes. I love that. Not sturm levels, but recons on plains and tanks in forests. Even a -1 on vehicles would be awesome.

[@I-ONLY-BUILD-MECHS-AND-DUSTERS]

They think she's underrated because they only consider AW2 and even DS, but they never consider AW1 Jess.

[@germmanator]

Panzergraf liked that.

[@markberghel275]

Let us also not forget that Jess's theme is god tier.

[@PhazonOmega]

As someone who loved Jess in Advanced Wars 2, I am surprised to hear no one tried tank pushes like this with her before. That's what she's best at! Small tanks are so cost effective, and with her small boosts to them, she can blitz opponents. Her musical theme is sweet, too! Glad she's getting some love!

[@whyisdiscostevetaken]

yes, she is underrated 1. she is a tank commander you said it yourself on your episode where you faced off with a grandmaster level eagle, tanks are an excellent opening with a lack of roads, and those tanks will continue to be relevant in midgame 2. her indirects are also boosted day to day, she hits harder with them, and her superpower resupplies rockets/missles that have Done a Good Job (not to mention, +2 movement is really good for tire movement type, and all 3 tire vehicles are within jess' domain of specialty) 3. ground vehicles are far cheaper firepower than air/sea her boost favors units weaker than say, copters/fighters/bombers, but she can make far more of them, and easily counter aircraft with antiair/missles she is the best of a few worlds: powerful tanks like max powerful artillery/rockets like grit increased movement almost on par with adder when it comes to power meter length the resupply bonus, i'm not sure if anyone has that (it's minor, but if it's unique, that means that she can keep subs/planes out in the fray longer or indirects in the forests longer without having to go to a city or waste time giving away her position with an APC) she is a jack of quite a few trades jess is amazing even her music is the best

[@Hone_mor2525]

If you ever do an AWBW commentary video again, I would very much like if you would end the video by replaying everything fast from beginning to end. It's mesmerizing to see all the units move at the same time.

[@monsterchief117]

I kept saying she's being slept on. Sothe has a Jess alt in GL and he's like what, in top 30 with her? For the noobs, yes, that means he still uses Jess in T1-3 matches and wins as Jess. Even without that, she's very fun to play as with her damage boost and movement bonus. Glad you brought up her late game bonuses. She is one of the best COs in the late game, her Megatanks move fast and never run out of ammo while her stealth bombers never need to refuel and thus are cheaper with no APC purchase. Another big thing, unlike Max, she can still use indirects that punch a little harder.

[@NagisaThief]

May I ask for some of those replays? I'd love to see my lady beating the crap out of tier 1 commanders 🧐💪

[@soulhoney1227]

DON'T MESS WITH JESS, PEOPLE This videos makes panzegraff happy

[@Gatitasecsii]

I've been saying this since the beginning. Now make one about how Grit is excessively overrated. The CO you can beat with recons.

[@bakionigeri6414]

??? My homeboy grit?? Overrated? Someone hold my beer... like bullseye, me and grit never miss

[@theoutlander1411]

Blink twice in your next stream if Panzergraf put you up to this Mangs.

[@BBHood217]

I once fought a player that used nobody but Jess, so I figured it was an easy win. But unbeknownst to me who was playing Inland Waters for the very first time, that map was a good Jess map and a bad Lash map. I ended up losing.

[@mothballcharles]

Jess is one of my favorite visual COs design wise. Shame she isnt the best... But only 10% to vehicles is a bit... wimpy. 20% would bump her up quite a bit in my opinion.

[@carlosgutierrez3918]

I mean the big issue that uber screws her over is her wildly incompitant infantry that make no mistake, RUIN the backbone of her army

[@chilwil07]

10% would be fine if it wasn’t at the expense of your capture game

[@MrMarket1987]

Keep in mind, her 10% was meant to be seen as a good thing when her Artillery, Rockets, and Missiles benefit from it. She's a bit of a bridge between Max and Grit.

[@cpukabuto2132]

Jess is my favorite CO, design and playstyle. I feel that her day to day is underwhelming, but her powers are very nice. Movement, firepower and resupply, all in 2 neat packages. Makes her feel like a cooler, tank rolling Adder.

[@ChillstoneBlakeBlast]

Don't Mess with Jess, as the Mistress will cause you stress

[@drfoust1294]

Jess has always been one of my favorite COs. I used her all the time. Especially in Advance Wars Dual Strike with Andy not the best COs but fun

[@calstarace1872]

YES, US JESS MAINS FINALLY HAVE A RESPITE

[@captainelliot032]

honestly her refueling is my favorite part of her kit. Not worrying about fuel is a small quality of life change but it makes playing her so much fun.

[@rikmcdik6662]

Damn you Putin for causing re-boot camp to be delayed. (And the countless lives directly impacted, I’m genuinely sorry to hear about and see glimpses of that)

[@spoot166]

4:55 The passion with which you SMASH through his ranks really sold me on Jess.

[@Blizz3112]

Her Recons are surprisingly good in dealing with Sami infantry...

[@XelesProductions]

I alwayd liked her but never make her work tbh, I am very happy to see that she is indeed very loved and rightfully so

[@josueordazaguirre7048]

I love jes and jake dual strike, hitting super hard and abusing rockets near the oponent, the sweep the left overs with jake

[@stevengu1253]

Never felt Jess to be weak. Instead, I found her quite difficult to use extremely well but can be quite powerful when used well.

[@risingtoastcheesecake4730]

"Some of my opponents were very highly rated, like TomusMaximus and Izanagi." Damn, he really only left out poor Hanakko XD

[@germmanator]

cuz Hana is trash... most of the time!

[@DeejusProductions]

#JessIsAMess

[@Dr.AvenVon]

the thing is, this is more of a showcase why tanks are too strong. I mean, everybody can use the whole "spam tanks" tactic, jess can do it a little bit better. and since this is allmost the best tactic in every situation, jess is a bit better

[@masterdummy8150]

And here I am just happy that I've always liked Jess. Tanks and music were literally all I needed to love this character in AW2. Also a quick question but when he says "rush tanks," does that mean build tanks from the get go or after some turns of capturing have passed?

[@cpukabuto2132]

I think he means make them ASAP, forgoing things like recons or transports.

[@CubeMasterTV]

Jess' soundtrack is also really good!

[@Vince__]

Jess is probably the most fun Tier 4 CO. She's the only CO I play in Tier 4 anymore, as Jake and Adder are very boring, honestly. I very much hate being restricted to plains when I use Jake's COP or SCOP if I want that juicy firepower bonus. Jess is essentially a worse Max, but I'd say she's worth using simply because she's a worse Max, no other CO in the tier plays that way. She's "Bad Max", if you will. Jess is kinda what kept me playing AWBW to be honest, because playing Tier 4 games with Jake or Adder just bored me to no end. I had to mix things up, and I'm glad I did, because she's a ton of fun. I'd highly recommend her.

[@SolusEmsu]

I would agree with this, actually. It also mirrors something I have seen on Warframe tier lists! Where people call Nezha a 'worse Rhino' .. but Rhino is top tier, so being a 'weaker' version of something top-tier is still pretty damn good. Max is not quite top-tier here, but the general idea stands. I wonder if AWBW would be okay with buffing Jess to have neutral infantry like in DS, but without the other vehicle buffs. I think that without even buffing her strength, just removing her weakness would go a long way towards making her really good.

[@gigabyte2248]

IDK, my first game on Inland Waters was a T4 and I chose Grimm for battle copter power (they crumple like paper anyway, so why not go ham?). My strategy was basically 'wheeeeeeeeeehahahahaha!' and not only was it great fun, but I did actually win!

[@yoloman3607]

What, you don't like playing adderal kid grit running around on the lawn? /s

[@Vince__]

@@SolusEmsu Such a thing is reasonably common for competitive games generally. As a big fighting game fan, such a thing happens a lot when high or top tiers just so happen to have a clone. It’s particularly relevant when such a fighter is team-based. As for what you’re saying about AWBW adjusting Jess to get rid of her infantry bonus, I actually disagree with that a bit. While I get where you’re coming from, they seem to be very dedicated to keeping there AW2 versions of the CO’s intact, when applicable. The only exception off the top of my head would be Drake having the penalty to his aircraft be less severe. Even then, I do think that Jess’s weaker infantry, while a pretty big downside, isn’t enough to invalidate her, and I think she’s about fine the way she is. Besides, anything that would get Jess pushed up to Tier 3 (while I think such a change putting her up there would be unlikely) would be a death sentence for me, as you may have noticed. I can’t play anyone else down in Tier 4 without falling asleep. I understand the sentiment, though!

[@Vince__]

@@gigabyte2248 Such is the nature of Grimm. He’s a CO that occasionally can get some work done when just bum rushing an unprepared opponent, but from my experience, being stuck on what’s effectively negative terrain stars is… just too much. It makes me feel like every engagement I take is a bad one, because even when first striking, you just take so much damage back, occasionally even on favorable terrain.

[@TheFinalChapters]

Jess is terrifying in the right hands.

[@Hone_mor2525]

Seems that what is holding Jess' back is when she doesn't have a COM-towers. Apparently she hits some massive power spikes when she gets those extra 10% fire power. It also brings her infantry back to normal so she can still use them to interrupt caps properly.

[@germmanator]

which is probably one of the reasons why Jess is "broken" in DS

[@sergiomendoza5165]

I love her theme song so much

[@wendd7519]

Mang be like:Ya like Jess?

[@isenokami7810]

Going through emulated Advance Wars 2 now, there’s one more factor about Jess that you forgot to go over: that, on top of the firepower bonus and resupply, her ground vehicles get +1/+2 movement on her normal/super power. In a way, you could thus think of her powers as better but more expensive versions of Adder’s; at the very least, I’ve definitely gotten use out of it in War Room maps. By all means, pop your normal power to get your medium tank in range to fire on that enemy rocket, plus the extra power to one shot it.

[@sonsysy4195]

I initially thought she's holding a really giant pencil in AW2. Turns out it was a tank shell lol.

[@BoorishM]

Being able to 100 percent 2 shot tanks on vities is HUGE!

[@keatonsanborn1430]

I think the main problem is that Jess has this perception of being a trash CO that comes with being in T4. This is why I am not a big fan of tier list since the quality of of the COs can vary greatly within the Tiers. Even in the tier 0 this gap can vary widely. For example Kanbei and Sensei are in the same tier, but Sensei can drown Kanbei with infantry spam, as seen in Mang's video. And I think we know who is better between Colin and Hachi who are also in Tier 0. By that same logic Jess has worse capture game compared to Adder & Jake, but her drawbacks are not as severe as Grims.

[@LCTesla]

Can you do a similar video on Sami sometime? I totally do not understand why she is D rank on fog of war maps. Both her day-to-day and her powers are borderline game breaking at times, and isn't infantry spam of vital importance in fog of war games?

[@TheJadeknight7]

Jess is underrated. Long have we waited. Egg analysis activated.

[@insertjokeh3r3]

When jess gets a com tower she's literally dual strike jess.

[@lelieutenant7386]

it's interesting, I never paid intention to the guys saying she's weaker than other COs. In fact I can't plan jack and koal because I am too lazy to fight over favorable tiles, I just get my play done for the day before going off to sleep XD I always picked her because she had the movement and attack bonus while having no weakness(infantry not being use obviously. If the guy want to kill it he can whatever the CO except sami or kanbei)

[@NaturalCloud]

Oh man i just picked Jess vs Sothe on STD, the timing on this video is uncanny.

[@Abundy]

Panzergraf approved video.

[@PICADALOL]

Well said Mangs!

[@SilentVinyl]

Vehicles go vroom vroom

[@Quickslow87]

I don’t use Jess often but she can definitely be scary.

[@ShadowdaHedgie11]

Mangs: Jess is underrated. Also Mangs: Jess is a C tier C.O. in AW2.

[@brandonwilliams6119]

Mangs is just really good with Jess and utilizing her to her fullest potential💚

[@terryliliana]

just lets her be her DS version. awbw sometimes feels like it was made by the melee player version of an advance wars player.

[@aqa2866]

shes just not an infranty spammer her anti air can protect her cities she likes to baseskip for more TANKS xd

[@terryliliana]

@@aqa2866that doesn't really address the problem: jess was left at her weakest for no real reason.

[@Mercenarytank15]

Tbh Infantry and mechs is just fodder and capturing for the most part anyway. like once you get some tanks and copters and some anti-air going they become meat shields.

[@TheSpArTaNs1962]

Well, as a friend used to say, "Weaknesses are just underutilized opportunities."

[@sweetdangerzack]

I saw this video on my feed again having watched it two years ago, and interestingly enough, the current meta seems to have vindicated Mangs' thesis here. Well done chap.

[@Metakeyman]

No love for Jaw of Tyrants in high funds? She's practically top of her tier there

[@KhoaTran-md5ou]

agressively with recon again sami... XD even in the small map jess can kill all the mech Sami throw at her. Late game the artillery + 10% dmg is also very nice, not restricted to city like kindle, well lass day to day is hard counter but your NP is better :D

[@eziostone1109]

*"BUT MAAAANGS!"* -Mangs

[@revivalfromruins]

But Mangssssssssssssssssssrth! FIVE POINTS! Jess's Theme Song is T0... in my heart.

[@Ricardo7250]

4:25 This map gives an unfair advantage for the player who starts on the left, check the statistics. I'm not saying your example is invalid but the player on the left has a much easier time being the aggressor in the 2 bases side of that map

[@PyrelordPazuzu]

Panzergraf would be proud

[@fleurseva]

Im curious why does they added dual strike COs but not using DS stats for awbw

[@Yous0147]

This is quite the compensation to justify losing to Panzergraff /s

[@SourceOfBeing]

From the sounds of it, the key to playing a good Jess is playing a lot more aggressive than you might think to.

[@darkmatterpancake]

A well-reasoned, solid argument. Good stuff.

[@MrMarket1987]

I feel that something not touched upon here is her potential for superior defense and tactics over Jake with her ranged units, which I feel gives her that extra merit over him as they may not need to be resupplied and get the benefits of her other ground vehicles, and can survive better overall in the cover of cities or forests, with the latter especially as it requires them to be spotted at point blank or by Sonja before anyone can even start attacking them unlike Jake's discount Grit-likes.

[@aqa2866]

just spam tanks and anti air

[@Supahvegetah]

Excellent video. Mangs has been reminds me a lot like Day9 with how well he speaks and his knowledge of the game. Please keep it up, these videos are great!

[@adept7497]

7:06 that's disgusting LUL I use her WAY more than Adder and Jake. Always wanted to cheese out a stealthfighter with her. I think she is alright.

[@chillycoco8301]

I may not play AWBW yet but I'm surprised that few people use jess in tier 4 especially that the maps in there are mostly ground dependent.

[@ShadowDariusEX]

imaging if Bike unit in DoR are treat as both infantry and vehicle unit like how anti tank treat as both direct and indirect unit. Jess can just ignore the infantry and mass produce Bike for harrassment and capture

[@rhettorical]

T4 COs are T4 because they either have huge drawbacks, aren't very strong, or FORCE you into a suboptimal playstyle. Jess has always been my favorite CO and her theme rocks, but her T4 spot makes sense. Plus, it clues in newer players on the problems with having weaker footsoldiers, which is a genuine problem. If you're good, you can make her competitive in higher tiers, particularly T3, but she's far too niche, hence her T4 rating.

[@DrDrao]

I don't think he's arguing against her being tier 4, or even being top of tier 4. He's arguing for her being somewhat viable in tier 4.

[@thebrazillianguytm2186]

10:09 But her Infantry gives 90% tho *visible confusions*

[@rsbandbj1]

in my GBA i loved jess. her infantry sucks, but if i can destroy everything with my tanks, who cares.

[@nocberry]

I´m just a beginner with few games played and fewer games won yet, BUT most of them with Jess in Tier 4. I think, if you know her weaknesses you can play arround it. Her recons are very good for compensate the -10% firepower of her infantry, i think, and with their high mobility they can atttack and weaken enemy infantry on a whole front easy, so that her own weaker infantry can beat the sh... out of the rest. Or i slow down a little and kill the enemy infantry 3 to 1 if there are enough of my boys and girls near by. But the real fun begins after the capture phase, when enough tanks are one the field, then has the enemy to run for his money and with Turbodrive and Overcharge you will catch them and stomp them into the ground while new (medium) tanks race to the frontlines. Jess is just awesome. Sure, i believe that sounds like basic stuff but i think especialy if you have internalized it, then is Jess a CO who profits from it very much.

[@funtimeandrookie5038]

When I Play Jess I Rarely Worry About Fuel And Ammo Since Both Her Powers Refuel Them And I Agree She Is Underrated.

[@kaiser776_]

Ah just my probably most used CO on AWBW, I find her incredibly fun to use and I think overall she still is weaker than adder and Jake I've definitely found her to be able to use degrade effect on certain maps myself Plus I really enjoy the fact that I don't need it to deploy APCs My transport units can instead be t copters and it makes units that have somewhat limited ammo just better

[@j.ackermann9110]

Did Panzergraf sponsor this?

[@ShinobiNeon]

I always liked Jess and thought she was underrated. I fully understand she's one of the weaker COs, but I never thought she was as bad as everyone said she was. Her power and super power are very helpful pushing tools, and being able to do 10% more damage on any terrain with vehicles can be taken advantage of. I really do think it's a bit silly that her infantry and mechs are 10% weaker, seeing as she's a land specialist and those are technically land units. If they brought her foot soldiers up to neutral firepower and all her other land units got 15% instead of 10, it would help.

[@alex_zetsu]

As much as you'd _like_ to attack from forests, you'll often end up attacking from roads and plains. Heck, you'll often end up moving a tank or mech to a property and then taking a shot than doing the same thing from a forest tile in fog matches. Just think of all the times you play as Andy and have units stuck on plains not because you wanted them to be there, but because you didn't have enough movement to go around. Artillery has a very high tendency in matches I've seen to be taking shots from plains. I watched 3 Andy, 3 Adder, and 3 Eagle games and 75% of artillery shots came from there. It wasn't that the players wanted to do so, they just didn't have much of a choice.

[@KimeruDerHund]

Mangs: I don't have a humiliation fetish! Also Mangs: 1:03

[@vujiciclinus3551]

Jess shouldn't have 10% fire power loss on infantry

[@aqa2866]

who cares she just use her anti airs XD

[@aidansroadams5328]

I've always preferred Jess to Jake as she had much more consistent bonuses. Also I don't like seeing lots of icons of my units running out of fuel.

[@MisterVercetti]

Also, on the subject of powers, Jess's firepower boosts are just flat-out better than Jake's. Not only are they bigger on paper, but remember that, if Jake's troops aren't sitting on plains, their firepower boost is a big fat 0. This is exactly why, if Jess initiates a push with her Super, Jake can't effectively respond to it - more often than not, instead of being able to lead a counter push, he has to pull his troops back for repairs, which ends up giving Jess even more ground. Jess, on the other hand, is more than capable of responding to a Jake Super push with a counter-push of her own. The full unit resupply is just icing on the delicious cake.

[@supershadowman6478]

Honestly Jess is one of my favorite COs to use in AW2

[@vismvp]

Jess is basically the early->mid game CO. You have the late game niche with your super power, but it's more of an "I'm all in" situation. But she will clown the early->mid game just due to the raw power. If she snowballs fast, it can just be a game over.

[@itsdripnovababy]

I would be a Jess Stan if Sami didn’t exist lol

[@cpukabuto2132]

Why not have both?

[@itsdripnovababy]

@@cpukabuto2132 because Sami is too powerful She’s lured me in Jess can’t lure me out

[@ManaNek]

But Maaaaaaangs, I’m a Kanbei main and Jess doesn’t do well against hiiiiiim

[@ralseidreemurr5082]

Jess having weaker infantry is dumb she's a ground specialist but the other green earth co,s dont have weaker infantry kinda silly

[@Short..]

Jess needs a hair buff then I’ll agree

[@nictouris6054]

I really want to contradict you, but it's hard because you're right

[@mathblitz2994]

I'd like to add some more nuance to this video that I think it misses out on. Whether or not Jess is strong/weak depends largely on how important inf on inf fights are as opposed to vehicle on inf or vehicle on vehicle fights. She does good on base light maps as they tend to have higher funds to base ratios which leads to army compositions with a larger number of vehicles. Maps with 0 star terrain are good for her as well because with powers she can ohko infantry on 0* terrain to open up new avenues for attack. I bring this up because she's not necessarily an "early game" co. The type of fighting that happens at different stages of the game depends largely on the map geography. Sometimes early fighting is inf on inf and midgame fighting is with vehicles, sometimes its reversed. Lategame fighting however is almost always with vehicles and Jess is considered the strongest lategame co in T4. It just so happens that her early game is underrated depending on the map.

[@mathblitz2994]

To this affect, I don't believe jess is actually the strongest choice on Creepy Crawler. Absolutely playable, but there's quite a bit of infantry on infantry fighting there. So much so that i can see arguments for jess/jake/sami on the map. Struggle Grindin though I absolutely agree that jess is the best choice for the map and Hidden Edge this video convinced me that she's the best there as well.

[@Artemas_16]

That giant pencil is important

[@ericquiabazza2608]

Also, jess resupply make zoning with indirect fun. You can put them anywhere and just shot, shot and shot.