The WORST Paradox Pokemon in Scarlet & Violet

[@chompy_YT]

Subscribe so Gamefreak rescues our boy Iron Jugulis 🙏! Edit: For clarification I am a singles youtuber lol

[@themister.s-1st]

No! That freak of nature needs to stay hidden with Jynx. No more Pokémon breeding with robots

[@charkbv2916]

I would really like Paradox pokemon to have cool hidden abilities to not depend entirely on Sun/E. Terrain for their abilities to work

[@chompy_YT]

Agreed

[@mandalorianhunter1]

We will have to wait until future gens sadly

[@alexgutierrez3478]

What would you even give some of the worse Paradox mons anyways? I feel like balancing would be hard to figure out

[@pklifeupa7064]

Better min maxing for starters.​@@alexgutierrez3478

[@bluekirby_64]

They didn't do it with Ultra Beasts, I doubt that will be any different for the Paradoxes.

[@MorrisPXG]

If its VGC,Jugulis and Scream Tail are actually very decent in restricted formats,but Silther Wing is just lost cause

[@InsertFunnyThingHere]

Slither Wing may not win championships or premier leagues but it won my heart and that's gotta count for something

[@superdolphin440]

​@@InsertFunnyThingHere Sierra is this your alt?

[@LycopokySlimesy]

You also forgot to mention Iron Thorns, it is just outclassed and has bad typing, stats, movepool isn't that bad but lack of a good electric STAB hurts it and Dragon Dance is something done by many pokemon AND restricteds like Kyurem-B and Zekrom, other noteworthy pokemon that run DDance are Roaring Moon, Gouging Fire, etc.

[@MorrisPXG]

@@superdolphin440 LMAO

[@talhanawaz7951]

Scream tail and Jugulis are both regional champion in their debut year. In the current format of regulation G Scream tail works as a horriblu scary disruptor with both fast disable and encore support whereas Jugulis has a good niche being a quark drive speed boosted tailwind setter for Kyogre or Miraidon teams. Moreover firing off fast snarls make it pose a threat to Calyrex Shadow

[@3clisp315]

This is singles bro

[@themister.s-1st]

7:05: “Iron moth has it’s separate issues” Me: yeah, it should be Fire/Electric not Fire/Poison with its Solar Panel wings. OPPORTUNITY WASTED!!!

[@Bingus743]

Wait, you're actually onto something. How have I never realized this myself or heard anyone else talk about this?

[@themister.s-1st]

@@Bingus743 everyone else wants to protect Rotom Heat’s uniqueness…..but I say competition is needed for progress. Tell me you agree!

[@Bingus743]

@misters6749 100% I don't think any typing should be gatekept. Rotom Heat has levitate to make it stand out from other theorical Fire/Electric types.

[@looksfineforme9471]

When I tried to come up with a nickname for my iron moth I was looking some things up, which (in a headcanon) makes the fire/poison make sense Volcarona's dex entries mention how it was viewed as an embodiment of the sun. So it's not too far fetched to think that iron moth was an attempt to artificially recreate that. Now there's a real thing called sun poisoning which (very simplified) is an overdose on UV radiation. With that in mind my personal headcanon is that whoever made iron moth simply went too far and instead of having an artificial sun providing life, they created an artificial poison radiator. Hence fire/poison

[@Cfdrifbloom]

Every future mon could be steel or electric, i appreciate the variety

[@omoroburns2172]

Iron jugulis is great in doubles. Faster than scarf urshifu, tailwind, prankster immunity, hurricane and snarl stab, and if you're really spicy dragon cheer.

[@bluekirby_64]

In defense of Iron Jugulis' design, they turned the smaller heads into drones able to be shot at opponents and retrieved. Iron Thorns... Yeah no, that one is a lost cause.

[@enzopereira2606]

Not just that, the smaller heads are their own thing, they can feel emotions and think for themselves. That by itself kinda put Iron Jugulis above Hydreigon for me, i'd feel extremely bad if i had a Zweilous and suddenly one of the went braindead, only to get another braindead head.

[@bluekirby_64]

@@enzopereira2606 Has that been confirmed somewhere? I also think the same, and I know the details you're referring to, but as far as I know there's nothing conclusive since the dex entry doesn't mention anything and there's no website page for Jugulis.

[@Tyranid_Hive_Mind]

Missed opportunity to make iron thorns look like MT

[@GameFreakSucks]

Almost all of the paradoxes suck. They’re uninspired rehashes and they either suck or are ridiculously broken. Not to mention they’re a sorry excuse for not including fossils. Fuck SV

[@mandalorianhunter1]

Well Jugulus is seen as being better then most people think since its going into higher tiers and it has some VGC success

[@spacebananas7856]

What makes it even worse is that gamefreak decided that they would give a flying type an ability that activates from terrain

[@superdolphin440]

It still activates

[@indrajeetmitra9989]

Or a flying type an ability that gives it immunity to a type it was already immune to

[@liannabunny7775]

@@indrajeetmitra9989Rotom Fan Form?

[@indrajeetmitra9989]

@@liannabunny7775 exactly

[@arcadiawhimsies]

not only a terrain it cant take advantage of (flying means it cant be immune to sleeping moves) but also buffs electric moves it is weak to

[@ScubaShark8857]

I feel like a lot of issues with paradox mons could have been avoided if they had hidden abilities. Also, the fact that they just made Iron Jugulus so bland for a design when they could have taken inspiration from the beta design being a cyborg dragon with tank-like elements is criminal to me.

[@clothieredward]

It's insane how amidst the sea of power creep brought by Gen 9, there are some Paradox Pokemon that are on the same level as or worse than their original counterparts. There's the minmaxed demon that is Flutter Mane but there's also mons like Brute Bonnet and Iron Thorns.

[@BamaMophi]

They really missed a chance to make Iron Juggulis into a physical version of Hydreigon instead of Hydreigon again, but worse. Imagine how strong it could have been if it could make good use of a stab Booster Energy Acrobatics

[@ElenaPog]

Jugulis has had decent usage in VGC and was pretty notable in a recent tournament

[@AedraRising]

Didn't Scream Tail literally win a tournament with Perish Song? I'm surprised you didn't mentioned that in its moveset.

[@flatbread42]

That was in vgc, Chompy is, at least primarily, a singles youtuber.

[@levonleban6252]

Slitherwing has a good enough spdef to check darkrai, plus it can slow turn for sun. I think it’s a good niche non for sun.

[@Typi]

Paradox mons deserve to return with some major changes next gen. I mean, it would be sick to find them in a cave either very late game or post game filled with tera crystals, acting like a mini hidden Area Zero. Many of these mons are hindered by the locked gimmick ability, or lack of moves.

[@spamtong.spamton8416]

Imagine Bug/Dragon Slither Wing with Tinted Lens as a hidden ability.

[@GameFreakSucks]

No. They don’t deserve to comeback for trying to replace fossils with uninspired rehashes

[@ansoni1295]

I wish Iron jugulist got Nasty plot, it'll help so much with its out put.

[@zacharyseiders5793]

Meteor beam, power herb. Makes it a lot more dangerous if Miraidon’s around.

[@slashine1071]

@@zacharyseiders5793 jug isn't that good in ubers, it's more of a uu pokemon(used to be ru but it was too strong). So it needs pincurchin for quark drive, which sucks

[@zacharyseiders5793]

@@slashine1071 Miraidon’s available in regulation G. Smogon tiers don’t really mean too much when you can make a team comp work. Just look at Incineroar, NU tier but he’s just about everywhere.

[@MimikyuStardust]

I have to say before DLC 2, iron jugulis has a niche as a fast offensive cleaner that beats ting-lu with taunt, it's role, weirdly enough is a stall breaker for hyper offense teams. Brute Bonnet was also a semi-staple in sun before the release of gouging fire (which outclasses it), I don't think you really showed off it's strength because it's pretty much sun's crawdaunt that's tankier before DLC 2, because it can 2hko almost every tank with the combo of bullet seed, crunch and tera blast fire for the steel birds (and also amazing defensive utility vs fairy and burn), on top of that it has spore which is essentially a free KO, some sets even forgo tera blast fire and just spore the steel birds and spam crunch on them, it's also EXTREMELY bulky so you can easily win trades vs iron valiant, close combat great tusk, and Zapdos which in theory you lose to. Sun struggles with ghost types as it's best dark type roaring moon hates switching into dragapult and gholdengo, while Brute Bonnet turns them into free switchins. Before DLC 2 one of if not the best sun team in OU had Brute Bonnet acting as it's wall breaker and defensive utility with a max attack loaded dice spore + 3 attacks set. (The team reached #1 on OU ladder by a lot of different people, and was used many times in big tournaments like SPL and World Cup, and if I remember correctly was a sample team too).

[@calebshmanderson]

Here's what I would buff about them: Iron Juggulis: give it Nasty Plot and give it Weather Ball to make it a good rain specs user. Brute Bonnet: -30 to speed, +20Atk & +10Hp, and give it Swords Dance. Making it a trick room mon with high damage prio sucker punches Slither Wing: there are three things for it. Give it Victory Dance via Mirror Herb; -10Def & -10SpAtk and give it to Speed for 101Spd: Or the Opposite -40Spd, & -20SpAtk and give it to +40Atk, & +20HP for a bulky pivot with First Impression and U-Turn. And if we were to have HAs, we all know Scream Tail would get Huge Power.

[@Cigmacica]

I findnit funny how both just top cut the latest vgc tournament, meanwhile in singles they’re some of the worst paradox forms

[@sobbleco6248]

At least Iron Jugulis has great animations in game.

[@liannabunny7775]

I think the best thing about Jugulis is the fact that it's supposedly the offspring of a Hydreigon and a Robot

[@yungmuney5903]

Personally the biggest problem is the lack of hidden abilities. Abilities that are not only underused but also still unique and useful? Imagine aerilate Jugulis? Or Shield dust Slither wing?

[@Thedragonlover95]

Yeah weird

[@jmfordaliza3139]

Hot take: You don't have be viable in OU to be a good paradox mon. Jugulis is RUBL cause of taunt, hurricane, booster energy speed late game sweeper. Slither Wing is thriving in RU and is versatile with its movepool. You can turn it into a pivot, band user, or a bulky sweeper. I even encounter a slither wing bulk up, morning sun, skitter smack, and flame charge set which was innovative. As for scream tail, great stats as a bulky defensive mon with decent support moves and is thriving in PU. Iron Thorns is the only paradox mon with no redeeming qualities at all cause of it's awful typing. But the rest, are viable in lower tiers and it's completely okay.

[@chompy_YT]

No ofc I never said it was not ok to be in the lower tiers and be good. One, OU is the generally looked at as the standard competitive tier, so I always use that as my reference point as a comparison. Two, I am comparing their performance in this gen compared to other paradox pokemon for ex: Great Tusk, like you would agree that has outplayed Iron Jugulis for ex in the given space of the respective metagame. Thus they are judged accordingly. Ofc they aren't bad in the metagame they are placed in, but compared to other thriving paradox Pokemon, they aren't on the same lvl.

[@blazie42069]

Slither wing actually is in danger of dropping to NU at the moment

[@slashine1071]

people forget that jugulis runs booster energy, and booster energy jugulis is practically impossible to outspeed unless you have like a scarfed weavile or something Also dark flying is a very good typing defensively, its mandibuzz's and yveltel's type, and we all know how good those two are defensively. It's rubl right now, same tier as normal hydreigon, and above the likes of salamence and deoxys defense. Also slither wing practically holds RU together right now, it's speed is just good enough to outspeed the many base 80s which is useful, and its first impression is incredibly powerful. It also has great coverage to keep things in check.

[@silver_was_found]

Slither Wing should have gotten Victory Dance. It’s a past fighting-type version of Volcarona, who is known for its Quiver Dance shenanigans (literally the whole logic behind Hisuian Lilligant getting the move). This would mitigate its speed issues at least a little bit and might even cause it to move up a few tiers, who knows?

[@TheKhfan001]

There was a Scream Tail set in the beginning of vgc that has my heart, as i love disruption/redirection effects. If i remember correctly, it was something like choice scarf, trick, encore, disable, howl (something like that, pure disruption). I'll have to look it up.

[@raresuwako6796]

Scream Tail didnt have a green bandanna and Iron Jugulis was just a dollar store Hydrigon, it was why it was a future paradox Pokémon

[@Sazandora635]

Iron Jugulus being as...average as it is after seeing the insanely min-maxed statline of Brutal Moon aggravates me since it could been better had they just given it enough speed to push it into a more notable tier and pulled more out of its physical attack for that and special attack. It really feels like they're just rolling dice when it comes to the balancing decisions they make with the statlines on Pokemon sometimes; particularly when it comes to the ones that have "dump" stats they're okay with reducing to almost nothing for the sake of increasing others that matter.

[@Zenarack]

If the paradox forms werent restricted to just photosynthesis and quark drive i think a lot of them could've been very better like they still have QD/photosynthesis but they have a secondary ability too

[@BamaMophi]

The paradox Pokémon have disappointed me in a similar way that Ultra Beasts did. They had all these interesting designs that open up the possibility for some truly unique moves and abilities that had never been seen before or since. However, they just gave them all cookie cutter abilities that are the same as each other despite their drastic differences in design and lore. When we got info about specific Ultra Beasts before they came out, some people, myself included, thought Pheromosa - who was described as being able to affect anyone with her pheromones - would have an ability that lets it use gender specific moves on Pokémon regardless of gender. Maybe even using it on genderless Pokémon. Would it have been good? Dubious. But it would have been interesting and unique. The Paradox Pokémon are even more of a disappointment since they essentially feel like regional variants to their base Pokémon instead of a past or future remix of them. If they wanted to keep the Booster Energy abilities to grant some uniformity, then I think they should have gone the same route as they did the legends where it has that effect as well as a secondary effect unique to that specific mon. For example: Great Tusk could have Protosynthesis mixed with Reckless while Iron Treads could have Quark Drive mixed with Rock Head.

[@SkorBn]

The problem is that too many gen 9 pokemon are built around terastilization. Large movepool but lacking coverage? Because its supposed to gain stab on its tera or use tera blast. Very situational ability? Because otherwise tera would make it too broken. Relatively balanced statspread outside of the poster children of paradox pokemon? Because otherwise, they'd outperform once they tera. Oh, it has a poor typing? Yeah because you're supposed to tera to counter your weaknesses. But tera only made older pokemon better and newer/broken pokemon unstoppable.

[@ShayTheValiant]

I will not stand for this Iron Jugulis slander. He may be a robot, but he's MY robot. He is precious and I love him.

[@AI-DreigonGPT]

Same

[@nathanieljones8043]

Still waiting for th paradox sinsatea iron muguluis

[@lulugaj5859]

jugulis is decent in vgc pairs well with kyogre

[@RockOrso2]

But Iron Jugulis is doing fine with Miraidon making it a faster Tailwing supporter, though that's only applicable in Doubles.

[@astralguardian5930]

One thing is that Growth can work as essentially Swords Dance in Sun, so Brute Bonnet can be a tanky powerhouse in Sun teams, but yeah the Grass/Dark still bites and being essentially only usable in Sun teams when you already got better options like Roaring Moon on Physical side or Walking Wake on Special side. So still almost useless especially compared to the supportive menace that Amonguss is.

[@justarandompurplefox3243]

Notice how Slither Wing has Larvesta’s stat distribution. I think that’s neat

[@luizfelipevbf5567]

If these guys ever get hidden abilities that might be their one salvation. Something like: Iron Jugulis - Lightningrod Iron Thorns - Electric Surge Brute Bonnet - Stakeout Slither Wing - Tinted Lens

[@gio9255]

I think the most unfortunate of the paradoxes is iron thorn. While the other weaker ones have solid utility, offensive movepools, and even decent speed to work with, Iron Thorn functions as a worse DD T-tar only. It heavily relies on terastalization to set up and is not as versatile of an attacker as t-tar. It’s outdone as a hazard setter and offensive electric type overall by Sandy shocks. Iton thorn is also weaker defensively and cannot reliably go the mixed attacker route. Out of all of them, Iron Thorn is the one that needs the biggest rework of them all.

[@olivernguyen50]

Huh odd was kinda expecting iron thorns would be on this list too

[@DawnLong-s3k]

He literally mentioned Iron Thorns towards the end of the video.

[@Blanka767]

Give Victory dance to Slither wing

[@ctv186]

Scream Tail and Uryon Jugulis won regionals in 2023, so that's something. Would've been nice to see paradox Pokemon have their own unique abilities rather than just Booster Energy activate. But that's probably delving into hypothetical 3rd DLC narrative idea talk.

[@Slushea]

Fun fact, If it could booster energy speed it would be an annoying spore pokemon, it was most likely made slow for that EXACT reason.

[@eeveewithcoffee9554]

Iron Jug is also the only parodox Pokémon that can’t use the sun/terrain it uses with its ability. It should have been dark steel or dark poison

[@AI-DreigonGPT]

It does even tho It doesn't touch the floor

[@eeveewithcoffee9554]

@@AI-DreigonGPT that was the point. It doesn’t touch the floor

[@blazie42069]

Jugulis is at least banned from a tier, Thorns and Brute Bonnet are definitely the worst though as at least scream tail has some things to do in the higher tiers

[@ivory7604]

6:41 Doesn't Slither wing have access to Flame charge (a speed boosting move?)

[@biannualcube2704]

It also gets trailblaze on top of flame charge!

[@TheOtherNeutrino]

I feel like Bonnet should be able to learn Knock Off. If the limbless Wo-Chien can use it, so should this.

[@goGothitaLOL]

Recap on Iron Thorns: 9:05 -Fails to live up to its present day pseudo-legendary counterpart………hard (even worse than Iron Jugulis does) -Sp. Def compromised in exchange for a mediocre Spe stat -2nd typing is Electric, and a physical one at that (of which alone is a death sentence) -It kept the Rock typing instead of Dark, resulting in the worst STAB move combination you could ask for (yes, Grass/Poison and especially Bug/Poison can both be easily walled offensively, but at least the STAB moves you have aren’t insufferable to use on the physical end) -Being stuck with Quark Drive when the only Electric Terrain setter is the shitmon that is Pincurchin who doesn’t even have Volt Switch (Tapu Koko is gone, locked in the Shadow Realm)

[@WheatOatmeal]

Hey, Jugulius has a niche against Calyrex Shadow, i will not stand for this slander

[@BananaR777]

Well if GF didn't give them less moves and states compared to there regular counterparts they would be pretty solid. Some cause flat out worse typing. Iron Jug had its defenses lowered and last access to nasty plot. (makes sense cause its a dark type) While Iron month lost access to quiver and has a worse type of fire poison compared to fire bug.

[@awqweird]

i think there was enough given to most of the paradox mons as is, I think iron thorns and maybe also slither wing are the only two that could use any help at all.

[@rashawn3718]

Me just using howl tera fairy screamtail in double battles and watching it one shot most things it can hit for super effective

[@shinygoomy9784]

Suprised shocks didnt make it. I love the thing but it just isnt that great

[@estonprayz]

Sandy Shocks isn't an awful paradox mon, it's just good enough to avoid this video.

[@booradley6832]

Wo Chien just hit a top 8 in VGC. Tablets of Ruin are coming back baby.

[@andresaurio6194]

i think that next generation this mons should receive secret abilities that can separate them from this whole terrain sun dependance

[@felipesilva3732]

Iron Jugulis looks straight outta Pokemon Rumble

[@arcadiawhimsies]

wait is the standing Magneton good then? I don't think I have ever seen it outside of AAA

[@rondoudouswag1271]

Scream tail is underrated af, wish teave rocks encore and other super good moves with amazing defensive stats

[@Blanka767]

Imagine if bute bonnet was a Dark/poison type

[@wigglytuffenjoyer]

Honestly, Scream Tail is SO CLOSE to being good! Give it more utility options like Moonlight, Knock Off, and maybe even Heal Bell to double down on it being fully supportive and then you’d have an amazing Support Also yeah WHY IS IT PSYCHIC?! That type sucks nowadays! It would’ve been so much better Fairy/Normal

[@ArceusGamingFC]

Sorry for my VGC perspective but Jugulis is good as a Tailwind setter because of its stats.

[@DawnLong-s3k]

You forgot Iron Leaves. It is currently at RUBL, along with Iron Jugulis. Iron Leaves has the worst movepool of the three Paradox forms of the Swords of Justice. It doesn't even learn a physical Grass type move until Lv 49. And it's only coverage against Flying types is Wild Charge, which causes recoil damage. It can't even learn Stone Edge, though Virizion can, so it's basically going to lose against Bug type Pokémon (i.e. Lokix with First Impression). Finally, 90 HP and 88 Defense is terrible.

[@nickolassussybaka437]

They should have given slither wing victory dance to help with that weird stat btw great video

[@black-redpill3]

So you're saying all the worst paradox Pokemon, are weak to the conditions needed to have their abilities normally activated?

[@ewantube4555]

Iron jugulus saves and made my poke rogue first win and I love hydreigon a lot so I agree it needs more. Also first ig never been first

[@AI-DreigonGPT]

Glad I helped

[@angry998]

the weakest paradox is iron thorns, always been unviable in vgc since d1, while in single is a mediocre dd sweeper

[@akhilmichael7604]

Jugulis is pretty solid atm in vgc.

[@Azusashusband]

Wouldn't exactly call Iron Jugulis bad or even the worse paradox Pokemon considering its in the same tier as Hydreigon

[@DogOfWar64]

Slither Wing should have been bug/dragon.

[@goGothitaLOL]

Iron Thorns Iron Thorns Iron Thorns Iron Thorns Iron Thorns Also side-note, can we talk about how Slither Wing doesn’t have Victory Dance, literally the physical Fighting-type equivalent of Quiver Dance

[@Persona-Joop-157]

At least Scream Tail is good at Perish Song teams

[@wafflebroz]

That Stardew Valley music

[@quitentorres2930]

I think only flutter mane was the best honestly, still used now & days

[@liylaliyla]

meowscarada is good inspite of it's typing, not because of it

[@chompy_YT]

i said that lol

[@liylaliyla]

@@chompy_YT oops

[@AI-DreigonGPT]

I ain't awful it's just people think i am a straight up downgrade from Hydreigon cauz of the design

[@afvpegknight]

Japanese players use scream tail as a suicide twave rocks lead.

[@amirrbah167]

Bro not every Pokémon has to be good in OU there are other tiers which they thrive in

[@peterbutterjelly114]

TAPU KOKOOOO.. WE NEED YOUUUUUUU

[@KanderUdon]

VGC players: 😨😨😨

[@deltram]

NOT A BIG FAN OF THE JUGULIS!

[@juanderijillo]

Chompy should make balance betweem singles and vgc Some Pokémon has some use than in singles or viceversa

[@kefkapalazzo1]

“Iron jugulis is NOTHING”

[@AI-DreigonGPT]

*Proceed to hit rank 1 in OU in November*

[@kefkapalazzo1]

@@AI-DreigonGPT that was a nightmare didn’t happen

[@Ryno12345able]

Is it just me or do some people think immunity to dragon, which I feel is an overhyped type, is all a pokemon needs to be good

[@kefkapalazzo1]

“Rather bulky to take down” lol you still need a writer bro

[@Max-qw8eq]

IMO, slither wing should have been bug dragon type, with dragon dance

[@plagueboi2861]

They should've given it victory dance, the physical version of quiver dance.

[@DeePee-vy5vp]

Iron Jugulus excels on rain teams, stab hurricane - hydro pump for coverage // and dark flying water coverage is NOICE