Hoppip Community Day Graphic

Written by NHoff & Tangent

Graphic by g47ix



Event Details

 

On Saturday February 12th, 2022 (11 AM - 5 PM local time) Hoppip, the Cottonweed Pokémon, will be appearing more in the wild & will be available as a shiny Pokémon! In addition both Hoppip and Skiploom will be appearing in parks. The event bonus will be 3x catch stardust alongside incense and lure modules lasting for three hours. In addition, between 11 AM and 7PM local time there will be the opportunity to get up to 3 free Raid Passes from Gyms .

 

Remember - since Hoppip is a Grass and Flying Pokémon, you can Mega-Evolve a Mega Venusaur, Mega Abomasnow, Mega Charizard Y, Mega Pidgeot, or Mega Aerodactyl to earn an extra Hoppip Candy on each catch!

 

There will be a special one-time-purchase Community Day Box (available for 1,280 PokéCoins) that will feature 50 Ultra Balls, two Super Incubators, six Star Pieces, and an Elite Fast TM.

 

Jumpluff will learn the new Charged Attack Acrobatics when evolved between 11AM and 7PM local time on the 12th. 

 

Acrobatics is a flying-type Charged Attack dealing 110 damage.

 

So what does this do for Jumpluff in PVP battles?

 

There are two main reasons to be excited about Jumpluff’s Community Day move Acrobatics.

 

First is that Jumpluff starts to work as both a Grass-type Pokémon AND a Flying-type Pokémon. That is to say - Jumpluff currently has to rely on the pitiful Aerial Ace for Flying-type damage which leaves it ill equipped and potentially losing to Fighting-types like Medicham or Primeape. Acrobatics will deal DOUBLE the damage of Aerial Ace at a still undisclosed energy cost. It would be nearly impossible for Acrobatics to be a downgrade on its current moveset.

 

The second reason to rejoice is for those who do not have a Great League Tropius yet, or those who enjoy Tropius and want a well-performing Pokémon of the same type for lines of 3, limited formats, or draft-style competitions! We’ll get further into the comparisons in a bit but this Community Day is a nice boost for accessibility of this specific role.

 

Acrobatics is confirmed to be 110 damage, but that damage point has a 20-energy width of distribution in current moves. At 50 energy it would mirror Blast Burn or Rock Wrecker - and likely be overtuned on such a bulky Pokémon as Jumpluff. At 55 energy it would mirror Megahorn, and be quite strong. At 60 energy it would mirror Outrage or Payback, and be potent albeit not spectacular. At 65 energy it would mirror Hurricane and Petal Blizzard, and be fairly underwhelming. And we won’t bother going into how a mirror of Dazzling Gleam or Flash Cannon would look, as it would be extremely unlikely to be the route taken with this move.

 

If you have not already used a Charged TM to remove Frustration from any Shadow Hoppip you may have, be sure to do it during the January 24th Team Rocket event! While it is not a strict upgrade, Shadow Jumpluff is assuredly something you want as an option in your collection with this new move!

 

Jumpluff at the Great League level

 

Jumpluff

Maximum stat product: 2367k

Standard Moves:

Bullet Seed: 2 DPT 4.33 EPT (including STAB)

Energy Ball: 108 damage (including STAB), 55 energy, 1.96 DPE, 10% chance of -1 opponent’s Defense

Acrobatics: 132 damage (including STAB), 50-65 energy, 2.03-2.64 DPE

 

Tropius

Maximum stat product: 2255k (4% lower)

Standard Moves:

Air Slash: 3.6 DPT 3 EPT (including STAB) 

Razor Leaf: 6 DPT 2 EPT (including STAB)

Leaf Blade: 84 damage (including STAB), 35 energy, 2.4 DPE

Aerial Ace: 66 damage (including STAB), 45 energy, 1.47 DPE

 

Jumpluff is a Pokémon that one naturally compares to Tropius - the only other Grass/Flying Pokémon in GO until Shaymin (Sky Forme) or the Rowlett line are added. While Jumpluff boasts a higher stat product and is significantly more accessible than the regional Tropius, the banana dinosaur has consistently been more popular in any format that both are involved in.

 

Why is that?

 

Well presently Tropius offers some key advantages:

 

First off, Tropius has the extremely strong Charged Attack Leaf Blade - coming in at a base 70 damage for 35 energy. This is extremely strong in terms of parameters, to the point that it does more damage per energy even when up 1 resistance level when compared with Aerial Ace (e.g. against Alolan Marowak or Medicham.) In addition to all of these, Leaf Blade is cheap and spammy.

 

Secondly, Tropius offers Flying-type damage that is not reliant on Aerial Ace. While Tropius is similarly burdened with the impotent Charged Attack Aerial Ace, it has access to Air Slash as a fast move to deal Flying-type damage.Jumpluff with its Bullet Seed fast move is in an unfortunate situation against Pokémon such as Toxicroak or against Tropius itself as the only Flying-type damage it can deal is through a wholly weak move.

 

Third, Tropius offers flexibility in fast move by having both Air Slash and Razor Leaf as options. If a Tropius user wants hybrid damage with more frequent Charged Attacks they can opt for Air Slash as a Fast Attack, if they want overbearing Grass-type damage they can opt for Razor Leaf.

 

As we approach the Acrobatics at 2022 Jump Street we see nothing to mitigate this third advantage. Technically Jumpluff leverages coverage in alternative Charged Attacks - Dazzling Gleam and Return - but in practice these tend not to be worth it outside of extremely niche metas and are much worse in terms of flexibility than Tropius’ fast moves. The second advantage, however, is entirely mitigated - while Jumpluff will still be reliant on Charged Attacks for Flying-type damage it will deal significantly more per charge move cycle. The first is yet to be seen. At 55 energy Acrobatics will be on-par with Leaf Blade in terms of DPE - and while it will be higher cost it will also leverage a better offensive type. Even at 65 energy it would surpass Energy Ball as Jumpluff’s most energy efficient Charged Attack and be the best one to use in neutral shields-down scenarios.

 

“Okay so what does this really mean?”

 

Jumpluff will be an actual Flying-type and will be stronger than it ever has been. Some of Tropius’ advantages will be cut short, and Jumpluff will likely show up in its place in certain teams and metas. An Acrobatics in the range of 50-55 energy will heavily tip things in Jumpluff’s favor, while a 60-65 energy Acrobatics will still improve Jumpluff over its present circumstances and help those who do not have a Tropius. Most likely Acrobatics will be either 55 or 60 energy and help out Jumpluff a significant amount that puts it on a similar level to Tropius, with a larger focus on Flying-type damage than on Grass-type damage.

 

Sadly Jumpluff does not reach a high enough CP to be useful at the Ultra League or Master League level, despite what former promotional graphics might have alluded to

 

Closing Thoughts 

After the monstrous Community Day and shakeup that Walrein provided, Jumpluff may seem a bit lackluster. That being said, many of us at GO Stadium do not mind that one bit - as Walrein was a huge shift and that level of disruption is not exactly sustainable every month. The change to Jumpluff does help work against a longstanding accessibility issue in Tropius and this author is very fond of that in particular. Additionally Jumpluff is a beautiful pink shiny to pair with your pink Walrein from last month; the two work awfully well together as well!

 

Remember to use the GO Stadium rank checker on your Community Day to help see if your 0/14/14 Hoppip is actually what you want for your Jumpluff for Great League.

 

As always, stay safe and have fun this February 12th!