Raikou vs Jolteon? Who's better?

Question

Similar to the thundurus qweestion someone asked, who is better competitvley? Like what's the difference? Whose stats are most beneficial to their special sweeper role? Can they reliably run mixed, if so who's better? Who has better coverage/move pool?, etc. Thank you In advance

Answer 1

This is actually a pretty interesting question, because at first sight, they don't seem to differ that much from each other, at least stat wise, however the answer is pretty simple. In the current metagame, Raikou functions much better than Jolteon mainly because of its superior bulk which enable it to check the likes of birdspam much better and more reliably. Despite their movepool seeming similar, Raikou's movepool is far more impressive.
The only thing Jolteon has over Raikou is gargantuan speed, but with the advent of very fast Pokemon this gen, Jolteon's speed was unable to give it viable usage in OU, especially with such a potent rival in OU being Raikou, that does everything Jolteon can x times better.
With access to Calm Mind and Extrasensory, Raikou wields a much more interesting array of sets and gives you more options to pick from, whereas Jolteon's only viable sets would be Specs or LO.
It's additional bulk enables it to switch into attacks more on a much more regular basis, which a Pokemon who will potentially be acting as a scout can definitely benefit from, especially in today's OU metagame.

To answer your second question, no, both of them cannot and should not run mixed sets. Investing in attack is useless as they will still be unable to 2HKO most physically bulky Pokemon due to their rather poor attack stat (65 and 85 respectively).

Raikou's stats are distributed in a much more beneficial way and most certainly bring forth its potential as a special attacker / sweeper (when CM). Jolteon however merely acts as a scout and a potential sweeper, but in no way does it do it better than Raikou, providing that Raikou also wields a higher special attack stat.
As mentioned above, Raikou's movepool surpasses that of Jolteon so all in all, Raikou can generally be classified as better than Jolteon.

Comments

Fantastic answer, I really appreciate the inclusion of today's meta game. You get B.A. For answering my whole question, and Astronautical got a hit in on Luxray, one of my faves

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Anytime.

Answer 2

Epic OU Battles of Historyyyyyyy!!

JOLTEON!

versus!

RRRRRAIKOUUUU!

begin!

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+) Wicked speed, one of the fastest non-Mega Pokémon
+) Great ability in Volt Absorb
+) Good Sp. Attack
-) Poor movepool
-) Garbage HP and Defence, with passable Sp. Defence
-) Weakness to the omnipresent Earthquake

Jolteon is the hard hittin', Thunderbolt absorbin' speedster you all know an love. He also looks awesome. He has a rediculous 130 Speed stat, enough to outpace even most Megas, and a decent 110 Sp. Attack stat. Volt Absorb also lets you switch into Electric attacks aimed at your Gyarados or Talonflame and heal back some HP. Unfortunately, that's about where the positives end. Jolteon's Special movepool is pretty much Shadow Ball, Thunderbolt, Signal Beam, and a Hidden Power of your choice. Maybe Helping Hand. On top of that, you are pretty much forced to run Focus Sash with his middling 65/60/95 defences.

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+) Has respectable 90/85/100 defences
+) Offensive stats aren't too shabby either, sitting at 115 Sp. Attack and 115 Spe
+) While his movepool is pretty shallow, it's better than Jolteon's
-) Mediocre movepool
-) Weakness to Earthquake

Raikou, everyone's favorite thundercat (shutup Luxray). He has a near perfect distribution of stats, not weighing too much on bulk or offense. He can effectively run Life Orb, Assault Vest, or Choices Specs sets. While not as fast as Jolteon, he still outspeeds a heckuva lot of Pokémon at base 115. His movepool is both one of his strengths and his greatest fault. It's limited to Thunderbolt, Hidden Power, Extrasensory, Snarl, Shadow Ball, Signal Beam, and Light Screen. However, he can pull off a lot with just those moves. Pseudo-boltbeam in Thunderbolt + HP Ice, flinch hax with Extrasensory, and coverage with Shadow Ball are his main attacks, rounded off by Assault Vestor Choice Specs. His support movepool is barely passable, holding just Thunder Wave and Light Screen, but the niche is there. In the Doubles format, Raikou will often find Shadow Ball or Extrasensory replaced with Snarl to lower both opposing Pokémon's Sp. Attack.

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WHO WON?

Raikou is most definitely the winner here. While he lacks a bit of the speed and power that Jolteon brings, he more than makes up for it in bulk and utility.

Comments

The way you answer questions is amazing xD

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Hee hee :D

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Really good answer u sounded a lot like Boomstick :) gonna give the other dude the B.A. Solely for that Luxray comment, but you both gave excellent advice

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Seriously, just because I think Raikou is cooler than Luxray??

Just kidding, Aeternis gave a pretty top-notch answer. This was supposed to be done like the Epic Rap Battles of History videos.

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Yeah i know, I liked it! But there really wasn't any other reason..I could think of XD

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"shut up, Luxray"

lol

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AV Raikou...what a wonderful idea...

Answer 3

Joleton is faster than Raikou
Raikou has slightly higher Sp. Attack than Jolteon
Raikou has better defences and HP than Jolteon

It all depends what on what you want out of your sweeper. If you want something that outspeeds almost everything in sight, then go with Jolteon.
However, if you're looking for a sweeper that will do more damage and be able to take more hits, go Raikou.

Look here and here for possible movesets for both Pokémon.

Comments

And if you look at it from a tiers point of view:
Raikou- OU
Jolteon- RU
If Jolteon was as good, or better, than Raikou surely it would be in a higher tier.

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Thank you very much for your input. This just wasn't the answer I was looking for, but is still commendable advice.

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Oh well xD thanks for commenting at least

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Your welcome, just trying to practice internet courtesy

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Well you're doing it right good sir *claps*