DEATH BATTLE

Episode 21: Brachydios vs Yang Xiao Long

Boomstick: Here's the thing about Blastblight: If the Brachydios smears you with its slime, the slime will heat up for a while until it BLOWS UP IN YOUR FACE! And to add insult to injury, while the slime's on you, it can blow up prematurely if you're hit with a heat-based attack!

Wiz: The Brachydios needs to be constantly aggressive to get the blight to actually work, as clever opponents would know how to stop, drop, and roll to get the slime off before it explodes. And fortunately, it can and will be constantly aggressive.

Boomstick: It hits you with leap-slams, lunging slams, tail whips, horn-slams, horn ram-slams, and its bread and butter: punching! It'll march forward while slamming its fists to the ground in a combo, bitch-slap you, and basically go Mike Tyson and sock you in the face!

Wiz: Should the Brachydios's attacks not hit its target, they leave behind slime puddles that turn from green to yellow to red before exploding. This slime can stick to pretty much anything...

Boomstick: ...but for some reason, the slime that is on the Brachydios doesn't explode.

Wiz: Probably due to its shell.

Boomstick: ...well, that explains a lot. Anyway, when the Brachydios is pushed to the limits of its anger, it busts out Rage Mode, where he gains a decent boost in speed and strength. And when enraged, this thing's pretty much a bastard noscoper.

Wiz: In this state, the slime on the Brachydios's body turns from green to yellow, and its punches can now directly cause explosions instead of leaving behind slime. And if its attacks do leave behind slime, that slime explodes at a much faster rate.

Boomstick: And about those horn attacks...Instead of leaving behind a large slime puddle, depending on which horn-slam the Brachydios performs, the horn-slams can either cause explosions that surround the monster or head straight for opponents in front of it!

Wiz: But when truly pushed, the Brachydios enters its ultimate form: the Raging Brachydios. In this state, the Brachydios trades speed for an immense boost in firepower and durability, and what's more, more of its body parts are now coated in now-volatile slime.

Boomstick: It's also in this mode that the Brachydios finally follows logic and the slime on it blows up on it when enemies get close...oh, you think that's a weakness? The slime explosions do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to the Raging Brachydios!

Wiz: With all of its abilities, it's no doubt that the Brachydios is far more than a force to be reckoned with. It can single-handedly and easily take out an Agnaktor by itself; it can single-handedly manhandle 4 hunters at once; can run faster than Usain Bolt himself, and keep up with the hypersonic Agnaktor; and is arguably one of the hardest monsters to hunt ever since it debuted in Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate.

Boomstick: But even with all of its explosiveness, the Brachydios has quite a few weaknesses. Most of its attacks are predictable, and it can get hungry, which is real bad when it's in the middle of a fight.

Wiz: The Brachydios also has a weakness to water, which through prolonged exposure can wash off the slime mold on its horn and pounders, and even when facing a foe who doesn't have water, using attacks will cause its slime supply to vanish, made even faster when the horn and pounders are broken. All of these force the Brachydios to lick its fists in the heat of battle, which leaves it wide open.

Boomstick: And one last weakness: the f*cking Guildmarm.

Wiz: ...I'm not sure that even qualifies as a weakness.

Boomstick: Sure it is! A wyvern...ophile questgiver that falls in love with a beast that explodes stuff? EXPLAIN!

Wiz: Suspend disbelief, Boomstick.