The Joint Training Battle was more than just a tournament of one-on-one matches like the U.A. Sports Festival. Still, a team battle offers up the chance for team-sized strategies or a plethora of one-on-one matches like the ones fans got to see at the Sports Festival.
The groups that worked together and avoided individualized battles performed well in the Joint Training arc. Still, anime fans love a good matchup between superpowered teenagers, so My Hero Academia was bound to include a couple good fights for viewers to fawn over.
10 Tentacole Vs Pony Is So Anticlimactic That Viewers Will Have A Hard Time Forgetting It
The third round of the joint training exercise ended in a tie that left many fans feeling underwhelmed. After watching Class 1-A and Class 1-B go one-on-one against each other in the first two matches, it was a shame that Shoto and Ida weren't able to put a notch in the win column for Class 1-A.
Fortunately, the third match offered viewers some of the best individual battles in the entire arc. One of these battles saw Pony and Tentacole face off in a battle of mobility and range that was genuinely entertaining to watch. The round may have ended in a tie, but this battle did an incredible job of exploring two heroes with unique Quirks who don't often get to share time in the spotlight.
9 Shemage's Battle With Tokoyami Shows Viewers How Terrifying Her Fungal Quirk Can Be
Class 1-A is known for packing a heavier punch than Class 1-B in terms of their individual Quirks. Dark Shadow, Explosion, and One For All are only a few of the overpowered Quirks wielded by students in Class 1-A.
Few could have predicted that the most dangerous Quirk of them all is lurking in Class 1-B. Shemage has the ability to cover the world around her with fungus. When first put on display in round 2 of the joint training exercise, her Quirk seems like nothing more than a cute parlor trick, but when tested by Tokoyami and Dark Shadow, Shemage proves that her fungus can reach even the darkest places.
8 Tailman Vs. Spiral Gives Fans A Taste Of Martial Arts Combat
My Hero Academia usually prioritizes strategic battles where Quirks are leveraged for an advantage in combat when building action sequences, but anime fans will always love a well-animated pure martial arts sequence.
Spiral vs. Tailman gave fans a taste of martial arts by pitting two students with Quirks that enhance their close combat skills against each other in round 3 of the joint training exercise. Much like the third round itself, this battle ends in a draw. Perhaps future seasons will follow Spiral and Tailman more closely as they take down villains with their enhanced martial arts techniques.
7 The Scheming Hero: Vantablack Pushes Dark Shadow And Tokoyami To Their Limit
Vantablack is a unique young hero with a Quirk that allows him to move freely through the darkness created by shadows. The scheming hero has both the looks and Quirk of a villain, but chooses to terrorize his peers at U.A. High instead of terrorizing the general public.
During the Joint Training arc, Vantablack used his skills to force Tokoyami and Dark Shadow to become one. Once the Jet-Black Hero took to the skies, Vantablack had a hard time keeping up, but if it weren't for Vantablack's scheme, fans may never have gotten to see Dark Shadow fly.
6 Mudman's Flexibility Makes Him The Ideal Opponent For Ingenium
Mudman's Softening Quirk may sound underwhelming, but it proves to be extremely effective at slowing down Class 1-A's assault in the third round of the joint training exercise. In fact, if it weren't for Mudman's Quirk, Class 1-A could have easily pushed through Class 1-B in this match.
By softening Shinso's ice, Mudman freed his teammates and created a trap for the enemy simultaneously. Until Ingenium revealed a new power, it was Mudman who stood as the most powerful student on the battlefield after disabling Class 1-A's most powerful combatants.
5 Shinso's Ongoing Battle With Gevaudan Proves That He's More Than Just A Powerful Voice
The first round of the Joint Training arc gave fans another chance to see Shinso in action against members of the hero course at U.A. High. The General Department student has an extremely powerful Quirk but still carries far too much mental baggage to take advantage of his full power.
Throughout the first round, Shinso faces Gevaudan, a student from Class 1-B with the ability to augment his body and increase his strength. But Shinso overwhelms Gevaudan with his voice and with the binding cloth draped over his shoulders. Any time Shinso makes it onscreen, fans know they're in for a treat, and this fight was no different.
4 Bakugo And Crew Demonstrate Just How Powerful Teamwork Can Be Against Class 1-B
The fourth round of the Joint Training arc sees Bakugo, Sugarman, Earphone Jack, and Cellophane dominate a team from Class 1-B. By including teamwork in his definition of strength, Bakugo proved that he may be unstoppable when properly supported by his allies.
The Explosion Murder God may have a long way to go in terms of collaborating with his team verbally, but as long as he's willing and able to support his team without a complex strategy, Deku will have to continue inventing new praise for the future number one hero.
3 Deku And Uraraka Team Up To Take Down Shinso And Monoma
The relationship between Deku and Uraraka began all the way back in season 1 of My Hero Academia when the two faced off against Bakugo and Ida during a similar training exercise. As a team, the pair are undefeated in battle exercises thanks to a victory over Shinso and Monoma during the Joint Training arc.
Of course, Monoma is correct in saying that the battle could have gone completely differently had he planned for Deku's Quirk to be a blank, but the truth remains. Deku and Uraraka are a team capable of overcoming whatever powerful obstacles are in their way — even the excess of power hiding within One for All.
2 Kendo And Yaoyorozu Show Off Their Quirks And Brains In An Epic Battle
At its core, the Joint Training arc was a brilliant display of strategy and innovation. As each match developed, Quirks were revealed and enhanced in ways that shifted the tide of the battle. Whichever team managed to adjust to the flow of the battle, or create the flow themselves, would find themselves victorious.
This is what makes the matchup between Kendo and Yaoyorozu so interesting. Both girls are extremely intelligent and rely on themselves to adjust to the ebb and flow of combat in order to secure victory. Watching this pair bash their fists and heads together in round 2 of the joint training exercise was as exciting as it was educational.
1 Tetsutetsu Pushed Shoto To His Breaking Point In A Fist Fight That Could Have Ended Much Sooner Than It Did
The third round of the joint training exercise may have ended in a draw, but it did not disappoint when delivering epic battles between super students. The best of these fights falls into the metal hands of Tetsutetsu when he proved that he could withstand Shoto's Half-Cold Half-Hot Quirk just long enough to beat him to a pulp.
If Shoto hadn't been willing and able to push his half-hot side to its limit, he would have been overcome by a total underdog who should have had no chance at victory against him. The way this battle twisted back and forth until the final seconds of round 3 captivated fans for so long they may have overlooked the fact that Shoto managed to go toe-to-toe with Tetsutetsu in close-quarter combat for the majority of round 3's time limit.