Victreebel

by Shine Tue Apr 07, 2009 11:41 pm

Victreebel's Smogon Sets

Victreebel Dpmfa071

Chlorophyll
--This Pokemon's SPEED doubles when Sunny Day is in effect.

Stat	Base	MAX
HP	80	364
Atk	105	339
Def	65	251
Sp.Atk	100	328
Sp.Def	60	240
Spd	70	262

Victreebel has always been something of an overlooked Pokemon, often being outclassed in near every situation- Vileplume is MUCH bulkier at the cost of less Atk and Spd, for instance- it's simply outclassed by a lot of things. Regardless, Victreebel holds a good bit of merit, having very solid offensive stats, and decent HP and Spd (it ties for Spd with Butterfree). It also gets a small selection of useful support moves, including Sleep Powder, Stun Spore, and Knock Off, to name a few- though not very bulky, a Support Victreebel could be surprising, and bears the same advantage as defensive Carnivine, being that while it can still boast respectable defensive ability through Stockpile, its massive offensive stats let it still do reputable damage with its STAB attacks without really having to rely on an offensive-minded EV spread. I'll also mention that Victreebel is currently the fastest Pokemon in NU with a STAB'd Leaf Storm, barring Meganium, Shiftry, or a small handful of NFEs, which all have much less Sp.Atk. Being Poison type, Victreebel freely switches into Toxic, effectively walling Toxistallers not packing an attack move, and easily running Encore on the slower ones, locking them into Toxic and allowing itself free setup time. Victreebel also got some nifty new tricks in Platinum- Leaf Blade, Sucker Punch, and Synthesis- suddenly, Victreebel can take advantage of that monster Atk stat with a STAB, and even gets a priority, to boot, as well as a tolerable recovery move for defensive purposes- particularly in the Sun. All in all, Victreebel, while not being the BEST at whatever it does, has a lot of options open to it, all of which entirely explorable and exploitable.

Physical Boost Sweeper

Victreebel @Muscleband/Black Sludge
-Sleep Powder
-Swords Dance
-Sucker Punch
-Leaf Blade
Chlorophyll, Adamant/Jolly
204 HP, 252 Atk, 52 Spd (252 Atk, 252 Spd, 6 HP)

A pretty simple physical sweeper Victreebel- since Victreebel finally has a couple reputable physical attacks, it can really take advantage of Swords Dance now, starting with Sleep Powder to create a setup opportunity, particularly against slower foes. The first EV spread is for Black Sludge, for max recovery per turn, in case you don't trust Victreebel's Spd.

Counters are pretty easy to find- Banette and Noctowl easily switch into a called Sleep Powder with Insomnia, Banette threatening WilloWisp or TrickScarf, while Noctowl can threaten to Psycho Shift a Flame Orb burn or set up Reflect against a predicted Sucker Punch, following it up with an Air Slash/Night Shade or Roost. Wormadam Steel has no problems switching into EITHER attack, can take the opportunity to set up Stealth Rock, and outdamage with Gyro Ball thanks to its resistances.

Special Sweeper

Victreebel @Wise Glasses/Black Sludge/Choice Specs
-Sludge Bomb
-Energy Ball/Leaf Storm
-Hidden Power Fire
-Encore/Sleep Powder
Chlorophyll, Modest/Timid
204 HP, 252 Sp.Atk, 52 Spd (252 Atk, 252 Spd, 6 HP)

This set centers more around what Victreebel is USED to doing- Special Sweeper. STAB'd Sludge Bomb HURTS Spec'd or with Glasses, and conquers a lot of switchins overpredicting the Energy Ball/Leaf Storm, Storm bein' more appropriate for Specs. Hidden Power keeps Victreebel from being walled by Steel types, which otherwise wall Sludge Bomb and Energy Ball happily. Encore and Sleep Powder are good for shutting down Pokemon in whatever situation- Encore is better if you're afraid of faster Pokemon setting up on you, Sleep Powder being more appropriate for any other situation.

Needless to say, if the user has good prediction, this thing is pretty difficult to switch in on without taking HEAVY damage. Articuno, Noctowl, Dustox, Swalot, Grumpig, and Munchlax could all possibly do well to switch in on attacks, Dustox and Swalot having the best chances of taking repeated hits, considering their respective recovery moves, while Grumpig can threaten with Psychic, and Noctowl with Hypnosis or Air Slash, besides that Noctowl is immune to Sleep Powder with Insomnia.

Mixed Sweeper

Victreebel @Life Orb
-Energy Ball/Leaf Storm
-Leaf Blade/Encore
-Sludge Bomb/Hidden Power Fire
-Sucker Punch
Chlorophyll, Naughty/Rash
252 Atk, 252 Sp.Atk, 6 HP

Mixed Sweeper Victreebel here. Energy Ball and Leaf Blade are both STAB'd (obviously) and can both hit hard. Leaf Storm is an option over Energy Ball if you don't mind sacrificing your ability to stay in battle and sweep consistently. Encore is an option over Leaf Blade if you've got enough trust in Energy Ball or Leaf Storm, allowing you some extra time in case someone tries to setup against you. Sludge Bomb is STAB'd, but HP Fire keeps Steel types from walling you, and Sucker Punch is there for the sake of another physical attack. Besides, it's SUCKER PUNCH.

Without HP Fire, Wormadam Steel stands up against this easily enough. Entei can WilloWisp for Leaf Blade and Sucker Punch, but still has to to worry about Sludge Bomb. Dustox walls everything well except HP Fire, but Light Screen solves that problem.

Sunny Day

Victreebel @Black Sludge/Heat Rock/Lum Berry
-Sleep Powder
-Sunny Day
-Solarbeam
-Hidden Power Fire
Chlorophyll, Timid
12 HP, 48 Def, 252 Sp.Atk, 196 Spd (Modest: 32 HP, 252 Sp.Atk, 224 Spd)

Classic Sunny Day setup- Victreebel's one advantage over, say, Vileplume here? Speed. Victreebel is MUCH faster than Vileplume, and still hits that destructive 100 base Sp.Atk stat, along with having STAB'd Solarbeam. Cherrim has more bulk and natural Spd to pull this set off, but Victreebel carries the advantage of Sleep Powder or Encore, while Cherrim's stuck with Grass Whistle, and doesn't get the double Spd benefit under the Sun. Simple, proven many times effective- Sleep Powder shuts down foes, while Sunny Day pops Chlorophyll, gives STAB'd Solarbeam instacharge, and raises HP Fire's power to 105- there's a lot of synergy here. If you wanted to make a more bulky Victreebel (for whatever reason), you could try running Synthesis over Sleep Powder.

The first EV spread grants Victreebel the ability to outrun Scarfed 100 base Spd Pokemon once the Sun's up, but requires a Timid nature- the second with a Modest nature merely outruns Scarfed 91 base Spd Pokemon, but obviously packs more of a punch.

Before the Sun's up, anything faster with a Super Effective attack or Taunt could effectively shut Victreebel down. Purugly, Sharpedo, Qwilfish, Swalot, and Golbat are all good choices. Purugly can Taunt, packs Thick Fat or HP Fire, and can U-Turn out to something to set up, or to scout a switch. Sharpedo can outspeed with Taunt, and OHKO with Ice Beam. Qwilfish can not ONLY Taunt, but can set up its own Rain Dance after. Swalot resists Solarbeam, doesn't really mind HP Fire, can Pain Split off damage, and retaliate with physical BoltBeam or other various means. Golbat doesn't care about Solarbeam much in the least, and can OHKO with Brave Bird, Taunt/Sub against Sleep Powder, and retaliate with Heat Wave. If the Sun's already out, your best bet is anything generally bulky on the special end, such as Grumpig, Swalot, or Munchlax, while something like a Scarfed Sneasel can quickly dispose of the threat with a STAB'd Ice Punch.

Tank

Victreebel @Black Sludge
-Stockpile
-Synthesis/Stun Spore
-Giga Drain
-Hidden Power Fire
Chlorophyll, Bold
204 HP, 152 Def, 152 Sp.Def

With access to Stockpile and Synthesis, as well as good HP, Victreebel has some potential Tanking options open to it. Stockpile pumps its defensive stats, Synthesis restores a good bit of HP, Giga Drain keeps up the offensive while still keeping your HP high, and HP Fire helps cover what Giga Drain doesn't. An advantage of Victreebel's is that since it's part Poison, it can't be induced by Toxic. Stun Spore is an option over Synthesis to allow for easier Stockpiling.

The same counters for the Sunny Day set apply here- fast Taunt takes it out easily enough- besides that, because there's no Sp.Atk investment, anything with decent Sp.Def/HP can pretty easily set up, especially if they've got Sub for Stun Spore.

Support

Victreebel @Black Sludge
-Sleep Powder
-Knock Off
-Encore/Reflect
-Leaf Blade
Chlorophyll, Impish
204 HP, 252 Def, 52 Atk

Thanks to the ever useful Knock Off, Victreebel doesn't make a half bad support Pokemon. It can shut things down with Sleep Powder, Knock Off their items, stall with Encore, or setup Reflect. Besides that, it still has good Atk, allowing it to still effectively deal damage to anything that doesn't resist Grass attacks.

Sub isn't quite as much an option here because of Encore- someone with good prediction can wreck you like that. Instead, something with strong Sp.Atk and a good Super Effective attack (Sharpedo, for instance) wouldn't have too many problems, besides switching in.

Scarfer

Victreebel @Choice Scarf
-Leaf Storm
-Sludge Bomb
-Sucker Punch
-Sleep Powder/HP Fire
Chlorophyll, Naive
252 Sp.Atk, 252 Spd, 6 Atk

With 70 base Spd, Victreebel ties with the likes of Butterfree and Magneton, other popular Scarfers, and with good offensive stats, Victreebel can work well as a revenge killer and general Scarfer- thanks to its Scarf, it doesn't have too many problems shutting down slower enemies with Sleep Powder before switching out, and STAB'd Leaf Storm coming off such high Sp.Atk is difficult to endure for a lot of Pokemon- switch ins beware. Sludge Bomb is generally the main attack option here, being that it's the most reliable. Sucker Punch is great for weakened foes.

Switching in on most of these attacks is rough- a Steel type is your best chance if Victreebel's not packing HP Fire, considering Leaf Storm and Sludge Bomb. Things like Metang, Mawile, Wormadam, and Magneton have no problems switching in and setting up, besides that Metang can Ice Punch, Mawile can Fire Blast, and Magneton can effectively HP Fire or Ice.

Sorry it's not done yet. Depression has struck, I'll finish it later.