Level 100 Statistics (see level 5, 50, 100)
|
Min- |
Min |
Max |
Max+ |
| HP |
80
|
- |
301 |
364 |
- |
| Atk |
105
|
221 |
246 |
309 |
339 |
| Def |
65
|
149 |
166 |
229 |
251 |
| SpA |
100
|
212 |
236 |
299 |
328 |
| SpD |
60
|
140 |
156 |
219 |
240 |
| Spe |
70
|
158 |
176 |
239 |
262 |
Overview
Victreebel is one of the few Pokemon that can be used successfully in every tier. Although it might seem strange that a Pokemon capable of sweeping in OU should have dropped down to NU, it is here for a very good reason—the sun is Victreebel's life and blood, and without it, Victreebel is nothing but a generic Grass / Poison Pokemon. However, with the aid of Sunny Day, Victreebel can abuse its well-distributed stats and great ability to become a complete sweeping machine. BW gifted Victreebel with a boosted Growth, while its trusty ability, Chlorophyll, still boosts doubles its Speed in the Sun. Victreebel’s Poison typing is also a blessing, as it makes Victreebel one of the few Pokemon in the tier that can remove Toxic Spikes. At first glance, Victreebel’s stat spread and movepool might not seem very appealing, but its unique sweeping abilities make it a viable candidate for many teams.
Although Venusaur might have usurped Victreebel's position as the top mixed sun sweeper in OU, Victreebel can still use its well-distributed offensive stats to wreak havoc on the NU metagame. Sun support transforms Victreebel from an average Pokemon into a deadly sweeper, capable of razing down whole teams. After a Growth boost and Chlorophyll, Victreebel will have doubled its offensive stats and Speed, which usually allows it to sweep unhindered. The NU tier is more focused on physical walls, such as Regirock and Alomomola, so Victreebel is better off going fully special. A +2 SolarBeam devastates anything that doesn't resist it, while Weather Ball—a coverage move most other Pokemon lack—deals with the problematic Grass- and Steel-types that plague other sun sweepers. Sludge Bomb takes out the Fire-types that resist Victreebel's other moves while still providing it with a way to attack when the sun is no longer up. Sleep Powder can also be used to disable an opposing Pokemon and safely set up a Growth or two. However, the loss of Sludge Bomb means that Victreebel has no way of hitting Fire-types even neutrally, and will be all but useless outside of sun.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
Special Attack and Speed are maximized in order to ensure that Victreebel can hit as hard and fast as possible. A Modest nature is used to further boost Victreebel's Special Attack, but a Timid nature can also be used to outrun Adamant Kingler without sun. Giga Drain can be used instead of SolarBeam for additional recovery and added utility outside of the sun, but the extra power will be missed. Victreebel can also go mixed with Sucker Punch in the last slot in order to surprise revenge killers hoping to take advantage of the sun running out; if using Sucker Punch, a Rash nature should be used.
Teammates that can set up Sunny Day are obviously good Pokemon to use with Victreebel; Volbeat can reliably set up sun and U-turn out to give Victreebel a safe switch in and is almost guaranteed to set up Sunny Day thanks to its ability, Prankster. Victreebel fits well on a sun-based team, with teammates such as Charizard to help weaken walls with sun-boosted Fire Blasts, so Victreebel can sweep through the remnants of the opposing team with its impeccable coverage.
Victreebel has access to another boosting move in the form of Swords Dance; although it might seem inferior to Growth at first, it is actually a very good move to use on Victreebel thanks to it not being reliant on sun. This set aims to have a more reliable setup with greater independence from sun, while still being able to sweep through weakened teams. Leaf Blade is the main STAB move, which does decent damage to anything that doesn't resist it, while Sucker Punch bypasses Victreebel's low Speed and allows it destroy most revenge killers. Lastly, Return can be used to hit Pokemon such as Altaria hard, but doesn't give Victreebel any extra coverage on Steel-types. Instead, Sleep Powder can be used to debilitate a counter and give Victreebel time to set up.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
Maximum investment in Speed and Attack gives Victreebel the best shot at sweeping, as any investment in its bulk is likely to be wasted due to its low defensive stats. An Adamant nature is also used to boost its Attack further, but a Jolly one can be used to outspeed Adamant Kingler.
Although this set is much less reliant on sun, it still benefits from it; Pokemon such as Volbeat can use Sunny Day while also providing Victreebel with a free switch in, courtesy of U-turn. This Victreebel has far less coverage compared to its other set, however; bulky Flying-, Poison-, and Steel-types easily wall this set as they resist Victreebel's STAB move and can avoid Sucker Punch with support moves. Powerful Fire-type teammates such as Charizard can annihilate most of Victreebel's counters with sun-boosted Fire Blasts while fellow Chlorophyll abusers, such as Exeggutor, can take down opposing Poison-types with Psychic. Although this set is not too hard to wall, it is extremely hard to revenge kill; thanks to Sucker Punch, Victreebel can attack Choice Scarf holders before they can strike, and with a Swords Dance or two under its belt, Victreebel can easily take them down in one hit. Do note though that Victreebel's reliance on Sucker Punch leaves it exposed to Substitute abusers such as Charizard and Gardevoir.
Other Options
Victreebel's excellent offensive stat spread means that it can abuse Choice items quite well; however, it has little that differentiates itself from other Choice users, such as Torterra and Exeggutor, both of whom have a better secondary STAB and higher offensive stats. A mixed set is famous for being Victreebel's most common set in past generations, but as NU has numerous physical walls, Victreebel is much better off using the more powerful SolarBeam and Sludge Bomb and avoiding splitting EVs between its offensive stats. Stun Spore is a worthwhile option to cripple offensive switch-ins, but Victreebel is better off just attacking them with its powerful moves. As Victreebel is very dependent on sun to succeed, it can choose to set up its own sun with Sunny Day and a Heat Rock; however, it struggles with coverage when using Sunny Day and finds it hard to set up safely, so Victreebel is much better off letting its teammates set up sun for it. Substitute is another great move to use on Victreebel to avoid priority users such as Cacturne, but without an extra coverage move, Victreebel struggles to get past certain Pokemon.
Checks and Counters
Victreebel is one of the hardest Pokemon in the tier to counter. There is no Pokemon that can reliably take two of Victreebel's +2 attacks and still survive, so it often comes to getting in your Victreebel counter before it can boost up. Victreebel's most reliable counters are the traditional pink blobs, Miltank and Lickilicky; the former can run either Sap Sipper or Thick Fat to lessen Victreebel's blows while the latter's pink flab can sponge one of Victreebel's attacks before it uses Dragon Tail to phaze Victreebel away. Bulky Fire-types such as Flareon, as well as Dragon-types such as Altaria, are also decent switch-ins to Victreebel; however, both are hit very hard by Sludge Bomb and only Altaria can take on Sleep Powder courtesy of Natural Cure.
In sun, Victreebel is extremely hard to revenge kill, especially if it is also running Sucker Punch; however, Linoone's ExtremeSpeed will always go before Victreebel and can KO after it has been weakened by hazards and Life Orb. Other priority attacks such as Cacturne's Sucker Punch can shut down Victreebel if it isn't using the move itself. If you don't have any of these options on your team, or if they were knocked out, then sometimes the only way to stop a rampaging Victreebel is to stall out the sun or speed up its death from its own Life Orb recoil.
