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Vital Spirit
- Prevents sleep. Increases wild encounters with higher level Pokemon.
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Level 100 Statistics (see level 5, 50, 100)
|
Min- |
Min |
Max |
Max+ |
| HP |
80
|
- |
301 |
364 |
- |
| Atk |
80
|
176 |
196 |
259 |
284 |
| Def |
80
|
176 |
196 |
259 |
284 |
| SpA |
55
|
131 |
146 |
209 |
229 |
| SpD |
55
|
131 |
146 |
209 |
229 |
| Spe |
90
|
194 |
216 |
279 |
306 |
Overview
While some people prefer direct, massive power at the risk of losing a turn, others prefer a reliable attacker with multiple options. Vigoroth is one of those Pokemon, having a nice base 80 stat in HP, Attack and Defense. Coupled with its decent base 90 Speed, Vigoroth becomes a powerful and bulky Pokémon that can take on multiple roles. Its Vital Spirit ability allows it to effortlessly slam down on the battlefield against sleep inducers and due to being NFE, Vigoroth becomes extremely bulky with Eviolite, especially physically. It has a nice physical movepool with a lot of options to choose from as well.
However, Vigoroth has its drawbacks, like every other Pokemon. Vigoroth's base 55 Special Attack makes its amazing special movepool of no use and even with Eviolite, its disappointing base 55 Special Defense can’t withstand many special attacks. Do not be fooled by this hyperactive monkey, however, as underestimating its paired power and bulk may lead you to your own demise.
This set aims to set up and dish out attacks after setup. Bulk Up is the main move of the set, raising Vigoroth's Attack and Defense to great heights after a few uses of the move. Return is a reliable and very powerful STAB, but if Speed is that big of an issue, you can run Body Slam to potentially paralyze and outspeed foes. Earthquake is a powerful move that hits Rock- and Steel-types, who resist Return, for heavy damage. The same can be done by using Brick Break, but as a neutral Return is more powerful than a 2x super effective Brick Break, Earthquake is the better choice. However, you can use Brick Break in tandem with Body Slam to make up for the power loss. The last slot is a filler move. Sucker Punch hits Ghost-types, as they are immune to Return, Body Slam and Brick Break, but you can option to use Taunt or Slack Off if you go with Earthquake. Taunt allows for easy setup against walls, while Slack Off gives Vigoroth reliable recovery.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
Night Slash is available for a more reliable move to hit Ghost-types with, but priority is handy as Vigoroth is not very fast. The EVs are put into HP for attaining great bulk and Attack with an Adamant nature to achieve maximum power. The attacking move from slot 3 usually goes with one in slot 4. If you're running Brick Break, go for Sucker Punch to prevent Ghosts from walling Vigoroth. If you choose Earthquake, you could go with Taunt or Slack Off, since Vigoroth can hit all Ghost-type Pokemon aside from Haunter, Misdreavus, and Drifblim with Earthquake. Ghost-types are great partners for this Vigoroth to take Fighting-type hits, so Haunter definitely gets a mention for impunily coming in on Fighting-type moves and inflicting heavy damage on opponents with its powerful STAB Sludge Bomb. Misdreavus is another Ghost-type you can use; however, Misdreavus is much bulkier than Haunter, and therefore plays differently. Misdreavus uses its bulk to slowly drain the opposing Fighting-types health instead. Psychic-types can also take on Fighting-types very well and have the advantage of being much more bulky than the fragile Haunter. Gardevoir can set up dual screens to give Vigoroth better Special Defense and seriously high Defense, while also sporting a very high Attack after a few Bulk Ups. Weezing's high Defense allows it to effortlessly come in on Fighting-type moves and burn opposing Pokemon with Will-O-Wisp, while Alomomola can do the same with its decent Defense and monstrous HP, but with Scald. Vigoroth appreciates all entry hazards it can get with this set, to net necessary KOs against most Pokemon after a boost or two, so Garbodor is a good partner for setting up Spikes and Toxic Spikes.
While Vigoroth can easily set up and attack the opponent, it also has the defenses and the Speed to work as an excellent stallbreaker, as it has access to Taunt and Toxic. This allows Vigoroth to effectively stall out almost any slower opponent by preventing them from doing anything but attack Vigoroth without any boosts whatsoever. Taunt allows Vigoroth to prevent the opponent from recovering HP or from using any support move. Toxic, on the other hand, drains the opponent's HP every turn as they attack Vigoroth, since they do not have the option to recover HP due to Taunt. Slack Off is great for Vigoroth, instantly recovering half of its HP and allowing it to take many more attacks from the opponent. In the final moveslot, Return prevents Vigoroth itself from being Taunt bait, and hits fairly hard, even when uninvested, coming off of a base 80 Attack stat.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
Max HP and Defense EVs take advantage of Vigoroth's higher base stats, and along with the boost to its defenses thanks to Eviolite, Vigoroth is very hard to take down with physical attacks. However, you have the option of putting some of your EVs in Speed to always outpace some of the more common Pokemon on stall teams. Likewise, shifting all of its Defense EVs into Special Defense lets you shut down many special attackers, as Vigoroth can easily survive a Leaf Storm from Choice Specs Exeggutor and use Slack Off to take the second one.
Using Bulk Up over Toxic is really the only advisable change to this set, though even with that change, it radically changes how this set functions. However, it is definitely usable. Teammates who can take care of faster Fighting-types are great partners. In particular, Misdreavus not only takes on every Fighting-type in the tier, but can also use Heal Bell to support Vigoroth and get rid of any unwanted status effects it may have gotten while on the field.
This set is more defensively oriented, using Substitute to make Vigoroth an annoying Pokemon to break down when used in conjunction with Encore. Encore shuts opposing walls down and allows Vigoroth to easily wear them down with its attacking moves. Return serves as a powerful STAB move, but Focus Punch can be perfectly utilized behind a Substitute and during a successful Encore; it also gives you completely unresisted coverage in NU. Lastly, Sucker Punch allows Vigoroth to hit Ghost-types hard, as Return and Focus Punch cannot.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
The 16 EVs in HP allow Vigoroth to retain a reasonable amount of HP. Speed should be maximized to have the opportunity to hit first, along with the remaining 240 EVs in Attack to have sufficient power. Additionally, Focus Punch and Sucker Punch have completely unresisted coverage in the NU tier and Focus Punch has nearly the same power as Return, so it's really a matter of preference. Night Slash is a safer option, but you'll lose out on some power and speed as compared to Sucker Punch.
On this set, Psychic-types are great partners, since Vigoroth can have a difficult time against the likes of Sawk and Throh. Haunter can also come in on a Fighting-type move, but most beware of any other physical move, since Haunter's defenses are paper-thin. Another alternative is the bulkier and more defensive Misdreavus. Other Pokemon that can take Fighting-type moves well are Alomomola, with its high Defense and ability to burn with Scald, and Weezing, who can burn those Fighting-types with Will-O-Wisp and attack back with Sludge Bomb. Entry hazards are a Vigoroth's friend, especially Toxic Spikes, for whittling down its foes even more quickly. If Vigoroth lacks Focus Punch, Steel-types can wall it to no end. Fighting-type Pokemon, like Sawk and Gurdurr, come in handy here. Garbodor fulfills the duty as a Spiker, also being able to come in on Fighting-type moves with its Poison-type.
Other Options
You can run a Choice Band set, but Vigoroth is very frail without Eviolite and Vigoroth’s Attack is also a bit low for utilizing a Choice Band, so it’s not recommended. The same goes for Choice Scarf, as Vigoroth's Attack is too low for a potential set.
Checks and Counters
Haunter can completely shut the Bulk Up Attacker set down if it lacks Sucker Punch, since Haunter is immune to Earthquake courtesy of Levitate. Haunter must be very wary of Sucker Punch, however, and it usually means the bane for the poisonous phantom. Misdreavus can PP stall Sucker Punch and completely wear it down using a combination of Toxic / Will-O-Wisp and Protect. Bastiodon is an amazing counter to Vigoroth as it sports a double resistance to Return and Body Slam and takes little damage from Sucker Punch, but it’s extremely susceptible to Brick Break, Focus Punch and Earthquake. Lairon can do the exact same and even hit back using its base 90 Attack, but it has the same susceptibility to the aforementioned moves. Cottonee also has its chances, as it can use Cotton Guard to raise its Defense to staggering heights and Toxic Vigoroth to slowly wear it down. The only thing Vigoroth can do in return is potentially Taunting Cottonee.
