Venomoth's movepool isn't exactly huge, and you end up with some redundant coverage; that said, Tinted Lens is your trump card that will let you destroy even that which resists you if you pick wrong. Bug Buzz will be your main attack; Sludge Bomb doesn't really cover much that Bug Buzz doesn't but you can use it to hit fliers. Psychic works on the Grass/Poison types that are fairly common in the UU environment. Sleep Powder is a pretty good move no matter where it is, but if you don't like it on a Choice set you can pick one of the Hidden Powers to hit a Rock/Steel type harder than with your other moves. A Timid nature ensures you outspeed Nidoking and tie at worst with Pikachu, but you can go Modest if you want more power. Timid is recommended, however.
Not nearly as powerful as the Choice Specs user but it's fast, can put things to sleep, and can Roost off some damage that it takes. The EVs here give you a more defensive spread to work with Roost; you can, of course, just choose to max your special attack instead.
This Venomoth set plays very similar to its Roserade brethren. Since Venomoth will be mostly played in UU, she becomes a sister set to the similar Toxic Spike Roserade set. Both utilize Sleep Powder to cripple their opponents and both lay Toxic Spikes. Combined with an un-resisted STAB Bug Buzz thanks to Tinted Lens, Venomoth also has the ability to lay the hurt. Without Sandstorm and Hail in UU, Focus Sash becomes the primary item and the EVs allow her to outspeed most leads, though you probably want to keep her away from things such as Swellow and Altaria. The Special Attack EVs put more damage in your attacks, but can be easily modified if you want a more bulky Moth. Psychic is a great option to hit those Grounded Poisons coming in to absorb your Spikes. Hidden Power Ground allows you to hit incoming Fires who may scare you off.
Venomoth learns Baton Pass, and can take unboosted special hits decently well in the UU environment. Unfortunately, it can't pass much—just an Agility or an extremely small Substitute. Passing those Substitutes isn't so bad, though—if something comes in and tries to break your Substitute, you can put it to sleep and then make and pass another one. If you need an Agility or Substitute passer for UU, you can do far worse than Venomoth. If you're passing Substitutes instead of Agility you should go with a much faster EV spread, around 297 speed (Timid) to outspeed Jolly Nidoking.
Venomoth learned Screech as an egg move in Advance; unfortunately, it did not get Metal Sound to replace it in Diamond and Pearl. Still, you can make do with a mixed attacking set thanks to Screech. Hit something with Screech, and then U-turn out to either hit its weakened defense, or give a slight dent to the next switch-in and allowing you to get your own counter in. The EVs give you some decent attack numbers to shoot for, and the speed lets you outrun Jolly Nidoking and other base 85 speed Pokémon. Other OptionsIt can use Sunny Day with Solarbeam and Morning Sun, but Morning Sun is only giving you a 66% heal in the sun and Venomoth doesn't get any other benefit from sunlight. It can use Stun Spore too, either over Sleep Powder or as a double-powder set. Other than that, nothing. Despite what Diamond and Pearl gave it, Venomoth's movepool remains rather small. HP Ice is a surprise option as it allows you to hit Salamence, Hippowdon, Yanmega, and Roserade leads if you decide to play him as an OU lead. Hidden Power Fire may be your best bet though, as it can easily take out Venomoths biggest counter in OU, Forretress along with its ability to hit Steels that aren't affected by Toxic Spikes. EVsFor the Choice Specs user, 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe with a Timid nature is the best spread to get the most effectiveness out of the set. You'll want to ensure you HP is odd, so Venomoth can switch into Stealth Rock fives times. These EVs work fine for the Toxic Spiker as well, as lots of Speed is needed for a quick Sleep Powder, and after Venomoth has done its job, it can contribute more by hitting hard with max Special Attack. The Non-boosting attacker set with Roost can use 196 HP / 96 SpA / 216 Spe to have 297 Speed, beating out max Speed base 85s with boosting natures, such as Toxicroak or Nidoking. A 240 Special Attack stat still hits moderately hard in UU considering Venomoth has Tinted Lens to score neutral hits on a lot of opponents. All of the other EVs are dumped into HP. The Baton Passer doesn't need any Speed EVs if it's passing Agility, so those EVs can go into Special Defense to help it take hits. However, if Venomoth is passing Substitutes, again, 216 Speed EVs and a Timid nature to reach 297 Speed is recommended. In the Screech set, 297 Speed is still recommended as the magic Speed number for Venomoth to reach, but 176 Attack EVs are thrown in to do some good damage with U-Turn after a Screech. OpinionThe bug with psychic powers is one of the coolest Pokémon ever. Unfortunately for Venomoth and similarly cool Pokémon, its stats are fairly low and its movepool fairly tiny. Still, it wasn't horrible in Advance underused and the Diamond and Pearl generation has brought Bug Buzz and a now-special Sludge Bomb to Venomoth's movepool, enabling it to use its much higher special attack stat. It also gained Tinted Lens, which is simply awesome. Venomoth has the distinction of being one of the underused special attackers not walled by Hypno. CountersVenomoth is easy to kill with its low defense, but hard to counter. For example, Empoleon resists all of Venomoth's moves but still gets 2HKOed by a Choice Specs Bug Buzz thanks to Tinted Lens. Tentacruel has good special defense, is faster than Venomoth, and resists both Bug Buzz and Sludge Bomb, though it takes double damage from Psychic. Mantine has a special defense stat equal to Skarmory's defense, so it can easily take Venomoth's hits. |
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