The old Advance standard is back for another round in DP, except now Venusaur's offensive options on this annoying set have been improved with the introduction of Energy Ball / Grass Knot and Sludge Bomb becoming special. Anyone who has played against this set knows just how irritating it can be to take down. Use Sleep Powder to put one of your opponent's Pokémon out of commission from the start and use Leech Seed on the switch. With resistances to three common offensive types (Fighting, Water, and Electric) as well as Grass, it is quite easy to bring this guy in repeatedly, using Leech Seed each time to drain your opponent while restoring your own hit points. Energy Ball / Grass Knot are for STAB and Sludge Bomb takes out those Grass types that are immune to Leech Seed. Deciding whether you would prefer Venusaur to absorb physical hits or special assaults is up to you. Whatever you choose, just pump 252 EVs into the desired stat and choose the appropriate nature.
Choice Scarf and the above EV spread put Venusaur at 405 Speed. This makes him a fabulous lead with his fast Sleep Powder which is only beaten by Choice Scarf Gengar. Since this Venusaur is more of a hit and run type, he can afford to utilize Leaf Storm which will severely damage anything that does not resist Grass. Hidden Power Ice will sometimes OHKO the average Salamence and Leaf Storm has a shot at 2HKOing Garchomp with the Special Attack drop taken into account. If you would prefer to hit Celebi harder, Sludge Bomb is an option there. Earthquake fills the last slot to prevent punks like Raikou from Calm Minding against your special attacks. With 315 HP, 202 Defense, and 236 Special Defense, this guy can still manage to switch in rather easily.
The base power of Leaf Storm from Choice Specs Venusaur rivals that of Draco Meteor from Salamence. Only Pokémon with a 4x Grass resist (Salamence, Dragonite, etc.), Blissey, and Celebi will be able to switch into it more than once without risk. Sludge Bomb and Hidden Power Ice will make short work of the Grass types and Dragons that do not fear Leaf Storm. Sleep Talk makes him a good Pokémon to absorb sleep from the common Gengar lead while still maintaining his supreme usefulness. Watch out for Steel types like Jirachi and Metagross since they resist all your attacks.
This set takes advantage of Venusaur's ability to force switches due to the opponent fearing either a Choice Specs Leaf Storm or Sleep Powder. Ideally Venusaur should Substitute on the switch and proceed by using Growth, which raises Venusaur's respectable Special Attack one stage. Often Venusaur will find itself capable of using Growth more then once because of its defensive bulk. Venusaur should then Substitute down activating the Salac Berry and Overgrow and proceed to sweep with boosted STAB Energy Ball. Hidden Power Rock complements this set by allowing Venusaur to damage Flying and Fire types such as Altaria and Ninetales. The given EVs are a basic sweeper spread and the 30 HP IV allows for the Salac Berry to activate after 3 Substitutes. Modest can also be used over Timid for extra power but the loss in Speed rarely makes it worth it. A Petaya Berry is a decent option over a Salac Berry but without any Speed boosts Venusaur's ability to sweep will be hindered. A different Hidden Power is, of course, usable over Hidden Power Rock if hitting a particular target is more important.
With Venusaur's often overlooked physical movepool, this set can wreak quite a bit of havoc if your opponent is unprepared. In the lower tiers, where Venusaur shines, its 80 base Speed and nearly unique physical type coverage change Venusaur from a Special-based tank into an attacking monster that is very difficult to stop. The basic strategy with this set is to use Sleep Powder on your first turn, as soon as you get in. By boosting Venusaur's speed through EVs and nature, you will find yourself faster than a large percentage of lower-tier Pokémon, making this much easier. Once your opponent is asleep, use the free turn to Swords Dance as your opponent either switches or waits helplessly as their Pokémon is asleep. Once you have that +2 Atk boost, just take aim at your opponent and fire away. Seed Bomb is the move of choice as it gets STAB and has its power boosted even more by Venusaur's ability, Overgrow. Earthquake is for most things that resist Grass such as Vileplume, Muk, other Venusaur and especially Steel and Fire-types. Even though this set has very good type coverage, there are a few common threats that can counter it quite handily. The most notable counter is Altaria, who is immune to Earthquake and has a 4x resistance to Seed Bomb. Meganium, Cacturne and Shiftry also resist both moves on this set. These few problem Pokémon can all be taken care of if you opt to use Double-Edge as the last move over Earthquake. Even though you will lose coverage against Poison and Fire-types, the ability to hit your counters for neutral damage may be more appealing. Be careful if you choose that route, as it compromises Venusaur's excellent defenses by giving recoil damage. Maxing out Attack and Speed on this set is the best option. You will need all the Attack you can get, and maximizing Speed is very beneficial in the lower tiers. The item you choose is entirely a style preference. If you aren't comfortable with just 82 base Attack, Life Orb can be a great option to give your moves some extra power. Even though it detracts from Venusaur's great defenses, some recoil damage may actually help in some cases due to Venusaur's Overgrow. Leftovers is the recommended item, though, as it actually lets Venusaur maintain some of the defensive prowess that makes this set such a threat to begin with. Other OptionsVenusaur’s offensive movepool is rather restricted and will generally be relying on STAB options or Hidden Powers. All of his special options have been discussed except for Hidden Power Fire which gives him something to use against Skarmory and other Steel types that resist his Grass and Poison assaults. It is the support side of things where Venusaur shines. In the way of improving his tanking ability: Amnesia and Light Screen boost his special sponging talents while Charm destroys the physical firepower of Pokémon like Salamence that like to switch in. Synthesis is an option in UU for Recovery but shouldn't be tried in OU due to the prevalence of Sandstorm. Roar is also an option on Venusaur as he functions as a decent phazer against Raikou and Suicune. Finally, Substitute is there for those of you who just cannot get enough of the SubSeed combination. However, Jumpluff usually performs this role better. Black Sludge is an alternative to Leftovers, but should only be used in situations where Item Clause is enforced. EVsSpreads are listed with each set because it is nearly impossible to make general statements about how Venusaur should be EVed. Choices regarding EV spreads are entirely dependent on the role you want him to play (defensive annoyer, fast sleeper, special tank, etc.) and whether he needs to sponge physical or special attacks. OpinionThe value of the versatile Venusaur lies in the unpredictability he has gained with the installment of the fourth generation of Pokémon. Diamond and Pearl has given him options beyond what he had available in Advance play where the best he could hope to be was an annoyer (a damn good one though!). Some say Venusaur should be banished to the realm of obsolescence by the fact that Celebi exists, but that is being rather simple minded. They are two very distinct Pokémon that function in different ways. Further, Celebi now has to contend with the greater prevalence of Bug moves thanks to the introduction of U-turn and X-Scissor, along with the Dark type physical Pursuit. Venusaur can come in on some of the major physical offensive threats of the metagame like Gyarados, Electivire, and Medicham along with special stars like Raikou, Zapdos, Jolteon, and Suicune and foil any chance at a sweep. Venusaur’s ability to sponge hits from both ends of the offensive spectrum while still maintaining his own offensive capacity with dual STAB sets him apart. CountersMost Steel types can switch in relatively easily, only having to watch out for the occasional super-effective Hidden Power or Earthquake. Heatran is an excellent counter, resisting its STAB attacks, and only fearing the very rare HP Ground or a Sword Dance Earthquake. Jirachi, Metagross, Skarmory, Lucario, Scizor, and Bronzong are all able to switch into Venusaur's Grass and Poison attacks with no problem at all and begin their respective set-ups. Gengar is an excellent Venusaur counter as it resists its entire offensive arsenal and can status Venusaur. Other Poison types like Weezing are also problematic but less so since many of them are slow and can be slept and then Leech Seeded (with the obvious exception of Crobat). Salamence and Dragonite are not bothered by anything but Hidden Power Ice and Choice Specs Sludge Bomb and will force Venusaur to switch as well. Celebi can come in on Leaf Storm or Leech Seed and compel you to flee with the threat of Psychic; however, it should be noted that Celebi will be 2HKO'd by Sludge Bomb. Blissey can wall every special set but is susceptible to Leech Seed and the Sword Dance set. Cresselia can beat any set and wear it down with Ice Beam or Psychic. The rather obscure Moltres beat Venusaur soundly as well. In UU, true counters are more difficult to find because of Venusaur's unpredictability. Drifblim is an all around good counter to most sets although it's vulnerable to Leech Seed. For the Sword Dance set, Rotom can come in on an unboosted Seed Bomb and burn Venusaur with Will-O-Wisp. Jumpluff can come in on a Seed Bomb and Encore it or put it to sleep. Special sets are harder to counter, particularly the Choice Specs set, and generally are beaten by prediction. Articuno is an excellent counter and will beat most sets with its ability to Roost off any damage it takes. Altaria is a good counter to any set, sporting a 4x Grass resist, but will fall to HP Ice. Ninetales can come in as well with its Grass resistance and good Special Defense, but it can be 2HKO'd by a Growth boosted HP Rock and can't take a boosted Earthquake. Flareon can switch into the Choice Specs or Scarf set but will struggle against any other variant. For the Growth set, Clefable can Encore either Substitute or Growth and proceed to set up itself or force Venusaur out. Noctowl's great Special Defense and resistant to Grass makes it an ideal counter to special Venusaur. Noctowl also has the ability to Whirlwind away Venusaur's Growths. Muk can switch into most variants of Venusaur, but must be careful not to switch into an Earthquake, and works particularly well if it's carrying Ice Punch. |
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