|
-
Overgrow
- Raises the power of Grass moves 50% when at 1/3 HP or less.
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Statistics
|
Min- |
Min |
Max |
Max+ |
| HP |
80
|
- |
301 |
364 |
- |
| Atk |
82
|
180 |
200 |
263 |
289 |
| Def |
83
|
181 |
202 |
265 |
291 |
| SpA |
100
|
212 |
236 |
299 |
328 |
| SpD |
100
|
212 |
236 |
299 |
328 |
| Spe |
80
|
176 |
196 |
259 |
284 |
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.
Other Options
Venusaur’s offensive movepool is rather restricted to STAB moves. 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 and Rest are options to restore HP, but are quite difficult to pull off due to the ubiquity of sandstorm and Venusaur’s proclivity to switch out after one or two turns. Swords Dance is an option for a surprising physical set, but the combination of Seed Bomb and Earthquake has rather dismal type coverage and makes it difficult to use with success. 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. Black Sludge is an alternative to Leftovers, but should only be used under Item Clause situations.
EVs
Spreads 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.
Opinion
The 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.
Counters
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 his entire offensive arsenal and can status him. 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. The rather obscure Articuno and Moltres beat Venusaur soundly as well.