Virizion

[Cipher Admin Lovrina]

How so? Is it because Virizion can easily switch in on the QuakeEdge combination, despite its 72 Defense, and set up an SD as the opponent switches?

It doesn't have the best Attack and Special Attack for SDing or Calm Minding, but they work.

Well, Grass and Fighting are a really great fighting combination. It's defenses are above average, but its typing provides it a wonderful set of resistances. 108 Speed is higher than most things out there and most things faster than it usually won't OHKO it unless they're specsed or something. After a boost it breaks through the Ferrothorn Jellicent combo and slams other defensive Pokemon like Hippowdon, Blissey, Vaporeon, and even Reuniclus.

I'm not saying its broken, but I've used the Swords Dancer enough to understand how great it is... it usually kills at least two Pokemon in a battle for me. I use Swords Dance/Leaf Blade/Close Combat/Stone Edge with Leftovers to great effect. Truly one of the best members you can use on a Fire/Grass/Water Core. I recommend trying it with Heatran/Chandelure and the bulky water of your choice. Also combos great with Lati0s--it's ability makes it an excellent Tyranitar slayer, too.

 

[SkaterTrainer]

I'm trying to work in a mixed one into my team. I am making it on PO to match my ingame capabilities. I have a Hasty one (no hp ice) that I want to make mixed that helps the rest of the coverage on my team. So far I have this

Virizon@?? (I don't want life orb because I seem to burn out too fast and I want to run sub)
Hasty Nature
Evs: 210atk/48spatk/252spd
-Giga Drain
-Sacred Sword
-Stone Edge
-Substitute

Anyone want to give me a hand on a mixed set?

 

[Cipher Admin Lovrina]

I'm trying to work in a mixed one into my team. I am making it on PO to match my ingame capabilities. I have a Hasty one (no hp ice) that I want to make mixed that helps the rest of the coverage on my team. So far I have this

Virizon@?? (I don't want life orb because I seem to burn out too fast and I want to run sub)
Hasty Nature
Evs: 210atk/48spatk/252spd
-Giga Drain
-Sacred Sword
-Stone Edge
-Substitute

Anyone want to give me a hand on a mixed set?

You could make a set like Gen 4's Chain Chomp.

Virizion
Hasty Nature
(252 Special Attack/252 Speed/4 Attack)@ Life Orb
Swords Dance/Close Combat or Focus Blast/Giga Drain or Leaf Blade/ Hidden Power Ice or whatever.

 

[PlatinumDude]

You could make a set like Gen 4's Chain Chomp.

Virizion
Hasty Nature
(252 Special Attack/252 Speed/4 Attack)@ Life Orb
Swords Dance/Close Combat or Focus Blast/Giga Drain or Leaf Blade/ Hidden Power Ice or whatever.

Can Work Up also be used to boost both offenses?:
-Work Up
-Giga Drain
-Close Combat/Sacred Sword
-Stone Edge/Hidden Power (Ice)
Nature: Hasty
EVs: 4 Atk or SpA/252 Atk or SpA/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb

 

[alphatron]

I really don't think a pokemon with base 90 ofenses can afford to go mixed, rather than simply choosing one stat and excelling at it. CM and SD Virizion are both pretty good.

 

[IcyMan28]

A mixed set would look best as such:

Virizion@Leftovers/Life Orb
Hasty; 224 Atk / 32 SpA / 252 Spe

Work Up
Leaf Blade
Close Combat
Hidden Power Ice

The EVs are optimized for Leftovers. At +1, 252/60 Careful Ferrothorn is always OHKOd by CC with rocks, while Gliscor is OHKOd by HP Ice without. It barely manages to 2HKO Hippo with rocks, as well. Still, it is usually best for it to pick one route and stick to it given its lower offenses.

 

[shrang]

A mixed set would look best as such:

Virizion@Leftovers/Life Orb
Hasty; 224 Atk / 32 SpA / 252 Spe

Work Up
Leaf Blade
Close Combat
Hidden Power Ice

The EVs are optimized for Leftovers. At +1, 252/60 Careful Ferrothorn is always OHKOd by CC with rocks, while Gliscor is OHKOd by HP Ice without. It barely manages to 2HKO Hippo with rocks, as well. Still, it is usually best for it to pick one route and stick to it given its lower offenses.

That could work, although I do think Giga Drain might be a better option for Grass STAB, since they only things that Virizion really need to go physical for are fat pink blobs, anyway. Always nice to kill something and get health back for it.

 

[Saitsuofleaves]

This thread needs a bump due to Virizion edging dangerously close to dropping to UU. Needs more usage.

 

[bubbly]

Seriously, people need to realise; if you need to beat stall, and rainstall especially, use Virizion. Its just such an amazing mon.

 

[Saitsuofleaves]

Well has there been any agreement to the best Virizion set? Or is it still SD vs CM?

 

[Bribery]

I prefer the SD set because it doesn't need as much setup and has a reliable Fighting STAB. I used the SD set with Lum Berry on one of my old weatherless teams and it helped tremendously when dealing with stall teams.

 

[Lavos]

Well has there been any agreement to the best Virizion set? Or is it still SD vs CM?

Are we not even taking into account the Work Up set here? I've found it's an incredibly effective mixed sweeper, especially late-game, when remaining worn-down threats can be easily OHKOd after a boost. The versatility element is still there, too, allowing for physical and special sweeping capability.

Not saying it's necessarily the best set, but definitely something worth considering.

I'd go SD > CM if I were you. Of course, it depends on the team and scenario you find yourself in.

 

[Saitsuofleaves]

But from what I can tell about the Work Up set, it doesn't do anything spectacular that would really help set it apart from the SD or CM variants. The main reason to use it is so you can use Giga Drain and Close Combat on the same set, but it brings some annoyances.

For one, to make Giga Drain more threatening, you need the setup, but Work Up doesn't bring the extra bulk Calm Mind brings. And then using Close Combat with Giga Drain, which I would assume would be for extra survivability, gets thrown out since CC hurts your Defense, which you can't get back without CM, and you have to take an extra turn just to get up to the level SD CC would provide, time you could've used with the SD variant to get the attack off already, or go to +4.

Then again, that's just from what I can tell from theory, I've barely seen any Virizion's in action period.

 

[IcyMan28]

The CC drops aren't really a big deal since the things that force out Virizion will force it out regardless of intact defenses. It is nice to use Giga Drain to ameliorate LO recoil and the power of CC, but I Virizion's offenses are just too low to attempt a +1 sweep, in my opinion.

Either SD up for all the power you can get, or use CM to turn into an unstoppable tank.

 

[Choice Socks]

But from what I can tell about the Work Up set, it doesn't do anything spectacular that would really help set it apart from the SD or CM variants. The main reason to use it is so you can use Giga Drain and Close Combat on the same set, but it brings some annoyances.

For one, to make Giga Drain more threatening, you need the setup, but Work Up doesn't bring the extra bulk Calm Mind brings. And then using Close Combat with Giga Drain, which I would assume would be for extra survivability, gets thrown out since CC hurts your Defense, which you can't get back without CM, and you have to take an extra turn just to get up to the level SD CC would provide, time you could've used with the SD variant to get the attack off already, or go to +4.

Then again, that's just from what I can tell from theory, I've barely seen any Virizion's in action period.

I'd argue that the main reason is to use both Close combat and Hidden Power Ice on the same set. CM is good, but relying on focus blast as your fighting stab is never a good idea. And sword dance is good, but without powering up HP ice you are at risk of not OHKOing dragonite and gliscor, which are two common switch ins to Virizion.
Personally I think WU is it's most potent set, as it hits what it needs to, and cleans up well. Which is what Virizion is meant to do, because with 90/90 offensive stats she is not straight sweeping any time soon.

 

[HoiPolloi]

Virizion's best set is by far the CM set.
Work Up and SD are nice too, but there are better Pokemon for this. Work Up has the least attacking power, so it isn't a sweeper. Because of the mixed coverage it is a good wall breaker, but Infernape or Salamence can do this much better. SD is for sweeping, but seriosly base 90 is too weak to be an effective sweeper. Compared to Terrrakion and Dragonite, who are the best sweeper right now, Virzion is a joke. Both sets are cool, but they don't utilise Virizion's strengths to its full potential.
CM is where Virizion can shine, being a full stop to things like Rotom-W, Jellicent or rain and sand teams in general. Especially against rain Virizion is one of the most useful Pokemon.
People are trying to hard to turn Virzion into a sweeper, but it can only work succesfully, when it's used in the right way. People should use Virizion to check not to sweep, although it can pull of really good sweeps sometimes, but it is not its main purpose. Virizion is a checker.

 

[666lumberjack]

You seriously underestimate Virizion's offensive prowess. It's offense may not be spectacular, but it has the offensive typing of a goddess versus rain, a great pspeed stat and a movepool to back both of them up. Running SD/CC/Leaf Blade/Stone Edge with a life orb on hyper offense, simple max/max spread, it was one of the most destructive Pokemon I used until it got revenge killed. Leaf Blade allows you to comfortably 2HKO any Gliscor not carrying Acrobatics, while stone edge will smash dragonite once multiscale is broken. Close Combat and Leaf Blade in tandem also have no issues with Hippowdon, Ferrothorn, Chansey, Jellicent, Quagsire, Gastrodon, Politoed, Tyranitar and Slowbro, and the combination of +2 LO Close Combat and Brave Bird recoil will leave Skarmory easy pickings, though you probably don't want to sac Virizion like this unless you're running dedicated HO or you're certain it'll win the match.
But then, I absolutely DETEST the idea of Focus Miss as main stab move, so I might just be biased against CM.

 

[gbagcn]

The thing that really seperates virizion from most pokemon is that it be given a combination of move types that almost no other pokemon can get. I like this moveset:

Virizion w/ expert belt

Giga drain
Close combat
Hidden power fire
Stone edge

I don't think you can get this sort of coverage on any other pokemon. Hidden power fire is great for dealing with pokemon like scizor, skarmory, and forretress that virizion would otherwise not do much to. Stone edge makes it so you don't need hp ice to deal with things like dragonite. The downside is that in order to make it mixed you need to sacrifice some speed evs but I really don't think virizion needs the speed that badly anyway. I set its attack at 256 (the actual stat number not evs) and its special attack at 300. Then I give it just enough speed to outspeed heatran.

 

[Knight of Cydonia]

Maybe you could post a full ev spread. I'm not liking the sound of just aiming to outspeed Heatran, you will want to aim to outspeed Mienshao since the speed drop from HP Fire means you can no longer speed tie with Terrakion (which is quite a large downside). Anyway, seems like a reasonable set, although splitting Virizions already average offenses may not be the best idea. Life Orb is preferrable to Expert Belt for a consistent power boost, which it definitely needs. I've tried to work out the best spread for it. 132 Atk / 140 SpA / 236 Spe Hasty gains the OHKOs with stealth rock on Blissey, CB Scizor and Choice Rotom-W. It's funny how long I took to come up with a spread that almost equalises its attack stats. Unfortunately you only have a 6.25% chance to OHKO offensive Dragonite with Stealth rock. This Virizion sorely misses HP Ice for Gliscor, but it depends what counters the rest of your team can deal with.

EDIT- actually 216 Atk / 56 SpA / 236 Spe Hasty is probably better since Rotom-W won't be staying in, and you still OHKO Scizor with Stealth rock. This juices up Close Combat which will be your main move anyway.

 

[HoiPolloi]

You seriously underestimate Virizion's offensive prowess.

I don't. I had amazing sweeps myself with Virizion (destruction). I just wanted to state that sweeping isn't Virizion's primary function.

 

[Katakiri]

A Grass/Fighting-type with Base 129 Special Defense with a very nice support movepool and everyone just focuses on the sub-par Base 90 offenses?

...In fact, I think I've found my next project. My Poliwrapture will have to wait.

Edit:

EVs: 252 HP / 220 SDef / 36 Spd
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)

Volcarona (OU Offensive Quiver Dance [Life Orb]) Fire Blast: 83.93 - 99.48%
Kyurem (OU Life Orb) Blizzard: 81.34 - 96.37%
Ninetales (OU Sunny Day [Drought]) Fire Blast: 74.61 - 88.6%
Heatran (OU Offensive) Fire Blast: 68.91 - 81.34%
Alakazam (OU Substitute + 3 Attacks [Life Orb]) Psychic: 62.69 - 74.61%
Hydreigon (OU Offensive [Life Orb]) Fire Blast: 58.03 - 68.39%
Latios (OU Choice [Choice Specs]) Draco Meteor: 54.66 - 64.76%

Somehow...

 

[Saitsuofleaves]

In other words, instead of bothering with the offenses, more should use it as a Support poke I assume.

 

[Katakiri]

Very much works in progress, but I'm getting somewhere with this.

SpDefensive (Virizion) @ Leftovers
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 HP / 220 SDef / 36 Spd
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Toxic
- Taunt
- Giga Drain / Hidden Power [Fire] / Hidden Power [Ice]
- Close Combat / Sacred Sword

I'm trying to turn this set into sort of a utility counter, but I haven't done too much with it since I've been playing with the below sets far more. The EVs still need to be balanced as I'm sure I don't need that much Sp.Def. Putting some investment in offense would be ideal. I'm sure I'll find the direction I'm looking for with this one eventually.

Bulky SD (Virizion) @ Leftovers
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 HP / 96 Atk / 124 SDef / 36 Spd
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Leaf Blade

This thing. This set is really good for picking apart Rain and even Sand teams as a sort of utility counter. With a little prediction, you can probably hit a switch-in for SE damage, and things like Tentacruel are mostly just Swords Dance fodder. But when you do get that Swords Dance, Virizion goes from a hit & run-mon to a pretty big threat.

The big problem with this set is that most (seemingly all) Water-types commonly carry Scald. Getting burned isn't on Virizion's list of things to do. It's basically just the normal Swords Dance set, but far bulkier. Just a Speed vs Bulk kind of thing.

SpDef Screens (Virizion) @ Light Clay
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 HP / 220 SDef / 36 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk) / Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Taunt
- Giga Drain / Close Combat

Pretty basic here. Just a bulkier take on Virizion's existing Dual Screen set. The biggest advantage this has over the existing one is the ability to switch-in and set up Screens in the face any Water-type with little to no fear.
252 SpAtk Life Orb Starmie Ice Beam vs 252 HP/220 SpDef Virizion: 36.27% - 43.01%
The EVs let you Taunt and Reflect Dragonite to keep it at bay for teammates to take down.
It's a bit of a one-trick pony, but it's a damn good trick. Great if you don't want to risk using a Psychic-type for Screens.


Running SpDef on Virizion definitely has promise, but I don't think I'm quite doing it justice yet. Well I'm still working on it.

 

[Bribery]

The Bulky SD set could use a Lum Berry to make it easier to setup on Bulky Waters.

I don't see the point of a SDef Tank Virizion though. Sure it can tank a hit from those Pokemon but what can it do back to them? Hydreigon and Heatran are probably the only ones that will switch out in fear of a Close Combat.

 

[Arcticblast]

On the Specially Defensive Tank, I think Stone Edge would be a better choice over Giga Drain over HP. You lose the healing, but get much better coverage and threaten several other Special attackers.