Venusaur (Update)

This seriously needed to be done. It's been laying in UU C&C since June of last year >.< .

Oh, and as an added note, I'm just going to say that I haven't extensively used the Mixed Attacker and SubSeed sets, so if you catch any content errors, please tell me what's wrong so it can be fixed.


Also, please give credit to Eo Ut Mortus when this is uploaded, since he wrote a bunch of it (Overview, Special Sweeper, Set Comments of Swords Dance, and first two paragraphs of Counters).




Venusaur

[Overview]

<p>When Venusaur was first dropped into the UU tier, nobody could've foreseen how dominant he was destined to become. He has just the right stat distribution and movepool to excel as a bulky sweeper; notable features include complementary STAB moves in Sludge Bomb and Leaf Storm, semi-reliable recovery in Synthesis, and the ability to instantly disable an opposing Pokemon with Sleep Powder. Not only this, but Venusaur also has a plethora of other options and the stats to make use of them; he can run defensive, physical, and mixed sets effectively as well. Despite these attributes, Venusaur's middling Speed and predictable coverage ensure that he is far from uncounterable. By no means, however, should this top-tier threat be overlooked.</p>

[SET]
name: Special Attacker
move 1: Leaf Storm
move 2: Sludge Bomb
move 3: Sleep Powder
move 4: Synthesis
item: Life Orb
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>This is Venusaur's bread-and-butter set, and it utilizes his fantastic Special Attack and dual STAB to the fullest extent. Venusaur's respectable defensive stats and array of resistances enable him to switch into many prominent UU Pokemon, including Spiritomb, Milotic, and Sceptile, with the threat of unleashing a powerful, Life Orb-boosted Leaf Storm or Sludge Bomb. The main idea of the set is not to outright sweep, but instead use Venusaur as a tank, force switches, and continually bash the opponent to the point where one of your own sweepers and finish off the opponent's team. Only a handful of Pokemon resist Venusaur's STAB combination, the most common being Registeel, Drapion, and Weezing, and this is where Sleep Powder comes into play. Sleep Powder allows Venusaur to incapacitate a counter and net a free turn in the process; in some cases, it even lets Venusaur beat some of his would-be counters. For instance, Venusaur can hit a Chansey switch-in with a powerful Leaf Storm and follow up with Sleep Powder to prevent her from recovering with Softboiled. Natural Cure will ensure that Sleep Clause does not activate once Chansey is switched out, so Venusaur can repeat this tactic every time he switches in until Chansey is KOed, barring a miss or one-turn sleep. Synthesis rounds off Venusaur's moveset, healing damage incurred through Life Orb recoil or from resisted attacks such as Milotic's Surf or Azumarill's Waterfall.</p>

<p>This set utilizes a fairly standard EV spread. A Timid nature and maximum Speed are used to tie with the other base 80 Speed Pokemon that plague the UU tier, including Kabutops and Blaziken. Special Attack is maximized to augment Venusaur's damage output. Even with no investment in his defensive stats, Venusaur remains fairly bulky, both physically and specially, a trait that separates it from other Grass-type sweepers such as Sceptile and Leafeon. Unlike them, Venusaur can switch fairly comfortably into Ice Beam from bulky Water-types such as Blastoise and Milotic, for example.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>In terms of coverage, Venusaur's special movepool is all but barren outside of Leaf Storm and Sludge Bomb, although Hidden Power can be used to hit specific counters if needed. Hidden Power Ground helps against Registeel and Drapion, Hidden Power Rock will OHKO Moltres and Scyther, and Hidden Power Psychic is Venusaur's best option to hit Toxicroak and specially defensive Weezing. Alternate EV spreads, which sacrifice Speed for additional bulk and power, include 164 HP / 252 SpA / 92 Spe and Modest, which allows Venusaur to outspeed positive-nature base 50s, particularly Aggron, and defensive Rotom, and 108 HP / 252 SpA / 148 Spe with Modest, which lets Venusaur also outpace postive-nature Torterra, Omastar, and Exeggutor.</p>

<p>Registeel and specially defensive Arcanine are the most common defensive counters to this set; the former is especially problematic, as Venusaur has no chance of defeating it even after putting it to sleep. The most reliable answers to these threats are bulky Ground-types, namely Rhyperior and Donphan. Both are capable of switching into the aforementioned problem Pokemon, forcing them out by the threat of a STAB, super effective Earthquake, and setting up Stealth Rock to limit the switch-ins of the numerous Venusaur counters weak to Stealth Rock. Provided that it doesn't switch in on an attack, Dugtrio is a more immediate way of dismantling the walls that stand in Venusaur's way, with Earthquake OHKOing most Arcanine and 2HKOing most Registeel. Additionally, all three of these Ground-types can handle Poison-types such as Drapion and Muk who, while less commonly used, are troublesome because they resist both of Venusaur's STAB moves.</p>

<p>Offensive counters to Venusaur consist primarily of UU's flurry of Flying-types, including Scyther, Swellow, and Altaria. Stealth Rock helps a lot in wearing these Pokemon down, and an excellent choice for setting it up is Registeel, who, thanks to its typing, is a dependable answer to most of the physically-based Flying-types in the tier. Fire-types such as Houndoom and Moltres are just as problematic; the best answers to these Pokemon lie in bulky Water-types, particularly Milotic and Azumarill, who not only manhandle most Fire-types, but also attract Grass- and Electric-type attacks from Pokemon such as Sceptile and Rotom, Pokemon that Venusaur can comfortably switch into. Fire-types, incidentally, also make stellar partners to Venusaur, completing the classic UU Fire-Water-Grass core. For a sturdy partner, Arcanine is a good choice; specially defensive variants wall Houndoom and Moltres, offensive variants wreck Registeel, and physically defensive variants beat Scyther. However, frailer Fire-types such as Blaziken and Houndoom also have niches, the former better equipped to deal with Clefable and Chansey, the latter better suited to take down Weezing. All of these Fire-type Pokemon will also lure in Water-types that Venusaur can take advantage of.</p>

[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Power Whip
move 3: Earthquake / Return
move 4: Sleep Powder
item: Leftovers / Life Orb
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Just when you thought your Chansey and Clefable were safe, along comes this set. With a respectable base 82 Attack stat, a powerful 120 Base Power STAB attack, and the means to gain a free turn via Sleep Powder, Venusaur makes a fairly effective Swords Dance user. While his significantly higher Special Attack stat ensures that this set will remain the lesser of the two offensive sets, Swords Dance has a greater degree of surprise factor behind it, and its existence alone attests to Venusaur's sheer unpredictability. The list of counters to this set is, for the most part, far different from that of the special set.</p>

<p>The premise behind this set is simple: put a Pokemon to sleep, set up with Swords Dance, and attempt to sweep. Bluffing a special set for as long as possible is recommended, and opening with Sleep Powder is the best way to maintain this illusion; however, it is sometimes better to Swords Dance first and then Sleep Powder – if an opponent switches in a Pokemon slower than Venusaur, this tactic will net you an extra turn in which to boost or attack freely, so long as the switch-in does not wake up immediately or use Sleep Talk on the sleep turn. However, if you're facing a purely offensive opponent, then just opening with Power Whip can be a great move. Because most heavy offense players rely solely on type synergy for defense, blasting their go-to special Venusaur counter with a physical attack and quickly garner you the advantage in battle.</p>

<p>After a single Swords Dance boost, Venusaur can rip through most of UU with Power Whip. Earthquake hits Registeel as well as Fire-types, such as Arcanine, and grounded Poison-types, such as Drapion, for super effective damage; Return, on the other hand, achieves coverage on Grass-types, most notably Leafeon and Sceptile, as well as Weezing.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>This Venusaur utilizes a cookie-cutter EV sweeper spread to great success. Maximum Attack makes Venusaur's attacks as strong as possible, while max Speed is necessary due to the important Speed that Venusaur reaches. Because Venusaur is so prominent in the UU metagame, many Pokemon, such as Kabutops and opposing Venusaur, try to outspeed or tie with him, and it's important for Venusaur to at least attempt to beat them, especially since this set is a sweeper.</p>

<p>Depending on which move Venusaur uses in the secondary attack slot, he will be walled by different opponents. Though Sleep Powder can help disable one of Venusaur's counters, it isn't a surefire way to beat them, and as such, teammates who can deal with these problematic Pokemon are necessary. If Earthquake is used, bulky pure Grass-types such as Leafeon and Tangrowth wall Venusaur, while Flying-types, such as Altaria, Scyther, and Swellow, can switch in with relative ease. A strong Fire-type such as Blaziken, Arcanine, or Houndoom are perfect choices to deal with the aforementioned Grass-types, and in addition to this, they're amazing at luring in Pokemon such as Milotic, who are easy for Venusaur to switch into and set up. Fire-types can also deal with Weezing, another Pokemon who walls Venusaur if he uses Earthquake, as they can switch into Will-O-Wisp without fear and can take advantage of Weezing's poor attacking prowess to set up. To deal with troublesome Flying-types, physically defensive Milotic is a good option, as it is able to take physical attacks with relative ease and strike back with a super effective Ice Beam. Registeel can also wall the aforementioned Flying-types for an extremely long time and cripple them with Thunder Wave. Additionally, if you keep Stealth Rock on the field, those Flying-types will have issues switching into both Stealth Rock and Venusaur's attacks continually.</p>

<p>However, if Return is used, the ubiquitous Registeel becomes a solid counter, as it is bulky enough to take both Power Whip and Return without fear, and can cripple Venusaur with Thunder Wave. Once more, Fire-types become excellent teammates, being able to take on Registeel with their powerful STAB attacks. However, the offensive Fire-types listed previously detest Thunder Wave as much as Venusaur does. Therefore, they cannot be assured to be completely safe when switching into Registeel. In addition to this, they can't beat opposing Arcanine, who can also check Venusaur that use Return. In this case, bulky Ground-types such as Donphan and Rhyperior are arguably better alongside Venusaur, as they make both Arcanine and Registeel suddenly look less threatening. Additionally, Rhyperior turns Arcanine and Registeel into setup bait, which will make the opponent think twice about sending the two into Venusaur haphazardly, in fear of giving Rhyperior a free switch in to wreak havoc on their team.</p>

[SET]
name: Physically Defensive
move 1: Grass Knot / Leaf Storm
move 2: Sludge Bomb
move 3: Sleep Powder / Roar
move 4: Synthesis / Leech Seed
item: Leftovers
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 92 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Despite his lower Defense stat, Venusaur can make a superb check against numerous physically offensive threats. Due to his Grass typing, Venusaur can strike physically offensive behemoths such as Rhyperior for massive damage, and he's both fast and bulky enough to take a hit before dispatching them with strong, special attacks, which usually hits these threats on their weaker defensive stat.</p>

<p>Each move on this variant of Venusaur allows him to check as many dangerous threats as he can. Grass Knot hits big, heavy threats such as Rhyperior and Aggron for plenty of damage, and it can be used multiple times against bulkier Pokemon such as Milotic and Steelix. However, Leaf Storm is a reasonable option to KO or at least severely damage frailer sweepers in one blow. Sludge Bomb nails pure Grass-types such as Leafeon, Tangrowth, and Sceptile, all of whom are easy enough for Venusaur to check. It also hits opposing Swords Dance Venusaur for decent damage, and in tandem with Sleep Powder, makes this Venusaur more than capable of checking opposing physical Venusaur. If this Venusaur is being used on a stall team, Roar is a decent option over Sleep Powder to still allow him to check Swords Dance Venusaur while gaining the ability to rack up damage from entry hazards. Synthesis is generally better than Leech Seed due to the high-powered attacks Venusaur will tend to switch in on, which make reliable recovery almost necessary. Despite this, Leech Seed can still be a decent option to whittle away at the opposing team while also providing some sort of healing for Venusaur and his teammates. </p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>Though it may seem odd to invest so many EVs into Speed, they're actually quite necessary for this Venusaur. 92 Speed EVs allow Venusaur to reach a Speed stat of 219, which outpaces all unboosted variants of Aggron, enabling Venusaur to switch into a strong, physical attack before outspeeding and retaliating. The rest of the EVs are dumped into Venusaur's HP and Defense stats to make him as physically bulky as possible.</p>

<p>Due to all the weaknesses that Venusaur possesses, he desperately needs Pokemon who can cover his shortcomings. Milotic and Registeel are fine choices; the former being capable of taking Fire- and Ice-type attacks for quite a while, and the latter resisting Psychic-, Flying-, and Ice-type attacks that might come from the likes of Alakazam, Swellow, and Cloyster, respectively. Since both of these Pokemon also tend to be specially defensive, they can cover Venusaur's uninvested side well. Rhyperior is another option to deal with Flying-types, and though he can't quite cover as many Pokemon as Registeel can, he has the advantage of being able to dish out respectable damage with his STAB attacks, which Registeel cannot boast. In particular, both Milotic and Rhyperior appreciate Venusaur's ability to take on the opposing Grass-types who threaten them, such as Leafeon, Tangrowth, and Sceptile.</p>

<p>Entry hazards are useful to this Venusaur, as he can take advantage of them due to Roar, and the residual damage from the hazards helps Venusaur in checking numerous threats as they can allow Venusaur to obtain some OHKOs and 2HKOs. Omastar is great at setting up entry hazards thanks to his great bulk and decent synergy with Venusaur. Spiritomb is also worth considering due to his ability to trap and KO frail threats such as Alakazam, and he's a fantastic spinblocker if you use this Venusaur on a stall team with plenty of entry hazard support. He can also stop Ghost-types with Substitute from setting up on this set, which is greatly appreciated.</p>

[SET]
name: Specially Defensive
move 1: Power Whip
move 2: Sludge Bomb
move 3: Sleep Powder / Roar
move 4: Leech Seed / Synthesis
item: Leftovers
nature: Sassy
evs: 252 HP / 240 SpD / 16 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Due to Venusaur's plethora of resistances and fantastic Special Defense, he can be a formidable special tank that is capable of checking numerous prominent threats in the current metagame, such as Milotic, Mismagius, Sceptile, Rotom, and opposing Venusaur. With a strong physical attack in Power Whip, Venusaur has the capability to hit these threats on their generally weaker defensive stat, and thus do plenty of damage to them. Furthermore, Venusaur's access to sources of healing in Synthesis and Leech Seed is also appreciated, as they greatly increase his overall longevity and allow him to continue to check special threats throughout the battle.</p>

<p>The choice between which move to use as healing, however, depends on what you want Venusaur to check. While Synthesis is the more reliable option, Leech Seed's healing is decent against most Pokemon and its ability to gradually weaken opposing Pokemon can be very helpful at times, especially against special threats that are bulkier and thus will not be dealt with easily by Power Whip or Sludge Bomb. Additionally, this Venusaur will be switching into weaker attacks in comparison to the Physically Defensive set, which gives him more time to spam Leech Seed. Leech Seed also gives Venusaur the ability to beat Registeel and Chansey one-on-one. However, you should know that Leech Seed will not work on opposing Grass-types; most importantly, it won't work on opposing Venusaur, which means that Venusaur will not be nearly as effective at checking them. Fortunately, Sludge Bomb helps alleviate this issue due to its ability to smack opposing Grass-types for plenty of damage, and even without investment, Venusaur's Special Attack is still formidable. Finally, Venusaur can choose between two other support options in Sleep Powder and Roar. Sleep Powder is generally the better option due to its ability to temporarily disable a Pokemon, which helps stop Venusaur from being utter setup bait. However, Roar has some use if you're using Venusaur on a stall team with plenty of entry hazard support, as Venusaur makes a fine shuffler thanks to his great overall bulk and resistances.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>As this Venusaur is primarily designed to take on special attacks, the EV spread is naturally focused almost completely on Venusaur's Special Defense stat. However, due to the Sassy nature that is used to keep both Power Whip and Sludge Bomb strong, Venusaur needs 16 Speed EVs to beat all variants of Rhyperior. While this set is not designed to take Rhyperior head-on like the Physically Defensive set, Venusaur still needs to outspeed Rhyperior so he can at least act as a check in desperate situations. The rest of the EVs are poured into HP and Special Defense to almost maximize Venusaur's special bulk.</p>

<p>As Specially Defensive Venusaur tends to take on Pokemon such as Mismagius, Rotom, and Lanturn, Heal Bell support is appreciated to remove any status that he might pick up after checking these Pokemon. Clefable makes a great user of it due to her great overall bulk and immunity to residual damage thanks to Magic Guard. Additionally, Venusaur can deal with some Fighting-types who tend to target Clefable and check Ghost-types who tend to attempt to set up on her. Also, if this Venusaur is used on a more stall-based team, entry hazard users are greatly appreciated due to this Venusaur's ability to take advantage of them with Roar. Omastar and Cloyster are fantastic choices thanks to Venusaur's ability to take on the Grass-types who can otherwise quickly dismantle them with strong attacks.</p>

<p>While Venusaur has numerous resistances, he also has a slew of weaknesses that leave him vulnerable to many threats in Fire-, Flying-, Ice-, and Psychic-type Pokemon. Therefore, Venusaur needs appropriate teammates who can deal with these threats. Milotic, Registeel, and Rhyperior are great teammates for this job, as they each resist at least two of Venusaur's weaknesses and are naturally bulky. Milotic can take Fire- and Ice-type attacks for an exceptional amount of time due to her marvelous bulk and access to Recover, and Registeel can take Flying- and Psychic-type blows from the likes of Swellow and Alakazam with ease as well. The defensive prowess of both Milotic and Registeel combined is amazing for Venusaur, as together they cover all of his weaknesses, creating a strong defensive core. While Rhyperior doesn't quite have the fantastic synergy Registeel has with Milotic and Venusaur, he still makes a great check to physical Flying-types, and he also has the advantage of being able to hit back with strong attacks, unlike Registeel, whose best form of offense is Seismic Toss. However, since this can make your team vulnerable to strong Psychic-types such as Alakazam, Spiritomb can be worthy of a team spot due to his ability to flawlessly trap and KO frail Psychic-types with Pursuit. Altaria can also be a respectable defensive teammate thanks to her important resistance to Fire, which can allow her to set up on the Fire-types that Venusaur tends to lure in.</p>

[SET]
name: Mixed Attacker
move 1: Sludge Bomb
move 2: Power Whip
move 3: Sleep Powder
move 4: Synthesis / Earthquake
item: Life Orb
nature: Hasty
evs: 136 Atk / 120 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>With fairly good and balanced offenses, strong STAB options, and Sleep Powder, Venusaur can used a mixed set to great success. This set takes advantage of how each offensive Venusaur set lures out different counters, and abuses this fact to dispatch those would-be counters with ease. For example, special Venusaur tends to lure in Chansey. By using Sludge Bomb to bluff this Venusaur as the Special Sweeper, you can then proceed to lure in Chansey and 2HKO her with Power Whip. Alternatively, you can bluff the physical set with Power Whip to lure in pure Grass-type Pokemon before KOing them with Sludge Bomb. While this set is weaker than both the physical and special sweeper sets, it's still fairly strong and capable of sweeping through the opponent's team.</p>

<p>Sludge Bomb is Venusaur's most reliable STAB option on this set, and it can help bluff a special set. In addition to this, it has just enough power to KO Moltres as long as Stealth Rock is on the field, preventing it from switching in on Power Whip too easily. Power Whip is Venusaur's second STAB option, and it's strong enough to obtain 2HKOs against the likes of Milotic, Slowbro, and Chansey. It also tends to be Venusaur's primary sweeping move. Sleep Powder is standard on any Venusaur set, as it guarantees that Venusaur will be able to disable at least one Pokemon during the match. In the last slot, Synthesis increases Venusaur's overall longevity by healing off the damage from entry hazards, Life Orb recoil, and any weak attacks that Venusaur could have switched in on. However, Earthquake hits adversaries such as Registeel, Drapion, and Toxicroak who resist Venusaur's STAB combination. Because these foes are such huge threats, it may be worth giving up Synthesis's healing if your team needs these threats removed for your other attackers to sweep.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>The EV spread is finely tuned for this set's purpose. Max Speed allows Venusaur to outspeed Swords Dance Feraligatr, as well as tie with opposing Base 80 Speed Pokemon with maximum EV investment. 120 Special Attack EVs allow Venusaur to KO Moltres if Stealth Rock is in play, while the Attack EVs garner a 2HKO on Chansey, Milotic, and Slowbro as long as Stealth Rock is up. A Hasty nature is used to keep both Power Whip and Sludge Bomb strong, and it is preferred over a Naive nature due to the Surfs and occasional Ice Beams that Venusaur tends to switch in on.</p>

<p>Entry hazards, especially Stealth Rock, are extremely important to this set, as even a single layer of Spikes will allow Venusaur to gain some important 2HKOs or OHKOs. Omastar is a fantastic Pokemon to set up entry hazards with, being bulky enough to set up multiple hazards during the match, and can lure in Grass-types for Venusaur to switch into. Omastar can also take on Arcanine to some degree, who otherwise outspeeds and threatens to KO Venusaur. Registeel is also a respectable user of Stealth Rock due to his great bulk and ability to deal with Flying-types such as Scyther and Swellow.</p>

<p>Teammates that enjoy the removal of walls that hinder their sweep are amazing partners to this Venusaur, the prime examples being Houndoom and Swellow. Venusaur's ability to lure in and KO walls such as Chansey is greatly appreciated, as removing even just one troublesome wall drastically increases his teammates' chances of successfully sweeping. Houndoom is able to switch into Fire-types that may try to switch into Venusaur for the revenge kill, and proceed to set up a Nasty Plot, which makes him especially effective. Houndoom also tends to lure in Milotic and other bulky Water-types, which are easy switch in opportunities for Venusaur. Finally, Feraligatr and Azumarill are fantastic teammates since they lure out Tangrowth and Leafeon, both of whom Venusaur can dispose of with Sludge Bomb.</p>

[SET]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Leaf Storm
move 2: Sludge Bomb
move 3: Sleep Powder
move 4: Hidden Power Ice
item: Choice Scarf
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Venusaur's great Special Attack stat makes him a prime candidate for sweeping opposing teams, but he is unfortunately hindered by his relatively mediocre Speed. However, this can be remedied by simply slapping a Choice Scarf on Venusaur, making him extremely fast and fairly strong. Choice Scarf Venusaur is designed to act as a hit-and-run Pokemon early in the game, throwing out powerful Leaf Storms and incapacitating Sleep Powders. Choice Scarf Venusaur can even be used in the lead position due to his blistering Speed and access to a somewhat reliable sleep inducing move. Mid-game, he can act as a great revenge killer, being able to take down Rock Polish Torterra and Aggron, as well as most Water-type sweepers. Late in the game, when the opposition has been severely weakened, he can be a decent choice to clean up the opposing team with as well.</p>

<p>Leaf Storm is a nasty attack when fired off of Venusaur's great Special Attack, and helps compound this set's playstyle of a hit-and-run attacker. Leaf Storm's short burst of extreme power makes it a great attack to simply throw out near the beginning of the game, and it's also useful for revenge killing bulkier sweepers. Similarly, Sleep Powder can also be simply thrown out early in the game to guarantee that one of the opponent's Pokemon will be disabled temporarily. Sludge Bomb has decent neutral coverage in UU, and is usually a decent option to use if you're unsure of the incoming Pokemon. Hidden Power Ice rounds off the set by hitting Flying-types such as Altaria, Scyther, and Swellow for super effective damage, as well as Torterra.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>While the EV spread is extremely standard for this type of set, it's necessary due to the important Speed that Venusaur hits. At max Speed after a Choice Scarf boost, Venusaur hits 426 Speed, which is just enough to outspeed +2 neutral-natured Torterra, and speed tie with max Speed Dragon Dance Altaria. These are important to beat or speed tie with due to Venusaur's capability to revenge kill them with ease. The rest of the EVs are thrown into Special Attack to maximize Venusaur's damage output, and make him as strong as possible to help him revenge kill bulkier sweepers.</p>

<p>Aside from Sleep Powder, Venusaur has essentially nothing that can deal with problematic foes such as specially defensive Arcanine and Registeel. Thus, appropriate teammates to deal with such troublesome opponents are appreciated. Rhyperior and Donphan are examples of such teammates, possessing both the ability to easily eliminate the likes of Arcanine and Registeel and to withstand whatever attacks they might throw at them. Dugtrio is also an option to guarantee the removal of these Pokemon, but his frailty makes it extremely difficult to switch him in. Additionally, due to this set's hit-and-run nature, defensive teammates are appreciated to deal with Pokemon who can switch into Venusaur's relatively predictable array of attacks. Bulky Water-types such as Milotic make great partners for this job, as they're extremely resilient and have a fantastic typing to take on foes such as Aggron, Scyther, Swellow, Houndoom, and Alakazam, all of whom have the ability to set up on one of Venusaur's Choice-locked attacks and sweep. The aforementioned Donphan and Rhyperior are also great options to take care of these foes, though they obviously prefer taking on physically-based opponents.</p>

[SET]
name: SubSeed
move 1: Substitute
move 2: Leech Seed
move 3: Sludge Bomb / Energy Ball
move 4: Sleep Powder / Energy Ball
item: Leftovers
nature: Calm
evs: 252 HP / 128 Def / 128 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Most Grass-types are capable of running a SubSeed set with reasonable success. However, Venusaur's access to Sludge Bomb and Sleep Powder sets him apart from his brethren; the former allows Venusaur to hit opposing Grass-types who are immune to Leech Seed for great damage, and the latter makes it much easier to set up. Additionally, Venusaur's great bulk can make it difficult to break his Substitutes, and if the opponent does not have a suitable counter to him, they may find themselves struggling.</p>

<p>While Energy Ball does not really set Venusaur apart from other Grass-types, it does allow him to beat Omastar, Kabutops, Donphan, and Milotic, who would otherwise beat this variant of Venusaur. However, you should know that by replacing either Sleep Powder or Sludge Bomb, you are losing the ability to set up as easily or hit opposing Grass-types respectively. Therefore, the choice of using Energy Ball or not depends on whether or not you have lures who can bait Pokemon for Venusaur to set up on, and teammates who can beat opposing Grass-types.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>The EVs of this set revolve around bolstering Venusaur's great defenses; while maximizing Speed may seem tempting, it's not really worth it, as Sceptile is simply a superior fast SubSeeder. Maximum HP increases both of Venusaur's defenses equally, and add to his overall sturdiness. The EVs in Defense cause Venusaur's Substitutes to never be broken by standard Registeel's Iron Head, while the Special Defense EVs prevent Life Orb Timid Milotic from 2HKOing Venusaur with Ice Beam. Body Slam is an option over Sleep Powder to spread paralysis, which is incredibly useful on this Venusaur due to his overall slow Speed.</p>

<p>Paralysis support is very useful for this Venusaur, as it allows Venusaur to outspeed opponents and set up a Substitute. From there, Venusaur has the advantage; unless Venusaur used Substitute against a Pokemon that is fairly strong, or can target his weaknesses, his Substitute would have most likely stayed intact. This allows Venusaur to use Leech Seed to regain his lost health, before setting up another Substitute to stall out the opponent. Because of this, Registeel, Chansey, and Clefable are all great partners to this Venusaur, since they all have decent type synergy alongside him, and are bulky enough to spread paralysis effectively. Interestingly, Venusaur has issues with Clefable herself due to her ability, Magic Guard, which prevents Venusaur from stalling her with Leech Seed. Because of this, Fighting-types such as Hitmontop and Hariyama can be used to deal with Clefable, while Ghost-types can set up on her. Speaking of Ghost-types, Ghost-types with Substitute can set up on this set with ridiculous ease, as they outspeed Venusaur and can set up a Substitute to protect themselves from Leech Seed and Sleep Powder. If Venusaur's only attacking move is Sludge Bomb, he will fail to break their Substitutes, which allows them to boost up to their heart's content. Thus, Spiritomb becomes a great partner, as he is perfectly capable of dealing with these Ghost-types thanks to Shadow Sneak and Pursuit.</p>

[Other Options]

<p>Surprisingly, Venusaur's movepool is not particularly large, despite the numerous sets listed in this anaysis. However, even though he doesn't have a whole slew of other options besides the ones already listed, he has a few extra tricks that can throw an opponent off guard. In terms of stat boosting moves, Venusaur is nowhere near short of them, possessing Growth, Amnesia, and Curse. Growth is the only move that can boost Venusaur's Special Attack stat, and can be a relatively decent option to boost Venusaur's already great Special Attack. However, a simple +1 boost is not nearly worth the time it takes to use Growth, and Venusaur is generally better off simply attacking immediately. Curse is a fairly good option, as with Venusaur's already great Special Defense stat, he can utilize Curse to become bulky on the physical side as well. In addition to this, Venusaur's access to Synthesis and a strong physical move in Power Whip makes it entirely plausible for Venusaur to boost up with Curse and sweep. Despite this, Venusaur simply has too many weaknesses that can be preyed upon, which makes it way too difficult to set up enough to sweep, and Venusaur is neither powerful nor bulky enough after just one Curse. Amnesia can be used to further bolster Venusaur's Special Defense, but pure defensive boosts are rarely worth it, and Venusaur has too many weaknesses that stop him from becoming impervious to attacks. Additionally, while somewhat gimmicky, Venusaur has access to Ingrain to prevent himself from being phazed while attempting to boost up, though forcing Venusaur to stay on the field will generally result in the loss of your Venusaur.</p>

<p>Venusaur's alternative attacking movepool is pitifully small, consisting of essentially three moves that are even worth considering: Seed Bomb, Double-Edge, and Outrage. Seed Bomb is a reasonable option instead of Power Whip for a more reliable Grass STAB, but the difference in power is tremendous, and will definitely affect Venusaur's ability to damage opposing Pokemon. Double-Edge is an option if you want an attack that has more power than Return; however, the recoil, in tandem with the Life Orb that Venusaur is likely to carry, will result in him being worn down exceedingly fast. While Outrage may seem like a decent option thanks to its fantastic Base Power of 120, the lack of STAB and the fact that it locks Venusaur onto the field for at least another turn is disappointing. Venusaur's remaining support options are basically limited to Knock Off and Sunny Day. While both of these are decent supporting options in their own right, Venusaur simply has much better things to do than to remove opposing Pokemon's items or set up Sunny Day, the latter being better done better by Pokemon such as Registeel or Chlorophyll users like Tangrowth.</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>The first step to countering Venusaur is figuring out which set he is running through smart scouting. Altaria and Weezing are safe switch-ins to just about any Venusaur, and both are capable of running RestTalk sets effectively, ensuring that switching into Sleep Powder will not severely disable them. Altaria must beware of the occasional Hidden Power Ice or Swords Dance-boosted Return, though, and Weezing can be worn down through repeatedly switching into Leaf Storm. Additionally, unlucky Sleep Talk rolls will prevent these Pokemon from successfully handling Venusaur, particularly Swords Dance variants. Arcanine, while not as ideal of a sleep absorber, makes a good initial switch-in to any Venusaur as well, although he cannot act as a dedicated check to both physical and special Venusaur at the same time.</p>

<p>After determining the set that Venusaur is running, dealing with him becomes much easier. Registeel is a perfect counter to the Life Orb special set – even with Sleep Powder, it is impossible for Venusaur to breach its high Special Defense without team support. It also walls physical sets that opt for Return over Earthquake. Chansey is another good counter to special sets, although she can be brought down if, through Sleep Powder, she is prevented from recovering. Drapion resists both Leaf Storm and Sludge Bomb, but he is prone to being worn down through repeated switch ins, even if he invests in Special Defense. He does, however, have Taunt to prevent the use of Synthesis, Sleep Powder, and Leech Seed. Thanks to Magic Guard, Clefable is immune to passive damage, and she can therefore wield a status orb to prevent sleep while countering any Venusaur set based on Leech Seed; furthermore, she has the bulk to take the attacks of the special sweeping set fairly well. Moltres and Scyther take a large amount of damage from Sludge Bomb and are torn up by Stealth Rock, but they are otherwise effective checks to most Venusaur sets and surefire counters to purely physical variants lacking Return. Bulky Grass-types, such as Tangrowth and Leafeon, are fantastic counters to physical variants as well, but they will take a huge hit from Sludge Bomb when against any other variant of Venusaur.</p>

<p>If Venusaur does knock out a Pokemon, using a faster Pokemon to revenge kill him is entirely plausible. Because Venusaur has so many weaknesses, and is fairly slow, it isn't difficult to find a Pokemon that can outspeed and hit him super effectively. Houndoom, Alakazam, and Swellow are examples of such Pokemon; while they are rarely able to switch into any of Venusaur's moves due to their frailty, they're more than capable of threatening a KO on Venusaur once they're in play. Unfortunately, this is not a surefire way of removing Venusaur from the battle, as the opponent can always just switch Venusaur out of such precarious situations. As such, Dugtrio is an option to guarantee the removal of Venusaur. However, Dugtrio often lacks the power necessary to take on a healthy Venusaur, making it so that he can only trap and KO weakened variants.</p>

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[Overview]

<p>When Venusaur was first dropped into the UU tier, nobody could've foreseen how dominant he was destined to become. He has just the right stat distribution and movepool to excel as a bulky sweeper, with notable features including complementary STAB moves in Sludge Bomb and Leaf Storm, somewhat-reliable recovery in Synthesis, and the ability to instantly disable an opposing Pokemon in Sleep Powder. Not only this, but Venusaur also has a plethora of other options and the stats to make use of them; he can run defensive, physical, and mixed sets effectively as well. Despite these attributes, Venusaur's middling Speed and predictable coverage ensure that he is capable of being countered. By no means, however, should this top-tier threat be overlooked.</p>

[SET]
name: Special Attacker
move 1: Leaf Storm
move 2: Sludge Bomb
move 3: Sleep Powder
move 4: Synthesis
item: Life Orb
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>This is Venusaur's bread-and-butter set, and it utilizes his fantastic Special Attack score and dual STAB to the fullest extent. Venusaur's respectable defensive stats and array of resistances enable him switch into many prominent UU Pokemon, including Spiritomb, Milotic, and Sceptile, with the threat of unleashing a powerful, Life Orb-boosted Leaf Storm or Sludge Bomb. Only several a handful of Pokemon resist this combination, the most common being Registeel, Drapion, and Weezing, and this is where Sleep Powder comes into play. Sleep Powder allows Venusaur to incapacitate a counter and net a free turn in the process; in some cases, it even lets Venusaur beat some of his would-be counters. For instance, Venusaur can hit a Chansey switch-in with a powerful Leaf Storm and follow up with Sleep Powder to prevent her from recovering with Softboiled. Natural Cure will ensure that Sleep Clause does not activate once Chansey is switched out, so Venusaur can repeat this tactic every time he switches in until, barring a miss or one-turn sleep, Chansey is KOed, barring a miss or one-turn sleep. Synthesis rounds off Venusaur's moveset, healing damage incurred through Life Orb recoil or from attacks such as Milotic's Surf or Azumarill's Waterfall.</p>

<p>This set utilizes a fairly standard sweeper's EV spread. A Timid nature and maximum Speed are used to tie with the other base 80s Speed Pokemon the plague the UU tier, including Kabutops and Blaziken. Special Attack is maximized to augment Venusaur's damage output. Even with no investment in his defensive stats, Venusaur remains fairly bulky, both physically and specially, a trait that separates it from other Grass-type sweepers such as Sceptile and Leafeon. Unlike them, Venusaur can, for example, switch fairly comfortably into Ice Beam from bulky Water-types such as Blastoise and Milotic, for example.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>In terms of coverage, Venusaur's special movepool is all but barren outside of Leaf Storm and Sludge Bomb, although Hidden Power can be used to hit specific counters if needed. Hidden Power Ground helps against Registeel and Drapion, Hidden Power Rock will OHKO Moltres and Scyther, and Hidden Power Psychic is Venusaur's best option to hit Toxicroak and specially defensive Weezing. Alternate EV spreads, which sacrifice Speed for additional bulk and power, include 164 HP / 252 SpA / 92 Spe and Modest, which allows Venusaur to outspeed +Speed base 50s , particularly Aggron) and defensive Rotom, and 108 HP / 252 SpA / 148 Spe with Modest, which lets Venusaur outpace positive-nature Torterra, Omastar, and Exeggutor, in addition to as well as the aforementioned the Pokemon beat by the former spread.</p>

<p>Registeel and specially defensive Arcanine are the most common defensive counters to this set; the former is especially problematic, as Venusaur has no chance of defeating it even after putting it to sleep. The most reliable answers to these threats are bulky Ground-types, namely Rhyperior and Donphan. Both are capable of switching into the aforementioned problem Pokemon, forcing them out by threat of a STAB, super effective Earthquake, and setting up Stealth Rock to limit the switch-ins of the numerous Venusaur counters weak to Stealth Rock. Providing that it doesn’t switch in on an attack, Dugtrio is a more immediate way of dismantling the walls that stand in Venusaur’s way, with Earthquake OHKOing most Arcanine and 2HKOing most Registeel. Additionally, all three of these Ground-types can handle Poison-types such as Drapion and Muk who, while less commonly used to check Venusaur, are troublesome because they resist both of Venusaur’s STAB moves. </p>

<p>Offensive counters to Venusaur consist primarily of UU’s flurry of Flying-types, including Scyther, Swellow, and Altaria. Stealth Rock helps a lot in wearing these Pokemon down, and an excellent choice for setting it up is Registeel, who, thanks to its typing, is a dependable answer to most of the physically-based Flying-types in the tier. Fire-types such as Houndoom and Moltres are just as problematic; the best answers to these Pokemon lie in bulky Water-types, particularly Milotic and Azumarill, who not only manhandle most Fire-types, but also attract Grass- and Electric-type attacks from Pokemon such as Sceptile and Rotom, Pokemon that on which Venusaur can comfortably switch in on. Fire-types incidentally also make stellar partners to Venusaur, completing the classic UU Fire/Water/Grass core. For a sturdy partner, Arcanine is a good choice; specially defensive variants wall Houndoom and Moltres, offensive variants wreck Registeel, and physically defensive variants beat Scyther. However, frailer Fire-types such as Blaziken and Houndoom also have niches, the former better equipped to deal with Clefable and Chansey, the latter better suited to take down Weezing. All of these Pokemon will also lure in Water-types that Venusaur can take advantage of.</p>

[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Power Whip
move 3: Earthquake / Return
move 4: Sleep Powder
item: Leftovers / Life Orb
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Just when you thought your Chansey and Clefable were safe, along came this set. With a respectable base 82 Attack stat, a powerful 120 Base Power STAB attack, and the means to gain a free turn via Sleep Powder, Venusaur makes a fairly effective Swords Dancer. While his significantly higher Special Attack stat ensures that this set will remain the lesser of the two offensive sets, Swords Dance has a greater degree of surprise factor behind it, and its existence alone solidifies Venusaur’s sheer unpredictability. This list of counters to this set is, for the most part, far different from that of the special set.</p>

<p>The premise behind this set is simple: put something to sleep, set up with Swords Dance, and attempt to sweep. Bluffing a special set for as long as possible is recommended, and opening with Sleep Powder is the best way to maintain this illusion; however, sometimes it is better to Swords Dance first and then Sleep Powder rather than vice-versa – if an opponent switches in a Pokemon slower than Venusaur, this tactic will net you an extra turn to boost or attack freely, so long as the switch-in does not wake up immediately or use Sleep Talk on the sleep turn.</p>

<p>After a single Swords Dance boost, Venusaur can rip through most things with Power Whip. Earthquake hits Registeel as well as Fire-types such as Arcanine and grounded Poison-types such as Drapion for super effective damage; Return, on the other hand, achieves coverage on Grass-types, most notably Leafeon and Sceptile, as well as Weezing.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>This Venusaur utilizes a cookie-cutter EV spread for a sweeper with great success. Maximum Attack makes Venusaur's attacks as strong as possible, while max Speed is necessary due to the important Speed that Venusaur reaches. Because Venusaur is so prominent in the UU metagame, many Pokemon, such as Kabutops and opposing Venusaur, try to outspeed or tie with him such as Kabutops and opposing Venusaur, and it's important for Venusaur to at least attempt to beat them, especially since this set is trying to use Venusaur to sweep.</p>

<p>Depending on which move Venusaur uses in the last slot, he will be walled by different opponents. Though Sleep Powder can help disable one of Venusaur's counters, it isn't a surefire way to beat them, and as such, teammates who can deal with Pokemon who can take Venusaur's Power Whip and appropriate coverage move are necessary. If Earthquake is used, bulky pure Grass-types such as Leafeon and Tangrowth wall Venusaur, while Flying-types such as Altaria, Scyther, and Swellow can switch in with relative ease. A strong Fire-type such as Blaziken, Arcanine, or Houndoom are perfect choices to deal with the aforementioned Grass-types, and in addition to this, they're amazing at luring in Pokemon such as Milotic, who are easy for Venusaur to switch into and set up. Fire-types can also deal with Weezing, another Pokemon who walls Venusaur if he uses Earthquake, as they can switch into Will-O-Wisp without fear and can use Weezing's poor attacking prowess to set up. To deal with troublesome Flying-types, physically defensive Milotic is a good option, being able to take physical attacks with relative ease and strike back with a super effective Ice Beam. Registeel can also wall the aforementioned Flying-types for an extremely long time, and can cripple them with Thunder Wave. Additionally, if you keep Stealth Rock on the field, those Flying-types will have issues switching into both Stealth Rock and Venusaur's attacks continually.</p>

<p>However, if Return is used, the ubiquitous Registeel becomes a solid counter, as it is bulky enough to take both Power Whips and Returns without fear, and can cripple Venusaur with Thunder Wave. Once more, Fire-types become excellent teammates, being able to take on Registeel with their powerful STAB attacks. However, the offensive Fire-types listed previously detest Thunder Wave as much as Venusaur does. Therefore, they cannot be assured to be completely safe when switching into Registeel. In addition to this, they can't beat opposing Arcanine, who also can check Venusaur that use Return. Due to this, bulky Ground-types such as Donphan and Rhyperior are arguably better alongside Venusaur that use Return, as they both make Arcanine and Registeel suddenly look less threatening due to their fantastic bulk and typing. Additionally, Rhyperior turns Arcanine and Registeel into set up bait, which will make the opponent think twice about sending Registeel and Arcanine into Venusaur haphazardly, in fear of giving Rhyperior a free switch-in to wreak havoc on their team.</p>

[SET]
name: Physically Defensive
move 1: Grass Knot / Leaf Storm
move 2: Sludge Bomb
move 3: Sleep Powder / Roar
move 4: Synthesis / Leech Seed
item: Leftovers
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 92 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Despite his lower Defense stat, Venusaur can make a superb check against numerous physically offensive threats. Due to his Grass typing, Venusaur can strike physically offensive behemoths such as Rhyperior for massive damage, and he's both fast and bulky enough to take a hit before dispatching them with strong, special attacks, which usually hits these threats on their weaker defensive stat.</p>

<p>Each move on this variant of Venusaur is a necessity to allow him to check as many dangerous threats as he can. Grass Knot hits big, heavy threats such as Rhyperior and Aggron for plenty of damage, and it can be used multiple times against bulkier Pokemon such as Milotic and Steelix. However, Leaf Storm is a reasonable option to KO or at least severely damage frailer sweepers in one blow. Sludge Bomb nails pure Grass-types such as Leafeon, Tangrowth, and Sceptile, all of whom are easy enough for Venusaur to check. It also hits opposing Swords Dance Venusaur for decent damage, and in tandem with Sleep Powder, makes this Venusaur more than capable of checking opposing physical Venusaur. If this Venusaur is being used on a stall team, Roar is a decent option over Sleep Powder to still allow him to check Swords Dance Venusaur while also gaining the ability to wrack up damage from entry hazards. Synthesis is generally better than Leech Seed due to the high-powered attacks Venusaur will tend to switch in on which makes reliable recovery almost necessary. Despite this, Leech Seed can still be a decent option to whittle away at the opposing team while also providing some sort of healing for Venusaur. </p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>Though it may seem odd to invest so many EVs into Speed, they're actually quite necessary for this Venusaur. 92 Speed EVs allow Venusaur to reach a Speed stat of 219, which outpaces all unboosted variants of Aggron, which allows Venusaur to switch into a strong, physical attack before outspeeding and retaliating with an attack. The rest of the EVs are dumped into Venusaur's HP and Defense stats to make him as physically bulky as possible physically.</p>

<p>Due to all the weaknesses Venusaur possesses, he desperately needs Pokemon who can cover those weaknesses. Milotic and Registeel are fine choices; the former being capable of taking Fire- and Ice-type attacks for quite a while, and the latter resisting Psychic-, Flying-, and Ice-type attacks that might come from the likes of Alakazam, Swellow, and Cloyster respectively. Since both of these Pokemon also tend to be specially defensive, they can cover Venusaur's uninvested side well. Rhyperior is another option to deal with Flying-types, and though he can't quite cover as many Pokemon as Registeel can, he has the advantage of being able to dish out respectable damage with his STAB attacks, which Registeel cannot boast. In particular, both Milotic and Rhyperior appreciate Venusaur's ability to take on opposing the Grass-types such as Leafeon, Tangrowth, and Sceptile that threaten them.

<p>Entry hazards are useful on this Venusaur, as it can take advantage of them due to Roar, and the residual damage from the hazards helps Venusaur in checking numerous threats as they can give just enough damage to allow Venusaur to obtain some OHKOes and 2HKOes. Omastar is great at setting up entry hazards thanks to his great bulk and decent synergy with Venusaur. Spiritomb is also worth considering due to his ability to trap and KO frail threats such as Alakazam, and he's a fantastic spinblocker if you use this Venusaur on a stall team with plenty of entry hazard support. He can also stop Ghost-types with Substitute from setting up on this set, which is greatly appreciated.</p>

[SET]
name: Specially Defensive
move 1: Power Whip
move 2: Sludge Bomb
move 3: Sleep Powder / Roar
move 4: Leech Seed / Synthesis
item: Leftovers
nature: Sassy
evs: 252 HP / 240 SpD / 16 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Due to Venusaur's plethora of resistances and fantastic Special Defense, he can be a formidable special tank that is capable of checking numerous prominent threats in the current metagame, such as Milotic, Mismagius, Sceptile, Rotom, and opposing Venusaur. With a strong physical attack in Power Whip, Venusaur has the capability to hit these threats on their generally weaker defensive stat, and thus do plenty of damage to them. Furthermore, Venusaur's access to a source of healing in Synthesis and Leech Seed is also appreciated, as they greatly increase his overall longevity and allow him to continue to check special threats.</p>

<p>The choice between which move to use as healing, however, depends on what you want Venusaur to check. While Synthesis is the more reliable option, Leech Seed's healing, while not as reliable as Synthesis, is decent against most Pokemon and its ability to gradually weaken opposing Pokemon can be very helpful at times, especially against special threats that are bulkier and thus will not be dealt with easily by Power Whip or Sludge Bomb. Additionally, this Venusaur will be switching into weaker attacks in comparison to the Physically Defensive set, which gives him more time to spam Leech Seed. However, you should know that Leech Seed will not work on opposing Grass-types; most importantly, it won't work on opposing Venusaur, which means that Venusaur will not be nearly as effective at checking them. Fortunately, Sludge Bomb helps alleviate this issue due to its ability to smack opposing Grass-types for plenty of damage, and even without investment, Venusaur's Special Attack is still formidable. Finally, Venusaur can choose between two other support options in Sleep Powder and Roar. Sleep Powder is generally the better option due to its ability to temporarily disable a Pokemon, which helps stop Venusaur from being utter set-up bait. However, Roar has some use if you're using Venusaur on a stall team with plenty of entry hazard support, as Venusaur makes a fine shuffler thanks to his great overall bulk and resistances.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>As this Venusaur is primarily designed to take on special attacks, the EV spread is naturally focused almost completely on Venusaur's Special Defense stat. However, due to the Sassy nature that is used to keep both Power Whip and Sludge Bomb strong, Venusaur needs to 16 Speed EVs to beat all variants of Rhyperior. While this set is not designed to take Rhyperior head-on like the Physically Defensive set, Venusaur still needs to outspeed Rhyperior, as by outspeeding it, Venusaur can at least act as a check in desperate situations, and stop it from switching in to outspeed and do massive damage to Venusaur. The rest of the EVs are poured into HP and Special Defense to almost maximize Venusaur's special bulk.</p>

<p>As Specially Defensive Venusaur tends to take on Pokemon such as Mismagius, Rotom, and Lanturn, Heal Bell support is appreciated to remove any status that he might pick up after checking these Pokemon. Clefable makes a great user of it due to her great overall bulk and immunity to residual damage thanks to Magic Guard. Additionally, Venusaur can deal with some Fighting-types who tend to target Clefable and check Ghost-types who tend to attempt to set up on her. Also, if this Venusaur is used on a more stall based team, entry hazard users are greatly appreciated due this Venusaur's ability to take advantage of them with Roar. Omastar and Cloyster are fantastic choices due to Venusaur's ability to take on the Grass-types who can quickly dismantle them with strong attacks. </p>

<p>While Venusaur has numerous resistances, he also has a slew of weaknesses that leave him vulnerable to many threats in Fire-, Flying-, Ice-, and Psychic-type Pokemon. Therefore, Venusaur needs appropriate teammates who can deal with these threats. Milotic, Registeel, and Rhyperior are great teammates for this job, as they each resist at least two of Venusaur's weaknesses and are naturally bulky. Milotic can take Fire- and Ice-type attacks for an exceptional amount of time due to her marvelous bulk and access to an instant recovery move in Recover, and Registeel can keep Flying- and Psychic-type blows from the likes of Swellow and Alakazam with ease as well. The defensive prowess of both Milotic and Registeel combined is amazing for Venusaur, as together they cover all of his weaknesses, creating a strong defensive core alongside Venusaur. While Rhyperior doesn't quite have the fantastic synergy Registeel has with Milotic and Venusaur, he still makes a great check to physical Flying-types, and he also has the advantage of being able to hit back with strong attacks, unlike Registeel whose best form of offense is Seismic Toss. However, since this can make your team vulnerable to strong Psychic-types such as Alakazam, Spiritomb can be worthy of a team spot due to his ability to flawlessly trap and KO frail Psychic-types with Pursuit. Altaria can also be a respectable defensive teammate due to her important Fire resistance to Fire, which can allow her to set up on the Fire-types that Venusaur tends to lure in.</p>

[SET]
name: Mixed Attacker
move 1: Sludge Bomb
move 2: Power Whip
move 3: Sleep Powder
move 4: Synthesis / Earthquake
item: Life Orb
nature: Hasty
evs: 136 Atk / 120 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>With fairly good and balanced offenses, strong STAB options, and Sleep Powder, Venusaur can used a mixed set with great success. This set takes advantage of how each offensive Venusaur set lures out different counters, and abuses this fact to lure in and dispatch a variety of them with ease. For example, special Venusaur tends to lure in Chansey. By using Sludge Bomb for a little while to bluff this Venusaur as the Special Sweeper, you can then proceed to lure in Chansey and 2HKO her with Power Whip. Alternatively, you can bluff the physical set with Power Whip to lure in pure Grass-type Pokemon before KOing them with Sludge Bomb. Additionally, while this set is weaker than both the physical and special sweeper sets, it's still fairly strong and capable of sweeping through the opponent's team.</p>

<p>Sludge Bomb is Venusaur's most reliable STAB option on this set, and it can help bluff a special set. In addition to this, it has just enough power to KO Moltres as long as Stealth Rock is on the field, preventing it from switching in on Power Whip too easily. Power Whip is Venusaur's second STAB option, and it's strong enough to obtain 2HKOs against the likes of Milotic, Slowbro, and Chansey. It also tends to be the move that Venusaur will use if it gets the chance to sweep. Sleep Powder is standard on any Venusaur set, and on this particular set, it guarantees that Venusaur will be able to disable a Pokemon during the match. In the last slot, Synthesis increase Venusaur's overall longevity by healing off the damage from entry hazards, Life Orb recoil, and any weak attacks that Venusaur could have switched in on. However, Earthquake hits adversaries such as Registeel, Drapion, and Toxicroak who resist Venusaur's STAB combination. Because these are such huge threats, it may be worth giving up Synthesis's healing if your team needs these threats removed for your other attackers to sweep.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>This EV spread is finely tuned for this set's purpose. Max Speed allows Venusaur to outspeed Swords Dance Feraligatr, as well as tie with opposing base 80 Speed Pokemon with maximum EV investment. 120 Special Attack EVs allow Venusaur to KO Moltres if Stealth Rock is in play, while the Attack EVs garner a 2HKO on Chansey, Milotic, and Slowbro as long as Stealth Rock is up. A Hasty nature is used to keep both Power Whip and Sludge Bomb strong, and due to the Surfs, and occasionally Ice Beams that Venusaur tends to switch in on, a Hasty nature's drop in Defense is more favorable than a Naive nature's drop in Special Defense.</p>

<p>Entry hazards, especially Stealth Rock, are extremely important to this set, as even a single layer of Spikes will allow Venusaur to gain some important 2HKOes or OHKOes. Omastar is a fantastic Pokemon to set up entry hazards with, being bulky enough to set up multiple hazards during the match, and can lure in Grass-types for Venusaur to switch into. Omastar can also take on Arcanine to some degree, who otherwise outspeeds and threatens to KO this Venusaur. Registeel is also a respectable user of Stealth Rock due to his great bulk and ability to deal with Flying-types such as Scyther and Swellow who may try to switch into Power Whip, Synthesis, or Earthquake and threaten to KO Venusaur.</p>

<p>Teammates that enjoy the removal of walls that hinder their sweep such as Houndoom and Swellow are amazing partners to this Venusaur. Venusaur's ability to lure in walls such as Chansey KO them is greatly appreciated, as removing even just one troublesome wall drastically increases their chances of successfully sweeping. Houndoom is able to switch into possible Fire-types that may try to switch into Venusaur to revenge kill him, and set up a Nasty Plot, which makes him especially effective. Houndoom also tends to lure in Milotic and other bulky Water-types, which are easy switch in opportunities for Venusaur.</p>

[SET]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Leaf Storm
move 2: Sludge Bomb
move 3: Sleep Powder
move 4: Hidden Power Ice
item: Choice Scarf
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Venusaur's great Special Attack stat would allow him to be fantastic at sweeping opposing teams, but his relatively mediocre Speed hinders him. However, by slapping a Choice Scarf on Venusaur, he suddenly becomes extremely fast and fairly strong. Choice Scarf Venusaur is designed to act as a hit-and-run Pokemon early in the game, throwing out powerful Leaf Storms and incapacitating Sleep Powders. Venusaur can even be used in the lead position due to his blistering Speed with a Choice Scarf and access to a somewhat reliable sleep inducing move. Mid-game, he can act as a great revenge killer, being able to take down Rock Polish Torterra and Aggron, as well as most Water-type sweepers. However, late in the game, when the opposition has been severely weakened, he can be a decent choice to clean up the opposing team with as well.</p>

<p>Leaf Storm is a nasty attack off of Venusaur's great Special Attack, and helps compound this set's playstyle of a hit-and-run attacker. Leaf Storm's short burst of extreme power makes it a great attack to simply throw out near the beginning of the game, and it's also useful in revenge killing bulkier sweepers. Similarly, Sleep Powder can also be simply thrown out early in the game to guarantee that one of the opponent's Pokemon will be disabled temporarily. Sludge Bomb has decent neutral coverage in UU, and is typically a decent option to use if you're unsure if the opponent is going to switch to one Pokemon or the other, such as when the opponent has both a Venusaur and Arcanine on their team that is perfectly capable of dealing with Venusaur. It also hits many of the typical Leaf Storm switch-ins for neutral damage. Hidden Power Ice rounds off the set by hitting Flying-types such as Altaria, Scyther, and Swellow for super effective damage, as well as Torterra.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>While this set's EV spread is extremely standard for this type of set, it's necessary due to the important Speed that Venusaur hits. At max Speed after a Choice Scarf boost, Venusaur hits 426 Speed, which is just enough to outspeed +2 neutral-natured Torterra, and speed tie with max Speed Dragon Dance Altaria. These are important to beat or speed tie with due to Venusaur's capability to revenge kill them with ease. The rest of the EVs are thrown into Special Attack to maximize Venusaur's damage output, and make him as strong as possible to help him revenge kill bulkier sweepers.</p>

<p>Aside from Sleep Powder, Venusaur has essentially nothing that can deal with problematic foes such as specially defensive Arcanine and Registeel. Thus, appropriate teammates to deal with such troublesome opponents are appreciated. Rhyperior and Donphan are examples of such teammates, possessing the ability to easily decimate the likes of Arcanine and Regitseel while simultaneously possessing enough bulk to withstand whatever attacks they might throw at them. Dugtrio is also an option to guarantee the removal of these Pokemon, but his frailty makes it extremely difficult to switch him in. Additionally, due to this set's hit-and-run nature, defensive teammates are appreciated to deal with Pokemon who can switch into Venusaur's relatively predictable array of attacks. Bulky Water-types such as Milotic make great partners for this job, as they're extremely bulky and have a fantastic typing to take on foes such as Aggron, Scyther, Swellow, Houndoom, and Alakazam who all have the ability to set up on one of Venusaur's choice-locked attacks and sweep. The aforementioned Donphan and Rhyperior are also great options to take care of these foes, though they obviously prefer taking on the aforementioned physically-based opponents.</p>

[SET]
name: SubSeed
move 1: Substitute
move 2: Leech Seed
move 3: Sludge Bomb / Energy Ball
move 4: Sleep Powder / Energy Ball
item: Leftovers
nature: Calm
evs: 252 HP / 128 Def / 128 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Like most other Grass-types, Venusaur is capable of running a SubSeed set with reasonable success. However, Venusaur's access to Sludge Bomb and Sleep Powder set him apart from his brethren; the former allows Venusaur to hit opposing Grass-types who are immune to Leech Seed for great damage, and the latter makes it much easier to set up. Additionally, Venusaur's great bulk can make it difficult to break his Substitutes, and if the opponent does not have a suitable counter to him, they may find themselves struggling.</p>

<p>While Energy Ball does not really set Venusaur apart from other Grass-types, it does allow him to beat Omastar, Kabutops, Donphan, and Milotic, who would otherwise beat this variant of Venusaur. However, you should know that by replacing either Sleep Powder or Sludge Bomb, you are losing the ability to set up as easily or hit opposing Grass-types respectively. Therefore, the choice between using Energy Ball or not depends on whether or not you have Pokemon who can bait Pokemon for Venusaur to set up on, but rather on if you have Pokemon that can beat opposing Grass-types.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>The EVs of this set revolve around bolstering Venusaur's great defenses; while maximizing Speed may seem tempting, it's not really worth it, as Sceptile is simply a superior fast SubSeeder. Maximum HP increases both of Venusaur's defenses equally, and adds to his overall sturdiness. The EVs in Defense cause Venusaur's Substitutes to never be broken by standard Registeel's Iron Head, while the Special Defense EVs prevent Life Orb Timid Milotic from 2HKOing Venusaur with Ice Beam. Body Slam is an option over Sleep Powder to spread paralysis, which is incredibly useful on this Venusaur due to his overall slow Speed.</p>

<p>Paralysis support is very useful for this Venusaur, as it allows Venusaur to outspeed opponents and set up a Substitute. From there, Venusaur has the advantage; unless Venusaur used Substitute against a Pokemon that is fairly strong, or can target his weaknesses, his Substitute would have most likely stayed intact. This allows Venusaur to use Leech Seed to regain his lost health, before setting up another Substitute to stall out the opponent. Because of this, Registeel, Chansey, and Clefable are all great partners to this Venusaur, since they all have decent type synergy alongside him, and are bulky enough to spread paralysis effectively. Interestingly, Venusaur has issues with Clefable herself due to her ability, Magic Guard, which prevents Venusaur from stalling with Leech Seed. Because of this, Fighting-types such as Hitmontop and Hariyama can be used to deal with Clefable, while Ghost-types can set up on her. Speaking of Ghost-types, Ghost-types with Substitute can set up on this set with ridiculous ease, as they outspeed Venusaur and set up a Substitute to protect them from Leech Seed and Sleep Powder. If Venusaur's only attacking move is Sludge Bomb, he will fail to break their Substitutes, which allows them to boost up to their heart's content. Thus, Spiritomb becomes a great partner, as he is perfectly capable of dealing with these Ghost-types thanks to Shadow Sneak and Pursuit.</p>

[Other Options]

<p>Surprisingly, Venusaur's movepool is not particularly large, despite the numerous sets listed in this anaysis. However, even though he doesn't have a whole slew of other options besides the ones already listed, he has a few options that can throw an opponent off guard. In terms of stat boosting moves, Venusaur is nowhere near short of them, possessing Growth, Amnesia, and Curse. Growth is Venusaur's only move that can boost his Special Attack stat, and can be a relatively decent option to boost Venusaur's already great Special Attack. However, a simple +1 boost is not nearly worth the time it takes to use Growth, and Venusaur is generally better off simply attacking immediately. Curse is a fairly good option, as with Venusaur's already great Special Defense stat, he can utilize Curse to become bulky on the physical side as well. In addition to this, Venusaur's access to Synthesis and a strong move in Power Whip make it entirely plausible for Venusaur to boost up with Curse and sweep. Unfortunately, despite this, Venusaur simply has too many weaknesses that can be preyed upon, which makes it way too difficult to set up enough to sweep, while Venusaur is neither powerful nor bulky enough after a Curse. Amnesia can be used to further bolster Venusaur's Special Defense, but pure defensive boosts are rarely worth it, and Venusaur has too many weaknesses to make him impervious from attacks. Additionally, while somewhat gimmicky, Venusaur has access to Ingrain to prevent himself from being phazed while attempting to boost up, though forcing Venusaur to stay on the field until it faints generally will generally result in the loss of your Venusaur.</p>

<p>Venusaur's alternative attacking movepool is pitifully small, consisting of essentially three moves that are even worth considering: Seed Bomb, Double Edge, and Outrage. Seed Bomb is a reasonable option instead of Power Whip for a more reliable Grass STAB, but the difference in power is tremendous and will definitely affect Venusaur's ability to damage opposing Pokemon. Double Edge is an option if you want an attack that has more power than Return; however, the recoil, in tandem with the Life Orb that Venusaur is likely to carry, will result in him being worn down exceedingly fast. While Outrage may seem like a decent option thanks to its fantastic Base Power of 120, the lack of STAB and the fact that it locks Venusaur onto the field for at least another turn is disappointing. Venusaur's remaining support options are basically limited to Knock Off and Sunny Day. While both of these are decent supporting options in their own right, Venusaur simply has much better things to do than remove opposing Pokemon's items or set up Sunny Day, the latter being better used by Pokemon such as Registeel.</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>The first step to countering Venusaur is figuring out which set he is running through smart scouting. Altaria and Weezing are safe switch-ins to just about any Venusaur, and both are capable of running RestTalk sets effectively, ensuring that switching into Sleep Powder will not severely disable them. Altaria must beware of the occasional Hidden Power Ice or Swords Dance-boosted Return, though, and Weezing can be worn down through repeated switch-ins into Leaf Storm. Additionally, unlucky Sleep Talk rolls will prevent these Pokemon from successfully handling Venusaur, particularly Swords Dance variants. Arcanine, while not as ideal of a sleep absorber, makes a good initial switch-in to any Venusaur as well, although he cannot act as dedicated check to both physical and special Venusaur at the same time.</p>

<p>After determining the set Venusaur is running, dealing with him becomes much easier. Registeel is a perfect counter to the Life Orb special set – even with Sleep Powder, it is impossible for Venusaur to breach its high Special Defense without team support. It also walls physical sets that opt for Return over Earthquake. Chansey is another good counter to the special set, although she can be brought down if, through Sleep Powder, she is prevented from recovering. Drapion resists both Leaf Storm and Sludge Bomb, but he is prone to being worn down through repeated switch-ins, even if he invests in Special Defense. He does, however, have Taunt to prevent the use of Synthesis, Sleep Powder, and Leech Seed. Thanks to Magic Guard, Clefable is immune to passive damage, and she can therefore wield a status orb to prevent sleep as well as counter any Venusaur set based on Leech Seed; furthermore, she has the bulk to take the attacks of the special sweeping set fairly well. Moltres and Scyther take a large amount of damage from Sludge Bomb and are torn up by Stealth Rock, but they are otherwise effective checks to most Venusaur sets and surefire counters to purely physical variants. Bulky Grass-types such as Tangrowth and Leafeon are fantastic counters to physical variants as well, but they will take a huge hit from Sludge Bomb against any other variant of Venusaur.</p>

<p>If Venusaur does knock out a Pokemon, using a faster Pokemon to revenge kill him is entirely plausible. Because Venusaur has so many weaknesses, and is fairly slow, it isn't difficult to find a Pokemon that can outspeed and hit him super effectively. Houndoom, Alakazam, and Swellow are examples of such Pokemon; while they rarely switch into any of Venusaur's moves due to their frailty, they're more than capable of threatening a KO on Venusaur once they're in play. Unfortunately, this is not a surefire way of removing Venusaur from the battle, as the opponent can always just switch Venusaur out of such precarious situations. As such, Dugtrio is an option to guarantee the removal of Venusaur. However, Dugtrio often lacks the power necessary to take on healthy Venusaur, making it so that he can only trap and KO weakened variants.</p>

Click to expand...

Thanks Zystral, I've implemented almost all of your changes. The only thing I didn't agree with was the removing of "complementary" in the Overview, since by removing it, the section about Venusaur's STABs became somewhat pointless as it basically just pointed out that "Venusaur has STAB Leaf Storm and Sludge Bomb" which is really obvious if someone were to simply look at the moves Venusaur can use, and "complementary" just helps explain why they're useful.

ok i had most of this checked so this was meant to be check #1 but then i got sniped by zystral

so pardon me if some of our corrections double up, just use your best judgment, your writing is pretty much perfect in any case

GP CHECK 2: When Nature Calls

removals
additions

Alright, the changes are made and this is finally done!

decided to read this for old times sake and here are some very minor things I found. a lot of them are preference/phrasing so feel free to exercise your judgment, especially because I'm really really rusty with grammar (apparently no one gives a crap about grammar in core classes which is the only writing I deal with nowadays lol). awesome job, you really did venusaur justice!

format is: your sentence in a paragraph (so you can ctrl f), followed by " -- my comment"

Lol whistle, you and I must have been reading through it at the same time because I picked up most of those mistakes. I'm only half way done with it though so I didn't get anything below the Choice Scarf set...

EDIT: OK this is now uploaded and I added all of whistle's changes.




THIS IS DONE