Victini has pretty good bulk, too.If you're not considering this thing on your Sun teams, you're doing it WRONG.
Victini has pretty good bulk, too.If you're not considering this thing on your Sun teams, you're doing it WRONG.
How does CB/LO Darmanitan compare to Victini? If you want a straightup wallbreaker, Darmanitan has a stronger attack of all the highlighted options. I'm pretty sure Sheer Force boosted Flare Blitz coming Darmanitan is stronger than Victini's V-Create.Classicly underrated set that I abuse on my Sun team:
Victini @ Choice Band
Trait: Victory Star
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
-V-Create
-Fusion Bolt
-U-Turn
-Brick Break
This thing is straight up ridiculous. 180 BP V-Create, boosted by STAB, Choice Band and Sun. There aren't many Pokémon that can live through that. Get your Sun up, stick up your Hazards if you're using them, then bring this beast in and start spamming those V-Creates. Obviously the -Def -SpD and -Spe means it needs to switch out after each one, but that's not an issue if you're smart with your switches. Outside of bulky waters and fire types, not many things survive even one V-Create.
If you're not considering this thing on your Sun teams, you're doing it WRONG.
In terms of power Darmanitan does beat Victini yeah, marginally. I've not got the exact calcs, but I think it's Flare Blitz does around 10% more damage, don't quote me on that though. I'd almost always run Victini over Darmanitan though. 5 more base speed, masses of bulk and arguably a better typing are much more important (IMO!!) than a sliver more power. Everything that Victini NEEDS to KO, it does. I never think to myself 'Ah I was it had slightly more power', therefore I hold it above Darmanitan.How does CB/LO Darmanitan compare to Victini? If you want a straightup wallbreaker, Darmanitan has a stronger attack of all the highlighted options. I'm pretty sure Sheer Force boosted Flare Blitz coming Darmanitan is stronger than Victini's V-Create.
In terms of power Darmanitan does beat Victini yeah, marginally. I've not got the exact calcs, but I think it's Flare Blitz does around 10% more damage, don't quote me on that though. I'd almost always run Victini over Darmanitan though. 5 more base speed, masses of bulk and arguably a better typing are much more important (IMO!!) than a sliver more power. Everything that Victini NEEDS to KO, it does. I never think to myself 'Ah I was it had slightly more power', therefore I hold it above Darmanitan.
Take from that what you will, but in my dreary & tired state I think I've stated me point well enough. Victini > Darmanitan.
I have to agree with tehy here. Whimsicott completely outclasses Jumpluff. Jumpluff needs Rapid Spin support if Stealth Rock gets up, while Whimsicott gives a lot less of a damn. Jumpluff needs sun support to work at its best, Whimsicott just needs Prankster. Jumpluff does 33% to Celebi with U-Turn. Whimsicott does 34.08 - 40.1% with the same. (Assuming you mean Tinkerbell Celebi, not certain what the "standard" set is) Whimsicott just succeeds in being superior to Whimsicott in almost every way, minus Sleep Powder.Not many people use Sun Stall anymore, because it's such a tough strategy to play with. I, for one, have found this little guy extremely useful:
Jumpluff @ Leftovers
252 Def / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Calm nature
~Leech Seed
~Substitute
~Encore
~Sleep Powder / U-Turn
Jumpluff is the second fastest pokemon in the game only outsped by Scarfed Deoxys-S. It is an extreme nuisance to many opposing pokemon, locking them into set up moves or moves that fall under its numerous resistances and one immunity. It works well with Heatran because Heatran demolishes Grass types and Jumpluff Encores ground type moves. No investment in HP means that your Substitutes will cost less to make- and by healed by more pokemon through Leech Seed. U-Turn still hits pretty hard, and can be used once you Encore, Substitute, and Leech Seed down. Sleep Powder is also a good idea to shut down a few select threats.
EDIT: I found out that 0 Atk U-Turn does around 33% to standard Celebi. Seriously, uninvested base 55 attack. Celebi, get your game up.
This set has much trouble getting past dragons, unless you swap out Brick Break for HP Ice. Victini has an acceptable Sp. Atk stat and doesn't need to lower it with his nature, so it'll stick at a respectable 236 without investment. You only need to decide how you'll split the leftover EV's between HP and Sp. Atk. If you go full investment plus Life Orb, you can just nab the 100% on Dragonite and Garchomp.Victini @ Leftovers/Iron Ball
Victory Star
252 HP/252 Att/4 Def (0 Speed IVs)
Brave Nature
-Trick Room
-V-Create
-Fusion Bolt
-Brick Break
I really do not understand how this isn't onsite. TR Victini is a complete monster and massacres unprepared teams, Rain or otherwise. It is fairly easy to trap Politoed and Tyranitar with Tobes' Heatrab and Dugtrio respectively, and once the Sun is up for good your opponent is in for a world of pain. HO Offense is harshly punished, with all of those fast sweepers (Tornadus-T, Thundurus-T, Terrakion, Latios, Salamence etc.) either 2 or even OHKO'd by a V-Create. Stall also struggles with Victini, with even defensive behemoth Gliscor getting solidly 2HKO'd. Bulky waters are generally 2HKO'd by Fusion Bolt, and Tyranitar is also murdered by Brick Break. Really, this thing is a monster for unprepared, heck even prepared teams, and really deserves an onsite set.
Really, this set shines in the Sun (pun intended). Sun is really all Victini needs to nuke things hard. Rain is crippling, but if you play smart with Heatrab your opponent will be kissing their Politoed goodbye. I would post Heatrab, but that's not my set.
I'm interested in your Rain / Sun Team, and how that works. The most common abusers of Rain, (Keldeo, Thundurus-T, Tornadus-T, etc) all lose something from Sun, whether it be base power of their moves, or accuracy of their moves. Sun abusers also suffer similar problems. Venusaur, Lilligant, Victreebell and any other Chlorophyll abuser lose their doubled speed in Rain, while heavy hitters such as Victini and Darmanitan lose some of their power on their Fire STABs. Keeping in mind, these are all the common abusers of Rain and Sun respectively, so I imagine it must be hard playing dual weather and making it work. This is especially notable in situations where one of your weather inducers is down and your other weather is up, which could be detrimental to your team mates, (Keldeo in Sun, Victini in Rain).On a different tangent from creative abusers of weather, I have two teams of dual weather. Got a rain/sun offensive and a sand/hail stall. Naturally it uses things that can take advantage of both types, and the changing weather dynamic throws many other teams off, especially weather.
For the Sun+Rain team suggestion, Rotom-H comes to mind, having Thunder to use in the Rain and boosted Overheat in the Sun (using a set of Overheat/Volt Switch/Thunder/Trick?). Latios can use HP Fire + Surf or Thunder to abuse both weathers. Ferrothorn likes the rain and outside of it, it's running from Fire moves anyways, so Sun doesn't really bother it (plus Synthesis inside of the Sun is cool). Lastly, we have Weather Ball Raikou who can abuse the weather with it's new psuedo-STAB and Thunder(bolt).