[Overview]
<p>There is a plethora of Chlorophyll Pokemon, but Tangrowth sets itself apart from the rest of them for a number of reasons. It has incredible physical bulk, excellent offenses, and access to the crippling Sleep Powder. Its Speed, while low, is high enough for it to just outspeed a good portion of the VGC metagame in sunlight. Tangrowth can't take special attacks at all, though, and can have coverage issues. Nonetheless, it is still one of the better offensive Chlorophyll Pokemon in VGC.</p>
[SET]
name: Sun Support
move 1: Sleep Powder
move 2: Grass Knot / Giga Drain / SolarBeam
move 3: Hidden Power Ice / Hidden Power Rock
move 4: Sunny Day / Protect / Growth
item: Sitrus Berry / Yache Berry
ability: Chlorophyll
nature: Modest
evs: 88 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 160 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Tangrowth's physical bulk allows it to tangle (get it?) with Garchomp, one of the biggest threats to sun teams. Sleep Powder is an incredible move due to the lack of Sleep Clause in VGC, and Tangrowth is just fast enough in the sun to abuse it. Grass Knot is the primary STAB as it hits Pokemon such as Tyranitar for a good chunk of damage, but Giga Drain and SolarBeam are also options worth considering. The former can be much weaker than Grass Knot but provides recovery, while the latter is very powerful but risky against opposing weather teams. Hidden Power Ice OHKOes any non-Yache Berry Garchomp, but Hidden Power Rock is also an option for nailing Chandelure and Flying-types. Due to Tangrowth's physical bulk it fears little from Tyranitar and can use Sunny Day against it to gain an advantage in the weather war. Protect is a staple move in VGC and shouldn't require much explanation to justify its viability. If Tangrowth finds a free turn it can use Growth to set up, but stat-boosting moves are usually not worth the turn of vulnerability required to use them. Tangrowth does have the option to use this, though, if it can put both opponents to sleep.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The EV spread allows Tangrowth to be offensive while still retaining some bulk. Specifically, the Speed EVs allow Tangrowth to outrun Tornadus and Thundurus and anything slower than them in sun. Special Attack is maximized alongside a Modest nature to increase offensive presence, and the rest of the EVs are dumped into HP and defenses to increase bulk. A Yache Berry can allow Tangrowth to set up Sunny Day against a Politoed attempting to KO it with Ice Beam. Unfortunately, it doesn't do much to stop Abomasnow. A Sitrus Berry is an option to better handle physical threats.</p>
<p>Ninetales support is mandatory for Tangrowth, as Amoonguss outclasses it otherwise. Hidden Power Fire can be used to nail Abomasnow and Steel-types, but Abomasnow usually beats Tangrowth anyway, and Tangrowth's Fire-type teammates should be more than capable of dispatching opposing Steel-types. Fake Out support from a teammate, such as Infernape or Shiftry, can allow Tangrowth to beat a lead combination employing Trick Room and Fake Out. Tangrowth's partner can use Fake Out itself to flinch the opposing user of Fake Out, and Tangrowth can put the opponent's Trick Room inducer to sleep, blocking the set-up.</p>
[SET]
name: Physical Attacker
move 1: Power Whip / Seed Bomb
move 2: Rock Slide
move 3: Sleep Powder
move 4: Protect / Earthquake
item: Life Orb / Sitrus Berry
ability: Chlorophyll
nature: Adamant
evs: 92 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 160 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Tangrowth is one of the most powerful physical attacking Chlorophyll Pokemon, and just so happens to pose a threat to Tyranitar and Politoed, because it can hit them off their weaker Defense stats. Power Whip is ridiculously powerful, but Seed Bomb is also an option as Power Whip can miss at critical times. Rock Slide provides coverage most notably against Abomasnow, the genies, Chandelure, and other Flying- and Fire-types that resist Tangrowth's Grass-type STAB move. Sleep Powder incapacitates any Pokemon that could prove to be troublesome, and Tangrowth has the bulk to put multiple Pokemon to sleep. Earthquake is an option for enabling Tangrowth to threaten Steel-types such as Metagross, but it comes at the cost of putting Tangrowth's Fire-type teammates at risk, and as such Protect is usually the more reliable option.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>With the given Speed EVs Tangrowth can outpace the genies in sunlight. Maximum Attack investment and an Adamant nature increase offensive capability, and the remaining EVs are invested in bulk. A Life Orb provides plenty of raw power for when Tangrowth is throwing around its STAB move, but a Sitrus Berry helps Tangrowth stick around longer.</p>
<p>Ninetales support is very important for this set. Iron Ball Ninetales can help to ensure that Tangrowth is faster than Tyranitar and Politoed at the beginning of the match, as Ninetales will be slower than Tyranitar and Politoed—provided they don't carry Iron Balls themselves—causing sun to be the last weather to come into effect and therefore the one that stays in effect. Air Balloon is also an option on Ninetales so that Tangrowth can use Earthquake with less risk to its most valuable teammate. Ninetales is the principal means of increasing Tangrowth's Speed, but Tailwind support from the likes of Tornadus or Latios is also helpful in this regard. If Tangrowth can find a free turn—not a common occurence in VGC—then it can use Swords Dance to go on a rampage. Fake Out support is valuable for disrupting faster sweepers in the early game so that Tangrowth can get in a hit or fire off a Sleep Powder, and is also useful for disrupting Trick Room team openings in tandem with Sleep Powder.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>220 Speed EVs can be run to outspeed Weavile in sun, but some bulk must be sacrificed in order to do so. That being said, Weavile generally doesn't give sun teams much trouble. Tangrowth can opt to run a physically bulky set abusing Substitute and Leech Seed to stall out physically-oriented teams. Rage Powder is useful for drawing the opponent's attacks away from Tangrowth's teammate for a turn, especially if the moves in question come from physical attackers. Synthesis restores a large amount of health in sunlight, making Tangrowth more difficult to kill. Knock Off can rob an opponent of their item, disrupting Pokemon relying on a resist Berry, such as an Occa or a Rindo Berry. Leaf Storm is Tangrowth's most powerful move, but the Special Attack cut can be crippling. Stun Spore can slow down opponents, but in most cases Sleep Powder is preferable. Finally, Snatch can steal valuable moves such as Tailwind, turning the tables on the opponent.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Tangrowth has the Special Defense of a wet paper bag, so any fairly powerful special attacker threatens it. Abomasnow is Tangrowth's worst nightmare, robbing it of sunlight and threatening it with Blizzard. Politoed can also threaten Tangrowth with Ice Beam, and sets up its teammates, such as Kingdra, to pose a serious threat to Tangrowth's team. In general, Tangrowth hates losing its sunlight. Special attackers and weather changers aren't the only way to deal with it, though. Without heavy Speed investment, Weavile can outspeed even in sunlight and smash Tangrowth with Ice Punch. Steel-types can usually take everything Tangrowth has to offer and and wall it, while Sap Sipper Bouffalant fears nothing from Tangrowth—not even Sleep Powder. However, all of these threats sans Bouffalant must be wary of Sleep Powder if they are not carrying a Lum or Chesto Berry, or are not in a position to outspeed and KO Tangrowth.</p>
<p>There is a plethora of Chlorophyll Pokemon, but Tangrowth sets itself apart from the rest of them for a number of reasons. It has incredible physical bulk, excellent offenses, and access to the crippling Sleep Powder. Its Speed, while low, is high enough for it to just outspeed a good portion of the VGC metagame in sunlight. Tangrowth can't take special attacks at all, though, and can have coverage issues. Nonetheless, it is still one of the better offensive Chlorophyll Pokemon in VGC.</p>
[SET]
name: Sun Support
move 1: Sleep Powder
move 2: Grass Knot / Giga Drain / SolarBeam
move 3: Hidden Power Ice / Hidden Power Rock
move 4: Sunny Day / Protect / Growth
item: Sitrus Berry / Yache Berry
ability: Chlorophyll
nature: Modest
evs: 88 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 160 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Tangrowth's physical bulk allows it to tangle (get it?) with Garchomp, one of the biggest threats to sun teams. Sleep Powder is an incredible move due to the lack of Sleep Clause in VGC, and Tangrowth is just fast enough in the sun to abuse it. Grass Knot is the primary STAB as it hits Pokemon such as Tyranitar for a good chunk of damage, but Giga Drain and SolarBeam are also options worth considering. The former can be much weaker than Grass Knot but provides recovery, while the latter is very powerful but risky against opposing weather teams. Hidden Power Ice OHKOes any non-Yache Berry Garchomp, but Hidden Power Rock is also an option for nailing Chandelure and Flying-types. Due to Tangrowth's physical bulk it fears little from Tyranitar and can use Sunny Day against it to gain an advantage in the weather war. Protect is a staple move in VGC and shouldn't require much explanation to justify its viability. If Tangrowth finds a free turn it can use Growth to set up, but stat-boosting moves are usually not worth the turn of vulnerability required to use them. Tangrowth does have the option to use this, though, if it can put both opponents to sleep.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The EV spread allows Tangrowth to be offensive while still retaining some bulk. Specifically, the Speed EVs allow Tangrowth to outrun Tornadus and Thundurus and anything slower than them in sun. Special Attack is maximized alongside a Modest nature to increase offensive presence, and the rest of the EVs are dumped into HP and defenses to increase bulk. A Yache Berry can allow Tangrowth to set up Sunny Day against a Politoed attempting to KO it with Ice Beam. Unfortunately, it doesn't do much to stop Abomasnow. A Sitrus Berry is an option to better handle physical threats.</p>
<p>Ninetales support is mandatory for Tangrowth, as Amoonguss outclasses it otherwise. Hidden Power Fire can be used to nail Abomasnow and Steel-types, but Abomasnow usually beats Tangrowth anyway, and Tangrowth's Fire-type teammates should be more than capable of dispatching opposing Steel-types. Fake Out support from a teammate, such as Infernape or Shiftry, can allow Tangrowth to beat a lead combination employing Trick Room and Fake Out. Tangrowth's partner can use Fake Out itself to flinch the opposing user of Fake Out, and Tangrowth can put the opponent's Trick Room inducer to sleep, blocking the set-up.</p>
[SET]
name: Physical Attacker
move 1: Power Whip / Seed Bomb
move 2: Rock Slide
move 3: Sleep Powder
move 4: Protect / Earthquake
item: Life Orb / Sitrus Berry
ability: Chlorophyll
nature: Adamant
evs: 92 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 160 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Tangrowth is one of the most powerful physical attacking Chlorophyll Pokemon, and just so happens to pose a threat to Tyranitar and Politoed, because it can hit them off their weaker Defense stats. Power Whip is ridiculously powerful, but Seed Bomb is also an option as Power Whip can miss at critical times. Rock Slide provides coverage most notably against Abomasnow, the genies, Chandelure, and other Flying- and Fire-types that resist Tangrowth's Grass-type STAB move. Sleep Powder incapacitates any Pokemon that could prove to be troublesome, and Tangrowth has the bulk to put multiple Pokemon to sleep. Earthquake is an option for enabling Tangrowth to threaten Steel-types such as Metagross, but it comes at the cost of putting Tangrowth's Fire-type teammates at risk, and as such Protect is usually the more reliable option.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>With the given Speed EVs Tangrowth can outpace the genies in sunlight. Maximum Attack investment and an Adamant nature increase offensive capability, and the remaining EVs are invested in bulk. A Life Orb provides plenty of raw power for when Tangrowth is throwing around its STAB move, but a Sitrus Berry helps Tangrowth stick around longer.</p>
<p>Ninetales support is very important for this set. Iron Ball Ninetales can help to ensure that Tangrowth is faster than Tyranitar and Politoed at the beginning of the match, as Ninetales will be slower than Tyranitar and Politoed—provided they don't carry Iron Balls themselves—causing sun to be the last weather to come into effect and therefore the one that stays in effect. Air Balloon is also an option on Ninetales so that Tangrowth can use Earthquake with less risk to its most valuable teammate. Ninetales is the principal means of increasing Tangrowth's Speed, but Tailwind support from the likes of Tornadus or Latios is also helpful in this regard. If Tangrowth can find a free turn—not a common occurence in VGC—then it can use Swords Dance to go on a rampage. Fake Out support is valuable for disrupting faster sweepers in the early game so that Tangrowth can get in a hit or fire off a Sleep Powder, and is also useful for disrupting Trick Room team openings in tandem with Sleep Powder.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>220 Speed EVs can be run to outspeed Weavile in sun, but some bulk must be sacrificed in order to do so. That being said, Weavile generally doesn't give sun teams much trouble. Tangrowth can opt to run a physically bulky set abusing Substitute and Leech Seed to stall out physically-oriented teams. Rage Powder is useful for drawing the opponent's attacks away from Tangrowth's teammate for a turn, especially if the moves in question come from physical attackers. Synthesis restores a large amount of health in sunlight, making Tangrowth more difficult to kill. Knock Off can rob an opponent of their item, disrupting Pokemon relying on a resist Berry, such as an Occa or a Rindo Berry. Leaf Storm is Tangrowth's most powerful move, but the Special Attack cut can be crippling. Stun Spore can slow down opponents, but in most cases Sleep Powder is preferable. Finally, Snatch can steal valuable moves such as Tailwind, turning the tables on the opponent.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Tangrowth has the Special Defense of a wet paper bag, so any fairly powerful special attacker threatens it. Abomasnow is Tangrowth's worst nightmare, robbing it of sunlight and threatening it with Blizzard. Politoed can also threaten Tangrowth with Ice Beam, and sets up its teammates, such as Kingdra, to pose a serious threat to Tangrowth's team. In general, Tangrowth hates losing its sunlight. Special attackers and weather changers aren't the only way to deal with it, though. Without heavy Speed investment, Weavile can outspeed even in sunlight and smash Tangrowth with Ice Punch. Steel-types can usually take everything Tangrowth has to offer and and wall it, while Sap Sipper Bouffalant fears nothing from Tangrowth—not even Sleep Powder. However, all of these threats sans Bouffalant must be wary of Sleep Powder if they are not carrying a Lum or Chesto Berry, or are not in a position to outspeed and KO Tangrowth.</p>
