[OVERVIEW]
Venomoth's access to one of the best boosting moves in the game, Quiver Dance, along with its access to Sleep Powder carves its role as a strong offensive sweeper in UU. Tinted Lens makes Venomoth even harder to deal with, rendering most resistances to its attacks useless and allowing it to forgo most coverage in exchange for more utility. A useful Bug / Poison typing grants Venomoth notable resistances to Fighting-, Fairy-, and Grass-type attacks, among others, and provides it with a useful immunity to Toxic and the ability to absorb Toxic Spikes. Venomoth's decent base 90 Speed allows it to outspeed and set up on several bulky offensive Pokemon as well as the entirety of the unboosted tier after a Quiver Dance, but it leaves it slower than most offensive threats and common Choice Scarf users even at +1. Additionally, Venomoth has an unfortunate weakness to Stealth Rock and poor physical bulk, leaving it rather vulnerable to physical attackers before it sets up and to most priority moves in the tier. Venomoth also struggles to get past some dedicated special walls such as Snorlax and Blissey, though its ability to break them depends on its move selection—for example, Substitute allows Venomoth to beat Porygon2, and Roost allows it to beat non-Thunder Wave variants of Blissey.
[SET]
name: Mono Attacker
move 1: Quiver Dance
move 2: Bug Buzz
move 3: Sleep Powder / Substitute
move 4: Roost / Substitute
item: Black Sludge
ability: Tinted Lens
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Quiver Dance boosts Venomoth's Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed and is the only reason to use Venomoth at all. Bug Buzz deals damage and has good neutral coverage with Tinted Lens with no Pokemon immune to it. Roost keeps Venomoth healthy, allowing it to switch into Pokemon such as Florges multiple times throughout the game. Sleep Powder lets Venomoth neutralize one check for a few turns to ease setup or recover health. Substitute can be used over either of the latter two moves to set up comfortably on Thunder Wave users such as Porygon2 and Cresselia lacking Psyshock, as well as mono-attacking Water-types lacking Roar.
Set Details
========
252 EVs in Speed with a Timid nature allow Venomoth to outspeed threats such as Heracross, Nidoking, and Chandelure before any boosts and Mega Aerodactyl after a boost. Maximum investment is placed into Special Attack to hit as hard as possible, as Venomoth's poor bulk cannot be patched up effectively even with investment. Tinted Lens allows Bug Buzz to hit certain Poison-, Flying-, Fire-, and Steel-types for effectively neutral damage, leaving only 4x resistant Pokemon such as Cobalion and Crobat to truly resist Bug Buzz. Black Sludge allows Venomoth to set up more easily, especially in the face of special attackers such as Nidoqueen and Mega Blastoise. Insect Plate is also an option to give Venomoth a better chance at netting several KOs after a Quiver Dance on threats such as Salamence and Mega Aerodactyl.
Usage Tips
========
This set works best on balanced teams, where Venomoth can come in multiple times throughout the game if needed. Venomoth can set up on and sweep bulkier teams once certain checks have been eliminated, but it shouldn't necessarily go for Quiver Dance until these checks have been weakened or KOed. It can use Sleep Powder on Pokemon such as Entei, which would normally beat it one-on-one. Other times, it should simply use Bug Buzz to whittle down Pokemon such as Whimsicott. Venomoth should attempt to set up mid- to late-game on passive Pokemon such as Florges, special attackers without super effective coverage such as Nidoqueen, or Choice-locked resisted attacks. If Venomoth opts to use Substitute, it should be wary of Infiltrator Crobat.
Team Options
========
Pokemon such as Mega Ampharos that can weaken Venomoth's checks, such as Doublade and Crobat, can support Venomoth's sweep. Mega Ampharos can also bring Venomoth in safely with Volt Switch against opposing Fairy-types. Venomoth relies on Stealth Rock to get many KOs, so Pokemon such as Swampert and Mega Aggron are good choices. It also needs teammates such as Calm Mind Reuniclus that can take advantage of special walls. In particular, Krookodile can perform all three of the above roles, especially with Pursuit. Due to Venomoth's Bug typing, it appreciates the removal of Stealth Rock from its side of the field by teammates such as Salamence, especially if it lacks Roost. Empoleon can use Defog or set up Stealth Rock on several of Venomoth's checks.
[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Quiver Dance
move 2: Sleep Powder
move 3: Bug Buzz
move 4: Sludge Bomb
item: Life Orb
ability: Tinted Lens
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Quiver Dance boosts Venomoth's Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed and is Venomoth's main selling point in the tier. Sleep Powder lets Venomoth incapacitate a foe to potentially gain more attacking or setup opportunities. Bug Buzz acts as Venomoth's main STAB move and has good neutral coverage with Tinted Lens. Sludge Bomb gives Venomoth a neutral attack against most Pokemon that 4x resist Bug Buzz, such as Infernape, Chandelure, and Crobat, and allows Venomoth to hit Florges and Whimsicott super effectively. Hidden Power Ground can be used over Sludge Bomb to hit Cobalion, Lucario, and Doublade harder than any other move, though everything else is hit harder by either Bug Buzz or Sludge Bomb.
Set Details
========
252 EVs in Speed with a Timid nature allow Venomoth to outspeed everything up to Timid Rotom formes, Entei, and, after a Quiver Dance, Mega Aerodactyl. Maximum Special Attack investment lets Venomoth hit as hard as possible. With the combination of Tinted Lens and Life Orb, Venomoth hits most common Bug-resistant Pokemon extremely hard; for example, at +1 and with Stealth Rock up, it OHKOes Mega Aerodactyl and has a 75% chance of OHKOing 248 HP Crobat.
Usage Tips
========
This set works best on heavily offensive teams as a sweeper against opposing bulky offense and balance teams or as a breaker against more defensive teams. Venomoth should use its typing and Sleep Powder to gain free setup opportunities against Pokemon it cannot beat one-on-one, such as Roar Suicune and Cobalion. Simply bring Venomoth in against an appropriate opposing Pokemon and do as much damage as possible before succumbing to a special wall, Choice Scarf user, priority move, or Life Orb recoil.
Team Options
========
Stealth Rock leads such as Azelf, Aerodactyl, and Forretress that can both set up and prevent entry hazards make for excellent teammates. On bulkier offensive teams that would prefer not to have a suicide lead, Stealth Rock users such as Krookodile and Mega Swampert that provide more utility are options. Venomoth's team should be geared towards keeping Stealth Rock on the opposing side, using spinblockers and Taunt users so that Venomoth can get the necessary KOs on targets such as Salamence, Crobat, and Entei. Pokemon that can take advantage of common holders of Choice Scarf, such as Slurpuff, can possibly clean up a team after Venomoth is KOed. Spikes can aid in wearing down Mega Aggron, Doublade, and Cobalion for Venomoth; Froslass is a Spikes setter that works excellently on the types of teams Venomoth would be on.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Wonder Skin is a tempting option, especially on the mono-attacker set, to have a chance of avoiding moves such as Roar and Encore. However, the loss in neutral coverage means that Venomoth will be unable to deal with a huge number of Pokemon, including Poison-, Steel-, and Fire-types, which are much more common as answers to Venomoth than these utility moves. Other coverage moves on the offensive set can be used to hit very specific targets, but these moves are almost always not worth it because Venomoth's STAB moves hit nearly everything else harder. Examples of other moves are Shadow Ball to hit Doublade and Chandelure, Psychic to KO Crobat at +1 without Stealth Rock, and Giga Drain to hit bulky Water-types slightly harder while recovering HP in the process. Substitute + Disable is an option to destroy opposing mono-attackers such as Curselax as well as foes such as Calm Mind Reuniclus. Support options such as Toxic Spikes, Tailwind, and Baton Pass are available, but Venomoth is severely outclassed in this regard by other users of these moves.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Priority Attacks**: Due to Venomoth's low physical bulk, priority moves stop its sweep when combined with previous damage. In particular, Choice Band Entei's Extreme Speed has a good chance to OHKO Venomoth after Stealth Rock damage.
**Choice Scarf Users**: Most Pokemon that commonly run Choice Scarf, especially physical attackers, can outspeed and KO Venomoth unless it's gotten to +2. Examples include Krookodile, Salamence, Mienshao, and Infernape.
**Steel-types**: Cobalion, Lucario, Mega Aggron, and Doublade can all take hits from +1 Venomoth and retaliate if they avoid getting put to sleep. Specially defensive Forretress can barely take a +1 Life Orb Bug Buzz from full health, can avoid Sleep Powder with Overcoat, and can retaliate with Gyro Ball.
**Dedicated Special Walls**: Snorlax and Goodra are examples of Pokemon that can handle Venomoth due their special bulk and various ways of dealing with Sleep Powder. Venomoth can get around Blissey and Porygon2, however, with a mono-attacking set.
Venomoth's access to one of the best boosting moves in the game, Quiver Dance, along with its access to Sleep Powder carves its role as a strong offensive sweeper in UU. Tinted Lens makes Venomoth even harder to deal with, rendering most resistances to its attacks useless and allowing it to forgo most coverage in exchange for more utility. A useful Bug / Poison typing grants Venomoth notable resistances to Fighting-, Fairy-, and Grass-type attacks, among others, and provides it with a useful immunity to Toxic and the ability to absorb Toxic Spikes. Venomoth's decent base 90 Speed allows it to outspeed and set up on several bulky offensive Pokemon as well as the entirety of the unboosted tier after a Quiver Dance, but it leaves it slower than most offensive threats and common Choice Scarf users even at +1. Additionally, Venomoth has an unfortunate weakness to Stealth Rock and poor physical bulk, leaving it rather vulnerable to physical attackers before it sets up and to most priority moves in the tier. Venomoth also struggles to get past some dedicated special walls such as Snorlax and Blissey, though its ability to break them depends on its move selection—for example, Substitute allows Venomoth to beat Porygon2, and Roost allows it to beat non-Thunder Wave variants of Blissey.
[SET]
name: Mono Attacker
move 1: Quiver Dance
move 2: Bug Buzz
move 3: Sleep Powder / Substitute
move 4: Roost / Substitute
item: Black Sludge
ability: Tinted Lens
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Quiver Dance boosts Venomoth's Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed and is the only reason to use Venomoth at all. Bug Buzz deals damage and has good neutral coverage with Tinted Lens with no Pokemon immune to it. Roost keeps Venomoth healthy, allowing it to switch into Pokemon such as Florges multiple times throughout the game. Sleep Powder lets Venomoth neutralize one check for a few turns to ease setup or recover health. Substitute can be used over either of the latter two moves to set up comfortably on Thunder Wave users such as Porygon2 and Cresselia lacking Psyshock, as well as mono-attacking Water-types lacking Roar.
Set Details
========
252 EVs in Speed with a Timid nature allow Venomoth to outspeed threats such as Heracross, Nidoking, and Chandelure before any boosts and Mega Aerodactyl after a boost. Maximum investment is placed into Special Attack to hit as hard as possible, as Venomoth's poor bulk cannot be patched up effectively even with investment. Tinted Lens allows Bug Buzz to hit certain Poison-, Flying-, Fire-, and Steel-types for effectively neutral damage, leaving only 4x resistant Pokemon such as Cobalion and Crobat to truly resist Bug Buzz. Black Sludge allows Venomoth to set up more easily, especially in the face of special attackers such as Nidoqueen and Mega Blastoise. Insect Plate is also an option to give Venomoth a better chance at netting several KOs after a Quiver Dance on threats such as Salamence and Mega Aerodactyl.
Usage Tips
========
This set works best on balanced teams, where Venomoth can come in multiple times throughout the game if needed. Venomoth can set up on and sweep bulkier teams once certain checks have been eliminated, but it shouldn't necessarily go for Quiver Dance until these checks have been weakened or KOed. It can use Sleep Powder on Pokemon such as Entei, which would normally beat it one-on-one. Other times, it should simply use Bug Buzz to whittle down Pokemon such as Whimsicott. Venomoth should attempt to set up mid- to late-game on passive Pokemon such as Florges, special attackers without super effective coverage such as Nidoqueen, or Choice-locked resisted attacks. If Venomoth opts to use Substitute, it should be wary of Infiltrator Crobat.
Team Options
========
Pokemon such as Mega Ampharos that can weaken Venomoth's checks, such as Doublade and Crobat, can support Venomoth's sweep. Mega Ampharos can also bring Venomoth in safely with Volt Switch against opposing Fairy-types. Venomoth relies on Stealth Rock to get many KOs, so Pokemon such as Swampert and Mega Aggron are good choices. It also needs teammates such as Calm Mind Reuniclus that can take advantage of special walls. In particular, Krookodile can perform all three of the above roles, especially with Pursuit. Due to Venomoth's Bug typing, it appreciates the removal of Stealth Rock from its side of the field by teammates such as Salamence, especially if it lacks Roost. Empoleon can use Defog or set up Stealth Rock on several of Venomoth's checks.
[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Quiver Dance
move 2: Sleep Powder
move 3: Bug Buzz
move 4: Sludge Bomb
item: Life Orb
ability: Tinted Lens
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Quiver Dance boosts Venomoth's Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed and is Venomoth's main selling point in the tier. Sleep Powder lets Venomoth incapacitate a foe to potentially gain more attacking or setup opportunities. Bug Buzz acts as Venomoth's main STAB move and has good neutral coverage with Tinted Lens. Sludge Bomb gives Venomoth a neutral attack against most Pokemon that 4x resist Bug Buzz, such as Infernape, Chandelure, and Crobat, and allows Venomoth to hit Florges and Whimsicott super effectively. Hidden Power Ground can be used over Sludge Bomb to hit Cobalion, Lucario, and Doublade harder than any other move, though everything else is hit harder by either Bug Buzz or Sludge Bomb.
Set Details
========
252 EVs in Speed with a Timid nature allow Venomoth to outspeed everything up to Timid Rotom formes, Entei, and, after a Quiver Dance, Mega Aerodactyl. Maximum Special Attack investment lets Venomoth hit as hard as possible. With the combination of Tinted Lens and Life Orb, Venomoth hits most common Bug-resistant Pokemon extremely hard; for example, at +1 and with Stealth Rock up, it OHKOes Mega Aerodactyl and has a 75% chance of OHKOing 248 HP Crobat.
Usage Tips
========
This set works best on heavily offensive teams as a sweeper against opposing bulky offense and balance teams or as a breaker against more defensive teams. Venomoth should use its typing and Sleep Powder to gain free setup opportunities against Pokemon it cannot beat one-on-one, such as Roar Suicune and Cobalion. Simply bring Venomoth in against an appropriate opposing Pokemon and do as much damage as possible before succumbing to a special wall, Choice Scarf user, priority move, or Life Orb recoil.
Team Options
========
Stealth Rock leads such as Azelf, Aerodactyl, and Forretress that can both set up and prevent entry hazards make for excellent teammates. On bulkier offensive teams that would prefer not to have a suicide lead, Stealth Rock users such as Krookodile and Mega Swampert that provide more utility are options. Venomoth's team should be geared towards keeping Stealth Rock on the opposing side, using spinblockers and Taunt users so that Venomoth can get the necessary KOs on targets such as Salamence, Crobat, and Entei. Pokemon that can take advantage of common holders of Choice Scarf, such as Slurpuff, can possibly clean up a team after Venomoth is KOed. Spikes can aid in wearing down Mega Aggron, Doublade, and Cobalion for Venomoth; Froslass is a Spikes setter that works excellently on the types of teams Venomoth would be on.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Wonder Skin is a tempting option, especially on the mono-attacker set, to have a chance of avoiding moves such as Roar and Encore. However, the loss in neutral coverage means that Venomoth will be unable to deal with a huge number of Pokemon, including Poison-, Steel-, and Fire-types, which are much more common as answers to Venomoth than these utility moves. Other coverage moves on the offensive set can be used to hit very specific targets, but these moves are almost always not worth it because Venomoth's STAB moves hit nearly everything else harder. Examples of other moves are Shadow Ball to hit Doublade and Chandelure, Psychic to KO Crobat at +1 without Stealth Rock, and Giga Drain to hit bulky Water-types slightly harder while recovering HP in the process. Substitute + Disable is an option to destroy opposing mono-attackers such as Curselax as well as foes such as Calm Mind Reuniclus. Support options such as Toxic Spikes, Tailwind, and Baton Pass are available, but Venomoth is severely outclassed in this regard by other users of these moves.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Priority Attacks**: Due to Venomoth's low physical bulk, priority moves stop its sweep when combined with previous damage. In particular, Choice Band Entei's Extreme Speed has a good chance to OHKO Venomoth after Stealth Rock damage.
**Choice Scarf Users**: Most Pokemon that commonly run Choice Scarf, especially physical attackers, can outspeed and KO Venomoth unless it's gotten to +2. Examples include Krookodile, Salamence, Mienshao, and Infernape.
**Steel-types**: Cobalion, Lucario, Mega Aggron, and Doublade can all take hits from +1 Venomoth and retaliate if they avoid getting put to sleep. Specially defensive Forretress can barely take a +1 Life Orb Bug Buzz from full health, can avoid Sleep Powder with Overcoat, and can retaliate with Gyro Ball.
**Dedicated Special Walls**: Snorlax and Goodra are examples of Pokemon that can handle Venomoth due their special bulk and various ways of dealing with Sleep Powder. Venomoth can get around Blissey and Porygon2, however, with a mono-attacking set.
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