Venusaur= Frog + Plant
[OVERVIEW]
Venusaur is rather one-dimensional in the UnderUsed metagame, as it is outclassed by Roserade, Amoonguss, and Tangrowth in most of its roles; however, it is an extremely potent sun sweeper thanks to Chlorophyll, which doubles its Speed while the sun is up. While Chlorophyll is activated, Venusaur can outspeed Aerodactyl and slower Choice Scarf users while having a Modest nature, which lets it hit much harder with Life Orb and Growth. Venusaur also has a pretty good offensive typing and an even better defensive typing in Grass / Poison, which allows it to set up on Pokemon such as Florges and Whimsicott while resisting most forms of priority, such as Crawdaunt's and Feraligatr's Aqua Jet, Mach Punch and Vacuum Wave from Fighting-types, and Bullet Punch from Metagross and Lucario.
[SET]
name: Sun Sweeper
move 1: Growth
move 2: Sludge Bomb
move 3: Giga Drain
move 4: Hidden Power Fire
item: Life Orb
ability: Chlorophyll
nature: Modest
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
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Growth allows Venusaur to get to +2 Special Attack in one turn if the sun is up, letting it immediately begin sweeping. Sludge Bomb is Venusaur's main STAB option, as it can hit a lot of Pokemon such as Whimsicott and Florges extremely hard, although it can't hit Chesnaught. Giga Drain lets Venusaur hit most Pokemon that resist Poison very hard while recovering health against a lot of frailer Pokemon. Although Hidden Power Fire is kind of weak, it gets a power boost under the sun and can hit Steel-types, as well as other Pokemon that resist Venusaur's STAB combination, such as Toxicroak.
Set Details
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Chlorophyll doubles Venusaur's Speed while the sun is up, allowing it to outspeed most relevant Choice Scarf users, as well as Mega Aerodactyl. Life Orb boosts its damage output by a significant amount, and while Lum Berry can be used to switch into Thunder Wave and Scald more easily, there is a significant decrease in sweeping potential. It has maximum Special Attack EVs and a Modest nature to hit as hard as possible. Maximum Speed EVs allow Venusaur to outspeed most relevant Choice Scarf users, as well as Speed tie with Modest Trace Gardevoir.
Usage Tips
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Venusaur performs best as a late-game sweeper, destroying teams when its checks and counters have been removed; however, it still performs well as a mid-game cleaner that can punch holes in a team for a sweeper to come in later. Venusaur performs best on sun teams, which can set up the sun for it to sweep in games. It is best for Venusaur to begin setting up Growth against Pokemon such as Florges and Chesnaught, which can't really do much to it in return.
Team Options
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Venusaur likes sun setters, especially Whimsicott, which can set up the sun with Prankster and use Memento to help bring Venusaur in so it can easily set up. Cresselia, Azelf, and Uxie are also good sun setters because they can help bring Venusaur in thanks to Lunar Dance, Explosion, and Memento, respectively, while Sableye can be a good sun setter thanks to Prankster. Fire-type sun setters such as Entei can also work as good partners, as they work not only as sun setters but also as sun abusers thanks to their powerful Fire-type attacks. Mega Aerodactyl is a good partner for Venusaur due to its typing, which allows it to beat the Fire-, Bug-, and Flying-types that beat Venusaur while also being able to pick off Pokemon that Venusaur has weakened. Mega Houndoom hits very hard when the sun is up and also hits the Steel-types that non-Hidden Power Fire Venusaur can't, making it a good partner. Fighting-types also make good partners for Venusaur, as they can lure in and deal damage to the Poison- and Psychic-types that beat Venusaur.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
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Venusaur can run Sunny Day, which allows it to be used on non-sun teams, but it loses out on either coverage, Growth, or recovery, which isn't a very good trade-off. Sleep Powder can be run over Growth to cripple most of Venusaur's switch-ins. Venusaur can run a mixed set that has Growth, Earthquake, Power Whip, and Sludge Bomb to beat most of its checks. A physical Swords Dance set is also viable, but it is mostly outclassed by other Attack- and Speed-boosting Pokemon because it needs a lot of support to be effective. Solar Beam can be run, but only in tandem with Sleep Powder, and only if you have another Chlorophyll sweeper on your team already.
Checks and Counters
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**Special Walls**: Special walls such as Mandibuzz, Goodra, and Blissey can survive Venusaur's attacks and cripple it in return with Thunder Wave, hit it with Fire Blast, or use Knock Off so it deals less damage later.
**Poison-types**: Poison-types such as Dragalge, Tentacruel, and Crobat resist most of Venusaur's attacks and hit back hard; however, the latter two cannot switch into Solar Beam and Hidden Power Fire, respectively.
**Psychic-types**: Most Psychic-types, such as Cresselia and Gardevoir, can take Venusaur's attacks and deal a lot of damage in return with their STAB moves. Gardevoir can also copy Chlorophyll with Trace and outspeed Venusaur if it's running a Timid nature or Speed tie if it's running a Modest one.
**Fire-types**: Most Fire-types such as Entei and Mega Houndoom can OHKO Venusaur with their STAB moves and can take advantage of their Fire-type moves while the sun is up. Choice Scarf Infernape is especially threatening, as it is one of the very few Pokemon that can outspeed Venusaur while Chlorophyll is activated.
**Super Effective Priority Users**: Pokemon such as Mamoswine, Abomasnow, and Fletchinder can all hit Venusaur with their super effective priority moves. Abomasnow is especially threatening, as it can also change the weather and end Venusaur's sweep.
**Prankster Pokemon**: Pokemon with Prankster, such as Whimsicott and Tornadus, can clear or change the weather to end Venusaur's sweep.
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