OU Venusaur

[Colonel M]

QC 3/3: p2, TDK, Hootie
GP 0/1: The Dutch Plumberjack

[OVERVIEW]

* Mega Venusaur's typing, well-rounded defensive stats, and access to Thick Fat make it an excellent defensive Pokemon with few weaknesses and a plethora of resistances such as Electric-, Fairy-, and Water-type attacks.
* Mega Venusaur is able to handle many new threats such as Tapu Koko, Tapu Fini, and Tapu Bulu while handling older threats such as Greninja and Gyarados lacking Bounce.
* Mega Venusaur is flexible on many teams. Offensive, balanced, and stall teams all work well with it. It works very well with Fire / Water / Grass cores.
* The nerf to burn's damage helps Mega Venusaur's durability overall as it takes less damage from the status effect.
* Mega Venusaur is very capable sustaining itself with STAB Giga Drain, Synthesis, and poison immunity.
* It still takes up a Mega slot.
* Lacks Leftovers recovery, which is a problem for bulky Grass-types. Furthermore, Synthesis's healing is cut in rain and sand.
* Though tanky, Mega Venusaur has to take caution in taking too many strong blows.
* Lure moves such as Supersonic Skystrike on Gyarados and Landorus-T have made it harder for Mega Venusaur to check them.
* It still has issues taking STAB Fire-type attacks from Pokemon such as Mega Charizard X, Mega Charizard Y, and Heatran. STAB Ice-types attacks from Kyurem-B, Mamoswine, and Weavile still hurt as well.

[SET]
name: Defensive Tank
move 1: Giga Drain
move 2: Sludge Bomb
move 3: Synthesis
move 4: Hidden Power Fire / Knock Off / Leech Seed
item: Venusaurite
ability: Chlorophyll
nature: Bold
evs: 232 HP / 180 Def / 80 SpD / 16 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

* Giga Drain enables Mega Venusaur to bully Water- and Ground-types while recovering health.
* Sludge Bomb is great for the Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, Tangrowth, and Clefable.
* Synthesis is Mega Venusaur's best source of recovery otherwise, healing 50% in normal weather conditions.
* Hidden Power Fire lets Venusaur muscle through Ferrothorn and offensive Celesteela while applying pressure to Genesect and Mega Scizor.
* Knock Off hampers Pokemon reliant on their items such as Alolan Marowak, Chansey, Jirachi, and Latios.
* Leech Seed gives Mega Venusaur another opportunity to drain health from non-Grass-types such as Sassy Celesteela. In tandem with Giga Drain and Synthesis it makes Mega Venusaur that much harder to KO.

Set Details
========

* 16 Speed EVs are needed to outspeed maximum Speed Adamant Azumarill.
* Near-maximum HP is used to comfortably take hits.
* 80 Special Defense EVs allow Mega Venusaur to repeated attacks from Tapu Koko; Ice Beam from Life Orb Protean Greninja 3HKO, and Dark Pulse from Choice Specs Greninja 3HKO as well.
* The remainder of EVs with the Bold nature allow Mega Venusaur to also take up to 3 three Gunk Shots from Life Orb Protean Greninja.
* This set is very customizable. You can opt for having more Special Defense with a Calm nature to help handle threats such as Choice Specs Kingdra.
* Tread with caution on Calm Mega Venusaur, as it gives Genesect an Attack boost instead of a Special Attack boost, thus meaning STAB U-turn will hurt a lot more.
* Chlorophyll is the preferred ability, as it gives regular Venusaur some additional utility against sun teams before becoming Mega Venusaur.

Usage Tips
========

* This set aims to use Mega Venusaur for its defensive qualities more than its potential offensive qualities.
* Venusaur lacks Thick Fat before Mega Evolution. As such, Venusaur should find a safe and reliable way to switch in to Mega Evolve and gain Thick Fat and its increased durability as soon as possible.
* Giga Drain will be the main move choice, though Sludge Bomb is great for predicted switch-ins such as Charizard, Tornadus-T, and Latias.
* In spite of its great defensive stats and typing, it can still lose to Pokemon that it technically checks with prior damage, so be careful about using it liberally if the opponent has something dangerous like Choice Specs Ash-Greninja waiting in the wings.
* Some Pokemon such as Rotom-W and Tapu Koko usually know when Mega Venusaur is switching in and will respond with Volt Switch or U-turn to keep up their momentum.
* The way to use Mega Venusaur is to remain as healthy as possible with Giga Drain, Synthesis, and potentially Leech Seed while doing additional damage to potential switch-ins with Sludge Bomb, Hidden Power Fire, or Knock Off.


Team Options
========

* Tapu Fini is a great defensive teammate. Access to Defog while being able to protect Mega Venusaur from status with Misty Terrain is great in exchange for Mega Venusaur handling threats such as Tapu Koko more easily.
* Cleric or Wish support is great for keeping Mega Venusaur as healthy and capable of checking threats as possible. Clefable has access to both Aromatherapy and Wish to further keep Mega Venusaur's healthy. Chansey is also a great partner for this.
* Heatran is a huge teammate for Mega Venusaur, playing hand-in-hand with eliminating threats that neither of them like. Heatran roasts Steel-types while resisting all of Mega Venusaur's weaknesses, (AC)while and Mega Venusaur can drain the life out of Water- and Ground-types.
* Adding ontoOther Defog users include Latios, Latias, Mantine, and Zapdos. Latios and Latias greatly appreciate Mega Venusaur being able to handle Ferrothorn with Hidden Power Fire. Zapdos doesn't always require removal of Ferrothorn; however, it appreciates Mega Venusaur being able to handle bulkier Ground-types better while Zapdos handles Mega Pinsir that lack Stone Edge. Mantine gets a special mention as it is one of the better Pokemon to help face Pheromosa, which otherwise can secure free turns with STAB U-turn.
* Steel-types such as Celesteela and Skarmory are good partners, as Flying-type and Psychic-type attacks can be a big problem for Mega Venusaur. Celesteela can handle Latios that lacks Thunderbolt. Magnezone is also a great partner because it can eliminate problematic Steel-types such as Ferrothorn when Venusaur is lacking Hidden Power Fire.
* Volt Switch and U-turn users can be a big help to getting Mega Venusaur in at a better time. Rotom-W, Scizor, and Landorus-T are great examples for this.
* Dugtrio gets a special mention, as it helps with eliminating Pokemon that can be annoying to Mega Venusaur such as Hoopa-U, Toxapex, Heatran, and unboosted Mega Charizard X.

[SET]
name: Offensive Tank
move 1: Giga Drain
move 2: Sludge Bomb
move 3: Synthesis
move 4: Hidden Power Fire
item: Venusaurite
ability: Chlorophyll
nature: Modest
evs: 232 HP / 180 SpA / 80 SpD / 16 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

* Giga Drain is the main move to use with Mega Venusaur, allowing to keep it healthy while doing good damage to Water-, Rock-, and Ground-types.
* Sludge Bomb is another powerful STAB attack to drown threats such as Tapu Koko, Tapu Fini, Tapu Bulu, Clefable, and Azumarill.
* Synthesis allows Mega Venusaur to stay healthy when it can't use Giga Drain.
* Hidden Power Fire is mainly for Steel-types, which otherwise cause problems for offensive Mega Venusaur.
* Knock Off and Leech Seed can be used on this set, though usually these are better suited on the defensive sets that can afford to sacrifice coverage.

Set Details
========

* 16 Speed EVs give Mega Venusaur enough Speed to outspeed Adamant Azumarill.
* 232 HP and 80 SpD EVs grant Mega Venusaur safety from Choice Specs Greninja and still provide a cushion against Tapu Koko.
* The remainder goes to Special Attack with a Modest nature to bolster Mega Venusaur's offense.
* 104 Speed EVs let Mega Venusaur outspeed Adamant Tyranitar as well as minimum Speed Landorus-T.
* Finally, 216 Speed EVs get the jump on Adamant Tapu Bulu. This does come at a cost of sacrificing a significant amount of bulk, though.

Usage Tips
========

* Offensive Mega Venusaur should attempt to find a way to switch in and Mega Evolve as quickly and safely as possible. Thus, plan on using this set on more offensively oriented teams.
* This set is a lot easier to wear down, so don't go overboard with attempting to tank too many hits without being able to recover through Synthesis and / or Giga Drain.
* Sludge Bomb is best used on Pokemon that may switch in thinking they're going to take Giga Drain instead.
* Hidden Power Fire should be used to maximize Mega Venusaur's ability to handle Steel-types as much as possible. Without Hidden Power Fire Mega Venusaur becomes a less effective Pokemon to handle some of the more common Pokemon in balanced compositions such as Ferrothorn and Scizor.
* Stealth Rock is very useful to help cripple Pokemon that resist the three attacks that Mega Venusaur uses. Alolan Marowak in particular does not enjoy constantly switching into Stealth Rock as it lacks Leftovers and a reliable recovery attack.
* The offensive set is very susceptible to Heatran. Make sure to always have something in reserve to switch into or threaten Heatran in the process.

Team Options
========

* Tapu Fini, Excadrill, Zapdos, and Latios are all great Pokemon that can remove entry hazards with Defog and Rapid Spin, while Mega Venusaur helps handle some of the Pokemon that are problematic to them, such as Tapu Bulu.
* Dugtrio is a big partner that can trap and kill some of the problematic Pokemon such as Heatran, Volcanion, and Mega Metagross lacking Bullet Punch.
* Heatran's assistance with this set is also great. Heatran can be relied being more defensive or combining their offensive forces to torture the enemy team that lack special walls.
* Weavile can help eliminate some of the problematic Psychic-types and can assist in revenge killing Mega Pinsir and Pheromosa.
* Landorus-T, Genesect, and Pheromosa are Pokemon that provide momentum with U-turn. Landorus-T can utilize Stealth Rock while Choice Scarf Genesect and Pheromosa are agile enough to beat some of the problematic Psychic-types that otherwise are a problem for Mega Venusaur.
* Manaphy, Ash-Greninja, and Keldeo handle Heatran without too much of an issue. Manaphy really appreciates the potential removal of Ferrothorn and Tapu Bulu to help set up.
* On more balanced teams you can consider other Pokemon such as Rotom-W and Mantine, as this helps alleviate the burden of using Mega Venusaur to check too many threats such as Greninja.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

* Earthquake is Mega Venusaur's best attack against Heatran switch-ins and still hits Alolan Marowak.
* Sleep Powder can be used to cripple an opponent's Pokemon, though consider that it is a bit harder to pull off this generation due to Misty Terrain and Electric Terrain's prominence. It is also ineffective against fellow Grass-types such as Amoonguss and Ferrothorn.
* A regular Venusaur Growth set with Chlorophyll can be used alongside sun.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Fire-types**: Fire-types such as Heatran, Alolan Marowak, Mega Charizard Y, Mega Charizard X, and Volcanion are quite good at scaring Mega Venusaur off with their STAB-boosted Fire-type attacks. Heatran is the most threatening, as it resists the majority of attacks that Mega Venusaur will use while only having issues with Knock Off and Leech Seed.

**Flying-types**: Mega Pinsir, Tornadus-T, Landorus-T, and Gyarados threaten Mega Venusaur with their STAB Flying-type attacks. Mega Pinsir and Tornadus-T can repeatedly threaten Mega Venusaur with their Flying-type STAB attacks while Landorus-T, Gyarados, and Salamence can KO with Supersonic Skystrike.

**Psychic-types**: Mega Alakazam, Tapu Lele, Hoopa-U, Latios, and Latias all threaten Mega Venusaur with their STAB Psychic-type attacks. Tapu Lele makes certain that Mega Venusaur will never survive a Psychic-type attack thanks to Psychic Terrain boosting Mega Alakazam and Tapu Lele's Psychic and Psyshock.

**Chansey**: No matter how many critical hits you score on Chansey, Chansey walls Mega Venusaur. Knock Off is something that Chansey has to be aware of, though, as the loss of Eviolite makes Chansey much more vulnerable, and Leech Seed still can make Chansey a healbot.

**Steel-types**: Steel-types such as Mega Metagross, Scizor, Celesteela, Magearna, and Kartana can switch in on Mega Venusaur without fearing much of its STAB combination. Beware that Knock Off and Leech Seed are still not moves that some Steel-types necessarily care to switch into. Mega Scizor is at least doesn't take boosted damage from Knock Off, while Kartana boasts a Leech Seed immunity and can threaten Mega Venusaur with +2 Corkscrew Crush. Hidden Power Fire is still lethal for many of the frailer Steel-types or those that take quadruple damage from the attack.

**Kyurem-B**: Teravolt ignores Thick Fat, allowing Kyurem-B to threaten Mega Venusaur with STAB Ice Beam and Subzero Slammer.

 

[Colonel M]

This is mainly the EVs I've been rolling with outside of Offensive Tank (which will be the second set at the moment due to the major power of some of the unbanned Pokemon making Defensive a little more desired IMO). I am very open to alternative or better EV spreads as well - I tried choosing a middle road with some compromises such as situations where Greninja would not have Extrasensory or silly cases where Xurkitree used up its Gigavolt Havoc.

 

[TURBODERP]

For good teammates, I think SpDef Excadrill deserves special mention, since it can spin away hazards (which Mega Venusaur hates since it relies on being at full to counter and check what it's supposed to do) while resisting Flying and Psychic type attacks and being able to set up hazards of its own.

 

[Ash Borer]

I've been running Synthesis / HP Fire / Sludge Bomb / Giga Drain Modest - 252 SpA / 216 Spe / 40 HP relatively successfully. It outpaces Adamant Tapu Bulu, and anything defensive or slower than that and does a surprising amount of damage. Though there's probably something better that hits an offensive jump-point and drops the rest into HP for a bit more bulk. A lot of offensive teams just don't really have anything to handle it. Honestly, HP Fire even fully offensive barley hurts Sdef Celesteela, I doubt it does more than 2 leftover rounds worth with minimal investment.

 

[Colonel M]

For good teammates, I think SpDef Excadrill deserves special mention, since it can spin away hazards (which Mega Venusaur hates since it relies on being at full to counter and check what it's supposed to do) while resisting Flying and Psychic type attacks and being able to set up hazards of its own.

It also handles Tapu Koko with Brave Bird and can revenge Xurkitree. Agreed. Definitely a good teammate to add.

I've been running Synthesis / HP Fire / Sludge Bomb / Giga Drain Modest - 252 SpA / 216 Spe / 40 HP relatively successfully. It outpaces Adamant Tapu Bulu, and anything defensive or slower than that and does a surprising amount of damage. Though there's probably something better that hits an offensive jump-point and drops the rest into HP for a bit more bulk. A lot of offensive teams just don't really have anything to handle it. Honestly, HP Fire even fully offensive barley hurts Sdef Celesteela, I doubt it does more than 2 leftover rounds worth with minimal investment.

A little more than expected:

0 SpA Mega Venusaur Hidden Power Fire vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Celesteela: 74-88 (18.5 - 22.1%) -- Miniscule chance to 4HKO after Stealth Rock

Yeah it does pretty pitiful damage from Tank. I think in terms of pressuring Celesteela Leech Seed is arguably better because it also recovers health while Celesteela is doing a 4HKO with 0 Attack Heavy Slam. Though it also means outside of Leech Seed you're not really "damaging" Celesteela (and its still got Leftovers to recover part of the health unless you have someone use Knock Off).

 

[TURBODERP]

I think HP Fire might not even be worth a slash. Rain is pretty common these days, and stuff like Alolan Marowak and hell even Celesteela and Mega Metagross take pitiful damage from HP Fire.

Knock Off is superior most of the time IMO, because even Skarmory/Celesteela/Ferrothorn hate losing their items (especially Celesteela who only has Leftovers+Leech Seed for independent recovery), and more common switchins like the Lati twins and Heatran despise losing their items too.

 

[Colonel M]

I think HP Fire might not even be worth a slash. Rain is pretty common these days, and stuff like Alolan Marowak and hell even Celesteela and Mega Metagross take pitiful damage from HP Fire.

Knock Off is superior most of the time IMO, because even Skarmory/Celesteela/Ferrothorn hate losing their items (especially Celesteela who only has Leftovers+Leech Seed for independent recovery), and more common switchins like the Lati twins and Heatran despise losing their items too.

Hidden Power Fire is still a somewhat important option as it gives Ferrothorn much less to switch into and, were it ever to become popular, Kartana.

 

[TURBODERP]

Hidden Power Fire is still a somewhat important option as it gives Ferrothorn much less to switch into and, were it ever to become popular, Kartana.

Ooh, forgot about Kartana, that's actually huge since you wall that thing with HP Fire. Good point! Yea, seems like if your team can handle Ferro/Scizor/Kartana (i.e. Heatran as a partner), you don't need the HP Fire, but if Venusaur is your check/answer to any of those, HP Fire is probably worth it.

 

[Colonel M]

Should be good to go. I was told I was not really that positive with Mega Venusaur in the overview, but I still wanted to exercise it's a mon with opportunity costs while being a worthwhile teammate. This should balance it.

I understand that Calm is inferior on Defensive Mega Venusaur, though the more I look at those Special attackers the more I think about it, ya know? Outside of that, I have had someone suggest to me to drop Leech Seed to Moves instead of being on the main set. I'll leave that to QC though.

Definitely open to different EV spreads. I've found this one doesn't do too bad at handling Protean Greninja lacking Extrasensory at the least while being able to handle Banded Bulu not locked onto Megahorn / Zen Headbutt and Scarf Genesect. Since other mons like Keldeo are favoring Choice Scarf instead of Choice Specs it also helps Bold MVenu's case. I do question if running Calm is a bit better in the long run, though, since the meta has some really threatening special sweepers at this time such as Tapu Koko, Xurkitree, and Landorus-I (to be fair MVenu never really escapes a 2HKO if SR is on the field on Landorus-I). Furthermore, Manaphy is quite dangerous with +3 Hydro Vortex (the good news is after SR this one survives a +3 Hydro Vortex... outside of rain - +3 252+ SpA Manaphy Hydro Vortex (175 BP) vs. 252 HP / 76 SpD Mega Venusaur: 261-307 (71.7 - 84.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock). It won't live +3 Hydro in Rain, though. I've certainly tossed the idea around, though the fear of Mega Gyarados getting into my face has stated otherwise - which even as Jolly can do up to 65% with +1 Ice Fang if it's 252 HP / 0 Def Calm MVenu. Bold is still one that can be trolled by the Flyinium-Z Gyarados and Landorus-T, which appear to be picking up in usage as well - though at least it's a one-time move.

 

[p2]

• Mega Venusaur is able to handle many new threats such as most Tapus barring Lele and Xurkitree while handling older threats such as Greninja, Landorus-I, and Gyarados lacking Bounce.

remove lando-i since calm isn't on the main set and venu struggles so much to check it otherwise

heatran definitely needs a mention in team options because its simply the best mega venusaur teammate in the game, venutran has been winnin games since 2013 and still does now but fr their synergy is incredible since venu pressures all water types, tran pressures all steels and a bunch of dragons/birds/psychics etc

this is good though, 1/3

 

[Colonel M]

Added. My apologies on missing Heatran. After you mentioned it I shot myself pretty damn hard in the foot for forgetting it.

 

[kumiko]

On Defensive, HP Fire is your first slash so make 20 Spe the default EV spread and mention lowering it when not running HP Fire. An EV spread of 232 HP / 176 Def / 80 SDef / 20 Spe is optimal over top of the one you have currently. The Defense calcs are arbitrary and irrelevant but just showing the fact you have higher bulk with lowered HP.

252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja Dark Pulse vs. 248 HP / 80 SpD Venusaur-Mega: 133-157 (36.6 - 43.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja Dark Pulse vs. 248 HP / 76 SpD Venusaur-Mega: 135-159 (37.1 - 43.8%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja Dark Pulse vs. 232 HP / 80 SpD Venusaur-Mega: 133-157 (37 - 43.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock

252 Atk Landorus-Therian Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 160+ Def Venusaur-Mega: 118-141 (32.5 - 38.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Landorus-Therian Earthquake vs. 232 HP / 176+ Def Venusaur-Mega: 118-139 (32.8 - 38.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock

Considering how important it is to not let up vs Ash Greninja, I would run the same kind of SDef investment on Mega Venusaur. An EV spread of 232 HP / 176 SpA / 80 SDef / 20 Spe is what should be ran.

2/3

 

[Colonel M]

While Im okay with switching the EV spread I think (nothing really stands out) HP Fire IV drop is now irrelevant with Gen 7s IV fix. So I presume 4 more in Def / SpA for second set?

TDK

 

[Colonel M]

Made changes. Thanks for the QC check TDK.

EDIT: Made some other changes suggested by PK Gaming.

 

[Hootie]

I don't think it's relevant to mention Modest Xurkitree in set details. You could just say in both sets that it helps cushion attacks from the likes of Tapu Koko as well. Add Jirachi as a Knock Off target too.

3/3

 

[Colonel M]

Made changes. Thanks Hootie.

This is ready for GP.

 

[Lumari]

remove add / fix (comments); (AC=add comma; RC=remove comma; SC=semicolon)
GP 1/1

check

[Overview] [OVERVIEW]

* Mega Venusaur's typing, well-rounded defensive stats, and access to Thick Fat make it an excellent defensive Pokemon with few weaknesses and a plethora of resistances such as Electric-, Fairy-, and Water-type attacks.
* Mega Venusaur is able to handle many new threats such as Xurkitree and most Tapus of the Tapu group barring Lele and Xurkitree while handling older threats such as Greninja and Gyarados lacking Bounce.
* Mega Venusaur is flexible on many teams. Offensive, balanced, and stall teams all work well with Mega Venusaur it. It works very well with Fire / Water / Grass (dashes to slashes) cores.
* The nerf to burn's damage helps Mega Venusaur's durability overall as it takes less damage from the status effect. (or add something explaining why it is / used to be particularly vulnerable to the status effect)
* Mega Venusaur is very capable of keeping sustaining itself self-sustained with STAB Giga Drain, Synthesis, and poison status immunity.
* It still takes up a Mega slot.
* Lacks Leftovers recovery, which is a problem for bulky Grass-types. Furthermore, Synthesis's healing is cut in rain and sand.
* Though tanky, (AC) Mega Venusaur has to take caution in taking too many strong blows.
* Lure moves such as Flynium-Z Supersonic Skystrike on Gyarados and Landorus-T have made it harder for Mega Venusaur to check them certain foes.
* It still has issues taking STAB Fire-type attacks from Pokemon such as Mega Charizard X, Mega Charizard Y, and Heatran. STAB Ice-types attacks from Kyurem-W, Kyurem-B, Mamoswine, and Weavile still hurt as well.

[SET]
name: Defensive Tank
move 1: Giga Drain
move 2: Sludge Bomb
move 3: Synthesis
move 4: Hidden Power Fire / Knock Off / Leech Seed
item: Venusaurite
ability: Chlorophyll
nature: Bold
evs: 232 HP / 180 Def / 80 SpD / 16 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

* Giga Drain gives enables Mega Venusaur capability of to bullying Water- and Ground-types while recovering health.
* Sludge Bomb is great for the Tapus Tapu group, Tangrowth, and Clefable.
* Synthesis is Mega Venusaur's best source of recovery otherwise, (comma) healing 50% in normal weather conditions.
* Hidden Power Fire muscles lets Venusaur muscle through Ferrothorn and offensive Celesteela while applying pressure to Genesect and Mega Scizor.
* Knock Off hampers Pokemon reliant on their items such as Alolan Marowak, Chansey, Jirachi, and Latios.
* Leech Seed gives Mega Venusaur another opportunity to drain health from non-Grass-types such as Sassy Celesteela. In tandem with Giga Drain and Synthesis it makes Mega Venusaur that much harder to kill KO.

Set Details
========

* 16 Speed EVs are needed to outspeed maximum Speed Adamant Azumarill.
* Near-maximum HP is used to comfortably take hits.
* 80 Special Defense EVs allow Mega Venusaur to repeated attacks from Tapu Koko; (SC) Ice Beam from Life Orb Protean Greninja 3HKO, and Dark Pulse from Choice Specs Greninja 3HKO as well.
* The remainder of EVs with the Bold nature allow Mega Venusaur to also take up to 3 three Gunk Shots from Life Orb Protean Greninja.
* This set has a lot of customization to it is very customizable. You can cater to opt for having more Special Defense with a Calm nature to help handle threats such as Choice Specs Kingdra.
* Tread with caution on Calm Mega Venusaur, (AC) as it gives Genesect an Attack boost instead of a Special Attack boost, (AC) thus meaning STAB U-turn will hurt a lot more.
* Chlorophyll is the preferred ability, (AC) as it gives regular Venusaur some additional utility against sun teams before becoming Mega Venusaur.

Usage Tips
========

* This set aims to use Mega Venusaur for its defensive qualities more than its potential offensive qualities.
* Venusaur lacks Thick Fat before Mega Evolution. As such, Venusaur should find a safe and reliable way to switch in to Mega Evolve and gain Thick Fat and its increased durability as soon as possible.
* Giga Drain will be the main move choice, though Sludge Bomb is great for predicted switch-ins such as Charizard, Tornadus-T, and Latias.
* In spite of its great defensive stats and typing, it can still lose to Pokemon that it technically checks with prior damage, so be careful about using it liberally if the opponent has something dangerous like Choice Specs Ash-Greninja (AH) waiting in the wings. (AP)
* Some Pokemon such as Rotom-W and Tapu Koko usually know when Mega Venusaur is switching in and will respond with Volt Switch or U-turn to continue keep up their momentum.
* The element to using way to use Mega Venusaur is to remain as healthy as possible with Giga Drain, Synthesis, and potentially Leech Seed while doing additional damage to potential switch-ins with Sludge Bomb, Hidden Power Fire, or Knock Off.


Team Options
========

* Tapu Fini is a great defensive teammate. Access to Defog while being able to protect Mega Venusaur from status with Misty Terrain is great in exchange for Mega Venusaur to handle handling threats such as Xurkitree and non-Brave Bird Tapu Koko easier more easily.
* SpD Specially defensive Excadrill is another solid teammate that can help check Tapu Koko and a few other threatening mons Pokemon such as Latios. As an added bonus it can remove Stealth Rock and Spikes while setting up Stealth Rock as well.
* Cleric and / or Wish support is great for keeping Mega Venusaur as healthy and capable of checking threats as possible. Clefable has access to both Aromatherapy and Wish to further assist keep Mega Venusaur's health in shape. (or w/e) Chansey is also a great partner for this.
* Heatran is a huge teammate for Mega Venusaur, (AC) playing hand-in-hand with eliminating threats that neither of them like. Heatran roasts Steel-types with while resisting all of Mega Venusaur's weaknesses, (AC) while and Mega Venusaur can drain the life out of Water- and Ground-types.
* Adding onto Other Defog users include Latios, Latias, Mantine, and Zapods Zapdos. Latios and Latias greatly appreciate Mega Venusaur being able to handle Ferrothorn with Hidden Power Fire. Zapdos doesn't always require removal of Ferrothorn; however, it appreciates Mega Venusaur being able to handle bulkier Ground-types better while Zapdos handles Mega Pinsir that lack Stone Edge. Matine Mantine gets a special mention as it is one of the better Pokemon to help face Pheromosa, (AC) who which otherwise can creep free attacks secure free turns with STAB U-turn.
* Steel-types such as Celesteela and Skarmory are good partners, (AC) as Flying-type and Psychic-type attacks can be a big problem for Mega Venusaur. Celesteela can handle Latios with the absence of that lacks Thunderbolt. Magnezone is also a great partner because it can eliminate problematic Steel-types such as Ferrothorn when Venusaur is lacking Hidden Power Fire.
* Volt Switch and U-turn users can be a big help to getting Mega Venusaur in at a more optimalbetter time. Rotom-W, Scizor, and Landorus-T are great examples for this.
* Dugtrio gets a special mention, (AC) as it helps with eliminating Pokemon that can be annoying to Mega Venusaur such as Hoopa-U, Toxapex, Heatran, and unboosted Mega Charizard X.

[SET]
name: Offensive Tank
move 1: Giga Drain
move 2: Sludge Bomb
move 3: Synthesis
move 4: Hidden Power Fire
item: Venusaurite
ability: Chlorophyll
nature: Modest
evs: 232 HP / 180 SpA / 80 SpD / 16 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

* Giga Drain is the main move to use with Mega Venusaur, (comma) allowing to keep it healthy while doing good damage to Water-, Rock-, and Ground-types.
* Sludge Bomb is another powerful STAB attack for Mega Venusaur to use to drown Tapus the Tapu group, (or just write em all) Clefable, and Azumarill.
* Synthesis allows Mega Venusaur to retain stay healthy when it can't use Giga Drain.
* Hidden Power Fire is mainly for Steel-types, (AC) who which otherwise cause problems for offensive Mega Venusaur.
* Knock Off and Leech Seed can be used on this set, though usually these are better suited on the defensive sets that can afford to to sacrifice coverage.

Set Details
========

* 16 Speed EVs give Mega Venusaur enough Speed to outspeed Adamant Azumarill.
* 232 HP and 80 SpD EVs grant Mega Venusaur safety from Choice Specs Greninja and still provides provide a cushion against Tapu Koko.
* The remainder is within goes to Special Attack and with a Modest nature to bolster Mega Venusaur's offense.
* 104 Speed EVs let Mega Venusaur outspeed Adamant Tyranitar while also outspeeding as well as minimum Speed Landorus-T.
* Finally, 216 Speed EVs outspeed get the jump on Adamant Tapu Bulu. This does come at a cost of sacrificing a significant amount of bulk, (AC) though.

Usage Tips
========

* Offensive Mega Venusaur should attempt to find a way to switch in and Mega Evolve as quickly and safely as possible. Thus, plan on using this set on more offensively oriented (RH) teams.
* This set is a lot easier to wear down, so don't go overboard with attempting to tank too many hits without being able to recover through Synthesis and / or Giga Drain.
* Sludge Bomb is best used on Pokemon that may switch in (RH) thinking they're going to take Giga Drain instead.
* Hidden Power Fire should be used to maximize Mega Venusaur's ability being able to handle Steel-types as much as possible. Without Hidden Power Fire Mega Venusaur becomes a less of an effective Pokemon to handle some of the more common Pokemon in balanced compositions such as Ferrothorn and Scizor.
* Stealth Rock is very useful to help cripple Pokemon that resist the three attacks that Mega Venusaur uses. Alolan Marowak in particular does not enjoy constantly switching into Stealth Rock as it lacks Leftovers and a reliable recovery attack.
* The offensive set is very susceptible to Heatran. Make sure to always have something in reserve to switch into or threaten Heatran in the process.

Team Options
========

* Tapu Fini, Excadrill, Zapdos, and Latios are all great Pokemon that can remove entry hazards with Defog and Rapid Spin, (AC) while Mega Venusaur helps handle some of the Pokemon that are problems problematic to them, (AC) such as Tapu Bulu.
* Dugtrio is a big partner that can trap and kill some of the problematic Pokemon such as Heatran, Volcanion, and Mega Metagross lacking Bullet Punch.
* Heatran's assistance with this set is also great. Heatran can be relied being more defensive or combining their offensive forces to torture the enemy team that lack special walls.
* Weavile can help eliminate some of the problematic Psychic-types and can assist in revenge killing Mega Pinsir and Pheromosa.
* Landorus-T, Genesect, and Pheromosa are Pokemon that provide momentum with U-turn. Landorus-T can utilize Stealth Rock while Choice Scarf Genesect and Pheromosa are agile enough to beat some of the problematic Psychic-types that otherwise are a problem for Mega Venusaur.
* Manaphy, Ash-Greninja, and Keldeo handle Heatran without too much of an issue. Manaphy really appreciates the potential removal of Ferrothorn and Tapu Bulu to help set up.
* On more balanced teams you can consider other Pokemon such as Rotom-W and Mantine, (AC) as this helps alleviate the burden of using Mega Venusaur to check too many threats such as Greninja.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

* Earthquake is Mega Venusaur's best attack against Heatran switch-ins as well still hitting and still hits (didn't have a move to hit it before though?) Alolan Marowak.
* Sleep Powder can be used to cripple an opponent's Pokemon, though consider that it is a bit harder to pull off this generation due to Misty Terrain and Electric Terrain's existence prominence. It is also ineffective against fellow Grass-types such as Amoonguss and Ferrothorn.
* A regular Venusaur Growth set with Chlorophyll can be used alongside sun and normal Venusaur.

Checks and Counters
===================

**Fire-types**: Fire-types such as Heatran, Alolan Marowak, Mega Charizard Y, Mega Charizard X, and Volcanion are quite potent on being able to scare good at scaring Mega Venusaur off with their STAB-boosted (AH) Fire-type attacks. Heatran is the most threatening, (AC) as it will resist resists the majority of attacks that Mega Venusaur will use while only having issues with Knock Off and Leech Seed.

**Flying-types**: Mega Pinsir, Tornadus-T, Landorus-T, and Gyarados are Pokemon that threaten Mega Venusaur with their STAB Flying-type attacks. Mega Pinsir and Tornadus-T can repeatedly threaten Mega Venusaur with their Flying-type STAB attacks while Landorus-T, Gyarados, and Salamence can KO with Supersonic Skystrike.

**Psychic-types**: Mega Alakazam, Tapu Lele, Hoopa-U, Latios, and Latias all threaten Mega Venusaur with their STAB Psychic-type attacks. Tapu Lele makes certain that Mega Venusaur will never survive a Psychic-type attack thanks to Psychic Terrain boosting Mega Alakazam and Tapu Lele's Psychic and Psyshock.

**Chansey**: No matter how many critical hits you score on Chansey, Chansey walls Mega Venusaur. Knock Off is something that Chansey has to be aware of, (AC) though, (AC) as the loss of Eviolite makes Chansey much more vulnerable, (AC) and Leech Seed still can make Chansey a healbot.

**Steel-types**: Steel-types such as Scizor, Kartana, Celesteela, Mega Metagross, and Magearna can switch in on Mega Venusaur without fearing much of Mega Venusaur's its STAB combination. Scizor, Kartana, Celesteela, Mega Metagross, and Magearna don't fear a whole lot from Mega Venusaur. Beware that Knock Off and Leech Seed are still not moves that some Steel-types necessarily care to switch into. Mega Scizor is at least immune to the doesn't take boosted power of damage from Knock Off, (AC) while Kartana boasts a Leech Seed immunity and can threaten Mega Venusaur with +2 Corkscrew Crush. Hidden Power Fire is still lethal for many of the frailer Steel-types or those that take quadruple damage from the attack.

**Kyurem-B**: Teravolt ignores Thick Fat, making allowing Kyurem-B a Pokemon that can to threaten Mega Venusaur with STAB Ice Beam and Subzero Slammer.

 

[Colonel M]

Thanks.

Ill implement this tomorrow since 2 screens are a huge help.

And uh... Ill... look over Grammar more carefully next time @_@

Edit: wtb grey Contributor badge ;_;

 

[Colonel M]

Should be done.

Also removed all mentions of Xurkitree.

 

[Hootie]

uploaded