Victini
ginganinja's [QC 3/3]
[GP 2/2]
First time writing up a set myself, lol. I agreed to write this up for ginganinja's lazy butt so here we are. Thank you ginga for pushing this through QC like a boss.
[SET]
name: Trick Room
move 1: Trick Room
move 2: V-create
move 3: Fusion Bolt
move 4: Brick Break
item: Flame Plate
nature: Brave
evs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def
ivs: 0 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>At first glance, Victini's stats indicate that it should be taking advantage of its base 100 Speed either with a Choice Scarf or Choice Band. However, Victini lies south of such threats as Landorus, Thundurus-T, and Terrakion on the Speed tiers, all of which are perfectly capable of wearing a Choice Scarf of their own. Luckily, Victini has a deadly tool up its sleeve that makes these Pokemon (as well as many others) cower in fear: Trick Room. With support from Stealth Rock and Ninetales's Drought, Victini OHKOes a huge amount of offensive and defensive threats alike with V-create alone. As a bonus, Victini's Speed is lowered by one stage every time V-create is used, allowing it to "outspeed" even the slowest of Pokemon after multiple V-creates. Putting all of these factors together, it's not hard to see that Victini is the ultimate late-game cleaner. Victini has just enough bulk to bluff a Choice Scarf on a revenge kill late-game, using Trick Room on the free turn while your opponent switches. From there, Victini can start blasting away with V-create on your opponent's Pokemon who have likely taken previous damage throughout the battle.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, V-create cannot hit quite everything, especially Heatran, who gets a free boost from it. Fusion Bolt and Brick Break supply adequate back up in the rare cases where V-create just isn't powerful enough. Brick Break almost always 2HKOes all variants of Heatran and Fusion Bolt does the same to Politoed in the rain. In the sun and against every other Pokemon besides Flash Fire users, even a resisted V-create is twice as powerful as a neutral Fusion Bolt and has the same power as a super effective Fusion Bolt. Note that Victini needs Trick Room in its set, as like Reuniclus, it is a standalone sweeper. It cannot perform its pillaging duties without a full 4 turns of Trick Room, so switching Victini in is not an option.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Victini's stat spread is standard fare for a Trick Room sweeper. A Brave nature with 252 Attack EVs is used to maximize Victini's Attack stat while minimizing its Speed in conjunction with 0 Speed IVs. The remaining EVs are invested into Victini's already decent bulk. Flame Plate is used to get the most power out of V-create—the move it will be using most frequently—while avoiding recoil damage from Life Orb. Life Orb seems viable in order to give a boost to Victini's other attacks, but the recoil really adds up and hinders its cleaning abilities. Finally, Muscle Band is an option to give a slight boost to all of Victini's moves, but since V-create will be used more often than not, Flame Plate gives Victini a more consistent boost in power.</p>
<p>If the above claims seem like ridiculous hyperbole, take a brief look at the following calculations to see just how well a "not very effective" move can out-muscle and clean up the most important threats:</p>
<ul class="damage_calculation">
<li>V-create (sun) vs. 4/0 Latios: 96.35 - 113.24%</li>
<li>V-create (sun) vs. 4/252 Chansey: 109.03 - 128.5%</li>
<li>V-create (sun) vs. 4/252+ Chansey: 100 - 117.75%</li>
<li>V-create (sun) vs. 4/0 Rotom-W: 94.62 - 111.57%</li>
<li>V-create (sun) vs. 0/0 Dragonite (Multiscale broken): 78.01 - 91.95%</li>
<li>V-create (sun) vs. 0/0 Salamence: 87.91 - 103.32%</li>
<li>V-create (sun) vs. 248/216+ Jellicent: 55.83 - 66%</li>
<li>Brick Break vs. 252/0 Tyranitar: 68.31 - 81.18%</li>
<li>Brick Break vs. 4/0 Tyranitar: 80.7 - 95.9%</li>
<li>Brick Break vs. 248/0 Heatran: 37.4 - 44.15%</li>
<li>Brick Break vs. 0/0 Heatran: 44.58 - 52.63%</li>
<li>Fusion Bolt vs. 252/252+ Politoed: 44.79 - 53.12%</li>
<li>Fusion Bolt vs. 0/0 Politoed: 79.12 - 93.45%</li>
<li>Fusion Bolt vs. 248/216+ Jellicent: 46.15 - 54.59%</li>
</ul>
<p>Ninetales is the first support Pokemon that comes to mind when considering any variant of Victini, and Trick Room is no different. It boosts V-create to unbelievable levels and also adds protection against weak Water-type attacks. In addition, a reliable hazard setter should be used to set up Stealth Rock, as it turns many of the above calculations into possible or guaranteed OHKOes. Terrakion is a good option to set up Stealth Rock with its base 108 Speed. Dugtrio is a necessity to trap Heatran, who isn't threatened by V-create, as well as Tyranitar, who steals the sun upon entry, hindering Victini's sweeping ability. It can also be used to trap and KO weakened Politoed, whose Drizzle turns V-create from a bulldozer to a wet sock. Ferrothorn can also be used as a backup physical attacker in case Victini faints at some point during its rampage, but Victini will usually be cleaning late in the game so this is hardly an issue. Trick Room Victini does not have many direct counters; the best option is Hippowdon, who can switch in and take 49.52 - 58.57% from V-create, still underspeeding after the Speed drop and OHKOing Victini with Earthquake. If the sun isn't shining, physically defensive Slowbro can take on Victini, stalling its Trick Room turns and wearing it down with repeated Scalds, recovering any damage taken with Slack Off. Heatran is another option, as its defensive variants are at worst 3HKOed, but offensive variants don't stand much of a chance.</p>
ginganinja's [QC 3/3]
[GP 2/2]
First time writing up a set myself, lol. I agreed to write this up for ginganinja's lazy butt so here we are. Thank you ginga for pushing this through QC like a boss.
[SET]
name: Trick Room
move 1: Trick Room
move 2: V-create
move 3: Fusion Bolt
move 4: Brick Break
item: Flame Plate
nature: Brave
evs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def
ivs: 0 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>At first glance, Victini's stats indicate that it should be taking advantage of its base 100 Speed either with a Choice Scarf or Choice Band. However, Victini lies south of such threats as Landorus, Thundurus-T, and Terrakion on the Speed tiers, all of which are perfectly capable of wearing a Choice Scarf of their own. Luckily, Victini has a deadly tool up its sleeve that makes these Pokemon (as well as many others) cower in fear: Trick Room. With support from Stealth Rock and Ninetales's Drought, Victini OHKOes a huge amount of offensive and defensive threats alike with V-create alone. As a bonus, Victini's Speed is lowered by one stage every time V-create is used, allowing it to "outspeed" even the slowest of Pokemon after multiple V-creates. Putting all of these factors together, it's not hard to see that Victini is the ultimate late-game cleaner. Victini has just enough bulk to bluff a Choice Scarf on a revenge kill late-game, using Trick Room on the free turn while your opponent switches. From there, Victini can start blasting away with V-create on your opponent's Pokemon who have likely taken previous damage throughout the battle.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, V-create cannot hit quite everything, especially Heatran, who gets a free boost from it. Fusion Bolt and Brick Break supply adequate back up in the rare cases where V-create just isn't powerful enough. Brick Break almost always 2HKOes all variants of Heatran and Fusion Bolt does the same to Politoed in the rain. In the sun and against every other Pokemon besides Flash Fire users, even a resisted V-create is twice as powerful as a neutral Fusion Bolt and has the same power as a super effective Fusion Bolt. Note that Victini needs Trick Room in its set, as like Reuniclus, it is a standalone sweeper. It cannot perform its pillaging duties without a full 4 turns of Trick Room, so switching Victini in is not an option.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Victini's stat spread is standard fare for a Trick Room sweeper. A Brave nature with 252 Attack EVs is used to maximize Victini's Attack stat while minimizing its Speed in conjunction with 0 Speed IVs. The remaining EVs are invested into Victini's already decent bulk. Flame Plate is used to get the most power out of V-create—the move it will be using most frequently—while avoiding recoil damage from Life Orb. Life Orb seems viable in order to give a boost to Victini's other attacks, but the recoil really adds up and hinders its cleaning abilities. Finally, Muscle Band is an option to give a slight boost to all of Victini's moves, but since V-create will be used more often than not, Flame Plate gives Victini a more consistent boost in power.</p>
<p>If the above claims seem like ridiculous hyperbole, take a brief look at the following calculations to see just how well a "not very effective" move can out-muscle and clean up the most important threats:</p>
<ul class="damage_calculation">
<li>V-create (sun) vs. 4/0 Latios: 96.35 - 113.24%</li>
<li>V-create (sun) vs. 4/252 Chansey: 109.03 - 128.5%</li>
<li>V-create (sun) vs. 4/252+ Chansey: 100 - 117.75%</li>
<li>V-create (sun) vs. 4/0 Rotom-W: 94.62 - 111.57%</li>
<li>V-create (sun) vs. 0/0 Dragonite (Multiscale broken): 78.01 - 91.95%</li>
<li>V-create (sun) vs. 0/0 Salamence: 87.91 - 103.32%</li>
<li>V-create (sun) vs. 248/216+ Jellicent: 55.83 - 66%</li>
<li>Brick Break vs. 252/0 Tyranitar: 68.31 - 81.18%</li>
<li>Brick Break vs. 4/0 Tyranitar: 80.7 - 95.9%</li>
<li>Brick Break vs. 248/0 Heatran: 37.4 - 44.15%</li>
<li>Brick Break vs. 0/0 Heatran: 44.58 - 52.63%</li>
<li>Fusion Bolt vs. 252/252+ Politoed: 44.79 - 53.12%</li>
<li>Fusion Bolt vs. 0/0 Politoed: 79.12 - 93.45%</li>
<li>Fusion Bolt vs. 248/216+ Jellicent: 46.15 - 54.59%</li>
</ul>
<p>Ninetales is the first support Pokemon that comes to mind when considering any variant of Victini, and Trick Room is no different. It boosts V-create to unbelievable levels and also adds protection against weak Water-type attacks. In addition, a reliable hazard setter should be used to set up Stealth Rock, as it turns many of the above calculations into possible or guaranteed OHKOes. Terrakion is a good option to set up Stealth Rock with its base 108 Speed. Dugtrio is a necessity to trap Heatran, who isn't threatened by V-create, as well as Tyranitar, who steals the sun upon entry, hindering Victini's sweeping ability. It can also be used to trap and KO weakened Politoed, whose Drizzle turns V-create from a bulldozer to a wet sock. Ferrothorn can also be used as a backup physical attacker in case Victini faints at some point during its rampage, but Victini will usually be cleaning late in the game so this is hardly an issue. Trick Room Victini does not have many direct counters; the best option is Hippowdon, who can switch in and take 49.52 - 58.57% from V-create, still underspeeding after the Speed drop and OHKOing Victini with Earthquake. If the sun isn't shining, physically defensive Slowbro can take on Victini, stalling its Trick Room turns and wearing it down with repeated Scalds, recovering any damage taken with Slack Off. Heatran is another option, as its defensive variants are at worst 3HKOed, but offensive variants don't stand much of a chance.</p>
