QC: Arikado / 49 / Spirit
GP: Psywaves / P Squared
Overview
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Virizion has great Special Defense and typing, which allows it to check Electric-, Water- and Dark-types such as Jolteon, Alomomola, and Shiftry. Furthermore, it is a reliable Knock Off absorber due to its resistance to Dark-type moves and its ability, Justified, which increases its Attack by one stage when it is hit by one. Virizion also sits at a fantastic Speed tier that outspeeds a majority of the tier. In addition, Virizion has access to great boosting moves such as Swords Dance and Calm Mind, which complement its high Base Power STAB moves. Unfortunately, Virizion relies heavily on its boosting moves to do damage due to its subpar attacking stats. Also, its STAB combination has poor coverage that is resisted by a fair amount of threats in the tier such as Amoonguss, Doublade, and Sigilyph, and its limited coverage moves also hinder it. Virizion's poor Defense stat and weaknesses to common types make it weak to threats that are very good in the metagame at the moment, such as Durant and Whimsicott.
Swords Dance
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name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Leaf Blade
move 3: Close Combat
move 4: Zen Headbutt
ability: Justified
item: Lum Berry / Life Orb
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
nature: Jolly
Moves
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Swords Dance boosts Virizion's Attack by two stages. Leaf Blade is a STAB move that has no drawbacks and allows Virizion to beat bulky Water-types. Close Combat is another STAB move that allows Virizion to hit foes harder than it would with Leaf Blade, most notably hitting Fire- and Steel-types harder, but it lowers Virizion's defenses. Zen Headbutt is used as a coverage move against Poison-types such as Amoonguss, Garbodor, and Weezing which would otherwise wall Virizion. Stone Edge is an alternative over Zen Headbutt in order to hit Delphox as well as Sigilyph, but overall Zen Headbutt is preferred in the current metagame, as it hits more important targets.
Set Details
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Maximum Attack investment gives Virizion as much power as possible. Maximum Speed investment and a Jolly nature are used to take advantage of Virizion's fantastic Speed tier and to let Virizion Speed tie with Cobalion and opposing Virizion. Lum Berry is used for Virizion to set up on foes with status moves and avoid random Scald burns, but it can only be used once. Life Orb is a viable option for more damage output, but it makes Virizion susceptible to statuses that could hinder its sweep. Furthermore, Life Orb's recoil can bother Virizion and makes its ability to tank special hits less effective. Overall, Lum Berry is the superior option over Life Orb, as being able to switch into bulky Water-types without risking a burn is very crucial to its primary niche.
Usage Tips
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Make use of Virizion's ability to force out switches against Alomomola, Shiftry, Jolteon, and Rhyperior to set up a Swords Dance. Even though Virizion's niche is in checking bulky Water-types, it cannot reliably switch into Slowking because most of them pack Psyshock or Fire Blast, both of which can heavily damage it or knock it out when it is weakened. It is encouraged for players to set up Swords Dance with Virizion once its checks and counters are either weakened or knocked out, or else they would stop Virizion's sweep and all the boosts would be ultimately for nothing.
Team Options
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Fire-types such as Houndoom and Mega Camerupt are good partners, as they can deal with Virizion's checks and counters, such as Doublade, Tangrowth, Amoonguss; Mega Camerupt can also provide Stealth Rock support. Psychic-types such as Cresselia, Mesprit, and Reuniclus are great partners, as they can handle Poison-types while Virizion handles Dark-types, and the former two are able to provide Lunar Dance and Healing Wish support, respectively, for Virizion to gain a second chance at sweeping. Entry hazard support from Rhyperior, Qwilfish, or Drapion can greatly benefit Virizion, and these Pokemon can also soften up Virizion's checks and counters. Pursuit trappers such as Skuntank and Spiritomb are good options to deal with Cresselia and Doublade, which wall Virizion. Teammates that can beat Fletchinder, which easily revenge kills Virizion, such as Eelektross make for good partners.
Calm Mind
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name: Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Giga Drain
move 3: Focus Blast
move 4: Hidden Power Fire
ability: Justified
item: Life Orb / Leftovers
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
nature: Timid
Moves
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Calm Mind increases Virizion's Special Attack and Special Defense. Giga Drain is used for a STAB move as well as recovery. Focus Blast is a stronger STAB move that can damage foes more than Giga Drain does, although it is unreliable, as it has low accuracy. Hidden Power Fire allows Virizion to hit Steel- and Grass-types such as Escavalier, Doublade, and Whimsicott.
Set Details
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Maximum Special Attack investment provides as much damage output as Virizion can possibly get. Maximum Speed investment and a Timid nature are used to take advantage of Virizion's fantastic Speed tier. Life Orb is used for extra damage output, and Giga Drain is somewhat able to mitigate its recoil. Leftovers is an option over Life Orb in order to gain extra recovery alongside Giga Drain's recovery and lets Virizion set up more efficiently.
Usage Tips
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Virizion can be used as a pivot early-game to take hits for its teammates, with Giga Drain providing longevity to help it do its job. Because of Virizion's great number of resistances, it can set up at least one or two Calm Minds and proceed to sweep teams. Virizion should only attempt to set up around mid- or late-game, when its checks and counters are either severely weakened or eliminated, as otherwise, they would easily stop Virizion and all the boosts would be wasted when it is either knocked out or forced to switch.
Team Options
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Pokemon such as Dugtrio, Druddigon, and Slowking can assist Virizion by taking on Fire-types such as Emboar and Mega Camerupt. Virizion also appreciates wallbreakers such as Mega Glalie and Tyrantrum to weaken its checks and counters. Stealth Rock support can also greatly help Virizion, as it turns 2HKOs into OHKOs and 3HKOs into 2HKOs. For instance, Virizion's Life Orb-boosted Hidden Power Fire 2HKOes offensive Whimsicott, but it can OHKO after Stealth Rock damage. Rhyperior stands out as a great Virizion partner, as it can beat Virizion's checks and counters, such as Fletchinder, while Virizion can beat Rhyperior's checks and counters, such as Rotom-C. It is also able to provide Virizion with Stealth Rock support.
Other Options
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Sacred Sword is a decent replacement for Close Combat on the Swords Dance set, as it does not lower Virizion's defenses and ignores the foe's Defense boosts, though the power difference is noticeable. Taunt turns Virizion into a stallbreaker that can break defensive Pokemon, but it has no use outside of that. A set with Substitute and Calm Mind with Leftovers is an option to block status and allows Virizion to set up on defensive Pokemon that cannot break its Substitute, such as Alomomola, with greater ease.
Checks & Counters
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**Revenge Killers**: Virizion can be easily revenge killed due to its low Defense. Priority such as Mega Abomasnow and Mega Glalie's Ice Shard can heavily damage it, while Fletchinder's priority Acrobatics OHKOes it. Choice Scarf users such as Emboar, Meloetta, and Medicham can easily knock out Virizion. In addition, naturally faster Pokemon such as Durant can easily revenge kill it.
**Pokemon that Resist Virizion's STAB Moves**: Doublade is able to effectively counter the Swords Dance set and set up a Swords Dance of its own and knock out Virizion. Whimsicott can switch in on a predicted boosting move and proceed to Encore it. It can then use its STAB Moonblast to heavily dent Virizion. Poison-types such as Weezing, Garbodor, and Amoonguss resist both of Virizion's STAB moves, though they have to be cautious with Zen Headbutt variants. Psychic-types can also check Virizion easily. Sigilyph and Xatu resist both of its STAB moves but should be careful of Stone Edge variants. Bulkier Psychic-types such as Cresselia and Reuniclus can take Virizion's hits with ease and retaliate with a STAB Psyshock, though the latter is only a soft check, as a +2 Life Orb-boosted Leaf Blade can 2HKO it.
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