[QC Checks: Punchshrooms / Stan Soojung / poh]
[GP Checks: The Dutch Plumberjack / A Cake Wearing A Hat]
[OVERVIEW]
The combination of its access to Quiver Dance, decent Speed and Special Attack, and good offensive typing makes Vivillon one of the deadliest setup sweepers in NU, capable of threatening offensive and defensive teams alike. Sleep Powder is another factor that contributes to how threatening Vivillon is, allowing it to incapacitate even its hardest checks in Pokemon like Steelix, Silvally-Steel, Diancie, and Rhydon and proving in generating setup opportunities. Furthermore, Compound Eyes increasing the accuracy of Vivillon's moves makes Sleep Powder and Hurricane far more reliable than usual. Vivillon also boasts good coverage in Hurricane + Energy Ball, which is enough to hit the entire tier barring most Steel-types neutrally. However, Vivillon's defensive presence is rather poor due to its typing leaving it 4x weak to Stealth Rock and vulnerable to common attacking typings in Electric, Fire, Flying, and Ice and its low defenses preventing it from taking neutral attacks well even after using Quiver Dance and leaving it susceptible to priority from the likes of Sneasel and Medicham. Vivillon is weak unboosted, meaning that it will need to accrue a number of boosts in order to break through bulkier Pokemon like Type: Null and Assault Vest Slowking as well as balance teams.
[SET]
name: Quiver Dance
move 1: Quiver Dance
move 2: Hurricane
move 3: Energy Ball / Substitute
move 4: Sleep Powder
item: Flyinium Z / Leftovers
ability: Compound Eyes
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Quiver Dance increases Vivillon's Speed, Special Attack, and Special Defense by one stage, which gives it an easier time with sweeping and makes revenge killing it difficult. Hurricane is Vivillon's strongest STAB move and is rather spammable due to its high Base Power and increased accuracy courtesy of Compound Eyes. Energy Ball provides good coverage alongside Hurricane, threatening to hit Rock-types like Diancie, Gigalith, and Rhydon super effectively as well as being a slightly more reliable means of dealing with bulky Water-types like Slowking and Vaporeon. Substitute is an alternative to this, allowing Vivillon to more easily set up on passive Pokemon like Mega Audino and guarding it from status conditions and priority moves. Substitute also lets Vivillon take advantage of the switches it can force, which can reduce its reliance on prediction. Sleep Powder cripples foes by putting them to sleep, allowing Vivillon to create setup opportunities for itself.
Set Details
========
The investment in Speed and Special Attack makes Vivillon as fast as possible while also maximizing its offensive presence, with a Timid nature allowing it to outpace Pokemon like Venusaur, Passimian, and Hitmonlee. Substitute + Leftovers variants could invest 16 EVs into HP, which increases the recovery provided by Leftovers and increases the number of times Vivillon can use Substitute. Compound Eyes increases the accuracy of Vivillon's moves, making Hurricane and Sleep Powder a lot more reliable. Flyinium Z turns Hurricane into Supersonic Skystrike, which is very powerful even unboosted and allows Vivillon to break through bulky Pokemon like Mega Audino with a bit of prior damage. Alternatively, Leftovers can be used to provide passive recovery, preventing Vivillon from being worn down too quickly, which Substitute variants in particular appreciate. The fact that it cancels out residual damage taken from hail and sand is also important to note.
Usage Tips
========
Above all else, refrain from switching Vivillon in if Stealth Rock is up, as doing so will cause Vivillon to lose 50% of its HP and leave it incapable of reliably sweeping. Vivillon's lack of recovery outside of Leftovers and poor bulk mean that it should avoid switching directly in on most attacks. However, Vivillon is capable of switching in on Pokemon that are Choice-locked into Fighting-type moves such as Medicham and Braviary. Substitute variants should switch in on Pokemon that Vivillon threatens out like Venusaur and use Substitute as they switch out, which can allow Vivillon to safely set up or use Sleep Powder. Avoid attempting to set up until all Steel-types have been removed. Bulky Rock-types like Diancie should also be either heavily weakened or removed entirely if Vivillon lacks Energy Ball. Early-game, Vivillon should prioritize crippling Pokemon with Sleep Powder and using Hurricane, since this can potentially open the door for a teammate or even Vivillon itself to clean late-game. Priority users like Piloswine should also be removed, especially in the case of non-Substitute variants, since they can quickly put an end to Vivillon's sweep after it KOes a foe.
Team Options
========
Vivillon's crippling 4x weakness to Stealth Rock means that pairing it with entry hazard removers such as Blastoise, Whimsicott, Silvally-Steel, and Hitmonlee is near mandatory in order for it to perform its role to the best of its ability. Teammates that can set entry hazards such as Steelix, Diancie, and Garbodor are also appreciated, as they help Vivillon guarantee certain OHKOs such as on Vanilluxe and 2HKOs such as on Guzzlord at +1. These Pokemon also come to Vivillon's aid against common priority users and appreciate Vivillon offensively checking Fighting- and Ground-types for them. Probopass is also notable, since it can trap and remove Steelix and non-Magnet Rise Klinklang courtesy of Magnet Pull, set Stealth Rock, and make use of a slow Volt Switch to bring Vivillon safely into play. Fighting-types such as Passimian, Medicham, and Hariyama are good offensive partners due to their ability to remove bulky Rock- and Steel-types with their respective STAB attacks as well as pressure other checks to Vivillon like Type: Null, Slowking, and Rotom. Passimian can also bring Vivillon in safely with U-turn. Other wallbreakers that can pressure Steel-types like Heliolisk, Guzzlord, and Magmortar pair well with Vivillon, and it also appreciates their ability to wear down shared checks like Diancie. Guzzlord can even potentially lure in Diancie and KO it with Heavy Slam. Users of U-turn, Volt Switch, and Parting Shot such as Passimian, Heliolisk, Rotom, and Silvally-Steel give Vivillon an easier time with switching in and lure in defensive Pokemon that Vivillon can potentially take advantage of such as Slowbro and Mega Audino. Vivillon appreciates having bulky teammates that can easily sponge priority moves like Steelix and Slowbro to fall back on, with the former being able to additionally check Flying-types and the latter serving as a secondary check to Fighting-types.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Bug Buzz could be used for more reliable coverage against Dark-types like Malamar and Guzzlord, though Hurricane + Energy Ball already covers most of the tier anyway. Endeavor in tandem with Focus Sash can lure in foes like Silvally-Steel as they attempt to OHKO Vivillon, which can pave the way for a teammate that needs these checks eliminated in order to reliably sweep such as Venusaur, though it isn't as consistent as Vivillon's other options. Hidden Power Ground can be used to lure in and hit Steel-types like Silvally-Steel and Togedemaru super effectively, though Vivillon's other moves tend to be more valuable. An alternative EV spread with 96 EVs in HP, 168 in Special Attack, 4 in Special Defense, and 240 in Speed can be used in order to guarantee that Vivillon takes Ice Shard from Sneasel at full.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Priority**: Piloswine and Sneasel threaten Vivillon with a super effective Ice Shard, requiring minimal to no chip damage to revenge kill it. Other strong priority moves from Pokemon like Medicham and Toxicroak can also pick Vivillon off, though they require Vivillon to take more damage beforehand. However, they can experience problems with revenge killing Vivillon if it is behind a Substitute.
**Steel-types**: Silvally-Steel, Probopass, Alolan Sandslash, Klinklang, and Steelix are all capable of checking Vivillon if something else has been put to sleep due to their resilience to Vivillon's attacks, and they have no problem KOing it with their respective STAB moves. Alolan Sandslash can also KO Vivillon through its Substitute with Icicle Spear. Flyinium Z variants are capable of beating the latter two if Vivillon has acquired enough boosts, though.
**Rock-types**: Variants of Vivillon lacking Energy Ball experience great difficulty dealing with bulky Rock-types such as Diancie, Gigalith, and Rhydon, which in return can easily OHKO Vivillon with their respective STAB moves, with the latter two even being able to KO Vivillon through its Substitute with Rock Blast. While variants with Energy Ball can beat Rhydon, they require the former two to take a decent amount of damage before guaranteeing a KO.
**Stealth Rock**: Vivillon's 4x weakness to Stealth Rock means that it loses 50% of its HP upon switching in if the entry hazard is up, which gives it a harder time setting up.
**Faster Pokemon**: Prior to using Quiver Dance, Vivillon is outsped and pressured out by faster Pokemon like Sneasel, Delphox, and certain Choice Scarf users like Braviary, with the former also being able to Pursuit trap Vivillon. Other Choice Scarf users like Scyther and Houndoom can outspeed it at +1 and revenge kill it.
**Electric-types**: Electric-types like Heliolisk and Rotom resist Hurricane, take a +1 Energy Ball fairly well, and can easily revenge kill Vivillon with either Thunderbolt or Volt Switch. Choice Scarf variants of Rotom also outrun Vivillon before it uses Quiver Dance, while Heliolisk naturally outspeeds it.
[GP Checks: The Dutch Plumberjack / A Cake Wearing A Hat]
[OVERVIEW]
The combination of its access to Quiver Dance, decent Speed and Special Attack, and good offensive typing makes Vivillon one of the deadliest setup sweepers in NU, capable of threatening offensive and defensive teams alike. Sleep Powder is another factor that contributes to how threatening Vivillon is, allowing it to incapacitate even its hardest checks in Pokemon like Steelix, Silvally-Steel, Diancie, and Rhydon and proving in generating setup opportunities. Furthermore, Compound Eyes increasing the accuracy of Vivillon's moves makes Sleep Powder and Hurricane far more reliable than usual. Vivillon also boasts good coverage in Hurricane + Energy Ball, which is enough to hit the entire tier barring most Steel-types neutrally. However, Vivillon's defensive presence is rather poor due to its typing leaving it 4x weak to Stealth Rock and vulnerable to common attacking typings in Electric, Fire, Flying, and Ice and its low defenses preventing it from taking neutral attacks well even after using Quiver Dance and leaving it susceptible to priority from the likes of Sneasel and Medicham. Vivillon is weak unboosted, meaning that it will need to accrue a number of boosts in order to break through bulkier Pokemon like Type: Null and Assault Vest Slowking as well as balance teams.
[SET]
name: Quiver Dance
move 1: Quiver Dance
move 2: Hurricane
move 3: Energy Ball / Substitute
move 4: Sleep Powder
item: Flyinium Z / Leftovers
ability: Compound Eyes
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Quiver Dance increases Vivillon's Speed, Special Attack, and Special Defense by one stage, which gives it an easier time with sweeping and makes revenge killing it difficult. Hurricane is Vivillon's strongest STAB move and is rather spammable due to its high Base Power and increased accuracy courtesy of Compound Eyes. Energy Ball provides good coverage alongside Hurricane, threatening to hit Rock-types like Diancie, Gigalith, and Rhydon super effectively as well as being a slightly more reliable means of dealing with bulky Water-types like Slowking and Vaporeon. Substitute is an alternative to this, allowing Vivillon to more easily set up on passive Pokemon like Mega Audino and guarding it from status conditions and priority moves. Substitute also lets Vivillon take advantage of the switches it can force, which can reduce its reliance on prediction. Sleep Powder cripples foes by putting them to sleep, allowing Vivillon to create setup opportunities for itself.
Set Details
========
The investment in Speed and Special Attack makes Vivillon as fast as possible while also maximizing its offensive presence, with a Timid nature allowing it to outpace Pokemon like Venusaur, Passimian, and Hitmonlee. Substitute + Leftovers variants could invest 16 EVs into HP, which increases the recovery provided by Leftovers and increases the number of times Vivillon can use Substitute. Compound Eyes increases the accuracy of Vivillon's moves, making Hurricane and Sleep Powder a lot more reliable. Flyinium Z turns Hurricane into Supersonic Skystrike, which is very powerful even unboosted and allows Vivillon to break through bulky Pokemon like Mega Audino with a bit of prior damage. Alternatively, Leftovers can be used to provide passive recovery, preventing Vivillon from being worn down too quickly, which Substitute variants in particular appreciate. The fact that it cancels out residual damage taken from hail and sand is also important to note.
Usage Tips
========
Above all else, refrain from switching Vivillon in if Stealth Rock is up, as doing so will cause Vivillon to lose 50% of its HP and leave it incapable of reliably sweeping. Vivillon's lack of recovery outside of Leftovers and poor bulk mean that it should avoid switching directly in on most attacks. However, Vivillon is capable of switching in on Pokemon that are Choice-locked into Fighting-type moves such as Medicham and Braviary. Substitute variants should switch in on Pokemon that Vivillon threatens out like Venusaur and use Substitute as they switch out, which can allow Vivillon to safely set up or use Sleep Powder. Avoid attempting to set up until all Steel-types have been removed. Bulky Rock-types like Diancie should also be either heavily weakened or removed entirely if Vivillon lacks Energy Ball. Early-game, Vivillon should prioritize crippling Pokemon with Sleep Powder and using Hurricane, since this can potentially open the door for a teammate or even Vivillon itself to clean late-game. Priority users like Piloswine should also be removed, especially in the case of non-Substitute variants, since they can quickly put an end to Vivillon's sweep after it KOes a foe.
Team Options
========
Vivillon's crippling 4x weakness to Stealth Rock means that pairing it with entry hazard removers such as Blastoise, Whimsicott, Silvally-Steel, and Hitmonlee is near mandatory in order for it to perform its role to the best of its ability. Teammates that can set entry hazards such as Steelix, Diancie, and Garbodor are also appreciated, as they help Vivillon guarantee certain OHKOs such as on Vanilluxe and 2HKOs such as on Guzzlord at +1. These Pokemon also come to Vivillon's aid against common priority users and appreciate Vivillon offensively checking Fighting- and Ground-types for them. Probopass is also notable, since it can trap and remove Steelix and non-Magnet Rise Klinklang courtesy of Magnet Pull, set Stealth Rock, and make use of a slow Volt Switch to bring Vivillon safely into play. Fighting-types such as Passimian, Medicham, and Hariyama are good offensive partners due to their ability to remove bulky Rock- and Steel-types with their respective STAB attacks as well as pressure other checks to Vivillon like Type: Null, Slowking, and Rotom. Passimian can also bring Vivillon in safely with U-turn. Other wallbreakers that can pressure Steel-types like Heliolisk, Guzzlord, and Magmortar pair well with Vivillon, and it also appreciates their ability to wear down shared checks like Diancie. Guzzlord can even potentially lure in Diancie and KO it with Heavy Slam. Users of U-turn, Volt Switch, and Parting Shot such as Passimian, Heliolisk, Rotom, and Silvally-Steel give Vivillon an easier time with switching in and lure in defensive Pokemon that Vivillon can potentially take advantage of such as Slowbro and Mega Audino. Vivillon appreciates having bulky teammates that can easily sponge priority moves like Steelix and Slowbro to fall back on, with the former being able to additionally check Flying-types and the latter serving as a secondary check to Fighting-types.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Bug Buzz could be used for more reliable coverage against Dark-types like Malamar and Guzzlord, though Hurricane + Energy Ball already covers most of the tier anyway. Endeavor in tandem with Focus Sash can lure in foes like Silvally-Steel as they attempt to OHKO Vivillon, which can pave the way for a teammate that needs these checks eliminated in order to reliably sweep such as Venusaur, though it isn't as consistent as Vivillon's other options. Hidden Power Ground can be used to lure in and hit Steel-types like Silvally-Steel and Togedemaru super effectively, though Vivillon's other moves tend to be more valuable. An alternative EV spread with 96 EVs in HP, 168 in Special Attack, 4 in Special Defense, and 240 in Speed can be used in order to guarantee that Vivillon takes Ice Shard from Sneasel at full.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Priority**: Piloswine and Sneasel threaten Vivillon with a super effective Ice Shard, requiring minimal to no chip damage to revenge kill it. Other strong priority moves from Pokemon like Medicham and Toxicroak can also pick Vivillon off, though they require Vivillon to take more damage beforehand. However, they can experience problems with revenge killing Vivillon if it is behind a Substitute.
**Steel-types**: Silvally-Steel, Probopass, Alolan Sandslash, Klinklang, and Steelix are all capable of checking Vivillon if something else has been put to sleep due to their resilience to Vivillon's attacks, and they have no problem KOing it with their respective STAB moves. Alolan Sandslash can also KO Vivillon through its Substitute with Icicle Spear. Flyinium Z variants are capable of beating the latter two if Vivillon has acquired enough boosts, though.
**Rock-types**: Variants of Vivillon lacking Energy Ball experience great difficulty dealing with bulky Rock-types such as Diancie, Gigalith, and Rhydon, which in return can easily OHKO Vivillon with their respective STAB moves, with the latter two even being able to KO Vivillon through its Substitute with Rock Blast. While variants with Energy Ball can beat Rhydon, they require the former two to take a decent amount of damage before guaranteeing a KO.
**Stealth Rock**: Vivillon's 4x weakness to Stealth Rock means that it loses 50% of its HP upon switching in if the entry hazard is up, which gives it a harder time setting up.
**Faster Pokemon**: Prior to using Quiver Dance, Vivillon is outsped and pressured out by faster Pokemon like Sneasel, Delphox, and certain Choice Scarf users like Braviary, with the former also being able to Pursuit trap Vivillon. Other Choice Scarf users like Scyther and Houndoom can outspeed it at +1 and revenge kill it.
**Electric-types**: Electric-types like Heliolisk and Rotom resist Hurricane, take a +1 Energy Ball fairly well, and can easily revenge kill Vivillon with either Thunderbolt or Volt Switch. Choice Scarf variants of Rotom also outrun Vivillon before it uses Quiver Dance, while Heliolisk naturally outspeeds it.
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