[SET]
name: Assault Vest Support
move 1: Blue Flare
move 2: Glaciate
move 3: Incinerate
move 4: U-turn
item: Assault Vest
ability: Victory Star
nature: Timid
evs: 96 HP / 160 SpA / 128 SpD / 124 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Assault Vest Victini has a pretty straightforward moveset with little need for variation. An attack like Blue Flare should be used at any given opportunity, and Assault Vest Victini is no exception. Victini is one of three Pokemon with access to Glaciate, which is essentially just a stronger Icy Wind. This allows Victini to provide its team with valuable speed control while also hitting the various Ice-weak Pokemon of the format, such as Landorus-T and Zygarde, for significant damage. Incinerate may seem like an odd choice at first, but it has incredible utility in a metagame full of Berries such as Sitrus and the various pinch Berries like Mago and Wiki. Finally, U-turn rounds out Victini's set and lets it function as an effective pivot.
Set Details
========
A Timid nature with the given Speed EVs allows Victini to outspeed positive-natured Deoxys-A after one Glaciate. 96 HP and 128 Special Defense EVs ensure that Victini will always survive two Earth Powers from standard bulky Landorus-T, which packs a Modest nature and 176 Special Attack EVs. As a consequence, Victini will always survive a Choice Band-boosted Thousand Arrows from Zygarde and almost always take two Stomping Tantrums from Mega Metagross. The remaining EVs are dumped into Special Attack, which allows Victini to 2HKO the standard 252 HP / 28 SpD Landorus-T with Glaciate.
Usage Tips
========
In general, Assault Vest Victini wants to come in on weak special attacks and use Glaciate once or twice before pivoting to a teammate that can effectively take advantage of the opponent's reduced Speed. If facing down Pokemon that typically hold a Berry, Incinerate is a great option for effectively removing a big chunk of their overall health. While it won't be scoring many KOs on its own, Blue Flare has acceptable damage output at worst and can allow Victini to prime opposing Pokemon for knockouts at the hands of its partners. Victini's nearly unique typing and above average bulk allow it to function as a very effective pivot into some very common Pokemon in the tier, such as Kartana and Kyurem-B. However, Victini's typing also burdens it with a weakness to such common attacks in Doubles OU as Earthquake, Rock Slide, and Knock Off, the last of which gets a special mention for removing Victini's important Assault Vest. That said, you must be selective about when to let Victini take the field; if it comes in at the wrong time, it can be crippled for the remainder of the game and lose most of its usefulness. In a similar vein, you must also be careful about letting Victini take Stealth Rock damage. Victini can still do its job from 75% of its health most of the time, but losing a quarter of its health multiple times severely hampers its staying power. Finally, Victini users must be very careful when facing Incineroar, which will take very little damage from any of Victini's attacks and can essentially switch into Victini for free and threaten with a powerful Knock Off. This means that it can be advantageous to use U-turn much more aggressively before opposing Incineroar are knocked out in order to prevent giving it a free turn.
Team Options
========
Pokemon that are naturally fast enough to take advantage of Glaciate Speed drops are great partners for Victini. While this pool of Pokemon is slightly narrower than that of other methods of speed control like Tailwind, there is still a wide selection of effective beneficiaries, such as Mega Metagross and Kyurem-B. Mega Metagross specifically can benefit a lot from having Assault Vest Victini as a partner, since it appreciates Victini's ability to roast troublesome Steel-types—just be careful about stacking Ground-type weaknesses. Pokemon weak to Grass-type attacks are also great partners for Victini, as Victini firmly handles the most common Grass-types in the tier, Kartana and Tapu Bulu. Thus, Victini is often seen with Tapu Fini, and the two create a strong core both offensively and defensively. Calm Mind Tapu Fini benefits from Glaciate, chip damage, Berry removal, and the elimination of one of its biggest checks in Kartana, while defensive Tapu Fini can keep Victini healthy with Heal Pulse. Grass-types make great partners for Victini due to their ability to check opposing Water-types like Tapu Fini and Milotic. Tapu Fini specifically can come in pretty easily on Victini and start setting up Calm Minds, so Pokemon like Kartana and Tapu Bulu can help to keep opposing Tapu Fini at bay. Both of these Pokemon also offer offensive options against Incineroar with their Fight-type coverage moves, while Tapu Bulu is a very reliable switch-in to Ground-type Pokemon like Zygarde and Landorus-T. Victini also partners well with Intimidate users such as Landorus-T and Mega Manectric for a few reasons. Both of these Pokemon form a powerful pivoting core with Victini thanks to U-turn and Volt Switch while covering for Victini's uninvested Defense. Mega Manectric and Victini cast a wide net with their type coverage, always combining for Electric + Fire + Ice attacks between the two regardless of Mega Manectric's moveset. Mega Manectric's Snarl can also augment Victini's ability to sponge special attacks. Landorus-T, on the other hand, gets a special mention for its Ground-type immunity and ability to check Incineroar quite effectively. Mega Manectric and Landorus-T also both help offensively check Volcanion, which is one of Victini's best counters. Finally, Incineroar checks are mandatory on teams that carry Victini. A few previously mentioned Pokemon like Tapu Fini and Landorus-T fill this role well, but other Pokemon like Zygarde or Diancie take little damage from Incineroar's attacks and can fire back with powerful STAB moves.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[MajorBowman, 188164]]
- Quality checked by: [[talkingtree, 232101], [n10sit, 267148]]
- Grammar checked by: [[talkingtree, 232101], [The Dutch Plumberjack, 232216]]
name: Assault Vest Support
move 1: Blue Flare
move 2: Glaciate
move 3: Incinerate
move 4: U-turn
item: Assault Vest
ability: Victory Star
nature: Timid
evs: 96 HP / 160 SpA / 128 SpD / 124 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Assault Vest Victini has a pretty straightforward moveset with little need for variation. An attack like Blue Flare should be used at any given opportunity, and Assault Vest Victini is no exception. Victini is one of three Pokemon with access to Glaciate, which is essentially just a stronger Icy Wind. This allows Victini to provide its team with valuable speed control while also hitting the various Ice-weak Pokemon of the format, such as Landorus-T and Zygarde, for significant damage. Incinerate may seem like an odd choice at first, but it has incredible utility in a metagame full of Berries such as Sitrus and the various pinch Berries like Mago and Wiki. Finally, U-turn rounds out Victini's set and lets it function as an effective pivot.
Set Details
========
A Timid nature with the given Speed EVs allows Victini to outspeed positive-natured Deoxys-A after one Glaciate. 96 HP and 128 Special Defense EVs ensure that Victini will always survive two Earth Powers from standard bulky Landorus-T, which packs a Modest nature and 176 Special Attack EVs. As a consequence, Victini will always survive a Choice Band-boosted Thousand Arrows from Zygarde and almost always take two Stomping Tantrums from Mega Metagross. The remaining EVs are dumped into Special Attack, which allows Victini to 2HKO the standard 252 HP / 28 SpD Landorus-T with Glaciate.
Usage Tips
========
In general, Assault Vest Victini wants to come in on weak special attacks and use Glaciate once or twice before pivoting to a teammate that can effectively take advantage of the opponent's reduced Speed. If facing down Pokemon that typically hold a Berry, Incinerate is a great option for effectively removing a big chunk of their overall health. While it won't be scoring many KOs on its own, Blue Flare has acceptable damage output at worst and can allow Victini to prime opposing Pokemon for knockouts at the hands of its partners. Victini's nearly unique typing and above average bulk allow it to function as a very effective pivot into some very common Pokemon in the tier, such as Kartana and Kyurem-B. However, Victini's typing also burdens it with a weakness to such common attacks in Doubles OU as Earthquake, Rock Slide, and Knock Off, the last of which gets a special mention for removing Victini's important Assault Vest. That said, you must be selective about when to let Victini take the field; if it comes in at the wrong time, it can be crippled for the remainder of the game and lose most of its usefulness. In a similar vein, you must also be careful about letting Victini take Stealth Rock damage. Victini can still do its job from 75% of its health most of the time, but losing a quarter of its health multiple times severely hampers its staying power. Finally, Victini users must be very careful when facing Incineroar, which will take very little damage from any of Victini's attacks and can essentially switch into Victini for free and threaten with a powerful Knock Off. This means that it can be advantageous to use U-turn much more aggressively before opposing Incineroar are knocked out in order to prevent giving it a free turn.
Team Options
========
Pokemon that are naturally fast enough to take advantage of Glaciate Speed drops are great partners for Victini. While this pool of Pokemon is slightly narrower than that of other methods of speed control like Tailwind, there is still a wide selection of effective beneficiaries, such as Mega Metagross and Kyurem-B. Mega Metagross specifically can benefit a lot from having Assault Vest Victini as a partner, since it appreciates Victini's ability to roast troublesome Steel-types—just be careful about stacking Ground-type weaknesses. Pokemon weak to Grass-type attacks are also great partners for Victini, as Victini firmly handles the most common Grass-types in the tier, Kartana and Tapu Bulu. Thus, Victini is often seen with Tapu Fini, and the two create a strong core both offensively and defensively. Calm Mind Tapu Fini benefits from Glaciate, chip damage, Berry removal, and the elimination of one of its biggest checks in Kartana, while defensive Tapu Fini can keep Victini healthy with Heal Pulse. Grass-types make great partners for Victini due to their ability to check opposing Water-types like Tapu Fini and Milotic. Tapu Fini specifically can come in pretty easily on Victini and start setting up Calm Minds, so Pokemon like Kartana and Tapu Bulu can help to keep opposing Tapu Fini at bay. Both of these Pokemon also offer offensive options against Incineroar with their Fight-type coverage moves, while Tapu Bulu is a very reliable switch-in to Ground-type Pokemon like Zygarde and Landorus-T. Victini also partners well with Intimidate users such as Landorus-T and Mega Manectric for a few reasons. Both of these Pokemon form a powerful pivoting core with Victini thanks to U-turn and Volt Switch while covering for Victini's uninvested Defense. Mega Manectric and Victini cast a wide net with their type coverage, always combining for Electric + Fire + Ice attacks between the two regardless of Mega Manectric's moveset. Mega Manectric's Snarl can also augment Victini's ability to sponge special attacks. Landorus-T, on the other hand, gets a special mention for its Ground-type immunity and ability to check Incineroar quite effectively. Mega Manectric and Landorus-T also both help offensively check Volcanion, which is one of Victini's best counters. Finally, Incineroar checks are mandatory on teams that carry Victini. A few previously mentioned Pokemon like Tapu Fini and Landorus-T fill this role well, but other Pokemon like Zygarde or Diancie take little damage from Incineroar's attacks and can fire back with powerful STAB moves.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[MajorBowman, 188164]]
- Quality checked by: [[talkingtree, 232101], [n10sit, 267148]]
- Grammar checked by: [[talkingtree, 232101], [The Dutch Plumberjack, 232216]]
Last edited:
