[SET]
name: Defensive
move 1: Sludge Bomb
move 2: Earth Power
move 3: Hidden Power Fire / Leech Seed
move 4: Synthesis
item: Venusaurite
ability: Chlorophyll
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP / 172 Def/ 68 SpD / 16 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Mega Venusaur's bulk and defensive typing make it a decent check to threats such as Mega Mawile, Tapu Fini, Kartana, Tapu Koko, and Clefable. It separates itself from its other Grass-type brethren through Thick Fat and its access to Earth Power; Thick Fat allows Mega Venusaur to not immediately crumple to threats such as Heatran, Weavile, and Victini, although switching directly into these threats is still not advised. Earth Power also gives Mega Venusaur the ability to threaten Steel-types such as Heatran and Mega Mawile more directly than most defensive Grass-types in the metagame. Additionally, Mega Venusaur is pretty good at spreading Leech Seed, as Grass-types such as Tangrowth and Rillaboom cannot confidently switch into Mega Venusaur. Unfortunately, Mega Venusaur has several flaws that hold it back in the metagame, chiefly among them is the lack of reliable and consistent recovery. It is forced to rely on Synthesis, which only has 8 PP and has its effectiveness reduced in Sand and Rain, while Leech Seed can be blocked by Ferrothorn and Amoonguss. This can lead to Mega Venusaur being overwhelmed by more offensive builds. Mega Venusaur is also a pretty poor answer to Ash-Greninja thanks to its vulnerability to Spikes, something its main competition in this role, Amoonguss, doesn't have to deal with to the same extent thanks to its access to Regenerator. These issues make Mega Venusaur much harder to fit on a team when compared to its competition, as options such as Ferrothorn, Amoonguss, and Tangrowth do not require the same amount of support to make work.
Earth Power hits Mega Mawile and Heatran hard while also pressuring Toxapex decently. Hidden Power Fire hits threats such as Ferrothorn and Kartana. Leech Seed, on the other hand, gives Mega Venusaur another form of recovery and chips the opposition at the same time. Chlorophyll is the preferred pre-mega ability, as Mega Venusaur ideally wants to Mega Evolve before getting into Overgrow range, and Chlorophyll has fringe use against Mega Charizard Y and the rare Sun team. The above EV spread allows Mega Venusaur to outrun Mega Mawile and live two Dark Pulses from unevolved Ash-Greninja after Stealth Rock or one layer of Spikes. The rest are dumped into Defense in order to check Mega Mawile, Kartana, and Rillaboom better. A more Specially Defensive spread can be used in order to do better against Ash-Greninja if one so desires, but it isn't all that great against Ash-Greninja anyway and losing the Defense is annoying against Mega Mawile and Kartana. 88 Special Attack EVs can be run on either spread to 2HKO Physically Defensive Toxapex after Leech Seed Damage.
Mega Venusaur is a poor answer to Ash-Greninja on its own, so alternate forms of counterplay are necessary. Options such as Tapu Fini and Kommo-o can work with Mega Venusaur to help keep it in check; Tapu Fini works especially well, as it can Defog Ash-Greninja's Spikes away, therefore alleviating some pressure off of the very hazard vulnerable Mega Venusaur. Tapu Fini is also capable of checking Heatran for Mega Venusaur, something it doesn't do very well despite Thick Fat. Mega Venusaur is easily broken through by Psychic- and Flying-types such as Tapu Lele, Flyinium Z Landorus-T, Mega Pinsir, and Mega Medicham. Steel-types, such as Corviknight, Heatran, and Aegislash are capable of checking threats such as Tapu Lele; Corviknight is especially notable, as it also checks Flyinium Z Landorus-T and Mega Pinsir while also checking other Ground-types in Garchomp and Gliscor, as Mega Venusaur generally does poorly against them. Aegislash, meanwhile, can deal with Mega Medicham, as can other forms of Mega Medicham counterplay, such as Clefable or Slowbro. Mega Venusaur is very vulnerable to VoltTurn teams, as they can take advantage of its complete lack of passive recovery and prevent it from healing via constant offensive pressure. A Ground-type, such as Garchomp or Gliscor, can block Volt Switch from Tapu Koko and Zeraora and force them to make tough predictions in order to break the two of them, while an option bearing Rocky Helmet, such as Corviknight or Defensive Landorus-T, can force extra damage onto a user of U-turn, such as Mega Lopunny.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Knock Off can remove items from Pokemon such as Zapdos, Corviknight, and Toxapex while also denying Gliscor its Toxic Orb before it has activated; this is especially good against Gliscor, as it is normally a very safe switch in to Mega Venusaur. Giga Drain might look appealing as a Grass-type STAB move that also gives Mega Venusaur more recovery, however in practice it doesn't hit much of note besides Slowbro and Slowking, which don't usually want to switch in anyway for fear of a Sludge Bomb poison, and Ash-Greninja, which isn't even guaranteed to be OHKOed. A more offensive spread with 236 Speed EVs and 120 SpA EVs can outrun offensive Modest Heatran and OHKO it with Earth Power, but the loss in bulk is usually not worth it. Normal Venusaur is a staple on sun teams as an extremely dangerous sweeper, but full sun teams are not generally considered consistent or viable choices in the metagame.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Flying-types**: Offensive Flying-types such as Hawlucha, Offensive Zapdos, Flyinium Z Landorus-T, and Mega Pinsir break Mega Venusaur with their STAB moves rather easily. Defensive Flying-types such as Corviknight, Gliscor, and Skarmory all do well as well; Gliscor in particular can use Mega Venusaur as set up fodder.
**Psychic-types**: Reuniclus doesn't fear Sludge Bomb poisons or Leech Seed thanks to Magic Guard and easily sets up on Mega Venusaur. Mega Medicham and Tapu Lele also easily force Mega Venusaur out, although Mega Medicham dislikes being poisoned and Tapu Lele can't really switch in at all. Mega Venusaur is also pressured by Future Sight from Slowbro and Slowking, which can prevent it from safely switching into what it is normally tasked with dealing with.
**Dragon-types:**: Mega Latias dislikes being poisoned by Sludge Bomb, but it isn't as crippling to it as a standard Toxic and it forces Mega Venusaur out. Kommo-o isn't even hit by Sludge Bomb thanks to Bulletproof; defensive sets can then proceed to set up Stealth Rock, while offensive sets can set up. Swords Dance Garchomp and Mega Garchomp are also capable of winning the 1v1 if needed, but they dislike being poisoned.
**Constant Offensive Pressure**: Mega Venusaur's complete lack of passive recovery, as well as a vulnerability to all entry hazards, means that it can be overwhelmed by constant offensive pressure, especially with Volt Switch or U-turn in the equation. This is especially problematic when one considers that its chief competition all have ways to mitigate this issue; Tangrowth and Amoonguss have Regenerator to stay healthy more easily, while Ferrothorn has Iron Barbs to punish constant pivoting. Additionally, all of them can hold Leftovers or other useful items, while Mega Venusaur can not.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[username1, userid1]]
- Quality checked by: [[username1, userid1], [username2, userid2]]
- Grammar checked by: [[username1, userid1]]
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