[OVERVIEW]
Mega Venusaur succeeds primarily thanks to its positive matchups against many very common Pokemon, including Tapu Fini, Tapu Koko, Kartana, Diancie, and Zapdos. With its bulk, typing, and ability, it's difficult for many teams to break, and a naturally decent Special Attack stat means that it can still hit hard enough in most scenarios. In addition, Venusaur can tweak its moveset to fit its teammates' needs, but its inability to run all of its solid options leaves it lacking in at least one area that it could otherwise excel in. Moreover, a middling Speed tier means Venusaur often needs to take hits before attacking, so it risks being taken out if it doesn't focus on remaining healthy. Speed control and Chlorophyll help ease this a bit, but neither is permanent and the latter is only available before Mega Evolution.
[SET]
name: Bulky Attacker
move 1: Sludge Bomb
move 2: Giga Drain / Hidden Power Fire
move 3: Leech Seed / Synthesis
move 4: Protect
item: Venusaurite
ability: Chlorophyll
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP / 52 Def / 152 SpD / 52 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Sludge Bomb will almost always hit at least one of the opponent's Pokemon super effectively, with the majority of teams carrying an Island Guardian, but it's also useful for the potential to poison and wear down foes. Giga Drain facilitates Venusaur's goal of staying healthy in addition to the obvious merits it provides in matchups against Water-, Ground-, and Rock-types. Hidden Power Fire ensures that Venusaur isn't walled by Steel-types, notably making it the best Kartana answer available. Genesect and Mega Scizor are decent targets too, but most other Steel-types aren't likely to struggle with taking the hit. Leech Seed provides constant recovery, especially in tandem with Protect, and helps with the Pokemon that Mega Venusaur walls but can't do much damage to offensively, such as Zapdos. Protect stalls out field conditions and may give Venusaur a turn to safely chip away at a foe while regaining health thanks to Leech Seed. Synthesis takes a more active role in healing, relieving the pressure to keep Mega Venusaur healthy by other means. Many combinations of the moves discussed here are viable, but the listed grouping is often most effective.
Set Details
========
With the given EV spread, Mega Venusaur is guaranteed to take two Heat Waves from Mega Charizard Y. With a Bold nature and the investment in Defense, it will also avoid the 2HKO from Mega Metagross's Iron Head, even after Stealth Rock. The remaining 52 EVs are placed in Speed to ensure its ability to outspeed uninvested Rotom formes and Tapu Fini. Chlorophyll is the preferred base ability in case the opponent brings Mega Charizard Y or Torkoal.
Usage Tips
========
Mega Venusaur generally fits best on bulky offense builds, as these can offer it the time it needs to succeed and still provide enough damage output to make up for the times it can't deal much damage itself. Try to keep Venusaur healthy so that it can continue to check the threats it's needed for throughout the game. It won't deal a ton of damage to neutral targets, so focus on either hitting foes super effectively or taking advantage of the secondary effects offered by Sludge Bomb and Giga Drain. In sun, it may be better to forgo Mega Evolution to take advantage of the added Speed, provided that Mega Venusaur's added bulk isn't necessary to do its job that turn.
Team Options
========
Steel-types, especially Mega Metagross, can prove to be obstacles to Venusaur's success, so it's a good idea to pack answers like Incineroar and Landorus-T. These teammates often also benefit from Mega Venusaur's great matchup against Water-types. Kyurem-B and Mega Salamence are two of Mega Venusaur's worst matchups, so packing checks to these is crucial. Among these, Tapu Fini can provide Heal Pulse support, Diancie offers speed control, and Genesect both beats Tapu Lele and has Flamethrower to free up Venusaur from needing Hidden Power Fire. Setup sweepers like Volcarona and Kommo-o benefit from Leech Seed chipping down foes into KO range as well as Venusaur's ability to take on Tapu Fini and Tapu Koko. Conversely, some opposing setup sweepers like Mega Latias, Substitute Kommo-o, and Volcarona can give Venusaur trouble; strong checks to these such as Tapu Fini and Diancie ensure that Venusaur being setup bait won't ruin the team's chances.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Venusaur's main set has a decent amount of versatility already, so only a few niche other options are worth considering. Sleep Powder can give teammates free turns, but it mandates Tapu Lele as a partner, since the other three Island Guardians either prevent sleep or share too many checks with Mega Venusaur. Growth makes Venusaur a scarier offensive threat, but it's only really worth considering when used in conjunction with Torkoal to double its effect thanks to the sun. Knock Off improves the team's matchup against Chansey and Porygon2 while also acting as a decent catch-all move against predicted switches; however, it's difficult to fit onto Venusaur's moveset or find many situations where it's worth using over Venusaur's other options. Hidden Power Ice hits Landorus-T, Zygarde, and Mega Salamence, three threats that could otherwise take Venusaur's attacks fairly well.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Steel-types**: Without Hidden Power Fire, Mega Venusaur is absolutely walled by Steel-types. Mega Metagross can even carry Zen Headbutt to deal serious damage to it, and Mega Scizor can use non-Hidden Power Fire Venusaur as setup fodder.
**Psychic-types**: Psychic-types like Tapu Lele and Mega Latias hit Mega Venusaur super effectively without having to go through Thick Fat like Ice- or Fire-types would. However, Tapu Lele can't switch in safely out of fear of Sludge Bomb.
**Flying-types**: Few Flying-types in the metagame use their Flying-type STAB moves, but those that do like Mega Salamence, Pelipper, and Tornadus are the most dangerous of the bunch for Mega Venusaur to face.
**Kyurem-B**: Unlike other Ice-types and Pokemon that use Ice-type moves as coverage, Kyurem-B has Teravolt to circumvent Thick Fat and thus hits Mega Venusaur quite hard with its STAB attacks. In addition, it's naturally bulky enough to take Venusaur's attacks pretty well.
**Taunt and Substitute**: Without Leech Seed recovery, Mega Venusaur finds it difficult to stay healthy enough to check what it's needed to check. This makes Taunt users like Gothitelle and Substitute users like Kommo-o and Aegislash frustrating foes to face.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[talkingtree, 232101]]
- Quality checked by: [[MajorBowman, 188164], [Stratos, 59770]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Empress, 175616], [deetah, 297659]]
Mega Venusaur succeeds primarily thanks to its positive matchups against many very common Pokemon, including Tapu Fini, Tapu Koko, Kartana, Diancie, and Zapdos. With its bulk, typing, and ability, it's difficult for many teams to break, and a naturally decent Special Attack stat means that it can still hit hard enough in most scenarios. In addition, Venusaur can tweak its moveset to fit its teammates' needs, but its inability to run all of its solid options leaves it lacking in at least one area that it could otherwise excel in. Moreover, a middling Speed tier means Venusaur often needs to take hits before attacking, so it risks being taken out if it doesn't focus on remaining healthy. Speed control and Chlorophyll help ease this a bit, but neither is permanent and the latter is only available before Mega Evolution.
[SET]
name: Bulky Attacker
move 1: Sludge Bomb
move 2: Giga Drain / Hidden Power Fire
move 3: Leech Seed / Synthesis
move 4: Protect
item: Venusaurite
ability: Chlorophyll
nature: Bold
evs: 252 HP / 52 Def / 152 SpD / 52 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Sludge Bomb will almost always hit at least one of the opponent's Pokemon super effectively, with the majority of teams carrying an Island Guardian, but it's also useful for the potential to poison and wear down foes. Giga Drain facilitates Venusaur's goal of staying healthy in addition to the obvious merits it provides in matchups against Water-, Ground-, and Rock-types. Hidden Power Fire ensures that Venusaur isn't walled by Steel-types, notably making it the best Kartana answer available. Genesect and Mega Scizor are decent targets too, but most other Steel-types aren't likely to struggle with taking the hit. Leech Seed provides constant recovery, especially in tandem with Protect, and helps with the Pokemon that Mega Venusaur walls but can't do much damage to offensively, such as Zapdos. Protect stalls out field conditions and may give Venusaur a turn to safely chip away at a foe while regaining health thanks to Leech Seed. Synthesis takes a more active role in healing, relieving the pressure to keep Mega Venusaur healthy by other means. Many combinations of the moves discussed here are viable, but the listed grouping is often most effective.
Set Details
========
With the given EV spread, Mega Venusaur is guaranteed to take two Heat Waves from Mega Charizard Y. With a Bold nature and the investment in Defense, it will also avoid the 2HKO from Mega Metagross's Iron Head, even after Stealth Rock. The remaining 52 EVs are placed in Speed to ensure its ability to outspeed uninvested Rotom formes and Tapu Fini. Chlorophyll is the preferred base ability in case the opponent brings Mega Charizard Y or Torkoal.
Usage Tips
========
Mega Venusaur generally fits best on bulky offense builds, as these can offer it the time it needs to succeed and still provide enough damage output to make up for the times it can't deal much damage itself. Try to keep Venusaur healthy so that it can continue to check the threats it's needed for throughout the game. It won't deal a ton of damage to neutral targets, so focus on either hitting foes super effectively or taking advantage of the secondary effects offered by Sludge Bomb and Giga Drain. In sun, it may be better to forgo Mega Evolution to take advantage of the added Speed, provided that Mega Venusaur's added bulk isn't necessary to do its job that turn.
Team Options
========
Steel-types, especially Mega Metagross, can prove to be obstacles to Venusaur's success, so it's a good idea to pack answers like Incineroar and Landorus-T. These teammates often also benefit from Mega Venusaur's great matchup against Water-types. Kyurem-B and Mega Salamence are two of Mega Venusaur's worst matchups, so packing checks to these is crucial. Among these, Tapu Fini can provide Heal Pulse support, Diancie offers speed control, and Genesect both beats Tapu Lele and has Flamethrower to free up Venusaur from needing Hidden Power Fire. Setup sweepers like Volcarona and Kommo-o benefit from Leech Seed chipping down foes into KO range as well as Venusaur's ability to take on Tapu Fini and Tapu Koko. Conversely, some opposing setup sweepers like Mega Latias, Substitute Kommo-o, and Volcarona can give Venusaur trouble; strong checks to these such as Tapu Fini and Diancie ensure that Venusaur being setup bait won't ruin the team's chances.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Venusaur's main set has a decent amount of versatility already, so only a few niche other options are worth considering. Sleep Powder can give teammates free turns, but it mandates Tapu Lele as a partner, since the other three Island Guardians either prevent sleep or share too many checks with Mega Venusaur. Growth makes Venusaur a scarier offensive threat, but it's only really worth considering when used in conjunction with Torkoal to double its effect thanks to the sun. Knock Off improves the team's matchup against Chansey and Porygon2 while also acting as a decent catch-all move against predicted switches; however, it's difficult to fit onto Venusaur's moveset or find many situations where it's worth using over Venusaur's other options. Hidden Power Ice hits Landorus-T, Zygarde, and Mega Salamence, three threats that could otherwise take Venusaur's attacks fairly well.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Steel-types**: Without Hidden Power Fire, Mega Venusaur is absolutely walled by Steel-types. Mega Metagross can even carry Zen Headbutt to deal serious damage to it, and Mega Scizor can use non-Hidden Power Fire Venusaur as setup fodder.
**Psychic-types**: Psychic-types like Tapu Lele and Mega Latias hit Mega Venusaur super effectively without having to go through Thick Fat like Ice- or Fire-types would. However, Tapu Lele can't switch in safely out of fear of Sludge Bomb.
**Flying-types**: Few Flying-types in the metagame use their Flying-type STAB moves, but those that do like Mega Salamence, Pelipper, and Tornadus are the most dangerous of the bunch for Mega Venusaur to face.
**Kyurem-B**: Unlike other Ice-types and Pokemon that use Ice-type moves as coverage, Kyurem-B has Teravolt to circumvent Thick Fat and thus hits Mega Venusaur quite hard with its STAB attacks. In addition, it's naturally bulky enough to take Venusaur's attacks pretty well.
**Taunt and Substitute**: Without Leech Seed recovery, Mega Venusaur finds it difficult to stay healthy enough to check what it's needed to check. This makes Taunt users like Gothitelle and Substitute users like Kommo-o and Aegislash frustrating foes to face.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[talkingtree, 232101]]
- Quality checked by: [[MajorBowman, 188164], [Stratos, 59770]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Empress, 175616], [deetah, 297659]]
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