Victreebel is able to carve out a niche in RBY Ubers thanks to its decent Speed and movepool—notably having access to Wrap, dual status in Sleep Powder and Stun Spore and a strong Razor Leaf. Wrap allows Victrebel to push Sleep past paralyzed Pokemon, and can also make Victreebel dangerous in endgames, heavily punishing teams that allow paralysis to spread throughout their Pokemon, as well as slow Pokemon, such as Snorlax, Exeggutor, and Rhydon. Victreebel's Speed lets it outpace many tier staples, such as Snorlax, Chansey, Exeggutor, and Rhydon. Victreebel also enjoys the lower usage Alakazam and Starmie have compared to OU, as outspeeding and paralyzing it is one of the most consistent ways to take it out.
However, Victreebel has several flaws that prevent it from being one of the top threats in the metagame. Wrap is only 85% accurate, making Victreebel somewhat unreliable, and one Wrap miss can get it paralyzed, effectively making it useless. Although its Speed is decent, it is still outsped by Mewtwo, Mew, Tauros, and Zapdos. This generally means Victreebel needs heavy paralysis support to function. Unparalyzed Mewtwo in particular is a terrible matchup for Victreebel as it threatens both Thunder Wave and STAB Psychic. Mew also carries Thunder Wave often, and Tauros threatens Body Slam paralysis. Victreebel is also completely blanked by Gengar which is immune to Wrap and has a resistance to Razor Leaf. However, Victreebel still is able to threaten all of the aforementioned Pokemon with status moves. On traditional teams, Victreebel faces competition with Dragonite for a team slot. Dragonite lacks a sleep-inducing move but has Agility and a valuable immunity to Ground-type moves, allowing it to completely wall certain Mew sets. Dragonite also has Thunder Wave, making it more reliable at spreading paralysis than Victreebel, which has to rely on Stun Spore. There are also teams that opt to use Victreebel and Dragonite together; these teams opt to spread paralysis throughout the opposing team, then use Victreebel and Dragonite to clean up from Wrap. Victreebel and Dragonite work very well together on these dedicated Wrap teams, as they can both spread paralysis and benefit from paralysis support.
[SET]
name: Wrap
move 1: Sleep Powder
move 2: Wrap
move 3: Stun Spore
move 4: Razor Leaf
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Sleep Powder in conjunction with Wrap makes Victreebel effective at forcing sleep onto a foe. If a paralyzed Pokemon attempts to block Victreebel's Sleep Powder, Victreebel can use Wrap, chipping and forcing out the paralyzed foe, allowing it to threaten sleep again. Stun Spore allows Victreebel to spread paralysis after landing sleep, which is useful on faster foes such as Tauros and Mew. Razor Leaf is Victreebel's strongest STAB move, letting it OHKO the Normal-resistant Rhydon and deal massive damage to Water-types, such as Starmie, Cloyster, and Slowbro. It is also a great tool at damaging neutral targets like Snorlax. Razor Leaf's near-guaranteed critical hit chance means it can bypass the Special boost from Amnesia Mewtwo and Slowbro as well, although Victreebel should only generally do this if Mewtwo is already paralyzed and at low HP.
Victreebel can also use Wrap as a pivoting tool, where it uses Wrap on a foe and switches out as the foe is still immobilized, allowing Victreebel's teammates to hit the field safely. Though all of Victreebel's teammates appreciate being able to switch for free, those with good offensive potential but trouble switching into moves, such as Tauros and Rhydon, benefit most heavily from this. Victreebel can also use Wrap's chip damage to get Pokemon into certain ranges for its teammates, such as getting Mewtwo into KO range of Snorlax's Self-Destruct, Water-types such as Starmie and Slowbro into KO range of Victreebel's own Razor Leaf, or Snorlax into a +4 Psychic from Mewtwo.
Victreebel's best teammates are those that can spread paralysis throughout an opposing team, as this enables Victreebel's Wrap antics. Thunder Wave variants of Mew and Mewtwo are great teammates for Victreebel as they are fantastic at spreading paralysis, since their high damage output often forces the opponent's Mew or Mewtwo in, which they can then paralyze. Zapdos is also an effective paralysis spreader, making it a good teammate. Victreebel also helps Zapdos against Rhydon; although Victreebel cannot directly switch in, its Razor Leaf threatens Rhydon immensely. Dragonite can also be used with Victreebel for a more Wrap-dedicated teamstyle, allowing Victreebel and Dragonite to enable each other and tear apart paralyzed teams. However, it is important to note that using Victreebel and Dragonite together stacks weaknesses to Ice-type moves, so having teammates that alleviate this is important.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Victreebel has seen fringe use as a lead, as it outspeeds Exeggutor and Hypno leads while still having access to a reliable way to spread paralysis in Stun Spore, which other fast sleep leads like Jynx and Gengar don't have. However, Victreebel struggles against faster leads such as Jynx, Gengar, Zapdos, and Mewtwo, making this quite Niche.
Victreebel can also opt for a Swords Dance set, generally forgoing Wrap and Razor Leaf for Swords Dance and one of Body Slam or Hyper Beam. This set is able to land Sleep on a foe, and then set up Swords Dance the next turn. It a faster foe, such as Mewtwo, tries to revenge kill it, it can then sacrifice itself and use Stun Spore. However, this set is walled by Rhydon and Gengar, and Wrap is a huge part of Victreebel's viability so it is difficult to justify dropping.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Mewtwo**: Mewtwo gives Victreebel immense trouble, dealing a minimum of 73.5% with Psychic and only being 5HKOed in return with Razor Leaf. Many Mewtwo sets also carry Thunder Wave which can ruin Victreebel. Although trading status with Mewtwo is generally a good trade for Victreebel, Mewtwo's 25.39% critical hit rate as well as Sleep Powder and Stun Spore's poor accuracy mean Victreebel can easily be KOed without landing a status move.
**Paralysis**: Once paralyzed, Victreebel is generally deadweight, as Wrap relies heavily on outspeeding the opponent. Even if the foe is also paralyzed, a paralyzed Victreebel's Wrap accuracy is effectively 63.75%, which is extremely unreliable considering Wrap needs to hit multiple times in. This also makes a Wrap miss fatal against foes with Thunder Wave, such as Chansey.
**Faster Pokemon**: Since Wrap relies heavily on outspeeding a foe, faster Pokemon such as Zapdos, Alakazam Mewtwo, and Mew give Victreebel trouble. Although Victreebel can threaten them with Stun Spore, many faster Pokemon can paralyze Victreebel back, prevening it from taking advantage of Wrap. Although uncommon, Articuno deserves a special mention as it is not only great against Victreebel but also its common teammates, such as Dragonite and Mono-Earthquake Thunder Wave Mew.
**Gengar**: Gengar is immune to Wrap and takes pitiful damage from Razor Leaf, making it a hard counter to Victreebel. Gengar does hate getting paralyed by Stun Spore, though, and Victreebel can still use Wrap to pivot on Gengar.
**Rhydon**: If Victreebel is running a Swords Dance set that lacks Razor Leaf, it is walled by Rhydon. However, the threat of Razor leaf means the opponent will not send Rhydon in on Victreebel until all of its moves are revealed. Rhydon can also help PP stall Wrap if necessary thanks to its resistance to the move, though a Wrap miss is bad for Rhydon since Victreebel can follow up with Razor Leaf.
**Ice-Type Coverage**: Ice-Type moves run rampant in RBY Ubers, which Victreebel does not enjoy. Although Victreebel can comfortably use Wrap on foes like Chansey, it has trouble switching in due to the threat of Ice Beam. This also makes Victreebel's matchup with Cloyster quite swingy. Although Victreebel 2HKOes with Razor Leaf, Cloyster speed ties and 2HKOes in return with Blizzard. Clicking Wrap on a paralyzed Pokemon like Articuno is also risky since it gets hit hard by Blizzard if it misses.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/gastlies.540559/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/eledyr.415367/
Grammar checked by:
However, Victreebel has several flaws that prevent it from being one of the top threats in the metagame. Wrap is only 85% accurate, making Victreebel somewhat unreliable, and one Wrap miss can get it paralyzed, effectively making it useless. Although its Speed is decent, it is still outsped by Mewtwo, Mew, Tauros, and Zapdos. This generally means Victreebel needs heavy paralysis support to function. Unparalyzed Mewtwo in particular is a terrible matchup for Victreebel as it threatens both Thunder Wave and STAB Psychic. Mew also carries Thunder Wave often, and Tauros threatens Body Slam paralysis. Victreebel is also completely blanked by Gengar which is immune to Wrap and has a resistance to Razor Leaf. However, Victreebel still is able to threaten all of the aforementioned Pokemon with status moves. On traditional teams, Victreebel faces competition with Dragonite for a team slot. Dragonite lacks a sleep-inducing move but has Agility and a valuable immunity to Ground-type moves, allowing it to completely wall certain Mew sets. Dragonite also has Thunder Wave, making it more reliable at spreading paralysis than Victreebel, which has to rely on Stun Spore. There are also teams that opt to use Victreebel and Dragonite together; these teams opt to spread paralysis throughout the opposing team, then use Victreebel and Dragonite to clean up from Wrap. Victreebel and Dragonite work very well together on these dedicated Wrap teams, as they can both spread paralysis and benefit from paralysis support.
[SET]
name: Wrap
move 1: Sleep Powder
move 2: Wrap
move 3: Stun Spore
move 4: Razor Leaf
[SET COMMENTS]
Set Description
=========
Sleep Powder in conjunction with Wrap makes Victreebel effective at forcing sleep onto a foe. If a paralyzed Pokemon attempts to block Victreebel's Sleep Powder, Victreebel can use Wrap, chipping and forcing out the paralyzed foe, allowing it to threaten sleep again. Stun Spore allows Victreebel to spread paralysis after landing sleep, which is useful on faster foes such as Tauros and Mew. Razor Leaf is Victreebel's strongest STAB move, letting it OHKO the Normal-resistant Rhydon and deal massive damage to Water-types, such as Starmie, Cloyster, and Slowbro. It is also a great tool at damaging neutral targets like Snorlax. Razor Leaf's near-guaranteed critical hit chance means it can bypass the Special boost from Amnesia Mewtwo and Slowbro as well, although Victreebel should only generally do this if Mewtwo is already paralyzed and at low HP.
Victreebel can also use Wrap as a pivoting tool, where it uses Wrap on a foe and switches out as the foe is still immobilized, allowing Victreebel's teammates to hit the field safely. Though all of Victreebel's teammates appreciate being able to switch for free, those with good offensive potential but trouble switching into moves, such as Tauros and Rhydon, benefit most heavily from this. Victreebel can also use Wrap's chip damage to get Pokemon into certain ranges for its teammates, such as getting Mewtwo into KO range of Snorlax's Self-Destruct, Water-types such as Starmie and Slowbro into KO range of Victreebel's own Razor Leaf, or Snorlax into a +4 Psychic from Mewtwo.
Victreebel's best teammates are those that can spread paralysis throughout an opposing team, as this enables Victreebel's Wrap antics. Thunder Wave variants of Mew and Mewtwo are great teammates for Victreebel as they are fantastic at spreading paralysis, since their high damage output often forces the opponent's Mew or Mewtwo in, which they can then paralyze. Zapdos is also an effective paralysis spreader, making it a good teammate. Victreebel also helps Zapdos against Rhydon; although Victreebel cannot directly switch in, its Razor Leaf threatens Rhydon immensely. Dragonite can also be used with Victreebel for a more Wrap-dedicated teamstyle, allowing Victreebel and Dragonite to enable each other and tear apart paralyzed teams. However, it is important to note that using Victreebel and Dragonite together stacks weaknesses to Ice-type moves, so having teammates that alleviate this is important.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Victreebel has seen fringe use as a lead, as it outspeeds Exeggutor and Hypno leads while still having access to a reliable way to spread paralysis in Stun Spore, which other fast sleep leads like Jynx and Gengar don't have. However, Victreebel struggles against faster leads such as Jynx, Gengar, Zapdos, and Mewtwo, making this quite Niche.
Victreebel can also opt for a Swords Dance set, generally forgoing Wrap and Razor Leaf for Swords Dance and one of Body Slam or Hyper Beam. This set is able to land Sleep on a foe, and then set up Swords Dance the next turn. It a faster foe, such as Mewtwo, tries to revenge kill it, it can then sacrifice itself and use Stun Spore. However, this set is walled by Rhydon and Gengar, and Wrap is a huge part of Victreebel's viability so it is difficult to justify dropping.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Mewtwo**: Mewtwo gives Victreebel immense trouble, dealing a minimum of 73.5% with Psychic and only being 5HKOed in return with Razor Leaf. Many Mewtwo sets also carry Thunder Wave which can ruin Victreebel. Although trading status with Mewtwo is generally a good trade for Victreebel, Mewtwo's 25.39% critical hit rate as well as Sleep Powder and Stun Spore's poor accuracy mean Victreebel can easily be KOed without landing a status move.
**Paralysis**: Once paralyzed, Victreebel is generally deadweight, as Wrap relies heavily on outspeeding the opponent. Even if the foe is also paralyzed, a paralyzed Victreebel's Wrap accuracy is effectively 63.75%, which is extremely unreliable considering Wrap needs to hit multiple times in. This also makes a Wrap miss fatal against foes with Thunder Wave, such as Chansey.
**Faster Pokemon**: Since Wrap relies heavily on outspeeding a foe, faster Pokemon such as Zapdos, Alakazam Mewtwo, and Mew give Victreebel trouble. Although Victreebel can threaten them with Stun Spore, many faster Pokemon can paralyze Victreebel back, prevening it from taking advantage of Wrap. Although uncommon, Articuno deserves a special mention as it is not only great against Victreebel but also its common teammates, such as Dragonite and Mono-Earthquake Thunder Wave Mew.
**Gengar**: Gengar is immune to Wrap and takes pitiful damage from Razor Leaf, making it a hard counter to Victreebel. Gengar does hate getting paralyed by Stun Spore, though, and Victreebel can still use Wrap to pivot on Gengar.
**Rhydon**: If Victreebel is running a Swords Dance set that lacks Razor Leaf, it is walled by Rhydon. However, the threat of Razor leaf means the opponent will not send Rhydon in on Victreebel until all of its moves are revealed. Rhydon can also help PP stall Wrap if necessary thanks to its resistance to the move, though a Wrap miss is bad for Rhydon since Victreebel can follow up with Razor Leaf.
**Ice-Type Coverage**: Ice-Type moves run rampant in RBY Ubers, which Victreebel does not enjoy. Although Victreebel can comfortably use Wrap on foes like Chansey, it has trouble switching in due to the threat of Ice Beam. This also makes Victreebel's matchup with Cloyster quite swingy. Although Victreebel 2HKOes with Razor Leaf, Cloyster speed ties and 2HKOes in return with Blizzard. Clicking Wrap on a paralyzed Pokemon like Articuno is also risky since it gets hit hard by Blizzard if it misses.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/gastlies.540559/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/eledyr.415367/
Grammar checked by:
Last edited:
