[Overview]
<p>One of the coveted relics from the RBY era, Venusaur makes a  triumphant return to standard play as the premier Chlorophyll user in  BW2. Venusaur's repertoire, which includes Growth and Sleep Powder, have  also received substantial amendments. Growth essentially becomes a  simultaneous Nasty Plot and Swords Dance boost under the sun and new  sleep mechanics render practically any sleeping Pokemon impotent for the  entirety of the match. This allows Venusaur to set up with ease in  tandem with its respectable bulk and key set of resistances to  Fighting-, Electric-, and Water-type attacks. The fun doesn't stop  there—thanks to the new BW2 move tutors, Venusaur can now use  Giga Drain with Chlorophyll, allowing it to attack and replenish health  simultaneously.</p>
<p>However, not everything's sunshine and lollipops. Venusaur's  ability manifests itself as a double-edged sword. Chlorophyll is an  excellent ability under the sunlight, but it is rendered void in any  other weather condition. This relegates Venusaur to sun Drought teams and  inevitably mandates Ninetales as a vital teammate. Without Ninetales,  even Growth becomes mediocre, (RC) as the +2/+2 attacks boosts transition to a  minuscule +1/+1. Don't let this discourage you, as Venusaur's assets  are not to be overlooked; it only excels on sun teams, but it will often  meet or exceed your expectations as a sweeper, supporter, or even a  wall.</p>  
[SET]
name: Chlorophyll Sweeper 
move 1: Growth
move 2: Giga Drain
move 3: Hidden Power Fire
move 4: Sludge Bomb / Sleep Powder
item: Life Orb
nature: Timid
ability: Chlorophyll
evs: 72 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA / 180 Spe
ivs: 2 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>This set capitalizes on Venusaur's most prominent offensive  attributes. Under the sunlight, Venusaur's Speed reaches blistering  levels, enough to make the prospect of outrunning it impossible. Growth  makes sweeping a possibility; in a single turn move, Venusaur's Special  Attack soars to a menacing 598. When equipped with a Life Orb, the  damage rolls will only continue to surmount. Giga Drain is Venusaur's  best STAB move, as along with Stealth Rock damage and after a boost,  Venusaur can OHKO every bulky Water-type in the tier, and it offsets the Life  Orb recoil, extending Venusaur's sweep. Hidden Power Fire melts through  all the Steel-types that would otherwise wall Venusaur and is also  boosted by sun Drought. In the last slot, Sludge Bomb and Sleep Powder both  present interesting possibilities. Sludge Bomb, along with the two  aforementioned attacks, provides perfect coverage on everything except  for Heatran and Chandelure. Sleep Powder misses out on the wonderful  coverage, but can potentially incapacitate a Pokemon and allow for more  setup opportunities.</p> 
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The EVs, as peculiar as they are, allow Venusaur to survive an  Ice Shard from Adamant Mamoswine even after Stealth Rock, outrun the  most relevant Choice Scarf user, Latios, and set up on Blissey/Chansey without  Thunder Wave and 2HKO them with +6 Giga Drain. The given IVs minimize  confusion damage and damage taken from Foul Play while still retaining  the strongest Hidden Power Fire. A possible EV variation is 4 Def / 252  SpA / 252 Spe with a Modest nature. This EV spread gives Venusaur a  significant power boost at the cost of being outrun by Choice Scarf users in  the base 108+ tier, such as most importantly Terrakion and Latios.</p>
<p>Given Venusaur's phenomenal boosting abilities move and respectable movepool, a mixed attacking set consisting of 88 Atk / 244 SpA / 176 Spe  with a Naive / Hasty nature is plausible. The EV spread allows Venusaur  to OHKO 252/0 Heatran 100% of the time after Stealth Rock while  simultaneously outrunning Choice Scarf Latios and +2 Cloyster. Hidden Power Ice  lets Venusaur maul Dragon-types while giving perfect coverage with Giga  Drain and Earthquake. If you are running the alternative EV spread, the  Defense and Attack IVs should be changed to 30 Defense and 30 Attack to ensure  the most optimal sweep. Unfortunately, despite the great utility  potential of this set, it's much easier to check. Skarmory, Ferrothorn,  and Forretress, for example, wall Venusaur, while Scizor has little  difficulty switching in and setting up Swords Dance. For this reason,  this set often becomes a liability.</p>
<p>Ninetales is crucial to have on your team if you want to  successfully sweep; otherwise, you will have a mediocre attacker that is  of little threat to the opposition. Heatran synergizes well with  Venusaur, as the two cover each other's weaknesses; Heatran can dispose  of Volcarona and absorb Fire-, Psychic-, Ice-, and Flying-type attacks,  and while Venusaur can defeat Ground-type attackers such as Dugtrio, (RC) while  also taking Water- and Fighting-type attacks. Heatran can also be a  nuisance to Venusaur and its team. For that reason, it is imperative to  have Dugtrio to not only to get rid of adversarial Heatran, but to take  out Tyranitar, who is a troublesome Pokemon to sun teams in general.  Gothitelle is another Pokemon with a trapping ability. Gothitelle can  easily dispatch of Hippowdon, Abomasnow, and Politoed, all three of  which are vexatious, as they can change the weather condition and make a  Venusaur sweep inconceivable. Finally, Wobbuffet can Encore on Pokemon  using Toxic, entry hazards, setup moves, or just weak attacks, (RC) to give  Venusaur opportunities to set up. 
name: Sunny Day
move 1: Sunny Day
move 2: Giga Drain / SolarBeam
move 3: Hidden Power Fire
move 4: Sleep Powder / Sludge Bomb
item: Black Sludge
nature: Timid
ability: Chlorophyll
evs: 72 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA / 180 Spe
ivs: 2 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Relinquishing Venusaur's sweeping capabilities, this set turns  Venusaur into a useful support Pokemon for sun Drought teams. Sunny Day acts  a disruption to weather inducers that attempt to switch in, and can act  as a last-ditch effort to set up sun if Ninetales perishes prematurely.  For consistency's sake, Giga Drain is the preferred Grass-type STAB.  Despite SolarBeam's detriments, it is still a viable option due to  Venusaur's ability to manipulate the weather condition. Hidden Power  Fire is boosted by sun and hits all OU Steel-types but Heatran for super  effective damage. Due to the supportive characteristics of this set,  Sleep Powder is preferred over Sludge Bomb due its ability to  incapacitate another foe. However, Sludge Bomb can be used to acquire  almost perfect neutral coverage.</p> 
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Heat Rock is an interesting option that extends the duration of  Sunny Day from five turns to eightturns, which fits with the supportive theme of this  set and alleviates some of the pressure of Sunny Day's five turn timer. In  terms of offensive substitutions, Expert Belt or Life Orb are  commendable options. As stated previously, this set functions as more of  a supportive role, and more often than not, Venusaur's craving for  longevity necessitates the use of Black Sludge. Hidden Power Ice can be  used to hit Dragonite for super effective damage but lacks any other  rationale for its use.</p>
<p>Even with Sunny Day, this set acts as a supporter, so Ninetales  is still a required teammate in order to ensure success. Powerful  sweepers such as Volcarona and Sawsbuck make good partners due to  benefiting from Sunny Day, which increases the likelihood of a sweep.  Dugtrio and Substitute Hydreigon are both excellent partners due to  their unparalleled ability to dispose of Heatran and Chandelure, which  would otherwise wall Venusaur. Other trapper Pokemon such as Gothitelle  and Wobbuffet, (RC) are just as advantageous, but not needed. Bulky Pokemon  such as Celebi and Reuniclus can be problematic due to their ability to  either threaten with paralysis or a powerful attack. For this reason,  good wall breakers such as Darmanitan, Dragonite, and Victini are useful  partners.</p>  
[SET]
name: SubSeed
move 1: Leech Seed
move 2: Substitute
move 3: Sleep Powder 
move 4: Hidden Power Fire
item: Black Sludge
nature: Calm
ability: Chlorophyll
evs: 252 HP / 244 SpD / 12 Spe
ivs: 2 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>With Venusaur's decent 80 / 83 / 100 defensive stats and  respectable Grass / Poison typing, giving it resistances to Water-,  Grass-, Electric-, and Fighting-type attacks, Venusaur it is more than  capable of employing the infamous well-known Do not EVER use this word again or NixHex will hunt you down, don't ask SubSeed strategy to act as a pesky  quick-staller. 12 Speed EVs allow Venusaur to outrun base 130 Speed  Pokemon such as Jolteon without a Choice Scarf in the sun. A specially  defensive spread is best in order to exploit Venusaur's resistances. For  example, after Stealth Rock, Venusaur has a 75% chance to survive a  Choice Specs Hydro Pump from Keldeo in the rain, (RC) and also always  survives a +2 Hidden Power Ice from Thundrus-T. Hidden Power Fire deals  with Pokemon immune to Leech Seed, such as Celebi and Ferrothorn. Due to  the new sleep mechanics in BW, Sleep Powder essentially becomes a quick  knock-out move, giving Venusaur ample opportunity to set up.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>116 Speed EVs can be taken out from Special Defense so that  Venusaur can outrun Scarf Rotom-W and not be crippled bamboozled by its Trick.  The current EV spread can be reversed into a physically defensive one  with a Bold nature to combat the plethora of Fighting-types, but this  job is generally done better by a fellow sun teammate, Cresselia.  Moreover, Venusaur's resistances on the special side of the spectrum are  much more useful in combating rain teams. Protect can be used over  Substitute, but Substitute is generally more useful, as it allows  Venusaur to dodge status and stall more effectively infinitely. Synthesis becomes a juicy  67% healing move in the sun; as such, it is a an acceptable option,  though it is too dependent on the weather condition to work  consistently. Last but not least, Giga Drain can be used over Sleep  Powder to discourage Water-types from switching in.</p>
<p>In terms of supporters, Ninetales is still as useful as ever,  giving Venusaur's Hidden Power Fire a kick and activating Chlorophyll.  Given the stall-like nature of this set, Toxic Spikes support from  Forretress, Nidoqueen, and Tentacruel is much appreciated, allowing  Venusaur to stall out its opponents faster. Other entry hazard users such as  Garchomp and Terrakion can also be helpful by setting up Stealth Rock.  Reuniclus is a major issue for this set due to Magic Guard, so Victini  or Darmanitan can be a helpful teammate, usually easily switching in and OHKOing with  V-Create under the sun.</p> 
[Other Options]
<p>Outside of what is already listed, Venusaur doesn't have too  many viable options. Roar is a peculiar option on the SubSeed set, used  to force out a counter and rack up entry hazard damage. A physical Swords  Dance set is possible, but Venusaur lacks the power and movepool to  abuse it. Choice sets, in particular Choice Specs, are another option,  but Venusaur prefers the liberty of choosing its attacks rather than  being restricted to one. Overgrow can be used over Chlorophyll to access  egg and event moves such as Power Whip, Leaf Storm, and Weather Ball,  but Venusaur is reliant on its boosted speed to sweep, so these options  are generally unappealing.<p> 
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Venusaur is a Pokemon that relies on weather in order to  accomplish anything substantial. Due to this, the most effective way to  stop Venusaur is to change the weather. While counters seem like a good  idea, they can easily be disposed of by Venusaur's common teammates,  making them obsolete. Altering the weather means that Venusaur loses its  blistering Speed and becomes much more susceptible to stronger, more  powerful attackers, such as Salamence and Starmie. Also, Venusaur's  repertoire takes a major plunge, as Growth becomes a mediocre boosting  move, SolarBeam takes two turns to use, and Hidden Power Fire weakens  significantly. Having said that, Tornadus is an excellent check, as it  can set up Prankster Rain Dance and then force Venusaur out with  Hurricane. Though Abomasnow, Hippowdon, Politoad, and Tyranitar cannot  switch directly into Venusaur, they are invaluable in their ability to  change the weather.</p>
<p>The preeminent counter is Heatran, although Chandelure can also  fill that role. Both Chandelure and Heatran resist all of Venusaur's  conventional attacks and can OHKO with their Fire-type STABs. However,  both have to be cautious of an Earthquake from the a mixed set, as it can  OHKO them after Stealth Rock. If Blissey or Chansey carry Thunder Wave,  both of them are great counters due to their ability to paralyze consistency in paralyzing  Venusaur. Defensive Latias is also a great check counter, as she is not OHKOed  by any of Venusaur's attacks, (RC) and can retaliate with Psyshock. If  Stealth Rock in not on the field, Kyurem and Kyurem-B also make good  counters due to their monstrous defensive stats and ability to go  defensive while always being able to OHKO Venusaur with Ice Beam. In the  same vein, defensive Dragonite and Volcarona can come in and set up on  Venusaur or OHKO with Fire Punch and Fiery Dance respectively.</p>
<p>If all else fails, there are ubiquitous priority users able to  severely damage Venusaur. Mamoswine and Weavile get special mentions due  to having a super effective STAB priority in Ice Shard, although, (RC) they  will not be able to OHKO Venusaur from the get-go Venusaur must have a bit of prior damage to be KOed. Choice  Band Dragonite's and Scizor's ExtremeSpeed and Scizor's Choice Band Bullet Punch can also take  out a weakened Venusaur. Garchomp and Hydreigon can tank at least one  hit and OHKO back. Specially defensive Jirachi can tank a Hidden Power  Fire and paralyze Venusaur. Ditto is one of the few Choice Scarf users that is  able to outrun Venusaur in every situation, making it a great check, (RC) so  long as it has the appropriate Hidden Power IV. If Venusaur is running a  Modest nature, than revenge killing it becomes a lot less cumbersome,  as base 108+ Choice Scarf users such as Infernape, Latios, and Terrakion can  outrun and KO.</p>