Victreebel (Ubers Analysis)

[Fireburn]

chaos gets his own analysis cool!

http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/victreebel


STATUS: Quality Control skeletons.
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[Overview]

• Frail, but strong enough to outspeed and OHKO or 2HKO most Ubers in the sun. It is faster than other sweepers such as Mewtwo and Shaymin-S.
• Absorbs Toxic Spikes, which gives it a unique niche in the Uber enviroment as no other commonly used Pokemon can do so.
• Not outclassed by Shiftry because it can absorb Toxic Spikes, use Weather Ball to KO Steel-types without relying on Hidden Power, and can effectively use Sleep Powder.

[SET]
name: Special Sweeper
move 1: Sleep Powder
move 2: Grass Knot
move 3: Weather Ball
move 4: Hidden Power Ice
item: Life Orb
ability: Chlorophyll
nature: Timid
evs: 44 Def / 252 SpA / 212 Spe

Why this set should be on site:

• Very strong special sweeper and in the sun it is faster then nearly everything else in Ubers.
• It can OHKO Groudon and Kyogre with Grass Knot, 2HKO Palkia with the same attack, OHKO most non-Heatran Steel-types and 2HKO Dialga, Mewtwo, and Darkrai with Weather Ball in the sunlight, and OHKO Rayquaza (on the switch), Garchomp, and Salamence, to give some examples of its power.
• It can double as an effective revenge killer thanks to its Chlorophyll boosted Speed.
• Sleep Powder allows it to shut down its counters as well as to help punch through bulkier Pokemon. (For example you can put Giratina-O to sleep and then 2HKO them with Hidden Power Ice after two Stealth Rock damages.) It can also help clear openings for Pokemon with similar counters to Victreebel (Mewtwo or Palkia for example) to sweep.
• Not outclassed by Shiftry because of Sleep Powder, Weather Ball, immunity and absorption of Toxic Spikes, and higher Special Attack.

Additional Comments

• 212 Speed with a Timid Nature is needed to outpace Jolly Scarf Garchomp in the sunlight.
• Hidden Power Rock is an option to still 2HKO Lugia, Rayquaza, and Salamence while OHKOing Ho-Oh after SR.
• Really needs sunlight support to be effective.

Counters

• Latios, Giratina-A, Lugia, and Latias can easily handle HP Ice and crush Victreebel with their STAB Dragon-type attacks. (Or in Lugia's case, Ice Beam)
• Kyogre and Tyranitar can't really switch in but they can nullify the weather. Rayquaza can as well and he 4X resists Grass Knot and neuters Weather Ball thanks to Air Lock.
• Strong Priority users such as Scizor, Rayquaza, and Giratina-O can stop Victreebel sweep.
• Blissey, Heatran, Ho-Oh can take anything Victreebel throws at it and easily KO it. (although Ho-Oh must be careful of Hidden Power Rock.)
• Wobbuffet can revenge kill Victreebel.
• All of the above counters (except Blissey) will fear Sleep Powder, however.

Teammates

• Latias easily beats Kyogre, Giratina-A, and Lugia and can check Rayquaza and Giratina-O to a certain degree. It can also handle Heatran to an extent. (Beware of Toxic)
• Choice Band Metagross easily disposes of Latios, Latias, and Blissey. It can also Pursuit a low HP Giratina-O or Wobbuffet.
• Groudon provides sunlight and counters Blissey, Tyranitar, Scizor, and physical Rayquaza effectively. It can also use a Paradancer set to help lure in and KO Lugia.
• A wallbreaker such as Mixed Dialga can easily beat up Blissey, Tyranitar, and Scizor as well as check Giratina-O and Ho-Oh. Mixed Giratina-O can help lure in and take out Tyranitar early and it can beat up Heatran with Earthquake. It also murders stall-teams, which can trouble Victreebel. Mixed Palkia can do this too, and it can also switch into Kyogre. Any of the above Pokemon can help lure and KO Wobbuffet as well.
• Stealth Rock is recommended to help check Ho-Oh and Lugia. Groudon or Dialga can accomplish this.

 

[Theorymon]

I approve the Specially based set, since it can do other things no other sun abusers can do. Mainly, its the only Sun abuser that has Sleep Powder AND enough Speed to outspeed Choice Scarf Garchomp at the same time. The Toxic Spikes absorbing and Weather Ball are also nice bonuses. As for the Swords Dance set... it seems iffy to me, I'll have to test that before making deciding whether its viable or not.

 

[Jibaku]

I can't see the Swords Dance set working at all tbh. Leaf Blade / Sucker Punch is walled by just about every Steel, Substitute Ho-Oh/Shaymin-S and Rayquaza (who cancels out weather and can ES through Sucker Punch while Leaf Blade does pathetic damage). Leaf Blade / Return gets walled by Giratina-O along with the rest of the Steels, and you also lose the option of hurting faster Kyogres. Finally, Leaf Blade + Weather Ball gets you walled by Dragons (bar Palkia, Garchomp and maybe Dialga), Heatran, Ho-Oh, Lugia (all three already wall the previous sets). It's SUPER outclassed by Shiftry.

Shiftry does the Swords Dancing much better with a STAB Dark attack and Low Kick. It can also Explode if you must.

As far as the first set goes, I don't want to put my stamp of approval just yet (or maybe even not at all). Sleep Powdering counters isn't quite enough when some of them are concrete - Blissey, Heatran, Giratina-A. Even after something is slept it has a lot of solid counters - Lati@s, Lugia, Ray, Wobb (who takes <25% from Grass Knot and 40% max from Weather Ball) etc, and effective checks in Kyogre, Giratina-O, BU Dialga, Scizor, along with the fact that Victreebel is pretty hard to switch in the first place. I am really not buying the effectiveness of Victreebel.

Placing a temporary rejection on this.

match notes

EDIT: Watching Fireburn ladder with Victreebel
EDIT 2: It's not going too well...
EDIT 3: I guess it can revenge sometimes...
EDIT 4: Victreefailing
EDIT 5: His insane Speed does come in handy sometimes

Okay, after viewing the matches, my opinion on Victreebel has changed.

O_O

 

[bojangles]

Rejecting this because of two reasons:

1. Weather Ball is glitched.
2. Completely reliant on Sleep Power to not be outclassed. If you miss Sleep Powder, bye bye Victreebel.

Sorry Fireburn.

 

[Fireburn]

It's okay the weather ball glitch kinda killed it for me.

But yeah moving to locked analyses.