^You don't need two attacks on a pokemon with Tinted Lens and a sleep move. There's really no reason not to use both Sleep Powder and Baton Pass, as having both of these moves is infinitely better than having 'perfect coverage'. Just sleep any 4x resist and pass.
^ I concur with this. If you're going to slash Sleep Powder over anything, it should be Psychic. Bug Buzz + Psychic's unresisted coverage with TL is cool, but putting something to sleep is more important, IMO. And Baton Passing those BD boosts is way too good to pass up.
Veno doesn't need to hit Heatran/Gengar/Crobat/Infernape/Skarmory that's assuming you're using it in OU (where the moth is way better at sweeping), Sleep Powder/Baton Pass is to cripple/baton pass to a deadly sweeper is the best IMO for Venomoth and differentiates it from other BD as well.
I would rather not use sleep powder period, since 75% is a bit of a gamble. Better to just go for the sweep if they don't have a good counter, or bp out if they do, or you can use bp as a scouting move. But sleep powder is an option.
Or you could run Sleep Powder and a Lum Berry and just wait before shooting it off. Ditto comes in after you likely Bug Buzz something down, it Scarf-Sleeps you, Lum wakes you up, you Sleep Ditto. Then pass to something with Substitute.
if you want to run a bp set you should use compound eyes and forget about attacking for the most part
Not really. There are a surprising number of things that can't hurt Venomoth, allowing it to dance at least once and then sleep whatever counter they bring in, allowing you to dance again and pass (greed can kill venomoth). Defensive water types are a good example. Venomoth will often be faster, meaning it can dance and raise its special defense before they attack. If they switch to a counter, you will likely be faster after a dance, allowing you to use sleep powder. It's also immune to toxic and doesn't care about burn (two statuses the more common waters often carry).Look, chances are that Sleep Powder is going have to be used to even get a few BD's under Venomoth's belt, so using it to sleep a 4X resist counter and then baton passing is most likely not going to happen
I found Sazandora to be the most effective recipient in my time testing this bug. It resists fire and is immune to ground and psychic, and also has high special attack with a vast movepool, and middling speed (perfect for butterfly dance). Sazandora also has the movepool to wreck the stuff that 4X resist bug buzz (Fire Blast for Skarmory/Luke, Surf for Infernape/Heatran, Dark Pulse for Gengar). Of course, Sazandora will most likely not end up in the same tier as Venomoth. I can't wait for UU to come around so I can start testing recipients there.Nidoking isn't the greatest primary Baton Pass reciever, he only resists one of Venomoth's multiple weaknesses (granted, Mach Punch resistance is nice for a sweeper) so is unlikely to get in unscathed.
Venemoth is currently OU on PO and for a good reason. Shove it in lead spot (or switch in on something slower), sleep it, butterfly dance 1-2 times and you're set. You only need to watch out for scizor's bpunch. I started running a metal reduce berry for it since it is so common and it has worked out well.
Tl;dr: 1/2 the time, get veno in on something slow and it is 6-0 for you
Babiri Berry doesn't reduce the damage from Steel-type moves unless you're actually weak to Steel.
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