GP CHECK ONE: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL
here today
gone tomorrow
lots of odd prose and unnecessary verbosity unfortunately
here today
gone tomorrow
[Overview]
<p>When one looks at Virizion, it's impossible not to think "classy". Let's face it, Virizion is a Pokemon that simply oozes class. It has the Its superior attitude and power that give it the status of Legendary mean that its legendary status is well-deserved. The Grass- / Fighting-type combination is only shared with Breloom, but Virizion has many advantages over its mushroom counterpart.</p>
<p>Looking at Virizion's assets, One thing immediately stands out when looking at Virizion's assets: its 129 base Special Defense that, alongside its typing, allows it to be makes it one of the best Pokemon to use against weather-based teams. Its 108 Speed stat, shared with the other musqueteers musketeers (Terrakion and Cobalion), as well as Infernape, (deleted because listing all the pokemon with 108 base speed is unnecessary) allows it to outspeed most of the threats of the OU tier. Virizion also has access to both Calm Mind and Swords Dance, which allow it to work either as so it can work as either a very bulky special sweeper or as an all-out physical sweeper.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, Virizion also has some isn't without its negative aspects. It has to rely on an incredibly inaccurate Focus Blast on the special sweeper set, which can let it down sometimes. Its Defense stat is also decent at best, and it has some trouble in taking strong neutral physical attacks. Its Justice Heart ability is also a rather useless one since Dark-type attacks are really rare in OU and Tyranitar, its main user, can't afford to stay won't be staying in on any of Virizion's sets. Despite these faults however, Virizion is still a great Pokemon and it should always be considered when building a team.</p>
[SET]
name: Offensive Calm Mind
move1: Calm Mind
move2: Giga Drain
move3: Focus Blast
move4: Hidden Power Ice / Taunt
item: Leftovers / Life Orb
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Using Calm Mind, Virizion can boost its already huge impressive Special Defense and decent Special Attack, allowing it to beat the most common Pokemon in stall teams like stall team staples such as Jellicent, Ferrothorn, Blissey, and Gliscor (you need Hidden Power Ice for the latter as Acrobatics is a OHKO). Its Grass STAB - Giga Drain - lets Virizion heal itself while causing massive damage to the opponent. Focus Blast is chosen as the second attacking secondary STAB move, even though it has really despite its low accuracy, because it's the only special Fighting-type attack that Virizion learns and it's crucial needed to KO Chansey / Blissey and Ferrothorn that would otherwise laugh at it wall Virizion. The last move depends on what you want Virizion to do, but Hidden Power Ice is usually the best option in order to hit the Flying-types that resist its STAB moves.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The first three moves are, as stated above, mandatory, leaving the fourth slot up for grabs. Hidden Power Ice is the preferred option in order to hit the numerous deal with common Flying-types like Zapdos and Gliscor, while netting an OHKO on Salamence (with Stealth Rock on the field) and Garchomp with a little prior damage. Taunt is the alternative, and it gives Virizion many opportunities to set up against Pokemon that rely on status moves to prevent a Virizion sweep, such as like Chansey, Blissey, and Ferrothorn. Reflect may look like an inferior option, but it does have its merit; behind it, Virizion can set up in on weak physical attackers that would otherwise cause dole out significant damage to it. Leftovers is the preferred item as it provides Virizion with more durability, possibily granting it one more Calm Mind, but Life Orb can be used for the extra power it provides, since it maximizes the amount of health recovered by Giga Drain. However, when playing under a Sandstorm or Hail, be aware that Virizion will take 16% damage per turn if it's holding Life Orb.</p>
<p>Virizion's main counters are Latios, Latias, and Reuniculus; they can come in, set up Calm Minds alongside Virizion, while laughing at its STAB moves and its low power meagre Hidden Power Ice, and then OHKO it with STAB Psycho Shock. Thundurus and Tornadus also both outspeed and can either OHKO with Hurricane or cripple with priority Thunder Wave, and both have priority Taunt to stop Virizion setting up the set-up. For these reasons, A Pokemon that can eliminate these threats is therefore a good partner for Virizion. Tyranitar is one of the best because it can use Pursuit and Crunch to eliminate the Psychic-type counters, and Stone Edge to get rid of the last two while Thundurus and Tornadus can be dealt with by STAB Stone Edge. Specially bulky Scizor can also do this to an extent, although Thundurus can be hard to take down due to its secondary Electric typing.</p>
[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move1: Swords Dance
move2: Close Combat
move3: Stone Edge
move4: Leaf Blade / Hidden Power Ice
item: Life Orb / Leftovers
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>With Swords Dance, Virizion only needs one turn of setup to set up to start sweeping, as opposed to the Calm Mind set, which that usually needs two or three turns to make an impact. However, it doesn't do anything for boost Virizion's defenses (Close Combat lowers them), so it Virizion will usually have less turns to inflict damage before it gets knocked out. Swords Dance is the boosting move of choice, skyrocketing the musqueteer's musketeer's Attack to a beastly 558. Virizion can then make good use of a very powerful STAB Close Combat that destroys anything that doesn't resist or is immune to it, while Stone Edge grants a great coverage, hitting the Flying-types for super effective damage. The last slot is a choice between two moves; but Leaf Blade is usually the better choice, since it provides Virizion with a second good STAB move to work with, netting the OHKOs on the bulky Ground- and Water-types.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>On the last slot, Leaf Blade may seem like a much superior option than to a non-invested Hidden Power Ice. However, when one takes into account the fact that Gliscor is one of the best physical walls, Hidden Power Ice appears as a valid move for its ability to cripple the Ground / Flying-type that would otherwise be almost impossible to defeat, since it Gliscor, one of the best physical walls, can survive a +2 Leaf Blade and OHKO back with STAB Acrobat, the value of Hidden Power Ice immediately becomes apparent; Hidden Power Ice is a clean 2HKO on Gliscor, so all it takes is some prior damage on it to take it out.</p>
<p>When using this set, Virizion loses out on some important KOs on against the more defensive Pokemon, like the aforementioned Gliscor. but it can be part of a duo with another physical sweeper. Virizion can cripple it, However, Virizion does make a great partner for other physical sweepers, it can take large chunks out of the opposing team's walls, thus opening up a sweep for another teammate like Balloon Excadrill with Return or Swords Dance Blaziken. If one wants you want Virizion to be the main sweeper, Landorus can lure Gliscor in and OHKO it with Hidden Power Ice, opening up a sweep for the musqueteer musketeer.</p>
[Team Options]
<p>Like every other sweeper, Virizion is greatly helped aided by entry hazards, as they help it achieve some KOs it normally couldn't. Tentacruel is one of the best Pokemon to set for setting them up as it resists Fire-, Ice-, and the less common Poison-type attacks, while being able to set up both Spikes and Toxic Spikes and use Rapid Spin to keep them away of off your side of the field. They do share a Psychic-type weakness, which isn't advisable when one looks at the counters' section and see Virizion's several Psychic-type counters. Do be aware that Tentacruel and Virizion share a weakness to Psychic, however. Forretress shares a Fire-type weakness but, looking past that, with Virizion but otherwise they have good synergy together, and it can set up is adept at setting up every type of entry hazard as well as spinning them away too.</p>
<p>Since both sets can open some holes on the opponent's team, pairing Virizion with a sweeper that hits from the same side of the spectrum, attacking stat may often prove to be an efficient combination. One good partner is Trick Room Reuniculus, that enjoys not having Chansey / Blissey to switch in and stop its fun it enjoys the absence of Chansey / Blissey and can remove the Psychic-types with Shadow Ball to help Virizion. Other great partners are Swords Dance Terrakion and Excadrill that can often sweep if Gliscor is already out of the game.</p>
[Optional Changes]
<p>Virizion's support movepool is huge, and it allows the musqueteer musketeer to perform a number of roles on your team, although it may not be as effective as other support Pokemon. It gets Reflect and Light Screen and it can perform a Dual Screen role, setting them both up so it can act as a dual screener; in that case, it should have a Bold nature and invest on investment in its HP and Defense, while using Giga Drain to survive long enough to prolong its lifespan so it can possibly set them screens up again later in the game. It also gets Toxic and Roar, being able to so it can act like a special wall and a phazer with after some defensive investment.</p>
<p>If one wants Virizion to act as a mixed sweeper, a Cheer Up set is a viable option; Hasty is the best nature and, alongside with max speed EVs and max Speed should be used in this case to allow it to tie with Terrakion and Infernape, with an optimal moveset that includes Close Combat, Giga Drain, and Hidden Power Ice as the best options for such set. Virizion is also a part of the legendary Fighting-type group and, as such, it has access to their signature move Sacred Sword; it has 30 less Base Power less than Close Combat but it does have two advantages: it doesn't lower Virizion's defenses and it bypasses the opponent's stats changes, which can be useful. This move can replace Close Combat on the Swords Dance set if the defenses drops prove to be unbearable.</p>
[Counters]
<p>Virizion's main counters are Latias, Latios, Reuniculus, Thundurus, and Tornadus; they all outspeed (using Trick Room on in Reuniculus's case) Virizion and can either OHKO it with Psycho Shock and or Hurricane or cripple it with priority Thunder Wave. Specially bulky Dragonite is much more used this generation thanks to Multi-Scale, and it can come in, tank an unboosted Hidden Power Ice, and cripple with Thunder Wave to make any attempt of attempts at a sweep void. Virizion also has some trouble in getting past Gliscor with the Swords Dance set, but first the opponent has to make sure it doesn't carry Hidden Power Ice or else Gliscor will be in big troubles of course Gliscor must watch out for Hidden Power Ice. Another Pokemon that can be problematic is Forretress, it that isn't weak to Fighting-type attacks and has a huge base Defense, being able so it's able to take a boosted attack and use Gyro Ball to do significant damage in return. For all of these Pokemon, Mixed Tyranitar is a great check for all of these Pokemon, abusing the Special Defense boost in Sandstorm the sand to KO Latios, Latias, and Reuniculus with Pursuit / Crunch, while the genies are taken down with Stone Edge and Foretress roasted with Fire Blast.</p>
[Dream World]
<p>Virizion doesn't have a Dream World ability.</p>
<p>When one looks at Virizion, it's impossible not to think "classy". Let's face it, Virizion is a Pokemon that simply oozes class. It has the Its superior attitude and power that give it the status of Legendary mean that its legendary status is well-deserved. The Grass- / Fighting-type combination is only shared with Breloom, but Virizion has many advantages over its mushroom counterpart.</p>
<p>Looking at Virizion's assets, One thing immediately stands out when looking at Virizion's assets: its 129 base Special Defense that, alongside its typing, allows it to be makes it one of the best Pokemon to use against weather-based teams. Its 108 Speed stat, shared with the other musqueteers musketeers (Terrakion and Cobalion), as well as Infernape, (deleted because listing all the pokemon with 108 base speed is unnecessary) allows it to outspeed most of the threats of the OU tier. Virizion also has access to both Calm Mind and Swords Dance, which allow it to work either as so it can work as either a very bulky special sweeper or as an all-out physical sweeper.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, Virizion also has some isn't without its negative aspects. It has to rely on an incredibly inaccurate Focus Blast on the special sweeper set, which can let it down sometimes. Its Defense stat is also decent at best, and it has some trouble in taking strong neutral physical attacks. Its Justice Heart ability is also a rather useless one since Dark-type attacks are really rare in OU and Tyranitar, its main user, can't afford to stay won't be staying in on any of Virizion's sets. Despite these faults however, Virizion is still a great Pokemon and it should always be considered when building a team.</p>
[SET]
name: Offensive Calm Mind
move1: Calm Mind
move2: Giga Drain
move3: Focus Blast
move4: Hidden Power Ice / Taunt
item: Leftovers / Life Orb
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Using Calm Mind, Virizion can boost its already huge impressive Special Defense and decent Special Attack, allowing it to beat the most common Pokemon in stall teams like stall team staples such as Jellicent, Ferrothorn, Blissey, and Gliscor (you need Hidden Power Ice for the latter as Acrobatics is a OHKO). Its Grass STAB - Giga Drain - lets Virizion heal itself while causing massive damage to the opponent. Focus Blast is chosen as the second attacking secondary STAB move, even though it has really despite its low accuracy, because it's the only special Fighting-type attack that Virizion learns and it's crucial needed to KO Chansey / Blissey and Ferrothorn that would otherwise laugh at it wall Virizion. The last move depends on what you want Virizion to do, but Hidden Power Ice is usually the best option in order to hit the Flying-types that resist its STAB moves.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The first three moves are, as stated above, mandatory, leaving the fourth slot up for grabs. Hidden Power Ice is the preferred option in order to hit the numerous deal with common Flying-types like Zapdos and Gliscor, while netting an OHKO on Salamence (with Stealth Rock on the field) and Garchomp with a little prior damage. Taunt is the alternative, and it gives Virizion many opportunities to set up against Pokemon that rely on status moves to prevent a Virizion sweep, such as like Chansey, Blissey, and Ferrothorn. Reflect may look like an inferior option, but it does have its merit; behind it, Virizion can set up in on weak physical attackers that would otherwise cause dole out significant damage to it. Leftovers is the preferred item as it provides Virizion with more durability, possibily granting it one more Calm Mind, but Life Orb can be used for the extra power it provides, since it maximizes the amount of health recovered by Giga Drain. However, when playing under a Sandstorm or Hail, be aware that Virizion will take 16% damage per turn if it's holding Life Orb.</p>
<p>Virizion's main counters are Latios, Latias, and Reuniculus; they can come in, set up Calm Minds alongside Virizion, while laughing at its STAB moves and its low power meagre Hidden Power Ice, and then OHKO it with STAB Psycho Shock. Thundurus and Tornadus also both outspeed and can either OHKO with Hurricane or cripple with priority Thunder Wave, and both have priority Taunt to stop Virizion setting up the set-up. For these reasons, A Pokemon that can eliminate these threats is therefore a good partner for Virizion. Tyranitar is one of the best because it can use Pursuit and Crunch to eliminate the Psychic-type counters, and Stone Edge to get rid of the last two while Thundurus and Tornadus can be dealt with by STAB Stone Edge. Specially bulky Scizor can also do this to an extent, although Thundurus can be hard to take down due to its secondary Electric typing.</p>
[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move1: Swords Dance
move2: Close Combat
move3: Stone Edge
move4: Leaf Blade / Hidden Power Ice
item: Life Orb / Leftovers
nature: Jolly
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>With Swords Dance, Virizion only needs one turn of setup to set up to start sweeping, as opposed to the Calm Mind set, which that usually needs two or three turns to make an impact. However, it doesn't do anything for boost Virizion's defenses (Close Combat lowers them), so it Virizion will usually have less turns to inflict damage before it gets knocked out. Swords Dance is the boosting move of choice, skyrocketing the musqueteer's musketeer's Attack to a beastly 558. Virizion can then make good use of a very powerful STAB Close Combat that destroys anything that doesn't resist or is immune to it, while Stone Edge grants a great coverage, hitting the Flying-types for super effective damage. The last slot is a choice between two moves; but Leaf Blade is usually the better choice, since it provides Virizion with a second good STAB move to work with, netting the OHKOs on the bulky Ground- and Water-types.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>On the last slot, Leaf Blade may seem like a much superior option than to a non-invested Hidden Power Ice. However, when one takes into account the fact that Gliscor is one of the best physical walls, Hidden Power Ice appears as a valid move for its ability to cripple the Ground / Flying-type that would otherwise be almost impossible to defeat, since it Gliscor, one of the best physical walls, can survive a +2 Leaf Blade and OHKO back with STAB Acrobat, the value of Hidden Power Ice immediately becomes apparent; Hidden Power Ice is a clean 2HKO on Gliscor, so all it takes is some prior damage on it to take it out.</p>
<p>When using this set, Virizion loses out on some important KOs on against the more defensive Pokemon, like the aforementioned Gliscor. but it can be part of a duo with another physical sweeper. Virizion can cripple it, However, Virizion does make a great partner for other physical sweepers, it can take large chunks out of the opposing team's walls, thus opening up a sweep for another teammate like Balloon Excadrill with Return or Swords Dance Blaziken. If one wants you want Virizion to be the main sweeper, Landorus can lure Gliscor in and OHKO it with Hidden Power Ice, opening up a sweep for the musqueteer musketeer.</p>
[Team Options]
<p>Like every other sweeper, Virizion is greatly helped aided by entry hazards, as they help it achieve some KOs it normally couldn't. Tentacruel is one of the best Pokemon to set for setting them up as it resists Fire-, Ice-, and the less common Poison-type attacks, while being able to set up both Spikes and Toxic Spikes and use Rapid Spin to keep them away of off your side of the field. They do share a Psychic-type weakness, which isn't advisable when one looks at the counters' section and see Virizion's several Psychic-type counters. Do be aware that Tentacruel and Virizion share a weakness to Psychic, however. Forretress shares a Fire-type weakness but, looking past that, with Virizion but otherwise they have good synergy together, and it can set up is adept at setting up every type of entry hazard as well as spinning them away too.</p>
<p>Since both sets can open some holes on the opponent's team, pairing Virizion with a sweeper that hits from the same side of the spectrum, attacking stat may often prove to be an efficient combination. One good partner is Trick Room Reuniculus, that enjoys not having Chansey / Blissey to switch in and stop its fun it enjoys the absence of Chansey / Blissey and can remove the Psychic-types with Shadow Ball to help Virizion. Other great partners are Swords Dance Terrakion and Excadrill that can often sweep if Gliscor is already out of the game.</p>
[Optional Changes]
<p>Virizion's support movepool is huge, and it allows the musqueteer musketeer to perform a number of roles on your team, although it may not be as effective as other support Pokemon. It gets Reflect and Light Screen and it can perform a Dual Screen role, setting them both up so it can act as a dual screener; in that case, it should have a Bold nature and invest on investment in its HP and Defense, while using Giga Drain to survive long enough to prolong its lifespan so it can possibly set them screens up again later in the game. It also gets Toxic and Roar, being able to so it can act like a special wall and a phazer with after some defensive investment.</p>
<p>If one wants Virizion to act as a mixed sweeper, a Cheer Up set is a viable option; Hasty is the best nature and, alongside with max speed EVs and max Speed should be used in this case to allow it to tie with Terrakion and Infernape, with an optimal moveset that includes Close Combat, Giga Drain, and Hidden Power Ice as the best options for such set. Virizion is also a part of the legendary Fighting-type group and, as such, it has access to their signature move Sacred Sword; it has 30 less Base Power less than Close Combat but it does have two advantages: it doesn't lower Virizion's defenses and it bypasses the opponent's stats changes, which can be useful. This move can replace Close Combat on the Swords Dance set if the defenses drops prove to be unbearable.</p>
[Counters]
<p>Virizion's main counters are Latias, Latios, Reuniculus, Thundurus, and Tornadus; they all outspeed (using Trick Room on in Reuniculus's case) Virizion and can either OHKO it with Psycho Shock and or Hurricane or cripple it with priority Thunder Wave. Specially bulky Dragonite is much more used this generation thanks to Multi-Scale, and it can come in, tank an unboosted Hidden Power Ice, and cripple with Thunder Wave to make any attempt of attempts at a sweep void. Virizion also has some trouble in getting past Gliscor with the Swords Dance set, but first the opponent has to make sure it doesn't carry Hidden Power Ice or else Gliscor will be in big troubles of course Gliscor must watch out for Hidden Power Ice. Another Pokemon that can be problematic is Forretress, it that isn't weak to Fighting-type attacks and has a huge base Defense, being able so it's able to take a boosted attack and use Gyro Ball to do significant damage in return. For all of these Pokemon, Mixed Tyranitar is a great check for all of these Pokemon, abusing the Special Defense boost in Sandstorm the sand to KO Latios, Latias, and Reuniculus with Pursuit / Crunch, while the genies are taken down with Stone Edge and Foretress roasted with Fire Blast.</p>
[Dream World]
<p>Virizion doesn't have a Dream World ability.</p>
lots of odd prose and unnecessary verbosity unfortunately
