GP: CryoGyro
[OVERVIEW]
**Psychic:**
* Victini plays a big role on Psychic teams as a check to Bug- and Steel-types thanks to its Fire typing.
* It's especially useful in checking Volcarona, which is a huge threat to Psychic teams, as it can Speed tie with it, take a +1 Bug Buzz, and always OHKO it with V-create.
* Victini is also the best physical wallbreaker Psychic teams have access to.
* It has base 100 stats across the board, which gives it decent bulk, offensive capabilities, and Speed.
* Victini has access to an insanely powerful STAB move in V-create, which allows it to function as a great wallbreaker, especially with Choice Band.
* Victini is a great Choice Scarf user thanks to its good Speed and pivoting capabilities with U-turn.
* It has a great movepool with coverage options like Bolt Strike and a great tool in Blue Flare, which helps it sweep Bug teams.
* Unfortunately, its Fire typing gives it a weakness to Stealth Rock, which heavily limits its pivoting capabilities, as well as common offensive types in Water, Ground, and Rock.
* Although it sits at a solid Speed tier, Victini can be outsped and revenge killed by faster Pokemon like Terrakion, Keldeo, and Nihilego, especially after a Speed drop from V-create.
[SET]
name: Choice Band (Psychic)
move 1: V-create
move 2: Bolt Strike
move 3: U-turn
move 4: Trick
item: Choice Band
ability: Victory Star
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* V-create is Victini's strongest and most spammable attack because it deals a massive amount of damage to Pokemon that don't resist it, often 2HKOing them. Walls that do resist it like Mantine and Torkoal still take a huge amount of damage. It's especially useful for hitting Bug- and Steel-types that Psychic teams have trouble dealing with.
* Bolt Strike takes care of Water-types that try to switch in on V-create such as Toxapex and Mega Slowbro.
* U-turn lets Victini pivot around or get momentum when predicting the opponent to switch out.
* Trick allows Victini to cripple passive Pokemon that can be annoying to take out such as Gastrodon.
Set Details
========
* Maximum investment in Attack with a Choice Band allows Victini to hit as hard as possible, enabling it to KO walls like Landorus-T, Hippowdon, and Toxapex with the appropriate move.
* Maximum investment in Speed is used along with a Jolly nature to let Victini Speed tie with other base 100 Speed Pokemon such as Volcarona and Manaphy, outspeed Pokemon like Landorus-T and Kyurem-B, and outspeed Rotom-W even at -1.
* Victory Star increases the accuracy of Victini's V-create and Bolt Strike.
Usage Tips
========
* Victini can be sent out at any point of the game to wallbreak and weaken foes for teammates like Latios and Mega Alakazam to clean up.
* Victini can bluff a Choice Scarf set in order to lure in and KO walls like Hippowdon and Slowbro.
* Choice Band should be revealed when trying to surprise the opponent with a strong Choice Band-boosted V-create. Gaining momentum with U-turn is much more effective once the opponent knows Victini's using Choice Band.
* V-create can be spammed with freedom because it can break almost all of Victini's defensive checks. However, it will be forced to switch out the turn after due to the stat drops.
* Trick should be used against Steel teams to allow Victini to switch between Bolt Strike and V-create, effectively breaking the team. Keep in mind that Victini may recieve a useless item like Rocky Helmet after using Trick, however.
* Barring that example, however, losing Choice Band is almost never worth the move freedom.
* Victini should be kept away from entry hazards to remain as healthy as possible throughout the game.
Team Options
=======
* Since this Victini set needs to switch out more often, pivots such as Jirachi, Celebi, and Slowbro are great partners.
* Jirachi and Celebi can set Stealth Rock, giving Victini an easier time wallbreaking. Additionally, Jirachi can bring it in safely through a U-turn, restore Victini's health with Wish, and cripple faster Pokemon with Thunder Wave, and Celebi can absorb status and switch into Ground- and Water-types for Victini.
* Thanks to its amazing bulk, Slowbro can check most physical attackers. It can also cripple faster Pokemon with Thunder Wave.
* Deoxys-S can stack entry hazards like Spikes and Stealth Rock, which increases Victini's offensive presence tremendously. Deoxys-S can also set up dual screens, which helps keep Victini safe and is useful against offensive teams.
* Latios can remove entry hazards with Defog, provide a Ground immunity, switch into Water-types like Keldeo, and wallbreak alongside Victini.
* Cleaners like Double Dance Mew and Mega Alakazam appreciate Victini's wallbreaking abilities.
* Due to the lack of Choice Scarf on this set, alternate Choice Scarf users like Meloetta and Gardevoir can be used.
* Meloetta is a great partner that can check Ghost-types like Gengar thanks to its Normal typing.
* Gardevoir can check Dark-types thanks to its Fairy typing, and weather users like Excadrill and Kingdra thanks to its ability Trace.
[SET]
name: Choice Scarf (Psychic)
move 1: V-create
move 2: Bolt Strike
move 3: U-turn
move 4: Blue Flare
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Victory Star
nature: Hasty
evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* V-create is Victini's strongest STAB move and is easily spammable due to its incredibly high Base Power. It's useful for hitting Bug-, Steel-, Grass-, and Ice-types such as Volcarona, Celesteela, Serperior, and Alolan Sandslash.
* Bolt Strike targets Water-types that attempt to switch in on a Fire-type move such as Gyarados and Azumarill.
* U-turn lets Victini pivot around and gain momentum when predicting the foe to switch out.
* Blue Flare is Victini's secondary Fire-type STAB move and useful for late-game cleaning against Steel- and Bug-type teams since it doesn't cause stat drops like V-create.
Set Details
========
* Maximum investment in Speed with a Hasty nature and Choice Scarf is used to outspeed or Speed tie with threats like +1 Mega Gyarados, +1 Porygon-Z, and +1 Volcarona.
* Maximum investment is made in Attack in order to maximize Victini's damage output.
* A Hasty nature is preferred over Naive to allow Victini to deal with Volcarona better.
* Victory Star increases the accuracy of V-create, Bolt Strike, and Blue Flare.
Usage Tips
========
* Keep Stealth Rock off the field, as it limits Victini's pivoting capabilities.
* Choice Scarf Victini is a great revenge killer because it outspeeds most unboosted Pokemon and can hit them with its powerful V-create.
* However, the drop in its Speed and defenses after using V-create makes it easy to revenge kill and setup fodder, which forces it to switch out.
* Switching it in on entry hazards should be avoided to preserve its health and longevity.
* Keep Victini healthy, especially in the Bug and Steel matchups where it needs to check threats like Volcarona and Mega Scizor.
* Locking Victini into a coverage move can sometimes turn it into setup bait. For example, while it may seem like Blue Flare can be spammed in the Bug matchup, Volcarona can use Victini to set up if it locks itself into Blue Flare. Therefore, use Blue Flare to clean up Bug teams after Volcarona is gone.
* Victini can often be used as a lead and can scout the opponent's play with U-turn.
* U-turn should also be used to pivot out of checks like Porygon2 and Gastrodon.
* Although its bulk is decent, it should avoid switching in on powerful attacks such as Tapu Koko's Thunderbolt and Scolipede's Megahorn.
* Keep Victini away from poison and paralysis; poison cripples its longevity and limits its ability to pivot around, and paralysis halves its Speed, rendering it almost useless.
Team Options
========
* Choice Scarf Victini is a staple pick on Psychic teams due to its ability to check Bug- and Steel-types as well as revenge kill.
* Jirachi is a great partner to Victini, as it can pivot into strong special attacks as well as check Rock-types like Nihilego. Jirachi can also set Stealth Rock, bring Victini in safely through a slow U-turn, and give Victini another chance to clean up with Wish.
* Mew can set Stealth Rock while being able to stallbreak and remove common checks to Victini such as Porygon2 and Quagsire. Double Dance Mew appreciates having Victini bring it in safely via U-turn and give it more opportunities to set up. In return, Mew can wallbreak with +2 Genesis Supernova and set Psychic Terrain, which protects Victini from priority moves like Sucker Punch.
* Celebi can switch into Water- and Ground-types easily. It can also absorb status thanks to its great ability in Natural Cure and set Stealth Rock.
* Deoxys-S can stack entry hazards such as Spikes and Stealth Rock to wear down the opposing team, making it easier for Victini to clean up.
* Latios and Latias can get rid of Stealth Rock with Defog. They also provide a much-appreciated Ground immunity and a switch-in to Water-types like Rotom-W.
* Slowbro can switch into and check many physical attackers that threaten Victini such as Terrakion and Rhyperior. With a Colbur Berry, it can additionally check Dark-types like Mega Sharpedo and Mega Gyarados with Thunder Wave and Grass Knot.
* Mega Slowbro and Victini can take out Steel teams more easily together. Mega Slowbro appreciates having Victini wear down the opposing team with V-create, as that allows it to set up and clean up more easily. Conversely, Mega Slowbro is a great switch-in to Knock Off for Victini.
* Mega Alakazam is a good special attacker that can beat many of Victini's checks, such as Heatran and Kingdra, thanks to its ability Trace.
* Meloetta is a great check to Ghost-types like Alolan Marowak and Choice Scarf Gengar thanks to its Normal typing. It can additionally wallbreak and let Victini clean up more easily.
* Gardevoir is a great partner due to its ability to check Dark-types thanks to its Fairy typing as well as Swift Swim Kingdra and Sand Rush Excadrill with its useful ability in Trace.
* Gothitelle can trap and remove many of Victini's checks such as Porygon2 and Heatran.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
**Psychic:**
* Flame Plate can be used on Trick Room teams to turn V-create into a strong spammable STAB move while enabling Victini to switch moves.
* Zen Headbutt is an option on Victini to give it a secondary STAB move that's spammable against Fighting teams; however, its damage output is quite low and doesn't provide any other useful coverage.
* A set with Will-O-Wisp can act as a lure for threats like Bisharp to avoid Sucker Punch while crippling it; however, it's quite useless outside of this and is generally inferior to the other sets.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Psychic:**
**Heatran**: Heatran checks Victini thanks to its Flash Fire ability. However, it needs to watch out for Choice Band-boosted Bolt Strike because it 2HKOes offensive Heatran.
**Dragon-types**: Dragon-type Pokemon such as Garchomp and Dragonite can take all of Victini's moves and force it to switch out.
**Gastrodon**: Gastrodon can switch into any Victini set and recover back to healthiness or fire off a STAB move; however, it needs to be wary of switching into Trick.
**Physically Defensive Walls**: Physically defensive Pokemon such as Porygon2 and Slowbro wall Victini unless it's running a Choice Band, in which case it can 2HKO both with the appropriate move.
**Fire-resistant Pokemon**: Water-, Fire-, and Rock-types like Keldeo, Mega Charizard X, and Terrakion can easily switch into Victini and take it out. Most Water-types, however, cannot switch into Bolt Strike well.
**Dark-types**: Dark-type Pokemon such as Greninja and Hydreigon can easily take out Victini with their STAB moves. Additionally, Pursuit trappers like Weavile and Alolan Muk can take advantage of Victini's Defense drop after using V-create and KO it. However, they don't appreciate taking a hit from Victini.
**Ground-types**: Bulky Ground-types like Gastrodon and Hippowdon can easily take a hit from Victini and KO it back with their STAB moves. Hippowdon cannot switch into Choice Band Victini, however. Sand Rush Excadrill can take out Choice Scarf Victini in sand, while Landorus can take out Choice Band Victini. Dugtrio can prevent Victini from switching out and take any hit thanks to Focus Sash.
**Revenge Killers**: Victini is prone to being revenge killed after dropping its defenses and Speed with V-create. Priority users like Azumarill and Bisharp can take it out with Aqua Jet and Sucker Punch, respectively. Faster Pokemon like Terrakion, Nihilego, and Greninja can also take it out easily.
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