Community POTW #34

[Kraleck]

Baton Pass Venomoth Issues...
Baton Passers probably should stick to Shield Dust primarily, with Wonder Skin for certain Pokemon you want to counter (Hypno-Ray Watchog). Damage with Added Status is slightly more common than straight-up Status Effects. Getting Paralyzed or Burned (or worse, Frozen) will affect your ability to buff and/or pass (your ability to make a second BPass will be hindered by Burns).

Because of moves like Curse, Shift Gear, Coil, and Quiver Dance, Haze is a bit more likely to appear, as are Roar, Whirlwind, Dragon Tail, and Overhead Throw. This means you need to be absolutely sure your allies can or have handled the Pseudo-Hazers, too.

Anything with Gyro Ball (or worse, Curse+Gyro Ball) can rip into a Quiver Dance buffed Pokemon, be it Venomoth or its BPass recipient. Weezing, Steelix, Forretress, Torkoal, Bronzong, Lickilicky, and Ferrothorn are prime Gyro Ball users.

Getting a passable Status Effect like Perish Song also shuts you down.

 

[maciscool]

Baton Pass Venomoth Issues...
Baton Passers probably should stick to Shield Dust primarily, with Wonder Skin for certain Pokemon you want to counter (Hypno-Ray Watchog). Damage with Added Status is slightly more common than straight-up Status Effects. Getting Paralyzed or Burned (or worse, Frozen) will affect your ability to buff and/or pass (your ability to make a second BPass will be hindered by Burns).

Because of moves like Curse, Shift Gear, Coil, and Quiver Dance, Haze is a bit more likely to appear, as are Roar, Whirlwind, Dragon Tail, and Overhead Throw. This means you need to be absolutely sure your allies can or have handled the Pseudo-Hazers, too.

Anything with Gyro Ball (or worse, Curse+Gyro Ball) can rip into a Quiver Dance buffed Pokemon, be it Venomoth or its BPass recipient. Weezing, Steelix, Forretress, Torkoal, Bronzong, Lickilicky, and Ferrothorn are prime Gyro Ball users.

Getting a passable Status Effect like Perish Song also shuts you down.

is watchog in the same tier as venomoth

 

[seth656]

Venemoth Hits All
Venemoth @ Black Sludge
EVs in Special Attack and Speed Obviously 4 in whatever i guess
Tinted Lens
Modest Nature
-Quiver Dance
-Bug Buzz
-Psychic
-Substitue
I think this set is pretty self explanatory. Quiver Dance to use behind a sub to get your special attack and speed up. Bug Buzz with Tinted Lens at base 90 with quiver dance affects everything at 1x or 2x so that will be your main attacking move. Psychic works to get super affective when bug buzz doesn't. Substitute is just there to get quiver dances up affectively.

 

[tecannon521]

Toxicmoth
- Toxic Spikes
- Venoshock
- Morning Sun/roost
- Energy Ball / Toxic
Item: Life Orb
Abilities: Wonder Skin/shield dust
EVs and Nature: Timid (+Spd, -Atk)
100 Hp / 152 Sp. Atk / 252 Spd
Just wanted to make a set that involves taking advantage of Toxic Spikes and Venoshock. Morning Sun/roost is for healing. Energy Ball for Ground types, Toxic in case of Rapid Spin or something like that.

anyone looking at using a healing move should think about using a gen iv moth. you might not have access to wonder skin but shield dust works in a similar way. the biggest benefit would be your healing move. roost has 10 PP and always heals half your health. morning sun has 5 PP and heals only a quarter of your health if its sand, rain, or hail. it might heal all of it in sun but its more practical having a reliable helaing move that you can use twice as much

 

[baseball.dude127]

Venomoth. Never used one, but here it goes...

SweepMoth
@leftovers
Modest Nature (+SpAtk, -Atk, -Def)
Sleep Powder
Quiver Dance
Bug Buzz
Substitute/Psychic/Sludge Bomb
252 SpAtk 248 Spd 4 HP

Similar to others, yet different. Pretty Simple Here. Put em to sleep w/ Sleep Powder, Quiver Dance it up to sweep, and kick butt w/ Bug Buzz. The last slot is whatever you like, Substitute lets you get off free qds, Psychic is a nice SpAtk move, while Sludge Bomb is STAB and can poison.

 

[Rotomknight]

venoqueen
ability:wonder skin
venomoth@leftovers
Attract
toxic
quiver dance
bug buzz

use attract then toxic and vice versa.
if your opponent has a brain, then they'll switch. so basically youll be forcing swithes and squeezing quver dances in. Your oponent will just switch and you create chaos.

 

[caninobranco]

Well I think every viable set got already covered so I'm just gonna say some things.

1st- Any sweeper set should only be used in lower tiers (because in OU Volcarona outclasses Venomoth) and all sweeper sets should use Tinted Lens (actually I would run Tinted Lens in any set that have at least 1 atacking move) cuz Venomoth coverage is ridiculous, baton pass sets can be tried at OU, but there are probably much better options.

2nd- Sludge Bomb is terrible it will only hit harder than Bug Buzz in very few pokes when you take into account Tinted Lens, basically it will only hit harder than Bug Buzz if bug is 4x times resisted by a pokemon AND the pokemon is not stell or if it is a grass pokemon with a secondary type resistant to bug and neutral to poison, I can only think of Nidoking/queen, Torterra, Infernape and Breloom as pokemons who are hit harder by Sludge Bomb than Bug Buzz and in Nidoking's case it is probably wiser to switch/pass due to sheer force Flamethrower and Infernape/Breloom are stuck in OU, so another atacking move like Giga Drain (which can kill Unaware Quagsire) or Psychic (which has perfect coverage with Bug Buzz after taking Tinted Lens into accounting) are better options.

3rd- Sets that don't have Quiver Dance (specially sets like Choice Specs/Scarf) are bad ideas in most cases because there are better pokes to use, maybe a set can based around Toxic Spikes can be an option but even so I would stick to Quiver Dance in Venomoth's case, specially since Roserade outclasses Venomoth as a Toxic Spiker.

 

[PokeMaster366]

I'm only gonna list weaknesses, so here they are.

Venomoth is going to be heavily reliant on Quiver Dance and other status moves, so taunting it is a good option. Whimsicott, Thunderus, Mienshao, Weavile, etc. Venomoth will be difficult to take out if he's given enough time to set up, and because of Tinted Lens, you'll find trouble trying to switch into him. Revenge killing is the only safe and easy option. Dragonite and Scizor do a good job of this. Skarmory can work well as a wall against him, but there's always Hidden Power to worry about. Paralysis also does a good job of crippling Venomoth. Venomoth can be a big threat in the UU environment, but if he is taunted early, he should be easily defeated.

 

[Meowmeow]

I like the concept of Venomoth, with the exception of its poor stats.

The ability to use is Wonder Skin unless you are using some attacking set. Then use Tinted Lens.

Quiver in fear
Nature: Timid/Modest
EVs: 252 Sp. Atk and speed, 4 hp
@: Life Orb/Black Sludge

Quiver Dance
Bug Buzz
Energy Ball/Sleep Powder
Psychic/Sleep Powder/Sludge Bomb

Pass the Dance
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 Sp. Atk and speed, 4 hp
@: Black Sludge

Quiver Dance
Baton Pass
Bug Buzz
Sleep Powder/Substitute

Indirect Combat
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 Sp. Atk and speed, 4 hp
@: Black Sludge

Toxic|Stun Spore
Sleep Powder
Venoshock|Bug Buzz
Disable/Toxic Spikes/Tailwind

Other Options
Agility is outclassed by Quiver Dance
Rage Powder can have some usage in doubles and triples
Not bulky enough for Roost or Morning Sun
You could try to build a physical set with Screech. That kind of set is likely to fail.
Substitute can be used on more than the Baton Pass set.

That's my take on Venomoth.

 

[Kraleck]

Getting Past Tinted Lens...
Tinted Lens gives you a "safe" option against those switching in and resisting you. However, Red Card, Sticky Barb, and Rocky Helmet won't help because they require Physical Contact - something Venomoth would be crazy to do.

Since you likely run into Quiver Dance with Tinted Lens, Trick, Switcheroo, and the Knock Off+Bestow combo can give it a Hold Item it won't want (Choice Band, Sticky Barb, Flame Orb, Iron Ball, Lagging Tail, etc.). If you don't see Quiver Dance, Fling with Iron Ball, Light Ball, or Flame Orb then Thief/Covet will help with damage then removing Veno's Choice Specs/Scarf.

Swapping in a bulky Pokemon will not protect you from Tinted Lens, but it will help with switching in if it can't 2KO you with a boost. Eviolite Dusclops can pull double duty with Pressure Ability.

Having your Ability changed via Skill Swap, Worry Seed, or Gastro Acid ruins your anti-switch-in potential. However, Simple Beam will ramp up Quiver Dances without effectively losing the Tinted Lens Multiplier, so Simple Beam is NOT an option for fighting against Venomoth (though it brings a sweet option for Doubles/Triples).

Having immunity to Venomoth's Moves will be far more advantageous than resisting them. Dark Types are immune to Psychic, Steel Types are immune to Sludge Bomb, Sap Sipper Pokemon are empowered by Solarbeam and Energy Ball, Flash Fire Pokemon are empowered by HP (Fire), and Bug Buzz is blocked by Soundproof. Soundproof Bastiodon blocks both of its usual STAB Moves, Flash Fire Houndoom wrecks HP (Fire) and Psychic, and Sap Sipper Azumarill and Zebstrika can drop Aqua Jet and Quick Attack (respectively) onto Energy Ball and Solarbeam like a hammer. The Zoroark-as-Toxicroak defense works with the start of a Battle, but then you have other issues.

A Solarbeam set is also useless if you can't keep your Sun going. Drizzle-toed, Abomasnow-Warning, and Sand Stream Tyranitar and Hippowdon can cause you grief.

Prankster+Taunt stops Quiver Dance, but Pranksters cannot stop Bug Buzz and Psychic (Dark is weak to Bug, remember). However, Sucker Punch is very viable against Choice or Quiver Dance users if they predict your offense poorly. Snatch prevents and gives you the benefit of Veno's Quiver Dance, giving speedsters like Purrloin, Persian, Purugly, and Zoroark a huge advantage.

You have to treat Venomoth like you would a combination of Volbeat/Illumise's defenses, Yanmega's Speed, and Beautifly's offenses - useless without boosts. It also needs to avoid Stealth Rock like any other Bug, so that also gives Veno's user cause for alarm. Quiver Dance does nothing for your Defense, making most Rock Type attacks fatal without Focus Sash (even then, the Stealth Rock issue is still there).

 

[UltimateVictini]

theres pretty good stuff about venomoth.....kinda

support moth
venomoth:Shield Dust/Wonder Skin
nature:timid
EV:252spd 252 hp 4 sp attck
item:sitrus berry/focus sash

moveset:

Tailwind/Substitute
Baton Pass
Quiver Dance
Toxic/Silver Wind

 

[JGillard]

This is a set I've been using for a while now.

...and she's dancing like he's never danced before!
Venomoth @ Focus sash
Ability: Tinted Lenses
Nature: Modest (+SpAtk, -SpDef)
EVs: 252 Hp/224 Spe/32 SpAtk
-Quiver dance
-Bug buzz/psychic
-Baton pass
-Sleep Powder

Venomoth makes a great lead. Start off by using sleep powder on your foe. Then proceed to get 1-3 Quiver dances in. Then it's your choice between baton passing to a stronger Pokemon, or using bug buzz/psychic yourself. Tinted lenses gives you 2x damage on any not-very-effective attack you use. It's a pretty good ability, especially for venomoth.
Focus sash is there in case your foe out-speeds you, or sleep powder misses on the first try.

 

[Shneak]

I have a pretty standard lead Venomoth on one of my PO teams. It can pass to any Special Attacker and dominate from there, as long as you have good attack coverage.

Venomoth @ Focus Sash
Ability: Shield Dust
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 HP/4 Def/252 Spd

- Sleep Powder
- Quiver Dance
- Baton Pass
- Bug Buzz

 

[tecannon521]

before everyone starts quoting me and explaining problems this set has i want to say that this is a complete GIMMICK set

doubles/triples support

item: focus sash
nature: timid
EVs: 252 SpAttk, 252 Speed, 4 HP
ability: tinted lens

Skill Swap
Rage Powder
Bug Buzz
Psychic

this set has some double/triple potential. focus sash allows you to live at least one turn. skill swap allows you to swap abilities with a partner. rage powder has priority allowing you to give your partner(s) a turn without taking damage. bug buzz and psychic are there for coverage attacks

my thought is to partner venomoth with slaking. you can skill swap with slaking and give it tinted lens making slaking have a nearly unresisted STAB working off a monster attack stat. your next turn (or the turn after depending on if truant would kick in) can be used to either skill swap truant onto an opponent or to use rage powder to protect slaking. and worst case scenario is that venomoth gets killed after it skill swaps and truant is no longer in play

as i have said... this is a GIMMICK set so dont quote it pointing out flaws

 

[MetalCrow]

Skill swap would be awesome if it worked on Truant... Heck, anything would be good if it worked on Truant.... Unfortunately not, though... But Skill Swapping one of Venomoth's abilities onto a sweeper at the start of a battle would be awesome... If Venomoth could survive an attack from multiple opponents prior to the swap...

P.s. I feel obligated to note that I made no quotation of anybody

 

[Dark-Tyranitar]

truant works with entrainment... which however is only available to durant.

 

[The Lord 67]

So... Venomoth, introduced in Red/Blue/Green, has been horribly weak until the 5th generation.

ABILITIES

Shield Dust= Can be useful in some sets, but mainly stick to Tinted Lens.

Tinted Lens= Doubles the power of NVE moves? Yes please!

Wonder Skin= See Shield Dust.

MY SET

Toxmoth
Venomoth @ Toxic Sludge/Life Orb
Trait: Tinted Lens
EV's: 4 HP, 252 SAtk, 252 Spd
Modest (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Quiver Dance
- Toxic
- Roost
- Solar Beam/Bug buzz/Sludge Bomb
NOTE: MUST BE IMPORTED FROM 4TH GEN!
Right, this is simple. Use Toxic, then Quiver Dance, using Roost to heal off damage. Next, destroy using Solar beam on Sun teams, Bug buzz for a STAB move, or Sludge Bomb to abuse Tinted Lens.

COUNTERS

Steels wall Venomoth brilliantly, Stealth rock deals heavy damage, rock in general hurts, Fire obliterates Venomoth, and actually any STAB move has a good chance of OHKOing it.

 

[Dark-Tyranitar]

i actually kind of expected venomoth to be in the rubbish bug special like said in the rotom special...

but i guess thats saved for the likes of butterfree, beedrill, etc.

 

[Vandslaux]

i actually kind of expected venomoth to be in the rubbish bug special like said in the rotom special...

but i guess thats saved for the likes of butterfree, beedrill, etc.

Like last gen, when all the rubbish bugs would be grouped together? Beedrill, Ledian, Venomoth, Butterfree, etc.

And that Skill Swap set: actually, worst case scenario is Venomoth not getting to Skill Swap because both opponents attacked Venomoth.

 

[tecannon521]

Skill swap would be awesome if it worked on Truant... Heck, anything would be good if it worked on Truant.... Unfortunately not, though... But Skill Swapping one of Venomoth's abilities onto a sweeper at the start of a battle would be awesome... If Venomoth could survive an attack from multiple opponents prior to the swap...

P.s. I feel obligated to note that I made no quotation of anybody

skill swap is the only way to get rid of truant. simple beam, entertainment, and worry seed dont work on a pokemon with truant. you can still use entertainment to give something truant though