Venusaur was a part of the legendary trio of fully evolved starters from the first Generation of Pokemon as well as the cover starter for Pokemon Green in Japan and Pokemon Leafgreen worldwide. Now that it is officially in Pokemon Sword and Shield, it remains a great competitive Pokémon with its pleasantly versatile Grass and Poison-type combo.
It can obtain some of the strongest grass moves of any grass type as well as some horrible ones that would make using Venusaur hilariously useless. If you’re trying to find out just how OP your Venusaur can get, or how incapable it can be, these are some movesets you’re welcome to try.
Updated January 17th, 2021 by Gene Cole: Venusaur landed in Galar just before the Isle of Armor update in Pokemon Sword & Shield, and since its arrival and new Gigantamax form it’s become even more dominant in online play than ever before. Pokemon Sword & Shield’s Battle Stadium have given Venusaur a whole new metagame to fight in, with more tools to try and mistakes to be made with this classic Grass-type from Kanto.
15 Good: The Angry Dinosaur (Power Whip, Stomping Tantrum, Swords Dance, Double Edge)
Venusaur is mostly highlighted by its Special Attack moves, but it’s important to recognize that its physical Attack stat is oddly just as powerful. This means you can often hit incredibly hard with some unusual attacks, catching foes off-guard who are ready to maximize their Special Defense in response.
The key combo here is Power Whip and Stomping Tantrum. The first is an immensely powerful move with low accuracy, while the second deals double damage if your move misses or fails. This means that you’ll be guaranteed damage whether you hit or miss, so long as you survive the turn. Otherwise, Swords Dance will maximize this new stat while Double Edge does some simple Normal-type damage.
14 Bad: Gigantamaxed (Frenzy Plant, Hyper Beam, Outrage, Sleep Powder)
With the new Gigantamax form, many people might look to Venusaur to just deal as much damage as possible with a single hit. This isn’t an inherently bad strategy, but Venusaur’s speed can prevent it from doing great with it. It might deal a lot of damage with its Max move versions of Frenzy Plant and Hyper Beam, but these often have only as much power as when Venusaur is at a normal size.
This might be more useful when using Sleep Powder first, but this status move will miss your opponent about a quarter of the time. This, combined with the turns lost to either confusion or recharging from these attacks, make for a nearly impossible climb back from your lost time.
13 Good: The Stat Monster (Skull Bash, Amnesia, Bulldoze, Razor Leaf)
If you don’t just want to deal hard damage, there are a few stat-raising moves that might make for an even more unexpected physical Venusaur. Skull Bash and Amnesia are the key ways to boost your defenses, with Skull Bash coming with some Normal-type Damage to sweeten the deal.
Meanwhile, Bulldoze will slow down your opponents enough that you can use your stat boosts before they attack. Lastly, Razor Leaf may deal low damage, but its high Critical Hit ratio means it can often hit opponents hard without being affected by their stat changes.
12 Bad: Poison Ivy (Venoshock, Toxic, Giga Drain, Protect)
With the removal of Toxic as a TM, the move is significantly rarer in Galar than the entire Pokemon series. Venusaur is still one of the oldest Pokemon that can learn it natively, but unfortunately, it can be a tad when put against titanic Dynamax foes.
The main strategy is to use Toxic before alternating with Giga Drain and Protect, with Venoshock as a high damage move for those resistant to Grass-types. However, this strategy will fail against nearly any Super Effective move and is entirely useless against any Steel-type Pokemon.
11 Good: Allysaur (Weather Ball, Terrain Pulse, Substitute, Charm)
Double Battles are some of the most competitive fields in Pokemon Sword & Shield’s online battles, and Venusaur has some great options for those looking for a cooperative teammate. When put with a Pokemon who can create Harsh Sunlight, Venusaur can even utilize the powerful hidden ability Chlorophyll to double its Speed for some unique tricks like a Fire-type Weather Ball.
Alternately, you can also combine it with Pokemon that create Terrain like Tapu Fini or Galarian Weezing, and use the Terrain Pulse move to deal Fairy and Psychic-type damage that normally is unheard of from this classic monstrosity. Last, Substitute can give it a great bit of protection while spamming Charm to lower the Attack stat of any physical threat.
10 Good: Mother Nature (Petal Dance, Frenzy Plant, Grassy Terrain, Giga Drain)
This is going to be your go-to move set for full-on Grass-type damage. Your strongest move is going to be Frenzy Plant at 150 damage, however, since it only has 5 power points you have about two other back up grass moves, that will take advantage of Venusaur’s high Special Attack.
Grassy Terrain should be used first before any other move to power up Grass-type moves by fifty percent and help Vensaur recover damage. These are the strongest Grass-type moves available, meaning each hit will be a 1-hit KO in a surprising number of matchups with the right setup.
9 Bad: Plain Support (Growl, Growth, Synthesis, Worry Seed)
All these moves are status changing moves with one healing move. It’s essentially the “Scary Buff Healer” moveset, where you hope that the opponent doesn’t knock you out in 1 hit while setting up a complicated series of defenses and disabilities on your opponent.
Your main strategy is to essentially make Venusaur use Growl until the opponent’s Pokemon becomes so fearful they can’t deal any damage, and follow it up Worry Seed to ensure it won’t be able to use its ability while a Double Battle partner hits the weakened foe. At the least, that’s the really best you can ask for with this damage-free moveset.
8 Good: Blooming Onion (Petal Dance, Grassy Terrain, Sunny Day, Solar Beam)
This move set’s strategy is based around the Solar Beam nuclear cannon set up you will do first. Grassy Terrain will heal Venusaur and upgrade Solar Beam’s attack while you use Sunny Day to get rid of the charge-up time. What you get is a 300 power move that will hit immediately every time you use it.
The benefits don’t end there, as Petal Dance is a super strong move at 120 damage for when your opponent messes with the weather. The main things you have to watch for in this set are Fire-type fighters, which will get their own dangerous damage boosts from the sunlight as well.
7 Bad: Flirty (Sweet Scent, Attract, Charm, Helping Hand)
With this odd potential build, your Venusaur is made unable to attack, but it sure can help its allies and tease your opponents with uncommon status moves. Attract can immobilize the opposite gender, Charm to lower attack, and Sweet Scent tops off this flavorful moveset by lowering Evasiveness.
Last is Helping Hand, just in case you want your Venusaur to cheer for your foes or Double Battle partner while it underwhelms your opponent. The most that will come out of using this move set on a Pokemon of the same gender is that it will kill your Venusaur, but slower.
6 Good: Red Mage (Leech Seed, Giga Drain, Sleep Powder, Petal Dance)
With this build, you’re essentially following the strategy of a Red Mage from Final Fantasy by adding status ailments to your opponent while supporting yourself with a chain of healing moves.
The real benefit of this move set is Sleep Powder, which is a good setup for using Giga Drain repeatedly without having to worry about damage for a few turns. Petal Dance, meanwhile, will just give you enough damage to take down the last foe when you’re an inch away from defeating your opponent.
5 Bad: Overgrown Fence (Light Screen, Grassy Terrain, Growth, Synthesis)
Also known as the “Why won’t you die!” Move set. This tank based move set turns your Venusaur into a non-damaging armored frog with healing abilities. Grassy Terrain grants some additional healing to all Pokemon standing on the ground while Growth boosts your unused damage stats, while Lights Screen protects your Venusaur even further.
If you end up in a tough scenario, you can at least keep spamming Synthesis to keep your wall of a Venusaur alive. Its defensive stats will easily be maximized and completely frustrate any opponent, but it’s rare that you’ll be able to outmatch most foes with Super Effective attacks.
4 Good: Old Reliable (Sleep Powder, Toxic, Magical Leaf, Hyper Beam)
With this pair of Poison and Sleep status moves, this classic Grass-type will often keep opponents on their toes without you ever having to let up on the damage. The biggest strategy of this move set is putting your opponent to sleep with Sleep Powder before hitting them with a Hyper Beam, giving you enough time to recharge and not get hit in return.
Alternately, using Toxic to ensure you’ll still damage your foe while you’re recharging is a great alternative if you don’t want to bother with Sleep Powder’s low accuracy. Magical Leaf, meanwhile, is just a great Grass-type move that takes advantage of Venusaur’s absurd special attack.
3 Bad: Tired Turtle (Sleeptalk, Toxic, Rest, Protect)
This will essentially change your frog-like Venusaur into the defensive turtle you thought he was as a kid. Sleeping with Rest will let you constantly heal yourself while Toxic damages your foe slowly, with Sleeptalk letting you cast it from your dreams and Protect giving you some defenses while Toxic doubles in damage each turn.
Unfortunately, Venusaur’s many weaknesses prevent this strategy from ultimately succeeding due to the high odds of being annihilated in one hit. This is an absolute shame given just how powerful it can be on other Pokemon like Milotic and Weezing, who lack the vulnerabilities that Grass and Poison regrettably have together.
2 Good: Hard Hitter (Venoshock, Frenzy Plant, Giga Impact, Synthesis)
This wide coverage moveset also comes with an added strategy for the high-power move Giga Impact. Giga Impact does more damage than nearly any other move in the game at the cost of your next turn, but this can be countered by using Synthesis afterwards if you have enough health to survive multiple hits.
Frenzy Plant does functionally the same thing, but combos with the Overgrowth ability to increase Grass-type damage when it’s health is in the red. Finally, Venoshock remains as a final tool to deal with pesky Fairy and Grass-type foes that might resist your other attacks.
1 Bad: (Tackle, Growth, Growl, Sweet Scent)
All four of these moves are the type of attacks you’d see a weak Bulbasaur use, but in a fully-evolved form. It basically disregards any of the good moves Venusaur can learn by having the player not learn them as they appear, sticking with the base moves it gets when you first pick it up.
This moveset is fine when you start a fresh new game of Pokemon Red & Blue, but nearly any battle past the first gym will end in total failure if you stick to this. Bulbasaur and Venusaur strive off of their unique Grass and Poison moves, and these status moves are simply not worth your time.
