Victini, The Victory Pokémon. This Pokémon brings victory. It is said that Trainers with Victini always win, regardless of the type of encounter. It creates an unlimited supply of energy inside its body, which it shares with those who touch it. When it shares the infinite energy it creates, that being's entire body will be overflowing with power.
Overview
Well it's September now and that means we'll be covering Victini this week in honor of its 20th Anniversary event that started running last Thursday. I was pretty excited for this one because Victini is the latest and arguably the greatest in the legendary 600 base stat crew. This wasn't always the case though. When it was first released through the launch event for Black and White it was actually pretty underwhelming to be perfectly honest. Especially when you compared it to Mew and Manaphy, and even Celebi and Jirachi for that matter because of their amazing utility and team support movepool. That all changed though in 2012 when it got another special event in Japan, and by the grace of Arceus it was gifted with Bolt Strike and Blue Flare. Moves previously exclusive to the cover Pokémon Zekrom and Reshiram. You have Bolt Strike which is stronger than Volt Tackle, but doesn't come with the nasty recoil, and it has a 20% chance to paralyze your opponent. Then you have Blue Flare which is a more powerful Fire Blast and comes with a higher burn rate as well. Sounds pretty impressive on its own right? Well they weren't done. They gave it its own exclusive 180 Attack move called V-create. A 180 FIRE STAB MOVE. It was so good that back in B/W people were using it over Blue Flare and Fire Blast on Special sets. Like that's just insane. Sadly though this story doesn't have an entirely happy ending. The event running this month only comes with its original moves Incinerate, Quick Attack, Endure and Confusion. You have my permission to cry.
Positives
+ 100 Base stats all across the board like Mew, Celebi, Jirachi, and Manaphy before it.
+ It has a solid ability in Victory Star which boosts the accuracy of all its moves and those of its squad mates out on the field by 10%. It's not the best ability in the world for sure, but like I said it's solid and anything that reduces the chance of having a miss hax ruin your day is always a major plus. Pretty much every competitive player I've ever met has a story where they lost because of a miss at a crucial point in a battle.
+ 180 STAB FIRE ATTACK in V-create. I cannot stress enough to you how amazing that is. It 2HKO's nearly everything in the game, and even the things that resist it are pretty much guaranteed to lose nearly a 1/3 of their HP on the switch.
+ Wide variety of other powerful event moves such as Bolt Strike, Blue Flare, and Glaciate that make it one of the best wall breakers in the game today. At this point Bolt Strike and V-create are almost mandatory on all Victini because it's just such a powerful combo.
Negatives
- While Base 100 is solid it doesn't exactly break any records either, especially speed wise.
- Fire and Psychic typing leaves is a pretty awful defensive typing. You'll have a lot of problems with Rock and Dark types, or both in Tyranitar's case who will also pursuit trap if you're not careful.
- Like most Fire types Victini has a weakness to all entry hazards, so it heavily depends on its squad to get those out of the way before it's sent to the battlefield.
- Without its event moves V-create and Bolt Strike it has a hard time accomplishing much of anything anymore.
Abilities
Victory Star: Accuracy for the Pokémon and Allys is raised by 10%. Victory Star is a solid ability. the 10% accuracy boost means you won't have to worry about your V-creates missing, and you'll worry a little less about using Focus Blast. It's admittedly better in Doubles and Triples though because it also raises your squad's accuracy too instead of just that of its own moves.
Movesets
V-create for Vendetta
- V-create
- Bolt Strike
- Uturn
- Trick
Item Attached: Choice Band
Ability: Victory Star
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 Def
Jolly/ Adamant Nature
This is my favorite Victini set because it maximizes V-creates crazy destructive power, and you don't have to sacrifice any of your HP to a Life Orb. V-create is Victini's most powerful STAB move by a huge margin and one of the powerful attacks in the entire game. It 2HKO's anything that doesn't resist it, and even the few Pokémon that do manage V-create's raw power are looking at looking at losing roughly a third of their HP. It's ridiculously awesome Bolt Strike is also very strong coverage move. It was previously only available to Zekrom, and it hits Water-types such as Azumarill, and Slowbro super effectively. It also gets good powerful neutral coverage in on things like Heatran and Tyranitar, and it has a 20 percent chance to paralyze them as well. U-turn is Victini's scouting move and it helps it wear down Latias & Latios and Rotom-W, and you get a free switch in for your team on top of that. There's not really a mandatory final slot. Most people take trick because it can free of its Choice Band restraints if you're in a bad situation late in the match or something and it can also cripple walls like Quagsire.. which is one of the few walls Victini has a problem going up against sometimes.
Victini the Victorious
- V-create
- Bolt Strike
- Glaciate
- Energy Ball / Focus Blast
Item Attached: Life Orb
Ability: Victory Star
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 96 Atk / 160 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
You'll see this set a lot because it really maximizes Victini's overall wallbreaking potential. Which is really going to be Victini's only job on your team because its previous incarnations like Celebi and Jirachi have a much more diverse support movepool. Anyways you know V-create and Bolt Strike's story already. They're just so good they're pretty much mandatory on all Victini's set these days. Even mixed one. Glaciate helps Victini to KO Dragons such as Garchomp and the Lati siblings, as well as one of the handful of Ground-types that are physically bulky enough to comfortably switch into V-create like Gliscor or Landorus-T. It can also slow down faster enemies like Starmie, giving Victini the oppurtunity to outspeed them on the next turn and take them out. There's not really a mandatory last slot here on this set either. Energy Ball allows Victini to 2HKO Rotom-W, and Slowbro which otherwise wall it. If your team is lacking an answer for your Heatran or Tyranitar problem. Focus Blast can also be used to 2HKO them, but both of those Pokémon will still take a lot of damage from Life Orb-boosted Bolt Strike and Energy Ball, respectively and Bolt Strike has the added 20% chance of crippling them with paralysis as well so Energy Ball is the better of the two choices in my opinion.
Happy Anniversary?
- Fire Blast
- Psyshock
- Energy Ball
- Focus Blast
Item Attached: Life Orb
Ability: Victory Star
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 Def
Timid Nature
I thought I'd post this set too for the people using the Anniversary event. It's not amazing by any means, but this is about as good as it gets.
Other Options
- Trick Room. I'd like to give a special shout out to the user Divine Retribution on the forums because before he brought it up I forgot that Victini even learned Trick Room because I've only seen it a handful of times recently. If you're looking to catch your opponent off guard though and do a lot of damage in the process there's nothing better than running a Trick Room set. With its previous speed drops from using V-create essentially becoming speed boosts instead it's pretty terrifying to come across if you're not prepared..and you are not prepared.
- Brick Break. Back in B/W it was actually standard on most Choice Band sets because it hits Heatran and Tyranitar harder than anything else in your arsenal so it's worth noting. However Bolt Strike already hits both of them pretty hard and it has the added chance to potentially paralyze them, and Trick has become more popular due to its ability cripple the few walls that Victini has trouble with now and it frees of its Choice lock.
- Zen Headbutt. It's a solid secondary STAB, and it can be used to 2HKO Mega Charizard-X.. which will wall you to death. On Choice Sets though most of the time you'll be spamming V-Create or Bolt Strike and then switching out so you don't really need it, and its coverage is a bit redundant besides that one exception.
VGC, Double, & Triple Battle Options
Although Victini is one of the banned mythical Pokemon for VGC 2016, it can be a lot of fun to use in doubles and triples formats where it is legal. Generally only Pokemon that are immune to fire enjoy taking a V-create, and Victini has plenty of other strong moves at its disposal. Although Victini hates moves like Sucker Punch from Mega Kangaskhan or Earthquake from Landorus-T, the damage it can do with V-create makes it very intimidating to face.
V-destruction
-V-create
-Bolt Strike
-Zen Headbutt / Final Gambit
-U-turn / Final Gambit / Protect
Item Attached: Choice Scarf / Choice Band / Life Orb
Ability: Victory Star
EVs and Nature:
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly / Adamant Nature
The nature and EVs are pretty straightforward, but can be adjusted depending on what you need Victini to outspeed. Max attack is a given, and Adamant is can be the chosen nature if you have reliable speed control or are running the Choice Scarf set. A Jolly nature is generally wanted if you run Choice Band or Life Orb. A Jolly nature with the Choice Scarf can ensure Victini outspeeds just about anything, as you only need 184 EVs in speed to outspeed Jolly Choice Scarf Landorus-T (the same is true if you are Adamant and want to outspeed Adamant Scarf Landorus-T), and 220 EVs to outspeed a Modest max speed Ludicolo in the rain. Choice Scarf allows Victini to hit hard quickly, and it can even still outspeed many Pokemon after using V-create once and getting a speed drop. Choice Band, like in singles, hits ridiculously hard, while Life Orb allows you to switch moves or use Protect while still having your moves boosted. Victory Star is its only ability, but a good one, as it boosts not only the accuracy of its own moves (like Bolt Strike and Zen Headbutt), but also that of its teammate.
V-create hits ridiculously hard with that base 180 power, STAB boost, and Victini's nice base 100 attack. It's the reason you use Victini. Bolt Strike allows Victini to hit water types super-effectively, and should always be used over Fusion Bolt due to the noticeable power increase, and that Victory Star makes up for most of the accuracy difference. Protect is always preferred on a non-Choice set since it can help Victini absorb a Fake Out (especially if they think you may be Choiced and attack) and allow its teammate to help set it up or take out a threat for it. Zen Headbutt is the strongest physical Psychic STAB Victini can use, and gets a nice Victory Star boost while also having a 20% to flinch the opponent. U-Turn is great for momentum and especially works well on the Choice Scarf set to quickly get Victini out of an unfavorable matchup while providing some chip damage. Final Gambit is again best on the Choice Scarf set, and works well with Victini's base 100 HP stat. Final Gambit can quickly clear (or at least massively damage) a threat on the opponent's team should you choose to sacrifice Victini.
Other Options
-Safety Goggles, especially on a Trick Room team (or to counter Trick Room), can be very effective to ignore Spore and Rage Powder from Amoongus, and become "faster" after using V-create under Trick Room due to the speed "drop." You can run a Brave nature on a dedicated Trick Room team to maximize this effect.
-Trick works well on the Choice Scarf and Band sets to cripple a support or bulky Pokemon like Cresselia.
-Quick Attack is Victini's only priority move, but is fairly weak.
-Substitute can help Victini ignore status moves, and ensure it can take an additional hit even after the defensive drops from V-create.
-A special set is generally inferior to the physical one due to V-create's power, but Victini has a wide variety of special fire moves to choose from. Blue Flare and Searing Shot are generally the best two. Blue Flare is superior to Flamethrower, Fusion Flare, Fire Blast, and Overheat due to its higher power (without the special attack drop of Overheat) and good accuracy thanks to Victory Star. Searing Shot is a spread move that has more power than Heat Wave, and it also has a 30% chance to burn like Lava Plume. The use should be aware that it does also hit Victini's teammate, however.
-Psychic and Psyshock are Victini's best special Psychic STAB moves.
-Glaciate is a buffed Icy Wind that can lower the speed of both opponents.
-Victini has a wide variety of special coverage moves that help cover any weaknesses the team has, including Energy Ball, Shadow Ball, Thunderbolt, Focus Blast, Signal Beam, and Dazzling Gleam, but again, the special set is generally inferior to the physical.
-Hidden Power Ground is generally only for one target: Heatran. Heatran can freely switch into a V-create or other fire move due to its ability, and generally doesn't mind taking any other move Victini can use against it.
-Although Victini generally wants to leave a teammate to set up Trick Room for it, Victini does learn it as well if you want to surprise the opponent.
-They may be tough to fit on a set without dropping a coverage move, but Will-o-Wisp, Taunt, Thunder Wave, Safeguard, and Light Screen are all strong support options that go well with Victini's high base speed.
-Psych Up can be used to copy a Dragon Dance or Swords Dance and really become a major threat.
Countering Victini
There aren't a lot of true counters to Victini seeing as how V-create can even put a huge dent into Pokémon that resist it, but it does run into some trouble with Pursuit trappers. Like especially on the Choice Band set you're going to be Tyranitar food before you get the chance to take out your opponent's walls if you don't scout ahead with Uturn first. Heatran is immune to V-create all together thanks to its ability, but it will still take a lot of damage from a banded Bolt Strike. Dragon Types also give Victini some pause too if you're not packing Glaciate because they resist both V-create and Bolt Strike, and Mega Latias can shrug those without taking a whole lot of damage and Mega Charizard- X is only afraid of the rare Psychic type stab. Even some bulky Water Types like Slowbro will be annoying to get around even with a banded Bolt Strike unless you're catching them on the switch first because they're just bulky enough to survive a hit on standard sets and take you out, but Gastrodon and Quagsire only will retreat from your Tricks unless you're running the mixed set so make sure you are extra careful about that. There a few others you'll come across occasionally too but those are the most common ones that aren't going to fall to the V-create+Bolt Strike combo.
Locations in Games
Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald:
Not in game
FireRed/LeafGreen:
Not in game
Colosseum/XD:
Not in game
Diamond/Pearl/Platinum:
Not in game
HeartGold/SoulSilver:
Not in game
Black/White:
Liberty Garden
Black 2/White 2:
Trade from Black/White
X/Y:
Event only
Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire:
Event only
Animé Appearences
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Victini has made a few appearances in the anime. In the main appearance, Victini appeared in front of Ash and showed it had a special bond with the place of Eindoak
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