Victreebel: Annoying, Disruptive, and Scrumdiliumcious

Hey guys, pgmcsskater back with another deck analysis. This time it’s going to be my personal favorite rogue deck right now, Victreebel. Yes, I did just say it. Victreebel. You know that one Pokemon that no one would think would be playable. First off, the Pokemon itself is not cool looking. Who likes a bell with vines coming out that swallows James whole whenever it comes out of its Poke Ball? Actually, I haven’t seen the show in a long time, so I wouldn’t know. Sorry guys, excuse my tangent. (Prepare to be amazed you people who are laughing right now at me for thinking this deck is even playable.)

Let’s get back to the deck now.

The Victreebel that is the star of the deck is the one from HeartGold & SoulSilver: Triumphant.

It’s a Stage 2 Grass-type Pokemon that has 110 HP, a weakness to Fire, and 2 retreat cost, but that’s not where it shines. For 2 energy (a Grass and a Colorless), “Acidic Drain” does 30 damage, the defending Pokemon is now burned and poisoned, and Victreebel heals 30. You might say they could just retreat to stop the burn and poison, but Victreebel has an awesome Poke-Body. “Tangling Tendrils” states that as long as Victreebel is active, your opponent’s retreat cost is 2 more. Plus, under Trainer-lock, your opponent can’t Poke Turn or Warp Point/Switch out of it. The damage output might not be as heavy as a lot of the Pokemon in this format, but you burn, poison, and heal for 2 energy.

I, personally, appreciate Vileplume, so my list runs Spiritomb and Vileplume. I hate Trainer-lock because it’s stressful and annoying. So, I decided to just play with Trainer-lock because I want my opponents to feel my pain. Mwahaha. Never mind, ignore that statement and don’t think I’m a sadist. Seriously speaking, I think VileTomb helps Victreebel to keep its disruption, set up more consistently, and slow your opponent down enough to where you can fully set up without being behind.

Other Pokemon I run in this build.

Spiritomb
Spiritomb is the starter you want. Unlike Gengar/Vileplume, Victreebel is not almost guaranteed a Turn 1 Trainer-lock start. But, when you start Spiritomb with either Bellsprout, Oddish, or a Call, you will have a heyday. Not only does Spiritomb lock Trainers while it’s active, it has a free attack, “Darkness Grace”, that lets you evolve one of your bench Pokemon with its next stage from your deck.

Uxie
Uxie, without Claydol, is the best draw card in this format. “Set Up” allows you to draw until you have 7 cards in your hand when you play Uxie from your hand. Also, it has a decent and sometimes useful attack for 1 Colorless; you can do 20 and choose to put it with all cards attached to the bottom of your deck.

Just a quick side note: I participated in Rip-A-Claydol Day. I cried tears of sadness. Not really. Just trying to get the point across.

Unown Q
Unown Q is awesome. An amazing card that allows you to attach it from your bench to another Pokemon to give it 1 less retreat cost. So, your Uxie would have free retreat, your Spiritomb would have free retreat, and your other Unown Q would have extra free retreat.

Victreebel LA
This card is scrumdiliumcious. For free, you can “Luring Flame” a Pokemon and also poison them. This card is very disruptive, even more so than Blaziken FB. (The actual attack is called “Luring Scent,” but I thought comparing it to a popular attack would get the point across better. Sorry to anyone I confused. I send my greatest apology and certainly my non-existent respect.) On top of that, it has a heavy cost attack (2 Grass and a Colorless) that does 60, and, at the end of your opponent’s turn, you get to discard an energy card from their defending Pokemon. If you include poison, burn, 60, plus the effect, it hits very hard. Plus, this is your Dialga G LV.X counter.

Techs
As for techs, I really don’t know of any that would be effective in this deck. Maybe Ditto would be a nice addition or Toxicroak G Promo.

Match-ups

LuxChomp: 50-50
It might take a lot of time, but if you can hold up the disruption and constantly dish out the Victreebel, you can win this match-up. It may take 20 turns and come down to 1 prize each, but you should come on top.

DialgaChomp: 40-60
Like the match-up before, just disrupt. If they get Dialga G LV.X out, just constantly burn/poison it and make your opponent waste their resources to keep it alive and on the field. However, this match-up is a little harder because Dialga G LV.X shuts off your Poke-Bodies, thus allowing them to play Trainers and retreat for their regular cost.

Machamp: 70-30
If you can stop their Trainers early on, you should be able to come on top easily. Even though they have 130 or 150 HP, the burn and poison should make it harder for them to stay alive. They also won’t be able to set up Machamp left and right under Trainer lock. Yet, if they play Umbreon tech, Victreebel LA with Rescue Energy is your friend.

VileGar: 70-30
This match-up is very easy. You set up just as fast as they do, you don’t play many Poke-Powers so “Shadow Room” is almost useless, and burn/poison gets you around Fainting Spell.

Sablelock/Chenlock: I don’t know
I haven’t actually tested against this so that would be a great thing to test out.

* 40 to 50 HP doesn’t really matter, but its attack overshadows the others. “Inviting Scent” allows you to switch their active.

Conclusion

This deck is very good at disruption and giving out status conditions. However, when you meet that one Steelix or Charizard deck, almost always expect a loss. You could win if you got a “God” hand and your opponent got the lone Basic start with nothing in hand. Also, I don’t recommend this deck in a tournament. It takes too long to win. It’s just like Gliscor/Spiritomb and takes a long time to chip away at your prizes. So, you would most likely lose in time.

Thanks guys for reading. I hope you enjoyed it. Comment or say how much it sucked below.