Shadow Victreebel PvP IV Deep-Dive

When you activate the Super Rocket Radar, you can fight the Decoy Grunts indefinitely. As it stands, the Decoy Grunts are the only ones that use Shadow Bellsprout and almost always have it as the capture reward . Given the volume of Decoy Grunts, Shadow Victreebel IVs are significantly easier to farm than any other Shadow Pokemon. The Decoy Grunts also reward standard Rocket Radar pieces and don’t take away from the standard GO Rocket Grunt pool, so you may as well put the Super Rocket Radar on and dodge Giovanni indefinitely (maybe taking it off before 0600, 1200, 1800, and 0000 so Giovanni doesn’t spoil your Balloons). 

If you spend your Super Rocket Radars as soon as you get them, then you’ve clearly been bamboozled by Team GO Rocket. Maybe hang on to the next one for a bit?

Razor Leaf and Leaf Blade are Shadow Victreebel’s bread and butter. The 2nd Charge Move boils down to your team comp and what situation you expect to be in. 9 times out of 10, you’re probably just throwing Leaf Blade, so you can save yourself a Charge TM by not worrying about it, if you can’t decide.

Acid Spray can help Victreebel get the damage it needs to farm down some opponents and/or support the team’s damage. In some late game scenarios or in teams with lower Fast Move pressure, it can have low impact though. 

Leaf Tornado is 5 energy less than Acid Spray, enabling it to mask as a Leaf Blade vs opponents who are tracking your energy. If the 50% chance to debuff the opponent’s Atk stat by 2 stages falls in your favor, it can support both your team and Victreebel’s win conditions even better than Acid Spray. Given that it is only a 50% chance, you can barely rely on it though.

Then finally, there’s Sludge Bomb, which is the nasty nuke that Fliers never seem to see coming. Smarter birds will usually use a Charge Move before you get the energy for it, and even in Victreebel’s better matchups it can have few opportunities to even get the energy to use it.

There’s also Solar Beam, which is a move Shadow Victreebel can learn. It mostly serves to make you spend 2-8 Charge TMs instead of 1-5. 

The tables below feature the IV spreads with a hyperlinked table that meet some of the more important stat checks highlighted in the article. It’s important to review the guide itself to make sure you’re getting what you want out of your Shadow Victreebel. For example, you may want a slightly higher Atk weight for more consistency and you can thrift a little bit on some of the stats.

General Good (136 Atk, 90 Def, 128 HP)

• For tie breakers, HP > Atk > Def
  • For the HP, mostly multipliers of 2 are significant
  • ex. 136.7 Atk/90 Def/132 HP would likely be better than 136 Atk/90 Def/133 HP
• >137 Atk for improved Froslass countering
• The Def featured is a soft minimum, so if you have a good looking Shadow Victreebel but it has <90 Def, it’s probably fine
  • I’d try to stay close to, if not above 90 Def, if possible just for consistency

The general recommendation for Shadow Victreebel is to have roughly 136 Atk, 90 Def, and at least 128 HP. The increased Atk weight enables it to manage Bastiodon (1-1), Vigoroth (1-1), Lickitung (2-2), Galarian Stunfisk (2-2), and Venusaur (2-1) better. The 128 HP can aid the Lickitung 0-0 and Toxapex 2-1, along with helping Victreel last that much longer in battle. >90 Def is to help the Vigoroth 1-1, along with keeping the 128 HP consistent. 

Despite being the most farmable Shadow Pokemon, you might fall short on our recommendations still. When thrifting, consider the following stat checks:

Shadow Victreebel Atk Breakpoints:

• 133.6, Diggersby 1-1 (1-2) & Umbreon (no flips)
• 135.11, Bastiodon 1-1, Medicham (no flips), & S!Walrein (no flips)
• 135.27+, Vigoroth 1-1 w/123 HP
  • 136.43 vs 0/15/10 Vigoroth
• 135.56+, Lickitung 2-2 (maybe 0-0) & Shadow Alolan Ninetales (no flips)
• 135.71, GFisk 2-2 avoid 3rd Rock Slide
  • 136.46 for Rank 2 (0/13/14), 137.94 for Rank 3 (0/15/11)
• 135.95, Venusaur 2-1
• 137.07, Froslass Counter Swap 1-no throw vs 2 Fast Move lead Froslass
  • Without the BP, you can cover Froslass that has a 1 Fast Move lead

Shadow Victreebel HP considerations:

• 122, Bastiodon 1-1
• ~123, Registeel 1-1
• 126, Lickitung 0-0 depending on IVs
  • 130 HP will be the most consistent
• 127, Umbreon 2-2
  • 131 HP if they land a Last Resort
• 128, Toxapex 2-1
• 132, Powder Snow Alolan Ninetales 2-1
• 134, Registeel 2-2 potential

As for Def, there really isn’t much to gain by going higher than 90. In general, it’s good to hug 90 to keep the HP consistent in scenarios where the opponent lands a Charge Move, but thrifting to ~88 shouldn’t cause too many issues. In general, having at least 135.71 Atk (ideally >136-136.46) can be the most important stat check, followed by HP. Given how “farmable” Shadow Victreebel can be, it could be mindful to hang onto several IV spreads that hit different stat weights.

Jason2890 frequents the front page of the leaderboard in GO Battle League and often flexes a variety of teams featuring Shadow Victreebel. So what kind of IVs is this Legend bringing? Initially, he used a high Def weighted/low Atk/low HP Shadow Victreebel. After realizing how many matchups he could gain with a higher Atk and HP weight, he transitioned over. Despite his consistent success, Jason is still hot on the grind, Super Rocket Radar turned on, looking for a Victreebel that hits the goldilocks zone highlighted in this guide. While high Atk is often enough, getting Lock-On’d down by Registeel isn’t great. That, and losing the 1-1 vs Galarian Stunfisk isn’t good either.

Shadow Victreebel is often as simple as “Razor Leaf + Shields” with no attention to IVs required. However, doing 1 more damage per Razor Leaf and having more HP to land 1 more Razor Leaf can pay off in tight situations. If you’re eyeing up your current Shadow Victreebel and feel it could be a smidge better, turn on your Super Rocket Radar and get hunting. If you don’t have a Super Rocket Radar hoarded up, then keep this guide in mind for the next takeover event!