Pokemon GO: Best Victreebel Movesets, Listed

There are a few different ways to build your Victreebel in Pokemon GO. This guide includes its best PvE and PvP movesets.

Best Victreebel Movesets for Pokemon GO Gym Battles (PvE)

Best Offensive Victreebel Moveset for Pokemon GO Gym Battles

If you’re sending Victreebel out to take down opponents in Gyms, its best moveset is Razor Leaf and Leaf Blade. Razor Leaf doesn’t generate energy very quickly, but it deals a lot of damage. This actually works very well with Leaf Blade — Solar Beam has the higher damage per second (DPS) but Leaf Blade charges faster, synergizing with Razor Leaf. Leaf Blade also has a shorter damage window and move cooldown that are helpful in PvE, too.

Best Defensive Victreebel Moveset for Pokemon GO Gym Battles

For a Victreebel that’s left to defend a Gym, its best moveset is Acid and Sludge Bomb. Even though these attacks together are weaker than Razor Leaf and Leaf Blade, they will damage Fire- and Flying-type Pokemon neutrally. Victreebel is weak to both those types, so Trainers challenging the Gym will commonly opt for them when Victreebel is sent out. This moveset gives Victreebel a bit more of a fighting chance against the Pokemon that will give it the hardest time. Unless you have plenty of Victreebel to spare, however, you’re better off building it for offense.

Best Victreebel Moveset for the Pokemon GO Battle League (PvP)

Best Shadow Victreebel Moveset for the Pokemon GO Battle League (PvP)

Victreebel’s main claim to fame is its powerful Fast Move Razor Leaf, which can’t be blocked. The classic PvP moveset for Victreebel, which is fantastic on its Shadow variant, is Razor Leaf with the Charged Moves Leaf Blade and Acid Spray. Acid Spray isn’t as strong as Sludge Bomb, but Victreebel’s main method of dealing damage isn’t with Charge Moves, it’s with Razor Leaf. Acid Spray will lower the opponent’s defense even if they shield, making Razor Leaf even stronger. Leaf Blade’s quick charge time makes it an efficient way to remove one of the opponent’s shields when you want to prepare for a teammate to come in and hit with their own Charge Moves.

During special events such as World of Wonders: Taken Over earlier this year, you can use Charged TMs to help Shadow Pokemon replace their Charged Attack Frustration with a better move. Keep an eye out for these opportunities to teach both Leaf Blade and Acid Spray to Shadow Victreebel.

Best Regular Victreebel Moveset for the Pokemon GO Battle League (PvP)

Victreebel’s special Fast Move from April 2024’s Community Day, Magical Leaf, is more effective than Razor Leaf, but not by so much that Shadow Victreebel absolutely has to run it. Regular Victreebel, on the other hand, benefits from Magical Leaf a lot more, so if you’re going to use regular Victreebel on your PvP team, you should consider the moveset of Magical Leaf with Leaf Blade and Sludge Bomb. You could use this moveset on Shadow Victreebel as well, but the Shadow variant has more freedom to keep the Razor Leaf build if it would benefit your team or aligns with your preferred play style.

The crux of Victreebel’s Magical Leaf build is that while Magical Leaf doesn’t do nearly as much damage as Razor Leaf, it charges energy faster, so it can take down the opponent’s shields faster, too. Here, Leaf Blade stays as the ideal Grass-type Charge Move with high DPS and a quick charge time. For its second Charge Move, Sludge Bomb becomes more effective than Acid Spray when using Magical Leaf because it will charge up faster than when using Razor Leaf. The defense drop from Acid Spray isn’t as helpful for Magical Leaf, so Sludge Bomb ends up dealing more damage.

If you missed out on getting Magical Leaf for Victreebel during the April 2024 Community Day, there’s no need to worry: you can use an Elite Fast TM to choose Magical Leaf as its Fast Move.