Tropius [NU]

Tropius



Typing:
Grass / Flying (Weak to Flying, Poison, Rock, Fire and Ice types) (Resistant to Fighting, Water and Grass types)

Abilities:
Chlorophyll
Solar Power
Harvest (Hidden)

Stats:
HP: 99
Attack: 68
Defense: 83
Special Attack: 72
Special Defense: 87
Speed: 51

BST (Base Stat Total): 460

Notable Moves:

Offensive:
Aerial Ace
Bulldoze
Earthquake
Fly
Leaf Blade
Outrage
Seed Bomb
Air Slash
Dragon Pulse
Energy Ball
Giga Drain
Grass Knot
Hidden Power
Leaf Storm
Ominous Wind
Silver Wind

Non-Offensive:
Curse
Defog
Dragon Dance
Growth
Leech Seed
Nature Power
Protect
Roar
Roost
Substitute
Sunny Day
Swords Dance
Synthesis
Tailwind
Toxic
Whirlwind

Description:

Tropius has always been shunned due to its lackluster stats, but it has so many tools inside its arsenal to use it would be hard pressed to not check him out. Tropius can function both offensively and defensively due to a very adaptive movepool. It's one of the few Grass types (if not the only one) to get Dragon Dance! It also has a couple gems in its movepool to abuse it with, such as STAB Leaf Blade and Earthquake to create some nice coverage. It even gets Outrage to deal with Dragons if need be. It's also gifted on the Special Side with moves like Dragon Pulse, Giga Drain and Air Slash. To add more to the party, it has a fantastic support movepool! With Dragon Dance (mentioned beforehand), Leech Seed, Swords Dance, Defog, Roost, Synthesis, Tailwind, Roar, Growth and Curse and multiple others, there's so much that he can do. Adding sprinkles on top of the icing is Tropius's access to three great abilities, Chlorophyll, Solar Power and Harvest, allowing it to take advantage of all if its traits quite well. Sadly though there's a reason Tropius hasn't flown into the upper tiers. None of its base stats go above 90, and its typing while giving it key resistances, also gives it some nasty weaknesses (Fire, Rock and a 4x to Ice). Nevertheless, if you can work around Tropius's flaws, it will serve you well.

Set #1: Dragon Dance

Tropius @ Leftovers / Life Orb
Ability: Solar Power
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Leaf Blade / Seed Bomb
- Earthquake
- Roost / Synthesis

Set Description:

The point of this set is simple, use Dragon Dance to accumulate boosts, then sweep. Leaf Blade is your STAB of choice, the only reason Seed Bomb is slashed in there is if the combination of Ddance / LB is illegal on the server you're playing on. Earthquake will allow you to nail pesky Steel, Electric, and Fire types for Super Effective damage. Roost is in there for reliable recovery, however if you're using this on a Sun Team you could opt for Synthesis instead. The item choice depends on what you plan on doing with Tropius. If you want to accumulate multiple boosts for more staying power, choose Leftovers. If you want to have immediate power to use as a late game cleaner, run Life Orb. Solar Power is the best option here since you're running Dragon Dance and will need the extra speed.

Set #2: Swords Dance Chlorophyll

Tropius @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Leaf Blade
- Earthquake
- Roost

Set Description:

This set requires sun support. Tropius can utilize Swords Dance in combination with Chlorophyll's boosting effects to go on a monstrous sweep. Its STAB and coverage allow it to nail a good portion of NU for great damage. Roost is to recover HP lost from Life Orb.

Set #3: Subseed

Tropius @ Leftovers
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Careful Nature
- Leech Seed
- Substitute
- Leaf Blade / Roost
- Roar / Whirlwind

Set Description:

This is just a typical Subseed set, and Tropius can pull it off a bit better than others in NU thanks to access to Chlorophyll, Leaf Blade, Roost and decently bulky stats. Leech Seed and Substitute are your obvious two moves. Leaf Blade / Roost is up to you, damage or even more recovery, and Roar / Whirlwind is to deal with pesky Pokemon and to spread hazard damage.

Set #4: Defog Utility

Tropius @ Leftovers
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Defog
- Tailwind
- Protect
- Roost / Leaf Blade

Set Description:

This set is strictly for support. Defog is for clearly entry hazards, Tailwind is to give your team a boost, Protect is for scouting and Roost / Leaf Blade is again up to you, more recovery or a way to damage your opponent.

Other Options:

Tropius has countless other options, he could run a mixed set utilizing Growth under sun further boosted by Chlorophyll (kinda like a Psuedo-Venusaur). He could run a bulky Curse set with full Specially Defensive EVs to capitalize on his defensive capabilities. It all depends on your specific needs for Tropius.