Level 5 Statistics (see level 5, 50, 100)
|
Min- |
Min |
Max |
Max+ |
| HP |
60
|
- |
22 |
25 |
- |
| Atk |
62
|
10 |
12 |
15 |
16 |
| Def |
50
|
9 |
11 |
14 |
15 |
| SpA |
62
|
10 |
12 |
15 |
16 |
| SpD |
60
|
10 |
12 |
15 |
16 |
| Spe |
40
|
9 |
10 |
13 |
14 |
Overview
The harsh conditions of Sinnoh's winters brought forth arguably the most adorable tree known to Pokemon. When used correctly, Snover can be a monster on the battlefield. It can run several effective sets such as Swords Dance, Stalling Lead, or even a special Choice set. It can also use its ability, Snow Warning, to stop weather based teams cold, most notably rain. Snover is a very dangerous Pokemon, capable of pulling off many different strategies, making it someone to watch out for.
This is one of the most effective sets Snover can run, it is capable of severely weakening or KOing almost everything in its path. Ice Shard is the main attack used here as it gains STAB and makes up for Snover's mediocre Speed. Protect is needed on most leads in Little Cup to block Fake Out and it increases the efficiency of Leftovers. Substitute makes Snover especially effective as a stalling Pokemon by shielding it from attacks that could otherwise cripple it. The final move, Leech Seed, works excellently in conjunction with Protect and Substitute because they buy extra turns on which Leech Seed will heal you and wear your opponent down along with hail.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
Even though Snover can beat many opposing leads, it can't beat them all. Snover will have problems with Meowth and Aipom leads as both of them outpace it and can deal large amounts of damage with U-turn. A good way to mitigate the effects of this is to predict the U-turn and switch to a Pokemon with a Bug-type resistance such as a Steel- or Fire-type, like Magnemite or Ponyta. Snover also has trouble against Houndour leads because of its resistance to both of Snover's STAB attacks and powerful Fire moves. Unfortunately, against Houndour, Snover can only switch out and have another Pokemon take the hit. In fact, Snover's 4x weakness to Fire means it will have troubles against any Pokemon of this type. The best way to offset this is to use Munchlax who, with Thick Fat, resists Fire and can hit back with Earthquake or STAB Return. Using a Water-type like Chinchou or Mantyke is another option as they can switch in comfortably on Fire moves and OHKO any Fire-type with STAB Water attacks.
Thanks to hail's ability to break Focus Sashes and create 100% accurate Blizzards, Snover makes a great anti-lead. Protect serves two purposes on this set that are vital to its effectiveness. First, it allows Snow Warning to break the opponent's sash before they get a chance to harm you; secondly, it blocks Fake Out from the likes of Meowth, allowing Snover to survive a U-Turn and hit the switch in with Blizzard. Blizzard is the main attacking move due to it being Snover's most powerful attack. Ice Shard's coverage may be redundant with Blizzard's, but it lets Snover revenge kill faster, weakened opponents and destroy Gligar. Energy Ball allows Snover to hit Water-types for super effective damage, and helps to patch up the redundant coverage that running two Ice moves brings.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
Despite its advantage over most leads, there are those that cause problems. The first and foremost is Kabuto. Kabuto can outspeed and OHKO Snover with Rock Slide. Onix is a similar threat as it also both outspeeds Snover and OHKOes it with whichever Rock-type move it happens to be running, while surviving anything you can hit it with. Fighting-type moves are effective at taking care of these two and Mankey and Machop are both prime choices to use them. Houndour threatens Snover with a resistance to both STABs and Fire-type attacks which OHKO it. Mantyke is a wonderful answer to this as it can switch in on any of Houndour's moves and OHKO with a Water move. Though less common than the previously mentioned leads, Bronzor loves to face Snover. Nothing Snover throws at Bronzor can stop it from setting up its numerous support options.
With a Choice Scarf Snover hits 21 Speed, which is enough to outspeed any unboosted Pokemon in Little Cup. This allows Snover to make up for its relatively poor Speed stat, while giving up the freedom to change moves. With Choice Specs, Snover is able to hit 22 Special Attack, allowing it to rip holes through the opposing team with a STAB Blizzard.
Blizzard is your primary STAB and main attack with it never missing under hail, crushing anything that does not resist it or named Munchlax. Energy Ball is a secondary STAB and covers Water-types such as Buizel and Kabuto. Water Pulse allows Snover to hit Fire-types, notably Houndour and Ponyta. Hidden Power Fire lets Snover 2HKO Bronzor, while Hidden Power Fighting hits Munchlax, who would otherwise completely wall this set. The EVs on this set reflect the choice of Hidden Power Fire. If one chooses Hidden Power Fighting, four EVs need to be added to both Defense and Special Defense.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
Deciding on what Hidden Power and item to choose determines the counters for this set. If Choice Scarf is chosen, both Bronzor and Munchlax can wall this set with relative ease. The best way to check these two is by using Machop, who can 2HKO max HP/ max Def Bronzor and OHKO Munchlax. If Choice Specs is chosen, Snover is incredibly slow with 14 Speed. This allows many Pokemon to outpace Snover and OHKO with their super effective attacks. As mentioned above, choosing either Hidden Power Fire or Hidden Power Fighting will give you different problems. The former lets you destroy Bronzor, but become bait for Munchlax, while the latter gives you a strong attack against Munchlax, but will make Snover useless against Bronzor. Gastly can also serve as a somewhat reliable lure, being able to trick Choice Scarf onto Bronzor and Munchlax, rendering them rather impotent and exploding to let Snover come back in and deal with its newly-crippled foes.
Snover is one of the few lucky Pokemon in Little Cup who has access to both a two-stage boosting move and STAB priority in the same set. This set may be Snover's most dangerous set, using a combination of Substitute and Swords Dance to set up a potential sweep. Swords Dance lets Snover bolster its Attack stat and Substitute allows Snover to set up behind a safety cushion. Ice Shard is Snover's main STAB and priority move, which makes up more Snover's lack of Speed. Seed Bomb, another STAB, allows Snover to hit harder than it would with Ice Shard and is especially useful against Pokemon Snover outpaces. In terms of actual damage output, Wood Hammer is an extremely strong attack that can replace Seed Bomb, but at the cost of recoil damage.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
Even though Snover is able to raise its attacking power through Swords Dance, it often can only get one boost, leaving it vulnerable to faster Pokemon such as Houndour, who resists both of Snover's STABs and can fire off supper effective Fire Blasts. Munchlax can help here, being a reliable special tank. Though this set takes care of Munchlax, Bronzor is still able to set up easily on this set and can threaten Snover with it's Steel-type STABs. Houndour can remedy this thanks to its own STAB attacks. The biggest problem this set faces is its lackluster speed, which forces you to use a much weaker Ice Shard compared to Seed Bomb and Wood Hammer.
While this set looks identical to the Swords Dance set, its tried-and-true purpose is to effectively lure in several Pokemon with the combination of Blizzard and Wood Hammer. This ultimately opens up sweeping opportunities for Snover's teammates. Outside of luring, Snover makes an excellent mid-game transition Pokemon, as it is able to keep Rain Dance teams at bay throughout the entire match.
This set's success lies in pulling off the combination correctly; however, it is important to note that revealing Wood Hammer before Blizzard might expose this set's true purpose. If everything goes correctly, this set will effectively lure typical switch-ins to Blizzard, namely Munchlax and Mantyke. With Stealth Rock down, Munchlax and Mantyke are always 2HKOed by the aforementioned combination. Ice Shard can check Gligar, while Hidden Power Fire allows Snover to hit Bronzor and opposing Snover for super effective damage. The former will be hit for the 4HKO, while the latter is OHKOed. Swords Dance can replace Hidden Power Fire if you want to sweep late-game with Snover after it accomplishes its luring task. If you do choose to use Swords Dance, remember to remove 4 EVs from Attack, Special Attack, and Speed, as they are not necessary with 31 IVs. You can use the leftover EVs to add an additional point in Special Defense.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
Life Orb is highly recommended on this set in order to achieve the 2HKO on Munchlax and Mantyke. However, Oran Berry makes a better alternative if you prefer to maintain good health. The EVs are allocated to maximize Snover's bulk and offensive prowess.
Make sure to pair Snover with something that benefits from Munchlax's and Mantyke's removal. There are several candidates who benefit from this: Chinchou, Mantyke, Gastly, and Porygon are perfect examples of Pokemon who shine with the aforementioned threats removed from the match.
This set is notoriously difficult to switch into, since typical counters are effectively dealt with by Blizzard and Wood Hammer. Bronzor and Houndour are your best bets since they resist Snover's assaults. Using a Houndour of your own can be quite beneficial, since it can absorb Fire-type attacks directed at Snover and dispose of Bronzor with Fire Blast. Mantyke fits in offensively alongside Snover, since it benefits from Munchlax's removal and can act as a defensive check to Houndour.
Other Options
Snover may be able to run a Choice Band set consisting of Ice Shard, Seed Bomb or Wood Hammer, Iron Tail, and Return to net some surprise kills. Unfortunately, this set is walled by Steel-types, even more so than the Special Choice set.
Ice Punch gives Snover a stronger physical attack, but Ice Shard's priority tends to be more helpful in many situations. Icy Wind may surprise faster switch-ins, but it lacks power and is made redundant by Ice Shard's priority. Snover gets Shadow Ball and may be useful on the Special Choice set, but Blizzard hits those Ghost-types hard enough. Snover gets Synthesis, but it should never be used; remember that when hail is active, Synthesis recovers a pitiful 25% and only has five PP.
Checks and Counters
Bronzor is a good general counter, only fearing an item-boosted Hidden Power Fire. Munchlax will wall the Special Choice set, only worrying about a Choice Specs Hidden Power Fighting and the physical sets. Fire-types in general are good counters to Snover as they resist both of Snover's STABs and can OHKO it with any Fire-type attack. In particular, Growlithe with Intimidate makes a great counter to the physical sets as the Intimidate drop cripples Snover's chances of sweeping. Shieldon is a good counter, resisting Blizzard and Ice Shard and having the choice of carrying Flamethrower to OHKO Snover. Any Pokemon who is faster than Snover and can handle a boosted Ice Shard will have a decent chance of defeating the Swords Dance variant. Choice item sets, as usual, can be countered with good prediction, and with Stealth Rock set down early, it cannot repeatedly switch in, as it is weak to it.
