Serperior Singles [QC: 2/3] (Final check)


[OVERVIEW]
Serperior's ability Contrary allows it to abuse Leaf Storm giving it a +2 in Special Attack and acts as a niche to any other move or ability that lowers its stats. This means that Serperior can set up and attack at the same time. It has a great base 113 Speed allowing it to outspeed many Pokemon such as Garchomp, Gengar, and unboosted threats. However, Serperior has a shallow specially offensive movepool limiting itself into using Hidden Power. Its offensive stats is quite low unless it gets a boost in Special Attack from Leaf Storm. Serperior has great potential to sweep teams after one boost, hitting every Pokemon in the Battle Spot metagame hard, which can be nice as a late-game sweeper. Serperior has mediocre bulk and threats such as Talonflame, Mega Kangaskhan, and Mega Blaziken can muscle through it. Overall, Serperior has a niche in being the best non-mega Special Grass-type due to its wide range in movepool, Contrary, and Speed.

[SET]
name: Contrary
move1: Leaf Storm
move2: Dragon Pulse
move3: Hidden Power Fire / Hidden Power Ground
move4: Glare / Taunt
item: Focus Sash
evs: 248 SpA / 12 SpD / 248 Spe
nature: Timid

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

Leaf Storm is Serperior's main STAB attack and gives it a +2 boost in Special Attack. Dragon Pulse gives it coverage against Dragon-types such as Garchomp, Mega Salamence, and Dragonite. Hidden Power Fire gives coverage against Grass-, Ice-, and Steel-types such as Ferrothorn, Mega Glalie, and Bisharp. Hidden Power Ground targets Fire-types that wall Serperior's attacks such as Heatran. Glare can be used to paralyze sweepers, thus crippling them. Taunt can be used to prevent foes from setting up and status moves.

Set Details
========

248 Speed 248 Special Attack and 12 Special Defense for Hidden Power Fire. If Hidden Power Ground should be used, then 8 EVs toward Special Defense and have 252 Speed. Focus Sash is the preferred item because there are many threats that hit hard. Talonflame can OHKO Serperior with STAB Brave Bird or Flare Blitz. It gives Serperior more flexibility against fast Pokemon and priority users. Life Orb can be used to 2HKO Cresselia and OHKOes Mega Salamence at +2 Special Attack with its respective attacks. Timid is preferred, allowing Serperior to outspeed a lot of threats such as Garchomp, Mega Gengar, and Mega Kangaskhan before they Mega Evolve. Contrary should always be used as the preferred ability because of stat lowering moves giving it a boost instead. Meadow Plate offers a nice midway between Focus Sash and Life Orb and still has a chance in 2HKOing Cresselia and Porygon2.

Usage Tips
========

Bring Serperior in on a Pokemon that can KO it with a Leaf Storm. This can keep your Focus Sash safe and preserve it. Don't bring Serperior in on a priority user because they can use status moves to cripple it. Even though Serperior has decent bulk, it shouldn't be taking too many hits, especially from super effective attacks, not to mention it doesn't have any recovery moves outside of Giga Drain and Leech Seed. Serperior can use Glare to paralyze foes that outspeeds it such as Greninja and Mega Salamence. When dealing with a Pokemon it can 2HKO, it is recommended to use Glare and then attack with Leaf Storm. It is also wise to use Serperior against bulky Pokemon as they can be a nice setup fodder. Serperior also does better as a late-game wallbreaker. It is best not to choose Serperior to be in the battle if your opponent has Greninja or Blaziken.

Team Options
========

Gyarados can help soften physical attacks with the use of Intimidate, allowing Serperior to set up better and take another hit or two. Suicune, Slowbro, and Mega Slowbro can tank many physical attackers and can get rid of Fire-types with their STAB move such as Talonflame and Mega Blaziken. Timing Mega Charizard Y's Drought ability allows Serperior to OHKO Mega Mawile at +2 Hidden Power Fire. Offensive / defensive Porygon2 can wall Greninja's attacks. Mega Kangaskhan can clear the field of threats due to its ability, Parental Bond and its nice offensive stats. This is important because Mega Kangaskhan can get rid of common threats to Serperior such as Talonflame. Mega Charizard Y can hit Bug- and Steel-types for super effective damage such as Scizor and Aegislash. Garchomp can be used with Choice Scarf against Mega Gengar, allowing it to outspeed and OHKO it with its STAB Ground-type move. Stealth Rock is appreciated as well in helping to break Focus Sash users so that Serperior can sweep teams better. U-turn / Volt Switch support from Pokemon such as Mega Manectric, Landorus-T, Rotom-W, and Scizor can help get Serperior in the field against a weakened foe. Rotom-W can be very useful against Talonflame because its Water / Electric typing resists its STAB attacks and can OHKO it with Hydro Pump or Volt Switch.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============

Giga Drain allows Serperior to recover HP, providing longevity. Hidden Power Rock targets Fire- and Flying-types such as Mega Charizard Y and Talonflame for super effective damage. Synthesis can recover half of Serperior's HP. Reflect can be used to soften the damage from physical attackers, allowing Serperior to set up more with Leaf Storm. Light Screen allows Serperior to take special attacks better. Substitute works great with Leech Seed, but Serperior loses out on coverage moves such as Dragon Pulse and Hidden Power. Leech Seed allows Serperior get passive damage each turn and regains a little HP. Rocky Helmet deals passive damage against physical attackers, which works very well with Reflect. Knock Off is a good utility move in getting rid of item-reliant Pokemon. Choice Specs allows Serperior to hit harder with Leaf Storm, but locks it to the move.

Checks & Counters
===================

**Mega Kangaskhan**: Mega Kangaskhan has Parental Bonding, this means that it can break Serperior's Focus Sash with Fake Out, and then KO it next turn with any of its other moves.

*Fire-types*: Fire-types such as Talonflame, Mega Charizard X, and Heatran can OHKO Serperior with their STAB moves. Talonflame can outspeed Serperior and beat it easily. Both need to watch out for Hidden Power Rock. Heatran can wall Serperior if it doesn't carry Hidden Power Ground.

**Dragon-types**: Dragon-types such as Dragonite, Garchomp, and Mega Salamence can all defeat Serperior if it's not at +2 Special Attack from Leaf Storm already. This makes Serperior's Dragon Pulse become a 2HKO, excluding Dragonite because of its ability Multiscale. Dragonite can then set up on Serperior with Dragon Dance. Choice Scarf Garchomp can 2HKO Serperior with Fire Blast and Mega Salamence can OHKO Serperior with a Aerialite-boosted Normal-type move such as Return.

**Steel-types**: Steel-types such as Aegislash and Mega Mawile resists Serperior's STAB move along with Dragon Pulse. Aegislash can get a boost from Weakness Policy if hit by Hidden Power Fire or Ground while under its Shield Stance and KO it with its STAB moves. Not to mention it gets priority in Shadow Sneak with a +2 boost from Weakness Policy. Mega Mawile can already have Swords Dance set up and KO Serperior with Sucker Punch.

**Mega Gengar**: Mega Gengar resists Serperior's STAB moves and OHKO it with its STAB Poison-type moves. It also outspeeds Serperior as well as trapping it with Shadow Tag.

**Ice-types**: Focus Sash Mamoswine can use Icicle Crash on Serperior, breaking its Focus Sash and finish it off next turn with Ice Shard. Cloyster can KO Serperior with Skill Link Icicle Spear while using Focus Sash.

**Bug-types**: Mega Pinsir walls Serperior's STAB Leaf Storm and can 2HKO it with Aerialite Quick Attack, while Return OHKOes it. Scizor resists both Leaf Storm and Dragon Pulse. Both need to watch out for Hidden Power Fire, as Scizor is 4x weak to Fire-type moves.
 
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I won't be able to get on the Serperior thread until somewhere around Thursday afternoon after my test in Honors Anatomy and Physiology is over.
 
We were given our test back earlier this morning and I received a B.

Also, I have been using Serperior in Battle Spot in-game as well to see what else I can find that I can put in the analyses. All the things that I mentioned so far is what I'm experiencing now.
 

cant say

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Is that because your experience with Serperior was limited to the PS ladder? Hopefully you can add to the OP and open it up for QC soon
 
Yes, and I'm going to say, I should have played BS in-game a long time ago. I figured that breeding and such would continue to become difficult for me but it has gotten easier in terms of ORAS mechanics. I'll most likely have it up by tomorrow for QC.
 

Ares

Fool me...can't get fooled again
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Is Focus Sash really the best item for Serp? I would think even having something like Meadow Plate over Focus Sash would be better. Focus Sash I would much rather put on something like Breloom or Blaziken or something like that. Not to mention Serperior sort of needs the power to start off with.

Comments in bold

Overview
#######
  • Ability Contrary allows it to abuse Leaf Storm giving it a +2 in Special Attack and acts as a niche to any other move or ability that lowers its stats. this means that it can setup and attack at the same time, this is huge because it means you don't have to take a turn to Nasty Plot or the like. Clarify this.
  • Great base 113 Speed allowing it to outspeed many unboosted Pokemon. Such as, its fine to mention stats in the overview, as long as you let the reader know how this ties into the metagame.
  • Has nice defensive stats. remove this point, I can just look above in the dex to see the stats
  • Shallow movepool leaving it with very few options. it doesn't really have a shallow movepool in the support movepool. Clarify this that it is specially offensive movepool that is limited having it rely on Hidden Powers.
  • Offensive is quite low unless it gets a boost in Special Attack. Once again I would say how this ties into Contrary Leaf Storm, Leaf Storm is incredibly powerful and if it comes in against something it can KO with it than it will be at +2. I would say its coverage moves are still quite weak at +2.
  • Has the potential to sweep teams after one boost. This is tied into points above, I would condense this into the first point.
  • Despite being bulky, it can't take many hits, so it has to rely on its Speed and offense. this is contrary (hue) to your above point and stuff about stats is filler (unless you relate it to the metagame) remove this.

Contrary
#######
name: Contrary
move1: Leaf Storm
move2: Dragon Pulse
move3: Hidden Power Fire / Hidden Power Ground
move4: Glare / Taunt Personally I would slash giga drain here cause recovery is awesome
item: Focus Sash I would probably have a different item, will leave it up to the qc team
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
nature: Timid

Moves
========
  • Leaf Storm gives Serperior a +2 in Special Attack. what does it hit? name specific pokemon
  • Dragon Pulse gives it coverage against Dragon-types. its a neutral hit that is good against pokemon that quad resist grass, moreso than coverage against dragons.
  • Hidden Power Fire gives coverage against Grass-, Ice-, and Steel-types. this is actually specifc for certain Pokemon, name those Pokemon. Otherwise Leafstorm hits harder against things like ice types or dual types that are neutral to grass.
  • Hidden Power Ground targets Fire-types such as Heatran good, but mention more targets
  • Glare can be used to paralyze sweepers, thus crippling them.
  • Taunt can be used to prevent foes from setting up and status moves from happening. it is good to prevent defensive pokemon from being defensive as well as preventing opposing setup sweepers that you can't threaten from setting up
Set Details
========
  • 252 Speed all three points get condensed into one "standard offensive spread" 4spd to preven download
  • 252 Special Attack
  • 4 SpD so that Porygon2 won't get a boost in Special Attack from Download.
  • Focus Sash is the preferred item. why?
  • Timid is preferred, allowing Serperior to outspeed a lot of threats. such as?
  • Contrary should always be used as the preferred ability because of stat lowering moves gives it a boost instead.
Usage Tips
========
  • Should always go for Leaf Storm to get a boost from Contrary first, so you can deal a lot more damage. you should start off by saying you want to bring Serperior in on something that it can KO with Leafstorm.
  • Don't bring Serperior in on a priority user. It would want to preserve its Focus Sash. i would remove this as its pretty vague
  • Even though Serperior has decent bulk, it shouldn't be taking too many hits, especially from supereffective attacks. Not to mention, it doesn't have any recovery moves. it actually gets synthesis, but saying it shouldn't take to many hits is pretty much common sense, remove this
  • Can also be wise to paralyze its foes first with Glare before attacking with Leaf Storm. why? when? against what Pokemon?
  • Should use Serperior more against bulky Pokemon as they can be a nice setup fodder. such as? Why bulkier Pokemon?
Your usage tips need a lot more work, you don't really tell me when to bring serp in, what to do in teammatchup, are there any pokemon it struggles with etc. etc. read the how to write analyses thread for more help.

Team Options
========
  • Landorus-T can help soften physical attacks for Serperior with the use of Intimidate, allowing Serperior to set up better and take another hit or two. ok, but why does serp really need intimidate support? is it really that necessary? does lando-t resist anything to help serp?
  • Suicune can tank many physical attackers and can get rid of Fire-types with its STAB move such as Talonflame and Mega Blaziken.
  • Mega Kangaskhan can clear the field of threats due to its ability, Parental Bond and its nice offensive stats. yes it can, but why does this make a good teammate for Serperior in general?
  • Mega Charizard Y can hit Bug- and Steel-types for supereffective damage such as Scizor and Aegislash.
  • Garchomp can be ran with Choice Scarf against Mega Gengar, allowing it to outspeed and OHKO it with its STAB Ground-type move. serp actually outspeeds gengar before it mega evolves, this is quite important as you can most likely ko it if you're at +2
  • Anything that is appreciated from the use of Toxic can help wear down other threats. I don't see this point as particularly useful, Serp can boost past most threats and doesn't need toxic to wear them down
  • Any Stealth Rock is appreciated as well in helping to break Focus Sash users so that Serperior can sweep teams better. Is stealth rock support really necessary to break sashes?
Other Options
========
  • Giga Drain allows Serperior to recover HP.
  • Hidden Power Rock targets Fire- and Flying-types such as Mega Charizard Y and Talonflame
  • Synthesis can recover half of Serperior's HP.
  • Reflect can be used to soften the damage from physical attackers, allowing Serperior to set up more with Leaf Storm.
  • Knock Off
Checks & Counters
========

**Mega Kangaskhan**: Mega Kangaskhan has Parental Bonding, this means that it can break Serperior's Focus Sash with Fake Out, and then KO it next turn with any of its other moves. mega kanga doesn't outspeed, and focus sash doesn't seem like the best item. If sash gets removed just remove this

*Fire-types*: Fire-types such as Talonflame and Mega Charizard X can OHKO Serperior with their STAB moves. Talonflame can outspeed Serperior and beat it easily. Both need to watch out for Hidden Power Rock. outline specific scenarios, can mega zard switch in on a leafstorm and then take a dragon pulse? Cause it doesn't outspeed. Can talonflame switch in and KO?

**Dragon-types**: Dragon-types such as Dragonite, Garchomp, and Mega Salamence can all defeat Serperior if it's not at +2 Special Attack from Leaf Storm already. This makes Serperior's Dragon Pulse become a 2HKO, excluding Dragonite because of its ability Multiscale. Dragonite can then set up on Serperior with Dragon Dance. Choice Scarf Garchomp can 2HKO Serperior with Fire Blast and Mega Salamence can OHKO Serperior with a Aerialite-boosted Normal-type move such as Return. Leafstorm does more to things that don't resist Grass.

**Steel-types**: Steel-types such as Aegislash Serperior's STAB move along with Dragon Pulse. It can get a boost from Weakness Policy if hit by Hidden Power Fire or Ground and KO it with its STAB moves. Not to mention it gets priority in Shadow Sneak with a +2 boost from Weakness Policy. any other steel types?

**Mega Gengar**: Mega Gengar resists Serperior's STAB moves and OHKO it with its STAB Poison-type moves. It also outspeeds Serperior as well as trapping it with Shadow Tag.mention specific scenarios, it can't switch in and doesn't outspeed before mega evolving

where are the bug types? mega pinsir? scizor, etc. you mention them above as things to watch out for but not here
Luci you really should work on your Usage Tips, a lot of them were common sense or filler.
 
Is Focus Sash really the best item for Serp? I would think even having something like Meadow Plate over Focus Sash would be better. Focus Sash I would much rather put on something like Breloom or Blaziken or something like that. Not to mention Serperior sort of needs the power to start off with.

Comments in bold


Luci you really should work on your Usage Tips, a lot of them were common sense or filler.
I'll make corrections as soon as I can Monty. Also, I do see Focus Sash as something viable on Serperior. At first, I was using Life Orb because that is one of the most common items on Contrary Serperior. It didn't work as well as I thought it would nor did Leftovers. I had to deal with the annoying Talonflame OHKOing me with either Brave Bird or Flare Blitz. Also, I had to deal with Pokemon that has already set up like Mega Mawile, Aegislash, and others. Then I'd get smacked in the face from a priority attack. So I was like "OMFG THAT IS IT!!!!!" So I put a Focus Sash on Serperior. It has been working pretty nicely I'd say. I managed to kill a Talonflame at +2 with Dragon Pulse after it hit me with Flare Blitz or Brave Bird. Mega Gengar didn't become too much of an issue while I was at +2 from Leaf Storm and having Focus Sash on either. I didn't think that Sludge Bomb was common in-game. I was think it would spam Hypnosis.
 
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ethan06

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Be sure to make a mention somewhere of exactly what Serperior brings to the metagame: namely, it's one of the best out of a very small pool of offensive Grass-types, making it a good check to the Water-types in the format that thrive off the scarcity of Grass-types - particularly things like Rotom-W, Suicune, Azumarill and the rarely-seen but incredibly annoying Quagsire, Gastrodon and Swampert. It's pretty much the only available special Grass-type attacker that isn't a mega, outside of Roserade and Virizion and maybe Tangrowth, so I feel this merits a mention at least.

Add Mega Altaria somewhere as a check, it is pretty rare in the format but it walls HP Fire Serp completely if it isn't at +6 and can wear it down with it's STABs (and special sets can use Fire Blast) before it gets there. Greninja is capable of OHKOing with either Ice Beam or Gunk Shot as well, although Greninja beats a lot of things so I'm not sure this merits a paragraph to itself. Maybe slot it in next to Mega Gengar and retitle that paragraph "Fast Special Attackers"?

That's all I got at this point, you have most of the main points and it looks good so n_n
 
Lucina09, just a minor thing with Serperior's evs. If it's running HP Fire or Ground, the ev spread needs to be compensated the IVs you have to decrease in order to use the Hidden power you want. It would be 248 SpA / 12 SpD / 248 Spe for HP Fire and 248 SpA / 8 SpD / 252 Spe for HP Ground because you're wasting one point in SpA and Spe for HP Fire and wasting one point in SpA and not investing any boosts to SpD at all for HP Ground. I just feel like it should be mentioned somewhere. Anyways, I'm looking forward to how this analysis turns out!
 
Be sure to make a mention somewhere of exactly what Serperior brings to the metagame: namely, it's one of the best out of a very small pool of offensive Grass-types, making it a good check to the Water-types in the format that thrive off the scarcity of Grass-types - particularly things like Rotom-W, Suicune, Azumarill and the rarely-seen but incredibly annoying Quagsire, Gastrodon and Swampert. It's pretty much the only available special Grass-type attacker that isn't a mega, outside of Roserade and Virizion and maybe Tangrowth, so I feel this merits a mention at least.

Add Mega Altaria somewhere as a check, it is pretty rare in the format but it walls HP Fire Serp completely if it isn't at +6 and can wear it down with it's STABs (and special sets can use Fire Blast) before it gets there. Greninja is capable of OHKOing with either Ice Beam or Gunk Shot as well, although Greninja beats a lot of things so I'm not sure this merits a paragraph to itself. Maybe slot it in next to Mega Gengar and retitle that paragraph "Fast Special Attackers"?

That's all I got at this point, you have most of the main points and it looks good so n_n
Lucina09, just a minor thing with Serperior's evs. If it's running HP Fire or Ground, the ev spread needs to be compensated the IVs you have to decrease in order to use the Hidden power you want. It would be 248 SpA / 12 SpD / 248 Spe for HP Fire and 248 SpA / 8 SpD / 252 Spe for HP Ground because you're wasting one point in SpA and Spe for HP Fire and wasting one point in SpA and not investing any boosts to SpD at all for HP Ground. I just feel like it should be mentioned somewhere. Anyways, I'm looking forward to how this analysis turns out!
I'll make corrections on them as well tomorrow. Thank you.
 

Theorymon

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Ok before I check over this, just something I want to mention: Lum Berry almost has as much usage as Focus Sash, which is 25%. I think its mainly for ruining mons that rely on Twaving Serperior such as defensive Porygon2, + it means that Thundurus doesn't priority twave you. I think Sash is better, but just something to note!

Also, Reflect and Light Screen seem to have fairly high usage. I've seen those with Rockey Helmet and Light Clay. You don't have to add the set yet if you don't want to (since Serperior isn't a super high priority mon), but just something you may want to consider testing for the analysis or if you want to add another set in a separate thread later!

Anyways, on to the nitpicking!

Overview

-Like Ethan said, Serpieror has a niche of being a non mega Special Offensive Grass-type. That's pretty cool, especially consdering how it can screw around with bulky waters.

-I'd mention that Serperior's bulk is a bit mediocre. It's not horrific per say, but a lot of strong prominent Pokemon such as Mega Kangaskhan, Talonflame, Blaziken, etc can muscle past it with no problems.

Moves

-Mention that Hidden Power Fire lets you get past Ferrothorn, who is going to be a huge problem otherwise.

Set Details

-I'd actually probably slash in Life Orb with Focus Sash. While I think Focus Sash tends to be better because it allows Serperior to be more flexiable (doing stuff like paralyzing sweepers that'd KO it, or get more surprise KOs), Life Orb allows Serperior to pull some really neat stunts. For example, with Life Orb, Leaf Storm will actually 2HKO Cresselia, +2 Dragon Pulse is a guranteed OHKO on Mega Salamence (you have a very low shot of pulling that off with Sash, granted Double-Edge recoil will do Salamence in), +2 Leaf Storm OHKOes Mega Kangaskhan, etc.

In set details, I'd boil it down to "Focus Sash for more flexability against fast stuff and priority that normally OHKOes Serperior + lets it become an emergency sweep stopper, while Life Orb gives it better potential to sweep late game against slower mons + it 2HKOs Cresselia and defensive Porygon2".

-I'd give Meadow Plate a mention too actually. Doesn't need to be a slash in, but the reason I'd mention Meadow Plate here instead of other options is A: Focus Sash and Life Orb are really high value items that your other mons may want, and B: It offers a nice midway between Sash and Life Orb. Meadow Plate still has a shot of 2HKOing Cresselia and Porygon2 (though its not guaranteed), while making Serperior less vulnerable to priority like Sucker Punch. Of course, your other move become pretty weak compared to LO.

-Like mont said, mention the big stuff Timid outspeeds. Mainly its: Garchomp, Mega Kangaskhan, and Gengar + Salamence before they Mega Evolve.

Usage Tips

-Instead of talking about sorta obvious stuff like "Sperior doesn't take hits that great", I'd condense that to "Serperior does best late game". Leaf Storm during late game can be REALLY deadly. you can pick off weakened threats with Leaf Storm, so not only did you get a KO, you also got a boost!

-For the stuff Serperior likes to screw around against, Certainly mention bulky waters like Rotom-W, Suicune, and Slowbro. Bulky waters in general REALLY hate Serperior, so they're good targets! I'd also mention that Hippowdon gets owned pretty hard by Serperior. Meanwhile, just saying "bulky stuff" doesn't quite work here. For example, defensive Porygon2 actually 2HKOs Serperior with Ice Beam, while Cresselia 3HKOs you. Thing is, Sash Serperior only 3HKOs those two back (you can 2HKO Cresselia with Life Orb, but note that if you switch into Ice Beam, Serperior will die to Life Orb Recoil).

-When talking about Glare, I'd focus on more on how you'd want to use it. For example, when using Focus Sash, you can use Glare to put an emergency stop to fast stuff such as Mega Salamence or Greninja. Also, usually I think Serperior should Glare + Attack when its in a situation where its not going to 2HKO a mon (wether its faster or what not). So basically, you'd be sacrificing Serperior to screw over another mon.

-I'd mention when to keep Serperior benched. Mainly if you see a team with a bunch of fast stuff Serperior can't handle such as Talonflame, Greninja, or Blaziken together, or those + a mon your Hidden Power doesn't cover, it may be best to not bring Serperior into battle unless your team deals with them REALLY well while Serperior blasts the other parts of the opponent's team well.

Team Options

-I actually would keep the Stealth Rock mention here. Not every Pokemon needs that mentioned since pretty much everything likes Stealth Rock, but its useful to mention for Serperior because this thing has MASSIVE issues with Talonflame, so limiting that things switchins can be a huge help!

-Might want to get into Talonflame's big problems a bit more. Mainly, Talonflame, Blaziken, and Greninja are pretty big issues for it. Suicune as you mentioned can be a help against Talonflame and Blaziken (Slowbro / Mega Slowbro work well here too btw), while both offensive and defensive Porygon2 can screw with Greninja (I'd think of more stuff but Im a bit tired atm)

-When you mention Mega Charizard-Y, I'd mention that if you time its drought right, you can pull some neat stunts like having a shot at OHKOing Mega Mawile with a +2 Hidden Power Fire. Also, I'd give Heatran a mention too.

-Not sure if I consider Mega Kangaskhan or Garchomp "special" teammates for Serperior. I mean they work with it but its more because Mega Kangaskhan and Garchomp are amazing, not because they offer special synergy with Serperior.

-I'd mention U-turn / Volt Switch support, since getting Serperior in without damage can be really valuable. I think you know the good ones: Landorus-T, Rotom-W, Mega Manectric, Scizor. Also helps that Rotom-W can screw with Talonflame.

Other Options

-Mention Choice Specs. It makes Leaf Storm REALLY powerful, but locking yourself into a grass move makes Serpieror really vulnerable to grass resists.

-I'd mention Light Screen with Reflect. It can be a fast offensive Dual Screener that can sorta sweep, which is unique.

-Mention Substitute + Leech Seed. It owns Gliscor, and can let Serperior do better against defensive stuff like Cresselia and Porygon2. However, it makes Serperior easier to wall because you lose either Dragon Pulse or Hidden Power.

Checks and Counters

-Mention Heatran in Fire-types, because it owns Serperior if it isnt running Hidden Power Ground (Air Ballon Heatran can also screw you up if it hasnt been hit)

-Not really common, but I'd mention Focus Sash Mamoswine and Cloyster, who can own Serperior through its own Focus Sash thanks to Icicle Spear.

-Be careful about that Mega Kangaskhan mention. Fake Out + Sucker Punch actually isn't guranteed OHKO Serperior when its at full health. Also, Leaf Storm hurts Mega Kangaskhan a LOT, and non Fake Out varients aren't stopping a healthy Serperior after it has a +2 boost.

Implement my stuff + the things other people mentioned, and I'll give this a QC stamp!

(P.S.: QC team, whats up with the rocky helmet Serperior? I've seen that in dual screens but I don't quite get it. Are they using some odd EV spread?)
 

DragonWhale

It's not a misplay, it's RNG manipulation
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(P.S.: QC team, whats up with the rocky helmet Serperior? I've seen that in dual screens but I don't quite get it. Are they using some odd EV spread?)
Timid max HP and Speed, Leaf Storm/Reflect/Synthesis and a move of your choice, usually Glare.
Uses its speed to set up Reflect in front of physical attackers, tanks hits and deals passive Rocky Helmet damage while using Synthesis to heal itself, and sets up Leaf Storms when there's an opportunity (like with para). It's especially useful against Mega Kangaskhan and Garchomp.

It might be relevant enough to be its own set.
 
Okay, I think I implemented everyone's suggestions now. (-_- ;)z

My deepest apologies if this has taken longer than expected. I'm glad that school is winding down and I really need a PC. u.u

Harder when using an iPod. They're different than iPhones in terms of Speed and lag.
 

ethan06

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Had a quick skim through and it looks like you have all the relevant information - make sure you include the note about Serperior's niche as the best non-mega special Grass in the overview when you write it out, as I noticed that it isn't in the bullet points. Other than that, you look solid and I want to see this written up soon so have a stamp n.n



QC 1/3

e: wow tmon that was quick o.o
 
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Theorymon

Have a wonderful day, wahoo!
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Only thing I'd change is: when you say "don't bring Serperior to Greninja Blaziken etc", I meant more "If your opponent has two of those mons, it may be best to not even choose Serperior to even be IN the match". Sorry if I wasn't clear!

Otherwise, QC Approved 2/3 (I need to go find a Mario gif later lol)

PS: I can sympathize with your school situation ;_;
 

Hulavuta

keeps the varmints on the run
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Sorry for taking so long (said I would do this yesterday) but I've done it now!

There are quite a few issues here with phrasing and wording and stuff but I'll try not to harp too much on that because it's really GP's job. But in general you might want to combine a few of these sentences together with transition words.

In Set Details, the first sentence is kind of confusing. You should mention how those EVs work in combination with the IVs needed for HP Fire (I'm assuming that's what you were going for). This isn't something that's going to be so obvious to newer players so it's important to include!

Life Orb can be used to 2HKO Cresselia and OHKOes Mega Salamence at +2 Special Attack with its respective attacks.
You should list what the attacks are for this. If you mention specific targets, it makes sense to mention the specific moves too. You can rewrite this to something like "Life Orb is an option that allows Serperior to 2HKO Cresselia with Leaf Storm and OHKO Mega Salamence with Dragon Pulse."

Speaking of Life Orb, we talked it over and we think it should get slashed after Focus Sash for the set.

Aside from that, try to keep things together in Set Details. You mention items and then jump to nature and ability and then add another item at the end. It's just smoother to put the details together!

Contrary should always be used as the preferred ability because of stat lowering moves giving it a boost instead.
This also reads kind of strange. You are missing the most important part of it, which is that it gives you the boost after Leaf Storm. You do mention that it makes stat lowering moves give a boost instead, but that's not really important. You can add it as a bonus, but Leaf Storm is the real reason to use it so it needs to be in the sentence. In other words, you explain what it does but not why that's important.

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Usage Tips looks fine except it is worded very awkwardly. I'm pretty sure you meant "Pokemon it can KO" rather than "Pokemon that can KO it" and I'm not sure what the relationship between priority users and status is, aside from Prankster. You should split this into two different things, because priority and status are both problems for it, but they're not really related.

You should mention some bulky Pokemon it can set up on, and also mention status here because bulky Pokemon tend to use a lot of status moves. Mention it can be a lategame sweeper (You already mentioned it can be a lategame wallbreaker but I'm not too sure if that is a thing) after the opponent's Pokemon are all weakened and in KO range.

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In Team Options also mention how Gyarados has good typing that complements Serperior. Also I'm not sure how much we would say Mega Kangaskhan is a check to Talonflame. It can certainly beat Talonflame but it's not really unique in that regard, it's like all the other Pokemon that can take a hit from it and then KO back. Contrast that with the water-types who can consistently switch into Talonflame and have the type advantage etc.

Once again, try to group things together. You mentioned Mega Charizard's Drought helping it out, then mention Kanga and Porygon2, and then Mega Charizard again later. Put everything Mega Charizard can do together.

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In Other Options, just try to mention the downsides of options more. You mention downsides for a few of them, but quite a few others are suboptimal choices that don't clearly have the negatives indicated.

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In Checks and Counters, you mention Parental Bond but it doesn't really make sense in this context because you mention Fake Out breaking the sash. The ability giving it two moves in a turn doesn't really factor in to your example because you're getting the free turn with Fake Out anyway. Better to just mention that Parental Bond breaks the Sash in general, regardless of Fake Out. Also, you should change "with any of its other moves" to just Return/Double-Edge and/or Sucker Punch (not sure if Sucker Punch KOs). Earthquake and Power-Up Punch certainly don't KO!

You should also reword "Cloyster can KO Serperior with Skill Link Icicle Spear while using Focus Sash" because it's not really clear if you meant Focus Sash on Cloyster or Serperior (it is common on both). Assuming you meant Serperior, you should change it to something like "Cloyster can KO Serperior through its Focus Sash with Icicle Spear, due to it being a multi-hit move" or so.


That's all I've got 'cause it's getting kinda late u_u

Sorry if it seems like a lot! A lot of the issues are just wording issues that make things unnecessarily vague and confusing. But that's ok, just something you gotta work on.
 

Jibaku

Who let marco in here????
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Something to keep in mind

As of now, Rocky Helmet has overtaken Focus Sash in usage. Serperior's 4 most common moves right now are Leaf Storm, Glare, Hidden Power, and Reflect, in that order.
 

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