Snover (GP 2/2) (QC 3/3)

Windsong said:

Snover
(Taken over from Cloud8's analysis here)

[Overview]

<p>Snover, the cute little abominable snowman(comma) at first looks seems like an odd choice in RU. Its base stats are reasonably low, so even with Eviolite, its defenses are nothing fantastic, and in general the RU metagame isn’t all that kind to it. However, Snover has one little trick up its sleeve in its ability: Snow Warning, which automatically starts a hailstorm as soon as Snover enters the field. This makes Snover is the only permanent weather starter in RU and allows it to can provide support to many extremely dangerous Hail abusers, such as Glaceon, Walrein and Rotom-F. Snover isn’t even an entirely dead weight on those teams, since it has a nice array of support options(comma) as well as and the typing and ability to abuse them.</p>

[SET]
name: Defensive
move 1: Leech Seed
move 2: Protect
move 3: Blizzard
move 4: Toxic / Giga Drain / Substitute
item: Eviolite
ability: Snow Warning
nature: Calm
EVs: 248 HP/ 8 Def / 252 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Although a relatively surprising choice in the RU tier, Snover’s reasonable defenses(comma) along with the ability to summon Hail(comma) make it the key player in most Hail teams. Due to the lack of other permanent weather setters, Snover is able to freely set up Hail early on in the battle, then use its useful resistances to switch in on into some Pokemon which wall common Hail teams and allows it to beat down many threats to Hail.</p>



<p>Leech Seed is the primary move, hitting almost all of Snover’s common switch ins, while making use of Snover’s below average HP stat to heal significantly against some of the defensive behemoths in RU. It works very well in tandem with Protect, which not only allows Snover extra time to rack up extra Hail and Leech Seed damage, but also allows Snover to scout the opponent's move(period) out what move the opponent is using. Blizzard fits into onto the set well as the primary attacking move, as it hits everything that isn’t hit by Leech Seed extremely hard, and makes Snover significantly more threatening offensively. Finally, in the last moveslot, Snover has many options available. Toxic is generally the best option, for its ability to hit and wear as it hits and wears down down many defensive threats to Hail teams, such as Lanturn and Slowking. Giga Drain provides some a secondary STAB move and healing, while Substitute can be abused very easily with Leech Seed and Protect.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>There are many possible ways to arrange Snover’s EVs, but in general, a full specially defensive spread is the best, for it allows Snover to make the best use of its interesting array of resistances. The given HP EVs are the most efficient,allowing Snover one extra switch in on with Stealth Rock up. If more speed is necessary, Snover can run a spread of 248 HP / 172 SpD / 88 Spe, allowing which allows it to outrun neutral base 50s. Snover can also use more offensively oriented EVs, such as 248 HP / 172 SpA / 88 Spe, giving to give Blizzard much more of a punch. Finally, although Snover is capable of running more physically defensive sets, its generally not recommended, since most of the Pokemon that Snover is capable of walling can wall are more specially inclined.</p>



<p>In general, Snover’s best teammates are Pokemon that either benefit from Hail or can set up on many of Snover’s common switch ins. This means that Glaceon, Jynx, and Cryogonal all pair well with Snover due to because permanent Hail giving gives them the ability to fire off high powered Blizzards without fear of untimely misses. Similarly, Walrein and Glaceon can abuse Hail with their ability Ice Body in order to stall out huge portions of the metagame, while still presenting an posing a formidable offensive threat. Continuing on, most Water-, Poison- and Psychic- types have reasonably decent synergy with Snover, for their ability to switch in on some of its major weaknesses. Qwilfish and Omastar are both capable of providing Spikes and Toxic Spikes support(comma) while for Snover, which Snover appreciates and Claydol and Wartortle can both offer Rapid Spin support(period) for it.</p>


[SET]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Blizzard
move 2: Giga Drain
move 3: Hidden Power Ground
move 4: Ice Shard
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Snow Warning
nature: Hasty
EVs: 8 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 244 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Even though it plays an important role on all Hail teams, Snover is often considered a bit of a dead weight, lacking as it lacks the offensive power that many of the other Hail sweepers offer. This set attempts to remedy that, turning Snover from a Pokemon who can be a dead weight at times to into a Pokemon capable of checking many important Chlorophyll and Swift Swim sweepers, along with as well as many common Pokemon in general.</p>



<p>Even coming off of Snover’s rather pathetic base 62 SpA stat, Blizzard hits reasonably hard, whittling down many of the Pokemon that resist Ice(comma)-, while allowing Snover to break through several of its common switch ins. Giga Drain allows Snover to recover some of its HP back when attacking, which is always helpful, especially since Snover suffers from a weakness to Stealth Rock. Giga Drain is also useful for its ability to break breaking through the Water-(space)types which come in to wall Blizzards. Hidden Power Ground lets Snover hit Entei and Magneton, both of whom commonly switch in on more defensive Snover, with the assumption that Snover is incapable of hurting them. Finally, Ice Shard rounds off the set as sort of a filler, however, it can be useful, as there are some Pokemon that Snover is incapable of outspeeding even with a Choice Scarf, useful for picking off Pokemon(comma) such as Swellow, Sceptile, and Sawsbuck(comma) that Snover cannot outspeed with a Choice Scarf(period), all of which can be picked off with a well placed Ice Shard.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>The given EVs and nature allow Snover to outspeed everything up to positive speed natured base 80s and neutral natured base 95s. This includes many prominent Pokemon, such as Kabutops, who Snover can often score a surprise KO on, Modest Moltres, and even unboosted Sharpedo. Max Special Attack is a must, of course, since Snover’s Special Attack stat is downright pathetic and it needs all the power it can get. 8 HP EVs is necessary to allow Snover to take minimum damage from Stealth Rock, while the remaining EVs are placed into Special Defense in order to make slightly better use of Snover’s resistances.

<p>As always, Snover appreciates teammates who can abuse Hail. Because Choice Scarf Snover is generally more offensively minded than other Snover sets, it partners well with more offensive Hail abusers, such as Glaceon, Rotom-F, Cryogonal and Jynx. However, Choice Scarf Snover still works well with Walrein and Ice Body Glaceon. However, Choice Scarf Snover can also fit in on more into stall oriented and balanced hail teams because it can work as a useful safety net when playing against Sun and Rain teams(comma) as it can due to its ability to revenge kill almost all Chlorophyll and Swift Swim sweepers with ease.</p>

<p>Continuing on, Snover really appreciates both hazard and Rapid Spin support. Due to its ability to force switches, as well as the and excellent synergy with many Spikers(comma) have with Snover, it’s worthwhile to use something like Qwilfish or Omastar to set up Spikes(period) to aid Snover. In addition, being an Ice- type, Snover is weak to Stealth Rock(comma) and because it will be switching out often, Rapid Spin support is almost a necessity(period) required to use it to its best ability. Thankfully, many spinners partner well with Snover, such as Claydol, Wartortle, and Cryogonal.</p>

<p>Finally, Choice Scarf Snover is easily countered by many Pokemon and it loses a huge amount of usefulness becomes much less effective once its set has been discovered, since then the opponent will switch in things Pokemon like Slowking and Entei without fear of getting hit by an untimely Toxic or Leech Seed.</p>

[Other Options]

<p>Snover has a variety of support options(period) available to it. For example, Snover has access to the extremely inaccurate Grasswhistle, which can be helpful in handling one counter, but is in general not consistent enough to merit a mention on any of the main sets. Snover also has Magic Coat available to it, which can be helpful in reflecting Taunt, Stealth Rock, Spikes, and so on.</p>



<p>On a more offensive note, Snover has access to all the moves necessary to pull off a decent Swords Dance set, thanks to Swords Dance, the high powered Wood Hammer, and Ice Shard. However, this is generally outclassed by Pokemon with a higher base Attack stat(period) that will be more damaging once set up. Snover can also use a Choice Specs set in order to hit switch ins harder with Blizzard and recover more HP with Giga Drain, although it’s really too slow to use it effectively. Finally, Snover can also opt for using a mixed set, although it lacks the power to actually break through many important walls.</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>Snover’s typing gives it seven weaknesses, many of which are extremely common in RU, such as Fire-, Rock- and Fighting-. Fire(comma) Rock(comma) and Fighting(period) This allows a huge amount A huge number of Pokemon to can therefore KO Snover, even with Eviolite, while being all relatively unafraid of the Choice Scarf set. For example, Typhlosion, Moltres and Entei are all capable of taking basically anything that Snover can throw at them, while Hitmonchan, Gallade and Medicham can easily beat most Snover as well. Aggron and other Rock- types can also significantly deal significant damage to Snover, or scare it out and set up against it for free. Finally, Flying- types, like such as Braviary and Swellow(comma) can also easily KO Snover without much trouble, though they can’t switch in on Blizzards.</p>

<p>Continuing, Snover can’t really do much damage to many bulky Water-(remove space)types, even with Giga Drain, since it’s Giga Drain is relatively weak off of Snover’s base 62 SpA stat, so most of them bulky Waters are capable of walling Snover without too much trouble. Specially defensive behemoths(comma) such as like Cryogonal, as well as Pokemon immune to passive damage, such as Clefable and Duosion(comma) are also capable of handling Snover reasonably well, with Cryogonal taking Cryogonal can take essentially any hits from the offensive sets(comma) offer while Clefable and Duosion completely wall all defensive Snover. Finally, being weak to Stealth Rock is a constant thorn in Snover’s side, limiting its switch ins and whittling its HP down quickly.</p>

[Dreamworld]

<p>Snover gets Soundproof from Dreamworld, but the only real reason to use Snover is for Snow Warning, so Soundproof is basically useless.</p>

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