[Overview]
<p>Seviper is one of those Pokemon that will never rise out of the NU tier. It's held back by an awful typing for an offensive Pokemon, poor Speed, and low defenses. Then again, being a snake with a sword for a tail does give it that "cool" factor. On a more serious note, Seviper does boast good offensive stats, meaning it can attack from both the physical and the special side and inflict some serious pain thanks to its great movepool. Its Poison typing, while bad offensively, does allow Seviper to switch into the myriad of Grass- and Fighting-type attacks present in the metagame. It also allows Seviper to soak up Toxic Spikes upon entering the battlefield, bringing some utility to its teammates. Furthermore, Shed Skin means that Seviper isn't as prone to status effects as other Pokemon. All in all, Seviper is a strong, albeit slow and frail, Pokemon that can surprise opponents with its power; however, it will have a hard time distinguishing itself from other powerful Pokemon that are more suited to wallbreaking, such as Magmortar or Absol.</p>
[SET]
name: Ssspecsss
move 1: Sludge Bomb
move 2: Hidden Power Ground / Flamethrower
move 3: Giga Drain
move 4: Switcheroo / Dark Pulse
item: Choice Specs
ability: Shed Skin
nature: Modest
evs: 44 HP / 252 SpA / 212 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Seviper, when equipped with Choice Specs, reaches an impressive 492 Special Attack. This kind of power allows our cold-blooded friend to heavily dent any Pokemon that doesn't resist the used move. Sludge Bomb is the main STAB move, and despite only hitting Grass-types super effectively, it does hit a large part of the tier for neutral damage. It also has a nifty 30% chance of poisoning the opponent, which is useful when trying to secure a KO. Hidden Power Ground hits the most common Steel-types, Probopass and Bastiodon, for 4x damage. It also lets Seviper hit other Poison-types super effectively. Flamethrower is an alternative move in the second slot, since it has excellent neutral coverage and hits the Steel-types that aren't part Rock harder than Hidden Power Ground. Giga Drain hits the Ground-types that resist Poison super effectively, and can also restore Seviper's HP in a pinch. Finally, Switcheroo allows Seviper to mess with special walls such as Lickilicky and Audino, while Dark Pulse allows Seviper to hit Ghost-types, such as Misdreavus, for super effective damage. It also deals good damage to incoming Psychic-types, such as Mesprit, that may try to come in on Seviper and bring it down with their STAB moves.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The Speed EVs allow Seviper to outspeed Rock Polish Torterra before a boost. Special Attack is maximized in order to deal as much damage as possible, while the remaining EVs are dumped into HP to provide some durability. Because of Seviper's low base Speed, it appreciates paralysis support from its teammates in order to move before its opponent. An alternative method of fixing Seviper's Speed issues is to provide it with Trick Room support. In this case, a Quiet nature and max HP EVs should be used. Sludge Wave could be used instead of Sludge Bomb, but the difference in Base Power is minuscule, and Sludge Wave has a far lower chance of poisoning the opponent. Since Seviper has the ability to maul physical walls, physically based Speed demons make for great teammates. Examples of good partners include Cinccino and Swellow. Seviper can also switch into the Fighting weakness of the former, and Swellow can come into Ground-type moves aimed at Seviper.</p>
[SET]
name: Physical Attacker
move 1: Poison Jab
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Sucker Punch
move 4: Coil / Aqua Tail
item: Life Orb
ability: Shed Skin
nature: Adamant / Jolly
evs: 44 HP / 252 Att / 212 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Seviper can also run an efficient physically based set. Although it lacks the wallbreaking power of the Choice Specs set, this Seviper is more adept at dealing with a larger variety of Pokemon, thanks to its ability to switch moves. Poison Jab is its STAB move with a decent Base Power that can ruin the day of any Grass-type that decides to stay in on Seviper. Earthquake provides excellent coverage alongside Poison Jab, hitting the Rock-, Poison-, and Steel-types that don't care about Seviper's STAB. Sucker Punch is one of the main perks of this set, as it allows Seviper to bypass its low Speed and revenge kill a slew of Pokemon. In particular, it prevents faster Psychic-types from coming in on Seviper and KOing it with their STAB moves. Coil is an option in the last slot to boost Seviper's Attack and Defense, turning it into a formidable tank, but Seviper faces stiff competition from Arbok in this regard. Arbok has the much more powerful Gunk Shot as a STAB move that benefits from Coil's accuracy boost, not to mention higher Speed and access to Intimidate, while Seviper's only advantages are a more powerful Earthquake and Sucker Punch, due to its higher base Attack. Should you not wish to play Seviper as an inferior Arbok, Aqua Tail is a perfectly viable option in the last slot to hit Golem and Camerupt for massive damage.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The Attack EVs give Seviper a strong bite (excuse the pun), the Speed EVs once again allow it to outspeed Rock Polish Torterra before the boost, and the rest beef up its HP stat. However, due to this Seviper's continuous HP loss, courtesy of Life Orb, a spread with maximum Speed EVs is just as viable. This variant of Seviper, despite being more threatening to offensively based teams, has trouble dealing with the bulkier walls such as Alomomola, and is flat out stopped by Pokemon like Weezing. Therefore, packing a powerful, specially based attacker is an excellent idea. Choice Specs Exeggutor and Magmortar are prime teammates for this Seviper, due to their ability to crush the physical walls that halt Seviper.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Seviper has a rather colorful movepool; however, the listed options are generally the most effective. One move that springs to mind is Glare, which solves Seviper's Speed issues. Stockpile boosts both of Seviper's defenses, but Coil tends to be more useful, since it boosts Seviper's offensive prowess instead of Special Defense. Seviper could use Dragon Tail in tandem with Rest and one of the boosting moves to phaze opponents, relying on Shed Skin to cure Sleep. Knock Off is a useful move in the NU metagame due to the large number of Eviolite users. By stripping an opponent of its item, its set can also usually be figured out, which helps when dealing with an otherwise troublesome Pokemon. Other offensive options include Crunch, Rock Slide, and Seed Bomb. Crunch faces stiff competition from Sucker Punch, due to the latter's priority, while the other two moves don't really cover anything of note. One may be tempted to go mixed with Seviper, since it possesses equal offensive stats, but in order to go mixed one has to split EVs, meaning that Seviper will either be outsped by a larger amount of Pokemon or will have to sacrifice a lot of offensive potential.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>The Choice Specs set is surprisingly difficult to wall. Special walls such as Mantine, Lickilicky, and Grumpig can take any of Seviper's attacks, but are crippled by a timely Switcheroo. Camerupt is perhaps the best option, since it resists Sludge Bomb and Flamethrower, while not taking much from Hidden Power Ground. It can then proceed to eliminate Seviper with its STAB Ground-type moves. The physical set is far easier to wall; Weezing is practically a perfect counter to it and can retaliate with powerful special moves like Fire Blast. Regirock can also switch in with ease, as it takes very little damage from Earthquake thanks to its colossal Defense, and can strike back with an Earthquake of its own. The best way to deal with Seviper is to take advantage of its low defenses and Speed. Any decently powered STAB move that isn't resisted will deal a lot of damage to Seviper, and Psychic- and Ground-type moves will almost always OHKO it. Its low Speed means that any Choice Scarf user will be able to outspeed it, but generally speaking, you won't even have to resort to them.</p>
[Dream World]
<p>Seviper receives Infiltrator via the Dream World. While not a ground-breaking ability, it's still nice for an offensively-inclined Pokemon like Seviper, since it allows it to ignore the effects of Reflect and Light Screen. Shed Skin may, however, be more useful in the long run, since status moves are more common than dual screens, and Seviper likes not being crippled by burn, paralysis, and sleep.</p>