Matthew
I love weather; Sun for days
Little than a month ago, Snover was considered a good lead, but generally not used often due to hail removing a percent of your own pokemon's HP. However, during the Berry Juice quick test (for lack of better words), I decided to use Snover after hearing Heysup saying how broken Phanpy was. After battling Phanpy I decided that "Why would I set down Stealth Rock when I could KO Phanpy and possibly another pokemon" I thought about a lot of leads, well this could work, but leaves me open to pokemon XYZ. This search reminded me of hearing about SBC using Snover to a good extent so I decided why not give it a try. Now I could rave about how good it was, or you could ask anyone who had the chance to battle it; quite simply, Snover was destructive.
When Berry Juice was banned until a full test in ShoddyBattle2 could happen, I didn't want to give up on my Snover lead, and I hoped that it still would be as good as it was with Berry Juice. To my surprise it was even better. With Oran not healing as much as Berry Juice, Snover hit twice as hard and most pokemon could not keep up. I also found out that Snover turned out to be a wonderful counter to Gligar and Chinchou, who often use their STAB move first turn, or set up. Either way Ice Shard and Energy Ball respectively.
So besides countering two extremely important threats, Snover has no solid switch in besides Bronzor and Munchlax. Now you may think "What about Houndour, and Magby!" well quite simple with Stealth Rock, hail damage, and STAB Blizzard they're coming in missing at least 50% of their health. That's quite a bit, meaning that they will not be able to switch back in on Snover again. Munchlax and Bronzor are very big threats for Snover though, thankfully they both can be handled with pokemon such as Gligar and Magnemite.
The lead Snover set that has taken place over SubSeed is
Snover (M) @ Oran Berry
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 116 HP/180 Atk/180 SAtk
Rash nature (+SpA, -SDef)
- Protect
- Ice Shard
- Blizzard
- Energy Ball
This set allows Snover to survive a Meowth's U-Turn and hit the switch in with Blizzard. It also allows for you to scout choice users with Protect, and avoid Fake Out. Protect can also be used to deal damage to your opponent via hail, though 1 HP may not seem like a lot, it may be enough to put your opponent into Ice Shard KO range.
Snover (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 116 HP/180 SpAtk/196 Spe
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Blizzard
- Energy Ball
- Hidden Power Electric / Fire
- Water Pulse
With Snover being able to get a Speed of 14 with a boosting nature, Snover can now effectively outpace all the pokemon in Little Cup that are not running Choice Scarf. Snover now can run a Hidden Power effectively, either Electric or Fire is preferred as Mantyke is a pokemon who often tries to set up on Snover, however you will need damn good prediction to catch it on the switch in. Hidden Power Fire can be used to hit other Snover while also hitting Bronzor, who otherwise walls Snover. Water Pulse is mainly a filler option.
Substitute Swords Dance Snover is also a wonderful set that is used sometime, but is in the same boat as the old Sub Leech Seed set which isn't seen that often at all.
So discuss what you think of Snover here, post experiences comments, and original sets you may have.
When Berry Juice was banned until a full test in ShoddyBattle2 could happen, I didn't want to give up on my Snover lead, and I hoped that it still would be as good as it was with Berry Juice. To my surprise it was even better. With Oran not healing as much as Berry Juice, Snover hit twice as hard and most pokemon could not keep up. I also found out that Snover turned out to be a wonderful counter to Gligar and Chinchou, who often use their STAB move first turn, or set up. Either way Ice Shard and Energy Ball respectively.
So besides countering two extremely important threats, Snover has no solid switch in besides Bronzor and Munchlax. Now you may think "What about Houndour, and Magby!" well quite simple with Stealth Rock, hail damage, and STAB Blizzard they're coming in missing at least 50% of their health. That's quite a bit, meaning that they will not be able to switch back in on Snover again. Munchlax and Bronzor are very big threats for Snover though, thankfully they both can be handled with pokemon such as Gligar and Magnemite.
The lead Snover set that has taken place over SubSeed is
Snover (M) @ Oran Berry
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 116 HP/180 Atk/180 SAtk
Rash nature (+SpA, -SDef)
- Protect
- Ice Shard
- Blizzard
- Energy Ball
This set allows Snover to survive a Meowth's U-Turn and hit the switch in with Blizzard. It also allows for you to scout choice users with Protect, and avoid Fake Out. Protect can also be used to deal damage to your opponent via hail, though 1 HP may not seem like a lot, it may be enough to put your opponent into Ice Shard KO range.
Snover (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 116 HP/180 SpAtk/196 Spe
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Blizzard
- Energy Ball
- Hidden Power Electric / Fire
- Water Pulse
With Snover being able to get a Speed of 14 with a boosting nature, Snover can now effectively outpace all the pokemon in Little Cup that are not running Choice Scarf. Snover now can run a Hidden Power effectively, either Electric or Fire is preferred as Mantyke is a pokemon who often tries to set up on Snover, however you will need damn good prediction to catch it on the switch in. Hidden Power Fire can be used to hit other Snover while also hitting Bronzor, who otherwise walls Snover. Water Pulse is mainly a filler option.
Substitute Swords Dance Snover is also a wonderful set that is used sometime, but is in the same boat as the old Sub Leech Seed set which isn't seen that often at all.
So discuss what you think of Snover here, post experiences comments, and original sets you may have.