Serperior [QC 2/3]

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Halcyon.

@Choice Specs
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Overview
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From the depths of obscurity comes Serperior, a Pokemon gifted with what is essentially a 130 Base Power Nasty Plot in the form of Leaf Storm thanks to its ability: Contrary. Against offensive builds, its impressive base 113 Speed allows it to outspeed a large part of the metagame, making it a fantastic cleaner. While defensive Pokemon such as Chansey and Mega Sableye will have a hard time keeping up with its constant boosting. Serperior's defensive stats are also just bulky enough for it to survive some important attacks, Mega Pinsir's Quick Attack being one of them.

With that said, Serperior does suffer from relatively low Special Attack without a boost. This means even Pokemon like Ferrothorn will be able to survive an unboosted Hidden Power Fire. And Leaf Storm's low PP can also make things difficult in longer games. Serperior also relies heavily on teammates to get past its counters, such as Heatran, Mega Altaria, and Talonflame, as it has few options against them. Still, with adequate support, Serperior can be a terror for opponents to face.

All-Out Attacker
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name: All-Out Attacker
move 1: Leaf Storm
move 2: Dragon Pulse
move 3: Hidden Power Fire
move 4: Giga Drain / Taunt/ Knock Off
ability: Contrary
item: Life Orb
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
ivs: 29 HP
nature: Timid

Moves
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Leaf Storm should be the move Serperior uses the most. With its high Base Power and backed by a Life Orb, Leaf Storm actually hits surprisingly hard, despite Serperior's low base Special Attack. The boost provided by Leaf Storm makes the coverage moves available to Serperior more usable. Dragon Pulse hits Dragon types such as Latios and Dragonite after Multiscale is broken. It's also good for neutral damage on Pokemon such as Talonflame on the switch. Hidden Power Fire is used mainly for Steel types, with Ferrothorn and Scizor being hit the hardest by it. After a boost from Leaf Storm, Hidden Power Fire is a clean OHKO on both. The last move is entirely up to preference, as Serperior's actual coverage options are slim. Giga Drain provides a useful Grass-type STAB move that has higher PP as well as the perk of healing off recoil from Life Orb. Taunt is especially useful against defensive teams, since most rely on Mega Sableye to deflect Taunt users and Serperior can simply boost against it. It helps wear down checks to Serperior such as Chansey, as it removes their ability to recover. Knock Off is another option in the final slot, that can help Serperior wear down the likes of Heatran and Chansey more easily, since both rely heavily on their item to function defensively. Hidden Power Ground can be used instead of Hidden Power Fire if your team requires a lure to Heatran, since after a Leaf Storm boost, Hidden Power Ground is a guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock.

Set Details
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Life Orb is a mandatory item choice for Serperior on this set. Its special Attack stat is nothing special and Life Orb gives it a boost that it desperately needs to get many important OHKOs after a boost against such Pokemon as Latios. Because Life Orb is the item of choice, 29 HP IVs give it a Life Orb number. Timid is absolutely necessary on Serperior because its Speed tier puts it above key threats such as Keldeo, Latios and Latias, Gengar, and Mega Diancie. Although it might be tempting to run 232 Speed EVs to just barely outspeed base 110s while investing the rest in HP, the extra EVs don't give Serperior any noticeable bulk, so max Speed is preferred.

Usage Tips
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  • Because Serperior is so reliant on boosting, momentum is key.
  • Try to wear down its counters using either Serperior as a lure or its teammates (ie if running HP fire consider EQ Lati or if running HP Ground consider HP Fire Lati).
  • Best used late game as a cleaner.
Team Options
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  • Scizor/Mega Scizor
  • Mega Altaria
  • Mega Gallade
  • Mega Manectric
  • Latios
  • CM Keldeo
  • Landorus-T
  • Gengar
  • Suicune
  • CB Talonflame
  • Tornadus-T
  • Dugtrio

Sub Leech Seed
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name: Sub Leech Seed
move 1: Substitute
move 2: Leech Seed
move 3: Leaf Storm
move 4: Hidden Power Fire
ability: Contrary
item: Leftovers
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD 252 Spe
nature: Timid

Moves
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  • Substitute protects Serperior from revenge killing, and lets it more easily set up on stall Pokemon that can't break its sub
  • Leech Seed can be used on the switch into something Serperior can't break through such as tran or unaware Clef and wear them down for later
  • Leaf Storm is the main STAB, raising SpA by 2 and being generally strong
  • Hidden Power Fire is the best coverage move Serperior has for this set as it hits Grass types immune to Leech Seed
Set Details
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  • A bulkier spread of 232 HP lets it continually set up subs on Latios until at -6 where it can no longer break the sub
  • 56 HP means Rotom-W's Hydro Pump will never break its sub, but Rotom will never stay in on Serperior anyway
  • Leftovers is the best item due to the added recovery when used in conjunction with Leech Seed.
Usage Tips
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  • This set shines against bulkier teams try to set up subs on Pokemon that absolutely have to switch out against it, ie Celebi or Slowbro
  • Doesn't work against offense as well for this exact reason, offense tends to be able to just sac a Pokemon instead of switching around.
  • Since Leaf Storm's PP is low, be liberal with throwing out Leech Seed instead on predicted switches if the opp has a known counter.
Team Options
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  • Mega Manectric
  • Mega Scizor
  • Landorus-T
  • Mega Altaria
  • Stall Breaker Talonflame
  • CM Keldeo
  • Suicune
  • Gyarados
  • Tornadus-T
  • Dugtrio
Other Options
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  • Glare is an interesting option to
  • Choiced sets mostly suck because Leaf Storm has bad coverage
  • Dual Screens but there are better users
Checks & Counters
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  • Mega Altaria
  • Heatran
  • Ferrothorn (checks HP Ground versions)
  • SDef Talonflame, Mega Pinsir, Charizard Y, SDef Dragonite (if no rocks)
  • Largely depends on if boosted or not
 
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I think this is ready for comment. It's been a while so forgive any errors in formatting. Does anyone think any set besides LO is viable enough for its own set? I didn't think so but I'd like some feedback.
 
Change the HP IV to 29 to minimize LO recoil.

Not QC, but Dual Screens might be noteworthy.
 
Change the HP IV to 29 to minimize LO recoil.

Not QC, but Dual Screens might be noteworthy.

Ok I'll edit the IVs. Thanks.

Dual Screens is in Other Options atm. I wasn't sure if it was good enough for its own set, since others do it better. But I admittedly haven't actually tried it yet. I'll get right on that and see how it does.
 
I honestly feel the set name should be "Offensive" as a means of simplifying it, since the set is meant to be offensive.
 
I honestly feel the set name should be "Offensive" as a means of simplifying it, since the set is meant to be offensive.

I suppose, but calling it "Offensive" sort of implies that there is a non-offensive set, which there is not. I could just call it Contrary or All Out Attacker I guess.

But honestly I'm not looking for nitpicking here, I just want to know if there's any actual information pertinent to the set itself I should change/add/remove.
 
unfortunately, serperior really does need the extra power granted by life orb otherwise it won't be able to clean efficiently :( . and why is glare slashed as filler lol. seems pretty useless to me, i'd replace it with taunt so that it can stallbreak better. mention knock off getting rid of chansey's eviolite too and get rid of the bit with hp ground zone, there are better ways to lure tran like eq lati and it isn't in our best interest to pair gimmicks with it :x . you have 29 atk ivs instead of hp so fix that too. on another note, i would suggest you make a secondary set for a subseed variant of serperior. something like substitute/leaf storm/leech seed/hp fire looks like it would have merit. avoids status, revenge killing, sucker punches, can stall mons out like chansey, tran, and unaware clef via seed, good recovery and lets it safely boost up by spamming leaf storm. go a bit more in-depth on team options and narrow down checks and counters so that it fits together and is nice and compact. once you do all these 1/3 n_n
 
Ok I'll try out subseed and add that as a second set. Thanks guys n_n

EDIT: Added the set, working on a better EV spread. I'll try to get the rest filled in tomorrow after some testing.
 
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you may want to mention that it easily takes care of rotom-w
also- what is the point of running max speed- considering that there is one ou 112 and that one get's speed boost if you have 240 speed you out speed max 111s(only thundourus and tornadus) and he get's priority t-wave so you probably should not be staying in any way. you may can go down as low 232 speed evs(enough for max 110) if not using hp fire.
unless you realy wan't to outspeed or speed tie your'self
and on the sub seed set you may wan't to slash dragon pulse with hp fire
one more note if you arn't using any physical attacks 0 attack ivs should be used for the couple of things that use foul play
 
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you may want to mention that it easily takes care of rotom-w
also- what is the point of running max speed- considering that there is one ou 112 and that one get's speed boost if you have 240 speed you out speed max 111s(only thundourus and tornadus) and he get's priority t-wave so you probably should not be staying in any way. you may can go down as low 232 speed evs(enough for max 110) if not using hp fire.
unless you realy wan't to outspeed or speed tie your'self

The main reason I didn't do that is because there isn't much point in the extra EVs, whereas I see speed tying other Serperior to be much more important. Still if other people agree with you, I'll change it.
 
hp ground isn't worth slashing, heatran can be dealt with via lures eg eq latios or focus blast clefable, dugtrio (if you're really desperate), or just crippling it with knock off. hitting ferro, skarm, and zor is quite indispensable as though zone is a fine partner with decent synergy, it's so much nicer if you can just hit them straight up considering that you can already cripple tran with knock off.
 
No mention of Aromatherapy? It's not too bad on the offensive set actually, since removing status on an offensive team may be game-changing.

EDIT: Ferrothorn should be removed from C&C, as it doesn't like taking a +2 HP fire. Unaware Clefable should be added I think, although I'm not sure how much Leaf Storm does.
 
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Mention Goodra as a counter. Sap Sipper means you can't boost off of it and you do shit to it with unboosted Dragon Pulse even if you remove its Assault Vest (that's still a thing right?).
 
I think you should stress how useful contrary is in a variety of situations. The best example is fucking up sticky web teams and getting speed boosts from icy wind Keldeo, but also taking advantage of random hax such as SpD drops from psychic and stuff like that.
Another cool thing about contrary is that serp can switch into predicted defogs (usually from the likes of Lati@ since they cant faze serp out unlike skarm) and recieve an EVASION BOOST. Which i think is pretty big because you will avoid more attacks and, in turn, kill more things. Another reason why stealth rovk setters make good partners with serperior

Evasion clause? lol not today bitches
 
One of the major downsides of Serperior that i feel no one has picked up yet, is that leaf storm has imperfect accuracy. This may not seem like much, but all too often i will find Serperior missing an often vital leaf storm boost, so you may want to point this out in the OP.

Of course you dont have to, maybe this only happens to me since getting terrible hax is like guarranteed whenever i battle someone -___-
 
Ok lots of stuff to reply to. Unfortunately I'm on my phone which makes long posts kind of difficult but I'll do my best to respond to everything said.

Jukain: while I disagree about the effectiveness of HP Ground since Magnezone+Serperior is such a good core, I will remove it as a slash and just keep it in the moves section.

TomNumbers: Ferrothorn is there because it counters HP Ground variants.

Karxrida: I get that Ive been gone a while but is Goodra even close to viable anymore? Especially with Dragalge now, which is bulky (albeit much less) but also much more powerful. Gonna need a verdict from QC on this one.

Mista Fista: I might mention some hax related boosts in the overview, but realistically it's such a small part of Serperior's role that I just didn't think it was necessary. But rest assured I'll put something in there when I type this up.

Still working on Leech Seed Serp.
 
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