[Overview]
<p>With pitiful defenses and lackluster Speed, Seviper struggles to find a spot on teams. Its Poison typing is helpful, as it can absorb Toxic Spikes and check weaker attackers such as Serperior and Gurdurr, but any stronger attacks can land a devastating blow, even if resisted. The best chance Seviper has to pull its weight is to make use of its decent attacking stats and coverage in a mixed set.</p>
[SET]
name: Mixed Attacker
move 1: Sludge Bomb
move 2: Flamethrower
move 3: Giga Drain
move 4: Sucker Punch
item: Life Orb
nature: Naive
ability: Shed Skin
evs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Seviper's greatest advantage is its coverage, which allows it to hit a lot of NU super effectively. Sludge Bomb is its STAB move and most reliable attacking choice. Flamethrower hits the Steel-types that will switch in on a predicted Sludge Bomb very hard. Giga Drain rounds off Seviper's coverage by nailing Ground-types that resist both Sludge Bomb and Flamethrower, such as Seismitoad and Golem, for 4x damage and also grants Seviper recovery in the process. Sucker Punch is important in the last moveslot because it allows Seviper to damage faster threats.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>Seviper uses maximum Speed and a Naive nature so it can outspeed Modest Samurott and Modest Ludicolo, which is an important benchmark. Shed Skin is the ability of choice because it makes Seviper reasonably good at switching in status attacks, and as such grants Seviper more Pokemon to switch in on, such as Misdreavus and Tangela. Life Orb is the best item because Seviper needs a high damage output in order to make an impact; it cannot survive many hits anyway, so the residual damage is insignificant. Nevertheless, an Expert Belt can be used instead of a Life Orb, but Seviper's main STAB will rarely receive a boost in this case, owing to Poison's sparse super effective coverage. A cool alternative over Flamethrower is Hidden Power Ground, which turns Seviper into an effective Probopass and Bastiodon lure, since both of them sponge its attacks otherwise. Good defensive partners for Seviper are Musharna and Mandibuzz, which can handle the incoming Ground- and Psychic-type attacks, as well as most of the stronger attacks that tend to break through Seviper. Good offensive partners are stallbreakers, such as Choice Band Sawk and Swords Dance Samurott, which can handle special walls that can take all of Seviper's attacks. Lastly, paralysis support from Pokemon such as Regirock and Rotom-S greatly helps Seviper by allowing it to outspeed and severely damage Pokemon that it wouldn't normally be able to.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>A Choice item + Switcheroo is a decent option for Seviper, but Pokemon such as Musharna pull it off better with its higher bulk. Giving Seviper Choice Specs also turns it into a powerhouse, but it doesn't enjoy locking itself into its STAB move and it can easily be revenge killed. A Coil set with Poison Jab, Seed Bomb, Earthquake, Crunch, and/or Aqua Tail is doable, but Arbok outclasses it in Speed, bulk, and its access to Gunk Shot. Seviper has access to some nifty support moves, such as Glare, Dragon Tail, Haze, Taunt, and Knock Off, but it has trouble fitting any of those moves into a set. Seviper can set up weather, but it is completely outclassed by Pokemon with better abilities, Speed, and/or reliable recovery. Seviper could use Rest in conjunction with Shed Skin for its own recovery, but most attacks will at least 2HKO it, so there is little chance of it being effective.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>Anything faster with a strong attack that does not fear Sucker Punch can eliminate Seviper, such as Sawk, Tauros, Timid Ludicolo, and Charizard, but they all must avoid switching in on a strong attack. Special sponges such as Lickilicky and Audino can take all of Seviper's attacks with little to fear. Musharna can easily KO Seviper with Psychic and will not take too much damage from Sucker Punch. Ground-types that outspeed or take little damage from Giga Drain, such as Camerupt, are great counters as well. Probopass and Bastiodon also take very little from Seviper's attacks and can set up Stealth Rock and/or phaze Seviper out. Entry hazards in general are great at wearing Seviper down, as it has no reliable recovery.</p>
Atomicllamas' Bitch
[Overview]
- Another "meh" Pokemon in NU that cannot find a decent niche over others; there aren't many special attacking Poison-types, though.
- It's Poison-typing allows it to switch in on Fighting-types such as Gurdurr, but both Sawk and Primeape can KO or 2HKO with their Fighting STABs, making it an unreliable check. It still beats most Grass-types one-on-one (most importantly Serperior) which is nice.
- It is frail and doesn't outspeed much even with investment.
- Good offenses and a great movepool give it a fighting chance as a mix attacker.
name: Mixed Attacker
move 1: Sludge Bomb
move 2: Flamethrower
move 3: Giga Drain
move 4: Sucker Punch
item: Life Orb
nature: Naive
ability: Shed Skin
evs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
- Greatest advantage is its great coverage over a lot of NU.
- Sludge Bomb is its reliable STAB choice.
- Flamethrower hits Steel-types hard that come in to absorb Sludge Bomb.
- Giga Drain rounds off the coverage hurting Golem, Carracosta, Golurk, and Seismitoad and gaining some health back as a bonus.
- Sucker Punch picks off some weakened, faster threats (mainly Jynx).
- Life Orb offers power and versatility, and Giga Drain slightly makes up for the loss of health. Nevertheless, it won't be surviving very long anyway, so the extra Life Orb recoil damage doesn't mean much.
- The main reason for a naive nature is it outspeeds modest Ludicolo and modest Samurott.
- Shed Skin makes it a cool status absorber, letting it switch in on Pokemon such as Misdreavus more reliably.
- Hidden Power Ground makes Seviper a cool Steel-type lure, dealing the most damage to Probopass possible. With Steels gone, Jynx can easily sweep teams.
- Good defensive partners are Mandibuzz and Musharna, who can sponge the Ground- and Psychic-types aimed towards Seviper. But, strong attackers of most types force Seviper out, so careful teambuilding all-around is important.
- Seviper really appreciates paralysis support, so pokemon like Regirock and Rotom-S make good partners as well.
- Good offensive partners are stallbreakers such as Choice Band Sawk and Swords Dance Samurott who can eliminate the Pokemon who can sponge Seviper's diverse coverage, such as Lickilicky and Audino.
- Expert Belt can be used for slight longevity since it's coverage is super-effective quite often, but Life Orb is preferred because it boosts its STAB, which Expert Belt can rarely do.
- Switcheroo+Choice item always works, but Seviper can't do it any better than other Pokemon such as Musharna, Jynx and Rotom-S.
- A Choice Sssspecssss set hits really hard, but its STAB has unreliable coverage and it is easily killed by most attackers and even heavily dented by some walls.
- Seviper can use Coil + Physical moves such as Poison Jab, Seed Bomb, Earthquake, Crunch, and/or Aqua Tail, but it is totally outclassed by Arbok who has better bulk, speed, and Gunk Shot.
- It has a cool support movepool (Taunt, Glare, Haze, Dragon Tail, Knock Off), but they are all situational at best, and Seviper is too frail to accomplish enough.
- Rain Dance and Sunny Day, but Seviper is too frail and slow to pull it off.
- RestTalk is an option for healing, but it's so frail and slow it is usually 2HKO'ed or OHKO'ed anyway (and it has nothing to do with just two moveslots).
- Anything faster with a strong, neutral attack that does not fear sucker punch can eliminate Seviper such as Sawk, Tauros, Timid Ludicolo, and Charizard, but they must fear switching in on a wrong attack or a random support move such as Glare.
- Special sponges such as Lickilicky and Audino can take on all of Seviper's attacks with little to fear except for Taunt and Switcheroo.
- Residual damage from entry hazards wears down Seviper quite quickly, as it has little to no recovery.
- Psychic-types can easily KO with their STABs, and mons such as Musharna don't even care about Sucker Punch that much.
- Ground-types that outspeed and/or take little from Giga Drain can also easily smash Seviper, such as Camerupt.
- Bastiodon and Probopass take little from all their attacks, bar Hidden Power Ground, and can set up Stealth Rock or phaze.
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