Snover (Gen 4, LC Analysis)*

little gk · Aug 31, 2009

Status: Done, needs proofreading
Last update: the overview update stuff

http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/snover

[Overview]

The harsh conditions of Sinnoh's winters brought forth arguably the most adorable tree known to Pokemon. When used correctly, Snover can be a monster on the battlefield. It can run several effective sets such as Swords Dance, Stalling Lead, or even a special Choice set. It can also use its ability, Snow Warning, to stop weather based teams cold, most notably rain. Snover is a very dangerous Pokemon, capable of pulling off many different strategies, making it something to watch out for.

[SET]
name: Stalling Lead
move 1: Ice Shard
move 2: Protect
move 3: Substitute
move 4: Leech Seed
item: Leftovers
nature: Jolly
evs: 196 HP / 100 Atk / 196 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

This is one of the most effective sets Snover can run, it is capable of severely weakening or KOing almost everything in its path. Ice Shard is the main attack used here as it gains STAB and makes up for Snover's mediocre Speed. Protect is needed on most leads in Little Cup to block Fake Out and it increases the efficiency of Leftovers. Substitute makes Snover especially effective as a stalling Pokemon by shielding it from attacks that could otherwise cripple it. The final move, Leech Seed, works excellently in conjunction with Protect and Substitute because they buy extra turns on which Leech Seed will heal you and wear your opponent down along with hail.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

Even though Snover can beat many opposing leads, it can't beat them all. Snover will have problems with Meowth and Aipom leads as both of them outpace it and can deal large amounts of damage with U-turn. A good way to mitigate the effects of this is to predict the U-turn and switch to a Pokemon with a Bug-type resistance such as a Steel- or Fire-type, like Magnemite or Ponyta. Snover also has trouble against Houndour leads because of its resistance to both of Snover's STAB attacks and powerful Fire moves. Unfortunately, against Houndour, Snover can only switch out and have another Pokemon take the hit. In fact, Snover's 4x weakness to Fire means it will have troubles against any Pokemon of this type. The best way to offset this is to use Munchlax who, with Thick Fat, resists Fire and can hit back with Earthquake or STAB Return. Using a Water-type like Chinchou or Mantyke is another option as they can switch in comfortably on Fire moves and OHKO any Fire-type with STAB Water attacks.

[SET]
name: Offensive Lead
move 1: Protect
move 2: Blizzard
move 3: Ice Shard
move 4: Energy Ball
item: Oran Berry
nature: Rash
evs: 116 HP / 180 Atk / 180 SpA

[SET COMMENTS]

Thanks to hail's ability to break Focus Sashes and create 100% accurate Blizzards, Snover makes a great anti-lead. Protect serves two purposes on this set that are vital to its effectiveness. First, it allows Snow Warning to break the opponent's sash before they get a chance to harm you; secondly, it blocks Fake Out from the likes of Meowth, allowing Snover to survive a U-Turn and hit the switch in with Blizzard. Blizzard is the main attacking move due to it being Snover's most powerful attack. Ice Shard's coverage may be redundant with Blizzard's, but it lets Snover revenge kill faster, weakened opponents and destroy Gligar. Energy Ball allows Snover to hit Water-types for super effective damage, and helps to patch up the redundant coverage that running two Ice moves brings.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

Despite its advantage over most leads, there are those that cause problems. The first and foremost is Kabuto. Kabuto can outspeed and OHKO Snover with Rock Slide. Onix is a similar threat as it also both outspeeds Snover and OHKOes it with whichever Rock-type move it happens to be running, while surviving anything you can hit it with. Fighting-type moves are effective at taking care of these two and Mankey and Machop are both prime choices to use them. Houndour threatens Snover with a resistance to both STABs and Fire-type attacks which OHKO it. Mantyke is a wonderful answer to this as it can switch in on any of Houndour's moves and OHKO with a Water move. Though less common than the previously mentioned leads, Bronzor loves to face Snover. Nothing Snover throws at Bronzor can stop it from setting up its numerous support options.

[Set]
name: Special Choice
move 1: Blizzard
move 2: Energy Ball
move 3: Water Pulse
move 4: Hidden Power Fire / Hidden Power Fighting
item: Choice Scarf / Choice Specs
nature: Timid
evs: 116 HP / 184 SpA / 200 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

With a Choice Scarf Snover hits 21 Speed, which is enough to outspeed any unboosted Pokemon in Little Cup. This allows Snover to make up for its relatively poor Speed stat, while giving up the freedom to change moves. With Choice Specs, Snover is able to hit 22 Special Attack, allowing it to rip holes through the opposing team with a STAB Blizzard.

Blizzard is your primary STAB and main attack with it never missing under hail, crushing anything that does not resist it or named Munchlax. Energy Ball is a secondary STAB and covers Water-types such as Buizel and Kabuto. Water Pulse allows Snover to hit Fire-types, notably Houndour and Ponyta. Hidden Power Fire lets Snover 2HKO Bronzor, while Hidden Power Fighting hits Munchlax, who would otherwise completely wall this set. The EVs on this set reflect the choice of Hidden Power Fire. If one chooses Hidden Power Fighting, four EVs need to be added to both Defense and Special Defense.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

Deciding on what Hidden Power and item to choose determines the counters for this set. If Choice Scarf is chosen, both Bronzor and Munchlax can wall this set with relative ease. The best way to check these two is by using Machop, who can 2HKO max HP/ max Def Bronzor and OHKO Munchlax. If Choice Specs is chosen, Snover is incredibly slow with 14 Speed. This allows many Pokemon to outpace Snover and OHKO with their super effective attacks. As mentioned above, choosing either Hidden Power Fire or Hidden Power Fighting will give you different problems. The former lets you destroy Bronzor, but become bait for Munchlax, while the latter gives you a strong attack against Munchlax, but will make Snover useless against Bronzor. Gastly can also serve as a somewhat reliable lure, being able to trick Choice Scarf onto Bronzor and Munchlax, rendering them rather impotent and exploding to let Snover come back in and deal with its newly-crippled foes.

[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Substitute
move 3: Ice Shard
move 4: Seed Bomb / Wood Hammer
item: Life Orb
nature: Adamant
evs: 196 HP / 184 Atk / 120 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Snover is one of the few lucky Pokemon in Little Cup who has access to both a two-stage boosting move and STAB priority in the same set. This set may be Snover's most dangerous set, using a combination of Substitute and Swords Dance to set up a potential sweep. Swords Dance lets Snover bolster its Attack stat and Substitute allows Snover to set up behind a safety cushion. Ice Shard is Snover's main STAB and priority move, which makes up more Snover's lack of Speed. Seed Bomb, another STAB, allows Snover to hit harder than it would with Ice Shard and is especially useful against Pokemon Snover outpaces. In terms of actual damage output, Wood Hammer is an extremely strong attack that can replace Seed Bomb, but at the cost of recoil damage.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

Even though Snover is able to raise its attacking power through Swords Dance, it often can only get one boost, leaving it vulnerable to faster Pokemon such as Houndour, who resists both of Snover's STABs and can fire off supper effective Fire Blasts. Munchlax can help here, being a reliable special tank. Though this set takes care of Munchlax, Bronzor is still able to set up easily on this set and can threaten Snover with it's Steel-type STABs. Houndour can remedy this thanks to its own STAB attacks. The biggest problem this set faces is its lackluster speed, which forces you to use a much weaker Ice Shard compared to Seed Bomb and Wood Hammer.

[Team Options]

When using any set with Snover, hail can be very beneficial to many sweepers as it destroys Focus Sash. There are also two notable Pokemon who benefit directly under hail. The first of them is Spheal who, with Ice Body, can attempt to run a stall set like Walrein. The second is Cleffa, who can run an Endeavor set successfully under hail, thanks to its ability. As for the two sweeping sets, support is beneficial to allow Snover a successful sweep. These sets benefit from having entry hazards set up against the opposition, so it gives Snover a chance at changing its 2HKOs into OHKOs. Rapid Spin support from the likes of Staryu or Squirtle could help with Snover's weakness to Stealth Rock as well.

Houndour makes a good partner for Snover as it is immune to all Fire-type attacks provided it uses Flash Fire as its ability. Pure Fire-types also have great synergy with Snover as they resist all Bug-, Steel-, and Fire-type attacks thrown at Snover and give Bronzor a hard time with their super effective STAB attacks. Wynaut makes a good partner for Snover as it can reliably deal with Bronzor and create free turns for Snover to set up whatever it wants. Bronzor also makes a good partner for Snover, resisting Rock- and Steel-type attacks while also being immune to Ground-type attacks.

[Optional Changes]

Snover may be able to run a Choice Band set consisting of Ice Shard, Seed Bomb or Wood Hammer, Iron Tail, and Return to net some surprise kills. Unfortunately, this set is walled by Steel-types, even more so than the Special Choice set.

Ice Punch gives Snover a stronger physical attack, but Ice Shard's priority tends to be more helpful in many situations. Icy Wind may surprise faster switch-ins, but it lacks power and is made redundant by Ice Shard's priority. Snover gets Shadow Ball and may be useful on the Special Choice set, but Blizzard hits those Ghost-types hard enough. Snover gets Synthesis, but it should never be used; remember that when hail is active, Synthesis recovers a pitiful 25% and only has five PP.

[Counters]

Bronzor is a good general counter, only fearing an item-boosted Hidden Power Fire. Munchlax will wall the Special Choice set, only worrying about a Choice Specs Hidden Power Fighting and the physical sets. Fire-types in general are good counters to Snover as they resist both of Snover's STABs and can OHKO it with any Fire-type attack. In particular, Growlithe with Intimidate makes a great counter to the physical sets as the Intimidate drop cripples Snover's chances of sweeping. Shieldon is a good counter, resisting Blizzard and Ice Shard and having the choice of carrying Flamethrower to OHKO Snover. Any Pokemon that is faster than Snover and can handle a boosted Ice Shard will have a decent chance of defeating the Swords Dancer. Choice item sets, as usual, can be countered with good prediction, and with Stealth Rock set down early, it cannot repeatedly switch in, as it is weak to it.

Xia · Aug 31, 2009

Lead:
This set allows Snover to be one of the best leads in Little Cup, by using Snow Warning to its fullest extent. Since it is the only common lead that has the Ice-typing, all other leads have their Focus Sash negated from the start of the battle providing they run it. Snow Warning also lets Snover shut down weather teams, particularly rain, whose Water sweepers risk getting KOed by Snover’s Wood Hammer.

Ice Shard is the main attack used by Lead [it's the set name now] Snover as it gains STAB bonus and hits for excellent coverage. Protect is need on most lead sets in Little Cup because of common Fake Out leads such as Meowth and allows for scouting later in the game. Wood Hammer is the set’s most powerful move coming off 120 Base Power in addition to a STAB bonus. In the final move slot, Leech Seed may be used to stall out the opponent with damage from hail. Oran Berry provides Snover with extra bulk.

Even [no space] though it can beat many opposing leads, it can’t beat them all, or their switch-in. Snover encounters problems against Meowth leads as it both outspeeds Snover and hits for large amounts of damage when using U-turn. A good way to minimize the effects of this is to predict the U-turn and switch to a Pokemon with a Bug-type resistance such as a Steel- or Fire-type. Snover also has trouble against leading Houndour. It has the ability to take any of Snover’s attacks and easily OHKO back with Overheat. Snover, unfortunately can only switch out and have another Pokemon take the hit. Snover also has problems against all Fire-types as Snover has a 4x weakness to Fire-type attacks. The best way to offset this is to use Munchlax who, with Thick Fat, resists Fire-type attacks launched at it [any certain moves it can retaliate with?].[/quote]
Swords Dance:

Snover is one of the few lucky Pokemon in Little Cup who have access to a strong boosting move and a STAB priority accessable in the same set. This set may also be Snover’s most dangerous set by using a combination of Substitute and Swords Dance to set up for a potential sweep. Swords Dance obviously lets Snover bolster his Attack stat and Substitute is vital for this set as it allows Snover to set up behind a safety cushion and take some hits. Ice Shard is Snover’s main STAB and priority move, which makes up more Snover’s lack of Speed. Seed Bomb, another STAB allows Snover to hit harder than it would with Ice Shard and is especially useful against Pokemon outpaced by Snover. If one would like an even harder punch, Wood Hammer provides just that at the cost of recoil damage.

Not many Pokemon in Little Cup can take boosted hits from Snover, or any other Pokemon in Little Cup for that matter. This Snover is beaten is by a Pokemon that both resists Ice Shard, and can threaten back with a super effective attack, most notably a Fire-typed one. Growlithe may cause problems for Snover due to its ability, Intimidate, and its STAB Fire-type attacks. Houndour, like with all Snover sets, causes problems with its STAB Fire attacks and resistance to Snover’s attacks. A POkemon boasting Fire-type resistance, therefore, is recommended to combat both Houndour and Growlithe. Bronzor is a problem with Snover due to its physicall bulkyness and resistances to Snover's attacks. It also has super effective attacks in moves such as Gyro Ball and Flash Cannon.
[Maybe add a few Pokemon who can help counter these threats (ie Water-types, magby for Bronzor, ect)]

Special Choice:

Snover with a Choice Scarf hits 21 Speed, which is enough to outspeed any non-Choice Scarfer in Little Cup. This allows Snover to make up for its previously poor Speed stat, while giving up the freedom to change moves. With Choice Specs, Snover is able to hit 22 Special Attack allowing it to rip holes through the opposing team with a STAB Blizzard.

Blizzard is your first STAB and main attack with 100% accuracy under hail, it can crush anything that does not resist it, or isn't named Munchlax. Energy Ball is a secondary STAB and covers Water-types such as Buizel and Kabuto. Water Pulse allows Snover to hit Fire-types. Hidden Power Fire allows Snover to hit Bronzor for a 2HKO, while Hidden Power Fighting hits Munchlax, which would completely wall this set. The EVs on this set reflect the choice of Hidden Power Fire and four Defense and Special Defense EVs need to be added if you choose Hidden Power Fighting .

Deciding on what Hidden Power and item to choose determines the counters for this set. If Choice Scarf is chosen both Bronzor and Munchlax can wall this set. The best way to check these two is by using Machop, who can 2HKO Max HP/Defense Bronzor and OHKO [=P] Mnchlax. If Choice Specs is chosen Snover is incredibly slow with 14 Speed. This allows many Pokemon to outspeed Snover and OHKO [=P again] with their Fire-type attack. As mentioned above with Choice Specs you are choosing what you want to be walled by as choosing Hidden Power Fire is walled by Munchlax and Hidden Power Fighting is walled by Bronzor.

Other Options:

Snover may be able to run a Choice Band set consisting of Ice Shard, Seed Bomb or Wood Hammer, Iron Tail, and Return to net some surprise kills. Unfortunately, this set is terribly walled by Steel-types, more so than the Special Choice set.

Snover also gets Ice Punch for extra power but without Ice Shard's priority, and is therefore a worse option than Ice Shard. Icy Wind may surprise faster switch-ins but lacks power and is made redundant by Ice Shard's priority. Snover gets Synthesis and it should never be used; remember that when hail is blowing Synthesis recovers a pitiful 25% and only has 5 PP. Snover gets Shadow Ball and may be useful on the Special Choice set, but Blizzard hits those Ghost-types hard enough.

Team Options:

When using any set with Snover hail can be very beneficial to many sweepers as it destroys Focus Sash. There are also two notable Pokemon who benefit directly under hail. The first of them is Spheal who, with Ice Body, can try to run a stall set. The second is Cleffa and with its ability can run an Endeavor set successfully under hail. As for the two sweeping sets, support is beneficial to allow Snover a successful sweep. These sets benefit from having entry hazards set up against the opposition allow for this to happen. Rapid Spin support from the likes of Staryu or Squirtle could help too with Snover’s weakness to Stealth Rock.

Many sweepers benefit from Snover's Snow Warning as it destroys Sashes of everything switching in to you. Houndour makes a good partner for Snover as it resists all Bug-type attacks aimed at it and is immune to all Fire-type attacks provided it uses Flash Fire as its ability. Pure Fires also have great synergy with Snover as they resist all Bug-, Steel-, and Fire-type Pokemon and give Bronzor a hard time with their super effective STABs [moves didn't make sense, since moves aren't what warrant STAB, the POkemon's type does]. Bronzor makes a good partner for Snover resisting Rock-, Steel-, and Bug-type attacks.

EVs:

For the Lead set EVs are pumped into Attack, Defense, and Special Defense. For the Swords Dance set, you will want to max out Attack and Speed, which needs 180 EVs and 196 EVs respectively. The leftovers can be used in HP allowing for four 6 HP Substitutes. The Choice set’s EVs should maximize Special Attack and Speed using 184 EVs and 200 EVs. 116 HP EVs boost its HP stat by two and increases its survivability.

Opinion:

The harsh conditions of Sinnoh’s winters brought forth arguably the most adorable tree known to Pokemon. When it is used correctly, Snover can be a monster on the battlefield. Snover can run a variety of sets from a leading set that can stall, to a Swords Dance set, to a special choice set. It also uses its ability, Snow Warning, in aiding its team with the residual damage from hail as well as being able to mess with the strategy of weather teams. With this in mind Snover is a very dangerous pokemon capable of doing many things to defeat your opponent.

Counters:

Bronzor is a good general counter, only fearing an item-boosted Hidden Power Fire. Munchlax will wall the Special Choice set, only worrying about a Choice Specs Hidden Power Fighting and the physical sets. Fire-types in general are good counters to Snover as they resist both of Snover’s STABs and can OHKO it with any Fire-type attack. In particular, Growlithe with Intimidate makes a great counter to the physical sets as the Intimidate drop cripples Snover’s chances of sweeping. Shieldon is a good counter, resisting Blizzard and Ice Shard and having the choice of carrying Flamethrower to OHKO Snover. Any Pokemon that is faster than Snover and can handle a boosted Ice Shard will have a decent chance of defeating the Swords Dancer. Choice item sets, as usual, can be countered with good prediction, and with Stealth Rock set down early, it cannot repeatedly switch in, as it is weak to it.

Not bad, though you tend to erroneously capitalize Hail a lot. =P

If anything is deleted off the end of a sentence, it's because I either thought it didn't fit or took away from the sentence's main point/focus. Feel free to keep them, since it's your analysis, just know that at least one person finds them confusing. ;]

little gk · Aug 31, 2009

alright, thanks :)

I'll add this in asap and trust what you've got, you have more experience with this

Edit: I made some really stupid errors :P

Fuzznip · Aug 31, 2009

Lead

This set allows Snover to be one of the best leads in Little Cup, by using Snow Warning to full potential. Since it is the only common lead that has the Ice-typing, all of the other leads will have their Focus Sash negated from the start of the battle, providing they run it. Snow Warning also lets Snover shut down weather teams, particularly rain, whose Water-type sweepers risk getting KOed by Snover’s Wood Hammer.

Ice Shard is the main attack used by Lead Snover as it gains STAB bonus and hits for excellent type coverage. Protect is needed on most leads in Little Cup because of the common Fake Out users such as Meowth, while also providing a helpful scouting technique. Wood Hammer is the set’s most powerful move, coming off 120 Base Power in addition to a helpful STAB increase. In the final move slot, Leech Seed works excellently in conjunction with Protect, as that combo is used to slowly diminish the health of the opposing Pokemon, taking extra hail damage if they aren't immune to it, and also rejuvenating Snover's own health. Oran Berry provides Snover with extra bulk.(I would reword this sentence, as it's kind of misleading. Oran Berry doesn't provide "extra bulk", it just restores Snover's health. I would rewrite it and say something that Oran Berry helps it do the Leech Seed + Protect procedure many more times)

Even though it can beat many opposing leads, it can’t beat them all. Snover encounters problems against Meowth and Aipom leads as both of them outpace Snover and hit for large amounts of damage when using U-turn. A good way to minimize the effects of this is to predict the U-turn and switch to a Pokemon with a Bug-type resistance such as a Steel- or Fire-type, like Magnemite or Ponyta. Snover also has trouble against leading Houndour because of its resistance to both of Snover's STAB attacks and having a powerful Fire Blast or Overheat. Snover, unfortunately, can only switch out and have another Pokemon take the hit. Snover also has problems against all Fire-types as Snover has a dreadful 4x weakness to Fire-type attacks. The best way to offset this is to use Munchlax who, with Thick Fat, resists Fire-type attacks launched at it and hits back with Earthquake, or its STAB Return.

Swords Dance

Snover is one of the few lucky Pokemon in Little Cup who have access to Swords Dance and a STAB priority attack accessable in one set. This set may also be Snover’s most dangerous set by using a combination of Substitute and Swords Dance to set up for a potential sweep. Swords Dance obviously lets Snover bolster his Attack stat and Substitute is vital for this set as it allows Snover to set up behind a safety cushion and set up Swords Dance as the Substitute takes the opponent's attack. Ice Shard is Snover’s main STAB and priority move, which makes up more Snover’s lack of Speed. Seed Bomb, another STAB, allows Snover to hit harder than it would with Ice Shard and is especially useful against Pokemon outpaced by Snover. If one would like an even harder punch, Wood Hammer provides an extremely strong attack, but at the cost of recoil damage.

Not many Pokemon in Little Cup can take boosted hits from Snover, or any other Pokemon in Little Cup for that matter. This Snover is beaten by Pokemon that resist Ice Shard and Snover's chosen Grass-type attack, most notably Fire-types. Growlithe may cause problems for Snover due to its ability, Intimidate, and its STAB Fire-type attacks. Houndour, like with all Snover sets, causes problems with its STAB Firemoves and resistance to Snover’s STAB attacks. A Pokemon boasting Fire-type resistance is recommended to combat both Houndour and Growlithe, like Munchlax because of its ability Thick Fat and Onix. Bronzor is a problem when Snover is up against one due to its physical bulkyness and resistance to Snover's STAB attacks. It also has super effective attacks in moves such as Gyro Ball and Flash Cannon. Fire-types such as Magby and Houndour (who may achieve a Flash Fire boost because of Snover's 4x Fire weakness) are effective against Bronzor, hitting it with moves such as Flare Blitz and Fire Blast for super effective damage.

Click to expand...

Special Choice

Snover with a Choice Scarf hits 21 Speed, which is enough to outspeed any non-Choice Scarfer in Little Cup. This allows Snover to make up for its relatively poor Speed stat, while giving up the freedom to alternate between moves. With Choice Specs, Snover is able to hit 22 Special Attack, allowing it to rip holes through the opposing team with a STAB Blizzard.

Blizzard is your primary STAB and main attack with its 100% accuracy under hail, being able to crush anything that does not resist it, or isn't named Munchlax. Energy Ball is a secondary STAB and covers Water-types such as Buizel and Kabuto. Water Pulse allows Snover to hit Fire-types, particularly Houndour and Ponyta. Hidden Power Fire allows Snover to hit Bronzor for a 2HKO, while Hidden Power Fighting hits Munchlax, which would completely wall this set. [The EVs on this set reflect the choice of Hidden Power Fire and four Defense and Special Defense EVs need to be added if you choose Hidden Power Fighting] You lost me here, what? Reword this, it's confusing! .

Deciding on what Hidden Power and item to choose determines the counters for this set. If Choice Scarf is chosen, both Bronzor and Munchlax can wall this set with relative ease. The best way to check these two is by using Machop, who can 2HKO Max HP/Defense Bronzor and OHKO Munchlax. If Choice Specs is chosen, Snover is incredibly slow with 14 Speed. This allows many Pokemon to outpace Snover and OHKO with their super effective attacks. As mentioned above, choosing either Hidden Power Fire or Hidden Power Fighting will give you different problems. The former lets you destroy Bronzor, but become bait for Munchlax, while the latter gives you a strong attack against Munchlax, but will make Snover useless against Bronzor.

Click to expand...

Other Options

Snover may be able to run a Choice Band set consisting of Ice Shard, Seed Bomb or Wood Hammer, Iron Tail, and Return to net some surprise kills. Unfortunately, this set is terribly walled by Steel-types, more so than the Special Choice set.

Ice Punch gives Snover a stronger physical attack, but Ice Shard's priority tends to be more helpful in many situations. Icy Wind may surprise faster switch-ins, but it lacks power and is made redundant by Ice Shard's priority. Snover gets Shadow Ball and may be useful on the Special Choice set, but Blizzard hits those Ghost-types hard enough. Snover gets Synthesis, but it should never be used; remember that when hail is active, Synthesis recovers a pitiful 25% and only has 5 PP.

Click to expand...

Team Options

When using any set with Snover, hail can be very beneficial to many sweepers as it destroys Focus Sash. There are also two notable Pokemon who benefit directly under hail. The first of them is Spheal who, with Ice Body, can attempt to run a stall set like Walrein. The second is Cleffa, and with its ability, it can run an Endeavor set successfully under hail. As for the two sweeping sets, support is beneficial to allow Snover a successful sweep. These sets benefit from having entry hazards set up against the opposition, so it gives Snover a chance at changing its 2HKOs into OHKOs. Rapid Spin support from the likes of Staryu or Squirtle could help too with Snover’s weakness to Stealth Rock.

[Many sweepers benefit from Snover's Snow Warning as it destroys Sashes of everything switching in to you] Err, you already said this. Remove! Houndour makes a good partner for Snover as it resists all Bug-type attacks (Houndour does NOT resist Bug-type attacks, it's part Dark-type!) aimed at it and is immune to all Fire-type attacks provided it uses Flash Fire as its ability. Pure Fire-types also have great synergy with Snover as they resist all Bug-, Steel-, and Fire-type attacks thrown at Snover and give Bronzor a hard time with their super effective STAB moves. Bronzor makes a good partner for Snover as well, resisting Rock-, Steel-, and Bug-type attacks (Bronzor does NOT resist Bug-type attacks, it's part Psychic-type!).

Click to expand...

EVs

For the Lead set, EVs are pumped into Attack, Defense, and Special Defense. For the Swords Dance set, you will want to max out Attack and Speed, which needs 180 EVs and 196 EVs respectively. The leftovers can be used in HP allowing for four 6 HP Substitutes and allowing Snover to switch into Stealth Rock 4 times. The Choice set’s EVs should maximize Special Attack and Speed using 184 EVs and 200 EVs. 116 HP EVs boost its HP stat by two and increases its survivability.

Click to expand...

Opinion

The harsh conditions of Sinnoh’s winters brought forth arguably the most adorable tree known to Pokemon. When it is used correctly, Snover can be a monster on the battlefield. Snover can run a variety of sets from a leading set that can stall, to a Swords Dance set, to a special choice set. It also uses its ability, Snow Warning, in aiding its team with the residual damage from hail as well as being able to mess with the strategy of weather teams. With this in mind, Snover is a very dangerous Pokemon capable of doing many things to defeat its opponent.

Click to expand...

Counters

Bronzor is a good general counter, only fearing an item-boosted Hidden Power Fire. Munchlax will wall the Special Choice set, only worrying about a Choice Specs Hidden Power Fighting and the physical sets. Fire-types in general are good counters to Snover as they resist both of Snover’s STABs and can OHKO it with any Fire-type attack. In particular, Growlithe with Intimidate makes a great counter to the physical sets as the Intimidate drop cripples Snover’s chances of sweeping. Shieldon is a good counter, resisting Blizzard and Ice Shard and having the choice of carrying Flamethrower to OHKO Snover. Any Pokemon that is faster than Snover and can handle a boosted Ice Shard will have a decent chance of defeating the Swords Dancer. Choice item sets, as usual, can be countered with good prediction, and with Stealth Rock set down early, it cannot repeatedly switch in, as it is weak to it.

Click to expand...

little gk · Aug 31, 2009

i don't know what to think of that...it's great help thanks fuzzy :)

sbc · Sep 1, 2009

Snover (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 196 HP/100 Atk/196 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Substitute
- Ice Shard
- Protect
- Leech Seed

Most commonly used set (which I created as well lol) , Mr Happy/hellmonkey used that as well when he raped the ladder. Wood hammer is meh in terms of coverage, setting up a sub on Bronzor to enable sub seeding and more importantly scouting in general is superior on a stalling set. And maxing speed is better IMO, as it enables you get the jump on walls that don't run speed and ties with Croagunk so you're not 100% crapped on. leftovers > oran after 9/10 turns. You'll be protecting for half of those so 5 turns in reality, so its normally better to use it especially when used with sub.

And I think that a third attack on the SD set instead of Sub would be more beneficial considering the coverage of Ice/Grass is pretty meh (resisted by Fire types, steel types) and that Ice Shard is relatively weak against anything sturdy.

eric the espeon · Sep 1, 2009

I can vouch for the set sbc suggests, one of the hardest sets to beat of any Pokemon in LC, let alone Snover.

little gk · Sep 1, 2009

alright, I'll add that in once this fire is through with, or i get the time

Fuzznip · Sep 2, 2009

Alright, I finished editing the rest of your analysis GK.

Quick note to keep in mind, Houndour and Bronzor don't resist Bug-type attacks. Bug is super effective against Dark and Psychic. You also seem to have a slight problem in placing commas. You need to put one when you think you need to take a little break. Like with this sentence:

With Choice Specs, Snover is able to hit 22 Special Attack, allowing it to rip holes through the opposing team with a STAB Blizzard.

It wouldn't make much sense if there weren't any comma there.

Good job with the analysis though!

little gk · Sep 2, 2009

thanks Fuzzy. Commas are the bane of my existance with grammar :/...and type charts suck too

Edit: i'm lazy and I'm gonna wait to do Dixie's set till tommorow or later

Xia · Dec 14, 2009

evs: 196 HP / 100 Atk / 196 Speed

[SET COMMENTS]

This is one of the best and most common sets Snover runs, to its effectiveness, rendering almost everything in its path severely weakened if not KOed. Ice Shard is the main attack used here as it gains STAB bonus and makes up for Snover's mediocre Speed. Protect is needed on most leads in Little Cup because of the common Fake Out users such as Meowth, while also providing a helpful scouting technique for later in the game. Protect is also useful as it allows Snover to use its Leftovers much more effectively as it cuts the ammount of time it needs to beat Oran Berry's output by half. Substitute is the move that makes Snover so effective as a stalling Pokemon by shielding it from attacks that could previously cripple it. The final move, Leech Seed works excellently in conjunction with Protect and Substitute, as that combination is used to slowly diminish the health of the opposing Pokemon, taking extra hail damage if they aren't immune to it, and also rejuvenating Snover's own health. Stalling is made easy thank to the Subtitute + Leech Seed combo; these two moves make the set.

Even though Snover can beat many opposing leads, it can’t beat them all. Snover encounters problems against Meowth and Aipom leads as both of them outpace Snover and hit for large amounts of damage when using U-turn. A good way to minimize the effects of this is to predict the U-turn and switch to a Pokemon with a Bug-type resistance such as a Steel- or Fire-type, like Magnemite or Ponyta. Snover also has trouble against leading Houndour because of its resistance to both of Snover's STAB attacks and having a powerful Fire Blast or Overheat. Snover, unfortunately, can only switch out and have another Pokemon take the hit. Snover also has problems against all Fire-types as Snover has a dreadful 4x weakness to Fire-type attacks. The best way to offset this is to use Munchlax who, with Thick Fat, resists Fire-type attacks launched at it and hits back with Earthquake or its STAB Return.

Snover with a Choice Scarf hits 21 Speed, which is enough to out speed any non-Choice Scarfer in Little Cup. This allows Snover to make up for its relatively poor Speed stat, while giving up the freedom to alternate between moves. With Choice Specs, Snover is able to hit 22 Special Attack, allowing it to rip holes through the opposing team with a STAB Blizzard.

Blizzard is your primary STAB and main attack with its 100% accuracy under hail, being able to crush anything that does not resist it, or named Munchlax. Energy Ball is a secondary STAB and covers Water-types such as Buizel and Kabuto. Water Pulse allows Snover to hit Fire-types, particularly Houndour and Ponyta. Hidden Power Fire allows Snover to hit Bronzor for a 2HKO, while Hidden Power Fighting hits Munchlax, which would completely wall this set. The EVs on this set reflect the choice of Hidden Power Fire. If one chooses Hidden Power Fighting four EVs need to be added to both Defense and Special Defense.

Deciding on what Hidden Power and item to choose determines the counters for this set. If Choice Scarf is chosen, both Bronzor and Munchlax can wall this set with relative ease. The best way to check these two is by using Machop, who can 2HKO max HP/ max Def Bronzor and OHKO Munchlax. If Choice Specs is chosen, Snover is incredibly slow with 14 Speed. This allows many Pokemon to outpace Snover and OHKO with their super effective attacks. As mentioned above, choosing either Hidden Power Fire or Hidden Power Fighting will give you different problems. The former lets you destroy Bronzor, but become bait for Munchlax, while the latter gives you a strong attack against Munchlax, but will make Snover useless against Bronzor.

Snover is one of the few lucky Pokemon in Little Cup who have access to a strong boosting move and a STAB priority accessible in the same set. This set may also be Snover’s most dangerous set by using a combination of Substitute and Swords Dance to set up for a potential sweep. Swords Dance obviously lets Snover bolster its Attack stat and Substitute is vital for this set as it allows Snover to set up behind a safety cushion and set up Swords Dance as the Substitute takes the opponent's attack. Ice Shard is Snover’s main STAB and priority move, which makes up more Snover’s lack of Speed. Seed Bomb, another STAB, allows Snover to hit harder than it would with Ice Shard and is especially useful against Pokemon Snover outpaces (better flow). If one would like an even harder punch, Wood Hammer provides an extremely strong attack, but at the cost of recoil damage.

When using any set with Snover, hail can be very beneficial to many sweepers as it destroys Focus Sash. There are also two notable Pokemon who benefit directly under hail. The first of them is Spheal who, with Ice Body, can attempt to run a stall set like Walrein. The second is Cleffa, who can run an Endeavor set successfully under hail, thanks to its ability. As for the two sweeping sets, support is beneficial to allow Snover a successful sweep. These sets benefit from having entry hazards set up against the opposition, so it gives Snover a chance at changing its 2HKOs into OHKOs. Rapid Spin support from the likes of Staryu or Squirtle could help with Snover’s weakness to Stealth Rock as well.

Houndour makes a good partner for Snover as it is immune to all Fire-type attacks provided it uses Flash Fire as its ability. Pure Fire-types also have great synergy with Snover as they resist all Bug-, Steel-, and Fire-type attacks thrown at Snover and give Bronzor a hard time with their super effective STAB attacks. Bronzor makes a good partner for Snover as well, resisting Rock- and Steel-type attacks while also being immune to Ground-type attacks.

Ice Punch gives Snover a stronger physical attack, but Ice Shard's priority tends to be more helpful in many situations. Icy Wind may surprise faster switch-ins, but it lacks power and is made redundant by Ice Shard's priority. Snover gets Shadow Ball and may be useful on the Special Choice set, but Blizzard hits those Ghost-types hard enough. Snover gets Synthesis, but it should never be used; remember that when hail is active, Synthesis recovers a pitiful 25% and only has five PP.

For the Lead set, EVs are pumped into Attack, Defense, and Special Defense. For the Swords Dance set, you will want to max out Attack and Speed, which needs 180 EVs and 196 EVs respectively. The leftovers can be used in HP allowing for four six HP Substitutes and allowing Snover to switch into Stealth Rock four times. The Choice set’s EVs should maximize Special Attack and Speed using 184 EVs and 200 EVs. 116 HP EVs boost its HP stat by two and increases its survivability.

The harsh conditions of Sinnoh’s winters brought forth arguably the most adorable tree known to Pokemon. When it is used correctly, Snover can be a monster on the battlefield. Snover can run a variety of sets from a leading set that can stall, to a Swords Dance set, to a special Choice set. It also uses its ability, Snow Warning, in aiding its team with the residual damage from hail as well as being able to mess with the strategy of weather teams. With this in mind, Snover is a very dangerous Pokemon capable of doing many things to defeat its opponent.

All done for you gk. =]

iss · Dec 14, 2009

Really, Snover NEEDS the new lead set added in. This is the lead that propelled it to #1 lead in November.

Snover (M) @ Oran Berry/Expert Belt
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 20 Atk/36 Def/196 SAtk/196 Spd/36 SDef
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Blizzard
- Ice Shard
- Protect
- Energy Ball/Wood Hammer

EVs can be tweaked, those are my version. See the Snover discussion in the LC subforum for more details.

EDIT: Also why 200 HP on the SD set, only 196 is necessary

Fuzznip · Dec 14, 2009

I'm not sure if I'm missing something here, but why isn't there any standard Lead set for Snover? It's pretty common and works very well. I'm not exactly sure on the EV spread and other details, but I think the moveset looks something like this:

~Blizzard
~Wood Hammer
~Ice Shard
~Protect

Well, that's what I've seen the most. You could probably add some more move options like Energy Ball and whatnot, but that's up to you. However, this should be added to the analysis, it's good.

EDIT: What excellent timing, ahaha. That's proof that the set is good though!

little gk · Jan 8, 2010

I'm very very lazy and have only gotten to this now, but everything is updated and I'll probably write that set up or get someone else to do it over the weekend!

Edit: updated

macle · Jan 13, 2010

i think you should add some in team options about wynaut being a good team mate since it can trap Bronzor and eliminating it.

sbc · Jan 17, 2010

"For the Lead set, EVs are pumped into Attack, Defense, and Special Defense."

name: Stalling Lead
evs: 196 HP/ 100 Atk / 196 Speed

name: Standard Lead
evs: 116 HP / 180 Atk / 180 SpA

Adjust as neccesary. You might want to explain why the stalling set has more speed, which is to get the sub up against slower, yet sturdy opponents like Chinchou

little gk · Jan 28, 2010

Thanks dixie and macle, I've updated everything and have added the truncated paragraphs.

franky · Jan 29, 2010

[SET]
name: Stalling Lead
move 1: Ice Shard
move 2: Protect
move 3: Substitute
move 4: Leech Seed
item: Leftovers
nature: Jolly
evs: 196 HP/ 100 Atk / 196 Speed

[SET COMMENTS]

Able to abuse two niches, this Snover makes for a very effective lead with its ability combined with the deadly Sub-Seeding combination. Ice Shard provides valuable priority and saves you against Taunt leads forcing you to struggle. Protect allows you to abuse Snow Warning and negate Focus Sashes from the start, while also saving you from Fake Out leaves like Meowth. Substitute and Leech Seed make Snover's other niche, Sub-Seeding and can stall out even the bulkiest Pokemon.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

This is one of the best and most effective sets Snover runs, rendering almost everything in its path severely weakened if not KOed. Ice Shard is the main attack used here, as it gains STAB and makes up for Snover's mediocre Speed. Protect is needed on most leads in Little Cup because of the common Fake Out users such as Meowth, while also providing a helpful scouting technique for later in the game. Protect is also useful as it allows Snover to use its Leftovers much more effectively as it cuts the amount of time it needs to beat Oran Berry's output by half. Substitute is the move that makes Snover so effective as a stalling Pokemon, as it shields it from attacks that could previously cripple it. The final move, Leech Seed works excellently in conjunction with Protect and Substitute, as the combination is used to slowly diminish the health of the opposing Pokemon, taking extra hail damage if they aren't immune to it, and also rejuvenating Snover's own health. Stalling is made easy thank to the Substitute + Leech Seed combo; these two moves form the set.

Even though Snover can beat many opposing leads, it can’t beat them all. Snover encounters problems against Meowth and Aipom leads as both of them outpace Snover and hit for large amounts of damage when using U-turn. A good way to minimize the effects of this is to predict the U-turn and switch to a Pokemon with a Bug-type resistance such as a Steel- or Fire-type, like Magnemite or Ponyta. (Or you could bring in someone like Aron on a Fake Out to use Rock olish on a switch out) Snover also has trouble against lead Houndour because of its resistance to both of Snover's STAB attacks and having a powerful Fire Blast or Overheat. Snover, unfortunately, can only switch out and have another Pokemon take the hit. Snover also has problems against all Fire-types as Snover has a dreadful 4x weakness to Fire-type attacks. The best way to offset this is to use Munchlax who - with Thick Fat, resists Fire-type attacks launched at it and hits back with Earthquake or STAB Return.

[SET]
name: Standard Lead
move 1: Protect
move 2: Blizzard
move 3: Ice Shard
move 4: Energy Ball
item: Oran Berry
nature: Rash
evs: 116 HP / 180 Atk / 180 SpA

[SET COMMENTS]

This set functions as an anti-lead and is able to beat most of its opponents due to its hard hitting nature. Protect is vital on most leads, as they allow you to beat Fake Out users and negate Focus Sash right off the bat. Blizzard hits like an absolute truck and is your main attacking option, with Ice Shard finishing weakened, faster enemies. Finally, Energy Ball hits Water-types for coverage and beats Kabuto who choose to use Stealth Rock on their first turn.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

Thanks to Snover's ability negating Focus Sashes and a 100% accurate Blizzard, Snover makes a great anti-lead, able to take down most opponents. Protect serves two purposes on this set that are vital to its effectiveness. First, it allows Snow Warning to hurt the opponent and break their Sash; secondly, it blocks Fake Out from the likes of Meowth, allowing Snover to survive a U-Turn and hit the switch in with Blizzard. Blizzard acts as the main attacking move in the set and also packs the most punch thanks to its STAB bonus. Ice Shard also serves multiple uses on this set as it can revenge kill weakened opponents and destroy Gligar. Energy Ball allows Snover to hit Water-types for super effective damage, making up for the main hole in type coverage left by Blizzard and Ice Shard.

Despite its advantage over most leads, there are those that cause problems. The first and foremost is Kabuto, who outspeeds Snover and OHKOs it with Rock Slide. Onix is a similar threat as it also both outspeeds Snover and OHKOes it with its respective Rock-type move. To take care of these two, Fighting-typed moves are most effective such as on Mankey, Misdreavus, and Machop. Houndour threatens Snover with a resistance to both STABs and its access to Fire-typed attacks which OHKO it. Gligar is a wonderful answer to this as it can take Houndour out with Earthquake and out speeds it. Though less common than the previously mentioned leads, Bronzor loves to face Snover. It is unable to cause much harm to Bronzor allowing it to set up its numerous support moves. (What stops Bronzor?)

[Set]
name: Special Choice
move 1: Blizzard
move 2: Energy Ball
move 3: Water Pulse
move 4: Hidden Power Fire / Hidden Power Fighting
item: Choice Scarf / Choice Specs
nature: Timid
evs: 116 HP / 184 SpA / 200 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Snover can use either Choice Scarf or Choice Specs, allowing it to revenge kill as well as sweep late in the game. Blizzard hits incredibly hard as the main option, denting anything that doesn't resist it, other than Thick Fat users like Munchlax. Energy Ball acts as a secondary STAB, able to cover Water-type threats such as Chinchou. Water Pulse makes Fire-types stop in their tracks for super effective damage. Finally, Hidden Power Fire hits Steel-types, most notably Bronzor for super effective damage; Hidden Power Fighting hit Steel- and Rock-types, but Bronzor is only hit for neutral damage

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

Snover with a Choice Scarf hits 21 Speed, which is enough to outspeed any non-Choice Scarfer in Little Cup. This allows Snover to make up for its relatively poor Speed stat, while giving up the freedom to alternate between moves. With Choice Specs, Snover is able to hit 22 Special Attack, allowing it to rip holes through the opposing team with a STAB Blizzard.

Blizzard is your primary STAB and main attack with its 100% accuracy under hail, being able to crush anything that does not resist it, not named Munchlax. Energy Ball is a secondary STAB which covers Water-types such as Buizel and Kabuto. Water Pulse allows Snover to hit Fire-types, particularly Houndour and Ponyta. Hidden Power Fire allows Snover to hit Bronzor for a 2HKO, while Hidden Power Fighting hits Munchlax, who would otherwise completely wall this set. The EVs on this set reflect the choice of Hidden Power Fire. If one chooses Hidden Power Fighting four EVs need to be added to both Defense and Special Defense.

Deciding on what Hidden Power and item to choose determines the counters for this set. If Choice Scarf is chosen, both Bronzor and Munchlax can wall this set with relative ease. The best way to check these two is by using Machop, who can 2HKO max HP/ max Def Bronzor and OHKO Munchlax. If Choice Specs is chosen, Snover is incredibly slow with 14 Speed. This allows many Pokemon to outpace Snover and OHKO with their super effective attacks. As mentioned above, choosing either Hidden Power Fire or Hidden Power Fighting will give you different problems. The former lets you destroy Bronzor, but become bait for Munchlax, while the latter gives you a strong attack against Munchlax, but will make Snover useless against Bronzor.

[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Substitute / Blizzard (Cool move to lure in Munchlax and smacking it with Wood Hammer the following turn)
move 3: Ice Shard
move 4: Seed Bomb / Wood Hammer
item: Life Orb
nature: Adamant
evs: 196 HP / 184 Atk / 120 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Being able to boost its Attack to higher levels, along with access to STAB priority allow Snover to sweep unprepared teams and beat many of its traditional counters. Swords Dance and Substitute take advantage of Snover's ability to cause switches and provide easy set-up. Once set, you have two attacking options in Ice Shard and Seed Bomb or Wood Hammer. Ice shard is self explanatory, STAB priority, it becomes a powerhouse. Seed Bomb and Wood Hammer act as secondary STABs, providing coverage against Waters.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

Snover is one of the few lucky Pokemon in Little Cup who have access to both a strong boosting move and STAB priority accessible in the same set. This set may also be Snover’s most dangerous set by using a combination of Substitute and Swords Dance to set up for a potential sweep. Swords Dance obviously lets Snover bolster its Attack stat and Substitute is vital for this set as it allows Snover to set up behind a safety cushion, and set up Swords Dance as the Substitute takes the opponent's attack. It also blocks Will-O-Wisp from the likes of Misdreavus. Ice Shard is Snover’s main STAB and priority move, which makes up more Snover’s lack of Speed. Seed Bomb, another STAB, allows Snover to hit harder than it would with Ice Shard and is especially useful against Pokemon Snover outpaces. If one would like an even harder punch, Wood Hammer provides an extremely strong attack, but at the cost of recoil damage. (Wood Hammer should be first option, it severely damages Houndour who attempt to come in on this set)

[Team Options]

When using any set with Snover, hail can be very beneficial to many sweepers as it destroys Focus Sash. There are also two notable Pokemon who benefit directly under hail. The first of them is Spheal who - with Ice Body, can attempt to run a stall set like Walrein. The second is Cleffa, who can run an Endeavor set successfully under hail, thanks to its ability. As for the two sweeping sets, support is beneficial to help Snover pull a successful sweep. These sets benefit from having entry hazards set up against the opposition, so it gives Snover a chance at changing its 2HKOs into OHKOs. Rapid Spin support from the likes of Staryu or Squirtle could help with Snover’s weakness to Stealth Rock as well.

Houndour makes a good partner for Snover as it is immune to all Fire-type attacks, provided it uses Flash Fire as its ability. Pure Fire-types also have great synergy with Snover as they resist all Bug-, Steel-, and Fire-type attacks thrown at Snover and gives Bronzor a hard time with their super effective STAB attacks. Wynaut makes quite a good partner for Snover as it can reliably take care of Bronzor and give free turns for Snover to set up whatever it wants. Bronzor makes a good partner for Snover as well, resisting Rock- and Steel-type attacks while also being immune to Ground-type attacks.

[Other Options]

Snover may be able to run a Choice Band set consisting of Ice Shard, Seed Bomb or Wood Hammer, Iron Tail, and Return to net some surprise kills. Unfortunately, this set is terribly walled by Steel-types, more so than the Special Choice set.

Ice Punch gives Snover a stronger physical attack, but Ice Shard's priority tends to be more helpful in many situations. Icy Wind may surprise faster switch-ins, but it lacks power and is made redundant by Ice Shard's priority. Snover gets Shadow Ball and may be useful on the Special Choice set, but Blizzard hits those Ghost-types hard enough. Snover gets Synthesis, but it should never be used; remember that when hail is active, Synthesis recovers a pitiful 25% and it only has eight PP.

[EVs]

For the Stalling Lead set, EVs are pumped into Attack, Defense, and Speed, allowing Snover to outspeed threats such as Rhyhorn and defensive Chinchou. However, the Standard Lead is designed to hit as hard as possible on both ends. For the Swords Dance set, you will want to max out Attack and Speed, which needs 180 EVs and 196 EVs respectively. The Leftovers can be used in HP allowing for four to six HP Substitutes and allowing Snover to switch into Stealth Rock four times. The Choice set’s EVs should maximize Special Attack and Speed using 184 EVs and 200 EVs. 116 HP EVs boost its HP stat by two and increases its survivability.

[Opinion]

The harsh conditions of Sinnoh’s winters brought forth arguably the most adorable tree known to Pokemon. When it is used correctly, Snover can be a monster on the battlefield and can run a variety of sets from a leading set that can stall, to a Swords Dance set, or to a special Choice set. It also uses its ability, Snow Warning, which can destroy weather based teams, most notably, rain. With this in mind, Snover is a very dangerous Pokemon capable of doing many things to defeat its opponent.

[Counters]

Bronzor is a good general counter, only fearing an item-boosted Hidden Power Fire. Munchlax will wall the Special Choice set, only worrying about a Choice Specs Hidden Power Fighting and the physical sets. Fire-types in general are good counters to Snover as they resist both of Snover’s STABs and can OHKO it with any Fire-type attack. In particular, Growlithe with Intimidate makes a great counter to the physical sets as the Intimidate drop cripples Snover’s chances of sweeping. Shieldon is a good counter, resisting Blizzard and Ice Shard and having the choice of carrying Flamethrower to OHKO Snover. Any Pokemon that is faster than Snover and can handle a boosted Ice Shard will have a decent chance of defeating the Swords Dancer. Choice item sets, as usual, can be countered with good prediction, and with Stealth Rock set down early, it cannot repeatedly switch in, as it is weak to it.[/QUOTE]

gj. changes in bold, comments in parenthesis.

Purple Wobbuffet · Jan 30, 2010

SET]
name: Stalling Lead
move 1: Ice Shard
move 2: Protect
move 3: Substitute
move 4: Leech Seed
item: Leftovers
nature: Jolly
evs: 196 HP/ 100 Atk / 196 Speed

[SET COMMENTS]

Able to abuse two niches, this Snover makes for a very effective lead with its ability, combined with the deadly Sub Seeding combination. Ice Shard provides valuable priority and saves you against Taunt leads forcing you to struggle. Protect allows you to abuse Snow Warning and negate Focus Sashes from the start, while also saving you from Meowth. Substitute and Leech Seed make Snover's other niche, Sub Seeding, and can stall out even the bulkiest of opponents.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

This is one of the best and most effective sets Snover runs, rendering almost everything in its path severely weakened if not KOed. Ice Shard is the main attack used here as it gains STAB and makes up for Snover's mediocre Speed. Protect is needed on most leads in Little Cup because of the common Fake Out users such as Meowth, while also providing a helpful scouting technique for later in the game. Protect is also useful as it allows Snover to use its Leftovers much more effectively, as it cuts the amount of time it needs to beat Oran Berry's output by half. Substitute is the move that makes Snover so effective as a stalling Pokemon by shielding it from attacks that could previously cripple it. The final move, Leech Seed, works excellently in conjunction with Protect and Substitute, as that combination is used to slowly diminish the health of the opposing Pokemon, taking extra hail damage if they aren't immune to it, and also rejuvenating Snover's own health. Stalling is made easy thank to the Substitute + Leech Seed combo; these two moves make the set.

Even though Snover can beat many opposing leads, it can’t beat them all. Snover encounters problems against Meowth and Aipom leads as both of them outpace Snover and hit for large amounts of damage when using U-turn. A good way to minimize the effects of this is to predict the U-turn and switch to a Pokemon with a Bug-type resistance such as a Steel- or Fire-type, like Magnemite or Ponyta. Snover also has trouble against leading Houndour because of its resistance to both of Snover's STAB attacks and having a powerful Fire Blast or Overheat. Snover, unfortunately, can only switch out and have another Pokemon take the hit. Snover also has problems against all Fire-types as Snover has a dreadful 4x weakness to Fire-type attacks. The best way to offset this is to use Munchlax who, with Thick Fat, resists Fire-type attacks launched at it and hits back with Earthquake or its STAB Return.

[SET]
name: Standard Lead
move 1: Protect
move 2: Blizzard
move 3: Ice Shard
move 4: Energy Ball
item: Oran Berry
nature: Rash
evs: 116 HP / 180 Atk / 180 SpA

[SET COMMENTS]

This set functions as an anti-lead and is able to beat most of its opponents due to its hard hitting nature. Protect is vital on most leads, as they allow you to beat Fake Out users and negate Focus Sashes right off the bat. Blizzard hits like an absolute truck and is your main attacking option, with Ice Shard finishing weakened, faster enemies. Finally, Energy Ball hits Water-types for coverage and beats Kabuto who choose to use Stealth Rock on their first turn.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

Thanks to Snover's ability negating Focus Sashes and a 100% accurate Blizzard, Snover makes a great anti-lead, able to take down most opponents. Protect serves two purposes on this set that are vital to its effectiveness. First, it allows Snow Warning to hurt the opponent and break their sash; secondly, it blocks Fake Out from the likes of Meowth, allowing Snover to survive a U-Turn and hit the switch in with Blizzard. Blizzard acts as the main attacking move in the set and also packs the most punch thanks to its STAB bonus. Ice Shard also serves multiple uses on this set as it can revenge kill weakened opponents and destroy Gligar. Energy Ball allows Snover to hit Water-types for supper effective damage, making up for the main hole in type coverage left by Blizzard and Ice Shard.

Despite its advantage over most leads, there are those that cause problems. The first and foremost is Kabuto. Out speeding Snover, Kabuto can OHKO it with Rock Slide. Onix is a similar threat as it also (got rid of “both”) out speeds Snover and OHKOes it with its respective Rock-type move. To take care of these two, Fighting-typed moves are most effective, and they are found (get rid of “such as”) on Mankey, Misdreavus, and Machop. Houndour threatens Snover with a resistance to both STABs and its access to Fire-typed attacks which OHKO it. Gligar is a wonderful answer to this as it can take Houndour out with Earthquake and out speeds it. Though less common than the previously mentioned leads, Bronzor loves to face Snover. It is unable to cause much harm to Bronzor allowing it to set up its numerous support moves.

[Set]
name: Special Choice
move 1: Blizzard
move 2: Energy Ball
move 3: Water Pulse
move 4: Hidden Power Fire / Hidden Power Fighting
item: Choice Scarf / Choice Specs
nature: Timid
evs: 116 HP / 184 SpA / 200 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Snover can use either Choice Scarf or Choice Specs, allowing it to revenge kill as well as sweep late in the game. Blizzard hits incredibly hard as the main option, denting anything that doesn't resist it, other than Munchlax. Energy Ball acts as a secondary STAB, able to cover Water-type threats such as Buizel. Water Pulse makes Fire-types stop in their tracks for supper effective damage. finally Hidden Power Fire hits Steel-types, most notably Bronzor for super effective damage; Hidden Power Fighting hit Steel- and Rock-types, but Bronzor is only hit for neutral damage

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

Snover with a Choice Scarf hits 21 Speed, which is enough to out speed any non-Choice Scarfer in Little Cup. This allows Snover to make up for its relatively poor Speed stat, while giving up the freedom to alternate between moves. With Choice Specs, Snover is able to hit 22 Special Attack, allowing it to rip holes through the opposing team with a STAB Blizzard.

Blizzard is your primary STAB and main attack with its 100% accuracy under hail, being able to crush anything that does not resist it, or named Munchlax. Energy Ball is a secondary STAB and covers Water-types such as Buizel and Kabuto. Water Pulse allows Snover to hit Fire-types, particularly Houndour and Ponyta. Hidden Power Fire allows Snover to hit Bronzor for a 2HKO, while Hidden Power Fighting hits Munchlax, which would completely wall this set. The EVs on this set reflect the choice of Hidden Power Fire. If one chooses Hidden Power Fighting four EVs need to be added to both Defense and Special Defense.

Deciding on what Hidden Power and item to choose determines the counters for this set. If Choice Scarf is chosen, both Bronzor and Munchlax can wall this set with relative ease. The best way to check these two is by using Machop, who can 2HKO max HP/ max Def Bronzor and OHKO Munchlax. If Choice Specs is chosen, Snover is incredibly slow with 14 Speed. This allows many Pokemon to outpace Snover and OHKO with their super effective attacks. As mentioned above, choosing either Hidden Power Fire or Hidden Power Fighting will give you different problems. The former lets you destroy Bronzor, but become bait for Munchlax, while the latter gives you a strong attack against Munchlax, but will make Snover useless against Bronzor.

[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Substitute
move 3: Ice Shard
move 4: Seed Bomb / Wood Hammer
item: Life Orb
nature: Adamant
evs: 196 HP / 184 Atk / 120 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Able to boost its attack to very high levels and access to STAB priority allow Snover to sweep unprepared teams and beat many of its traditional counter. Swords Dance and Substitute take advantage of Snover's ability to cause switches and provide easy set-up. Once set, you have two attacking options in Ice Shard and Seed Bomb or Wood Hammer. Ice shard is self explanatory, STAB priority, it becomes a powerhouse. Seed Bomb and Wood Hammer act as secondary STABs, providing coverage against Waters.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

Snover is one of the few lucky Pokemon in Little Cup who have access to both a strong boosting move and STAB priority (get rid of “accessible”) in the same set. This set may also be Snover’s most dangerous set by using a combination of Substitute and Swords Dance to set up for a potential sweep. Swords Dance obviously lets Snover bolster its Attack stat, and Substitute is vital for this set as it allows Snover to set up behind a safety cushion. Then Snover can (get rid of “and”) set up Swords Dance as the Substitute takes the opponent's attack. Ice Shard is Snover’s main STAB and priority move, which makes up for (get rid of “more”) Snover’s lack of Speed. Seed Bomb, another STAB, allows Snover to hit harder than it would with Ice Shard and is especially useful against Pokemon Snover outpaces. If one would like an even harder punch, Wood Hammer provides an extremely strong attack, but at the cost of recoil damage.

[Team Options]

When using any set with Snover, hail can be very beneficial to many sweepers as it destroys Focus Sash. There are also two notable Pokemon who benefit directly under hail. The first of them is Spheal who, with Ice Body, can attempt to run a stall set like Walrein. The second is Cleffa, who can run an Endeavor set successfully under hail, thanks to its ability. As for the two sweeping sets, support is beneficial to allow Snover a successful sweep. These sets benefit from having entry hazards set up against the opposition, so it gives Snover a chance at changing its 2HKOs into OHKOs. Rapid Spin support from the likes of Staryu or Squirtle could help with Snover’s weakness to Stealth Rock as well.

Houndour makes a good partner for Snover as it is immune to all Fire-type attacks provided it uses Flash Fire as its ability. Pure Fire-types also have great synergy with Snover as they resist all Bug-, Steel-, and Fire-type attacks thrown at Snover and give Bronzor a hard time with their super effective STAB attacks. Wynaut makes quite a good partner for Snover as it can reliably take care of Bronzor and give free turns for Snover to set up whatever it wants. Bronzor makes a good partner for Snover as well, resisting Rock- and Steel-type attacks while also being immune to Ground-type attacks.

[Other Options]

Snover may be able to run a Choice Band set consisting of Ice Shard, Seed Bomb or Wood Hammer, Iron Tail, and Return to net some surprise kills. Unfortunately, this set is terribly walled by Steel-types, more so than the Special Choice set.

Ice Punch gives Snover a stronger physical attack, but Ice Shard's priority tends to be more helpful in many situations. Icy Wind may surprise faster switch-ins, but it lacks power and is made redundant by Ice Shard's priority. Snover gets Shadow Ball and may be useful on the Special Choice set, but Blizzard hits those Ghost-types hard enough. Snover gets Synthesis, but it should never be used; remember that when hail is active, Synthesis recovers a pitiful 25% and only has five PP.

[EVs]

For the Stalling Lead set, EVs are pumped into Attack, Defense, and Speed, allowing Snover to outspeed threats such as Rhyhorn and defensive Chinchou. However, the Standard Lead is designed to hit as hard as possible on both attacking spectrums. For the Swords Dance set, you will want to max out Attack and Speed, which needs 180 EVs and 196 EVs respectively. The leftovers can be used in HP allowing for four six HP Substitutes, and allowing Snover to switch into Stealth Rock four times. The Choice set’s EVs should maximize Special Attack and Speed using 184 EVs and 200 EVs. 116 HP EVs boost its HP stat by two and increases its survivability.

[Opinion]

The harsh conditions of Sinnoh’s winters brought forth arguably the most adorable tree known to Pokemon. When it is used correctly, Snover can be a monster on the battlefield and can run a variety of sets from a leading set that can stall, to a Swords Dance set, to a special Choice set. It also uses its ability, Snow Warning, it can destroy weather based teams, most notably, rain. With this in mind, Snover is a very dangerous Pokemon capable of doing many things to defeat its opponent.

[Counters]

Bronzor is a good general counter, only fearing an item-boosted Hidden Power Fire. Munchlax will wall the Special Choice set, only worrying about a Choice Specs Hidden Power Fighting and the physical sets. Fire-types in general are good counters to Snover as they resist both of Snover’s STABs and can OHKO it with any Fire-type attack. In particular, Growlithe with Intimidate makes a great counter to the physical sets as the Intimidate drop cripples Snover’s chances of sweeping. Shieldon is a good counter, resisting Blizzard and Ice Shard and having the choice of carrying Flamethrower to OHKO Snover. Any Pokemon that is faster than Snover and can handle a boosted Ice Shard will have a decent chance of defeating the Swords Dancer. Choice item sets, as usual, can be countered with good prediction, and with Stealth Rock set down early, it cannot repeatedly switch in, as it is weak to it.
__________________

Articanus · Jan 30, 2010

Is the first set really a lead? Personally, I put it in the back but w/e.

Maybe name it a "staller" and mention that it makes a good lead as well? Fine the way it is, but thought I'd throw out my opinion.

Snover (Gen 4, LC Analysis)*

little gk

competitive oosos player

Xia

On porpoise

little gk

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Fuzznip

little gk

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sbc

eric the espeon

maybe I just misunderstood

little gk

competitive oosos player

Fuzznip

little gk

competitive oosos player

Xia

On porpoise

iss

let's play bw lc!

Fuzznip

little gk

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macle

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sbc

little gk

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Purple Wobbuffet

Articanus