Seviper (NU Revamp) [GP 2/2]

Oglemi

Borf
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http://www.smogon.com/rs/pokemon/seviper

[Overview]

Seviper has awesome mixed attacking stats and a fantastic offensive movepool, making it extremely unpredictable and incredibly hard to switch into. Poison is also a nice typing to switch into opposing Pokemon, and an offensive Pokemon that can switch into Choice Band Hitmonchan's STAB attacks is always a plus. Beyond that, though, it doesn't have much going for it. Shed Skin is neat to absorb status from defensive teams, but Seviper is super frail and a bit on the slow side. It languishes at the bottom of the pack for mixed attackers, as it ultimately doesn't offer that much over similar options in Crawdaunt, Cacturne, and Octillery and finds itself wanting either more bulk or more Speed in most battles.

[SET]
name: Mixed Wallbreaker
move 1: Sludge Bomb
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Flamethrower
move 4: Hidden Power Grass / Hidden Power Ghost
item: Leftovers
ability: Shed Skin
nature: Naughty
evs: 252 Atk / 112 SpA / 144 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Seviper is incredibly hard to switch into, and this set makes the most of that fact by focusing on smashing through as many walls in the metagame as possible. STAB Sludge Bomb coming off a base 100 Attack stat will dent nearly everything, and it easily OHKOes offensive Bellossom, deals over 50% to 252 HP Kecleon, and will 2HKO specially defensive Lickitung after a layer of Spikes the vast majority of the time. Earthquake smashes Flareon, easily 2HKOes specially defensive Swalot, and thrashes Lairon. Flamethrower OHKOes 252 HP Mawile and Tangela after a layer of Spikes and easily 2HKOes Metang. The last slot goes to a Hidden Power of choice. Hidden Power Grass shreds Relicanth, Whiscash, Graveler, and other Rock-types like Sudowoodo. Hidden Power Ghost is Seviper's best hit on Chimecho and Haunter, but it will miss out on the 2HKO on 252/252+ Chimecho.

[ADDITIONAL SET COMMENTS]

A Naughty nature with maximum Attack ensures the strongest hit from Sludge Bomb as possible and OHKOes Bellossom after Spikes. The Speed EVs are there to outpace max Speed neutral nature Pupitar and Tropius, as well as the more common max Speed neutral-natured base 50s like Piloswine. The rest is pumped into Special Attack and gives Seviper the ability to OHKO Mawile and Tangela where it needs to.

While Seviper has the ability to outspeed most walls in the metagame and deal a good amount of damage to nearly all of them, it finds itself outsped by nearly every other offensive Pokemon in the tier, meaning Seviper will be playing a game of tit for tat almost every battle. In order to make the best use of Seviper, very sturdy defensive partners are a must to allow it to threaten a KO against the opposing Pokemon and have a safe passage out of the battlefield when something faster steps up to the plate. Relicanth, Kecleon, and Torkoal are good examples of Pokemon that can allow this, particularly the former, as it is a hard stop to Pidgeot and Murkrow as well other Choice Band users like Kingler and Raticate. Kecleon is also valuable to almost hard counter Chimecho and Haunter, as they'll likely switch in to OHKO Seviper with Psychic.

An offensive teammate to make use of Seviper's ability to wallbreak is a definite must when considering using this set. Huntail is a prime example, particularly because one of the few walls that can stand up to Seviper, Sableye, is an extremely easy setup opportunity and Huntail has no problem blowing past it with Hydro Pump. In return, Seviper severely dents the likes of Kecleon, Lickitung, and Dewgong, even almost 2HKOing the latter with Sludge Bomb, and can lure in Chimecho and cripple it with Hidden Power Ghost. Other good offensive teammates include those that require turns of setup to become threatening, such as Vigoroth, Pupitar, and Kingler.

[SET]
name: Special Attacker
move 1: Flamethrower
move 2: Giga Drain
move 3: Crunch
move 4: Hidden Power Psychic / Hidden Power Water
item: Leftovers
ability: Shed Skin
nature: Modest
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Seviper's incredible coverage and great base 100 Special Attack stat make it a very dangerous special attacker in the tier, despite the lack of STAB moves. Flamethrower blows away Steel-types thinking they're safe switching into Seviper's STAB move, dealing a ton of damage to both Mawile and Metang. Flamethrower also does a number on the Grass- and Bug-types in the tier. Giga Drain annihilates the Ground- and Rock-types that think they can safely nail Seviper with Earthquake. Crunch obliterates Chimecho and Haunter and is Seviper's best hit on Pelipper apart from Hidden Power Electric. The last slot goes to a Hidden Power of choice. Hidden Power Psychic can be used to nail Hitmonchan and opposing Poison-types, while Hidden Power Water can be used to get a great hit on Lairon, Magcargo, and Flareon. Hidden Power Ice is worth considering as well for its super effective hit on Flying-types and Shelgon.

[ADDITIONAL SET COMMENTS]

A Modest nature and maximum Speed are run to give Seviper as much power as possible while retaining the ability to Speed tie with neutral-natured max Speed Flareon and Chimecho as well as outspeed Jolly Pupitar. Timid is definitely an option to outrun Timid Tangela and minimum Speed Dewgong, but considering the overall low Base Power of Seviper's moves and the lack of STAB, Modest is generally better to get as many KOs as possible.

Rest can be run in the last slot, as Shed Skin has a high chance of waking Seviper up early, but it's unreliable and Seviper can't waste any turns sleeping due to its frailty. That said, Shed Skin is a reason enough to boldly switch Seviper into defensive Grass-types for its chance to absorb Sleep Powder or Stun Spore and be able to shrug it off.

This set ravages slow defensive teams, but it has a couple of hard stops, most notably special walls like Kecleon, Swalot, Flareon, and Sableye. Because of this, Hitmonchan and other strong physical wallbreakers like Vigoroth and Pupitar make good teammates. Seviper is also very prone to being revenge killed, particularly from the likes of Choice Band Murkrow, which can OHKO it after a layer of Spikes, and other strong attackers like Haunter, which also OHKOes with Psychic. Due to this, hefty defensive backbones that can keep offensive momentum like Choice Band Relicanth and SubPunch Kecleon make excellent teammates. Chimecho also makes a good partner to take on the likes of Haunter and Hitmonchan looking to revenge kill Seviper.

[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Sludge Bomb
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Hidden Power Ghost
move 4: Iron Tail / Double-Edge
item: Choice Band
ability: Shed Skin
nature: Adamant
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Seviper's Attack stat is equal to its Special Attack, and it even gets a strong STAB move to make use of it, making a Choice Band set a great choice. The only downside is that overall a Choice Band set is done slightly better by Arbok, which sports higher Speed and better bulk backed up by Intimidate. Still, Seviper packs more power, and because Seviper has the element of surprise with its massive special movepool, it's still a highly recommended set when considering Seviper for your team.

Sludge Bomb and Earthquake have really good coverage together, with the latter providing super effective hits on enemy Poison-, Steel-, and Rock-types that resist or are immune to Sludge Bomb. Hidden Power Ghost is for Haunter and gets a slightly stronger hit on Chimecho than Sludge Bomb does. Unfortunately, Seviper doesn't get Rock Slide, another perk Arbok sports over its slithery friend, but the last slot here is largely filler anyway. Iron Tail is a good safety move, minus the accuracy, that ensures a super effective hit on Rock-types when using Earthquake could lead to a free switch to a Flying-type or a Levitate user by the opponent. Double-Edge is stronger and more reliable overall than Iron Tail, but this comes at the cost of any super effective coverage.

[ADDITIONAL SET COMMENTS]

An Adamant nature and maximum Speed are run to give Seviper as much power as possible while retaining the ability to Speed tie with neutral-natured max Speed Flareon and Chimecho. Jolly is definitely an option, as outspeeding neutral Flareon and Chimecho with this set is heavenly, but the drop in power isn't worth it in the long run. A Naughty nature can be used with a special move, particularly Giga Drain, in the last slot, which gives Seviper a much better tool to use against Whiscash and other physically bulkier Pokemon that resist Sludge Bomb like Relicanth and Graveler.

This set has a hard time with Rock- and Steel-types, even with Earthquake available, making a physical sweeping partner such as Hitmonchan or a special attacker like Seadra or Haunter valued teammates. Defensive Chimecho can be lured in and eliminated, or at the very least sufficiently weakened, with Hidden Power Ghost, further making Hitmonchan and other Pokemon walled by it, like Plusle, good teammates to bring when using Seviper. A switch-in to Flying-types and Haunter is needed for this set to be successful, as they will gladly switch into a Choice-locked Earthquake at the first chance they get, meaning physically defensive Pokemon like Relicanth and specially defensive Pokemon like Kecleon should be paired with Seviper as well. In the same vein, having a good answer to Mawile is crucial to this set's success, as it will use its immunity to Sludge Bomb to set up Substitute or Swords Dance without hesitation, making Flareon a good teammate as well.

Other Options
============

There is a huge variety of combinations of the moves mentioned above that Seviper can run that are certainly doable. Going mixed will always keep your opponent guessing as to what moves Seviper is or isn't using and can definitely lead to some misplays by them. Substitute can be used when going mixed to further ease prediction on Seviper's part, as well as raise the anxiety of your opponent to keep them guessing as to what Seviper is running.

Most of Seviper's viable moves were listed above, but there are a couple left worth mentioning. Glare is probably done better by Arbok, but it does give Seviper a tool to use against faster Pokemon thinking they can switch into a predicted attacking move. Taunt allows Seviper to mess with defensive Pokemon like Lickitung and Flareon and prevent them from healing, but overall Seviper is a bit too frail to make very good use of it. Finally, Seviper is one of the few Pokemon in the tier with access to Haze, which could be valuable in preventing a dangerous setup sweeper from sweeping your team.

Checks and Counters
================

In general, Chimecho can tank an attack from Seviper and easily OHKO it back with STAB Psychic; it just needs to be careful of Crunch and Hidden Power Ghost, both of which will leave a huge dent in it. Haunter and Venomoth with Psychic can easily outspeed and OHKO Seviper as well, though the latter needs a layer of Spikes to ensure the KO. Ground-types that can tank a Flamethrower or Giga Drain will easily OHKO Seviper with Earthquake, which admittedly is mostly just Piloswine. Other Pokemon that outspeed with Earthquake will have an easy time with Seviper too, particularly Hitmonchan, Glalie, and Vigoroth. Fire-types have the easiest time with the special attacker set if it lacks Hidden Power Water, but they have a very hard time with the physical sets. Finally, Mawile and Metang need to avoid the special attacker and mixed sets, but they have a very easy time against the Choice Band set as long as they avoid Earthquake.
 
Last edited:
name: Salac Berry Sweeper (Physical or Special)
move 1: Sludge Bomb/Crunch
move 2: Earthquake/Giga Drain
move 3: Hidden Power Ghost/Hidden Power Psychic/Hidden Power Water
move 4: Iron Tail / Double-Edge / Crunch
item: Salac Berry
nature: Modest/Adamant
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA (or 252 Atk) / 252 Spe

name: "SwagPlay"
move 1: Glare
move 2: Substitute
move 3: Swagger
move 4: Sludge Bomb
item: Leftovers
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Spe / 252 HP / 4 Atk

name: Support
move 1: Taunt / Earthquake
move 2: Haze
move 3: Glare
move 4: Sludge Bomb
item: Leftovers
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Spe / 252 HP / 4 Atk
 
Last edited:

Lumari

empty spaces
is a Site Content Manageris a Top Social Media Contributoris a Member of Senior Staffis a Community Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Top Smogon Media Contributoris an Administrator Alumnus
TFP Leader


remove
add / fix (comments); (AC=add comma; RC=remove comma; SC=semicolon)
GP 1/2
[Overview]

Seviper has awesome mixed attacking stats and a fantastic offensive movepool, making it extremely unpredictable and incredibly hard to switch into. Poison is also a nice typing to switch into opposing Pokemon, and an offensive Pokemon that can switch into Choice Band Hitmonchan's STAB attacks is always a plus. But Beyond that, though, it doesn't have much going for it. Shed Skin is neat to absorb status from defensive teams, but it's Seviper is super duper frail and a bit on the slow side. Poison is a nice typing to switch into things though, and an offensive Pokemon that can switch into Choice Band Hitmonchan's STAB is always a plus. Still, It languishes at the bottom of the pack for mixed attackers, (AC) as it ultimately doesn't offer that much over similar options in Crawdaunt, Cacturne, and Octillery and finds itself wanting either more bulk or more Speed in most battles.

[SET]
name: Mixed Wallbreaker
move 1: Sludge Bomb
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Flamethrower
move 4: Hidden Power Grass / Hidden Power Ghost
item: Leftovers
ability: Shed Skin
nature: Naughty
evs: 252 Atk / 112 SpA / 144 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Seviper is incredibly hard to switch into, and this set makes the most of that fact by focusing on being able to smash through as many walls in the metagame as possible. STAB Sludge Bomb coming off a base 100 Attack stat will dent nearly everything, and it easily OHKOes offensive Bellossom, deals over 50% to 252 HP Kecleon, and will 2HKO specially defensive Lickitung after a layer of Spikes 84% of (specific percentages in contexts like this are a pet peeve of mine, i don't really see they add bc it's not like you're playing any differently than if this were a 75% or a 90% chance, would personally just do "nearly all" or "the vast majority of") the time. Earthquake smashes Flareon, easily 2HKOes specially defensive Swalot, and thrashes Lairon. Flamethrower OHKOes 252 HP Mawile and Tangela after a layer of Spikes (RC) and easily 2HKOes Metang. The last slot goes to a Hidden Power of choice. Hidden Power Grass shreds Relicanth, Whiscash, Graveler, and other Rock-types like Sudowoodo. Hidden Power Ghost is Seviper's best hit on Chimecho and Haunter, but it will miss out on the 2HKO on 252/252+ Chimecho.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

A Naughty nature and with max Attack ensures the strongest hit from Sludge Bomb as possible and allows for the OHKO on Bellossom after Spikes. The Speed EVs are there to outpace max Speed neutral nature Pupitar and Tropius, as well as the more common max Speed neutral-natured (AH) base 50s like Piloswine. The rest is pumped into Special Attack and gives Seviper the ability to OHKO Mawile and Tangela where it needs to.

While Seviper has the ability to outspeed most walls in the metagame (RC) and deal a good amount of damage to nearly all of them, it finds itself outsped by nearly every other offensive Pokemon in the tier, meaning Seviper will be playing a game of tit for tat almost every battle. In order to make the best use of Seviper, very sturdy defensive partners are a must to allow it to threaten a KO against the opponent opposing Pokemon and have a safe passage out of the battlefield when something faster steps up to the plate. Relicanth, Kecleon, and Torkoal are good examples of Pokemon that can allow this, particularly the former, (AC) as it is a hard stop to Pidgeot and Murkrow (RC) as well other Choice Band users like Kingler and Raticate. Kecleon is also valuable to almost hard counter Chimecho and Haunter, as they'll likely switch in to OHKO Seviper with Psychic.

An offensive teammate to make use of Seviper's ability to wallbreak is a definite must when considering using this set. Huntail is a prime example, particularly because one of the few walls that can stand up to Seviper, Sableye, is an extremely easy setup opportunity and Huntail has no problem blowing past it with Hydro Pump. In return, Seviper severely dents the likes of Kecleon, Lickitung, and Dewgong, even almost 2HKOing the latter with Sludge Bomb, and can lure in Chimecho and cripple Chimecho it with Hidden Power Ghost. Other good offensive teammates include those that require turns of setup to become threatening, such as Vigoroth, Pupitar, and Kingler.

[SET]
name: Special Attacker
move 1: Flamethrower
move 2: Giga Drain
move 3: Crunch
move 4: Hidden Power Psychic / Hidden Power Water
item: Leftovers
ability: Shed Skin
nature: Modest
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Seviper's incredible coverage and great base 100 Special Attack stat makes make it a very dangerous special attacker in the tier, despite the lack of STAB. Flamethrower blows away Steel-types thinking they're safe switching into Seviper's STAB move, dealing a ton of damage to both Mawile and Metang. Flamethrower also does a number on the Grass- and Bug-types in the tier. Giga Drain annihilates the Ground- and Rock-types that think they can safely nail Seviper with Earthquake. Crunch obliterates Chimecho and Haunter and is Seviper's best hit on Pelipper apart from Hidden Power Electric. The last slot goes to a Hidden Power of choice. Hidden Power Psychic can be used to nail to Hitmonchan and opposing Poison-types, while Hidden Power Water can be used to get a great hit on Lairon, Magcargo, and Flareon. Hidden Power Ice is worth considering as well for its super effective hit on Flying-types and Shelgon.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

A Modest nature and max Speed are run to give Seviper as much power as possible while retaining the ability to Speed tie neutral-natured max Speed Flareon and Chimecho (RC) as well as outspeeding Jolly Pupitar. Timid is definitely an option to outrun Timid Tangela and minimum Speed Dewgong, but considering the overall low Base Power of Seviper's moves and the lack of STAB, Modest is generally better to get as many KOes KOs as possible.

Rest can be run in the last slot, (AC) as Shed Skin has a high chance of waking Seviper up early, but it's unreliable and Seviper can't waste any turns sleeping due to its frailty. That said, Shed Skin is a reason enough to boldly switch Seviper into defensive Grass-types for its chance to absorb Sleep Powder or Stun Spore and be able to shrug it off.

This set ravages slow defensive teams, but it has a couple hard stops, most notably from special walls like Kecleon, Swalot, Flareon, and Sableye. Because of this, Hitmonchan and other strong physical wallbreakers like Vigoroth and Pupitar make good teammates. Seviper is also very prone to being revenge killed, particularly from the likes of Choice Band Murkrow, which can OHKO it after a layer of Spikes, and other strong attackers like Haunter, (comma, remove parentheses) with Psychic which also OHKOes with Psychic. Due to this, hefty defensive backbones that can keep offensive momentum like Choice Band Relicanth and SubPunch Kecleon make excellent teammates. Chimecho also makes a good partner to take on the likes of Haunter and Hitmonchan looking to revenge kill Seviper.

[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Sludge Bomb
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Hidden Power Ghost
move 4: Iron Tail / Double-Edge
item: Choice Band
ability: Shed Skin
nature: Adamant
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Seviper's Attack stat is equal to its Special Attack, and it even gets a strong STAB move to make use of it, making a Choice Band set a great choice. The only downside is that overall a Choice Band set is done slightly better by Arbok, which sports higher Speed and better bulk backed up by Intimidate. Still, Seviper packs more power, and because Seviper has the element of surprise with its massive special movepool, it's still a highly recommended set when considering Seviper for your team.

Sludge Bomb and Earthquake have really good coverage together, with the latter providing super effective hits on enemy Poison-, Steel-, and Rock-types that resist Sludge Bomb. Hidden Power Ghost is for Haunter and it gets a slightly stronger hit on Chimecho than Sludge Bomb does. Unfortunately, Seviper doesn't get Rock Slide, another perk Arbok sports over its slithery friend, but the last slot here is largely filler anyway. Iron Tail is a good safety move, minus the accuracy, that ensures a super effective hit on Rock-types when using Earthquake could lead to a free switch into a Flying-type or a Levitate user by the opponent. Double-Edge is stronger and more reliable overall than Iron Tail, but this comes at the cost of any super effective coverage.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

An Adamant nature and max Speed are run to give Seviper as much power as possible while retaining the ability to Speed tie neutral-natured max Speed Flareon and Chimecho. Jolly is definitely an option, as outspeeding neutral Flareon and Chimecho with this set is heavenly, but the drop in power isn't worth it in the long run. A Naughty nature can be used and with a special move, particularly Giga Drain, can be used in the last slot, which gives Seviper a much better tool to use against Whiscash and other physically bulkier Pokemon that resist Sludge Bomb like Relicanth and Graveler.

The set as is above has a hard time with Rock- and Steel-types, even with Earthquake available, making a physical sweeping partner such as Hitmonchan or a special attacker like Seadra or Haunter valued teammates. Defensive Chimecho can be lured in and eliminated with Hidden Power Ghost, or at the very least sufficiently weakened, with Hidden Power Ghost, further making Hitmonchan and other Pokemon walled by it, like Plusle, good teammates to bring when using Seviper. A switch into switch-in to Flying-types and Haunter is needed for this set to be successful, as they will gladly switch into a Choice Band-locked Choice-locked Earthquake at this first chance they get, meaning physically defensive Pokemon like Relicanth and specially defensive Pokemon like Kecleon should be paired with Seviper as well. In the same vein, having a good answer to Mawile is crucial to this set's success, as it will use its immunity to Sludge Bomb to set up Substitute or Swords Dance without hesitation, making Flareon a good teammate as well.

[Other Options]

There is a huge variety of combinations of the moves mentioned above that Seviper can run that are certainly doable. Going mixed will always keep your opponent guessing as to what moves Seviper is or isn't using (RC) and can definitely lead to some misplays by your opponent them. Substitute when going mixed can be used when going mixed to further ease prediction on Seviper's part, as well as raise the anxiety of your opponent to keep them guessing as to what Seviper is running.

Most of Seviper's viable moves were listed above, however but there are a couple left worth mentioning. Glare is probably done better by Arbok, but it does give Seviper a tool to use against faster Pokemon thinking they can switch into a predicted attacking move. Taunt allows Seviper to mess with defensive Pokemon like Lickitung and Flareon and prevent them from healing, but overall Seviper is a bit too frail to make very good use of it. Finally, Seviper is one of the few Pokemon in the tier with access to Haze, which could be valuable in preventing a dangerous setup sweeper from sweeping your team.

[Checks and Counters]

In general, Chimecho can tank an attack from Seviper and easily OHKO it back with STAB Psychic; (SC) it just needs to be careful of Crunch and Hidden Power Ghost, both of which will leave a huge dent in it. Haunter and Venomoth with Psychic can easily outspeed and OHKO Seviper as well, though the latter needs a layer of Spikes to ensure the KO. Ground-types that can tank a Flamethrower or Giga Drain will easily OHKO Seviper with Earthquake, which granted admittedly is mostly just Piloswine. Other Pokemon that outspeed with Earthquake will have an easy time with Seviper too, particularly Hitmonchan, Glalie, and Vigoroth. Fire-types have the easiest time with the special attacker set if it lacks Hidden Power Water, but they have a very hard time with the physical sets. Finally, Mawile and Metang need to avoid the special attacker and mixed sets, but they have a very easy time against the Choice Band set as long as they avoid Earthquake.
 

autumn

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C&C Leader
GP 2/2
add remove comments

[OVERVIEW]

Seviper has awesome mixed attacking stats and a fantastic offensive movepool, making it extremely unpredictable and incredibly hard to switch into. Poison is also a nice typing to switch into opposing Pokemon, and an offensive Pokemon that can switch into Choice Band Hitmonchan's STAB attacks is always a plus. Beyond that, though, it doesn't have much going for it. Shed Skin is neat to absorb status from defensive teams, but Seviper is super frail and a bit on the slow side. It languishes at the bottom of the pack for mixed attackers, as it ultimately doesn't offer that much over similar options in Crawdaunt, Cacturne, and Octillery and finds itself wanting either more bulk or more Speed in most battles.

[SET]
name: Mixed Wallbreaker
move 1: Sludge Bomb
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Flamethrower
move 4: Hidden Power Grass / Hidden Power Ghost
item: Leftovers
ability: Shed Skin
nature: Naughty
evs: 252 Atk / 112 SpA / 144 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Seviper is incredibly hard to switch into, and this set makes the most of that fact by focusing on being able to smash smashing through as many walls in the metagame as possible. STAB Sludge Bomb coming off a base 100 Attack stat will dent nearly everything, and it easily OHKOes offensive Bellossom, deals over 50% to 252 HP Kecleon, and will 2HKO specially defensive Lickitung after a layer of Spikes the vast majority of the time. Earthquake smashes Flareon, easily 2HKOes specially defensive Swalot, and thrashes Lairon. Flamethrower OHKOes 252 HP Mawile and Tangela after a layer of Spikes and easily 2HKOes Metang. The last slot goes to a Hidden Power of choice. Hidden Power Grass shreds Relicanth, Whiscash, Graveler, and other Rock-types like Sudowoodo. Hidden Power Ghost is Seviper's best hit on Chimecho and Haunter, but it will miss out on the 2HKO on 252/252+ Chimecho.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

A Naughty nature with maximum Attack ensures the strongest hit from Sludge Bomb as possible and allows for the OHKO on OHKOes Bellossom after Spikes. The Speed EVs are there to outpace maximum Speed neutral nature Pupitar and Tropius, as well as the more common maximum Speed neutral-natured base 50s like Piloswine. The rest is pumped into Special Attack and gives Seviper the ability to OHKO Mawile and Tangela where it needs to.

While Seviper has the ability to outspeed most walls in the metagame and deal a good amount of damage to nearly all of them, it finds itself outsped by nearly every other offensive Pokemon in the tier, meaning Seviper will be playing a game of tit for tat almost every battle. In order to make the best use of Seviper, very sturdy defensive partners are a must to allow it to threaten a KO against the opposing Pokemon and have a safe passage out of the battlefield when something faster steps up to the plate. Relicanth, Kecleon, and Torkoal are good examples of Pokemon that can allow this, particularly the former, as it is a hard stop to Pidgeot and Murkrow as well other Choice Band users like Kingler and Raticate. Kecleon is also valuable to almost hard counter Chimecho and Haunter, as they'll likely switch in to OHKO Seviper with Psychic.

An offensive teammate to make use of Seviper's ability to wallbreak is a definite must when considering using this set. Huntail is a prime example, particularly because one of the few walls that can stand up to Seviper, Sableye, is an extremely easy setup opportunity and Huntail has no problem blowing past it with Hydro Pump. In return, Seviper severely dents the likes of Kecleon, Lickitung, and Dewgong, even almost 2HKOing the latter with Sludge Bomb, and can lure in Chimecho and cripple it with Hidden Power Ghost. Other good offensive teammates include those that require turns of setup to become threatening, such as Vigoroth, Pupitar, and Kingler.

[SET]
name: Special Attacker
move 1: Flamethrower
move 2: Giga Drain
move 3: Crunch
move 4: Hidden Power Psychic / Hidden Power Water
item: Leftovers
ability: Shed Skin
nature: Modest
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Seviper's incredible coverage and great base 100 Special Attack stat make it a very dangerous special attacker in the tier, despite the lack of STAB moves. Flamethrower blows away Steel-types thinking they're safe switching into Seviper's STAB move, dealing a ton of damage to both Mawile and Metang. Flamethrower also does a number on the Grass- and Bug-types in the tier. Giga Drain annihilates the Ground- and Rock-types that think they can safely nail Seviper with Earthquake. Crunch obliterates Chimecho and Haunter and is Seviper's best hit on Pelipper apart from Hidden Power Electric. The last slot goes to a Hidden Power of choice. Hidden Power Psychic can be used to nail to Hitmonchan and opposing Poison-types, while Hidden Power Water can be used to get a great hit on Lairon, Magcargo, and Flareon. Hidden Power Ice is worth considering as well for its super effective hit on Flying-types and Shelgon.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

A Modest nature and maximum Speed are run to give Seviper as much power as possible while retaining the ability to Speed tie with neutral-natured maximum Speed Flareon and Chimecho as well as outspeed Jolly Pupitar. Timid is definitely an option to outrun Timid Tangela and minimum Speed Dewgong, but considering the overall low Base Power of Seviper's moves and the lack of STAB, Modest is generally better to get as many KOs as possible.

Rest can be run in the last slot, as Shed Skin has a high chance of waking Seviper up early, but it's unreliable and Seviper can't waste any turns sleeping due to its frailty. That said, Shed Skin is a reason enough to boldly switch Seviper into defensive Grass-types for its chance to absorb Sleep Powder or Stun Spore and be able to shrug it off.

This set ravages slow defensive teams, but it has a couple of hard stops, most notably special walls like Kecleon, Swalot, Flareon, and Sableye. Because of this, Hitmonchan and other strong physical wallbreakers like Vigoroth and Pupitar make good teammates. Seviper is also very prone to being revenge killed, particularly from the likes of Choice Band Murkrow, which can OHKO it after a layer of Spikes, and other strong attackers like Haunter, which also OHKOes with Psychic. Due to this, hefty defensive backbones that can keep offensive momentum like Choice Band Relicanth and SubPunch Kecleon make excellent teammates. Chimecho also makes a good partner to take on the likes of Haunter and Hitmonchan looking to revenge kill Seviper.

[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Sludge Bomb
move 2: Earthquake
move 3: Hidden Power Ghost
move 4: Iron Tail / Double-Edge
item: Choice Band
ability: Shed Skin
nature: Adamant
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

Seviper's Attack stat is equal to its Special Attack, and it even gets a strong STAB move to make use of it, making a Choice Band set a great choice. The only downside is that overall a Choice Band set is done slightly better by Arbok, which sports higher Speed and better bulk backed up by Intimidate. Still, Seviper packs more power, and because Seviper has the element of surprise with its massive special movepool, it's still a highly recommended set when considering Seviper for your team.

Sludge Bomb and Earthquake have really good coverage together, with the latter providing super effective hits on enemy Poison-, Steel-, and Rock-types that resist or are immune to Sludge Bomb. Hidden Power Ghost is for Haunter and gets a slightly stronger hit on Chimecho than Sludge Bomb does. Unfortunately, Seviper doesn't get Rock Slide, another perk Arbok sports over its slithery friend, but the last slot here is largely filler anyway. Iron Tail is a good safety move, minus the accuracy, that ensures a super effective hit on Rock-types when using Earthquake could lead to a free switch to a Flying-type or a Levitate user by the opponent. Double-Edge is stronger and more reliable overall than Iron Tail, but this comes at the cost of any super effective coverage.

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

An Adamant nature and maximum Speed are run to give Seviper as much power as possible while retaining the ability to Speed tie with neutral-natured maximum Speed Flareon and Chimecho. Jolly is definitely an option, as outspeeding neutral Flareon and Chimecho with this set is heavenly, but the drop in power isn't worth it in the long run. A Naughty nature can be used with a special move, particularly Giga Drain, in the last slot, which gives Seviper a much better tool to use against Whiscash and other physically bulkier Pokemon that resist Sludge Bomb like Relicanth and Graveler.

The set as is above has a hard time with Rock- and Steel-types, even with Earthquake available, making a physical sweeping partner such as Hitmonchan or a special attacker like Seadra or Haunter valued teammates. Defensive Chimecho can be lured in and eliminated, or at the very least sufficiently weakened, with Hidden Power Ghost, further making Hitmonchan and other Pokemon walled by it, like Plusle, good teammates to bring when using Seviper. A switch-in to Flying-types and Haunter is needed for this set to be successful, as they will gladly switch into a Choice-locked Earthquake at this the first chance they get, meaning physically defensive Pokemon like Relicanth and specially defensive Pokemon like Kecleon should be paired with Seviper as well. In the same vein, having a good answer to Mawile is crucial to this set's success, as it will use its immunity to Sludge Bomb to set up Substitute or Swords Dance without hesitation, making Flareon a good teammate as well.

[Other Options]

There is a huge variety of combinations of the moves mentioned above that Seviper can run that are certainly doable. Going mixed will always keep your opponent guessing as to what moves Seviper is or isn't using and can definitely lead to some misplays by them. Substitute can be used when going mixed to further ease prediction on Seviper's part, as well as raise the anxiety of your opponent to keep them guessing as to what Seviper is running.

Most of Seviper's viable moves were listed above, but there are a couple left worth mentioning. Glare is probably done better by Arbok, but it does give Seviper a tool to use against faster Pokemon thinking they can switch into a predicted attacking move. Taunt allows Seviper to mess with defensive Pokemon like Lickitung and Flareon and prevent them from healing, but overall Seviper is a bit too frail to make very good use of it. Finally, Seviper is one of the few Pokemon in the tier with access to Haze, which could be valuable in preventing a dangerous setup sweeper from sweeping your team.

[Checks and Counters]

In general, Chimecho can tank an attack from Seviper and easily OHKO it back with STAB Psychic; it just needs to be careful of Crunch and Hidden Power Ghost, both of which will leave a huge dent in it. Haunter and Venomoth with Psychic can easily outspeed and OHKO Seviper as well, though the latter needs a layer of Spikes to ensure the KO. Ground-types that can tank a Flamethrower or Giga Drain will easily OHKO Seviper with Earthquake, which admittedly is mostly just Piloswine. Other Pokemon that outspeed with Earthquake will have an easy time with Seviper too, particularly Hitmonchan, Glalie, and Vigoroth. Fire-types have the easiest time with the special attacker set if it lacks Hidden Power Water, but they have a very hard time with the physical sets. Finally, Mawile and Metang need to avoid the special attacker and mixed sets, but they have a very easy time against the Choice Band set as long as they avoid Earthquake.
 

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