Seviper Movesets & Competitive Sets

Moves Sludge Wave deals big damage to almost anything that doesn't resist it. Giga Drain is an excellent coverage move, hitting bulky Ground- and Water-types, such as Golem and Relicanth. Flamethrower helps Seviper match up better against Steel-types and other Pokemon weak to Fire, OHKOing Pawniard and 2HKOing Metang and Roselia. Earthquake could be used over Flamethrower to OHKO Probopass and to nail Arbok and Muk. Sucker Punch rounds off this set as Seviper's strongest priority move, making up for its lackluster Speed and finishing off weakened foes or anything faster than it in general. Set Details 252 EVs are put into Special Attack to maximize Seviper's wallbreaking potential. A Rash nature is used to fully power up Seviper's special attacks without compromising its physical power or Speed. The 216 EVs in Speed let it outpace Pawniard, with the rest poured into Attack to strengthen Earthquake and Sucker Punch. Due to Infiltrator being incompatible with Sucker Punch, Shed Skin is the preferred ability, helping Seviper shrug off status. Life Orb boosts Seviper's power even more but wears it down very quickly at the same time. Usage Tips As Seviper is extremely frail, bringing it in against even resisted moves is ill advised. However, you can bring Seviper in against bulkier or weaker Pokemon, as its typing allows it to shrug off weaker moves such as Clefairy's Moonblast and Gourgeist's Seed Bomb. It is definitely okay to sacrifice Seviper if it means getting crucial damage off on an offensive threat, such as Kadabra. Make sure to utilize Seviper against more defensively oriented teams, as its immunity to poison along with Shed Skin makes it easier to bring in. Team Options Seviper is best utilized on an offensive team, as it is great at breaking down opposing defensive cores that its teammates may struggle with. Jumpluff in particular is a stellar partner for Seviper, as the former wears down bulky Ground-types such as Stunfisk. Jumpluff can also weaken Roselia and Relicanth, two defensive and offensive threats that can tank any of Seviper's moves from full health. Other Grass-types in general are great teammates for Seviper, as they can switch into any Ground move for it; some examples are Tangela and Leafeon. Seviper also appreciates any form of speed control, so Sticky Web setters and Thunder Wave users such as Leavanny and Clefairy make good teammates. A Pursuit trapper also pairs well with Seviper, removing Ghost-types and Psychic-types such as Misdreavus and Kadabra, respectively. Speaking of Misdreavus, Seviper appreciates teammates than can effectively remove it without being crippled, like Ninetales and Rapidash.

Seviper's greatest advantage is its coverage, which allows it to hit a lot of NU super effectively. Sludge Bomb is its STAB move and most reliable attacking choice. Flamethrower hits the Steel-types that will switch in on a predicted Sludge Bomb very hard. Giga Drain rounds off Seviper's coverage by nailing Ground-types that resist both Sludge Bomb and Flamethrower, such as Seismitoad and Golem, for 4x damage and also grants Seviper recovery in the process. Sucker Punch is important in the last moveslot because it allows Seviper to damage faster threats. Seviper uses maximum Speed and a Naive nature so it can outspeed Modest Samurott and Modest Ludicolo, which is an important benchmark. Shed Skin is the ability of choice because it makes Seviper reasonably good at switching in status attacks, and as such grants Seviper more Pokemon to switch in on, such as Misdreavus and Tangela. Life Orb is the best item because Seviper needs a high damage output in order to make an impact; it cannot survive many hits anyway, so the residual damage is insignificant. Nevertheless, an Expert Belt can be used instead of a Life Orb, but Seviper's main STAB will rarely receive a boost in this case, owing to Poison's sparse super effective coverage. A cool alternative over Flamethrower is Hidden Power Ground, which turns Seviper into an effective Probopass and Bastiodon lure, since both of them sponge its attacks otherwise. Good defensive partners for Seviper are Musharna and Mandibuzz, which can handle the incoming Ground- and Psychic-type attacks, as well as most of the stronger attacks that tend to break through Seviper. Good offensive partners are stallbreakers, such as Choice Band Sawk and Swords Dance Samurott, which can handle special walls that can take all of Seviper's attacks. Lastly, paralysis support from Pokemon such as Regirock and Rotom-S greatly helps Seviper by allowing it to outspeed and severely damage Pokemon that it wouldn't normally be able to.

A fast Seviper is something your opponent won't see coming, and the Choice Scarf set accomplishes exactly that. The element of surprise is further aided by Seviper's wide movepool, making it difficult to predict what attack it's going to throw out next. Poison Jab is a fantastic STAB move that puts huge dents in fragile sweepers who think they can outspeed Seviper. Earthquake shuts down Steels and other Poison-types who like to switch in on a predicted Poison Jab. Crunch deals with Ghost- and Psychic-types, but most Psychic Pokemon are so frail they'll likely get knocked out by Poison Jab anyway. Alternatively, Aqua Tail provides good neutral damage on most foes, and is Seviper's best way of handling Rhyperior and Moltres. In the final slot we have Switcheroo, which passes the Choice Scarf onto the opposing Pokemon, so it's a fine way to ruin bulky walls such as Registeel and set-up sweepers such as Dragon Dance Feraligatr. The Speed EVs, Jolly nature, and Choice Scarf allow Seviper to outspeed threats such as Dugtrio and Sceptile, so the venomous menace can eliminate them before they can get a hit in. Seviper's ability to cripple an opposing wall with Switcheroo is very unexpected and should not be underestimated, and it's a good idea to pair up this Seviper with Pokemon who can take advantage of a crippled wall and set up; prime examples include Dragon Dance Feraligatr, Dragon Dance Altaria, and Calm Mind Spiritomb.

Seviper's excellent movepool provides it with a wide range of coverage and attacking options, making an all-out attacker set a natural fit for this wicked reptile. Poison Jab is the all-important STAB attack, capable of 2HKOing the pink nuisances Clefable and Chansey. Earthquake punishes Steel-types who think they can switch in for free on Seviper's Poison Jab. Sucker Punch is a nifty option on this set as it remedies Seviper's poor Speed, and is a great way to take out the Ghost- and Psychic-types that pervade UU. Aqua Tail hurts the Ground-types who are resistant to Poison Jab, especially Rhyperior; it's also a good way to eliminate Moltres, who might otherwise be tempted to switch in on Earthquake or Sucker Punch. Life Orb is the obvious item for this set as Seviper appreciates the boost in power and the freedom to switch moves, meaning it can better take advantage of its coverage moves. 212 Speed EVs allow this hissing fiend to outpace Rock Polish Torterra and Rock Polish Aggron, Attack is maximized to capitalize on Seviper's offenses, and the rest is dumped into HP for some bulk. This Seviper is not meant to be played as your average all-purpose wallbreaker, but rather as a Pokemon who softens up the opponent's core in preparation for a teammate's sweep, so it's a good idea to pair it up with late-game sweepers such as Blaziken or Rock Polish Aggron. This Seviper also has trouble breaking through bulky Waters, so it's best to have Venusaur as a teammate to handle the ubiquitous Milotic.

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. 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.

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. 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.

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. 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.