By Emily
Snivy and its evolutions seem to carry the usual burdens of most other Grass type starters. They are the most difficult to use through the game to beat the storyline and the good stats but move pool leave the Pokemon with too much untapped potential. However, they have one good thing going for them that can potentially change the metagame – their Dream World ability.
What makes this trio of Pokemon, mostly Serperior, so great is the Contrary ability. Inverting which stats are raised and lowered means Leaf Storm will become increasingly stronger each turn due to the sharp increase in Special Attack every time it is used. Plus opponents would have to choose moves wisely to make sure that none of their attacks would benefit one or more of Serperior’s stats. If Snivy is ever made available over the Global Link through an event the battling metagame will be drastically changed in order to use and counter the new immensely powerful Serperior.
Dream World abilities aside, Serperior has a cool design and great stats. Amazing speed enables it to attack first while its strong defenses ensure the Pokémon can survive multiple hits. The possible attacks are the main falling point of this character. Leaf Blade and Giga Drain are two very good Grass type attacks, but it lacks a variety of other strong moves. Aerial Ace and Dragon Tail are fairly useful, but the former has low attack power while the later has low attack power and reduced accuracy. Iron Tail, a possible egg move, is very strong but has terrible accuracy. Hidden Power is a good possibility, mostly if its type and attack strength are good.
For specialty attacks, Serperior has a huge number of great moves to choose from. Leech Seed and Toxic are great default attacks for this Grass Pokemon, and Gastro Acid is essential for neutralizing another Serperior’s Contrary ability. The egg move Mirror Coat is also useful, though its somewhat low HP stat may limit the use of this attack.
As Snivy is one of the Unova region starters, it can be obtained right at the beginning of the game. It isn’t available anywhere else in the region and must be traded for to obtain if Oshawott or Tepig were chosen.
Snivy and Servine have both appeared in the anime, and Ash owns a Snivy. Being a starter, Snivy has a large number of merchandise featuring it, from tins to TOMYs. The Pokemon Centers in Japan also made a life-size Snivy plush, which was first available on the release date of the Pokemon Black and White games. Servine and Serperior also have a growing number of merchandise, such as plush and small TOMY figures.
All three Pokemon have good shiny colorations, especially Servine and Serperior. A very nice blue and cream combo makes the red of Servine’s eyes stand out, and Serperior’s color combination is bold and works amazingly well for this Pokemon. Trying to obtain a shiny Snivy through Soft Resetting or Masuda Method breeding is well worth the effort.
The disadvantaged grass Pokemon now has the power to flip metagame battling on its head. While these characters may not hold out much hope for battlers until an event for them is announced on the Global Link, they still have great designs and enough collectable merchandise to make sure that almost anyone can enjoy battling with or collecting these Pokemon.
Tags: Nintendo DS, Pokemon Black & White, Serperior, Servine, Snivy