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Snivy Appreciation or Experience

Alola

Alola

UltraMysteryDungeon, when?
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Inspired by the Chikorita post, I thought I would create a thread about the other Grass Type starter with a similar plight. Snivy! Originally known as Smugleaf, this Grass Snake Pokemon captured a lot of hearts when it was first released. Unfortunately, after Black & White became a reality, the little snake and its evolution line quickly fell in popularity. I want to know-what are your thoughts on it and its evolution line? Any frustrations that you've had using the line? Any successes or positive experiences you've experienced instead? Any recommendations for what could have been done to make the line better? Did the Snivy line seem incomplete to you-do you feel that it was missing moves or perhaps its stats could have been better arranged? How do you feel about it and Contrary? Has Contrary helped boost it back up to its initial levels of popularity? This thread is an opportunity for such conversation or if you simply want to state how much you love the smug Grass Snake.​
 
I'd use Snivy a hell of a lot more if Contrary was usable on the one you get from the start instead of having to breed one from an event.

Also, they really need to give Serperior a Grass/Dragon form of some sorts. Pure Grass is kind of dull (but really all of the Unova starters whiffed on typing, they were all pure types except for Emboar which was the one starter combination everyone was sick of seeing).
 
Snivy is my favorite starter, tied with Turtwig for first. Its entire design and concept are just amazing. I remember when gen V was first leaking, and the middle stages of Snivy and Oshawott were leaked, I was iffy about how it would turn out. Servine is a tad awkward. But then the final evolutions leaked, and I fell in love with Serperior.

It's also one of the few starters that is somewhat viable, thanks to contrary. Not all starters can boast that, unfortunately. As Bolt said though, it's sad that the Serperior I raised and traveled with in Black is essentially useless, poor girl :/
 
Game Freak just. Keeps. Doing. This. They take a Gras Starter that everyone adores in its first stage, and then screw it over in its final form. Serperior's shallow ass movepool keeps it from being great. Then Decidueye's stat distribution came and promptly gave a big middle finger to the barn owl's fans. It almost feels like they're afraid to let Grass Starters be popular. (I know this isn't their thought process, probably, but it feels that way.)


At any rate, Snivy is easily my least favorite Grass Starter....which isn't saying much because I simply adore every single one of them. I love Snivy too; I just prefer the others. It should also be noted that Snivy is also still the most popular Unova Starter. It just doesn't have as much of a lead as it used to. Contrast Charizard and Greninja, whose popularity over their counterparts is self-evident. It's also true that Serperior is without a doubt the most useful Unova Starter competitively, by far. So at least it has that going for it. Honesty, I don't see Snivy and Chikorita being on equal footing in terms of fandom love. Snivy's popularity is at least mid-tier among all the Starters, whereas Chikorita is pretty clearly dead last. I'd argue Turtwig and possibly Chespin are less loved than Snivy.
 
It's the best of the gen 5 starters at least. That's not saying much, though.

It having the Dragon typing from the off could've been cool but instead it's just vanilla pure Grass.
 
I'm a big fan of the Snivy line, Serperior is one of my favourite Pokemon. It's just a shame Serperior never got a mega evolution it could have really used. Although that could be said for any Unova starter.
 
Speaking as someone who loves grass starters, I was super disappointed by the Snivy line and, up until SuMo, Black and White were the only games in the series whose grass starter wasn't my favorite out of the bunch. Really, Snivy's weaknesses all come out in its pure grass type and its lacking move pool. The designs of all three of them are pretty nice; it's just hard to look past how boring they are to use. The addition of Contrary was a cool one, and definitely makes it more approachable as a whole, but it doesn't feel like it can really capitalize on the neat ability, since it's still going to fall behind in terms of typing and moves.
It's a shame, really, if Serperior had been more ambitious of a final evolution, the Snivy line would've been wonderful, but it just disappoints, and despite its nice enough design, it's not pretty enough to really make up for its dullness.
 
Unlike Chikorita, I really don't have any personal experiences with Snivy; it's the only Gen V starter I've never used at all. I can really appreciate how Serperior is by far the best Contrary user (Gen VII's Lurantis is inferior besides getting Weather Ball) but even that makes me wonder why it's not Grass/Dragon. Y'know, for Draco Meteor.

The closest I could have to personal experience would be from my sister using this line throughout all of Gen V, and I saw her doing pretty good with a Coil set when B2W2's move tutors added Aqua Tail and Outrage to Serperior's movepool.
 
I adore the Snivy line, personally. It can even be very good in the right hands, but... Of course, someone does it better. Malamar can do what it does even better, and Venusaur is a better grass starter. Sad. And it is fast. That’s kinda it for it’s stats.
It was my starter in Gen V.
 
I haven't used Snivy as a partner in Black/White or Black 2/White 2. Mostly because I think I personally fit better with the Oshawott line as my starter and that Snivy is too "cool" for me (weird, I know). That being said, I don't mind at all using it as another party Pokemon. I did that in my recent play through of White 2, and she was great! Her Glare helped a lot with major battles and battles she had a type disadvantage against (as did lowering the opponents accuracy with Leaf Tornado when she had it). I enjoyed teaching her Aqua Tail later as a Serperior (why isn't this an Egg Move!!!!), in which she was able to efficiently do battle with Fire types (especially after a Coil boost). Additionally, her bulk allowed her to take hits better than several of my other Pokemon. Right now, she carries a grudge against Hugh's Serperior since he beat her during our first battle in Undella Town (training for the rematch, currently).

Competitively, I enjoy abusing Contrary Serperior. When not hit by a wall, it's a freaking beast that only strengthens itself.

I do wish that Game Freak gave the line more accessible coverage though, especially with what other serpentine Pokemon can do. I think Grass/Dragon would have been a good typing for it, both conceptually and thematically, and increased its move pool drastically. Can you imagine a Pokemon able to make use of both Leaf Storm and Draco Meteor optimally?
 
Wouldn't it being part dragon make it not so great anymore due to the introduction of the fairy type?
 
SerenaToAlola said:
Wouldn't it being part dragon make it not so great anymore due to the introduction of the fairy type?
Click to expand...
Fairy doesn’t single-handedly cripple Dragons. It just balances them.

Seriously, where did this idea that Dragon went from top tier to bottom tier cuz of Fairies come from?

If anything, the Dragon subtype is a bad idea on Serpy because of the crippling Ice weakness. But even that can be worked around.
 
If the double Ice weakness from a Grass/Dragon Serperior is a problem, there's Iron Tail as an Egg/Tutor move for Coil sets. Ice wouldn't resist either of Grass or Dragon anyway and Serperior's fast enough to hit most of them first (barring Ice Shard, but that move personally makes me think of the Grass weak Mamoswine).
 
Design-wise Snivy AKA Smugleaf (I love that name) is my favorite starter. I really dislike most starters (except Cyndaquil) but this little friend is just sooo amazing and it only becomes better as it evolves. It is also probably one of my favorite Grass types.

Unfortunately that's where the good ends. The stats are all over the place (a fast defensive pokemon? Why?) It's movepool is barren. All of its options are from the move tutors.

Outside of Dragon Pulse and the lackluster Hidden Power it doesn't get any good special attacks. These are more important because Contrary allows it to abuse Leaf Storm, boost its Sp Attack and then it doesn't get any other coverage moves. Physical sets are ok-ish since it has access to Coil/Swords Dance and some sort of coverage with Outrage, Knock Off Aqua Tail, Iron Tail, Aerial Ace? Ok but a physical set doesn't have a move to benefit from Contrary and it is forced to give up a slot for a boosting move.
It's sad that it's not even useful in-game. I love it so much I wanted to be good but it just doesn't cut it. Same with Rowlet.
 
I raised a Snivy in Black 2 and ended up liking it a-lot! It's a little weird, but comfortable...Having Speed like Treecko, with the statuses and more defense oriented abilities of the others. Not the best fighter, with that shallow offensive movepool, but she was reliable.

I'm also a fan of Serperior's design. It's got a really simple body type, but those fine patterns and color combination make it stand out.
 
Hindsight is 20/20, but it and Empoleon would have been perfect as starters for Kalos, thematically.
 
Oh, so, it's Snivy we are discussing. Ah, well!

Snivy was the starter Pokémon I chose as my partner during my venture through Unova. And I can confidently say that it was an excellent choice. My Snivy, now a Serperior, has been a wonderful teammate throughout my journey. Gorgeous and beautiful as ever, her Speed has been one of her most useful assets, allowing for a quick Leech Seed on slow, more tanky opponents, while providing healing support for her teammates. Her offensive prowess is pretty remarkable as well, though my Sawsbuck is usually a preferred choice for Grass-type offense instead.

With all said and done, I believe it is time, for my Serperior to take on to the stage, and show herself to the world.
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Please note: The thread is from 8 years ago.
Please take the age of this thread into consideration in writing your reply. Depending on what exactly you wanted to say, you may want to consider if it would be better to post a new thread instead.
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