Serperior
Attack
Defense
Stamina
Best Movesets
Analysis
Serperior is the Grass-type starter of Gen 5, but isn't too exciting due to its poor stats. An ATK stat lower than that of Meganium's is a pretty clear indication that there might not much use for the serpentine Pokemon.
Offense
- Vine Whip takes advantage of STAB and is the optimal fast move for Serperior.
- Iron Tail trails behind in performance and isn't as useful partly due to lacking STAB.
- Frenzy Plant is objectively great, and the charge move of choice.
- Grass Knot is Serperior's best non-elite charge move and hits hard with STAB.
- Leaf Tornado does get STAB, but has very bad damage output.
- Aerial Ace is a lackluster move.
Defense
- Iron Tail hits quite hard on defense and is more optimal than Vine Whip.
- Frenzy Plant hits for maximum power.
- Grass Knot is weaker, but still usable.
- Aerial Ace and Leaf Tornado perform roughly the same on defense, and are okay as 3-bar moves but don't deal as much damage.
Vine Whip is the superior pick due to significantly better energy gains along with STAB.
Frenzy Plant is Serperior's strongest move in a vacuum, as well as in practice. Aerial Ace provides good coverage against other Grass and common Fighting-types, but is generally a weak move. Leaf Tornado is a bad move from a damage perspective, but if you're willing to forgo Aerial Ace's coverage, it can be worth throwing out to fish for debuffs. Grass Knot can technically be run, but it's a significant downgrade over Frenzy Plant.
While Serperior isn't a "bad" Pokemon in the Great League, it really doesn't hold much of a niche. While it's pretty bulky (on par with Meganium), less valuable secondary coverage makes it a significantly less exciting choice. If you just need a Frenzy Plant user, Serperior could certainly be worse, but it shouldn't be your go-to option.
