Serperior

Serperior sits at 1.41% usage on the high-ladder singles tier (rank 69), making it one of the few viable Grass-type representatives in the format. Its near-universal Contrary ability (99.8%) turns Leaf Storm's Special Attack drop into a +2 boost, enabling a self-boosting sweeper archetype backed by base 113 Speed. The Smogon community nominates it for C tier, recognizing it as the format's best paralysis spreader via Glare and a capable Substitute+Leech Seed stallbreaker.

Playstyle：The moveset splits into two archetypes: an offensive Leaf Storm (25%) + Dragon Pulse (22.2%) sweeper leveraging Contrary's +2 boost per Leaf Storm, and a Substitute (8.6%) + Leech Seed (8.5%) + Glare (11.4%) stallbreaker. Item diversity reflects this split: Leftovers (51.1%) for the stall build, Miracle Seed (21.7%) for maximum Leaf Storm power, Focus Sash (14.2%) for aggressive trades, Choice Scarf (6.3%) for Speed locking. Expert commentary specifically highlights using Serperior as a setup foil against Swords Dance Kingambit — switching in on the boosted Steel-type turns its attack drop into a +2 Special Attack gain for Serperior via Contrary.

✅ Favorable matchups1

Garchomp

Serperior's 0.09% doubles high-ladder usage (rank 168) renders it effectively absent from the format. The Contrary Leaf Storm snowball strategy is poorly suited to doubles: with two opposing Pokemon each turn, a single-target sweep is neutralized before the boosts become decisive. It lacks doubles staple utilities — Rage Powder, Follow Me, Tailwind, wide spread moves — and at base 113 Speed it cannot reliably out-pace Tailwind or Trick Room reversals. Its bulk is insufficient to serve as a redirect wall the way Sinistcha does.