Subject: Well, turns out I was completely mistaken.
Author:
Posted on: 2015-06-07 13:13:00 UTC
Apparently, this is the optimal competitive set on Showdown:-
Serperior @ Life Orb
Timid Nature
IVs: 29 HP (all others standard - this spread decreases the damage from your LO)
252 SpA/4 SpD/252 Spe
Leaf Storm
Dragon Pulse
Hidden Power Fire
Giga Drain
There are arguments to be made for Glare, Taunt, and Synthesis in that last slot, but a boosted Giga Drain can heal a lot and still do decent damage. Dragon Pulse is there for coverage and HP Fire is the way to go - there are arguments for HP Ground, chief among them being Heatran, but Fire hits more stuff harder, like Scizor and Ferrothorn. It has a simple function, that being Leaf Spam and its inbuilt Nasty Plot, and it's effective in OU, especially because of its ability to outspeed common threats unboosted - and since it can't boost its speed because Contrary, that's an important thing to remember.
Its bulk ain't great and sometimes it fails in its duty to OHKO bulky Water-types (though Mega Swampert gets rekt), but there's quite a lot to like about Serperior. Hopefully its inevitable Mega retains Contrary and a halfway-decent secondary typing. It'd be interesting for it to get, say, Dragon-type and have it be some kind of Eastern wyrm-lookin' thing, and it'd fit in with the regal theme it's got going on - plus, Dragon Pulse is about the only proper coverage move it has, so, y'know, there's that. Ground-type would also be interesting if it got some proper coverage, though that nasty 4x weakness to Flying is unpleasant in a tier with Talonflame in it.
Please accept my apologies: Serperior is superior, and I was wrong to assert otherwise. =]