Emeral
toward new horizons
Picture and redaction by Emeral. Correction by Eo ut Mortus.
Hello guys and welcome on my RMT. Today I'm going to show you this hail team that I've used now for a very long time. It has been the more effective team I have used in BW. I built this team around Volcarona and Abomasnow because I've always wanted to have a competitive hail team in BW and because Volcarona is just horrible for most of the OUs. Hail is an amazing weather for players such as me who like playing differently and is a pretty good counter to sandstorm and offensive teams in general. This style of play is unfortunatly underrated, but it is very effective once you get the hang of it. People who frequent the Smogon University server have certainly already played against this team on the ladder, simply because I've spent so much time laddering. I've chosen to post a RMT of this team team because the worldcup of pokemon is finished and because I won't use this team in BW2. Well, I'm proud to present you this team, the team that let me reach #1 Place on smogon university and win the week 3 (BW #1) of the smogon tour XIII. NOW, IM GONNA FREEZE YA ASS UP !
Trait: Snow Warning
EVs: 252 Atk / 156 SAtk / 100 Spd
Lonely Nature (+Atk, -Def)
- Hidden Power [Fire]: A great coverage move which is very useful against pokemon such as Scizor, Skarmory, Ferrothorn and Forretress because they often switch on Abomasnow. Fire coverage can also help against Magnezone if it switches in on Abomasnow.
- Ice Shard : One of the most useful move of the team. It gives me a good priority to hit flying and dragon type pokemon (Dragonite, Landorus, Salamence, Tornadus...).
- Protect : A move to help abuse passive damage from hail + toxic spikes. Is also a good surprise for scouting CB Scizor.
- Wood Hammer : Powerful stab which can OHKO bulky tyranitar and do huge damage against bulky water like politoed, jellicent and Rotom-W. It also does decent neutral damage and has great coverage.
Here is the most important pokemon of a hail team. Abomasnow, the weather inducer, allows me to set the hail when it enters the field. I needed a moveset that could establish good preasure against sandstorm/rain and was not weak to Tyranitar. I know there are many way to play Abomasnow, but the mixed set was just the set I needed for this team. Indeed, with his great coverage, Abomasnow can check the famous combination Rotom-W + Scizor on offense and Politoed + Ferrothorn on stall, be very annoying against sandstorm teams / offensive rain teams, and is the nemesis against Dragonzone teams. The only match-up that Abomasnow isn't able to wallbreak is sun teams, simply because Ninetales/Heatran wall it without Earthquake. Anyway, other pokemon like Latias will be able to switch on Ninetales and offensive Heatran, so that's not a problem. The Aboma's EV spread is homemade: max attack to do the most damage possible with Ice Shard (OHKO Dnite/Salamence) and Wood Hammer (OHKO Tyranitar), the 156EVs in special attack are here to always OHKO Forretress and Scizor after one protect (a.k.a 95% min dammage) and always 2 KO Ferrothorn, Skarmory and Magnezone. With the 100Evs in speed, Abomasnow outspeeds Scizor most of the time and Skarmory if it doesn't have many evs in speed.
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 236 Def / 20 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Calm Mind: Allows Latias to be a good calm minder similar to Reuniclus. It can also be useful in late game to sweep teams which are weak to latias if the Tyranitar or Jirachi is KOed
- Dragon Pulse: The main and more effective STAB. Base Power is naturally high and gives perfect coverage with Hidden Power Fire.
- Hidden Power [Fire]: I needed HP fire because I have to beat pokemon which set up spikes and stealth rocks (2 weakness to SR) such as Ferrothorn, Skarmory, Forretress and Jirachi. It's also here to OHKO Scizor after stealth rock.
- Recover: Free recovery move, which is necessary to be able to stall as long as possible.
Bulky Latias is just amazing. It has perfect synergy with abomasnow and gives the team a ground immunity. The calm minder version is very difficult to handle for most teams; when Tspikes are set, pokemon like gastrodon or bulky tyranitar won't be able to counter Latias. But the main reason of its place on the team is that I needed a pokemon who could check sun teams and Rotom-W. After much thought, Latias was the perfect pokemon for the job. Indeed, thanks to her good typing, this moveset can easily switch in against the offensive fire moves such as Fire Blast from Heatran/Ninetales and totally stop most of the Venusaur with Hidden Power Fire + sun. It's also a necessary water resist (Abomasnow does not have enough bulk to handle Waters) which allows me to switch on bulky Water pokemon like Spectoed/Starmie, set up Calm Mind against Rotom-W, and have a good set up sweeper that can easily clean a match in late game if I can set it up. I know the ev spread is not common but a great investment in defense lets latias switch in against Close Combat from BandTerrakion as well as take Crunch from Tyranitar and Uturn from Landorus. 20EVs speed are here to outspeed Dragonite.
Trait: Snow Cloak
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Earthquake: Main STAB with high base power. Great coverage with Ice Shard and does good damage.
- Stealth Rock: Classic.
- Ice Shard: Another priority move. It's very effective with endeavor if I've still not set the hail on field. It can also revenge kill Dnite, Landorus etc...
- Endeavor: This move is the best way to wallbreak at the beginning of the match. It works pretty well with Focus Sash in combination with Ice Shard/Hail and is a nightmare if Snow Cloak is activated.
In the third position we have Mamoswine, the perfect pokemon to start a battle in a BW hail team. Indeed, Mamoswine is a very interesting lead: it can set up SR at turn 1 with focus sash and reduce the opponent's health to 1 HP with endeavor. If Mamoswine has not been hurt at turn 1, I can start to sweep with Earthquake or simply switch in the appropriate pokemon to preserve Endeavor for later when the hail will be set. This lead is just a must have for a hail team because when the opponent see the match up, they most of the time choose to lead with Terrakion, and Mamoswine is just the better way to lure it and so eliminate at turn 1 one of the biggest threats of the team. But Mamoswine isn't only good as the lead; it's also an utility sweeper that is very dangerous for sun teams because they generally don't have a safe switch to Earthquake. It can beat Heatran, Celebi, Landorus, Gliscor, Tyranitar in sandstorm and is perfect to hurt Politoed and Ferrothorn on rain teams. It can revenge kill dragons like Dragonite or Salamence and finish a Gyarados or Breloom if their HP are low with Ice Shard. Obviously, I have to keep Mamoswine as long as the oponnent's spinner isn't KOed if I want to derive maximum benefit from stealth rock. To finish, I would like also to mention the ability Snow Cloak, which converts the mammoth into a haxx-machine and so makes him a very nice hail abuser.
Trait: Technician
EVs: 200 HP / 252 Atk / 56 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch: A Scizor without Bullet Punch isn't a Scizor.
- U-turn: Very nice with Stealth Rock. It scouts teams and causes huge damage.
- Pursuit: With this move, the main pokemon that I want to kill is Jellicent if its HP is under 80% and Tspikes are set. It's also a good way to kill Starmie and Gengar if I find them too annoying in the match.
- Superpower: Is here for its great coverage and to kill all the steel type, namely Ferrothorn, Heatran and Magnezone.
Here is the trapper, scouter and revenge killer of the team. I needed at least one steel type pokemon to be able to switch in against dragon moves like Outrage or Draco Meteor mainly. I had the choice between Heatran, which I couldn't use because I've already included a fire type pokemon, and so I would be too weak against water types, Jirachi, or Scizor. I chose Scizor for the simple reason that it is a better hail user than Jirachi. Indeed, U-turn from Bandzor under hail works pretty well; with hail, Scizor's common counters, such as Skarmory and Gliscor, recover less and are worn down by U-turn much more quickly. The second reason why I chose Scizor instead of Jirachi is Terrakion, mainly the swords dancer, which completely fuck me if I don't have Bullet Punch for a priority move. In addition to that, Scizor is more effective against sun teams and can trap Starmie/Gengar/Latios, while Jirachi can only make them switch. I can also use Scizor as a dragon killer but that's not his main job; Abomasnow + Mamoswine is enough most of the time. EV spread is classic, I don't need innovation for a Cb Scizor, just the 56Evs in speed, which are here to be faster than most of the Tyranitar sets, bulky Politoed and Jellicent.
Trait: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald : It never burns.
- Toxic Spikes : it helps me to win the weather war and limit switch-ins. It's best solution to kill Jellicent.
- Knock Off : I know this move looks like a gimmick, but it's very useful not only against Politoed/Tyranitar, but also against other Tentacruel in rain stall, Heatran, Celebi, Starmie, Jirachi, Jellicent, Breloom, Chansey, Ferrothorn, Rotom-W and I forget the others...
- Rapid Spin : Blow away spikes and stealth rock. Necessary for the team.
What is a hail team without a spinner ? I don't know but I won't test it. As a hail team can't work properly if stealth rock or spikes are on the field, I obviously needed a spinner to blow away those things and so set in place my strategy. I had a choice of 4 spinners: Starmie, Forretress, Tentacruel, Donphan. First of all, I was sure to not use Donphan and Forretress because they can't take most common Fire attacks. I had to chose beetwen Starmie and Tentacruel. I know Tentacruel is ugly, but it's a good spinner and a better choice for a hail team. Indeed, I have to spin as fast as possible, and Tentacruel is just the pokemon I need because it can switch directly against Forretress, Heatran, bulky Tyranitar, Ferrothorn (rain), and Skarmory and spin Stealth Rock. I know that's risky, but anyway, I don't care about Tentacruel if the SR are spun. Then, if Tentacruel is still alive, I can set my toxic spikes and win the weather war against sandstorm and rain teams. And finally, if I don't need to spin or lay any more Tspikes, I will also use Tentacruel to check Uturn from Scizor or Close Combat/Stone Edge from Terrakion. I could also knock off the leftovers from stallers like Tentacruel, Gastrodon or Jellicent to help Volcarona to finish the match. EV spread is classic and as I didn't need speed, I maximized defense and hp to be as bulky as possible.
Trait: Flame Body
EVs: 112 HP / 252 SAtk / 144 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Quiver Dance : after one boost, Volcarona is totally broken.
- Bug Buzz : Volcarona's main STAB. It does good neutral damage and eliminates Tyranitar. Great coverage with Fiery Dance.
- Fiery Dance : I prefer this move to Fire Blast because I always miss Fire Blast. The boost in special attack is good against Jellicent or gastrodon.
- Hidden Power [Ground] : As Heatran and Terrakion can be annoying for this team, I have to carry HP ground to eliminate them.
Last but not least we have Volcarona, the so-called star of the team. If the rest of the team has correctly done its job and eliminated Volcarona's counters, I can send the beast to set up one quiver dance and so sweep without any problem in all the metagame. How many safe counters to volcarona are there in OU ? 2, 3, 4, 5? I don't care, all that I see is that when Tspikes are set on the field and pokemon like dragonite or Salamence are down, Volcarona can sweep sandstorm, rain and mainly sun teams. The only way left to handle it is to have a faster choice scarf pokemon that could OHKO Volcarona at +1 speed. But unfortunately, getting Volcarona in place isn't an easy thing. Anyway, Volcarona can be a very good hail abuser in midgame even at +0. Its good typing causes many switch, it benefits from hail + Tspikes/Stealth Rock causing passive damage to the oponnent, whatever his team, and it has an effective combination of wallbreaking with Abomasnow. It's also a good asset to win to the weather war because its Fire type attracts most of the time Tyranitar/Politoed and make them suffer with Bug Buzz + Toxic Spikes. The evs spread is homemade but effective. The 252Evs in special attack are here to do the most of damage possible, 142 speed to outspeed all the pokemon that are around 260 like Dragonite, Rotom-w, Jirachi, Celebi and be faster at +2 than choice scarfers like Terrakion or Landorus. The Evs left go in HP for more bulk.
I hope you enjoyed the RMT and took the time to read through everything to develop an understanding of the team. I encourage everyone give hail a chance because it's a wonderful and very under rated playstyle. You can use the team as you want and make all the changes that you want to try, I just ask you to keep the pokemons's nick if you want to use the team. Have a nice day !