WINTER IN JULY (AN OU HAIL RMT)
Ah, yes, it's that time again, people. Summer's here, the nice baking sun shining in the sky, I mean, what could possibly go wrong to ruin this perfect day for the beach. Until this happens, a hailstorm comes out of nowhere and starts freezing the living-wait wrong introduction, my bad. Hey everyone. This is Touya, once again, with an RMT on the new forums of Smogon. It has been a while since I've done one of these, you know the usual stuff. Life, and stuff. So, err. Yeah.
Anyways, the birth of this team is when after like testing out original Kyurem on another hail team that I have, till then, I noticed, "as much as Kyurem does has good STAB with the move: Blizzard, but what happens if I like I dunno, use Kyurem-B, then add some support, such as healing wish, and hazards, and then, boom, I think this hail team would work out pretty nice and such." And to my surprise, it work. So, the purpose here of my hail team is to test out Black Kyurem on a hail team, with some support backing it up. So, enough chit-chat. Let's get right in this chilling RMT, shall we?
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Team At A Glance:
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In Depth Look:
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Abomasnow
Abomasnow (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Snow Warning
EVs: 16 Atk / 252 SAtk / 240 Spd
Hasty Nature (+Spd, -Def)
- Blizzard
- Grass Knot
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Earthquake
Abomasnow, the core of any hail team, and has to be a threat in the OU tier itself. Having a held item, which is a Choice Scarf, it can reach up to 354 Speed, allowing to surprise slower foes such as a Max Speed Tornadus. It's STAB move, Blizzard, has perfect accuracy during hail and can do massive amount of damage to any pokemon that cannot resist it. Grass Know is the preferred Grass-Type attack due to offering it great boost such as power, against heavier foes and doesn't have recoil damage, allowing him to switch in more times. Hidden Power (Fire) covers Steel Types, such as Ferrothorn and Scizor, that resist to Abomasnow's STAB moves. Earthquake is a move for the snowman to destroy other opposing steel types such as Heatran, and Magnezone, plus for Ninetales, as well, when facing it. However, it can backfire, due to some of the pokemon, can carry an held item, such as an Air Balloon.
Froslass
Frosslass (F) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Cursed Body
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Spikes
- Taunt
- Shadow Ball
- Destiny Bond
Here we come across, Froslass, the most popular pokemon that does what's best. Being a suicide lead for spikes, a rapid spin blocker, and preventing other pokemon from setting up, using taunt. It has great synergy, when it comes to offensive teams, while Abomasnow removes opposing weather, such as Sandstorm for example. Like I said before, Taunt can block any other pokemon from setting up hazards onto the battlefield such as Stealth Rock, Spikes, Toxic Spikes, etc. or possibly setting up on boosting attacks. Shadow Ball can nail Espeon and Starmie for Super Effective damage. Destiny Bond can score a Free KO right after Froslass has done it's job of bringing instant momentum to the team, taking down threats such as Tyranitar and Scizor. So, basically, if you want to set up spikes really fast, Froslass is your best friend.
Heatran
Heatran (M) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Stealth Rock
Yes yes, we get the picture, Heatran, being the best fire-types in standard play and the most powerful attackers in OU, is...on a hail team? Well, anyways, with excellent set of resistances, being dragon of course, to take on Draco Meteors and Outrages, and great bulk, Heatran can halt powerful sweepers such as Venasaur, Volcarona, and Jirachi, with no trouble at all, and having the ability to check basically what Abomasnow hates, aside from fighting types, gives the two pretty solid synergy as well. Fire Blast is Heatran's best STAB move, being the sweet spot of Overheat's power and flamethrower's accuracy. Earth Power is a great covering move that can hit an opposing Heatran, while damaging Tyranitar and Terrakion. With Hidden Power (Ice) and an Air Balloon as an held item, it becomes an excellent check for Dragon Types as stated, easily OhKOing Dragonite after setting up Stealth Rock. And lastly, Stealth Rock is the best hazard of all of them, since it requires one turn of set up. Overall, Heatran is an amazing glue to my Hail Team.
Latias
Latias (F) @ Light Clay
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Healing Wish
- Draco Meteor
Latias is one of the pokemon that works well in any team, like hail for instance. Being the bulky dragon that it is, it sponges off opposing fighting types, making it a check for Abomasnow's and Heatran's weakness, plus giving more resistances, such as water and fire, giving it a huge advantage and great synergy as well. Due to her natural bulk and speed, she is a solid dual screen user. With Healing Wish, Latias can sacrifice herself to bring back a crippled sweeper to give it a second chance at sweeping. Later in the game, she can set up Reflect and Light Screen, and then sacrifice herself, letting the same sweeper on this team can wreak havoc on the opposing team. Draco Meteor is probably the best fit in the last shot so that she cannot be an utter setup fodder.
Tentacruel
Tentacruel (M) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 HP / 236 Def / 20 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Rapid Spin
- Toxic Spikes
- Scald
- Protect
As much as Tentacruel can give support in a rain team, but it can support hail teams very well. Being another check for Volcarona and other fire-types as well, Tentacruel does a handy job of keeping everything in check. This set excels at spinning hazards away for both balanced and stall teams. However, unlike other users of Rapid Spin, Tentacruel can absorb opposing Toxic Spikes, facilitating it's work of being a rapid spinner. Toxic Spikes is use for to cripple down an opposing sweeper or a certain wall pokemon. Scald is the best STAB move of Tentacruel, outside of rain, it has a %30 chance of burning the target, discouraging Pokemon such as Gyarados and Dragonite from switching in, even though they resist the move. Finally, Protect also has the ability to scout Choice users and stops a SubDisabling Genger. So, in other words, Tentacruel is a very neat choice of being a supporter in this hail team.
Black Kyurem
Kyurem (Kyurem-B) @ Leftovers
Trait: Teravolt
EVs: 56 HP / 216 Atk / 236 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Substitute
- Fusion Bolt
- Dragon Claw
- Ice Beam
I saved it till last. This powerful threat of the OU metagame, having amazing offensive stats, Kyurem-B is just an monster when the hail is up. It can ruin many every pokemon and every type of team in OU, being one of the dragons that is not weak to ice, and having good resistances to Water, Electric, and Grass Types. As much as Kyurem-B is bulky, this set here is physically based. Substitute gives it the ability to scout and bring ruin to offensive presence, especially in the face of Starmie, Politoed, Jellicant, Rotom-W, and Celebi. Besides scouting for dangerous attacks, it also protects Black Kyurem from status and dire attacks. Fusion Bolt is a great STAB for Kyurem-B, using it as a coverage move to maim things, Dragon Claw is the bread and butter of this physical set, having the advantage of not being locked onto Outrage. And lastly, Ice Beam is used for bulky ground types such as Landorus-T, Gliscor, Donphan, and Hippowdon. Being able to abuse the prevalence of Bulky Water Types in the metagame, Kyurem-B can easily gain a quick advantage over a Rotom-W or Gyarados.
Importable:
Code:
Abomasnow (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Snow Warning
EVs: 16 Atk / 252 SAtk / 240 Spd
Hasty Nature (+Spd, -Def)
- Blizzard
- Grass Knot
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Earthquake
Froslass (F) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Cursed Body
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Spikes
- Taunt
- Shadow Ball
- Destiny Bond
Heatran (M) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Stealth Rock
Latias (F) @ Light Clay
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Healing Wish
- Draco Meteor
Tentacruel (M) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 HP / 236 Def / 20 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Rapid Spin
- Toxic Spikes
- Scald
- Protect
Kyurem (Kyurem-B) @ Leftovers
Trait: Teravolt
EVs: 56 HP / 216 Atk / 236 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Substitute
- Fusion Bolt
- Dragon Claw
- Ice BeamConclusion:
So, all in all, this concludes my first RMT here on the new style of the Smogon forums, powered by XenFeno. Now, looking at this team, I think it's my best work ever yet, even better than the previous one I had on PO, the one with Kyurem that was equipped with a Choice Scarf, and not having the best synergy out there, or the best support as well. And yes, like I said before, it's been quite a while ever since I like, made an RMT or something, so, if there's any mistakes or anything that needs to be address, feel free to like VM or PM me as possible, and I'll gradually change some mishaps on it. Now, yes, there are some flaws here with this team, somewhat of having 3 pokemon that are weak to fighting, going up against Sun or Sandstorm Teams, and let's not forget, most of my team does not enjoy Stealth Rocks that much. But overall, Hail will always have a significant use of ant-weather style, and is a perfect use not only in the holiday, but all year long. Other than that, if you enjoy this RMT, please send me that luvdi-oh wait, we don't have that feature hear anymore. Oh well, if you like what you saw here, leave a comment or a suggestion or anything that's possible to change this team if you want. So, yeah. Oh, and if you want to like, have a good feel on this team, I have a replay of PS, if you want:
Final Glance:
