I used to play a lot of battles on Shoddy during Gen 4, but I became too busy and mostly fell out of competitive battling during Gen 5. I've wanted to come back though, and after doing VGC and OU battles for the past month or so, I'm doing pretty well.
This is a hail + trick room VGC team I created recently that's done well (winning about 75% of the time), but still could do a lot better.
Abomasnow @ Ice Gem
Trait: Snow Warning
EVs: 252 Def / 4 Sp Def / 252 SAtk
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Blizzard
- Leech Seed
- Giga Drain
- Protect
Abomasnow exists mainly to setup hail, but it also can pick off a lot of threats that counter trick room, especially Amoonguss. Ice Gem + Blizzard causes huge damage, even to Pokemon that resist Ice. Leech Seed gets up an early advantage against tanky threats. Giga Drain counters unexpecting Rain Teams, so that Politoed can be eliminated relatively quickly. It also counters Gastrodon and is a quick healing move.
Jellicent @ Sitrus Berry
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 60 Def / 252 HP / 196 SDef
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Protect
- Trick Room
- Will-O-Wisp
- Water Spout
Jellicent is the other Pokemon I always pick. It works amazingly well with Abomasnow thanks to its immunity to fighting and resistance to fire. It stalls, and does so quite well in the hail. Will-O-Wisp doubles as both an effective way to stop tanky pokemon, and a way to stop physical attackers. Water Spout is a great STAB move that uses rain teams to its advantage. Trick room is the main move here, though. Once Amoonguss is eliminated, Jellicent is free to set up trick room, and hail room takes off.
Musharna @ Leftovers
Trait: Synchronize
EVs: 132 SAtk / 252 HP / 124 Def
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Psychic
- Helping Hand
- Light Screen
- Protect
Musharna is a very bulky attacker, mostly here to eliminate fighting threats. With this EV spread, Psychic can easily OHKO flame orb Conkeldurr with hail, and have a good chance at doing so for non-flame orb Conkeldurr. The rest of the moves are support, making Musharna an excellent partner for Scrafty or Glaceon (and I almost always have one of the two). I opted for Musharna over Reuniclus because of better defenses (which is worth the attack trade off, since I still can easily beat fighting types) and Synchronize, which can catch many Thunder Wave, Toxic, or Spore users off guard.
Scrafty @ Chople Berry
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Drain Punch
- Crunch
- Detect
- Fake Out
It's just a basic Scrafty set, but I find it really effective. 252 HP EV's, combined with Drain Punch, makes it pretty hard to kill, and Drain Punch and Crunch have great coverage. Detect stops threats, and Fake Out can allow an almost dead pokemon to get one more move out- especially useful when that pokemon is Jellicent setting up one last trick room.
Cradily @ Lum Berry
Trait: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Rock Slide
- Confuse Ray
- Toxic
- Giga Drain
I originally had Gastrodon here, but I've found that Cradily works much better. Confuse Ray + Toxic is a great combo here. With the added damage of hail, a confused and poisoned pokemon faints very quickly, and thanks to Cradily's bulky stats, it can easily poison and confuse both of the opponent's pokemon, and then Giga Drain back to full health. Storm Drain counters water types and rain teams, and brings Cradily some benefit with the Giga Drain boost. Lum Berry prevents status, and since many opponents try to combat Cradily with poison or burns, this effectively wastes a turn and saves Cradily.
Glaceon @ BrightPowder
Trait: Snow Cloak
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Blizzard
- Protect
- Shadow Ball
- Fake Tears
Glaceon is a pokemon that works pretty well, but only in some circumstances. Once all of its threats have been eliminated, though, it can sweep quite easily. Snow Cloak, combined with Bright Powder, makes it hard to hit Glaceon. With a huge 130 base special attack, combined with 100 accuracy blizzard, Glaceon can quickly kill almost anything. Fake Tears takes care of bulky Pokemon, but also allows for a great partnership with Abomasnow near the end of a match, since Glaceon can Fake Tears, and then Abomasnow can Blizzard that same turn.
I've really enjoyed perfecting this team, and I hope you like it.
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!
This is a hail + trick room VGC team I created recently that's done well (winning about 75% of the time), but still could do a lot better.
Abomasnow @ Ice Gem
Trait: Snow Warning
EVs: 252 Def / 4 Sp Def / 252 SAtk
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Blizzard
- Leech Seed
- Giga Drain
- Protect
Abomasnow exists mainly to setup hail, but it also can pick off a lot of threats that counter trick room, especially Amoonguss. Ice Gem + Blizzard causes huge damage, even to Pokemon that resist Ice. Leech Seed gets up an early advantage against tanky threats. Giga Drain counters unexpecting Rain Teams, so that Politoed can be eliminated relatively quickly. It also counters Gastrodon and is a quick healing move.
Jellicent @ Sitrus Berry
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 60 Def / 252 HP / 196 SDef
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Protect
- Trick Room
- Will-O-Wisp
- Water Spout
Jellicent is the other Pokemon I always pick. It works amazingly well with Abomasnow thanks to its immunity to fighting and resistance to fire. It stalls, and does so quite well in the hail. Will-O-Wisp doubles as both an effective way to stop tanky pokemon, and a way to stop physical attackers. Water Spout is a great STAB move that uses rain teams to its advantage. Trick room is the main move here, though. Once Amoonguss is eliminated, Jellicent is free to set up trick room, and hail room takes off.
Musharna @ Leftovers
Trait: Synchronize
EVs: 132 SAtk / 252 HP / 124 Def
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Psychic
- Helping Hand
- Light Screen
- Protect
Musharna is a very bulky attacker, mostly here to eliminate fighting threats. With this EV spread, Psychic can easily OHKO flame orb Conkeldurr with hail, and have a good chance at doing so for non-flame orb Conkeldurr. The rest of the moves are support, making Musharna an excellent partner for Scrafty or Glaceon (and I almost always have one of the two). I opted for Musharna over Reuniclus because of better defenses (which is worth the attack trade off, since I still can easily beat fighting types) and Synchronize, which can catch many Thunder Wave, Toxic, or Spore users off guard.
Scrafty @ Chople Berry
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Drain Punch
- Crunch
- Detect
- Fake Out
It's just a basic Scrafty set, but I find it really effective. 252 HP EV's, combined with Drain Punch, makes it pretty hard to kill, and Drain Punch and Crunch have great coverage. Detect stops threats, and Fake Out can allow an almost dead pokemon to get one more move out- especially useful when that pokemon is Jellicent setting up one last trick room.
Cradily @ Lum Berry
Trait: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Rock Slide
- Confuse Ray
- Toxic
- Giga Drain
I originally had Gastrodon here, but I've found that Cradily works much better. Confuse Ray + Toxic is a great combo here. With the added damage of hail, a confused and poisoned pokemon faints very quickly, and thanks to Cradily's bulky stats, it can easily poison and confuse both of the opponent's pokemon, and then Giga Drain back to full health. Storm Drain counters water types and rain teams, and brings Cradily some benefit with the Giga Drain boost. Lum Berry prevents status, and since many opponents try to combat Cradily with poison or burns, this effectively wastes a turn and saves Cradily.
Glaceon @ BrightPowder
Trait: Snow Cloak
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Blizzard
- Protect
- Shadow Ball
- Fake Tears
Glaceon is a pokemon that works pretty well, but only in some circumstances. Once all of its threats have been eliminated, though, it can sweep quite easily. Snow Cloak, combined with Bright Powder, makes it hard to hit Glaceon. With a huge 130 base special attack, combined with 100 accuracy blizzard, Glaceon can quickly kill almost anything. Fake Tears takes care of bulky Pokemon, but also allows for a great partnership with Abomasnow near the end of a match, since Glaceon can Fake Tears, and then Abomasnow can Blizzard that same turn.
I've really enjoyed perfecting this team, and I hope you like it.
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!
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