This is madness! (UU Hail Stall) v3.0
Well, weather teams have always been my thing..... I've always liked building teams around abusing weather to their benefit while forcing the opponent to suffer its negative effects. That being said, weather teams are harder to pull off in UU due to the fact that you must pack a very weak NFE to get the job done. In other ways they are easier (at least for hail) because Ttar isnt running around changing the weather every two turns. That being said, please take the time to rate my team and thank you for your time!
Team Building
---------------
Well, obviously, the first step was permanent hail. Only one allowed in UU, so say hello to Snover!
Next up was a reliable rapid spinner. I wanted to get this step out of the way because i KNEW i would be needing it no matter what. I looked around and found hitmontop, whose typing is also nice because it covers the Ice types Rock weakness and scares away Steel types.
Now i needed a staller... one good at abusing toxic preferably, and Ice type as well to be immune to Hail... and i found this in a little used poke named Articuno, whose SubRoost set is a pain to counter with low PP moves like Fire Blast.
Well, now i notice that nothing covers up either my Steel or Fire type weaknesses. I needed a bulky water. I looked around and debated between Lanturn and Milotic, before finally selecting Lanturn... who is also great because of his immunity to electric type attacks, covering every single one of Articuno's weaknesses besides Rock... which Hitmontop covers.
I wanted another staller... one which could lay entry Hazards. This one was a bit harder to find, because while they existed.... they were usually pretty easy to counter. However, one solution I didn't realize until i noticed the ability of a certain poke.... Froslass. In combination with Protect and Substitute, Froslass can scout for a miss then setup or safely damage the opponent with Blizzard.... so it earned its slot on my team while also providing me a spin blocker.
Well now I saw another problem. If Hitmontop died with Stealth Rock laid out, Articuno was royally screwed and essentially useless for the remainder of the game. Froslass did NOT enjoy it either. I needed another spinner. This was pretty easy to find, as it had been in my mind as a second choice for Hitmontop anyways.... offering two resistances for the frail Ice typing. Enter... Claydol.
Well this team worked pretty well, but eventually i found a problem... Arcanine wasn't really countered by Lanturn due to its pathetic Defense. It needed to go. After waving farewell to Lanturn, Resttalk Milotic was able to fit into its spot neatly, walling both physical and special hits fearlessly while still covering two of the Ice types weaknesses.
And this is was v1.0 of my team, which has worked pretty well but still has problems against the like of sub Raikou or any Raikou with leftovers for that matter, who i cannot solidly counter.
However, Froslass got the banhammer only days after this team was posted.... as did Raikou (woot) so some substitutions were in order. Froslass obviously needed replacement first.... I replaced it with Choice Glaceon to give my team some punch and have a trick absorber, I am still deciding between Specs and Scarf at this time though I am leaning towards Scarf... Still, Specs ability to occasionally 2HKOChansey which switch into it with Blizzard when SR + Tspikes are up or with 75% or less health is fantastic (it can do up to 41%)
Well, now i had the issue of lacking either variety of spikes due to the loss of Froslass and I REALLY wanted either spikes or tspikes up. Fortunately, Something existed which could neatly fit into my team without messing typing up TOO much. Farewell Claydol, hello Nidoqueen.
So this is V2.0 of my team. The only major flaw Ive noticed at this time is that Espeon can really hurt my team if Glaceon is eliminated and it out predicts Hitmontops Sucker Punch.
Now however, a new problem arose... i completely lacked a spin blocker and while glaceon was a trick absorber, they could simply come back and do it again later. Fortunately, there was a fairly simple non-pursuit weak solution to this in Spiritomb, whose bulk is well renown. Slap a Choice Band on him, and you have a trick absorber, trick user, spin blocker, pursuiter, and bulky poke all in one. So Spiritomb gained Glaceon's slot.
This leads me to v3.0, my rapid spin problems are now virtually non-existent barring poor playing while my weakness to Alakazam and trick users in general is patched up. My only issue now is sometimes lacking the power to kill off Clefable if i lose Hitmontop, so now i have to guard Hitmontop more carefully than before.
Up Close Inspection
-------------------------
Snover (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 248 HP/252 Def/10 Spd
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Ice Shard
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Substitute
Snover is.... well.... Snover. Hes somewhat useless aside from his ability to setup hail, but tossing leech seed onto opponents and his priority move make him slightly more useful for my team. Protect and Substitute allow him to stall hail if he ever actually gets the chance. Really, i just use him to setup hail and if im not facing another weather team i just use him as death fodder later on.
Articuno @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP/216 Spd/42 SpA
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Ice Beam
- Roost
- Toxic
- Substitute
Stallicuno is extremely annoying once it gets a substitute up, as it can stall out moves like fire blast or stone edge simply by spamming substitute. and can ruin CM/Cursers by slapping toxic on them. Ice Beam was chosen over Blizzard for its higher PP, though i have yet to enter a situation where i actually needed it. Its flying typing allows it to scare away grass types which threaten Milotic, giving it good synergy with the water dragon.... who covers the fire and steel type weaknesses of Articuno.
Spiritomb (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP/252 Atk/6 Def
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Shadow Sneak
- Pursuit
- Will-o-Wisp
- Trick
Spiritomb did a fine job at replacing Glaceon and gives me a fairly permanent solution to trick leads (though Uxie and Mesprit can usually get away with a little bit of health left due to lacking Band's power after a trick). I gave it Will-o-wisp over Sucker Punch because it gives it usefulness even after ridding itself of a choice item as a burner, and is often unexpected from something that was just choiced. Trick allows me to cripple pokes like Chansey and Registeel, who almost never see it coming... even IF they saw having a choice item already by tricking me. More than once i have mind gamed the opponent by tricking against Uxie while they retreat instead of pursuiting and crippling what equates to their bulky poke which replaces Uxie... a couple of times even Hitmontop, who becomes useless with a choice item preventing it from using foresight+rapid spin. All-in-all Spiritomb is a great poke, and an AWESOME replacement for Glaceon.
Hitmontop (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP/252 Atk/6 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Close Combat
- Sucker Punch
- Rapid Spin
- Foresight
Hitmontop is great for this team, with Intimidate and Foresight spinning meaning it cannot really be prevented from removing stealth rock. Sucker Punch allows it to get the drop on faster pokes while close combat allows it to absolutely destroy Steel types ballsy enough to stay in on it. Its typing also gives it the resistance to rock type, which both Glaceon and Articuno sorely need.
Nidoqueen (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Poison Point
EVs: 252 HP/200 Def/42 Spe/16 SpA
Relaxed nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Earthquake
- Blizzard
- Toxic Spikes
- Stealth Rock
Nidoqueen slid fairly easily into Claydol's old spot, and while it cant rapid spin.... it makes up for it in move coverage and its ability to lay SR and Tspikes. EVs and Nature are chosen to maximize bulkiness while not lowering Atk or SpA. Nidoqueen's EV's may seem odd, considering it has speed on a -speed nature.... but they help it outrun both Hitmontop and more importantly lanturn, meaning itll beat the latter to the OHKO and the former to more damage.
Milotic (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Marvel Scale
EVs: 252 HP/200 Def/10 Spe/48 SDef
Calm nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Surf
- Blizzard
- Sleep Talk
- Rest
Resttalk Milotic is probably the most important member of my team, as without it a scarfed Blaziken could 6-0 my team with Fire Blast. Fortunately, it has plenty of bulk to make killing it tough and with Hail going around, it can utilize Blizzard to make even Grass types wary of switching into it. EVs are optimized for maximum all around tanking, Surf for STAB, Blizzard for weather abuse. 8 Speed EVs ensure Adamant Aggron is outspeed by my Milotic.
Ok, thanks for taking the time to read and (hopefully) rate my team! Be sure to point out any fixxable flaws you can see and don't be shy if you think you can improve upon it... just be sure to provide CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. Lemme know what ya think!
Well, weather teams have always been my thing..... I've always liked building teams around abusing weather to their benefit while forcing the opponent to suffer its negative effects. That being said, weather teams are harder to pull off in UU due to the fact that you must pack a very weak NFE to get the job done. In other ways they are easier (at least for hail) because Ttar isnt running around changing the weather every two turns. That being said, please take the time to rate my team and thank you for your time!
Team Building
---------------
Well, obviously, the first step was permanent hail. Only one allowed in UU, so say hello to Snover!
Next up was a reliable rapid spinner. I wanted to get this step out of the way because i KNEW i would be needing it no matter what. I looked around and found hitmontop, whose typing is also nice because it covers the Ice types Rock weakness and scares away Steel types.
Now i needed a staller... one good at abusing toxic preferably, and Ice type as well to be immune to Hail... and i found this in a little used poke named Articuno, whose SubRoost set is a pain to counter with low PP moves like Fire Blast.
Well, now i notice that nothing covers up either my Steel or Fire type weaknesses. I needed a bulky water. I looked around and debated between Lanturn and Milotic, before finally selecting Lanturn... who is also great because of his immunity to electric type attacks, covering every single one of Articuno's weaknesses besides Rock... which Hitmontop covers.
I wanted another staller... one which could lay entry Hazards. This one was a bit harder to find, because while they existed.... they were usually pretty easy to counter. However, one solution I didn't realize until i noticed the ability of a certain poke.... Froslass. In combination with Protect and Substitute, Froslass can scout for a miss then setup or safely damage the opponent with Blizzard.... so it earned its slot on my team while also providing me a spin blocker.
Well now I saw another problem. If Hitmontop died with Stealth Rock laid out, Articuno was royally screwed and essentially useless for the remainder of the game. Froslass did NOT enjoy it either. I needed another spinner. This was pretty easy to find, as it had been in my mind as a second choice for Hitmontop anyways.... offering two resistances for the frail Ice typing. Enter... Claydol.
Well this team worked pretty well, but eventually i found a problem... Arcanine wasn't really countered by Lanturn due to its pathetic Defense. It needed to go. After waving farewell to Lanturn, Resttalk Milotic was able to fit into its spot neatly, walling both physical and special hits fearlessly while still covering two of the Ice types weaknesses.
And this is was v1.0 of my team, which has worked pretty well but still has problems against the like of sub Raikou or any Raikou with leftovers for that matter, who i cannot solidly counter.
However, Froslass got the banhammer only days after this team was posted.... as did Raikou (woot) so some substitutions were in order. Froslass obviously needed replacement first.... I replaced it with Choice Glaceon to give my team some punch and have a trick absorber, I am still deciding between Specs and Scarf at this time though I am leaning towards Scarf... Still, Specs ability to occasionally 2HKOChansey which switch into it with Blizzard when SR + Tspikes are up or with 75% or less health is fantastic (it can do up to 41%)
Well, now i had the issue of lacking either variety of spikes due to the loss of Froslass and I REALLY wanted either spikes or tspikes up. Fortunately, Something existed which could neatly fit into my team without messing typing up TOO much. Farewell Claydol, hello Nidoqueen.
So this is V2.0 of my team. The only major flaw Ive noticed at this time is that Espeon can really hurt my team if Glaceon is eliminated and it out predicts Hitmontops Sucker Punch.
Now however, a new problem arose... i completely lacked a spin blocker and while glaceon was a trick absorber, they could simply come back and do it again later. Fortunately, there was a fairly simple non-pursuit weak solution to this in Spiritomb, whose bulk is well renown. Slap a Choice Band on him, and you have a trick absorber, trick user, spin blocker, pursuiter, and bulky poke all in one. So Spiritomb gained Glaceon's slot.
This leads me to v3.0, my rapid spin problems are now virtually non-existent barring poor playing while my weakness to Alakazam and trick users in general is patched up. My only issue now is sometimes lacking the power to kill off Clefable if i lose Hitmontop, so now i have to guard Hitmontop more carefully than before.
Up Close Inspection
-------------------------
Snover (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 248 HP/252 Def/10 Spd
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Ice Shard
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Substitute
Snover is.... well.... Snover. Hes somewhat useless aside from his ability to setup hail, but tossing leech seed onto opponents and his priority move make him slightly more useful for my team. Protect and Substitute allow him to stall hail if he ever actually gets the chance. Really, i just use him to setup hail and if im not facing another weather team i just use him as death fodder later on.
Articuno @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP/216 Spd/42 SpA
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Ice Beam
- Roost
- Toxic
- Substitute
Stallicuno is extremely annoying once it gets a substitute up, as it can stall out moves like fire blast or stone edge simply by spamming substitute. and can ruin CM/Cursers by slapping toxic on them. Ice Beam was chosen over Blizzard for its higher PP, though i have yet to enter a situation where i actually needed it. Its flying typing allows it to scare away grass types which threaten Milotic, giving it good synergy with the water dragon.... who covers the fire and steel type weaknesses of Articuno.
Spiritomb (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP/252 Atk/6 Def
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Shadow Sneak
- Pursuit
- Will-o-Wisp
- Trick
Spiritomb did a fine job at replacing Glaceon and gives me a fairly permanent solution to trick leads (though Uxie and Mesprit can usually get away with a little bit of health left due to lacking Band's power after a trick). I gave it Will-o-wisp over Sucker Punch because it gives it usefulness even after ridding itself of a choice item as a burner, and is often unexpected from something that was just choiced. Trick allows me to cripple pokes like Chansey and Registeel, who almost never see it coming... even IF they saw having a choice item already by tricking me. More than once i have mind gamed the opponent by tricking against Uxie while they retreat instead of pursuiting and crippling what equates to their bulky poke which replaces Uxie... a couple of times even Hitmontop, who becomes useless with a choice item preventing it from using foresight+rapid spin. All-in-all Spiritomb is a great poke, and an AWESOME replacement for Glaceon.
Hitmontop (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP/252 Atk/6 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Close Combat
- Sucker Punch
- Rapid Spin
- Foresight
Hitmontop is great for this team, with Intimidate and Foresight spinning meaning it cannot really be prevented from removing stealth rock. Sucker Punch allows it to get the drop on faster pokes while close combat allows it to absolutely destroy Steel types ballsy enough to stay in on it. Its typing also gives it the resistance to rock type, which both Glaceon and Articuno sorely need.
Nidoqueen (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Poison Point
EVs: 252 HP/200 Def/42 Spe/16 SpA
Relaxed nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Earthquake
- Blizzard
- Toxic Spikes
- Stealth Rock
Nidoqueen slid fairly easily into Claydol's old spot, and while it cant rapid spin.... it makes up for it in move coverage and its ability to lay SR and Tspikes. EVs and Nature are chosen to maximize bulkiness while not lowering Atk or SpA. Nidoqueen's EV's may seem odd, considering it has speed on a -speed nature.... but they help it outrun both Hitmontop and more importantly lanturn, meaning itll beat the latter to the OHKO and the former to more damage.
Milotic (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Marvel Scale
EVs: 252 HP/200 Def/10 Spe/48 SDef
Calm nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Surf
- Blizzard
- Sleep Talk
- Rest
Resttalk Milotic is probably the most important member of my team, as without it a scarfed Blaziken could 6-0 my team with Fire Blast. Fortunately, it has plenty of bulk to make killing it tough and with Hail going around, it can utilize Blizzard to make even Grass types wary of switching into it. EVs are optimized for maximum all around tanking, Surf for STAB, Blizzard for weather abuse. 8 Speed EVs ensure Adamant Aggron is outspeed by my Milotic.
Ok, thanks for taking the time to read and (hopefully) rate my team! Be sure to point out any fixxable flaws you can see and don't be shy if you think you can improve upon it... just be sure to provide CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. Lemme know what ya think!
