When you use all four of them on the same team. I looked through the RMT section, and using weather seems to be stigmatized for some reason. This isn't any ordinary drizzle or drought team though. I'm using all four weather conditions, and it's crazy enough to just work.
For the record, I am aware that I'm not the first with this idea, but I think I was one of the early adopters of it. I used a similar set back in December, with Drifblim (which also has Weather Ball) instead of Altaria. But anyway, I think this team is different enough from others that it warrants a RMT.
Hippowdon (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Ice Fang
- Slack Off
So we start off with a pretty common lead, Hippowdon. I usually play in Dream World, even though this team works perfectly fine in Wifi, because of Team Viewer. This way, people don't see my strategy, and assume I'm probably using a standard Excadrill, Landorus, etc. team. So I start off with the obligatory Stealth Rock to set up entry hazards. After that, I weigh my options. If it's something I can get an easy 2HKO on, or I can wall back and forth with Slack Off, I try to kill it. Earthquake, despite the no investment, hits hard enough from a base 112 attack. Ice Fang is mostly for coverage, although I can see Roar being here instead. This is also my only physical wall, and it does a great job.
I'm going to take a quick opportunity to explain how I choose what to switch to. Basically, I choose the most detrimental weather for the opponent. If they're readying a water pokemon to take down Hippowdon, off to Politoed or Abomasnow. About to use Fire Blast on Abomasnow? Send in Politoed to absorb the blow. If it's a physical attacker, like Conkeldurr, Hippowdon can come in, Slack Off to he the damage, and use Earthquake a few times until it goes down or switches. If all else fails, and I have no idea what to do, Abomasnow or Altaria save the day.
Abomasnow (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Snow Warning
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Def / 84 SDef
Hardy Nature
- Substitute
- Leech Seed
- Blizzard
- Protect
Abomasnow is much better than it looks. It has won me the battle plenty of times, because I stall them out. Protect is great for scouting out moves, and getting some residual damage on the foe, while leftovers heals me. This thing is pretty bulky (it survived a Focus Blast from gengar once), and even with its tree-like slowness, I can get a Substitute up most of the time. Then, standard sub-seed strategy, with Protect thrown in for added annoyance. Blizzard is also amazingly powerful, taking down all dragons, and putting a dent in most pokemon. Abomasnow has probably gotten me the most KOs with this team, so I guess you could consider it some kind of stall-sweeper.
Politoed (F) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Grass]
I guess you could consider Politoed a sweeper. I don't really send this out often, don't know why, but Hydro Pump always hits hard, able to 1HKO most of the metagame (2-3 on resisted hits), and Focus Blast and Hidden Power Grass give coverage. A little too slow to sweep, but way bulkier than average, especially in the special department.
Ninetales (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drought
EVs: 252 HP / 92 SDef / 164 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Flamethrower
- Will-O-Wisp
- Substitute
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
Ninetales could be considered my special wall in the team. Will-O-Wisp is annoying, messing up physical attackers, Flamethrower is for coverage (especially powerful under the sun), Substitute is pretty useless, and Hidden Power Fighting is for Heatran. Ninetales has been the most disappointing pokemon on this team, perhaps I should change the move set or EVs?
Castform (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Forecast
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Weather Ball
- SolarBeam
- Thunder
- Ice Beam
You may laugh at me using Castform, with its below average stats, boring design, and all, but it is very , very versatile in this team. It may not work so great in a standard weather team, since many pokemon do its job, sweeping, better, but in this one, it does fills a role no other pokemon can match. Choice Scarf lets it outspeed a bunch of things, and Forecast is probably what makes it so versatile. It always gets stab on Weather ball (expect in sandstorm), so its basically a 150 BP move, making up for its rather lackluster special attack. Solarbeam is for coverage under the sun, Thunder is for in the rain, and I have no idea why I used Ice Beam. Please suggest me a 4th move. Castform is very fragile, but once it starts sweeping, it can get a good 2-3 kills (usually 2) before I have to switch out.
Altaria (F) @ Rocky Helmet
Trait: Cloud Nine
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Cotton Guard
- Roost
- Dragon Pulse
- Toxic
Now, Altaria cancelling out weather conditions seems to go against the spirit of this team, but bear with me. It's here to stop opponent's from abusing my weather strategy with their own pokemon. Like I said, if I don't know what to do, I send out Altaria. Its EVs are spread out for a special wall, but in fact, I'd consider more physical, since Cotton Guard is a +3 defense boost. In 2 Cotton Guards, I have 868 defense, making it impervious to all physical attacks. Roost heals it, for extra survivability, and Dragon Pulse is for coverage. Toxic stalls against bulky pokemon. The problem with Altaria is that everything seems to carry an Ice move now, even things like Gengar, which hampers its walling ability a little.
Here's how I would put the pokemon, in order of usefulness in my team:
The main problem with this team is that I like to switch out a lot, and then entry hazards destroy me. I need a rapid spinner, but I can't think on one that I can fit in here. Also, the team kind of lacks in synergy, as you can tell, but that's the point, and Castform brings them together (somehow). Ice Beam on Politoed and Castform seem pretty useless with Abomasnow's Blizzard being so much better. And finally, Ninetales kind of sucks. I can't get rid of it, unless I made this an uber team with Groudon. So I need a better set for it. Or maybe I could use it as a lead instead of Hippowdon?
I've had a decent record with this team so far, 6 wins to 3 losses (one to another all four weathers team), but I don't expect to move very far in the ladder. It's mostly for fun.
For the record, I am aware that I'm not the first with this idea, but I think I was one of the early adopters of it. I used a similar set back in December, with Drifblim (which also has Weather Ball) instead of Altaria. But anyway, I think this team is different enough from others that it warrants a RMT.
Hippowdon (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Ice Fang
- Slack Off
So we start off with a pretty common lead, Hippowdon. I usually play in Dream World, even though this team works perfectly fine in Wifi, because of Team Viewer. This way, people don't see my strategy, and assume I'm probably using a standard Excadrill, Landorus, etc. team. So I start off with the obligatory Stealth Rock to set up entry hazards. After that, I weigh my options. If it's something I can get an easy 2HKO on, or I can wall back and forth with Slack Off, I try to kill it. Earthquake, despite the no investment, hits hard enough from a base 112 attack. Ice Fang is mostly for coverage, although I can see Roar being here instead. This is also my only physical wall, and it does a great job.
I'm going to take a quick opportunity to explain how I choose what to switch to. Basically, I choose the most detrimental weather for the opponent. If they're readying a water pokemon to take down Hippowdon, off to Politoed or Abomasnow. About to use Fire Blast on Abomasnow? Send in Politoed to absorb the blow. If it's a physical attacker, like Conkeldurr, Hippowdon can come in, Slack Off to he the damage, and use Earthquake a few times until it goes down or switches. If all else fails, and I have no idea what to do, Abomasnow or Altaria save the day.
Abomasnow (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Snow Warning
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Def / 84 SDef
Hardy Nature
- Substitute
- Leech Seed
- Blizzard
- Protect
Abomasnow is much better than it looks. It has won me the battle plenty of times, because I stall them out. Protect is great for scouting out moves, and getting some residual damage on the foe, while leftovers heals me. This thing is pretty bulky (it survived a Focus Blast from gengar once), and even with its tree-like slowness, I can get a Substitute up most of the time. Then, standard sub-seed strategy, with Protect thrown in for added annoyance. Blizzard is also amazingly powerful, taking down all dragons, and putting a dent in most pokemon. Abomasnow has probably gotten me the most KOs with this team, so I guess you could consider it some kind of stall-sweeper.
Politoed (F) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Grass]
I guess you could consider Politoed a sweeper. I don't really send this out often, don't know why, but Hydro Pump always hits hard, able to 1HKO most of the metagame (2-3 on resisted hits), and Focus Blast and Hidden Power Grass give coverage. A little too slow to sweep, but way bulkier than average, especially in the special department.
Ninetales (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drought
EVs: 252 HP / 92 SDef / 164 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Flamethrower
- Will-O-Wisp
- Substitute
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
Ninetales could be considered my special wall in the team. Will-O-Wisp is annoying, messing up physical attackers, Flamethrower is for coverage (especially powerful under the sun), Substitute is pretty useless, and Hidden Power Fighting is for Heatran. Ninetales has been the most disappointing pokemon on this team, perhaps I should change the move set or EVs?
Castform (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Forecast
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Weather Ball
- SolarBeam
- Thunder
- Ice Beam
You may laugh at me using Castform, with its below average stats, boring design, and all, but it is very , very versatile in this team. It may not work so great in a standard weather team, since many pokemon do its job, sweeping, better, but in this one, it does fills a role no other pokemon can match. Choice Scarf lets it outspeed a bunch of things, and Forecast is probably what makes it so versatile. It always gets stab on Weather ball (expect in sandstorm), so its basically a 150 BP move, making up for its rather lackluster special attack. Solarbeam is for coverage under the sun, Thunder is for in the rain, and I have no idea why I used Ice Beam. Please suggest me a 4th move. Castform is very fragile, but once it starts sweeping, it can get a good 2-3 kills (usually 2) before I have to switch out.
Altaria (F) @ Rocky Helmet
Trait: Cloud Nine
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Cotton Guard
- Roost
- Dragon Pulse
- Toxic
Now, Altaria cancelling out weather conditions seems to go against the spirit of this team, but bear with me. It's here to stop opponent's from abusing my weather strategy with their own pokemon. Like I said, if I don't know what to do, I send out Altaria. Its EVs are spread out for a special wall, but in fact, I'd consider more physical, since Cotton Guard is a +3 defense boost. In 2 Cotton Guards, I have 868 defense, making it impervious to all physical attacks. Roost heals it, for extra survivability, and Dragon Pulse is for coverage. Toxic stalls against bulky pokemon. The problem with Altaria is that everything seems to carry an Ice move now, even things like Gengar, which hampers its walling ability a little.
Here's how I would put the pokemon, in order of usefulness in my team:
The main problem with this team is that I like to switch out a lot, and then entry hazards destroy me. I need a rapid spinner, but I can't think on one that I can fit in here. Also, the team kind of lacks in synergy, as you can tell, but that's the point, and Castform brings them together (somehow). Ice Beam on Politoed and Castform seem pretty useless with Abomasnow's Blizzard being so much better. And finally, Ninetales kind of sucks. I can't get rid of it, unless I made this an uber team with Groudon. So I need a better set for it. Or maybe I could use it as a lead instead of Hippowdon?
I've had a decent record with this team so far, 6 wins to 3 losses (one to another all four weathers team), but I don't expect to move very far in the ladder. It's mostly for fun.
