Overview
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Offensive
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name: Offensive
move 1: Nasty Plot
move 2: Flamethrower / Fire Blast
move 3: Energy Ball / Will-O-Wisp / Substitute
move 4: Psyshock
ability: Flash Fire
item: Leftovers / Life Orb / Passho Berry
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
nature: Timid
Moves
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Set Details
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Usage Tips
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Other Options
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Checks & Counters
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**Entry Hazards**: Ninetales is easily worn down by spikes, toxic spikes, and especially stealth rock.
**Faster Offensive Pokémon**: Archeops outspeeds and OHKO's with stone edge. Swellow can OHKO with a toxic-boosted façade. Faster rock, water, and ground types can check Ninetales fairly easily.
**Status**: Thunderwave cripples Ninetales's sweeping potential. Toxic wears down Ninetales very quickly because it needs a turn to boost.
**Aqua Jet Water-Types**: Pokemon like Feraligatr, Kabutops, and Samurott can easily check Ninetales with aqua jet since Ninetales has a less than stellar defense stat. These pokemon need to watch out for Passho Berry variants of Ninetales though.
**Probopass**: Probopass doesn't take much from Flamethrower and can hit Ninetales with a STAB super-effective Power Gem.
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⦁ Weak to stealth rock
⦁ What sets Ninetales apart from other fire types is its fantastic coverage and ability to boost. Fire / Psychic / Grass is near perfect coverage in NU, and being able to boost with this great coverage means Ninetales destroys almost everything slower than it.
⦁ Ability helps check other fire types and absorb Will-O-Wisps for the team.
⦁ Mediocre stats overall, but great speed and special defense.
⦁ Great typing for checking the abundant amount of grass types in the tier.
⦁ What sets Ninetales apart from other fire types is its fantastic coverage and ability to boost. Fire / Psychic / Grass is near perfect coverage in NU, and being able to boost with this great coverage means Ninetales destroys almost everything slower than it.
⦁ Ability helps check other fire types and absorb Will-O-Wisps for the team.
⦁ Mediocre stats overall, but great speed and special defense.
⦁ Great typing for checking the abundant amount of grass types in the tier.
Offensive
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name: Offensive
move 1: Nasty Plot
move 2: Flamethrower / Fire Blast
move 3: Energy Ball / Will-O-Wisp / Substitute
move 4: Psyshock
ability: Flash Fire
item: Leftovers / Life Orb / Passho Berry
evs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
nature: Timid
Moves
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⦁ Flamethrower is a more reliable way of sweeping while Fire Blast is used for more power.
⦁ Energy Ball hits bulky waters and rock types, really great coverage with Fire Blast.
⦁ Psyshock allows Ninetales to get past Hariyama and Dragalge, a problem for other fire types.
⦁ Will-O-Wisp to give Ninetales more setup opportunity late game and wear down Ninetales's switch-ins.
⦁ Nasty plot makes Ninetales a devastating sweeper, able to OHKO or severely dent most of the tier after a boost.
⦁ Energy Ball hits bulky waters and rock types, really great coverage with Fire Blast.
⦁ Psyshock allows Ninetales to get past Hariyama and Dragalge, a problem for other fire types.
⦁ Will-O-Wisp to give Ninetales more setup opportunity late game and wear down Ninetales's switch-ins.
⦁ Nasty plot makes Ninetales a devastating sweeper, able to OHKO or severely dent most of the tier after a boost.
Set Details
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⦁ Life Orb gives Ninetales the necessary power to break walls. It ensures the OHKO after Nasty Plot on Dragalge and Hariyama. Leftovers gives Ninetales more longevity and lets it switch into stealth rock more than 4 times. Passho Berry lets Ninetales take Aqua Jets that would normally stop its sweep.
⦁ The EV spread is a simple max speed and max special attack to get as much speed and power out of Ninetales as possible. An alternate EV spread of 112 HP / 252 SpA / 144 Spe can be used if you're using Leftovers because it hits a leftovers number and makes Ninetales survive longer and outspeed timid Rotom-S.
⦁ Timid nature allows Ninetales to outpace most of the tier, speed tieing with Typhlosion and other base 100's.
⦁ Nasty Plot lets Ninetales boost it's average special attack stat to frightening levels that can let Ninetales sweep late-game or break down walls early to mid-game.
⦁ The EV spread is a simple max speed and max special attack to get as much speed and power out of Ninetales as possible. An alternate EV spread of 112 HP / 252 SpA / 144 Spe can be used if you're using Leftovers because it hits a leftovers number and makes Ninetales survive longer and outspeed timid Rotom-S.
⦁ Timid nature allows Ninetales to outpace most of the tier, speed tieing with Typhlosion and other base 100's.
⦁ Nasty Plot lets Ninetales boost it's average special attack stat to frightening levels that can let Ninetales sweep late-game or break down walls early to mid-game.
Usage Tips
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⦁ For leftovers Ninetales, try to predict Ninetales's switch-ins and use a coverage move that hits them super effectively so that they're slowly whittled enough for Ninetales to sweep late-game. Alternatively, if they have a special wall like Audino which doesn't get hit super effectively by one of Ninetales's coverage moves go for Nasty Plot on the switch to break through Audino. For Life Orb Ninetales, it's best to Nasty Plot when given a chance because with a Life Orb Ninetales has enough power to OHKO most of the tier. Will-O-Wisp variants should use WOW when they expect a Hariyama, Dragalge, or Archeops to switch in. Although Dragalge doesn't mind the attack drop from burn, the burn will whittle dragalge down for later in the game. Will-O-Wisp is only useful for the initial switch-in though, so generally Psyshock is a better choice unless you have a pokemon that can setup on a burned Hariyama such as Scyther.
⦁ Ninetales is especially useful against stall and balanced teams since it can boost and break common switch-ins to fire types with its coverage, unlike Typhlosion.
⦁ Ninetales can be used as a late-game cleaner or an early game wallbreaker.
⦁ Ninetales has setup opportunities against Vileplume, Lilligant (be careful of sleep powder), Pyroar and Typhlosion locked into fire moves, Cryogonal, and Ferroseed.
⦁ Ninetales is good for absorbing Will-O-Wisp from Weezing, Pyroar, and Mismagius. This gives Ninetales a defensive role as well as an offensive role.
Team Options⦁ Ninetales is especially useful against stall and balanced teams since it can boost and break common switch-ins to fire types with its coverage, unlike Typhlosion.
⦁ Ninetales can be used as a late-game cleaner or an early game wallbreaker.
⦁ Ninetales has setup opportunities against Vileplume, Lilligant (be careful of sleep powder), Pyroar and Typhlosion locked into fire moves, Cryogonal, and Ferroseed.
⦁ Ninetales is good for absorbing Will-O-Wisp from Weezing, Pyroar, and Mismagius. This gives Ninetales a defensive role as well as an offensive role.
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⦁ Ninetales enjoys hazard removal, so spin support from Cryogonal, Sandslash, or Kabutops is great. Defog also alleviates Ninetales hazard weakness, so pair Ninetales with Prinplup or Swanna.
⦁ Pairing Ninetales with another fire type can create a powerful fire-type core. Ninetales easily gets rid of pokemon that disrupt other fire type team members, such as Hariyama, Dragalge, or Seismitoad. This is only advised on very offensive teams.
⦁ It's also good to pair Ninetales with a poison type to absorb toxic spikes. A good pokemon in particular would be Vileplume. Vileplume doesn't stack a ground weakness with Ninetales, and Vileplume resists water while Ninetales resists ice and immune to fire. This poison type is also useful for switching into Hariyama's close combat if Hariyama isn't in psyshock range.
⦁ Pokemon that can switch into common switch-ins to Ninetales such as Hariyama, Dragalge, or Seismitoad make great partners; so Vileplume, Rotom-S, Klinklang for Dragalge's case, etc.
⦁ Pokemon that can switch into Aqua Jet are good partners, so Seismitoad or a bulky grass.
⦁ Pairing Ninetales with another fire type can create a powerful fire-type core. Ninetales easily gets rid of pokemon that disrupt other fire type team members, such as Hariyama, Dragalge, or Seismitoad. This is only advised on very offensive teams.
⦁ It's also good to pair Ninetales with a poison type to absorb toxic spikes. A good pokemon in particular would be Vileplume. Vileplume doesn't stack a ground weakness with Ninetales, and Vileplume resists water while Ninetales resists ice and immune to fire. This poison type is also useful for switching into Hariyama's close combat if Hariyama isn't in psyshock range.
⦁ Pokemon that can switch into common switch-ins to Ninetales such as Hariyama, Dragalge, or Seismitoad make great partners; so Vileplume, Rotom-S, Klinklang for Dragalge's case, etc.
⦁ Pokemon that can switch into Aqua Jet are good partners, so Seismitoad or a bulky grass.
Other Options
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⦁ Calm Mind lets Ninetales beat Calm Mind Slurpuff.
⦁ Hidden Power Ground provides good nuetral coverage with Fire Blast and lets Ninetales hit Probopass and Bastiodon harder.
⦁ Hidden Power Ground provides good nuetral coverage with Fire Blast and lets Ninetales hit Probopass and Bastiodon harder.
Checks & Counters
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**Entry Hazards**: Ninetales is easily worn down by spikes, toxic spikes, and especially stealth rock.
**Faster Offensive Pokémon**: Archeops outspeeds and OHKO's with stone edge. Swellow can OHKO with a toxic-boosted façade. Faster rock, water, and ground types can check Ninetales fairly easily.
**Status**: Thunderwave cripples Ninetales's sweeping potential. Toxic wears down Ninetales very quickly because it needs a turn to boost.
**Aqua Jet Water-Types**: Pokemon like Feraligatr, Kabutops, and Samurott can easily check Ninetales with aqua jet since Ninetales has a less than stellar defense stat. These pokemon need to watch out for Passho Berry variants of Ninetales though.
**Probopass**: Probopass doesn't take much from Flamethrower and can hit Ninetales with a STAB super-effective Power Gem.
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