Smogon Community - View Single Post - Hail: More Than Anti-Metagame Idealism

/B/utterfree · Sep 5th, 2012, 12:33:59 AM

I'd like to point out that I simply use Abomasnow for the sheer fun of it. It's a really good Pokemon that unskilled players miss out on. It counters/checks all of the other weather setters, can go mixed, and isn't afraid of many attacks some of its pals would cringe at on sight (such as Water/Electric attacks). Abomasnow makes a good pardner for anti-Rain teams, as it stops Hydration and non-SwiftSwim strategies in their tracks just by changing the weather.

Abomasnow has a good movepool and only really cares about Speed if it's being revenged by a Ninetales or Tyranitar, so running a Brave (Little Toaster) nature does more good than harm to him, in contrast to other Pokes who like going mixed but must sacrifice Defenses to do so. Abomasnow is like its compatriots Weavile and Mamoswine in that it gains Ice Shard and can use it more reliably than they can. It can also simply spam Blizzard, if for some reason it's running a Special-only set with Timid and max Speed EVs instead (it will need Hidden Power Ground to accomplish this in order to beat Ninetales and most Steels, but no matter, for Blizzard is mighty and Giga Drain helps with recovery).

Really, Abomasnow is good just as an anti-meta Poke. Not too many things benefit from Hail all that much, albeit Abomasnow doesn't rely entirely on Hail-benefitting pardners thanks to Magic Guard being more well-distributed.

I am using Sableye as a last slot to help offset my Fighting-type weaknesses. With Hail, hazards, status, and priority Recover, Sableye is likely to outstall most Fighting-types. Not to mention those running Toxic Orb to trigger Guts...

Sep 5th, 2012, 12:33:59 AM	#46
/B/utterfree Join Date: Sep 2010 Posts: 464	I'd like to point out that I simply use Abomasnow for the sheer fun of it. It's a really good Pokemon that unskilled players miss out on. It counters/checks all of the other weather setters, can go mixed, and isn't afraid of many attacks some of its pals would cringe at on sight (such as Water/Electric attacks). Abomasnow makes a good pardner for anti-Rain teams, as it stops Hydration and non-SwiftSwim strategies in their tracks just by changing the weather. Abomasnow has a good movepool and only really cares about Speed if it's being revenged by a Ninetales or Tyranitar, so running a Brave (Little Toaster) nature does more good than harm to him, in contrast to other Pokes who like going mixed but must sacrifice Defenses to do so. Abomasnow is like its compatriots Weavile and Mamoswine in that it gains Ice Shard and can use it more reliably than they can. It can also simply spam Blizzard, if for some reason it's running a Special-only set with Timid and max Speed EVs instead (it will need Hidden Power Ground to accomplish this in order to beat Ninetales and most Steels, but no matter, for Blizzard is mighty and Giga Drain helps with recovery). Really, Abomasnow is good just as an anti-meta Poke. Not too many things benefit from Hail all that much, albeit Abomasnow doesn't rely entirely on Hail-benefitting pardners thanks to Magic Guard being more well-distributed. I am using Sableye as a last slot to help offset my Fighting-type weaknesses. With Hail, hazards, status, and priority Recover, Sableye is likely to outstall most Fighting-types. Not to mention those running Toxic Orb to trigger Guts...