"I once told Nixon that the Presidency is like being a jackass caught in a hail storm. You've got to just stand there and take it."
-Lyndon B. Johnson
Introduction:
-Lyndon B. Johnson
Team at a Glance
Introduction:
Hello users of Smogon, Zoap here with my first RMT for 5th Gen OU. So I'll start with a little background on how I arrived on Hail. Originally I started the Weather Wars with Rain(before Aldarons) and Sand(before Garchomp and Dory were Uber) and easily held high 1300's with both. After the fore-mentioned got implemented I struggled along for a few months before I found myself on a new laptop with none of my teams.
I decided that day that I'd dabble in Hail and see if I could break 1200 with it. Sure enough I fell in love with Offensive Hail and since I haven't looked back with this team easily being my best. Currently this team has gone through Thunderus and Deoxsy-S banishment and is currently ranked #20 at 1460. Though I feel it's time to semi-retire it and hence this RMT(semi because I'm still gonna try and break Top 10) XD.
I decided that day that I'd dabble in Hail and see if I could break 1200 with it. Sure enough I fell in love with Offensive Hail and since I haven't looked back with this team easily being my best. Currently this team has gone through Thunderus and Deoxsy-S banishment and is currently ranked #20 at 1460. Though I feel it's time to semi-retire it and hence this RMT(semi because I'm still gonna try and break Top 10) XD.
Forming the Team:
First off EVERY Hail team needs the big loveable Abominable Snowman Tree?, who thanks to Snow Warning gives me the Hail and 100% Blizzard galore.
First off EVERY Hail team needs the big loveable Abominable Snowman Tree?, who thanks to Snow Warning gives me the Hail and 100% Blizzard galore.
Next I knew in order to be successful that I would have to be able to abuse Hail with immunity/blizzard/snow cloak. So I started with looking for a Lead who could combat Ninetails/Tyranitar/Politoed and come up on top. I came up with Cloyster.
Next I went looking for a Physical and Special Pokemon to help me abuse Hail and wreck havoc. I chose a Choice Band Mamoswine and Choice Scarf Kyurem.
So with my team now heavily weak to Scizor and Fire, I decided to add a bulky offensive Tentacruel to help alleviate these weaknesses.
After some thought, I knew that even if everything went well that I could still fail to effectively stop Scizor/Heatran so I decided that a Choice Scarf Magnezone could help. Also this would help get rid of Ferrothorn.
After some more tweaking I decided that Cloyster was not really giving much in terms of team synergy and I was missing SR. So I changed Mamoswine over to a lead set and dropped Cloyster. At the same time I had just lost a 2 physical threats, including my Choice band, so I decided that Tentacruel's job was done well by a Multi-Scale Banded Dragonite and that Scizor would give me a good way to put dents in teams.
The Usual Lead
Mamoswine (M) @ Focus Sash Trait: Snow Cloak
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Ice Shard
- Icicle Crash
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
Mamoswine is definitely underrated when it comes to the lead position, reaching 394 attack with adamant, access to priority and ability to lay rocks, he is invaluable to my team. Most of the time he leads, unless I determine that he is more useful as an attacker than as a rocker. Recently I've been considering Endeavor to help combat Rotom-W who otherwise I can't touch but I can't really see me dropping any move as they all have their merits. EV's are Max Attack and Speed to give me hard hitting while still outrunning those popular bulky pokemon.
The Banded
Dragonite (M) @ Choice Band Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- ExtremeSpeed
- Dragon Claw
- Aqua Tail
- Fire Punch
Dragonite is usually my other lead if I decide I don't need rocks right away. Choice Band boosts Dragonite's outrageous attack to an even higher level(See what I did there XD). Currently he serves as my most multipurpose Pokemon giving me the much need resist to Fire and with Multi-Scale just a damn good pivot. I run Aqua Tail over EQ to hit Gliscor, while not losing the EQ coverage that hits Terrakion, Heatran and TTar. EV's give me a speed tie with positive base 80 while still hitting 367 attack before band.
The Bully
Scizor (M) @ Life Orb Trait: Technician
EVs: 176 Atk / 80 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite
- Swords Dance
- Brick Break
What?!? You run max speed Jolly Scizor? Yes and I can't tell you how many times it has destroyed non scarfed Magnezones, slow Rotom-W and the ever so popular SpD Heatran. Scizor gives me a good way to help Dragonite punch holes in teams for Kyruem's clean up. I run Brick Break over Super Power as I don't like being counter-productive after a SD. EV's give me the surprise speed of tieing all positive base 70's and still hitting 340 attack before a boost.
The Star of the Show
Kyurem @ Choice Scarf Trait: Pressure
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Blizzard
- Draco Meteor
- Focus Blast
- Dragon Pulse
This is a God send for Hail teams, before you had to choose speed with mediocre SpA(Frolass) or SpA with crap for speed(Glaceon). Kyurem says I can do both at 95 base speed and 130 SpA, Kyreum hits like a truck and doesn't have to worry about any non scarfers. Kyreum usually is used as my clean up mon, though it has no problems being used early to abuse those 100% blizzards.
The Snowman
Abomasnow (M) @ Leftovers Trait: Snow Warning
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Def / 84 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Protect
- Leech Seed
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Blizzard
I'll start by saying I rarely ever lead with Abomasnow. While Hail is important to this team, it functions perfectly fine without it and often Aboma is my answer as a defensive pivot more than anything else. I opted for HP Fire for fun with opposing Scizors. I also use to run Substitue over protect but the life is too important to be putting up subs. Protect allows me to abuse hail damage and leech seed. EV's are max HP with focus on Def and a little put into SpD. Leftover is great when combined with Leech Seed.
The Reliever
Magnezone @ Leftovers Trait: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Substitute
His job is simple, get rid of all the annoying things that can cause a problem to Kyruem sweep. This includes but is not limited to Ferrothorn, Choice Banded Scizor, Skarmory, Burungeru and Forteress. Also he hits Politoed and Tyranitar which is a plus as long weather wars can drain on Abomasnow. I originally was using Choice Scarf as I figured I would be needing the speed to combat these threats, but I found that I was missing out on OHKO's even with modest. With Sub I can avoid status and have protection for after I disppose of the current threat. EV's are max SpA and Speed with Timid for as much speed as possible. I chose to run Flash Canon over Signal Beam as it hits Gliscor/Landorus harder. I've been considering changing HP Fire to Ice but I fear those non banded Scizors that T-Bolt can't OHKO. Mamoswine (M) @ Focus Sash Trait: Snow Cloak
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Ice Shard
- Icicle Crash
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
Mamoswine is definitely underrated when it comes to the lead position, reaching 394 attack with adamant, access to priority and ability to lay rocks, he is invaluable to my team. Most of the time he leads, unless I determine that he is more useful as an attacker than as a rocker. Recently I've been considering Endeavor to help combat Rotom-W who otherwise I can't touch but I can't really see me dropping any move as they all have their merits. EV's are Max Attack and Speed to give me hard hitting while still outrunning those popular bulky pokemon.
The Banded
Dragonite (M) @ Choice Band Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- ExtremeSpeed
- Dragon Claw
- Aqua Tail
- Fire Punch
Dragonite is usually my other lead if I decide I don't need rocks right away. Choice Band boosts Dragonite's outrageous attack to an even higher level(See what I did there XD). Currently he serves as my most multipurpose Pokemon giving me the much need resist to Fire and with Multi-Scale just a damn good pivot. I run Aqua Tail over EQ to hit Gliscor, while not losing the EQ coverage that hits Terrakion, Heatran and TTar. EV's give me a speed tie with positive base 80 while still hitting 367 attack before band.
The Bully
Scizor (M) @ Life Orb Trait: Technician
EVs: 176 Atk / 80 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite
- Swords Dance
- Brick Break
What?!? You run max speed Jolly Scizor? Yes and I can't tell you how many times it has destroyed non scarfed Magnezones, slow Rotom-W and the ever so popular SpD Heatran. Scizor gives me a good way to help Dragonite punch holes in teams for Kyruem's clean up. I run Brick Break over Super Power as I don't like being counter-productive after a SD. EV's give me the surprise speed of tieing all positive base 70's and still hitting 340 attack before a boost.
The Star of the Show
Kyurem @ Choice Scarf Trait: Pressure
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Blizzard
- Draco Meteor
- Focus Blast
- Dragon Pulse
This is a God send for Hail teams, before you had to choose speed with mediocre SpA(Frolass) or SpA with crap for speed(Glaceon). Kyurem says I can do both at 95 base speed and 130 SpA, Kyreum hits like a truck and doesn't have to worry about any non scarfers. Kyreum usually is used as my clean up mon, though it has no problems being used early to abuse those 100% blizzards.
The Snowman
Abomasnow (M) @ Leftovers Trait: Snow Warning
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Def / 84 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Protect
- Leech Seed
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Blizzard
I'll start by saying I rarely ever lead with Abomasnow. While Hail is important to this team, it functions perfectly fine without it and often Aboma is my answer as a defensive pivot more than anything else. I opted for HP Fire for fun with opposing Scizors. I also use to run Substitue over protect but the life is too important to be putting up subs. Protect allows me to abuse hail damage and leech seed. EV's are max HP with focus on Def and a little put into SpD. Leftover is great when combined with Leech Seed.
The Reliever
Magnezone @ Leftovers Trait: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Substitute
So that's the team that got me to Top 20 on the current OU ladder and I'm looking for any helpful suggestions on improvement. I'm mostly retiring this team to dabble back into UU(Haven't touched it in forever).
For those of you wondering I ladder under the name bored.