J7r requested a new Huntail page be written after it was decided the current one was rather poor, so I went ahead and wrote one.
http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/huntail
[SET]
name: Rain Dance
move 1: Rain Dance
move 2: Waterfall
move 3: Ice Fang
move 4: Return / Crunch
item: Damp Rock / Life Orb
nature: Adamant
evs: 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Huntail is one of the few viable users of Swift Swim that utilizes physical attacks, but it’s still generally outclassed by Kingdra, Floatzel, and even Kabutops. However, this can work quite well in the lower tiers and Huntail does have a few things that Kabutops lacks, namely Ice Fang (and Crunch), as well as fewer weaknesses to go with its defenses (which are very similar to Kabutops’).</p>
<p>This set is just your general Rain Dance abuser, setting up Rain Dance to double your Speed and increase the power of your Water-type attacks. Waterfall is preferred over Aqua Tail for the accuracy and flinch chance thanks to your high Speed in the rain. Ice Fang will cover Grass-types, while Return or Crunch is for other Water-types (though Return is preferred as the Water and Normal-type combo is resisted by few, and Huntail is unlikely to face anything that does resist this combo). The choice of item depends on whether you’d like to do more damage per turn (and boost your other attacks) with Life Orb (if you don’t mind the recoil damage), or keep the Rain in play for eight turns thanks to Damp Rock. Huntail should have max Attack and Speed to benefit sweeping.</p>
[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Aqua Tail / Waterfall
move 2: Ice Fang
move 3: Return / Body Slam
move 4: Crunch
item: Choice Band
nature: Adamant
evs: 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Huntail has just enough usable physical attacks to muster a Choice Band set, and with 104 base Attack Huntail can hit quite hard in the lower tiers. Aqua Tail is now a more usable choice due to the higher base power, as the flinch chance is now less likely from Waterfall with the lacklustre Speed stat. If accuracy is your main worry, Waterfall is still a brilliant choice. Return is more powerful than Body Slam, but the paralysis chance Body Slam offers can help with Huntail's low Speed. Ice Fang and Crunch are Huntail's only other physical attacks worth using, as their added effects can often come in handy.</p>
[SET]
name: Mixed Rain Dance
move 1: Rain Dance
move 2: Waterfall / Aqua Tail
move 3: Ice Beam
move 4: Hidden Power Grass / Hidden Power Electric
item: Life Orb
nature: Rash
evs: 88 Atk / 168 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Given that Huntail is one of the few viable physical Swift Swimmers most sets will eschew its decent base 94 Special Attack in favor of its superior Attack. That said, by only utilizing physical moves Huntail can be walled by many defensive Pokemon, particularly bulky Water and Grass-types. This problem can be solved by making use of its Special Attack and special move-pool alongside of its physical attacking capabilities. By using a mixed set it becomes possible for Huntail to cripple some of its common counters, such as Leafeon or Quagsire, while still hitting reasonably hard on the physical side with Waterfall.</p>
<p>As with the previous set, Rain Dance will be the main option to increase Huntail's Speed and power up its STAB Waterfall. Ice Beam is used to take out bulky Grass-types who often concentrate on Defense rather then Special Defense. Examples being Leafeon and Meganium who are OHKO'd and 2HKO'd respectively, by Ice Beam. The final slot is to take out opposing Water-types who would normally wall Huntail entirely. Hidden Power Grass is the preferred option since it allows you to take on Quagsire, Gastrodon, and Lanturn but if Mantine and Pelipper are more concerning Hidden Power Electric is also viable.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Huntail does learn Baton Pass, but sadly can only pass on a Substitute or Defense boosts with Barrier or Iron Defense. Toxic and Confuse Ray are the only usable options in terms of status attacks. Screech is useful to lower Defense to hit harder or force switches, and Huntail learns Aqua Ring if you’d like to be able to increase your HP each turn. Huntail does have a decent Special Attack stat, so special moves such as Surf, Hydro Pump, Ice Beam and Blizzard are options for suprises. But generally, too many other users of the Rain Dance and Swift Swim combination hit harder with special attacks.</p>
[EVs]
<p>Max Attack and Speed is the way to go for the pure physical sets, with an Adamant nature. If you want to go for a more bulky set, using HP and Defense EVs can work as well, but it’s still advised you try and keep the Attack EVs and boosting nature in order to do damage. A Jolly nature can also work if you want to outspeed the base 60 Speed group without a boosting nature.</p>
<p>For the mixed set, the EVs are more of a general guideline then a rigidly constructed spread. The spread is designed to OHKO or 2HKO most of Huntail's common counters, but it can be easily manipulated to satisfy your particular needs. Generally speaking, the set performs best when it has roughly equal Attack and Special Attack with a slight emphasis on Special Attack.</p>
[Opinion]
<p>Huntail is quite effective in the lower tiers, thanks to its decent attack. The high Defense is also welcome, even if Huntail doesn’t usually benefit from that the majority of the time. Sadly, it’s outclassed by almost every other physical based Water-type, but if used correctly in lower tiers it can be deadly.</p>
[Counters]
<p>For the physical sets, a lot of Water-types can take Huntail's attacks, providing they have good enough Defense to withstand a few Returns. Quagsire, Lapras, Poliwrath and Politoed have Water Absorb so are immune to Waterfall and Aqua Tail. They also have decent HP and Defense to withstand Huntail’s other attacks. Blastoise, Cloyster, Pelipper and Phione are some other good counters, all with rather high Defense, but may need Hidden Power Electric or Grass to threaten Huntail. Lanturn has high HP to help take resisted Water-type moves, and can KO with Thunderbolt. Grass-types with high Defenses like Leafeon, Meganium and Vileplume shouldn't have much trouble taking attacks from Huntail and KOing with STAB Grass moves.</p>
<p>For the mixed set, things become a little more difficult since most usual counters can be defeated with relative ease. Clefable has a good chance of surviving two hits as Huntail will have to strike with pretty much maximum damage twice in a row with Rain Dance active to 2HKO, while Clefable can do good damage back with Thunderbolt. Huntail can't rely on residual damage from Stealth Rock or Spikes to deal with Clefable either. Lanturn, Blastoise and Poliwrath all make quite good counters still, though Blastoise may struggle to do worthy damage back. Pelipper and Mantine should easily wall Huntail if it lacks Hidden Power Electric. Venusaur and Weezing make good counters, but there is a chance they will be 2HKO'd if switched into Ice Beam while Stealth Rock is in play.</p>
<p>Shedinja will also wall any Huntail that isn't using Crunch.</p>
http://www.smogon.com/dp/pokemon/huntail
[SET]
name: Rain Dance
move 1: Rain Dance
move 2: Waterfall
move 3: Ice Fang
move 4: Return / Crunch
item: Damp Rock / Life Orb
nature: Adamant
evs: 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Huntail is one of the few viable users of Swift Swim that utilizes physical attacks, but it’s still generally outclassed by Kingdra, Floatzel, and even Kabutops. However, this can work quite well in the lower tiers and Huntail does have a few things that Kabutops lacks, namely Ice Fang (and Crunch), as well as fewer weaknesses to go with its defenses (which are very similar to Kabutops’).</p>
<p>This set is just your general Rain Dance abuser, setting up Rain Dance to double your Speed and increase the power of your Water-type attacks. Waterfall is preferred over Aqua Tail for the accuracy and flinch chance thanks to your high Speed in the rain. Ice Fang will cover Grass-types, while Return or Crunch is for other Water-types (though Return is preferred as the Water and Normal-type combo is resisted by few, and Huntail is unlikely to face anything that does resist this combo). The choice of item depends on whether you’d like to do more damage per turn (and boost your other attacks) with Life Orb (if you don’t mind the recoil damage), or keep the Rain in play for eight turns thanks to Damp Rock. Huntail should have max Attack and Speed to benefit sweeping.</p>
[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Aqua Tail / Waterfall
move 2: Ice Fang
move 3: Return / Body Slam
move 4: Crunch
item: Choice Band
nature: Adamant
evs: 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Huntail has just enough usable physical attacks to muster a Choice Band set, and with 104 base Attack Huntail can hit quite hard in the lower tiers. Aqua Tail is now a more usable choice due to the higher base power, as the flinch chance is now less likely from Waterfall with the lacklustre Speed stat. If accuracy is your main worry, Waterfall is still a brilliant choice. Return is more powerful than Body Slam, but the paralysis chance Body Slam offers can help with Huntail's low Speed. Ice Fang and Crunch are Huntail's only other physical attacks worth using, as their added effects can often come in handy.</p>
[SET]
name: Mixed Rain Dance
move 1: Rain Dance
move 2: Waterfall / Aqua Tail
move 3: Ice Beam
move 4: Hidden Power Grass / Hidden Power Electric
item: Life Orb
nature: Rash
evs: 88 Atk / 168 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Given that Huntail is one of the few viable physical Swift Swimmers most sets will eschew its decent base 94 Special Attack in favor of its superior Attack. That said, by only utilizing physical moves Huntail can be walled by many defensive Pokemon, particularly bulky Water and Grass-types. This problem can be solved by making use of its Special Attack and special move-pool alongside of its physical attacking capabilities. By using a mixed set it becomes possible for Huntail to cripple some of its common counters, such as Leafeon or Quagsire, while still hitting reasonably hard on the physical side with Waterfall.</p>
<p>As with the previous set, Rain Dance will be the main option to increase Huntail's Speed and power up its STAB Waterfall. Ice Beam is used to take out bulky Grass-types who often concentrate on Defense rather then Special Defense. Examples being Leafeon and Meganium who are OHKO'd and 2HKO'd respectively, by Ice Beam. The final slot is to take out opposing Water-types who would normally wall Huntail entirely. Hidden Power Grass is the preferred option since it allows you to take on Quagsire, Gastrodon, and Lanturn but if Mantine and Pelipper are more concerning Hidden Power Electric is also viable.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>Huntail does learn Baton Pass, but sadly can only pass on a Substitute or Defense boosts with Barrier or Iron Defense. Toxic and Confuse Ray are the only usable options in terms of status attacks. Screech is useful to lower Defense to hit harder or force switches, and Huntail learns Aqua Ring if you’d like to be able to increase your HP each turn. Huntail does have a decent Special Attack stat, so special moves such as Surf, Hydro Pump, Ice Beam and Blizzard are options for suprises. But generally, too many other users of the Rain Dance and Swift Swim combination hit harder with special attacks.</p>
[EVs]
<p>Max Attack and Speed is the way to go for the pure physical sets, with an Adamant nature. If you want to go for a more bulky set, using HP and Defense EVs can work as well, but it’s still advised you try and keep the Attack EVs and boosting nature in order to do damage. A Jolly nature can also work if you want to outspeed the base 60 Speed group without a boosting nature.</p>
<p>For the mixed set, the EVs are more of a general guideline then a rigidly constructed spread. The spread is designed to OHKO or 2HKO most of Huntail's common counters, but it can be easily manipulated to satisfy your particular needs. Generally speaking, the set performs best when it has roughly equal Attack and Special Attack with a slight emphasis on Special Attack.</p>
[Opinion]
<p>Huntail is quite effective in the lower tiers, thanks to its decent attack. The high Defense is also welcome, even if Huntail doesn’t usually benefit from that the majority of the time. Sadly, it’s outclassed by almost every other physical based Water-type, but if used correctly in lower tiers it can be deadly.</p>
[Counters]
<p>For the physical sets, a lot of Water-types can take Huntail's attacks, providing they have good enough Defense to withstand a few Returns. Quagsire, Lapras, Poliwrath and Politoed have Water Absorb so are immune to Waterfall and Aqua Tail. They also have decent HP and Defense to withstand Huntail’s other attacks. Blastoise, Cloyster, Pelipper and Phione are some other good counters, all with rather high Defense, but may need Hidden Power Electric or Grass to threaten Huntail. Lanturn has high HP to help take resisted Water-type moves, and can KO with Thunderbolt. Grass-types with high Defenses like Leafeon, Meganium and Vileplume shouldn't have much trouble taking attacks from Huntail and KOing with STAB Grass moves.</p>
<p>For the mixed set, things become a little more difficult since most usual counters can be defeated with relative ease. Clefable has a good chance of surviving two hits as Huntail will have to strike with pretty much maximum damage twice in a row with Rain Dance active to 2HKO, while Clefable can do good damage back with Thunderbolt. Huntail can't rely on residual damage from Stealth Rock or Spikes to deal with Clefable either. Lanturn, Blastoise and Poliwrath all make quite good counters still, though Blastoise may struggle to do worthy damage back. Pelipper and Mantine should easily wall Huntail if it lacks Hidden Power Electric. Venusaur and Weezing make good counters, but there is a chance they will be 2HKO'd if switched into Ice Beam while Stealth Rock is in play.</p>
<p>Shedinja will also wall any Huntail that isn't using Crunch.</p>
