Gev V Hail

[Delko]

BlizzSpam (somewhat of a skeleton)

BlizzSpam

What is BlizzSpam? As you could have guessed from the name it's the ability to Spam Blizzard. Under Hail, Blizzard gets 100% accuracy coupled with the facts it has a 10% chance to freeze as well as no pokemon being immune to it makes it a somewhat cheap and easy, yet effective strategy.
In OU, BlizzSpam is harder to pull off but in UU, where currently the only other autoweather is the rare sandstorm, it is quite efficient. The mentioned pokemon in this thread are mostly UU or lower but they can be used on OU teams as well.

Obviously Hail is needed for this strategy to work so Abomasnow is obligatory. Most members of the team should of course know the move Blizzard, although it shouldn't necessarily be STAB'ed. Although it is possible, I would advice not using both Snover and Abomasnow on the same team, they are countered by the exact same things which gives you a huge team disadvantage.

Keeping Abomasnow alive when other weather inducers are around is essential, so having Rapid Spin support is desired. Most BlizzSpam pokes are weak to Stealth Rock as well so Rapid Spin is really useful. A good pokemon to fit in a BlizzSpam team that is able to Spin away hazards is Starmie. Starmie can Rapin Spin and BlizzSpam, it also has a very good speed stat as well as a wide movepool. Rapid Spin Technitop is another useful Spinner for this type or team, it handles Rock and Steel types who resist Ice while still keep up the offensive momentum. Obviously other BlizzSpamming pokes could work as well, like Cryogonal, but it's best to prevent mono-type ice teams so certain threats are minimized. Forretress, Claydol and Donphan are also options who are a bit more defensive.

Having a way do deal with opposing auto-weather inducers will greatly help BlizzSpam teams. One of the ways, and probably the most effective one is through Dugtrio. Dugtrio can trap Tyranitar and Ninetales with his Arena Trap ability and take them out with Earthquake, and Politoed leads usually aren't a problem for Abomasnow. Dugtrio can also set up Stealth Rocks, which can provide that little extra bit of residual damage to get that 1 or 2HKO. Since Steel types resist Ice, Magnezone can be utilized to remove those pesky Steels from play. Examples of other pokes that can set up Stealth Rocks as well abuse Hail are Empoleon and Nidoqueen. As most offensive teams like, the use of Dual Screens is also possible. Espeon makes a good user as it also prevents Stealth Rock from being set up due to its ability Magic Mirror. Same thing for Deoxys-S who can get up some entry hazards / dual screens fast before the BlizzSpam rampage can start.

BlizzSpam wouldn't be called BlizzSpam if there are no abusers for it. The main idea here is to hit as fast and as strong as possible. A very effective pokemon for this strategy is Kyurem. Kyurem can abuse both its Choice Specs or its Choice Scarf, to plow through opposing teams. Choice Specs has the raw power but Choice Scarf gives Kyurem some more appreciated speed. Another option here is Froslass, who works really well on BlizzSpam teams because of her Ghost typing, making it immune to Fighting type attacks. Froslass even has Trick in her arsenal to deal with opposing walls like Blissey who could prevent sweeps. Or Froslass can be used to lay down a couple of layers of Spikes, making it easier for her teammates to sweep. With Snow Cloak Froslass even gets a 20% evasion bonus, making her harder to hit. Choice Scarf Jynx also makes a good BlizzSpam user. With a moveset of Lovely Kiss / Psyshock / Trick / Blizzard it can used for various useful things. Typewise Nidoking makes a very good candidate for a team like this, even the ShellPass Gorebyss + Sheer Force Nidoking works great in this team, as both learn Blizzard to abuse the Hail.

It is always a good idea to use at least one slot of the team for pokemon who is able to deal with the threats and weaknesses to your team. For example BlizzSpammer tend to be weak to Rock-, Fighting and Fire type moves. Therefor one should try to prevent monotype Ice teams from being created, there are a lot of non-Ice types that learn Blizzard. Starmie and Nidoking/ Nidoqueen are both good options as they each resist a couple of types BlizzSpammers as weak to. They also provide good team support with Rapid Spin and Stealth Rock respectively. It's okay to use a non-BlizzSpam poke in the last slot as well, as it is mainly used to patch up any weakness your team might have. Conkeldurr is another good example and is a poke that works really well on BlizzSpam teams. It can easily take any Rock hit and it also has an easy time dealing with Steel types and Blissey. As an added bonus Conkeldurr can even take status aimed at your main sweepers to get a Guts boost from it. Pokemon with the Magic Guard ability also function well in this type of team, Alazakam and Reuniclus resist Fighting type attacks while hitting those Fighting types hard with their STAB attacks.

example team:

Abomasnow (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Snow Warning
EVs: 140 Atk / 128 SAtk / 240 Spd
Hasty Nature (+Spd, -Def)
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Earthquake
- Blizzard
- Wood Hammer

Forretress (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Def / 80 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
- Volt Switch

Kyurem @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Dragon Pulse
- Focus Blast
- Blizzard
- Draco Meteor

Reuniclus (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Focus Blast
- Psyshock
- Recover

Dugtrio (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Arena Trap
EVs: 252 Atk / 32 Def / 224 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Sucker Punch
- Shadow Claw

Walrein (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Ice Body
EVs: 220 HP / 232 Def / 56 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Protect
- Toxic
- Substitute
- Blizzard

 

[prem]

hey delko. blizzard only has a 10% freeze rate, so fix that.

also from your write up, you keep switching off between OU pokes and UU pokes. keep it consistant to not confuse the reader

 

[Delko]

hey delko. blizzard only has a 10% freeze rate, so fix that.

also from your write up, you keep switching off between OU pokes and UU pokes. keep it consistant to not confuse the reader

True, but most of the "better" BlizzSpam pokes are UU, but they can be effective in OU as well.

 

[prem]

im not saying they arent effective, you just mixed them up making me confused on what tier your talking about. while its effective in OU, there are different counters in each tier for blizzard spam

 

[Delko]

im not saying they arent effective, you just mixed them up making me confused on what tier your talking about. while its effective in OU, there are different counters in each tier for blizzard spam

This is for OU.

 

[LupeWilde]

i use a bold jellicent on my hail team, it actually works pretty well against heatran and conkeldorr(or any fire and fighting types)
jellicent@leftovers
252 hp, 252 def, 4 sp def
-scald
-recover
-will-o-wisp/toxic[if u think WoW with scald is illogical]
-shadow ball

 

[Aleva]

Try using CM Raikou in Hail, it's a beast. Despite having to use Rash Nature for Weather ball and Aura Sphere, a set of CM/T-Bolt/Weather Ball/Aura Sphere works wonders. LO gives you the chance to OHKO T-Tar on the switch after rocks, if you use Aura Sphere, but makes you lose a lot of HP per turn, so Lefties might be a better choice. It also gets perfect coverage with Elec/Ice/Fighting.

 

[shrang]

No mention of the mighty Kyurem?

 

[Cradily]

agreed and where's Weavile?

 

[Delko]

JonathanRP made the titel Hail Stall, to which neither Kyurem nor Weavile belongs.
They will be added though cause we changed it to comprehensive Hail.

 

[Darkmalice]

Normally I wouldn't suggest a change to a RMT used as an example for an article, but Dugtrio should never hold a Focus Sash on a Hail team. Hold a Life Orb instead.

 

[Delko]

Normally I wouldn't suggest a change to a RMT used as an example for an article, but Dugtrio should never hold a Focus Sash on a Hail team. Hold a Life Orb instead.

Ah yes obviously, it's not a team though (7 pokes) but including such a team is a good idea actually.

EDIT: I put in an example team.

 

[Team Amon Amarth]

I'll donate this Regice set

Regice@Leftovers
Ice Body/Bold
252 HP/148 Def/48 SpA/56 SpD/6 Spe
~Blizzard
~Thunderbolt
~Substitute
~Protect

Dream World only at the minute. It functions like Stallrein does, only this set seeks to use Regice's advantages over Walrein. Namely, it's superior Special bulk, access to Thunderbolt, and decent Special Attack. Regice is capable of taking just about any special hit (it has survived Scarfed Chandelure's Overheat before), and responding back with a strong Blizzard or a coverage Thunderbolt. What makes Regice particularly useful over Walrein is when it comes to combating Rain teams. One would think that Walrein's Water resistance would make it better, but it also comes with an Electric weaknesss. Regice has enough Special Bulk to beat all Special-based Rain abusers one-on-one, abusing it's Electric coverage on them.

Ice Body, Leftovers, Subsitute, and Protect are required for the Stall_____ formula. Blizzard is for abuse in Hail, with Thunderbolt providing coverage. The Nature and EV spread is just a product of my OCDness. If you have a better spread, feel free to say it. The given spread is Max HP, with enough investment to hit 300 Def and 450 SpD. 6 Spe EVs allow it to outspeed other base 50s with no investment (lol), which is probably worthless, but I figure it'll come in handy more than it would somewhere else. The remaining EVs are put into SpA to increase power, hitting 248 SpA.


I'd also like to add that one thing that could be helpful here, would be a short walkthrough on How to Build a Hail Team. This would apply for both Hail Stall (I'd be willing to write this part, if you'd like) and Hail Offense as well. Basically, it would follow the format that has been seen in a couple other guides of this nature. Namely, pointing out what things the team needs to have in order to function properly, and maybe a list of Pokemon that can potentially fill that role.

I'd love to help with this as much as I can, so anything you need done, just let me know, and I'll do it :)

Alakazam may resist Fighting-types attacks, but it's HP and Defense are so poor, it's going to be destroyed by Fighting type attacks anyway... which are almost always physical and coming from a a high Attack... it'll be brought down low enough to be finished off by a Mach Punch or the ilk.

 

[Nexus]

Author hasn't looked at this in almost 2 months, moving.