Introduction
After seeing Burn All, Drown All and Rock All, three great teams each showcasing different weathers, why not have Hail? While it is inferior to the other weathers, I tried to build a team able to function with it and its only inducer: Abomasnow. It was very hard to put everything in place, since I was essentially working with five Pokémon, given Abomasnow's abysmal typing and subpar stats. But I can say I am happy with the results after making a number of changes. I got to #5 (1586) on the Pokémon Online ladder under the name guerrilla radio, and around 1330 on the Smogon ladder under the same name, but I didn't try as hard on that one. As most of you probably know, the name comes from the Rage Against the Machine song, Guerrilla Radio, but I guess it can be called Freeze All or something to go with the pattern, though I don't really want to be calling it that. To avoid going on about fairly pointless information for too much longer, here's the team:
At a Glance
In Depth
Abomasnow (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Snow Warning
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Blizzard
- Substitute
- Wood Hammer
- Leech Seed
The first and most important member of the team: Abomasnow. Abomasnow induces permanent hail, which makes Kyogre's Water-type attacks and Fire-type Pokémon's sun boosted attacks less threatening (I still have to switch out of the fire attacks obviously). Due to the rarity of Ice-type Pokémon, the only one seen more than a very low 2% being Cloyster, the hail will cancel the opponent's Leftovers recovery, or just rack up an extra 6% damage for Choiced Pokémon. The downside to this, however, is that all my other Pokémon also get buffeted by hail, cancelling their Leftovers recovery. Playing with Abomasnow is tough: it has seven weaknesses, including a weakness to Rock, which means it gets severly crippled by Stealth Rock. It is also hit by (Toxic) Spikes, meaning I need to also keep Forretress healthy at all times, which is a lot easier said than done.
For the set, I opted for a SubSeed set, not too shocking for a Stall team. Substitute and Leech Seed are the cruxes of the set, letting Abomasnow recover HP behind a Substitute. Blizzard also comes as no surprise here, its accuracy is boosted from 70% to 100% in Hail and has a very good Base Power of 120. Ice is a great attacking type in the Ubers environment, scoring super effectives on the multitude of Dragon-type Pokémon that plague the tier (minus Dialga, Palkia, and the seldom seen Kingdra), and also on Groudon and Lugia. Wood Hammer, while odd on a set like this, helps me take down RestTalk Calm Mind Kyogre, who can pose a big threat to my team, since otherwise I would have to rely on Giratina to phaze it with Dragon Tail. A Sassy nature was chosen here to be able to sponge special attacks (most notably Kyogre's attacks) better without hurting its attacking stats. Since it is slow, it is almost guaranteed to get Hail up. The only weather inducer slower than it is Hippowdon, so if you want to be slower than that, set Abomasnow's Speed IV to 19, putting at 129, one point slower than a neutral natured, 0 Speed EV Hippowdon.
Forretress (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Toxic Spikes
- Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Toxic
Next is Forretress, who plays a couple of key roles for this team. Its primary task is to spin away entry hazards, and especially Stealth Rock, which deals a big amount of damage to Abomasnow and Ho-oh. Its second big job is to lay its own hazards on the opponent's side of the field. While this team only has one phazer, the Pokémon in this team can force a lot of switches, stacking up more and more damage on the opponent's team, even Forretress can force a lot switches, finding plenty of opportunities to set up (Toxic) Spikes against Choiced Dragon-type attacks for example.
The last moveslot wasn't too hard to pick. The choices were Gyro Ball, Volt Switch, and Toxic. Gyro Ball is way too weak of an attack for me, coming off a not so great base 90 Attack stat, and the faster targets are either resistant to Gyro Ball (Scarf Kyogre, Palkia), or have a sky-high Defense stat (Lugia). Not to mention it only has 8 PP, which can easily get stalled out, due to the abundance of Pressure. Volt Switch was the second option, while it wasn't bad, it wasn't particulary great even though it did keep me in a favourable position temporarily. The last choice was Toxic, which is what I elected for in the end. Forretress' most common switch-ins are Giratina-O and Ghost Arceus, who switch in to block Rapid Spin and use Hidden Power [Fire] or Flamethrower respectively, though Hidden Power [Fire] is not seen as frequently as before on Giratina-O due to the prevalence of rain. Catching these two Pokémon on the switch with Toxic limits their time on the battlefield, giving me an easier time to pull off a Rapid Spin and thus giving me the edge against opposing Stall teams.
Ho-Oh @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 208 HP / 220 Atk / 76 SDef / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Sacred Fire
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Substitute
Ho-oh is the third Pokémon on the squad and although it takes 50% damage from Stealth Rock, it is still a hard Pokémon to take down. Ho-oh acts as my check for a lot of Pokémon, including but not limited to most Calm Mind Arceus formes and Darkrai. Without Ho-oh, checking these threats becomes considerably harder, since the only way for me to beat Calm Mind Arceus otherwise is to Toxic them with Forretress, and I have to KO Darkrai with Palkia.
The moveset is very standard. Sacred Fire and Brave Bird are very powerful STAB attacks, providing very good coverage between them, and the former having a 50% chance to burn the opponent, deterring certain Pokémon from switching in, such as Zekrom, who resists both Sacred Fire and Brave Bird. Ho-oh can even take advantage of Groudon's sunlight should that be the weather currently in effect, gaining a second boost to Sacred Fire on top of STAB. Roost is a no-brainer, this move is essential to Ho-oh's survival, and lets it recover all of the health it lost to Stealth Rock damage or other. The last slot went to Substitute, to further capitalise on Hail and hazards damage, in particuliar Toxic Spikes damage which amplifies every turn if I get two layers up, or still does a solid 12.5% damage each turn if I only manage to get one. I also tested Whirlwind and Earthquake over Substitute before making it the fourth move. Whirlwind was used for extra phazing along with Giratina's Dragon Tail, piling up the damage, and Earthquake gave me an answer to Heatran, who is rare, but still poses a threat to this team, with my only reliable way of hitting it being Palkia's Surf. Earthquake also gave me a way of hitting Zekrom, Rock Arceus and Tyranitar for more damage, but I didn't want to leave Ho-oh in on those Pokémon anyway, so it rarely saw use. I tweaked the EVs from the analysis a little bit: 208 EVs in HP give it 405 HP, letting it switch into Stealth Rock twice, while also enabling it to generate 101 HP Substitutes, which is helpful against Chansey and Blissey. 4 Speed EVs is speedcreep, with them I outspeed other Tank Ho-oh and other base 90 Speed Pokémon that do not run any Speed EVs.
Giratina @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Dragon Tail
- Will-O-Wisp
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
Next up is Giratina. Giratina plays a key role as the much needed spinblocker of this team. Keeping hazards on the opponent's side of the field is essential to this team's success, and Giratina helps immensely with that. It is usually disregarded in favour of Giratina-O, who boasts a much stronger Dragon Tail, a powerful Shadow Sneak to revenge Pokémon like Mewtwo and Deoxys-A, and has an immunity to Ground-type attacks and Trick; and Ghost Arceus, who has base 120 stats across the board and reliable recovery. With that in mind though, I think Giratina is the sturdiest of the available spinblockers, and doesn't have to worry about status nearly as much as the other Ghosts do.
The moveset is standard: Rest fully heals Giratina and Sleep Talk grants it an opportunity to damage even when sleeping. Will-o-Wisp cripples Steel- and Flying- type Pokémon who are immune to Toxic Spikes. This is especially helpful for taking down the popular Rapid Spinners in the Ubers metagame: Forretress, Excadrill and Tentacruel, who are all immune to Toxic Spikes. Finally, Dragon Tail provides this team some phazing, as a matter of fact, the only form of phazing on this team. It is a very useful move against set-up sweepers, forcing them out and punishing the switch-in with entry hazards. 4 Speed EVs again is speedcreep, outspeeding the standard Giratina who does not run any at all, thus letting me Dragon Tail first.
Palkia @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
- Fire Blast
- Thunder
Even with Abomasnow being able to take Kyogre's attacks, I knew that I would need a back-up for it, so it makes sense that my next choice is a Choice Scarf Palkia. Palkia is quite possibly the best user of Choice Scarf thanks to its very important base 100 Speed, allowing it to outspeed Scarf Kyogre, Reshiram, Zekrom, and Rayquaza that has used Dragon Dance once. It is also capable of revenge killing Mewtwo, Darkrai and Shaymin-S who can all be annoying to this team.
Once again, this is just the standard Choice Scarf Palkia set. Draco Meteor is an insanely powerful attack letting me revenge kill Pokémon without much trouble. Surf is secondary STAB and is my only way of hitting Heatran without having to resort to a lot of phazing. Fire Blast roasts Steel-types, which is a big help against Ferrothorn and the like. Finally, Thunder smashes Kyogre, and once it is gone, I can keep Hail up for the rest of the game.
Arceus-Dark @ Dread Plate
Trait: Multitype
EVs: 252 HP / 40 Def / 216 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Recover
- Payback
- Flamethrower
- Stealth Rock
Last but definitely not least, Dark Arceus. When debating for a final Pokémon, I need something else that could take on the likes of Mewtwo, since if it gets a Calm Mind up, it needs to be damaged quite a bit before Palkia can KO it. I also needed something that can set up Stealth Rock. For those reasons, I chose a Specially Defensive Dark Arceus who is immune to Psystrike and can take even a boosted Aura Sphere. Dark Arceus is even a good switch-in to Giratina-O, being resistant to Shadow Sneak and more than capable of taking a Draco Meteor.
This is the Specially Defensive Dark Arceus seen on-site but only with Stealth Rock in the last slot since I couldn't find anywhere else to put it. After taking an attack from Mewtwo, Payback OHKOs it regardless of how many Calm Minds it gets. Flamethrower is another move to eliminate Steel-type Pokémon. Not many people expect Flamethrower on this set, so they carelessly bring in Forretress and Ferrothorn, only to take a very heavy chunk of damage. Finally, Recover gives Dark Arceus a reliable way to heal itself up.
Conclusion
Well that's my shot at Ubers Hail, it's not great, but it's not terrible. It's been an experience laddering with this team, giving me the opportunity to use new things. Thanks for taking the time to read this and happy rating!
One Final Look
After seeing Burn All, Drown All and Rock All, three great teams each showcasing different weathers, why not have Hail? While it is inferior to the other weathers, I tried to build a team able to function with it and its only inducer: Abomasnow. It was very hard to put everything in place, since I was essentially working with five Pokémon, given Abomasnow's abysmal typing and subpar stats. But I can say I am happy with the results after making a number of changes. I got to #5 (1586) on the Pokémon Online ladder under the name guerrilla radio, and around 1330 on the Smogon ladder under the same name, but I didn't try as hard on that one. As most of you probably know, the name comes from the Rage Against the Machine song, Guerrilla Radio, but I guess it can be called Freeze All or something to go with the pattern, though I don't really want to be calling it that. To avoid going on about fairly pointless information for too much longer, here's the team:
At a Glance
In Depth
Abomasnow (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Snow Warning
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Blizzard
- Substitute
- Wood Hammer
- Leech Seed
The first and most important member of the team: Abomasnow. Abomasnow induces permanent hail, which makes Kyogre's Water-type attacks and Fire-type Pokémon's sun boosted attacks less threatening (I still have to switch out of the fire attacks obviously). Due to the rarity of Ice-type Pokémon, the only one seen more than a very low 2% being Cloyster, the hail will cancel the opponent's Leftovers recovery, or just rack up an extra 6% damage for Choiced Pokémon. The downside to this, however, is that all my other Pokémon also get buffeted by hail, cancelling their Leftovers recovery. Playing with Abomasnow is tough: it has seven weaknesses, including a weakness to Rock, which means it gets severly crippled by Stealth Rock. It is also hit by (Toxic) Spikes, meaning I need to also keep Forretress healthy at all times, which is a lot easier said than done.
For the set, I opted for a SubSeed set, not too shocking for a Stall team. Substitute and Leech Seed are the cruxes of the set, letting Abomasnow recover HP behind a Substitute. Blizzard also comes as no surprise here, its accuracy is boosted from 70% to 100% in Hail and has a very good Base Power of 120. Ice is a great attacking type in the Ubers environment, scoring super effectives on the multitude of Dragon-type Pokémon that plague the tier (minus Dialga, Palkia, and the seldom seen Kingdra), and also on Groudon and Lugia. Wood Hammer, while odd on a set like this, helps me take down RestTalk Calm Mind Kyogre, who can pose a big threat to my team, since otherwise I would have to rely on Giratina to phaze it with Dragon Tail. A Sassy nature was chosen here to be able to sponge special attacks (most notably Kyogre's attacks) better without hurting its attacking stats. Since it is slow, it is almost guaranteed to get Hail up. The only weather inducer slower than it is Hippowdon, so if you want to be slower than that, set Abomasnow's Speed IV to 19, putting at 129, one point slower than a neutral natured, 0 Speed EV Hippowdon.
Forretress (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Toxic Spikes
- Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Toxic
Next is Forretress, who plays a couple of key roles for this team. Its primary task is to spin away entry hazards, and especially Stealth Rock, which deals a big amount of damage to Abomasnow and Ho-oh. Its second big job is to lay its own hazards on the opponent's side of the field. While this team only has one phazer, the Pokémon in this team can force a lot of switches, stacking up more and more damage on the opponent's team, even Forretress can force a lot switches, finding plenty of opportunities to set up (Toxic) Spikes against Choiced Dragon-type attacks for example.
The last moveslot wasn't too hard to pick. The choices were Gyro Ball, Volt Switch, and Toxic. Gyro Ball is way too weak of an attack for me, coming off a not so great base 90 Attack stat, and the faster targets are either resistant to Gyro Ball (Scarf Kyogre, Palkia), or have a sky-high Defense stat (Lugia). Not to mention it only has 8 PP, which can easily get stalled out, due to the abundance of Pressure. Volt Switch was the second option, while it wasn't bad, it wasn't particulary great even though it did keep me in a favourable position temporarily. The last choice was Toxic, which is what I elected for in the end. Forretress' most common switch-ins are Giratina-O and Ghost Arceus, who switch in to block Rapid Spin and use Hidden Power [Fire] or Flamethrower respectively, though Hidden Power [Fire] is not seen as frequently as before on Giratina-O due to the prevalence of rain. Catching these two Pokémon on the switch with Toxic limits their time on the battlefield, giving me an easier time to pull off a Rapid Spin and thus giving me the edge against opposing Stall teams.
Ho-Oh @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 208 HP / 220 Atk / 76 SDef / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Sacred Fire
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Substitute
Ho-oh is the third Pokémon on the squad and although it takes 50% damage from Stealth Rock, it is still a hard Pokémon to take down. Ho-oh acts as my check for a lot of Pokémon, including but not limited to most Calm Mind Arceus formes and Darkrai. Without Ho-oh, checking these threats becomes considerably harder, since the only way for me to beat Calm Mind Arceus otherwise is to Toxic them with Forretress, and I have to KO Darkrai with Palkia.
The moveset is very standard. Sacred Fire and Brave Bird are very powerful STAB attacks, providing very good coverage between them, and the former having a 50% chance to burn the opponent, deterring certain Pokémon from switching in, such as Zekrom, who resists both Sacred Fire and Brave Bird. Ho-oh can even take advantage of Groudon's sunlight should that be the weather currently in effect, gaining a second boost to Sacred Fire on top of STAB. Roost is a no-brainer, this move is essential to Ho-oh's survival, and lets it recover all of the health it lost to Stealth Rock damage or other. The last slot went to Substitute, to further capitalise on Hail and hazards damage, in particuliar Toxic Spikes damage which amplifies every turn if I get two layers up, or still does a solid 12.5% damage each turn if I only manage to get one. I also tested Whirlwind and Earthquake over Substitute before making it the fourth move. Whirlwind was used for extra phazing along with Giratina's Dragon Tail, piling up the damage, and Earthquake gave me an answer to Heatran, who is rare, but still poses a threat to this team, with my only reliable way of hitting it being Palkia's Surf. Earthquake also gave me a way of hitting Zekrom, Rock Arceus and Tyranitar for more damage, but I didn't want to leave Ho-oh in on those Pokémon anyway, so it rarely saw use. I tweaked the EVs from the analysis a little bit: 208 EVs in HP give it 405 HP, letting it switch into Stealth Rock twice, while also enabling it to generate 101 HP Substitutes, which is helpful against Chansey and Blissey. 4 Speed EVs is speedcreep, with them I outspeed other Tank Ho-oh and other base 90 Speed Pokémon that do not run any Speed EVs.
Giratina @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Dragon Tail
- Will-O-Wisp
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
Next up is Giratina. Giratina plays a key role as the much needed spinblocker of this team. Keeping hazards on the opponent's side of the field is essential to this team's success, and Giratina helps immensely with that. It is usually disregarded in favour of Giratina-O, who boasts a much stronger Dragon Tail, a powerful Shadow Sneak to revenge Pokémon like Mewtwo and Deoxys-A, and has an immunity to Ground-type attacks and Trick; and Ghost Arceus, who has base 120 stats across the board and reliable recovery. With that in mind though, I think Giratina is the sturdiest of the available spinblockers, and doesn't have to worry about status nearly as much as the other Ghosts do.
The moveset is standard: Rest fully heals Giratina and Sleep Talk grants it an opportunity to damage even when sleeping. Will-o-Wisp cripples Steel- and Flying- type Pokémon who are immune to Toxic Spikes. This is especially helpful for taking down the popular Rapid Spinners in the Ubers metagame: Forretress, Excadrill and Tentacruel, who are all immune to Toxic Spikes. Finally, Dragon Tail provides this team some phazing, as a matter of fact, the only form of phazing on this team. It is a very useful move against set-up sweepers, forcing them out and punishing the switch-in with entry hazards. 4 Speed EVs again is speedcreep, outspeeding the standard Giratina who does not run any at all, thus letting me Dragon Tail first.
Palkia @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
- Fire Blast
- Thunder
Even with Abomasnow being able to take Kyogre's attacks, I knew that I would need a back-up for it, so it makes sense that my next choice is a Choice Scarf Palkia. Palkia is quite possibly the best user of Choice Scarf thanks to its very important base 100 Speed, allowing it to outspeed Scarf Kyogre, Reshiram, Zekrom, and Rayquaza that has used Dragon Dance once. It is also capable of revenge killing Mewtwo, Darkrai and Shaymin-S who can all be annoying to this team.
Once again, this is just the standard Choice Scarf Palkia set. Draco Meteor is an insanely powerful attack letting me revenge kill Pokémon without much trouble. Surf is secondary STAB and is my only way of hitting Heatran without having to resort to a lot of phazing. Fire Blast roasts Steel-types, which is a big help against Ferrothorn and the like. Finally, Thunder smashes Kyogre, and once it is gone, I can keep Hail up for the rest of the game.
Arceus-Dark @ Dread Plate
Trait: Multitype
EVs: 252 HP / 40 Def / 216 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Recover
- Payback
- Flamethrower
- Stealth Rock
Last but definitely not least, Dark Arceus. When debating for a final Pokémon, I need something else that could take on the likes of Mewtwo, since if it gets a Calm Mind up, it needs to be damaged quite a bit before Palkia can KO it. I also needed something that can set up Stealth Rock. For those reasons, I chose a Specially Defensive Dark Arceus who is immune to Psystrike and can take even a boosted Aura Sphere. Dark Arceus is even a good switch-in to Giratina-O, being resistant to Shadow Sneak and more than capable of taking a Draco Meteor.
This is the Specially Defensive Dark Arceus seen on-site but only with Stealth Rock in the last slot since I couldn't find anywhere else to put it. After taking an attack from Mewtwo, Payback OHKOs it regardless of how many Calm Minds it gets. Flamethrower is another move to eliminate Steel-type Pokémon. Not many people expect Flamethrower on this set, so they carelessly bring in Forretress and Ferrothorn, only to take a very heavy chunk of damage. Finally, Recover gives Dark Arceus a reliable way to heal itself up.
Conclusion
Well that's my shot at Ubers Hail, it's not great, but it's not terrible. It's been an experience laddering with this team, giving me the opportunity to use new things. Thanks for taking the time to read this and happy rating!
One Final Look
Code:
Abomasnow (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Snow Warning
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Blizzard
- Substitute
- Wood Hammer
- Leech Seed
Forretress (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Toxic Spikes
- Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Toxic
Ho-Oh @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 208 HP / 220 Atk / 76 SDef / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Sacred Fire
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Substitute
Giratina @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Dragon Tail
- Will-O-Wisp
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
Palkia @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
- Fire Blast
- Thunder
Arceus-Dark @ Dread Plate
Trait: Multitype
EVs: 252 HP / 40 Def / 216 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Recover
- Payback
- Flamethrower
- Stealth Rock
