This place seems completely swamped by people's teams so I can only hope mine gets a little attention as well. My intention is mostly to show people what hail teams are capable of, and put them up at the top, or at least just a little higher than they are now.
1. Premise
Hail is the most underused weather, if not the most underused field effect short of tailwind. This is a shame considering how hard hail is for other teams to counter, but at first glance hail offers little to benefit a team compared to the rest of the weathers that are now staple in the metagame.
But actually, Hail is just as good as any other weather. Very few teams are going to pack Ice Types, meaning they'll always take damage every turn (in comparison, sandstorm's damage isn't too threatening as ground, rock and steel are all pretty common and don't take damage from it). Hail also removes all benefits that the other weather conditions have; although this can be said of all weathers unlike the rest hail won't abused against you.
2. In-depth analysis
A. Core
Abomasnow @ Choice Band
Trait: Snow Warning
EVs: 58 HP / 252 Atk / 200 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Wood Hammer
- Ice Shard
- Earthquake
- Brick Break
Abomasnow isn't as much of a bad pokemon as you've been lead to believe either. It will force a switch or OHKO a Politoed with Wood Hammer and 2HKO any Hippowdon. It will also threaten Tyranitar with an OHKO, depending on the set it has (for example, Special Defensive), something you can predict by seeing which weather is up. Once you look past it's horrible weaknesses, Abomasnow also has good defences giving you a lot of chances to switch in again and do some damage. Regardless of this, Abomasnow's most important feature is it's Snow Warning.
200 Spd EVs allow Abomasnow to outspeed any regular Politoed or Tyranitar set that doesn't have full speed investment, forcing a switch or killing them outright. Choice Scarf with full speed investment is another option, as it ensures that you will get a hit in on everything apart from a respectively Choice Scarf'd Tyranitar. Ninetales or any faster Tyranitar with Fire Blast (or any moveset) gives you a chance to switch into heatran, getting you a Flash Fire boost and from there you can either kill it with Earth Power or predict and kill everything else with boosted fire-type moves.
As for the rest of the set, Ice Shard allows you to do some damage if you need to switch Abomasnow in to set up the weather again. It also allows Abomasnow to be a good revenge killer in combination with Choice Band. Earthquake is pretty much a filler move here but comes in handy sometimes. Brick Break is good enough and will stop any pokemon attempting to set up screens on you.
Heatran @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Overheat
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Dragon Pulse/Hidden Power
Heatran pretty much makes this team. It can switch in on Ninetales or any other fire type/attack (such as Tyranitar's fire blast) and proceed to take the threat out with Earth Power. It's also a great revenge killer on the team as Overheat is able to take out most pokmeon that are threats to the team in one hit. Heatran operates fine under Hail, benefits from the boost in Sun, and won't take damage from Sandstorm. Although Heatran doesn't fare too well against water types that would operate under rainy day, they don't pose too much of a threat to him either.
Magma Storm is a high power Stab move that allows Heatran to sweep without losing power like it would with Overheat. I realise most people would use another move due to the 1/4 chance to miss, but I prefer the higher damage and little bit extra from the move's trapping effect, which combined with hail can take out even bulky pokemon in one hit. Dragon Pulse is decent but mostly filler, and could be switched for a Hidden Power/etc.
B. Main
Walrein @ Leftovers
Trait: Ice Body
EVs: 232 HP / 252 Def / 24 SpD
Bold Nature
- Substitute
- Protect
- Toxic
- Surf/Stockpile
I don't need to introduce Stallrein to you right? Leftovers/Ice Body heals 1/8 of it's hp per turn, that's 1/2 of a sub. Protect gives it a free turn, fully refunding the HP cost of Substitute. You then have the option to spam Substitute on a faster opponent, or get an attack in on a slower one. Toxic lets you rack up even more damage per turn. Surf is preferred over Blizzard as the team already has Blizzard users, and surf has more PP for long stall wars.
Walrein can also pump it's defences up with Stockpile, which is pretty nice in some cases. That gives you the option to use Spit Up, although I wouldn't really suggest it. Steel types are a problem, but hey, Heatran deals with that.
Rotom-F @ Electric Gem
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Blizzard
- Thunderbolt
- Dark Pulse
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
I can see why Rotom-F is never used compared to the other pokemon- Blizzard makes it too hard to take advantage of it's stab under most conditions, and ice isn't the best typing to make use of it's defensive bulk. Under hail however, Blizzard is a great stab move, and Rotom gets stab on the infamous BoltBeam (Blizzard in this case) combo.
It's typing is far better than it looks, since Electric+Levitate gives it two resistances and a Stab for free, making it better than other Ice-Types that could fill the role of a blizzard user. It laughs in the face of Steel types as it isn't weak to their stabs at all, and can bring the pain with Hidden Power. Levitate also lets it ignore spikes, toxic spikes and earthquake which works well with the rest of the team. Electric gem is a little controversial but the boost in damage is nice to take out pokemon that would otherwise be able to wall you.
Haxorus @ Life Orb
Trait: Mold Breaker
EVs: 36 HP / 252 Atk / 220 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Brick Break
Personally every team needs a pokemon that can take advantage of chances to setup, Haxorus is just a great fit for this team. This is the basic dragon dance set, and there's nothing wrong with it. Mould Breaker in particular takes care of a bunch of threats to the team, allowing earthquake to hit pokemon with Levitate among other things. I won't go on, because there isn't too much to say about a default set.
C. Filler
Dusknoir @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 18 SDef
Brave Nature
- Sleep Talk/Pain Split
- Rest/Substitute
- DynamicPunch/Focus Punch
- Shadow Sneak
Dusknoir is mostly on this team to screw with any fighting type pokemon who hit hard on the rest of the team. Shadow Sneak is nice enough and can mean a surprise kill on faster pokemon. RestTalk is what I've used so far, and is about as good as Pain Split (which isn't so great under hail).
I can't find too much to redeem Dusknoir, but he hasn't been all that bad in practice. The ability to switch into what would be an OHKO for one of your pokemon and do a little damage is great, and although I'm sure there is another ghost type able to outperform Dusknoir but I haven't had too much time to try them all out.
3. Team Strategy
The main idea is to cause all kinds of hurt to other weather teams and prevent them from abusing their weather condition. That being said, the team is still effective against other teams that don't use weather. I usually send out Abomasnow first since it baits and overrides the weather of pokemon that outspeed it, and is a massive threat to pokemon that don't outspeed it. I've never had a situation where I've lost Abomasnow right at the start before cancelling the opponent's weather out. The team has a mix of offensive and defensive threats including Rotom-F and Walrein, both of which become extremely dangerous under hail despite being NU pokemon. One of the strong points is the ability to build up a lot of momentum with switch-ins from Heatran, Rotom-F and Dusknoir which all have immunities to moves which would otherwise be effective against the team. It takes good predicting to do this though, and one mistake could be pretty disastrous depending on the situation. Entry hazards don't bother the team too much despite lacking a rapid spinner, although Rotom-F is weak to stealth rocks it outspeeds a lot of pokemon, Walrein will regenerate the lost health back, etc.
Even if you don't manage to win the weather war, the team can still perform alright under other weather conditions, although not ideally. Also hey, I've only lost 1/20 games with this team against a mixture of weather and non weather opponents, so I know it's effective when used right.
1. Premise
Hail is the most underused weather, if not the most underused field effect short of tailwind. This is a shame considering how hard hail is for other teams to counter, but at first glance hail offers little to benefit a team compared to the rest of the weathers that are now staple in the metagame.
But actually, Hail is just as good as any other weather. Very few teams are going to pack Ice Types, meaning they'll always take damage every turn (in comparison, sandstorm's damage isn't too threatening as ground, rock and steel are all pretty common and don't take damage from it). Hail also removes all benefits that the other weather conditions have; although this can be said of all weathers unlike the rest hail won't abused against you.
2. In-depth analysis
A. Core
Abomasnow @ Choice Band
Trait: Snow Warning
EVs: 58 HP / 252 Atk / 200 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Wood Hammer
- Ice Shard
- Earthquake
- Brick Break
Abomasnow isn't as much of a bad pokemon as you've been lead to believe either. It will force a switch or OHKO a Politoed with Wood Hammer and 2HKO any Hippowdon. It will also threaten Tyranitar with an OHKO, depending on the set it has (for example, Special Defensive), something you can predict by seeing which weather is up. Once you look past it's horrible weaknesses, Abomasnow also has good defences giving you a lot of chances to switch in again and do some damage. Regardless of this, Abomasnow's most important feature is it's Snow Warning.
200 Spd EVs allow Abomasnow to outspeed any regular Politoed or Tyranitar set that doesn't have full speed investment, forcing a switch or killing them outright. Choice Scarf with full speed investment is another option, as it ensures that you will get a hit in on everything apart from a respectively Choice Scarf'd Tyranitar. Ninetales or any faster Tyranitar with Fire Blast (or any moveset) gives you a chance to switch into heatran, getting you a Flash Fire boost and from there you can either kill it with Earth Power or predict and kill everything else with boosted fire-type moves.
As for the rest of the set, Ice Shard allows you to do some damage if you need to switch Abomasnow in to set up the weather again. It also allows Abomasnow to be a good revenge killer in combination with Choice Band. Earthquake is pretty much a filler move here but comes in handy sometimes. Brick Break is good enough and will stop any pokemon attempting to set up screens on you.
Heatran @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Overheat
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Dragon Pulse/Hidden Power
Heatran pretty much makes this team. It can switch in on Ninetales or any other fire type/attack (such as Tyranitar's fire blast) and proceed to take the threat out with Earth Power. It's also a great revenge killer on the team as Overheat is able to take out most pokmeon that are threats to the team in one hit. Heatran operates fine under Hail, benefits from the boost in Sun, and won't take damage from Sandstorm. Although Heatran doesn't fare too well against water types that would operate under rainy day, they don't pose too much of a threat to him either.
Magma Storm is a high power Stab move that allows Heatran to sweep without losing power like it would with Overheat. I realise most people would use another move due to the 1/4 chance to miss, but I prefer the higher damage and little bit extra from the move's trapping effect, which combined with hail can take out even bulky pokemon in one hit. Dragon Pulse is decent but mostly filler, and could be switched for a Hidden Power/etc.
B. Main
Walrein @ Leftovers
Trait: Ice Body
EVs: 232 HP / 252 Def / 24 SpD
Bold Nature
- Substitute
- Protect
- Toxic
- Surf/Stockpile
I don't need to introduce Stallrein to you right? Leftovers/Ice Body heals 1/8 of it's hp per turn, that's 1/2 of a sub. Protect gives it a free turn, fully refunding the HP cost of Substitute. You then have the option to spam Substitute on a faster opponent, or get an attack in on a slower one. Toxic lets you rack up even more damage per turn. Surf is preferred over Blizzard as the team already has Blizzard users, and surf has more PP for long stall wars.
Walrein can also pump it's defences up with Stockpile, which is pretty nice in some cases. That gives you the option to use Spit Up, although I wouldn't really suggest it. Steel types are a problem, but hey, Heatran deals with that.
Rotom-F @ Electric Gem
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Blizzard
- Thunderbolt
- Dark Pulse
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
I can see why Rotom-F is never used compared to the other pokemon- Blizzard makes it too hard to take advantage of it's stab under most conditions, and ice isn't the best typing to make use of it's defensive bulk. Under hail however, Blizzard is a great stab move, and Rotom gets stab on the infamous BoltBeam (Blizzard in this case) combo.
It's typing is far better than it looks, since Electric+Levitate gives it two resistances and a Stab for free, making it better than other Ice-Types that could fill the role of a blizzard user. It laughs in the face of Steel types as it isn't weak to their stabs at all, and can bring the pain with Hidden Power. Levitate also lets it ignore spikes, toxic spikes and earthquake which works well with the rest of the team. Electric gem is a little controversial but the boost in damage is nice to take out pokemon that would otherwise be able to wall you.
Haxorus @ Life Orb
Trait: Mold Breaker
EVs: 36 HP / 252 Atk / 220 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Brick Break
Personally every team needs a pokemon that can take advantage of chances to setup, Haxorus is just a great fit for this team. This is the basic dragon dance set, and there's nothing wrong with it. Mould Breaker in particular takes care of a bunch of threats to the team, allowing earthquake to hit pokemon with Levitate among other things. I won't go on, because there isn't too much to say about a default set.
C. Filler
Dusknoir @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 18 SDef
Brave Nature
- Sleep Talk/Pain Split
- Rest/Substitute
- DynamicPunch/Focus Punch
- Shadow Sneak
Dusknoir is mostly on this team to screw with any fighting type pokemon who hit hard on the rest of the team. Shadow Sneak is nice enough and can mean a surprise kill on faster pokemon. RestTalk is what I've used so far, and is about as good as Pain Split (which isn't so great under hail).
I can't find too much to redeem Dusknoir, but he hasn't been all that bad in practice. The ability to switch into what would be an OHKO for one of your pokemon and do a little damage is great, and although I'm sure there is another ghost type able to outperform Dusknoir but I haven't had too much time to try them all out.
3. Team Strategy
The main idea is to cause all kinds of hurt to other weather teams and prevent them from abusing their weather condition. That being said, the team is still effective against other teams that don't use weather. I usually send out Abomasnow first since it baits and overrides the weather of pokemon that outspeed it, and is a massive threat to pokemon that don't outspeed it. I've never had a situation where I've lost Abomasnow right at the start before cancelling the opponent's weather out. The team has a mix of offensive and defensive threats including Rotom-F and Walrein, both of which become extremely dangerous under hail despite being NU pokemon. One of the strong points is the ability to build up a lot of momentum with switch-ins from Heatran, Rotom-F and Dusknoir which all have immunities to moves which would otherwise be effective against the team. It takes good predicting to do this though, and one mistake could be pretty disastrous depending on the situation. Entry hazards don't bother the team too much despite lacking a rapid spinner, although Rotom-F is weak to stealth rocks it outspeeds a lot of pokemon, Walrein will regenerate the lost health back, etc.
Even if you don't manage to win the weather war, the team can still perform alright under other weather conditions, although not ideally. Also hey, I've only lost 1/20 games with this team against a mixture of weather and non weather opponents, so I know it's effective when used right.
