[OVERVIEW]
Ice
========
* Alolan Ninetales is one of Ice's best support options thanks to its Snow Warning ability allowing it to immediately set up Aurora Veil, giving its teammates extra survivability.
* Its great Speed-tier coupled with its part Fairy typing allows it to check a wide range of threats such as Keldeo, Mega Medicham, and Mega Sableye.
* With its Snow Warning ability, it is the most important partner for Pokemon with Slush Rush such as Sandslash-Alola and Beartic.
* Access to Encore lets it disrupt hazard leads like Galvantula, Forretress, and Torkoal, which would otherwise give Ice teams a hard time.
* With its mediocre Special Attack stat, it lacks the raw power necessary to offensively pressure certain threats.
* Its Ice / Fairy typing leaves it vulnerable to Stealth Rock, limiting the opportunities it has to safely come in to set up Aurora Veil, while also being weak to common attacking types like Fire and Poison, as well as having a 4x weakness to Steel.
* Alolan Ninetales has a limited movepool outside of its STAB moves, which leaves it consistently walled by common Steel- and Fire-types like Heatran, Mega Scizor, and Torkoal.
* It also lacks good physical bulk outside of Aurora Veil, which means revenge killers like Choice Scarf Heracross and Excadrill will have little to no issues removing it.
[SET]
name: Offensive Support
move 1: Aurora Veil
move 2: Freeze Dry
move 3: Moonblast
move 4: Encore / Blizzard
item: Light Clay
ability: Snow Warning
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* Aurora Veil is the most important move in the set, making your entire team take half damage from physical and special attackers.
* Freeze Dry is the Ice STAB used to target Dragon-, Ground-, Flying-, and Grass-types like Garchomp, Zapdos, Landorus-Incarnate, and Tapu Bulu, as well as certain Water-types, such as Swampert, Mantine, and Pelipper.
* Moonblast is its strongest Fairy STAB, hitting Dark- and Fighting-types such as Mega Sableye, Keldeo, and Terrakion for solid damage, while having a large chance of OHKOing Mega Medicham and Buzzwole.
* Encore is used to disrupt hazard leads such as the previously mentioned Galvantula, Forretress, and Torkoal, as well as setup sweepers like Bisharp, Volcarona, and Mega Charizard X.
* Blizzard can be used as a more powerful Ice STAB, having perfect accuracy thanks to Snow Warning and dealing as much neutral damage as possible.
Set Details
========
* Maximum investment in Special Attack and Speed are used to make Ninetales-Alola as strong and fast as possible.
* A Timid nature is used to make sure Alolan Ninetales outspeeds Mega Medicham, Keldeo, and Mega Pinsir.
* The Snow Warning ability is needed in order for Alolan Ninetales to put up Aurora Veil whenever it switches in.
* The Light Clay is used to make Aurora Veil last 8 turns rather than 5, which is important for its teammates to benefit from its effects for as long as possible.
Usage Tips
========
* Alolan Ninetales is generally a great lead to get Aurora Veil up early, but in weather-dependent matchups such as Ground and Water, it may be better to preserve Ninetales-Alola so that you can remove their weather easier.
* Try to keep hazards away from your side as much as you can, since they limit the amount of times Alolan Ninetales can switch in to put up Aurora Veil.
* If you're running Encore, try switching it in on a Rapid Spin or Defog so that you can disrupt the hazard remover and make it easier to deal with. You should also try switching into slower setup Pokemon such as Clefable and Bisharp in order to cripple them before they become threatening.
* Make sure to keep Alolan Ninetales from being statused, since paralysis will halve its Speed and prevent it from outspeeding Mega Medicham and Keldeo, while burn and poison will wear it down and limit its chances to set up an Aurora Veil.
* When Sandslash-Alola and Beartic are ready to sweep, or if they need to revenge kill a fast threat, try sacrificing Alolan Ninetales to activate the hail and to bring them in safely.
* With Alolan Ninetales's decent Special Defense stat, it's a good idea to switch it in against resisted special attacks such as Dark Pulse and Bug Buzz to give yourself an opportunity to set up Aurora Veil.
* In matchups that Alolan Ninetales can't do much offensively against, such as Fire and Steel, it's important to set up Aurora Veil immediately to improve your team's survivability.
* However, if the opponent has a weather setter that can remove your hail, don't immediately go for Aurora Veil, or else you'll risk letting them in for free.
Team Options
========
* Everything on Ice appreciates the extra survivability Alolan Ninetales provides with Aurora Veil, as well as its ability to check Fighting-types like Mega Medicham and Keldeo with Moonblast.
* Ninetales-Alola greatly appreciates Avalugg's ability to remove hazards and deal with threatening Scarfers like Heracross, Excadrill, and Infernape. In return, Ninetales-Alola's Aurora Veil support greatly improves Avalugg's amazing physical bulk, which can allow it to switch into more powerful Scarfers like Terrakion with ease.
* Piloswine can easily switch into special attackers that threaten Ninetales-Alola such as Heatran and Nihilego and OHKO them with Earthquake. Piloswine can also put up Stealth Rock and phase out Pokemon like Mega Charizard X, Volcarona, and Mega Scizor with Roar to make sure they don't set up for free.
* Mamoswine is another helpful Stealth Rocker that is great for removing Pokemon such as Tyranitar, Heatran, and Muk-Alola, all of which give Ninetales-Alola a hard time. In return, Ninetales-Alola removes physically defensive Pokemon such as Slowbro and Swampert, which Mamoswine can't offensively threaten.
* Lapras and Walrein greatly help Ninetales-Alola with their Fire and Steel neutralities, as well as checking threats like Mega Scizor and Ferrothorn.
* Sandslash-Alola and Beartic are both fantastic partners for Ninetales-Alola due to having their Speed doubled thanks to Slush Rush. Sandslash-Alola can offer hazard removal with Rapid Spin, as well as having a Steel and Rock neutrality. Beartic can break through troublesome special walls like Chansey and Ferrothorn, as well as outspeeding and removing offensive threats like Mega Charizard Y and Volcarona with Stone Edge. In return, Ninetales-Alola can give them better opportunities to set up with Swords Dance thanks to Aurora Veil.
* Kyurem-Black is a very threatening wallbreaker that can tear through Celesteela, Heatran, and Empoleon, all of which give Ninetales-Alola trouble. It also offers a very helpful Fire neutrality and greatly appreciates Ninetales-Alola's ability to switch into Dragon-type attacks from faster Scarfers like Hydreigon and Latios.
* Weavile is an incredibly fast sweeper that can help remove Ghost- and Psychic-types that give Ninetales-Alola difficulty, such as Gengar and Victini, while also removing Tyranitar and Heatran with Low Kick.
* Cloyster greatly appreciates Ninetales-Alola's Aurora Veil, as it gives Cloyster a safe setup opportunity with Shell Smash. Cloyster helps out Ninetales-Alola by defeating threatening Fire-, Steel-, and Rock-types like Victini, Excadrill, and Nihilego.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Ice
--------
* Hidden Power Fire can be used to deal considerable damage to Mega Scizor and Ferrothorn. However, Encore is generally more reliable for disrupting hazard leads and setup sweepers, and Blizzard is more important as a strong and reliable Ice STAB.
* Icy Rock can be ran over Light Clay to give Sandslash-Alola and Beartic a few extra turns to sweep. But the prolonged Aurora Veil offered by Light Clay is much more valuable.
* Nasty Plot can be used to increase its damage output. However, it doesn't have the power to outright sweep teams without a Life Orb, which would come at the cost of extra Aurora Veil turns with Light Clay.
Checks and Counters
===================
Ice
--------
**Steel-Types**: Steel types like Heatran, Ferrothorn, and Mega Scizor don't care about Ninetales-Alola's STAB moves at all. However, if the former two try putting up Stealth Rocks, they are susceptible to being Encored in. Ferrothorn and Mega Scizor might also have to fear the potential Hidden Power Fire.
**Fire-Types**: Fire types like Torkoal, Marowak-Alola, and Victini don't have much to fear from Ninetales-Alola due to resisting its attacks and threatening it with their Fire STAB moves. Torkoal deserves a special mention thanks to being able to switch in and prevent Ninetales-Alola from putting up an Aurora Veil.
**Rock-Types**: Rock types such as Nihilego, Tyranitar, and Mega Aerodactyl severely threaten Ninetales-Alola with their Rock STAB moves, with the former two easily being able to survive Ninetales-Alola's attacks, and Mega Aerodactyl being able to outspeed and OHKO with Stone Edge.
**Poison-Types**: Poison type sweepers like Gengar, Scolipede, and Nihilego can easily beat Ninetales-Alola with their Poison STAB moves, with Gengar and Scolipede being able to outspeed it before it gets the chance to set up an Aurora Veil.
**Mega Scizor**: Mega Scizor is one of the biggest threats towards Alolan Ninetales
**Specially Defensive Pokemon**: Due to Ninetales-Alola's mediocre offensive presence, specially defensive Pokemon like Chansey, Celesteela, and Muk-Alola can easily take advantage of it. However, Chansey does have to fear the Encore should it attempt to set up Stealth Rock or go for a status move.
**Status**: Ninetales-Alola hates being statused. Paralysis keeps it from outspeeding threats like Mega Medicham and Keldeo. Poison and burn will slowly wear it down, limiting the amount of times it can come in and set up Aurora Veil.
**Revenge Killers**: Pokemon such as Tapu Koko and Greninja, as well as Choice Scarf Pokemon like Victini easily outspeed and force out Ninetales-Alola before it gets the chance to do anything. Victini in particular is able to OHKO Ninetales-Alola through Aurora Veil with V-Create.
Edit: I'm gonna drop this analysis and try doing one again once I finish lurking around.
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