A History of Weather in Monotype: Sand and Snow
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Art by Zephyri.
Weather has been a constant threat across competitive Pokémon since its introduction, defining OU metagames in ways such as Tyranitar's sand in ADV, Black and White's legendary weather wars, and now the power of Protosynthesis and Chilly Reception in Scarlet and Violet—you can never count weather out. The same is true in Monotype, where the tier's creation of weather has remained a constant threat and usually an incredible option to consider for every type that has access to one of the many weather setters.
This journey will focus on two opposite weathers that, at first, fulfilled remarkably similar roles of providing chip damage but have since spread apart over time. One, sand, is a beacon of consistency across multiple generations, never changing its effect or its main exploiter but always remaining a reliable source of chip damage and enabler of offense. The other—hail, or snow, as it has now become—is an ever-evolving yet inconsistent threat, able to dominate at times while being completely ignored otherwise.
BW
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Tyranitar @ Leftovers Ability: Sand Stream EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD Careful Nature - Stealth Rock - Stone Edge - Thunder Wave - Pursuit |
Hippowdon @ Leftovers Ability: Sand Stream EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD or 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD Careful / Impish Nature - Stealth Rock - Whirlwind - Earthquake - Slack Off |
Excadrill @ Choice Scarf / Choice Band Ability: Sand Force EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Jolly Nature - Rock Slide - Rapid Spin - Iron Head - Earthquake |
Gliscor @ Toxic Orb Ability: Poison Heal EVs: 244 HP / 88 Def / 176 Spe or 244 HP / 120 Def / 144 Spe Jolly Nature - Substitute - Toxic - Protect - Earthquake |
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Tyranitar @ Choice Scarf Ability: Sand Stream EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Jolly Nature - Crunch - Pursuit - Stone Edge - Earthquake |
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Froslass @ Choice Specs Ability: Cursed Body EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe IVs: 0 Atk Timid Nature - Blizzard - Shadow Ball - Thunder - Destiny Bond |
Walrein @ Leftovers Ability: Ice Body EVs: 232 HP / 228 Def / 48 Spe IVs: 0 Atk Bold Nature - Surf - Substitute - Protect - Toxic |
Abomasnow @ Leftovers / Chople Berry Ability: Snow Warning EVs: 252 HP / 164 SpD / 92 Spe or 248 HP / 172 Def / 88 Spe Careful Nature - Wood Hammer - Ice Shard - Protect - Leech Seed |
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Froslass @ Leftovers Ability: Cursed Body EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe IVs: 0 Atk Timid Nature - Substitute - Hex - Blizzard - Disable |
Taking place within the weather generation, Black and White Monotype was bound to get crazy. Sand and hail got immediate restrictions thrust upon them with the eternal ban of Sand Veil and Snow Cloak alongside restrictions put upon Sand Rush. Despite that, Ground and Ice still had a mostly successful generation. Rock and Dark did not, though, being considered two of the worst types; however, their relationship with Tyranitar would start here, begrudgingly, in Dark's case. Rock has always benefited from Tyranitar's sand, greatly appreciating the Special Defense boost spread across all its members along with the permanent chip damage. Dark, meanwhile, used Tyranitar because it had incredible stats overall and could help ward off opposing weathers, but it didn't greatly enjoy Tyranitar's sand for the most part. While some teammates like Krookodile and Mandibuzz were exceptions and wouldn't mind the sand due to their typing and abilities, the rest of the Dark-types had no real synergy with sand and instead had to just deal with it. Overall, sand did not help these types escape their issues and could even make them worse against types like Ground, which could make use of sand far better.
Ground, meanwhile, would establish its dominance with sand immediately, as the incredible combination of Hippowdon and Excadrill would get its start here. This, however, would be a restricted version of the duo, as Excadrill is required to run a Choice Scarf with Sand Force instead of the far superior Choice Band with Sand Rush, making it lack the Speed and power it'd obtain in later generations. Despite this, Excadrill still proved to be an excellent powerhouse able to clean up late-game with minimal issues, as many types still found switching into its mighty Earthquake a challenge. Even then, some Excadrill teams did opt for a Choice Band, which could let it easily decimate would-be Ground-resistant answers like Celebi with no remorse. And Excadrill wasn't the only one to benefit from sand: all of the Ground-types did, as they greatly appreciated the permanent ticking clock against any opposition that wasn't immune to it. SubToxic Gliscor especially enjoyed sand, since it could easily spread status and watch in glee as everything around it, big and small, wasted away to nothing. Ice would also attempt to pull a similar trick to SubToxic Gliscor with Walrein, which makes use of hail; the ability to heal with its new hidden ability, Ice Body; and its respectable bulk to dominate in the same way despite its worse defensive typing. Of course, that wasn't all that hail was good for: a perfectly accurate Blizzard made Choice Specs Froslass a far more dangerous threat, and the chip damage would help wear down checks to Ice's incredible offensive threats like Kyurem-B and Cloyster—worthwhile trades to run Abomasnow.
ORAS
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Tyranitar @ Tyranitarite Ability: Sand Stream EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Jolly Nature - Dragon Dance - Stone Edge - Crunch - Fire Punch / Ice Punch |
Excadrill @ Choice Band Ability: Sand Rush EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe Adamant Nature - Earthquake - Iron Head - Rock Slide - Shadow Claw |
Garchomp @ Garchompite Ability: Rough Skin EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe or 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe Naive Nature - Earthquake - Draco Meteor - Stone Edge - Fire Blast |
Weather received a major overhaul this generation, now being no longer permanent when induced by abilities. This was either a blessing or a curse depending on how one looked at it. For Ground and Dark, it came out overall as a blessing, while for Rock and Ice, it was a curse. While Ground did mourn the loss of the permanent chip damage, it wouldn't for long, as it would be granted access to one of the fastest and most effective wallbreakers possible, Sand Rush Excadrill. Sand Rush Excadrill's Speed tier was nearly impossible to compete with, as it was only outmatched by Trace Mega Alakazam. This power and Speed all came at a price, a price Ground has paid for every generation since: Smooth Rock would be banned, which gives Excadrill only four turns of sand to make its moves. And for those still looking for a Sand Force attacker, Mega Garchomp found a place: sand makes its Earthquake and Stone Edge hit hard even without Attack investment, enabling Mega Garchomp to buff its Special Attack and become a potent mixed wallbreaker. Dark, meanwhile, just enjoyed having a much easier time dealing with Tyranitar's natural sand, which no longer cuts into teammates like Weavile for the entire game. However, Dark's builds still made sure to account for sand's ability to wear themselves down, with threats like Bisharp seeing plenty of play, and they could even use Tyranitar's new Mega Evolution to retake weather against types like Fire and Water, help ward off their sun and rain strategies, and make it easier for Mega Tyranitar and its teammates to handle their offenses.
Rock, meanwhile, got completely screwed over by Ground's deal. No permanent weather with neither a way to extend its weather nor an incredible exploiter is a tough pill to swallow. And what did it have to show for itself? Sticky Web. Rock would start its fairly unsuccessful career with Sticky Web here, relying on the Speed drops to try to find any form of viability. Sand did help facilitate this offense somewhat, making Terrakion and Shell Smash Omastar slightly harder to remove through the Special Defense buff, but it wasn't enough. Rock did also gain a new weather setter this generation in Aurorus; however, setting hail was not going to happen for Rock, as hail gives no benefit to the type at all and is a worthless option for it as well as, surprisingly, Ice. Aurorus could take solace on Ice knowing that it wasn't alone in being ignored, as both Abomasnow and its Mega Evolution would not find a place either. Instead, the type preferred to go without weather and just hope it could make something happen.
SM
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Excadrill @ Steelium Z Ability: Sand Rush EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Jolly Nature - Swords Dance - Earthquake - Iron Head - Rapid Spin |
Ninetales-Alola @ Light Clay Ability: Snow Warning EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Timid Nature - Aurora Veil - Freeze-Dry - Moonblast - Encore / Blizzard / Hidden Power Fire |
Sandslash-Alola @ Life Orb Ability: Slush Rush EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe Jolly Nature - Icicle Crash - Iron Head - Earthquake - Rapid Spin / Swords Dance |
Sun and Moon delivered a new batch of weather setters, so competition was going to be tight. With Ground and Dark, it was business as usual, as no new setters would emerge for either type, which leaves their options the same. They instead had to spend some time figuring out how to use the new Z-Crystals to commit to wallbreaking. Ground would find itself using Swords Dance Excadrill over its Choice Band counterpart on occasion, as it proved far better in breaking new threats such as Celesteela and Tapu Bulu. Rock also didn't really get a new setter worth much, as Gigalith failed to accomplish anything better than Tyranitar and was entirely outclassed. But there was some interest, as Rock gained its own Sand Rush threat in Lycanroc, a much faster base 112 Speed Pokémon that can outspeed and check Excadrill. However, Lycanroc's base 115 Attack and lacking coverage, along with Sticky Web offense with Shuckle being far more interesting for players, meant that it would not find a purpose on Rock.
Hail though, would gain two weather setters. Vanilluxe, similarly to Gigalith, failed to accomplish anything valuable in terms of setting weather, being relegated to the same bin that Aurorus and Abomasnow were thrown into in ORAS. But the other one would change everything for Ice. Alolan Ninetales came in packing so much for Ice that its weather capabilities were just the tip of the iceberg. Its Fairy typing gives an extra bit of help against Fighting-types, especially as its solid base 109 Speed enables it to get the jump on nearly every relevant non-Choice Scarf Fighting-type, and its access to Freeze-Dry could help against Water-types, notably letting Alolan Ninetales win the weather war against Pelipper. And alongside its hail came a veil, as Alolan Ninetales would be granted the new move, Aurora Veil, a major increase to Ice's defenses via a reliable setup of dual screens. Of course, that is not all for Ice, as after so long, hail finally gained its own Speed-increasing ability in Slush Rush. This wouldn't push Ice too much this generation, as it was only granted to two Pokémon, one old and one new. Beartic wouldn't be able to push too hard with Slush Rush, as even with its Speed doubled, it was still slower than every major Choice Scarf user in the tier. Alolan Sandslash wasn't much better: while it could get the jump on a couple of threats, most of them still outpaced it and weren't too threatened by it. However, its incredible Ice / Steel typing with Rapid Spin access made it a very versatile entry hazard remover despite its mediocre stats. Unfortunately, this new slate of tools couldn't really do much to save Ice, as the metagame around it, from Mega Charizard Y Flying teams to Keldeo Water builds, was just easily able to smash the type to pieces.
SS
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Arctozolt @ Heavy-Duty Boots Ability: Slush Rush EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe Naughty / Naive Nature - Bolt Beak - Blizzard - Freeze-Dry / Stomping Tantrum - Substitute |
Kyurem @ Heavy-Duty Boots / Chople Berry Ability: Pressure EVs: 56 HP / 192 SpA / 8 SpD / 252 Spe Timid Nature - Substitute - Roost - Freeze-Dry - Earth Power |
The dex cuts were a terrifying time, and with the limited number of weather setters available, if the big guns were not in Sword and Shield, things could change. Luckily for sand, nothing changed much, as Hippowdon, Excadrill, and Tyranitar all made it into Galar without any issues and reigned relatively supreme within the metagame. Sure, they were saddened at losing their powerful Mega-Evolved teammates such as Mega Garchomp and Mega Tyranitar, but sand would be okay without them. There was a slight disappointment, though, as two new powerful Sand Rush threats would be included within the Galar region, Dracovish and Dracozolt; however, neither were available for any of the sand-available types and would instead be relegated to types that just found interest in their signature moves.
Granted, things weren't looking as solid for sand on Ground as they used to, as a new competitor to its throne had arisen: going sand-less. So many of the best types in the metagame such as Flying, Water, and Steel built themselves on strong cores that Sand Rush Excadrill, try as it might, was struggling to muscle past. Sand-less teams didn't struggle as much against these cores, finding options like Nidoking and Swords Dance Garchomp much more reliable at tearing these types apart. Of course, sand would still remain the overall dominant Ground archetype, but the cracks were starting to form.
Ice did have a mild scare at first. While Ninetales had made it into Galar, its Alolan counterpart was nowhere to be found initially. Instead, the only weather setter Ice had for the first bit of the Sword and Shield metagame would just be Vanilluxe, which, while it had received Aurora Veil, was still a vastly underwhelming presence. Luckily, Ice wouldn't need Vanilluxe to set weather forever, as it just had to wait until the new year to have Pokémon HOME redeliver Alolan Ninetales to Galar to get hail back on track. And Ice very much wanted hail, as it was blessed with two Slush Rush threats; granted, only one truly mattered. Arctovish never really stood a chance; it was focused a bit too much on bulk and not enough on offense to make enough of a splash despite having the same access to Fishious Rend that Dracovish used to dominate. But Arctozolt, that was where the power was. While Arctozolt's power was still less than ideal, it was just enough to make it a threat, and more importantly, Arctozolt had STAB BoltBeam coverage, among other tools, to easily rip through types such as Water and Flying without a care in the world. The few bulky Pokémon that could stomach Bolt Beak would collapse to either Blizzard or Freeze-Dry in response, with Stomping Tantrum serving to ease the Steel matchup. Kyurem-B would depart Ice, however, leaving base forme Kyurem to pick up the pieces. It would do so with a vile chill, however, utilizing hail and Aurora Veil to safely sit behind a Substitute and fire off Freeze-Dry to make removing it an incredibly tough challenge for all but the bulkiest of walls. Alongside other new powerhouses in Galarian Darmanitan and the introduction of Heavy-Duty Boots, Ice would establish itself as a strong anti-meta type, a role it hadn't played since Black and White.
SV
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Ninetales-Alola @ Icy Rock / Light Clay Ability: Snow Warning EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe IVs: 0 Atk Timid Nature - Aurora Veil - Freeze-Dry / Blizzard - Moonblast - Encore |
Baxcalibur @ Loaded Dice Ability: Thermal Exchange EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Jolly Nature - Icicle Spear - Scale Shot - Earthquake - Swords Dance |
Chien-Pao @ Heavy-Duty Boots Ability: Sword of Ruin Tera Type: Dark EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe Jolly Nature - Crunch / Icicle Crash - Sacred Sword - Sucker Punch / Ice Shard - Swords Dance |
Cetitan @ Sitrus Berry Ability: Slush Rush EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe Jolly Nature - Belly Drum - Icicle Crash - Ice Shard - Earthquake |
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Baxcalibur @ Heavy-Duty Boots Ability: Thermal Exchange EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Jolly Nature - Icicle Crash - Ice Shard - Earthquake - Dragon Dance |
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Garganacl @ Leftovers Ability: Purifying Salt EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD Careful Nature - Salt Cure - Iron Defense - Body Press - Recover |
Excadrill @ Choice Band Ability: Sand Rush EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Jolly Nature - Earthquake - Iron Head - Rock Slide - Poison Jab / X-Scissor |
Within the Scarlet and Violet Monotype Metagame, big changes occurred for the placements of the tier's weathers, including sand and hail. Well, not really hail, as it is now snow. Snow replacing hail brought some changes; notably, rather than dealing passive damage, snow instead grants a 50% Defense boost to Ice-types. SV also introduced a way to set snow through Slowking and its Galarian counterpart's new signature move, Chilly Reception. This didn't really matter much: Klefki still outshines Alolan Ninetales thanks to its superior defensive typing and utility through Prankster on Fairy. Meanwhile, Chilly Reception was only used as a pivoting option on Poison, Psychic lacks the Ice-types to exploit snow, and Cloyster + Slowking duos haven't seen any major use on Water.
But snow was never about the other types; it was always about Ice, and the 50% Defense boost would change things. Within the first two metagames for Scarlet and Violet Monotype, pre-HOME and HOME, Ice was forced to use Abomasnow once again to make use of snow, but it was more than worth the effort to allow new bulky and oppressive setup sweepers such as Baxcalibur and Cetitan to set up comfortably in front of weak attacks like Great Tusk's Close Combat. It was especially worth it if Abomasnow could get up an Aurora Veil, which could allow the frail yet oppressive Chien-Pao to take Choice Band Technican Breloom's Mach Punch. And when the first DLC, the Teal Mask, rolled around, things only kept getting better. Alolan Ninetales's return, along with Baxcalibur getting Scale Shot, threw the Monotype metagame for a loop, as Ice quickly rose to being public enemy number one for a time, which brought cries for something to be done, including banning Icy Rock. While action against snow itself was not taken, a suspect test was launched to remove Baxcalibur, which proved unsuccessful. Ice would remain a legitimate part of the rest of the Teal Mask metagame, though as a more off-meta type as the tier got used to its new chilly threats. This continued right up until March of 2024, as Dragon's place within the Indigo Disk metagame proved too much for the player base; blame was once again pushed onto Baxcalibur, resulting in its ban. Only a couple months later, Chien-Pao would receive its ban, which ended Ice's time as a solid off-meta pick and reduced it back to the mediocre fish it once was.
Sand, meanwhile, has had some major issues arise this generation. Dark's tolerance of Tyranitar was no more, as Ting-Lu's introduction would mostly end Tyranitar's career on Dark. Ting-Lu's incredible bulk alongside its raw utility and superior typing more than made up for Tyranitar's ability to make Fire struggle just that bit more, a far cry from its once dominant place on the type's multitude of structures. Meanwhile for Rock, no Shuckle meant no Sticky Web, which forced the type to buckle down and play defensively without the tools to play as such. While Rock did keep Tyranitar's sand's Special Defense boost and would gain Garganacl as its best defensive piece, which can wear down Steel- and Water-types with Salt Cure alongside Tyranitar's sand and entry hazards, it wasn't enough to save the type from its own mediocrity. However, Rock did get to play around with Smooth Rock for a good amount of time this generation, and if SV introduced a good Sand Rush threat, it may have had a solid chance of seeing itself as a legitimate type to be respected. But with the only Sand Rush option still being Lycanroc, it wasn't meant to be.
Excadrill was missing. It had not made its way into Paldea nor would it be found in Kitakami, meaning for the first time in Monotype history, Ground had to fully develop a new identity without its beloved Sand Rush sweeper. Hippowdon took the news horribly, going from once a near-mandatory part of Ground's structures to a fringe off-meta pick throughout the first three metagames for Scarlet and Violet, as Ground would carve out a new identity with sand-less builds. It wasn't all bad for Ground, however: new powerful threats such as Great Tusk, Iron Treads, Ting-Lu, and Clodsire helped to create new offensive and, more importantly, defensive structures that allowed Ground to not only survive but also thrive within this new generation; it would be considered one of the strongest types through these metagames. But while Paldea and Kitakami had passed up on Excadrill, Blueberry Academy brought it back swinging, and swing it did. Within 48 hours of its return, Smooth Rock would be banned once again, as despite new powerful offensive and defensive checks in Meowscarada, Sinistcha, and the Ogerpon formes running around, Excadrill still proved far too much with eight turns of Sand. However, even more cracks would form in sand's vision. Excadrill was forced to run a Jolly nature over Adamant, as even within sand, Choice Scarf Meowscarada was still just too fast for Excadrill and made it pay the price in a power reduction. Meanwhile, sand-less teams stuck around just like in Sword and Shield. The new options Ground gained were incredible, but most of them struggled to fit on sand teams, and it was worth running a bulkier entry hazard stacking archetype that could play the long game far better than sand ever could before. Of course, these bulkier teams still found a way to incorporate sand eventually—but not with the Sand Rush offense, just the sand—as Hippowdon would be used as a defensive glue with no Excadrill in sight.
Closing
And with that, a brief history of just two of the four weathers in Monotype comes to a close. But their tales are still being written, as Scarlet and Violet is still the current generation, and maybe discoveries towards sand-less finally bring the reign of sand to a close, or Ice truly figures out how to push Cetitan to the fullest to make Icy Rock's ban a reality. Or maybe a new setter or exploiter lies within the future, which could change everything.
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