'sup Smogon, been playing around with the concept of HailRoom for VGC. Help, comments, ideas and all that is very appreciated. I've been having moderate success with this team in both VGC and doubles. I feel like it's a very good and solid team so far, I've been hovering in the ladder with around 1500 - 1600 points, but I would like to make it better.
I started thinking about how to make the best possible HailRoom in the current pre-pokébank metagame of VGC, which has a ton of restrictions in place; an unreleased Auroros with Snow Warning meant that I had to go with Abomasnow to set Hail. Here are the movesets and descriptions. The italic text are my thought process, what I was thinking and what led me to choose the next teammate.
Abomasnow - Obligatory Hail-setting Christmas Tree
-MEVO-> 
Abomasnow (M) @ Abomasite
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Atk / 208 SAtk
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Blizzard
- Wood Hammer
- Ice Shard
- Protect
Blizzard is Abomasnow's best attack, becoming 100% accurate under Hail. It's low speed makes it one of the "fastest" Pokémon under Trick Room and letting it strike first most of the time. I invest in maximum HP to let Abomasnow tank some weak priority hits and survive longer, 48 Atk gives Wood Hammer enough power to OHKO or at least dent Tyranitar, Azumarill and Rotom-W, and the rest goes into SpA to make Blizzard much stronger.
With Abomasnow in the team, I had to start thinking about a trick room setter. With the nerf of hail only lasting 5 turns added with the fact that Trick Room only lasts 5 turns, I was going to have to play with an extremely offensive playstyle to get the most out of him. I had to resort to an offensive TR setter.
Chandelure - Trick Room Setter
Chandelure @ Focus Sash
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Trick Room
- Heat Wave
- Shadow Ball
- Pain Split
Chandelure has great synergy with Abomasnow, immunity to Fake Out, powerful multi-hit Heat Wave and excellent special damage output. She can run a low-speed nature with 0 Speed IVs effectively under Trick Room, and is still useful outside of Trick Room. Despite the HP investement, Focus Sash is there as a safety net against something like a Dark Pulse from Greninja. Pain Split might seem like an odd choice, but it goes very well with Focus Sash and lets Chandelure bring some specific targets like Tyranitar to lower health while healing her, mitigating the effect of Hail somewhat. I did not choose Infiltrator as an ability, mostly because Flash Fire is better for switching in to Fire-type attacks aimed at Abomasnow.
With a Trick Room setter, I needed something that could help Chandelure set Trick Room reliably. Follow Me users like Togekiss or Clefable were not available in VGC, and no way in hell I was going to have Lucario tank hits just to get clobbered and KO'd. I had to resort to using a Fake-Out user, as these are more offensive. No Hitmontop also meant I had to get creative. I needed something that could use Fake-Out, take some damage, and deal damage back.
Scrafty - Fake Out Offensive Support
Scrafty @ Lum Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Fake Out
- Drain Punch
- Crunch
- Detect
Aside from providing Fake Out support, I chose Scrafty because of it's offensive typing and damage output was great. It's defenses are good enough to let it survive attacks and can heal off Hail damage with Drain Punch. It also takes out Tyranitar, one of the opposing weather setters. Crunch defeats every other Trick Room setter except Aromatisse, and is his strongest move. I'm currently unsure of what the best item for this Scrafty is; Lum Berry has saved my ass from having a crippled Scrafty, so it's the one I'm listing unless someone offers something better.
Now that I had the Trick Room core complete, it was time to start thinking about the potential 4th slot Pokémon; in other words, if I was to lead with Trick-Room, I was going to have to help Abomasnow in some way once he came out. The first thing I thought about was how the hell I was going to check Mega-Charizard Y, who at this point was a massive threat with auto-sun and Fire-type moves. The second thing I thought about was Mega-Mawile, who was the biggest threat because;
a) it benefited from Trick Room,
b) takes pitiful damage from both Abomasnow and Scrafty's moves, and
c) could sweep my team if Chandelure was KO'd.
Rotom-W - Offensive Water support
Rotom-Wash @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 SDef
Calm Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Volt Switch
Rotom-W's typing lets me take check opposing Fire- and Steel-types, who would otherwise destroy my team. Hydro Pump takes care of Fire-types. A 4x resistance to Steel-type moves lets it switch in on Mega-Mawile and cripple with Will-o-Wisp. Thunderbolt is to take care of Mega-Charizard Y under sun. I went with max HP for maximum bulk and max SDef to tank more special hits. I didn't invest in Defense because Scrafty already helps with Intimidate. overall has good synergy and bulk to last long.
With a pretty solid core at this point, it was time to start looking at other teammates that could serve as back ups. We all (hopefully) know what happens if a Trick Room team only has slow Pokémon; it is doomed to fail. So I needed Pokémon that would benefit when Trick Room wasn't up. I thought about were priority users, since these would ignore the effect of Trick Room regardless of their speed.
Scizor - Punching Holes at the Speed of Sound
Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Pursuit
- Quick Attack
Scizor was chosen because of his powerfull Technician-boosted Bullet Punch that packs a lot of power behind a Choice Band, making it the best priority move in my team. Bullet Punch lets him counter other HailRoom teams, and it also hits Aromatisse for supereffective damage, the only Trick Room user Scrafty couldn't touch. U-Turn is to maintain momentum and goes well with Rotom-W using Volt Switch. Pursuit hits escaping weather-setters like Politoed trying to switch out after Abomasnow has put Hail, and is powerful regardless if the opponent is escaping or not thanks to Technician. Currently having no access to Superpower, I was forced to resort to another priority move that would hit most of everything that resisted Bullet Punch for neutral damage.
The last Pokémon in my team had to be something that would help serve as a Backup to any of my team members. For example, if Chandelure went down, who would take care of Mega-Mawile? Or if in Team Preview I saw a lot Fire-types, obviously I wouldn't go with Scizor for priority.
Talonflame - Backup Plan
Talonflame @ Life Orb
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 196 HP / 252 Atk / 60 Def
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
- Protect
- Taunt
Talonflame may seem like an extremely odd choice, especially on a Trick Room team. The way I use her is by taking out very specific threats that give the rest of my team trouble should one of my team members fail or have a disadvantage under Trick-Room or no Trick-Room. If Chandelure goes down, then Talonflame can come in and take down Mega-Mawile. The EV's in HP and Def are to tank a hit from Mega-Mawile under Trick Room and take it out with Flare Blitz. Everything else gets hit with a priority Brave Bird. Taunt shuts down oppossing Trick Room leads and Klefki.
The Team - HailRoom
So, comments? Suggestions? Fixes? Remember, this is VGC 2014; that means only Kalos Pokédex Pokémon are allowed. So don't mention Cresselia, Hitmontop, Togekiss, etc.
I started thinking about how to make the best possible HailRoom in the current pre-pokébank metagame of VGC, which has a ton of restrictions in place; an unreleased Auroros with Snow Warning meant that I had to go with Abomasnow to set Hail. Here are the movesets and descriptions. The italic text are my thought process, what I was thinking and what led me to choose the next teammate.
Abomasnow - Obligatory Hail-setting Christmas Tree
-MEVO-> Abomasnow (M) @ Abomasite
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Atk / 208 SAtk
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Blizzard
- Wood Hammer
- Ice Shard
- Protect
Blizzard is Abomasnow's best attack, becoming 100% accurate under Hail. It's low speed makes it one of the "fastest" Pokémon under Trick Room and letting it strike first most of the time. I invest in maximum HP to let Abomasnow tank some weak priority hits and survive longer, 48 Atk gives Wood Hammer enough power to OHKO or at least dent Tyranitar, Azumarill and Rotom-W, and the rest goes into SpA to make Blizzard much stronger.
With Abomasnow in the team, I had to start thinking about a trick room setter. With the nerf of hail only lasting 5 turns added with the fact that Trick Room only lasts 5 turns, I was going to have to play with an extremely offensive playstyle to get the most out of him. I had to resort to an offensive TR setter.
Chandelure - Trick Room Setter
Chandelure @ Focus Sash
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Trick Room
- Heat Wave
- Shadow Ball
- Pain Split
Chandelure has great synergy with Abomasnow, immunity to Fake Out, powerful multi-hit Heat Wave and excellent special damage output. She can run a low-speed nature with 0 Speed IVs effectively under Trick Room, and is still useful outside of Trick Room. Despite the HP investement, Focus Sash is there as a safety net against something like a Dark Pulse from Greninja. Pain Split might seem like an odd choice, but it goes very well with Focus Sash and lets Chandelure bring some specific targets like Tyranitar to lower health while healing her, mitigating the effect of Hail somewhat. I did not choose Infiltrator as an ability, mostly because Flash Fire is better for switching in to Fire-type attacks aimed at Abomasnow.
With a Trick Room setter, I needed something that could help Chandelure set Trick Room reliably. Follow Me users like Togekiss or Clefable were not available in VGC, and no way in hell I was going to have Lucario tank hits just to get clobbered and KO'd. I had to resort to using a Fake-Out user, as these are more offensive. No Hitmontop also meant I had to get creative. I needed something that could use Fake-Out, take some damage, and deal damage back.
Scrafty - Fake Out Offensive Support
Scrafty @ Lum Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Fake Out
- Drain Punch
- Crunch
- Detect
Aside from providing Fake Out support, I chose Scrafty because of it's offensive typing and damage output was great. It's defenses are good enough to let it survive attacks and can heal off Hail damage with Drain Punch. It also takes out Tyranitar, one of the opposing weather setters. Crunch defeats every other Trick Room setter except Aromatisse, and is his strongest move. I'm currently unsure of what the best item for this Scrafty is; Lum Berry has saved my ass from having a crippled Scrafty, so it's the one I'm listing unless someone offers something better.
Now that I had the Trick Room core complete, it was time to start thinking about the potential 4th slot Pokémon; in other words, if I was to lead with Trick-Room, I was going to have to help Abomasnow in some way once he came out. The first thing I thought about was how the hell I was going to check Mega-Charizard Y, who at this point was a massive threat with auto-sun and Fire-type moves. The second thing I thought about was Mega-Mawile, who was the biggest threat because;
a) it benefited from Trick Room,
b) takes pitiful damage from both Abomasnow and Scrafty's moves, and
c) could sweep my team if Chandelure was KO'd.
Rotom-W - Offensive Water support
Rotom-Wash @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 SDef
Calm Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Volt Switch
Rotom-W's typing lets me take check opposing Fire- and Steel-types, who would otherwise destroy my team. Hydro Pump takes care of Fire-types. A 4x resistance to Steel-type moves lets it switch in on Mega-Mawile and cripple with Will-o-Wisp. Thunderbolt is to take care of Mega-Charizard Y under sun. I went with max HP for maximum bulk and max SDef to tank more special hits. I didn't invest in Defense because Scrafty already helps with Intimidate. overall has good synergy and bulk to last long.
With a pretty solid core at this point, it was time to start looking at other teammates that could serve as back ups. We all (hopefully) know what happens if a Trick Room team only has slow Pokémon; it is doomed to fail. So I needed Pokémon that would benefit when Trick Room wasn't up. I thought about were priority users, since these would ignore the effect of Trick Room regardless of their speed.
Scizor - Punching Holes at the Speed of Sound
Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Pursuit
- Quick Attack
Scizor was chosen because of his powerfull Technician-boosted Bullet Punch that packs a lot of power behind a Choice Band, making it the best priority move in my team. Bullet Punch lets him counter other HailRoom teams, and it also hits Aromatisse for supereffective damage, the only Trick Room user Scrafty couldn't touch. U-Turn is to maintain momentum and goes well with Rotom-W using Volt Switch. Pursuit hits escaping weather-setters like Politoed trying to switch out after Abomasnow has put Hail, and is powerful regardless if the opponent is escaping or not thanks to Technician. Currently having no access to Superpower, I was forced to resort to another priority move that would hit most of everything that resisted Bullet Punch for neutral damage.
The last Pokémon in my team had to be something that would help serve as a Backup to any of my team members. For example, if Chandelure went down, who would take care of Mega-Mawile? Or if in Team Preview I saw a lot Fire-types, obviously I wouldn't go with Scizor for priority.
Talonflame - Backup Plan
Talonflame @ Life Orb
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 196 HP / 252 Atk / 60 Def
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
- Protect
- Taunt
Talonflame may seem like an extremely odd choice, especially on a Trick Room team. The way I use her is by taking out very specific threats that give the rest of my team trouble should one of my team members fail or have a disadvantage under Trick-Room or no Trick-Room. If Chandelure goes down, then Talonflame can come in and take down Mega-Mawile. The EV's in HP and Def are to tank a hit from Mega-Mawile under Trick Room and take it out with Flare Blitz. Everything else gets hit with a priority Brave Bird. Taunt shuts down oppossing Trick Room leads and Klefki.
The Team - HailRoom
So, comments? Suggestions? Fixes? Remember, this is VGC 2014; that means only Kalos Pokédex Pokémon are allowed. So don't mention Cresselia, Hitmontop, Togekiss, etc.
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