[overview]
**Draft Order**: Round 7 onwards
**Price Range**: 4-5 points
**Overview**: Abomasnow is a great budget pick that can support its team through its unique typing and ability to set Aurora Veil. Although Grass / Ice isn't a strong defensive typing, its solid mixed bulk under snow and ability to easily switch in on many Ground-, Water-, and Grass-type Pokemon give it plenty of opportunities to set Aurora Veil and fire off strong attacks throughout a match. Passable mixed offensive stats, high-powered STAB attacks, and excellent physical and special coverage make Abomasnow surprisingly difficult for foes to switch in on when positioned well. Unfortunately, its large number of weaknesses and low Speed make it tricky to use in many matchups.
[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Aurora Veil**: While Abomasnow is not as consistent as Alolan Ninetales due to its lower Speed and numerous weaknesses, it can set Aurora Veil somewhat reliably either as an offensive lead or by leveraging its bulk to set it multiple times throughout a match. Since Aurora Veil only needs a single moveslot, Abomasnow has a ton of flexibility on these sets, being able to use its choice of STAB moves like Blizzard and Wood Hammer as well as utility options like Leech Seed and Ice Shard.
**Bulky Mixed Attacker**: If it does not need to set up Aurora Veil, Abomasnow generally acts as a bulky attacker, using its resistances to common types to switch in and throw out powerful attacks. Blizzard is very spammable in snow, Leaf Storm and Wood Hammer are powerful secondary STAB options, and Earth Power, Earthquake, and Focus Blast are great coverage options. The final move on this set is very flexible based on the matchup; Abomasnow can run options like Ice Shard to pick off faster weakened threats, Leech Seed to stay healthy and keep momentum against consistent switch-ins, and additional coverage to break through walls that may otherwise be hard to beat.
**Physical Setup**: Swords Dance can be used combination with STAB moves, coverage, and priority to let Abomasnow both break and clean up. Substitute can buy it turns to set up while protecting it from harmful status moves.
Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Blizzard, Giga Drain, Leaf Storm, Energy Ball, Wood Hammer, Ice Spinner, Seed Bomb, Ice Shard, Avalanche
**Setup Moves**: Swords Dance, Trailblaze
**Utility Moves**: Aurora Veil, Substitute, Leech Seed, Protect, Brick Break
**Coverage**: Earth Power, Earthquake, Focus Blast, Low Kick, Rock Slide
Niche Moves
========
**Snowscape**: Snowscape can be used in weather matchups where an opposing weather setter such as Torkoal may try to switch directly into Abomasnow to steal the weather and prevent Aurora Veil from going up.
**Curse**: While Swords Dance is Abomasnow's primary setup move, Curse can be used against teams that have a harder time breaking through Defense boosts.
**Icy Wind / Rock Tomb**: Icy Wind and Rock Tomb give Abomasnow a speed control option to ease prediction and help slow down foes for its teammates.
Common Items
========
**Heavy-Duty Boots**: Given its weakness to all entry hazards, particularly Stealth Rock, Abomasnow typically defaults to Heavy-Duty Boots for longevity so it can actually use its bulk.
**Light Clay**: Light Clay pairs well with sets that primarily aim to set up Aurora Veil, especially for hyper offense teams where the extra turns of protection are more valuable than the ability to come in multiple times in a game.
Niche Items
========
**Focus Sash**: Focus Sash can be used over Light Clay when guaranteeing an Aurora Veil, especially as a lead, is more important than the extra uptime.
**Choice Specs / Band**: Abomasnow can run Choice Specs or Choice Band for a huge damage increase. However, these items exacerbate its weakness to entry hazards and can cost crucial momentum with poor prediction.
**Choice Scarf**: Choice Scarf lets Abomasnow get the jump on usually faster Pokemon that may not expect it to outspeed, which pairs well with its powerful Blizzard and Grass-type STAB moves.
**Damage-boosting Items**: Abomasnow's relatively unimpressive base attack stats mean that sometimes offensive sets may need items like Life Orb and Never-Melt Ice to secure KOs.
**Eject Pack**: Eject Pack + Leaf Storm lets Abomasnow position its teammates against the usually obvious Steel- or Fire-types that like to switch in on its STAB attacks.
**Weakness Policy**: Abomasnow's typing leaves it with numerous weaknesses, but its bulk lets it survive a single non-Fire-type super effective attack from many Pokemon, especially on the physical side, allowing it to easily activate Weakness Policy and trade back with high-powered attacks.
**Custap Berry**: Abomasnow can frequently find itself living at low HP, so Custap Berry can mitigate its low Speed and give it one last chance to dish out damage or set Aurora Veil before it's knocked out.
**Mental Herb**: Mental Herb can be run on lead Abomasnow sets when a potential opposing lead with Taunt is a likely Aurora Veil deterrent.
Tera
========
Although Abomasnow should not be considered as a primary Tera Captain, it can work well as a backup option, since Tera allows it to mitigate its numerous weaknesses from its standard typing. Tera Water, Ground, and Fire work well both offensively and defensively, and standard defensive typings like Tera Fairy and Steel can work well on bulkier sets. Be careful when using Tera Abomasnow, however, as any Tera Type other than Ice removes the Defense boost from snow that Abomasnow frequently relies on to take hits. Due to this, Tera Ice can be viable to keep that boost, remove the weaknesses from its Grass typing, and boost the power of Blizzard and Ice Shard.
Draft Strategy
========
As a late round budget pick, Abomasnow is best drafted on teams that can take advantage of its unique offerings such as Aurora Veil and the ability to pressure most bulky Water-, Ground-, and Grass-type Pokemon. Additionally, it works well with teammates that threaten Steel- and Fire-type Pokemon so it can more easily fire off powerful Blizzards.
**Setup Sweepers**: Abomasnow's Aurora Veil gives offensive setup sweepers like Ogerpon and Iron Boulder more opportunities to set up and win the game. It also works well with bulkier setup Pokemon like Annihilape, giving them the chance to snowball boosts.
**Entry Hazard Control**: While Abomasnow frequently uses Heavy-Duty Boots to avoid damage from entry hazards, it appreciates hazard control from the likes of Great Tusk, Quaquaval, and Cinderace to let itto hold a more impactful item like Light Clay or a damage-boosting item on offensive sets.
**Bulky Water- and Ground-type Baits**: Since Abomasnow can easily switch in on bulky Water- and Ground-types, it works well with teammates that bait these in. Pokemon with momentum moves like Blaziken and Landorus-T work well, since they can get it in safely. Abomasnow supports Raging Bolt especially nicely, since its Ice Shard can handle many faster Ground-types that Thunderclap fails to hit.
**Pivots**: Offensive Abomasnow sets want pivot support to get it in safely to attack. Offensive pivots like Greninja and Cinderace can bait in bulkier Pokemon that it matches up well against. Slower pivots like Galarian Slowking and Corviknight can work well with Aurora Veil sets to bring in setup sweepers safely, letting them use the extra bulk to easily set up.
Checks and Counters
========
**Bulky Steel- and Fire-types**: Steel- and Fire-type attacks both resist Abomasnow's STAB attacks, making them obvious switch-ins. Pokemon like Heatran, Gholdengo, and Iron Crown can switch in on Blizzard and Grass-type moves and immediately threaten it back with super effective attacks.
**Momentum Moves**: Faster Pokemon with momentum moves can put Abomasnow in a lose-lose situation. In particular, Pokemon with a strong U-Turn like Scizor and Cinderace are problematic, since it has to choose between giving up momentum or taking huge amounts of damage. Flip Turn and Volt Switch can also give Abomasnow a hard time, since they let Pokemon that would otherwise be checked by it, such as Milotic and Raikou, pivot to a more favorable matchup.
**Aurora Veil Disruption**: Any Pokemon that can prevent Aurora Veil from being set or staying up can counter Abomasnow strategies that rely on the move. Taunt leads like Deoxys-S and Cobalion can stop it from using the move, while Defoggers like Scizor can switch in and remove it. Due to Abomasnow's weakness to Fighting, its checks can run Brick Break to threaten it with significant damage and also remove Aurora Veil. While niche, opposing weather setters can also disable the move, either from an ability or manually.
**Wallbreakers**: Abomasnow's typing leaves it weak to many types, and its low Speed often means it attacks last, making it susceptible to many powerful attackers. Common Choice Band users like Urshifu-S can deal massive damage to it, even through the Defense boost from snow. Abomasnow also has a hard time taking neutral attacks from powerful special breakers like Kyurem and Enamorus.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/hawhatos.139162
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/jscurf2.608304/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/vmnunes.613460/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/techno.527276/
**Draft Order**: Round 7 onwards
**Price Range**: 4-5 points
**Overview**: Abomasnow is a great budget pick that can support its team through its unique typing and ability to set Aurora Veil. Although Grass / Ice isn't a strong defensive typing, its solid mixed bulk under snow and ability to easily switch in on many Ground-, Water-, and Grass-type Pokemon give it plenty of opportunities to set Aurora Veil and fire off strong attacks throughout a match. Passable mixed offensive stats, high-powered STAB attacks, and excellent physical and special coverage make Abomasnow surprisingly difficult for foes to switch in on when positioned well. Unfortunately, its large number of weaknesses and low Speed make it tricky to use in many matchups.
[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Aurora Veil**: While Abomasnow is not as consistent as Alolan Ninetales due to its lower Speed and numerous weaknesses, it can set Aurora Veil somewhat reliably either as an offensive lead or by leveraging its bulk to set it multiple times throughout a match. Since Aurora Veil only needs a single moveslot, Abomasnow has a ton of flexibility on these sets, being able to use its choice of STAB moves like Blizzard and Wood Hammer as well as utility options like Leech Seed and Ice Shard.
**Bulky Mixed Attacker**: If it does not need to set up Aurora Veil, Abomasnow generally acts as a bulky attacker, using its resistances to common types to switch in and throw out powerful attacks. Blizzard is very spammable in snow, Leaf Storm and Wood Hammer are powerful secondary STAB options, and Earth Power, Earthquake, and Focus Blast are great coverage options. The final move on this set is very flexible based on the matchup; Abomasnow can run options like Ice Shard to pick off faster weakened threats, Leech Seed to stay healthy and keep momentum against consistent switch-ins, and additional coverage to break through walls that may otherwise be hard to beat.
**Physical Setup**: Swords Dance can be used combination with STAB moves, coverage, and priority to let Abomasnow both break and clean up. Substitute can buy it turns to set up while protecting it from harmful status moves.
Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Blizzard, Giga Drain, Leaf Storm, Energy Ball, Wood Hammer, Ice Spinner, Seed Bomb, Ice Shard, Avalanche
**Setup Moves**: Swords Dance, Trailblaze
**Utility Moves**: Aurora Veil, Substitute, Leech Seed, Protect, Brick Break
**Coverage**: Earth Power, Earthquake, Focus Blast, Low Kick, Rock Slide
Niche Moves
========
**Snowscape**: Snowscape can be used in weather matchups where an opposing weather setter such as Torkoal may try to switch directly into Abomasnow to steal the weather and prevent Aurora Veil from going up.
**Curse**: While Swords Dance is Abomasnow's primary setup move, Curse can be used against teams that have a harder time breaking through Defense boosts.
**Icy Wind / Rock Tomb**: Icy Wind and Rock Tomb give Abomasnow a speed control option to ease prediction and help slow down foes for its teammates.
Common Items
========
**Heavy-Duty Boots**: Given its weakness to all entry hazards, particularly Stealth Rock, Abomasnow typically defaults to Heavy-Duty Boots for longevity so it can actually use its bulk.
**Light Clay**: Light Clay pairs well with sets that primarily aim to set up Aurora Veil, especially for hyper offense teams where the extra turns of protection are more valuable than the ability to come in multiple times in a game.
Niche Items
========
**Focus Sash**: Focus Sash can be used over Light Clay when guaranteeing an Aurora Veil, especially as a lead, is more important than the extra uptime.
**Choice Specs / Band**: Abomasnow can run Choice Specs or Choice Band for a huge damage increase. However, these items exacerbate its weakness to entry hazards and can cost crucial momentum with poor prediction.
**Choice Scarf**: Choice Scarf lets Abomasnow get the jump on usually faster Pokemon that may not expect it to outspeed, which pairs well with its powerful Blizzard and Grass-type STAB moves.
**Damage-boosting Items**: Abomasnow's relatively unimpressive base attack stats mean that sometimes offensive sets may need items like Life Orb and Never-Melt Ice to secure KOs.
**Eject Pack**: Eject Pack + Leaf Storm lets Abomasnow position its teammates against the usually obvious Steel- or Fire-types that like to switch in on its STAB attacks.
**Weakness Policy**: Abomasnow's typing leaves it with numerous weaknesses, but its bulk lets it survive a single non-Fire-type super effective attack from many Pokemon, especially on the physical side, allowing it to easily activate Weakness Policy and trade back with high-powered attacks.
**Custap Berry**: Abomasnow can frequently find itself living at low HP, so Custap Berry can mitigate its low Speed and give it one last chance to dish out damage or set Aurora Veil before it's knocked out.
**Mental Herb**: Mental Herb can be run on lead Abomasnow sets when a potential opposing lead with Taunt is a likely Aurora Veil deterrent.
Tera
========
Although Abomasnow should not be considered as a primary Tera Captain, it can work well as a backup option, since Tera allows it to mitigate its numerous weaknesses from its standard typing. Tera Water, Ground, and Fire work well both offensively and defensively, and standard defensive typings like Tera Fairy and Steel can work well on bulkier sets. Be careful when using Tera Abomasnow, however, as any Tera Type other than Ice removes the Defense boost from snow that Abomasnow frequently relies on to take hits. Due to this, Tera Ice can be viable to keep that boost, remove the weaknesses from its Grass typing, and boost the power of Blizzard and Ice Shard.
Draft Strategy
========
As a late round budget pick, Abomasnow is best drafted on teams that can take advantage of its unique offerings such as Aurora Veil and the ability to pressure most bulky Water-, Ground-, and Grass-type Pokemon. Additionally, it works well with teammates that threaten Steel- and Fire-type Pokemon so it can more easily fire off powerful Blizzards.
**Setup Sweepers**: Abomasnow's Aurora Veil gives offensive setup sweepers like Ogerpon and Iron Boulder more opportunities to set up and win the game. It also works well with bulkier setup Pokemon like Annihilape, giving them the chance to snowball boosts.
**Entry Hazard Control**: While Abomasnow frequently uses Heavy-Duty Boots to avoid damage from entry hazards, it appreciates hazard control from the likes of Great Tusk, Quaquaval, and Cinderace to let it
**Bulky Water- and Ground-type Baits**: Since Abomasnow can easily switch in on bulky Water- and Ground-types, it works well with teammates that bait these in. Pokemon with momentum moves like Blaziken and Landorus-T work well, since they can get it in safely. Abomasnow supports Raging Bolt especially nicely, since its Ice Shard can handle many faster Ground-types that Thunderclap fails to hit.
**Pivots**: Offensive Abomasnow sets want pivot support to get it in safely to attack. Offensive pivots like Greninja and Cinderace can bait in bulkier Pokemon that it matches up well against. Slower pivots like Galarian Slowking and Corviknight can work well with Aurora Veil sets to bring in setup sweepers safely, letting them use the extra bulk to easily set up.
Checks and Counters
========
**Bulky Steel- and Fire-types**: Steel- and Fire-type attacks both resist Abomasnow's STAB attacks, making them obvious switch-ins. Pokemon like Heatran, Gholdengo, and Iron Crown can switch in on Blizzard and Grass-type moves and immediately threaten it back with super effective attacks.
**Momentum Moves**: Faster Pokemon with momentum moves can put Abomasnow in a lose-lose situation. In particular, Pokemon with a strong U-Turn like Scizor and Cinderace are problematic, since it has to choose between giving up momentum or taking huge amounts of damage. Flip Turn and Volt Switch can also give Abomasnow a hard time, since they let Pokemon that would otherwise be checked by it, such as Milotic and Raikou, pivot to a more favorable matchup.
**Aurora Veil Disruption**: Any Pokemon that can prevent Aurora Veil from being set or staying up can counter Abomasnow strategies that rely on the move. Taunt leads like Deoxys-S and Cobalion can stop it from using the move, while Defoggers like Scizor can switch in and remove it. Due to Abomasnow's weakness to Fighting, its checks can run Brick Break to threaten it with significant damage and also remove Aurora Veil. While niche, opposing weather setters can also disable the move, either from an ability or manually.
**Wallbreakers**: Abomasnow's typing leaves it weak to many types, and its low Speed often means it attacks last, making it susceptible to many powerful attackers. Common Choice Band users like Urshifu-S can deal massive damage to it, even through the Defense boost from snow. Abomasnow also has a hard time taking neutral attacks from powerful special breakers like Kyurem and Enamorus.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/hawhatos.139162
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/jscurf2.608304/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/vmnunes.613460/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/techno.527276/
Last edited:
