Lately I have been playing around with the idea of an offensive hail team. I don't know many teams that don't carry around at least one Ice weakness, and most teams usually have two. I wanted to feature 3 offensive ice pokemon that put me at an immediate advantage over teams that pack more than one ice weakness. Key problems with an offensive ice team are getting through Steel types because of their resistance to Ice moves and the ability to hit hard with STAB steel moves. I had that in mind and tried to incorporate walls that could take steel attacks, fighting attacks, rock attacks, and fire attacks and combat my problems with skarmory and bronzong because my main three ice sweepers can't handle them. The team has had some success, I've switched it up a little since this battle but the idea remains the same. The team isn't greatly structured and has some obvious problems, but I wanted to try something new and it has been fun using it. I chose this for a warstory because the battle featured the positives of an offensive hail team pretty well (latent hail damage was a slight factor, any ice weaknesses have trouble getting in). I took out the opponents name because I didn't ask for their permission to post this story. Anyway, the teams:
My Team:
Opponent's Team:
The battle was over shoddy battle, here it is:
Rules: Ladder Match, Sleep Clause, Freeze Clause, OHKO Clause, Evasion Clause, Species Clause, Strict Damage Clause
Opponent sent out Mismagius (lvl 100 Mismagius ?).
mn_wild sent out Abomasnow (lvl 100 Abomasnow ?).
Abomasnow's Snow Warning whipped up a hailstorm!
Hail began to fall!
mn_wild switched in Weavile (lvl 100 Weavile ?).
Weavile is exerting its pressure!
Mismagius used Thunder Wave.
Weavile is paralysed! It may be unable to move!
The hail continues to fall.
Mismagius is pelted by hail!
Mismagius lost 6% of its health.
---
A mismagius start throws me off. My initial thought was to swap in Blissey, but I don't run a CM Blissey and would rather not have the CM Mismagius walk over my team. I swap into weavile hoping that he CM's on the swap, but I get a rude awakening with weavile eating a paralyze. The battle isn't going my way early. I try to remember if Mismagius gets Will-o-Wisp, and from the TWave start I take a guess it must be double status and decide to keep weavile in to go for a night slash.
Mismagius used Substitute.
Mismagius lost 25% of its health.
Mismagius made a substitute!
Weavile is paralysed! It can't move!
The hail continues to fall.
Mismagius is pelted by hail!
Mismagius lost 6% of its health.
---
An interesting move. TWave + Substitute? My guess is it certainly carries SOME sort of attacking move and probably has shadowball and decide to bring Blissey in since weavile decides to curl into a ball rather than attacking. My best guess at the set was Twave/WilloWisp/Shadow Ball/Substitute -- he hoped for the swap out and could sit behind the substitute to choose between a paralyze/burn on my next swap in, but when Weavile stayed in he decided to bail and we got a double swap.
Opponent switched in Vaporeon (lvl 100 Vaporeon ?).
mn_wild switched in Blissey (lvl 100 Blissey ?).
The hail continues to fall.
Blissey is pelted by hail!
Blissey lost 6% of its health.
Vaporeon is pelted by hail!
Vaporeon lost 6% of its health.
Blissey's leftovers restored its health a little!
Blissey restored 6% of its health.
Vaporeon's leftovers restored its health a little!
Vaporeon restored 6% of its health.
---
As I mentioned above it was a double swap
Blissey used Thunder Wave.
Vaporeon is paralysed! It may be unable to move!
Vaporeon used Substitute.
Vaporeon lost 25% of its health.
Vaporeon made a substitute!
The hail continues to fall.
Blissey is pelted by hail!
Blissey lost 6% of its health.
Vaporeon is pelted by hail!
Vaporeon lost 6% of its health.
Blissey's leftovers restored its health a little!
Blissey restored 6% of its health.
Vaporeon's leftovers restored its health a little!
Vaporeon restored 6% of its health.
---
Majority of Vaporeons carry Wish/Surf/Ice Beam as their primary moves and I figure he would swap out and try to steal a paralyze whatever swaps in. Surprisingly Vaporeon stays in and substitutes, but not before eating paralyze. It must be a baton passer and I need to break that sub!
Blissey used Grass Knot.
It's super effective!
The substitute took damage for Vaporeon!
Vaporeon's substitute faded!
Vaporeon is paralysed! It can't move!
The hail continues to fall.
Blissey is pelted by hail!
Blissey lost 6% of its health.
Vaporeon is pelted by hail!
Vaporeon lost 6% of its health.
Blissey's leftovers restored its health a little!
Blissey restored 6% of its health.
Vaporeon's leftovers restored its health a little!
Vaporeon restored 6% of its health.
---
I don't carry a phazer on this version of the team and hope to get lucky and attack him with grass knot. Vaporeon is a useful Mixape counter for a reason because of his lightness to prevent high grass knot base power. I get lucky and he gets paralyzed on what I figure was an attempted baton pass.
Opponent switched in Bronzong (lvl 100 Bronzong).
Blissey used Grass Knot.
It's not very effective...
Bronzong lost 9% of its health.
The hail continues to fall.
Blissey is pelted by hail!
Blissey lost 6% of its health.
Bronzong is pelted by hail!
Bronzong lost 6% of its health.
Blissey's leftovers restored its health a little!
Blissey restored 6% of its health.
Bronzong's leftovers restored its health a little!
Bronzong restored 6% of its health.
---
Not much to say here - he brings in bronzong as his vaporeon would have just had the substitute broken by my next grass knot or he could have try to set up another after I broke the first. He opts to try and setup Stealth Rocks with bronzong I figure -- anyone that sees an Abomasnow starter should immediately be thinking of getting them up ASAP to punish ice type swap ins.
Blissey used Flamethrower.
It's super effective!
Bronzong lost 35% of its health.
Bronzong used Hypnosis.
Blissey fell asleep!
The hail continues to fall.
Blissey is pelted by hail!
Blissey lost 6% of its health.
Bronzong is pelted by hail!
Bronzong lost 6% of its health.
Blissey's leftovers restored its health a little!
Blissey restored 6% of its health.
Bronzong's leftovers restored its health a little!
Bronzong restored 6% of its health.
---
Unforunately for him I make blissey have a 3HKO on most standard bronzongs (2HKO on Skarms). The flamethrower hits bronzong pretty hard as he sleeps me. I figure he hopes to outpredict a swap and Hypnosis again or set up stealth rocks -- I go to my sleep absorb in case he does try another hypnosis.
mn_wild switched in Machamp (lvl 100 Machamp ?).
Bronzong used Stealth Rock.
Pointed stones float in the air around your foe's team!
The hail continues to fall.
Machamp is pelted by hail!
Machamp lost 6% of its health.
Bronzong is pelted by hail!
Bronzong lost 6% of its health.
Bronzong's leftovers restored its health a little!
Bronzong restored 6% of its health.
---
He opts to stealth rock which is probably a good choice against a hail team. Even if he had slept me my CB, Guts, Sleep Talking Machamp would have had a powerful CC/Ice Punch/Tpunch heading bronzongs way.
Opponent switched in Mismagius (lvl 100 Mismagius ?).
Machamp used Thunderpunch.
Mismagius lost 63% of its health.
Opponents's Mismagius fainted.
The hail continues to fall.
Machamp is pelted by hail!
Machamp lost 6% of its health.
---
I decided to not blindly go with Close Combat because I knew Mismagius was around and that is too predictable anyway. The CB Thunderpunch hits Mismagius on the swap and I take the early lead
SCORE: 6-5 My lead
Opponent switched in Gallade (lvl 100 Gallade ?).
mn_wild switched in Starmie (lvl 100 Starmie).
Pointed stones dug into Starmie.
Starmie lost 12% of its health.
Gallade used Close Combat.
It's not very effective...
Starmie lost 66% of its health.
Gallade's defence was lowered.
Gallade's special defence was lowered.
The hail continues to fall.
Starmie is pelted by hail!
Starmie lost 6% of its health.
Gallade is pelted by hail!
Gallade lost 6% of its health.
Starmie's leftovers restored its health a little!
Starmie restored 6% of its health.
---
After seeing three setup pokemon/defensive pokemon (Mismagius/Bronzong/Vaporeon) I knew this gallade was more than likely going to be offensively orientated. I swap in my fighting resist in Starmie, even though I know the threat of night slash is there. Though, after taking 66% damage from gallade's CC I know it HAS to be choice band and I don't have to worry about night slash. I was worried that I could let a CB Gallade rip through my team and decided to try and TWave it with Starmie to cripple it's chances of wrecking my team with CC. Looking back, I could have gone for the KO with Surf after the defence drop, but my decision worked out fine anyway.
Opponent switched in Bronzong (lvl 100 Bronzong).
Starmie used Thunder Wave.
Bronzong is paralysed! It may be unable to move!
The hail continues to fall.
Starmie is pelted by hail!
Starmie lost 6% of its health.
Bronzong is pelted by hail!
Bronzong lost 6% of its health.
Starmie's leftovers restored its health a little!
Starmie restored 6% of its health.
Bronzong's leftovers restored its health a little!
Bronzong restored 6% of its health.
---
He swaps bronzong into Starmie and I paralyze it. I carry natural cure on Starmie and don't care if he tries to sleep - I take the chance to recover some HP in case gallade comes back around.
Starmie used Recover.
Starmie restored 50% of its health.
Bronzong is paralysed! It can't move!
The hail continues to fall.
Starmie is pelted by hail!
Starmie lost 6% of its health.
Bronzong is pelted by hail!
Bronzong lost 6% of its health.
Starmie's leftovers restored its health a little!
Starmie restored 6% of its health.
Bronzong's leftovers restored its health a little!
Bronzong restored 6% of its health.
---
Recover on up and Bronzong is fully paralyzed. I still stay in as bronzong can't really touch me and I have a chance to get rid of the nasty Stealth Rock.
Starmie used Rapid Spin.
Starmie blew away the spikes!
It's not very effective...
Bronzong lost 1% of its health.
Bronzong used Explosion.
Starmie lost 72% of its health.
mn_wild's Starmie fainted.
Opponents's Bronzong fainted.
The hail continues to fall.
---
Oops, now I know why he persisted on keeping bronzong in there as my opponent probably realized that Starmie is my main way to handle fighting attacks. My guess is that Gallade is coming back in and I cringe at the thought, but I run a slightly different Abomasnow that I hope can take out gallade with him.
SCORE: 5-4 My Lead
Opponent switched in Gallade (lvl 100 Gallade ?).
mn_wild switched in Abomasnow (lvl 100 Abomasnow ?).
Abomasnow's Snow Warning whipped up a hailstorm!
Abomasnow used Wood Hammer.
Gallade lost 84% of its health.
Abomasnow was hit by recoil!
Abomasnow lost 25% of its health.
Gallade used Close Combat.
It's super effective!
Abomasnow lost 75% of its health.
mn_wild's Abomasnow fainted.
Gallade's defence was lowered.
Gallade's special defence was lowered.
The hail continues to fall.
Gallade is pelted by hail!
Gallade lost 6% of its health.
---
Darn, I leave gallade at minimal health as my Wood Hammer can't quite finish off gallade. Though, Scarf Abomasnow did his job and left it in range for my other pokemon to take care of him.
SCORE: 4-4 TIE
mn_wild switched in Mamoswine (lvl 100 Mamoswine ?).
Opponent switched in Vaporeon (lvl 100 Vaporeon ?).
Mamoswine used Ice Shard.
It's not very effective...
Vaporeon lost 11% of its health.
Mamoswine lost 10% of its health.
The hail continues to fall.
Vaporeon is pelted by hail!
Vaporeon lost 6% of its health.
Vaporeon's leftovers restored its health a little!
Vaporeon restored 6% of its health.
---
I go with Mamoswine to try to Ice Shard and finish off Gallade. Usually I would have liked to have gone to Weavile to pursuit it to finish it no matter what, but a paralyzed weavile is essentially a dead weavile. I made a slight mistake here though - I knew gallade was CB'd but I wasn't sure if it was Jolly or Adamant. When I look back at a damage calculater now I realize it was Adamant and I run a 280 speed Mamoswine - which is faster than the 259 Adamant Gallade. If I had been on my toes I could have fired an Earthquake/Stone Edge/Ice Fang off to hit a swap in harder. I was really annoyed because the Vaporeon swap in was left with 60% health and I know my Earthquake can only hit it for about 50% damage if it is a 148HP/252 Defense Bold natured one like the smogon analysis uses. I decide to get gutsy and not let it set up a substitute though, and fire an earthquake anyway.
Opponent switched in Gallade (lvl 100 Gallade ?).
Mamoswine used Earthquake.
Gallade lost 3% of its health.
Opponents's Gallade fainted.
Mamoswine lost 10% of its health.
The hail continues to fall.
---
I get lucky and he doesn't fire off a surf at me. I also get the added bonus of eliminating gallade. He would have only had one more chance to get in as a revenge kill with 3% health and hail damage going, but my team is sorely fighting weak and starmie was down so I was gracious that I got rid of gallade.
SCORE: 4-3 My Lead
Opponent switched in Vaporeon (lvl 100 Vaporeon ?).
mn_wild switched in Blissey (lvl 100 Blissey ?).
Vaporeon used Surf.
Blissey lost 12% of its health.
The hail continues to fall.
Blissey is pelted by hail!
Blissey lost 6% of its health.
Vaporeon is pelted by hail!
Vaporeon lost 6% of its health.
Blissey's leftovers restored its health a little!
Blissey restored 6% of its health.
Vaporeon's leftovers restored its health a little!
Vaporeon restored 6% of its health.
---
Vaporeon decides to join the fray again, and this time I am betting that he will fire a surf at mamoswine. I swap out to Blissey and luckly predicted right as Blissey shrugs off the Surf. I still don't know his last two pokemon at this point, and I stupidly decide that maybe he would try to bring one in on blissey. I throw out a Twave and Vaporeon gets to set his Sub back up.
Blissey used Thunder Wave.
But it failed!
Vaporeon used Substitute.
Vaporeon lost 25% of its health.
Vaporeon made a substitute!
The hail continues to fall.
Blissey is pelted by hail!
Blissey lost 6% of its health.
Vaporeon is pelted by hail!
Vaporeon lost 6% of its health.
Blissey's leftovers restored its health a little!
Blissey restored 6% of its health.
Vaporeon's leftovers restored its health a little!
Vaporeon restored 6% of its health.
---
I have to go at him with grass knot and hope for some luck with paralyze.
Blissey used Grass Knot.
It's super effective!
The substitute took damage for Vaporeon!
Vaporeon's substitute faded!
Vaporeon is paralysed! It can't move!
The hail continues to fall.
Blissey is pelted by hail!
Blissey lost 6% of its health.
Vaporeon is pelted by hail!
Vaporeon lost 6% of its health.
Blissey's leftovers restored its health a little!
Blissey restored 6% of its health.
Vaporeon's leftovers restored its health a little!
Vaporeon restored 6% of its health.
---
I do get lucky, but Blissey's grass knot breaks his sub in one shot this time! I didn't run much calculations with grass knot as I was just using it on a test run - but apparently I do have a chance to do over 25% with Grass Knot to Vaporeon.
Blissey used Grass Knot.
It's super effective!
Vaporeon lost 28% of its health.
Vaporeon is paralysed! It can't move!
The hail continues to fall.
Blissey is pelted by hail!
Blissey lost 6% of its health.
Vaporeon is pelted by hail!
Vaporeon lost 6% of its health.
Blissey's leftovers restored its health a little!
Blissey restored 6% of its health.
Vaporeon's leftovers restored its health a little!
Vaporeon restored 6% of its health.
---
Not much action here. From Vaporeon staying in I am guessing one of his last pokemon doesn't like Grass Knot or can't do anything to blissey anyway if it swaps in.
Blissey used Grass Knot.
It's super effective!
Vaporeon lost 10% of its health.
Opponent's Vaporeon fainted.
The hail continues to fall.
Blissey is pelted by hail!
Blissey lost 6% of its health.
Blissey's leftovers restored its health a little!
Blissey restored 6% of its health.
---
I finish off Vaporeon and take a nice lead. It is technically 4-2 but with weavile paralyzed Im still only thinking it as a 3-2 lead in my mind.
SCORE: 4-2 My lead
Opponent switched in Marowak (lvl 100 Marowak ?).
Marowak used Swords Dance.
Marowak's attack was sharply raised.
Blissey used Grass Knot.
It's super effective!
Marowak lost 60% of its health.
The hail continues to fall.
Marowak is pelted by hail!
Marowak lost 6% of its health.
Blissey is pelted by hail!
Blissey lost 6% of its health.
Blissey's leftovers restored its health a little!
Blissey restored 6% of its health.
---
Sure enough - my prediction that one of his last guys didn't want to swap into grass knot was right. I also find out later that Heatran COULD have easily taken a grass knot, but obviously couldn't touch blissey. So I guess I was doubly right? I carry Ice Shard on Mamoswine and don't really care if Marowak sets up - I opt for Grass Knot to hit marowak no matter what he does.
Marowak used Earthquake.
Blissey lost 88% of its health.
mn_wild's Blissey fainted.
The hail continues to fall.
Marowak is pelted by hail!
Marowak lost 6% of its health.
---
A sacrifice as Mamoswine can't swap into much at all and I wasn't sure if he would SDance up or not last turn.
SCORE: 3-2 My Lead
mn_wild switched in Mamoswine (lvl 100 Mamoswine ?).
Mamoswine used Ice Shard.
It's super effective!
Marowak lost 27% of its health.
Opponent's Marowak fainted.
Mamoswine lost 10% of its health.
The hail continues to fall.
---
I swap in Mamoswine to take out Marowak with Ice Shard and take him down to his last pokemon. Unfortunately, Blissey has been taken out and I only have Mamoswine/Machamp/Weavile left. If it is choice specs heatran then Mamoswine outspeeds and I win, If it is scarf then Machamp can pray for no critical and live.
Opponent switched in Heatran (lvl 100 Heatran ?).
Heatran used Fire Blast.
It's super effective!
Mamoswine lost 70% of its health.
mn_wild's Mamoswine fainted.
The hail continues to fall.
Heatran is pelted by hail!
Heatran lost 6% of its health.
---
Anddd its scarf. Mamoswine is an awesome pokemon and 280 speed is awesome for screwing over Lucario's that run 279 and think they can swap into him and CCombat. 280 also conviently out runs +speed nature Heatran with Choice Specs (I think that runs at 278 if they run 252 speed). I had another battle with a Mamoswine sweep that was tempting to post as it really showcased the offensive hail team better because of the latent damage and snow cloak hax, but it was a relatively boring 4-0 win in the end with Mamoswine sweeping the last 3 pokemon. It could have gone either way though - some hail hax caused a Grass Knot to miss Mamoswine at a key point in the game which helped set up the Mamoswine sweep. That battle really showed how having 2 ice weaknesses can really cramp a team on safe swap ins on a hail team.
SCORE: 2-1 My Lead
mn_wild switched in Machamp (lvl 100 Machamp ?).
Heatran used Fire Blast.
Machamp lost 65% of its health.
Machamp used Close Combat.
It's super effective!
Heatran lost 94% of its health.
Opponents's Heatran fainted.
mn_wild wins!
SCORE: 2-0 Win
PHEW, I pull out the victory as Fire Blast doesn't critical. Though, it would have been more interesting if Fire Blast landed with a critical hit to down Machamp, Weavile comes in and Heatran misses a fire blast and I Brick Break for the victory.. or he hits again with fire blast and I lose.
Props:
-Mamoswine is awesome
-Scarf Abomasnow saving me from Gallade walking over my team
-Relatively hax free
Slops:
-The small amount of hax there were favored me (Vaporeon/Bronzong fully paralyzed a couple times)
-Weavile didn't do anything
-Not the greatest battle in the world I admit, but I feel it showed some good battling insight and it showcased a couple teams with slightly different approaches than the normal sandstorm/garchomp teams everywhere - my opponent was no scrub and ranked pretty well on shoddy too (not that rankings matter that much, but if you suck you can't use a team like theirs and get 1550 is what I will say)
This team isn't structured very well as many things can walk through it if I am not careful (Starmie is there for GDos/Mixape mostly, though non CB weaviles could have a field day with this team). It was just a fun idea and I wanted to try and make it work because the only thing hail teams do right now is stall. It is a fun twist to hail teams and I'll probably keep using it for a little while. Anyway, my side account on shoddy battle is mn_wild so you'll probably see me play testing this team and others on that every once in a while.
My Team:
Opponent's Team:
The battle was over shoddy battle, here it is:
Rules: Ladder Match, Sleep Clause, Freeze Clause, OHKO Clause, Evasion Clause, Species Clause, Strict Damage Clause
Opponent sent out Mismagius (lvl 100 Mismagius ?).
mn_wild sent out Abomasnow (lvl 100 Abomasnow ?).
Abomasnow's Snow Warning whipped up a hailstorm!
Hail began to fall!
mn_wild switched in Weavile (lvl 100 Weavile ?).
Weavile is exerting its pressure!
Mismagius used Thunder Wave.
Weavile is paralysed! It may be unable to move!
The hail continues to fall.
Mismagius is pelted by hail!
Mismagius lost 6% of its health.
---
A mismagius start throws me off. My initial thought was to swap in Blissey, but I don't run a CM Blissey and would rather not have the CM Mismagius walk over my team. I swap into weavile hoping that he CM's on the swap, but I get a rude awakening with weavile eating a paralyze. The battle isn't going my way early. I try to remember if Mismagius gets Will-o-Wisp, and from the TWave start I take a guess it must be double status and decide to keep weavile in to go for a night slash.
Mismagius used Substitute.
Mismagius lost 25% of its health.
Mismagius made a substitute!
Weavile is paralysed! It can't move!
The hail continues to fall.
Mismagius is pelted by hail!
Mismagius lost 6% of its health.
---
An interesting move. TWave + Substitute? My guess is it certainly carries SOME sort of attacking move and probably has shadowball and decide to bring Blissey in since weavile decides to curl into a ball rather than attacking. My best guess at the set was Twave/WilloWisp/Shadow Ball/Substitute -- he hoped for the swap out and could sit behind the substitute to choose between a paralyze/burn on my next swap in, but when Weavile stayed in he decided to bail and we got a double swap.
Opponent switched in Vaporeon (lvl 100 Vaporeon ?).
mn_wild switched in Blissey (lvl 100 Blissey ?).
The hail continues to fall.
Blissey is pelted by hail!
Blissey lost 6% of its health.
Vaporeon is pelted by hail!
Vaporeon lost 6% of its health.
Blissey's leftovers restored its health a little!
Blissey restored 6% of its health.
Vaporeon's leftovers restored its health a little!
Vaporeon restored 6% of its health.
---
As I mentioned above it was a double swap
Blissey used Thunder Wave.
Vaporeon is paralysed! It may be unable to move!
Vaporeon used Substitute.
Vaporeon lost 25% of its health.
Vaporeon made a substitute!
The hail continues to fall.
Blissey is pelted by hail!
Blissey lost 6% of its health.
Vaporeon is pelted by hail!
Vaporeon lost 6% of its health.
Blissey's leftovers restored its health a little!
Blissey restored 6% of its health.
Vaporeon's leftovers restored its health a little!
Vaporeon restored 6% of its health.
---
Majority of Vaporeons carry Wish/Surf/Ice Beam as their primary moves and I figure he would swap out and try to steal a paralyze whatever swaps in. Surprisingly Vaporeon stays in and substitutes, but not before eating paralyze. It must be a baton passer and I need to break that sub!
Blissey used Grass Knot.
It's super effective!
The substitute took damage for Vaporeon!
Vaporeon's substitute faded!
Vaporeon is paralysed! It can't move!
The hail continues to fall.
Blissey is pelted by hail!
Blissey lost 6% of its health.
Vaporeon is pelted by hail!
Vaporeon lost 6% of its health.
Blissey's leftovers restored its health a little!
Blissey restored 6% of its health.
Vaporeon's leftovers restored its health a little!
Vaporeon restored 6% of its health.
---
I don't carry a phazer on this version of the team and hope to get lucky and attack him with grass knot. Vaporeon is a useful Mixape counter for a reason because of his lightness to prevent high grass knot base power. I get lucky and he gets paralyzed on what I figure was an attempted baton pass.
Opponent switched in Bronzong (lvl 100 Bronzong).
Blissey used Grass Knot.
It's not very effective...
Bronzong lost 9% of its health.
The hail continues to fall.
Blissey is pelted by hail!
Blissey lost 6% of its health.
Bronzong is pelted by hail!
Bronzong lost 6% of its health.
Blissey's leftovers restored its health a little!
Blissey restored 6% of its health.
Bronzong's leftovers restored its health a little!
Bronzong restored 6% of its health.
---
Not much to say here - he brings in bronzong as his vaporeon would have just had the substitute broken by my next grass knot or he could have try to set up another after I broke the first. He opts to try and setup Stealth Rocks with bronzong I figure -- anyone that sees an Abomasnow starter should immediately be thinking of getting them up ASAP to punish ice type swap ins.
Blissey used Flamethrower.
It's super effective!
Bronzong lost 35% of its health.
Bronzong used Hypnosis.
Blissey fell asleep!
The hail continues to fall.
Blissey is pelted by hail!
Blissey lost 6% of its health.
Bronzong is pelted by hail!
Bronzong lost 6% of its health.
Blissey's leftovers restored its health a little!
Blissey restored 6% of its health.
Bronzong's leftovers restored its health a little!
Bronzong restored 6% of its health.
---
Unforunately for him I make blissey have a 3HKO on most standard bronzongs (2HKO on Skarms). The flamethrower hits bronzong pretty hard as he sleeps me. I figure he hopes to outpredict a swap and Hypnosis again or set up stealth rocks -- I go to my sleep absorb in case he does try another hypnosis.
mn_wild switched in Machamp (lvl 100 Machamp ?).
Bronzong used Stealth Rock.
Pointed stones float in the air around your foe's team!
The hail continues to fall.
Machamp is pelted by hail!
Machamp lost 6% of its health.
Bronzong is pelted by hail!
Bronzong lost 6% of its health.
Bronzong's leftovers restored its health a little!
Bronzong restored 6% of its health.
---
He opts to stealth rock which is probably a good choice against a hail team. Even if he had slept me my CB, Guts, Sleep Talking Machamp would have had a powerful CC/Ice Punch/Tpunch heading bronzongs way.
Opponent switched in Mismagius (lvl 100 Mismagius ?).
Machamp used Thunderpunch.
Mismagius lost 63% of its health.
Opponents's Mismagius fainted.
The hail continues to fall.
Machamp is pelted by hail!
Machamp lost 6% of its health.
---
I decided to not blindly go with Close Combat because I knew Mismagius was around and that is too predictable anyway. The CB Thunderpunch hits Mismagius on the swap and I take the early lead
SCORE: 6-5 My lead
Opponent switched in Gallade (lvl 100 Gallade ?).
mn_wild switched in Starmie (lvl 100 Starmie).
Pointed stones dug into Starmie.
Starmie lost 12% of its health.
Gallade used Close Combat.
It's not very effective...
Starmie lost 66% of its health.
Gallade's defence was lowered.
Gallade's special defence was lowered.
The hail continues to fall.
Starmie is pelted by hail!
Starmie lost 6% of its health.
Gallade is pelted by hail!
Gallade lost 6% of its health.
Starmie's leftovers restored its health a little!
Starmie restored 6% of its health.
---
After seeing three setup pokemon/defensive pokemon (Mismagius/Bronzong/Vaporeon) I knew this gallade was more than likely going to be offensively orientated. I swap in my fighting resist in Starmie, even though I know the threat of night slash is there. Though, after taking 66% damage from gallade's CC I know it HAS to be choice band and I don't have to worry about night slash. I was worried that I could let a CB Gallade rip through my team and decided to try and TWave it with Starmie to cripple it's chances of wrecking my team with CC. Looking back, I could have gone for the KO with Surf after the defence drop, but my decision worked out fine anyway.
Opponent switched in Bronzong (lvl 100 Bronzong).
Starmie used Thunder Wave.
Bronzong is paralysed! It may be unable to move!
The hail continues to fall.
Starmie is pelted by hail!
Starmie lost 6% of its health.
Bronzong is pelted by hail!
Bronzong lost 6% of its health.
Starmie's leftovers restored its health a little!
Starmie restored 6% of its health.
Bronzong's leftovers restored its health a little!
Bronzong restored 6% of its health.
---
He swaps bronzong into Starmie and I paralyze it. I carry natural cure on Starmie and don't care if he tries to sleep - I take the chance to recover some HP in case gallade comes back around.
Starmie used Recover.
Starmie restored 50% of its health.
Bronzong is paralysed! It can't move!
The hail continues to fall.
Starmie is pelted by hail!
Starmie lost 6% of its health.
Bronzong is pelted by hail!
Bronzong lost 6% of its health.
Starmie's leftovers restored its health a little!
Starmie restored 6% of its health.
Bronzong's leftovers restored its health a little!
Bronzong restored 6% of its health.
---
Recover on up and Bronzong is fully paralyzed. I still stay in as bronzong can't really touch me and I have a chance to get rid of the nasty Stealth Rock.
Starmie used Rapid Spin.
Starmie blew away the spikes!
It's not very effective...
Bronzong lost 1% of its health.
Bronzong used Explosion.
Starmie lost 72% of its health.
mn_wild's Starmie fainted.
Opponents's Bronzong fainted.
The hail continues to fall.
---
Oops, now I know why he persisted on keeping bronzong in there as my opponent probably realized that Starmie is my main way to handle fighting attacks. My guess is that Gallade is coming back in and I cringe at the thought, but I run a slightly different Abomasnow that I hope can take out gallade with him.
SCORE: 5-4 My Lead
Opponent switched in Gallade (lvl 100 Gallade ?).
mn_wild switched in Abomasnow (lvl 100 Abomasnow ?).
Abomasnow's Snow Warning whipped up a hailstorm!
Abomasnow used Wood Hammer.
Gallade lost 84% of its health.
Abomasnow was hit by recoil!
Abomasnow lost 25% of its health.
Gallade used Close Combat.
It's super effective!
Abomasnow lost 75% of its health.
mn_wild's Abomasnow fainted.
Gallade's defence was lowered.
Gallade's special defence was lowered.
The hail continues to fall.
Gallade is pelted by hail!
Gallade lost 6% of its health.
---
Darn, I leave gallade at minimal health as my Wood Hammer can't quite finish off gallade. Though, Scarf Abomasnow did his job and left it in range for my other pokemon to take care of him.
SCORE: 4-4 TIE
mn_wild switched in Mamoswine (lvl 100 Mamoswine ?).
Opponent switched in Vaporeon (lvl 100 Vaporeon ?).
Mamoswine used Ice Shard.
It's not very effective...
Vaporeon lost 11% of its health.
Mamoswine lost 10% of its health.
The hail continues to fall.
Vaporeon is pelted by hail!
Vaporeon lost 6% of its health.
Vaporeon's leftovers restored its health a little!
Vaporeon restored 6% of its health.
---
I go with Mamoswine to try to Ice Shard and finish off Gallade. Usually I would have liked to have gone to Weavile to pursuit it to finish it no matter what, but a paralyzed weavile is essentially a dead weavile. I made a slight mistake here though - I knew gallade was CB'd but I wasn't sure if it was Jolly or Adamant. When I look back at a damage calculater now I realize it was Adamant and I run a 280 speed Mamoswine - which is faster than the 259 Adamant Gallade. If I had been on my toes I could have fired an Earthquake/Stone Edge/Ice Fang off to hit a swap in harder. I was really annoyed because the Vaporeon swap in was left with 60% health and I know my Earthquake can only hit it for about 50% damage if it is a 148HP/252 Defense Bold natured one like the smogon analysis uses. I decide to get gutsy and not let it set up a substitute though, and fire an earthquake anyway.
Opponent switched in Gallade (lvl 100 Gallade ?).
Mamoswine used Earthquake.
Gallade lost 3% of its health.
Opponents's Gallade fainted.
Mamoswine lost 10% of its health.
The hail continues to fall.
---
I get lucky and he doesn't fire off a surf at me. I also get the added bonus of eliminating gallade. He would have only had one more chance to get in as a revenge kill with 3% health and hail damage going, but my team is sorely fighting weak and starmie was down so I was gracious that I got rid of gallade.
SCORE: 4-3 My Lead
Opponent switched in Vaporeon (lvl 100 Vaporeon ?).
mn_wild switched in Blissey (lvl 100 Blissey ?).
Vaporeon used Surf.
Blissey lost 12% of its health.
The hail continues to fall.
Blissey is pelted by hail!
Blissey lost 6% of its health.
Vaporeon is pelted by hail!
Vaporeon lost 6% of its health.
Blissey's leftovers restored its health a little!
Blissey restored 6% of its health.
Vaporeon's leftovers restored its health a little!
Vaporeon restored 6% of its health.
---
Vaporeon decides to join the fray again, and this time I am betting that he will fire a surf at mamoswine. I swap out to Blissey and luckly predicted right as Blissey shrugs off the Surf. I still don't know his last two pokemon at this point, and I stupidly decide that maybe he would try to bring one in on blissey. I throw out a Twave and Vaporeon gets to set his Sub back up.
Blissey used Thunder Wave.
But it failed!
Vaporeon used Substitute.
Vaporeon lost 25% of its health.
Vaporeon made a substitute!
The hail continues to fall.
Blissey is pelted by hail!
Blissey lost 6% of its health.
Vaporeon is pelted by hail!
Vaporeon lost 6% of its health.
Blissey's leftovers restored its health a little!
Blissey restored 6% of its health.
Vaporeon's leftovers restored its health a little!
Vaporeon restored 6% of its health.
---
I have to go at him with grass knot and hope for some luck with paralyze.
Blissey used Grass Knot.
It's super effective!
The substitute took damage for Vaporeon!
Vaporeon's substitute faded!
Vaporeon is paralysed! It can't move!
The hail continues to fall.
Blissey is pelted by hail!
Blissey lost 6% of its health.
Vaporeon is pelted by hail!
Vaporeon lost 6% of its health.
Blissey's leftovers restored its health a little!
Blissey restored 6% of its health.
Vaporeon's leftovers restored its health a little!
Vaporeon restored 6% of its health.
---
I do get lucky, but Blissey's grass knot breaks his sub in one shot this time! I didn't run much calculations with grass knot as I was just using it on a test run - but apparently I do have a chance to do over 25% with Grass Knot to Vaporeon.
Blissey used Grass Knot.
It's super effective!
Vaporeon lost 28% of its health.
Vaporeon is paralysed! It can't move!
The hail continues to fall.
Blissey is pelted by hail!
Blissey lost 6% of its health.
Vaporeon is pelted by hail!
Vaporeon lost 6% of its health.
Blissey's leftovers restored its health a little!
Blissey restored 6% of its health.
Vaporeon's leftovers restored its health a little!
Vaporeon restored 6% of its health.
---
Not much action here. From Vaporeon staying in I am guessing one of his last pokemon doesn't like Grass Knot or can't do anything to blissey anyway if it swaps in.
Blissey used Grass Knot.
It's super effective!
Vaporeon lost 10% of its health.
Opponent's Vaporeon fainted.
The hail continues to fall.
Blissey is pelted by hail!
Blissey lost 6% of its health.
Blissey's leftovers restored its health a little!
Blissey restored 6% of its health.
---
I finish off Vaporeon and take a nice lead. It is technically 4-2 but with weavile paralyzed Im still only thinking it as a 3-2 lead in my mind.
SCORE: 4-2 My lead
Opponent switched in Marowak (lvl 100 Marowak ?).
Marowak used Swords Dance.
Marowak's attack was sharply raised.
Blissey used Grass Knot.
It's super effective!
Marowak lost 60% of its health.
The hail continues to fall.
Marowak is pelted by hail!
Marowak lost 6% of its health.
Blissey is pelted by hail!
Blissey lost 6% of its health.
Blissey's leftovers restored its health a little!
Blissey restored 6% of its health.
---
Sure enough - my prediction that one of his last guys didn't want to swap into grass knot was right. I also find out later that Heatran COULD have easily taken a grass knot, but obviously couldn't touch blissey. So I guess I was doubly right? I carry Ice Shard on Mamoswine and don't really care if Marowak sets up - I opt for Grass Knot to hit marowak no matter what he does.
Marowak used Earthquake.
Blissey lost 88% of its health.
mn_wild's Blissey fainted.
The hail continues to fall.
Marowak is pelted by hail!
Marowak lost 6% of its health.
---
A sacrifice as Mamoswine can't swap into much at all and I wasn't sure if he would SDance up or not last turn.
SCORE: 3-2 My Lead
mn_wild switched in Mamoswine (lvl 100 Mamoswine ?).
Mamoswine used Ice Shard.
It's super effective!
Marowak lost 27% of its health.
Opponent's Marowak fainted.
Mamoswine lost 10% of its health.
The hail continues to fall.
---
I swap in Mamoswine to take out Marowak with Ice Shard and take him down to his last pokemon. Unfortunately, Blissey has been taken out and I only have Mamoswine/Machamp/Weavile left. If it is choice specs heatran then Mamoswine outspeeds and I win, If it is scarf then Machamp can pray for no critical and live.
Opponent switched in Heatran (lvl 100 Heatran ?).
Heatran used Fire Blast.
It's super effective!
Mamoswine lost 70% of its health.
mn_wild's Mamoswine fainted.
The hail continues to fall.
Heatran is pelted by hail!
Heatran lost 6% of its health.
---
Anddd its scarf. Mamoswine is an awesome pokemon and 280 speed is awesome for screwing over Lucario's that run 279 and think they can swap into him and CCombat. 280 also conviently out runs +speed nature Heatran with Choice Specs (I think that runs at 278 if they run 252 speed). I had another battle with a Mamoswine sweep that was tempting to post as it really showcased the offensive hail team better because of the latent damage and snow cloak hax, but it was a relatively boring 4-0 win in the end with Mamoswine sweeping the last 3 pokemon. It could have gone either way though - some hail hax caused a Grass Knot to miss Mamoswine at a key point in the game which helped set up the Mamoswine sweep. That battle really showed how having 2 ice weaknesses can really cramp a team on safe swap ins on a hail team.
SCORE: 2-1 My Lead
mn_wild switched in Machamp (lvl 100 Machamp ?).
Heatran used Fire Blast.
Machamp lost 65% of its health.
Machamp used Close Combat.
It's super effective!
Heatran lost 94% of its health.
Opponents's Heatran fainted.
mn_wild wins!
SCORE: 2-0 Win
PHEW, I pull out the victory as Fire Blast doesn't critical. Though, it would have been more interesting if Fire Blast landed with a critical hit to down Machamp, Weavile comes in and Heatran misses a fire blast and I Brick Break for the victory.. or he hits again with fire blast and I lose.
Props:
-Mamoswine is awesome
-Scarf Abomasnow saving me from Gallade walking over my team
-Relatively hax free
Slops:
-The small amount of hax there were favored me (Vaporeon/Bronzong fully paralyzed a couple times)
-Weavile didn't do anything
-Not the greatest battle in the world I admit, but I feel it showed some good battling insight and it showcased a couple teams with slightly different approaches than the normal sandstorm/garchomp teams everywhere - my opponent was no scrub and ranked pretty well on shoddy too (not that rankings matter that much, but if you suck you can't use a team like theirs and get 1550 is what I will say)
This team isn't structured very well as many things can walk through it if I am not careful (Starmie is there for GDos/Mixape mostly, though non CB weaviles could have a field day with this team). It was just a fun idea and I wanted to try and make it work because the only thing hail teams do right now is stall. It is a fun twist to hail teams and I'll probably keep using it for a little while. Anyway, my side account on shoddy battle is mn_wild so you'll probably see me play testing this team and others on that every once in a while.
