Okay, so this is actually my first ever Smogon post. But I have been a long time visitor for about a year now and I have a pretty good idea of the current OU metagame. I really have a certain love for Grass and Ice types, specifically Breloom and Abomasnow. So with that in mind, I went out to try to make a new OU team in the BW2 metagame using Hail. I climbed up to a rank of almost 1800 on the PS Server on my first night! It's a great team, so I decided I have to share it.
Team Building Process:
The first member of my team is of course, Obamasnow. He's on campaign right now to be elected President of Snow! And since he's the only auto-hail inducer, he's an automatic to a hail team.
So then the next thought was obviousely who are the best abusers of hail in the current metagame. I had many ideas, Kyurem, Froslass, Mamoswine, Weavile, etc. I decided that Mamoswine and Froslass fit on the team, AND make use of the hail.
Okay so now I have my hail abusers and core, I really have to patch up the weaknesses. I wanted to make sure I had a good F/W/G core, especially since Mamoswine can take out the majority of dragons himself. So as my spinner, I decided to add Starmie, a Water/Psychic type.
Next, I needed to patch up the Fire weakness more, and have a good phazer at the same time. I wanted to complete the F/W/G core, and really there is only 1 good defensive Fire type, and he fits well on a hail team, Heatran!
The last pokemon was the hardest to choose. I was trying to make sure I outsped important threats like Genesect and Terrakion, giving me a chance to revenge/suprise Scarfers that really threaten my team. Thats when I decided a Latios fits the team!
Now for the breakdown!
Abomasnow (SamIam)
248 HP 4 Def 252 SpD 4 Spe
Snow Warning
Calm Nature (+Spd, -Att)
Leftovers
Blizzard
Leech Seed
Substitute
Protect
Abomasnow is actually a very good special wall. This set is particularly effective against stall and rain teams. It helps keep Abomasnow, and therefore Hail in the battle longer. It's everything Abomasnow does best. Blizzard is because Abomasnow is the only pokemon who can summon and attack w/perfect Blizzard in one turn. Blizzard gives amazing coverage and has the small freeze chance. Leech Seed is really one of the best moves in the game, and even Abomasnow can use it to great effect, especially with Protect. Substitute so you can stall w/Hail and Leech Seed, and even scout a possible switch. Finally, Protect gives you scouting ability which is deadly important in some cases (Jirachi, Genesect, Terrakion, etc) so you know their held item.
Mamoswine (Piggywhocould)
252 Att 252 Spe 4 HP
Thick Fat
Jolly Nature (+Spe, -SpA)
Life Orb
Ice Shard
Earthquake
Superpower
Icicle Crash
He'll huff, and puff, and sweep your whole team if you aren't careful! Mamoswine is an emerging OU Pokemon, who just keeps getting better and more important. He stops dragons, nabs important steels, hits hard and doesn't take prisoners. I used Thick Fat because I prefer the extra resistances instead of a 'maybe' 20% chance. Plus, it works as a suprise factor occasionally when someone uses HP Fire on Mamo (like on Magnezone). He really does a lot of work, him and Latios nab most of the kills.
Froslass (Frosshax)
248 HP, 8 SpD, 252 Spe
Snow Cloak
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Att)
Choice Scarf
Substitute
Spikes
Blizzard
Trick
Froslass is a really underrated spiker, but put her in hail, and she'll amaze you. This set's primary purpose is to suprise and trick your choice scarf on their wall or potential sweeper (like volcarona) where they can be walled afterwards. Then shes free to Sub up, abuse Snow Cloak and lay those spikes! Blizzard for obvious STAB and Hail abuse. I often lead with Froslass to Trick something from the start and save her later for important kills or spikes. She has extra bulk so she can survive a hit after she's tricked something. It also makes a lot of OHKOs into 2HKOs, giving her more chances to sub up and abuse Snow Cloak.
Heatran ((BAN ME PLEASE))
252 SpA, 4 SpD, 252 Spe
Flash Fire
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Att)
Air Balloon
Fire Blast
Earth Power
Roar
Stealth Rock
Heatran, the most dependable, longest lasting Truck on the Road. He'll lay Stealth Rocks so easily, there is no way I'd make Mamo do it. He forces tons of switches, so not only does he lay SR, he roars away scared mons, and potential calm mind sweepers. This set combines his specially defensive Roar/SR with his Offensive Fire Blast and Earth Power. This is important because my team needed a phazer, but stopping key pokemon like Scizor and Jirachi is an important job for Heatran.
Starmie (Suck Me)
Starmie (Suck Me)
252 HP, 4 SpD, 252 Spe
Natural Cure
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Att)
Leftovers
Scald
Psyshock
Recover
Rapid Spin
Starmie, always and forever the best Rapid Spinner. This pokemon does it all. If you haven't noticed by now, this team focused on positive speed natures. That's because in a fast-paced OU game, I need to be sure that my pokemon will attack first. Thanks to Emeral, I've made some changes to Starmie! This new bulky set is really what my team needed. It helps destroy bulky waters such as Tentacruel, Politoed, and Jelli that I was having trouble with before, and enabling Starmie to stay in the battle longer with Recover. Starmie also can take neutral hits better now, and can even take one unboosted Genesect u-turn!
Latios (Laters)
252 Sp A, 4 SpD, 252 Spe
Levitate
Timid Nature, (+Spe, - Att)
Choice Scarf
Draco Meteor
Hp Fire
Surf
Psyshock
Latios is my ace in the hole. This pokemon has many important resistances, especially grass/water/fire. When I need power and speed, I called upon the Demon of the Sky who says Laters! and ends your short life. Latios is great because as a scarfer, he has power AND speed. Draco Meteor is for when you just need to wall break. HP Fire, for those annoying Steel/Bug, Steel/Fire types, Surf 'cause aboosing Rain is fun too, ans Psyshock to catch Calm Minders and Terrakions with their pants down.
All in all, a great team. There are some weaknesses, like a lack of resistance to Rock attacks, but there are ways are that (like Snow Cloak + poor accuracy). This is not a beginner's team, but it does work very well. Hail does much better in this meta then most people think, and there are 3 pokemon who use Blizzard on this team, and even two who use Water attacks against Rain users, and Latios uses HP Fire against Sun Teams. I've had a tougher time against Sand Teams and Sun Teams in general, but smart switches and getting up SR early is important.I will post the list of relevant OU threats and counters/check later!
Team Building Process:
The first member of my team is of course, Obamasnow. He's on campaign right now to be elected President of Snow! And since he's the only auto-hail inducer, he's an automatic to a hail team.
So then the next thought was obviousely who are the best abusers of hail in the current metagame. I had many ideas, Kyurem, Froslass, Mamoswine, Weavile, etc. I decided that Mamoswine and Froslass fit on the team, AND make use of the hail.
Okay so now I have my hail abusers and core, I really have to patch up the weaknesses. I wanted to make sure I had a good F/W/G core, especially since Mamoswine can take out the majority of dragons himself. So as my spinner, I decided to add Starmie, a Water/Psychic type.
Next, I needed to patch up the Fire weakness more, and have a good phazer at the same time. I wanted to complete the F/W/G core, and really there is only 1 good defensive Fire type, and he fits well on a hail team, Heatran!
The last pokemon was the hardest to choose. I was trying to make sure I outsped important threats like Genesect and Terrakion, giving me a chance to revenge/suprise Scarfers that really threaten my team. Thats when I decided a Latios fits the team!
Now for the breakdown!
Abomasnow (SamIam)
248 HP 4 Def 252 SpD 4 Spe
Snow Warning
Calm Nature (+Spd, -Att)
Leftovers
Blizzard
Leech Seed
Substitute
Protect
Abomasnow is actually a very good special wall. This set is particularly effective against stall and rain teams. It helps keep Abomasnow, and therefore Hail in the battle longer. It's everything Abomasnow does best. Blizzard is because Abomasnow is the only pokemon who can summon and attack w/perfect Blizzard in one turn. Blizzard gives amazing coverage and has the small freeze chance. Leech Seed is really one of the best moves in the game, and even Abomasnow can use it to great effect, especially with Protect. Substitute so you can stall w/Hail and Leech Seed, and even scout a possible switch. Finally, Protect gives you scouting ability which is deadly important in some cases (Jirachi, Genesect, Terrakion, etc) so you know their held item.
Mamoswine (Piggywhocould)
252 Att 252 Spe 4 HP
Thick Fat
Jolly Nature (+Spe, -SpA)
Life Orb
Ice Shard
Earthquake
Superpower
Icicle Crash
He'll huff, and puff, and sweep your whole team if you aren't careful! Mamoswine is an emerging OU Pokemon, who just keeps getting better and more important. He stops dragons, nabs important steels, hits hard and doesn't take prisoners. I used Thick Fat because I prefer the extra resistances instead of a 'maybe' 20% chance. Plus, it works as a suprise factor occasionally when someone uses HP Fire on Mamo (like on Magnezone). He really does a lot of work, him and Latios nab most of the kills.
Froslass (Frosshax)
248 HP, 8 SpD, 252 Spe
Snow Cloak
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Att)
Choice Scarf
Substitute
Spikes
Blizzard
Trick
Froslass is a really underrated spiker, but put her in hail, and she'll amaze you. This set's primary purpose is to suprise and trick your choice scarf on their wall or potential sweeper (like volcarona) where they can be walled afterwards. Then shes free to Sub up, abuse Snow Cloak and lay those spikes! Blizzard for obvious STAB and Hail abuse. I often lead with Froslass to Trick something from the start and save her later for important kills or spikes. She has extra bulk so she can survive a hit after she's tricked something. It also makes a lot of OHKOs into 2HKOs, giving her more chances to sub up and abuse Snow Cloak.
Heatran ((BAN ME PLEASE))
252 SpA, 4 SpD, 252 Spe
Flash Fire
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Att)
Air Balloon
Fire Blast
Earth Power
Roar
Stealth Rock
Heatran, the most dependable, longest lasting Truck on the Road. He'll lay Stealth Rocks so easily, there is no way I'd make Mamo do it. He forces tons of switches, so not only does he lay SR, he roars away scared mons, and potential calm mind sweepers. This set combines his specially defensive Roar/SR with his Offensive Fire Blast and Earth Power. This is important because my team needed a phazer, but stopping key pokemon like Scizor and Jirachi is an important job for Heatran.
Starmie (Suck Me)
Starmie (Suck Me)
252 HP, 4 SpD, 252 Spe
Natural Cure
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Att)
Leftovers
Scald
Psyshock
Recover
Rapid Spin
Starmie, always and forever the best Rapid Spinner. This pokemon does it all. If you haven't noticed by now, this team focused on positive speed natures. That's because in a fast-paced OU game, I need to be sure that my pokemon will attack first. Thanks to Emeral, I've made some changes to Starmie! This new bulky set is really what my team needed. It helps destroy bulky waters such as Tentacruel, Politoed, and Jelli that I was having trouble with before, and enabling Starmie to stay in the battle longer with Recover. Starmie also can take neutral hits better now, and can even take one unboosted Genesect u-turn!
Latios (Laters)
252 Sp A, 4 SpD, 252 Spe
Levitate
Timid Nature, (+Spe, - Att)
Choice Scarf
Draco Meteor
Hp Fire
Surf
Psyshock
Latios is my ace in the hole. This pokemon has many important resistances, especially grass/water/fire. When I need power and speed, I called upon the Demon of the Sky who says Laters! and ends your short life. Latios is great because as a scarfer, he has power AND speed. Draco Meteor is for when you just need to wall break. HP Fire, for those annoying Steel/Bug, Steel/Fire types, Surf 'cause aboosing Rain is fun too, ans Psyshock to catch Calm Minders and Terrakions with their pants down.
All in all, a great team. There are some weaknesses, like a lack of resistance to Rock attacks, but there are ways are that (like Snow Cloak + poor accuracy). This is not a beginner's team, but it does work very well. Hail does much better in this meta then most people think, and there are 3 pokemon who use Blizzard on this team, and even two who use Water attacks against Rain users, and Latios uses HP Fire against Sun Teams. I've had a tougher time against Sand Teams and Sun Teams in general, but smart switches and getting up SR early is important.I will post the list of relevant OU threats and counters/check later!
