Doubles RMT: Offensive Hail

[Isaac0501]

Hi, this is my forth RMT, and after the rate of my last team: Rain Dance Erosion. I decided to experiment with Hail. Now the only reason I could think of how Hail could become offensive was in Doubles with a 100% accurate Blizzard. So here is my Offensive Hail Team.
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Team at a Glance:

Team in Depth:​

My Freezing Lead

Abomasnow @ Leftovers
Snow Warning
Sassy 252 HP / 84 SpA / 96 SpD / 76 Spe
-Wood Hammer
-Blizzard
-Leech Seed
-Protect
Opinion: Abomasnow it vital to every Hail team, with his awesome ability Snow Warning. WHile Abomasnow is in he can do some pretty decent damage with Mixed Attacker set.

Move Selection:
Wood Hammer: Wood Hammer has the advantage over Energy Ball because it hits through any Calm Mind boosts the likes of Suicune and Slowbro may have accumulated.
Blizzard: Thanks to the EV investment, Blizzard can pack a very powerful punch to almost any team, and it's 100 % accurate.
Leech Seed: Leech Seed helps annoying pokemon, it also Heals the damage I've recieved from Wood Hammer, and other attacks.
Protect: Protect helps regain HP against a seeded enemy and scouts for Choice locked attacks, which are common on leading Pokémon.

My Protective Lead

Froslass @ Leftovers
Snow Cloak
Timid 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
-Taunt
-Blizzard
-Shadow Ball
-Thunder Wave
Opinon: Froslass does excellent in Hail teams. This set in particullar, is meant to avoid hits, making Froslass a very challenging and often frustrating Pokemon to face up against.

Move Seletction:
Taunt: Taunt stops other from setting up, whic mess up most of their strategy
Blizzard: Blizzard is very deadly thanks to stab and a high special attack. It also once again... has a whoping 100% accuracy.
Shadow Ball: Nothing special, Shadow Ball provides stab and can lower the target's Special Defense.
Thunder Wave: Thunder Wave makes Froslass a bitch to fight against. Thunder Wave + Snow Cloak makes normally 100% accurate moves hit 60% of the time.
Chilling Sweepers

Starmie @ Light Clay
Natural Cure
Bold 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spe
-Hydro Pump
-Blizzard
-Recover
-Reflect
Opinon: Personally I rather ditch the protective set to an Expert Belt set, because I love Expert Belt, but I need decent defenses against fighting types. So I'm going to test both sets but leave this one up for now.

Move Seletction:
Hydro Pump: A very powerful water move and provides stab. The accuracy hurts, but it's not that bad
Blizzard: Blizzard, best Ice move in the game, if you don't count Sheer Cold. has 100% accuracy and it hits both targets.
Recover: Heals my Starmie for half of his Max HP.
Reflect: Reflect raises defense meaning, fighting / rock / steel moves do less damage, if and they probably are physical moves.

Glaceon @ Wise Glasses
Snow Cloak
Modest 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
-Blizzard
-Shadow Ball
-Protect
-Hidden Power Ground
Opinion: I thought the Ice Pokemon with the highest SpA, deserved a mention on my team, but this pokemon again doesn't seem right, but it's hard to tell when there arn't that many good doubles fighters on NetBattle.

Move Selection:
Blizzard: Stab + 100% accuracy + highest SpA (as far as Ice Pokemon goes) = PWNAGE! Blizzard truely, becomes extremely deadly in Hail. Nuff said.
Shadow Ball: Shadow Ball is another powerful move to add to Glaceon's arsenal. It can 2HKO both Hypno and Grumpig.
Protect: Protect absorbs moves that absolutley reck my team like Mamoswine's Earthquake, Explosion, and the awful Heat Wave.
Hidden Power Ground: HP Ground takes out Steels and Fire types, most nortorously noted is Heatran.

Mamoswine @ Life Orb
Snow Cloak
Adamant 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
-Earthquake
-Ice Shard
-Stone Edge
-Ice Fang
Opinion: Mamoswine is here to keep Fire and Steel types in check that otherwise resist Blizzard.

Move Selection:
Earthquake: like I said above, Earthquake keeps Fire and Steel types in check and provides for a very powerful stab. The only problem is while Earthquake works great in damagin my opponents, it also hurt my Pokemon as well. An Articuno on my team would help.
Ice Shard: Earthquake and Ice Shard provide the basic physical coverage. With stab and Mamoswine's great physical attack, I might find myself often using this move instead of Blizzard.
Stone Edge: Stone Edge is here because it's your only real way to hurt Gyarados, who would otherwise wall this set. It is also your most powerful option against Zapdos.
Ice Fang: Has more power, but less accuracy. It also has a 10% flinch and a 10% freeze rate.

Bulky Support

Dragonite @ Leftovers
Inner Focus
Calm 248 HP / 216 SpD / 44 Spe
-Heal Bell
-Roost
-Thunder Wave
-Flamethrower
Opinion: All Offensive teams should have some kind of support, at least in my opinion. More will be explained about this beast when you read the Move Selection.

Move Selection:
Heal Bell: heals status on all of my Pokemon!
Roost: Roost increases survivabilty with a nice 50% of max HP regain.
Thunder Wave: With Paralysis, Thunder Wave increases my support for Dragonite even more, which increases support for the rest of my team in the long run.
Flamethrower: This team absolutely hates scizor, flamethrower is really my only check against. I figured Mamoswine and possibly Glaceon could put an end onto Tyranitar and *gulp* Heatran.
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Well there you have it, I've thrown together a Hail team and theres probably going to be some definent changes, most likely with Blissey, Glaceon, and maybe Clefable. The biggest problem I see is a large weakness the Fighting types. Thank you for all the rates you can give me.

 

[Isaac0501]

Threat List

Tyranitar - Hail team's biggest nemesis. Tyranitar alone has the potential to take out an entire Hail team by itself, with an extremely strong STAB Stone Edge to put a dent in almost all Ice Pokémon. It can also bring in its Sandstream at annoying moments to ruin your strategy, e.g. in the middle of a successful stall with Walrein. This is one threat that you must take into account when building a Hail team, and it warrants the use of a Rock resist by itself.
Checks: Hariyama, Gliscor, Swampert

Lucario - Another Pokémon that can potentially demolish a Hail team. Excellent resistances allow it to switch in without too much trouble, and hit very hard with STAB Fighting attacks. It also possesses strong priority moves in ExtremeSpeed, as well as STAB Vacuum Wave and Bullet Punch. Very dangerous to Hail teams not only because of threatening STAB, but also because of its ability to hit hard on both attacking spectrums making it very unpredictable.
Checks: Gliscor, Spiritomb, Scarfed Rotom-H

Infernape - With STAB Fire and Fighting attacks, blistering speed and good mixed sweeping stats, Infernape can hit most Pokémon on Hail teams very hard. Add Grass Knot to its moveset and you have something that not even bulky waters can safely switch in on. Luckily, it is hard to switch in, and most sets will not last long when you factor in Life Orb recoil, entry hazards, and Hail damage. Still, a very threatening Pokémon.
Checks: Tentacruel, Vaporeon, Starmie

Breloom - Although perhaps not as frightening as the aforementioned Fighting-types because of its mediocre Speed, Breloom boasts something that sets it apart from its brethren - the 100% accurate Spore. After coming in on something slower, Breloom is almost guaranteed to take one of your Pokémon out of the game with its infuriating Spore/Substitute/Foucs Punch strategy. A hard Pokémon to deal with, but is made easier to deal with with a status absorber. Although Breloom's Grass typing makes it weak to Ice moves, it also gives it a very strong STAB attack in the form of Seed Bomb to deal with bulky waters. All in all this Pokémon can set up very easily on Hail teams and commence to beat them into the ground.
Checks: Gyarados, Rotom-F, Tentacruel
Shaymin-S - Shaymin-S is a huge threat which can rip Hail teams apart whether it be the SubSeed set or the Life Orb Sweeper set. A Seed Flare can destroy even bulky Pokémon after its 80% -2 SpD drop kicks in. Its blistering speed makes it very hard to revenge kill. However, any Blizzard will put it in its place easily enough. Its weakness to Stealth Rock means it will have limited switch-ins, and Ice Shard is a great way of taking it out.
Checks: Mamoswine, Zapdos, Tentacruel

Scizor - Possibly one of the most threatening Pokémon to Hail teams, Scizor can beat all but the best built teams with its powerful Bullet Punch. It also has access to strong Fighting type attacks such as Superpower and Brick Break, which hurt a lot coming off of its base 130 Attack. Good typing, resistance to Ice, a reliable healing move in Roost, and above average defenses make it very difficult to take down as well.
Checks: Gyarados, Zapdos, Rotom-H

Heatran - Excellent resistances and base defenses, a 4x resistance to Ice, and a very powerful Fire STAB make Heatran a threat to most Hail teams. Usually packing a Choice Scarf, it can outspeed and OHKO almost all Ice types. However, it lacks a reliable way of dealing with bulky water types, although there is always the threat of it exploding on one of your key pokemon.
Checks: Swampert, Gyarados, Tentacruel

Zapdos - With a STAB Thunderbolt and a powerful Heat Wave, Zapdos can be a nightmare to fight, hitting most Pokémon on Hail teams for super effective damage. Great defenses make it a rather challenging task to take down with neutral attacks, although it does have an exploitable weakness to Ice. Once its movepool has been discovered, however, it becomes a lot easier to deal with. Zapdos with HP Ice are easily walled by Swampert, while those who choose to run HP Grass can be taken on with Gliscor.
Checks: Gliscor, Swampert, Flygon

I don't have time to edit this sorry.

 

[StarmanXL]

Yeah, hail teams are a total bitch in doubles. I can't seem to reliably beat them unless I'm running a Sunny Day team or something. Anyway...

So yeah, Abomasnow lead is a must for this team. Looks good. I would suggest a more offensive lead, but that's more due to personal preference than anything else.

Clefable is a very cool pokemon, but despite being immune to Hail damage I don't think she really fits here. Well, for the lead, I'd suggest bumping Froslass to the lead spot over Clefable with a moveset of Taunt/Blizzard/Shadow Ball/Destiny Bond, Confuse Ray, HP Fighting or Ground, Light Screen or Thunderwave and Focus Sash for an item. For the last move, I'd suggest either HP Ground to deal with Steels, Thunderwave to cripple opponents, or Light Screen to help with your massive Heat Wave/Eruption weak (don't all hail teams have this?). It's a fairly standard lead, but it's effective as it allows you to reliably stop opponent's set up with Taunt (Froslass is quite fast and immune to Fake Out except from Kangaskhan), lead off with some heavy offense, and allows you to avoid Explosion leads with her ghost typing and Abomasnow's Protect.

Mamoswine is crazy awesome, definitely keep him. Just keep in mind, though, that in doubles multi-target moves have their BP lowered by 75%, making Blizzard a 90 BP move. This fails to 2HKO Skarmory and Weezing (but who runs them in doubles anyway) so I'd rather just go all physical, switch to Ice Fang, and have the special sweepers spam the opponent to hell with Blizzard. Oh, and don't use Dig; it sucks hard and makes you suspectible to EQ, so yeah.

Glaceon is cool as well, although I wouldn't use Choice Specs given that it limits your options and it also sucks with Sleep Talk. I'd rather run Lefties or Wise Glasses as the item, and replace Sleep Talk. Your options on what the fill the Sleep Talk slot are limited given Glaceon's shitty movepool, although fortunately you've got good coverage already. I would suggest either Protect to help you avoid Explosion, Heat Wave, your own Mamoswine's EQ, stall out TR, and so on, or, if that doesn't appeal to you, you can use Icy Wind since your team is rather slow but it's not as useful as the former option.

Blissey, while not being the omnipotent special wall it is in singles, is still a powerful force in doubles if used right. However, right now I'm not sold on her spot on the team, if only because of your huge Fighting weak. If you want a Cleric on this team (not entirely necessary but I'm hugely fond of them), I'd suggest Dragonite in Blissey's spot; gets Roost and Heal Bell, can run Blizzard off of a none-too-shabby base 100 Sp. Atk if you feel like it, a good physical attack score for your special-based team if you don't and resists fighting and fire, two big types that plague you (although he doesn't do anything for your unfortunate Rock Slide weak) as well as giving you a ground immunity for Mamoswine to spam EQ. I don't know exactly what set you should use (I've been trying to solve this problem myself for some time now), although I've tried running such a Dragonite based off of the Bulky DD Nite set with the HP and ATK EVs switched, but I would suggest you play around with the EVs until you get something you like.

If you don't want to ditch Blissey, fine. In that case, I would drop Calm Mind as it'll take awhile to set up; I'd suggest something like Seismic Toss in its place for some reliable damage, or preferably Thunderwave to cripple enemies since your team is pretty slow.

Right, so now I'd like to address Clefable, finally. To be quite honest, I would drop her from this team, if only because your team is slow and running too many fighting weaks as it is. I would instead replace her with something that resists your Fire and Fighting weaks. Water types spring to mind. Slowbro/king could work as well as giving you an added defense against TR teams but their lack of speed doesn't help much in this case. I would suggest Starmie--fast, resists Fighting and Fire, good special attack score. You could run an offensive set with Hydro Pump/Blizzard/Thunderbolt/Grass Knot, or you could opt for a more support-minded set with Hydro Pump/Blizzard/Reflect/Recover or another attack, as that would allow you to increase your defense on the physical side while increasing your survivability; Water/Ice is a pretty decent attack combo anyway.

The two things I see hurting you the most are your lack of speed and your susceptibility to Rock Slide, Heat Wave, and fighting moves, but other than that it seems like a solid team. I'd love to face it some time.

 

[Isaac0501]

I'll do some edits as soon as I can think of what is best for my team based on your post.

Once this team is done, sure we can battle on NetBattle since no one knows how to double there anyways. Quite honestly I wasn't to sure Hail + Blizzard would be to effective.

EDIT: so far I've replace Blissey with Dragonite. Didn't like Blissey anyways, she didn't fit. Changed Mamoswine's set.

I'm going to look at Starmie some more.

 

[Isaac0501]

Should I put a Tentacruel or a Gliscor in here?

Tentacruel - Tentacruel provides the swift switch into the Toxic Spikes this team hates so much. In addition, it provides very helpful Rapid Spin support to rid your field of Stealth Rock, as well as the ability to set up Toxic Spikes of your own. Tentacruel provides a great Fire, Steel, and Fighting resistance to Hail teams and can make full use of a 100% accurate Blizzard alongside its STAB Surfs. It is also one of the best Infernape counters there is.

Gliscor - Great Fighting resist, and very useful Ground and Electric immunities. Deals with most Tyranitar. Sets up Stealth Rock. Excellent synergy with Tentacruel. Can self-heal with Roost. Weaknesses covered by rest of team. It is one of the most reliable Fighting-type counters there is, but watch out from Ice Punch or Hidden Power Ice from the likes of Fighting-types such as Lucario.

 

[StarmanXL]

Honestly, I don't know since I'm not particularly fond of either. A good Rock and Steel resist wouldn't hurt...hm...

By the way, have you thought about maybe putting a fire or fighting move on dragonite to eliminate Scizor or Tyranitar or Heatran? It's worth consideration. I still think you'd need a bulky water here, though. I'd have to face this team, though, before I can really think of much else.

 

[Isaac0501]

Honestly, I don't know since I'm not particularly fond of either. A good Rock and Steel resist wouldn't hurt...hm...

By the way, have you thought about maybe putting a fire or fighting move on dragonite to eliminate Scizor or Tyranitar or Heatran? It's worth consideration. I still think you'd need a bulky water here, though. I'd have to face this team, though, before I can really think of much else.

No not really I've been concentrating so much on Blizzard I don't think about alot of things. Yea Ill put a fire move in on Dragonite.

If you want a steel / rock resist Bronzong, Heatran, or maybe Empoleon.
idk, honestlly I think tis team is reaching the point to where it's as good as it's going to get