Hey everybody,
So a while back, my friend asked me to make him a hail team, and this is what I presented him with, more or less. After testing it out, I found it to work significantly better than I had hoped, and said friend returned the team to me. I was hoping to get some feedback since I really like this team and I want it to be the best it can be.
Abomasnow (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 252 HP, 252 SpAtk, 4 Atk
Quiet Nature (+SpAtk, -Spd)
- Blizzard
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power Fire
- Ice Shard
As with every other hail team, Abomasnow's main purpose is to summon permanent hail, so I decided to have some fun with a counter-weather lead set. 0 Speed EVs with a Quiet nature lets him get hail up after most standard Politoed, Ninetails, and Hippowdon leads, and a Focus Sash allows him to comfortably kill many common nonweather leads and threats in the metagame today. Dragons and Flying types are covered by 100% accurate Blizzard, Giga Drain allows Abomasnow to regain health from Water- and Rock-types that would pose little threat otherwise, Hidden Power Fire wrecks Scizor, Ferrothorn, and other Steel types, and priority Ice Shard is helpful for finishing off Baton Pass leads such as Ninjask. His usefulness doesn’t end on the offensive, however, as his Grass/Ice typing gives him valuable resistances to Electric- and Grass-type attacks, making him a viable switch-in if those moves are threatening Tentacruel or Walrein. Overall, I have the most fun playing Abomasnow, as he can net me upwards of 3 K.O.’s if he catches the opponent off guard.
Blissey (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Def, 4 SpDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Heal Bell
- Wish
- Flamethrower
- Toxic
I needed a special wall that could also function as a cleric for my team, and who is better for the job than good old Blissey. Burns and poison are a severe problem for this team, as keeping consistently high health is essential to its success. Heal Bell and Blissey’s monstrous Wishes help keep the more fragile sweepers healthy and active, Flamethrower provides coverage against Steel and Grass types, and Toxic aids stall in case I’m faced with a Pokemon immune to Toxic Spikes. I’d love to run Protect over Flamethrower, but she’d become Taunt bait, and no one wants that. She does her part extremely well, and I’d be hard pressed to find someone better.
Hariyama (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 236 Atk, 252 SpDef, 20 Def
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SpAtk)
- Bulk Up
- Force Palm
- Stone Edge
- Ice Punch
After testing many different builds for numerous Fighting-types, I settled on Hariyama. Thick Fat, combined with his massive natural bulk, provides me with an easy switch in to Fire- and Ice-type moves that would normally wreck Abomasnow or Latios, respectively. 244 EVs are moved to Special Defense since Bulk Up will boost his Defense to decent levels as it is. Force Palm is great for spreading paralysis throughout the opposing team, and combined with Stone Edge and Ice Punch, has perfect neutral coverage. Overall, he has surpassed my expectations and has turned into one of my favorite Pokemon on this team.
Walrein (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Ice Body
EVs: 232 HP, 252 Def, 24 SpDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Roar
- Ice Beam
- Substitute
- Protect
What hail team is complete without Stallrein? With Toxic Spikes support and permanent hail, Walrein becomes an absolute monster who is able to stall out almost any psychical attacker that comes in. Substitute and Protect are the cornerstones of this set, and when combined with Ice Body, they allow Walrein to recover health lost from subs in two turns and remain protected from status. Ice Beam is chosen for STAB over Blizzard due to its higher accuracy and PP, and Roar phazes out threats such as bulky Water types that like switching in on this set. Walrein provides a much-needed defensive pivot for this team to revolve around, and I don’t see myself changing him anytime soon.
Tentacruel (M) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Liquid Ooze
EVs: 252 HP, 240 Def, 12 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Toxic Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Scald
- Hail
Tentacruel is the glue that holds this team together, as it brings so much that my team desperately needs to the table. Its Poison typing grants me a valuable Fighting resistance, allowing it to switch in on many threats, most notably Drain Punch users such as Conkeldurr thanks to Liquid Ooze, and either set up Toxic Spikes or clear the field of hazards with Rapid Spin. STAB Scald is a reliable move with a decent chance to burn an opponent, and Hail is there in case Abomasnow dies earlier than expected. 240 Def EVs balance out its defensive capabilities, allowing it to switch in to a variety of physical and special attackers.
Latios (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpAtk, 252 Spd, 4 HP
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
- Hidden Power Fire
- Thunderbolt
Latios brings a much needed offensive factor to this team. After running a SubSplit Life Orb Rotom-F with moderate success, I switched in Latios to have more coverage moves against numerous threats and to be a speedier response to those threats than Rotom ever was. Draco Meteor deals large damage to anything that doesn’t resist it, and provides me with a pretty reliable counter against unexpected threats. Surf has awesome synergy with Draco Meteor, and can hit Tyranitar that like to switch into this set for high damage. Hidden Power Fire shuts down Steel types that would otherwise wall this set, especially Jirachi, who had been a constant thorn in the teams’ side. Thunderbolt rounds out the set, decimating bulky-Waters and Skarmory. I feel that a better set could be used, however, so I am open to suggestions.
Well, that's my team. Thoughts?
So a while back, my friend asked me to make him a hail team, and this is what I presented him with, more or less. After testing it out, I found it to work significantly better than I had hoped, and said friend returned the team to me. I was hoping to get some feedback since I really like this team and I want it to be the best it can be.
Abomasnow (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 252 HP, 252 SpAtk, 4 Atk
Quiet Nature (+SpAtk, -Spd)
- Blizzard
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power Fire
- Ice Shard
As with every other hail team, Abomasnow's main purpose is to summon permanent hail, so I decided to have some fun with a counter-weather lead set. 0 Speed EVs with a Quiet nature lets him get hail up after most standard Politoed, Ninetails, and Hippowdon leads, and a Focus Sash allows him to comfortably kill many common nonweather leads and threats in the metagame today. Dragons and Flying types are covered by 100% accurate Blizzard, Giga Drain allows Abomasnow to regain health from Water- and Rock-types that would pose little threat otherwise, Hidden Power Fire wrecks Scizor, Ferrothorn, and other Steel types, and priority Ice Shard is helpful for finishing off Baton Pass leads such as Ninjask. His usefulness doesn’t end on the offensive, however, as his Grass/Ice typing gives him valuable resistances to Electric- and Grass-type attacks, making him a viable switch-in if those moves are threatening Tentacruel or Walrein. Overall, I have the most fun playing Abomasnow, as he can net me upwards of 3 K.O.’s if he catches the opponent off guard.
Blissey (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Def, 4 SpDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Heal Bell
- Wish
- Flamethrower
- Toxic
I needed a special wall that could also function as a cleric for my team, and who is better for the job than good old Blissey. Burns and poison are a severe problem for this team, as keeping consistently high health is essential to its success. Heal Bell and Blissey’s monstrous Wishes help keep the more fragile sweepers healthy and active, Flamethrower provides coverage against Steel and Grass types, and Toxic aids stall in case I’m faced with a Pokemon immune to Toxic Spikes. I’d love to run Protect over Flamethrower, but she’d become Taunt bait, and no one wants that. She does her part extremely well, and I’d be hard pressed to find someone better.
Hariyama (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 236 Atk, 252 SpDef, 20 Def
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SpAtk)
- Bulk Up
- Force Palm
- Stone Edge
- Ice Punch
After testing many different builds for numerous Fighting-types, I settled on Hariyama. Thick Fat, combined with his massive natural bulk, provides me with an easy switch in to Fire- and Ice-type moves that would normally wreck Abomasnow or Latios, respectively. 244 EVs are moved to Special Defense since Bulk Up will boost his Defense to decent levels as it is. Force Palm is great for spreading paralysis throughout the opposing team, and combined with Stone Edge and Ice Punch, has perfect neutral coverage. Overall, he has surpassed my expectations and has turned into one of my favorite Pokemon on this team.
Walrein (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Ice Body
EVs: 232 HP, 252 Def, 24 SpDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Roar
- Ice Beam
- Substitute
- Protect
What hail team is complete without Stallrein? With Toxic Spikes support and permanent hail, Walrein becomes an absolute monster who is able to stall out almost any psychical attacker that comes in. Substitute and Protect are the cornerstones of this set, and when combined with Ice Body, they allow Walrein to recover health lost from subs in two turns and remain protected from status. Ice Beam is chosen for STAB over Blizzard due to its higher accuracy and PP, and Roar phazes out threats such as bulky Water types that like switching in on this set. Walrein provides a much-needed defensive pivot for this team to revolve around, and I don’t see myself changing him anytime soon.
Tentacruel (M) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Liquid Ooze
EVs: 252 HP, 240 Def, 12 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Toxic Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Scald
- Hail
Tentacruel is the glue that holds this team together, as it brings so much that my team desperately needs to the table. Its Poison typing grants me a valuable Fighting resistance, allowing it to switch in on many threats, most notably Drain Punch users such as Conkeldurr thanks to Liquid Ooze, and either set up Toxic Spikes or clear the field of hazards with Rapid Spin. STAB Scald is a reliable move with a decent chance to burn an opponent, and Hail is there in case Abomasnow dies earlier than expected. 240 Def EVs balance out its defensive capabilities, allowing it to switch in to a variety of physical and special attackers.
Latios (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpAtk, 252 Spd, 4 HP
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
- Hidden Power Fire
- Thunderbolt
Latios brings a much needed offensive factor to this team. After running a SubSplit Life Orb Rotom-F with moderate success, I switched in Latios to have more coverage moves against numerous threats and to be a speedier response to those threats than Rotom ever was. Draco Meteor deals large damage to anything that doesn’t resist it, and provides me with a pretty reliable counter against unexpected threats. Surf has awesome synergy with Draco Meteor, and can hit Tyranitar that like to switch into this set for high damage. Hidden Power Fire shuts down Steel types that would otherwise wall this set, especially Jirachi, who had been a constant thorn in the teams’ side. Thunderbolt rounds out the set, decimating bulky-Waters and Skarmory. I feel that a better set could be used, however, so I am open to suggestions.
Well, that's my team. Thoughts?