ORAS UU Shards of Ice - Semi-Hail

[pdt]

Hi guys, so I figured I hadn't bothered the forums with a team in awhile, so I decided to post this one :P. It's an attempt at Semi-Hail Ice Spam, and it incorporates some fun sets that catch the opponent off guard. I really wanted to build around Ice, because it is super-effective against 28.04% of the tier. I am no means a good battler or builder, but I hope this team can catch the attention of you guys. Without further ado, here is SHARDS OF ICE (Dun Dun Dun)

Abomasnow-Mega @ Abomasite
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 112 HP / 252 Atk / 60 SpA / 84 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Ice Shard
- Wood Hammer
- Earthquake
- Blizzard
The star of the team, Mega Abomasnow. His amazing mixed movepool and ridiculous stats along with many viable sets are the best qualities of this monster. His unpredictability can catch the opponent off-guard and allow you to punch a couple holes in the opposing team. He's used as a late-game cleaner, and he mainly picks off weakened Pokemon with Ice Shard. Unfortunately, his low Speed Tier and horrible defensive typing makes you have to play more carefully with him. Ice Shard gives the much need priority, Wood Hammer bops those pesky Bulky Waters, and Earthquake rounds off the coverage. Blizzards bops the Physically oriented walls that want to come in on Abomasnow and potentially eat up hits. The EV spread is a bit weird, but it creeps Forretress and guarantees the OHKO on Physically Defensive Chesnaught and Zapdos with Blizzard. 112 HP EVs hits an odd HP number, allowing it to switch-in on Stealth Rocks 4 times.

Mamoswine @ Life Orb
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Ice Shard
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- Icicle Crash
Mamoswine is Abomasnow's partner in crime, one of the most dangerous Pokemon in the UU tier. He runs the standard Life Orb All-Out Attacker set, and he punches holes in the opponents team for Abomasnow to clean up. The combination of dual Ice Shard priority easily cleans up the weakened opponents team. Mamoswine's Dual STAB is super hard to wall. Not really much to say about this guy, because his EVs, Moves, and Role in the team is fairly standard.

Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Calm Mind
- Scald
Ah, Crocune. One of the most classic and hated sets in all of UU, but it does it's job so well. Suicune is such a great check to most Physical Attackers in the tier, and the Steel and Fire resists are essential for the above two. Ice is such a weak defensive type, so Suicune provides a solid win condition and switch-in to a majority of the tier. Again, the set is fairly standard, with a bit of speed creep and 240 HP to hit a Leftovers number. This Pokemon works great in conjunction with Mamoswine, because Mamo kills both of the Dry Skin Pokemon(Toxicroak and Heliolisk) for Suicune to set up and sweep.

Salamence @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 124 Def / 136 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Dragon Claw
- Roost
- Refresh
I don't think I've ever had so much fun with a Salamence. This custom Refresh set was (stolen straight from Ubers) a great idea of mine. Cobalion and the above helps get rid of pesky Steel and Fairy Types, which are on most every team, and Mence can set up and sweep. It's a really reliable Scald switch-in, because it doesn't fear the burn. This set also destroys Stall, because it can Refresh off Toxic/Thunder Wave/Will-O-Wisp and set up to +6. Another late game win condition that is unexpected, causing opponents to waste turns trying to status this monster while it sets up to +6. The set details are pretty cool, a Bulky Dragon Dance set that maximizes Physical Bulk while retaining offensive power. 136 Speed EVs and a Jolly Nature creeps Base 85 Pokemon at max Speed, and outspeeds Mega Aerodactyl after one Dragon Dance. A second, less-reliable Fire Check, and a valuable Fighting check with Intimidate.

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 60 Def / 172 SpD / 28 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heat Wave
- Volt Switch
- Roost
- Defog
Zapdos is a Bulky Mixed Wall and my Defogger. It is super important as my team is pressured easily by hazards. It is used as a secondary Fighting and Steel check. Heat Wave pressures Steel Pokemon like Forretress and Doublade, so that they can't pressure my Ice Types. Volt Switch so that Zapdos is a reliable pivot, and can be used to safely switch-in Abomasnow and Mamoswine, so they don't have to take attacks themselves. 28 Speed EVs creeps the Smogon set, and the rest is basically the Smogon set except for the Special Attack EVs that were deemed unnecessary and put into Defense instead.

Cobalion @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Justified
EVs: 64 HP / 192 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- Close Combat
- Volt Switch
- Stealth Rock
The EV spread is kinda random, but I wanted a balance between a Physical Attacker and a reliable Stealth Rocker and Pivot. Shuca Berry lures a lot of common threats like Nidoqueen and Mamoswine, allowing Cobalion to get off some damage or set up hazards. Having two Volt Switchers as pivots isn't really a problem for this team, because you can double into an Ice Type and threaten them from there. Otherwise, Cobalion is a great pivot that provides lots of momentum and utility for this team, serving as a great Stone Edge resist.

I've had decent success with this team, although I'm sure it's been hindered by my mediocre skill. A few threats I wanted to point out is, a lack of switch-ins overall because of how little of moves that my Ice types can switch into. Anyways, I've been having a blast with this team, so I figured I would put it on here to share with you all and hopefully get some constructive advice in order to improve the team. Thanks for taking the time to read this RMT, and PDT....AWAY!

Importable: http://pastebin.com/bXnMTFdH
Shout-outs: To all my Lobby Friends:
Camilas -for telling me my gimmicks are bad
LifeisDANK -for always being there to pm and vent ;_;
Foxyy -for being a super fren (and furry)
Flying Kebab -for keeping me in check in Lobby
Bunch o' UU people that have been nice but I don't really know them well
If you want a shoutout just tell me and I'll add you :^)
Cool text from cooltext.com​

 

[DaSpoofy]

Ah damn man! I was really hoping to see some Mega Abomasnow and Snow Cloak Mamsowine action haha. I have been using this team on ladder and it is really solid! Can't rate it tbh. Thanks for the awesome RMT man :).

 

[pdt]

Thanks! Although Snow Cloak would've been super fun to use, I ultimately decided that it was unfortunately subpar to Thick Fat. I've had a lot of fun with this team too! :)

 

[Sacri']

Hey man, interesting team you have got here. I don't see that many things wrong but there are still some annoying weaknessess that i'll try to cover.

• Even if this mence set seems cool on paper, I just think it needs way to much support as it just gets walled by any fairy type ever, and you don't have a single fairy resist. That is why I think you should change your mence set to a Mixed Attacker Salamence w/ Life Orb and DM/Roost/Fire Blast/Iron tail. This set gives you a great wallbreaker as well as a fairy lure which is more than needed as you still dont have an actual answer to florges.

• Also in order to help you a bit to switch into Fairy Attacks, I definitively think you should run LO Nidoqueen w/ Stealth Rocks over Mamoswine. This also gives you a third Fight Res as well as a great answer to steel types.

• Using rocks on Nidoqueen lets a slot free for Coba and using SD 3 Attacks Cobalion is the way to go as it gives you another solid win condition that can also force in Zapdos to kill it in the following turn. Stone edge is also crucial in order to hit Chandelure that is also a massive pain to switch into.

sets

Cobalion @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Stone Edge
- Iron Head
- Close Combat

Nidoqueen (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 136 HP / 252 SpA / 120 Spe
Modest Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
- Sludge Wave

Salamence @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Roost
- Iron Tail

 

[pdt]

Thanks, Sacri! Those are some really solid changes you made there. I'll definitely test them out.

 

[pdt]

bumperino

 

[rs]

Hey man cool looking team! I just have a couple of quick recommendations :]

• First off, I definitely think you should implement Sacri's Nidoqueen suggestion, as it definitely helps out the team with Fairy-types :] I'm a big fan of speedy (252 Modest) Nidoqueen whenever I run it, but the set he recommended is fine too as it hits a certain Speed tier.
  
  
• Next, this team lacked any kind of Draco Meteor/Special Attacking switchin whatsoever, that's why I'd like to recommend Florges over Zapdos, as it provides you the means to handle Pokemon like Mega Sceptile (which you couldn't switch-in to at all). Also Florges + Suicune have insanely good synergy :^). I'd recommend using just standard cleric Florges.
  
  
• Lastly, since you lost your Defogger, I'd recommend using Special Attacking Defog Salamence over the current set you have now. This set allows you to keep the defogger why allowing you to also have an offensive presence. you could opt for Leftovers if you want the passive recovery (I prefer it personally), but the standard set is Life Orb.

But anyway, cool looking team and I hope you consider my recommendations :]. Good luck!

Sets

Nidoqueen @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Sludge Wave
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam

Florges @ Leftovers
Ability: Flower Veil
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Protect
- Aromatherapy
- Moonblast

Salamence @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Roost
- Defog

 

[pdt]

Thanks Shiba n-n, because Nidoqueen was a recurring suggestion I'm probs gonna take it. Also my Mence set is so incredibly easy to wall so that it def needs to be changed. Florges looks like a nice option here too. (btw I changed Zap from Def to SpDef, I'll update the OP)

 

[Cynde]

hey dude cool team.

• i sorta agree with the above suggestions about using nido although i think the nido you should be using is nidoking just because it has a higher speed tier than gyarados. gyarados is a massive issue once it gets a sub up and can pretty much sweep your entire team because a zapdos that isn't completely physically defensive can get 2hko'd by waterfall and with hail damage mitigating leftovers it isn't really a fun time. not to mention the fact that you're forced to switch out with zapdos every time you want to break its sub which can be rather unfortunate. and there would be 2 ways to mitigate that, either build your team in a way that it cant set up on anything incorporate a hard check. with nidoking present it won't be setting up / killing something, so yeah run nidoking. the moveset i would use is thunderbolt / sludge wave / earth power / stealth rock. as for the ev spread distribution max spa / max spe w/ timid would do just fine.

• agreeing with shiba's mence / florges suggestions.

• you'd definitely want roar on suicune so you can phase out troublesome mons like gyarados which, as i mentioned earlier can prove to be quite troublesome should gyarados get a substitute up. you may replace either sleep talk or calm mind to make room for this.

• obviously you won't be needing stealth rocks on cobalion anymore so you can just change that to a swords dance set so that you can incorporate another win condition on your team. the set in question would be sd / stone edge / close combat / iron head. and the ev spread distribution should just be max speed / max attack.

 

[pdt]

Yeah I was really considering Thunderbolt for Zapdos, but I wanted momentum>checking one Pokemon. Although I do see the prob w/ Gyara, shouldn't Mence beat it 1v1? Also no Sleep Talk Cune isn't really an option for me rn, because losing those turn would be bad. That would be resolved by the cleric Florges, so I can definitely see where you're coming from. Thanks for the feedback!