Alright, so here's the thing. We all know about the Trick Room Hail team waaaay back in the day that did well. Obviously those days are way past us. But I figured, mostly as a joke, that I'd try and revive that sort of strategy in today's meta. Hail is probably, out of all the weather types, the weakest by itself. However as I've used this team I've been pleasantly surprised to see that this team isn't as bad as I thought it would be. In fact, this team, which I planned on having a few games with, losing most and tossing to the side, has actually earned me quite a few surprising victories thanks to the sheer amount of speed control it offers. So why am I asking for help? Well I'll explain once I start going into the Pokemon choices.
Abomasnow @ Light Clay
Ability: Snow Warning
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Protect
- Aurora Veil
- Blizzard
- Leaf Storm
Abomasnow. The og Hail setter and the main inspiration for this team. Unlike the original vision of Trick Room Hail, this Abomasnow is not supposed to being an offensive presence, but more of a supportive one, setting up Aurora Veil under Trick Room. Blizzard is obviously a decent spread Ice move that has 100% accuracy under Hail, and Leaf Storm is a powerful nuke of a stab meant for Pokemon such as Tyranitar on the switch in. However, despite being the original intended main core meant to hold both sides of the team together - Trick Room and Hail - I rarely ever find myself bringing it into games. Passively setting up Aurora Veil is sub-optimal in today's fast paced meta, a problem that other options such as G-Max Lapras does not have since it can set up Veil while attacking, without having to worry about Hail being up. On the other hand, this Abomasnow is not able to deal out enough damage to make it really work while and more chances than not, will just being a hindrance more than anything. Abomasnow is one of the two Pokemon I'm thinking of replacing on the team and would love some idea of what I can replace it with.
Dusclops @ Eviolite
Ability: Frisk
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Night Shade
- Will-O-Wisp
- Ally Switch
Dusclops is one of the best Trick Room Setters in the meta right now if you ask me, being immune to fake out and typically needed to be doubled up on in order to take out to stop it from setting up. There's a reason you see it on most teams that utilize a mini TR core. This Dusclops is invested fully in physical defense and decked out with the typical Night Shade for some decent damage that remains the same no matter what. Will-O-Wisp is a great way to cripple physical threats like Tyranitar, Rillaboom, and Cinderace when it's type has been changed to anything but Fire. Finally, Ally Switch is a great way to avoid damage on what the opponent may perceive as a threat to their team and get off some good damage in return, or take out a Pokemon when I otherwise would have been KO'd. Thanks to Dusclops, the Trick Room component of this Hail Trick Room team is able to function.
Sandslash-Alola @ Life Orb
Ability: Slush Rush
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Triple Axel
- Iron Head
- Drill Run
- Protect
My Hail sweeper of choice (At least until the Fossils get their HAs released, then we will see) Alolan Sandlash is a surprisingly powerful threat under Hail and can even function decently well under Trick Room since it's slower than most of the Meta without Hail up. Triple Axel is sort of a catch 22; if you land all three hits it's an insanely powerful move, but if not, then you might as well be running Icicle Crash. However as a Max Move, it's a very hard hitter that can even set your Hail back up should it be removed for some reason. Iron Head is the main STAB of choice that hits Fairy Types insanely hard and as Max Steel Spike gives you and your partner a good defense boost (Not that Sandlash exactly needs it). For coverage, I've chosen Drill Run, in order to hit Pokemon like Excadrill, Dracozolt, Steel and Fire Cinderace, Incineroar and just generally increase SpDef when used as a Max Move. Finally, Protect in order to have access to Max Guard for when it's necessary. As you can probably tell, Sandlash is one of the main Dynamax options for the team.
Marowak-Alola @ Thick Club
Ability: Lightning Rod
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Poltergeist
- Flare Blitz
- Bonemerang
- Protect
My Trick Room Sweeper of choice, Marowak is just an insane Pokemon to deal with, especially with it's newly acquired access to the powerful Poltergeist. Poltergeist hits like a truck on Pokemon that take neutral damage to it and basically OHKOs anything weak to it. Flare Blitz is the secondary STAB of choice. also hitting like a truck, just with the nasty caveat of recoil. I could of course, run Rock Head as an ability in order to keep that from being a problem, but I feel like Lightning Rod just works better in doubles, basically shutting down the Alolan Raichu/Pincurchin combo, and rendering Rotom-Heat a non issue, which could, by it's very nature, cause problems for Hail Teams. I've chosen Bonemerang over something like EQ since you have Rillaboom as the most used Pokemon in the current Meta. Besides, Bonemerang can break Sash. As with Sandslash, Marowak is the second most commonly dynamaxed Pokemon on the team thanks to it's sheer power in TR.
Ninetales-Alola (F) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Snow Warning
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Freeze-Dry
- Dazzling Gleam
- Weather Ball
- Psyshock
Ok, first of all I just want to say that design wise, Alolan Ninetales is one of my favorite Pokemon. It's beautiful, majestic, and just an all around great re-design of an already well designed Pokemon. On to it's roll on the team however. Ninetales was originally added as a secondary Hail setter for the team, to be used in situations where Trick Room wouldn't be optimal. However, it has turned into my main choice for Hail. Ninetales has been thought to be fairly sub-optimal, that in my opinion that's when it is used to set up Aurora Veil. As I mentioned with Abomasnow, I feel like passively setting up Aurora Veil is just not viable in the current Meta, and so I went for a far more offensive option; Choice Specs. Freeze Dry is the Ice STAB of choice in order to help with the Rain match-up against Kingdra, and also against threats like Dracovish. Dazzling Gleam in doubles is far better than Moonblast, especially since it already brings most Urshifu sets down to their Sash, and Hail typically finishes them off. I've decided to try out Weather Ball on this set as it can become a powerful tool on the expected switches on other Weather setters when most people will expect Aurora Veil coming. Mostly, this is to hit Venusaur with a powerful Fire move when they switch in Torkoal to change the weather. Finally, I've got Psyshock as the last move for coverage, however with me thinking of replacing Abomasnow, I am thinking of making this Blizzard instead.
Slowbro-Galar @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Sludge Bomb
- Expanding Force
- Fire Blast
- Hydro Pump
Last, and certainly least, I've got Galarian Slowbro. Looking for a secondary TR abuser, I figured I'd try out Slowbro. Powerful Sludge Bombs to use against Fairy types and Expanding Force in order to abuse the Psychic Terrain set up either by itself the rare times it Dynamaxes, or more likely, set up by the opponent ,Galarian Slowbro on paper seems like a decent threat in TR. When you combine it with the decent coverage it gets, my choices being Fire Blast and Hydro Pump. Slowbro is really a good utility mon that can make good use of Assault Vest. However, when combined with the rest of the team, Slowbro just seems like the odd man out; It really doesn't bring much to the team and like Abomasnow, I very rarely find myself bringing it to teams. As such, this is the second Pokemon I am looking to replace on the team and would love some advice on what can replace this cool, yet sub-optimal choice for my team.
Abomasnow @ Light Clay
Ability: Snow Warning
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Protect
- Aurora Veil
- Blizzard
- Leaf Storm
Abomasnow. The og Hail setter and the main inspiration for this team. Unlike the original vision of Trick Room Hail, this Abomasnow is not supposed to being an offensive presence, but more of a supportive one, setting up Aurora Veil under Trick Room. Blizzard is obviously a decent spread Ice move that has 100% accuracy under Hail, and Leaf Storm is a powerful nuke of a stab meant for Pokemon such as Tyranitar on the switch in. However, despite being the original intended main core meant to hold both sides of the team together - Trick Room and Hail - I rarely ever find myself bringing it into games. Passively setting up Aurora Veil is sub-optimal in today's fast paced meta, a problem that other options such as G-Max Lapras does not have since it can set up Veil while attacking, without having to worry about Hail being up. On the other hand, this Abomasnow is not able to deal out enough damage to make it really work while and more chances than not, will just being a hindrance more than anything. Abomasnow is one of the two Pokemon I'm thinking of replacing on the team and would love some idea of what I can replace it with.
Dusclops @ Eviolite
Ability: Frisk
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Night Shade
- Will-O-Wisp
- Ally Switch
Dusclops is one of the best Trick Room Setters in the meta right now if you ask me, being immune to fake out and typically needed to be doubled up on in order to take out to stop it from setting up. There's a reason you see it on most teams that utilize a mini TR core. This Dusclops is invested fully in physical defense and decked out with the typical Night Shade for some decent damage that remains the same no matter what. Will-O-Wisp is a great way to cripple physical threats like Tyranitar, Rillaboom, and Cinderace when it's type has been changed to anything but Fire. Finally, Ally Switch is a great way to avoid damage on what the opponent may perceive as a threat to their team and get off some good damage in return, or take out a Pokemon when I otherwise would have been KO'd. Thanks to Dusclops, the Trick Room component of this Hail Trick Room team is able to function.
Sandslash-Alola @ Life Orb
Ability: Slush Rush
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Triple Axel
- Iron Head
- Drill Run
- Protect
My Hail sweeper of choice (At least until the Fossils get their HAs released, then we will see) Alolan Sandlash is a surprisingly powerful threat under Hail and can even function decently well under Trick Room since it's slower than most of the Meta without Hail up. Triple Axel is sort of a catch 22; if you land all three hits it's an insanely powerful move, but if not, then you might as well be running Icicle Crash. However as a Max Move, it's a very hard hitter that can even set your Hail back up should it be removed for some reason. Iron Head is the main STAB of choice that hits Fairy Types insanely hard and as Max Steel Spike gives you and your partner a good defense boost (Not that Sandlash exactly needs it). For coverage, I've chosen Drill Run, in order to hit Pokemon like Excadrill, Dracozolt, Steel and Fire Cinderace, Incineroar and just generally increase SpDef when used as a Max Move. Finally, Protect in order to have access to Max Guard for when it's necessary. As you can probably tell, Sandlash is one of the main Dynamax options for the team.
Marowak-Alola @ Thick Club
Ability: Lightning Rod
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Poltergeist
- Flare Blitz
- Bonemerang
- Protect
My Trick Room Sweeper of choice, Marowak is just an insane Pokemon to deal with, especially with it's newly acquired access to the powerful Poltergeist. Poltergeist hits like a truck on Pokemon that take neutral damage to it and basically OHKOs anything weak to it. Flare Blitz is the secondary STAB of choice. also hitting like a truck, just with the nasty caveat of recoil. I could of course, run Rock Head as an ability in order to keep that from being a problem, but I feel like Lightning Rod just works better in doubles, basically shutting down the Alolan Raichu/Pincurchin combo, and rendering Rotom-Heat a non issue, which could, by it's very nature, cause problems for Hail Teams. I've chosen Bonemerang over something like EQ since you have Rillaboom as the most used Pokemon in the current Meta. Besides, Bonemerang can break Sash. As with Sandslash, Marowak is the second most commonly dynamaxed Pokemon on the team thanks to it's sheer power in TR.
Ninetales-Alola (F) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Snow Warning
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Freeze-Dry
- Dazzling Gleam
- Weather Ball
- Psyshock
Ok, first of all I just want to say that design wise, Alolan Ninetales is one of my favorite Pokemon. It's beautiful, majestic, and just an all around great re-design of an already well designed Pokemon. On to it's roll on the team however. Ninetales was originally added as a secondary Hail setter for the team, to be used in situations where Trick Room wouldn't be optimal. However, it has turned into my main choice for Hail. Ninetales has been thought to be fairly sub-optimal, that in my opinion that's when it is used to set up Aurora Veil. As I mentioned with Abomasnow, I feel like passively setting up Aurora Veil is just not viable in the current Meta, and so I went for a far more offensive option; Choice Specs. Freeze Dry is the Ice STAB of choice in order to help with the Rain match-up against Kingdra, and also against threats like Dracovish. Dazzling Gleam in doubles is far better than Moonblast, especially since it already brings most Urshifu sets down to their Sash, and Hail typically finishes them off. I've decided to try out Weather Ball on this set as it can become a powerful tool on the expected switches on other Weather setters when most people will expect Aurora Veil coming. Mostly, this is to hit Venusaur with a powerful Fire move when they switch in Torkoal to change the weather. Finally, I've got Psyshock as the last move for coverage, however with me thinking of replacing Abomasnow, I am thinking of making this Blizzard instead.
Slowbro-Galar @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Sludge Bomb
- Expanding Force
- Fire Blast
- Hydro Pump
Last, and certainly least, I've got Galarian Slowbro. Looking for a secondary TR abuser, I figured I'd try out Slowbro. Powerful Sludge Bombs to use against Fairy types and Expanding Force in order to abuse the Psychic Terrain set up either by itself the rare times it Dynamaxes, or more likely, set up by the opponent ,Galarian Slowbro on paper seems like a decent threat in TR. When you combine it with the decent coverage it gets, my choices being Fire Blast and Hydro Pump. Slowbro is really a good utility mon that can make good use of Assault Vest. However, when combined with the rest of the team, Slowbro just seems like the odd man out; It really doesn't bring much to the team and like Abomasnow, I very rarely find myself bringing it to teams. As such, this is the second Pokemon I am looking to replace on the team and would love some advice on what can replace this cool, yet sub-optimal choice for my team.
