WOULD YOU EVER HAVE BELIEVED THAT THE ICE CREAM MON THAT NO ONE LIKED IS FUCKING VIABLE NOW???
[OVERVIEW]
* One of two avaiable Hail setters
* Hail allows Vanilluxe to switch weather, use Blizzards that never misses and activates Slush Rush on Sandslash
* Faces lots of competition with Alolan Ninetales which is faster, more versatile, has secondary typing and much better movepool
* Vanilluxe's main advantage is slightly better physical bulk, lack of weakness to Poison-type moves, and most importantly, higher Special Attack, which allows Vanilluxe to hit harder
* Vanilluxe's poor movepool makes it easily walled and very predictable, and is threatened by many common threats like Arcanine and Celesteela
[SET] Choice Scarf
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Blizzard
move 2: Freeze-Dry
move 3: Hidden Power Fire / Icy Wind
move 4: Sheer Cold / Icy Wind
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Snow Warning
nature: Timid
evs: 56 HP / 252 Spa / 200 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* Blizzard is spammable STAB-move that never misses on Hail.
* Freeze-Dry is single target Ice-STAB that hits Water-types for good damage.
* Last two slots are mostly fillers.
* Hidden Power Fire can OHKO AV Kartana 2/3 of time, but has no other use than that.
* Sheer Cold is last resort attack that has 30% chance to remove threat that otherwise would be impossible. Keep on mind that Sheer Cold fails against Ice-types.
* Icy Wind is mostly for speed control, as only few in VGC 2017 Pokemon has access to it.
Set Details
========
* Choice Scarf is used as item so Vanilluxe can outspeed most Pokemon and is almost quaranteed to get atleast 1 Blizzard off.
* EVs and Timid nature allows Vanilluxe to outspeed neutral-speed nature Pheromosa and live Life Orb Tapu Koko Thunderbolt. Rest EVs are used in Special Attack to allow Vanilluxe to hit as hard as possible.
* Snow Warning is necessary to set up Hail.
Usage Tips
========
* Extremely one-dimensional Pokemon. Most of time just set up hail and spam Blizzard until Vanilluxe goes down.
* Be careful with opposing weather. Generally it is good to avoid leading with Vanilluxe if there is opposing weather that can cancel Hail.
* If there is no opposing weather, Vanilluxe does make a good lead because it can set up Hail early and weaken opponents with Blizzard. It also works well lategame, where it can pickup KOs on weakaned foes.
* Vanilluxe is not particurarly bulky and has only one resistance so its not recommended to switch Vanilluxe directly in. It is better to send Vanilluxe out after ally Pokemon has been KOed
* Make sure you have good opportunities to switch out if you are locked on coverage move like Hidden Power.
Team Options
========
* Having Pokemon to deal with Fire- and Steel-types is absolutely necessary, as Vanilluxe is hopeless against them.
* Ground-type Pokemon such as Garchomp are great partners as they can threaten Steel- and Fire-types with its Ground-STAB, while Garchomp appreciates Vanilluxe's ability to threaten opposing Dragon-types.
* Arcanine can threaten Steel-type Pokemon with its Fire-STAB. Vanilluxe in return can OHKO Garchomp, which is one of the biggest threats of Arcanine.
* Alolan Sandslash can abuse hail with its Slush Rush Ability, though be careful as they share weakness to Fire- and Fighting-type moves.
* Anything that has access to Blizzard is optional partner as Vanilluxe's hail makes Blizzard 100% accurate. Porygon2, Tapu Fini and Milotic are few examples of many Pokemon that gets access to Blizzard.
* Fire-Type Pokemon like Arcanine are helpful to deal with Steel-types that Vanilluxes struggles against.
* Tapu Koko can beat Celesteela, and combination of Vanilluxe and Tapu Koko make for very fast and offensive core that outspeeds majority of metagame.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
* Extremely bad movepool doesnt give many good other options. Most of moves listed below are alternative filler moves for third and fourth slot.
* Flash Cannon can OHKO Ninetales or bring it down to Sash, and it hits Rock-types like Gigalith for super effective damage.
* Ice Beam is optional 3rd STAB move. Its stronger than Freeze-Dry while is single target and doesnt rely on weather like Blizzard. Generally Blizzard and Freeze-Dry are almost always more useful moves, however.
* Water Pulse is horribly weak but it can do some damage to Fire-type Pokemon.
* Hidden Power Fire can OHKO Assault Vest Kartana 2/3 of time, which Blizzard cant do. Outside from that, it is very weak, even when it hits for super effective damage.
* Weather Ball gives Vanilluxe option to use surprising coverage moves when other weathers like Rain are up.
* Hail can revert weather back to Hail, though it forces Vanilluxe to switch out after use.
* Explosion seems like a weird option, but its an option as last-resort spread attack, or when you generally just want to sacrifice Vanilluxe.
* Using Focus Sash instead of Choice Scarf is an option. It allows Vanilluxe to switch between moves without switching out, and gives it an option to use Protect. For 3rd moveslot Vanilluxe can use support moves like Taunt or Imprison. However, without Choice Scarf Vanilluxe is quite slow even with max speed investment, and being locked into one move doesnt bother Vanilluxe too much as it generally spams Blizzard, anyway.
* Taunt can be also used as filler move on Scarf set, but it absolutely forces Vanilluxe to switch out after using it.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Fire-Type Pokemon**: Fire-Type Pokemon are major concern to Vanilluxe. Arcanine, which is the most common Fire-Type, can easily take several hits and OHKO with Fire-STAB moves. Alolan Marowak and Torkoal also laughs at Vanilluxe, as they can easily take hits from it and OHKO back.
**Steel-Type Pokemon**: While two most common Steel-type Pokemon, Kartana and Celesteela doesnt resist Blizzard, they can still OHKO Vanilluxe with their Steel-STAB.
**Opposing Weather**: Opposing Weather setters can revert Vanilluxe's Hail away, which means that Vanilluxe can no longer use fully accurate Blizzards. Gigalith and Torkoal are major concern, as they can both take hits from Vanilluxe and can hit hard with their Rock- and Fire-STAB attacks, respectively.
**Speed Control**: Vanilluxe relies on Speed it can get from Choice Scarf, so Speed Control is very good way to hamper it. Trick Room makes Vanilluxe often the slowest Pokemon on the field, which makes it quite easy to KO. Icy Wind and opposing Tailwind also hinders Vanilluxe.
**Wide Guard**: Wide Guard blocks Vanilluxe's main attacking move, Blizzard, which will force it out if Vanilluxe is locked on Blizzard. Araquanid and Gigalith are most notable Wide Guard users. While its rarely seen on it, Celesteela can use Wide Guard and OHKO Vanilluxe, making it major threat for Vanilluxe.
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