[OVERVIEW]
* Alolan Ninetales sets itself apart from other dedicated leads in Battle Spot Singles with its access to Aurora Veil and Snow Warning. Unlike dual screens setters like Tapu Koko, Alolan Ninetales can justify more utility moves in its moveset to prevent it from being directly set up on due to Aurora Veil weakening both physical and special attacks.
* Apart from setting Aurora Veil, Alolan Ninetales can utilize Snow Warning to act as an anti-lead towards certain Pokemon like Breloom and Mimikyu that would otherwise set up safely with their Focus Sash intact. Though Alolan Ninetales's conventional teammates are vulnerable to hail damage, there are more instances where the hail damage on opposing Pokemon is more beneficial, as extra damage can turn a number of possible KOs into guaranteed KOs against bulkier foes like Porygon2, Tapu Fini, and Celesteela.
* Due to its underwhelming typing, low Special Attack, and frailty, Alolan Ninetales struggles to justify a role other than an Aurora Veil setter and is reliant on Encore and Sheer Cold for dealing with bulkier Pokemon.
* Due to how predictable it is, Alolan Ninetales will easily entice its checks from the Team Preview. There are many viable Pokemon like Hippowdon and Tyranitar that can switch into Alolan Ninetales and prevent Aurora Veil from being set, while foes like Mega Gengar, Mega Scizor, and Choice Scarf users like Kartana and Nihilego can pose a threat as well. In worse cases, Alolan Ninetales may have to deal with a group of defensive Pokemon chosen by an opponent that doesn't mind Aurora Veil being set at all.
* This means Alolan Ninetales typically mandates its team to be solidly prepared for a large portion of the metagame that can prevent it from performing its role when it provides no defensive presence and has little options for team support apart from setting Aurora Veil. These detriments make Alolan Ninetales compete with other dual screens setters like Tapu Koko and Serperior, which are more consistent and reliable.
[SET]
name: Aurora Veil Setter
move 1: Aurora Veil
move 2: Encore
move 3: Blizzard
move 4: Sheer Cold / Freeze-Dry / Icy Wind
item: Light Clay / Focus Sash
ability: Snow Warning
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* With Snow Warning, Alolan Ninetales can set Aurora Veil, which halves incoming damage from physical and special attacks. This exclusive team support can aid Pokemon like Mega Charizard X and Mega Gyarados, which will be significantly more threatening under the better setup conditions. Aurora Veil also makes revenge killing much more difficult for Mimikyu and priority move users such as Breloom and Mamoswine.
* Encore locks a foe into the same move for three turns, preventing Alolan Ninetales from being easily set up on. Locking a foe into status or setup moves can potentially generate better setup conditions for Alolan Ninetales's teammates.
* Blizzard gives Alolan Ninetales an acceptable amount of offensive presence, becoming a perfectly accurate attack under hail.
* Sheer Cold is the best move to allow Ninetales to threaten bulky foes like Porygon2 and alleviate its matchup against defensive teams in a single moveslot.
* Freeze-Dry can be a solid option to beat Water-types such as Gyarados and Tapu Fini, as well as heavily threatening common Water-types found on rain teams like Pelipper, Mega Swampert, and Kingdra.
* Icy Wind eases prediction against setup sweepers like Mega Gyarados that Alolan Ninetales can survive a hit from, letting it safely scout the first move they use and lock them into that move with Encore.
Set Details
========
* Maximum investment in Special Attack and Speed with a Timid nature enables Alolan Ninetales to fully take advantage of its good Speed and have as much offensive presence as possible.
* Alolan Ninetales's meager offensive presence also gives it room to invest in HP as opposed to Special Attack, giving it enough bulk to survive Thunderbolt from Choice Specs Tapu Koko and Psychic from Modest Choice Scarf Tapu Lele. Jolly Choice Scarf Landorus-T also has unfavorable odds to OHKO maximum HP Alolan Ninetales with Stone Edge.
* Light Clay is typically preferred, as Alolan Ninetales setting Aurora Veil and potentially locking a foe into Encore gives its teammates very few turns to take advantage of Aurora Veil otherwise.
* Focus Sash can be used instead to guarantee that Alolan Ninetales survives an attack from full health to improve the chances that Aurora Veil is set, and it is more justifiable with Alolan Ninetales's teammates typically using different items due to hail damage.
* Snow Warning summons hail when Alolan Ninetales switches in, allowing it to quickly set Aurora Veil.
Usage Tips
========
* Depending on the matchup, Alolan Ninetales should be used with caution. Faster checks like Mega Gengar and Bullet Punch users like Mega Metagross, Mega Scizor, and Mega Lucario can lead against Alolan Ninetales to prevent it from setting Aurora Veil and potentially take advantage of the forced switch. Handing momentum to these threats is going to be problematic even if Alolan Ninetales's teammates can take on them well, as Alolan Ninetales's effectiveness will progressively diminish throughout the match as its teammates will lose health from combat.
* Opposing weather setters can be problematic as well, as they simply prevent Alolan Ninetales from setting Aurora Veil. With the exception of Hippowdon, all weather setters can switch into Alolan Ninetales safely as long as Sheer Cold doesn't end up hitting them. If there are Pokemon like Tyranitar, Pelipper, and Politoed in Team Preview, consider benching Alolan Ninetales.
* In matchups where no particular foe can outspeed and OHKO Alolan Ninetales or change weather, leading with Alolan Ninetales is often the most sensible strategy for various reasons. While setting Aurora Veil early is important to minimize the incoming damage, hail damage from early-game can also limit the usefulness of Focus Sash users like Mimikyu and Breloom from the opposing team, and any passive damage dealt to problematic walls like such as Porygon2 and defensive Landorus-T can be helpful to Alolan Ninetales's teammates. With Icy Wind and Encore, Alolan Ninetales can also prevent a good number of threats from setting up too early.
* Note that Alolan Ninetales doesn't have to set Aurora Veil immediately. Foes like Mega Gyarados, which Alolan Ninetales can survive a hit from without Aurora Veil, can have their first move scouted by Icy Wind, preventing them from outspeeding Alolan Ninetales after using Dragon Dance. Make sure that Aurora Veil is set against threatening foes like Mega Mawile and Mega Blaziken immediately, however.
* Alolan Ninetales will have more room to breathe against slower and bulkier foes, but it is less likely that they will mind Aurora Veil on the field. Passive foes like Toxapex will use Scald and Haze to take care of its counters, and Chansey will Toxic stall most special attackers and do consistent damage with Seismic Toss. In these kinds of matchups, Alolan Ninetales can still aim to either provide its teammates with a free setup opportunity with Encore or set Aurora Veil and repeatedly use Sheer Cold. Overly passive Pokemon will struggle to take down Alolan Ninetales behind Aurora Veil before it ends up hitting Sheer Cold at least once.
Team Options
========
* Setup sweepers that typically engage in direct combat with foes or need multiple boosts to be successful can greatly benefit from Aurora Veil. Porygon-Z, which may have a hard time setting up against faster threats, can easily gain boosts under Aurora Veil and can become a terrifying sweeper. Mega Gyarados can easily pivot into Bullet Punch targeted at Alolan Ninetales and take full advantage of Aurora Veil if carrying Taunt or Substitute by preventing status moves and weak attacks. To a lesser extent, other setup sweepers like Mega Salamence, Mega Charizard X, and Naganadel are less vulnerable to Mimikyu behind Aurora Veil and can set up more easily.
* Teammates that do not necessarily need Aurora Veil should also be present on the team to discourage foes like Mega Gengar and Mega Metagross from easily anti-leading Alolan Ninetales. One of the aspects of using Alolan Ninetales includes luring in foes that remove hail and OHKOing them swiftly. Offensive Ground-types like Garchomp can be considered to counterlead Steel-types and threaten Tyranitar. Pokemon that can beat Mega Gengar and Tapu Koko should also be considered, as they may carry Taunt.
* Fire-types such as Volcarona and both formes of Blaziken are good partners to have around, whether Alolan Ninetales will be used or not. Both of them can punish Steel-types drawn in after seeing Alolan Ninetales in Team Preview, and they become significantly more difficult to take down behind Aurora Veil. Mega Charizard Y is a considerable option for similar reasons, and it can hinder sand or and rain teams that attempt to remove Alolan Ninetales's hail.
* Rain teams are possible as well due to Swift Swim sweepers such as Mega Swampert and Kingdra pressuring Steel- and Fire-types that typically lead against Alolan Ninetales. Choice Scarf users like Tapu Lele that will limit Alolan Ninetales to using only one utility move and faster foes like Mega Gengar are also vulnerable to said archetype.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
* Moonblast may be considered as a secondary STAB option, but most of the targets are already pressured by Icy-type attacks.
* Hypnosis puts a foe to sleep and eases the matchups against setup sweepers like Volcarona and Mega Charizard X, but low accuracy makes this quite risky.
* Roar can be an interesting countermeasure against Trick Room teams that can mess with Alolan Ninetales's Speed and phaze out setup sweepers that will otherwise get out of hand.
* Choice Scarf may be an interesting option to outspeed and revenge kill boosted sweepers like Mega Salamence and Mega Gyarados, but the inflexibility coming from the item will not be ideal.
* Icy Rock can be used to make hail last longer and thus improve the odds for Aurora Veil to be set, but the item's general usefulness is low.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Opposing Weather Setters**: Hippowdon, Mega Charizard Y, Tyranitar, Pelipper, Politoed, and the rare Torkoal can simply switch into Alolan Ninetales to remove hail from the field and prevent Aurora Veil from being set.
**Steel-types**: Various Steel-types annoy Alolan Ninetales for various reasons. Mega Scizor, Mega Metagross, and Mega Lucario can threaten to OHKO it with Bullet Punch before it can set Aurora Veil, and they can switch into Alolan Ninetales quite safely. Other Steel-types like Celesteela and Ferrothorn can also be difficult to deal with if they are locked into Leech Seed by Encore, as this can be combined with hail damage to wear down Alolan Ninetales's teammates quite fast. Note that a lucky Sheer Cold from Alolan Ninetales can completely reverse the situation, however.
**Mega Gengar**: If it manages to lead against Alolan Ninetales, Gengar can safely gain an opportunity to Mega Evolve and OHKO Ninetales with Sludge Bomb before it sets Aurora Veil. Variants with Taunt still cripple Alolan Ninetales, and giving Gengar a safe opportunity to Mega Evolve makes it harder for Alolan Ninetales's teammates to beat it. Though many Pokemon paired with Alolan Ninetales are capable of defeating it one-on-one, they will likely take a first blow as Alolan Ninetales is forced out and can be traded with Destiny Bond.
**Fire-types**: Heatran barely takes any damage from Alolan Ninetales and can threaten to status the next teammate with Will-O-Wisp or Toxic. Both formes of Blaziken can force mind games against Alolan Ninetales by threatening it with Fire-type attacks and potentially setting up Swords Dance on a forced switch. Mega Charizard X can also ease predictions against Alolan Ninetales if carrying Flame Charge.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[DMDW, 434601]]
- Quality checked by: [[Jhon, 159382], [Psynergy, 248085]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Electrolyte, 148071], [Fireflame479, 231476]]
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