[overview]
**Draft Order**: Round 5 onwards
**Price Range**: 9-11 points
**Overview**: Alolan Ninetales carves itself a niche in the format as the premier Aurora Veil setter while also being a solid utility Pokemon. Thanks to its great Speed tier, it can reliably set Aurora Veil while also supporting its teammates with strong support moves and providing snow for Ice-types. It also has access to Nasty Plot alongside solid STAB moves to make it a passable wallbreaker against certain teams. Its major drawbacks are that it has mediocre offensive stats and a very debilitating Steel weakness, and it's also directly outclassed by a lot of other Pokemon for the roles it wants to fill, notably lacking pivoting, which makes it hard to safely bring in teammates that benefit from Aurora Veil. However, it does compress roles that other Pokemon do not, meaning that it can be a strong choice on certain builds.
[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Utility**: Alolan Ninetales is blessed with one of the strongest utility movepools in the metagame, primarily setting Aurora Veil for its teammates but also using moves such as Encore, Hypnosis, and Foul Play, all of which can help swing the tide of games back into the user's favor by crippling not just offensive but also defensive threats.
**Setup**: While far less common, Nasty Plot Alolan Ninetales can be used despite its middling Special Attack thanks to having strong STAB moves in Blizzard and Moonblast and solid enough coverage options to muscle through some of its would-be checks. It does run into issues with Steel-types, but it can also muscle through most.
Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Blizzard, Freeze-Dry, Moonblast, Draining Kiss
**Setup Moves**: Nasty Plot, Calm Mind, Agility
**Utility Moves**: Aurora Veil, Encore, Hypnosis, Foul Play, Disable, Pain Split, Roar
**Coverage**: Dark Pulse, Extrasensory, Hex, Psyshock, Tera Blast
Niche Moves
========
**Snowscape**: Snowscape allows Alolan Ninetales to keep snow up against opposing weather setters, which could otherwise switch in to prevent Aurora Veil.
**Charm**: Lowering the foe's Attack can allow one of Alolan Ninetales's allies an even easier opportunity to set up.
**Imprison**: Alolan Ninetales can prevent opposing Pokemon from using its snow to set their own Aurora Veil by using Imprison. This can be most impactful against offensively oriented teams.
**Icy Wind**: Icy Wind provides Alolan Ninetales with a helpful form of speed control, slowing down foes to allow its teammates to outspeed them once it faints. It can also prevent Speed-boosting setup sweepers from getting out of hand.
Common Items
========
**Light Clay**: Light Clay extending the duration of Aurora Veil can give teammates the extra turns needed to safely enter the field and set up. It's incredibly helpful when using frailer setup Pokemon, as they usually need to be brought in via a slow pivot.
**Heavy-Duty Boots**: The go-to item for most Pokemon with a Stealth Rock weakness, Heavy-Duty Boots gives Alolan Ninetales longevity to make it useful throughout the entire course of the game.
Niche Items
========
**Resistance Berries**: In scenarios where Alolan Ninetales may struggle to set Aurora Veil, resistance Berries can sometimes provide it the single free turn that it may need.
**Damage-boosting Items**: Both Choice Specs and Life Orb can be strong options in the right matchups, but they both run the risk of making Alolan Ninetales held back by entry hazards to the point where it's almost impossible to use them without strong hazard removal.
**Mental Herb**: To circumvent fast Encore and Taunt users, Alolan Ninetales can use Mental Herb, giving it a free turn to Aurora Veil.
**Focus Sash**: While nearly always outclassed by Light Clay and Mental Herb, Focus Sash can help on sacrificial lead sets that otherwise may be picked off by Bullet Punch or Choice Scarf users.
**Eject Button**: One way to circumvent Alolan Ninetales's lack of pivoting is by using Eject Button, giving it a free switch out after setting Aurora Veil. It can also still be useful even if Aurora Veil hasn't been set, as it grants safe entry for Ice-types and Slush Rush users alike.
Tera
========
Alolan Ninetales does not benefit from Tera much at all in its primary role as utility support; it appreciates the natural Defense boost from snow too much to want to lose it from using Tera. Where it does appreciate Tera is on offensive sets, with Tera types such as Tera Ground and Fighting giving it strong coverage options, Tera Water and Steel giving it easier setup opportunities, and Tera Fire achieving both. The rare Tera Ice can also be used to buff the damage of Blizzard even further. It does not need Tera to perform its roles, but it can make for a solid secondary Tera Captain, especially when it's priced at 9 points.
Draft Strategy
========
Alolan Ninetales is primarily used as a support option on offensive builds and thus shouldn't be considered unless teams fit most, if not all, of the following criteria. Teams also usually opt for better snow setters like Galarian Slowking and dual screens setters with better utility or pivoting like Grimmsnarl unless they explicitly need Alolan Ninetales's role compression.
**Strong Setup**: Aurora Veil makes setup considerably easier for all Pokemon, and a team should have multiple strong setup options before considering Alolan Ninetales, with some examples being Ogerpon-W, Greninja, and Iron Valiant. Alolan Ninetales also has notably strong synergy with Ice-types such as Baxcalibur and Kyurem, with its snow giving them a further Defense boost to enable setup even more.
**Entry Hazard Control**: Both Alolan Ninetales and its teammates do not want to have to run Heavy-Duty Boots unless absolutely necessary, while they also benefit massively from entry hazards consistently being up on the opponent's side. Pokemon such as Gliscor and Hisuian Samurott can be effective hazard setters, while Blastoise and Talonflame can be strong, offensive hazard removers. A handful of Pokemon like Iron Treads and Donphan can also do both.
**Slow Momentum**: Since Alolan Ninetales lacks momentum-grabbing moves, it can't safely get frailer teammates onto the field, which is why it benefits from pairing with teammates with slow pivoting such as Corviknight, Scizor, and Iron Hands.
**Ghost-types**: One of the most common ways to stop Aurora Veil is to remove it with Brick Break. Ghost-types such as Ceruledge and Brambleghast can make for solid teammates, since they're entirely immune to Brick Break. Gholdengo especially makes for a great option, as it also prevents Defog, another common way to remove Aurora Veil.
Checks and Counters
========
**Dual Screens Removal**: Alolan Ninetales's primary use is for Aurora Veil, and there are many ways to consistently remove it, ranging from Brick Break and Psychic Fangs, which destroy it, to Defog, which removes it alongside any entry hazards set by Alolan Ninetales's teammates.
**Opposing Weather**: Opposing weather setters, both via abilities and manual setting, can prevent Alolan Ninetales from setting Aurora Veil simply by switching into it on the turn it uses Aurora Veil or outspeeding it, respectively.
**Entry Hazards**: Since Alolan Ninetales wants to run Light Clay or other items that aid in setting up Aurora Veil frequently, it finds itself susceptible to entry hazards, notably Stealth Rock, which can be set against it for free by Steel-types such as Heatran, Tinkaton, and Metagross.
**Steel-types**: Utility sets, especially without Tera, find themselves shut down by most Steel-types, being forced into other teammates that may not want to take status or disruption moves. Bullet Punch, which is learned by a decent number of Steel-types, can also threaten to OHKO Alolan Ninetales before it can even set Aurora Veil.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/nyx.564960/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/techno.527276/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/scribble.356084/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/solarbeam.470115/
**Draft Order**: Round 5 onwards
**Price Range**: 9-11 points
**Overview**: Alolan Ninetales carves itself a niche in the format as the premier Aurora Veil setter while also being a solid utility Pokemon. Thanks to its great Speed tier, it can reliably set Aurora Veil while also supporting its teammates with strong support moves and providing snow for Ice-types. It also has access to Nasty Plot alongside solid STAB moves to make it a passable wallbreaker against certain teams. Its major drawbacks are that it has mediocre offensive stats and a very debilitating Steel weakness, and it's also directly outclassed by a lot of other Pokemon for the roles it wants to fill, notably lacking pivoting, which makes it hard to safely bring in teammates that benefit from Aurora Veil. However, it does compress roles that other Pokemon do not, meaning that it can be a strong choice on certain builds.
[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Utility**: Alolan Ninetales is blessed with one of the strongest utility movepools in the metagame, primarily setting Aurora Veil for its teammates but also using moves such as Encore, Hypnosis, and Foul Play, all of which can help swing the tide of games back into the user's favor by crippling not just offensive but also defensive threats.
**Setup**: While far less common, Nasty Plot Alolan Ninetales can be used despite its middling Special Attack thanks to having strong STAB moves in Blizzard and Moonblast and solid enough coverage options to muscle through some of its would-be checks. It does run into issues with Steel-types, but it can also muscle through most.
Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Blizzard, Freeze-Dry, Moonblast, Draining Kiss
**Setup Moves**: Nasty Plot, Calm Mind, Agility
**Utility Moves**: Aurora Veil, Encore, Hypnosis, Foul Play, Disable, Pain Split, Roar
**Coverage**: Dark Pulse, Extrasensory, Hex, Psyshock, Tera Blast
Niche Moves
========
**Snowscape**: Snowscape allows Alolan Ninetales to keep snow up against opposing weather setters, which could otherwise switch in to prevent Aurora Veil.
**Charm**: Lowering the foe's Attack can allow one of Alolan Ninetales's allies an even easier opportunity to set up.
**Imprison**: Alolan Ninetales can prevent opposing Pokemon from using its snow to set their own Aurora Veil by using Imprison. This can be most impactful against offensively oriented teams.
**Icy Wind**: Icy Wind provides Alolan Ninetales with a helpful form of speed control, slowing down foes to allow its teammates to outspeed them once it faints. It can also prevent Speed-boosting setup sweepers from getting out of hand.
Common Items
========
**Light Clay**: Light Clay extending the duration of Aurora Veil can give teammates the extra turns needed to safely enter the field and set up. It's incredibly helpful when using frailer setup Pokemon, as they usually need to be brought in via a slow pivot.
**Heavy-Duty Boots**: The go-to item for most Pokemon with a Stealth Rock weakness, Heavy-Duty Boots gives Alolan Ninetales longevity to make it useful throughout the entire course of the game.
Niche Items
========
**Resistance Berries**: In scenarios where Alolan Ninetales may struggle to set Aurora Veil, resistance Berries can sometimes provide it the single free turn that it may need.
**Damage-boosting Items**: Both Choice Specs and Life Orb can be strong options in the right matchups, but they both run the risk of making Alolan Ninetales held back by entry hazards to the point where it's almost impossible to use them without strong hazard removal.
**Mental Herb**: To circumvent fast Encore and Taunt users, Alolan Ninetales can use Mental Herb, giving it a free turn to Aurora Veil.
**Focus Sash**: While nearly always outclassed by Light Clay and Mental Herb, Focus Sash can help on sacrificial lead sets that otherwise may be picked off by Bullet Punch or Choice Scarf users.
**Eject Button**: One way to circumvent Alolan Ninetales's lack of pivoting is by using Eject Button, giving it a free switch out after setting Aurora Veil. It can also still be useful even if Aurora Veil hasn't been set, as it grants safe entry for Ice-types and Slush Rush users alike.
Tera
========
Alolan Ninetales does not benefit from Tera much at all in its primary role as utility support; it appreciates the natural Defense boost from snow too much to want to lose it from using Tera. Where it does appreciate Tera is on offensive sets, with Tera types such as Tera Ground and Fighting giving it strong coverage options, Tera Water and Steel giving it easier setup opportunities, and Tera Fire achieving both. The rare Tera Ice can also be used to buff the damage of Blizzard even further. It does not need Tera to perform its roles, but it can make for a solid secondary Tera Captain, especially when it's priced at 9 points.
Draft Strategy
========
Alolan Ninetales is primarily used as a support option on offensive builds and thus shouldn't be considered unless teams fit most, if not all, of the following criteria. Teams also usually opt for better snow setters like Galarian Slowking and dual screens setters with better utility or pivoting like Grimmsnarl unless they explicitly need Alolan Ninetales's role compression.
**Strong Setup**: Aurora Veil makes setup considerably easier for all Pokemon, and a team should have multiple strong setup options before considering Alolan Ninetales, with some examples being Ogerpon-W, Greninja, and Iron Valiant. Alolan Ninetales also has notably strong synergy with Ice-types such as Baxcalibur and Kyurem, with its snow giving them a further Defense boost to enable setup even more.
**Entry Hazard Control**: Both Alolan Ninetales and its teammates do not want to have to run Heavy-Duty Boots unless absolutely necessary, while they also benefit massively from entry hazards consistently being up on the opponent's side. Pokemon such as Gliscor and Hisuian Samurott can be effective hazard setters, while Blastoise and Talonflame can be strong, offensive hazard removers. A handful of Pokemon like Iron Treads and Donphan can also do both.
**Slow Momentum**: Since Alolan Ninetales lacks momentum-grabbing moves, it can't safely get frailer teammates onto the field, which is why it benefits from pairing with teammates with slow pivoting such as Corviknight, Scizor, and Iron Hands.
**Ghost-types**: One of the most common ways to stop Aurora Veil is to remove it with Brick Break. Ghost-types such as Ceruledge and Brambleghast can make for solid teammates, since they're entirely immune to Brick Break. Gholdengo especially makes for a great option, as it also prevents Defog, another common way to remove Aurora Veil.
Checks and Counters
========
**Dual Screens Removal**: Alolan Ninetales's primary use is for Aurora Veil, and there are many ways to consistently remove it, ranging from Brick Break and Psychic Fangs, which destroy it, to Defog, which removes it alongside any entry hazards set by Alolan Ninetales's teammates.
**Opposing Weather**: Opposing weather setters, both via abilities and manual setting, can prevent Alolan Ninetales from setting Aurora Veil simply by switching into it on the turn it uses Aurora Veil or outspeeding it, respectively.
**Entry Hazards**: Since Alolan Ninetales wants to run Light Clay or other items that aid in setting up Aurora Veil frequently, it finds itself susceptible to entry hazards, notably Stealth Rock, which can be set against it for free by Steel-types such as Heatran, Tinkaton, and Metagross.
**Steel-types**: Utility sets, especially without Tera, find themselves shut down by most Steel-types, being forced into other teammates that may not want to take status or disruption moves. Bullet Punch, which is learned by a decent number of Steel-types, can also threaten to OHKO Alolan Ninetales before it can even set Aurora Veil.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/nyx.564960/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/techno.527276/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/scribble.356084/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/solarbeam.470115/
Last edited:
