Let it Hail! ---Rate my team :D

[DoctorA]

Hello, everyone! Dr. A here, I would like to present you my hail team. Hail teams are underrated, don't know why. The 6,5 % damage hail causes (in combination with other residual damage), can be crucial to achieve some OHKOs and 2HKOs. But enough of that, feel free to rate, ciritcism is welcome. :) and once again: sorry for my english, I am not native. :D

Abomasnow (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Snow Warning
EVs: 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Protect
- Leech Seed
- Wood Hammer
- Ice Shard

Of course we start with Abomasnow, the forgotten fifth weather inducer. Abomasnow is crucial to my team, because it provides Hail support, which causes residual damage. I decided to go with Protect + Leech Seed, maximizing longevity. I also chose the physical path of attacking, Wood Hammer destroys offensive Keldeo and Rotom-W on the switch and is generally a good attacking move. Ice Shard has STAB and priority, so it is perfect for picking off these 4x-weakness-dragons as well as pokemon like Landorus and Gliscor. Save all that, Abomasnow is (of course) not my main attacker, because it is just walled and smashed pretty easy by Heatran, Bronzong, and most Steel types in general.

Tentacruel (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Liquid Ooze
EVs: 252 HP / 236 Def / 20 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Protect
- Scald
- Toxic Spikes
- Rapid Spin

Tentacruel is my support pokemon. It packs T-Spikes to rack up residual damage (Toxic could also be an option, but I decided to go with T-Spikes). Rapid Spin is obvious, removing all the Stealth Rocks and Spikes and Toxic Spikes which annoy my Ice types, particularly Kyurem-B. Protect stalls, while residual damage goes on and Scald nails some physical attackers on the switch, espacially stuff like Tyranitar, Hippowdon, Scizor and Company. Tentacruel also has good defensive synergy with Abomasnow: it covers the Fire-, Bug-, and Poisonweakness, while Abomasnow can easily switch in a predicted Earthquake/Earth Powers and Electric moves.

Mamoswine (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Icicle Crash
- Ice Shard
- Superpower

Mamoswine is (obiously) one of my sweepers. I decided to give it a Life Orb and an Adamant nature to hit stuff as hard as possible. Not much to say here, Earthquake destroys Heatran and Tyranitar, Icicle Crash is a second STAB, Ice Shard for cleaning purposes, and Superpower is especially useful against Ferrothorn. Mamoswine doesn't take much damage from Stealth Rock like other Ice types do, and it takes no residual damage, neither from Hail, nor from Sandstorm. It's a good all around physical sweeper.

Latias (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
- Dragon Pulse
- Recover

SubRecover Latias is super awesome on Hail teams. Life Orb sweepers will be stalled dead pretty quick, while Latias can set up Calm Mind and Substitute to clean up with STAB Dragon Pulse during late-game. When all the annoying Steel types are gone, Latias is definitely my best offensive pivot of the team. Latias also offers good defensive synergy with Tentacruel, covering each others weaknesses really good.

Magnezone @ Leftovers
Trait: Magnet Pull
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Charge Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Fire]

So here it is, my Steel type killer. Magnezone defeats Scizor, locked into Pursuit/Bullet Punch, Ferrothorn, Forretress, Skarymory and so on... But its secondary purpose is of course: sweeping. After Magnezone has set up with Charge Beam, it tears holes in opponent teams. The rest of my team, either stalls it to death (Latias, Abomasnow [Protect+Leech Seed]) or cleans it up (Ice Shard-Mamoswine, Choice Scarf-Kyurem-B). And Magnezone can easyly switch on Electric and Rock type attacks aimed at Tentacruel and my Ice types.

Kyurem-B @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Teravolt
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Outrage
- Fusion Bolt
- Earth Power
- Dragon Claw

Kyurem-B is my cleaner. It's so simple, just click the apropriate move and watch things die. No really, Kyurem-B packs a devastating 482 attack stat which is backed by strong STAB Outrage. However, if you don't want to be locked into Outrage, Dragon Claw is a good alternative. Earth Power is for Heatran-killing-purposes, and Fusion Bolt is mainly a filler move, although useful against Water types and particularly Gyrarados.



Yeah, this is my team ;) I think it's ok, but I also feel that there is something missing or wrong ( I usually suck at team building xD ) and I hope you guys can help me. Thanks for reading, cheers!

And of course you can import it:

Abomasnow (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Snow Warning
EVs: 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Protect
- Leech Seed
- Wood Hammer
- Ice Shard
 
Tentacruel (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Liquid Ooze
EVs: 252 HP / 236 Def / 20 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Protect
- Scald
- Toxic Spikes
- Rapid Spin
 
Mamoswine (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Icicle Crash
- Ice Shard
- Superpower
 
Latias (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
- Dragon Pulse
- Recover
 
Magnezone @ Leftovers
Trait: Magnet Pull
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Charge Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Fire]
 
Kyurem-B @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Teravolt
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Outrage
- Fusion Bolt
- Earth Power
- Dragon Claw

 

[MCBarrett]

Hey DoctorA, pretty nice Hail Team you have here! I'm not too experienced using Hail Teams but I think that I could provide you with a few pointers to help out this team a bit.

First of all, since one of the big draws of using a hail team is to wear down the opponent through residual damage, the fact that you do not have a Stealth Rock setter doesn't make too much sense. Not only that but it's the best move in the game. Therefore, as just a quick fix, you could switch SuperPower to Stealth Rocks on your Mamoswine. With his decent bulk and Speed Stat Mamoswine is a pretty good Stealth Rock setter plus SuperPower doesn't hit too much harder on anything notable besides Rotom-W off the top of my head.

Next I would recommend trying out a Choice Specs Magnezone set. Personally, I have found the Sub Charge Beam set to be rather underwhelming since Magnezone is not much of a sweeper with his low speed. Plus the immediate power helps you take out Ferrothorn much easier in the rain which can be helpful. Lastly, Volt Switch is a great move that can really help you gain momentum to either set up with Latias or force switches with Kyurem-B.

Lastly, on your Kyurem-B, I would recommend changing either Dragon Claw or Earth Power to Blizzard. Blizzard is a powerful STAB option with 100% accuracy in the Hail that comes in handy taking out common Kyurem-B switch-ins such as Gliscor and Landorus-T. Personally, I would get rid of Dragon Claw for the extra coverage but if you really find yourself needing to save Kyub for later and not wanting to get locked into Outrage you could replace it for Earth Power. Either way is fine.

Hopefully my suggestions helped! Let me know how it works and good luck with the team!

 

[DoctorA]

First of all, thanks for replying, MCBarett. :p

Yeah, I wanted to integrate Stealth Rock in my team when it was in the building process, but I just couldn't find any space for it. But dropping Superpower for SR has really helped me out achieving Magnezone some crucial OHKOs in combination with hail damage. (And I don't need Mamoswine to kill Ferrothorn, I have Magnezone for that purpose. *facepalm*)

Choice Specs Magnezone sucks. Sorry if I say it that rude, but it hasn't helped me at all, I find it much more appealing setting up with Charge Beam. But I think it's just a personal preference. ;)

And I use Blizzard > Earth Power on Kyurem-B. It helps a lot countering Grass types like Amoonguss, and destroys Whimsicott on the switch-in. So thanks for that. :D
(I can still kill Heatran with Mamoswine, since it has Thick Fat, and outspeeds most Heatran variants. And since Heatran isn't that bulky on the physical Side, Kyurem-B can KO weakened Heatran with Fusion Bolt or even Outrage.)

And when talking about swapping some attacks: would you think it is a good idea to drop Wood Hammer for Earthquake on Abomasnow? It would defeat Heatran and other Fire types Abomasnow lures in... I might try that. :)

So, once again thanks for the reply, it helped a lot.

 

[MCBarrett]

Glad I could help!
Yeah, I think Earthquake is a viable option seeing as it hits Ninetales super effectively and Hail generally will have a more difficult time with sun purely due to typing. However, if you are trying to hit a wider variety of threats with your Abomasnow, you could try using the Mixed-Attacking Expert Belt Set. The coverage, added attack investment, and Expert Belt allow Abomasnow to do massive damage to every weather starter. Even Max Defense Hippowdon is clean 2HKO'd, taking between 62-74% from Wood Hammer. Plus, HP Fire gives you another reliable way to take out Steels such as Ferrothorn and Scizor.
Here's the set you can use:

Abomasnow @ Expert Belt
Lonely Nature 252 att/ 172 sp att/ 84 speed
Wood Hammer
Ice Shard
HP Fire
Earthquake

 

[Moonclawz]

Hi Doctor A!

After looking at your team, I've noticed a few threats that may be problematic. Volcarona and easily sweep your team with a Quiver Dance, as with a special defense boost, Kyurem is easily KO'd with a bit of residue damage. Tentacruel is also 2HKO by versions with HP Ground, and fails to significantly damage versions with Giga Drain. Volcarona also resists Ice Shard. For that reason, I would recommend Toxic over T-spikes on Tentacruel so that you can outstall Volcarona with the hail damage and toxic damage using Protect.

Conkeldurr can also be difficult to deal with, as it can tank an Earthquake from Mamoswine and a Dragon Claw from Kyurem-B and heal itself with Drain Punch. In addition, it can hit Tentacruel hard with Thunderpunch, and is not affected too badly by status due to Guts. I feel making Latias an offensive variant with Psychic/Psyshock would help deal with Conkeldurr better, as it can KO Conkeldurr with a bit of residue damage. It also helps you against Breloom, who can significantly damage your team with Mach Punch and Bullet Seed.

I also would recommend Kyurem-B a Jolly Nature, as this allows it to outspeed Modest Volcarona and other neutral-nature base 100 Pokemon.

For Magnezone, I feel HP Ice would give you better coverage and allowing you to hit ground types much harder. HP Fire isn't really necessary since behind a Sub, Magnezone can Charge Beam to +6, which easily allows it to beat many steel types, including Ferrothorn.

Here's the Latias set:
Latias (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Psyshock
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
- Roost

Otherwise your team seems really solid! I like that your using a hail team too. Hope this helps!

 

[DoctorA]

@MCBarrett: I am surprised! This set works great! Since I consider myself pretty good at prediction, Earthquake helped me to win the weather all the times! But I would rather use something else over HP Fire, since I didn't use it that often (and the Steels are taken care of by Magnezone anyway). But all in all, it is an awesome set, although I miss the longevity...

@Moonclawz: HP Ice on Magnezone is okay, but I don't feel much difference between HP Ice and HP Fire on Magnezone. Good tip though, thanks for that, helped me dealing with Hippowdon and Gliscor.

Concerning that Latias set: it is not bad on paper, but it simply doesn't suit my playstyle, it didn't work for me. Just a personal preference once again. ;)

And Toxic works way better than Toxic Spikes on Tentacruel, because I recognized that the teams in OU are filled with Steel types, Levitators, and those Magic Bounce and Magic Guard abusers. And since I need just to stall out some threats like Volcarona or non-hydration Vaporeon, Toxic fits my team just better. So thanks for that!

And thanks for the more or less positive resonance so far! I didn't expect that, since I am not good at team building xD

 

[Prinz]

Hey, nice Hail team you have here. First of all, as MCBarret already said your team needs the Stealth Rock, which is really helpful for any team since they allow to deal with threats like Volcarona, Dragonite and Thundurus-T more easily and to do some damage in general as well. Therefore, you should use Stealth Rock on your Mamoswine instead of Superpower which is the most useless move here. However, your team looks a bit weak to Terrakion (Choice Band versions 2HKOs at least your whole team with the right move and Terrakion doesn't need to "predict" too since Stone Edge hits hard all your team members), therefore you may try Landorus-T instead of Mamoswine, which can switch into Terrakion more easily thanks to Intimidate and which can check Dragon-type as well (Lati Twins could be a bit annoying but you still have Abomasnow's Ice Shard to revenge-kill them after some damage and it's enough to me). You should use it with a set of Stealth Rock | U-Turn | Earthquake | Stone Edge (even Hidden Power Ice is nice if you hate missing) and with an EV spread of 200 HP / 64 Atk / 244 Def and with an Adamant nature and Leftovers of course. You may also try to use a faster version in order to outspeed Tentacruel, Lucario and Toxicroak but that's just a personal preference I guess. Next, in my opinion you can try Blizzard and Sleep Talk instead of Dragon Claw and Earth Power on your Kyurem-B, Blizzard is, as MCBarret already said a powerful STAB with 100% of accuracy in the Hail which is really good and Sleep Talk helps you to deal with Breloom which looks annoying for your team since your only check for the mushroom fighter is Latias which is easily pursuittable / sporable so she isn't the best check around. Although, if you decide to use Landorus-T instead of Mamoswine (give it the EVs to outspeed the Jolly variant) you can keep Earth Power on your Kyurem-B without any problem since Landorus-T would give you another Breloom check. Finally, I support MCBarret's suggestion about Magnezone and Abomasnow as well, Substitute Magnezone isn't the best set to use in general and with the Hail its even worse, Choice Specs Magnezone has more fire power and it allows to kill Ferrothorn / Jirachi in rain more easily and to get momentum with Volt Switch too. On the other hand, Abomasnow with Earthquake / HP Fire allows to bypass Latias' most common counter (Heatran and Scizor) which obv make easier her sweep. That's all I guess, good luck!