status: ready for gp checks; credit for overview goes to harsha
[Overview]
<p>When one looks at Ninetales, the first thing to come to mind is its relative lack of utility outside of Drought. Ninetales is fairly useless outside of its ability, so the sun it provides should be the only reason to run it. While Ninetales doesn't have an expansive movepool or a good stat distribution, it can run a few viable sets, namely specially defensive and Sunny Day. If you want to pack Ninetales on a team, you need to make sure that you provide adequate support to keep Ninetales alive, as sun teams are generally dependent on Drought support.</p>
[SET]
name: Defensive
move 1: Flamethrower
move 2: Will-O-Wisp
move 3: Sunny Day
move 4: Roar / Hypnosis / Substitute
item: Leftovers
ability: Drought
nature: Timid
evs: 252 HP / 124 Def / 132 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>While it might seem strange to use a defensive set on a Fire-type, especially one that isn't all that bulky, Ninetales is the MVP of a sun team. Many sun teams fall flat on their face with another weather in play, so it is imperative for Ninetales to outlast opposing weather inducers. However, opposing weather teams with Dugtrio greatly threaten it. This Ninetales can survive an Earthquake from non-Choice Band Dugtrio, which helps mitigate the worry. Additionally, having a good pivot is always handy, and Ninetales fulfills that role decently. Ninetales can switch into most Grass-, Ice-, Fire-, and Bug-type attacks, as well as Scalds from bulky Water-types. Three out of four of these types are hit super effectively by Flamethrower, which means that Ninetales won't just be a sitting duck for setup sweepers. Stronger Fire-type attacks will hurt, however, so be careful what you switch Ninetales into. Also, be sure to avoid bringing Ninetales in too often when an opposing weather inducer is still alive, as keeping Ninetales alive is very important.</p>
<p>The type of team you're playing against should dictate how you play Ninetales. Against rain and sand teams, one should play conservatively: do not switch Ninetales into every attack it can take. Only do so when necessary until the weather war is won, as rain and sand teams commonly carry Pokemon that rip apart sun teams under their preferred weather. Note that hail wasn't mentioned; this is because Abomasnow fares poorly against Ninetales, as do its Ice-type teammates. Against opposing sun teams, utilize Ninetales's Fire and Grass resistances to the fullest extent, as Ninetales will not be of much other use. Ninetales can check Volcarona that lack Hidden Power Rock or Ground, wall standard Venusaur, and aid in stalling out Flare Blitz recoil versus Darmanitan, which does not OHKO. Sun teams can usually just go to town against weatherless teams, so unless it is needed to check something important, you can treat Ninetales as death fodder.</p>
<p>Another reason why Ninetales makes a decent defensive Pokemon is its stellar support movepool. Flamethrower occupies the first slot as the STAB move of choice, sporting perfect accuracy and decent power in sun. It allows Ninetales to wear down Pokemon with something other than residual damage and prevents it from being Taunt or setup bait. Next, Will-O-Wisp lets Ninetales check a ton of physical attackers, such as Dragonite, by outspeeding and crippling them. It also gives Ninetales a way to beat Dugtrio if you can predict its switch in; although Will-O-Wisp's accuracy is not so great, its huge potential reward makes it worth the risk. Sunny Day too is completely irreplaceable, as it steals the momentum back from the switch in of an opposing weather inducer; seizing this momentum gives you an immediate advantage and forces your opponent to rethink their game plan.</p>
<p>The last slot is a toss-up between a few moves. Roar is useful for deterring setup sweepers, especially Volcarona, and it also provides yet another way to combat Dugtrio—though prediction is required. Hypnosis is another risky but rewarding option, particularly if you manage to catch a weather inducer, a menacing threat, or—guess who—Dugtrio. The final option listed is Substitute, and with good reason. It eases worry against Dugtrio, aids in spreading burn, and lets Ninetales use Sunny Day against Tyranitar. Jirachi, Ferrothorn, and Forretress are just a few Pokemon that Ninetales can set up a free Substitute on. All of these moves are excellent; pick the one that is best for your team.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>The EVs give Ninetales some much-needed bulk, with enough Defense investment to survive an Earthquake from Focus Sash Dugtrio at full health. 132 Speed EVs and a Timid nature let it outrun Modest Hydreigon. These EVs provide an equilibrium between Speed and bulk, but the spread can be altered to put more emphasis on either. 12 EVs can be moved from Speed to Defense to guarantee Life Orb Breloom's +2 Mach Punch never OHKOes, while the Defense EVs can be moved to Special Defense to better take on foes such as Calm Mind Latias. Shed Shell is a usable item because, as has been alluded to throughout this analysis, Dugtrio is a pain in the rear. However, the loss of recovery is a very high price to pay, and you can run Substitute to achieve the same end result.</p>
<p>The fourth moveslot is in no way limited to the options listed on the set. Protect is useful for scouting and gaining extra Leftovers recovery, and might even save Ninetales against Dugtrio. Pain Split is a decent option to both provide recovery and a means of wearing down the opponent. Lastly, Hidden Power Rock can be used to break Heatran's Air Balloon, which gives teammates such as Volcarona and Venusaur the ability to hit Heatran with Ground-type attacks. All of these moves are excellent choices; they only aren't listed on the set because they have more limited applications than the listed choices.</p>
<p>Support is the difference between life and death for defensive Ninetales, as it is incapable of operating without a few types of support. The first is Magic Bounce or Rapid Spin. Ninetales is weak to Stealth Rock and vulnerable to all other entry hazards, so needless to say, it is very helpful to keep them off the field. Xatu is best for Magic Bounce because of its Ground immunity; its advantages over a spinner are its ability to provide momentum and paralysis support. Rapid Spin has two notable users–Forretress and Donphan. Forretress has decent type synergy with Ninetales and sun teams in general, particularly luring Fire-type attacks for Ninetales to switch in on. Moreover, a slow Volt Switch is nice to get a sweeper in for free. To top it all off, it can set up all three forms of entry hazards; pick and choose the one(s) you want. These entry hazards can be utilized with Roar and to wear down opposing weather inducers. Donphan is the other good spinner for sun teams. Offensive variants can revenge kill Dragon-types, which pose a major threat to many sun teams, and take some attacks that would severely injure Ninetales—most importantly Rock-type ones. It has even better type synergy with Ninetales than Forretress except for the lack of a Dragon resistance.</p>
<p>Trapper support is also very helpful; Dugtrio is the most common because it can effortlessly trap and KO Heatran and Tyranitar, finish off weakened Politoed, and dispatch slightly weakened Tentacruel. Trapping these Pokemon is extraordinarily useful for sun teams, and it is for this reason that Dugtrio is found on many successful ones. Gothitelle is another option if you're less concerned about Tyranitar and Heatran and more concerned about Politoed, Hippowdon, and Steel-types. Wobbuffet also has some difficulty against Tyranitar, but it has the advantage of being able to efficiently trap and KO or Encore most of OU.</p>
<p>There's one big catch when using Ninetales: it is a subpar Pokemon outside of setting sun. Sun is not a condition to be randomly thrown on teams, as it ruins the STAB moves of Water-types and increases the potency of Fire-type attacks, which is heavily debilitating to Steel-types. This means that you need to be taking advantage of sun to the fullest possible extent to make Ninetales worthwhile; a good benchmark—or bare minimum—is one Chlorophyll sweeper and one Fire-type attacker. Sun stall with Pokemon such as Cresselia is an exception to this rule, but note that sun stall is a rare playstyle as it is difficult to pull off effectively; offensive sun and to a lesser extent balanced sun are the dominant sun playstyles.</p>
<p>There are three more teammates that should be taken into consideration when using Ninetales. The first of these is Magma Storm Heatran, who helps deal with weather inducers and a whole slew of other Pokemon. Heatran also has a useful Dragon resistance and can set up Stealth Rock, so it is a useful partner even without Magma Storm. The Dugtrio weakness is quite apparent when using Ninetales and Heatran together, however, so be sure to not fill the remaining slots with Pokemon vulnerable to it. The second is Bronzong, who can take most attacks that would severely hurt Ninetales due to Levitate and its rare set of resistances. It can also set up Stealth Rock, which is always useful. Last but definitely not least is Latias, who has near-perfect type synergy with Ninetales; Dragonite is similar but unfortunately shares a Rock weakness. Sun teams appreciate Latias's resistances immensely, while Latias can provide Wish support to aid Ninetales in its quest to stay alive.</p>
[SET]
name: Special Attacker
move 1: Sunny Day
move 2: SolarBeam
move 3: Fire Blast
move 4: Hidden Power Ice / Will-O-Wisp / Nasty Plot
item: Leftovers / Air Balloon
ability: Drought
nature: Timid / Modest
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>While keeping Ninetales alive for as long as possible is certainly important, it requires quite a bit of support to take hits on its own. Additionally, it has difficulty winning weather wars by itself. However, with an offensive set, Ninetales can both win the weather war and pose an offensive threat. While it doesn't hit that hard with base 81 Special Attack, sun-boosted Fire Blast hits everything it needs to. The offensive presence pushes aside the need for Dugtrio, who is commonly run with defensive Ninetales to make up for its lack thereof. Be sure to make note of this in not always using Dugtrio, otherwise you have an inferior Ninetales that can't take a strong attack to save its life.</p>
<p>SolarBeam is the main draw of this set; 2HKOing Tyranitar and Politoed is no small feat. It also hits most Water-types for decent damage, so it isn't limited in use to just weather inducers. However, its major fault is that it leaves Ninetales defenseless if another weather comes into play. This is where Sunny Day comes in; if you can pull it off as Tyranitar or Politoed comes in, they either switch out or foolishly stay in, only to lose a large amount of health to SolarBeam. However, unlike the defensive set, there is no margin for error when using Sunny Day. One misprediction will leave Ninetales helpless to do anything; thus, you must be aggressive in your use of the move. Next on the highlight reel is Fire Blast. Fire Blast hits considerably hard with 252 Special Attack EVs and sun backing it. The power is not amazing but gets the job done; it 2HKOes frail resists and most neutrally hit offensive Pokemon. The 30% chance of burn is handy too, especially if Ninetales lacks Will-O-Wisp.</p>
<p>The last slot has quite a few viable options. Hidden Power Ice is the preferred choice to hit Dragon-types hard as well as OHKO Landorus-T and Gliscor without the risk of missing. Will-O-Wisp is an amazing move on Ninetales because of its potency against physical attackers that would otherwise be able to defeat Ninetales with ease. The final option is Nasty Plot, which might seem to be an April Fools' joke on a Pokemon with base 81 Special Attack; however, this is not the case. In sun, a boosted Fire Blast 2HKOes Blissey, which is no small feat for a special attacker. A boosted SolarBeam can OHKO Tyranitar and Politoed, Ninetales's two worst foes. Nonetheless, it cannot be emphasized enough that Ninetales is not a sweeper; it is too lacking in the stats department. Nasty Plot is solely to give the extra offensive boost when you need something KOed. Be sure to use Air Balloon with Nasty Plot, by the way. It provides a nice buffer against Dugtrio, Landorus-T, and other Ground-types, as well as Earthquake Dragonite, making it easier to set up.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>A Timid nature is preferred to outrun neutral base 100s, positive base 90s, and everything below, but Modest is also viable for the added power it provides. Timid should definitely be chosen if using Hidden Power Ice, however, so that Ninetales can get the jump on Naughty Salamence. Leftovers is the item of choice because passive recovery helps keep Ninetales alive, which is crucial for sun teams. It also gives Ninetales more Stealth Rock switch-ins. An equally good choice is Air Balloon; Ninetales is extremely vulnerable to Ground-type attacks and Dugtrio, so a Ground immunity, no matter how flimsy, is appreciated; as previously mentioned, it also helps with setting up Nasty Plot. One could go so far as to run Shed Shell solely for Dugtrio, but the lack of other relevant benefits makes it inferior. Concerning the last slot, there are two other moves that could be run; Protect can be used to augment Leftovers recovery and scout foes, and Hidden Power Ground can be used to hit Heatran, a major threat to most sun teams.</p>
<p>Magic Bounce or spinner support is 100% necessary because this set already has enough survivability issues even without entry hazards in the mix. For the offensively minded players that would use this set, Xatu fits the bill perfectly, as it can set up screens to protect sun sweepers and maintain momentum with U-turn. However, Rapid Spin support is still the more reliable option. The two spinners that are best on sun are differentiated by one factor: Forretress has a Dragon resistance and Donphan a Rock one; whichever your team is more weak to is the one that you should use. Forretress also has slow Volt Switch going for it, while Donphan can provide offensive presence and the ability to revenge kill Dragon-types. Additionally, you will need Heatran removed for Ninetales to function properly, so Dugtrio, Wobbuffet, or a bunch of moves scattered among Ninetales's teammates is necessary.</p>
<p>Bronzong and Latias beautiful defensive synergy, with Bronzong setting up Stealth Rock to help bring weather inducers into KO range and Latias providing Wish support to keep Ninetales in decent health. Magma Storm Heatran remains an excellent partner, possessing the ability to trap most Pokemon that threaten Ninetales. Last but not least, Healing Wish Lilligant is an amazing partner, as it can utilize sun, put Ninetales's threats to sleep, and heal up Ninetales when it would otherwise fall to entry hazards. When Ninetales is in such low health, many opponents would tend to let their weather inducer die, which leaves Ninetales in control of the weather if Lilligant manages to heal it.</p>
[Other Options]
<p>There a few sets that Ninetales used to be able to run effectively but that have declined in use since the release of BW2. One of these is Choice Specs, which makes Fire Blast really pack a punch. However, being locked into one move is terrible for a Pokemon that needs to maintain versatility in attacking, and Ninetales still isn't all that powerful. Similarly, a pure Nasty Plot set with Energy Ball over SolarBeam and Hidden Power Ice over Sunny Day might seem viable, but Ninetales fails to sweep effectively, and Nasty Plot only works with Sunny Day alongside it. If you so desire to run such a set, Dugtrio support is essential to prevent Heatran from being an issue. A Calm Mind booster is another of those sets. In theory, it should allow Ninetales to tank hits and dish them out, but it doesn't quite work that way. In reality, multiple boosts are needed to accomplish that goal, and Ninetales has difficulty stacking boosts. Furthermore, it needs opposing weather inducers gone to do so. If one wanted to prevent issues with weather inducers, it would be necessary to run Sunny Day; however, Ninetales needs Pain Split to accumulate boosts effectively and a coverage move to hit Water-types. If there were 5 moveslots available, sure, maybe Calm Mind would be effective. The last set is one with 252 Speed EVs and a Timid nature utilizing Disable. À la SubDisable Gengar, Disable could mess with Pokemon that only have one move with which to hit Ninetales hard. However, unlike Gengar, Ninetales cannot to take sufficient advantage of the free turn(s) it might gain, thus it is inferior to any of Ninetales's other options. There is one more move that could be considered—Toxic. Toxic could be used in place of Will-O-Wisp as a status move to deter bulky Water-types and weather inducers from switching into Ninetales. On the other hand, it lacks the crippling halving of Attack that Will-O-Wisp boasts, making it a much less effective option overall.</p>
[Checks and Counters]
<p>The best form of defense against Ninetales is another weather, as Ninetales is used solely for sun. If sun is taken off the field, sun teams will be immediately crippled. However, Ninetales does threaten some weather inducers, namely Tyranitar and Politoed: both are 2HKOed by SolarBeam, while Tyranitar is also crippled by Will-O-Wisp. Ninetales can also use Sunny Day as they switch in to regain momentum. In short, weather inducers have to be quite careful against Ninetales, especially offensive variants. The only weather inducer that can switch in risk-free against most Ninetales is Hippowdon, but it can be silenced by Nasty Plot-boosted SolarBeam. If you don't want to have to worry about Ninetales dealing heavy damage to your weather inducer, Dugtrio is the best way to go, as it beats all but Substitute and Air Balloon variants with a little prior damage.</p>
<p>Other than weather inducers, there are a few Pokemon that can beat Ninetales. If you want to completely wall it, Blissey and Chansey are your best friends, as they can take any hit and slowly kill it with Toxic and Seismic Toss. Blissey would do well to watch out for Nasty Plot-boosted Fire Blast, however. Tentacruel also walls it and is able to set up Toxic Spikes, Toxic Ninetales directly, or use Rapid Spin, all for free. Heatran also walls Ninetales and can set up Stealth Rock or straight-up attack with Earthquake. The defensive set is fair game for Gastrodon, but note that the offensive set would OHKO it with SolarBeam if it attempted to take a hit. Donphan can take any one attack and KO with Head Smash or Earthquake, regardless of whether it is burnt. Terrakion can take any attack other than SolarBeam and OHKO with Stone Edge or Close Combat. Volcarona can set up for free and demolish Ninetales; sun-boosted Fire Blast and Hidden Power Rock 2HKO Ninetales even without Quiver Dance boosts. Even defensive Ninetales has a small chance to be OHKOed by +1 Hidden Power Rock, while offensive variants are always OHKOed by both +1 Hidden Power Rock and +1 Fire Blast. Victini always OHKOes offensive Ninetales with Choice Band V-create and defensive variants over half the time, while taking a pittance from any attacks Ninetales might throw at it. Defensive variants are easily taken care of by Gliscor, and so long as it doesn't switch into Hidden Power Ice, Fire Blast, or Will-O-Wisp, Landorus can defeat Ninetales.</p>
<p>Other than opposing weather, Dragon-types are the best way to defeat Ninetales. Kyurem-B can take anything Ninetales has other than a burn and blast it to pieces. Garchomp is similar; Yache Berry variants can take even Hidden Power Ice. Latios and Latias also wall and can KO Ninetales. Dragon Dance set-up sweepers that carry Substitute or hold a Lum Berry can set up on and destroy Ninetales along with its teammates. These include Substitute + Dragon Dance Gyarados, Lum Berry Dragon Dance Haxorus, Lum Berry Dragon Dance Dragonite, and Substitute + Dragon Dance Dragonite. These Pokemon only win if Ninetales does not carry Roar, however. Salamence can also beat Ninetales, no matter what the set—Dragon Dance, mixed, Choice Scarf, it doesn't matter.</p>
<p>As you can see, beating Ninetales is quite easy. Even if you don't have any of these Pokemon (which you should), you can always resort to pounding Ninetales with powerful attacks or hitting it with priority from Breloom or Choice Band Dragonite. If you go to great lengths to defeat Ninetales, you're doing it wrong.</p>
