Non-legendary ice team

DacoTrilar

So, I’m trying to make a reasonably competitive non-legendary all ice team. My goal is for the team to be able to hold it's own in OU, although that might not be possible. Originally I was going to play hail stall with walrein, but this seems too fragile against other weathers. Keep in mind, I’m fairly new to competitive pokemon, so I probably missed something. I’ve tested the following team on Pokemon Online a bit and it seems to do alright.

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Weavile (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Low Kick
- Aerial Ace
- Night Slash
- Pursuit

Reason: Weavile is my general counter to Ghost & Psychic threats. Low kick helps me deal with some of the steel-types that cause me a lot of problems. The sheer speed and strength of Weavile's Night Slash can often take out another lead, and with Pursuit Weavile is a good counter to all the psychic threats around. Aerial Ace was thrown in, because I'm not sure what to put in the last slot.

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Froslass (F) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Snow Cloak
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Destiny Bond
- Taunt
- Spikes
- Shadow Ball

Reason: Froslass has a bunch of roles. First, she’s a counter to fighting attacks with Shadow Ball & Ghost typing. Second, Froslass acts as a good way to eliminate sweepers through destiny bond & Focus Sash. I can put in Froslass & Destiny Bond, then it becomes a guessing game which sometimes eliminates their sweeper. In this way, she has acted as a sort of catch all for threats I couldn’t deal with otherwise. Third, she can set up spikes while spin blocking which is a great combination. I think the biggest problem I’ve found is that I’m counting on Froslass to stop fighting moves and spins, but she usually just sets up spikes and destiny bonds. I don’t know if there is a better solution for fighting & spins or if I should just try to keep her alive more (probably dropping Destiny Bond).

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Abomasnow (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Snow Warning
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Def / 84 Spd
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Protect
- Leech Seed
- Substitute
- Focus Punch

Reason: Ice pokemon work better in hail, so including Abomasnow seemed like a must. Also, he can counter all the weather going around now. He is a good counter to a lot of threats since he can take Earthquakes, Water, & Electric attacks. I’ve been wondering about switching this set into one that uses his strong STAB moves. I’ve kept it so far, because this set lets Abomasnow counter steel-types, if you get a sub up. Considering my big weakness to steel, I figure it would be good to keep as many counters around as I can. Still not sure about this set.

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Mamoswine (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Snow Cloak
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Ice Shard
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock

Reason: If I’m making an ice team, it should include Mamoswine. A lot of physical power and Stealth Rocks make him very useful. Earthquake is a great counter to big steel types, which are usually slower than Mamoswine. Ice Shard is a nice priority move to take out anything close that’s been weakened. I haven’t been using Stone Edge much, so I’m thinking of taking it out although I’m not sure what for.

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Lapras (M) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 28 Def / 200 SAtk / 28 SDef
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Signal Beam
- Blizzard
- Surf

Reason: Lapras is there for variety in moves to allow me to deal with unexpected threats. Also, he has boosted special attack since I already have a lot of physical attackers and lapras has been special moves. Thunderbolt is there to deal with Water types which resist a lot of my moves. Blizzard & Surf are simply Powerful STAB moves which can often take care of most typings. Signal Beam is kind of tossed in with the rest, I would use if on any psychics or dark I run into, but it could easily be switched out.

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Cloyster (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Skill Link
EVs: 48 HP / 252 Atk / 208 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Shell Smash
- Rock Blast
- Icicle Spear
- Rapid Spin

Reason: Cloyster is simply amazing. He’s in the firstly as a Shell Smasher sweeper, although even without shell smash Rock Blast & Icicle Spear can handle many Subs nicely. He’s also there to spin if I really need it, although he almost never succeeds at it. I’m thinking it would be better to use Cryogonal as a spinner instead and simply use cloyster as a sweeper.

(Short) Threat List:

Steel-types are my biggest problem. Bullet Punch has swept this team several times, on Scizor and on metagross. My current solutions are Mamoswine’s Earthquake, Weavile’s Low Kick, or Abomasnow’s Focus Punch. Unfortunately, Scizor just takes neutral to fighting moves and if he gets a couple sword dances off then Bullet Punch sweeps no matter what I do.
I’m sure there is a long list of threats that I’m missing, but the only pokemon I’ve come across which could sweep my whole team are bullet punching steel type.

So that’s the team, if I need to change anything let me know. I’m sorry if I missed something important.
 
I see one major flaw: your opponent takes out Froslass or you let it Destiny Bond kill a sweeper, then they bring in Bulk Up Conkeldurr and you die. Energy Ball/Flamethrower Chandelure does the same thing. Basically, if Froslass dies fairly early on, then you'll probably die as well.
 
@Paradoxus & Steeli: I'm making a mono-type team for the challenge. I'm looking for is the best mono-ice team possible in OU.

@impact36inc: True, without Froslass I have difficulty dealing with bulky fighting pokemon. That's why I'm thinking of switching Froslass' move set to make it less suicidal. Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but couldn't Weavile revenge kill Chandelure with Night Slade & Pursuit? It's faster than Chandelure and should OHKO it.

@Adamant Magikarp: I was thinking of making a poison team. But I don't want to just drop ice until I'm sure it isn't possible.

Thanks for the advice, I realize that mono-type teams are always weaker than standard OU teams. However, I'd like to stick with this idea until there is a threat i can't deal with.
 
Good luck with your mono team. (Personally I used a mono dragon for fun)

Weavile should have an Ice type attack instead of AA. Since its scarfed try Ice Punch.
 
I like the idea of using a physical ice instead AA. Would Ice Shard make more sense, since it could deal with sweepers using priority?
 
DacoTrilar said:
@impact36inc: True, without Froslass I have difficulty dealing with bulky fighting pokemon. That's why I'm thinking of switching Froslass' move set to make it less suicidal. Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but couldn't Weavile revenge kill Chandelure with Night Slade & Pursuit? It's faster than Chandelure and should OHKO it.
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You have a point, but Conkeldurr, and even Machamp, still pose a threat to Weavile, even with Aerial Ace.

If you're going to have Froslass take the Fighting-Type moves, put Psychic on the move-set so you can cripple Conkeldurr, but you still have to be wary of Bullet Punch Machamp.
 
No reason Weavile should have a scarf IMO. Choice band is much better.

And I don't know why you don't want to use legendarys (or ubers you mean?) but specs kyurem is much better than Lapras. And Cloyster would be better suited with hydro pump over rapid spin, but thats just my opinion.
 
I agree with blastoiseboy19, priority is always a good thing.

@impact36inc Wow, yeah. Psychic should be on there somewhere. You're also right that Bullet Punch Machamp is going to be a problem, I'll have to think of a solution to that.

@andrew017 First, I like the scarf on Weavile because it counters Scarfed Chandelure who would otherwise sweep the team. Second, I'm not using legendaries because this team is meant as a Gym Team and one of the restrictions is no legendaries. Third, I agree Cloyster would be better off with Hydro Pump, but I think I need a rapid spinner on the team since ice is weak to SR.

I'm thinking of putting Cryogonal in as the spinner and replacing Rapid Spin with Razor Shell. Still working on that, so any suggestions would be great.
 
I know its asking for a lot in a monotype ice team, but where are your walls? A few suggestions: Cryogonal and Regice make excellent special walls, and Cloyster is a wonderful physical wall. I think you have been getting swept because your team has entirely sweepers and no defense to fall back on.

May I suggest Walrein for your team? Its a wonderful tank, especially in hail. It starts you off with a half-decent core to work with

Walrein @Leftovers
Ability: Ice Body
EVs: 220 Hp/ 252 Def/ 32 SpD
Nature: Bold
- Protect
- Toxic
- Roar/Super Fang
- Toxic/ Blizzard
 
Hmm, didn't think about it like that. I've since added Cryogonal in place of Lapras as a Special Wall/General Support. It's working pretty well, but I've not really been treating it as a wall. I've been treating Cloyster as a kind of wall, but he can't take many buffed up hits with his current set up. I'll try mixing in Walrein in place of Weavile and see how it goes.
 
i'm sorry man, i know you like the challenge but mono teams just arent worth it, especially ice. Ice is one of the worst defensive types possible. Any fighting type (especially Terrakion) will run straight through your team. There really isnt anything to alleviate this though...
 
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