Hello. I play competitive pokemon for around a year and a half. And I love the Smogon website, and I read it pretty much everyday :). Despite my new account, i read the smogon since I started playing competitive pokemon.
Since then, I have created some teams, based in everything I read. Some failed hard, others were good. But finally I created one that I think it is very good. Since I love hail teams, most of my teams are hail-based. Hail is good because it is an anti-meta weather, since Abomasnow is able to crush any weather starter with its awesome movepool and is the less weather dependent. So, my team isn't lost if I lose the weather war.
With this team, I managed to score over 1400 points, without playing in a regular basis.
The team is a kinda stall-oriented, with some a good defensive core, namely Heatran and Jellicent, a SubRoost Kyurem and a cleaner/revenge killer in Scarf Heracross. But let's go to the team!
Abomasnow
It's a hail team and it's no wonder why it is here. Expert Belt Abomasnow is the best one, IMO. With this set, it can OHKO every weather starter bar Tyranitar and Hippowdon. But with a little of prior damage they will fall. This set is the optimal for my team, because Ice Shard is a very useful tool to kill things which could, otherwise, destroy this team, such as Garchomp and Moxie Salamence. HP Fire is there to kill things resistant to its STAB, such as Scizor and Ferrothorn. And Earthquake nails things like Heatran, Ninetales and Jirachi, which also resist Abomasnow's STAB.
But Abomasnow isn't there only for offense. It can take some weaker hits due to its great resistances, such as Scalds, Volt Switches, etc. Since its movepool has a great super effective coverage, it can gain a free switch in these attacks to hit whatever is coming in for good damage.
The EV gives me maximum attack from the physical side, while giving me a great chance to kill Scizor with HP Fire and 2HKOing Ferrothorn. The speed EV allows it to outspeed minimum speed Heatran and smash specially defensive variants with Earthquake.
Abomasnow (F) @ Expert Belt
Trait: Snow Warning
EVs: 252 Atk / 112 SAtk / 144 Spd
Lonely Nature (+Atk, -Def)
- Wood Hammer
- Ice Shard
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Earthquake
Kyurem
This team is pretty much selfless, but I can say that Kyurem is the heart of the team. It has amazing defenses, which allow him to tank hits like a champ while stalling enemies to death. The set is the famous SubRoost, which easily burns the PP of dangerous moves, such as Close Combat, Focus Blast, Stone Edge and some others, which could tear my team apart. The attacking moves are Ice Beam and Earth Power. Ice Beam deals good damage to most things and has more PP than Blizzard. There's also a nice secondary effect of freeze, unlike Dragon Pulse. And for those who resist Ice Beam, Earth Power is there to save the day. Bronzong is the only thing that resist both, but if it switches in, I gain a free switch for Heatran to set Stealth Rock or roast him out of the map.
It does compound the rock and fighting weaknesses with Abomasnow, but hail was made for Kyurem to shine. I dislike more offensive variants of Kyurem on this team, because it can't take threats as much as the SubRoost variant. Blizzard Specs Kyurem might hit stronger than Terrakion, but I don't need that immediate power. This team is stall-oriented, so switching Kyurem in and out very often is not a good idea. Also, Blizzard can backfire, if I happen to lose the weather war.
The EV's gives maximum speed, allowing it to outspeed maximum speed Landorus-T, Toxicroak and many other things. The HP allows me to create 404 substitutes, so I can PP stall Blissey and Chansey. The remaining EVs goes SpA, to hit as hard as possible.
Kyurem @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 52 HP / 204 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Earth Power
- Substitute
- Ice Beam
- Roost
Tentacruel
Tentacruel is a great asset to hail teams. It has a great synergy in terms of resistances and needs. Tenta has Rapid Spin, which increases the lifespan of Abomasnow and the stalling capabilities of Kyurem. Scald is there for some damage and burns when Garchomp or Scizor switches in. Toxic Spikes helps Kyurem to stall enemies to death. Confuse Ray might seem a weird choice, but it already saved my ass many times. It is a good thing against Scizor, if it is burnt and is trying to dance his sword all the way to +6. It does have a inspiration on Liepard, which is getting some use with his annoying set.
Substitute isn't good because hail cancel its leftovers, and Protect... I don't feel that it is that good without rain to fuel Rain Dish
His ability to absorb Toxic Spikes is great for this team, since everything bar Heatran is weak to poison spikes.
This guy in terms of EV is the pretty standard one. I choose Rain Dish over Liquid Ooze to recover some HP in rain seasons. I don't need to keep hail all the time.
Tentacruel (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 HP / 224 Def / 32 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Rapid Spin
- Scald
- Toxic Spikes
- Confuse Ray
Heatran
This guy is a great for hail teams. It provides many useful resistances and is a check for sun teams, the most dangerous weather for this team. Despite its fighting weakness (which makes three with Abo and Kyurem), this team needs Heatran. The set is the specially defensive, to help against the likes of Latios, mainly. Stealth Rock is mandatory for any team, and Heatran is perfect for this. Protect is useful for scouting U-turns from Landorus-T and Jirachi. And Lava Plume is there for its burns. I like to burn things.... :)
It formes a great defensive core with Jellicent, being rock and electric the only type they don't resist together. Fire immunity is great for fire attacks targeted at Heracross and Abomasnow. I don't fear Dugtrio at all. I just need to predict its switch, switch Abomasnow in and KO it with Ice Shard.
Heatran (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Lava Plume
- Roar
- Protect
- Stealth Rock
Jellicent
The other part of my defensive core, Jellicent is there because she's awesome! It can take so many threats, such as Scizor, Landorus-T, Body Slam Jirachi, cripple physical attackers with burn and proceed to stall them with Recover. I choose Shadow Ball over Taunt to hit Starmie, Gengar and opposing Jellicent. Gengar is very dangerous, because between Focus Blast and Shadow Ball, it can hit my entire team. Jellicent can survive a Shadow Ball and throw back a Shadow Ball. SubDisable Gengar cannot OHKO this Jellicent. After a Shadow Ball, Abomasnow can ward him off with Ice Shard. Scald is there for more burns on the switch(I think that Scald have a greater chance to burn than Will-O-Wisp :p ).
The EV lets me deal better with physical attackers, since my team already have great resistances for commonly special attacks, such as electric, water and grass. With Will-O-Wisp and Recover, I can stall Tyranitar, as he struggles to even damage my Jellicent.
This guy is very important. Even more than Heatran, since it is the only fighting resistance that can regenerate. So, I try to keep it alive as long as possible. With its great resistance synergy with the rest of the team, this isn't hard to do. Unless some CB Terrakion hits a crit with Stone Edge... but statistically it miss more than it crits, so I think I'm good.
Jellicent (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
- Shadow Ball
Heracross
This was a tough one. When I was making this team, many pokemon already took this place, such as Lati twins, Terrakion, Keldeo... But neither of these could offer what I wanted: something that resist fighting and get past Chansey and Blissey easily. Heracross can do both. And it even resist dark, which is great. It have very few weaknesses in flying, psychic and fire, which are easily covered by Heatran. Or I can just smash them with the aproppriate move. Between Megahorn, Stone Edge and Close Combat, there are very few safe switch ins to Heracross.
Moxie is so incredible for Heracross. Many people see Heracross using a unsuspecting Scarf and keep their low health Latios in. If Heracross can get a KO, it can steamroll a team. I did it so many times, weakening team before I could send Heracross in and clean up the mess. It offer great resistances to the team, such as fighting and ground, while easily disposing of enemies that can threat this team, such as Tyranitar. It also has a good special defense, allowing it to take some weaker attacks. It is a great check for Technician Breloom for resisting both of its stab. It will only lose to him if he gets lucky with Bullet Seed
The set is the Choice Scarf with maximum speed. I choose Sleep Talk over Night Slash to have a buffer against Amoonguss and Breloom. Megahorn can 2HKO both. Moxie is preferred over Guts because of the hail damage, which will bring Hera down very fast with burn or toxic. And paralyze is pointless with scarf.
Heracross (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Megahorn
- Stone Edge
- Close Combat
- Sleep Talk
The way I play this team isn't that simple. I rely on great prediction, so Abomasnow can damage things, because it is slower than everything. And it REALLY needs to damage what it have to. Hail is also good to maintain, but it is there mostly to keep other weathers away, since hail teams don't rely on its weather as much as sun and rain teams. This team is even good in sun and rain, because of Rain Dish Tentacruel and Heatran being able to absorb a Flash Fire boost and fire off a powerful Lava Plume. If there's a Dugtrio in the other team, I just switch into Abomasnow and kill him with Ice Shard, with hail breaking its Focus Sash.
The main plan is to get Kyurem safely, against the likes of Ferrothorn or something, use substitute to block Leech Seed or Thunder Wave and proceed to stall whatever is coming in. Weak U-turns from Landorus-T or Jirachi won't break its substitute, as well as Volt Switches. I can damage everything with good damage with Earth Power and Ice Beam. The only thing I can't damage is Bronzong and Blissey, but they can't do much in return, while I can burn their PP with Pressure. If Scizor switches in, I use Earth Power as it Bullet Punches the subs. I then switch in Heatran or Jellicent, who is more aproppriate. One nice thing is: CB Bullet Punch Scizor has a very few chance of OHKO Kyurem at full health.
Heracross's role isn't just to try to sweep a team with Moxie. I rarely can do this very effectively. It is a check to many pokemons, and a lure for Landorus-T and Gliscor. U-turns from Landorus-T are really dangerous because of the momentum it brings, and I feel hard pressed against very offensive teams. I need to have the momentum. So, if there's a Landorus-T, I just switch Abomasnow as Landorus-T switches in and kill him with Ice Shard or damage nearly half of the OU pokemon for super effective damage.
One thing that is important, I need to know the opposing team. Know their sets, so I can switch things safely. Obviously this is a must for every team, but for this one, is critical. Get some surprise kills, like knocking out a Heatran or Jirachi., mainly with Abomasnow can get me a near win.
As I said, I struggle with heavy offensive teams, because most of the time there's no space to set up substitute for Kyurem or switch something in safely without losing a pokemon. Anyway, no team is perfect...
So, this is my humble team. This was the most effective I have ever cretated, which granted me many victories against many styles. Since the team was closed, I didn't even think to change something, because it was too good for me. But something good might have passed, so I am here to learn more.
Thank you for the long read :)
Since then, I have created some teams, based in everything I read. Some failed hard, others were good. But finally I created one that I think it is very good. Since I love hail teams, most of my teams are hail-based. Hail is good because it is an anti-meta weather, since Abomasnow is able to crush any weather starter with its awesome movepool and is the less weather dependent. So, my team isn't lost if I lose the weather war.
With this team, I managed to score over 1400 points, without playing in a regular basis.
The team is a kinda stall-oriented, with some a good defensive core, namely Heatran and Jellicent, a SubRoost Kyurem and a cleaner/revenge killer in Scarf Heracross. But let's go to the team!
Abomasnow
It's a hail team and it's no wonder why it is here. Expert Belt Abomasnow is the best one, IMO. With this set, it can OHKO every weather starter bar Tyranitar and Hippowdon. But with a little of prior damage they will fall. This set is the optimal for my team, because Ice Shard is a very useful tool to kill things which could, otherwise, destroy this team, such as Garchomp and Moxie Salamence. HP Fire is there to kill things resistant to its STAB, such as Scizor and Ferrothorn. And Earthquake nails things like Heatran, Ninetales and Jirachi, which also resist Abomasnow's STAB.
But Abomasnow isn't there only for offense. It can take some weaker hits due to its great resistances, such as Scalds, Volt Switches, etc. Since its movepool has a great super effective coverage, it can gain a free switch in these attacks to hit whatever is coming in for good damage.
The EV gives me maximum attack from the physical side, while giving me a great chance to kill Scizor with HP Fire and 2HKOing Ferrothorn. The speed EV allows it to outspeed minimum speed Heatran and smash specially defensive variants with Earthquake.
Abomasnow (F) @ Expert Belt
Trait: Snow Warning
EVs: 252 Atk / 112 SAtk / 144 Spd
Lonely Nature (+Atk, -Def)
- Wood Hammer
- Ice Shard
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Earthquake
Kyurem
This team is pretty much selfless, but I can say that Kyurem is the heart of the team. It has amazing defenses, which allow him to tank hits like a champ while stalling enemies to death. The set is the famous SubRoost, which easily burns the PP of dangerous moves, such as Close Combat, Focus Blast, Stone Edge and some others, which could tear my team apart. The attacking moves are Ice Beam and Earth Power. Ice Beam deals good damage to most things and has more PP than Blizzard. There's also a nice secondary effect of freeze, unlike Dragon Pulse. And for those who resist Ice Beam, Earth Power is there to save the day. Bronzong is the only thing that resist both, but if it switches in, I gain a free switch for Heatran to set Stealth Rock or roast him out of the map.
It does compound the rock and fighting weaknesses with Abomasnow, but hail was made for Kyurem to shine. I dislike more offensive variants of Kyurem on this team, because it can't take threats as much as the SubRoost variant. Blizzard Specs Kyurem might hit stronger than Terrakion, but I don't need that immediate power. This team is stall-oriented, so switching Kyurem in and out very often is not a good idea. Also, Blizzard can backfire, if I happen to lose the weather war.
The EV's gives maximum speed, allowing it to outspeed maximum speed Landorus-T, Toxicroak and many other things. The HP allows me to create 404 substitutes, so I can PP stall Blissey and Chansey. The remaining EVs goes SpA, to hit as hard as possible.
Kyurem @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 52 HP / 204 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Earth Power
- Substitute
- Ice Beam
- Roost
Tentacruel
Tentacruel is a great asset to hail teams. It has a great synergy in terms of resistances and needs. Tenta has Rapid Spin, which increases the lifespan of Abomasnow and the stalling capabilities of Kyurem. Scald is there for some damage and burns when Garchomp or Scizor switches in. Toxic Spikes helps Kyurem to stall enemies to death. Confuse Ray might seem a weird choice, but it already saved my ass many times. It is a good thing against Scizor, if it is burnt and is trying to dance his sword all the way to +6. It does have a inspiration on Liepard, which is getting some use with his annoying set.
Substitute isn't good because hail cancel its leftovers, and Protect... I don't feel that it is that good without rain to fuel Rain Dish
His ability to absorb Toxic Spikes is great for this team, since everything bar Heatran is weak to poison spikes.
This guy in terms of EV is the pretty standard one. I choose Rain Dish over Liquid Ooze to recover some HP in rain seasons. I don't need to keep hail all the time.
Tentacruel (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 HP / 224 Def / 32 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Rapid Spin
- Scald
- Toxic Spikes
- Confuse Ray
Heatran
This guy is a great for hail teams. It provides many useful resistances and is a check for sun teams, the most dangerous weather for this team. Despite its fighting weakness (which makes three with Abo and Kyurem), this team needs Heatran. The set is the specially defensive, to help against the likes of Latios, mainly. Stealth Rock is mandatory for any team, and Heatran is perfect for this. Protect is useful for scouting U-turns from Landorus-T and Jirachi. And Lava Plume is there for its burns. I like to burn things.... :)
It formes a great defensive core with Jellicent, being rock and electric the only type they don't resist together. Fire immunity is great for fire attacks targeted at Heracross and Abomasnow. I don't fear Dugtrio at all. I just need to predict its switch, switch Abomasnow in and KO it with Ice Shard.
Heatran (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Lava Plume
- Roar
- Protect
- Stealth Rock
Jellicent
The other part of my defensive core, Jellicent is there because she's awesome! It can take so many threats, such as Scizor, Landorus-T, Body Slam Jirachi, cripple physical attackers with burn and proceed to stall them with Recover. I choose Shadow Ball over Taunt to hit Starmie, Gengar and opposing Jellicent. Gengar is very dangerous, because between Focus Blast and Shadow Ball, it can hit my entire team. Jellicent can survive a Shadow Ball and throw back a Shadow Ball. SubDisable Gengar cannot OHKO this Jellicent. After a Shadow Ball, Abomasnow can ward him off with Ice Shard. Scald is there for more burns on the switch(I think that Scald have a greater chance to burn than Will-O-Wisp :p ).
The EV lets me deal better with physical attackers, since my team already have great resistances for commonly special attacks, such as electric, water and grass. With Will-O-Wisp and Recover, I can stall Tyranitar, as he struggles to even damage my Jellicent.
This guy is very important. Even more than Heatran, since it is the only fighting resistance that can regenerate. So, I try to keep it alive as long as possible. With its great resistance synergy with the rest of the team, this isn't hard to do. Unless some CB Terrakion hits a crit with Stone Edge... but statistically it miss more than it crits, so I think I'm good.
Jellicent (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
- Shadow Ball
Heracross
This was a tough one. When I was making this team, many pokemon already took this place, such as Lati twins, Terrakion, Keldeo... But neither of these could offer what I wanted: something that resist fighting and get past Chansey and Blissey easily. Heracross can do both. And it even resist dark, which is great. It have very few weaknesses in flying, psychic and fire, which are easily covered by Heatran. Or I can just smash them with the aproppriate move. Between Megahorn, Stone Edge and Close Combat, there are very few safe switch ins to Heracross.
Moxie is so incredible for Heracross. Many people see Heracross using a unsuspecting Scarf and keep their low health Latios in. If Heracross can get a KO, it can steamroll a team. I did it so many times, weakening team before I could send Heracross in and clean up the mess. It offer great resistances to the team, such as fighting and ground, while easily disposing of enemies that can threat this team, such as Tyranitar. It also has a good special defense, allowing it to take some weaker attacks. It is a great check for Technician Breloom for resisting both of its stab. It will only lose to him if he gets lucky with Bullet Seed
The set is the Choice Scarf with maximum speed. I choose Sleep Talk over Night Slash to have a buffer against Amoonguss and Breloom. Megahorn can 2HKO both. Moxie is preferred over Guts because of the hail damage, which will bring Hera down very fast with burn or toxic. And paralyze is pointless with scarf.
Heracross (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Megahorn
- Stone Edge
- Close Combat
- Sleep Talk
The way I play this team isn't that simple. I rely on great prediction, so Abomasnow can damage things, because it is slower than everything. And it REALLY needs to damage what it have to. Hail is also good to maintain, but it is there mostly to keep other weathers away, since hail teams don't rely on its weather as much as sun and rain teams. This team is even good in sun and rain, because of Rain Dish Tentacruel and Heatran being able to absorb a Flash Fire boost and fire off a powerful Lava Plume. If there's a Dugtrio in the other team, I just switch into Abomasnow and kill him with Ice Shard, with hail breaking its Focus Sash.
The main plan is to get Kyurem safely, against the likes of Ferrothorn or something, use substitute to block Leech Seed or Thunder Wave and proceed to stall whatever is coming in. Weak U-turns from Landorus-T or Jirachi won't break its substitute, as well as Volt Switches. I can damage everything with good damage with Earth Power and Ice Beam. The only thing I can't damage is Bronzong and Blissey, but they can't do much in return, while I can burn their PP with Pressure. If Scizor switches in, I use Earth Power as it Bullet Punches the subs. I then switch in Heatran or Jellicent, who is more aproppriate. One nice thing is: CB Bullet Punch Scizor has a very few chance of OHKO Kyurem at full health.
Heracross's role isn't just to try to sweep a team with Moxie. I rarely can do this very effectively. It is a check to many pokemons, and a lure for Landorus-T and Gliscor. U-turns from Landorus-T are really dangerous because of the momentum it brings, and I feel hard pressed against very offensive teams. I need to have the momentum. So, if there's a Landorus-T, I just switch Abomasnow as Landorus-T switches in and kill him with Ice Shard or damage nearly half of the OU pokemon for super effective damage.
One thing that is important, I need to know the opposing team. Know their sets, so I can switch things safely. Obviously this is a must for every team, but for this one, is critical. Get some surprise kills, like knocking out a Heatran or Jirachi., mainly with Abomasnow can get me a near win.
As I said, I struggle with heavy offensive teams, because most of the time there's no space to set up substitute for Kyurem or switch something in safely without losing a pokemon. Anyway, no team is perfect...
So, this is my humble team. This was the most effective I have ever cretated, which granted me many victories against many styles. Since the team was closed, I didn't even think to change something, because it was too good for me. But something good might have passed, so I am here to learn more.
Thank you for the long read :)
