So Elegant
[OVERVIEW]
* Alolan Ninetales has access to Snow Warning and Aurora Veil, making it one of the most effective "dual screen" setters in the metagame.
* Weak Special Attack is made up for in Blizzard, letting it deal good damage to neutral hits such as Celesteela.
* While its typing is poor defensively, it does have a valuable immunity to Dragon-type attacks, and isn't weak to Fighting-type moves.
* Fairly frail and easy to OHKO with physical attackers.
* Low Special Attack stat forces Alolan Ninetales to stay in a supportive role.
* Alolan Ninetale's high speed can actually be a problem early game, since slower weather setters can get rid of the hail, making Alolan Ninetales a deadweight while leading against them.
[SET]
name: Aurora Veil Setter
move 1: Aurora Veil
move 2: Blizzard
move 3: Encore / Moonblast / Sheer Cold
move 4: Freeze Dry / Moonblast / Sheer Cold
item: Focus Sash / Light Clay
ability: Snow Warning
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
* Aurora Veil is the main point of this set, having the same affect as setting up Reflect and Light Screen at the same time.
* Blizzard is Alolan Ninetales's most powerful offensive move, always hitting when Hail is up.
* Freeze Dry lets Alolan Ninetales hit Water-types harder. Most notably, it OHKOs Pelipper and Gyarados, and 2HKOs Azumarill and Primarina (factoring in Hail damage)
* Moonblast is a good secondary STAB for Dark- and Fighting-types, 2HKOing Mega Gyarados in particular.
* Encore is a great support move, letting Alolan Ninetales punish Pokemon that attempt to set up on it.'
* Although very risky, Sheer Cold can be used as a last ditch effort to make Alolan Ninetales useful, having a 30% shot of OHKOing any Pokemon that lacks Sturdy or an Ice-type.
Set Details
========
* Maximum Speed is important for setting up Aurora Veil, while maximum Special Attack lets Alolan Ninetales at least deal some damage.
* Focus Sash ensures that Alolan Ninetales will set up Aurora Veil in almost all situations. It also lets Alolan Ninetales potentially pick off Pokemon later in the match without fear of being unable to switch in against the likes of Garchomp.
* Light Clay isn't as safe of an item as Focus Sash, but it lets Aurora Veil last for eight turns instead of five, which is especially valuable for sweepers.
Usage Tips
========
* If using Focus Sash, Alolan Ninetales doesn't have to set up Aurora Veil right away. If the foe has no priority and is slower, you can attack first, then use Aurora Veil. This way, it stays up a bit longer.
* For Light Clay users, Alolan Ninetales should set up as soon as possible, since it doesn't have very good bulk. If the foe is using a faster Pokemon that can OHKO, you may want to switch out and save it for later.
* While leading with Alolan Ninetales is fine, its also acceptable to save it for later, since it can revenge kill important Pokemon such as Garchomp, and with a Focus Sash, Pokemon such as Mega Salamence and Choice Scarf Landorus-T.
*Against stall teams, consider benching Alolan Ninetales, since it doesn't do very well against them due to its low offensive power.
Team Options
========
* Pairing Alolan Ninetales with sweepers is a much, since it justifies the entire point of using it. Good examples include Mega Salamence, Mega Blaziken, Mega Gyarados, Garchomp, and Volcarona.
* Alolan Ninetales is extremely vulnerable to Steel-types, especially Mega Metagross and Mega Scizor due to their STAB Bullet Punch. Offensive Fire-types usually pair the best with Alolan Ninetales. Blaziken and Mega Blaziken are execllent choices, fully taking advantage of Aurora Veil and using Speed Boost to outspeed even Mega Metagross. Volcarona works well since it can set up Quiver Dance under Aurora Veil. Mega Charizard Y threatens a lot of the slower Steel-types, and even sets up the sun so Alolan Ninetales can reset its weather later. Heatran is also a good choice, though it loses to Mega Metagross with Earthquake.
* Alolan Sandslash may seem like a tempting teammate due to Slush Rush, but since it does so poorly outside of Hail, it isn't a good fit on most teams.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
* Alolan Ninetales gets set-up options in Nasty Plot, Calm Mind, and Z-Celebrate, but for the former, Alolan Ninetales is too frail to set it up easily, and for the later two, Alolan Ninetales is too weak to take advantage of them.
* Hypnosis is a risky option for shutting down checks.
* The Speed drop from Icy Wind can help with revenge killers after Alolan Ninetales goes down.
* Hidden Power Fire can be used to hit Ferrothorn and Mega Scizor hard, but otherwise, its too weak to do much to other Steel-types.
* Ice Shard is pretty weak, but can be used to pick off fast, weakened Pokemon that are 4x weak to it.
* Roar can be used to stop bulky set up sweepers or stop Trick Room from going up, but Alolan Ninetales doesn't have the bulk to use it effectively otherwise.
* Icy Rock increases the length of Hail. However, Alolan Ninetales is used much more for its ability to set up Aurora Veil than set up Hail, so this usually isn't a very good option.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Slower Weather Setters**: If a weather setter switches in or leads, Aurora Veil fails. Tyranitar, Mega Charizard Y, Torkoal, and Gigalith are the biggest problems since they can OHKO Alolan Ninetales, but well played Hippowdon, Pelipper, and Politoed can cause issues as well.
**Steel-types**: Alolan Ninetales is helpless against Steel-types due to its 4x weakness and them resisting its entire movepool. Mega Metagross and Mega Scizor are the most dangerous examples due to Bullet Punch, but any reasonable bulky Steel-type can defeat it otherwise.
**Fire-types: Most Fire-types have no issues taking on Alolan Ninetales as well. Common examples include Mega Charizard X, Blaziken, Heatran, Volcarona, and Rotom-H.
**Brick Break and Psychic Fangs**: Although uncommon, these moves will break Aurora Veil.
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