Hail Does Not Fail
Team At First Sight
Introduction
I first made this team to play around with hail— a playstyle I don't use very often. I thought that hail teams are bad and aren't viable in standard play so I made this team just for fun. However, after using it, I was proven wrong. Hail is a wonderful weather, and although it might not be good as other weathers, it is still a solid choice. I honestly don't have much to say about this team, including accomplishments it made because it really doesn't have any besides some average ladder rating I got from it. But even so, I am quite proud of this team and I hope you can help it become better!
Further Into The Team:
Abomasnow (M) @ Expert Belt
Trait: Snow Warning
EVs: 192 Atk / 224 SAtk / 92 Spd
Lonely Nature (+Atk, -Def)
- Ice Shard
- Wood Hammer
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Protect
In hail teams, hail is obviously the first thing you would think of when making a hail team. Abomasnow conviently provides the hail needed in this team. Unfortunately, Abomasnow isn't exactly the most fitting thing to use in OU. Fortunately for Abomasnow, however, is that this great set lures in many counters such as Scizor and Tyranitar and even KOing them after Stealth Rock in some occasions. Expect for Ninetales, Abomasnow can "beat" every weather inducers found in OU. Tyranitar is outsped and takes a large sum of damage from Wood Hammer, if not faint from it (hope it's not scarf, though). Politoed is also KO'd by Wood Hammer. Choice Specs Focus Blasts are the only thing to be feared. Hippowdon is a bit harder to take down, but it's not so bad. Ninetales rapes me, so I thought of Earthquake over Ice Shard, but Ice Shard lets me take on Dragonite which is very useful because Dragonite can OHKO the whole team with the appropiate move. Protect is used for scouting. Whenever Scizor or something comes, I generally Protect because I'm always paranoid that they'll do something like that instead of U-turn and then depending on its move, I make the appropiate move. It's also helpful for Choice Band Dragonites, too, where they mostly spam Extremespeed and is a general nuisance. Hidden Power Fire also takes care of Abomasnow, if people actually use it. What's so great about this set is not only does it take care of all the weather inducers but Ninetales thus giving me an advantage, I get to tear apart Volt-Turn Cores. Scizor is taken out by Hidden Power Fire while even a burned Abomasnow's Wood Hammer does a great deal of damage to defensive Rotom-w. Landorus is taken out by Ice Shard and other U-turners such as Mienshao and Celebi are addressed by different members of the team.
EVs and Moveset Explanation
92 Speed out runs 4 speed Skarmories while 224 Special Attack, I think, guarantees a OHKO on standard Scizor. I put the rest into Attack to boost Wood Hammer and Ice Shard's power. Lonely nature is used to increase Attack while not decreasing Special Attack. The reason why I chose Lonely over Naughty was that Abomasnow's usual attacks it takes on the physical side are Bullet Punch, Stone Edge, Close Combat, to name a few, and regardless of how much defense you invest, you'll die. So I thought it'd be better if I could take on random Hidden Power Fires along the way and such. Ice Shard for Dragonite and Landorus, Wood Hammer for Politoed, Tyranitar, and bulky water in general, Hidden Power Fire for Scizor and Ferrothorn, Protect for scouting. Expert Belt is important because it insures many KOs and bluffs Scarf or something.
Heatran (M) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 104 Def / 124 SAtk / 32 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Flamethrower
- Earth Power
- Stealth Rock
- Roar
Heatran takes on many threats that this team would otherwise have extreme troubles with so he is a great addition to this team. Another major importance that Heatran has is Stealth Rock. Stealth Rock is probably one of the best support moves in the game and this team would greatly appreciate it. Not only that, Heatran also takes on Drought teams with great ease (Dugtrios are a problem, though...). Heatran's resistances are also invaluable. He's the one generally taking all the Draco Meteors and Outrages that palgue the metagame. Immunity to fire and its steal typing as well as 91/106/106 defenses means that it won't be taken out any soon. And because of Roar, Heatran is also my main weapon against Baton Pass. Most Espeons wouldn't want to switch into Heatran fearing a KO from Fire Blast so they usually go to Vaporeon, only to be Roared away of its boosts. But that's not a huge thing, I guess. Baton Pass teams, are in my experiences, uncommon and with Kyurem's raw power, it usually can KO anything commonly found in Baton Pass teams. Unfortunately, Heatran brings unwanted weaknesses such as Fighting and makes me even more Fighting type weak, but atleast Starmie and Dragonite can handle it decently...
EVs and Moveset Explanation
Flamethrower is used over Fire Blast because Fire Blast generally screws me over and Flamethrower KOs Ferrothorn and 2HKO Conkeldurr anyway. Earth Power is for other Heatrans, Stealth Rock for obvious reasons, and Roar for phazing. 248 decreases the damage output Heatran will take while 104 Defense EVs let's me take on even Close Combats. With a Modest nature and 124 Special Attack EVs, I recieve 359 Special Attack with is the same as a Neutral 252 Special Attack Heatran. 32 Speed lets you outspeed something, I forgot. Air Balloon gives me a temporary immunity to Ground type attacks which is really nice against Sandstorm teams which utilize Earthquake frequently. It's also good against spikes stacking teams because I don't accumulate Spikes damage, too.
Kyurem @ Choice Specs
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 32 HP / 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 220 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Draco Meteor
- Blizzard
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Focus Blast
In a hail team, it'd be quite a waste if you didn't have any user of Blizzard, and Kyurem is excellent at that. Most people seem to use Choice Scarf or the newly invented Substitute + 3 Attacks set, but I went on a different route: Choice Specs. Kyurem's Draco Meteor hits just as hard as Choice Specs Latios' and 100% accuracy Blizzard is nothing to joke about. It can 2HKO even the most specially defensive Ferrothorn, too. Blowing holes in my opponent's team isn't its only function, however. With a resistance to Electric type attacks and not really caring about burns it recieve, Kyurem is my best answer to Rotom-w, a very popular threat in BW OU. In additon to that, with a crazy base HP stat of 125 and a decent 90 Defense, Kyurem can shrug off a Bullet Punch from Choice Band Scizor and retaliate with Hidden Power Fire. Kyurem's interesting Ice / Dragon type is somewhat useful, too. It grants Kyurem neutrality to Ice type attacks, meaning I don't fear Ice Shards or Ice Beams from bulky waters. The Ice typing is also what makes its Blizzards so scary!
EVs and Moveset Explanation
Draco Meteor easily puts my opponent in a checkmate position while Blizzard opens doors of opportunity for sweeping. Focus Blast gives Kyurem perfect coverage while hitting Heatran who would otherwise wall this set. It also 2HKOs Chansey after Stealth Rock and a round of Hail Damage which is impressive for a special attacker. Hidden Power Fire rounds off this set by letting it OHKO any Scizor (bar Occa Berry) and severely damage Specially Defensive Jirachi. 220 Speed and a Timid nature lets Kyurem outspeed Positive Base 90s while 252 Special Attack is used for maximum damage output. The rest is dumped into HP, but I took out 4 EVs from it for Defense because 40 HP EVs gives an even number which is unfavorable because you take more damage to entry hazards, Leech Seed, Sandstorm and other things such as status more.
Starmie @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Scald
- Thunderbolt
- Rapid Spin
- Recover
After the banishment of Excadrill, there aren't a whole lot of Rapid Spinners you can choose. Donphan seems like a great candidate; sporting a resistance to Rock moves and checking Choice Band Terrakion, it was quite good. But the lack of recovery and the fact that I could easily lose momentum because the only move thats going to deal a decent amount of damage is Earthquake which is immune to many Pokemon. And Donphan lacked a form of recovery. Forretress added another weakness to Fire and is hard to spin because of its low speed meaning that rocks will generally be on field. Not to mention, it lacks recovery outside of Rest and Pain Split. Tentacruel was a good choice until I realized that it gives this team a third Ground weak mon and doesn't fit well with the offensive nature of this team. Starmie was the only choice that seemed well for this spot, in my opinion. With a resistance to Fire and Fighting, it easily took on threats to this team such as Heatran, Terrakion, to name a few. The fact that it could also beat most rapid spinners is useful, especially against Drought teams where they also have 2 or 3 Stealth Rock weak mons. The only thing I don't like about Starmie is that it is an easy Pursuit bait and since it'll be Rapid Spinning most of the time, it'll quite likely die to it. It also gives Latios a free turn, which is never good. But then so will other Rapid Spinners, so oh well.
EVs and Moveset Explanation
Scald is a very solid STAB move for Starmie and hits many mons neutrally; not to mention the extra 30% burn rate it gives is useful against the likes of Tyranitar, Scizor, Ferrothorn, etc. Thunderbolt replaced Psychic because now I can beat Jellicent, the most popular spin blocker, meaning now I can Rapid Spin almost guaranteed. An offensive set was used over a defensive one for the 2HKO for Jellicent. It also hits water types such as Politoed harder in general. Recover eases things for Starmie by healing off the hail, entry hazards, damage it took. It is a good move in general and is a good reason for using Starmie because of it. Rapid Spin is the most important move and is irreplaceable; also the whole reason of using Starmie the first place. Max speed insures I'll almost never be outsped and a max special attack gives me few important KOs and 2HKOs such as Jellicent with Thunderbolt.
Dragonite (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 56 HP / 252 Atk / 200 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Claw
- Fire Punch
- ExtremeSpeed
- Dragon Dance
Even though I have Heatran for Drought teams and Jirachi for revenge killing, I added Dragonite as an extra insurance. Dragonite also works as a Drizzle counter as it is able to generally at least 2HKO most common members of rain. Another important thing about him is its resistance. Dragonite is one of the two members of this team having a resistance to Ground as well as Fighting , meaning that it is easily able to receive free turns. A resistance to Fire attacks never hurts, either. One thing special about Dragonite, however, is that it is my only sweeper in this team. With Dragon Dance, it is easily able to threaten offensive teams because the only priority it is going to get KO'd by is Ice Shard, but only when Multiscale is gone. Dragonite also causes problems to stall team as after Kyurem continues to hit hard, Dragonite cleans up the rest of them. Extremespeed is another huge selling point for Dragonite. It allows me to revenge kill many sweepers, most notably the users of Chlorophyll and Volcarona, both huge threats to this team if left unaddressed. Unfortunately, with Dragonite, I have three Rock-weak Pokemon which can be troublesome in matches where I am unable to Rapid Spin fast enough, but I'm sure Dragonite's benefits to this team easily outweigh its flaws!
Moveset and EV Explanation
Dragon Dance is obviously used for sweeping purposes. I also use it in times where I have no clue what I'm doing. Dragon Claw is used over Outrage because it eases prediction and I don't really use Dragonite as a sweeper anyways, so losing Outrage wasn't so bad. Besides, with hail and Stealth Rock damage along with Outrage's confusion, Dragonite isn't likely to live long which isn't what I'd want. Fire Punch gives me almost unresisted coverage, but more importantly, lets me hit both Ferrothorn and Scizor; OHKing them in certain situations. Extremespeed is my favorite move of all, however. It lets me revenge kill a large portion of the aforementioned threats and is a great move overall. One of the main reasons why I chose Dragonite, too. 200 Speed EVs hits 246; a number needed to outrun 245 speed creepers. 252 Attack EVs is used to maximize damage output of Extremespeed and to hit hard overall. The rest are dumped into HP to help abuse Dragonite's wonderful bulk and resistances and to help it last longer.
Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Iron Head
- U-turn
- Fire Punch
- Trick
Jirachi is my main revenge killer in this team. I don't know why people stopped using it as much as they did in DPPt OU, though. Choice Scarf Jirachi still does what it did back then just as well now. What's so important about Jirachi other than revenge killing is that it's the only Pokemon in this team with a Rock resistance. This is very vital due to the fact that Choice Band Tyranitar, Terrakion, Landorus, etc. can easily take out a great amount of portion of my team with their very strong Rock moves.. However, Choice Scarf Jirachi is easily able to address them all. Another thing good about Jirachi is that people don't really expect it. In this metagame, Jirachi is often relegated to the Calm Mind sets or the Specially Defensive one meaning that people will often wonder some time before finding out. This often leads to surprise kills and all that. Jirachi is also my main weapon against stall teams. When facing stall teams, I don't really need the speed given to me by Choice Scarf. Then I Trick away to a member of the my opponents team and that Pokemon is now crippled for the entire match. Having a second Dragon resist isn't a bad idea, either. Heatran doesn't have a way of recovering HP, so Jirachi can sometimes relieve the stress of taking Outrages and Draco Meteors. I often send Jirachi early game and U-turn a lot to scout the opponent's Pokemon's movesets. It also gives me early advantage which never hurts. All in all, Jirachi is a great utility to this team and is often a very important member of this team.
EV and Moveset Explanation
The standard 252/252 spread is used for outspeeding as much as possible while at the same time, hitting as hard as possible. Iron Head allows me to luck through some matches while checking Tyranitar, Terrakion, Non-Choice Scarf Landorus, to name a few. U-turn is for scouting and is useful against the likes of Celebi. Fire Punch is used for Scizor and Ferrothorn, the former being a pretty big threat to this team if left alone. I was considering Ice Punch over Fire Punch, but then it's only useful for a quick KO to Landorus, which is taken out by Iron Head, and Dragonite, who doesn't use Inner Focus anymore so I can flinch it out. So the only thing that'll be useful for is taking out Gliscor which is handled by Abomasnow, Heatran, Starmie, and Kyurem meaning it'll likely not be too big of a problem!
Conclusion
This team has been really fun to play with and I'm glad I took my time to build a decent hail team! I also hope that you enjoyed reading through this not-so-great RMT so thank you for that, too!
Team At First Sight
Introduction
I first made this team to play around with hail— a playstyle I don't use very often. I thought that hail teams are bad and aren't viable in standard play so I made this team just for fun. However, after using it, I was proven wrong. Hail is a wonderful weather, and although it might not be good as other weathers, it is still a solid choice. I honestly don't have much to say about this team, including accomplishments it made because it really doesn't have any besides some average ladder rating I got from it. But even so, I am quite proud of this team and I hope you can help it become better!
Further Into The Team:
Abomasnow (M) @ Expert Belt
Trait: Snow Warning
EVs: 192 Atk / 224 SAtk / 92 Spd
Lonely Nature (+Atk, -Def)
- Ice Shard
- Wood Hammer
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Protect
In hail teams, hail is obviously the first thing you would think of when making a hail team. Abomasnow conviently provides the hail needed in this team. Unfortunately, Abomasnow isn't exactly the most fitting thing to use in OU. Fortunately for Abomasnow, however, is that this great set lures in many counters such as Scizor and Tyranitar and even KOing them after Stealth Rock in some occasions. Expect for Ninetales, Abomasnow can "beat" every weather inducers found in OU. Tyranitar is outsped and takes a large sum of damage from Wood Hammer, if not faint from it (hope it's not scarf, though). Politoed is also KO'd by Wood Hammer. Choice Specs Focus Blasts are the only thing to be feared. Hippowdon is a bit harder to take down, but it's not so bad. Ninetales rapes me, so I thought of Earthquake over Ice Shard, but Ice Shard lets me take on Dragonite which is very useful because Dragonite can OHKO the whole team with the appropiate move. Protect is used for scouting. Whenever Scizor or something comes, I generally Protect because I'm always paranoid that they'll do something like that instead of U-turn and then depending on its move, I make the appropiate move. It's also helpful for Choice Band Dragonites, too, where they mostly spam Extremespeed and is a general nuisance. Hidden Power Fire also takes care of Abomasnow, if people actually use it. What's so great about this set is not only does it take care of all the weather inducers but Ninetales thus giving me an advantage, I get to tear apart Volt-Turn Cores. Scizor is taken out by Hidden Power Fire while even a burned Abomasnow's Wood Hammer does a great deal of damage to defensive Rotom-w. Landorus is taken out by Ice Shard and other U-turners such as Mienshao and Celebi are addressed by different members of the team.
EVs and Moveset Explanation
92 Speed out runs 4 speed Skarmories while 224 Special Attack, I think, guarantees a OHKO on standard Scizor. I put the rest into Attack to boost Wood Hammer and Ice Shard's power. Lonely nature is used to increase Attack while not decreasing Special Attack. The reason why I chose Lonely over Naughty was that Abomasnow's usual attacks it takes on the physical side are Bullet Punch, Stone Edge, Close Combat, to name a few, and regardless of how much defense you invest, you'll die. So I thought it'd be better if I could take on random Hidden Power Fires along the way and such. Ice Shard for Dragonite and Landorus, Wood Hammer for Politoed, Tyranitar, and bulky water in general, Hidden Power Fire for Scizor and Ferrothorn, Protect for scouting. Expert Belt is important because it insures many KOs and bluffs Scarf or something.
Heatran (M) @ Air Balloon
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 104 Def / 124 SAtk / 32 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Flamethrower
- Earth Power
- Stealth Rock
- Roar
Heatran takes on many threats that this team would otherwise have extreme troubles with so he is a great addition to this team. Another major importance that Heatran has is Stealth Rock. Stealth Rock is probably one of the best support moves in the game and this team would greatly appreciate it. Not only that, Heatran also takes on Drought teams with great ease (Dugtrios are a problem, though...). Heatran's resistances are also invaluable. He's the one generally taking all the Draco Meteors and Outrages that palgue the metagame. Immunity to fire and its steal typing as well as 91/106/106 defenses means that it won't be taken out any soon. And because of Roar, Heatran is also my main weapon against Baton Pass. Most Espeons wouldn't want to switch into Heatran fearing a KO from Fire Blast so they usually go to Vaporeon, only to be Roared away of its boosts. But that's not a huge thing, I guess. Baton Pass teams, are in my experiences, uncommon and with Kyurem's raw power, it usually can KO anything commonly found in Baton Pass teams. Unfortunately, Heatran brings unwanted weaknesses such as Fighting and makes me even more Fighting type weak, but atleast Starmie and Dragonite can handle it decently...
EVs and Moveset Explanation
Flamethrower is used over Fire Blast because Fire Blast generally screws me over and Flamethrower KOs Ferrothorn and 2HKO Conkeldurr anyway. Earth Power is for other Heatrans, Stealth Rock for obvious reasons, and Roar for phazing. 248 decreases the damage output Heatran will take while 104 Defense EVs let's me take on even Close Combats. With a Modest nature and 124 Special Attack EVs, I recieve 359 Special Attack with is the same as a Neutral 252 Special Attack Heatran. 32 Speed lets you outspeed something, I forgot. Air Balloon gives me a temporary immunity to Ground type attacks which is really nice against Sandstorm teams which utilize Earthquake frequently. It's also good against spikes stacking teams because I don't accumulate Spikes damage, too.
Kyurem @ Choice Specs
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 32 HP / 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 220 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Draco Meteor
- Blizzard
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Focus Blast
In a hail team, it'd be quite a waste if you didn't have any user of Blizzard, and Kyurem is excellent at that. Most people seem to use Choice Scarf or the newly invented Substitute + 3 Attacks set, but I went on a different route: Choice Specs. Kyurem's Draco Meteor hits just as hard as Choice Specs Latios' and 100% accuracy Blizzard is nothing to joke about. It can 2HKO even the most specially defensive Ferrothorn, too. Blowing holes in my opponent's team isn't its only function, however. With a resistance to Electric type attacks and not really caring about burns it recieve, Kyurem is my best answer to Rotom-w, a very popular threat in BW OU. In additon to that, with a crazy base HP stat of 125 and a decent 90 Defense, Kyurem can shrug off a Bullet Punch from Choice Band Scizor and retaliate with Hidden Power Fire. Kyurem's interesting Ice / Dragon type is somewhat useful, too. It grants Kyurem neutrality to Ice type attacks, meaning I don't fear Ice Shards or Ice Beams from bulky waters. The Ice typing is also what makes its Blizzards so scary!
EVs and Moveset Explanation
Draco Meteor easily puts my opponent in a checkmate position while Blizzard opens doors of opportunity for sweeping. Focus Blast gives Kyurem perfect coverage while hitting Heatran who would otherwise wall this set. It also 2HKOs Chansey after Stealth Rock and a round of Hail Damage which is impressive for a special attacker. Hidden Power Fire rounds off this set by letting it OHKO any Scizor (bar Occa Berry) and severely damage Specially Defensive Jirachi. 220 Speed and a Timid nature lets Kyurem outspeed Positive Base 90s while 252 Special Attack is used for maximum damage output. The rest is dumped into HP, but I took out 4 EVs from it for Defense because 40 HP EVs gives an even number which is unfavorable because you take more damage to entry hazards, Leech Seed, Sandstorm and other things such as status more.
Starmie @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Scald
- Thunderbolt
- Rapid Spin
- Recover
After the banishment of Excadrill, there aren't a whole lot of Rapid Spinners you can choose. Donphan seems like a great candidate; sporting a resistance to Rock moves and checking Choice Band Terrakion, it was quite good. But the lack of recovery and the fact that I could easily lose momentum because the only move thats going to deal a decent amount of damage is Earthquake which is immune to many Pokemon. And Donphan lacked a form of recovery. Forretress added another weakness to Fire and is hard to spin because of its low speed meaning that rocks will generally be on field. Not to mention, it lacks recovery outside of Rest and Pain Split. Tentacruel was a good choice until I realized that it gives this team a third Ground weak mon and doesn't fit well with the offensive nature of this team. Starmie was the only choice that seemed well for this spot, in my opinion. With a resistance to Fire and Fighting, it easily took on threats to this team such as Heatran, Terrakion, to name a few. The fact that it could also beat most rapid spinners is useful, especially against Drought teams where they also have 2 or 3 Stealth Rock weak mons. The only thing I don't like about Starmie is that it is an easy Pursuit bait and since it'll be Rapid Spinning most of the time, it'll quite likely die to it. It also gives Latios a free turn, which is never good. But then so will other Rapid Spinners, so oh well.
EVs and Moveset Explanation
Scald is a very solid STAB move for Starmie and hits many mons neutrally; not to mention the extra 30% burn rate it gives is useful against the likes of Tyranitar, Scizor, Ferrothorn, etc. Thunderbolt replaced Psychic because now I can beat Jellicent, the most popular spin blocker, meaning now I can Rapid Spin almost guaranteed. An offensive set was used over a defensive one for the 2HKO for Jellicent. It also hits water types such as Politoed harder in general. Recover eases things for Starmie by healing off the hail, entry hazards, damage it took. It is a good move in general and is a good reason for using Starmie because of it. Rapid Spin is the most important move and is irreplaceable; also the whole reason of using Starmie the first place. Max speed insures I'll almost never be outsped and a max special attack gives me few important KOs and 2HKOs such as Jellicent with Thunderbolt.
Dragonite (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 56 HP / 252 Atk / 200 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Dragon Claw
- Fire Punch
- ExtremeSpeed
- Dragon Dance
Even though I have Heatran for Drought teams and Jirachi for revenge killing, I added Dragonite as an extra insurance. Dragonite also works as a Drizzle counter as it is able to generally at least 2HKO most common members of rain. Another important thing about him is its resistance. Dragonite is one of the two members of this team having a resistance to Ground as well as Fighting , meaning that it is easily able to receive free turns. A resistance to Fire attacks never hurts, either. One thing special about Dragonite, however, is that it is my only sweeper in this team. With Dragon Dance, it is easily able to threaten offensive teams because the only priority it is going to get KO'd by is Ice Shard, but only when Multiscale is gone. Dragonite also causes problems to stall team as after Kyurem continues to hit hard, Dragonite cleans up the rest of them. Extremespeed is another huge selling point for Dragonite. It allows me to revenge kill many sweepers, most notably the users of Chlorophyll and Volcarona, both huge threats to this team if left unaddressed. Unfortunately, with Dragonite, I have three Rock-weak Pokemon which can be troublesome in matches where I am unable to Rapid Spin fast enough, but I'm sure Dragonite's benefits to this team easily outweigh its flaws!
Moveset and EV Explanation
Dragon Dance is obviously used for sweeping purposes. I also use it in times where I have no clue what I'm doing. Dragon Claw is used over Outrage because it eases prediction and I don't really use Dragonite as a sweeper anyways, so losing Outrage wasn't so bad. Besides, with hail and Stealth Rock damage along with Outrage's confusion, Dragonite isn't likely to live long which isn't what I'd want. Fire Punch gives me almost unresisted coverage, but more importantly, lets me hit both Ferrothorn and Scizor; OHKing them in certain situations. Extremespeed is my favorite move of all, however. It lets me revenge kill a large portion of the aforementioned threats and is a great move overall. One of the main reasons why I chose Dragonite, too. 200 Speed EVs hits 246; a number needed to outrun 245 speed creepers. 252 Attack EVs is used to maximize damage output of Extremespeed and to hit hard overall. The rest are dumped into HP to help abuse Dragonite's wonderful bulk and resistances and to help it last longer.
Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Iron Head
- U-turn
- Fire Punch
- Trick
Jirachi is my main revenge killer in this team. I don't know why people stopped using it as much as they did in DPPt OU, though. Choice Scarf Jirachi still does what it did back then just as well now. What's so important about Jirachi other than revenge killing is that it's the only Pokemon in this team with a Rock resistance. This is very vital due to the fact that Choice Band Tyranitar, Terrakion, Landorus, etc. can easily take out a great amount of portion of my team with their very strong Rock moves.. However, Choice Scarf Jirachi is easily able to address them all. Another thing good about Jirachi is that people don't really expect it. In this metagame, Jirachi is often relegated to the Calm Mind sets or the Specially Defensive one meaning that people will often wonder some time before finding out. This often leads to surprise kills and all that. Jirachi is also my main weapon against stall teams. When facing stall teams, I don't really need the speed given to me by Choice Scarf. Then I Trick away to a member of the my opponents team and that Pokemon is now crippled for the entire match. Having a second Dragon resist isn't a bad idea, either. Heatran doesn't have a way of recovering HP, so Jirachi can sometimes relieve the stress of taking Outrages and Draco Meteors. I often send Jirachi early game and U-turn a lot to scout the opponent's Pokemon's movesets. It also gives me early advantage which never hurts. All in all, Jirachi is a great utility to this team and is often a very important member of this team.
EV and Moveset Explanation
The standard 252/252 spread is used for outspeeding as much as possible while at the same time, hitting as hard as possible. Iron Head allows me to luck through some matches while checking Tyranitar, Terrakion, Non-Choice Scarf Landorus, to name a few. U-turn is for scouting and is useful against the likes of Celebi. Fire Punch is used for Scizor and Ferrothorn, the former being a pretty big threat to this team if left alone. I was considering Ice Punch over Fire Punch, but then it's only useful for a quick KO to Landorus, which is taken out by Iron Head, and Dragonite, who doesn't use Inner Focus anymore so I can flinch it out. So the only thing that'll be useful for is taking out Gliscor which is handled by Abomasnow, Heatran, Starmie, and Kyurem meaning it'll likely not be too big of a problem!
Conclusion
This team has been really fun to play with and I'm glad I took my time to build a decent hail team! I also hope that you enjoyed reading through this not-so-great RMT so thank you for that, too!
