Gen 4 [OU] A very original hail semi-stall!

[Gazpacho23]

A very original hail semi-stall

Introduction

The goal of this team is very simple: to take advantage of one of the most forgotten weathers in the only generation in which it was viable: hail. The teambuilding process was very typical: Abomasnow, Gliscor, Tentacruel, and, obviouslly, Walrein (this one is a bit different). Albeit, the main difference came with its last two members: Infernape and Spiritomb. These two pokémon have never been common in this type of teams, but in this case they perfectly fulfill their function, and they also cover many of the vulnerabilities suffered by hail teams. They were added after ruling out other more common Pokémon, like Rotom, Froslass, or Bronzong. I have been using hail teams in gen 4 for a while, and this is the one that gave me the best results by far, so I think this is probably one of the most solid builds for a hail team in 4th gen OU.

The team

Abomasnow @ Focus Sash
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 SpA
Brave Nature
- Blizzard
- Wood Hammer
- Ice Shard
- Earthquake

The lead of the team and a fundamental pillar. Not only he summons hail, but gives me great offensive coverage. Mainly, he provides excellent coverage, removing threats such as Swampert, Breloom, Starmie, Flygon, Dragonite... He also works as a good revenge killer, since his Ice shard allows me to weaken many offensive threats that have received damage, like Latias, Flygon, Dragonite… Finally, thanks to Focus sash, Ice shard and his great coverage, Abomasnow is capable of removing many common leads like Azelf, Heatran, Roserade, Mamoswine or Aerodactyl. There are no sets for Abomasnow with Focus sash, but this item really makes the difference.

Gliscor @ Leftovers
Ability: Hyper Cutter
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Taunt
- Earthquake
- Ice Fang
- Stealth Rock

Gliscor is part of the defensive core in any hail team. His main function, in this case, is to set up the rocks. Taunt is mandatory in order to prevent Scizor and Gyarados from boosting, while Ice Fang provides me excellent coverage. After Abomasnow, Gliscor is usually the second Pokémon to go into the field, in order to set up SR as soon as possible for maximizing passive damage. I decided not to include Roost because Taunt and Ice fang are much more useful for my team.

Tentacruel @ Black Sludge
Ability: Liquid Ooze
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Def / 136 SpD
Calm Nature
- Toxic Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Surf
- Sludge Bomb

Great sinergy with Gliscor, spinner, and excellent support with Toxic spikes. There is not much to say about Tentacruel in hail teams apart from that. He is a good check/counter of some of the worst threats for hail: Infernape and Lucario. Tentacruel also deals pretty well with Heatran and CB Scizor. He can also inflict a lot of damage to Shaymin, Hippowdon and slower versions of Breloom.

Walrein @ Leftovers
Ability: Ice Body
EVs: 232 HP / 252 Def / 24 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Protect
- Roar
- Toxic
- Surf

OK, we all know what Stallrein is, and the inmense amount of physical attackers that he checks, so let’s see why this one is a bit different. Nearly all the Stallrein’s strategies are based on lasting A LOT OF TURNS, combinig Protect+Substitute, and my Walrein wasn’t the exception. But, after a lot of testing, a huge problem appeared: setup sweepers. SD Scizor, SD Lucario, DD Gyarados+ Stone Edge, CM Suicune, Lum berry DD Dragonite, and DD+Rest Kingdra. They easily set up in front of Walrein and obliterated my entire team, until Roar replaced Substitute. This Walrein is an excellent phazer, capable of preventing every single setup sweeper to start his setup in front of him. Also, phazing is an extraordinary addition for a team like this, which is based mainly on residual damage.

Spiritomb @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Shadow Sneak
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power [Fighting] Rest
- Will-O-Wisp

I needed two essential things: 1) an anti spinner, 2) a pokémon capable of checking/countering ghost and psychic. Bronzong and Rotom didn’t fulfill both roles well, since Rotom was not a safe switch in, and Bronzong did not block rapid spin. So, a very rare option appeared from UU: Spiritomb. This special defensive version is aimed at walling and removing Latias, Gengar, Rotom, Azelf, and Starmie, while it works as a good spinblocker. Shadow sneak is a great option, which allows me to revenge kill the previously mentioned pokémon. Hidden power fighting provides great coverage against Tyranitar and Heatran, and finally, Will o wisp surprises physical attackers like Metagross, Scizor,Tyranitar or Gyarados.

Infernape @ Expert Belt
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk / 64 SpA / 192 Spe
Naive Nature
- Close Combat
- Thunder Punch
- Stone Edge
- Overheat

Blissey walled my entire team, and many steel-types destroyed my pokémon. In addition, my team needed an extra offensive addittion, because just stalling wasn’t enough in many battles, given that all the hail stall limitations.This is when Infernape appeared. He annihilates Blissey, Tyranitar, Lucario, Scizor, and Jirachi, among others. Stone edge beats Dragonite and Zapdos. Thunder punch is perhaps the most controversial option. It is extremely useful to me for a reason: Gyarados. Everybody always switch their Gyarados into my Infernape, and Stone edge didn’t OHKO the water “dragon”. In this way, Thunder puch always removes all the Gyarados that enter in front of Infernape, OHKO’ing them after SR damage. Grass knot would be extremely useful for dealing with Swampert, especially if Abomasnow is not around, but it is just a more situational option than Thunder punch, because allowing Gyarados to setup in front of Infernape is extremely risky. U-turn is an interesting option, but I think coverage is more important than momentun for my team.

Threats

Stealth rock: like any hail team, I find them very problematic. Every battle should be focused on preventing the opponent from setting or removing them.
Psyquic and Ghost (Latias, Gengar, Rotom, Azelf and Starmie): Spiritomb deals with them very well, but if he is weakened, they can cause a lot of problems on my team. Latias specs is especially problematic, since Spiritomb cannot safely switch in, although Abomasnow with Focush sash activated revenge kills her with ease.
Choice scarf users (Heatran and Tyranitar): My team doesn't stand out for its speed, with Infernape being its fastest member. Some choice scarf users are dangerous, especially Tyranitar and Heatran because of their typing and movepool.
Bulky waters (Swampert, Milotic, and Suicune): They are very difficult to defeat if Abomasnow has been weakened. Walrein can slowly wear them down, but it is not a solid answer.
Infernape: the nemesis of nearly every hail team, thanks to his typing and movepool, he wreaks havoc if Tentacruel has been defeated.
​

 

[oiponabys]

Hi,
Just to say that I like your walrein set, instead of playing the subprotect stallrein that has lots of problems vs things like clefable.

 

[Gazpacho23]

Hi,
Just to say that I like your walrein set, instead of playing the subprotect stallrein that has lots of problems vs things like clefable.

Thanks! Setup sweepers and some stall threats like Clefable are extremely dangerous for the classic Stallrein set with Substitute.

 

[voyage]

Hi,

I like that people are encouraged by a climate as forgotten or difficult as this but also entertaining. Maybe with Dugtrio's ban it has been damaged since you could eliminate Ttar and keep your climate in favor. I like your idea of bringing creative things like Nape / Spiritomb although the latter is usually accompanied by somewhat more defensive teams and is a good spinblock. I do not know if you have had problems against dragons since you do not carry resistance but I suppose it is something that can be handled. Well, overall I love your team foundation and strategy, but it can improve with small changes.

If you have problems with waters in general such as Star, cune or pert, you can try a more defensive set in Aboma such as spd with Leech + Protect as a recovery method. It can also fit DMs of Kingdra or Latias although there may be better answers.

I see that you have also wanted to innovate in some sets but that is not always good. Sacrificing Roost for Taunt in Gliscor can come in handy if you are afraid of status or SR, Spikes but I think the best is a Roost> Taunt change because that way you have a reliable method of recovery and it can be an important pillar since if something has these teams it is fear of spam fight as Lucario.

Nape is a mon that I always liked. Offensively good double type and versatile. Now, I am not convinced to take him EB with the Hail activated that does not favor you much and he is a mon that can give more than one victory. I had thought of Slack off on SE or TP keeping double stab and you can add Life Orb since then you are not afraid to hit hard having response to recover. This is just an idea where you are free to try.

Well, I think this will be the last thing for me. I consider it essential to bring Rest in Spiritomb. In any case it would be for HP Fight or priority, depending on what gives you more problems. SBall and WoW are key for stab and fit physical offensive things like Ttar. It may be that being asleep for several turns he looks more vulnerable but in this case it is more difficult to fall. Maybe a partner with Heal Bell is a great idea.

I'm a bit surprised that no one has commented on anything before I only hope I have been able to help with this contribution. It's a bit complicated because of the team it is, but I especially like the Walrein set. Good luck and welcome.

 

[Pideous]

Hi,
Hail is always a fun team style to build, and this version with Infernape is really cool. There are some issues hail teams can run into, and this team may lack the tools to deal with some of these threats. Firstly, Tyranitar has a huge presence in the metagame and will easily reset the weather, ruining the utility of Walrein and making it difficult to wear down the Steels, like Jirachi, which will be difficult to handle outside of your preferred weather. This may be annoying when Abomasnow gets taken out early, which may happen since the Abomasnow set lacks bulk or recovery. Furthermore, when you're down to your sash, switching into hazards will cause Abomasnow to faint before it can reset the weather. Despite the spin support from Tentacruel, this seems undesirable. Spinning is difficult in DPP, and Tentacruel can lack longevitity, especially without Wish support, making it hard to keep hazards of in an extended game. Running a bulkier Abomasnow set with leftovers and perhaps leech seed could help in fighting a weather war with Tyranitar.

Secondly, Clefable is a nightmare for a team relying on passive damage to wear down the opponent. It can come in on Tentacruel (keeping rocks up vs spin), Spiritomb, and Walrein. A leech seed Abomasnow would also be unable to wear down Clefable, so a concession for the weather war with TTar would make the Clefable issue worse. Once in, Clefable has no issue throwing out knock offs and seismic tosses, wearing the team down. This team is quite short on reliable recovery, so it will be difficult to endure this assault. Infernape is particularly vulnerable if you want to use it to force Clefable out. It will get worn down quickly by hail, stealth rocks and seismic toss, and is absolutely ruined by thunder wave. This only really leaves Gliscor as a switch in to Clefable, which can be dicey since knock off will leave Gliscor worn down by hail and the possibility of Ice beam is always there. However, I still think running Roost is the easiest option to avoid getting completely worn down by Clefable. Rest on Spiritomb would also help. Spiritomb might be unable to hurt Clefable, but at least a standard support Clefable with Seismic Toss will be walled by Rest Spiritomb, giving you more breathing room to play around it and stall it out.

Finally, I think Choice Scarf on Infernape is the preferable item, since it will better fit the role of revenge killing offensive threats and cleaning up weakened teams. With Expert Belt, something like Dragonite will outspeed it after a Dragon Dance, while Choice Scarf would allow you to hit it with Hidden Power Ice first. I don't recommend relying on Abomasnow to deal with such a dangerous threat, especially since the team is lacking a Steel type to resist Dragon type attacks. (For this reason a threat like Choice band Dragonite or Choice Specs Latias looks extremely threatening, but I'm not sure if such a weakness can be patched up by these 6 pokemon.)

Overall, a really interesting take on the oft overlooked Hail style in DPP!

 

[Gazpacho23]

Hi,

I like that people are encouraged by a climate as forgotten or difficult as this but also entertaining. Maybe with Dugtrio's ban it has been damaged since you could eliminate Ttar and keep your climate in favor. I like your idea of bringing creative things like Nape / Spiritomb although the latter is usually accompanied by somewhat more defensive teams and is a good spinblock. I do not know if you have had problems against dragons since you do not carry resistance but I suppose it is something that can be handled. Well, overall I love your team foundation and strategy, but it can improve with small changes.

If you have problems with waters in general such as Star, cune or pert, you can try a more defensive set in Aboma such as spd with Leech + Protect as a recovery method. It can also fit DMs of Kingdra or Latias although there may be better answers.

I see that you have also wanted to innovate in some sets but that is not always good. Sacrificing Roost for Taunt in Gliscor can come in handy if you are afraid of status or SR, Spikes but I think the best is a Roost> Taunt change because that way you have a reliable method of recovery and it can be an important pillar since if something has these teams it is fear of spam fight as Lucario.

Nape is a mon that I always liked. Offensively good double type and versatile. Now, I am not convinced to take him EB with the Hail activated that does not favor you much and he is a mon that can give more than one victory. I had thought of Slack off on SE or TP keeping double stab and you can add Life Orb since then you are not afraid to hit hard having response to recover. This is just an idea where you are free to try.

Well, I think this will be the last thing for me. I consider it essential to bring Rest in Spiritomb. In any case it would be for HP Fight or priority, depending on what gives you more problems. SBall and WoW are key for stab and fit physical offensive things like Ttar. It may be that being asleep for several turns he looks more vulnerable but in this case it is more difficult to fall. Maybe a partner with Heal Bell is a great idea.

I'm a bit surprised that no one has commented on anything before I only hope I have been able to help with this contribution. It's a bit complicated because of the team it is, but I especially like the Walrein set. Good luck and welcome.

Thanks for your comment! I will try all your suggestions, specially Rest on Spìritomb and Roost on Gliscor, they sound very promising. The changes for Aboma and Nape would be harder to implement, specially because this Aboma's set is mandatory for my team, but I will try them too.

 

[Gazpacho23]

Hi,
Hail is always a fun team style to build, and this version with Infernape is really cool. There are some issues hail teams can run into, and this team may lack the tools to deal with some of these threats. Firstly, Tyranitar has a huge presence in the metagame and will easily reset the weather, ruining the utility of Walrein and making it difficult to wear down the Steels, like Jirachi, which will be difficult to handle outside of your preferred weather. This may be annoying when Abomasnow gets taken out early, which may happen since the Abomasnow set lacks bulk or recovery. Furthermore, when you're down to your sash, switching into hazards will cause Abomasnow to faint before it can reset the weather. Despite the spin support from Tentacruel, this seems undesirable. Spinning is difficult in DPP, and Tentacruel can lack longevitity, especially without Wish support, making it hard to keep hazards of in an extended game. Running a bulkier Abomasnow set with leftovers and perhaps leech seed could help in fighting a weather war with Tyranitar.

Secondly, Clefable is a nightmare for a team relying on passive damage to wear down the opponent. It can come in on Tentacruel (keeping rocks up vs spin), Spiritomb, and Walrein. A leech seed Abomasnow would also be unable to wear down Clefable, so a concession for the weather war with TTar would make the Clefable issue worse. Once in, Clefable has no issue throwing out knock offs and seismic tosses, wearing the team down. This team is quite short on reliable recovery, so it will be difficult to endure this assault. Infernape is particularly vulnerable if you want to use it to force Clefable out. It will get worn down quickly by hail, stealth rocks and seismic toss, and is absolutely ruined by thunder wave. This only really leaves Gliscor as a switch in to Clefable, which can be dicey since knock off will leave Gliscor worn down by hail and the possibility of Ice beam is always there. However, I still think running Roost is the easiest option to avoid getting completely worn down by Clefable. Rest on Spiritomb would also help. Spiritomb might be unable to hurt Clefable, but at least a standard support Clefable with Seismic Toss will be walled by Rest Spiritomb, giving you more breathing room to play around it and stall it out.

Finally, I think Choice Scarf on Infernape is the preferable item, since it will better fit the role of revenge killing offensive threats and cleaning up weakened teams. With Expert Belt, something like Dragonite will outspeed it after a Dragon Dance, while Choice Scarf would allow you to hit it with Hidden Power Ice first. I don't recommend relying on Abomasnow to deal with such a dangerous threat, especially since the team is lacking a Steel type to resist Dragon type attacks. (For this reason a threat like Choice band Dragonite or Choice Specs Latias looks extremely threatening, but I'm not sure if such a weakness can be patched up by these 6 pokemon.)

Overall, a really interesting take on the oft overlooked Hail style in DPP!

Thanks for your suggestions! Clefable is very annoying, specially if he is played with prediction, avoidind Nape. Affortunately, Clefable is not very common and usually, Nape can deal with him pretty well (but teams with Clefable+Latias are a real nightmare). Sure I will implement the changes on Gliscor and Spiritomb, and I will try the modifications on Aboma and Nape, but they will be harder to implement since these changes are more significant for the team's dynamics.
Surprisingly, Dragonite has never been an issue for my team, since Aboma, Walrein and Nape deal with him pretty well (even Gliscor if Dragonite is not boosted). But Latias specs is threatening.