Through Tempests and Snowstorms
INTRODUCTION
Hello there, I'm Unukalhai. I'm kinda used to rating other ppl's teams, but this will be my first time looking for team rating for myself on a few years. I've been away from competitive play for a substantial amount of time due to various personal issues and used to be a high tier player back on gen 6. I'm starting my comeback this very week, still adapting myself to the new meta that Sun and Moon has introduced.
Ninetales has always been one of my favorite mons but it was such an underrated one, only fitting a few specific niches and never actually seeing much actual high tier competitive usage.
But then Sun and Moon came through and brought a bit of hope for it, giving the fox both a brand new form and access to two wonderful utility tools that are able to set Alolan Ninetales apart from all of the other existing supports in this game: Snow Warning and Aurora Veil.
Because of that, Ninetales is notably the only Pokémon currently capable of setting up Aurora Veil all by itself, since this move requires hail in order to be activated and the Snow Warning ability provides that. All this makes it possible for Tales to consolidate itself as a completely unique Pokémon, capable of doing something that no one else can.
And that's right where it all starts: trying to build a successful team around Alolan Ninetales.
Ninetales has always been one of my favorite mons but it was such an underrated one, only fitting a few specific niches and never actually seeing much actual high tier competitive usage.
But then Sun and Moon came through and brought a bit of hope for it, giving the fox both a brand new form and access to two wonderful utility tools that are able to set Alolan Ninetales apart from all of the other existing supports in this game: Snow Warning and Aurora Veil.
Because of that, Ninetales is notably the only Pokémon currently capable of setting up Aurora Veil all by itself, since this move requires hail in order to be activated and the Snow Warning ability provides that. All this makes it possible for Tales to consolidate itself as a completely unique Pokémon, capable of doing something that no one else can.
And that's right where it all starts: trying to build a successful team around Alolan Ninetales.
TEAM PREVIEW
TEAMBUILDING PROCESS
As mentioned before, the focus of this project was to build a competitive team around Alolan Ninetales. As I looked for other Pokémon who could synergize well with 9Tales, I came to the conclusion that the two Pokémon who could perform the most solid core when paired with
were
and
. That's because they not only synergize very well when paired with the utility that Ninetales provides, since Aurora Veil makes it really hard for the enemy to punish them for setting up and then proceeding to clean up the entire enemy team, but also because they have awesome synergy among themselves, providing coverage for threats that the other one cannot single-handedly deal with, making for a good offensive core. I chose to run a pretty standard Surf / Psychic / Tail Glow / Rain Dance Manaphy set with Waterium Z as the item of choice. That's because it provides an efficient way to effortlessly break through stall, often generating a win clause for me. Volcarona's presence also makes it possible for me not to run a 3-attacks set on Manaphy and take most value from Waterium Z, sometimes using Z-Rain Dance in order to speed up and make it even harder for the enemy to revenge kill Manaphy, often generating free clean ups for me.
But things get a bit tricky here: When looking on how I should build up Volcarona, I opted to go for a BulkyRona instead of the usual glass cannon build you see everywhere. I'll explain further on the individual analysis, but for now let's settle with the fact that it makes Volcarona go through the threat of potentially getting revenge killed without worrying much about it.
After deciding my offensive core, I noticed that I was lacking an effective check for offensive EQ and electric spam which are rather common threats nowadays. I also needed something that could singlehandedly impose threat to Rain team sweepers, specially because my Rain Dance set on Manaphy could potentially get used against me by those. Ferrothorn would probably be the most usual choice, providing my team an effective check for many offensive threats and also a valuable hazard user. But I chose to go with
over Ferrothorn, because it fits my team's supportive playstyle over the two core sweepers much better than Ferrothorn does, providing reliable recovery for Manaphy and Volcarona through Grassy Terrain and Leech Seed while they set up on the enemy and further allowing me not only to run Grassy Seed on Volcarona further increasing its bulkyness but also not to run Roost and instead go for a 3-attack set, significantly increasing Volcarona's coverage and offensive pressure over common walls such as Heatran. Bulu is also a potential threat to the enemy on its own, since I chose to go for a physically defensive set over the common offensive you see every now and then in order to provide reliable check to about any physical threat I might face while also running a swords dance set in order to finish off most weakened rain teams as a huge impenetrable colossus. After that, now I needed to find someone able to clear hazards from my side of the field while also being able to set rocks itself, since both Volcarona and Ninetales suffer a lot of pressure from SR.
The first choice that occurred me was Excadrill. And I actually decided to go with it for some time, until it proved to be a rather lackluster choice. The only set it could run on my team was a bulky leftovers one, since it needed to survive being hitted for long enough to do its job, which rendered it incapable of imposing significant threat as a physical attacker, becoming so passive that I even needed to run Toxic over Iron Head for the last slot in order to impose any threat to walls. It also contributed to a noticeable ground weakness that my team had. Then after looking for someone who was able to do Excadrill's job while also being immune to ground damage and imposing threat to both enemy Excadrill and Landorus, I decided to settle with
. Claydol packs a significant bulk, imposes threat to both Heatran and Excadrill and is even able to carry Ice Beam to further threaten Landorus all while providing my team a very important electric immunity. It is an incredibly underrated Pokémon and I can definitely see why, but it carves an efficient niche here, providing both coverage and check against some threats and being efficient on its job to set up Stealth Rocks and remove hazards from my side of the field.
Now I needed to find an effective wall against fire types, since Manaphy wasn't actually a Pokémon I should throw around as check for free damage, since keeping it healthy is a priority most of the time. I also needed a Pokémon who was able to wall and threaten back Steel types, since they impose significant threat to both Bulu and Ninetales. That's when
immediately came my to mind. It's an incredibly versatile Pokémon who imposes considerable threat to any fire type wallbreaker and also adds a lot to my team as a stallbreaker. It also provides an efficient check for Psychic and Fairy type threats in general, such as Tapu Lele.
But things get a bit tricky here: When looking on how I should build up Volcarona, I opted to go for a BulkyRona instead of the usual glass cannon build you see everywhere. I'll explain further on the individual analysis, but for now let's settle with the fact that it makes Volcarona go through the threat of potentially getting revenge killed without worrying much about it.
After deciding my offensive core, I noticed that I was lacking an effective check for offensive EQ and electric spam which are rather common threats nowadays. I also needed something that could singlehandedly impose threat to Rain team sweepers, specially because my Rain Dance set on Manaphy could potentially get used against me by those. Ferrothorn would probably be the most usual choice, providing my team an effective check for many offensive threats and also a valuable hazard user. But I chose to go with
The first choice that occurred me was Excadrill. And I actually decided to go with it for some time, until it proved to be a rather lackluster choice. The only set it could run on my team was a bulky leftovers one, since it needed to survive being hitted for long enough to do its job, which rendered it incapable of imposing significant threat as a physical attacker, becoming so passive that I even needed to run Toxic over Iron Head for the last slot in order to impose any threat to walls. It also contributed to a noticeable ground weakness that my team had. Then after looking for someone who was able to do Excadrill's job while also being immune to ground damage and imposing threat to both enemy Excadrill and Landorus, I decided to settle with
Now I needed to find an effective wall against fire types, since Manaphy wasn't actually a Pokémon I should throw around as check for free damage, since keeping it healthy is a priority most of the time. I also needed a Pokémon who was able to wall and threaten back Steel types, since they impose significant threat to both Bulu and Ninetales. That's when
INDIVIDUAL ANALYSIS
Aura (Ninetales-Alola) (F) @ Light Clay
Ability: Snow Warning
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Freeze-Dry
- Aurora Veil
- Hypnosis
- Moonblast
Ability: Snow Warning
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Freeze-Dry
- Aurora Veil
- Hypnosis
- Moonblast
Even though this team was built around Ninetales, she ended up not being the main character of the series. She supports the team by setting up Aurora Veil and therefore halving all the damage any of my Pokémon receives for the following 8 turns. That gives me enough time and breathing room to put everything in place to get either Manaphy or Volcarona going. It also makes it easier for the others to switch right in front of wallbreakers, since most of my team can't really afford taking free damage. Hypnosis allows Aura to safely set up Aurora Veil on threats such as Ferrothorn without getting killed in the process and also generates breathing room for whoever comes on her place after she switches out, but it is kinda unrealiable due to its considerably low accuracy. Moonblast allows her to threaten and / or finish both dark and fighting types who might try to impose a threat, most notably Tyranitar since it replaces Hail for Sandstorm and therefore is often used as a general check to Alolan Ninetales. There is also Greninja who is often sent out to finish off Tales in order to get a form change. Investment on HP allows Ninetales to take a few more hits while standing behind Aurora Veil and maximum speed investment allows it to outspeed everything within a 80 to 109 fully invested positive natured speed range.
Fury (Volcarona) (F) @ Grassy Seed
Ability: Flame Body
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 190 HP / 252 Def / 68 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fiery Dance
- Giga Drain
- Quiver Dance
- Hidden Power [Ground]
Now going back as to why I chose to build Volcarona as a bulky variant carrying Grassy Seed over your plain usual and boring easy-to-revenge-kill-glass-cannon one, is because after some basic calculations I concluded that Volcarona could potentially wall through threats such as Offensive Landorus' Stone Edge and M-Swampert's maximum attack Waterfall under heavy Rain for three and sometimes even FOUR consecutive turns. Not only that, but it also enables Volcarona to easily transform anyone who can't deal 4x effective damage to her on an easy set up fodder. After practice testing my theory, it became even clearer that it was the best choice indeed to make Volcarona able not only to fearlessly take on any potential revenge killer but also to easily eliminate them right away in return, putting all of the EV's on both HP and defense with some minimum Spe investment to allow Volcarona to outspeed most offensive threats after just one Quiver Dance and basically outspeed everything else after two. I've chosen to put HP Ground on the last move slot in order to make Volcarona pass through common checks such as Heatran and/or Victini that although do not impose any dire threat to Volcarona's life, are usually sent out to wall her completely until she is brought down by exaustion. Volcarona's further synergy with Tapu Bulu allows me to set up with reliable recovery without needing roost. Giga Drain also makes it easier to keep Volcarona healthy.
Here are some important data concerning this set's practical usage:
252+ Atk Swampert Waterfall vs. +1 190 HP / 252+ Def Volcarona with an ally's Aurora Veil: 81-96 (22.6 - 26.8%) -- 27.3% chance to 4HKO
252+ Atk Swampert Waterfall vs. +1 190 HP / 252+ Def Volcarona in Heavy Rain with an ally's Aurora Veil: 121-144 (33.7 - 40.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 Atk Landorus-Therian Stone Edge vs. +1 190 HP / 252+ Def Volcarona with an ally's Aurora Veil: 148-176 (41.3 - 49.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Greninja Hydro Pump vs. +1 190 HP / 4 SpD Volcarona with an ally's Aurora Veil: 129-152 (36 - 42.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
0 Atk Keldeo Stone Edge vs. +1 190 HP / 252+ Def Volcarona with an ally's Aurora Veil: 64-76 (17.8 - 21.2%) -- possible 5HKO
Oshosi (Tapu Bulu) @ Leftovers
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 222 HP / 252 Def / 36 SpD
Impish Nature
- Horn Leech
- Brick Break
- Swords Dance
- Leech Seed
This guy is really important for my team composition. It indirectly but significantly contributes towards extending everyone's lifespan and makes it possible for both Volcarona and Manaphy to stay healthy while setuping. It also works as a check for rain team sweepers and EQ spam in general. It can even finish weakened teams with ease and get a sweep going by itself sometimes, even though that's not its primary function. Brick Break allows me to hit steel types for SEffective damage without weakening myself. Horn Leech helps keeping Bulu healthy and threaten water and / or ground type foes who might try to spam on my team, while also being a consistent STAB. The given EV spread allows me to reach a Leftovers number, maximizing all the recovery Bulu gets from both grassy terrain and LOs itself.
Aplu (Claydol) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 6 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Earth Power
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
- Ice Beam
It used to be Excadrill on this spot, but due to Excadrill contributing to multiple ground weaknesses stacking, it was scrapped out in favor of this one. Claydol is a very underrated Pokémon, but it has potential. It carves a niche being capable of using both Rapid Spin and Stealth Rock while also being immune to both ground and electric damage while also threatening common leads such as Heatran and Landorus with a potential 1HKO and was chosen because of that. It is just what my team needed in order to avoid stacking multiple ground weaknesses while also having a anti-lead leading Pokémon. Most people also don't know what to do against Claydol since it is extremely rare, which often generates easy kills on the aforementioned uncautious leads.
Umi (Manaphy) @ Waterium Z
Ability: Hydration
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 6 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Surf
- Psychic
- Tail Glow
- Rain Dance
Manaphy synergizes perfectly with Ninetales, covering both its steel and fire weaknesses while also highly benefiting from the Aurora Veil effect, since it generates a lot of room for Manaphy to breath while setuping Tail Glow. I've chosen Rain Dance over Ice Beam and HP Fire because it makes Manaphy capable of effectively crush stall teams on his own. Besides, since it has synergy with Volcarona, it isn't really needed. It can also get past through Ferrothorn on its own with Hydro Vortex after getting 6x SPATK, 1HKOing if rain is active. Rain dance also gives me another option on how to use my Waterium Z, sometimes allowing me to boost Manaphy's speed to absurd levels in order to avoid getting revenge killed.
Logi (Heatran) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 212 HP / 44 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Toxic
- Taunt
Heatran was chosen as the last Pokémon because it is capable of providing effective check against both fire and steel types, which are dire threats for this team. It can also provide an efficient counter for uncautious walls and stallmons, trapping them on Magma Storm and then following with taunt, making they quickly struggle to death. Heatran is also an effective antilead against most Trick Room teams who are seeing a bit more use lately.
THREATLIST
Toxapex imposes a huge threat to my wallbreakers since they are relying on setting up stats and it can just haze everything away. Its typing also allows Toxapex to absorb all damage it takes from my sweepers given that they can't really setup on its presence and do not impose threat when unboosted. Heatran is my only true hope to deal w/ Toxa, but Heatran can be threatened with a water type STAB in return. Ninetales might put Toxa to sleep, which allows Heatran to possibly trap and taunt it before it wakes up, but must fear getting poisoned or receiving a poison type STAB on the face while trying to. Hypnosis is also rather unreliable.
Mega Pinsir can effortlessly clean up my team if Ninetales fails on setting Aurora Veil up. It can hit everything for at least neutral damage and my sweepers can't really stand before Pinsir without getting heavily punished for doing so. If Volcarona gets an opportunity to setup though, Pinsir does nothing.
REPLAYS
PS: Some replays date before I replaced Excadrill for Claydol, but it doesn't really change much since their role are played on similar ways and if anything Claydol would only make it easier for me to deal with many situations that required much more effort, such as the enemy's Hawlucha sweep attempt. There are some replays that display me trying other alternatives to the hazard cleaner role too.
Quick-and-easy checkmate on three steps: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-637869081
VS. offensive Mega Scizor team - http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-636998558
Volcarona clean sweep (the opponent thought that it would be easy to revenge kill Volcarona later with his sashed Stone Edge, and so let me freely setup, but he actually couldn't) -
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-637513606
Manaphy clean sweep VS. Mega Venusaur balance - http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-637806468
Tapu Bulu finishing sweep vs. high tier Rain meta standard - team http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-638264179
VS. offensive Mega Lopunny team -
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-637425152
VS. balanced Rain standard meta team -
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-637432621
PS: Excadrill's sacrifice was intentional there. I was looking towards bringing Manaphy to the field without hurting it in the proccess, so that it could survive the first hit and then revenge kill Hawlucha.
Z-Rain Dance clean sweep VS. balanced Mega Gallade team - http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-637812050
VS. balanced Z-Hypnosis Xurkitree team -
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-637001063
VS. balanced Z-Hypnosis Xurkitree team -
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-637001063
VS. balanced Sandstorm team - http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-637817056
PS: my failed attempts to use Aurora Veil were missclicks. Sorry about that, was REALLY sleepy back when it happened.
PS: my failed attempts to use Aurora Veil were missclicks. Sorry about that, was REALLY sleepy back when it happened.
Tapu Bulu finishing sweep vs. pseudo-sandstorm balance: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-638262724
VS. balanced Koko-teela core - http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ou-637808393
IMPORTABLE
Aura (Ninetales-Alola) (F) @ Light Clay
Ability: Snow Warning
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Freeze-Dry
- Aurora Veil
- Hypnosis
- Moonblast
Logi (Heatran) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 212 HP / 44 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Toxic
- Taunt
Umi (Manaphy) @ Waterium Z
Ability: Hydration
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 6 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Surf
- Psychic
- Tail Glow
- Rain Dance
Oshosi (Tapu Bulu) @ Leftovers
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 222 HP / 252 Def / 36 SpD
Impish Nature
- Horn Leech
- Brick Break
- Swords Dance
- Leech Seed
Fury (Volcarona) (F) @ Grassy Seed
Ability: Flame Body
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 190 HP / 252 Def / 68 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fiery Dance
- Giga Drain
- Quiver Dance
- Hidden Power [Ground]
Aplu (Claydol) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 6 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Earth Power
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
- Ice Beam
Ability: Snow Warning
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Freeze-Dry
- Aurora Veil
- Hypnosis
- Moonblast
Logi (Heatran) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 212 HP / 44 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magma Storm
- Earth Power
- Toxic
- Taunt
Umi (Manaphy) @ Waterium Z
Ability: Hydration
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 6 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Surf
- Psychic
- Tail Glow
- Rain Dance
Oshosi (Tapu Bulu) @ Leftovers
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 222 HP / 252 Def / 36 SpD
Impish Nature
- Horn Leech
- Brick Break
- Swords Dance
- Leech Seed
Fury (Volcarona) (F) @ Grassy Seed
Ability: Flame Body
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 190 HP / 252 Def / 68 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fiery Dance
- Giga Drain
- Quiver Dance
- Hidden Power [Ground]
Aplu (Claydol) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 6 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Earth Power
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
- Ice Beam
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