Hail for Beginners – VGC 2018

The return of old time favorite Weather setters hasn’t been the kindest to the Hail archetype. Sure, it welcomes the return of (Mega) Abomasnow, but because of a serious lack of viable Hail abusers, this Weather is almost never seen in competitive play this season. Generation VII brought Aurora Veil, which is all good and dandy until the likes of Mega Charizard Y and Mega Tyranitar returned to make the setting up of Aurora Veil almost impossible.

With the metagame rather unfriendly to the Hail core, especially after the release of Intimidate Incineroar, the lack of a distinct appeal means that players who intend to experiment with Hail need to have strong justification and a very balanced team to make sure that the core does not end up being a curse.

This guide seeks to showcase how players can build their own Hail teams by focusing through a step by step process that should eventually lead to a balanced team core that players can then proceed to mold to their own liking. It will not provide players with a team, but instead highlight the pros and cons of each choice that players would have to make as they follow the steps listed below.

 

 

 

WHY HAIL?

 

It’d be a folly to not understand what Hail provides and to just dive straight into its embrace. As such, here are the effects of having Hail active on the battlefield:

 

• Deals damage equivalent to 1/16 of a Pokemon’s maximum HP at the end of each turn
  • Immunity list:
    • Ice Type Pokemon
    • Has either Slush Rush, Ice Body, Snow Cloak, Overcoat, or Magic Guard as its Ability
    • Holding Safety Goggles
• Activates the following Abilities:
  • Slush Rush
  • Ice Body
  • Snow Cloak
  • Forecast
• Blizzard bypasses accuracy check
• Weather Ball doubles in Base Power and becomes an Ice Type move
• Halves the Base Power of Solar Beam and Solar Blade
• Moonlight, Morning Sun, and Synthesis only restore 1/4 of the user’s maximum HP
• Allows the set up of Aurora Veil. Effects of Aurora Veil does not end with that of Hail.

 

 

 

STARTING POINT

 

 

 

ABUSING HAIL

 

The main method of abusing Hail is through Slush Rush, which doubles the Pokemon’s Speed while Hail is active. With the move order of utmost importance to how each turn plays out, being able to outspeed the majority of the metagame when it otherwise wouldn’t is a huge factor, during both teambuilding and battling.

The other options are a lot less appealing, but not entirely useless. The first of which is Ice Body, which heals the Pokemon for 1/16 of its maximum HP at the end of every turn. Because very little of the commonly seen Pokemon are immune to Hail damage, Ice Body can end up being crucial in a tiebreaker when it comes to determining the win based off on HP. For the duration of the match, Ice Body can also turn certain 2HKOs into 3HKOs, and passive recovery is always welcome.

The other choice would be through Snow Veil, which is even less favorable because it invites RNG mechanics and is not the most reliable. . As such, listed below are some of the more viable options that player can consider in the role of a Hail Abuser. Feel free to pick one out of those showcased to form the Hail core. It is generally not recommended to have more than one out of this list because everyone of them are Ice Type Pokemon, which equates to the overlapping of coverage and stacking of Weaknesses.

 

Slush Rush

 

 

Ice Body

 

 

Others

 

 

 

 

COVERING BASES

 

Having settled the core members of the team, players are advised to design contingency plans, not only in the case that setting up Hail isn’t a guarantee, or to deal with match ups that a Hail core would find hard to overcome. Here are some of the common problems that a Hail team would encounter:

 

• Fire Type Pokemon and Sun
• Rock Type Pokemon and Sandstorm
• Steel Type Pokemon
• Incineroar and Intimidate

 

With a better understanding of what may threaten Hail cores, we can now proceed to devise counter mechanisms against such match ups. Anywhere between 2-3 out of those listed below would be sufficient for the team.

 

Fire Type Pokemon and Sun

 

 

Rock Type Pokemon and Sandstorm

 

 

Steel Type Pokemon

 

 

Incineroar and Intimidate

 

 

 

 

FINISHING TOUCHES

 

There would be 1-2 slots still empty at this point of time. The best candidate(s) to fill them would be those that can provide the team with external support that do not require Hail for success, but would complement the core if they were to be included. Some aspects to consider would include:

 

• Other Ice Type Pokemon
• Fast Blizzard Pokemon
• Speed Control
• Alternative support

 

Players can pick those that they think best fit their team from those listed in this section, whether they be to fill the empty spots or to replace certain already taken slots. During this process, players are advised to pay attention to the recent metagame changes and make sure any alteration to the team do not create unfavorable match ups against certain team archetypes.

 

Other Ice Type Pokemon

 

 

Fast Blizzard Pokemon

 

Abusing Blizzard is a great alternative to adopt after Slush Rush, since it is not vulnerable to Intimidate, and having a fast Pokemon that can spam it on the team also means that the team has a high Speed option to rely on. Since such Pokemon are not necessarily of the Ice Type, there is the shortage of STAB, but the expanded coverage and better defensive synergy arguably makes up for it.

 

 

Speed Control

 

 

Alternative support

 

 

 

 

CLOSING THOUGHTS

 

Hail as an archetype is rather difficult to build for and around, especially for players new to the game. Please do feel free to experiment with different member combinations as one proceeds to build a team to his/her own liking. If players find (a) Pokemon not listed above, but would fit the team well, they are more than welcome to enlist them into their own teams.