B&W2 Hail Room

[o0Flint0o]

A few notes before you read this:

I know a 252/242/4 spread isn't always what I should do. For right now, they're there to be placeholders for when I (or you) really decide how it should be.

This (currently) is a Pokemon Showdown team. Assume IVs will be 31, or 0 in speed

I probably left out a few details, so please ask/tell me..

I do generally attempt to avoid Hidden Power, because of the work I have to do in the actual game, but if I REALLY need it, I'll do my best.
------------------------------------------------------

Here's the deal: I'm training a Showdown team right now to enter a local tournament at an anime convention, with VGC-like rules. I went ahead and thought up of a team, but it isn't near complete. I copy and pasted a team I made and I played a few games with it, and I found it to be satisfactory enough to keep going with it.

Chandelure (M) @ Mental Herb
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 HP
Quiet Nature
- Heat Wave
- Shadow Ball
- Trick Room
- Protect

This is my Trick Room setter-upper. It's a pretty basic set, if I have to say so myself. Currently, I'm conflicted on which item I should give it, so for right now, I put a Mental Herb on it in case of Prankster-Taunts.

Togekiss (F) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 128 Def / 128 SDef
Sassy Nature
- Air Slash
- Thunder Wave
- Roost
- Follow Me

This is my support for Chandelure. I like the set, but it can't protect against a Rock Slide-Fake out turn. (Unless I protect on Chandelure, of course.) I know the EVs look kind of weird, but I put it that way so I can see which one I'll need more, then I'll balance it accordingly.

Abomasnow (M) @ Ice Gem
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 48 Atk / 208 Def / 252 SDef
Quiet Nature
- Blizzard
- Giga Drain
- Ice Shard
- Protect

I took this build directly off of an example Hail Room. I love this Abomasnow though. The Hail is nice against clearing sandstorm and rain, and the moveset, for me, is nice too. Ice shard for priority in and out of Trick Room.

Scrafty (M) @ Chople Berry
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 HP/ 252 Atk/ 4 SDef
Brave Nature
- Drain Punch
- Crunch
- Fake Out
- Detect

This is my Fake Out-er. Another basic set. I was thinking about giving him a buff move in favor of stalling with Togekiss, but it might not be able to be utilized at all sometimes, and waste a move slot.

Metagross @ Steel Gem
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Brave Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Bullet Punch
- Zen Headbutt
- Protect

I thought Metagross would be a good idea for another priority attacker. I also find him a very good switch-in on a Rock Slide. Chandelure and Metagross seem to have a pretty good amount of synergy with each other, in terms of switches.

Gastrodon (F) @ Rindo Berry
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 SAtk / 80 Def / 176 SDef
Quiet Nature
- Muddy Water
- Blizzard
- Ice Beam
- Protect

I like my Gastrodon, and it was just another reason to have another Blizzard attacker. I made this one more focused on Sp. Att, but feel free to tell me that's a bad idea. Ice beam is there to help focus things like the genies. Also for soaking up puddles so my candles won't go out!

 

[One Approved]

RE: B&W2 VGC Hail Room

I'm not an avid VGC player so bear with me if I make a few common errors. I'm gonna go through the team 1-by-1.

The Chandelure looks good to me, the only thing I have a comment about is the item. Mental Herb is great on bulky all-support pokemon like Cresselia, but I feel like there's something else you could use on Chandelure. I feel like the pokemon that use Prankster and Taunt either have enough offensive power to just start attacking you (like Tornadus and Thundurus) or are just going to switch out/support the team in some other way (like Whimsicott.) I'd rather use something like Focus Sash or Fire Gem on Chandelure, however that's purely personal preference. Mental Herb doesn't seem like a bad option, I just feel like one of the other two would be better.

Secondly, in my experience, ParaFlinch Togekiss is great. However, (again, from a non-avid VGC point of view) spreading paralysis on a Trick Room team seems kind of counter-productive? You're slowing down the opposing team, which just helps them out a lot. I realize you can't have Trick Room up 24/7, but it's a pretty risky strategy. I feel like if you used Protect you would have less problems with Rock Slide/Fake Out, or maybe a coverage move like Aura Sphere or Flamethrower (does it get Heat Wave?) But again, this is coming from a non-VGC player, so take that advice with a grain of salt.

On the EVs for Togekiss though, I'm more certain the Special Defense EVs are going to be more important. Since most of the moves that hit more than one pokemon are special (Surf, Muddy Water, Heat Wave, Icy Wind, and more), I feel like you'll need them more. Rock Slide will probably KO or 2HKO you regardless while you're already immune to Earthquake. In addition to this, Rain teams are pretty popular, and in those games Special Defense will be huge. Togekiss is also weak to Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, and Icy Wind which are used by a lot of pokemon as just coverage instead of STAB, so the extra Special Defense would give you more of a chance to survive them.

For the Abomasnow, can you explain the EV Spread? If you want all-around bulk, you'll need to run 252 HP EVs since it helps both defensive stats out quite a bit. Right now you've got them split between Defense and Special Defense with none in HP. Normally maxxing out HP is the first thing you want to do. I'm also not sure what the 48 Attack EVs are for. My guess is that it was to secure a KO on a specific pokemon from a specific % of health, but I don't want to suggest changing it until I know for certain. Abomasnow's got really average Special Attack, so normally I'd rather put the EVs in Special Attack instead of regular Attack.

Scrafty looks flawless, absolutely no comments. Great VGC pokemon, and Fake Out is great in giving you a turn to set up Trick Room.The Metagross is almost perfect as well, kind of the same thing as Chandelure here. Steel Gem undoubtedly gives Meteor Mash a lot of power, but Metagross has such obscenely high Attack already that I don't think it needs it. I'd rather use something like Occa Berry or Shuca Berry which gives you an out against Fire-types or Ground-types. But again, purely personal preference.

For Gastrodon, Storm Drain gives you the boost in Special Attack you need, so I would prefer a more defensive set. The standard one is 252 HP/252 Def/4 SpDef (more physically-oriented since you already have a decent amount of special bulk in addition to a water-type AND electric-type immunity) but you can switch it up a bit if you need to get a KO on something. I would also drop one of your Ice-type moves for Earth Power because of its ability to hit Steel-types (like Metagross, normally they opt to use Occa Berry instead of Shuca Berry) as well as not being affected if you face a Drought-based team.

Hope I helped! I'm not well-versed in VGC so please do not be afraid to tell me if I made a really easy mistake!

 

[o0Flint0o]

RE: B&W2 VGC Hail Room

Firstly, I have to say thank you for spending the time to type all of that. It's nice of you to spend time like that to help me.

I'm making a lot of these changes, without question.

For the Abomasnow, I took that from an example HailRoom for testing. The extra attack EV's, (Plus the Ice Gem) was solely for his Ice Shard. I'm unsure if I should keep Ice Shard or not, though.

I'll edit for the changes later, but not today.

Once again, thanks for the help.