Pokémon Alola Ninetales

[Mystletainn]

I really love the summary you wrote, I agree with many of the points you made and considering how busy I've been lately (holiday season is a killer) I would've never been able to take the time to write something like that myself.

As for contributing, I can repost the team and descriptions I provided a little while back in the OU Bazaar thread, it's a solid and battle-tested offense team that's been very fun to use with good results.

Description

Pheromosa @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naughty Nature
- U-turn
- High Jump Kick
- Ice Beam
- Poison Jab

The first Pokemon is my favorite of Gen 7, and a powerful force in the metagame, Pheromosa. She's an incredible momentum controller that can threaten a sweep at the drop of a hat should the Pokemon that wall her fall in battle. I really grew to dislike the Life Orb set as the recoil whittles her down a lot over time, but more importantly the fact that Pheromosa's greatest strength is her untouchability from her insane speed combined with access to a strong STAB U-Turn. Getting outsped by an unexpected scarfer really puts a damper on things, especially when Life Orb Pheromosa is outsped by Scarf Tapu Lele of all things, quite the popular set nowadays. I've been playing the Scarf Pheromosa set for quite some time now, and I'm noticing it's finally gaining some more traction with other users. With a Scarf, her speed becomes blisteringly high, and you don't ever have to worry about being outsped, save for the very rare things like Sand Rush Excadrill. A Naughty nature allows you to partially make up for the drop in damage without a Life Orb, and also provides Moxie boosts for easy cleanups of teams towards the end of the game. The moveset is very standard because they're the only viable moves she can run.

Tapu Lele @ Choice Specs
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Fire]

The second Pokemon of my very strong offense core is none other than the best Tapu, Tapu Lele. With her unique ability, Psychic Surge, she exerts a heavy control on the battle with empowered Psychic-type attacks and the ability to render priority useless, a very useful side effect that Pheromosa just loves having. Choice Specs punches gigantic holes in teams and clears a way for teammates to sweep, outright denting even resists. Hidden Power Fire is chosen here because Steel-types tend to give several Pokemon on my team some trouble, and Thunderbolt pairs along with it. With Aegislash gone, the only things Shadow Ball hits are Jirachi and Metagross, which I personally haven't had much issue with.

Magearna @ Assault Vest
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fleur Cannon
- Flash Cannon
- Aura Sphere
- Volt Switch

This here is a Pokemon I wanted to include in my team because I previously haven't, and I really wanted to use it. There were many sets I could've run, and the Shift Gear Fairium Z set really appealed to me, but I didn't end up going with that for a couple of reasons, one of them you'll find out soon. Anyway, the Assault Vest set had some strong appeal to it, such as the ability to switch moves at will, further amplifying its already amazing bulk, and being able to pivot out of a Fleur Cannon drop with Volt Switch. It's typing is wonderful, and it serves as an amazing bulky offense threat that really helps keep my team together.

Garchomp (M) @ Dragonium Z
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
- Stealth Rock

I figured some hazards would be nice, but Garchomp does the job better than all of the other candidates I could've added. This set specifically can pump out some serious damage, threatening a lot of other leads and hazard removers, as well as just launching the Devastating Drake in general to OHKO a threat even if I don't lead with it (which I actually tend to not do often, Ninetales, Magearna, and Pheromosa can all also lead). Originally I opted for Iron Head, but then later realized it's not really necessary in the big scheme of things, and Swords Dance can help get around walls as well. Additionally, Magearna's defensive typing covers all of Garchomp's weaknesses perfectly.

Ninetales-Alola (F) @ Light Clay
Ability: Snow Warning
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Freeze-Dry
- Moonblast
- Aurora Veil
- Encore

When building this team, I added the last two Pokemon at the same time considering the core they make. When analyzing the team, I was looking for a good Mega to fit in, and trying to consider what would fit best with the team's style. The entire team, sans Pheromosa, benefits immensely from the presence of Aurora Veil, turning strong offensive threats with useful natural bulk into absolute nightmares to try and take on. The set itself is pretty self-explanatory, with Freeze-Dry over Blizzard as a personal choice as Ninetales really isn't going to be sweeping by herself anyway, and Encore can create lots of opportunities for setting up against other support or defensive Pokemon.

Gyarados-Mega (M) @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Waterfall
- Crunch
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance

Gyarados is one of the best Megas in OU right now, and for good reason. It's a very useful bulky Pokemon whose Intimidate pre-Mega is handy for blunting opposing attacks and giving Gyarados the chance to set up. Ninetales pairs wonderfully with Gyarados, who really loves being able to set up much more freely under Aurora Veil, and with Mold Breaker, can threaten a myriad of opposing teams with its raw power.

Importable

Ninetales-Alola (F) @ Light Clay
Ability: Snow Warning
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Freeze-Dry
- Moonblast
- Aurora Veil
- Encore

Garchomp (M) @ Dragonium Z
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
- Stealth Rock

Magearna @ Assault Vest
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fleur Cannon
- Flash Cannon
- Aura Sphere
- Volt Switch

Gyarados-Mega (M) @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Waterfall
- Crunch
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance

Tapu Lele @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Pheromosa @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naughty Nature
- U-turn
- High Jump Kick
- Ice Beam
- Poison Jab

 

[SecretSchnitzel]

Hey guys! Newbie here, just made my account to join in this thread.

Trying out something that might be a tad gimicky for doubles. Running an Aurora Veil Drumlax team. *gasp*

I know, I know, probably not that viable, but let me spitball for a moment here. Drumlax running Stockpile under the protection of Aurora Veil is extremely bulky. Get off two Stockpiles, run a Z-Belly Drum and have a bulky Heal Pulse user to support. Trick Room could be a nice boone as well. But as this is gimicky, the team shouldn't rely too heavily on Drumlax alone.

Here's what I'm running. Sorry for the shitty formatting.

|Slowbro|Slowbro|Relaxed||2696|Ice|Regenerator|Heal Pulse|Trick Room|Protect|Scald|Leftovers
|Snorlax|Snorlax|Relaxed||1238|Ice|Thick Fat|Belly Drum|Stockpile|Body Slam|Crunch|Normalium Z
|Hariyama|Hariyama|Brave||3720|Ice|Guts|Fake Out|Close Combat|Feint|Knock Off|Flame Orb
|Ninetales|Ninetales|Timid||1826|Dark|Snow Warning|Encore|Aurora Veil|Moonblast|Freeze-Dry|Light Clay
|Magnezone|Magnezone|Modest|-|3709|Ground|Magnet Pull|Thunderbolt|Flash Cannon|Volt Switch|Hidden Power|Choice Specs
|Mimikyu|Mimikyu|Jolly||2713|Dark|Disguise|Play Rough|Shadow Claw|Taunt|Trick Room|Life Orb

Thoughts or concerns welcome.
Thanks.

 

[mikelos]

would safety googles help

 

[tegrof19]

Hey guys! Newbie here, just made my account to join in this thread.

Trying out something that might be a tad gimicky for doubles. Running an Aurora Veil Drumlax team. *gasp*

I know, I know, probably not that viable, but let me spitball for a moment here. Drumlax running Stockpile under the protection of Aurora Veil is extremely bulky. Get off two Stockpiles, run a Z-Belly Drum and have a bulky Heal Pulse user to support. Trick Room could be a nice boone as well. But as this is gimicky, the team shouldn't rely too heavily on Drumlax alone.

Here's what I'm running. Sorry for the shitty formatting.

|Slowbro|Slowbro|Relaxed||2696|Ice|Regenerator|Heal Pulse|Trick Room|Protect|Scald|Leftovers
|Snorlax|Snorlax|Relaxed||1238|Ice|Thick Fat|Belly Drum|Stockpile|Body Slam|Crunch|Normalium Z
|Hariyama|Hariyama|Brave||3720|Ice|Guts|Fake Out|Close Combat|Feint|Knock Off|Flame Orb
|Ninetales|Ninetales|Timid||1826|Dark|Snow Warning|Encore|Aurora Veil|Moonblast|Freeze-Dry|Light Clay
|Magnezone|Magnezone|Modest|-|3709|Ground|Magnet Pull|Thunderbolt|Flash Cannon|Volt Switch|Hidden Power|Choice Specs
|Mimikyu|Mimikyu|Jolly||2713|Dark|Disguise|Play Rough|Shadow Claw|Taunt|Trick Room|Life Orb

Thoughts or concerns welcome.
Thanks.

there's a doubles thread

 

[SecretSchnitzel]

there's a doubles thread

Yes, but I thought this was a thread about Ninetails-A and Aurora Veil, not explicitly singles. My bad.

 

[Sergeant Spooky]

That "sample" team I posted is actually complete unsalvageble garbage and I'm almost embarrassed I posted it.

tales / yzard / fini / ferrothorn / dd zygarde or z-fly salamence / some scarfer (lando/garchomp if you don't use zygarde, idk what if you do, probably just lele) is a much more solid team that I've been doing pretty well with. It functions the same but fini is a significantly better defogger than latios, and can checks dragons which are the main stop to yzard. Ferro is also a much better koko check than hippo (and pairs really with fini,) and ddance zygarde and mence are way more consistent than azumarill. I think tales+yzard really has potential.

I've also been doing pretty well with tales/mega gyara/heatran but I don't like the team I used that core on.

 

[transwiththeplans]

What's a good set for a defensive Ninetails? I have a bunch with a Timid nature.

 

[Martin]

What's a good set for a defensive Ninetails? I have a bunch with a Timid nature.

Just run max SpA/Spe. Max HP doesn't do enough to make it worth using, and max SpA sets up Aurora Veil plenty easily anyway without hitting like a silk cloth. Use Encore+Freeze Dry+Aurora Veil+Moonblast.

 

[Bashslash]

What other items are used on this mon other than Light Clay?

 

[Nightingales]

I've used life orb with some success.

 

[omgitzaxew]

Icy rock extends hail if you're interested in such a thing.

Works wish Sandslash pretty well

 

[Colonel M]

The only reason to use Alolan Ninetales is Aurora Veil. With that in mind, Light Clay should be the only item this thing touches.

I may edit that second post to prevent future confusion. Perhaps a "Use / Don't Use"?

 

[DrPumpkinz]

The only reason to use Alolan Ninetales is Aurora Veil. With that in mind, Light Clay should be the only item this thing touches.

I may edit that second post to prevent future confusion. Perhaps a "Use / Don't Use"?

I'd say the one exception to the "Use Light Clay" thing would be if you pair it with Alolan Sandslash. Four turns of Aurora Veil are enough to set up a Swords Dance or two, and Snowslash needs the Hail to last as long as possible to avoid having to switch out and loosing the Attack boosts. So in that case, Ninetales should have an Icy Rock.

 

[omgitzaxew]

The only reason to use Alolan Ninetales is Aurora Veil. With that in mind, Light Clay should be the only item this thing touches.

I may edit that second post to prevent future confusion. Perhaps a "Use / Don't Use"?

If you don't run sandslash go with Light Clay, as I usually do.
If you do run a sandslash I would recommend the terrain be extended so you can move quicker under the hail after a swords dance.

You don't need 8 turns or Aurora Veil to set up with sandslash, use swords dance 2x and sweep the team.

I'll give you some more time to experiment around and you should be competent enough to come to the same conclusion.

Light clay // Icy rock are both very viable items, depending on your team.

 

[Tressed]

The issue with Icy Rock is that you're operating under the impression that Alolan Sanadslash or dedicated hail are actually worth using in the first place, which they aren't. Once Hail gets some good abusers (aka Slush Rush mon doesn't have to choose between being semi-powerful and outrunning scarfers), Icy Rock Ninetales will be a reasonable contestant for the item slot, although I reckon Light Clay will still be much stronger. Until then, you're trading away three turns of protection in order to run a weaker, slower Excadrill. Unless you're building a Blizzard spam team for giggles, it's never going to be worth it.

 

[omgitzaxew]

I n

The issue with Icy Rock is that you're operating under the impression that Alolan Sanadslash or dedicated hail are actually worth using in the first place, which they aren't. Once Hail gets some good abusers (aka Slush Rush mon doesn't have to choose between being semi-powerful and outrunning scarfers), Icy Rock Ninetales will be a reasonable contestant for the item slot, although I reckon Light Clay will still be much stronger. Until then, you're trading away three turns of protection in order to run a weaker, slower Excadrill. Unless you're building a Blizzard spam team for giggles, it's never going to be worth it.

Nobody ever stated using the Alolan Sandslash was optimal.

I would hate for somebody with an alolan sandslash to be visiting this thread later and then be out under the impression that light clay is the only usable good item for ninetails.
Just because you guys don't use the Alolan sandslash does not mean that there aren't other people that do. Hell I just used the fucker for 2 days and stored it in my pc.

But if you are running Alolan Sandslash please do yourself a favor and run Icy Rock over Light Clay. :)

 

[Colonel M]

The issue with Icy Rock is that you're operating under the impression that Alolan Sanadslash or dedicated hail are actually worth using in the first place, which they aren't. Once Hail gets some good abusers (aka Slush Rush mon doesn't have to choose between being semi-powerful and outrunning scarfers), Icy Rock Ninetales will be a reasonable contestant for the item slot, although I reckon Light Clay will still be much stronger. Until then, you're trading away three turns of protection in order to run a weaker, slower Excadrill. Unless you're building a Blizzard spam team for giggles, it's never going to be worth it.

To re-iterate why I wanted to make a Use and Don't Use was specifically for this reason.

Slush Rush users suck in OU. They were bound to be in Don't Use. This further strengthens why Light Clay is the only viable item to use on Alolan Ninetales.

Thank you Tressed.

 

[tomtom5858]

would safety googles help

Not particularly. Leftovers are better on everything other than Shedinja. They're mostly used in BHM for the ridiculous amounts of Spore you see in that tier.

 

[omgitzaxew]

To re-iterate why I wanted to make a Use and Don't Use was specifically for this reason.

Slush Rush users suck in OU. They were bound to be in Don't Use. This further strengthens why Light Clay is the only viable item to use on Alolan Ninetales.

Thank you Tressed.

I'm gonna slush rush your butt.

Also, you never disproved my point. You just brought up how sandslash isn't in OU.

 

[Colonel M]

I'm gonna slush rush your butt.

Also, you never disproved my point. You just brought up how sandslash isn't in OU.

Perhaps instead of crudely telling me what you're going to do with my butt you could read exactly what Tressed posted as it explains everything as to why. Stop defending garbage like Alolan Sandslash and move on to accept that Light Clay is the only item Alolan Ninetales should ever use in OU.

Ad hominems are not the way to get answers from me, by the way.

 

[Sergeant Spooky]

I would hate for somebody with an alolan sandslash to be visiting this thread later and then be out under the impression that light clay is the only usable good item for ninetails.

I don't see why having a visitor get the impression that Light Clay is Ninetales' only good item is a problem, since it's completely true.

Could you conceivably support Sandslash-A with more hail turns? Sure. If someone wants to do that, I'd hope they can remember an item that has existed since Gen 4. But this thread is for good usage of Ninetales in OU, which doesn't have anything to do with its ability to set hail (besides satisfying Aurora Veil's requirement.)

 

[Project_Mars]

And to further extend the point: it isn't like Smooth Rock is used on Sand Stream pokemon to help out Excadrill.

 

[Dragontamer]

The issue with Icy Rock is that you're operating under the impression that Alolan Sanadslash or dedicated hail are actually worth using in the first place, which they aren't. Once Hail gets some good abusers (aka Slush Rush mon doesn't have to choose between being semi-powerful and outrunning scarfers), Icy Rock Ninetales will be a reasonable contestant for the item slot, although I reckon Light Clay will still be much stronger. Until then, you're trading away three turns of protection in order to run a weaker, slower Excadrill. Unless you're building a Blizzard spam team for giggles, it's never going to be worth it.

The best abuser of Hail is Blizzard Dragonite. Serious hail teams need the Fire Resist. A shame about the Multiscale thing though.

Yeah, there really aren't very man good options. I dunno, I've trolled people with Blizzard Rhyperior on the ladder before (all Hail teams need a Rock Resist). Running a hail team is about running as few Ice Pokemon as possible and as many Blizzard abusers as possible. There's a lot of random `mon that appreciate a surprise 100% accurate Blizzard that really breaks a lot of their checks / counters.

All the Slush-rush pokemon are Ice-type, which is horrible for team-building. If you really want a fast-team that outspeeds everybody in weather, just go for Rain Dance.

---------

In any case, I agree with you. Hail options this generation don't look very much improved. Ninetails just emphasizes the steel / bullet-punch weakness. Aurora Veil is definitely useful and is the obvious way to play Ninetails, although I'd like to run some calcs on Scarf + Blizzard. Ninetails sits at a good speed-tier for Scarf, and repeated Blizzard hits hurt for sure.

 

[Martin]

Lol what the fuck did I walk into.

Hail is extremely bad guys; don't try and defend it. Like, there is quite literally no reason to use it. At all. It is literally sand with a worse setter, worse abusers and less flexibility to actually be good. Ice provides no defensive synergy to any team, and the two available Slush Rush users are total garbage even before you consider that Excadrill and Stoutland exist for sand and do pretty much exactly what you want these things to do in a better manner--and considering that they are worse than Stoutland despite said Pokemon being literally hot ass really shines a light on just how pathetic this style is. Hail as an offense archetype is overly depenent on stacking Ice-types, which like I said before provide no defensive utility to any team ever, and as such hail builds always--and I mean ALWAYS--end up with glaring issues that prevent them from being remotely consistent.

Just run Light Clay on a normal offense team and I can guarantee that the team will be better as a result.

 

[Colonel M]

I have updated the thread with some things that still work alongside Aurora Veil as well as removing things you should not use.

For our good friend omgitzaxew I have added the following to the second post to emphasize to NEVER USE SLUSH RUSH USERS IN OU WITH ALOLAN NINENTALES:

PLEASE DO NOT USE:

Slush Rush / Hail Abusers

While on paper these Pokemon sound great, they have many critical flaws running within the OU tier with Alolan Ninetales. For starters Ice is a terrible defensive typing that stacks a lot of nasty weaknesses. Fire-, Rock-, and Steel-types are very common with options like Fighting-type attacks not being too uncommon either. While Alolan Sandslash takes neutral damage from these, it also bears a problem of being a smidgeon too slow and a smidgeon too underpowering without the Adamant nature. Beartic is just a Pokemon that no one should realistically use as its coverage options are rather poor in spite of the Attack buff.

You should never seriously use the Slush Rush abusers in OU. Save it for the lower tiers where they may make a bigger impact.

And for the record I'm still angry at the person who seriously suggested Attract as an option for Alolan Ninetales.