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Hail Stall Guide
Topic Started: Dec 31 2008, 01:57 PM (300 Views)
Broken Wings**
The mean Admin >:3
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Table of Contents


1. Introduction
Welcome to the world of hail
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2. Hail Team Basics
Since it is your first time here, here is a detailed guide explaining the very basics.
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3. Hail Immunities
learn about Hail Immunities
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4. Sandstorm Teams
A brief introduction about Sandstorm Teams
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5. On The Defensive
Detailed examples of effective defensive Pokemon
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6. Pokemon To Consider
The most useful Pokemon in a Hail Team explained here for your viewing pleasure
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7. Conclusion
Some final few thoughts on the rain offense playing style.


Introduction
Sandstorm, Sandstorm, Sandstorm. It is as if that were the only weather effect in all of OU. I'll tell you one thing: it is not. This guide is to help gather some thoughts into developing a Hail team, Sandstorm's forgotten little brother. There are many misconceptions and ideas that are associated with Hail teams, first of them is the confusion of mono-Ice and Hail.

You'll see this reminder time and time again: do not mistake a Hail-team to be mono-Ice. Hail Teams can take advantage of Hail even if half or even more of the team is not immune to Hail.

Finally, this guide will give you suggestions for tried and tested Pokémon that work well on a Hail team. Note however, that these are merely suggestions. The only Pokémon that is necessary on a Hail team is Abomasnow, who is the only fully-evolved pokemon that can set up a permanent Hailstorm.

To use this guide most effectively, see it as a collection of ideas to think about before you make a Hail team.

Hail Team Basics
Well, we got to start somewhere. There are two primary advantages to a Hail team. First is the Sandstorm-like residual damage effect. Like Sandstorm, Hail takes away 6.25% of both Pokemon's health each turn. This means that if the opponent's Pokemon is not an ice type, it takes only 16 to 17 turns for them to die due to Hail and Hail only. From this fact comes the first primary strategy of Hail teams: stalling. It should be noted that while Leftovers cancels out Hail in the long run, leftovers is applied after Hail damage, meaning that even if the opponent has Leftovers, you essentially only have to deal 93.75% damage to them to OHKO.

The second advantage is 100% accurate Blizzard and a small chance (30%) for Blizzard to hit through Protect. Blizzard is a flexible attack with no immunities and few 4x resists. Over the standard Ice Beam, you will be doing about 26% extra damage. The disadvantage of Blizzard is, of course, its inaccuracy if and when Hail goes away and the little PP it has. Beware of Pressure Pokémon.

Hail can be started in two different ways: by the attack 'Hail', or by Abomasnow's 'Snow Warning' ability. The difference is that Abomasnow's Hail lasts nearly forever - the only way to stop it is to bring in another weather effect. Therefore it is highly recommended to carry Abomasnow in a Hail team.

Finally: Hail immunities are nice, but it is not necessary to get pure Hail immunity. Ice is not a good defensive type, resistant only to one attack and weak to four types. To get a decent amount of resistances on a team, it is necessary to shed the idea that you must have a mono-Ice team. The most successful Hail teams have a mixed balance of types that effectively cover each other's weaknesses well.

Hail Immunities
While a Hail immunity appears to be necessary on a Hail team, remember that your team does not have to be mono-Ice to accomplish the task. Even walls don't have to be immune to Hail, Leftovers does cancel out the loss more or less. Nonetheless, it is important to know some key Pokemon that can gain health inside of a Hailstorm.

Always look at the standard Pokemon first. IE: Skarmory, Blissey, Swampert and other standard walls work more or less the same inside a Hailstorm, except their leftovers is canceled out. They are standards for a reason, and that is because they do an excellent job of walling opponents. Cresselia's moonlight is weakened to 25% recovery in Hail, but Rest/Talk Cresselia is still a viable strategy. However, Hail-immune pokemon do have their advantages, and some are worth noting. Skarmory is forced to run Leftovers over Shed Shell, making it more vulnerable to Magnezone.

All Ice Pokemon are immune to the damage caused by Hail. Looking at raw stats, Regice, Lapras, Walrein, Mamoswine, Cloyster, and Articuno all have the stats to pull off a decent wall. However, I can only recommend Regice, Walrein, and Lapras as walls. Regice is the third best statistical special wall in the game, behind only Blissey and Chansey. Walrein has its "Ice Body" ability and the stats to pull off a stall successfully. Lapras has its "Water Absorb" ability and massive unpredictable movepool. The other potential walls I haven't been able to use successfully for various reasons. Feel free to experiment with the others however. Mamoswine is interesting for its immunity to Hail and Sandstorm, and has a Curse set to beef up its defense.

There are three non-Ice Pokemon who are immune to Hail: Clefable, Rayquaza, and Golduck. Golduck is more of a UU Pokemon and doesn't get the benefit of blizzard, but Magic Guard Clefable can hold itself up in an OU environment with its immunity to poison's damage, Spikes, Stealth Rocks, Sandstorm and Hail. Slap a Toxic Orb on and it will be immune to status after the first switch in.

Toxic Orb Breloom is not immune to Hail, but it does gain health inside a Hailstorm due to its ability Poison Heal (giving it 12.5% recovery normally, which cut down to 6.25% in a Hailstorm, effectively being Leftovers).

As you can see, there aren't many walls in the game that resist Hail. Because of this, I cannot stress enough that you can and probably must use standard walls on your Hail team. Further, you must build key resistances to Rock, Fire, and Fighting attacks which cannot be done with Pokemon who share an Ice typing.

Sandstorm Teams
Sandstorm teams are one of the most fun teams to play against when you're running a Hail team. Sandstorm is setup by either Hippowdon or Tyranitar, and after that Rock Pokemon boasts a 50% boost in Special Defense. This makes Blizzard significantly weaker for your team, as well as reducing its perfect accuracy to a meager 70%.

However, if you instead capture the advantage of a Hailstorm, just about every attack combo a Sandstorm team will fear. All Rock, Steel and Ground are going to be hit hard with the Fighting / Ice and Ground / Ice combos. Further, Rock and Ground pokemon are hit hard with Water / Ice. Bronzong is an exception, but can be dealt with decently powered Surfs or just simply Magnezone if you fear him enough.

You are not the only team with an offensive advantage however. The opponent's Sandstream team will most likely take advantage of common Rock and Ground attacks. Quake / Slide (Ground / Rock) beats up most Ice Pokemon, as does Fighting / Rock. Heatran can switch in on any Blizzard and then scare away your Ice Pokemon with a high-powered Fire attack. So overall, be careful of what the opponent has.

Now note, while it is not necessary to start with Abomasnow, many people like to do so for various reasons. It is a fine way to start up a Hail advantage right away, but depending on how many Ice Pokemon are on your team, you can wait until later to start up Hail. Either way, the Tyranitar / Hippowdon vs Abomasnow leads are very important and here are some tips to get off on a good start.

It should be noted that the slower Pokemon keeps the weather. This is a mixed bag for both sides. If Abomasnow is faster than Tyranitar / Hippowdon, then it can Wood Hammer Tyranitar, or Blizzard Hippowdon. Granted, blizzard doesn't have 100% accuracy, but you still have a 70% chance of OHKOing the hippo. After that, the Sandstorm will remain until you switch Abomasnow back in.

If Abomasnow is slower than Hippowdon / Tyranitar, you get the weather advantage. You can always try and predict the early stealth rock from the hippo and go for Blizzard anyway, which can OHKO... but you're always risking a Stone Edge. Against Tyranitar, you switch to your designated Tyranitar counter. Therefore, it is recommended that you make Abomasnow slower than Tyranitar to get the lasting Hail up, but remain faster than Hippowdon to beat it down with Blizzard. This can easily be achieved by running a hindering speed nature on Abomasnow, which also allows it to make the most out of its mixed attacking stats.

On the Defensive
A good team has the correct resists in the right places. A good Hail team is no exception. There are four attacks that are super-effective on ice Pokemon, these are rock, fire, fighting and steel.

It is important to note some ice Pokemon that are the exception to this rule. Froslass is immune to Fighting. Walrein and Dewgong can run Thick Fat and resist Fire, while their Water-typing and low speed saves them from Gyro Ball. Mamoswine's Ground-typing is about as close as you can get to resisting Rock. However, this is typically not enough and if you plan to stop revenge switch-ins, you should get a more reliable general wall.

You cannot build a single Pokemon who happens to resist Rock, Fire, and Fighting and call it quits (Heatproof Bronzong, Flygon, and Slowbro come to mind as Pokemon who resist many of these). Offensive Pokémon have common attack combos you must prepare for. I find it far more useful to have a single Pokemon who resist the common attack combos and is weak to say... Fire... than a single Pokemon intended to resist everything. There is no point switching in your Slowbro to receive a Close Combat when the next turn a Grass Knot eats it up.

Here are some of the most common threats to Hail teams, as well as some checks (meant to help keep the problem Pokémon at bay):

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Tyranitar - Hail team's biggest nemesis. Tyranitar alone has the potential to take out an entire Hail team by itself, with an extremely strong STAB Stone Edge to put a dent in almost all Ice pokemon. It can also bring in its Sandstream at annoying moments to ruin your strategy, i.e. in the middle of a successful stall with Walrein. This is one threat that you must take into account when building a Hail team, and it warrants the use of a Rock resist by itself.

Checks: Hariyama, Gliscor, Swampert

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Lucario - Another pokemon that can potentially demolish a Hail team. Excellent resistances allow it to switch in without too much trouble, and then it hits very hard with STAB Close Combat or Aura Sphere. It also possesses strong priority attacks in ExtremeSpeed, as well as STAB Vacuum Wave and Bullet Punch. Very dangerous to Hail teams not only because of threatening STAB, but also because of its ability to hit hard on both attacking spectrums makes it very unpredictable.

Checks: Gliscor, Spiritomb, Scarfed Rotom-H

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Infernape - With STAB Fire and Fighting attacks, blistering speed and good mixed sweeping stats, Infernape can hit most Pokemon on Hail teams very hard. Add Grass Knot to its moveset and you have something that not even bulky waters can safely switch in on. Luckily, it is hard to switch in, and most sets will not last long when you factor in Life Orb recoil, entry hazards, and Hail damage. Still, a very threatening pokemon.

Checks: Tentacruel, Vaporeon, Starmie

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Breloom - Although perhaps not as frightening as the aforementioned Fighting-types because of its mediocre Speed, Breloom boasts something that sets it apart from it brethren - the 100% accurate Spore. After coming in on something slower, Breloom is almost guaranteed to take one of your pokemon out of the game with its infuriating Spore/Substitute/Foucs Punch strategy. A hard pokemon to deal with, but is made easier to deal with with a status absorber. Although Breloom's Grass typing makes it weak to Ice moves, it also gives it a very strong STAB attack in the form of Seed Bomb to deal with bulky waters. All in all this pokemon can set up very easily on Hail teams and commence to beat them into the ground.

Checks: Gyarados, Rotom-F, Tentacruel

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Shaymin-S - Shaymin-S is a huge threat which can rip Hail teams apart whether it be the SubSeed set or the Life Orb Sweeper set. A Seed Flare can destroy even bulky pokemon after its 80% -2 SpD drop kicks in. Its blistering speed makes it very hard to revenge kill. However, any Blizzard will put it in its place easily enough. Its weakness to Stealth Rock means it will have limited switch ins, and Ice Shard is a great way of taking it out.

Checks: Mamoswine, Zapdos, Tentacruel

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Scizor - Possibly one of the most threatening pokemon to Hail teams, Scizor can beat all but the best built teams with its powerful Bullet Punch. It also has access to strong Fighting type attacks such as Superpower and Brick Break, which hurt a lot coming of its base 130 Attack. Good typing, resistance to Ice, a reliable healing move in Roost, and above average defenses make it very difficult to take down as well.

Checks: Gyarados, Zapdos, Rotom-H

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Heatran - Excellent resistances and base defenses, a 4x resistance to Ice, and a very powerful Fire STAB make Heatran a threat to most Hail teams. Usually packing a Choice Scarf, it can outspeed and OHKO almost all Ice types. However, it lacks a reliable way of dealing with bulky water types, although there is always the threat of it exploding on one of your key pokemon.

Checks: Swampert, Gyarados, Tentacruel

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Zapdos - With a STAB Thunderbolt and a powerful Heat Wave, Zapdos can be a nightmare to fight, hitting most Pokemon on Hail teams for super effective damage. Great defenses make it not an easy task to take down with neutral attacks, although it does have an exploitable weakness to Ice. Once it's movepool has been discovered, however, it becomes a lot easier to deal with. Zapdos with HP Ice are easily walled by Swampert, while those who choose to run HP Grass can be taken on with Gliscor.

Checks: Gliscor, Swampert, Flygon

Overall, there are too many offensive threats to counter them perfectly, but one should strive to at least have checks on the most threatening ones. While this is by no means an exhaustive list, it does highlight some of the most dangerous pokemon to Hail teams, and all Hail teams should ensure they have ways of dealing with all the aforementioned pokemon.

Pokémon to Consider
There are very many Pokemon that work well on Hail teams, and very many more that can be adapted to be effective for specific roles. This section contains some tried and tested suggestions for pokemon that can be used to great effect in Hail.

Take note, however, that these are nothing but examples of pokemon that have been known to work from experience. This is by no means a list of the only pokemon that can be used, as some of the very best Hail teams are made by using a pokemon in a previously unthought of way. The key here is to be creative, and choose a pokemon that fits your own specific team.

Pokemon to consider:


Abomasnow - Abomasnow is a very misunderstood Pokémon most of the times. Having whopping 7 weaknesses, it is often cast aside without much thought. Yet more skilled battlers know the true purpose of Abomasnow: to wall the ever-common Water / Ice or Electric/Ice combinations used by the likes of Suicune, Starmie, Cresselia, Magnezone, Raikou and a counter to the metagame's many walls. Abomasnow is an essential pokemon for all serious Hail teams, as its Snow Warning starts the wintery fun.

Weaknesses: Fire, Fighting, Flying, Poison, Rock, Bug, Steel

Resistances: Grass, Ground, Water, Electric

Useful Moves: Blizzard, Wood Hammer, Leech Seed, Substitute, Focus Punch


Walrein - A staple of any Hail team worthy of the name. Everyone fears the mighty Stallrein and its virtually infinite Sub / Protect (virtually as it lasts 32 turns maximum, which adds up exactly 200% of Hail damage, meaning that any all-out offensive Team will lose two team members to it). It has great HP and good Defense, taking about 46% tops from an Adamant maximum Attack Salamence and OHKOing back with Blizzard (even if it has Yache berry) with Hail damage, making it an incredible counter. Here is a detailed guide showing why Walrein is the staple of so many Hail teams.

Weaknesses: Fighting, Rock, Grass, Electric

Resistances: Water, Ice

Useful Moves: Substitute, Protect, Blizzard, Surf, Roar, Toxic, Encore


Tentacruel - Tentacruel provides the swift switch into the Toxic Spikes this team hates so much. In addition, it provides very helpful Rapid Spin support to rid your field of Stealth Rock, as well as the ability to set up Toxic Spikes of your own. Tentacruel provides a great Fire, Steel, and Fighting resistance to Hail teams and can make full use of a 100% accurate Blizzard alongside its STAB Surfs. It is also one of the best Infernape counters there is.

Weaknesses: Ground, Electric, Psychic

Resistances: Fighting, Poison, Bug, Steel, Fire, Water, Ice

Useful Moves: Toxic Spikes, Rapid Spin, Knock Off, Blizzard, Surf


Mamoswine - Mamoswine is a great offensive powerhouse on Hail teams. STAB Earthquake from base 130 Atk is nothing to scoff at, and Mamoswine also has access to the invaluable Ice Shard for picking off threatening Dragons and Shaymin-S. The Hail also provides Mamoswine a way of dealing with its usual counters, allowing it to 2HKO opponents such as Weezing and Skarmory with a powerful Blizzard. Mamoswine has an excellent base 110 HP stat and decent defenses, as well as access to a variety of support moves, allowing it to go the defensive route if it so wishes.

Weaknesses: Fighting, Steel, Grass, Fire, Water

Resistances: Poison, Electric (immunity)

Useful Moves: Earthquake, Ice Shard, Blizzard, Stone Edge, Stealth Rock, Reflect, Light Screen, Curse


Rotom-F - Rotom-F has great defensive stats, an excellent typing, and a powerful array of moves it can abuse with its decent SpA and Spe. Most notable of these is its Blizzard/ Thunderbolt combination, which allows it to hit almost all pokemon for neutral damage. Rotom makes a great status absorber with Rest and Sleep Talk in addition to its BoltBeam attacks, allowing it to continue to tank hits as well as absorb status for the entire team. With access to many support moves such as Will-O-Wisp, Light Screen and Reflect, the fun doesn't stop there, making Rotom an excellent addition to Hail teams.

Weaknesses: Ghost, Dark

Resistances: Flying, Poison, Bug, Steel, Electric, Normal (immunity), Fighting (immunity), Ground (immunity)

Useful Moves: Thunderbolt, Blizzard, Shadow Ball, Light Screen, Reflect, Light Screen, Will-O-Wisp, Rest, Sleep Talk


Swampert - Provides a great Fire and Rock resistance to the team, and its good defensive stats on both spectrums allow it to be an efficient Tyranitar and Heatran counter. It is also one of the most reliable user of Stealth Rock, and can also pseudo-haze effectively with Roar. Also makes a good status absorber with Rest / Sleep Talk.

Weaknesses: Grass

Resistances: Poison, Rock, Steel, Fire, Electric (immunity)

Useful Moves: Stealth Rock, Roar, Blizzard, Surf, Earthquake, Rest, Sleep Talk


Froslass - An excellent pokemon for Hail teams. Not only does it block Rapid Spin from opposing pokemon, it can set up Spikes to further hinder the foe's team. With Snow Cloak, 100% accurate attacks will miss on average every five attacks, and Froslass can abuse this fact to the max with the move Substitute. It has excellent speed and a wide movepool, allowing it to revenge kill threatening pokemon such as Gyarados and Salamence.

Weaknesses: Rock, Ghost, Steel, Fire, Dark

Resistances: Poison, Bug, Ice, Normal (immunity), Fighting (immunity)

Useful Moves: Spikes, Blizzard, Thunderbolt, Shadow Ball, Destiny Bond, Taunt, Trick, Substitute, Thunder Wave


Spiritomb - Great for blocking Rapid Spin and makes a good counter for Fighting-types in general. No weaknesses gives it an edge over Rotom, who can be an invitation to Tyranitar to come and Pursuit it to death. Spiritomb makes a great sleep absorber as well, gaining perfect coverage with Shadow Ball and Hidden Power Fighting.

Weaknesses: none!

Resistances: Poison, Normal (immunity), Fighting (immunity), Psychic (immunity)

Useful Moves: Shadow Ball, Hidden Power Fighting, Rest, Sleep Talk, Will-O-Wisp, Trick, Calm Mind


Starmie - Great speed and movepool makes it a really good revenge killer. Provides a Hail team with very welcome resistances to Fighting and Fire. It can also make a very effective Rapid Spinner because it is the only one that has a reliable recovery move. Natural Cure means it can switch into Toxic Spikes with little fear and spin them away.

Weaknesses: Bug, Ghost, Dark, Electric, Grass

Resistances: Fighting, Steel, Fire, Water, Ice, Psychic

Useful Moves: Rapid Spin, Recover, Blizzard, Surf, Thunderbolt, Psychic, Trick


Bronzong - Bronzong is one of the most reliable Stealth Rock users around. Blessed with a great typing, excellent defenses and a wide support movepool, Bronzong is extremely hard to take down. It provides a very useful Rock resist and Ground immunity (with Levitate), and it makes a pretty good Tyranitar counter.

Weaknesses: Fire

Resistances: Normal, Flying, Rock, Steel, Grass, Psychic, Ice, Dragon, Poison (immunity), Ground (immunity with Levitate)

Useful Moves: Stealth Rock, Hypnosis, Trick, Gyro Ball, Earthquake, Light Screen, Reflect, Explosion


Forretress - Much like Tentacruel, Forretress can both Rapid Spin away your opponent's entry hazards as well as being able to set up its own Toxic Spikes. What it has over Tentacruel, however, is its ability to set up normal Spikes as well. Although Forretress amplifies a team's Fire weakness, it provides plenty of other resistances to a team and can take many neutral physical hits with that excellent base 140 Def.

Weaknesses: Fire

Resistances: Normal, Bug, Ghost, Steel, Grass, Psychic, Ice, Dragon, Dark, Poison (immunity)

Useful Moves: Rapid Spin, Toxic Spikes, Spikes, Stealth Rock, Light Screen, Gyro Ball, Earthquake, Explosion


Hariyama - Excellent Tyranitar counter. There is no Tyranitar set that can beat this guy. Thick Fat gives a Fire resist and its Fighting-type gives a resistance to Rock. It can Knock Off Leftovers off walls to make them get hit by Hail, in addition to being able to psuedo-haze with Whirlwind. Very helpful as it gets rid off annoying Blissey's who Aromatherapy the opponent's team free of Poison.

Weaknesses: Flying, Psychic

Resistances: Rock, Bug, Dark, Fire (with Thick Fat), Ice (with Thick Fat)

Useful Moves: Knock Off, Whirlwind, Revenge, Rest, Sleep Talk


Moltres - Makes a good counter to Scizor, Shaymin-S and Mixed Infernape. It completely walls Heatran. Good defensive stats and resistances to Fighting, Fire, and Ground are helpful to the team. It can Will-O-Wisp/Toxic foes to get residual damage on them and to destroy their attack. Can stall with Substitute, and self-heal with Roost. However, it adds Stealth Rock liability and is ineffective against Tyranitar.

Weaknesses: Rock, Water, Electric

Resistances: Fighting, Grass, Bug, Steel, Fire, Ground (immunity)

Useful Moves: Will-O-Wisp, Toxic, Roost, Flamethrower, Roar, Reflect


Dugtrio - Traps and kills Tyranitar and stops it messing up your Hail repeatedly. Also kills Infernape, Breloom and Heatran. Takes out grounded Poison-types who come in to absorb your Toxic Spikes. It also has a resistance to Rock, but terrible defenses means that something neutral to Rock could even take these attacks better than the frail Dugtrio.

Weaknesses: Grass, Water, Ice

Resistances: Poison, Rock, Electric (immunity)

Useful Moves: Earthquake, Stone Edge, Sucker Punch, Aerial Ace


Gliscor - Great Fighting resist, and very useful Ground and Electric immunities. Deals with most Tyranitar. Sets up Stealth Rock. Excellent synergy with Tentacruel. Can self-heal with Roost. Weaknesses covered by rest of team. It is one of the most reliable Fighting-type counters there is, but watch out from Ice Punch or Hidden Power Ice from the likes of Fighting-types such as Lucario.

Weaknesses: Water, Ice

Resistances: Fighting, Poison, Bug, Ground (immunity), Electric (immunity)

Useful Moves: Stealth Rock, Roost, Earthquake, Stone Edge, U-turn


Machamp - Same boat as Hariyama, makes a great Tyranitar counter. Shuffles an opponent's team with DynamicPunch, and has a strong never-miss Stone Edge to deal with Flying pokemon who are immune to Toxic Spikes. Makes a great status absorber with RestTalk set.

Weaknesses: Psychic, Flying

Resistances: Rock, Dark, Bug

Useful Moves: Dynamicpunch, Stone Edge, Rest, Sleep Talk, Toxic


Zapdos - Much like Moltres, provides a good way of dealing with Skymin and Scizor. Although it doesn't resist Fire, it is also not quite so vulnerable to Rock. Can do the Toxic/Sub/Roost bit much like Moltres, and has a STAB Thunderbolt to help with Flying-type foes who resist Toxic Spikes. Can psuedo-Haze with Roar. Still loses to Tyranitar, however.

Weaknesses: Rock, Ice

Resistances: Fighting, Flying, Bug, Steel, Grass, Ground (immunity)

Useful Moves: Toxic, Substitute, Roost, Thunderbolt, Heat Wave, Roar, Light Screen


Flygon - Great resistances to Rock, Fire, Electric, and an immunity to Ground. Good at dealing with Tyranitar. Can Toxic/Sub/Roost stall very effectively.

Weaknesses: Ice, Dragon

Resistances: Poison, Rock, Fire, Ground (immunity), Electric (immunity)

Useful Moves: Earthquake, Roost, Toxic, U-turn, Stone Edge, Draco Meteor


Glaceon - The strongest Blizzard in the game. While holding Choice Specs, this thing is deadly. Although a limited movepool hinders it somewhat, a Blizzard from Glaceon is just plain scary. It has decent defenses, and can use Wish for support if needed.

Weaknesses: Fighting, Rock, Steel, Fire

Resistances: Ice

Useful Moves: Blizzard, Shadow Ball, Hidden Power Fighting, Wish, Mirror Coat


Vaporeon - Vaporeon is one of the best Wish passers in the game, and its teammate healing capabilities are extremely useful in a Hail team. It has excellent HP and Special Defense, and it can be EVed to take physical attacks very well. With a choice of Surf, Hidden Power Electric, or Blizzard, Vaporeon can take on some of the biggest threats in the game such as Infernape, Gyarados, and Salamence and come out on top.

Weaknesses: Electric, Grass

Resistances: Steel, Fire, Ice, Water (immunity)

Useful Moves: Wish, Protect, Surf, Blizzard, Hidden Power Electric, Reflect

Conclusion
Well, that's it. Remember, the key to any battle is to gain momentum and to retain it. Keeping a weather advantage will help you dictate the battle your way, especially since most opponents are not prepared for Hail.

I hope this guide helps you see that Hail is not just Sandstorm's forgotten little brother, but in actual fact a very viable and effective strategy in itself.
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FarawaySoul
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You might want to add that most Hail teams are rather weak to Stealth Rock, as the main attacking and defending Ice type sports a weakness to it. Hail is also weak to Sunny Day, another problem; however, I doubt it will be as big a problem as Sandstorm because it lacks an infinite starter. Besides, it is very rare.
Another problem that you might want to mention is that, unlike Sandstorm, Hail teams don't pack as much tanking power. Sure, Blizzard may be powerful, and Walrein is a good defender, but against Tankish teams (not wall teams) you might fare badly. This is because they can take your Ice hits, recover, and still possess enough power to break through your defenses.
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