Round 1/2: Fire
Earthquake is necessary
Will need enough investment to OHKO Intimidate Arcanine after Flare Blitz recoil (112n or 20+), need 180n/92+ for Typhlosion
Moltres likely requires Blizzard, might need enough Speed to out-pace (76n or 16+) but could also beat it with sufficient SpA and either Ice Shard or Protect, the latter is absolutely needed for Infernape anyway
Charizard can also be 2HKOed by Blizzard, investing enough Speed for Moltres catches Charizard also
Entei can also be handled using Protect, with max Attack investment Earthquake + 2 rounds of Hail will OHKO, alternatively can use Ice Shard here but would need Protect for this to work anyway
Abomasnow @ Focus Sash
Level 40
Lonely: 252Atk/132SpD/76Spe (some leftover)
Earthquake
Blizzard
Protect
Outrage
Round 1/2: Steel
Earthquake and HP Fire are mandatory
Skarmory can be beaten with Blizzard, need to either invest enough speed to move first (160n or 92+) or enough SpA to OHKO with Blizzard (96n or 4+), HP Fire will also work fine using the speed method but doesn’t consistently OHKO even with maximum SpA investment
Need investment to OHKO Bastiodon also, 164n or 76+, increasing to 184n/96+ gets the 2HKO on Registeel and the OHKO on Empoleon
Bronzong and Metagross are the biggest threats in Steel, Metagross is beatable with maxed HP Fire + Ice Shard + Hail damage but it relies on a roll, there is perhaps an argument for using Protect to get additional Hail damage and land the 2HKO, Hail Protect also means that HP Fire can be used to deal with Skarmory consistently without having to out-speed it
Bronzong should be beatable by using HP Fire on the turn it sets Trick Room and then attacking in accordance with its ability, with maxed SpA and 196n investment HP Fire + Earthquake will 2HKO Heatproof variants while 2xHP Fire beats Levitate ones
Abomasnow @ Focus Sash
Level 40
Mild/Rash: 196Atk/252SpA (60 leftover)
Earthquake
HP Fire
Protect
Ice Shard
Round 3/4: Fighting
Blizzard from Modest/etc Abomasnow OHKOes rank 10 (level 34) Primeape after hail
Hitmonlee can be OHKOed with 180+ investment after 2 rounds of Hail, achievable with Protect (and it might suffer recoil by using Hi Jump Kick into Protect), Hitmonchan and Hitmontop are the same except without the recoil possibility, Protect is necessary for Infernape and Hariyama anyway so worth going for
Thick Fat makes Hariyama hard to deal with using Ice moves, Grass Knot could be a strong choice for dealing with it since it 2HKOes, use Protect to block Fake Out, Grass Knot also OHKOes Poliwrath with 180+ investment
252+ investment lets Blizzard OHKO after 2 turns of Hail, Protect into Blizzard should be a win condition, against Heracross Protect > Blizzard > Protect should work
Infernape and Blaziken can be dealt with using Earthquake, as can Lucario
Gallade should be manageable, Close Combat drops SpD so Blizzard OHKOes
Abomasnow @ Focus Sash
Level 40
Quiet/Mild: 252Atk/252SpA
Speed IV: ≤9 (if Mild) OR 13-27 (if Quiet)
Blizzard
Grass Knot
Earthquake
Protect
Round 3/4: Dark
Sharpedo can be beaten with Energy Ball
Ideally need 12+ investment to ensure a KO on Skuntank after Hail, 80+ would KO outright and avoid the Flamethrower risk
Tyranitar can be OHKOed by Brick Break with 200n investment, 136n Speed and 140+ let’s Abomasnow out-speed and OHKO Drapion with Blizzard
Fourth move is a choice between Substitute and Ice Shard, Substitute is useful for stopping Umbreon’s Confuse Ray, Ice Shard let’s Abomasnow KO Weavile after it survives Brick Break, both are beatable without the respective move, Umbreon is more common though so more inclined to use that
Abomasnow @ Focus Sash
Level 40
Mild/Rash: 200Atk/140SpA/136Spe
Blizzard
Energy Ball
Brick Break
Substitute
Round 5: Psychic
Psychic is hard for Abomasnow because of the variable secondary typings and gaps in coverage that Abomasnow has, may be better to do this in round 5 when it can skip rank 10 with Argenta
Rank 9 Slowbro is OHKOed by Grass Knot with 220+ investment
Jynx out-speeds and has a 2HKO roll, ideally need a physical move and perhaps Ice Shard, Earthquake + Ice Shard 2HKOes uninvested with a neutral nature
Grumpig needs to be out-speed, required 28n investment, 56n also gets Cresselia although that would need consecutive crits to cause a loss
Metagross is virtually impossible to counter without compromising against a lot of other Psychics BUT could run Rash with 196n investment to remove the OHKO chance and possibly encourage the use of Light Screen (136HP/96Def achieves this and reduces the 2HKO chance from Jynx), uninvested Earthquake would do enough to KO with Hail and possibly Ice Shard
Bronzong would have to be Heatproof to be able to beat, Levitate variants are unbeatable
Abomasnow would be better if female to avoid Captivate from Latias, Latios’ Captivate isn’t as important because -2 Blizzard + Ice Shard would still KO it
Abomasnow @ Focus Sash
Level 40
Rash: 136HP/96Def/220SpA/56Spe
FEMALE
Blizzard
Grass Knot
Earthquake
Ice Shard
Round 6: Poison
Weezing is 2HKOed by Blizzard and can’t OHKO Abomasnow unless it crits and burns in the same turn, it may use Toxic anyway, Swalot is similar but does more damage with Fire Punch, can invest 108n in defense to remove the OHKO roll it has with Fire Punch which might compel it to use Toxic instead
Earthquake is needed for Tentacruel, 2HKOes without investment or OHKOes with 12n investment instead (with Protect), can out-speed with 196n investment
Earthquake also 2HKOes Muk with the above investment, Muk can’t OHKO with Gunk Shot (assumes Rash) although it could poison/crit
With above investment, Blizzard OHKOes Gengar after Hail, using Rash grants Sludge Bomb a OHKO chance which might compel it to not use Hypnosis
Protect + Blizzard will KO Drapion but it out-speeds and has Acupressure, can increase Speed to 156n and SpA to 140+ to out-speed and KO after 1 turn of Protect which should usually result in a win, speed also beats Nidos before they can use Attract and SpA beats Venomoth
Abomasnow @ Focus Sash
Level 40
Rash: 12Atk/108Def/192SpA/196Spe
Blizzard
Earthquake
Protect
Round 7: Flying
Ice Shard would OHKO Jumpluff, helpful since it out-speeds and 2HKOes with Bounce
Mantine is 2HKOed by uninvested Blizzard, it can also be OHKOed by HP Electric with 204+ investment (technically less with Hail damage: 124+), can out-speed with 176n investment which is useful to avoid Signal Beam hax
Articuno is 2HKOed by Blizzard, Rock Slide can OHKO but only if using an attack-boosting nature
Could potentially do this round later, would need to adjust EVs:
- Round 6 (level 35 rank 10s) – 208n beats Mantine, 236+ investment to OHKO
- Round 7 – If Abomasnow is level 45, HP Electric OHKOes Mantine with 248+ investment and 216n out-speeds
Abomasnow @ Focus Sash
Level 45
Mild: 4HP/40Atk/248SpA/216Spe
Blizzard
HP Electric
Ice Shard
Round 8: Ghost (CAN BE MOVED LATER IF DESPERATE)
12+ OHKOes Banette after Hail
Dusclops is annoying with Quick Claw Fire Punch, not possible to KO outright consistently even with Hail and Ice Shard, Blizzard 2HKOes though
Mismagius is 2HKOed by Blizzard and can’t 2HKO back without a crit, Blizzard into Ice Shard KOes anyway
Froslass is annoying because of evasion but Shadow Ball + Ice Shard 2HKOes with 72n/220+ investment, Mild would be preferable to Rash in this match-up to avoid a 2HKO from Froslass’ Blizzard (Rash isn’t needed to ensure a OHKO from Gengar’s Sludge Bomb for Hypnosis discouragement, unlike in Poison)
The Froslass match-up is “doable” in a later round at level 40, would be worse since Shadow Ball + Ice Shard isn’t an assured KO even with maxed EVs in both stats
Abomasnow @ Focus Sash
Level 40
Mild: 180Atk/252SpA/72Spe
Blizzard
Shadow Ball/Protect
Ice Shard
Hail
Round 9: Normal
Level 45 is slightly better here for EV efficiency reasons, Normal is not a great typing to do this late but hard to move this earlier at the moment
A physical move would be needed for Chansey and Blissey, especially the latter, Blissey is 2HKOed by Brick Break with 172n investment after Hail
224n Speed beats Miltank, 100+ investment lets Grass Knot 2HKO consistently (Thick Fat can stop Blizzard doing the same)
The rest can probably go into HP to reduce the risk of dying to Clefable if it burns
Blizzard + Ice Shard should KO Lopunny after Hail so no danger from Bounce
Purugly is a threat, Thick Fat can let it survive Blizzard, it out-speeds and 2HKOes with Iron Tail
Snorlax is VERY dangerous, can’t 2HKO while it easily 2HKOes back with Choice Band Brick Break, may have to accept this risk since it’s hard to cover everything here
An alternative would be to replace Grass Knot with Focus Blast, Grass Knot is mostly used for Miltank and MAYBE Regigigas, Focus Blast would serve the same purpose albeit in a less reliable way while also giving me a chance against Snorlax, OHKOes Purugly also, Ice Shard may also be replaceable but probably not a good idea
Amendment: change Ice Shard to Protect, Protect > Focus Blast > Protect > Brick Break has a good chance to KO Snorlax and avoids having to risk Focus Blast twice, Ice Shard is probably not needed for Lopunny after all since Protect can block Bounce
Abomasnow @ Focus Sash
Level 45
Mild: 172Atk/100SpA/224Spe
Blizzard
Focus Blast
Brick Break
Ice Shard
NOTE: could use the Flying set here, just have to change the moves, all TMs are replaceable
Round 10: Ice
Dewgong is OHKOes by Grass Knot with 112+ investment, 16n/96- Speed makes Abomasnow faster
Jynx is tricky, 248n SpD avoids a 2HKO from Blizzard, Seed Bomb + Ice Shard KOes without investment, 220n investment lets Seed Bomb KO outright but can’t do bulk and power at the same time
Weavile is also tricky, uninvested Seed Bomb 2HKOes and 96-/8n investment in defense avoids a 2HKO from Ice Punch
Glalie is faster and not OHKOed but Signal Beam only 3HKOes inconsistently (<50% using 28HP/248SpD
Froslass can’t 2HKO without a crit, Seed Bomb 2HKOes if using 32n investment, Shadow Ball also 2HKOes but might be hard to fit
Articuno requires special treatment, a rock move of some kind is the obvious choice but nothing Abomasnow gets can actually OHKO it, Rock Slide is a 2HKO but gets stopped by Reflect, Hidden Power can get around that but triggers Apicot Berry instead and would lead to a Roost loop, Rock Tomb would lower speed but is inaccurate and weak and Reflect still goes up
Articuno would be easier to deal with if it was outsped, perhaps Rock Slide could replace Seed Bomb, a bit risky but would spare EVs for Speed…
Another option: drop special moves completely and go all physical, losing Grass Knot is inconvenient against Dewgong and Piloswine maybe but both of those are still easily beatable most of the time with just Seed Bomb, the other Grass-weak things can’t do much damage to Abomasnow
If using Seed Bomb as primary STAB, 120+ investment allows for a OHKO on Jynx, 248n in SpDef to avoid the 2HKO from Blizzard, might be able to run Lum Berry in Ice since very few things can OHKO, the berry would also stop Thunder Wave from Regice
128n speed moves before Articuno, Rock Slide can 2HKO through Reflect as long as no misses occur
Glaceon is still a problem, out-speeds Abomasnow and 2HKOes with Blizzard while being too bulky to OHKO, might be able to lower its speed with Icy Wind or Rock Tomb but the only thing that would KO after Rock Tomb is Iron Tail or Focus Blast (both inaccurate, especially against Snow Cloak), nothing KOes after Icy Wind, would have to give by Ice Shard but this is only useful for Weavile and not necessary to beat it anyway
Another option: Choice Scarf, 216n with Scarf out-speeds Weavile, resolves the Glaceon match-up somewhat by allowing a faster 2HKO (Blizzard can’t do enough to put Abomasnow into Ice Shard range either), this makes investing in SpD less important, can potentially run Wood Hammer for the extra power, 252+ happens to OHKO Froslass and all the Water/Ground mons, Rock Slide covers Articuno, a back-up option like Brick Break may be useful for Glalie since Wood Hammer doesn’t OHKO consistently and the recoil would be dangerous
Regice remains a slight problem, Iron Tail 2HKOes while Brick Break does so about 74% of the time, Brick Break is actually more likely to result in a win because of accuracy, could also try Focus Punch which OHKOes and would work through Thunder Wave, this would technically be more likely to work than Brick Break but assumes Regice will always use Thunder Wave
Abomasnow @ Choice Scarf
Level 40
Adamant: 252Atk/216Spe
Wood Hammer
Brick Break
Rock Slide
Focus Punch
Round 11: Bug
Venomoth isn’t consistently OHKOed by 252+ Blizzard but can be KOed by Ice Shard after if it lives, it can cause a loss if it uses Sludge Bomb and poisons
HP Fire will be necessary for Forretress and Scizor, need Ice Shard for the latter also
Heracross is an issue since it can’t be OHKOed, but with 184n investment in attack, Ice Shard will always KO after Blizzard and 1 turn of Hail (it might just use Close Combat anyway
Shuckle can remove weather and become very bulky but is not strong and unlikely to cause a loss, can maybe run Hail as a filler option to restart Hail and restore Abomasnow’s accurate Blizzards
Could this be done later?
- Round 12: can secure the Heracross KO using a level 51 Abomasnow vs. level 48 Heracross, using 180n/252+ investment, without compromising any other match-ups
- Round 13: can secure the Heracross KO using a level 85 Abomasnow vs. level 80 Heracross, using 216n/252+ investment, without compromising any other match-ups
- Beyond that point, won’t be able to get the KO unless I use Protect over Hail, this might be OK if it means being able to do other types earlier
Consider these options if other types become troublesome
Abomasnow @ Focus Sash
Level 40
Rash: 184Atk/252SpA
Blizzard
HP Fire
Ice Shard
Hail
Round 12: Water
Kingler has Focus Sash and Superpower, need to run a Focus Sash of my own or at least 176n investment in defense to survive, won’t need to out-speed since Hail will pick it off after Grass Knot/Energy Ball
Slowbro is 2HKOed by Energy Ball/Grass Knot with 12n investment or just a positive nature, Flamethrower burning is a problem
Lanturn can be dealt with using Earthquake or a Grass move, Empoleon is best handled with Earthquake also, can win against Empoleon with Hail damage by using Protect + Earthquake + Protect (needs 132+ investment to work), this covers the Lanturn match-up by extension, 8n investment out-speeds Lanturn
Gyarados is kind of dangerous, much faster and KOes with Bounce, using Protect would remove this danger
Mantine would require the use of HP Electric, doesn’t OHKO, Mantine can’t be out-sped with a neutral nature and 2HKOes with Signal Beam, 208n in SpD removes this chance but still annoying to face because of crits and confusion
Protect + Energy Ball + Protect will work against Seaking if using 64n investment
116n in SpA 2HKOes Slowking, not absolutely necessary to win though
Ludicolo is irritating but can’t do much damage to Abomasnow, 36n investment would be helpful against Rain Dish variants, probably winnable by spamming Energy Ball
Poliwrath is annoying because of Hypnosis, Protect + Energy Ball + Protect can KO with decent rolls and this would still work if it hits Hypnosis but it only has a sub-20% chance of KOing
What if I go with a level 55 Abomasnow against level 52 opponents, with some rejigging and a nature change…
Using
Mild with 248 Atk and 208 SpA investment, the Protect/attack/Protect strategy will work consistently against Empoleon, Mantine AND Poliwrath, 32 Spe still outspeeds Ludicolo and the extra SpA will allow for stronger damage against it, Lanturn is still covered (Energy Ball does slightly more now), almost nothing is changed against other opponents
Bumping SpA up to 228+ can grant a OHKO chance on Dewgong but requires a high roll…EVs aren’t being used anywhere else though so may as well…
Seaking is now OHKOed by Energy Ball so won’t need to Protect against it
Kingdra SHOULD be beatable with Protect + Energy Ball, can’t do enough damage to be a threat and the Hail damage ensures a 2HKO with Energy Ball, need 224+ investment for this to work consistently, could still lose to Yawn though
Suicune is a tricky opponent because of Mirror Coat, best strategy seems to be to use Energy Ball on turn 1 in the hope of it using Reflect, if that works then alternate between Protect and Energy Ball to rack up Hail damage, it may even be worth using Earthquake to avoid Mirror Coat until Energy Ball is in range to KO, Suicune can’t even 4HKO with its other moves anyway
Abomasnow @ Focus Sash
Level 55
Mild: 248Atk/228SpA/32Spe
Energy Ball
Earthquake
HP Electric
Protect
Round 13: Electric
Assuming round 12/level 40, 80n lets Abomasnow 2HKO Lanturn with Earthquake after Hail
0+ Blizzard + Ice Shard KOes Rotom, could consider investing remaining bulk into SpD to help sponge Signal Beam and confusion damage a bit
Jolteon can be handled by Blizzard since it ignores evasion in Hail
With 192n/180+ investment, Blizzard + Ice Shard will KO Zapdos through Light Screen
Should just use Blizzard on Raikou because of Reflect, 252n/240+ Abomasnow will KO Raikou with Hail + Blizzard + Ice Shard unless it rolls minimum twice, I’ll have a free move slot to use Protect anyway so don’t need all this investment
Could Electric be done later?
- Round 13: at level 45, assuming Protect is used, 40n/252+ investment gets the Raikou KO, 40n 2HKOes Lanturn after double Hail, double Protect and 92n/252+ lets Abomasnow 2HKO Zapdos with Blizzard and Ice Shard through Light Screen
- Round 14: 192n/252+ still works for Zapdos at level 51, 200n needed for Raikou (200n/252+)
- Round 15: can’t quite get the guaranteed KO on Raikou at level 57, chance maximised with 216n/252+ investment
- BUT, at level 70 vs. 67, Zapdos range is hit with 252n/252+, this also hits the Raikou range
- Round 16: Unable to reach the Zapdos range
Will use level 13 for now, level 45
Focus Sash or Lum Berry may be useful here, Focus Sash would still protect against a Magnezone Flash Cannon or a Manectric Flamethrower
Abomasnow @ Focus Sash
Level 45
Mild: 4HP/92Atk/252SpA/160SpD
Blizzard
Earthquake
Ice Shard
Protect
Round 14: Ground
Sandslash dies to Blizzard but is faster and can set Sandstorm up to start dodging, perhaps running Scarf would be acceptable here, but this might cause problems with Hippowdon…
Running Scarf also leaves Abomasnow vulnerable to Quick Claw Golem
Sandslash can be OHKOed by a grass move so this may be an acceptable alternative that allows for Focus Sash against Golem
Energy Ball OHKOes uninvested assuming Modest/etc, Grass Knot requires 220+ investment (assuming 31 IVs, might need to adjust for a HP?)
Nidos have Attract, a work-around would be to run a male Abomasnow that out-speeds Nidoqueen, Nidoking would be faster but Attract fails, requires 96n investment with 31 IVs
Camerupt can just be 2HKOed by Blizzard safely so no need to run a move for it specifically, Steelix is more or less the same
Energy Ball is flat-out superior for Whiscash, OHKOes with the 220+ investment as above whereas Grass Knot does not, Gastrodon is KOed by either, Grass Knot is better against Hippowdon (Blizzard is less safe because of Sandstream), there may be space to run both moves
Flygon is faster and can remove Hail, running Ice Shard or even Ice Beam might be a way around this, Garchomp is similar but worse because of Sand Veil, running Mild can grant a OHKO chance from Outrage which could discourage the use of Sandstorm from Garchomp
Abomasnow @ Focus Sash
Level 40
Mild: 16HP/220SpA/176SpD/96Spe
MALE
Blizzard
Energy Ball
Grass Knot
Ice Beam/Ice Shard
Round 15-17: Dragon
Can easily do this later, Blizzard and Hail will defeat most Dragons, Outrage will cover Lati@s and Kingdra
In a level 40 vs. level 40 scenario, Kingdra can technically survive 2 rounds of Hail and 1 Outrage if Outrage rolls minimum, this won’t matter if it uses Yawn but it would be helpful to invest in at least 108n SpD to avoid the 2HKO chance from Dragon Pulse
Probably don’t want to do Dragon last just to avoid having to use Outrage against Argenta2, it is mostly useless outside of Dragon
USE FIRE SET
Round 15-17: Grass
Investment Modest Blizzard OHKOes Bellossom with Hail, it could use Drain Punch to survive but then it will be KOed next turn anyway, if it uses Stun Spore it dies
Could use Ice Shard to OHKO Jumpluff, it’ll likely use Bounce so it’ll receive 2 rounds of Hail damage, only needs 80n investment, could also run Protect to block it
Blizzard can 2HKO Ludicolo with enough investment but it’ll probably use Rain Dance to make Blizzard less accurate and gain Leftovers (and maybe Rain Dish) recovery, will want at least 68n investment in Speed to move first on turn 1 (could have Swift Swim to out-speed after that), running Hail might be useful to remove Rain on turn 2, should be able to 2HKO, Ludicolo can’t do much damage and can’t freeze with Ice Beam either
Cherrim is faster and can remove Hail with Sunny Day, it can’t do much damage to Abomasnow though, could probably just spam Ice Shard into it to win (180n investment 2HKOes but not necessary)
USE GHOST SET WITH PROTECT
Round 15-17: Rock
Bastiodon requires 132n investment for Earthquake to OHKO after 2 turns of Hail (better than trying for 3 turns because of the burn risk)
Tyranitar is a problem because of Sandstream, Grass Knot doesn’t OHKO consistently in sand, one way to manage this would be to run Quiet with a Speed IV of 4 or less to ensure this Abomasnow underspeeds rank 10 Tyranitar, this ensures Snow Warning overrides Sandstream and grants the OHKO with Grass Knot, speed doesn’t seem all that necessary in Fighting or Rock anyway
Rock might be doable in a later round…
40 vs. 40:
Tyranitar can be undersped with neutral nature + IV≤9 OR Quiet + IV≤27, but ALSO need to make sure Abomasnow is fast enough to out-speed Armaldo (IV≥13 if Quiet, otherwise always out-speeds)
Bastiodon is more dangerous at higher levels since Earthquake is only a 2HKO, Abomasnow would still win most of the time but could die to burn or Quick Claw, Level 36 is the lowest level at which this KO can be assured after 1 Protect, risk may be worth it if it allows for “harder” types to be done sooner
USE FIGHTING SET