Alolan Vulpix, Ninetales Discussion

Cresselia~~

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I can't wait to use it in VGC for Blizzard Spam. Question: Should I go with Glaceon or Froslass as a Snow Cloak abuser?
I'd go for Froslass because ghost forms a good coverage together with Fairy.
Froslass also has a wider movepool.
I'd run brightpowder on Froslass.
 
I really wish more pokemon got Slush Rush, preferably some that aren't Ice-types.
I don't want to wait another generation to finally feel like Hail can stand up to other weather teams.

Oh well, A-Ninetales will become popular due to the blessing of being a weather starter, regardless of how good it is.
 
Has it been confirmed whether or not they gave hail some kind of innate boost? Without that, it's hard to see hail as worth it just for slush rush and some passive damage. I feel like Alolan Ninetales' viability hinges partially on that.
I really wish more pokemon got Slush Rush, preferably some that aren't Ice-types.
I don't want to wait another generation to finally feel like Hail can stand up to other weather teams.

Oh well, A-Ninetales will become popular due to the blessing of being a weather starter, regardless of how good it is.
And setting up aurora veil the turn it comes out to start the hailstorm as well
 
What do people mean when they say instant Aurora Veil?

As in, use it on T1? I mean you're fast but being juuuuust shy of base 110's is annoying (for OU at least).
 
Good Speed, access to instant aurora veil, 100% accurate Blizzards, the ability to mess up most weather starters, slush rush becoming a thing and decent offense.

This thing looks like a beast. Maybe not OU, but definitely not something that should be overlooked.
How will it mess up most weather starters? First, they are often slower so they will win and get their weather on. Sun starters resist its stab moves and rocktype sandstorm starters get a special defense boost so will wall you. Hippowdon is slower so you wont have your perfect accuracy blizzard, I believe blizzards acc even drops from sand.
 

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How will it mess up most weather starters? First, they are often slower so they will win and get their weather on. Sun starters resist its stab moves and rocktype sandstorm starters get a special defense boost so will wall you. Hippowdon is slower so you wont have your perfect accuracy blizzard, I believe blizzards acc even drops from sand.
Tyranitar and Hippowdon definitely don't want to switch into Fairy and Ice moves, and the rest of them barring the sun starters can hit for at least neutral damage.
I guess "mess up" is a bit of an exaggeration, but it won't let the main ones come in for free.
 
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Tyranitar and Hippowdon definitely don't want to switch into Fairy and Ice moves, and the rest of them barring the sun starters can hit for at least neutral damage.
I guess "mes up" is a bit of an exaggeration, but it won't let the main ones come in for free.
What about Gigalith and its SE Rock STAB?
 
Little Cup didn't get much out of S/M, but this is surely going to be one of the biggest additions. If the unconfirmed nerf to Eviolite turns out to be true, set up sweepers will be much more threatening. One turn dual screens is awesome. Encore will give it plenty of opportunities to set up on slower, utility mons. Could also potentially run a Scarf set like

Vulpix @ Choice Scarf
Modest
Blizzard
Moonblast
Freeze Dry
Aurora Veil

Keep hazards off the field, spam blizzards, catch incoming waters with Freeze Dry, and when you're low just sac it and set up Aurora Veil at the same time.

Do we know whether or not Aurora Veil lasts after hail ends? Say you use Aurora Veil on the last turn of hail, do you still get the benefits for 5 turns or just for that one turn?

edit: Didn't mean to tag the user named Choice Scarf, sorry
 
Do we know whether or not Aurora Veil lasts after hail ends? Say you use Aurora Veil on the last turn of hail, do you still get the benefits for 5 turns or just for that one turn?
We don't know for sure, but the description reads as such:

"This move reduces damage from physical and special moves for five turns. This can be used only a hailstorm."

The way it's worded, it sounds like it needs to be set up in Hail, but it will likely persist outside once Hail ends.
 
We don't know for sure, but the description reads as such:

"This move reduces damage from physical and special moves for five turns. This can be used only a hailstorm."

The way it's worded, it sounds like it needs to be set up in Hail, but it will likely persist outside once Hail ends.
I'm guessing you're right. Do we know whether Light Clay extends it's duration? 65 base speed gets to 16 speed I believe, that might be fast enough to warrant a Light Clay set. Shame it doesn't get Memento or anything like that to get a set up sweeper in safely.

I've realised that this also faces competition from Amaura, which gets better coverage moves IMO in Earth Power and Thunderbolt. Both have terrible defensive typing anyway. EDIT: Amaura doesn't get Aurora Veil for whatever damn reason, so that's still a niche for Vulpix
 
Tyranitar and Hippowdon definitely don't want to switch into Fairy and Ice moves, and the rest of them barring the sun starters can hit for at least neutral damage.
I guess "mess up" is a bit of an exaggeration, but it won't let the main ones come in for free.
If hippowdon switches in and you predict right with blizzard there is a small chance youre missing and tyranitar definitely DOES want to switch in as altough its a super effective move it wont do nothing because of tyranitars special bulk compared with the extra special defense from sand. This is with zero investment which often is not the case, tyranitar than takes another hit and koes with its stab rock moves.

252 SpA Ninetales Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Tyranitar in Sand: 152-180 (44.5 - 52.7%) -- 18.8% chance to 2HKO
 
I'm guessing you're right. Do we know whether Light Clay extends it's duration? 65 base speed gets to 16 speed I believe, that might be fast enough to warrant a Light Clay set. Shame it doesn't get Memento or anything like that to get a set up sweeper in safely.

I've realised that this also faces competition from Amaura, which gets better coverage moves IMO in Earth Power and Thunderbolt. Both have terrible defensive typing anyway. EDIT: Amaura doesn't get Aurora Veil for whatever damn reason, so that's still a niche for Vulpix
It does learn grudge at lvl 44 which workes like memento except for lowering pp instead of stats.
 
Is there any reason why a hail team would want to use Ninetales in addition to Abomasnow? Since Ninetales is probably holding light clay, the hail will stop pretty quickly if you don't switch it out immediately after Aurora Veil. I've been thinking about making a hail team and I didn't know if that was a viable option. Ninetales would be the lead and M-Abomasnow would probably be a late game wallbreaker.

(Sorry if this is a dumb question. I've been away from competitive battling for a while and haven't ran a weather team since Gen 4.)
 
Is there any reason why a hail team would want to use Ninetales in addition to Abomasnow? Since Ninetales is probably holding light clay, the hail will stop pretty quickly if you don't switch it out immediately after Aurora Veil. I've been thinking about making a hail team and I didn't know if that was a viable option. Ninetales would be the lead and M-Abomasnow would probably be a late game wallbreaker.

(Sorry if this is a dumb question. I've been away from competitive battling for a while and haven't ran a weather team since Gen 4.)
I think you gave a good reason. Having 2 hail setters in case one falls is a good idea, Plus Mega Abomasnow just hits so hard and fits quite well.
 
Very nice designs! A-Ninetales boons hail teams with Snow Warning and Aurora Veil. That extra 9 points in Speed makes A-Ninetales a rather speedy Poke now competing with other Pokes sitting in 109 speed. I admit that 110 would have been perfect though. Have mixed feelings with it's typing. Ice/Fairy is neat offensively though lacking defensively. That x4 weakness to steel really hurts A-Ninetales. Even weak Bullet Punches are going to massacre it due to it's poor physical bulk. Really wished A-Ninetales retained at least Flamethrower to defend itself from steel types. Finally, the SR weakness still remains. Though that's easier to handle.

Probably going to be overlooked. Nice alternative to Abomasnow and a very welcome addition to Hail.
 
The Gen 1 pandering is strong. Give Ninetales the Snow Warning/Aurora Veil combo but don't even bother giving Aurorus Aurora Veil.
 
Do we know if Hail (or any weather) has been altered yet? Wanna know if Hail finally boosts Ice-type moves.
 
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109 base Spe is a little trollish because it is a little under the preferred base 110, but you hit 348 Spe with a Timid nature + 252 EVs. This is enough to outspeed the musketeers, including Keldeo and a huge portion of the meta as you can see there http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/oras-speed-tiers-v2.3556631/.

I don't think that the Icy Rock is the most useful item on A-Ninetales. If you want to play offensively, 81 SpA is workable when paired with the right coverage.

Some nice calcs with Life Orb as item if you want to run this thing aggressively:
252 SpA Life Orb Ninetales Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Keldeo: 322-382 (99.6 - 118.2%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Life Orb Ninetales Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Terrakion: 322-382 (99.6 - 118.2%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Life Orb Ninetales Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 0- SpD Kingdra: 343-406 (118.6 - 140.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Life Orb Ninetales Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mega Tyranitar in Sand: 172-203 (50.4 - 59.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 SpA Life Orb Ninetales Freeze-Dry vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Rotom-W: 205-244 (67.6 - 80.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after hail damage and Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Life Orb Ninetales Freeze-Dry vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Quagsire: 614-723 (155.8 - 183.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Life Orb Ninetales Freeze-Dry vs. 252 HP / 176 SpD Mega Slowbro: 213-252 (54 - 63.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after hail damage
252 SpA Life Orb Ninetales Freeze-Dry vs. 252 HP / 144+ SpD Gastrodon: 395-473 (92.7 - 111%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Life Orb Ninetales Freeze-Dry vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Suicune: 195-229 (48.2 - 56.6%) -- 84.4% chance to 2HKO after hail damage and Leftovers recovery

Hail in OU means that Blizzard spam can be a thing i.e. on Starmie to net some KOs.
 
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What do people mean when they say instant Aurora Veil?

As in, use it on T1? I mean you're fast but being juuuuust shy of base 110's is annoying (for OU at least).
The alternative is....

-Use Aboma/Vanilluxe and then switch to someone who can set up the veil.

Or

-Use hail and then use veil on the next turn.

That's why this ability is good on Ninetales. That's what "instant" means.
 
Been thinking of dipping my feet in VGC this year. Thinking of using a team that opens up Ninetails and Toxapex, go for instant Aurora Veil to make Toxapex nigh invincible, and go for some Merciless shenanigans. Honestly, Alolan Ninetails seems really promising to me.
 

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Alolan Ninetales is easily going to be the best Hail setter in SuMo. It's fast, it has a great combination type with Ice (mitigates Fighting weakness, great neutral coverage). Struggles with Steel types I suppose but still has plenty of versatility, and Sandslash-A is neutral to Steel-type attacks and loves Slush Rush. Really loving this mon.
 

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