Abomasnow (Analysis)

[iss]

Current status: Rewrote everything

Grammar-Prose: 2/2 [sirndpt] [ShakeItUp]

[Overview]

<p>In every year of VGC so far, Abomasnow has been an excellent Pokemon. With its unique ability, Snow Warning, it is able to shut down most weather strategies, which nullifies several threatening playstyles in the metagame. In addition, hail allows Abomasnow to use an extremely powerful STAB Blizzard that hits both opponents. Although Abomasnow may not have the greatest defensive typing or stats in the metagame, its excellent ability combined with its powerful moves makes it an effective Pokemon on most teams.</p>

[SET]
name: Bulky Attacker
move 1: Blizzard
move 2: Giga Drain / Grass Knot
move 3: Ice Shard / Ice Beam
move 4: Protect
item: Focus Sash
ability: Snow Warning
nature: Quiet
evs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
ivs: 0 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>With this set, Abomasnow can abuse its most useful quality in Snow Warning while dishing out large amounts of damage to many Pokemon in the metagame. Blizzard is an amazing move, hitting both opponents. In addition, it hits common Pokemon such as Zapdos and Garchomp for super effective damage. Giga Drain is a secondary STAB attack, hitting Water-types, which resist Blizzard, super effectively. Grass Knot can be used to hit heavy Pokemon such as Tyranitar harder, but Abomasnow will miss the healing provided by Giga Drain. Although this Abomasnow has no EVs in Attack, Ice Shard is still an excellent STAB priority attack and can finish off weakened Pokemon, especially with added damage from hail; it can also do a reasonable amount of damage to Pokemon that it hits super effectively. Ice Beam is an option if you are concerned about the weather changing after Abomasnow has been sent out, and also hits a single opponent harder than Blizzard due to the power drop caused when multiple Pokemon are targeted. Protect is a standard move on many Pokemon in the metagame, and Abomasnow is no exception&mdash;not only does it allow Abomasnow to avoid Fake Out, but it also allows Abomasnow to preserve its Focus Sash for an extra turn and add extra residual damage via hail.</p>


[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>A Quiet nature and 0 Speed IVs give Abomasnow a better chance of getting hail up on a double switch or at the beginning of the battle. The EVs maximize Abomasnow's Special Attack, as it is somewhat mediocre; the rest of the EVs go into HP, as Abomasnow does not want Speed. If being faster than opposing Abomasnow is a more important priority than getting hail up, an alternative EV spread of 156 HP / 252 SpA / 100 Spe with a Modest nature can be used. If you still want to be faster than opposing Abomasnow while not giving up too much weather control, Abomasnow can run 2 Speed IVs to outspeed standard Abomasnow. Focus Sash allows Abomasnow to survive nearly any hit. Even though this set uses HP EVs, Abomasnow is still extremely frail; Focus Sash alleviates this to some degree, however.</p>

<p>Since this Abomasnow is quite slow, it works well in Trick Room. Cresselia is an excellent partner for this reason&mdash;not only can it set up Trick Room, but it can also use Helping Hand to strengthen the power of Abomasnow's Blizzard, and Psychic to weaken pesky Fighting-types that would otherwise easily OHKO Abomasnow. Fire- and Steel-types wall every one of Abomasnow's moves, so a Water-type, such as Rotom-W, or a Ground-type can be a good partner to help to take out these Pokemon.</p>

[SET]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Blizzard
move 2: Giga Drain / Grass Knot
move 3: Ice Shard
move 4: Sheer Cold / Light Screen
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Snow Warning
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>With a Choice Scarf, Abomasnow can overcome its mediocre Speed in order to spam its powerful STAB Blizzard. Since Blizzard is such a good offensive move, hitting both opponents, it should be Abomasnow's main move. Giga Drain allows Abomasnow to take out Water-types that resist Blizzard, as well as Tyranitar, who may switch in to prevent consistent usage of Blizzard. Grass Knot, despite hitting Rotom-W for only a measly 20 Base Power, does a huge amount of damage to Tyranitar. Although it may seem strange to use it on a Choice Scarf set, Ice Shard is used since Abomasnow is not extremely fast even after the Choice Scarf boost. Sheer Cold is a desperation move, and should only be used when Abomasnow would otherwise have to freeze the opponent with Blizzard to win. Since Sheer Cold's 30% accuracy is still higher than Blizzard's 10% chance to freeze, it can increase your chances of winning in certain circumstances. Light Screen, while unorthodox, can allow Abomasnow's teammates to survive important attacks. It should only be used if it is vital that a teammate survives or if both opponents resist all of Abomasnow's other moves.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>The EVs and nature maximize Abomasnow's Speed in order to take advantage of the Choice Scarf boost. The rest of the EVs go into Special Attack so Abomasnow can deal as much damage as possible with Blizzard.</p>

<p>Helping Hand helps the Choice Scarf set much more, as Abomasnow will usually be able to use Blizzard with the Choice Scarf Speed boost. Terrakion, while usually not seen running Helping Hand, is a great partner for Abomasnow, as it can defeat Tyranitar and Ninetales without much trouble&mdash;two Pokemon that prevent Abomasnow from using Blizzard. Garchomp also works well with Abomasnow, as it enjoys the lack of Flying-types created by Blizzard in order to use Earthquake more effectively; this strategy becomes even more effective since Abomasnow even resists Earthquake.</p>

[Other Options]

<p>Hidden Power Fire is an option on the Choice Scarf set in order to hit Steel-types, such as Scizor and Metagross, super effectively. However, it lowers Abomasnow's Speed IV to 30, which can be terrible for Abomasnow in a mirror match. Wood Hammer can be used over Abomasnow's Grass-type move of choice, as it hits certain Pokemon such as Blissey much harder. Earthquake is another option to hit Steel- and Fire-types super effectively, but usually will not hit hard enough off of Abomasnow's uninvested Attack stat. Due to Item Clause, there may be instances where Abomasnow is unable to use Focus Sash. If this is the case, Occa Berry and Chople Berry are options to allow Abomasnow to survive some weaker super effective moves.</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>Changing the weather will significantly nerf Abomasnow's main attack: Blizzard. Ninetales and Tyranitar are the best options, as they resist both of Abomasnow's STAB attacks and can hit it super effectively with STAB attacks of their own. Tyranitar needs to watch out for Grass Knot while switching in, however. Scizor and Metagross can take any of Abomasnow's attacks (except Hidden Power Fire) and take it out with Bullet Punch and Meteor Mash, respectively. Occa Berry is also helpful since it lets these Pokemon survive Hidden Power Fire. Hitmontop can also cause problems for Abomasnow, being able to use a combination of Close Combat and Sucker Punch to defeat it. Abomasnow is extremely frail, and nearly any super effective attack will either OHKO it or bring it down to its Focus Sash.</p>

[Dream World]

<p>Abomasnow gets Soundproof from the Dream World. While it can allow you to use Abomasnow without having your team damaged by hail, and render Abomasnow immune to Bug Buzz, compared to Snow Warning it is practically useless.</p>

 

[Solace]

looks good

QC 1/2

 

[muffinhead]

slash hp fire in between ice shard and ice beam on the first set with alternate IV and EV spread in additional comments (2 spe, 252 hp / 4 def / 248 spa / 4 spd). slash hp fire before light screen on scarf.

Grass Knot however will do a tremendous amount of damage to Tyranitar, especially once you change the weather to hail.

move grass knot to OO for the scarf set. ttar vs scarf aboma = sand. even if you switch in abomasnow to tyranitar, i wouldnt leave it in for long. giga drain is better in almost every situation.

add occa and chople to OO

 

[Human]

slash hp fire in between ice shard and ice beam on the first set with alternate IV and EV spread in additional comments. slash hp fire before light screen on scarf.

move grass knot to OO for the scarf set. ttar vs scarf aboma = sand. even if you switch in abomasnow to tyranitar, i wouldnt leave it in for long. giga drain is better in almost every situation.

HP Fire is mainly going to do something against the mirror match which is why I have it in Other Options instead, and in the mirror match it is often better to just use a Pokemon that can beat it.

HP Fire has a very low damage output on a Timid Abomasnow and even with the Helping Hand support mentioned in AC you do not 2HKO Occa Berry Metagross assuming they only have max HP. Light Screen is going to have some usability in just about every situation which is something HP Fire lacks.

HP Fire is only good in very rare situations and the odds of you getting a freeze with Blizzard are just about always better.

Also I did mention in the Choice Scarf set it is best to bring in Abomasnow as safely as you can to make sure you have your weather up. "As such it is best to bring in Abomasnow when your opponent is not making a switch and when they do not have another weather user in the back of their team." When that happens Grass Knot is going to be much better than Giga Drain against Tyranitar.

EDIT: Added Chople / Occa to OO

 

[JRank]

HP Fire (with a Timid nature) has a chance to OHKO Scizor and with hail it probably gets the job done anyway. It's also Abomasnow's only way of touching Metagross, and it can support its team by killing off an <50% Gross rather than just hoping for a freeze. Additionally on the first set when you're running HP Fire you have a much better chance to OHKO Scizor (in the range of 70% iirc), and doing more damage to Metagross. Although it's better to hope for a freeze than throw up a Light Screen that won't help your team hardly at all, being dropped in power in doubles.

I do see your point on Grass Knot, though, as in sand Giga Drain isn't even a 2HKO on Tyranitar but GK is. (but you're probably not lasting 2 turns against Tyranitar in sand ;D)

 

[Solace]

scizor will most likely be bullet punching anyway, and unless metagross is at less than 50% it will be able to take out aboma too

it's not worth the lowering of iv's to use it as a main option, and light screen is definitely still potent in doubles

 

[Human]

Light Screen allows even Abomasnow to survive Dragon Gem Draco Meteor, survive Timid Zapdos Heat Wave all the time while Modest will only KO 6.25% of the time. Abomasnow isn't too bulky and it being able to survive attacks like these is just a testament that Light Screen can be incredibly useful if you have it up.

Hide

140-168 From Modest Zapdos Heat Wave
128-152 From Timid Zapdos Heat Wave
136-162 From Dragon Gem Draco Meteor from Latios

The examples I said were not to show that Abomasnow should use it to defend itself but rather that the special defense boost from Light Screen can be very important.

Also what Solace said about being able to KO Scizor with HP Fire, it isn't important because often times they run Occa Berry, if they don't run Occa Berry then they can just as easily run Life Orb and OHKO you with even Bullet Punch and with Abomasnow's weakness to common spread moves, Rock Slide and Heat Wave, the odds that Abomasnow will beat a Scizor is near zero and if you are using a slow Abomasnow then they can just Bug Bite anyways.

And for beating Metagross with HP Fire, that Pokemon will almost always use Occa Berry and because you can not OHKO they will always OHKO you. It is better to get more net damage against a Metagross with Blizzard and hit their ally and just hope for a freeze than HP Fire. For the scarf set if you really are desperate and do not want to use Light Screen I mentioned Sheer Cold for these situations where it will be much more effective to use the 30% chance of taking down one of their Pokemon than remain with a 0% chance.

Also you do survive two turns against Tyranitar alone. 134-162 is how much Tyranitar can do with Rock Slide meaning 25% of the time including Sandstorm damage you will not get to use two attacks. The other 75% of the time you should be able to get two Grass Knots against Tyranitar assuming they didn't Protect again (aww) or attack Abomasnow with their ally too where if they do that you will still have a 32.5% of getting two Grass Knots off.

 

[JRank]

Why couldn't you show those calcs the first time? In that case, this looks good. QC 2 / 2

 

[Human]

Why couldn't you show those calcs the first time? In that case, this looks good. QC 2 / 2

They didn't seem important enough for Abomasnow itself, I forgot about the Tyranitar one though. Light Screen support as said was when you're going to get KOd so those calcs just show the additional bulk it gives the rest of the team and I don't know how to put that in.

 

[Engineer Pikachu]

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[Overview]

<p>Abomasnow is a unique Pokemon, common in every year of VGC it was available, able to disrupt many of the popular methods of play such as goodstuffs and rain. Common in every year of VGC that it has been available, Abomasnow is a unique Pokemon, able to disrupt many popular methods of play, such as goodstuffs and rain. With its ability and excellent typing,(comma) Abomasnow is a simple,(comma) yet effective,(comma) Pokemon against most teams you can expect to see in VGC 2012.<p>

[SET]
name: Let It Snow!
move 1: Blizzard
move 2: Giga Drain / Grass Knot
move 3: Ice Shard / Ice Beam
move 4: Protect
item: Focus Sash
ability: Snow Warning
nature: Quiet
evs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
ivs: 0 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>Abomasnow's greatest niche is its ability, Snow Warning. Snow Warning turns the weather to hail which disrupts many weather teams whose focus is on using abilities that work solely dependent on the weather such as rain and you want to make sure you are the slowest so that when you lead that your weather is what will stay up unless they switch. Snow Warning turns the weather to hail, disrupting many weather teams that focus on weather-dependent abilities. 0 Spe IVs are used to ensure that Abomasnow is the slowest, allowing Hail to be the dominant weather if Abomasnow leads. However it doesn't only play well against weather. With Dragon, Ground, Rock, and flying types all being good offensive typings they are used a lot, especially on goodstuffs teams which are the most common. It plays well against teams that don't utilize weather as well. As the Dragon-, Ground-, Rock-, and Flying-types are all good offensively, they are used a lot, especially on goodstuffs teams, which are the most common.</p>

<p>Blizzard in hail does the most net damage for Abomasnow with the STAB bonus and hitting both targets it does a consistent amount of damage but the fact that it hits multiple targets does weaken it so that even with max special attack it doesn't always beat a Pokemon without additional support. Abomasnow's most powerful attack is Blizzard; in hail, it damages both opponents, and with STAB, it will deal a consistent amount of damage. Sadly, the mechanics of double battles cause the base power of Blizzard to be lowered, so even with maximum Special Attack investment, Blizzard will not always KO an opposing Pokemon without additional support. Giga Drain does more consistent damage and lets Abomasnow fare much better against rain, however Grass Knot can potentially do a tremendous amount of damage and has more usability when up against sand teams. Giga Drain deals more consistent damage and allows Abomasnow to fare better against rain teams, but Grass Knot is more usable and has the potential to do large amounts of damage against sand teams. Ice Shard has been a common move on Abomasnow for the longest of time, giving a slow Pokemon a priority attack is always useful and Ice Shard can help Abomasnow play around the fact that Blizzard is weakened by targeting multiple Pokemon in doubles, but Ice Beam is also a very viable choIce being able to defeat Pokemon immediately seeing that it has more power than Blizzard and in addition to this whenever the weather is not Hail it is best not to take any risks when it comes to moves with bad accuracy. Ice Shard is a common move on Abomasnow, as giving a slow Pokemon a priority attack is often useful; moreover, it allows Abomasnow to pick off Pokemon who are not KOed by its Blizzard before they get to attack again. However, Ice Beam is also a viable choice, as it has more power than Blizzard, allowing Abomasnow to KO Pokemon who would survive Blizzard. In addition, Ice Beam's accuracy makes it more reliable than Blizzard in the event that the weather has been changed from hail. Protect is a standard move for almost every Pokemon in VGC,(comma) but it is especially important on Abomasnow due to its weaknesses to Flying-, Fire-, Rock-, and Fighting-type attacks. the weaknesses of Flying, Fire, Rock and Fighting.</p>


[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>Some of the issues that plague Abomasnow is that is slower than opposing Abomasnow and will often times lose to them and against some of the things you beat they will be faster than you, for this reason a spread of Modest 156 HP / 252 SpA / 100 Spe is a good alternative. One issue that faces this Abomasnow is that it may be slower than opposing Abomasnow and other Pokemon, allowing it to be outsped and KOed. For this reason, a spread of 156 HP / 252 SpA / 100 Spe with a Modest nature may be used instead. If you are using Abomasnow in Trick Room and are scared of the exact mirror match you can speed creep up to 2 Spe IVs. However Quiet nature and 0 Spe IVs is to guarantee that their weather does not get up as mentioned previously and for that key reason it is the recommended choIce. If you are using Abomasnow in Trick Room and are scared of a mirror match, adding two Speed IVs can eliminate this potential problem. However, using a Quiet nature and 0 Speed IVs is generally better, as guaranteeing that you have hail is key. Focus Sash does a similar job to Protect to keep Abomasnow in use longer and with those many weaknesses it is clear after using Abomasnow a few times that it is the item of choIce. Focus Sash is similar to Protect, in that it keeps Abomasnow in play for a longer period of time; with Abomasnow's many weaknesses, survivability is extremely important, making Focus Sash the item of choice.</p>

<p>Some teammates that benefit a slow Abomasnow are Trick Room allies such as Cresselia who can also use Helping Hand as this will allow Abomasnow to function more offensively and Psychic or Ghost types with Trick Room also help defeat the Fighting types that plague Abomasnow. Some teammates that benefit from a slower Abomasnow are ones that set up Trick Room, such as Cresselia, or slower Psychic- and Ghost-type Pokemon. Cresselia can use Helping Hand to boost Abomasnow's offenses, while the Psychic- and Ghost-type Pokemon can defeat Fighting-type Pokemon that trouble it. In addition Fighting types, Fire and Steel type attacks are also common threats which are checked primarily by Water or Ground types making Swampert an excellent in crime for Abomasnow. Since Fighting-, Fire-, and Steel-type attacks are common threats to Abomasnow, bulky Pokemon who can resist some of those types, such as Swampert, make excellent partners for it.</p>

[SET]
name: Dragon Slayer
move 1: Blizzard
move 2: Giga Drain / Grass Knot
move 3: Ice Shard / Ice Beam
move 4: Light Screen / Sheer Cold
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Snow Warning
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>This set is focusing on Abomasnow's great typing allowing it to help defeat many Dragon types and Ground types which are commonly seen. This set focuses on Abomasnow's great typing, which allows it to defeat many Dragon- and Ground-type Pokemon that are commonly seen. With Snow Warning turning the weather to hail you ruin many weather teams that needs the weather to be up in order to use their abilities and power up their attacks, such as sun and rain, and in addition to this against sand you can weaken the special defense boost Rock types get. With Snow Warning changing the weather to hail, Abomasnow ruins many teams that rely on weather; sun and rain teams lose the bonus for their respective types, while Rock-type Pokemon on sandstorm teams lose the Special Defense boost. A choIce scarf Abomasnow excels at two things, disrupting weather and defeating the common flying, Ground, Dragon, Rock and Water types seen in VGC Choice Scarf Abomasnow excels at two things, namely disrupting the weather and defeating Pokemon weak to its STAB moves that are commonly seen in VGC.</p>

<p>Blizzard in hail will never miss and as such it is going to get a lot of use in defeating the many Pokemon weak to Ice. When used under hail, Blizzard never misses, and as such, it is excellent when dealing with Pokemon that are weak to Ice. Giga Drain does consistent amount of damage and lets defeat Water types with nearly no chance of failure. Grass Knot however will do a tremendous amount of damage to Tyranitar, especially once you change the weather to hail. Giga Drain deals consistent damage and lets Abomasnow defeat Water-type Pokemon while healing itself, but Grass Knot deals tremendous damage to Tyranitar, especially if sandstorm is not up. Ice Shard, a priority move, used on a ChoIce Scarfed Pokemon is there because although Abomasnow will now outspeed many common threats anything at 115 Base Speed or above will either have the same speed as you, or be faster than you. While Ice Shard may seem strange on a Pokemon with a Choice Scarf, it is still a great choice, as Abomasnow often fails to outspeed Pokemon with base 115 Speed or above. Ice Beam is mainly used for when the weather is not Hail as Blizzard is horribly inconsistent with its 70 accuracy. Like the first set, Ice Beam can be used as well, providing a more reliable Ice STAB if Hail is not up. Light Screen may seem out of place too but with the huge amount of special attackers Light Screen is a good move, especially when Abomasnow did a lot of switching and is about to be KOd. Light Screen may seem out of place as well, but it works fairly well due to the large number of special attackers in VGC. Sheer Cold is a complete desperation move and can prove to be either incredibly helpful or a complete waste, when Abomasnow can not defeat something normally it normally comes down to Blizzard spam for the freeze or switch, Sheer Cold gives you another option that is better than getting a freeze and has three times the likelihood. Sheer Cold is a complete desperation move that can prove to be incredibly helpful when Abomasnow cannot hope to defeat its opponents; while it has rather low accuracy, it is more reliable than using Blizzard and hoping for a freeze.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>Choice Scarf Abomasnow's worst nightmare is when it is locked into Blizzard when the weather is anything other than Hail. As such it is best to bring in Abomasnow when your opponent is not making a switch and when they do not have another weather user in the back of their team. Choice Scarf Abomasnow's worst nightmare is being locked into Blizzard under a weather that is not hail. As such, it is best to bring Abomasnow in when your opponent is not switching and no longer has a weather summoner, such as Tyranitar, alive.</p>

<p>Choice Scarf Abomasnow makes great use of Helping Hand to defeat the multitude of Dragon, Ground and even Flying types with Blizzard, the best ally with Helping Hand for this Abomasnow is a Terrakion which also helps beat Tyranitar and Ninetales which allows Abomasnow to wreak havoc more easily. Helping Hand is a great boon for Abomasnow, who can make great use of it to defeat the multitude of Dragon-, Ground-, and Flying-types with Blizzard. The best teammate that can use Helping Hand is Terrakion, who easily defeats both Tyranitar and Ninetales, allowing Abomasnow to wreak havoc more easily. Another ally that can work wonders with Abomasnow is Garchomp as it benefits from the lack of Dragons and helps beat Sand and Sun which give Abomasnow some trouble and Abomasnow also is resistant to Earthquake; other Dragon and Ground types also function as good teammates. Pokemon that eliminate other weather are also excellent teammates to pair up with Abomasnow. Because Abomasnow defeats Dragon-type Pokemon with ease, Garchomp is a very good choice; it defeats Pokemon commonly seen on sand and sun teams that give Abomasnow trouble, and it can use Earthquake to deal heavy damage to its opponents while not damaging Abomasnow too much. Other Dragon- and Ground-type Pokemon also function as great teammates.</p>

[Other Options]

<p>Abomasnow gets to use Hidden Power Fire to defeat Pokemon such as Scizor and Metagross and is a useful move generally speaking. Abomasnow can use Hidden Power Fire, a generally useful move, to deal heavy damage to Pokemon who resist its STAB moves, such as Scizor and Metagross. Abomasnow also can use Wood Hammer with a Quiet, Mild or Naive nature as this lets it beat special walls such as the fluffy Blissey. Abomasnow can also use Wood Hammer in tandem with a Quiet, Mild, or Naive nature, allowing it to destroy special walls such as Blissey; however, one must be wary of the recoil that Wood Hammer causes. Earthquake is another viable move with nearly the same circumstances as Wood Hammer, but Earthquake allows you to nail things such as Ninetails decently. Earthquake is a viable move as well and is to be used under the same circumstances as Wood Hammer; one advantage of using Earthquake over Wood Hammer, though, is the fact that it can nail Ninetales for decent damage. Sometimes something else may use Focus Sash and when this happens you can use Occa Berry or Chople Berry to survive weak super effective attacks that you will never survive after taking any extra damage from weak priority moves or Hail. If another Pokemon on your team is already using a Focus Sash, then giving Abomasnow an Occa or Chople Berry can allow it to survive some super effective attacks that would otherwise KO it.</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>The main ways to beat Abomasnow is to first change the weather, with 70 accuracy Blizzard Abomasnow suddenly becomes a lot less threatening. The best way to beat Abomasnow is to change the weather, as a less accurate Blizzard makes it a lot less threatening. Steel types like Metagross and Scizor will beat it all the time, especially if one uses Occa Berry on them. Steel-type Pokemon, such as Metagross and Scizor, are almost guaranteed to beat Abomasnow, especially if they hold an Occa Berry, hampering Hidden Power Fire's damage. Tyranitar is a good counter if one switches it in as a Tyranitar will normally outpace Abomasnow and can drop super effective Rock Slides as you can also break Abomasnow's Focus Sash with your Sandstorm. Tyranitar is an excellent counter, especially since it can usually outpace Abomasnow; switching Tyranitar into Abomasnow then using Rock Slide will completely decimate it, as sandstorm will have broken its Focus Sash. Finally Fire types easily fire off Heat Waves, Ninetails is the best example of this which can both ruin Abomasnow's accuracy and resists all of Abomasnow's STAB attacks. Finally, Fire-types that can fire off Heat Waves utterly destroy Abomasnow; one example of this is Ninetales, who ruins Blizzard's accuracy with Drought, resists Abomasnow's STAB attacks, and easily KOes it with any Fire-type move.</p>

[Dream World]

<p>Abomasnow's Dream World Ability Soundproof is useless compared to its main ability Snow Warning and should not be considered unless you feel like running a Perish Song team. Abomasnow's Dream World ability, Soundproof, is completely useless when compared to Snow Warning. It should not be used unless you feel like running a Perish Song team.</p>

NOT DONE YET

done x_x you tend to ramble on a bit sometimes, so make sure you use periods and punctuation more?

 

[RitterCat]

GP 1/2

 

[Human]

amateur check placeholder (thanks Zystral)


NOT DONE YET

done x_x you tend to ramble on a bit sometimes, so make sure you use periods and punctuation more?

Thank you, I'll implement the changes later today (a bit late right now HAPPY NEW YEAR!), this is my first analysis so I don't know how most things should be worded on Smogon analyses, just typing up what I thought were the important details and tried to explain as best I can the reasoning behind them and because it was my first analysis thought more is better.

 

[Solace]

okay, i've talked to some of the other c&c mods and i'm going to be working on fixing up some of the writing in this analysis because with that many gp changes it's a bit of an issue

 

[Human]

okay, i've talked to some of the other c&c mods and i'm going to be working on fixing up some of the writing in this analysis because with that many gp changes it's a bit of an issue

No problem.

EDIT: Looking over his changes in depth this time around I see that he basically put everything in Red then used the same words in the same order so he just copy pasted and directly made the changes there. This makes it look like there are A LOT more changes than there actually are.

 

[iss]

Okay I've rewritten everything. This is ready for GP now.

 

[sirndpt]

[Overview]

<p>In every year of VGC so far, Abomasnow has been an excellent Pokemon. With its unique ability, Snow Warning, it is able to shut down most weather strategies, which nullifies a huge threat several threatening playstyles optional in the metagame. In addition, hail allows Abomasnow to use an extremely powerful STAB Blizzard that hits both opponents. Although Abomasnow may not have the greatest defensive typing or stats in the metagame, its excellent ability combined with its powerful moves makes it an effective choice on most teams.</p>

[SET]
name: Bulky Attacker
move 1: Blizzard
move 2: Giga Drain / Grass Knot
move 3: Ice Shard / Ice Beam
move 4: Protect
item: Focus Sash
ability: Snow Warning
nature: Quiet
evs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
ivs: 0 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>With this set, Abomasnow can abuse its most redeeming best / most useful quality in Snow Warning while dishing out large amounts of damage to many Pokemon in the metagame. Blizzard is an amazing move, hitting both opponents. In addition, it hits common Pokemon such as Zapdos and Garchomp for super effective damage. Giga Drain is a secondary STAB attack, hitting Water-types that resist Blizzard super effectively. Grass Knot can be used to hit heavy Pokemon perhaps mention ", such as...," harder, but Abomasnow will miss the healing from Giga Drain. Although Abomasnow invests no EVs into Attack, Ice Shard is still an excellent STAB priority attack and can finish off weakened Pokemon, (especially along with damage from hail) , as well as do a reasonable amount of damage to Pokemon that it hits super effectively. Ice Beam is an option if you are concerned about the weather changing after Abomasnow has been sent out, and also hits a single opponent harder than Blizzard due to the power drop when multiple Pokemon are targeted. Protect is a standard move on many Pokemon in the metagame, and Abomasnow is no exception&mdash;not only does it allow Abomasnow to avoid Fake Out, it also can allow Abomasnow to preserve its Focus Sash for an extra turn or add extra residual damage via hail.</p>


[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>A Quiet nature and 0 Speed IVs gives Abomasnow a better chance of getting hail up on a double switch or at the beginning of the battle. The EVs maximize Abomasnow's Special Attack, as it is somewhat mediocre; the rest of the EVs go into HP, as Abomasnow does not want Speed. If being faster than opposing Abomasnow is a more important priority than getting hail up, an alternate EV spread of 156 HP / 252 SpA / 100 Spe with a Modest nature can be used who does this outspeed?. If you still want to be faster than opposing Abomasnow while not giving up too much weather control, Abomasnow can run 2 Speed IVs to outspeed standard Abomasnow. Focus Sash allows Abomasnow to survive nearly any hit. Even though this set uses HP EVs, Abomasnow is still extremely frail; Focus Sash alleviates this to some degree.</p>

<p>Since this Abomasnow is quite slow, it works well in Trick Room. Cresselia is an excellent partner for this reason&mdash;not only can it use Trick Room, it can also use Helping Hand to strengthen the power of Abomasnow's Blizzard, as well as use Psychic to weaken pesky Fighting-types that would otherwise easily OHKO Abomasnow. Fire- and Steel-types wall every one of Abomasnow's moves. A Water- or Ground-type such as Rotom-W can help to take out these Pokemon.</p>

[SET]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Blizzard
move 2: Giga Drain / Grass Knot
move 3: Ice Shard
move 4: Sheer Cold / Light Screen
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Snow Warning
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>With a Choice Scarf, Abomasnow can overcome its mediocre Speed in order to spam its powerful STAB Blizzard. Since Blizzard is such a good offensive move, hitting both opponents, most of the time Abomasnow should be using Blizzard it should be Abomasnow's main move / go-to move. Giga Drain allows Abomasnow to take out Water-types that resist Blizzard, as well as Tyranitar, who may switch in to prevent consistent usage of Blizzard. Grass Knot, although despite hitting Rotom-W for only a measly 20 Base Power, does a huge amount of damage to Tyranitar. Although it may seem strange to use it on a Choice Scarf set, Ice Shard is used since Abomasnow is not extremely fast even after the Choice Scarf boost. Sheer Cold is a desperation move, and should only be used when Abomasnow would otherwise have to freeze the opponent with Blizzard to win. Since Sheer Cold's 30% accuracy is still higher than Blizzard's 10% chance to freeze, it can be helpful to increase your chances of winning in certain circumstances. Light Screen, while unorthodox, can allow Abomasnow's teammates to survive important attacks. It should only be used if it is vital that a teammate survives or if both opponents resist all of Abomasnow's moves.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>The EVs and nature maximize Abomasnow's Speed in order to take advantage of the Choice Scarf boost. The rest of the EVs go into Special Attack so Abomasnow can deal as much damage as possible with Blizzard.</p>

<p>Helping Hand helps the Choice Scarf set much more, as Abomasnow will usually be able to use Blizzard with the Choice Scarf speed boost. Terrakion, while usually not seen running Helping Hand, is a great partner for Abomasnow as it can defeat Tyranitar and Ninetales without much trouble&mdash;two Pokemon that prevent Abomasnow from using Blizzard. Garchomp also works well with Abomasnow, as it enjoys the lack of Flying-types created by Blizzard in order to use Earthquake more effectively; Abomasnow even resists Earthquake.</p>

[Other Options]

<p>Hidden Power Fire is an option on the Choice Scarf set in order to hit Steel-types, such as Scizor or and Metagross, super effectively. However, it lowers Abomasnow's Speed IV to 30, which can be terrible for Abomasnow in a mirror match. Wood Hammer can be used over Abomasnow's Grass-type move of choice, as it hits certain Pokemon such as Blissey much harder. Earthquake is another option to hit Steel- and Fire-types super effectively, but usually will not hit hard enough off of Abomasnow's uninvested Attack stat. Due to Item Clause, there may be instances where Abomasnow is unable to use Focus Sash. If this is the case, Occa Berry and Chople Berry are options to allow Abomasnow to survive some weaker super effective moves.</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>Changing the weather will significantly nerf Abomasnow's main attack, Blizzard. Ninetales and Tyranitar are the best options, as they resist both of Abomasnow's STAB attacks and can hit it super effectively with STAB attacks of their own. Tyranitar needs to watch out for Grass Knot while switching in, however. Scizor or and Metagross can take any of Abomasnow's attacks (except Hidden Power Fire) and take it out with Bullet Punch or Meteor Mash, respectively. Occa Berry is also helpful to be able to survive Hidden Power Fire. Hitmontop can use a combination of Close Combat and Sucker Punch to defeat Abomasnow. Abomasnow is extremely frail, and nearly any super effective attack will either OHKO it or bring it down to its Focus Sash.</p>

[Dream World]

<p>Abomasnow gets Soundproof from the Dream World. While it can allow you to use Abomasnow without having your team damaged by hail, as well as being and render Abomasnow immune to Bug Buzz, compared to Snow Warning it is practically useless.</p>

 

[iss]

sirndpt the demanding gp checker 9.9

Implemented.

 

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[Overview]

<p>In every year of VGC so far, Abomasnow has been an excellent Pokemon. With its unique ability, Snow Warning, it is able to shut down most weather strategies, which nullifies several threatening playstyles in the metagame. In addition, hail allows Abomasnow to use an extremely powerful STAB Blizzard that hits both opponents. Although Abomasnow may not have the greatest defensive typing or stats in the metagame, its excellent ability combined with its powerful moves makes it an effective choice Pokemon on most teams.</p>

[SET]
name: Bulky Attacker
move 1: Blizzard
move 2: Giga Drain / Grass Knot
move 3: Ice Shard / Ice Beam
move 4: Protect
item: Focus Sash
ability: Snow Warning
nature: Quiet
evs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
ivs: 0 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>With this set, Abomasnow can abuse its most useful quality in Snow Warning while dishing out large amounts of damage to many Pokemon in the metagame. Blizzard is an amazing move, hitting both opponents. In addition, it hits common Pokemon such as Zapdos and Garchomp for super effective damage. Giga Drain is a secondary STAB attack, hitting Water-types that , (comma) who resist Blizzard , (comma) super effectively. Grass Knot can be used to hit heavy Pokemon such as Tyranitar harder, but Abomasnow will miss the healing from provided by Giga Drain. Although this Abomasnow invests has no EVs into Attack, Ice Shard is still an excellent STAB priority attack and can finish off weakened Pokemon, especially along with damage from hail, as well as with added damage from hail; (semicolon) it can also do a reasonable amount of damage to Pokemon that it hits super effectively. Ice Beam is an option if you are concerned about the weather changing after Abomasnow has been sent out, and also hits a single opponent harder than Blizzard due to the power drop caused when multiple Pokemon are targeted. Protect is a standard move on many Pokemon in the metagame, and Abomasnow is no exception&mdash ; (semicolon) not only does it allow Abomasnow to avoid Fake Out, but it also can allows Abomasnow to preserve its Focus Sash for an extra turn or and add extra residual damage via hail.</p>


[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>A Quiet nature and 0 Speed IVs give Abomasnow a better chance of getting hail up on a double switch or at the beginning of the battle. The EVs maximize Abomasnow's Special Attack, as it is somewhat mediocre; the rest of the EVs go into HP, as Abomasnow does not want Speed. If being faster than opposing Abomasnow is a more important priority than getting hail up, an alternative EV spread of 156 HP / 252 SpA / 100 Spe with a Modest nature can be used. If you still want to be faster than opposing Abomasnow while not giving up too much weather control, Abomasnow can run 2 Speed IVs to outspeed standard Abomasnow. Focus Sash allows Abomasnow to survive nearly any hit. Even though this set uses HP EVs, Abomasnow is still extremely frail; Focus Sash alleviates this to some degree, (comma) however.</p>

<p>Since this Abomasnow is quite slow, it works well in Trick Room. Cresselia is an excellent partner for this reason&mdash; not only can it use set up Trick Room, but it can also use Helping Hand to strengthen the power of Abomasnow's Blizzard, (comma) as well as use and Psychic to weaken pesky Fighting-types that would otherwise easily OHKO Abomasnow. Fire- and Steel-types wall every one of Abomasnow's moves. (period) A Water- , (comma) so a Water-type, such as Rotom-W, or a Ground-type such as Rotom-W can can be a good partner to help to take out these Pokemon.</p>

[SET]
name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Blizzard
move 2: Giga Drain / Grass Knot
move 3: Ice Shard
move 4: Sheer Cold / Light Screen
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Snow Warning
nature: Timid
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]

<p>With a Choice Scarf, Abomasnow can overcome its mediocre Speed in order to spam its powerful STAB Blizzard. Since Blizzard is such a good offensive move, hitting both opponents, it should be Abomasnow's main move. Giga Drain allows Abomasnow to take out Water-types that resist Blizzard, as well as Tyranitar, who may switch in to prevent consistent usage of Blizzard. Grass Knot, despite hitting Rotom-W for only a measly 20 Base Power, does a huge amount of damage to Tyranitar. Although it may seem strange to use it on a Choice Scarf set, Ice Shard is used since Abomasnow is not extremely fast even after the Choice Scarf boost. Sheer Cold is a desperation move, and should only be used when Abomasnow would otherwise have to freeze the opponent with Blizzard to win. Since Sheer Cold's 30% accuracy is still higher than Blizzard's 10% chance to freeze, it can increase your chances of winning in certain circumstances. Light Screen, while unorthodox, can allow Abomasnow's teammates to survive important attacks. It should only be used if it is vital that a teammate survives or if both opponents resist all of Abomasnow's other moves.</p>

[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]

<p>The EVs and nature maximize Abomasnow's Speed in order to take advantage of the Choice Scarf boost. The rest of the EVs go into Special Attack so Abomasnow can deal as much damage as possible with Blizzard.</p>

<p>Helping Hand helps the Choice Scarf set much more, as Abomasnow will usually be able to use Blizzard with the Choice Scarf sSpeed boost. Terrakion, while usually not seen running Helping Hand, is a great partner for Abomasnow, (comma) as it can defeat Tyranitar and Ninetales without much trouble&mdash ; (semicolon) two Pokemon that prevent Abomasnow from using Blizzard. Garchomp also works well with Abomasnow, as it enjoys the lack of Flying-types created by Blizzard in order to use Earthquake more effectively; this strategy becomes even more effective since Abomasnow even resists Earthquake.</p>

[Other Options]

<p>Hidden Power Fire is an option on the Choice Scarf set in order to hit Steel-types, such as Scizor and Metagross, super effectively. However, it lowers Abomasnow's Speed IV to 30, which can be terrible for Abomasnow in a mirror match. Wood Hammer can be used over Abomasnow's Grass-type move of choice, as it hits certain Pokemon such as Blissey much harder. Earthquake is another option to hit Steel- and Fire-types super effectively, but usually will not hit hard enough off of Abomasnow's uninvested Attack stat. Due to Item Clause, there may be instances where Abomasnow is unable to use Focus Sash. If this is the case, Occa Berry and Chople Berry are options to allow Abomasnow to survive some weaker super effective moves.</p>

[Checks and Counters]

<p>Changing the weather will significantly nerf Abomasnow's main attack, (comma): (colon) Blizzard. Ninetales and Tyranitar are the best options, as they resist both of Abomasnow's STAB attacks and can hit it super effectively with STAB attacks of their own. Tyranitar needs to watch out for Grass Knot while switching in, however. Scizor and Metagross can take any of Abomasnow's attacks (except Hidden Power Fire) and take it out with Bullet Punch or and Meteor Mash, respectively. Occa Berry is also helpful to be able to since it lets Abomasnow survive Hidden Power Fire. Hitmontop can also cause problems for Abomasnow, (comma) being able to use a combination of Close Combat and Sucker Punch to defeat Abomasnow it. Abomasnow is extremely frail, and nearly any super effective attack will either OHKO it or bring it down to its Focus Sash.</p>

[Dream World]

<p>Abomasnow gets Soundproof from the Dream World. While it can allow you to use Abomasnow without having your team damaged by hail, and render Abomasnow immune to Bug Buzz, compared to Snow Warning it is practically useless.</p>

GP Approved 2/2

 

[iss]

Thanks ShakeItUp! This is done.

 

[Solace]

uploaded!