Alolan Ninetales



Type: /
Weaknesses: , , (X2) and (X4)
Resistances: , , (X0,5) and (X0)


Abilities:

Snow Cloak: Raises the Pokémon’s evasion during a hailstorm by one level.

Hidden Ability:

Snow Warning: Hailstorm blows when the Pokémon enters battle. As of X & Y, this lasts 5 turns.


Base stats: 73 HP / 67 Attack / 75 Defense / 81 Special Attack / 100 Special Defense / 109 Speed


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the sets


1. Nasty Plot



Ninetales-Alola @ Life Orb
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Blizzard
- Moonblast
- Freeze Dry/Hidden Power Fire

This set utilizes Ninetales' decent Special Attack, great Speed tier that allows it to outspeed a lot of the metagame and access to Nasty Plot, which can make it overall a very potent wallbreaker/late-game cleaner. Ice/Fairy is a very nice STAB combination, with the only good switch-in for those being Steel types and, to an extent, bulky Water types. Another great thing Ninetales has going for it is the access to the very dangerous combination of Snow Warning + Blizzard, which provides a 100% accurate move with 110 base power. Overall, this set is pretty easy to use/understand. Nasty Plot is used to raise Ninetales' Special Attack, which goes from decent to great after a boost, while Blizzard, being the strongest Ice type move in the game and having 100% accuracy because of the hail, and Moonblast, a fairly powerful Fairy type move, are its two main STAB moves. Both of these moves are very powerful, and the few things that can check/counter them can be dealt with with the last move. The last move really depends on your team and what it needs: Freeze Dry allows it to break through bulky Water types, such as Tentacruel and Toxapex, while also being an all-around decent STAB move that can be used outside of Hail if you don't want to miss. Hidden Power Fire, however, is mostly used to break through Steel types, such as (Mega) Scizor, Skarmory and Celesteela. The EVs ensure that it outspeeds as much as possible while being fairly powerful. When using this set, you should try to set up Nasty Plot(s) only during mid to late game for a few reasons: first, since Ninetales doesn't have a particularly outstanding Special Attack stat, it appreciates having the opposing team weakened, or else it will struggle to find KOs. Second, most of the time when trying to set up too early in the game, the Pokémon's counters/checks will still be decently healthy, so the Pokémon will most likely get stopped in its tracks and KOed.

calcs:

Offensive:



Defensive:



2. Encore + 3 Attacks



Ninetales-Alola @ Life Orb
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Encore
- Blizzard
- Moonblast
- Freeze Dry/Hidden Power Fire

This set is very similar to the first one, but Nasty Plot is replaced by Encore, which can be useful to lock Pokémon into moves like Swords Dance/other set up moves, Stealth Rock/hazards in general, etc. While it is definitely not as powerful as the Nasty Plot set, it still has decent offensive presence while providing utility with Encore. For the moves, Encore provides utility by locking opposing Pokémon in a single move, while Blizzard, being the strongest Ice type move in the game and having 100% accuracy because of the hail, and Moonblast, a fairly powerful Fairy type move, are its two main STAB moves. Both of these moves are very powerful, and the few things that can check/counter them can be dealt with with the last move. The last move really depends on your team and what it needs: Freeze Dry allows it to break through bulky Water types, such as Tentacruel and Toxapex, while also being an all-around decent STAB move that can be used outside of Hail if you don't want to miss. Hidden Power Fire, however, is mostly used to break through Steel types, such as (Mega) Scizor, Skarmory and Celesteela. The EVs ensure that it outspeeds as much as possible while being fairly powerful. This set should be used to allow a partner to set up on an Encore'd Pokémon and to weaken the opposing team to allow a partner to clean up.

calcs:

Offensive:


Defensive:



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good partners


Steel Type Checks/Counters: Steel is Ninetales' biggest weakness, and having a Steel check on your team is mandatory on a team with Alolan Ninetales.

Rock/Fire/Poison Checks/Counters: Ninetales is also weak to those typings, so having partners to cover those weaknesses is always nice.

Hail Abusers: Hail abusers, such as Slush Rush Sandslash/Beartic, appreciate the Hail provided by Ninetales.

Hazards Setters: Ninetales appreciate hazard support to have an easier time KOing stuff since it doesn't have that high of a Special Attack stat, so chip damage can be crucial (as shown by the calcs).

Hazard Removal: Ninetales gets worn down easily by hazards, so Pokémon that can remove those are appreciated.

Garchomp: Garchomp deserves a special mention in my opinion since it checks all typings that annoy Ninetales while being able to set up Stealth Rock. They can also form, with a Steel type, a Dragon/Fairy/Steel core, which is known for its incredible synergy.


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threats


Rock, Fire, Poison and Steel types: Ninetales is weak against those typings, so be careful around those.

Strong, Fast Attackers: While Ninetales is pretty fast, it is also fairly frail, so strong, faster attackers can outspeed it and then KO it fairly easily.

Strong Priority: Ninetales is pretty frail, so strong priority can pick it off easily.

Special Walls: Special walls can give Ninetales a hard time since they are invested to take on special attackers (duuh).

Hazards: With the Life Orb recoil, Ninetales already gets worn down quite a bit, so hazards put it in a very bad situation by limiting how many times it can switch in, especially Stealth Rock since it's weak to it.

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