How To Build The Best Hail Team

Pokemon is a popular series that fans around the world enjoy recreationally or competitively with online battles. To play! Pokemon is hosting the international Pokemon Video Game Championships (VGC) and many participants meticulously plan their battle strategy and team choice. There are a few ways to build a Pokémon team, but a common method is with a Hail team.

Hail teams are made up of Pokémon, moves, or abilities that are affected when they enter the battlefield. Weather conditions can massively alter Pokemon performance, and players can take advantage of it with the right Pokemon choice. So instead of freezing, harness the power of ice in the Pokemon VGC by building the best Hail team.

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set up hail

Hail teams’ priority is to make sure they have a way to set it up. There are a few ways to foment a hailstorm. In gameplay, the actual weather in battle can cause hail. in the Pokemon VGC matches, the best method is to lead with a Pokemon that knows the Snow Warning Ability. When a Pokémon with this ability enters the field, it causes a hailstorm for 5 turns.

Some moves can also make it Hail. First, the move Hagel, simply named, brings a hailstorm for 5 turns. Alternatively, if a Dynamaxed Pokémon knows an Ice-type move, it gains access to the Max Hailstorm move, which has the same effects as Snow Warning. If the user is holding an Icy Rock, the storm lasts 8 turns instead of 5.

How does hail affect the field?

Hail in Pokemon isn’t just a hailstorm; it makes quite significant changes to Pokémon and the battlefield. Hail has the following effects:

• Unless Immune, Ice deals damage to all Pokémon on the field.
• It activates abilities.
• Changes movement statistics.
  • Allows Blizzard to bypass accuracy checks.
  • The performance of the Solar Beam and Solar Blade is halved.
• Recovery moves that use the sun only heal 1/4 HP.

How to build a Hail team core

In competitive matches, one often hears the phrase “core.” A core is the two to three most important Pokémon on a team, which develop different battle strategies. In other words, a hail team core is the muscle behind the storm. For example, Alolan Ninetales, Abomasnow, Vanilluxe, and Aurorus are all snow-warning Pokemon. Having one or two of them on a team is a good start. Using a Pokemon that can learn the Hail or Max Hailstorm moves gives you more options. Many Water-types can learn it through TM, including popular VGC picks like Gyarados and Blastoise.

Pokemon with the Slush Rush Ability should find a place on all Hail teams. Slush Rush doubles the user’s speed in a hailstorm. So even bulkier Ice-types have speed on their side when going on the offensive. Alolan Sandslash and Beartic are the best options for this ability, allowing players to put their Same Type Attack Bonus (STAB) moves to good use.

Finally, players can use Hail in more supportive roles with the Ice Body ability or the Aurora Veil attack. Ice Body restores a small amount of HP to its users at the end of each turn when it rains. Whale is the best Pokemon to use this way, and its high HP allows it to act as a defensive wall, but it still has decent STAB moves to use when it counts. Aurora Veil can only be used when it’s hailing, creating a protective wall that reduces damage from physical and special attacks for the user and their team.

Potential weaknesses of the Hail team

All good things come at a price, and deploying a Hail team is no exception. Due to the likelihood of predominantly using Ice-type Pokémon, Hail teams are vulnerable to a few different types:

Players should consider Pokémon that can help protect against Hail team weaknesses. Tapu Fini is a fantastic choice to counter Rock and Fire-types due to its Water/Fairy dual typing. While it might seem counterproductive for a Hail team, including a Fire-type is an excellent way to handle Steel. Either Infernape or Incineroar would do the job just fine, but Incineroar also has the Intimidate Ability under its belt, making it a double support Pokémon.

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