Abominable Abomasnow
Why Abomasnow? Why Hail?
You likely know about the 2 most common weather setters already, Politoed and Tyranitar. They each run their own different sets and spreads that really complement the teams built around them. I’m going to go in-depth here about one particular weather setter: Abomasnow. Abomasnow has some great offensive presence, with strong STAB Blizzards hitting at 100% accuracy when it hits the field, but with the number of weaknesses it sports, you can only do so much before needing to switch Abomasnow out or have it faint. So why choose something that has that many weaknesses in such an offensive metagame? In one word: Hail. Hail is the best disruptive weather dealing residual damage to everything not Ice-type. Unlike in Sandstorm, even Steel, Rock, and Ground Pokémon take damage. It takes away the boosts granted to Water attacks in Rain, and it removes the 50% defense boosts granted to Rock types in Sandstorm!
Common Abomasnow Sets
Abomasnow @ Focus Sash
EVs: 140 HP / 116 Atk / 252 SAtk
Quiet Nature (+SAtk, -Spd)
– Blizzard
– Giga Drain
– Protect
– Ice Shard
This Abomasnow set you’ll find on Cassie’s Nationals team is probably the most standard Abomasnow set, albeit different spreads. The investment in attack and special attack allow it to hit hard with both Blizzard and Ice Shard. A more detailed description can be read in the aforementioned article. Focus sash ensures that you can switch in on a big hit such as a Gem boosted Draco Meteor from Latios, make sure Hail gets up, and even come back the next turn with an Ice Shard; or survive that incoming Rock Slide from a Landorus-T just to hit him back hard with a STAB Blizzard.
ScarfSnow @ Choice Scarf
Modest (+SpA, -Attk) [Timid (+Spe, -Attk)]
EVs: 252 SpA / 184 Spe / 72 Def
– Blizzard
– Hidden Power Ground / Fire
– Giga Drain
– Ice Shard
Having a Choice Scarf on Abomasnow eliminates the threat of dragons almost entirely. With this spread, you will always move faster than any dragon without a speed boost. Hidden Power Ground nukes one of Abomasnow’s chief counters — Heatran — in just one hit as well as offensive variants of Chandelure. It also holds its own against other common threats such as Metagross, Tyranitar, and Terrakion. Scarf Abomasnow lets you get off Blizzards against Thundurus, a huge force in the current metagame, giving you the upper hand quickly. Another option is Hidden Power Fire, which hits threats that would outspeed a non-Scarfed Abomasnow such as Scizor (barring Occa Berry), and opposing Abomasnow. Either Hidden Power can also 2HKO Metagross. The 72 EVs in Defense allow you to survive a Rock Slide from Excadrill, Tyranitar, Conkeldurr, and always survive a Bullet Punch from Scizor and Metagross, giving you enough HP left to get rid of them with Hidden Power Fire.
Special Attacker @ Ice Gem
Quiet (+SpA, -Spe)
EVs: 76 Atk / 180 Def / 252 SpA
– Blizzard
– Giga Drain
– Ice Shard
– Protect
This is the most recent set I’ve been using on Abomasnow and I would say one of my favorite sets I’ve ever used on it. Ice Gem Blizzard wrecks so much havoc, and it even deals quite a bit of damage to those steel types that resist it. A Quiet nature allows this Abomasnow to be fully utilized under Trick Room and the attack EVs let Ice Shard to deal more damage with quick priority. The Defense EVs lets it survive Rock Slides and Bullet Punches as well. This is probably the most overall offensive Abomasnow out there in the metagame now, with Ice Gem only making its Ice attacks that much more powerful.
Uncommon Abomasnow Sets
Physical Weather Setter @Grass Gem
Quiet (+SpA, -Spe)
EVs: 132 Atk / 252 SpA / 124 Def
– Wood Hammer
– Blizzard
– Ice Shard
– Protect
You can think of this set as a sort of “Brute Force” weather setting. It was designed with the purporse of one thing: Take out Tyranitar and ensure that Hail wins the weather war. Wood Hammer deals a good deal of damage, and Grass Gem doesn’t make your opponent your friend. This set OHKOs defensive variants of Tyranitar. The defense investment lets you survive a max attack Rock Slide and even a Low Kick from Tyranitar (which will have 100BP against Abomasnow) won’t OHKO. Politoed and other water types don’t have a fighting chance against this set. Rotom-W, even the more bulky support orientated ones, still have trouble dealing with this guy. Against Ray’s Hydreigon, and every standard Latios set ever, Blizzard is still nothing to scoff at. The physical Wood Hammer is this set’s ace in the hole, giving you a leg up on Tyranitar’s who think they can take a Giga Drain with their special defense.
Support Weather @ Leftovers / Focus Sash
Calm (+SpD, -Attk)
EVs: 252 HP / 220 Def / 36 SpD
– Protect
– Leech Seed
– Subsitute
– Blizzard
A defensive set such as this isn’t really as common, but they are there. There really isn’t much power behind this Abomasnow, but it will sit there behind a Substitute and keep recuperating with Leech Seed while keeping the weather changed to Hail. The EVs are maximized for bulk, and Leftovers plus Leech Seed really put you back in the fight so you can fire off Blizzards while you sit behind your sub. Sets like these require a lot of work to play with, and support to help keep on the field, but it can also get shut down pretty quickly.
Great Partners
Abomasnow has a mountain of weakness, but also works very well in numerous situations with the right partners. One of my favorite combos are Abomasnow and Heatran. With Heatran’s Flash Fire, your opponent will think twice about firing off that Heat Wave. Abomasnow also shrugs off Heatran’s main weakness to Earthquake and turns the tables on Garchomp, the #1 user of the move in the format. Chandelure works just as well in this slot, even bringing 2 immunites to the table and sporting a huge Special Attack. Chandelure compliments Abomasnow very well, as seen in Mathias’ Winter Battle team.
Gastrodon, especially an offensive variant, also help scare away a lot of threats to Abomasnow. Gastrodon is an immediate threat to any fire types on the field and doesn’t mind Tyranitar either with its immunity to sand. Another good partner that I would like to note here would be Suicune. After Suicune gets in a calm mind or two, it can scare away a good deal of Abomasnow’s threats, checking big threats such as Terrakion, fast speedy Dragon-types, and even Excadrill. Suicune also learns Blizzard which is nothing to scoff at!
Intimidate works wonders coupled with Abomasnow because most of its non-fire weaknesses are commonly used by physical attackers. Hitmontop, Scrafty, and Landorus-T are the best at providing that Intimidate support and play well with Abomasnow. Together they put a lot of offensive pressure on the opponent that can force punishable switches. These Intimidate users also check a lot of Abomasnow’s weaknesses — hitting hard against Tyranitar, Metagross, Excadrill, and Terrakion with Earthquake, Close Combat, and Drain Punch. Scrafty adds to your coverage with Crunch and the immunity to Psychic while Hitmontop plays a more supportive role, allowing your Abomasnow to hit harder with Helping Hand. Stone Edge helps you get rid of those pesky Fire and Flying types as well. Even Staraptor works well here, with Brave Bird hitting everything hard and Final Gambit taking out specific threats. These are only a handful of the Pokémon who work well with Abomasnow! There are plenty more Pokémon that jive with the snow yeti; you just have to find what works for you!
Closing Comments
I didn’t talk about it here as there’s a great in-depth article about this already, but Abomasnow is also a really good Trick Room attacker, reaching a low speed of 58. Under Trick Room, this allows it ample time to get a Blizzard off or a key Giga Drain that can put you back in the battle. Even though Abomasnow isn’t the most versatile pokemon, it does bring a lot to the table, and isn’t a Pokemon to be overlooked. I know throughout this article I mentioned a lot of weather — especially Tyranitar — a lot, but Abomasnow has a lot of other utilities rather than just disrupting weather shenanigans and firing off exceptionally powerful Blizzards. With Rain being one of the most common team archetypes, Abomasnow can deal with Rain singlehandedly with its typing. Playing Abomasnow offensively can really benefit you, but it can be just as strong and threatening played more conservatively. There really is an Abomasnow set for every type of player out there, so find one that suits you and may this Hail Yeti serve you well!
Article image created by Ashley Farr for Nugget Bridge and used with permission. See more of Ashley’s artwork on tumblr.
About the Author
araluen7 has been playing Pokémon casually until January 2012, but didn't buckle down in it seriously until November. His first competition was Winter Regionals at Lake Buena Vista, and he's only looking forward in the competitive field ready to take on the next challenges.
Related Posts
New Mechanics Introduced in VGC 2016 →
VGC ’16 Pokémon Speed Tiers →
Hyper Offense Analysis – BadIntent’s Evil Thoughts →
