All Hail the Hypno… Seismitoad: An International Challenge Team Analysis

Hi and welcome to this team’s analysis. I played with this team in the International Challenge after using it in Winter Cup. I thought it did quite okay, so I figured I could shake the dust off and give it another whirl. Originally this was a VGC ’11 team designed for the VGC ’11 tournament held here on Nugget Bridge. I couldn’t leave Abomasnow out of the fray though, so I had to take one of the members out in favor of one of my favorite Pokémon. I ended up doing fairly well during the Winter Cup and slightly worse in the International Challenge, but I think you will all enjoy the team regardless.

The Team

Abomasnow (M) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Snow Warning
EVs: 252 HP / 6 Def / 252 SAtk
Quiet Nature (+SAtk, -Spe)
– Blizzard
– Giga Drain
– Hidden Power [Fire]
– Protect

Those who read my Nugget Bridge Major team analysis know why I love Abomasnow. It can function inside Trick Room and gets hail up most of the time (barring Iron Ball/Lagging Tail Politoed or Tyranitar). Abomasnow’s move set needs little explanation. Blizzard is the primary attacking move for obvious reasons: it hits both foes, deals a good chunk of damage to everything that does not resist it, and it has a small chance to freeze (10%). Giga Drain helps to replenish health should Abomasnow need it. It also takes care of some pesky Water-types not called Ludicolo or Tentacruel. I prefer to use Hidden Power Fire over Ice Shard to get the jump on Scizor and Ferrothorn which would otherwise wall Abomasnow. Abomasnow has been very useful to me and will continue to be; I don’t think I’ll ever be able to properly replace Abomasnow because having an Ice-type is never a wrong decision in my opinion. Ice-types may suffer from many common weaknesses, but it is a type not resisted by many common threats, and getting STAB on those attacks helps compensate for the type’s defensive shortcomings.

Seismitoad (F) @ Rindo Berry
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 96 HP/ 252 SAtk / 110 SDef / 52 Spe
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
– Muddy Water
– Earth Power
– Icy Wind
– Protect

Aaaah, Seismitoad. Seismitoad was my MVP in a lot of battles. Seismitoad is a bit like Gastrodon, but not quite. It has about the same bulk as Gastrodon, but trades some attacking power for a bit more speed. It also unfortunately does not get access to Recover. What it does get though, is surprise factor. A lot of my opponents did not know that Seismitoad’s Dream World ability is Water Absorb, netting it a useful immunity and a lot of unaware people healing it on occasion. Black and White 2 has been kind to Seismitoad, giving it Icy Wind via Move Tutor, whereas before it could not learn any Ice-type moves. Icy Wind also provides a means of speed control, which is always handy to have. The EV spread is not optimal, as it originally was only made for the VGC ’11 tournament, but it allows it to outspeed neutral 0 speed Chandelure by a point and cripple it. Rindo Berry soothes the damage from Grass-type attacks, as Seismitoad does not like taking those. The HP and SDef EVs were a mix to maximize the damage reduction, although these might be revised for future tournaments so Seismitoad can take more hits. Earth Power and Muddy Water speak for themselves as STAB moves, with Muddy Water only hitting opponents instead of having to use Surf with Protect. I could also have opted for Grass Knot instead of Icy Wind, but the speed control is what made me decide in Icy Wind’s favor. All in all I think Seismitoad is an underrated Pokémon that should really be receiving more attention then it is getting. Definitely a great Pokémon that I won’t hesitate to use again in future tournaments.

Mienshao (F) @ Flying Gem
Trait: Inner Focus
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature (+Spe, -SAtk)
– Acrobatics
– Drain Punch
– Fake Out
– Wide Guard

Mienshao is still a Pokémon I really like one I prefer over the likes of Scrafty and Hitmontop. Mienshao can take out Fighting-types with Acrobatics while providing Wide Guard and Fake Out support in addition to never flinching. Mienshao is still as frail as ever, but what it lacks in defense it makes up for in offense. People might recognize this Mienshao from my NB Major team as well. Flying Gem Acrobatics is just way too useful with all of the Fighting-types around, mostly OHKOing them and otherwise being very useful. I chose Drain Punch over Hi Jump Kick because I prefer to gain health rather than lose it on a mispredict. Fake Out and Wide Guard also speak for themselves. Protect is something I considered running over Wide Guard to ease prediction a bit and let Mienshao live for another day, but I decided that having spread move protection was a lot more useful.

Thundurus (M) @ Ice Gem
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 252 SAtk / 76 SDef / 182 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
– Thunderbolt
– Hidden Power [Ice]
– Thunder Wave
– Taunt

One would expect a bulky Thundurus, but I opted to go for a bit more offensive one, mainly to get rid of pesky Therian Genies. The EV spread is hardly optimized but this was made to outspeed positive max Speed non-scarfed Therian Genies, and either hit them hard or OHKO them with Hidden Power Ice. An added advantage is that due to having more speed, Prankster Taunts and Thunder Waves would usually go first. Surprise factor plays a lot with how this is played, as many people expect a normal bulky Thundurus when playing around with it. One might also say this doesn’t work, but it has worked for me on multiple occasions and helped me shut down other Thundurus as well as a multitude of other Pokémon who would otherwise be a pain to deal with. The only downside to this is that Thundurus cannot tank as well as its slower and bulkier brethren, but one has to make sacrifices in one way or the other, no? As this was my own EV spread, I do think I’ll be able to do better eventually, but I like how this Thundurus turned out and helped me get some vital wins during both the Winter Cup and the International Challenge.

Chandelure (M) @ Fire Gem
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 6 SDef
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
– Heat Wave
– Shadow Ball
– Energy Ball
– Protect

Another Pokémon that has seen usage by me in the NB Major, Chandelure still does all the things it did before. I kept the same attacking moves for coverage purposes. Heat Wave and Shadow Ball are there as obligatory STAB moves with Energy Ball there for the pesky Water-types — Gastrodon as a prime target. This Chandelure also works OK during Trick Room, being somewhere in the middle of speed tiers. Although Chandelure was picked less frequently due to many sand teams I faced during the International Challenge and Winter Cup, it still netted a lot of KOs.

Hydreigon (F) @ Dragon Gem
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 52 HP / 252 SAtk / 204 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
– Draco Meteor
– Dark Pulse
– Flamethrower
– Protect

This speedcreeping Raydreigon is probably the least used member of the whole team. Unfortunately I did not see much of the expected Hydreigon with Ray Rizzo’s world champion spread it fainted to a lot of things that were inevitably faster then it was. This does not make Hydreigon a bad Pokémon, not at all. It was a great backup to deal with Psychic and Ghost Pokémon. I did not go for Earth Power as I felt this team had more to fear from the likes of Scizor and Ferrothorn rather then the occasional Tyranitar or Politoed. Overall it did its job of hitting hard and outspeeding some neutral speed Pokémon, but I do think another Pokémon would’ve been better in its place on my team.

Team Synergies

mienshao + abomasnow + seismitoad + thundurus + hydreigon + chandelure

It should come as no surprise that Mienshao goes so well with everyone. It has a fast Fake Out to protect its partners from opposing Fake Out users and Wide Guard to keep them safe from spread moves. Mienshao was usually one of my two lead Pokémon. The combination of Mienshao and Chandelure make sure the opponent is unable to use Fake Out (unless it’s a Kangaskhan).

seismitoad + abomasnow , chandelure

Seismitoad being on this team helped me greatly as it scared away potential threats to both Abomasnow and Chandelure. Next to that, it could provide speed control with Icy Wind in order to let its fellow teammates outspeed other Pokémon. Water Absorb provides a bit of protection and possible healing in the process. It also goes the other way around with both Abomasnow and Chandelure scaring possible threats to Seismitoad as well.

abomasnow + chandelure

Another protection for Abomasnow since firing off Heat Waves at Chandelure will only make it stronger. Abomasnow returns the favor by threatening opposing Water-types that would want to put out Chandelure.

The Team in Action

And we have videos of course, to see this wonderful team in action:

This is an old Winter Cup battle I had against foodking. You can see why I consider Seismitoad a good Pokémon as it goes to work on the opposing team which is hard-hitting, fast, and ice-weak.

Conclusion

I really loved using this team, and Seismitoad in particular, even though I did not do too well in the International Challenge. I’ll be sure to improve and get lots more practice in. Hope you enjoyed the read and the team!

About the Author

Eiganjo is one of the few dutch Pokémon players playing some VGC via wifi since 2009. Originally starting out as a collector instead of battling, he likes his quirky Pokémon, and poised to get better with VGC battling and hopefully win something.