Abomasnow Analysis

Abomasnow

Snow Warning
Summons permanent hail.
Type Tier
Grass / Ice BL

HP 90
Attack 92
Defence 75
Sp Att 92
Sp Def 85
Speed 60

Name Item Nature
Sub Seed
Leftovers Timid
Moveset EVs
~ Substitute
~ Leech Seed
~ Blizzard
~ Grass Knot / Focus Punch
6 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Sub Seeding Abomasnow has some useful advantages over his fellow Grass-types. First of all, his Snow Warning trait nullifies Leftovers recovery on almost every non-Ice-type, which helps to drain their HP. The second is his STABed 100% accurate Blizzard, which destroys most Grass-types trying to foil his strategy. Focus Punch gives Abomasnow a more immediate solution for Blissey and Tyranitar, batters Weavile, and does some respectable damage to Heatran, while Grass Knot lets Abomasnow deal significant damage to Waters.

Name Item Nature
Mixed Attacker
Leftovers Sassy
Moveset EVs
~ Wood Hammer
~ Blizzard
~ Leech Seed
~ Protect
252 HP / 84 SpA / 96 SpD / 76 Spe
Mixed attacking Yeti. This is suggested as a starter, as the lack of Speed will allow you to get the weather on your side against Tyranitar.

Protect serves two purposes here: it helps regain HP against a seeded enemy and scouts for Choice locked attacks, which are common on leading Pokémon. Wood Hammer has the advantage over Energy Ball because it hits through any Calm Mind boosts the likes of Suicune and Slowbro may have accumulated. With the EV investment in Special Attack, Blizzard is a guaranteed 2HKO on the typical Skarmory.

Name Item Nature
Choice Scarf
Choice Scarf Hasty
Moveset EVs
~ Blizzard
~ Wood Hammer
~ Earthquake
~ Focus Punch
252 Atk / 6 SpA / 252 Spe
With Choice Scarf he can reach a Speed of 360, outspeeding many possible threats. Despite the focus on physical attacks, Blizzard is preferred to Ice Punch here for the significantly higher base power. Focus Punch hurts enemy Abomasnow and other assorted Ice-types. It will also be your best option to wear down Bronzong.

Name Item Nature
Swords Dance
Leftovers Jolly
Moveset EVs
~ Swords Dance
~ Wood Hammer / Seed Bomb
~ Ice Shard / Ice Punch
~ Earthquake
6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
His Attack isn't too impressive, but after a Swords Dance he can actually do some decent damage. Wood Hammer is recommended for its high base power, but Seed Bomb can be used in its place if recoil puts you off. Ice Shard helps to compensate for his average Speed and is an excellent move for taking down Dragons and other weakened foes, while Ice Punch provides a more powerful Ice attack. Earthquake covers Fire-types and Steels, but you'll want to hit them on the switch as many of them are faster than Abomasnow. He's a bit too slow and fragile to be truly effective with this set, but he does have very good type coverage.

Name Item Nature
Choice Band
Choice Band Jolly
Moveset EVs
~ Ice Shard / Ice Punch
~ Wood Hammer / Seed Bomb
~ Earthquake
~ Focus Punch
6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Choice Band wielding Yeti. He was cursed with rather middling offensive stats with which to make use of his wide attacking movepool, so slapping a boosting item on him helps. Grass/Ice/Ground/Fighting provides excellent type coverage, so with the help of some good prediction you can deal a respectable amount of damage with this set.

Name Item Nature
Choice Specs
Choice Specs Timid
Moveset EVs
~ Blizzard
~ Grass Knot
~ Hidden Power Fire / Hidden Power Ground
~ Focus Punch
6 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
This is the special based variant of the previous set. Hidden Power Fire is for Steel-types like Metagross and Scizor. However, Hidden Power Ground hits Fire-types, especially Heatran. Focus Punch is still recommended in the last slot to stop Blissey and Snorlax from spoiling the fun (and for want of a better filler move).

Other Options

GrassWhistle is all Abomasnow has in the way of status inducers, but it has very poor accuracy. Focus Blast can work on a Choice Specs set to round out the special moves, but usually Focus Punch does more to special walls. Rock Slide is a bit too weak to warrant a moveslot, as it is only useful against the rare Articuno.

EVs

Max Speed with a boosting nature is recommended on all sets as it aids his ability to SubSeed or sweep. Max Special Attack for special based sets or Attack for physical sets as defensive EVs don't always do a great deal to help him.

For a slightly sturdier set up, try a Sassy nature with 252 HP / 84 SpA / 96 SpD / 76 Spe. The HP and Special Defense help take Ice Beams from Water-types, especially boosted ones from Suicune, Slowbro and Slowking. The investment in Special Attack ensures Blizzard will 2HKO Skarmory and Weezing and the Speed helps him outrun Impish Swampert. This spread is recommended for the Mixed Attacker.

Opinion

The fourth generation of Pokémon finally brought the auto-Hail inducer "we were all waiting for", the results of which are somewhat mixed. Ice/Grass typing brings Abomasnow a total of seven weaknesses, including a quadruple weakness to Fire. While his HP and defenses aren't devastatingly poor, they do little to compensate for this. His list of weaknesses also includes Rock, which means he'll be stripped of 25% of his HP when switching into Stealth Rock. That's the bad news. The good news is that even with just his STAB moves, he can offer good attacking coverage, augmented with a few other useful attacks to cover some of his weaknesses.

The benefits of his dual typing are few, but useful nonetheless. His resistance to Water and neutrality to Ice makes him a good choice to switch into the average Water-type. The Electric resistance is useful against Starmie, Lanturn, and pure Electric-types like Raikou.

As for his stats, they're all rather average. However, he does have two STAB attacks with base powers of 120—Wood Hammer and Blizzard—which goes some way in compensating for those less than stellar offensive stats.

His trait, like his typing, is also a mixed bag. While it helps him drain opponents in conjunction with Leech Seed, it limits the Pokémon you can choose to use alongside him, as few non-Ice-types enjoy having to play with the constant Hail wearing them down. Overall, Abomasnow is very much a "hit and miss" Pokémon.

Counters

Scizor resists both STAB moves and can destroy Abomasnow with Bug or Steel attacks. He also packs U-turn to ruin the SubSeeding strategy. Bronzong and Forretress both work decently with Gyro Ball, but their lack of Speed makes them targets for SubSeeding. Metagross doesn't take much damage from Earthquake and can easily OHKO with Meteor Mash. Bullet Punch also does massive damage, and helps to avoid the annoyance of SubSeeding. Jirachi shrugs off Earthquake too, and can U-turn or simply wear down Abomasnow with Zen Headbutt or Psychic. Tyranitar despises being hit by Wood Hammer, but can switch in easily on Blizzard (thanks to the Special Defense boost he receives from Sandstorm), and negate its perfect accuracy with Sand Stream—Tyranitar can then hit back with a super effective Stone Edge.

Fire-types are a big problem if you don't have Earthquake and even then, Moltres and Charizard will survive Blizzards to easily OHKO.

Stone Edge Gyarados is a good choice as its high Special Defense can sponge both STAB attacks quite well. He also has the option of using Taunt to avoid Leech Seed.

Weavile greatly fears Focus Punch and takes considerable damage from Wood Hammer, but is immune to the effects of Snow Warning and can outspeed and KO with Brick Break.

Switching into Abomasnow can be very annoying, so prey on one of his many weaknesses and keep attacking—he will fall soon enough.