Top 100 Pokemon #78: Abomasnow

With the introduction of abilities in Gen III, three abilities were created to instantly start up each one of the three weather conditions introduced in the previous generation. Gen III also introduced a new weather condition, Hail, though they waited until Gen IV to create the ability that would automatically start up that weather.

Hail was one of the more puzzling weather conditions to me. Unlike Sandstorm, which supported multiple types, Hail only supported the Ice-type, which is not that common of a type. The move didn't really do much else, either. Gen IV did add some additional support by giving Blizzard perfect accuracy in Hail, much like what Rain does for Thunder. It also gave us the Pokemon that would become the official herald of hail...

A snow warning for this Christmas. Art by algeria.

#78: Snover/Abomasnow

Snover is just a cute little snow-covered pine tree, that evolves into the yeti-inspired Abomasnow. His menacing appearance goes well with his distinctive trait of being the Pokemon that starts up a hailstorm every time he enters the battlefield, thanks to his Snow Warning ability. (As of Gen V, if you really want an Abomasnow that doesn't start up hail, you can get one with the Dream World ability Soundproof.)

Of course, Abomasnow's ability to start hail is his specialty, but Abomasnow is an interesting Pokemon himself. His Ice/Grass typing is completely unique, and although it comes with seven weaknesses, it also comes with some nice resistances to common attacking types like Water, Electric, and Ground. His stats aren't nothing to speak of; they can best be described as "thoroughly average", with no stat higher than base 92 but only a weak base 60 Speed and mediocre base 75 Defense, with the rest at least base 85.

The real gem lies in Abomasnow's movepool. He gets some absolutely killer moves; Blizzard is already a powerful move, but because Abomasnow provides his own hailstorm, he also automatically gets perfect accuracy on the move, making it his ace in the hole. He also gets an equally powerful and accurate Grass STAB in Wood Hammer, with only the drawback of 1/3 recoil. (He can use Giga Drain, Grass Knot, or Seed Bomb if the recoil is too much of a problem.) He also has Ice Shard if he wants some STAB priority. He also nice secondary attacks like Earthquake and Focus Punch and some support moves like Leech Seed.

Still, the big draw of Abomasnow is his ability to instantly start hail. This allows him to be the cornerstone of hail teams, which use the residual damage from hail as well as powerful Blizzard attacks to flash-freeze teams. This is particularly fearsome in doubles, where Blizzard hits both opponents. Hail teams are a bit of an underused team style, but the prospect of sending out Pokemon like Glaceon to plow through opponents definitely sounds fun and can be cool to play around with (though in Smogon competitive play, anything below UU where Abomasnow is, and you have to use Snover instead). He's  a fun Pokemon to use, perhaps less on his own but definitely as part of the larger hail team.

Next time... ooh, we've got another auto-weather-starter!