It may look beautiful, but I don't think it's all that pretty tbh. Anywho, how does this thing have a place in OU?The answer is simple: Drought. Before gen 5 there was no excuse to use Ninetales as it was outclassed and it had poor stats. Let's face it, Ninetales still doesn't have the greatest stats in the world, but just a Dream World ability can change everything. It has decent Speed stat, but that actually hampers it when put against Politoed and Tyranitar, and sun teams absolutely need something to take care of them. Thundurus-Therian can work, but it cannot OHKO Tyranitar with Focus Blast unless it holds Choice Specs.
Now, let's see Ninetales' stats:
HP: 73 Bad
Attack: 76 Bad
Defense: 75 Bad
Special Attack: 81 Mediocre
Special Defense: 100 Good
Speed: 100 Good
Now, let's have a look at the sets Ninetales can run effectively.
#1. Best sets
#1.1 Fast Special Attacker
Ninetales @ Leftovers / Air Balloon
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Nature: Timid / Modest
Ability: Drought
- Fire Blast
- SolarBeam
- Sunny Day
- Hidden Power Ground / Hidden Power Ice / Nasty Plot
Yeah, this set is dangerous because of sunlight boosting Fire Blast's power. Due to Ninetales's decent bulk, Leftovers is the item preferred to raise its survability, but Air Balloon can actually protect Ninetales from random Earthquakes. Fire Blast is very strong and is backed by SolarBeam, which can hurt bulky water-types such as Jellicent. If Politoed switches in, as you always outspeed it(watch out for the Choice Scarf set), you can simply use Sunny Day to ruin its plans. Finally, Hidden Power Ground can KO Heatran, who would otherwise wall it, while Hidden Power Ice takes care of Salamence and some Dragons. If neither of these is a problem, then Nasty Plot can be used to raise Ninetales's Special Attack.
#1.2 Defensive
Ninetales @ Leftovers
EVs: 252 HP / 124 Def / 132 Spe
Nature: Timid
Ability: Drought
- Flamethrower
- Will-o-Wisp
- Sunny Day
- Roar / Substitute / Hypnosis / Hidden Power Ground
This Ninetales is made for support, so it can work more efficiently in sun stall. If running the suggested EVs, Dugtrio will never OHKO Ninetales with Earthquake, unless it is running an Adamant nature. Will-o-Wisp is a godsend to Ninetales, enabling it to cripple Dragonite, Scizor, and other physical threats. Sunny Day is also necessary to ruin Politoed and Tyranitar(but, again, watch out for the Choice Scarf sets). Flamethrower prevents Ninetales from becoming Taunt bait. The final move is a toss-up: use Roar if you need to rack up damage quickly with the help of the entry hazards, Substitute if you need to scout switches, and Hypnosis if you wish to cripple some setup sweepers, particularly the special variants. If you don't need those, then Hidden Power Ground can go in the last slot to beat Heatran(if it doesn't have Air Balloon), as well as dealing decent damage to Terrakion.
#2 Viable sets
#2.1 Choice Specs
Ninetales @ Choice Specs
EVs: 252 SpA/4 Def / 252 Spe
Nature: Timid
Ability: Drought
- Fire Blast
- SolarBeam / Energy Ball
- Hidden Power Ground
- Sunny Day / Will-o-Wisp
If you need a counterpart to Choice Specs Politoed, this is the set you are looking for. Fire Blast, when backed by Choice Specs, becomes absurdly powerful in the sun, and Ninetales can smash all things that do not resist it or are not named Blissey with this attack. SolarBeam can be replaced here by Energy Ball, since a Politoed or a Tyranitar switch-in will destroy Ninetales, while Hidden Power Ground is still here to KO Heatran. On the last slot, Ninetales can still provide support in the form of Sunny Day and Will-o-Wisp, though it doesn't like being locked into a support move as it can become setup bait.
#3 Other options
1 - Calm Mind - can replace Nasty Plot on the offensive set, but it's not worth it.
2 - Toxic can replace Will-o-Wisp on any set so that Ninetales can wear down bulky water-types.
Counters
Lum Berry Tyranitar is Ninetales's biggest nightmare. It laughs at all of its attacks, even Hidden Power Ground and Energy Ball, and can destroy Ninetales with Stone Edge. It needs however to watch out if Ninetales predicts the switch-in and uses Sunny Day. Choice Scarf Politoed can also make Ninetales's life hell if it happens to switch into anything other than Sunny Day.
Dugtrio can beat the offensive and Choice Specs sets with Earthquake, while also KOing the defensive set after Stealth Rock. Blissey can sponge all of its hits and wear it down with Seismic Toss. Terrakion can come in for free on Fire Blast and can punish Ninetales with Close Combat or Stone Edge. Darmanitan takes nothing from Fire Blast, so it makes for another great counter to Ninetales. Lum Berry Kyurem-B can KO Ninetales with Outrage provided Stealth Rock is on the field. Priority also ruins Ninetales as it is physically frail, ExtremeSpeed from the likes of Dragonite being just an example.
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