Unfinished Ninetales analysis

[OVERVIEW]

Ninetales is powerful wallbreaker thanks to its Drought ability and access to Nasty Plot.
It also gets Solar Beam and Psyshock giving it a way of beating Water- and Rock-type as well as Kommo-o and Dragalge.
Drought combined with its good special bulk makes it more effective against Water-types then any of its competitors.
While decent speed it still suffers from faster attackers such as Aerodactyl and Choice Scarfed Flygon who can check or revenge
Stiff competition from similar attackers like Salazzle who can also utilize Nasty Plot but has better speed, special attack and a secondary type for coverage
Torkoal is more desirable as weather setter for its access to Stealth Rock, Explosion and having more switchin opportunities

[SET]
name: Nast Plot Wallbreaker
move 1: Fire Blast
move 2: Solar Beam
move 3: Psyshock
move 4: Nasty Plot
item: Firium Z / Grassium Z
ability: Drought
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========

Fire Blast is your main and most powerful attack. It alone is able to threaten a KO against anything that doesn't resist fire.
Solar Beam gives it almost all the needed coverage to hit Rock and Water type pokemon such as Rhyperior, Milotic and Slowking
Psyshock gives coverage against Dragalge and Kommo-o. Both of which need prior damage before being able to pick up a 2HKO.
Nasty Plot allows Ninetales to increase its special attack enough to 1HKO the vast majority of pokemon.


Set Details
========

252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe spread optimizes Ninetales offenses to optimal damage output
Timid nature makes you speed tie with max speed Shaymin and Mega Glalie.
4 SpD increases the likelihood of suviving hits from it's setup opportunities
Firium Z gives a Ninetales the ability to break past Special defensive walls and give an opening for a sweep.
Grassium Z can be a prefered item as it grants Ninetales the ability break past Gigalith and Diancie after a +2.

Usage Tips
========

Do not directly switch Ninetales into any neutral attacks as it could very easily lose its ability to setup at a later point
Only attempt to setup pokemon that can't hurt you Fairy types such as Florges and Comfey or weaker grass types like Chesnaught and Roserade
Other passive walls like Registeel and Umbreon can also be used to setup on but watch out for a status like Toxic or Thunder Wave.
Make sure sun answeres like Snorlax, Gigalith and Goodra are removed before attempting to sweep
Also look for the possibility of Haze users, specifically Mantine who could stop you in your tracks
Having your own Stealth Rock or Spikes up greatly improves its ability to wallbreak
Slow U-turn or Volt-switch users give more opportunities to safely come in


Team Options
========

Works on offensive and balance oriented teams who can provide additional offensive pressence or slow momentum gain respectively
Rotom-Heat can use Volt-Switch, Choice lock walls or Burn Ninetales most prominent answers
Choice Scarfed Flygon can also be a worthy partner for ability to beat Gigalith and Goodra alongside having U-turn to pivot out of its bulkier counters who you can then utilize as setup fodder.
Shaymin can also synergise greatly as both can whittle or threaten each other's answeres. Furthermore a Choice Scarfed set can provide much appreciated Healing Wish support.
Venusaur can also be considered for its ability to check Gigalith and Diancie while also taking advantage of Sun using its Chlorophyll ability. It should be noted however that Venusaur won't be able to reliably take advantage of this weather condition.
Notable wallbreakers include Heracross and Gardevoir who pressure any wall that could stop Ninetales. Additionally Choice Scarfed Gardevoir is capable of proving Healing Wish support.
Rhyperior and Gigalith both provide Stealth Rock while also dealing with faster attackers like Swellow and Aerodactyl.
Having hazard removal makes it harder to wither down Ninetales. Ideal users such as Gligar, Donphan and Dhelmise can fulfill this need while simultaniously being able to beat Gigalith. Additionally Gligar provides slow U-turn support.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
Life Orb can be utilized to increase instant damage without removing its ability to setup but will at the same time wear it down discouraging its ability to setup
Flame Charge could increase its speed tier to become more threatening against offense but would go at cost of Nasty Plot or Psyshock.
Will-O-Wisp to catch physical attackers, specifically Goodra and Gigalith intrade having of Psychock making you more vulnerable against Dragalge and Kommo-o
A Heat rock set can be used to support sun teams but would limit its ability to wallbreak and is overall done better by Torkoal.
Choice Specs is inferior to Life Orb as it removes your ability to utilize Nasty Plot.


Checks and Counters
===================

**Special Tanks**: Pokemon with high Special Defense and a fire resistance like Snorlax and Goodra take any of Ninetales moves and in return can heavily damage or outright KO Ninetales. Mantine with Haze can also answere Ninetales by stalling out sun and preventing its ability to setup. Without Haze, Mantine will become setup fodder.

**Faster Attackers**: Because of its speed limitation faster attackers such as Aerodactyl, Swellow, Noivern and common Choice Scarf users such as Flygon can check or revenge Ninetales after Stealth Rock damage.

**Rock Types**: Special Defensive Diancie can take a +2 Solar Beam and retaliate with Diamond Storm. Gigalith is specifically worrisome as it removes sun with Sand Stream and increases its own Special Defense simultaneously.

**Residual damage/Status**: Stealth Rock, Spikes, Paralysis and even being Toxicated all can hinder Ninetales ability to setup and sweep. Because of this walls like Registeel and Cresselia become riskier to use as setup fodder