What’s up gamers. I’m grachay/Grace, and I brought Eiscue to the third Hatterene Series tournament that took place on June 5, 2021.
As someone who started playing VGC back when it began in 2008 and unfortunately retired around 2014, it’s great to be back. I hope to somewhat emulate the style of the warstories like those that my father wrote and that I like to read on Smogon when I’m feeling nostalgic.
Here’s the paste as well.
Introduction
The name of this team is Eiscue Go Brrr (haha get it because Eiscue is cold). I ended up going 4–3 during the tournament, which was better than how I thought I would do.
The day before the Hatterene Series, someone asked me what team I was going to use. I replied, “Imagine knowing what team you are going to use more than five minutes before the tournament.”
Anyways, although I’ve had it built for a while and have practiced with it, I decided on this team about five minutes before the tournament started.
How It All Began
It all started this past winter before the Hohohodown, a Gabby Grotto monthly tournament. The eligible Pokémon were restricted to those who fit one or more of the following six categories:
- Red
- Green
- Fire
- Fairy
- Ice
- Grass
My teambuilding partner (who also happens to be my father) and I immediately realized that the only possible option was to build a team around Eiscue. This is a drawing of Eiscue with a Piplup in a bowling alley that I made:
Eiscue and Piplup are friends because they are penguins.
The thing about Eiscue is that it is Not Very Good. This can be easily rectified by giving it Belly Drum, Sitrus berry, and a specific spread that lets the berry heal it after it uses the move.
The other thing about Eiscue is that people underestimate it, or forget about its Very Cool ability. Never underestimate the penguing.
Love Wins
Our next point of action was to determine the other five Pokémon that would have the honor of playing on a team with Eiscue. Because of its Very Cool ability, we decided dual weather was the way to go — if we can repeatedly set hail, Eiscue will continue to get its Ice Face back.
Thankfully, both Tyranitar and Dracozolt are green, so they worked in the Hohohodown. I like to think that Tyranitar and Dracozolt are married dads. Tyranitar is the grilling dad who wears an apron that says “Kiss the Cook.” Dracozolt cheers on their son at soccer matches.
Anyways. Tyranitar allows us to change the weather, and Dracozolt takes advantage of this by going nyoom.
Now we’ve got to start thinking about support.
Amogus Sus
Amoonguss is good because it can put things to sleep. We can also Rage Powder and tank hits while Eiscue sets up and pats its little belly.
Another good support Pokémon is Grimmsnarl because it can set up screens. I do not like Grimmsnarl. It is very ugly.
The Little Toaster Oven That Could
Here’s where things for my Hatterene Series team differed from my Hohohodown team. For the Hohohodown, I decided to use Tapu Fini because sometimes I make bad choices.
During the Hohohodown, I got bopped by Celesteela. This could Never Happen Again, so I swapped out Tapu Lele for:
Rotom-Heat. The little toaster oven that could.
Before the Hatterene Series Tournament, I was very nervous about Rotom-Heat because it felt like it wasn’t pulling its weight in practice matches.
During the Hatterene Series Tournament, my father (who was watching) and I felt like this (drawing by me but inspired by this by @kyleenim on Twitter):
Rotom-Heat did a good job. I’m proud.
Eiscue @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Ice Face
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 44 HP / 244 Atk / 220 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Belly Drum
- Icicle Crash
- Iron Head
- Protect
My dad gifted me with a shiny Eiscue because he is very noice. He also built this spread. Eiscue is made of glass, so it absolutely needs Protect. Earlier iterations of this team involved rain instead of sand, which would lead to Liquidation use, but I think that having a Steel move on this iteration provides much better coverage.
Tyranitar @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rock Slide
- Lash Out
- Protect
- Dragon Dance
Tyranitar has dragon dance because my dad and I are insane. More people should use dragon dance. I encourage you to put dragon dance on your Tyranitar. Just don’t get greedy and use it and end up putting yourself in a situation where you can lose to a crit. I’m definitely not speaking from experience.
Dracozolt @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bolt Beak
- Fire Fang
- High Horsepower
- Protect
Some friends recommended I replace Dragon Claw on Dracozolt with Fire Fang, as fire coverage is likely more useful than dragon coverage. I’m still not 100% sure on this one; my dad doesn’t like it but I think it has been pretty useful, especially against Rillaboom. Zolt likes to max as well, so it’s worth considering setting sun vs. lowering your opponents’ attack.
Amoonguss @ Coba Berry
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 244 HP / 76 Def / 184 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Spore
- Rage Powder
- Protect
- Grass Knot
Please don’t ask me why Amoonguss has Grass Knot. I have absolutely no idea. The paste that I built this team off of has Sludge Bomb. But for some reason my in game Amogus has Grass Knot. I didn’t even realize until right before the tournament and it was too late to change it. I don’t know, I guess it’s kind of spicy and can be useful in certain situations. If people are interested, I can make a team code with Sludge Bomb instead; I just wanted to make this one accurate to what I brought to the Hatterene Series.
Grimmsnarl-Gmax @ Light Clay
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 164 HP / 116 Def / 228 SpD
Careful Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Light Screen
- Reflect
- Spirit Break
We changed Fake Out to Thunder Wave also right before the competition. Somebody had recommended Trick and Lagging Tail in place of Fake Out, but I think Light Clay proves far too useful to be swapped out. So my dad suggested Thunder Wave, and I think it’s kind of interesting. The only problems are that it’s not 100% accurate, and if you paralyze something, you can’t put it to sleep with Amoonguss.
Rotom-Heat @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 244 HP / 12 Def / 116 SpA / 4 SpD / 132 Spe
Modest Nature
Ivs: 0 Atk
- Overheat
- Nasty Plot
- Thunderbolt
- Protect
I wish I knew where I pulled Rotom-Heat’s spreads from because I would credit them, but it is 1 point slower than Tyranitar which is useful when evaluating opponents’ speed. Safety Goggles come in handy when you’re working with sand, hail, and potential spores/sleep powders from opponents.
How To Use
If you see Charizard and/or Torkoal, do not use Eiscue.
Eiscue’s greatest enemies are special attackers, specifically ones with fire type moves. I am so happy that sun is so prevalent in the meta.
Eiscue’s other greatest enemy is Urshifu (stinky bear!!), specifically Rapid Strike as it can knock off its head with the first strike and deal damage with the other two.
If you really want to bring Eiscue to a match, make sure that you remove these threats before Eiscue hits the field.
Eiscue is the natural predator of Garchomp, so keep that in mind.
If you want a really passive lead, try leading Amoonguss and Grimmsnarl. It allows you to set up screens and maybe get some spores in.
If you’re feeling lucky, try leading Eiscue and Amoonguss. Why the hail not?
If you don’t want to win, try leading Dracozolt and Tyranitar.
Match Summaries
Round 1 vs. Kirsty (1–2)
I made some bad reads in game 1, pulled it back with game 2, and game 3 became really close towards the end. In the final turns, I had Rotom-Heat and Tyranitar against their Tapu Lele, and thought, “Let’s go for a cheeky Dragon Dance.” Unfortunately, I had forgotten about the residual damage of Gmax Wildfire, which meant that Tyranitar did the disco and then promptly died. Rotom-Heat had enough health left to live a Dazzling Gleam and finish off the Tapu Lele. “Oh. Well, I still win if they don’t crit.” I said. They crit. As much as I can complain like a true VGC player, that’s the game that we play, and Kirsty won fair and square.
Round 2 vs. CuriousCleffa (2–0)
I was so excited to be matched up with Cleffa because I love watching her streams! After the tournament, I went back and watched the Vod (as she had streamed her run) and I definitely think Amoonguss was integral to my success there. There was a moment where Cleffa maxed Glastrier in Trick Room, and Amoonguss won the speed tie to Spore it. My team doesn’t have much speed control beyond Dracozolt’s and Eiscue’s abilities, but playing against Trick Room can be maneuvered by utilizing Amoonguss and stalling out the turns.
Round 3 vs. Alexis/Baaaaat (1–2)
Amazing games! Alexis is an incredible player who I definitely look up to. I was able to bring, belly drum, and max Eiscue during one of the games, which was fun. It’s exciting to watch a pink penguin one-shot the formidable Rhyperior. She started game 3 by maxing Porygon-2 and using Erupt with Torkoal, which was an unexpected play that turned the tides in her favor for that match.
Round 4 vs. Biscuit (2–1)
I’m so sorry to this opponent but I don’t really remember these matches and I wasn’t good about taking notes during the tournament. The other team compositions come from streams and what people have posted online, and unfortunately I wasn’t able to find Biscuit’s team.
Round 5 vs. StephOfAnime (2–1)
Again — I was super excited to face Steph as I love watching her streams. I made a bad read in game 1 when I thought she would target down my Dracozolt and she instead doubled into my Rotom-Heat. Unfortunately, as I had just switched in Eiscue for Rotom-Heat, the poor little penguin poked its head out only to immediately pass away. I pulled the series back with better positioning in games 2 and 3, but unfortunately the penguing had to stay on the bench.
Round 6 vs. Sothis (1–2)
I’d seen Sothis around in others’ streams, and was interested to see how they played! Sing Clefairy in combination with my Amoonguss turned the game into a delightful naptime for almost all Pokémon involved. The unpredictability of Sing’s accuracy made the matches difficult to navigate, and Sothis pulled out the win in the end.
Thundurus Spectrier Garchomp
Round 7 vs. Tammy (2–1)
(Again, sorry to my opponent but I do not remember the rest of this team.) These were some of my favorite matches. In Game 1, I maxed Eiscue on turn 2 and only realized after locking in that their Thundurus was special with Prankster, not physical with Defiant (Thundy had Taunted my Amoonguss). Eiscue said “I am no longer baby I want power!” and then immediately died. After this fumble, I used the rest of the game to gather intel about their team. In games 2 and 3, however, I played safer with Eiscue and let her max later on with special threats removed. It was really fun to use the team the way I had originally intended — getting hit by a physical move which knocked off Eiscue’s head, using Max Hailstorm to put it back, switching Tyranitar in to reset sand and doing it all again. Fun times.
Conclusion
My main goal with this tournament was to just have fun and not stress too much about results. I’m super grateful that I was afforded the chance to play against people in the VGC community that I look up to, and I really did have a good time.
Unfortunately, the Eiscue matchups weren’t very good generally so I didn’t bring it often, but the Penguing really shined in our last round against that Garchomp team.
I’m interested in building different iterations of this team, so if anybody has any suggestions please let me know. My dad and I actually quickly built a Hail variation right before the Hatterene Series but I decided not to use it as I hadn’t practiced with it at all. Right now I’m thinking about how Alcremie can factor in as well (just think of the team name — Eiscream?? It’s literally meant to be).
GG’s and thank you to my opponents — I hope seeing a shiny little pink penguin made your day at least a little better.
Thank you to Hagridtwin for being a Cool Dad, to my friends in the Calyrex Game Corner and the Gabby Grotto for inspiring the Eiscue dream, to @Sasuke_Hikari for beta-reading and being supportive, and to all the women and nonbinary players of the Hatterene Series for being freaking awesome.
Shameless plug — if you want more updates from me, follow me on Twitter and Twitch at @SereneGrachay! I will most likely be laddering with Eiscue soon, and I do art sometimes!
Final note — If you liked this team report, please let me know! I love writing, and I think the VGC community deserves more articles. If people are interested, I would love to write more team reports, even if just for silly teams like those I bring to the Gabby Grotto themed tournaments!
Again, here is the paste and rental code:
Thanks for reading!
