Is Ninetales Good?

Yes, Ninetales is highly effective in Scarlet and Violet PvP as a dedicated sun setter. In the UU tier, its Drought ability enables highly threatening Chlorophyll sweepers. While its standalone damage is mediocre, vital utility moves like Encore and Healing Wish make it an indispensable pivot for weather-based teams.

Ninetales sacrifices raw power to be the ultimate sun enabler, making it fantastic in its niche but underwhelming outside of it.

Rating 7.5/10 · Tier UU (Smogon SV) · Role : Sun Setter / Utility Pivot

Strengths

• Drought instantly sets up sun to boost Fire attacks and activate Chlorophyll or Protosynthesis.
• Excellent utility movepool including Encore, Will-O-Wisp, and Healing Wish.
• High Speed tier allows it to outpace many mid-tier threats and pivot effectively.

Weaknesses

• Mediocre Special Attack requires Nasty Plot to pose a real offensive threat.
• Extremely vulnerable to entry hazards without Heavy-Duty Boots.
• Walled completely by common Fire-resistant threats like Latios and Skeledirge.

In Scarlet and Violet, Kantonian Ninetales firmly holds its ground in the UU tier. Its primary role is not to sweep, but to act as a premier weather setter and utility pivot. Thanks to its hidden ability, Drought, it instantly summons harsh sunlight upon entering the battlefield.

This weather control is the main reason it maintains competitive relevance over other Fire-types with higher offensive stats. While its Special Attack is mediocre by modern standards, its high Speed tier allows it to aggressively apply status or pivot out before taking heavy damage.

Players must view Ninetales as an enabler rather than a standalone offensive threat. When assessing its competitive value, its role as a sun setter dictates its entire moveset and item choice. You are bringing Ninetales to support the team, utilizing its unique access to utility moves that disrupt opponents.

Ninetales excels when deployed as a dedicated sun lead or mid-game weather restorer. The most effective competitive set in SV UU revolves around maximizing utility while keeping the sun active. A standard support set utilizes a Heat Rock to extend the sun's duration, which is crucial for weather-dependent teammates.

Optimal SV UU Sun Setter Set

• Ability: Drought
• Item: Heat Rock or Heavy-Duty Boots
• Moves: Overheat / Solar Beam / Encore / Healing Wish
• Tera Type: Grass or Fire

In terms of matchups, Ninetales completely shuts down slower setup sweepers and defensive walls thanks to Encore. If an opponent uses Protect, Stealth Rock, or a stat-boosting move, Ninetales can lock them into that action. This forces a switch, generating momentum for your team.

Offensively, it reliably checks physically defensive Steel and Grass types. Overheat provides a massive burst of damage under the sun, allowing it to severely dent Pokémon that underestimate its output. Solar Beam offers immediate Grass-type coverage to punish bulky Water and Ground types that attempt to switch in safely.

Healing Wish is Ninetales' ultimate utility tool. Once its HP is depleted or the sun is no longer needed, it can sacrifice itself to fully heal a battered teammate. This late-game play often turns the tide of a match, giving a weakened sweeper a second chance.

A sun setter is only as good as the team built around it. Ninetales requires specific partners to capitalize on the harsh sunlight it provides. Chlorophyll abusers are the obvious beneficiaries, instantly doubling their Speed and turning into dangerous offensive threats.

• Venusaur: The standard sun sweeper. Under Ninetales' sun, Venusaur outspeeds the entire unboosted metagame and can devastate teams with Growth and Weather Ball.
• Slither Wing: Protosynthesis activates immediately in the sun, boosting its physical power to dangerous levels. It provides excellent physical wallbreaking to complement Ninetales' special attacks.
• Arcanine-Hisui: Benefits from the sun boosting its Fire-type STAB moves while providing crucial priority with Extreme Speed to pick off weakened foes.

Beyond sun abusers, Ninetales needs teammates that cover its defensive vulnerabilities. Latios is an exceptional partner, offering vital Ground and Water resistances while providing secondary offensive pressure.

Excadrill also synergizes perfectly with this core. It can clear entry hazards with Rapid Spin, ensuring Ninetales can switch in safely multiple times throughout the match if you opt for a Heat Rock over Heavy-Duty Boots.

Despite its utility, Ninetales suffers from glaring flaws that savvy opponents will easily exploit. Its biggest downfall is its low bulk combined with a defensive typing that leaves it vulnerable to common Ground, Rock, and Water attacks.

Without Heavy-Duty Boots, it loses a quarter of its health every time it steps on Stealth Rock. Its offensive presence is also highly situational. Outside of the sun, its damage output is underwhelming due to its thoroughly average Special Attack.

Even with the sun active, it is completely walled by bulky Fire-resistant Pokémon. Skeledirge easily absorbs its Fire attacks and uses Ninetales as setup fodder, while Arcanine-Hisui threatens it with powerful Rock-type STAB.

Major Competitive Counters

• Latios and Hydreigon: These bulky Dragon-types resist Fire and Grass coverage, taking minimal damage from anything Ninetales throws at them while threatening a swift knockout in return.
• Keldeo: Even in the sun, Keldeo resists Fire and can power through Ninetales with its secondary Fighting-type STAB or simply wait out the weather.
• Conkeldurr: Bulky enough to survive a hit and can easily dispatch Ninetales with Knock Off or powerful Fighting moves.

Furthermore, Ninetales is heavily reliant on Drought. If the opponent switches in their own weather setter, Ninetales loses its primary advantage and becomes a massive liability on the field.

You should absolutely avoid using Kantonian Ninetales if your team does not explicitly benefit from harsh sunlight. Slapping it onto a balanced or stall team is a waste of a team slot.

It lacks the defensive stats to function as a standalone wall and the offensive stats to be an independent sweeper. While some players attempt to use Nasty Plot with Flash Fire to turn it into a setup sweeper, this strategy is generally outclassed by other Fire-types.

It is also a poor choice if your team lacks reliable hazard removal. The constant chip damage from entry hazards will drastically reduce its lifespan and ability to pivot effectively during a long match.

Better Alternatives

If you need a bulky Fire-type pivot that does not rely on weather, Arcanine or Skeledirge are vastly superior options. Skeledirge offers Unaware to stop setup sweepers and reliable recovery, while Arcanine provides Intimidate support and better overall bulk.

If you specifically need a sun setter in higher tiers, Torkoal is often preferred. Despite being much slower, Torkoal's physical bulk, access to Stealth Rock, and ability to clear hazards make it a more reliable defensive weather setter.

While Kantonian Ninetales masters the sun, its regional variant commands the snow. This Ice/Fairy-type boasts the Snow Warning ability, instantly summoning a snowstorm to boost the Defense of Ice-types upon entering the field.

Its competitive identity revolves entirely around the move Aurora Veil. By setting up this screen in the snow, Alolan Ninetales halves all incoming physical and special damage for its team for five turns, or eight with Light Clay.

This significant defensive utility makes it a standard lead for hyper-offense teams looking to facilitate fragile setup sweepers. However, its defensive typing has severe flaws. A quadruple weakness to Steel-type moves, particularly priority Bullet Punch, makes it incredibly fragile.

It also struggles against Poison, Rock, and Fire attacks. Despite these defensive flaws, access to moves like Freeze-Dry, Moonblast, and Encore ensure it is never truly passive on the battlefield and can threaten Water and Dragon types effectively.

In Pokémon GO, both forms of Ninetales have carved out significant niches in the Great League and Ultra League. Kantonian Ninetales operates as a spammy Fire-type attacker.

Equipped with Fire Spin, Weather Ball (Fire), and Scorching Sands, it applies heavy shield pressure. It handles prevalent Steel and Grass types effectively, making it a reliable safe swap or closer depending on energy management.

Alolan Ninetales is arguably even more impactful in GO's PvP scene. Using Powder Snow to rapidly generate energy, it fires off Weather Ball (Ice) and Dazzling Gleam to threaten top-tier Dragon and Flying types. The Shadow variants of both forms are highly recommended to maximize fast-move damage.

In Pokémon UNITE, Alolan Ninetales is classified as a Ranged Attacker with strong crowd control. Its kit allows it to freeze opponents and deny area access during crucial team fights. While it has a dominant early-game lane presence, it remains highly susceptible to speedster dives.

For a standard main-series playthrough, Kantonian Ninetales is more than sufficient. You can obtain a Vulpix fairly early in many games, and evolving it with a Fire Stone provides an immediate power spike.

Its high Speed and access to Flamethrower make gym battles against Grass, Bug, and Ice specialists trivial. However, players must be cautious about when they use the Fire Stone. In older titles, evolving Vulpix too early meant missing out on crucial level-up moves.

In modern titles like Scarlet and Violet, the move reminder system negates this issue, allowing you to evolve it immediately without penalty. Beyond the mainline games, Ninetales has a rich history in spin-offs.

In the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series, its ability to hit multiple foes in a room with Heat Wave makes it a highly effective dungeon crawler. In the Trading Card Game, various Ninetales cards have historically anchored strong rogue decks, further cementing its legacy.