Did Somebody Say - Pokesets?
Abomasnow - The Frost Tree Pokemon. Abomasnow lives on forested mountains where it snows in solitude. While normally peaceful, they are also highly territorial and known for a vicious temperament. Abomasnow controls the weather and brings snow and hail upon his enemies, fighting slowly and steadily until he can release a big hit.
Some tranquil Pokemon music to go to your reading:
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Mt. Coronet Peak
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Route 216
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Pokemon League (Night)
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Pokemon Mystery Dungeon 2 - Sacrifice
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Pokemon Mystery Dungeon - Sky Tower
STATS
Movement Speed: 1/10
He's a tree. A tree. Did you expect something, anything else? I didn't think so.
Aerial Mobility 4/10
Surprisingly decent aerial movement. Passable jumps, and slower fall speed than one might expect. Good horizontal movement too.
Size: 8/10
Again, Abomasnow is directly based off of a tree. He's perhaps a hair taller than Ike, but thicker and slightly heavier.
Power: 7/10
Hard hits aren't the focus of Abomasnow's game, but he has several moves that pack quite a wallop.
Priority: 5/10
Abomasnow has average priority; nothing that sets him apart particularly one way or the other.
Lag: 7/10
Abomasnow suffers a considerable amount of lag from many of his moves, but not enough that he's easy to hit.
Ouch. Those stats certainly don't sound particularly friendly to Abomasnow, do they? Poor movement, big size, and laggy moves aren't helping his cause. Abomasnow has other ways to deal with the enemies he fights though, by using snow and terrain as a weapon. This is one snow day you'd prefer to miss...
SPECIALS
Neutral Special - Snowstorm
Abomasnow stiffens his body, his arboreal fur standing on end. Raising his arms slightly, a swirling
torrent of snow picks up in a sphere around him. While inside the sphere, enemies are pushed just slightly away; they
move only about 75% of their usual movement speed. The area affected contains the space a stagebuilder block in each direction from Abomasnow, and as the button is held, the area of effect slowly increases, about a half stage builder block in each direction a second, up to a maximum area slightly over half the size of Final Destination. Abomasnow
must stand still while using this attack. The move has slight start-up lag, but
no ending lag at all.
As Abomasnow uses this move though,
snow begins to accumulate onto the battlefield. The snow rises fastest near Abomasnow, and slower near the edge of the Snowstorm field. The snow level rises as the snow falls, to a
maximum of Abomasnow's chin height, a little taller than Mario. The snow rises quickly at first but slows down as it continues to fall, making measuring the rate of rise difficult. On average though,
it will reach Meta Knight's height in about 1.2 seconds next to Abomasnow, and about
3 seconds at the edge.
If an opponent is mostly covered in snow, a shadowy silhouette of their body appears in the snow.
Snow slowly
melts as the game goes on, at about 30% of the rate it falls. A
full height of snow melts in about nine seconds. Fire attacks, but not explosions, also melt snow. Snow has the added effect of
slowing enemies who are on the ground down, depending on the thickness of the snow. From here on out, snow will be measured in terms of Abomasnow's height. Snow at ankle level decreases speed and first jump speed and height to 90%, knee height to 75%, waist height to 60%, and chest height to 40%. Above that, the opponent starts totake damage from the cold of about
1% every two seconds, and moves at 25% normal speed.
While in the snow, Abomasnow also gains an additional effect; he becomes
harder to KO while he's deep in the snow. At leg height, he takes 80% of regular knockback, and at chest height he takes 65% of regular knockback. Snow is not just an obstacle for Abomasnow to throw at his enemy though, but is in fact
essential to several of his moves. Proper use of Snowstorm to control spacing and enemy movement is key to Abomasnow's playstyle.
Down Special - Ingrain
Abomasnow adjusts his posture as his feet grip into the ground, roots cementing him into the floor. This move can
only be used while on the ground. Once the move, which has a decent amount of starting lag finishes,
Abomasnow begins to recover Stamina at a rate of about 1% a second, but he cannot move in any direction. He cannot jump, and he cannot use attacks that require him to move.
While in this state, Abomasnow also takes
significantly less knockback from most moves, only half of usual, and has
Super Armor against all moves that do less than 8% damage. If a move that does greater than this amount of damage hits Abomasnow, he loses his ingrained status, and suffers some ending lag.
Abomasnow can free himself from Ingrain by using his Down Tilt or Down Smash attacks. He cannot free himself in any other way.
Up Special - Snow Flue
When used in the air, this acts as Abomasnow's recovery move. Abomasnow throws his arms forward, and after a slight bit of lag,
snow swirls beneath and in front of him and carries him up slightly, not unlike Squirtle's Waterfall. However, the effect is very small, Abomasnow
doesn't move much further up than when he started, he mostly just stalls in the air and goes into fallspecial.
However, when using this move while snow is on or near the edge, the
snow will shift off the edge and towards Abomasnow, giving him a waterfall of snow for him to slide up. Every amount of snow about the size of Mario carries Abomasnow about the diagonal of a stagebuilder block upwards. He can therefore
sacrifice his snow in order to recover.
When using this move on the stage, it has an entirely different effect. Abomasnow can use this move to shift snow around, causing all the snow behind him to move in the direction he's facing at about the speed of Snake's run. This has a
push effect similar to F. L. U. D. D. and is stronger the greater the amount of snow is. The snow can be pushed off the stage with this move too though, and
can knock opponents clinging to the edge of the stage off; with enough snow Abomasnow can completely gimp someone.
Side Special - Powder Snow
Abomasnow holds his right hand out and
shoots snow forward at a rapid pace. The snow only reaches a little more than a Bowser away, and
causes snow to pile up just like with Snowstorm. Powder Snow can be held for about a second and a half, during which it fills up about 2/3 a stagebuilder block of snow. It has very little lag, and does low knockback and
6% damage.
STANDARD ATTACKS
Jab Attack - Snowball Toss
Abomasnow moves his arm back and throws it forward, a snowball having appeared in his hand. The snowball flies in a low arc, hitting the ground a
little over two stagebuilder blocks away and doing
2% damage and almost zero knockback. The snowball is
slow and has very low priority, making its only value that Abomasnow can create them quickly.
However, if there is a significant amount of snow around, Abomasnow
instead pulls the snowball out of the snow. This move takes the same amount of time as before, but the snowball is now
bigger, flies faster, has higher, but still low priority and does
6% damage. Using this move does not effect the snow height.
Dash Attack - Avalanche
Abomasnow runs forward a tiny bit more, snow building up behind him before he stops dead in his tracks,
a wave of snow crashing from him on to the field. This move
puts snow on the field, but only a
small amount compared to the other moves. This move has decent priority and does below average knockback, as well as
5% damage. If Abomasnow runs through snow while using this move though, some
snow is shifted with him, and the knockback remains the same, but the
damage increases to 8%.
Forward Tilt - Ice Punch
Abomasnow steps back, shifts his weight backwards, and throws a nasty right hook at the enemy, his fist glowing icy blue. This move has a
good bit of lag on both ends, but above average priority and knockback. It does
11% damage on a hit. When Abomasnow and the opponent are at least waist deep in snow, some of the s
now jettisons off of the ground with the opponent like a fired gun, increasing the knockback.
A strong KO move.
Down Tilt - Natural Power
Abomasnow stands perfectly still, nothing noteworthy happening at all. Suddenly, a flash of light explodes from the ground, dealing
4% damage, and slight knockback, but good hitstun. It has
fairly short range and only affects opponents touching the ground though, as well as
considerable starting lag. If Abomasnow
is in the snow when he uses this move though, the range increases to
less than a Battlefield platform in either direction and deals
8% damage. The move also has a
chance to freeze based on the height of the snow. If the snow is about halfway full for example, it will freeze 75% of the time.
If Abomasnow is using Ingrain while using this move, the move has a little
less starting lag, significantly more ending lag, and does
3% more damage. Abomasnow is then
freed from the Ingrain.
Up Tilt - Minty Fresh Breath
Abomasnow looks up and exhales a blast of cool air. The burst of air is about the size of his head, and deals
2% damage every half second and mild hitstun,
like a miniature flamethrower attack. Abomasnow can only hold this attack for about
two and a half seconds though. The cloud has
low priority, and the move has very little lag on either end.
SMASHES
Forward Smash - Wood Hammer
Abomasnow reaches his right arm back, which begins to glow with green energy. He
slams it forward in a tight circle, knocking anything nearby far back. Good priority too, a
KO move of choice. Starting lag is significant, but not nearly as bad as Ike or King Dedede. Damage is a whopping
19-32%!
Why does this move do such excellent damage? Simply put, it hurts Abomasnow considerably to use this move, and
when he he hits, he suffers a debilitatingly bad ending lag sequence of nearly three seconds as he shakes his arm and takes recoil damage of half of what he dealt the opponent. The move KOs at about
90%, so it behooves Abomasnow to
wait until the opponent has reached that damage level before using it so he can avoid retribution and potentially recover with Ingrain.
Up Smash - Snow Collapse
Abomasnow stretches his arms down and slams them up into the air, snow splashing off his arms, sending opponents up with
decent vertical knockback and dealing
12-19% damage.
Priority is strong, and lag is fairly minimal. As you may have guessed, this move really kicks in when there is a pile of snow around. Snow at at least waist height is necessary for the snow to increase damage and knockback.
If the snow is at chin height, the knockback becomes incredible, KOing potentially at 80% and the hitbox vastly increases in size, although
lag increases considerably as well with more snow, becoming his laggiest smash by far at full.
Down Smash - Frenzy Plant
Abomasnow reaches down and curls his hand into a fist, gathering energy which he then releases as
massive spikes of three tree roots shoot out of the ground, taking up an
entire stagebuilder block and just barely inching out Abomasnow in height. The move has
surpisingly low damage, knockback, and lag, although excellent priority. Damage is about
14-22%.
If Abomasnow is using Ingrain when using this move though, the move becomes barely at all laggier, and instead,
two spikes shoot out in front of Abomasnow, and two spikes shoot up behind him. Knockback and damage are the same, and
Abomasnow is freed from the Ingrain after using this move.
AERIALS
Neutral Air - Hailstorm
Abomasnow shivers slightly as small pieces of ice start to swirl around him.
Four hail pieces are out at a time, and each one circles Abomasnow loosely and deals
3% and
light knockback to anyone who touches it. The move has
some starting lag, but practically
no ending lag and very low priority. This move can be held out by holdig the A button, causing new hailpieces to replace old ones that have been destroyed.
If Abomasnow ends the move, the hail drops to the ground, inflicting
4% and slight hitstun on impact.
Down Air - Stomp
Abomasnow lifts his feet up a bit and powerstomps down, increasing his fallspeed dramatically. If it hits in midair, it
deals a good bit of knockback and
11% damage. If Abomasnow
hits someone on the ground though, it deals upwards knockback and
13% damage,
unless he hits someone over snow, where the move only does
8% damage and less knockback, making this Abomasnow's only move that is worse with snow.
Little starting lag, significant ending lag, fairly high priority.
Up Air - Winter Burst
Abomasnow throws his arms into the air, and with it,
a pile of snow about the size of Jigglypuff. Fairly
low priority and knockback, and deals only
4% damage, but has the
added effect of creating snow, allowing Abomasnow to get snow onto the field from the air fairly quickly. This move has a
little starting lag, but very little ending lag.
Back Air - Seed Bomb
Abomasnow clenches his shoulderblades together as the pinecones on his back shiver, shooting out a
pellet sized bomb that arcs away. On impact with an enemy or the ground, it
bursts into an explosion about the size of Olimar, and deals good knockback and
10% damage.
Good range, but a fair amount of lag on both ends.
Forward Air - Ice Shard
Abomasnow throws his arm forward and shoots out a
three blades of ice, dealing a strong
11% damage but very
little knockback.
Very little lag on either end either, and fairly decent priority. Range is surprisingly small though, making it a toss up between Ice Shard and Powder Snow.
THROWS
Grab
Abomasnow reaches out with both arms to grab the enemy. Fairly slow, but with a good bit of snow becomes fairly hard to avoid. Above average reach too. Notable is that Abomasnow has his entire grab game available during Ingrain.
Pummel - Giga Drain
Abomasnow pulls the enemy in close, and
green spheres of energy flow from his enemy into his body. His enemy takes and he heals
3%, but the
move is fairly slow. However, the
more snow there is around, the harder it is to escape. With full snow, even an avid button masher will have a
tough time avoiding two or three of this attack, especially if they are at a high damage level.
Forward Throw - Snowball
Abomasnow exhales over the enemy, doing
5% damage and, more importantly, incasing them in snow. He then
rolls them away like a snowball at Luigi's walk speed, and the opponent must button mash to escape, taking
1% of damage each second. Without any snow, this move is a cinch to escape from, even without pressing buttons only taking about a second of rolling to escape.
The more snow there is though, the harder it is to escape. With knee high snow, the snowball will actually grow bigger as it rolls along.
It is entirely possible with enough snow and enough damage on your enemy to roll them off the edge, too far to recover. It also gives Abomasnow plenty of time to rebuild his snow stockpile, Ingrain, or both.
Back Throw - Barkskin
Abomasnow leans down,
throws the opponent over onto his back, and the pods on his back explode out with
Grass-type energy, knocking the opponent up and backwards. This throw has a lot of ending lag, but does a very nice
12% damage.
Up Throw - Hail Cannon
Abomasnow lightly tosses the opponent up, and aims his arm upwards,
shooting three bullets of ice at the enemy, each doing
5% damage.
It is possible to DI out of the second or third one, but quite difficult.
Fairly strong knockback, but difficult to KO with, due to the fact that it can be DI'd out of.
Down Throw - Headbutt
Abomasnow eschews his elemental attacks to simply slam his face into the opponent.
Significant forwards knockback, although a
good bit of ending lag as Abomasnow shakes off his ringing head. Deals
11%.
FINAL SMASH
Blizzard
Abomasnow raises his arms forward, and a howling blizzard shoots in that direction,
pushing everything in the direction Abomasnow faces and making it almost impossible to move the other direction. Abomasnow then regains full control of his movement. During this state
snow falls heavily on the entire stage and enemies take
3% damage per second, all lasting eight seconds. A
Snow Flue or Snowball used during this period is absolutely devestating and can KO fairly easily.
PLAYSTYLE
Abomasnow is all about the white stuff. Not sugar, milk, or drugs, but good old fashioned ice. All of his tactics are based on
getting snow onto the ground and building up momentum while its up. Abomasnow usually starts doing damage with
Powder Snow, especially early game when there isn't much snow on the field.
As snow levels build up, Abomasnow really starts to break out the throws;
his grab game goes from 'meh' to astounding with a thick layer of snow on the field. Snowball becomes a great damager, spacer, and possibly gimper, and Giga Drain becomes extraordinarily useful. Natural Power is also a fantastic way for him to build up damage once snow starts appearing, as a freeze gives him a great chance to break out one of his more powerful attacks.
When a match starts,
Abomasnow will almost always begin with a Snowstorm; its his fastest way to get a decent amount of snow on the field.
Oftentimes he'll first use Ingrain, using the Super Armor as a buffer to get more snow in and the reduced knockback to make any hits much less punishing.
In the air, Abomasnow generally acts upon his current needs, usually using
Winter Burst or Powder Snow to get more snow on the field, or even Snowstorm in midair if the player's ballsy. Hail is a decent get away from me move that can hit opponents from above and Seed Bomb is generally useful in many situations.
When it comes to finishing, Abomasnow has a slew of options.
Snowball and Snow Flue are two very annoying ways to kill off enemies, although Snow Flue is particularly difficult without a massive amount of snow and excellent timing. All of Abomasnow's Smashes are strong killing moves, using the right one is a matter of some thought.
Ingrain is definitely a difficult to learn, difficult to master move. It is often used to buffer Snowstorms and to take advantage of spacing, but figuring out when to try to end it is difficult.
In deep snow though, Ingrain becomes more useful as opponents are slower and have a harder time getting near him, letting Abomasnow use his great grab game against them.
Abomasnow is one of the
longest lasting characters as well, with self healing moves, good weight, and, most importantly,
reduced knockback while in the snow. Abomasnow lasting to 200% is not unheard of against especially ground based opponents.
When playing against Abomasnow, goal number one is to
stop the snow. Play very aggressive to try to keep the snow off the field,
knock Abomasnow off stage even if he can recover so he has to use Snow Flue.
Charizard and Bowser make excellent counters to Abomasnow, melting his snow easily and being big enough to take what he's got. Characters who have
strong aerial KO moves also have the advantage of being able to KO Abomasnow while he's in the air, so he doesn't have the extra resilience snow gives him.
