PTB
Ninetales, a Fire type Pokémon, official artwork

#0038

Ninetales: Weakness, Best Moveset & Builds

FireZU

Ninetales is a balanced Pokémon, led by its Sp. Def (100) and Speed (100), with a base stat total of 505. Competitively it is a lower-tier option. It currently appears on 3.5% of OU teams.

Build a team with Ninetales

What is Ninetales weak to?

How much damage Ninetales takes from each attacking type.

2×Weak toGroundRockWater
0.5×ResistsBugFairyFireGrassIceSteel

With Flash Fire, Fire attacks do nothing instead of half damage.

Ninetales takes super-effective damage from Ground, Rock, Water. It resists Bug, Fairy, Fire, Grass, Ice, Steel. That is by type alone: with Flash Fire, Fire attacks do nothing instead of half damage.

Best moveset for Ninetales

The most-used moves on Ninetales in OU (Smogon singles) this month (2026-07 usage statistics):

  • EncoreNormal-24.5%
  • Healing WishPsychic-23.9%
  • OverheatFire13018%
  • Will-O-WispFire-17.2%
  • Scorching SandsGround706.4%
  • Weather BallNormal505.7%

Best nature for Ninetales

Timid. It is the most common choice on ranked sets right now; the top spread is Timid with 0/0/4/252/0/252 EVs (27.5% of sets).

Abilities

  • Flash FireThis Pokemon's Fire attacks do 1.5x damage if hit by one Fire move; Fire immunity.
  • DroughtOn switch-in, this Pokemon summons Sunny Day.

Evolution line

Vulpix
Ninetales

Best counters for Ninetales

Based on OU (Smogon singles) battle statistics, these Pokémon most reliably beat or force out Ninetales:

Best teammates for Ninetales

Pokémon most often paired with Ninetales on successful OU (Smogon singles) teams. Start from one of these cores, then check your coverage in the team builder:

Full learnset (59 moves; tap to expand)
MoveTypePowerAcc.Category
Giga ImpactNormal15090%Physical
Hyper BeamNormal15090%Special
OverheatFire13090%Special
Double-EdgeNormal120100%Physical
Flare BlitzFire120100%Physical
Solar BeamGrass120100%Special
Fire BlastFire11085%Special
InfernoFire10050%Special
Foul PlayDark95100%Physical
Heat WaveFire9590%Special
Energy BallGrass90100%Special
FlamethrowerFire90100%Special
Take DownNormal9085%Physical
Body SlamNormal85100%Physical
Dark PulseDark80100%Special
DigGround80100%Physical
ExtrasensoryPsychic80100%Special
PsyshockPsychic80100%Special
Shadow BallGhost80100%Special
Tera BlastNormal80100%Special
Zen HeadbuttPsychic8090%Physical
Burning JealousyFire70100%Special
FacadeNormal70100%Physical
Scorching SandsGround70100%Special
HexGhost65100%Special
IncinerateFire60100%Special
SwiftNormal60-Special
SnarlDark5595%Special
Flame ChargeFire50100%Physical
Weather BallNormal50100%Special
EmberFire40100%Special
Quick AttackNormal40100%Physical
Fire SpinFire3585%Special
Stored PowerPsychic20100%Special
Night ShadeGhost?100%Special
AgilityPsychic--Status
Baton PassNormal--Status
Calm MindPsychic--Status
CharmFairy-100%Status
Confuse RayGhost-100%Status
DisableNormal-100%Status
EncoreNormal-100%Status
EndureNormal--Status
Fake TearsDark-100%Status
Helping HandNormal--Status
ImprisonPsychic--Status
Nasty PlotDark--Status
Pain SplitNormal--Status
ProtectNormal--Status
Psych UpNormal--Status
RestPsychic--Status
RoarNormal--Status
SafeguardNormal--Status
Sleep TalkNormal--Status
SpiteGhost-100%Status
SubstituteNormal--Status
Sunny DayFire--Status
Tail WhipNormal-100%Status
Will-O-WispFire-85%Status