Cost
Smash Rookie
Cool, a team-rating section. Wasn't aware of it, haha.
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Everyone has their own idea of how Stall is suppose to be played or what it's suppose to accomplish throughout the duration of a battle. Many agree on the fact that Stall is a rather complex playing style and requires a lot of prediction, however this is only partially true in my opinion. Once you have grasped the basic fundamentals of Stall, you pretty much know how to play it as there isn't much to learn about Stall compared to other types of teams in the first place. Realistically, a Balanced team can consist of most, if not every OU and even UU Pokemon. A Stall team has a very specific set of goals that need to be accomplished, meaning you must keep these goals in mind and check them off as you are building your team, limiting you to only a select group of Pokemon. Because of this, there's not much room for additional strategies and whatnot.
Stall keeps you on your toes and requires you to stay one step ahead of your opponent at all times, however these predictions become fairly easy to make and even more so once you start playing with the team. Playing Stall requires patience and consistency which may turn out to be the hardest aspect of playing Stall for some, but it won't be a problem as long as you stay aware and keep yourself focused, thinking both short-term and long-term (meaning if you have ADD or something, Stall isn't for you).
Once you understand how Stall is suppose to be played, the key to winning (or how I win anyway) is to play, for the most part, very straightforward and have a basic goal in mind. Keep your cool, make smart predictions, and prevent your opponent from gaining any threatening momentum. Keep your team members alive as long as possible even if you run into a stall cycle with your opponent, as you will usually prevail in the end.
Playing simple and smart = more wins.
I'll try not to make things too tl;dr for you guys. (;
Anyways, here we go.
---
Hippowdon @ Leftovers
EVs: 252 HP / 24 Atk / 192 Def / 40 SpD
Ability: Sandstream
Impish nature (+Def, -SpA)
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Roar
- Slack Off
Hippowdon is one of three OU weather-starters and the only one with an instant-recovery move.
Hippowdon - 108 / 118 / 72
Abomasnow - 90 / 75 / 85
Tyranitar - 100 / 110 / 100
Looking at these three weather-starters' defenses, one can easily see how Abomasnow's defenses aren't quite up to par for a Stall team, and while Hail hits more OU Pokemon than Sand does, Sandstreamers in general tend to be more effective both as a lead and a team player; Abomasnow does not have access to many useful leading moves such as Stealth Rock, lacks ability to take out other leads, doesn't have an instant recovery move, and the list goes on.
Tyranitar seems to be a good choice of lead at first, but a closer look reveals Hippowdon to be the better choice. Since Blissey walls the crap out of almost every Special Attacker, the rest of this team was built mainly to keep Physical Attackers at bay, therefore since Hippowdon has better HP and Defense, Hippowdon is a better choice. Another reason is the fact that Hippowdon has an instant recovery move, Slack Off, which alone makes Hippowdon more favorable over Tyranitar, not to mention the glaring 4x Fighting weakness Tyranitar has, which is never good, especially for a wall on a Stall team.
But anyways, Hippowdon's role on this team is pretty self-explanatory; the EVs are Defensively spread to take Physical hits obviously, while the few Special Defense EVs help Hippowdon take weak or neutral Special Attacks, like Hidden Powers. Stealth Rock breaks sashes and is usually the first step of the residual damage setup process. Roar is for phazing, usually for later in the game or for leads such as Ninjask who try to set up on me. I try to keep Hippowdon alive throughout the game to take random physical moves such as Close Combat and Stone Edge from the likes of Lucario and Tyranitar respectively.
If I see suspect a Trick user, I'll usually go to Hippowdon since I only use him to get Stealth Rock and weather up. With a choice item, I can still come on on Physical hits, Slack Off / Roar, and switch back out.
Blissey @ Leftovers
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Ability: Natural Cure
Calm Nature (+SpD, -Atk)
- Toxic
- Softboiled
- Aromatherapy
- Seismic Toss
Ah, my favorite and most valuable wall and team member. Blissey is my number one switch into hard-hitting Special attackers such as Latias, Jolteon, Starmie, Empoleon, Zapdos, and the list goes on. Blissey can also switch relatively safely into Heatran and Magnezone, forcing them to Explode or switch, allowing me at least a free turn to switch to Rotom.
One of the great things about Blissey is that you almost always have a free turn to do what you need to do as your opponent hastily switches out their Special Attacker. Depending on the situation, any of Blissey's moves can be used on the switch; I have the option to use Aromatherapy to cure a Rest-user from their sleep or Hippowdon from Poison. Toxic and Seismic Toss are moves I usually use when I'm full health and have nothing else to do, unless I feel I can predict a certain switch-in. I can recover off damage I've been dealt in the process which I do a lot thanks to the Sand canceling my Leftovers gain.
I use Softboiled instead of Wish because there is no need to pass Wishes since my whole team individually has a recovery move. I use Seismic Toss over other attacking moves just to be more consistent with my damage output, and ghosts usually aren't a problem for me anyway. Gengar is immune to Toxic and Seismic Toss, but with max Special Defense, Sandstorm, Life Orb recoil, and some clever switches to Rotom and back to Blissey, Gengar won't be there for very long. I don't use Aromatherapy on Blissey very often on my other teams, but when I started using it, I realized that it helps out a Stall team, or any team in general, greatly. Sometimes you can't predict your opponent not using a status move and Skarmory will accidently get burned or Hippowdown will accidently get Poisoned; Blissey can come in on any Special attacker and use Aromatherapy to instantly fix multiple Status problems.
Seismic Toss and Flamethrower both have their own pros and cons, but Seismic Toss is better for this team in general I have decided.
Starmie @ Leftovers
EVs: 252 HP / 168 Def / 88 Spe
Ability: Natural Cure
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Rapid Spin
- Surf
- Thunderbolt
- Recover
Starmie is this team's one and only spinner, and it does a good job at it. I find Tentacruel extremely annoying, having below average Defense at best and not having access to an instant recovery move. Starmie can absorb Toxic Spikes just as well as Tentacruel and can recover off any Stealth Rock or Spikes damage, which means I can keep coming in and Spinning if I have to, which is something Tentacruel can't do for very long. Knock Off is a useful move to have on a stall but in no means necessary in my opinion, so I don't mind it lacking. Instead of Hidden Power Electric, I have Thunderbolt, which is obviously better, especially for Gyarados and such.
Starmie does not need to outrun much being on a Stall team, so I use 88 Speed EVs; this still allows me to outrun max Speed + Jolly Gyarados and everything slower than it, such as Heatran, Skarmory, Metagross, Tyranitar, Togekiss, etc. The rest of the EVs were just dumped into HP and Defense, since that's where I need it to help take on physical threats like Gyarados and such. It also gives me more hope against Pursuit users I guess.
Skarmory @ Shed Shell
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 20 Spe / 36 SpD
Ability: Keen Eye
Impish nature (+Def, SpA)
- Spikes
- Whirlwind
- Roost
- Brave Bird
The combination of Skarmory and Blissey on a team has proven to be quite effective defensively, especially on a Stall team, so it's no surprise that the two of them have found a spot on my team. One needs not a detailed explanation of Skarmory's role on a Stall team, however I will provide a brief summary anyways.
I use Shed Shell over Leftovers since it's quite frustrating being trapped by Magnezone otherwise. I use 20 Speed mainly to beat other Skarmory's to the Whirlwind. Spikes plays a large role in the residual damage aspect of this team, while Whirlwind helps phaze after Spikes are down. Roost is my instant recovery move, removing some weaknesses upon use (Rock, Electric, Ice), however adding some as well (Fighting, Ground), so I need to be careful sometimes.
Gyarados @ Leftovers
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Ability: Intimidate
Impish nature (+Def, -SpA)
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Roar
- Waterfall
Gyarados is fairly new to the world of Stall, but it manages to fit right in anyways. A big selling point of Gyarados is its handy resistances (Fighting, Steel, etc.) and its immunity to Ground-type attacks; that, and its ability Intimidate. With it, I can switch in on many physical sweepers like Scizor or Heracross and pivot right back out to something else. Being on a Stall team, 394 HP and 282 Def (with Intimidate) is not bad at all, not to mention that base 100 Special Defense. While Attack EVs would be nice, my (0) Attack stat is already larger than my (252, Impish) Defense stat, so max HP and Defense works. I put the last 4 EVs into Speed to outrun other occaisonal 0 Speed Gyarados since it won't really matter in Attack or Special Defense that much.
Rest is my only recovery move, and while it's not as convenient as something like Recover, I manage; Gyarados' main job is to switch in and Intimidate, absorb sleep, and use Roar if I feel safe enough. I use Waterfall was my attacking move since that's just what comes to mind.
Rotom-W @ Leftovers
EVs: 252 HP / 152 Def / 104 SpD
Ability: Levitate
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Will-o-wisp
- Thunderbolt
Yeah, I use two Rest users. Why? Well, I don't really have a solid reason, but I use two mainly because one just isn't enough. If one of my Rest users faints, then I still have another one. Two users with rest isn't much of a pain after all, since Blissey can use Aeromatherapy and cure the Sleep Condition later on. In general though, as long as I can keep my Pokemon alive, I don't care what form of recover I have as long as I have some form of recovery and the Pokemon can still do its job, which Gyarados and Rotom can do.
I had lots of moves to choose from to fill those two crucial spots in Rotom's moveset; the main moves to choose from include Shadow Ball, Discharge, Thunderbolt, Hidden Power, Will-o-wisp, and Hydro Pump. I have tested many different combinations (probably every one...besides Discharge + Thunderbolt) and I have found Will-o-wisp + something to work the best. In the end, I decided to run Thunderbolt, having STAB, to hit most of the stuff I switch into neutrally or super-effective for decent damage output.
The EVs are mostly Defensive since I switch Rotom into a lot of Physical attackers to burn them; I must confess, though, that the EVs I chose for Rotom were chosen, to an extent, randomly. This could be changed probably more than anything else, but I think I'm at least pretty close to getting it right.
-
There you have it; Simple Stall. A very, very fun team, and that's all that matters!
I will go ahead and tell you that hail teams, hyper offense teams, Salamence, Tyranitar (Pursuit), and Trick users give me the most trouble. I am also aware that I am ***** by late-game crocune, and I just accept it. Yeah, celebi will help, blah, blah, I know that, but it's not worth it in the end, in my own experience.
I'm open to any and all suggestions, as long as you can back them them up!
I hope everything made sense.
Thanks!
---
Everyone has their own idea of how Stall is suppose to be played or what it's suppose to accomplish throughout the duration of a battle. Many agree on the fact that Stall is a rather complex playing style and requires a lot of prediction, however this is only partially true in my opinion. Once you have grasped the basic fundamentals of Stall, you pretty much know how to play it as there isn't much to learn about Stall compared to other types of teams in the first place. Realistically, a Balanced team can consist of most, if not every OU and even UU Pokemon. A Stall team has a very specific set of goals that need to be accomplished, meaning you must keep these goals in mind and check them off as you are building your team, limiting you to only a select group of Pokemon. Because of this, there's not much room for additional strategies and whatnot.
Stall keeps you on your toes and requires you to stay one step ahead of your opponent at all times, however these predictions become fairly easy to make and even more so once you start playing with the team. Playing Stall requires patience and consistency which may turn out to be the hardest aspect of playing Stall for some, but it won't be a problem as long as you stay aware and keep yourself focused, thinking both short-term and long-term (meaning if you have ADD or something, Stall isn't for you).
Once you understand how Stall is suppose to be played, the key to winning (or how I win anyway) is to play, for the most part, very straightforward and have a basic goal in mind. Keep your cool, make smart predictions, and prevent your opponent from gaining any threatening momentum. Keep your team members alive as long as possible even if you run into a stall cycle with your opponent, as you will usually prevail in the end.
Playing simple and smart = more wins.
I'll try not to make things too tl;dr for you guys. (;
Anyways, here we go.
---
Hippowdon @ Leftovers
EVs: 252 HP / 24 Atk / 192 Def / 40 SpD
Ability: Sandstream
Impish nature (+Def, -SpA)
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Roar
- Slack Off
Hippowdon is one of three OU weather-starters and the only one with an instant-recovery move.
Hippowdon - 108 / 118 / 72
Abomasnow - 90 / 75 / 85
Tyranitar - 100 / 110 / 100
Looking at these three weather-starters' defenses, one can easily see how Abomasnow's defenses aren't quite up to par for a Stall team, and while Hail hits more OU Pokemon than Sand does, Sandstreamers in general tend to be more effective both as a lead and a team player; Abomasnow does not have access to many useful leading moves such as Stealth Rock, lacks ability to take out other leads, doesn't have an instant recovery move, and the list goes on.
Tyranitar seems to be a good choice of lead at first, but a closer look reveals Hippowdon to be the better choice. Since Blissey walls the crap out of almost every Special Attacker, the rest of this team was built mainly to keep Physical Attackers at bay, therefore since Hippowdon has better HP and Defense, Hippowdon is a better choice. Another reason is the fact that Hippowdon has an instant recovery move, Slack Off, which alone makes Hippowdon more favorable over Tyranitar, not to mention the glaring 4x Fighting weakness Tyranitar has, which is never good, especially for a wall on a Stall team.
But anyways, Hippowdon's role on this team is pretty self-explanatory; the EVs are Defensively spread to take Physical hits obviously, while the few Special Defense EVs help Hippowdon take weak or neutral Special Attacks, like Hidden Powers. Stealth Rock breaks sashes and is usually the first step of the residual damage setup process. Roar is for phazing, usually for later in the game or for leads such as Ninjask who try to set up on me. I try to keep Hippowdon alive throughout the game to take random physical moves such as Close Combat and Stone Edge from the likes of Lucario and Tyranitar respectively.
If I see suspect a Trick user, I'll usually go to Hippowdon since I only use him to get Stealth Rock and weather up. With a choice item, I can still come on on Physical hits, Slack Off / Roar, and switch back out.
Blissey @ Leftovers
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Ability: Natural Cure
Calm Nature (+SpD, -Atk)
- Toxic
- Softboiled
- Aromatherapy
- Seismic Toss
Ah, my favorite and most valuable wall and team member. Blissey is my number one switch into hard-hitting Special attackers such as Latias, Jolteon, Starmie, Empoleon, Zapdos, and the list goes on. Blissey can also switch relatively safely into Heatran and Magnezone, forcing them to Explode or switch, allowing me at least a free turn to switch to Rotom.
One of the great things about Blissey is that you almost always have a free turn to do what you need to do as your opponent hastily switches out their Special Attacker. Depending on the situation, any of Blissey's moves can be used on the switch; I have the option to use Aromatherapy to cure a Rest-user from their sleep or Hippowdon from Poison. Toxic and Seismic Toss are moves I usually use when I'm full health and have nothing else to do, unless I feel I can predict a certain switch-in. I can recover off damage I've been dealt in the process which I do a lot thanks to the Sand canceling my Leftovers gain.
I use Softboiled instead of Wish because there is no need to pass Wishes since my whole team individually has a recovery move. I use Seismic Toss over other attacking moves just to be more consistent with my damage output, and ghosts usually aren't a problem for me anyway. Gengar is immune to Toxic and Seismic Toss, but with max Special Defense, Sandstorm, Life Orb recoil, and some clever switches to Rotom and back to Blissey, Gengar won't be there for very long. I don't use Aromatherapy on Blissey very often on my other teams, but when I started using it, I realized that it helps out a Stall team, or any team in general, greatly. Sometimes you can't predict your opponent not using a status move and Skarmory will accidently get burned or Hippowdown will accidently get Poisoned; Blissey can come in on any Special attacker and use Aromatherapy to instantly fix multiple Status problems.
Seismic Toss and Flamethrower both have their own pros and cons, but Seismic Toss is better for this team in general I have decided.
Starmie @ Leftovers
EVs: 252 HP / 168 Def / 88 Spe
Ability: Natural Cure
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Rapid Spin
- Surf
- Thunderbolt
- Recover
Starmie is this team's one and only spinner, and it does a good job at it. I find Tentacruel extremely annoying, having below average Defense at best and not having access to an instant recovery move. Starmie can absorb Toxic Spikes just as well as Tentacruel and can recover off any Stealth Rock or Spikes damage, which means I can keep coming in and Spinning if I have to, which is something Tentacruel can't do for very long. Knock Off is a useful move to have on a stall but in no means necessary in my opinion, so I don't mind it lacking. Instead of Hidden Power Electric, I have Thunderbolt, which is obviously better, especially for Gyarados and such.
Starmie does not need to outrun much being on a Stall team, so I use 88 Speed EVs; this still allows me to outrun max Speed + Jolly Gyarados and everything slower than it, such as Heatran, Skarmory, Metagross, Tyranitar, Togekiss, etc. The rest of the EVs were just dumped into HP and Defense, since that's where I need it to help take on physical threats like Gyarados and such. It also gives me more hope against Pursuit users I guess.
Skarmory @ Shed Shell
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 20 Spe / 36 SpD
Ability: Keen Eye
Impish nature (+Def, SpA)
- Spikes
- Whirlwind
- Roost
- Brave Bird
The combination of Skarmory and Blissey on a team has proven to be quite effective defensively, especially on a Stall team, so it's no surprise that the two of them have found a spot on my team. One needs not a detailed explanation of Skarmory's role on a Stall team, however I will provide a brief summary anyways.
I use Shed Shell over Leftovers since it's quite frustrating being trapped by Magnezone otherwise. I use 20 Speed mainly to beat other Skarmory's to the Whirlwind. Spikes plays a large role in the residual damage aspect of this team, while Whirlwind helps phaze after Spikes are down. Roost is my instant recovery move, removing some weaknesses upon use (Rock, Electric, Ice), however adding some as well (Fighting, Ground), so I need to be careful sometimes.
Gyarados @ Leftovers
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Ability: Intimidate
Impish nature (+Def, -SpA)
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Roar
- Waterfall
Gyarados is fairly new to the world of Stall, but it manages to fit right in anyways. A big selling point of Gyarados is its handy resistances (Fighting, Steel, etc.) and its immunity to Ground-type attacks; that, and its ability Intimidate. With it, I can switch in on many physical sweepers like Scizor or Heracross and pivot right back out to something else. Being on a Stall team, 394 HP and 282 Def (with Intimidate) is not bad at all, not to mention that base 100 Special Defense. While Attack EVs would be nice, my (0) Attack stat is already larger than my (252, Impish) Defense stat, so max HP and Defense works. I put the last 4 EVs into Speed to outrun other occaisonal 0 Speed Gyarados since it won't really matter in Attack or Special Defense that much.
Rest is my only recovery move, and while it's not as convenient as something like Recover, I manage; Gyarados' main job is to switch in and Intimidate, absorb sleep, and use Roar if I feel safe enough. I use Waterfall was my attacking move since that's just what comes to mind.
Rotom-W @ Leftovers
EVs: 252 HP / 152 Def / 104 SpD
Ability: Levitate
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Will-o-wisp
- Thunderbolt
Yeah, I use two Rest users. Why? Well, I don't really have a solid reason, but I use two mainly because one just isn't enough. If one of my Rest users faints, then I still have another one. Two users with rest isn't much of a pain after all, since Blissey can use Aeromatherapy and cure the Sleep Condition later on. In general though, as long as I can keep my Pokemon alive, I don't care what form of recover I have as long as I have some form of recovery and the Pokemon can still do its job, which Gyarados and Rotom can do.
I had lots of moves to choose from to fill those two crucial spots in Rotom's moveset; the main moves to choose from include Shadow Ball, Discharge, Thunderbolt, Hidden Power, Will-o-wisp, and Hydro Pump. I have tested many different combinations (probably every one...besides Discharge + Thunderbolt) and I have found Will-o-wisp + something to work the best. In the end, I decided to run Thunderbolt, having STAB, to hit most of the stuff I switch into neutrally or super-effective for decent damage output.
The EVs are mostly Defensive since I switch Rotom into a lot of Physical attackers to burn them; I must confess, though, that the EVs I chose for Rotom were chosen, to an extent, randomly. This could be changed probably more than anything else, but I think I'm at least pretty close to getting it right.
-
There you have it; Simple Stall. A very, very fun team, and that's all that matters!
I will go ahead and tell you that hail teams, hyper offense teams, Salamence, Tyranitar (Pursuit), and Trick users give me the most trouble. I am also aware that I am ***** by late-game crocune, and I just accept it. Yeah, celebi will help, blah, blah, I know that, but it's not worth it in the end, in my own experience.
I'm open to any and all suggestions, as long as you can back them them up!
I hope everything made sense.
Thanks!
