Stallbreakers in ORAS OU

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Introduction

A stallbreaker is a Pokémon that immediately threatens stall not for breaking down walls but rather for preventing the Pokémon commonly found on those teams from executing their standard strategies, thus hindering or entirely shutting down the team's defensive core. This article will detail some common stallbreakers in the ORAS OU metagame and how they function.

Mega Gardevoir

Boasting a base 165 Special Attack stat and the ability to hit for both physical and special damage, Mega Gardevoir is a troubling prospect for many defensive teams due to its sheer power alone. Pixilate-boosted Hyper Voice blows up anything that isn't Chansey or a Steel-type, easily plowing through Pokémon such as Mega Sableye, Slowbro, and Hippowdon. Psyshock hits for physical damage, which can be useful when you're trying to break down special walls like the aforementioned Chansey, whilst also hitting Pokémon that resist Fairy like Mega Venusaur, Amoonguss, and Talonflame for much more damage. Focus Blast rounds out the attacking coverage and allows Mega Gardevoir to hit Steel-types such as Ferrothorn, Heatran, and Excadrill for super effective damage.

Taunt is the best move for a stallbreaking variant of Mega Gardevoir, and it can be used to stop Pokémon such as Clefable, Chansey, and Slowbro from trying to Thunder Wave or Toxic Mega Gardevoir to cripple it whilst also preventing the likes of Chansey from recovering. Once Taunted, passive Pokémon are much more easily broken down by Mega Gardevoir's attacks.

Mega Scizor, Jirachi, and Skarmory are usually the best Pokémon for dealing with Mega Gardevoir. They all resist both of Mega Gardevoir's STAB moves and also possess a secondary typing that allows them to only take neutral damage from Focus Blast, avoiding being 2HKOed.

Talonflame

Access to reliable recovery, Taunt, and the ability to beat Mega Sableye one-on-one, Talonflame is a fantastic stallbreaker. Bulk Up is an interesting setup move that boosts Talonflame's Attack and Defense by one stage, which will, unlike Swords Dance, allow it to boost its Attack safely against Foul Play users such as Mandibuzz and Mega Sableye. In combination with Taunt, Talonflame's ability to boost its Attack allows it to break down many passive walls such as Clefable, Chansey, and Mew.

Will-O-Wisp is another option for Talonflame that allows it to whittle down walls such as bulky Water-types like Quagsire, Slowbro, and Suicune and Ground-types like Hippowdon, Landorus-T, and Garchomp. However, the combination of Will-O-Wisp and Taunt doesn't allow Talonflame to beat Mega Sableye.

Bulky Water-types such as Suicune and Slowbro can threaten Talonflame with Scald, which will outlast Talonflame's Roost PP if Talonflame tries to heal off the damage. An immunity to Will-O-Wisp and a resistance to Flying make Heatran one of the biggest blocks to Talonflame, and it can also carry moves like Stone Edge or Ancient Power to hit Talonflame 4x super effectively and remove it quickly. Lastly, Ground-types such as Landorus-T and Hippowdon have good natural bulk and access to Stone Edge to deal with Talonflame. However, both fear being burned from Will-O-Wisp and as such are not always the safest answers.

Manaphy

With access to one of the best boosting moves in the game, Manaphy can use Tail Glow to boost up quickly and overwhelm many defensive builds. Manaphy can 2HKO even the bulkiest of special walls such as Chansey with a +6 rain-boosted Scald. Not even Unaware walls can reliably combat it. Quagsire possesses lackluster special bulk and is easily 2HKOed by Manaphy's rain-boosted Scald. As for Clefable, more serviceable special bulk allows it to fare slightly better, but Scald burns are often unavoidable and will usually lead to Clefable being overwhelmed.

Manaphy's ability Hydration also plays a role in its stallbreaking ability when used in conjunction with Rain Dance. Hydration heals status effects in the rain and as such means that Manaphy cannot be worn down via status if rain is present. This is very important when you consider that many stall teams are very passive and often rely on passive damage in the form of entry hazards, Toxic, Will-O-Wisp, and Scald burns to deal the bulk of the damage.

As far as counterplay is concerned, Calm Mind Blissey is probably the single best counter to Manaphy. It is able to reliably handle all forms of Manaphy due to the ability to boost up alongside it, combined with access to reliable recovery via Soft-Boiled. Mega Venusaur can usually deal reliably with any Manaphy variant without Psychic, and Ferrothorn can handle any Manaphy without Hidden Power Fire.

Tornadus-T

Tornadus-T's access to Knock Off and Taunt combined with the ability to hit hard both physically and specially makes it a menace for many stall teams to deal with. Hurricane and Superpower provide almost perfect neutral coverage, and Tornadus-T takes advantage of this by blowing up physical walls with its STAB Hurricane whilst also hitting special walls such as Heatran and Chansey hard with Superpower.

Taunt stops bulkier Pokémon from recovering from the damage that Tornadus-T has dealt and in general eases its job stallbreaking. Knock Off also plays an important role in Tornadus-T's stallbreaking role. The ability to remove items such as Leftovers and Eviolite can make it much easier to wear Pokémon down. A common example of Knock Off coming into effect can be seen when Tornadus-T faces a Chansey. With Eviolite, Chansey is never 2HKOed by Superpower. However, once the Eviolite has been knocked off, Chansey is easily 2HKOed.

Counters to Tornadus-T are few and far between, but bulky Electric-types such as Zapdos and Rotom-W are almost always safe answers due to their great natural bulk and resistance to Tornadus-T's STAB type. Bulky Steel-types that are not weak to Fighting such as Jirachi and Doublade are also relatively safe answers. However, with Tornadus-T's only means of recovery being its Regenerator ability, passive damage such as Life Orb, Stealth Rock, as well as sandstorm and status can also wear Tornadus-T down quickly.

Mega Heracross

A gargantuan base 185 Attack stat combined with access to Swords Dance makes Mega Heracross one of the most fearsome wallbreakers that ORAS OU has to offer. Mega Heracross's raw power alone allows it to achieve KOs that most physical attackers would only dream of such as OHKOing Mega Sableye or physically defensive Skarmory at +2 with Pin Missile and Close Combat, respectively.

Mega Heracross' Fighting, Bug, and Rock coverage allows it to hit almost everything in OU for at least neutral damage, and even if it doesn't have a boost, nothing on a standard stall team can avoid being 2HKOed by it, especially after Stealth Rock damage. If the Speed is not needed, Mega Heracross can also run a bulkier spread investing in HP instead of Speed. This extra bulk allows Mega Heracross to fare even better against stall and, although situational, can be a great asset to Mega Heracross when playing against more defensive teams.

Of the few switch-ins to Mega Heracross that exist, physically defensive Unaware Clefable and Doublade are the two sturdiest choices. Clefable's Fairy typing grants it a resistance to both of Mega Heracross's STAB moves, and its Unaware ability ignores any Swords Dance boosts that it may have acquired. Combined these resistances with reliable recovery and a STAB move that hits Mega Heracross super effectively, and Mega Heracross will often find it tough to break through Clefable. Doublade, on the other hand, resists all of Mega Heracross's attacks, with its Ghost typing even granting it an immunity to Mega Heracross's powerful STAB Close Combat. This being the case, Mega Heracross is almost powerless to break through Doublade and would require multiple boosts to even leave a dent.

Flying-type Pokémon such as Skarmory and Talonflame can also usually revenge kill Mega Heracross with their STAB moves.

Togekiss

Togekiss's Serene Grace gives Air Slash a 60% chance to flinch, and as such Air Slash flinches are the aim of the game when using stallbreaker Togekiss. The combination of Nasty Plot, Heal Bell, and Roost allows Togekiss to reliably set up on many passive Pokémon such as Chansey and Slowbro, after which it can proceed to continually make them flinch with Air Slash until they are knocked out.

Nasty Plot is the boosting move of choice for Togekiss, allowing it to boost up quickly and break down most passive walls after a few boosts. Heal Bell is used so that Togekiss isn't worn down by status, and Roost is chosen to keep Togekiss healthy, allowing it to heal off weaker attacks such as Chansey's Seismic Toss or Suicune's Scald.

Stallbreaker Togekiss's best answers are bulky Steel-types such as Heatran, Jirachi, and Skarmory, which take very little even from a boosted Air Slash and can threaten it with super effective Steel-type STAB attacks. Specially defensive Unaware Clefable can also be tough to break through. Unaware ignores Togekiss's boosts, and Clefable can utilize Protect to gain extra Leftovers recovery, eventually stalling Air Slash's PP.

Heatran

Fast Magma Storm Heatran has experienced a massive spike in popularity over recent times and acts as a fantastic stallbreaker. Trapping is always a useful effect when playing against stall builds. The ability to target and remove a specific Pokémon is something that can be game changing in a matchup against stall, especially considering that each of the members of a stall team often plays a very specific role that the team needs to succeed. Often once one or two members of a stall team fall, the rest quickly follow. Heatran can even utilize a set with Power Herb + Solar Beam in order to trap and remove some of the bulky Water-types that would usually try and switch in on the standard stallbreaker Heatran.

Magma Storm's secondary effect traps and damages the target for four or five turns or until Heatran switches out. Therefore, Heatran can effectively trap and eliminate many passive Pokémon such as Chansey, Mew, Alomomola, and Clefable. Taunt is used to prevent the opposing Pokémon from recovering and is what allows Heatran to beat Pokémon such as Chansey, which could otherwise easily recover off Magma Storm's damage and beat Heatran one-on-one with Seismic Toss. Toxic is used to catch bulky Water-types such as Slowbro, which may try to come in on Heatran, but can also be used to wear down Pokémon like Chansey more quickly.

Bulky Ground- and Water-types such as Hippowdon, Gliscor, Suicune, and Slowbro are able to defeat Heatran with STAB Scald or Earthquake. Gliscor's immunity to Toxic makes it the most reliable answer, but even if poisoned, Suicune, Hippowdon, and Slowbro will still reliably beat Heatran.

Tyranitar

Equipped with a Choice Band, Tyranitar takes advantage of its base 134 Attack stat to punch through even the sturdiest physical walls and is able to 2HKO the likes of Skarmory and Quagsire with Stone Edge and Crunch, respectively. Tyranitar's pure wallbreaking power can be overwhelming for many defensive oriented teams and can prove a problem to deal with.

Choice Band Tyranitar is also an effective Pursuit trapper against stall teams. Pokémon such as Slowbro, Chansey, and Heatran will often feel more inclined to switch out against Choice Band Tyranitar fearing that they will otherwise be knocked out. Therefore, Tyranitar can simply Pursuit them for massive damage, weakening them severely.

Physically defensive Ground-types such as Hippowdon and Gliscor are some of the best answers to Choice Band Tyranitar. Exceptional natural physical bulk combined with reliable recovery allows them to switch in repeatedly without fear, also threatening Tyranitar with their STAB Earthquake. Choice-locked Tyranitar can also be more easily revenge killed once it reveals which move it locks itself into. The opponent can simply revenge kill Tyranitar by switching to a Pokémon that resists or is immune to the move Tyranitar has been locked into.

Conclusion

Of course the stallbreakers listed here are not the only options that are available. There are a plethora of other Pokémon that can excel against defensive teams such as Work Up + Refresh Mega Pidgeot, SubSeed Serperior, Mega Garchomp, Kyurem-B, and Belly Drum Azumarill. Hopefully this article was able to outline how some common stallbreakers work and how they fulfill their role effectively.

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