Katakiri
Listen, Brendan...
Trying out a new RMT format with this one while having a little fun.
SkarmBliss: (Chansey in this case) the bread and butter of stall. When the OU forum opened its stall exploration project, I wanted to break the mold and see if I could put a twist on an age-old concept. I immediately turned to SkarmBliss as it doesn’t get much older than that and while I was building a team around them I realized a few things: “ain’t nobody got” space for Taunt on Skarmory, Chansey doesn’t do too much to deter hazard setters, and with those two being the core of the team any Rapid Spinner is going to have its hands far too full. The easy answer was to grab a Magnezone, but Magnezone is far from a stall Pokémon and doesn’t do anything to deter Donphan or Hippowdon even and besides, Magnezone isn’t much of a twist to the formula. I needed something more potent and maybe a little more out-there to fix the core. Enter our "Chemical X": Xatu.
While it gained its popularity in Sun, I’m taking Xatu to the stall front. Xatu allows so many Pokémon to function at their best in OU simply because Xatu ensures those Pokémon will never be set-up on, and Chansey and Skarmory are two of those Pokemon. Unlike her overrated cousin Espeon, Xatu can Roost meaning it completely shuts down Ferrothorn, Skarmory, Bronzong, Hippowdon, Gliscor, and so many other things. With Reflect, it can even stall-out some Tyranitar, looking to Pursuit, with a little “toxic love” from Qwilfish; unless it U-Turns on a Roost, Scizor isn’t doing much of anything either so the Pursuit-weakness is a non-issue. With a Reflect up, any physical sweeper is going to need to Swords Dance to stand a chance against Xatu & Skarmory and that's where Haze comes in; reset the boosts and Roost off any damage they tried to do or switch to the hellish Skarmory behind a Reflect. Haze, on top of shutting down the dreaded Calm Mind Reuniclus, also creates a "free win" situation against standard Baton Pass teams as Haze can't be Magic Bounced nor can Xatu be Taunted. Night Shade rounds off the moveset with solid damage for breaking apart Subs and hitting switch-ins for around a 3rd of their full HP, not even factoring in hazards.
With Blissey running both Softboiled for itself and Wish for its teammates, Skarmory rocking a Rocky Helmet to deter physical attacks, and Xatu boosting the team’s Defenses even further while preventing set-up of any kind, there’s not too much that can easily break this core, as for the Pokémon that can…well we still have half the team to introduce.
One would think that Qwilfish would be entirely out-classed by Tentacruel in the role of a Toxic Spiker, but that's actually not true at all; Intimidate gives Qwilfish immense physical bulk upon switch-in, allowing it to take hits Tentacruel couldn't dream of. In fact, Choice Band Terrakion's Stone Edge can only manage 42~49% damage against Qwilfish, Scarf Salamence can only do 38~46% with Earthquake and even less with Outrage, and Adamant Life Orb Cloyster after a Shell Smash can only Rock Blast for 61~73%. Qwilfish really helps Skarmory as some Fighting-types can be too much to handle and Qwilfish takes care of just about all of them. An uninvested Waterfall is far from great but it's the strongest offensive option it has. Thunder Wave can slow down threats to a point that even Chansey can deliver a finishing blow. Pain Split keeps Qwilfish healthy but becomes less reliable as the match drags onward. The lack of Rapid Spin is a shame for Qwilfish's general OU usage, but I don't need Rapid Spin so this little one is perfect for me.
The team needs Stealth Rock so I decided on Heatproof Bronzong. Yes, Heatproof. I use Heatproof Bronzong because I don’t need Levitate; Skarmory & Xatu are already immune to Ground and Xatu is a FAR better switch-in to Donphan, Hippowdon, & Gliscor because, with the exception of a Stone Edge, which isn’t too scary after Reflect, they can’t touch or set up on Xatu. I also needed a Steel-type that could not only take Fire attacks from Dragons, but take Hurricanes and Superpowers from Tornadus as well as give CM Jirachi a good deal of trouble. While I don’t often rely on the illusion of Levitate that comes with Bronzong, it is nice to have around and since all common Spikes-users are entirely walled by Xatu, most opponents will never even realize it’s grounded. Bronzong carries Light Screen because the vast majority of Pokémon that switch-into it are Special Attackers and HP conservation is key for this team.
Rounding-off the team is Latias; sporting a passive-aggressive set to help deal with Keldeo, Rotom-W, and the majority of Sun team threats. Roar keeps Venusaur, NP Celebi, Jirachi, and Thundurus-T away for another day while out-speeding other Roars & Whirlwinds hoping to phaze away Latias' Calm Mind boosts if I'm attempting to do some damage. Her job is pretty simple but very important to the team as a whole.
Problem Pokémon:
Garchomp – Swords Dance and ChainChomp are potentially huge problems but it depends on their move choices. SD Fire Fang breaks Skarmory and Stone Edge is almost as bad. ChainChomp is stalled-out with by Chansey, but only if it lacks Swords Dance. Chomp is manageable with Toxic Spikes, but a pain nonetheless.
Jirachi – Specifically Calm Mind potentially runs through this team if Bronzong goes down. Bronzong is all I have that can break it's Subs in one hit. Latias can Roar it away, and build Spikes damage but Chansey can't break its Subs in one hit.
Thundurus-T – Nasty Plot is hell to deal with and Latias and Chansey are my best shot. Any other set is easily dealt with by Chansey.
Victini – We need SR and preferably T-Spikes up early to deal with it. Latias is the main check but fears it a little in Sun. Bronzong can take a hit outside of Sun and EQ back. Qwilfish can take a hit and T-Wave then Pain Split and Waterfall.
Team Strategies:
Sand Offense: Lead off with Bronzong and get my Rocks up. Genesect and Tyranitar can't threaten me due to Heatproof so I'll usually Gyro Ball Ttar. Ferro is walled by Xatu. Latios can't break Bronzong, again due to Heatproof. Terrakion is dealt with by Skarmory, Bronzong, Latias, and (if Choice-locked) Xatu. All Landorus variants are dealt with by Skarm or Chansey. Bronzong can feint Levitate if need be.
Rain Offense: Lead with Qwilfish and get T-Spikes up or lead with Chansey and fish for Toxics. T-Wave anything that can't be poisoned and just stall Tentacruel with Chansey, only Chansey is affected by Toxic Spikes anyhow so it's a very minor threat. Latias, Bronzong, and Chansey handle any Special threats Rain throws at them bar NP Thundurus-T. Again, Genesect can't really worry Bronzong and Chansey.
Sun Offense: Get up SR ASAP. Bronzong has Heatproof so no fear of Ninetales, beware Dugtrio and opposing Xatu. Latias is the main check to Venusaur. Make sure to keep Bronzong healthy as well via Wish as he's a back-up check to Sun. Keep Skarm's Sturdy intact as an emergency check to Venusaur/Volcarona. Victini is hell for this team, just make sure to get Rocks up and keep Latias at full health. Xatu may be able to pull off a Reflect after the Speed-drop if you sac' something.
Heavy Offense: Go into Xatu and claim your free Reflect against Deoxys-D. Yet again, Genesect is no issue. Keep Bronzong healthy for Dragons and only switch Skarm in on an Outrage or something if they have Magnezone. Use Gengar's inability to KO Chansey to send free Wishes to Bronzong, then take it out with Bronzong.
Baton Pass: Xatu. Haze. Wait for the ragequit.
Stall: Get T-Spikes up. Abuse Xatu as well as Skarm's Rocky Helmet. ...And of course wait about 60 turns. Try to clean up with Latias.
Bronzong @ Leftovers
Trait: Heatproof
EVs: 248 HP / 48 Atk / 212 SDef
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Gyro Ball
- Rock Slide
Qwilfish (F) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature
- Toxic Spikes
- Thunder Wave
- Waterfall
- Pain Split
Chansey (F) @ Eviolite
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Softboiled
- Seismic Toss
- Wish
- Toxic
Skarmory (F) @ Rocky Helmet
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 Spd
Impish Nature
- Spikes
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Whirlwind
Latias (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 228 Def / 28 Spd
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Roar
- Roost
- Dragon Pulse
Xatu (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Magic Bounce
EVs: 200 HP / 252 Def / 56 Spd
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Night Shade
- Haze
- Roost
- Reflect
Trait: Heatproof
EVs: 248 HP / 48 Atk / 212 SDef
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Gyro Ball
- Rock Slide
Qwilfish (F) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature
- Toxic Spikes
- Thunder Wave
- Waterfall
- Pain Split
Chansey (F) @ Eviolite
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Softboiled
- Seismic Toss
- Wish
- Toxic
Skarmory (F) @ Rocky Helmet
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 Spd
Impish Nature
- Spikes
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Whirlwind
Latias (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 228 Def / 28 Spd
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Roar
- Roost
- Dragon Pulse
Xatu (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Magic Bounce
EVs: 200 HP / 252 Def / 56 Spd
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Night Shade
- Haze
- Roost
- Reflect
All help is greatly appreciated and as with all my RMTs, I'll keep the thread up-to-date with changes, experiences, and ladder peaks!