Neo-Stall
by Porii Sames and Chomp29 (1840/55 on Showdown, 1654/6 on PO; 2018/1 on Showdown, 1603/14 on PO)
Hi there, some of you may remember me as the Dream World player of gen 5, wherein I posted my Rainstall RMT (“A Year of Rainstall”), which quickly and easily hit #1 on the Dream World ladder (among other successes). And, with a new gen, I scrambled to find a new stall team to play, being that I was always particularly attracted to the playstyle.
I've been close friends with Chomp29 for a number of years, and we've made some great teams between the two of us but only once did we really collaborate on a serious team, and that was at the end of gen 4; in addition, the initial Pressure stall with which he handed me at the start of XY was not, at first, meant to be a collaboration. Pressure stall was a team similar to the one I currently use. Clefable was out for Latias, Gliscor was out for Skarmory, Mega Venusaur was out for Dusclops. Not entirely the same on the whole, but with a few similarities. The team played pretty well, and Chomp29 and I both laddered it, with Chomp29 having more success than me at the time.
When he gave me an updated version of the team, he had swapped Dusclops out, noting just how important Venusaur was for protecting the team against various threats, whereas Dusclops was rather limited in use (though Rest/Talk/WoW/Spite was certainly useful at times, it failed to really beat all that much). He had also traded out the Defog Latias for a Heal Bell Clefable, fitting Defog onto Zapdos. Though soonafter, we realized the monumental importance of Substitute on Zapdos, as many teams do not have a reliable answer to what to do against a Zapdos with a Sub up. Though having two Defoggers was very useful at times, Defog on Zapdos was once again replaced by Substitute, leaving Skarmory as the sole Defogger. Finally, after I had toyed around with the team much more, I had realized that the team had a particular weakness to Mega Mawhile as well as Bisharp. We brainstormed one day and found that, instead, it would be most useful to run a Gliscor to try and beat both of these. However, Defog being illegal with Poison Heal, we were forced to run Sand Veil and Roost. After using Knock Off on it for a while, I found that SD Mega Scizor was giving my team troubles and that fitting Fire Fang on would be helpful, and it has been useful on the whole, not only for Scizor, but for things like Ferrothorn switchins.
A good friend of mine, The Tangy, near the very beginning of the generation insisted that stall was not only still viable this generation, but was actually very strong. I did not believe him, but he soon proved me wrong when he made several successful stall teams in the 1600s on PO. As a traditional stall player, I was eager to get in on the ground floor and make a stall team that was good. As a strong advocate of Skarmory/Chansey (even though it has lost some of its viability over the generations, I wanted that to be the basis of my team. But more importantly, I wanted the team to be based around pressure stall. Pressure is a fantastic ability for stall teams to have as it allows them to outlast other stall teams in the field of power points, which is often what stall v stall comes down to. The original team also had a Dusclops on it, which worked somewhat well, but was a bit to gimmicky and couldn't get past 1550 on PO.
The breakthrough that this team had was when I randomly decided to try Rest-Talk on Mega-Venusaur so that it could be immune to Rotom-W and Heatran burns which it very commonly switched into. Much to my surprise, the set worked absolutely fantastically. Not only does it laugh away status unlike Synthesis M-Venu, but more importantly, it allows for almost 3x the Power Point stalling as Rest not only has twice the PP, but also gives you the ability to stay asleep and not waste PP on Sleep Talk if you don't need to.
After I made the M-Venu change, the team was almost at its final form, but at the time, my Skarmory had Spikes and my Zapdos was the Defogger. I decided to remove Spikes from Skarmory and give him Defog because I often found that the Spikes were un-needed as they would almost always get constantly Defogged away by either myself or the enemy team. But more importantly, it opened up a move-slot on Zapdos where I could put Substitute for Toxic and PP stalling.
With this change the team quickly rose to #1 on the PS ladder with a rating of 2018 under the Alt chompon29tangelos, which had at the time, actually been created as a mutual testing alt for me and my friend The Tangy.
I introduced this team to my very dear friend Porii Sames, asking him what he thought of the team and as the stall player I most respect, if he had any thoughts as to how the team could be improved. He would later go on to change out Skarmory for Defog Gliscor to improve the team's match up vs Bisharp and Mega-Mawile, and hit a higher rating than me on the PO ladder.
And without further notice, this is the current “Neo-Stall”
Clefable (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Moonblast
- Wish
- Protect
- Calm Mind(Porii) or Heal Bell (Chomp)
Clefable will occasionally fill the role as a lead should the opponent have Garchomp or perhaps Terrakion with no other possible Stealth Rocker, though traditionally Mega Venusaur is a more fitting lead. Clefable's role on the team is dire; it is able to all but shut down countless boosting sweepers, such as Garchomp, Dragonite, opposing Magic Guard Clefable, Suicune, Thundurus, and countless others. Initially, Heal Bell was run over Calm Mind, but I learned that Clefable lacked the necessary tools to actually KO opposing boosters with recovery moves, so the cleric role was delegate to Chansey. Moonblast, of course, is the only attacking move, and it deals decent enough damage to be used with moderate frequency, but the key move here is Wish; lots of things will quickly switch out of Clefable early, mid, or late game; meaning that you'll have plenty of opportunities to pass a Wish out to another member, granting them a safer switchin.
Clefable is SO GOOD on stall. Oh my god this thing is fantastic. Unaware is SO critical for a team that only has one phaser on it. This thing is a good answer to a number of Dragons, namely Dragonite. It's physical bulk is actually surprisingly high, it can take on most Tyranitar quite handily, (unless CB Stone Edge). Wish/Tect is very valuable because you cannot have soft Boiled with unaware on the same set. But it's actually not that much worse than Soft Boiled would be, allowing you to pass a clutch wish to a damaged teammate, or PP stall offensive threats with greater ease. Other than the obvious move on the set, Clefable is my Cleric instead of Chansey as I found having Toxic on Chansey to be extremely useful for crippling physical attacking switch-ins.
Zapdos @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 16 SAtk / 240 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Roost
- Toxic
- Thunderbolt
Zapdos, like Clefable, is massively important to the team, but for slightly different reasons. While Clefable serves as a full-stop to many offensive powerhouses, Zapdos takes on a more reserved role, helping the team against Balance and some Stall. If Zapdos is switched in safely against a Mega Venusaur, a near-staple on Bulky Balance, it can proceed to SubRoost and stall out Sludge Bombs for a while, until the opponent either switches, having lost at least a few Sludge PP, run out of Sludge Bombs, or, in the off-chance Zapdos is poisoned or seeded, a simple switch to Chansey along with an optional Heal Bell will cure it just fine. Toxic is also useful for common switchins such as the Latis, Landorus, or for putting pressure on a Heal Bell Sylveon. The added Special Attack EVs are for attempting to do just a little bit more to Mega Pinsir, which is one of the team's largest threats. Zapdos just has a lot of uses on this team, PP stalling being the primary one.
Zapdos is the first part of the pressure core of this team. Possessing a great amount of special bulk, as well as a very useful typing and move-pool, Zapdos is about as offensive of a defensive threat as you will find on stall. Sub-Toxic puts a lot of pressure on enemy offensive and balanced teams, and Thunderbolt allows you to 1HKO or 2HKO a lot of offensive threats such as Azumarill, Mega-Pinsir, etc. This Pokemon also provides a lot of support for Suicune as they have strong type synergy.
Gliscor (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Defog
- Earthquake
- Roost
- Fire Fang
OR
Skarmory (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Roost
- Defog
- Brave Bird
- Whirlwind
And we come to the most unorthodox set on the team, that of Gliscor. Its primary role is to Defog and to take on Bisharp and Mega Mawhile, though these two still even can give it issues at times. Earthquake is for STAB and letting Gliscor actually take on these two, and Fire Fang just does too little to them for me to consider replacing it (and the thought HAS crossed my mind on multiple occasions; Taunt, Rock Slide, and Knock Off are all appealing in their own way). Roost is to make sure Gliscor can stay at max HP, which, since it won't be dealing much direct damage, is what your primary attack will be. Fire Fang, as mentioned earlier, is mainly for Mega Scizor, especially if it begins to set up, and the burn hax with this move has saved me on multiple occasions (it is, at least, somewhat useful for the predicted Rotom-W switchin as burning Rotom will incapacitate it as it will be unable to deal more damage to Venusaur with Volt Switch than is done to it). Defense is maxed because Gliscor has no real need to outspeed anything in its speed tier, and the chance of surviving Mega Mawhile's +2 Play Rough is just too great to pass up. All in all, Gliscor's primary purpose is to serve a variety of specific roles rather than attempting to take on a playstyle as a whole.
Skarmory is on the team due to it's unique and amazing defensive typing combined with a stellar defensive stat and very strong supporting options. In this case, it serves as the team's defogger and check/counter to a lot of the meta-game's most potent threats. It is very strong against things like Scizor, Diggersby, non-Taunt M-Gyarados, Landrous-T, etc. Every move on the entire set is completely self explanatory. I am not running any speed evs to try to speed creep things near the base 70 tier because Skarmory NEEDS the absolutely maximum investment in physical bulk to be able to have a chance at beating certain hits form the likes of CB Tyranitar/Terrakion, and Fire Punch CB/+1 Dragonite.
Venusaur (F) @ Venusaurite
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 Spd
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Knock Off
- Sludge Bomb
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
This is the part where I once again acknowledge Chomp29 for this set, as Neo-stall certainly would not achieve the success it has achieved without it. This Venusaur set is incredible; RestTalk is preferable as Venusaur is likely to sponge many burns from Rotom-W and various Scalds it happens to switch into. Knock Off is, in a single move, able to let Venusaur take on defensive Heatran as well as Ferrothorn, and it does upwards of 50% on unsuspecting Latios. It is best used as a surprise move; snatching the Eviolite from Chansey is hugely useful in the stall war, as well as dealing big damage to an unsuspecting Scarf Gothitelle. Venusaur is hugely useful for taking on a wide array of threats, oh, and Knocking Offing Lando-I T1 is extremely useful.
Of all the sets I experimented with at the very start of the generation, this is my favorite creation. While on the surface it appears inferior to Synthesis, it has a number of edges over it on a full stall team. For one, it means that M-Venu is essentially immune to status, ESPECIALLY annoying burns which it VERY commonly switches into (Rotom-W, Heatran, etc). Additionally, the extra PP that Rest provides means that you can out-stall other M-Venu sets. For the last 2 options, Knock Off is an absolute must, as a single move, it puts in an insane amount of work, general 65 BP that removes the opponent's item is just too strong to pass up on a defensive Pokemon like M-Venu. I run Sludge Bomb > Giga Drain because it allows me to hit annoying fairies such as Sylveon or a switching in Togekiss harder, and some of these faeries can be very problematic for my team. But more importantly, Sludge Bomb just has more Neutral BP than Giga Drain, and the healing from Giga Drain is not as important on a Rest set.
Suicune @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Calm Mind
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
What is a stall team without the token bulky water? Suicune is, along with Clefable and possibly Zapdos stalling, the best bet at an end-game for the team. Scald is inherently useful against Mega Venusaur and Rotom-W switchins, since, as mentioned earlier, it basically incapacitates the two. Calm Mind on Suicune is similar to Calm Mind on Clefable; it helps against boosting sweepers at times, and allows Cune to check Charizard-X a little bit better (though it can still give the team issues). Suicune is also great for absorbing status as, with Leftovers and its unreal bulk, it is more than able to Rest on countless occasions. Late-game, there is just so much Suicune is able to set up on, and many teams will lack a serious response to it. Plus, there are very few teams nowadays that have a reliable switchin to just a +1 Scald; few things want to take the damage or the burn. Finally, without hazards, Suicune + Zapdos grants the ability to PP stall almost anything in the game, Clefable checking setup sweepers.
Having a way to sweep the enemy with your stall team without jeopardizing your defensive potential is amazing. Suicune is fantastic at this as it possesses immense physical bulk (even greater than Skarmory's,) as well as having the potential to set up and end a game after key threats have been whittled down. This also serves as my team's bulky water meaning that it can provide a decent defense against general offensive threats such as Bisharp (though without a burn it may be beaten in the end depending on the set). I invested maximum into defense as this is a Calm Mind set, and this team already has a number of specially defensive walls.
Chansey (F) @ Eviolite
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 Def / 252 SDef / 4 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Stealth Rock
- Seismic Toss
- Soft-Boiled
- Heal Bell
And finally, we come to Chansey. Not very interesting, but just as critical as any mon on the rest of the team, nonetheless. There's nothing all that unique about the EVs; Calm isn't necessary as there's literally no special sweepers that threaten Chansey AND Clefable, and running max HP/Defense isn't needed either. Chansey also provides Rocks support, and should be brought in as soon as possible to an unsuspecting Heatran, Rotom-W, or Mega Venusaur. It should be noted that it is almost always best to keep Chansey at full health and the team effectively Heal Belled before setting up Rocks as Chansey will have a chance to set up Rocks against at least one mon on every team, but losing your Chansey can cost you the game.
If you ask me why Chansey over Blissey, I will simply refer you to the following Pastebin of a post I made a LONG time ago, but the math is still applicable: http://pastebin.com/B9mjXtNe.
As a TL DR, Chansey is 19.3% more specially bulky, and 29.8% more physically bulky, which is a sacrifice I am more than happy to make for leftovers.
With that out of the way, Chansey is extremely strong on Stall, especially when paired with Pokemon such as Skarmory and Suicune. As an absolute specially defensive monster, there is virtually nothing in the game that can touch it without many boosts on the special side. It's also no slouch on the physical side either, it has a 68% chance to survive a +1 Max Attack, Adamant, Tough Claws, Mega-Charizard-X Outrage. That is absolutely insane. Chansey also serves as this team's SR layer, and generally sits around and is a massive nuisance to enemy offensive threats. Because it forces so many switches, Toxic, Seismic Toss, and SR are all good for punishing switch-ins. The support that this team provides Chansey is massive, Multiple Physical walls, a defogger, Pressure Stalling, and a set-up sweeper stopper.
PLAYING WITH THE TEAM
As a stall team, this team's goal is to slowly wear down the enemies' with steady damage, entry hazards, status effects, and if necessary, PP stalling. Once you get a feel for how bulky each of the Pokemon are, you will be better able to understand what can switch into what and when. In general, Mega Venusaur is what I like to lead with if I can, to get the Mega Evolution out of the way ASAP. If this means mega evolving and immediately resting, that is perfectly acceptable. Although you will find yourself Knocking Off mos of the time.
Keep in mind that while Suicune can outright 6-0 the enemy team, there is no rush to bring it out early.
It is often better to wait until key threats on the enemy team have been eliminated or whittled down before attempting a CM sweep. Additionally, keep in mind that Suicune can be used early and mid-game as a simple bulky water, causing damage on switch-ins with scald, and recovering with Rest.
Remember that the Rest mechanic has been changed this generation, meaning that any turns you spend sleeping will count towards your wake-up timer, even after you switch out.
And there you have it, nearly a year in the making, Neo-Stall. Your thoughts/comments/concerns are highly appreciated, and I thank you for reading.
exportable:
exportable:
by Porii Sames and Chomp29 (1840/55 on Showdown, 1654/6 on PO; 2018/1 on Showdown, 1603/14 on PO)
Hi there, some of you may remember me as the Dream World player of gen 5, wherein I posted my Rainstall RMT (“A Year of Rainstall”), which quickly and easily hit #1 on the Dream World ladder (among other successes). And, with a new gen, I scrambled to find a new stall team to play, being that I was always particularly attracted to the playstyle.
I've been close friends with Chomp29 for a number of years, and we've made some great teams between the two of us but only once did we really collaborate on a serious team, and that was at the end of gen 4; in addition, the initial Pressure stall with which he handed me at the start of XY was not, at first, meant to be a collaboration. Pressure stall was a team similar to the one I currently use. Clefable was out for Latias, Gliscor was out for Skarmory, Mega Venusaur was out for Dusclops. Not entirely the same on the whole, but with a few similarities. The team played pretty well, and Chomp29 and I both laddered it, with Chomp29 having more success than me at the time.
When he gave me an updated version of the team, he had swapped Dusclops out, noting just how important Venusaur was for protecting the team against various threats, whereas Dusclops was rather limited in use (though Rest/Talk/WoW/Spite was certainly useful at times, it failed to really beat all that much). He had also traded out the Defog Latias for a Heal Bell Clefable, fitting Defog onto Zapdos. Though soonafter, we realized the monumental importance of Substitute on Zapdos, as many teams do not have a reliable answer to what to do against a Zapdos with a Sub up. Though having two Defoggers was very useful at times, Defog on Zapdos was once again replaced by Substitute, leaving Skarmory as the sole Defogger. Finally, after I had toyed around with the team much more, I had realized that the team had a particular weakness to Mega Mawhile as well as Bisharp. We brainstormed one day and found that, instead, it would be most useful to run a Gliscor to try and beat both of these. However, Defog being illegal with Poison Heal, we were forced to run Sand Veil and Roost. After using Knock Off on it for a while, I found that SD Mega Scizor was giving my team troubles and that fitting Fire Fang on would be helpful, and it has been useful on the whole, not only for Scizor, but for things like Ferrothorn switchins.
A good friend of mine, The Tangy, near the very beginning of the generation insisted that stall was not only still viable this generation, but was actually very strong. I did not believe him, but he soon proved me wrong when he made several successful stall teams in the 1600s on PO. As a traditional stall player, I was eager to get in on the ground floor and make a stall team that was good. As a strong advocate of Skarmory/Chansey (even though it has lost some of its viability over the generations, I wanted that to be the basis of my team. But more importantly, I wanted the team to be based around pressure stall. Pressure is a fantastic ability for stall teams to have as it allows them to outlast other stall teams in the field of power points, which is often what stall v stall comes down to. The original team also had a Dusclops on it, which worked somewhat well, but was a bit to gimmicky and couldn't get past 1550 on PO.
The breakthrough that this team had was when I randomly decided to try Rest-Talk on Mega-Venusaur so that it could be immune to Rotom-W and Heatran burns which it very commonly switched into. Much to my surprise, the set worked absolutely fantastically. Not only does it laugh away status unlike Synthesis M-Venu, but more importantly, it allows for almost 3x the Power Point stalling as Rest not only has twice the PP, but also gives you the ability to stay asleep and not waste PP on Sleep Talk if you don't need to.
After I made the M-Venu change, the team was almost at its final form, but at the time, my Skarmory had Spikes and my Zapdos was the Defogger. I decided to remove Spikes from Skarmory and give him Defog because I often found that the Spikes were un-needed as they would almost always get constantly Defogged away by either myself or the enemy team. But more importantly, it opened up a move-slot on Zapdos where I could put Substitute for Toxic and PP stalling.
With this change the team quickly rose to #1 on the PS ladder with a rating of 2018 under the Alt chompon29tangelos, which had at the time, actually been created as a mutual testing alt for me and my friend The Tangy.
I introduced this team to my very dear friend Porii Sames, asking him what he thought of the team and as the stall player I most respect, if he had any thoughts as to how the team could be improved. He would later go on to change out Skarmory for Defog Gliscor to improve the team's match up vs Bisharp and Mega-Mawile, and hit a higher rating than me on the PO ladder.
And without further notice, this is the current “Neo-Stall”
Clefable (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Moonblast
- Wish
- Protect
- Calm Mind(Porii) or Heal Bell (Chomp)
Clefable will occasionally fill the role as a lead should the opponent have Garchomp or perhaps Terrakion with no other possible Stealth Rocker, though traditionally Mega Venusaur is a more fitting lead. Clefable's role on the team is dire; it is able to all but shut down countless boosting sweepers, such as Garchomp, Dragonite, opposing Magic Guard Clefable, Suicune, Thundurus, and countless others. Initially, Heal Bell was run over Calm Mind, but I learned that Clefable lacked the necessary tools to actually KO opposing boosters with recovery moves, so the cleric role was delegate to Chansey. Moonblast, of course, is the only attacking move, and it deals decent enough damage to be used with moderate frequency, but the key move here is Wish; lots of things will quickly switch out of Clefable early, mid, or late game; meaning that you'll have plenty of opportunities to pass a Wish out to another member, granting them a safer switchin.
Clefable is SO GOOD on stall. Oh my god this thing is fantastic. Unaware is SO critical for a team that only has one phaser on it. This thing is a good answer to a number of Dragons, namely Dragonite. It's physical bulk is actually surprisingly high, it can take on most Tyranitar quite handily, (unless CB Stone Edge). Wish/Tect is very valuable because you cannot have soft Boiled with unaware on the same set. But it's actually not that much worse than Soft Boiled would be, allowing you to pass a clutch wish to a damaged teammate, or PP stall offensive threats with greater ease. Other than the obvious move on the set, Clefable is my Cleric instead of Chansey as I found having Toxic on Chansey to be extremely useful for crippling physical attacking switch-ins.
Zapdos @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 16 SAtk / 240 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Roost
- Toxic
- Thunderbolt
Zapdos, like Clefable, is massively important to the team, but for slightly different reasons. While Clefable serves as a full-stop to many offensive powerhouses, Zapdos takes on a more reserved role, helping the team against Balance and some Stall. If Zapdos is switched in safely against a Mega Venusaur, a near-staple on Bulky Balance, it can proceed to SubRoost and stall out Sludge Bombs for a while, until the opponent either switches, having lost at least a few Sludge PP, run out of Sludge Bombs, or, in the off-chance Zapdos is poisoned or seeded, a simple switch to Chansey along with an optional Heal Bell will cure it just fine. Toxic is also useful for common switchins such as the Latis, Landorus, or for putting pressure on a Heal Bell Sylveon. The added Special Attack EVs are for attempting to do just a little bit more to Mega Pinsir, which is one of the team's largest threats. Zapdos just has a lot of uses on this team, PP stalling being the primary one.
Zapdos is the first part of the pressure core of this team. Possessing a great amount of special bulk, as well as a very useful typing and move-pool, Zapdos is about as offensive of a defensive threat as you will find on stall. Sub-Toxic puts a lot of pressure on enemy offensive and balanced teams, and Thunderbolt allows you to 1HKO or 2HKO a lot of offensive threats such as Azumarill, Mega-Pinsir, etc. This Pokemon also provides a lot of support for Suicune as they have strong type synergy.
Gliscor (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Defog
- Earthquake
- Roost
- Fire Fang
OR
Skarmory (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Roost
- Defog
- Brave Bird
- Whirlwind
And we come to the most unorthodox set on the team, that of Gliscor. Its primary role is to Defog and to take on Bisharp and Mega Mawhile, though these two still even can give it issues at times. Earthquake is for STAB and letting Gliscor actually take on these two, and Fire Fang just does too little to them for me to consider replacing it (and the thought HAS crossed my mind on multiple occasions; Taunt, Rock Slide, and Knock Off are all appealing in their own way). Roost is to make sure Gliscor can stay at max HP, which, since it won't be dealing much direct damage, is what your primary attack will be. Fire Fang, as mentioned earlier, is mainly for Mega Scizor, especially if it begins to set up, and the burn hax with this move has saved me on multiple occasions (it is, at least, somewhat useful for the predicted Rotom-W switchin as burning Rotom will incapacitate it as it will be unable to deal more damage to Venusaur with Volt Switch than is done to it). Defense is maxed because Gliscor has no real need to outspeed anything in its speed tier, and the chance of surviving Mega Mawhile's +2 Play Rough is just too great to pass up. All in all, Gliscor's primary purpose is to serve a variety of specific roles rather than attempting to take on a playstyle as a whole.
Skarmory is on the team due to it's unique and amazing defensive typing combined with a stellar defensive stat and very strong supporting options. In this case, it serves as the team's defogger and check/counter to a lot of the meta-game's most potent threats. It is very strong against things like Scizor, Diggersby, non-Taunt M-Gyarados, Landrous-T, etc. Every move on the entire set is completely self explanatory. I am not running any speed evs to try to speed creep things near the base 70 tier because Skarmory NEEDS the absolutely maximum investment in physical bulk to be able to have a chance at beating certain hits form the likes of CB Tyranitar/Terrakion, and Fire Punch CB/+1 Dragonite.
Venusaur (F) @ Venusaurite
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 Spd
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Knock Off
- Sludge Bomb
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
This is the part where I once again acknowledge Chomp29 for this set, as Neo-stall certainly would not achieve the success it has achieved without it. This Venusaur set is incredible; RestTalk is preferable as Venusaur is likely to sponge many burns from Rotom-W and various Scalds it happens to switch into. Knock Off is, in a single move, able to let Venusaur take on defensive Heatran as well as Ferrothorn, and it does upwards of 50% on unsuspecting Latios. It is best used as a surprise move; snatching the Eviolite from Chansey is hugely useful in the stall war, as well as dealing big damage to an unsuspecting Scarf Gothitelle. Venusaur is hugely useful for taking on a wide array of threats, oh, and Knocking Offing Lando-I T1 is extremely useful.
Of all the sets I experimented with at the very start of the generation, this is my favorite creation. While on the surface it appears inferior to Synthesis, it has a number of edges over it on a full stall team. For one, it means that M-Venu is essentially immune to status, ESPECIALLY annoying burns which it VERY commonly switches into (Rotom-W, Heatran, etc). Additionally, the extra PP that Rest provides means that you can out-stall other M-Venu sets. For the last 2 options, Knock Off is an absolute must, as a single move, it puts in an insane amount of work, general 65 BP that removes the opponent's item is just too strong to pass up on a defensive Pokemon like M-Venu. I run Sludge Bomb > Giga Drain because it allows me to hit annoying fairies such as Sylveon or a switching in Togekiss harder, and some of these faeries can be very problematic for my team. But more importantly, Sludge Bomb just has more Neutral BP than Giga Drain, and the healing from Giga Drain is not as important on a Rest set.
Suicune @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Calm Mind
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
What is a stall team without the token bulky water? Suicune is, along with Clefable and possibly Zapdos stalling, the best bet at an end-game for the team. Scald is inherently useful against Mega Venusaur and Rotom-W switchins, since, as mentioned earlier, it basically incapacitates the two. Calm Mind on Suicune is similar to Calm Mind on Clefable; it helps against boosting sweepers at times, and allows Cune to check Charizard-X a little bit better (though it can still give the team issues). Suicune is also great for absorbing status as, with Leftovers and its unreal bulk, it is more than able to Rest on countless occasions. Late-game, there is just so much Suicune is able to set up on, and many teams will lack a serious response to it. Plus, there are very few teams nowadays that have a reliable switchin to just a +1 Scald; few things want to take the damage or the burn. Finally, without hazards, Suicune + Zapdos grants the ability to PP stall almost anything in the game, Clefable checking setup sweepers.
Having a way to sweep the enemy with your stall team without jeopardizing your defensive potential is amazing. Suicune is fantastic at this as it possesses immense physical bulk (even greater than Skarmory's,) as well as having the potential to set up and end a game after key threats have been whittled down. This also serves as my team's bulky water meaning that it can provide a decent defense against general offensive threats such as Bisharp (though without a burn it may be beaten in the end depending on the set). I invested maximum into defense as this is a Calm Mind set, and this team already has a number of specially defensive walls.
Chansey (F) @ Eviolite
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 Def / 252 SDef / 4 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Stealth Rock
- Seismic Toss
- Soft-Boiled
- Heal Bell
And finally, we come to Chansey. Not very interesting, but just as critical as any mon on the rest of the team, nonetheless. There's nothing all that unique about the EVs; Calm isn't necessary as there's literally no special sweepers that threaten Chansey AND Clefable, and running max HP/Defense isn't needed either. Chansey also provides Rocks support, and should be brought in as soon as possible to an unsuspecting Heatran, Rotom-W, or Mega Venusaur. It should be noted that it is almost always best to keep Chansey at full health and the team effectively Heal Belled before setting up Rocks as Chansey will have a chance to set up Rocks against at least one mon on every team, but losing your Chansey can cost you the game.
If you ask me why Chansey over Blissey, I will simply refer you to the following Pastebin of a post I made a LONG time ago, but the math is still applicable: http://pastebin.com/B9mjXtNe.
As a TL DR, Chansey is 19.3% more specially bulky, and 29.8% more physically bulky, which is a sacrifice I am more than happy to make for leftovers.
With that out of the way, Chansey is extremely strong on Stall, especially when paired with Pokemon such as Skarmory and Suicune. As an absolute specially defensive monster, there is virtually nothing in the game that can touch it without many boosts on the special side. It's also no slouch on the physical side either, it has a 68% chance to survive a +1 Max Attack, Adamant, Tough Claws, Mega-Charizard-X Outrage. That is absolutely insane. Chansey also serves as this team's SR layer, and generally sits around and is a massive nuisance to enemy offensive threats. Because it forces so many switches, Toxic, Seismic Toss, and SR are all good for punishing switch-ins. The support that this team provides Chansey is massive, Multiple Physical walls, a defogger, Pressure Stalling, and a set-up sweeper stopper.
PLAYING WITH THE TEAM
As a stall team, this team's goal is to slowly wear down the enemies' with steady damage, entry hazards, status effects, and if necessary, PP stalling. Once you get a feel for how bulky each of the Pokemon are, you will be better able to understand what can switch into what and when. In general, Mega Venusaur is what I like to lead with if I can, to get the Mega Evolution out of the way ASAP. If this means mega evolving and immediately resting, that is perfectly acceptable. Although you will find yourself Knocking Off mos of the time.
Keep in mind that while Suicune can outright 6-0 the enemy team, there is no rush to bring it out early.
It is often better to wait until key threats on the enemy team have been eliminated or whittled down before attempting a CM sweep. Additionally, keep in mind that Suicune can be used early and mid-game as a simple bulky water, causing damage on switch-ins with scald, and recovering with Rest.
Remember that the Rest mechanic has been changed this generation, meaning that any turns you spend sleeping will count towards your wake-up timer, even after you switch out.
And there you have it, nearly a year in the making, Neo-Stall. Your thoughts/comments/concerns are highly appreciated, and I thank you for reading.
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