XY UU Haunted Swords and Slug [Peaked 14th, 1679 elo]

[RowDog]

Dayum I'm not very good at drawing

Haunted Swords and Slugs
INTRO​

Hello fellow UUers and followers of Smogon. RowDog here presenting my latest UU RMT in celebration of my 300th post (representing the amount of Pokemon tested to perfect this team not really), featuring a stall team that peaked at 14th on the ladder:

Proof

TEAMBUILDING
I won't go into too much of a teambuilding process as I have been working with variants of this team for a very long time and can't be bothered listing all of the different combinations I've had along the way. All you need to know is that this team started prior to the tier shift when Slowbro and Heracross were still here, where I wanted to centre a team around Doublade for nostalgias sake when I used it in UU Beta, and to thoroughly abuse Blisseys and Fairies running around as well as it being a Pokemon with a very solid (and underestimated) typing and niche in the current metagame. From there, being a stall team, I aimed to be able to check/counter the majority of the meta. After tinkering around with that for a little while the initial team had a CroCune/CMbro weakness, and I was looking for a cool and hip new solution to this problem and settled on CurseGastrodon, which has given me great results. And from there the focus changed to becoming more about the cursed slug that has emerged from the depths to wreak havoc along with cursed blades.

And so I present the Haunted Swords and Slug.

The initial team started with was made up of Granbull/Doublade/Blissey/Arcanine/M-Blastoise/Gastrodon and along the way through multiple tier shifts and retests changed with Togekiss, M-Ampharos, Shaymin, Malamar (for the lols), Tentacruel, Chesnaught, Entei, Rotom-H and Milotic all being used sometime along the way until it has reached the team which it is now, which at a glance looks like this:

(Nice and pink and purple, the sign of a good stall team)

IN DEPTH​

Blissey @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Seismic Toss
- Wish
- Soft-Boiled
- Stealth Rock

Blissey. Is there really too much that I need to say about this? Blissey is my primary Special wall, catching the vast majority of special attackers by its lonesome self. I've invested entirely in HP and Defence to remain unaffected by and be able to do its job against many physical attackers in combination with special attackers, considering the only thing which I ever see try to break through this thing specially is M-Blastoise with Aura Sphere, which still only does

35%, which is easily healed off and we get on with our day. This specifically gives a lending hand if I want deal with or setup rocks against threats like Swampert, Hippo, Gligar and even things like Scarfed Krookodile. More HP also means fatter Wishes which benefit the team greatly.
Moves are relatively straight forward. Seismic Toss provides reliable damage and makes Blissey somewhat threatening. I've chosen it to be my Stealth Rock setter because I didn't have any SR setters ;_; The 2 slots of interest will probably be Wish + Soft-Boiled. Now I've had people suggest to Protect > Softboiled, but there are clear benefits for both. Protect helps you scout against choiced users and other mons, stalls for another turn of passive damage and is able to get another free turn of Leftovers recovery, which at times can be quite valuable. The plus sides for Soft-Boiled though are that I get my recovery instantly, which is better vs status, allows it to heal vs phazers with Roar or Whirlwind (looking at Hippo and Swampert again) and doesn't give away free turns. This is especially helpful on the turn where something such as Lucario switches in, I get the Softboiled heal on the switch and can immediately switch to my check/counter on the Swords Dance and take it out instead of either having to leave Blissey on low health or give them a free turn to get the heal by Protecting. Soft-Boiled also gives me more healing PP, which on a stall team like this can be very important to outlast things such as opposing Blissey in the later turns, and can win you battles.

Used to check/counter: Most special attackers and weak physical attackers (I'm not listing for this one)

Relevant calcs

You should really know these yourself, basically anything unboosted by an item, moves, strong ability or backed by a lot of power will fail to 2HKO if it is physical, anything that is not a Special attackk at +2 will fail to 2HKO

Aromatisse @ Leftovers
Ability: Aroma Veil
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Moonblast
- Wish
- Protect
- Aromatherapy


I'm still honestly surprised this thing has such low usage. I use Aromatisse over other fairies, namely Florges, for its superior Physical Bulk and ability. Because of Aromatisse's godly typing and enough bulk to back it up I use this thing to wall Dark-types and so is generally my Knock Off absorber, as it generally doesn't care, Fighting-types and Dragon-types, allowing it to check a plethora of common mons that can often be quite detrimental to a stall team. It can also take rare coverage moves well enough the first time to live and deal with accordingly for the rest of the game, such as Mien's Poison Jab or Hydreigon's Flash Cannon. Its ability also makes it the best switch-in to Sableye, a very annoying stall breaker, being able to Aromatherapy Burns whilst being immune to Taunt, eating up its attacking moves with ease and hitting back hard with Moonblast. Max Physical investment is required to wall those nasty threats, and so the EVs are relatively straight forward. One other thing about the spread though is that I opted for minimum speed, as it already isn't going very fast with base 29, vs Trick Room teams I'll be able to "outslow" some mons which is nice when it happens.
Moves are simple. Moonblast, best way to hit stuff. Wish/Protect, need to keep the fairy healthy and its teammates healthy. Aromatherapy, yeah I find this or Heal Bell pretty much staple on most of my teams, and this is no exception

Used to check/counter: Mega and regular Absol, Krookodile, Machamp, Mienshao, Lucario, Haxorus, Hydreigon, Flygon, Goodra, Zoroark

Relevant calcs

252 Atk Choice Band Reckless Mienshao High Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Aromatisse: 164-193 (40.3 - 47.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Life Orb Mienshao Poison Jab vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Aromatisse: 195-231 (48 - 56.8%) -- 38.7% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252 Atk Choice Band Krookodile Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Aromatisse: 97-115 (23.8 - 28.3%) -- 95.9% chance to 4HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Krookodile Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Aromatisse: 134-158 (33 - 38.9%) -- 99.7% chance to 3HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Krookodile Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Aromatisse: 201-237 (49.5 - 58.3%) -- 64.5% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery (and with Protect and lefties in between = 3HKO without Rocks)

252+ Atk Choice Band Machamp Dynamic Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Aromatisse: 118-140 (29 - 34.4%) -- 99.8% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Machamp Bullet Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Aromatisse: 128-152 (31.5 - 37.4%) -- 0% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

+2 252 Atk Mega Absol Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Aromatisse: 156-183 (38.4 - 45%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Lucario Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Aromatisse: 220-259 (54.1 - 63.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Lucario Bullet Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Aromatisse: 296-351 (72.9 - 86.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
4 SpA Aromatisse Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Lucario: 136-162 (48.3 - 57.6%) -- 94.1% chance to 2HKO

252 SpA Life Orb Hydreigon Flash Cannon vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Aromatisse: 244-289 (60 - 71.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Mold Breaker Haxorus Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Aromatisse: 302-355 (74.3 - 87.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+1 252 Atk Life Orb Mold Breaker Haxorus Poison Jab vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Aromatisse: 330-390 (81.2 - 96%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
4 SpA Aromatisse Moonblast vs. 16 HP / 0 SpD Haxorus: 272-324 (91.5 - 109%) -- 50% chance to OHKO

Doublade @ Eviolite
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Shadow Sneak
- Sacred Sword
- Swords Dance
- Toxic Iron Head

Doublade is currently very underrated in the current metagame. Despite its flaws in a relatively big weakness to bulky waters, an allergy to Knock Off, lack of recovery a rather useless and mostly detrimental ability and not the greatest Special bulk (which is actually a bit better than what most think thanks to Eviolite), it has many positives that make very worthwhile. This thing gets free switches in to Blisseys and takes on any Lucario set as long as it is not Dark Pulse if you switch straight to it (calcs below), which not very common since Mew and Slowbro leaving. Doublade's Physical bulk with Eviolite is great, and if need be can take an Earthquake or one Knock Off to take out a Dark-type such as Krookodile who is causing trouble. Its great resistances and in particular its Normal immunity and Psychic resistance play a very big role in the team's composition. Another important thing is that this can beat the stallbreaker CM Reun if it is a Signal Beam or Focus Blast variant instead of Shadow Ball, which otherwise screws over my team.
Doublade also pairs incredibly well with Blissey and Aromatisse, forming a nice core where Aromatisse and Doublade cover Blissey's fighting weakness, Aromatisse covers Doublades Dark weakness and both Blissey and Aromatisse easily wish heal Doublade thanks to the different mons that they check for each other. With some good prediction or against Choiced users Doublade eats up things such as strong Psyshocks and other moves with its many resistances that definitely come in handy to help out the 2 clerics.
For moves, I have Shadow Sneak as valuable priority for the team, taking out weakened foes and threatening Psychics and other things such as Chandelure, some bigger threats to the team. Sacred Sword is then needed to smack Normal and Dark-types hard on the switch or once Doublade has started boosting. Swords Dance comes in to play against certain offensive teams or in the late game to clean up rather well, especially if you are given the chance to get to +4. Toxic is how I abuse No Guard so that it isn't a completely useless ability, and is used to catch bulky water off guard with its no guard on the switch, crippling nuisances such as Alomomomola, Vaporeon, Milotic etc. so that they do not get the free switch and are easier to deal with. Toxic was turned back into the good old Iron Head for a stronger STAB to hit more things and especially Abomasnow and Fairies, considering Bulky Waters are more manageable now with T-Spikes on the team.

Used to check/counter: Snorlax, Stoutland, (choiced) Porygon-Z, Crobat, Honchkrow, Blissey, Lucario, Aromatisse, Florges, Alakazam, Espeon, Reuniclus, Cobalion, Virizon, Roserade, Jirachi, SD Celebi, Froslass, Slurpuff

Relevant calcs

252 SpA Life Orb Roserade Giga Drain vs. 240 HP / 16 SpD Eviolite Doublade: 88-105 (27.5 - 32.9%) -- guaranteed 4HKO

252+ Atk Choice Band Stoutland Crunch vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Doublade: 122-144 (38.2 - 45.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Lucario Earthquake vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Doublade: 260-307 (81.5 - 96.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252+ SpA Life Orb Lucario Flash Cannon vs. 240 HP / 16 SpD Eviolite Doublade: 195-230 (61.1 - 72.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

+1 252+ Atk Life Orb Honchkrow Pursuit vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Doublade: 133-156 (41.6 - 48.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
+1 252+ Atk Life Orb Honchkrow Brave Bird vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Doublade: 95-113 (29.7 - 35.4%) -- 20.3% chance to 3HKO

252+ Atk Snorlax Earthquake vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Doublade: 102-120 (31.9 - 37.6%) -- 88.5% chance to 3HKO

+6 252+ Atk Slurpuff Play Rough vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Doublade: 109-129 (34.1 - 40.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

252 Atk Jirachi Fire Punch vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Doublade: 66-78 (20.6 - 24.4%) -- guaranteed 5HKO

252+ Atk Doublade Shadow Sneak vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Alakazam: 240-284 (95.2 - 112.6%) -- 75% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Doublade Shadow Sneak vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Espeon: 192-228 (70.8 - 84.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Crobat @ Black Sludge
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 248 HP / 84 Atk / 176 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Defog
- Taunt

Crobat here plays quite a few important roles on this team for me. It is the Pokemon that brings speed to the team (along with Doublades priority) and is often my revenge killer. It is also my main dispatcher of Grass-types and is immune to Toxic which works well with Gastrodon. Crobat's ground immunity is very necessary to the team as well, considering the majority of Earthquake users are Choiced (Krookodile, Flygon), which helps discourage any spam of the move. Along with that I needed something to clear hazards, and with Crobats speed it makes it one of the most reliable hazard cleaners in the game, and when I want hazards gone really badly I can get rid of them by sacrificing batty here for the greater cause. Infiltrator also helps a lot in the revenge killing process and its typing has quite a lot of uses.
Moves are rather straight forward. I opted for Brave Bird over an Acrobatics set, as a lot of the time this guy is performing a support role with Taunt, Defog or stalling things with Roost, where it gets plenty of chances for the residual recovery from Black Sludge. This is also bulky bat so it takes less recoil in regards to its percentage health. Roost is necessary healing. Defog is there solely for lowering the opponents evasiveness for guaranteed Dragalge Dragon Tail shuffling… just kidding it is for removing hazards. Taunt comes in handy a lot, screwing over clerics as well as hazard setters, and mons like Gligar who can't touch it otherwise. It also really help against mons such as Toxicroak or Cacturne, where you can Taunt and get rid of all the Sucker Punch PP while its other moves fail to really scratch you. The EVs outspeed normal Alakazam (though I'm not sure how relevant that will be now thanks to Mega-Zam) whilst dumping the most in HP for increased chances to Defog and stuff up with Taunt > damage, while having the rest invested in damage to have the most possible opportunities to revenge kill. People have suggested going to outspeed Noivern, though detracting that much from bulk or attack comes at quite a hefty cost, and Noivern is handled relatively well between Aromatisse and Blissey. Sometimes I wish Crobat dealt a bit more, though in the end its bulk is probably more beneficial in most cases.

Used to check/counter: Any low HP slower mon, Roserade, Shaymin, Toxicroak, Cacturne, Gligar, Hippowdon, Blissey, Florges, Aromatisse, Granbull

Relevant calcs

Once again this thing is relatively well known and widely used, can't think of many calcs that I need to post

Dragalge @ Black Sludge
Ability: Poison Point
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Scald
- Toxic Spikes
- Dragon Tail

This is probably the weirdest and most uncommon member on the team. This is the most recent change to the team and probably still the most likely to change, but Dragalge has its own niche that makes it a welcome on this team. For those who doubt the capabilities of Dragalge, the best way that I could talk about it is to compare it to Tentacruel, with which they share quite a few similarities. Both of them are grounded Poisons that can clear T-Spikes, which is very helpful for the team as 2 layers can be deadly and screw up chances of a Gastro sweep, and are also able to setup their own T-Spikes, which would be the main selling factor for me. Both have slightly different typings, but the more useful resistances with more uncommon or well-checked weaknesses that Dragalge had made it more appealing a long with its better Physical Bulk. Access to phazing and a higher Special Attack with a threatening Draco Meteor also favoured it, and in the end I used it over Tentacruel who has access to better speed and Rapid Spin, as I already had hazard removal (although I did run the double hazard removal with Tenta and Bat for a little while and it was quite nice), over Dragalge. I run max Physical Defence for great mixed bulk, allowing it to tackle things on both sides of the attacking spectrum. It doesn't really check or counter much in particular for the team though, but clearing Toxic Spikes more reliably and easily is a rather big thing. Generally the first mon to get sacked though.
Toxic Spikes are one of the key reasons for using Dragalge, as they add a lot of extra pressure to the team which I would be otherwise lacking. Draco Meteor is when I want to hit something. Scald for hitting Fire-types that this guy can sort of switch in to, and burn hax are great as we all should know. Dragon Tail is nice phazing, mainly for racking up hazard damage and a bit of damage from the move itself as they switch out and to a lesser extent phazing setup sweepers, as it doesn't do very well against many of the tiers setup sweepers.

Checks and Counters: Toxic Spikes, Infernape, M-Blastoise

Relevant calcs

+2 252 SpA Life Orb Infernape Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Dragalge: 168-198 (50.2 - 59.2%) -- 78.5% chance to 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
252 Atk Life Orb Infernape Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Dragalge: 84-100 (25.1 - 29.9%) -- 0.1% chance to 4HKO after Black Sludge recovery

252+ SpA Mega Launcher Mega Blastoise Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Dragalge: 124-146 (37.1 - 43.7%) -- 99.9% chance to 3HKO after Black Sludge recovery

Gastrodon @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Def / 80 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Earthquake
- Scald
- Curse
- Recover

The star of the show, my CurseGastro. From the depths of RU this sea slug cursed with greatness emerges to shake the UU soil that it dares to take back, and singes those that hover above. Truly an underrated threat which I go on about a bit more here: http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/creative-underrated-sets-in-the-uu-metagame.3503842/#post-5748388. The primary reason for adding this to the team was a hip cool new way to check CroCune. Since then I have found many more implications for its use and can be a deadly lategame sweeper. This Gastro set is also specially EV'd to be able to tank Dragon Pulses from Max SpAtk M-Ampharos. This allows it to reliably switch in to M-Amph and stop its momentum through Volt Switch, being able to Recover off the damage and even potentially setup on it, or just smack it with EQ. This means that anything with less Special Attacking power (most of the tier) can be effectively walled by Gastro (as long as they aren't grass-type). On the other end of the spectrum it can also pull its wait, serving as a reasonably good Fire-type check since Victini leaving the tier, only being 3HKOed by Jolly LO Darm (though there is a 25% chance to be 2HKOed after SR) and walling other prominent threats such as M-Aerodactyl.
There are only a few things that can stop a Gastro sweep once it starts. But there are 2 main things that are a real pain in its side and are somewhat common. 1) Status in Toxic and Burn will greatly limit your chances of sweeping, though normal Poison is a much lesser problem for Gastro. 2) Grass-types are an obvious threat thanks to its 4x weakness to such move, though it can surprisingly survive at least one non-STAB coverage Grass moves. Luckily though Grass-types aren't that common, and you will run into plenty of teams without them. Once, these 2 things have been removed and Gastro can get in safely, it can sweep pretty darn well.
Earthquake and Curse is what you use to sweep and hit most of the tier. Recover is for obvious recovery. Though the 2nd slot, Scald, may seem to be weird on a Curse set, but is generally the most effective as it 1) continues damage output if burned 2) burns itself adding extra utility for when it cannot setup 3) hinders the flying-types in the tier better than other options (namely Crobat and M-Aero) AND 4) can abuse Storm Drain boosts a little, and so proved to be optimal over other options that were tried.

Used to check/counter: Darmanitan, M-Ampharos, M-Blastoise, M-Aeor, Suicune, Vaporeon, Jirachi, Empoleon, Aggron/M-Aggron, Metagross, Toxicroak, Fletchinder, Entei

Relevant Calcs:

Special side:
Suicune Scald vs. Storm Drain Gastrodon: 0-0 (0 - 0%) -- aim for the horn next time
+5 0 Atk Gastrodon Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Suicune: 211-249 (52.2 - 61.6%) -- 97.7% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ SpA Mold Breaker Mega Ampharos Dragon Pulse vs. 252 HP / 80+ SpD Gastrodon: 178-210 (41.7 - 49.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ SpA Mega Launcher Mega Blastoise Dragon Pulse vs. 252 HP / 80+ SpD Gastrodon: 153-180 (35.9 - 42.2%) -- 92.3% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

252 SpA Life Orb Hydreigon Draco Meteor vs. 252 HP / 80+ SpD Gastrodon: 263-309 (61.7 - 72.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery (follow up with Recover after the Draco and you can preserve your boosts)
252 SpA Life Orb Hydreigon Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 80+ SpD Gastrodon: 161-191 (37.7 - 44.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Nidoqueen Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 80+ SpD Gastrodon: 185-218 (43.4 - 51.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

252 SpA Life Orb Infernape Grass Knot (60 BP) vs. 252 HP / 80+ SpD Gastrodon: 286-338 (67.1 - 79.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery (dayum, eating it up. Also proves how some random coverage grass-type moves won't necessarily KO you)

Physical side:
252+ Atk Tough Claws Mega Aerodactyl Aerial Ace vs. 252 HP / 176 Def Gastrodon: 162-192 (38 - 45%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

252 Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Darmanitan Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 176 Def Gastrodon: 191-225 (44.8 - 52.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ Atk Choice Band Entei Sacred Fire vs. 252 HP / 176 Def Gastrodon: 135-159 (31.6 - 37.3%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after Leftovers recovery

80 Atk Crobat Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 176 Def Gastrodon: 142-168 (33.3 - 39.4%) -- 15.7% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

Threatlist​

SD Abomasnow: Hits everything on the team Super-effectively hard and I have little way of threatening it back. Very scary and not much I can do to stop it, but rare.

Double Dance Porygon Z: Once again not that common, but very threatening if it gets a chance to setup a fair bit, which my team sorta struggles to stop.

CM Reuniclus: The majority of Reun with Psyshock and Focus Blast or Signal Beam can be stopped rather well by Doublade, but a set with Shadow Ball in the last slot will do a number to my team. Best thing to do is keep hitting it and sack a Pokemon so that it is low enough to revenge. Also rare though.

SD + 3 attack Haxorus: Never even ran into this though it is a theoretical threat. Aromatisse in most cases can beat the DD and 3 attacks set but an SD variant could probably sweep my team with relative ease.

CB Krookodile: This thing is just a bitch to deal with. Between its STABs and coverage I have no real safe switchins, though it can be dealt with once it is locked.

Burns: With no Fire-type, and a 3 Pokemon in my team that absolutely hate burns in Doublade, Crobat and Gastrodon, I basically need to rely on Blissey gobbling up Will-O-Wisps, as Aromatherapys are limited. Other status is not so much of a problem, as I have 3 Pokemon immune to Toxic and a Natural Cure mon, and when has Thunder Wave ever been much of a threat to stall?

Trick/Switcheroo: I have no dedicated switchin to either of these moves, and pretty much every mon gets at least partially screwed by receiving a choice item. You need to way up which is the least important member in the match to receive the item in order to deal with it.

Fcking Hax: Seriously this is probably the worst offender. When a Pokemon on this team that should wall and beat a Pokemon is taken out because it is hit by a crit or is flinched when it should survive it can be really frustrating and throw your defensive core out of balance, and it really effects stall teams a fair bit more than more offensively based teams.

Special Mentions
Just before I finish up I'd like to give a special shoutout to Mahmudkipz and Yifeng for helping me a bit with this team (or like listening to me suggest things). Nice to have you 2 friends on Showdown and thanks for the support n_n Also thankyou to the UU community. You guys are the best <3

Conclusion
Now in conclusion I'd just like to say thankyou for reading my RMT. I don't proofread and there maybe grammatical errors or spelling mistakes which I'll look over and fix later probably and I may keep adding to this. If you'd like to watch how this team works I'd encourage you to look up in the replays and search for RowDog, or some of my other alts such as EvilExperiments or ULT RowDog. I like to save quite a few replays but right now I can't be bothered going through and selecting them. You may also run into many of the different variants of the team that I have used.

I do encourage feedback. Please, tell me what you think and do suggest any changes. I'd only ask that you do not change the Pokemon Gastrodon and the move Curse, as it is kind of the point of the team, asides from that its other moves, spread and every other Pokemon may be subject to change (even Doublade, though that might ruin the title which I am going for and so won't be added to the OP lol). Another thing that I ask is that if you do suggest any changes, please only swap out a maximum of 2 Pokemon, as otherwise it becomes a rather different team and you'll start opening yourself up to new flaws that the team currently checks in return for covering up some current flaws.
​

Importable

Aromatisse @ Leftovers
Ability: Aroma Veil
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Moonblast
- Wish
- Protect
- Aromatherapy

Doublade @ Eviolite
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Shadow Sneak
- Sacred Sword
- Swords Dance
- Toxic

Blissey @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Seismic Toss
- Wish
- Soft-Boiled
- Stealth Rock

Dragalge @ Black Sludge
Ability: Poison Point
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Scald
- Toxic Spikes
- Dragon Tail

Crobat @ Black Sludge
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 248 HP / 84 Atk / 176 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Defog
- Taunt

Gastrodon @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Def / 80 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Earthquake
- Scald
- Curse
- Recover

 

[manodelrey]

I like the team a lot, but one problem is if gastro is gone, do you have a way of dealing with crocune because I have found that in a 1v1 crocune can pressure stall out blissey.

 

[RowDog]

If I do end up losing Gastro it is possible to switch between Blissey and pass Wishes to Dragalge, who can then Dragon Tail it, or if CroCune is the last Pokemon, switch between Blissey and Dragalge whilst passing Wishes in order to PP stall it.

 

[manodelrey]

If I do end up losing Gastro it is possible to switch between Blissey and pass Wishes to Dragalge, who can then Dragon Tail it, or if CroCune is the last Pokemon, switch between Blissey and Dragalge whilst passing Wishes in order to PP stall it.

ok then that gets rid of the only thing i see that could get this team. Nice Work! :)

 

[dodmen]

Hi RowDog :]

I can say after playing this team that it's one of the better-built stall teams out there, so props for managing to do that.

As for suggestions, the only really questionable thing I can see is Toxic on Doublade. Considering that you already have Toxic Spikes support on your team, I can see Iron Head as being way more useful. Most importantly, you currently can't reliably switch in and beat fairies 1v1, as they can wear you down or straight out kill you with repeated Moonblasts before you manage to set up enough to beat them. And even if you do manage to kill them you'll be left with around 20% of your health which is really not optimal imo. In addition, you can beat Abomasnow with Iron Head + Sneak which is huge because otherwise it straight goes through your whole team. And again, you've already got Toxic Spikes support which you should be able to maintain because of Dragalge's bulk and your dual Wishers. So Iron Head over Toxic on Doublade is a must.

One very small nitpick might be to use Poison Touch over Poison Point on Dragalge for situations in which you'd much rather catch a burn than having an opponent poisoning themselves.

Otherwise I haven't had much (any) experience using stall myself but I do know that this team looks really solid and clearly you've been winning games with it so that's all I have to say!

 

[Yifeng]

Hi Rowfgt,I do have to agree with dodmun on Dragalge's ability, burn is definitely better than poison, and plus you can get a chance to poison when phazing with dragon tail. I still do think draco meteor is not that great of an option for dragalge, I think sludge bomb or haze is the better option. Dragalge is just too weak to use draco meteor effectively, and it will weaken your scalds and force you to switch it out. Haze might be a bit redundant since you have dragon tail, but it does have the niche of going through subs. Sludge bomb is just a more reliable move in general.

 

[RowDog]

Dudeman130498 thanks for the rate! You are probably right about both of the changes. I started running Toxic on Doublade initially because I didn't have T-Spikes on the team and was running something like Rotom-H instead, and didn't bother changing it back. And I'll change Poison Point to Adaptability Poison Touch ;_;

Yifeng I'd probably try Dragon Pulse before Sludge Bomb on Dragalge really, as Sludge Bomb doesn't hit too much that Dragalge would want to be fighting. I've already told you why I think Haze is a rather distasteful choice, especially when used with Dragon Tail, because with no recovery Dragalge struggles to actually stop a setup.

I've updated the OP with some of the changes, added in what Gastrodon checks/counters (forgot, oops) and have added in the nastiest threat to the team.

 

[MZ]

I really like this stall team and how it uses underrated but still good mons in the tier. Have you ever considered running thunderbolt>Draco meteor on Dragalge? Even uninvested it can 2hko Crobat after rocks, and it would allow you to nail Crobat on the switch, forcing them to roost as you scald burn/dragon tail it out or risk losing Crobat to the next thunderbolt on the Defog. Dragalge wouldn't hit as hard, but Crobat seems like an annoyance for the team as it lacks the ability to manually toxic opponents and Crobat can Defog on the majority of the team.

 

[Kink]

RowDog, this is a very good team. The only changes I was going to suggest was to add Mega-Zam and Alakazam to your threatlist, as with access to psyshock + shadowball + energyball, they pose a small problem in tight prediction situations. Dugtrio also revenge kills Dragalge, so feel free to add that to the threats list if you decide to.

My only concern is that curse leaves your team open to status. I know you have cleric support, but that level of support might put you in a disadvantage, so I'd beware of over-relying on curse.

All this being said, this is a fine representation of stall in UU. Well done, I have to say I'm already not looking forward to the day where I have to face it ;)

 

[RowDog]

Bippy Crobat tends not to be too much of a problem for the team, as Doublade completely wrecks it and its attack isn't that threatening to the bulk that this team provides. I have considered T-Bolt for Bulky Waters though, as they are a pain to wear down and break, though in the end it just doesn't do enough damage to be work it :/

King UU prediction is definitely a factor vs Zam. If rocks aren't up, Blissey can take it pretty easily, though it does have pretty nasty potential to break Blissey. Doublade works as a pretty good safety net though, but it is definitely a threat which I might add to the threat list.
Dugtrio only really threatens Dragalge lol, which generally isn't too big of a deal if I lose it. Everything else beats it quite reliably, and Doublade being a ghost type can run away.
Basically with status you just gotta play around it. If that means you need to stop a Curse sweep short, do it. You'll likely have a chance to set up later and dispose of the status user. With 3 Poison immunities and a Natural Cure user, the only main status problem for the team is Will-O-Wisp burns, which is admittedly quite annoying, and I've added it the threatlist.

I also added Trick to the threatlist. That move is a bitch and I have little for it since no Mega and I got rid of my Rotom-H :(