In this day and age, stall is becoming harder and harder... Or is it? With the introduction of Klefki, stall teams gained access to an amazing Pokemon with several things going for it. An amazing ability in Prankster, Spikes, dual screens, and to sweeten the deal it was even graced with Foul Play.
This got me to thinking. Normally, stall isn't my preferred style of battle, I typically run balanced or hyper offensive teams. The idea of stall in Ubers I had always felt wasn't that viable. But, I decided to give it a try and came up with this.
Ho-Oh @ Life Orb
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Sacred Fire
- Earthquake
- Roost
Unfortunately, a few new titans were introduced into the Ubers Metagame, notably Xerneas and Yvetal. Xerneas' fearsome Geomancy meant I needed something that could hit hard, take a hit, (or outspeed) and either one shot, or leave the fearsome deer so wounded that it could be handled by another pokemon without too much trouble.
Thankfully, Ho-Oh stepped up to the plate with its great special defense and devastating firepower. (Pun intended.) Not even a +2 Thunder can one shot Ho-Oh, and that made it a very worthy choice. Especially since Ho-Oh resists Xerneas' Stab moves. Plus, Brave Bird, Sacred Fire and Earthquake make life much more miserable for Pokemon Like Ferrothorn, Most Arceus forms that wants to switch in, and Aegislash. Another good note is with two phasers and hazards, if Ho-Oh is able to come in on Xerneas after it took some hazard damage and still hasn't been able to set up, it reliably can take the Pokemon down without suffering too much damage, saving it to pick off threats again and again as long as rocks aren't up.
Roost is there so if an opportunity arises to heal safely, it can regain crucial HP without needing a wish pass or regenerator abuse.
Klefki @ Light Clay
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Spikes
- Light Screen
- Reflect
- Foul Play
When making a stall team, entry hazards are crucial. A steel type with Prankster with spikes? It's very hard to not get at least one layer up. But with dual screens buffing Klefki's great typing and so-so defenses, it becomes much harder to kill the keychain. Many would let Klefki die after setting up a layer or two of hazards and its screens, but if it had a way to recover it's health... It could keep setting up screens whenever they dropped, making it harder to kill...
One of the key reasons I chose physically defensive Klefki to be able to get up a reflect up in Groudon's face and not die to an earthquake instantly. Plus, light screen is typically the first screen that goes up, so if a surprise physical attack comes its way after setting up light screen, Klefki has a better chance at taking the hit.
But, Specially Defensive Klefki is also a very worthy choice in Ubers.
Which leads us to a couple of great companions.
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Protect
- Leech Seed
- Stealth Rock
- Power Whip
Completing the Entry Hazard Setting ensemble (Toxic Spikes were set to the side for a couple of key reasons which are fairly apparent below...), Ferrothorn's Stealth Rock is crucial for crippling pokemon like Multiscale Lugia and Regenerator Ho-Oh. (A pokemon that can give this team trouble if left unchecked.) Protect serves two purposes; first for scouting, and secondly to give a bit more recovery. That tiny bit of extra time can often let Ferrothorn take just one more hit. As Ubers is a more specially based meta, I chose to run Specially defensive Ferrothorn to absorb hits from most threats. (Barring Fire types like Reshiram.) Thanks to Ferrothorn's good natural physical defenses, it can also take several hits on the physical side with the assistance of protect and leech seed. Kind of a standard support set, but it does it's job well.
Chansey (F) @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Heal Bell
- Wish
- Thunder Wave
- Seismic Toss
Between Ferrothorn's leech seed and Chansey's wish, Klefki can often come back from the brink to once again serve the team with the ever so vital dual screens. Aromatherapy and wish serve clerical needs. Meanwhile, Thunder Wave can cripple quick targets that would otherwise be devastating. (Scarf Genesect is a notable target.) Seismic Toss is mostly so Chansey isn't completely helpless if taunted.
Lugia @ Leftovers
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Roost
- Whirlwind
- Toxic
- Ice Beam
Many people would run defog on Lugia, and I can fully respect that. At one point, I almost put it on as well. However, as a stall team, removing your own entry hazards is a devastating blow, and should be avoided if at all possible. Furthermore, few pokemon on the team are bothered by toxic spikes, and stealth rocks only will badly cripple a late game Ho-Oh or paralyzed Lugia. So instead, Lugia became a fast bulky support pokemon that could spread toxic across the opposing team. Whirlwind is crucial as it removes any and all stat increases while roost helps keep Lugia healthy. Ice beam was chosen over Aeroblast because of the Power Point difference, accuracy, small chance to freeze, and better coverage.
Giratina @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Rest
- Dragon Tail
- Sleep Talk
When I first started playing in Generation 5's uber metagame, my first major loss came from an extremekiller Arceus. Ever since, I've always kept the threat in mind, and few Pokemon are quite as good as a check as physically defensive Giratina.
Giratina serves as a physical wall that spreads burns on physical attackers such as Groudon and Extremekiller Arceus. It also phases out Pokemon attempting to set up on it with Dragon tail. For good measure, I decided to run rest-talk despite the fact that Chansey is on the team due to the (decently high) chance that chansey could be picked off before waking Giratina up and leaving the team open to a sweep from a Pokemon like Extremekiller Arceus.
It also can shut down rapid spinners so that's a nice asset to have.
Problematic Pokemon:
Genesect
Genesect has a frustrating immunity to toxic, threatening stats on both physical and special sides, and is incredibly diverse with moves such as extremespeed, explosion, U turn, thunderbolt, and so on. Usually, crippling genesect with a thunderwave is enough to neuter the threat, although Will-O-Wisp isn't a bad option either should a safe chance arise.
Mewtwo
Mewtwo is another powerful and fast Pokemon that can strike on either the Special or Physical side. Mewtwo X isn't typically too threatening due to the reliance on physical moves, and being crippled by Will-O-Wisp. Mewtwo Y is considerably more dangerous, but a single Thunder Wave turns it into a much easier to handle threat. Foul Play also works wonders when hazards are up.
Life Orb Mewtwo is probably the most threatening of the bunch and with a few key predictions, could take out a crucial wall such as Giratina or Klefki.
Xerneas
If Ho-Oh fell earlier, and Lugia is not at high HP, a +2 (Anything really) can deal terrible damage. Especially if screens are not up or available.
Cloyster
After a shell smash, this Pokemon is incredibly threatening to key pokemon such as Lugia and Giratina. Especially late game if no status affliction has crippled the bivalve Pokemon.
Ultimately, this team primarily relies on staying healthy, being able to predict the next move of the opponent, not allowing the foe to get up stat increases often, (Or at all preferably) and wearing down the foe one by one.
I do apologize if I rambled here and there, but I'm unfortunately very good at going off on a tangent. Feel free to make suggestions to both the style of the RMT and the team itself. This is my second RMT and I do think it's improved over the last one, but input does help.
This got me to thinking. Normally, stall isn't my preferred style of battle, I typically run balanced or hyper offensive teams. The idea of stall in Ubers I had always felt wasn't that viable. But, I decided to give it a try and came up with this.
Ho-Oh @ Life Orb
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Sacred Fire
- Earthquake
- Roost
Unfortunately, a few new titans were introduced into the Ubers Metagame, notably Xerneas and Yvetal. Xerneas' fearsome Geomancy meant I needed something that could hit hard, take a hit, (or outspeed) and either one shot, or leave the fearsome deer so wounded that it could be handled by another pokemon without too much trouble.
Thankfully, Ho-Oh stepped up to the plate with its great special defense and devastating firepower. (Pun intended.) Not even a +2 Thunder can one shot Ho-Oh, and that made it a very worthy choice. Especially since Ho-Oh resists Xerneas' Stab moves. Plus, Brave Bird, Sacred Fire and Earthquake make life much more miserable for Pokemon Like Ferrothorn, Most Arceus forms that wants to switch in, and Aegislash. Another good note is with two phasers and hazards, if Ho-Oh is able to come in on Xerneas after it took some hazard damage and still hasn't been able to set up, it reliably can take the Pokemon down without suffering too much damage, saving it to pick off threats again and again as long as rocks aren't up.
Roost is there so if an opportunity arises to heal safely, it can regain crucial HP without needing a wish pass or regenerator abuse.
Klefki @ Light Clay
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Spikes
- Light Screen
- Reflect
- Foul Play
When making a stall team, entry hazards are crucial. A steel type with Prankster with spikes? It's very hard to not get at least one layer up. But with dual screens buffing Klefki's great typing and so-so defenses, it becomes much harder to kill the keychain. Many would let Klefki die after setting up a layer or two of hazards and its screens, but if it had a way to recover it's health... It could keep setting up screens whenever they dropped, making it harder to kill...
One of the key reasons I chose physically defensive Klefki to be able to get up a reflect up in Groudon's face and not die to an earthquake instantly. Plus, light screen is typically the first screen that goes up, so if a surprise physical attack comes its way after setting up light screen, Klefki has a better chance at taking the hit.
But, Specially Defensive Klefki is also a very worthy choice in Ubers.
Which leads us to a couple of great companions.
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Protect
- Leech Seed
- Stealth Rock
- Power Whip
Completing the Entry Hazard Setting ensemble (Toxic Spikes were set to the side for a couple of key reasons which are fairly apparent below...), Ferrothorn's Stealth Rock is crucial for crippling pokemon like Multiscale Lugia and Regenerator Ho-Oh. (A pokemon that can give this team trouble if left unchecked.) Protect serves two purposes; first for scouting, and secondly to give a bit more recovery. That tiny bit of extra time can often let Ferrothorn take just one more hit. As Ubers is a more specially based meta, I chose to run Specially defensive Ferrothorn to absorb hits from most threats. (Barring Fire types like Reshiram.) Thanks to Ferrothorn's good natural physical defenses, it can also take several hits on the physical side with the assistance of protect and leech seed. Kind of a standard support set, but it does it's job well.
Chansey (F) @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Heal Bell
- Wish
- Thunder Wave
- Seismic Toss
Between Ferrothorn's leech seed and Chansey's wish, Klefki can often come back from the brink to once again serve the team with the ever so vital dual screens. Aromatherapy and wish serve clerical needs. Meanwhile, Thunder Wave can cripple quick targets that would otherwise be devastating. (Scarf Genesect is a notable target.) Seismic Toss is mostly so Chansey isn't completely helpless if taunted.
Lugia @ Leftovers
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Roost
- Whirlwind
- Toxic
- Ice Beam
Many people would run defog on Lugia, and I can fully respect that. At one point, I almost put it on as well. However, as a stall team, removing your own entry hazards is a devastating blow, and should be avoided if at all possible. Furthermore, few pokemon on the team are bothered by toxic spikes, and stealth rocks only will badly cripple a late game Ho-Oh or paralyzed Lugia. So instead, Lugia became a fast bulky support pokemon that could spread toxic across the opposing team. Whirlwind is crucial as it removes any and all stat increases while roost helps keep Lugia healthy. Ice beam was chosen over Aeroblast because of the Power Point difference, accuracy, small chance to freeze, and better coverage.
Giratina @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Rest
- Dragon Tail
- Sleep Talk
When I first started playing in Generation 5's uber metagame, my first major loss came from an extremekiller Arceus. Ever since, I've always kept the threat in mind, and few Pokemon are quite as good as a check as physically defensive Giratina.
Giratina serves as a physical wall that spreads burns on physical attackers such as Groudon and Extremekiller Arceus. It also phases out Pokemon attempting to set up on it with Dragon tail. For good measure, I decided to run rest-talk despite the fact that Chansey is on the team due to the (decently high) chance that chansey could be picked off before waking Giratina up and leaving the team open to a sweep from a Pokemon like Extremekiller Arceus.
It also can shut down rapid spinners so that's a nice asset to have.
Problematic Pokemon:
Genesect
Genesect has a frustrating immunity to toxic, threatening stats on both physical and special sides, and is incredibly diverse with moves such as extremespeed, explosion, U turn, thunderbolt, and so on. Usually, crippling genesect with a thunderwave is enough to neuter the threat, although Will-O-Wisp isn't a bad option either should a safe chance arise.
Mewtwo
Mewtwo is another powerful and fast Pokemon that can strike on either the Special or Physical side. Mewtwo X isn't typically too threatening due to the reliance on physical moves, and being crippled by Will-O-Wisp. Mewtwo Y is considerably more dangerous, but a single Thunder Wave turns it into a much easier to handle threat. Foul Play also works wonders when hazards are up.
Life Orb Mewtwo is probably the most threatening of the bunch and with a few key predictions, could take out a crucial wall such as Giratina or Klefki.
Xerneas
If Ho-Oh fell earlier, and Lugia is not at high HP, a +2 (Anything really) can deal terrible damage. Especially if screens are not up or available.
Cloyster
After a shell smash, this Pokemon is incredibly threatening to key pokemon such as Lugia and Giratina. Especially late game if no status affliction has crippled the bivalve Pokemon.
Ultimately, this team primarily relies on staying healthy, being able to predict the next move of the opponent, not allowing the foe to get up stat increases often, (Or at all preferably) and wearing down the foe one by one.
I do apologize if I rambled here and there, but I'm unfortunately very good at going off on a tangent. Feel free to make suggestions to both the style of the RMT and the team itself. This is my second RMT and I do think it's improved over the last one, but input does help.
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