stall is not dead ~ top 10 UU Team

I have always had a thing for stall, and it's my favorite playstyle in every tier, so why not start to play UU using it? I haven't played it seriously since when Yanmega came down so it was like a fresh start for me. This time was especially nice because of all the hype going around with Gallade and stuff like "stall is impossible", and while stall isn't as dominant as it was, it certainly is still viable - and some RMTs that appeared these past days also inspired me to make this new team using this playstyle. So, here's the team.

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Omastar (M) @ Leftovers *** Ocean Soul
Ability: Shell Armor
EVs: 252 HP/248 Def/8 Spd
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Surf
- Hidden Power [Rock]
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes

Omastar is a very good lead. With all those Spiritomb / Uxie / Ambipom running around, it can easily get SR right off the bat and maybe even a layer of Spikes, which are essential for a stall team. And while people say it's better to spread entry hazards over the team, I've never had much difficulty setting those up with only Omastar. Besides the leads matchup, he can also can get easy switch-ins on things like Registeel and Regirock, which are pretty common. When I have SR + 1 or 2 layers of Spikes I'm already satisfied, and Omastar almost always gets that.

Anyway, Surf is basic stab, and while I also have HP Rock, I'm not really sure why I chose it. Looking at the team I kinda have an Altaria weakness so maybe I'll use Ice Beam over it (although no one uses Altaria anymore from what I've seen).
The EVs are pretty standard for a defensive Omastar too, and since he's my main Swellow counter and normal resist, he needs all the defenses he can get.



Hitmontop (M) @ Leftovers *** Dead Boy's Poem
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP/200 Def/56 SDef
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Close Combat
- Rapid Spin
- Foresight
- Sucker Punch

Hitmontop is the Rock resist and my user of Rapid Spin, which combined with Foresight, almost never disappoints me (and also gives me an edge when playing against other stall teams). This thing is so physically sturdy that I love to switch into random physical attacks just to cushion the blow to my other team members with Intimidate, and recover its HP back with Wish later.

Close Combat is the stab move of choice here. The defenses drop may seen like a bad idea for a defensive pokemon, but Top is pretty slow and usually just needs to attack once and then switch. Close Combat also packs quite a punch, and to be honest that's the main reason why I'm using it. Last but not least is Sucker Punch - the priority is extremely good especially against Alakazam and Mismagius, which don't expect that as often on a defensive set.

The EVs are pretty random but they worked so far. If someone has a better one, do tell me.



Umbreon (F) @ Leftovers *** From Wishes To Eternity
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP/4 Atk/252 SDef
Careful nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Payback
- Heal Bell
- Wish
- Protect

Umbreon is responsible for most of the special walling of the team, and it really surprised me in that department. Now that Yanmega is gone, Umbreon in my opinion is on par with Chansey, if not better. Flawlessly countering Mismagius and SubRotom, which Chansey can only dream to do, the support Umbreon provides is also very important. Wish is essential as half of my team lack (reliable) recovery. Heal Bell gets rid of status of not only Umbreon, but also the rest of the team, preventing everyone of being toxic stalled to death, for example.

Although having only Payback to touch stuff may seem like Umbreon is more setup bait than it already is, Payback hits everything the team needs to. The main one being Gallade - taking off ~40% of its HP on the switch is extremely useful for my main counters to it finish the job.

Max HP and Sdef allow Umbreon to take every special attack with ease. He can even outstall Alakazam's Life Orb Focus Blast with Wish + Protect + Leftovers.



Venusaur (M) @ Black Sludge *** Gethsemane
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 252 HP/232 Def/24 Spd
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Energy Ball
- Sludge Bomb
- Roar
- Synthesis

physical grass types are everywhere now in UU. Venusaur fortunately counters them all! This is spot was originally Tangrowth but the fighting resist of Venusaur proved to be much more valuable and made him a very good partner with Umbreon, taking fighting attacks and getting rid of the bulky waters Umbreon can't touch without Toxic. His x4 grass resist and decent spdef allows him to swich into leaf storms and weak ice beams all day too.

Energy Ball is for the already mentioned water types. Sludge Bomb is a very good secondary stab to hit grasses and the extremely dangerous Honchkrow on the switch, expecting Sleep Power or a grass attack. Leech Seed is one of my favorite moves to have on a stall team - the added damage to counters coupled with SR + Spikes adds up very quickly. Synthesis is the reliable recovery that makes Venusaur stick around.



Arcanine (M) @ Leftovers *** Sleeping Sun
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP/120 Atk/136 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Flare Blitz
- Extremespeed
- Morning Sun
- Toxic

The team would not be what it is without Arcanine. With Morning Sun + Intimidate, he can easily switch into most physical threats without worry. Together with Venusaur, they counter every fighting type in UU - Gallade, Toxicroak, the Hitmons and so on. Arcanine is also my main answer to mixed Blaziken - even when Stealth Rock is down, Blaziken usually comes on Umbreon when it's wishing, so switching in is even less of a problem. SD Venusaur also presents no threat to this.

Arcanine is also my phazer, and a good one at that. People always switch their bulky waters into it just to be roared out. However, I'm considering a change to Toxic, for reasons I'll explain later.

Jolly + 136 speed evs put Arcanine at 286, which outspeeds all bases 80 and below - important threats being Blaziken, Gallade, Venusaur, Honchkrow etc, which Arcanine can all check with Flare Blitz. ExtremeSpeed is another priority move, and a nice asset to have when you need to kill sweepers already damaged by hazards, life orb or whatever. Morning Sun coupled with max HP makes it very sturdy. The rest of the evs are put on attack, to give a punch to its offensive moves.



Mismagius (F) @ Leftovers *** Ghost Love Score
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/148Spd/108 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Shadow Ball
- Will-o-wisp
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
- Pain Split

finally there's the team spin blocker, as every stall team needs one. I chose Mismagius mainly because it's is very unpredictable and this set in special is extremely annoying against other stall teams and can cripple a lot of sweepers against offense too, switching with impunity using its 3 immunities.

Taunt + WoW is what makes Mismagius good against stall and offense, preventing recovery of walls and burning this heavily physical oriented metagame. Shadow Ball is needed to hit stuff, especially spiners like Donphan and Claydol, and revenging weakened sweepers with its high speed when needed. Pain Split is there as some sort of recovery, although I never used it much - was important just only once or twice, and that's why I'm considering Hp Fighting or Thunderbolt in its place, since I'm VERY NP Houndoom weak with this set.


THREATS:
I won't bother with a full threat list, I'll just mention what can give me trouble and hope you people can help me =)

Raikou - my only answer to this is Umbreon with Payback, and it's a decent check, but not 100% reliable. I've never got sweept by one, but a lot of times Raikou has put me in tight situations. That's why I'm considering Roar > Leech Seed on Venu to slow it down and cripple it with spikes damage. God, Raikou is so annoying.

SD Blaziken - mixken is nothing, but SD Blaziken can be devasting. I almost always will have to sacrifice something to it.

NP Houndoom - ok this thing can 6-0 me in the right situation, since I lack a true bulky water like Milotic for example... however I always fought againt mixed variants, which are easier for my team to hande. Seriously considering Mach Punch on Hitmontop just to check this, even if Sucker Punch is much more useful.

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alright, that's the team! Hope you like it and help me improve it

edit: for those wondering, my acc is "last of the wilds"
and now ranked in the top 5!

Hitmontop-
Hes not as bulky as he could/ needs to be. I would run
Impish; 252 Hp/ 200 Def./ 56 Sp. Def.
This lets you spin against milotic and the like while giving you an exceptionally sturdy physical hit taker. I would also dump sucker punch for rest simply because hitmontop is such a vital pokemon for this team and keeping it alive with wish support only can be a bit sketchy. The atk. is all but wasted as it will not NOT be attacking when in switches in most of the time.

I used toxic on arcanine instead of etremespeed just due to the fact that the move has pretty meager damamge output.

Im not exactly sold on missy being the spin blocker, but she does handle the rapid spinners much better in the tier. spiritomb is much more useful against the meta in general though.
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This team has the same problem as my stall, and really any stall I have seen in this meta. It is forced to overspecialize for offensive teams and is left painfully open to sp offensive teams, and it is not helped by the fact that stall is horribly restricted (weather or otherwise). Stall in this meta is useable, but it is only a shadow of what it used to be in this tier and it is only laddering well right now because too many people are either A) not preparing for stall at all or B) are not making their teams diverse enough. Overall a solid stall, but dont be surprised if/ when you see this team losing alot more often...

Thanks, i'll definitely be using those evs for hitmontop.

I also tested roar on venu and toxic on nine, and it's much better - even having to give up leech seed. I also put hp fighting on missy to have a kind of check to np houndoom.
And talking about her, spiritomb may be better against the metagame, but he leaves me more prone to SD blaziken - and mismagius is just as good against the meta for me, though. But i'll test him and see how it goes.
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Yeah, i know what you're trying to say - but i think we just need the metagame settle down, with possible suspects gone (i seriously think at least two should be) so stall can have more room to breathe.