working on it
- [jump=intro]Introduction[/jump] (AlphaJolt)
- How Little Cup Stall works
-- Evolution Stone (Engineer_Pikachu)
-- Entry Hazards (AlphaJolt)
- [jump=types]Types of Stall[/jump] (AlphaJolt)
-- Full Stall (-Charmander-)
-- Semi Stall (kokoloko)
-- Hail Stall (-Charmander-)
-- Sandstorm Stall (AlphaJolt)
- Notable Pokemon (kokoloko)
-- Walls (-Charmander-)
--- Physical Walls (-Charmander-)
--- Special Walls (-Charmander-)
--- Mixed Mixed (-Charmander-)
-- Stallbreakers
--- On the defensive
--- On the offensive
- Building Your Stall Team (Everyone)
-- Sample Team (Everyone)
- Conclusion
Introduction[a]Intro[/a]
In the 4th generation, stall in Little Cup was not a very effective playstyle. With all the Pokemon at level 5, defensive stats cannot keep up with the higher offensive stats, making the metagame very offensive. With the introduction of Eviolite in the 5th generation, this has changed. Eviolite boosts both defenses of the Pokemon holding it by one stage. Now, bulkier Pokemon are able to take advantage of Eviolite and instant recovery to slow the pace of the battle down significantly. With this defensive boost, stall teams are now able to take the hits that offensive teams dish out, and it is no longer an inconceivable battle strategy.
How Little Cup Stall Works
Evolution Stone
Notable Pokemon
Walls[a]Walls[/a]
Stall teams obviously require Pokemon with enough defensive capability to take hits and stall out turns; we call these walls. The purpose of a wall is to switch into a threat and take hits with impunity, then recover off damage using a recovery move. This will provide damage output by stalling out residual damage such as Toxic and Sandstorm, and will also provide a defensive cushion to check certain threats that can otherwise ruin your team. Walls include physically defensive Pokemon such as Slowpoke, specially defensive Pokemon such as Munchlax, and Pokemon with high defensive capabilities on both sides of the attacking spectrum called mixed walls. A well-built Stall team should have a combination of physical, special, and mixed walls to be able to check all threats possible.
Physical Walls[a]physical[/a]
The main goal of a physical wall is to check and counter physical threats. Because the new Little Cup metagame has been buffed up with atrocious threats such as Meditite, Murkrow, and Scraggy, physical walls are arguably the most important parts of a stall team. Here are some good physical walls to use on your team:
With one of the highest Defense stats in Little Cup, Gligar is immediately a defensive threat. With an Evolution Stone, Gligar hits a monumental defense stat of 33, higher than any un-boosted Pokemon in Little Cup. Gligar's great typing provides useful immunities to common Ground- and Electric-type attacks, as well as a resistance to Fighting-type moves, which raid the metagame at its current state. Gligar's typing is no offensive loss either as having STAB Earthquake means Gligar can nail any Steel- or Poison-types trying to switch into Toxic. STAB Earthquake also means Gligar can check certain key Steel-type threats, namely Komatana, which can break a Slowpoke / Lileep core with Night Slash and Brick Break, respectively.
Slowpoke is easily recognized as a top-tier physical wall and great switch-in to almost any physical move. Although Slowpoke's barely above average Defense stat of 65 isn't perfect, the thing that makes Slowpoke such as durable wall is its amazing HP stat. 90 HP means Slowpoke can come in on any resisted attack with impunity and proceed to do anything it wants. Another beautiful thing about Slowpoke is it not only takes physical hits extremely well, but it puts a full stop certain attackers, namely Meditite and Meinfoo. With Fighting-types everywhere in the metagame, it's no surprise why Slowpoke is so common. Slowpoke's key Psychic typing means it can come in on any Fighting-type attack and shake off any hits. Slowpoke also finds it very easy to recover its health; with the combination of Regenotator and Slack Off, Slowpoke will almost always be healing itself. Slowpoke's Water typing is no joke either; it provides useful resistances to Ice and Water, both common attacking types in Little Cup. Slowpoke also has some cool moves in its movepool that fit its role perfectly such as Flamethrower and Thunder Wave. While Grass-types are almost non-existent in Little Cup, Ferroseed is an extremely common switch-in to Slowpoke and is roasted by a surprise Flamethrower. Thunder Wave is a nice addition to Slowpoke's movepool, allowing it to compensate for its low Speed, as well as cripple threats it switches in on.
Shelmet is one of the most overlooked Pokemon in Little Cup. With its high base 85 Defense and access to Recover, it is able to come in on almost any physical attack and shake off given damage. Shelmet hits 24 / 28 / 21 defenses with an Evolution Stone, which is absolutely glorious. its access to a plethora of support moves makes it even more appealing. Yawn is a boon on any Stall team as forcing the opponent to switch will rack up entry hazard damage. Shelmet also has access to both Spikes and Encore. While the two can not legally be used together, they are both great assets that it will appreciate. Spikes allows it to support its team by laying down entry hazards to aid Stall. Encore is another method to encourage switches as many physically-attacking Pokemon will set up on it rather than try to take it down with raw power, which is almost impossible. While Bug typing may look like a setback at first glance, it's definitely another reason why Shelmet shines. Bug resists the two most common attacking types in Little Cup (Ground and Fighting) and more. However, be aware that this leaves Shelmet weak to Stealth Rock, so use a teammate with Rapid Spin!
Koffing is, without a doubt, an excellent physical wall. With Eviolite, it hits a grand total of 30 Defense, which allows it to take hits from even the strongest Physical attackers. Koffing got the great new addition of Clear Smog this generation, so it can now eliminate stat boosts from Pokemon who usually try to set up on it such as Scraggy, as well as deal some reasonable damage with STAB attacks. While Koffing's HP isn't too great, this is actually a blessing in disguise due to Pain Split. Pain Split is a move that will even out the HP of Koffing and its opponent, so it will get more health from this. Sadly, Pain Split is Koffing's only recovery move, but it can make good use out of it, especially against Pokemon with high HP such as Munchlax and Darumaka. Another great thing about our favorite mascot is its great Special movepool; access to Flamethrower means Koffing is in no way a setup fodder for Ferroseed or Pineco. It also nails Steel-types who try to come in on Toxic such as Pawniard. Koffing's Poison typing is great too; with Levitite, it only has one weakness, and Psychic is a type that is arguably dead barring Meditite's Zen Headbutt. Poison also resists Fighting, which is probably the most common type in Little Cup.
Entry Hazards [a]hazards[/a]
With any defensive team, entry hazards are used to wear down the opponents Pokemon with residual damage. Any time they switch, the incoming Pokemon will take damage upon entering the field of battle. The three types of entry hazards are Stealth Rock, Spikes, and Toxic Spikes. Stealth Rock is a Rock-type move that does damage according to the opponent’s Pokemon’s weakness to Rock-type attacks. Spikes stack in up to three layers but do not hit Flying-type or Levitating Pokemon. Toxic Spikes poison the foe when they enter the battle. They can also stack into two layers. With the additions of Ferroseed and Dwebble in the new generation, Spiking has become much easier. Both, along with Pineco and Omanyte, have access to Stealth Rock. Other notable Pokemon that are able to use Stealth Rock are Hippopotas, Lileep, Kabuto, and Gligar. There are only a few Pokemon who can effectively use Toxic Spikes in Little Cup: Pineco, Omanyte, and Tentacool. In stall, the opponent is forced to continually switch Pokemon, which results in residual damage building up over time. The moves Roar, Whirlwind, and Dragon Tail are used in conjunction with entry hazards to phaze opponents, causing further damage.
Stallbreakers
Offensive
Defensive
Types of Stall
There are many types of stall: full stall, semi-stall, and weather stall. The main weathers used are sandstorm and hail, as each does residual damage to the opponent. Although each style is played differently, they are all similar because they slowly wear down the opponent. On some stall teams, an offensive pivot is saved until the opponent’s Pokemon are worn down enough to be swept.
Semi Stall[a]Semi Stall[/a]
While Semi-Stall was considered very difficult, even bordering on impossible to pull off effectively in the past generation, this is no longer true due to the introduction of Evolution Stone. Equipped with Evolution Stone, many of the Pokemon who have the required support movepools also gain the necessary defensive capabilities to use them effectively. Among these, we have Ferroseed, Frillish, Tentacool, Gligar, Misdreavus, Murkrow, Munchlax, Lickitung, and many others. Ferroseed is, without a doubt, the best Spiker in Little Cup. Not only does he have perfect defensive synergy with Frillish, but he also appreciates its spinblocking capabilities. With the correct EVs, Gligar is one of the most bulky Pokemon Little Cup has ever seen, and can also be used to lay down Stealth Rock or break opposing Stall teams using a combination of Roost, Taunt and Toxic. Lickitung and Munchlax can use their great defensive capabilities to switch into many threats, most notably Misdreavus, and start phazing with Dragon Tail and Whirlwind, respectively, while using Rest and Sleep Talk to keep themselves healthy. As any good user of Semi-Stall will tell you, the purpose of laying down entry hazards is not to wear down opponents until they lose, its to wear them down until they are ready to get swept by your late game sweeper of choice. This is where the other great addition to Semi-Stall comes in, Scraggy. Scraggy is widely recognized as the most fearsome sweeper in Little Cup due to his very good bulk and offensive capabilities. That is not to say that every successful Semi-Stall team must use Scraggy as its sweeper though, as there are other good choices such as Swords Dance Gligar and Nasty Plot Misdreavus.
Hail Stall
Sandstorm Stall [a]sandstorm[/a]
This type of stall relies on the use of Sandstorm weather to achieve its goal. In the Little Cup metagame, there is only one Pokemon with the Sand Stream ability who can summon a permanent sandstorm: Hippopotas. The main weakness to this type of stall team, or any weather team in general, is when the weather is changed. Therefore it is important to keep Hippopotas alive if you know that the opponent has a weather changing Pokemon such as Vulpix or Snover. Unlike sunshine and rain, sandstorm damages any non Rock-, Ground-, or Steel-type Pokemon each turn. This adds to the residual damage apart from entry hazards. Any weather team requires weather abusers. The best defensive sandstorm abusers are Lileep, Gligar and Hippopotas. All of these Pokemon have access to Stealth Rock and instant recovery. Being a Rock-type, Lileep gains a special defensive boost just by being in the sandstorm. This combined with an Evolution Stone gives Lileep a very high Special Defense stat, while still having an above average Defense stat as well. Access to Stockpile and Curse make Lileep a very hard Pokemon to take down in sandstorm. It also has Storm Drain which makes it immune to Water-type attacks, giving it an easy switch-in. Gligar has the ability Sand Veil which raises his evasion in sandstorm. He also has above average defenses and hits 19 Speed without a boost, making him one of the fastest Pokemon in the metagame. Hippopotas is the staple of any sandstorm team as he sets up the weather. He also has a high Defense stat and is capable of taking many hits. Some stall teams like to have an offensive pivot. Gligar can run a Swords Dance set but then Hyper Cutter is the better ability. Gible also has the ability Sand Veil and can use a Dragon Dance set. Sandstorm adds to the residual damage that entry hazards rack up, and has many walls that become more dangerous when immersed in the weather. Semi-stall follows the pace of stall teams by slowly wearing down enemies over time, but keeps an offensive pivot for late game sweeping.
Building Your Stall Team
Sample Team
Conclusion
- [jump=intro]Introduction[/jump] (AlphaJolt)
- How Little Cup Stall works
-- Evolution Stone (Engineer_Pikachu)
-- Entry Hazards (AlphaJolt)
- [jump=types]Types of Stall[/jump] (AlphaJolt)
-- Full Stall (-Charmander-)
-- Semi Stall (kokoloko)
-- Hail Stall (-Charmander-)
-- Sandstorm Stall (AlphaJolt)
- Notable Pokemon (kokoloko)
-- Walls (-Charmander-)
--- Physical Walls (-Charmander-)
--- Special Walls (-Charmander-)
--- Mixed Mixed (-Charmander-)
-- Stallbreakers
--- On the defensive
--- On the offensive
- Building Your Stall Team (Everyone)
-- Sample Team (Everyone)
- Conclusion
Introduction[a]Intro[/a]
In the 4th generation, stall in Little Cup was not a very effective playstyle. With all the Pokemon at level 5, defensive stats cannot keep up with the higher offensive stats, making the metagame very offensive. With the introduction of Eviolite in the 5th generation, this has changed. Eviolite boosts both defenses of the Pokemon holding it by one stage. Now, bulkier Pokemon are able to take advantage of Eviolite and instant recovery to slow the pace of the battle down significantly. With this defensive boost, stall teams are now able to take the hits that offensive teams dish out, and it is no longer an inconceivable battle strategy.
How Little Cup Stall Works
Evolution Stone
Notable Pokemon
Walls[a]Walls[/a]
Stall teams obviously require Pokemon with enough defensive capability to take hits and stall out turns; we call these walls. The purpose of a wall is to switch into a threat and take hits with impunity, then recover off damage using a recovery move. This will provide damage output by stalling out residual damage such as Toxic and Sandstorm, and will also provide a defensive cushion to check certain threats that can otherwise ruin your team. Walls include physically defensive Pokemon such as Slowpoke, specially defensive Pokemon such as Munchlax, and Pokemon with high defensive capabilities on both sides of the attacking spectrum called mixed walls. A well-built Stall team should have a combination of physical, special, and mixed walls to be able to check all threats possible.
Physical Walls[a]physical[/a]
The main goal of a physical wall is to check and counter physical threats. Because the new Little Cup metagame has been buffed up with atrocious threats such as Meditite, Murkrow, and Scraggy, physical walls are arguably the most important parts of a stall team. Here are some good physical walls to use on your team:
With one of the highest Defense stats in Little Cup, Gligar is immediately a defensive threat. With an Evolution Stone, Gligar hits a monumental defense stat of 33, higher than any un-boosted Pokemon in Little Cup. Gligar's great typing provides useful immunities to common Ground- and Electric-type attacks, as well as a resistance to Fighting-type moves, which raid the metagame at its current state. Gligar's typing is no offensive loss either as having STAB Earthquake means Gligar can nail any Steel- or Poison-types trying to switch into Toxic. STAB Earthquake also means Gligar can check certain key Steel-type threats, namely Komatana, which can break a Slowpoke / Lileep core with Night Slash and Brick Break, respectively.
Slowpoke is easily recognized as a top-tier physical wall and great switch-in to almost any physical move. Although Slowpoke's barely above average Defense stat of 65 isn't perfect, the thing that makes Slowpoke such as durable wall is its amazing HP stat. 90 HP means Slowpoke can come in on any resisted attack with impunity and proceed to do anything it wants. Another beautiful thing about Slowpoke is it not only takes physical hits extremely well, but it puts a full stop certain attackers, namely Meditite and Meinfoo. With Fighting-types everywhere in the metagame, it's no surprise why Slowpoke is so common. Slowpoke's key Psychic typing means it can come in on any Fighting-type attack and shake off any hits. Slowpoke also finds it very easy to recover its health; with the combination of Regenotator and Slack Off, Slowpoke will almost always be healing itself. Slowpoke's Water typing is no joke either; it provides useful resistances to Ice and Water, both common attacking types in Little Cup. Slowpoke also has some cool moves in its movepool that fit its role perfectly such as Flamethrower and Thunder Wave. While Grass-types are almost non-existent in Little Cup, Ferroseed is an extremely common switch-in to Slowpoke and is roasted by a surprise Flamethrower. Thunder Wave is a nice addition to Slowpoke's movepool, allowing it to compensate for its low Speed, as well as cripple threats it switches in on.
Shelmet is one of the most overlooked Pokemon in Little Cup. With its high base 85 Defense and access to Recover, it is able to come in on almost any physical attack and shake off given damage. Shelmet hits 24 / 28 / 21 defenses with an Evolution Stone, which is absolutely glorious. its access to a plethora of support moves makes it even more appealing. Yawn is a boon on any Stall team as forcing the opponent to switch will rack up entry hazard damage. Shelmet also has access to both Spikes and Encore. While the two can not legally be used together, they are both great assets that it will appreciate. Spikes allows it to support its team by laying down entry hazards to aid Stall. Encore is another method to encourage switches as many physically-attacking Pokemon will set up on it rather than try to take it down with raw power, which is almost impossible. While Bug typing may look like a setback at first glance, it's definitely another reason why Shelmet shines. Bug resists the two most common attacking types in Little Cup (Ground and Fighting) and more. However, be aware that this leaves Shelmet weak to Stealth Rock, so use a teammate with Rapid Spin!
Koffing is, without a doubt, an excellent physical wall. With Eviolite, it hits a grand total of 30 Defense, which allows it to take hits from even the strongest Physical attackers. Koffing got the great new addition of Clear Smog this generation, so it can now eliminate stat boosts from Pokemon who usually try to set up on it such as Scraggy, as well as deal some reasonable damage with STAB attacks. While Koffing's HP isn't too great, this is actually a blessing in disguise due to Pain Split. Pain Split is a move that will even out the HP of Koffing and its opponent, so it will get more health from this. Sadly, Pain Split is Koffing's only recovery move, but it can make good use out of it, especially against Pokemon with high HP such as Munchlax and Darumaka. Another great thing about our favorite mascot is its great Special movepool; access to Flamethrower means Koffing is in no way a setup fodder for Ferroseed or Pineco. It also nails Steel-types who try to come in on Toxic such as Pawniard. Koffing's Poison typing is great too; with Levitite, it only has one weakness, and Psychic is a type that is arguably dead barring Meditite's Zen Headbutt. Poison also resists Fighting, which is probably the most common type in Little Cup.
Entry Hazards [a]hazards[/a]
With any defensive team, entry hazards are used to wear down the opponents Pokemon with residual damage. Any time they switch, the incoming Pokemon will take damage upon entering the field of battle. The three types of entry hazards are Stealth Rock, Spikes, and Toxic Spikes. Stealth Rock is a Rock-type move that does damage according to the opponent’s Pokemon’s weakness to Rock-type attacks. Spikes stack in up to three layers but do not hit Flying-type or Levitating Pokemon. Toxic Spikes poison the foe when they enter the battle. They can also stack into two layers. With the additions of Ferroseed and Dwebble in the new generation, Spiking has become much easier. Both, along with Pineco and Omanyte, have access to Stealth Rock. Other notable Pokemon that are able to use Stealth Rock are Hippopotas, Lileep, Kabuto, and Gligar. There are only a few Pokemon who can effectively use Toxic Spikes in Little Cup: Pineco, Omanyte, and Tentacool. In stall, the opponent is forced to continually switch Pokemon, which results in residual damage building up over time. The moves Roar, Whirlwind, and Dragon Tail are used in conjunction with entry hazards to phaze opponents, causing further damage.
Stallbreakers
Offensive
Defensive
Types of Stall
There are many types of stall: full stall, semi-stall, and weather stall. The main weathers used are sandstorm and hail, as each does residual damage to the opponent. Although each style is played differently, they are all similar because they slowly wear down the opponent. On some stall teams, an offensive pivot is saved until the opponent’s Pokemon are worn down enough to be swept.
Semi Stall[a]Semi Stall[/a]
While Semi-Stall was considered very difficult, even bordering on impossible to pull off effectively in the past generation, this is no longer true due to the introduction of Evolution Stone. Equipped with Evolution Stone, many of the Pokemon who have the required support movepools also gain the necessary defensive capabilities to use them effectively. Among these, we have Ferroseed, Frillish, Tentacool, Gligar, Misdreavus, Murkrow, Munchlax, Lickitung, and many others. Ferroseed is, without a doubt, the best Spiker in Little Cup. Not only does he have perfect defensive synergy with Frillish, but he also appreciates its spinblocking capabilities. With the correct EVs, Gligar is one of the most bulky Pokemon Little Cup has ever seen, and can also be used to lay down Stealth Rock or break opposing Stall teams using a combination of Roost, Taunt and Toxic. Lickitung and Munchlax can use their great defensive capabilities to switch into many threats, most notably Misdreavus, and start phazing with Dragon Tail and Whirlwind, respectively, while using Rest and Sleep Talk to keep themselves healthy. As any good user of Semi-Stall will tell you, the purpose of laying down entry hazards is not to wear down opponents until they lose, its to wear them down until they are ready to get swept by your late game sweeper of choice. This is where the other great addition to Semi-Stall comes in, Scraggy. Scraggy is widely recognized as the most fearsome sweeper in Little Cup due to his very good bulk and offensive capabilities. That is not to say that every successful Semi-Stall team must use Scraggy as its sweeper though, as there are other good choices such as Swords Dance Gligar and Nasty Plot Misdreavus.
Hail Stall
Sandstorm Stall [a]sandstorm[/a]
This type of stall relies on the use of Sandstorm weather to achieve its goal. In the Little Cup metagame, there is only one Pokemon with the Sand Stream ability who can summon a permanent sandstorm: Hippopotas. The main weakness to this type of stall team, or any weather team in general, is when the weather is changed. Therefore it is important to keep Hippopotas alive if you know that the opponent has a weather changing Pokemon such as Vulpix or Snover. Unlike sunshine and rain, sandstorm damages any non Rock-, Ground-, or Steel-type Pokemon each turn. This adds to the residual damage apart from entry hazards. Any weather team requires weather abusers. The best defensive sandstorm abusers are Lileep, Gligar and Hippopotas. All of these Pokemon have access to Stealth Rock and instant recovery. Being a Rock-type, Lileep gains a special defensive boost just by being in the sandstorm. This combined with an Evolution Stone gives Lileep a very high Special Defense stat, while still having an above average Defense stat as well. Access to Stockpile and Curse make Lileep a very hard Pokemon to take down in sandstorm. It also has Storm Drain which makes it immune to Water-type attacks, giving it an easy switch-in. Gligar has the ability Sand Veil which raises his evasion in sandstorm. He also has above average defenses and hits 19 Speed without a boost, making him one of the fastest Pokemon in the metagame. Hippopotas is the staple of any sandstorm team as he sets up the weather. He also has a high Defense stat and is capable of taking many hits. Some stall teams like to have an offensive pivot. Gligar can run a Swords Dance set but then Hyper Cutter is the better ability. Gible also has the ability Sand Veil and can use a Dragon Dance set. Sandstorm adds to the residual damage that entry hazards rack up, and has many walls that become more dangerous when immersed in the weather. Semi-stall follows the pace of stall teams by slowly wearing down enemies over time, but keeps an offensive pivot for late game sweeping.
Building Your Stall Team
Sample Team
Conclusion
