The Great Wall of Showdown
Introduction
I built this team after Terrakion, a huge threat to every stall team, got banned. Mons like Chansey, Skarmory or Toxapex are commonly used on stall teams, this one is no exception, Meloetta is pretty rarely seen - I assume it is because of Magearna being a better RegenVest pivot for most teams.
Introduction
This team soon became the most successful one I made for AAA, being undefeated since the last three tournaments I played on Showdown - I won one of them without losing any of my mons - and I climbed the ladder up to spot #3 with an Elo of 1587.
Teambuilding Process
I started with an Unaware Chansey, which is one of the best pokemon for defensive and stall-orientated teams in AAA. It not only blocks setup sweepers and special attackers in general, it also acts as a cleric and keeps the team healthy.
The next mon is Skarmory, which takes care of the physical attackers Chansey can't wall and sets hazards to whittle down the opposing team. I gave it Volt Absorb to be able to reliably check Tapu Koko and get more opportunities to set up hazards.
Zapdos provides hazard control with both Magic Bounce and Defog, acts as a pivot with U-turn and adds an important Fighting resistance to the team.
A standard RegenVest Magearna was added as a second pivot and a check to most special attackers, including Psyshock users which are pretty dangerous for Chansey, such as Alakazam-Mega or Hoopa-Confined
Because the team still was incredibly weak to Victini, Mamoswine and Zygarde, I added Primordial Sea Buzzwole. It also has some offensive presence thanks to its high attack stat and good synergy with the rest of the team.
The last mon, Unaware Toxapex, was added as a second setup check to not get destroyed by Belly Drum Kommo-o or Chestnaught and other physical setuppers. In general, the combination of bulk, Haze and Unaware is very nice to have.
The last step to the final team was replacing Magearna with RegenVest Meloetta to have a better matchup against Trapper Heatran, which would otherwise be very problematic, especially when having Flash Cannon to hit Buzzwole hard and an immunity to Toxapex's Scald. It also has great utility due to being able to remove key items and kill Hoopa-Confined with Knock Off, while being able to check the same mons Magearna needed to check.
The Team
Chansey @ Eviolite
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
Unaware Chansey is easily one of the best mons in AAA, being able to wall most special attackers regardless of their setup moves. It also acts as a cleric and uses Heal Bell to cure any status problems my mons might get inflicted with.
The moveset is pretty standard and self-explanatory - Soft-Boiled for Recovery, Heal Bell to cure Status, Toxic to put the opposing mons on a timer and inflict passive damage and Seismic Toss to not be Taunt-bait and to do damage. If poison healers are too annoying, Skill Swap can be fitted into its moveset, maybe over Seismic Toss, but I didn't really need it.
Skarmory @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Impish Nature
Skarmory is not only a great physical wall, it also sets up hazards to wear down the opposing team. Volt Absorb is a great ability for it, as it can now check Tapu Koko regardless of wether it is Pixilate or Galvanize, come in on the extremely common Volt Switch from Magearna and stay in on a Zapdos and continue to lay hazards while it tries to defog them away. In general, it gets much more opportunities to put down a layer of hazards thanks to Volt Absorb as a Skarmory with a different ability would have.
The Rocky Helmet was chosen over Leftovers to deal chip damage to physical attackers even when being forced to recover with Roost or trying to lay out another layer of hazards.
Magic Bounce users can be very annoying, but without Volt Absorb, Tapu Koko would be a problem for this team, especially the Pixilate variant, which hits Buzzwole, the second physical wall, for super-effective damage
Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
Zapdos is the team's hazard controller. With Magic Bounce, it can bounce opposing hazards back, while Defog removes hazards it failed to bounce back. Magic Bounce also somewhat protects the team from status like Toxic, so that I potentially have to use less Heal Bells in matchups against opposing Stall teams.
It doesn't have the bulk other mons have, but it still can tank a good amount of damage, which is important to get off a Defog if needed.
It also forms a pivot core with Meloetta thanks to its access to u-turn and can dish out some damage with a STAB discharge, altough the paralysis chance can sometimes work against you and protect the opposing mon from a poisoning.
Meloetta @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
Previously, this was a RegenVest Magearna, but as I found out that the team had some serious trouble with Trapper Heatran, especially when it ran Flash Cannon which does lots of damage to Buzzwole, I switched to Meloetta.
It checks rougly the same things as Magearna does, most importantly Psyshock Alakazam-Mega and Hoopa-Confined which are able to 2HKO Chansey, but is not weak to Fire or Ground, so that it can switch into Heatran, tank that Magma Storm and pivot out, negating the trapping effect.
Also, the team really appreciates its Knock Off support, since removing Leftovers makes wearing down mons without other recovery options like Ferrothorn or Heatran much eaiser and knocking off Marowak's Thicc Club weakens it significantly so that even Chansey can wall it. Also it 2HKOes itemless Hoopa-Confined, which is important as it became quite popular the last days on the ladder and hits very hard with Psychic Terrain support.
Psyshock was chosen as the STAB of choice, as it comes off Meloetta's stronger special attack stat and is a clean OHKO against Nihilego.
Thunderbolt is just a filler and may be substituted for other moves, but has proven to be useful, as it allows me to hit Skarmory, which sometimes comes in on Meloetta to defog.
Buzzwole @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Primordial Sea
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
Buzzwole is the second physical tank and walls some important threats like Victini, Zygarde or Weavile. It also checks Poison Heal Snorlax, and scares it out with Hammer Arm, but if it is at full health, it can actually curse up on Buzzwole as long as Hammer Arm doesn't crit. As the team has an Unaware Toxapex, this doesn't really matter and Snorlax can be PP-stalled pretty easily.
Ice Punch is mostly for Zygarde and of course other physical dragons like Garchomp, Toxic puts a timer on opposing mons and punishes switches in attempt to tank Buttwole's attacks.
Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 192 Def / 64 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
Toxapex is a second Unaware user and setup check. Thanks to its resistance to Fighting-type attacks, it pairs well with Chansey. The combination of Unaware and Haze to remove stat boosts is pretty nice, as even when Toxapex would be 2HKOed it can nullify boosts to allow a safer switch to a different mon which can take the opponent's hits better.
Also, it absorbs Toxic Spikes, which is important when Zapdos can't defog or bounce them back for some reason, as they would otherwise quickly become very annoying.
Importable
Lord of Lightning (Zapdos) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 248 SpD
Bold Nature
- Defog
- Roost
- Discharge
- U-turn
Klepto (Skarmory) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Stealth Rock
- Brave Bird
- Spikes
Toadette (Meloetta) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- U-turn
- Psyshock
- Thunderbolt
- Knock Off
Spiny Shell (Toxapex) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 248 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Recover
- Toxic
- Scald
- Haze
Yoshi's Egg (Chansey) @ Eviolite
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Soft-Boiled
- Seismic Toss
- Toxic
- Heal Bell
Thwomp (Buzzwole) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Primordial Sea
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Hammer Arm
- Toxic
- Ice Punch
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 248 SpD
Bold Nature
- Defog
- Roost
- Discharge
- U-turn
Klepto (Skarmory) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Stealth Rock
- Brave Bird
- Spikes
Toadette (Meloetta) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- U-turn
- Psyshock
- Thunderbolt
- Knock Off
Spiny Shell (Toxapex) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 248 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Recover
- Toxic
- Scald
- Haze
Yoshi's Egg (Chansey) @ Eviolite
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Soft-Boiled
- Seismic Toss
- Toxic
- Heal Bell
Thwomp (Buzzwole) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Primordial Sea
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Hammer Arm
- Toxic
- Ice Punch