Taking this over for Windsong.
BW RU Stall Guide
1.Introduction
2.Pokémon to Consider
3.Threats to Stall
4.Types of Stall
5.Sample Teams
6.Teambuilding Checklist
7.Conclusion
1. Introduction
Throughout past generations, stall has been a common and successful style of play in almost all competitive singles tiers. It is a basic playstyle that relies on entry hazards and other forms of residual damage in order to wear down the opponent’s team. This, in conjunction with the defensive prowess and survivability of most Pokemon used on stall teams, allows stall players to consistently control both the pace of the match, minimize the effects of errors and “hax”, and in general play more consistently and reliably than most other playstyles can.
Stall is a remarkably basic playstyle to use. It simply works at minimizing the damage from all of the opponent’s offensive Pokemon while setting up layer upon layer of entry hazards. They playstyle is heavily reliant around synergy and team support, however, as no individual Pokemon on a stall team is capable of working to its max effectiveness on its own. Instead, they all work together in order to support each other through use of moves such as Wish and Heal Bell, while also abusing entry hazards with phazing moves, which have improved considerably with the advent of Generation V and two new phazing moves in Circle Throw and Dragon Tail, along with the new Sleep mechanics, which made stall teams much less vulnerable to Rest using stat boosters.
However, RU is a metagame with many powerful threats to stall, including a variety of dangerous mixed sweepers such as Electivire and Archeops, as well as offensive behemoths such as Moltres and Nidoqueen. In fact, at the original introduction of the RU tier, many players believed that stall would find no place there. However, many of the defensive monsters that existed both prior to generation five and those that were created in generation five all fell to the RU tier, finding the new powerful sweepers in other tiers too much for them to be effective. In addition, the new generation brought forth a new item to the playing field - Eviolite. This gave NFE Pokemon a huge boost in their defenses, making Pokemon that seem originally as if they’d simply be skipped over huge threats. Thanks to these, the RU tier is filled with many defensive behemoths and a tier where an effective stall team is remarkably hard to break. Thus, despite some of the shortcomings of stall, it’s an extremely effective playstyle.
This guide will explain the ins and outs of creating an RU stall team, in depth explanations of many of the common Pokemon used in creating them, and in general be a huge help to any playing looking to construct an effective RU stall team. In addition, for all of you offense players out there, this guide will also be an excellent read, providing information that can effectively show you how to beat stall. Thus, if you ever want to learn how to make (or break!) an effective RU stall team, this is the guide for you.
2. Pokemon to Consider
A. Primary Walls
Mandibuzz
Type: Dark / Flying
Base Stats: 110 HP / 65 Atk / 105 Def / 55 SpA / 95 SpD / 80 Spe
Ability: Big Pecks / Overcoat / Weak Armor
Mandibuzz is one of, if not the best wall in RU. With outstanding 110 / 105 / 95 defenses and a cornucopia of useful moves such as Taunt and Whirlwind, Mandibuzz is a fantastic wall. With useful resistances to Grass-, Ghost-, and Dark-type attacks, in addition to its immunities to Ground- and Psychic-type attacks, Mandibuzz makes a wonderful counter to many common threats in the metagame, and thanks to its access to reliable recovery in Roost, Mandibuzz can continually counter those threats throughout the match. Even though its Attack stat is paltry, Mandibuzz is actually surprisingly hard to set up on thanks to Brave Bird, the aforementioned Taunt and Whirlwind, and its very respectable Speed which allows it to Taunt some Pokemon before they set up. By abusing its wonderful defenses and Whirlwind, Mandibuzz can even quickly rack up damage on the opposing team with enough entry hazard support, and there isn't much the opponent can do about it sometimes since Mandibuzz is simply so difficult to break through. Overall, if you need an incredibly bulky wall and entry hazard abuser, Mandibuzz should be one of the first Pokemon who you consider.
Common threats checked by Mandibuzz:
Advantages: Extremely bulky, can phaze with Whirlwind, can stop set up attempts with Taunt, has reliable recovery in Roost, decent Speed allows it to phaze opponents before Mandibuzz is phaze itself, great resistances give Mandibuzz the ability to wall a ton of threats, immune to Spikes and Toxic Spikes
Disadvantages: Weak to Stealth Rock and Rock-, Ice-, and Electric-type attacks, cannot hit sweepers hard enough and must rely on entry hazards or Toxic to wear them down
Useful moves: Roost, Taunt, Whirlwind, Brave Bird, Toxic, Knock Off, U-turn, Torment
Preferred Teammates:
Steelix
Type: Steel / Ground
Base Stats: 75 HP / 85 Atk / 200 Def / 55 SpA / 65 SpD / 30 Spe
Ability: Rock Head / Sturdy / Sheer Force
With an sky-high Defense stat of 200 and an array of useful resistances, Steelix is an incredibly durable physical wall. In fact, Steelix is so bulky physically that the standard Steelix is not OHKOed by a Choice Banded Entei's Flare Blitz with Stealth Rock on the field! Steelix resists a whopping nine resistances and two immunities, which makes it a wonderful check against most of RU's physical attackers. Despite its average Attack stat, Steelix actually isn't that weak offensively, as it has access to two powerful STAB attacks in Earthquake and Gyro Ball to do some nice damage, especially to frail sweepers. Steelix also makes a wonderful phazer with both Dragon Tail and Roar in its movepool, and it can easily rack up some damage with entry hazard support. The combination of these two factors make it exceedingly difficult to set up on Steelix. Steelix can even set up Stealth Rock if you do not have a user of the move already. Unfortunately its lack of reliable recovery and weaknesses to the omnipresent Fire-, Water-, Ground-, and Fighting-type attacks that plague the RU metagame do make it so that Steelix may not last as long as you may like, but for the most part, Steelix still makes a wonderful addition to a stall team thanks to its sheer physical bulk.
Common threats checked by Steelix:
Advantages: Absurdly bulky on the physical side, nine resistances and two immunities allow it to check a ton of threats, can set up Stealth Rock, can phaze with either Roar or Dragon Tail, is hard to set up on
Disadvantages: Weak to common attacking types, not that bulky on the special side, no reliable recovery outside of Rest and Leftovers
Useful moves: Stealth Rock, Roar, Earthquake, Gyro Ball, Dragon Tail, Rest,
Preferred Teammates:
Slowking
Type: Water / Psychic
Base Stats: 95 HP / 75 Atk / 80 Def / 100 SpA / 110 SpD / 30 Spe
Ability: Oblivious / Own Tempo / Regenerator
Common threats checked by Slowking:
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
Useful moves:
Preferred Teammates:
Tangrowth
Type: Grass
Base Stats: 100 HP / 100 Atk / 125 Def / 110 SpA / 50 SpD / 50 Spe
Ability: Chlorophyll / Leaf Guard / Regenerator
Tangrowth is a premier physical wall in RU, thanks to its astounding base 100 HP and base 125 Defense. Those raw defensive stats, when coupled with Regenerator, make Tangrowth incredibly durable, and ensure that it will usually be able to stick around for most of the match. Tangrowth also possesses a very nice set of resistances thanks to its Grass typing; it resists Electric-, Grass-, Ground-, and Water-type attacks, which are all extremely common in RU. Access to a plethora of useful support moves, including Leech Seed, Sleep Powder, Stun Spore, and Knock Off gives Tangrowth plenty of options to support its teams. The only real issue with Tangrowth is its poor Special Defense, which, when coupled with some common weaknesses Grass-types have, including weaknesses to Fire-, Bug-, Ice-, Flying-, and Poison-type attacks, makes it so that Tangrowth will have major issues with mixed attackers such as Electivire. Still, with such massive physical bulk and Regenerator, Tangrowth will surely be able to stick around for most of the match to check troublesome threats for your stall team.
Common threats checked by Tangrowth:
Advantages:
Disadvantages: Awful Special Defense,
Useful moves:
Preferred Teammates:
Rhydon
Type: Ground / Rock
Base Stats: 105 HP / 130 Atk / 120 Def / 45 SpA / 45 SpD / 40 Spe
Ability: Lightningrod / Rock Head / Reckless
Common threats checked by Rhydon:
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
Useful moves:
Preferred Teammates:
Poliwrath
Type: Water / Fighting
Base Stats: 90 HP / 85 Atk / 95 Def / 70 SpA / 90 SpD / 70 Spe
Ability: Water Absorb / Damp / Swift Swim
Though Poliwrath might not be as resilient as some of RU's top physical walls, Poliwrath's unique set of resistances, coupled with decent defenses and Water Absorb let him act as a very respectable addition to a stall team, as he checks a variety of threats who may be difficult to deal with otherwise. With his resistances to Bug-, Dark-, Fire-, Ice-, Rock-, and Steel-type attacks, in addition to healing from Water-type attacks thanks to Water Absorb, Poliwrath can check an array of prominent threats, including Crawdaunt, Entei, Feraligatr, and Kabutops. Furthermore, Poliwrath does not just sit there and counter those threats; it is also able to rack up damage from entry hazards with Circle Throw, and dish out damage with its Water-type STAB moves. Even though Poliwrath lacks reliable recovery, it does have access to the RestTalk combination. Even though this combination may be weaker in Black and White, it works wonderfully on Poliwrath, as Poliwrath is still fairly bulky, and can phaze opponents while sleeping, which helps ensure that it won't be taken advantage of while it sleeps.
Common threats checked by Poliwrath:
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
Useful moves: Circle Throw, Scald, Rest, Sleep Talk, Waterfall, Toxic, Encore
Preferred Teammates:
Quagsire
Type: Water / Ground
Base Stats: 95 HP / 85 Atk / 85 Def / 65 SpA / 65 SpD / 35 Spe
Ability: Damp / Water Absorb / Unaware
While Quagsire's defenses certainly seem lackluster in comparison to the other walls in this section, Quagsire's saving grace lies in its ability, Unaware. Thanks to Unaware, Quagsire can easily tackle those lethal setup sweepers who can be a huge problem to certain stall teams, and it can easily shrug off the damage done to it due to its surprising bulk and access to Recover. The fact that Quagsire only has one weakness makes it fairly difficult to take down as well, and its nice resistances to Fire-, Rock-, Steel-, and Poison-type attacks, in addition to a welcome immunity to Electric-type attacks make it even easier for it to take on those top threats. Quagsire's wonderful STAB combination and decent Attack allow it to dish out some respectable damage when it needs to attack.
Common threats checked by Quagsire:
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
Useful moves: Waterfall, Earthquake, Recover, Toxic, Scald, Stockpile, Haze, Stone Edge, Curse, Encore, Ice Beam
Preferred Teammates: Roselia, Ferroseed, Mandibuzz, Drapion,
B. Entry Hazards [Written]
Entry hazards are vital to the success of stall teams. Since stall teams will have to rely on passive damage to beat opponents, entry hazards are the extremely useful to quickly chip away at the opposing team as they switch. Stall teams often rely on countering as many threats as possible, forcing the opponent to switch and allowing entry hazards to rack up damage quickly. This section will mostly deal with the most viable users of Spikes and Toxic Spikes in RU, as the distribution of these moves are significantly lower than that of Stealth Rock, and their are only a few good users of the moves in RU.
Qwilfish
Type: Water / Poison
Base Stats: 65 HP / 95 Atk / 75 Def / 55 SpA / 55 SpD / 85 Spe
Ability: Poison Point / Swift Swim / Intimidate
Qwilfish is an excellent choice for almost any RU stall team. Its typing gives it resistances to a variety of common types, most notably Fire-, Steel-, and Fighting-, while Intimidate allows it to set up entry hazards against a huge portion of the tier. Not only that, Qwilfish also has access to both Spikes and Toxic Spikes, and gets plenty of opportunities to set them up thanks to its ability to switch in on many of the physical attackers in the tier. Qwilfish’s part Poison-typing is also beneficial to many stall teams, as it allows it to absorb Toxic Spikes set up by the opponent. Finally, unlike many other Spikers in the tier, Qwilfish isn’t even easy setup bait, thanks to having access to Taunt and a decently powered Waterfall.
Common threats checked by Qwilfish: Entei, Aggron, Omastar* (boosted Hidden Power Grass hurts), Feraligatr, Klinklang, Gallade, Primeape, Hitmonchan, Hitmonlee, Hariyama, Kabutops* (boosted Stone Edge hurts), Scyther, Poliwrath, Crawdaunt, Bouffalant, Archeops* (Flight Gem Acrobatics hurts)
Advantages: Resistances to Fire-, Fighting-, Steel-, Water-, Ice-, and Bug, Intimidate, Access to Spikes and Toxic Spikes, Access to Taunt, decent Attack and Speed
Disadvantages: Low Special Defense means most special attackers can 2HKO it even with resisted hits, vulnerable to some common Rapid Spinners, vulnerable to faster Taunt users, can’t break Substitutes of bulkier offensive Pokemon
Useful moves: Spikes, Toxic Spikes, Taunt, Pain Split, Thunder Wave, Waterfall, Poison Jab, Aqua Jet
Preferred Teammates: Clefable, Misdreavus, Rotom, Cryogonal, Moltres, Mandibuzz, Slowking, Flareon, Shelgon
Omastar
Type: Water / Rock
Base Stats: 70 HP / 60 Atk / 125 Def / 115 SpA / 70 SpD / 55 Spe
Ability: Swift Swim / Shell Armor / Weak Armor
Although often seen playing an offensive role with Shell Smash, Omastar has decent all around defenses, useful resistances, including a 4x resistance to Fire-, and a perfect movepool for playing a defensive role. Thanks to access to all three entry hazards, Scald, and even Knock Off, it can provide extremely valuable team support for most stall teams. It also possesses a large base 115 Special Attack stat, which allows it to hurt things that try and set up against it even without investment. Finally, Omastar checks a number of threats in the metagame with ease, and provides a valuable switch in for many hard hitting physical threats that stall teams have trouble with, such as Archeops and Entei.
Common threats checked by Omastar: Archeops* (Earthquake hurts), Entei* (versions with Hidden Power Grass easily KO), Bouffalant, Dusknoir, Feraligatr, Scyther, Typhlosion* (Focus Blast and Hidden Power Grass both hurt), Moltres* (Hidden Power Grass or Electric hurts), Kabutops, Klinklang* (Hidden Power Grass hurts), Aggron* (SubPunch versions can deal a fair amount of damage to you), Swellow, Braviary* (Superpower hurts)
Advantages: Excellent Defense, access to any combination of two entry hazards, good Special Attack, 4x resistance to Fire-, good Special Attack, Knock Off, Scald
Disadvantages: Average Special Defense, 4x weakness to Grass-, weakness to Fighting-, Ground-, and Electric-, many physical attackers use coverage moves Omastar is weak to, Omastar can’t prevent things from setting up against it, only two entry hazards should really be used per set due to it not having time to set all three
Useful moves: Spikes, Toxic Spikes, Stealth Rock, Scald, Ice Beam, Knock Off, Protect
Preferred Teammates: Clefable, Cryogonal, Cofagrigus, Rotom, Moltres, Slowking, Quagsire
Roselia
Type: Grass / Poison
Base Stats: 50 HP / 60 Atk / 45 Def / 100 SpA / 80 SpD / 65 Spe
Ability: Poison Point / Natural Cure / Leaf Guard
Although it’s easy to underestimate Roselia’s prowess in RU due to its NFE status and NU tiering, it possesses several characteristics which make it fit well into many RU stall teams. For example, Roselia has access to Spikes and Toxic Spikes. It also has somewhat reliable healing with Synthesis, or through Rest and Natural Cure, and a solid Special Attack stat with decent STABs. In addition, Roselia’s Grass / Poison typing offers a variety of useful resistances, such as to Electric-, Fighting-, Water-, and Grass-. This allows it to set entry hazards against a huge number of common threats, while also being remarkably self sufficient due to its reliable recovery.
Common threats checked by Roselia: Crawdaunt, Electivire* (Flamethrower hurts), Feraligatr* (boosted Ice Punch hurts), Gallade* (boosted Ice Punch hurts), Galvantula, Gligar, Lilligant, Ludicolo* (Ice Beam can do a fair amount of damage), Manectric* (Flamethrower does a fair amount of damage), Poliwrath, Omastar* (boosted Ice Beam hurts), Rotom, Rotom-C* (watch out for Trick), Sceptile, Tangrowth, Uxie, Victreebel, Gorebyss* (boosted Ice Beams hurt), Haunter
Advantages: More specially bulky than any other Pokemon in Ru with access to both Spikes and Toxic Spikes, reliable recovery, absorbs Toxic Spikes, sets up easily on bulky waters, 4x grass resistance, good Special Attack
Disadvantages: Low / average physical Defense, prone to being set up on, common weaknesses to types such as Fire-, Ice-, and Flying-, Spikes isn’t legal with Leaf Storm or Sleep Powder
Useful moves: Spikes, Toxic Spikes, Sleep Powder* (illegal with Spikes), Leaf Storm* (illegal with Spikes), Rest, Synthesis, Giga Drain, Sludge Bomb
Preferred Teammates: Clefable, Quagsire, Alomomola, Lampent, Flareon, Steelix
Crustle
Type: Rock / Bug
Base Stats: 70 HP / 95 Atk / 125 Def / 65 SpA / 75 SpD / 45 Spe
Ability: Sturdy / Shell Armor / Weak Armor
Crustle is an optimal choice for an entry hazard user in RU due to its incredible defense and access to both Spikes and Stealth Rock. In addition to being able to set up entry hazards, Crustle is also less vulnerable to being set up on than other Spikes users are, thanks to its decent Attack stat and Rock- and Bug- STABs. Crustle also has useful resistances to Normal- and Poison-, while it lacks many of the common weaknesses that other Spikers have, only being hit for super effective damage by Water-, Rock-, and Steel-type attacks.
Common threats checked by Crustle: Bouffalant, Dusknoir* (Taunt and Will-O-Wisp can be annoying), Electivire* (mixed versions with Thunderbolt can hurt), Gallade, Mandibuzz, Primeape, Sawsbuck, Scyther, Uxie, Braviary, Duosion, Flareon* (offensive sets with Fire Blast can hurt), Gardevoir, Musharna, Tauros, Zweilous
Advantages: Massive Defense, access to both Spikes and Stealth Rock, Rock Blast to break Substitutes, decent Attack, resistances to Normal- and Poison
Disadvantages: Lack of useful resistances outside of Normal-, weaknesses to Water-, Rock-, and Steel-, average Special Defense, bulkier Pokemon can easily set up against it
Useful moves: Spikes, Stealth Rock, X-Scissor, Rock Blast, Rest, Protect, Counter
Preferred Teammates: Cryogonal, Munchlax, Clefable, Drapion, Misdreavus, Rotom,
Ferroseed
Type: Grass / Steel
Base Stats: 44 HP / 50 Atk / 91 Def / 21 SpA / 86 SpD / 10 Spe
Ability: Iron Barbs
Due to its NFE tiering, Ferroseed may seem like a rather poor choice for RU. However, this is not the case, as thanks to Eviolite, it becomes one of the bulkiest Spikes users in the tier. In addition, with access to a variety of useful support moves, such as Leech Seed and it can help the team outside of simply setting up entry hazards. Ferroseed also has resistances to Water-, Grass-, Rock-, Electric-, Steel-, Ghost-, Psychic-, Dark-, Dragon-, and Normal-type moves, while also being immune to Poison-type attacks! In addition to its incredible resistances, Ferroseed is only weak to Fire- and Fighting-type attacks. Finally, Ferroseed is capable of abusing its Iron Barbs ability as well thanks to all of its resistances, racking up residual damage agains a variety of threats.
Common threats checked by Ferroseed: Accelgor* (Hidden Power Fire hurts Ferroseed), Bouffalant, Drapion* (Taunt can shut down Ferroseed), Dusknoir (it can beat Ferroseed if it has Fire Punch or Focus Punch), Feraligatr, Kabutops* (without Superpower), Lilligant* (Hidden Power Fire or Hidden Power Fighting hurts), Ludicolo, Omastar, Rotom, Rotom-C* (Trick can cripple Ferroseed), Sawsbuck, Sceptile* (without Focus Blast or Hidden Power Fire), Uxie, Gorebyss, Haunter, Klinklang, Samurott
Advantages: Ten very useful resistances, two weaknesses, Spikes and Stealth Rock, Leech Seed, Thunder Wave prevents it from being setup bait, large amounts of bulk,
Disadvantages: Ferroseed’s two weaknesses; Fire- and Fighting-, are extremely common in RU, Stealth Rock, Spikes, and Leech Seed cannot all be used on the same moveset, Ferroseed has no reliable recovery
Useful moves: Spikes* (illegal when used with both Stealth Rock and Leech Seed), Stealth Rock* (illegal when used with both Spikes and Leech Seed), Leech Seed* (illegal when used with both Stealth Rock and Spikes), Thunder Wave, Gyro Ball, Protect, Toxic
Preferred Teammates: Cryogonal, Munchlax, Cofagrigus, Poliwrath, Steelix, Alomomola, Flareon
Drapion
Type: Poison / Dark
Base Stats: 70 HP / 90 Atk / 110 Def / 60 SpA / 75 SpD / 95 Spe
Ability: Battle Armor / Sniper / Keen Eye
Drapion is an excellent option for a Toxic Spikes user in RU, boasting large defenses along with multiple useful resistances. Drapion’s resistances to Grass-, Poison-, Ghost-, and Dark-type attacks, while also having an immunity to Psychic-type attacks allow it to set up Toxic Spikes on a huge portion of the metagame. In addition, Drapion has only one weakness, to Ground-type attacks, although they are relatively common. Continuing, Drapion also has access to a variety of support moves outside of Toxic Spikes, such as Whirlwind and Taunt. Finally, thanks to both Taunt and its solid Attack stat, Drapion isn’t as vulnerable to being set up against as many other Spikes users are.
Common threats checked by Drapion: Accelgor, Clefable, Crawdaunt, Electivire, Lilligant, Mandibuzz, Rotom, Rotom-C, Sawsbuck, Sceptile, Victreebell, Beheeyem, Cryogonal* (Drapion can Pursuit it, but it can’t prevent it from using Rapid Spin), Drifblim, Duosion, Eelektross, Gardevoir, Lanturn, Skuntank
Advantages: Only one weakness, can prevent setup with Taunt, has a phazing option with Whirlwind, can prevent critical hits with Battle Armor, can trap and KO opposing spinblockers, absorbs Toxic Spikes
Disadvantages: Defenses are only a bit above average, doesn’t hit particularly hard when uninvested, has no reliable recovery
Useful moves: Toxic Spikes, Taunt, Whirlwind, Pursuit, Crunch, Rest, Knock Off, Roar
Preferred Teammates: Clefable, Cofagrigus, Dusknoir, Kabutops, Moltres, Omastar, Steelix
C. Support
Cofagrigus
Type: Ghost
Base Stats: 58 HP / 50 Atk / 145 Def / 95 SpA / 105 SpD / 30 Spe
Ability: Mummy
Cofagrigus is probably an RU stall team's most reliable choice as a spinblocker, as its massive defenses, as well as access to moves such as Will-O-Wisp and Haze make it extremely difficult to take down. Cofagrigus can actually take on almost every common Rapid Spinner in RU, bar Cryogonal, as Hitmonchan, Hitmonlee, Kabutops, and Sandslash all despise burns, and Claydol can't do anything to Cofagrigus with its weak offensive stats. Most of these spinners will also be hit hard by Cofagrigus's Shadow Ball off its very respectable Special Attack stat. Its unique ability in Mummy also allows it to cripple certain Pokemon who rely on their abilities, such as Hitmonchan, making them easier for your stall team to handle. Unfortunately, the fact that Cofagrigus's only forms of recovery are the unreliable Rest or Pain Split means that cleric or Wish support is almost always required, but Cofagrigus's raw defenses can sometimes allow it to wait out the sleep turns on its own. Cofagrigus can even go on the offensive by utilizing the combination of Nasty Plot and Trick Room to sweep while still retaining its amazing bulk.
Common threats checked by Cofagrigus: Accelgor, Aerodactyl* (Life Orb Stone Edge still hurts), Bouffalant* (Cofagrigus can't touch Substitute variants without Hidden Power Fighting), Clefable, Crustle, Electivire* (Thunderbolt can do some hefty damage), Entei* (Choice Banded Flare Blitz can 2HKO), Feraligatr* (+2 Waterfall can hurt), Gallade* (+2 Night Slash will do some heavy damage to Cofagrigus), Hariyama* (beware of Guts and Payback), Hitmonchan, Hitmonlee, Kabutops* (+2 Stone Edge / Waterfall will do some massive damage to Cofagrigus), Medicham, Munchlax, Poliwrath, Primeape, Rhydon* (Choice Banded Earthquake will hurt), Sandslash* (be wary of Swords Dance versions with Lum Berry), Sawsbuck* (+2 Horn Leech will do some damage; Cofagrigus can't touch Substitute + Swords Dance versions either), Scolipede* (it can still set up Spikes or Toxic Spikes on Cofagrigus), Scyther, Sigilyph* (watch out for Life Orb Calm Mind versions), Uxie
Advantages: Excellent Defense and decent Special Defense, beats most Rapid Spinners easily, good Special Attack and Haze means Cofagrigus is hard to setup on
Disadvantages: Recovery moves are unreliable, hit by every entry hazard, loses to Cryogonal
Useful moves: Shadow Ball, Will-O-Wisp, Haze, Pain Split, Rest, Sleep Talk, Hex, Calm Mind, Night Shade, Hidden Power Fighting, Nasty Plot, Trick Room
Preferred Teammates: Mandibuzz, Alomomola, Cryogonal, Munchlax, Drapion, Ferroseed, Omastar, Roselia
Rotom
Type: Ghost / Electric
Base Stats: 50 HP / 50 Atk / 77 Def / 95 SpA / 77 SpD / 91 Spe
Ability: Levitate
Despite Rotom's seemingly pathetic defensive stats, with maximum investment in either defensive stat, Rotom becomes a very good spinblocker. Thanks to Levitate, Rotom is not worn down by opposing entry hazards like Cofagrigus, Dusknoir, and Spiritomb, and Rotom's unique typing gives it some cool resistances over its competition, resisting Flying-, Electric-, and Steel-types attacks, with an immunity to Ground-type attacks as well because of Levitate. Rotom still gets Will-O-Wisp to cripple any Rapid Spinners that comes its way, and Pain Split gives him semi-reliable recovery. Alternatively, Rotom can use Rest and Sleep Talk in conjunction for more reliable recovery, and thanks to Levitate, Rotom can actually use it pretty effectively. Rotom's respectable Special Attack and great coverage in Thunderbolt and Shadow Ball allow him to hit most foes reasonably hard as well and ensures that it isn't so easily to set up on Rotom.
Common threats checked by Rotom:
Advantages: Levitate means that Rotom isn't worn down by Spikes and Toxic Spikes, still beats most Rapid Spinners, has Pain Split for recovery, cool resistances to Flying-, Electric-, and Steel-type attacks,
Disadvantages: Much frailer than all the other available spinblockers, more prone to Pursuit, really prone to either physical or special attacks depending on the EV spread, loses to Cryogonal,
Useful moves: Thunderbolt, Discharge, Shadow Ball, Will-O-Wisp, Pain Split, Rest, Sleep Talk
Preferred Teammates:
Dusknoir
Type: Ghost
Base Stats: 45 HP / 100 Atk / 135 Def / 65 SpA / 135 SpD / 45 Spe
Ability: Pressure
Dusknoir is basically a Cofagrigus with a good Attack stat instead of Special Attack, as it, like Cofagrigus, is very bulky and has poor Speed. However, because Cofagrigus has better Defense than Dusknoir, Dusknoir should usually be specially defensive, as this prevents it from being outdone by Cofagrigus and it is actually the most specially defensive spinblocker in RU. Its access to Will-O-Wisp and Pain Split allow it to make up for his uninvested Defense stat as well. Unfortunately, because Dusknoir lacks a good STAB option, it doesn't hit as hard as you may like. Since it hits physically and it is usually specially defensive, it is easier for Kabutops and Sandslash to beat. That being said, Dusknoir does have one more thing it can do over the other spinblockers; it can beat Cryogonal! Since Dusknoir uses physical attacks, it can do huge damage to Cryogonal thanks to its horrible Defense stat.
Common threats checked by Dusknoir:
Advantages: Hits physically, good Attack stat, most specially defensive spinblocker in RU, beats Cryogonal
Disadvantages: has issues with more physically defensive Rapid Spinners, no strong STAB move that it can use, hit by every entry hazard
Useful moves: Shadow Sneak, Shadow Punch, Seismic Toss, Will-O-Wisp, Pain Split, Earthquake, Rock Slide, Ice Punch, Fire Punch, ThunderPunch, Rest, Sleep Talk
Preferred Teammates:
Spiritomb
Type: Ghost / Dark
Base Stats: 50 HP / 92 Atk / 108 Def / 92 SpA / 102 SpD / 35 Spe
Ability: Pressure / Infiltrator
Though Spiritomb is frailer than Dusknoir and Cofagrigus, the reason why it is used is its typing. Ghost / Dark has no weaknesses at all, which gives Spiritomb a niche over Dusknoir and Cofagrigus, who can be targeted by Pursuit and other troublesome moves, and gives Spiritomb an arguably better Dark-type STAB to work with. Spiritomb also boasts some extremely good, albeit prediction reliant moves, including Pursuit, Sucker Punch, and Shadow Sneak. Like the other Ghost-types, Spiritomb still has that wonderful Will-O-Wisp to cripple physically based Pokemon, including most Rapid Spinners, which allows Spiritomb to take on the most common Rapid Spinners with ease. However, note that Spiritomb's Dark typing is a double-edged sword, as it means that Foresight Hitmonchan becomes significantly more lethal due to his ability to hit Spiritomb with a super effective Fighting-type move after Foresight. With Pursuit, Spiritomb can also defeat Cryogonal, since Spiritomb can easily trap and KO it.
Common threats checked by Spiritomb:
Advantages: No weaknesses, three immunities, has priority over the other spinblockers, can trap opponents with Pursuit, can beat Cryogonal
Disadvantages: Not as bulky as Cofagrigus or Dusknoir, hit by every type of entry hazard, very reliant on prediction
Useful moves: Pursuit, Sucker Punch, Shadow Sneak, Will-O-Wisp, Pain Split, Dark Pulse, Shadow Ball, Rest, Sleep Talk, Calm Mind, Curse
Preferred Teammates:
Misdreavus
Type: Ghost
Base Stats: 60 HP / 60 Atk / 60 Def / 85 SpA / 85 SpD / 85 Spe
Ability: Levitate
While Misdreavus is by far the least common spinblocker here, Misdreavus is not to be underestimated. With Eviolite, Misdreavus has comparable bulk to the other spinblockers, and Levitate makes her harder to wear down from entry hazards. Misdreavus is also fairly fast, and it has Taunt, which prevents opposing Pokemon from setting up on it. Notably, it stops Hitmonchan from using Foresight on Misdreavus aside from on the switch-in, which allows Misdreavus to easily keep entry hazards on the field. In fact, Misdreavus still beats almost all the common Rapid Spinners in RU aside from Cryogonal. Misdreavus has an incredibly wide support movepool, as she still has the Ghost-type staple moves in Will-O-Wisp and Pain Split, but she also has moves like Heal Bell and Thunder Wave as auxiliary support options. Misdreavus can even be a lethal threat with Calm Mind, or she can utilize Perish Song to act as your stall team's endgame win condition.
Common threats checked by Misdreavus:
Advantages: Levitate prevents Misdreavus from being worn down by Spikes and Toxic Spikes, it is difficult to set up on it thanks to Taunt and Misdreavus's decent Special Attack, beats most spinblockers thanks to Taunt + Will-O-Wisp, can act as an endgame win condition
Disadvantages: Eviolite means that Misdreavus does not heal HP from Leftovers so she can be worn down, less bulky than the other spinblockers because it can't use Leftovers, weaker than the other spinblockers, loses to Cryogonal,
Useful moves: Taunt, Shadow Ball, Will-O-Wisp, Pain Split, Calm Mind, Hidden Power Fighting, Substitute, Heal Bell, Thunder Wave, Perish Song, Mean Look
Preferred Teammates:
Golurk
Type: Ground / Ghost
Base Stats: 89 HP / 124 Atk / 80 Def / 55 SpA / 80 SpD / 55 Spe
Ability: Iron Fist / Klutz / No Guard
Thanks to its access to Stealth Rock and Ghost typing, Golurk is unique in the fact that it is the only spinblocker in RU who is capable of also setting up Stealth Rock. While Golurk's huge Attack stat often dwarfs its defenses, it does have some very decent 89 / 80 / 80 defensive stats, which can allow it to take a variety of hits from many opponents. Note however, that Golurk is not exactly a particularly reliable spinblocker; almost every spinblocker except Hitmonlee can do some massive damage to Golurk with a super effective coverage or STAB move, or outlast it in the case of Sandslash. Still, if you need both a spinblocker and a Stealth Rock user and have limited slots remaining on your stall team, Golurk may be a decent choice for your team.
Common threats checked by Golurk:
Advantages: Extremely powerful, takes advantage of the entry hazards from its teammates, unique resistances to Electric-, Poison-, and Rock-type attacks over other spinblockers.
Disadvantages: Slow, not a very reliable spinblocker, no reliable recovery, has weaknesses to very common Grass-, Ice-, Water-, Ghost-, and Dark-types attacks
Useful moves: Earthquake, Shadow Punch, Focus Punch, Substitute, Stone Edge, Hammer Arm
Preferred Teammates:
E. Rapid Spinners
Cryogonal
Type: Fighting
Base Stats: 70 HP / 50 Atk / 30 Def / 95 SpA / 135 SpD / 105 Spe
Ability: Levitate
While Cryogonal's weakness to Stealth Rock may make it seem otherwise, Cryogonal is a fantastic choice for a Rapid Spinner due to its unique assets over RU's other spinners. First of all, Cryogonal hits from the special side, and since many spinblockers heavily invest in Defense rather than Special Defense to combat RU's other spinners, Cryogonal can hit those spinblockers fairly hard with its STAB Ice Beam. Furthermore, the fact that Cryogonal uses special attacks means that it is not heavily crippled by Will-O-Wisp. Secondly, since many spinblockers use Special Attacks, Cryogonal can easily sponge hits from them due to its amazing Special Defense, and Cryogonal has access to reliable recovery in Recover to shed off the damage done to it. Both of these traits even allow Cryogonal to act as a fairly sturdy special wall in general too, though note that its Ice typing means that many Pokemon can hit it super effectively and Cryogonal is extremely weak to physical attacks. To top it all off, Cryogonal even has Levitate making it immune to Spikes and Toxic Spikes which can be troublesome for other spinners.
Common threats checked by Cryogonal:
Advantages: Wonderful special bulk, Cryogonal's Ice typing gives it a powerful STAB move, hits somewhat hard, surprisingly fast, has access to reliable recovery, beats most spinblockers one-on-one, immune to Spikes and Toxic Spikes
Disadvantages: Has a horrible defensive typing, Stealth Rock weakness, pathetic Defense makes it weak to Pursuit, loses to Dusknoir and Spiritomb
Useful moves: Ice Beam, Rapid Spin, Recover, Haze, Toxic, Hidden Power Ground, Reflect, Reflect, Light Screen
Preferred Teammates:
Kabutops
Type: Rock / Water
Base Stats: 60 HP / 115 Atk / 105 Def / 65 SpA / 70 SpD / 80 Spe
Ability: Swift Swim / Battle Armor / Weak Armor
Kabutops is one of the few Rapid Spinners in RU who has access to both Stealth Rock and Rapid Spin, allowing it to fill what two Pokemon would otherwise be used for in one. As a Rapid Spinner, Kabutops is a decent choice, as its superb Attack stat and powerful STAB moves allow it to hit most spinblockers hard, and between its nice Defense and Battle Armor, which ensures that Kabutops cannot be taken down by stray critical hits, Kabutops can come in often to spin away those troublesome entry hazards. Though Kabutops often doesn't have room for it, if you wish, you can even use Foresight on Kabutops to guarantee that it will spin away entry hazards. Unfortunately, since Kabutops is physically based, it, like Hitmonchan, is very vulnerable to Will-O-Wisp, and due to its poor Special Defense, Shadow Ball from those spinblockers will also hurt Kabutops quite a bit. Still, Kabutops makes an excellent check to numerous physical attackers such as Entei, which makes him a great fit on any stall team, especially one which does not use Omastar as their entry hazards user.
Common threats checked by Kabutops:
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
Useful moves: Stealth Rock, Rapid Spin, Waterfall, Toxic, Foresight, Stone Edge, Aqua Jet, Knock Off
Preferred Teammates:
Sandslash
Type: Ground
Base Stats: 75 HP / 100 Atk / 110 Def / 45 SpA / 55 SpD / 65 Spe
Ability: Sand Veil / Sand Rush
Like Kabutops, Sandslash also has the combination of Stealth Rock and Rapid Spin, which lets it pull off both necessary roles for a stall team. However, Sandslash's Ground typing and significantly better bulk separate it from Kabutops, as they allow it to check some specific threats more reliably, such as Aggron, and Sandslash can make a somewhat decent switch in against Choiced Electric-types with good prediction. Sandslash's powerful STAB Earthquake hits many of the common spinblockers hard, and it has Night Slash to nail the levitating Ghost-types for some nice damage, which often gives it the opportunity to Rapid Spin. Unfortunately, Sandslash is heavily crippled by Will-O-Wisp and is hit hard by Shadow Ball. Even worse, Sandslash does not have access to a move such as Foresight to hit those Ghost-types with Rapid Spin, which makes him much less reliable. Despite those setbacks, Sandslash works wonders for teams who are especially weak to powerful Rock-type sweepers such as Aerodactyl, Archeops, Rhydon, and the aforementioned Aggron, and its ability to provide a stall team's vital Stealth Rock and Rapid Spin support makes him still a very viable choice.
Common threats checked by Sandslash:
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
Useful moves: Stealth Rock, Rapid Spin, Earthquake, Night Slash, Toxic, Stone Edge, Rest
Preferred Teammates:
Hitmonchan
Type: Fighting
Base Stats: 50 HP / 105 Atk / 79 Def / 35 SpA / 110 SpD / 76 Spe
Ability: Keen Eye / Iron Fist / Inner Focus
A wonderful Special Defense stat, a nice Attack stat, and, more importantly, access to Foresight, all allow Hitmonchan to be a decent Rapid Spinner in RU. Thanks to Foresight, Hitmonchan is able to hit Ghost-types with Rapid Spin, almost guaranteeing that he will remove entry hazards at least once a match, which makes him incredibly reliable. Additionally, Hitmonchan's nice special bulk allows him to take Shadow Balls and similar attacks from RU's spinblockers, while his nice Attack and Iron Fist lets him hit those Ghost-types somewhat hard with his Fighting-type attacks once Foresight has been used, though the fact that he is a physical attacker makes Will-O-Wisp more devastating. Despite his lack of instant recovery, Iron Fist and Drain Punch give Hitmonchan a surprisingly amount of longevity, and they often ensure that Hitmonchan will stay alive throughout the match to Rapid Spin away those pesky entry hazards.
Common threats checked by Hitmonchan:
Advantages: Foresight means that Hitmonchan will likely be able to Rapid Spin at least once a match, very nice special bulk, has Drain Punch to recover HP
Disadvantages: Hit by all entry hazards, has to use Foresight in order to hit Ghost-types hard, vulnerable to Will-O-Wisp
Useful moves: Drain Punch, Rapid Spin, Foresight, Ice Punch, ThunderPunch, Fire Punch, Mach Punch, Rest
Preferred Teammates:
F. Others
Moltres
Type: Fire / Flying
Base Stats: 90 HP / 100 Atk / 90 Def / 125 SpA / 85 SpD / 90 Spe
Ability: Pressure / Flame Body
Common threats checked by Moltres:
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
Useful moves:
Preferred Teammates:
3. Threats to Stall
Aggron
Type: Rock / Steel
Base Stats: 70 HP / 110 Atk / 180 Def / 90 SpA / 60 SpD / 50 Spe
Ability: Sturdy / Rock Head / Heavy Metal
Why is this a threat?: Aggron possesses one of the best offensive moves in Head Smash, and thanks to Rock Head, can spam it totally recklessly. This, in conjunction with its decent Attack and high Defense can make it extremely difficult for most teams to handle well. In addition, the number of sets it can run to get by its counters, including Choice Band and Automatize, which are both capable of breaking through certain checks, make it a major threat to most stall teams.
Checks: Ferroseed* (watch out for Focus Punch), Qwilfish, Steelix, Tangrowth,
Archeops
Type: Rock / Flying
Base Stats: 75 HP / 140 Atk / 65 Def / 112 SpA / 65 SpD / 110 Spe
Ability: Defeatist
Why is this a threat?: Archeops boasts some of the highest offensive stats in RU, with a massive base 140 Attack and 112 Special Attack. This, in conjunction with a solidly high Speed stat and extremely high powered offensive moves in Acrobatics, Stone Edge, and so on make it a top tier threat for all teams, but moreso stall, as they lack the ability to quickly bring it down into Defeatist range. Archeops also boasts the ability to OHKO / 2HKO nearly all common members of RU stall teams.
Checks: Qwilfish, Sandslash, Dusknoir, Crustle, Cofagrigrus* (giving Mummy to Archeops does more harm than good)
Charizard
Type: Fire / Flying
Base Stats: 78 HP / 84 Atk / 78 Def / 109 SpA / 85 SpD / 100 Spe
Ability: Blaze / Solar Power
Why is this a threat?: With Solar Power, Charizard has some of the strongest special attacks in the game when Sun is up. This makes it extremely hard to handle for most stall teams, as Charizard in the sun really has no reliable switch-ins in the tier. In addition, it can also pull off other sets capable of breaking down walls, including Belly Drum, Dragon Dance, and even some mixed wallbreaker sets.
Checks: Flareon, Munchlax, Mandibuzz, Omastar* (Hidden Power Grass KOs), Kabutops* (Hidden Power Grass KOs), Slowking
Clefable
Type: Normal
Base Stats: 95 HP / 70 Atk / 73 Def / 85 SpA / 90 SpD / 60 Spe
Ability: Cute Charm / Magic Guard / Unaware
Why is this a threat?:
Crawdaunt
Type: Dark / Water
Base Stats: 63 HP / 120 Atk / 85 Def / 90 SpA / 55 SpD / 55 Spe
Ability: Hyper Cutter / Shell Armor / Adaptability
Why is this a threat?: Thanks to Adaptability, boosting its already strong Attacks, a relatively large base 120 Attack, Dragon Dance, and excellent coverage between Waterfall and Crunch, Crawdaunt is a huge threat to any stall team. In addition, Crawdaunt can run through many of the physical walls present in RU without much trouble.
Checks: Poliwrath, Torterra* (must watch out for boosted X-Scissor), Tangrowth, Rotom* (can only outspeed unboosted Crawdaunt, and can’t switch in regardless)
Electivire
Type: Electric
Base Stats: 75 HP / 123 Atk / 67 Def / 95 SpA / 85 SpD / 95 Spe
Ability: Motor Drive / Vital Spirit
Why is this a threat?: Electivire boasts amazing mixed attacking stats and has the movepool to abuse them with. Thanks to attacks such as Wild Charge, Flamethrower, and Cross Chop, it is capable of breaking down many of the common walls in the tier, and is extremely hard for most stall teams to wall. In addition, Electivire can even gain a free boost in Speed from any Electric-type attacks, and is bulky enough to not go down in a single hit from most attackers on stall teams. Finally, Electivire even has Meditate, to boost its already large Attack stat.
Checks: Cofagrigus* (Thunderbolt can hurt), Rotom, Sandslash* (must watch out for Hidden Power Grass or Hidden Power Ice), Misdreavus
Entei
Type: Fire
Base Stats: 115 HP / 115 Atk / 85 Def / 90 SpA / 75 SpD / 100 Spe
Ability: Pressure / Flash Fire
Why is this a threat?: Entei has one of the strongest attacks in RU, specifically Flare Blitz. With a Choice Band, Entei is capable of 2HKOing a huge portion of the Pokemon in RU, and most Pokemon not hurt severely by Flare Blitz can be dented by one of Entei’s other moves. In addition, Entei also can use an effective Calm Mind moveset, which many stall teams have trouble with. Finally, Entei can even use effective mixed and defensive movesets, which are easily capable of hurting many stall teams.
Checks: Cofagrigus* (Choice Band Flare Blitz can 2HKO), Gligar* (Choice Band Flare Blitz can 2HKO), Kabutops* (Hidden Power Grass can easily 2HKO or OHKO), Moltres* (must watch out for Stone Edge), Munchlax, Omastar* (Hidden Power Grass can 2HKO), Poliwrath, Qwilfish
Feraligatr
Type: Water
Base Stats: 85 HP / 105 Atk / 100 Def / 79 SpA / 83 SpD / 78 Spe
Ability: Torrent / Sheer Force
Why is this a threat?: With the release of Sheer Force via the Dream World, Feraligatr has gotten to become a huge threat. It has access to both Dragon Dance, which allows it to outspeed nearly every Pokemon on common stall after a boost, and Swords Dance, which lets it break down almost all of the common walls in the RU metagame. These factors, in conjunction with Feraligatr’s diverse movepool and solid offensive stats make it quite a threat to any stall team.
Checks: Cofagrigus, Dusknoir, Ferroseed* (must watch out for Superpower), Kabutops* (must watch out for Superpower), Omastar* (must watch out for Superpower), Poliwrath, Quagsire, Qwilfish, Rotom-C* (must watch out for Ice Punch), Uxie
Gallade
Type: Fighting / Psychic
Base Stats: 68 HP / 125 Atk / 65 Def / 65 SpA / 115 SpD / 80 Spe
Ability: Steadfast / Justified
Why is this a threat?: Gallade’s unique stat spread, in conjunction with useful offensive moves such as Close Combat, Drain Punch, Psycho Cut, Shadow Sneak, and Ice Punch, make it a threat that any team should be prepared for. In addition, Gallade also has many viable setup moves, such as Bulk Up and Swords Dance, that allow it to break through common stall cores, especially when used with Taunt, which Gallade also commonly packs. Lastly, Gallade is difficult for most common phazers to handle due to its diverse movepool and access to Taunt.
Checks: Cofagrigus, Moltres* (must watch out for Stone Edge), Qwilfish, Rotom* (has to be careful of Night Slash and Shadow Sneak), Amoonguss* (must watch out for Psycho Cut), Duosion, Weezing
Hitmonlee
Type: Fighting
Base Stats: 50 HP / 120 Atk / 53 Def / 35 SpA / 110 SpD / 87 Spe
Ability: Limber / Reckless / Unburden
Why is this a threat?: Hitmonlee has one of the highest base Attack stats in RU, along with some of the strongest moves in the tier in High Jump Kick and Double Edge. Reckless boosts the power of all of Hitmonlee’s recoil moves significantly, allowing it to easily power through almost all common Pokemon in RU stall teams. Unburden can allow Hitmonlee to outspeed most common Pokemon on stall teams capable of revenge killing it, and in general, its high powered STAB Fighting moves are hard for most walls to deal with, especially when backed by coverage moves such as Sucker Punch and Double Edge.
Checks: Cofagrigus, Dusknoir, Moltres* (must watch out for Stone Edge), Poliwrath* (repeated Hi Jump Kicks hurt), Qwilfish, Rotom* (Sucker Punch hurts), Rotom-C, Tangrowth, Alomomola, Drifblim* (must watch out for Stone Edge), Weezing
Kabutops
Type: Rock / Water
Base Stats: 60 HP / 115 Atk / 105 Def / 65 SpA / 70 SpD / 80 Spe
Ability: Swift Swim / Battle Armor / Weak Armor
Why is this a threat?: Kabutops is a significant offensive threat to most stall teams thanks to its solid type coverage between Waterfall and Stone Edge, decent resistances, and access to Swords Dance. Furthermore, Kabutops can use Rapid Spin, which rids the field of all of the entry hazards you’ve set up throughout the game. This, along with Kabutops’s ability to beat nearly all of the common spinblockers in RU makes it a prominent threat that any stall team must be prepared to face.
Checks: Cofagrigus* (must watch out for boosted Waterfalls), Dusknoir* (must watch out for boosted Waterfalls), Ferroseed* (must watch out for Superpower and Low Kick), Omastar, Poliwrath, Qwilfish, Rotom* (has to be careful of boosted Waterfalls), Rotom-C, Tangrowth, Alomomola, Torterra, Weezing
Lilligant
Type: Grass
Base Stats: 70 HP / 60 Atk / 75 Def / 110 SpA / 75 SpD / 90 Spe
Ability: Chlorophyll / Own Tempo / Leaf Guard
Why is this a threat?: Lilligant's ability to quickly boost with Quiver Dance makes her a lethal threat to stall. Despite her mediocre coverage at best, Giga Drain and Hidden Power can usually do some big damage, and because Lilligant's main STAB move is Giga Drain, it is often difficult to continually wear her down since Giga Drain just heals so much HP. Furthermore, Lilligant has Sleep Powder, which will put one of your team members out of commission until you have the time to wake it up with your cleric. Overall, her ability to easily switch into many common Pokemon on stall and set up a Quiver Dance or two means that she is not a threat to overlook.
Moltres
Type: Fire / Flying
Base Stats: 90 HP / 100 Atk / 90 Def / 125 SpA / 85 SpD / 90 Spe
Ability: Pressure / Flame Body
Why is this a threat?:
Omastar
Type: Rock / Water
Base Stats: 70 HP / 60 Atk / 125 Def / 115 SpA / 70 SpD / 55 Spe
Ability: Shell Armor / Swift Swim / Weak Armor
Why is this a threat?:
Sceptile
Type: Grass
Base Stats: 70 HP / 85 Atk / 65 Def / 105 SpA / 85 SpD / 120 Spe
Ability: Overgrow / Unburden
Why is this a threat?:
Sigilyph
Type: Psychic / Flying
Base Stats: 72 HP / 58 Atk / 80 Def / 103 SpA / 80 SpD / 97 Spe
Ability: Wonder Skin / Magic Guard / Tinted Lens
Why is this a threat?:
Typhlosion
Type: Fire
Base Stats: 78 HP / 84 Atk / 78 Def / 109 SpA / 85 SpD / 100 Spe
Ability: Blaze / Flash Fire
Why is this a threat?:
4. Types of Stall
5. Teambuilding Checklist
6. Sample Teams
7. Conclusion
BW RU Stall Guide
1.Introduction
2.Pokémon to Consider
3.Threats to Stall
4.Types of Stall
5.Sample Teams
6.Teambuilding Checklist
7.Conclusion
1. Introduction
Throughout past generations, stall has been a common and successful style of play in almost all competitive singles tiers. It is a basic playstyle that relies on entry hazards and other forms of residual damage in order to wear down the opponent’s team. This, in conjunction with the defensive prowess and survivability of most Pokemon used on stall teams, allows stall players to consistently control both the pace of the match, minimize the effects of errors and “hax”, and in general play more consistently and reliably than most other playstyles can.
Stall is a remarkably basic playstyle to use. It simply works at minimizing the damage from all of the opponent’s offensive Pokemon while setting up layer upon layer of entry hazards. They playstyle is heavily reliant around synergy and team support, however, as no individual Pokemon on a stall team is capable of working to its max effectiveness on its own. Instead, they all work together in order to support each other through use of moves such as Wish and Heal Bell, while also abusing entry hazards with phazing moves, which have improved considerably with the advent of Generation V and two new phazing moves in Circle Throw and Dragon Tail, along with the new Sleep mechanics, which made stall teams much less vulnerable to Rest using stat boosters.
However, RU is a metagame with many powerful threats to stall, including a variety of dangerous mixed sweepers such as Electivire and Archeops, as well as offensive behemoths such as Moltres and Nidoqueen. In fact, at the original introduction of the RU tier, many players believed that stall would find no place there. However, many of the defensive monsters that existed both prior to generation five and those that were created in generation five all fell to the RU tier, finding the new powerful sweepers in other tiers too much for them to be effective. In addition, the new generation brought forth a new item to the playing field - Eviolite. This gave NFE Pokemon a huge boost in their defenses, making Pokemon that seem originally as if they’d simply be skipped over huge threats. Thanks to these, the RU tier is filled with many defensive behemoths and a tier where an effective stall team is remarkably hard to break. Thus, despite some of the shortcomings of stall, it’s an extremely effective playstyle.
This guide will explain the ins and outs of creating an RU stall team, in depth explanations of many of the common Pokemon used in creating them, and in general be a huge help to any playing looking to construct an effective RU stall team. In addition, for all of you offense players out there, this guide will also be an excellent read, providing information that can effectively show you how to beat stall. Thus, if you ever want to learn how to make (or break!) an effective RU stall team, this is the guide for you.
2. Pokemon to Consider
A. Primary Walls
- Mandibuzz
- Steelix
- Slowking
- Tangrowth
- Rhydon
- Poliwrath
- Quagsire
- Moltres
Mandibuzz
Type: Dark / Flying
Base Stats: 110 HP / 65 Atk / 105 Def / 55 SpA / 95 SpD / 80 Spe
Ability: Big Pecks / Overcoat / Weak Armor
Mandibuzz is one of, if not the best wall in RU. With outstanding 110 / 105 / 95 defenses and a cornucopia of useful moves such as Taunt and Whirlwind, Mandibuzz is a fantastic wall. With useful resistances to Grass-, Ghost-, and Dark-type attacks, in addition to its immunities to Ground- and Psychic-type attacks, Mandibuzz makes a wonderful counter to many common threats in the metagame, and thanks to its access to reliable recovery in Roost, Mandibuzz can continually counter those threats throughout the match. Even though its Attack stat is paltry, Mandibuzz is actually surprisingly hard to set up on thanks to Brave Bird, the aforementioned Taunt and Whirlwind, and its very respectable Speed which allows it to Taunt some Pokemon before they set up. By abusing its wonderful defenses and Whirlwind, Mandibuzz can even quickly rack up damage on the opposing team with enough entry hazard support, and there isn't much the opponent can do about it sometimes since Mandibuzz is simply so difficult to break through. Overall, if you need an incredibly bulky wall and entry hazard abuser, Mandibuzz should be one of the first Pokemon who you consider.
Common threats checked by Mandibuzz:
Advantages: Extremely bulky, can phaze with Whirlwind, can stop set up attempts with Taunt, has reliable recovery in Roost, decent Speed allows it to phaze opponents before Mandibuzz is phaze itself, great resistances give Mandibuzz the ability to wall a ton of threats, immune to Spikes and Toxic Spikes
Disadvantages: Weak to Stealth Rock and Rock-, Ice-, and Electric-type attacks, cannot hit sweepers hard enough and must rely on entry hazards or Toxic to wear them down
Useful moves: Roost, Taunt, Whirlwind, Brave Bird, Toxic, Knock Off, U-turn, Torment
Preferred Teammates:
Steelix
Type: Steel / Ground
Base Stats: 75 HP / 85 Atk / 200 Def / 55 SpA / 65 SpD / 30 Spe
Ability: Rock Head / Sturdy / Sheer Force
With an sky-high Defense stat of 200 and an array of useful resistances, Steelix is an incredibly durable physical wall. In fact, Steelix is so bulky physically that the standard Steelix is not OHKOed by a Choice Banded Entei's Flare Blitz with Stealth Rock on the field! Steelix resists a whopping nine resistances and two immunities, which makes it a wonderful check against most of RU's physical attackers. Despite its average Attack stat, Steelix actually isn't that weak offensively, as it has access to two powerful STAB attacks in Earthquake and Gyro Ball to do some nice damage, especially to frail sweepers. Steelix also makes a wonderful phazer with both Dragon Tail and Roar in its movepool, and it can easily rack up some damage with entry hazard support. The combination of these two factors make it exceedingly difficult to set up on Steelix. Steelix can even set up Stealth Rock if you do not have a user of the move already. Unfortunately its lack of reliable recovery and weaknesses to the omnipresent Fire-, Water-, Ground-, and Fighting-type attacks that plague the RU metagame do make it so that Steelix may not last as long as you may like, but for the most part, Steelix still makes a wonderful addition to a stall team thanks to its sheer physical bulk.
Common threats checked by Steelix:
Advantages: Absurdly bulky on the physical side, nine resistances and two immunities allow it to check a ton of threats, can set up Stealth Rock, can phaze with either Roar or Dragon Tail, is hard to set up on
Disadvantages: Weak to common attacking types, not that bulky on the special side, no reliable recovery outside of Rest and Leftovers
Useful moves: Stealth Rock, Roar, Earthquake, Gyro Ball, Dragon Tail, Rest,
Preferred Teammates:
Slowking
Type: Water / Psychic
Base Stats: 95 HP / 75 Atk / 80 Def / 100 SpA / 110 SpD / 30 Spe
Ability: Oblivious / Own Tempo / Regenerator
Common threats checked by Slowking:
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
Useful moves:
Preferred Teammates:
Tangrowth
Type: Grass
Base Stats: 100 HP / 100 Atk / 125 Def / 110 SpA / 50 SpD / 50 Spe
Ability: Chlorophyll / Leaf Guard / Regenerator
Tangrowth is a premier physical wall in RU, thanks to its astounding base 100 HP and base 125 Defense. Those raw defensive stats, when coupled with Regenerator, make Tangrowth incredibly durable, and ensure that it will usually be able to stick around for most of the match. Tangrowth also possesses a very nice set of resistances thanks to its Grass typing; it resists Electric-, Grass-, Ground-, and Water-type attacks, which are all extremely common in RU. Access to a plethora of useful support moves, including Leech Seed, Sleep Powder, Stun Spore, and Knock Off gives Tangrowth plenty of options to support its teams. The only real issue with Tangrowth is its poor Special Defense, which, when coupled with some common weaknesses Grass-types have, including weaknesses to Fire-, Bug-, Ice-, Flying-, and Poison-type attacks, makes it so that Tangrowth will have major issues with mixed attackers such as Electivire. Still, with such massive physical bulk and Regenerator, Tangrowth will surely be able to stick around for most of the match to check troublesome threats for your stall team.
Common threats checked by Tangrowth:
Advantages:
Disadvantages: Awful Special Defense,
Useful moves:
Preferred Teammates:
Rhydon
Type: Ground / Rock
Base Stats: 105 HP / 130 Atk / 120 Def / 45 SpA / 45 SpD / 40 Spe
Ability: Lightningrod / Rock Head / Reckless
Common threats checked by Rhydon:
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
Useful moves:
Preferred Teammates:
Poliwrath
Type: Water / Fighting
Base Stats: 90 HP / 85 Atk / 95 Def / 70 SpA / 90 SpD / 70 Spe
Ability: Water Absorb / Damp / Swift Swim
Though Poliwrath might not be as resilient as some of RU's top physical walls, Poliwrath's unique set of resistances, coupled with decent defenses and Water Absorb let him act as a very respectable addition to a stall team, as he checks a variety of threats who may be difficult to deal with otherwise. With his resistances to Bug-, Dark-, Fire-, Ice-, Rock-, and Steel-type attacks, in addition to healing from Water-type attacks thanks to Water Absorb, Poliwrath can check an array of prominent threats, including Crawdaunt, Entei, Feraligatr, and Kabutops. Furthermore, Poliwrath does not just sit there and counter those threats; it is also able to rack up damage from entry hazards with Circle Throw, and dish out damage with its Water-type STAB moves. Even though Poliwrath lacks reliable recovery, it does have access to the RestTalk combination. Even though this combination may be weaker in Black and White, it works wonderfully on Poliwrath, as Poliwrath is still fairly bulky, and can phaze opponents while sleeping, which helps ensure that it won't be taken advantage of while it sleeps.
Common threats checked by Poliwrath:
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
Useful moves: Circle Throw, Scald, Rest, Sleep Talk, Waterfall, Toxic, Encore
Preferred Teammates:
Quagsire
Type: Water / Ground
Base Stats: 95 HP / 85 Atk / 85 Def / 65 SpA / 65 SpD / 35 Spe
Ability: Damp / Water Absorb / Unaware
While Quagsire's defenses certainly seem lackluster in comparison to the other walls in this section, Quagsire's saving grace lies in its ability, Unaware. Thanks to Unaware, Quagsire can easily tackle those lethal setup sweepers who can be a huge problem to certain stall teams, and it can easily shrug off the damage done to it due to its surprising bulk and access to Recover. The fact that Quagsire only has one weakness makes it fairly difficult to take down as well, and its nice resistances to Fire-, Rock-, Steel-, and Poison-type attacks, in addition to a welcome immunity to Electric-type attacks make it even easier for it to take on those top threats. Quagsire's wonderful STAB combination and decent Attack allow it to dish out some respectable damage when it needs to attack.
Common threats checked by Quagsire:
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
Useful moves: Waterfall, Earthquake, Recover, Toxic, Scald, Stockpile, Haze, Stone Edge, Curse, Encore, Ice Beam
Preferred Teammates: Roselia, Ferroseed, Mandibuzz, Drapion,
B. Entry Hazards [Written]
- Qwilfish [Written]
- Omastar [Written]
- Roselia [Written]
- Crustle [Written]
- Ferroseed [Written]
- Drapion [Written]
Entry hazards are vital to the success of stall teams. Since stall teams will have to rely on passive damage to beat opponents, entry hazards are the extremely useful to quickly chip away at the opposing team as they switch. Stall teams often rely on countering as many threats as possible, forcing the opponent to switch and allowing entry hazards to rack up damage quickly. This section will mostly deal with the most viable users of Spikes and Toxic Spikes in RU, as the distribution of these moves are significantly lower than that of Stealth Rock, and their are only a few good users of the moves in RU.
Qwilfish
Type: Water / Poison
Base Stats: 65 HP / 95 Atk / 75 Def / 55 SpA / 55 SpD / 85 Spe
Ability: Poison Point / Swift Swim / Intimidate
Qwilfish is an excellent choice for almost any RU stall team. Its typing gives it resistances to a variety of common types, most notably Fire-, Steel-, and Fighting-, while Intimidate allows it to set up entry hazards against a huge portion of the tier. Not only that, Qwilfish also has access to both Spikes and Toxic Spikes, and gets plenty of opportunities to set them up thanks to its ability to switch in on many of the physical attackers in the tier. Qwilfish’s part Poison-typing is also beneficial to many stall teams, as it allows it to absorb Toxic Spikes set up by the opponent. Finally, unlike many other Spikers in the tier, Qwilfish isn’t even easy setup bait, thanks to having access to Taunt and a decently powered Waterfall.
Common threats checked by Qwilfish: Entei, Aggron, Omastar* (boosted Hidden Power Grass hurts), Feraligatr, Klinklang, Gallade, Primeape, Hitmonchan, Hitmonlee, Hariyama, Kabutops* (boosted Stone Edge hurts), Scyther, Poliwrath, Crawdaunt, Bouffalant, Archeops* (Flight Gem Acrobatics hurts)
Advantages: Resistances to Fire-, Fighting-, Steel-, Water-, Ice-, and Bug, Intimidate, Access to Spikes and Toxic Spikes, Access to Taunt, decent Attack and Speed
Disadvantages: Low Special Defense means most special attackers can 2HKO it even with resisted hits, vulnerable to some common Rapid Spinners, vulnerable to faster Taunt users, can’t break Substitutes of bulkier offensive Pokemon
Useful moves: Spikes, Toxic Spikes, Taunt, Pain Split, Thunder Wave, Waterfall, Poison Jab, Aqua Jet
Preferred Teammates: Clefable, Misdreavus, Rotom, Cryogonal, Moltres, Mandibuzz, Slowking, Flareon, Shelgon
Omastar
Type: Water / Rock
Base Stats: 70 HP / 60 Atk / 125 Def / 115 SpA / 70 SpD / 55 Spe
Ability: Swift Swim / Shell Armor / Weak Armor
Although often seen playing an offensive role with Shell Smash, Omastar has decent all around defenses, useful resistances, including a 4x resistance to Fire-, and a perfect movepool for playing a defensive role. Thanks to access to all three entry hazards, Scald, and even Knock Off, it can provide extremely valuable team support for most stall teams. It also possesses a large base 115 Special Attack stat, which allows it to hurt things that try and set up against it even without investment. Finally, Omastar checks a number of threats in the metagame with ease, and provides a valuable switch in for many hard hitting physical threats that stall teams have trouble with, such as Archeops and Entei.
Common threats checked by Omastar: Archeops* (Earthquake hurts), Entei* (versions with Hidden Power Grass easily KO), Bouffalant, Dusknoir, Feraligatr, Scyther, Typhlosion* (Focus Blast and Hidden Power Grass both hurt), Moltres* (Hidden Power Grass or Electric hurts), Kabutops, Klinklang* (Hidden Power Grass hurts), Aggron* (SubPunch versions can deal a fair amount of damage to you), Swellow, Braviary* (Superpower hurts)
Advantages: Excellent Defense, access to any combination of two entry hazards, good Special Attack, 4x resistance to Fire-, good Special Attack, Knock Off, Scald
Disadvantages: Average Special Defense, 4x weakness to Grass-, weakness to Fighting-, Ground-, and Electric-, many physical attackers use coverage moves Omastar is weak to, Omastar can’t prevent things from setting up against it, only two entry hazards should really be used per set due to it not having time to set all three
Useful moves: Spikes, Toxic Spikes, Stealth Rock, Scald, Ice Beam, Knock Off, Protect
Preferred Teammates: Clefable, Cryogonal, Cofagrigus, Rotom, Moltres, Slowking, Quagsire
Roselia
Type: Grass / Poison
Base Stats: 50 HP / 60 Atk / 45 Def / 100 SpA / 80 SpD / 65 Spe
Ability: Poison Point / Natural Cure / Leaf Guard
Although it’s easy to underestimate Roselia’s prowess in RU due to its NFE status and NU tiering, it possesses several characteristics which make it fit well into many RU stall teams. For example, Roselia has access to Spikes and Toxic Spikes. It also has somewhat reliable healing with Synthesis, or through Rest and Natural Cure, and a solid Special Attack stat with decent STABs. In addition, Roselia’s Grass / Poison typing offers a variety of useful resistances, such as to Electric-, Fighting-, Water-, and Grass-. This allows it to set entry hazards against a huge number of common threats, while also being remarkably self sufficient due to its reliable recovery.
Common threats checked by Roselia: Crawdaunt, Electivire* (Flamethrower hurts), Feraligatr* (boosted Ice Punch hurts), Gallade* (boosted Ice Punch hurts), Galvantula, Gligar, Lilligant, Ludicolo* (Ice Beam can do a fair amount of damage), Manectric* (Flamethrower does a fair amount of damage), Poliwrath, Omastar* (boosted Ice Beam hurts), Rotom, Rotom-C* (watch out for Trick), Sceptile, Tangrowth, Uxie, Victreebel, Gorebyss* (boosted Ice Beams hurt), Haunter
Advantages: More specially bulky than any other Pokemon in Ru with access to both Spikes and Toxic Spikes, reliable recovery, absorbs Toxic Spikes, sets up easily on bulky waters, 4x grass resistance, good Special Attack
Disadvantages: Low / average physical Defense, prone to being set up on, common weaknesses to types such as Fire-, Ice-, and Flying-, Spikes isn’t legal with Leaf Storm or Sleep Powder
Useful moves: Spikes, Toxic Spikes, Sleep Powder* (illegal with Spikes), Leaf Storm* (illegal with Spikes), Rest, Synthesis, Giga Drain, Sludge Bomb
Preferred Teammates: Clefable, Quagsire, Alomomola, Lampent, Flareon, Steelix
Crustle
Type: Rock / Bug
Base Stats: 70 HP / 95 Atk / 125 Def / 65 SpA / 75 SpD / 45 Spe
Ability: Sturdy / Shell Armor / Weak Armor
Crustle is an optimal choice for an entry hazard user in RU due to its incredible defense and access to both Spikes and Stealth Rock. In addition to being able to set up entry hazards, Crustle is also less vulnerable to being set up on than other Spikes users are, thanks to its decent Attack stat and Rock- and Bug- STABs. Crustle also has useful resistances to Normal- and Poison-, while it lacks many of the common weaknesses that other Spikers have, only being hit for super effective damage by Water-, Rock-, and Steel-type attacks.
Common threats checked by Crustle: Bouffalant, Dusknoir* (Taunt and Will-O-Wisp can be annoying), Electivire* (mixed versions with Thunderbolt can hurt), Gallade, Mandibuzz, Primeape, Sawsbuck, Scyther, Uxie, Braviary, Duosion, Flareon* (offensive sets with Fire Blast can hurt), Gardevoir, Musharna, Tauros, Zweilous
Advantages: Massive Defense, access to both Spikes and Stealth Rock, Rock Blast to break Substitutes, decent Attack, resistances to Normal- and Poison
Disadvantages: Lack of useful resistances outside of Normal-, weaknesses to Water-, Rock-, and Steel-, average Special Defense, bulkier Pokemon can easily set up against it
Useful moves: Spikes, Stealth Rock, X-Scissor, Rock Blast, Rest, Protect, Counter
Preferred Teammates: Cryogonal, Munchlax, Clefable, Drapion, Misdreavus, Rotom,
Ferroseed
Type: Grass / Steel
Base Stats: 44 HP / 50 Atk / 91 Def / 21 SpA / 86 SpD / 10 Spe
Ability: Iron Barbs
Due to its NFE tiering, Ferroseed may seem like a rather poor choice for RU. However, this is not the case, as thanks to Eviolite, it becomes one of the bulkiest Spikes users in the tier. In addition, with access to a variety of useful support moves, such as Leech Seed and it can help the team outside of simply setting up entry hazards. Ferroseed also has resistances to Water-, Grass-, Rock-, Electric-, Steel-, Ghost-, Psychic-, Dark-, Dragon-, and Normal-type moves, while also being immune to Poison-type attacks! In addition to its incredible resistances, Ferroseed is only weak to Fire- and Fighting-type attacks. Finally, Ferroseed is capable of abusing its Iron Barbs ability as well thanks to all of its resistances, racking up residual damage agains a variety of threats.
Common threats checked by Ferroseed: Accelgor* (Hidden Power Fire hurts Ferroseed), Bouffalant, Drapion* (Taunt can shut down Ferroseed), Dusknoir (it can beat Ferroseed if it has Fire Punch or Focus Punch), Feraligatr, Kabutops* (without Superpower), Lilligant* (Hidden Power Fire or Hidden Power Fighting hurts), Ludicolo, Omastar, Rotom, Rotom-C* (Trick can cripple Ferroseed), Sawsbuck, Sceptile* (without Focus Blast or Hidden Power Fire), Uxie, Gorebyss, Haunter, Klinklang, Samurott
Advantages: Ten very useful resistances, two weaknesses, Spikes and Stealth Rock, Leech Seed, Thunder Wave prevents it from being setup bait, large amounts of bulk,
Disadvantages: Ferroseed’s two weaknesses; Fire- and Fighting-, are extremely common in RU, Stealth Rock, Spikes, and Leech Seed cannot all be used on the same moveset, Ferroseed has no reliable recovery
Useful moves: Spikes* (illegal when used with both Stealth Rock and Leech Seed), Stealth Rock* (illegal when used with both Spikes and Leech Seed), Leech Seed* (illegal when used with both Stealth Rock and Spikes), Thunder Wave, Gyro Ball, Protect, Toxic
Preferred Teammates: Cryogonal, Munchlax, Cofagrigus, Poliwrath, Steelix, Alomomola, Flareon
Drapion
Type: Poison / Dark
Base Stats: 70 HP / 90 Atk / 110 Def / 60 SpA / 75 SpD / 95 Spe
Ability: Battle Armor / Sniper / Keen Eye
Drapion is an excellent option for a Toxic Spikes user in RU, boasting large defenses along with multiple useful resistances. Drapion’s resistances to Grass-, Poison-, Ghost-, and Dark-type attacks, while also having an immunity to Psychic-type attacks allow it to set up Toxic Spikes on a huge portion of the metagame. In addition, Drapion has only one weakness, to Ground-type attacks, although they are relatively common. Continuing, Drapion also has access to a variety of support moves outside of Toxic Spikes, such as Whirlwind and Taunt. Finally, thanks to both Taunt and its solid Attack stat, Drapion isn’t as vulnerable to being set up against as many other Spikes users are.
Common threats checked by Drapion: Accelgor, Clefable, Crawdaunt, Electivire, Lilligant, Mandibuzz, Rotom, Rotom-C, Sawsbuck, Sceptile, Victreebell, Beheeyem, Cryogonal* (Drapion can Pursuit it, but it can’t prevent it from using Rapid Spin), Drifblim, Duosion, Eelektross, Gardevoir, Lanturn, Skuntank
Advantages: Only one weakness, can prevent setup with Taunt, has a phazing option with Whirlwind, can prevent critical hits with Battle Armor, can trap and KO opposing spinblockers, absorbs Toxic Spikes
Disadvantages: Defenses are only a bit above average, doesn’t hit particularly hard when uninvested, has no reliable recovery
Useful moves: Toxic Spikes, Taunt, Whirlwind, Pursuit, Crunch, Rest, Knock Off, Roar
Preferred Teammates: Clefable, Cofagrigus, Dusknoir, Kabutops, Moltres, Omastar, Steelix
C. Support
- Clefable
- Gardevoir
- Alomomola
- Flareon
- Leafeon
- Shelgon
- Altaria
- Uxie
- Lanturn
- Natu
- Cofagrigus [WRITTEN]
- Rotom
- Dusknoir
- Spiritomb
- Misdreavus
- Golurk
Cofagrigus
Type: Ghost
Base Stats: 58 HP / 50 Atk / 145 Def / 95 SpA / 105 SpD / 30 Spe
Ability: Mummy
Cofagrigus is probably an RU stall team's most reliable choice as a spinblocker, as its massive defenses, as well as access to moves such as Will-O-Wisp and Haze make it extremely difficult to take down. Cofagrigus can actually take on almost every common Rapid Spinner in RU, bar Cryogonal, as Hitmonchan, Hitmonlee, Kabutops, and Sandslash all despise burns, and Claydol can't do anything to Cofagrigus with its weak offensive stats. Most of these spinners will also be hit hard by Cofagrigus's Shadow Ball off its very respectable Special Attack stat. Its unique ability in Mummy also allows it to cripple certain Pokemon who rely on their abilities, such as Hitmonchan, making them easier for your stall team to handle. Unfortunately, the fact that Cofagrigus's only forms of recovery are the unreliable Rest or Pain Split means that cleric or Wish support is almost always required, but Cofagrigus's raw defenses can sometimes allow it to wait out the sleep turns on its own. Cofagrigus can even go on the offensive by utilizing the combination of Nasty Plot and Trick Room to sweep while still retaining its amazing bulk.
Common threats checked by Cofagrigus: Accelgor, Aerodactyl* (Life Orb Stone Edge still hurts), Bouffalant* (Cofagrigus can't touch Substitute variants without Hidden Power Fighting), Clefable, Crustle, Electivire* (Thunderbolt can do some hefty damage), Entei* (Choice Banded Flare Blitz can 2HKO), Feraligatr* (+2 Waterfall can hurt), Gallade* (+2 Night Slash will do some heavy damage to Cofagrigus), Hariyama* (beware of Guts and Payback), Hitmonchan, Hitmonlee, Kabutops* (+2 Stone Edge / Waterfall will do some massive damage to Cofagrigus), Medicham, Munchlax, Poliwrath, Primeape, Rhydon* (Choice Banded Earthquake will hurt), Sandslash* (be wary of Swords Dance versions with Lum Berry), Sawsbuck* (+2 Horn Leech will do some damage; Cofagrigus can't touch Substitute + Swords Dance versions either), Scolipede* (it can still set up Spikes or Toxic Spikes on Cofagrigus), Scyther, Sigilyph* (watch out for Life Orb Calm Mind versions), Uxie
Advantages: Excellent Defense and decent Special Defense, beats most Rapid Spinners easily, good Special Attack and Haze means Cofagrigus is hard to setup on
Disadvantages: Recovery moves are unreliable, hit by every entry hazard, loses to Cryogonal
Useful moves: Shadow Ball, Will-O-Wisp, Haze, Pain Split, Rest, Sleep Talk, Hex, Calm Mind, Night Shade, Hidden Power Fighting, Nasty Plot, Trick Room
Preferred Teammates: Mandibuzz, Alomomola, Cryogonal, Munchlax, Drapion, Ferroseed, Omastar, Roselia
Rotom
Type: Ghost / Electric
Base Stats: 50 HP / 50 Atk / 77 Def / 95 SpA / 77 SpD / 91 Spe
Ability: Levitate
Despite Rotom's seemingly pathetic defensive stats, with maximum investment in either defensive stat, Rotom becomes a very good spinblocker. Thanks to Levitate, Rotom is not worn down by opposing entry hazards like Cofagrigus, Dusknoir, and Spiritomb, and Rotom's unique typing gives it some cool resistances over its competition, resisting Flying-, Electric-, and Steel-types attacks, with an immunity to Ground-type attacks as well because of Levitate. Rotom still gets Will-O-Wisp to cripple any Rapid Spinners that comes its way, and Pain Split gives him semi-reliable recovery. Alternatively, Rotom can use Rest and Sleep Talk in conjunction for more reliable recovery, and thanks to Levitate, Rotom can actually use it pretty effectively. Rotom's respectable Special Attack and great coverage in Thunderbolt and Shadow Ball allow him to hit most foes reasonably hard as well and ensures that it isn't so easily to set up on Rotom.
Common threats checked by Rotom:
Advantages: Levitate means that Rotom isn't worn down by Spikes and Toxic Spikes, still beats most Rapid Spinners, has Pain Split for recovery, cool resistances to Flying-, Electric-, and Steel-type attacks,
Disadvantages: Much frailer than all the other available spinblockers, more prone to Pursuit, really prone to either physical or special attacks depending on the EV spread, loses to Cryogonal,
Useful moves: Thunderbolt, Discharge, Shadow Ball, Will-O-Wisp, Pain Split, Rest, Sleep Talk
Preferred Teammates:
Dusknoir
Type: Ghost
Base Stats: 45 HP / 100 Atk / 135 Def / 65 SpA / 135 SpD / 45 Spe
Ability: Pressure
Dusknoir is basically a Cofagrigus with a good Attack stat instead of Special Attack, as it, like Cofagrigus, is very bulky and has poor Speed. However, because Cofagrigus has better Defense than Dusknoir, Dusknoir should usually be specially defensive, as this prevents it from being outdone by Cofagrigus and it is actually the most specially defensive spinblocker in RU. Its access to Will-O-Wisp and Pain Split allow it to make up for his uninvested Defense stat as well. Unfortunately, because Dusknoir lacks a good STAB option, it doesn't hit as hard as you may like. Since it hits physically and it is usually specially defensive, it is easier for Kabutops and Sandslash to beat. That being said, Dusknoir does have one more thing it can do over the other spinblockers; it can beat Cryogonal! Since Dusknoir uses physical attacks, it can do huge damage to Cryogonal thanks to its horrible Defense stat.
Common threats checked by Dusknoir:
Advantages: Hits physically, good Attack stat, most specially defensive spinblocker in RU, beats Cryogonal
Disadvantages: has issues with more physically defensive Rapid Spinners, no strong STAB move that it can use, hit by every entry hazard
Useful moves: Shadow Sneak, Shadow Punch, Seismic Toss, Will-O-Wisp, Pain Split, Earthquake, Rock Slide, Ice Punch, Fire Punch, ThunderPunch, Rest, Sleep Talk
Preferred Teammates:
Spiritomb
Type: Ghost / Dark
Base Stats: 50 HP / 92 Atk / 108 Def / 92 SpA / 102 SpD / 35 Spe
Ability: Pressure / Infiltrator
Though Spiritomb is frailer than Dusknoir and Cofagrigus, the reason why it is used is its typing. Ghost / Dark has no weaknesses at all, which gives Spiritomb a niche over Dusknoir and Cofagrigus, who can be targeted by Pursuit and other troublesome moves, and gives Spiritomb an arguably better Dark-type STAB to work with. Spiritomb also boasts some extremely good, albeit prediction reliant moves, including Pursuit, Sucker Punch, and Shadow Sneak. Like the other Ghost-types, Spiritomb still has that wonderful Will-O-Wisp to cripple physically based Pokemon, including most Rapid Spinners, which allows Spiritomb to take on the most common Rapid Spinners with ease. However, note that Spiritomb's Dark typing is a double-edged sword, as it means that Foresight Hitmonchan becomes significantly more lethal due to his ability to hit Spiritomb with a super effective Fighting-type move after Foresight. With Pursuit, Spiritomb can also defeat Cryogonal, since Spiritomb can easily trap and KO it.
Common threats checked by Spiritomb:
Advantages: No weaknesses, three immunities, has priority over the other spinblockers, can trap opponents with Pursuit, can beat Cryogonal
Disadvantages: Not as bulky as Cofagrigus or Dusknoir, hit by every type of entry hazard, very reliant on prediction
Useful moves: Pursuit, Sucker Punch, Shadow Sneak, Will-O-Wisp, Pain Split, Dark Pulse, Shadow Ball, Rest, Sleep Talk, Calm Mind, Curse
Preferred Teammates:
Misdreavus
Type: Ghost
Base Stats: 60 HP / 60 Atk / 60 Def / 85 SpA / 85 SpD / 85 Spe
Ability: Levitate
While Misdreavus is by far the least common spinblocker here, Misdreavus is not to be underestimated. With Eviolite, Misdreavus has comparable bulk to the other spinblockers, and Levitate makes her harder to wear down from entry hazards. Misdreavus is also fairly fast, and it has Taunt, which prevents opposing Pokemon from setting up on it. Notably, it stops Hitmonchan from using Foresight on Misdreavus aside from on the switch-in, which allows Misdreavus to easily keep entry hazards on the field. In fact, Misdreavus still beats almost all the common Rapid Spinners in RU aside from Cryogonal. Misdreavus has an incredibly wide support movepool, as she still has the Ghost-type staple moves in Will-O-Wisp and Pain Split, but she also has moves like Heal Bell and Thunder Wave as auxiliary support options. Misdreavus can even be a lethal threat with Calm Mind, or she can utilize Perish Song to act as your stall team's endgame win condition.
Common threats checked by Misdreavus:
Advantages: Levitate prevents Misdreavus from being worn down by Spikes and Toxic Spikes, it is difficult to set up on it thanks to Taunt and Misdreavus's decent Special Attack, beats most spinblockers thanks to Taunt + Will-O-Wisp, can act as an endgame win condition
Disadvantages: Eviolite means that Misdreavus does not heal HP from Leftovers so she can be worn down, less bulky than the other spinblockers because it can't use Leftovers, weaker than the other spinblockers, loses to Cryogonal,
Useful moves: Taunt, Shadow Ball, Will-O-Wisp, Pain Split, Calm Mind, Hidden Power Fighting, Substitute, Heal Bell, Thunder Wave, Perish Song, Mean Look
Preferred Teammates:
Golurk
Type: Ground / Ghost
Base Stats: 89 HP / 124 Atk / 80 Def / 55 SpA / 80 SpD / 55 Spe
Ability: Iron Fist / Klutz / No Guard
Thanks to its access to Stealth Rock and Ghost typing, Golurk is unique in the fact that it is the only spinblocker in RU who is capable of also setting up Stealth Rock. While Golurk's huge Attack stat often dwarfs its defenses, it does have some very decent 89 / 80 / 80 defensive stats, which can allow it to take a variety of hits from many opponents. Note however, that Golurk is not exactly a particularly reliable spinblocker; almost every spinblocker except Hitmonlee can do some massive damage to Golurk with a super effective coverage or STAB move, or outlast it in the case of Sandslash. Still, if you need both a spinblocker and a Stealth Rock user and have limited slots remaining on your stall team, Golurk may be a decent choice for your team.
Common threats checked by Golurk:
Advantages: Extremely powerful, takes advantage of the entry hazards from its teammates, unique resistances to Electric-, Poison-, and Rock-type attacks over other spinblockers.
Disadvantages: Slow, not a very reliable spinblocker, no reliable recovery, has weaknesses to very common Grass-, Ice-, Water-, Ghost-, and Dark-types attacks
Useful moves: Earthquake, Shadow Punch, Focus Punch, Substitute, Stone Edge, Hammer Arm
Preferred Teammates:
E. Rapid Spinners
- Cryogonal
- Kabutops
- Sandslash
- Hitmonchan
Cryogonal
Type: Fighting
Base Stats: 70 HP / 50 Atk / 30 Def / 95 SpA / 135 SpD / 105 Spe
Ability: Levitate
While Cryogonal's weakness to Stealth Rock may make it seem otherwise, Cryogonal is a fantastic choice for a Rapid Spinner due to its unique assets over RU's other spinners. First of all, Cryogonal hits from the special side, and since many spinblockers heavily invest in Defense rather than Special Defense to combat RU's other spinners, Cryogonal can hit those spinblockers fairly hard with its STAB Ice Beam. Furthermore, the fact that Cryogonal uses special attacks means that it is not heavily crippled by Will-O-Wisp. Secondly, since many spinblockers use Special Attacks, Cryogonal can easily sponge hits from them due to its amazing Special Defense, and Cryogonal has access to reliable recovery in Recover to shed off the damage done to it. Both of these traits even allow Cryogonal to act as a fairly sturdy special wall in general too, though note that its Ice typing means that many Pokemon can hit it super effectively and Cryogonal is extremely weak to physical attacks. To top it all off, Cryogonal even has Levitate making it immune to Spikes and Toxic Spikes which can be troublesome for other spinners.
Common threats checked by Cryogonal:
Advantages: Wonderful special bulk, Cryogonal's Ice typing gives it a powerful STAB move, hits somewhat hard, surprisingly fast, has access to reliable recovery, beats most spinblockers one-on-one, immune to Spikes and Toxic Spikes
Disadvantages: Has a horrible defensive typing, Stealth Rock weakness, pathetic Defense makes it weak to Pursuit, loses to Dusknoir and Spiritomb
Useful moves: Ice Beam, Rapid Spin, Recover, Haze, Toxic, Hidden Power Ground, Reflect, Reflect, Light Screen
Preferred Teammates:
Kabutops
Type: Rock / Water
Base Stats: 60 HP / 115 Atk / 105 Def / 65 SpA / 70 SpD / 80 Spe
Ability: Swift Swim / Battle Armor / Weak Armor
Kabutops is one of the few Rapid Spinners in RU who has access to both Stealth Rock and Rapid Spin, allowing it to fill what two Pokemon would otherwise be used for in one. As a Rapid Spinner, Kabutops is a decent choice, as its superb Attack stat and powerful STAB moves allow it to hit most spinblockers hard, and between its nice Defense and Battle Armor, which ensures that Kabutops cannot be taken down by stray critical hits, Kabutops can come in often to spin away those troublesome entry hazards. Though Kabutops often doesn't have room for it, if you wish, you can even use Foresight on Kabutops to guarantee that it will spin away entry hazards. Unfortunately, since Kabutops is physically based, it, like Hitmonchan, is very vulnerable to Will-O-Wisp, and due to its poor Special Defense, Shadow Ball from those spinblockers will also hurt Kabutops quite a bit. Still, Kabutops makes an excellent check to numerous physical attackers such as Entei, which makes him a great fit on any stall team, especially one which does not use Omastar as their entry hazards user.
Common threats checked by Kabutops:
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
Useful moves: Stealth Rock, Rapid Spin, Waterfall, Toxic, Foresight, Stone Edge, Aqua Jet, Knock Off
Preferred Teammates:
Sandslash
Type: Ground
Base Stats: 75 HP / 100 Atk / 110 Def / 45 SpA / 55 SpD / 65 Spe
Ability: Sand Veil / Sand Rush
Like Kabutops, Sandslash also has the combination of Stealth Rock and Rapid Spin, which lets it pull off both necessary roles for a stall team. However, Sandslash's Ground typing and significantly better bulk separate it from Kabutops, as they allow it to check some specific threats more reliably, such as Aggron, and Sandslash can make a somewhat decent switch in against Choiced Electric-types with good prediction. Sandslash's powerful STAB Earthquake hits many of the common spinblockers hard, and it has Night Slash to nail the levitating Ghost-types for some nice damage, which often gives it the opportunity to Rapid Spin. Unfortunately, Sandslash is heavily crippled by Will-O-Wisp and is hit hard by Shadow Ball. Even worse, Sandslash does not have access to a move such as Foresight to hit those Ghost-types with Rapid Spin, which makes him much less reliable. Despite those setbacks, Sandslash works wonders for teams who are especially weak to powerful Rock-type sweepers such as Aerodactyl, Archeops, Rhydon, and the aforementioned Aggron, and its ability to provide a stall team's vital Stealth Rock and Rapid Spin support makes him still a very viable choice.
Common threats checked by Sandslash:
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
Useful moves: Stealth Rock, Rapid Spin, Earthquake, Night Slash, Toxic, Stone Edge, Rest
Preferred Teammates:
Hitmonchan
Type: Fighting
Base Stats: 50 HP / 105 Atk / 79 Def / 35 SpA / 110 SpD / 76 Spe
Ability: Keen Eye / Iron Fist / Inner Focus
A wonderful Special Defense stat, a nice Attack stat, and, more importantly, access to Foresight, all allow Hitmonchan to be a decent Rapid Spinner in RU. Thanks to Foresight, Hitmonchan is able to hit Ghost-types with Rapid Spin, almost guaranteeing that he will remove entry hazards at least once a match, which makes him incredibly reliable. Additionally, Hitmonchan's nice special bulk allows him to take Shadow Balls and similar attacks from RU's spinblockers, while his nice Attack and Iron Fist lets him hit those Ghost-types somewhat hard with his Fighting-type attacks once Foresight has been used, though the fact that he is a physical attacker makes Will-O-Wisp more devastating. Despite his lack of instant recovery, Iron Fist and Drain Punch give Hitmonchan a surprisingly amount of longevity, and they often ensure that Hitmonchan will stay alive throughout the match to Rapid Spin away those pesky entry hazards.
Common threats checked by Hitmonchan:
Advantages: Foresight means that Hitmonchan will likely be able to Rapid Spin at least once a match, very nice special bulk, has Drain Punch to recover HP
Disadvantages: Hit by all entry hazards, has to use Foresight in order to hit Ghost-types hard, vulnerable to Will-O-Wisp
Useful moves: Drain Punch, Rapid Spin, Foresight, Ice Punch, ThunderPunch, Fire Punch, Mach Punch, Rest
Preferred Teammates:
F. Others
- Moltres
- Whimsicott
- Entei
- Sigilyph (?)
Moltres
Type: Fire / Flying
Base Stats: 90 HP / 100 Atk / 90 Def / 125 SpA / 85 SpD / 90 Spe
Ability: Pressure / Flame Body
Common threats checked by Moltres:
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
Useful moves:
Preferred Teammates:
3. Threats to Stall
- Aggron
- Archeops
- Charizard
- Clefable
- Crawdaunt
- Electivire
- Entei
- Feraligatr
- Gallade
- Hitmonlee
- Honchkrow
- Kabutops
- Lilligant
- Moltres
- Omastar
- Sceptile
- Sharpedo
- Sigilyph
- Typhlosion
Aggron
Type: Rock / Steel
Base Stats: 70 HP / 110 Atk / 180 Def / 90 SpA / 60 SpD / 50 Spe
Ability: Sturdy / Rock Head / Heavy Metal
Why is this a threat?: Aggron possesses one of the best offensive moves in Head Smash, and thanks to Rock Head, can spam it totally recklessly. This, in conjunction with its decent Attack and high Defense can make it extremely difficult for most teams to handle well. In addition, the number of sets it can run to get by its counters, including Choice Band and Automatize, which are both capable of breaking through certain checks, make it a major threat to most stall teams.
Checks: Ferroseed* (watch out for Focus Punch), Qwilfish, Steelix, Tangrowth,
Archeops
Type: Rock / Flying
Base Stats: 75 HP / 140 Atk / 65 Def / 112 SpA / 65 SpD / 110 Spe
Ability: Defeatist
Why is this a threat?: Archeops boasts some of the highest offensive stats in RU, with a massive base 140 Attack and 112 Special Attack. This, in conjunction with a solidly high Speed stat and extremely high powered offensive moves in Acrobatics, Stone Edge, and so on make it a top tier threat for all teams, but moreso stall, as they lack the ability to quickly bring it down into Defeatist range. Archeops also boasts the ability to OHKO / 2HKO nearly all common members of RU stall teams.
Checks: Qwilfish, Sandslash, Dusknoir, Crustle, Cofagrigrus* (giving Mummy to Archeops does more harm than good)
Charizard
Type: Fire / Flying
Base Stats: 78 HP / 84 Atk / 78 Def / 109 SpA / 85 SpD / 100 Spe
Ability: Blaze / Solar Power
Why is this a threat?: With Solar Power, Charizard has some of the strongest special attacks in the game when Sun is up. This makes it extremely hard to handle for most stall teams, as Charizard in the sun really has no reliable switch-ins in the tier. In addition, it can also pull off other sets capable of breaking down walls, including Belly Drum, Dragon Dance, and even some mixed wallbreaker sets.
Checks: Flareon, Munchlax, Mandibuzz, Omastar* (Hidden Power Grass KOs), Kabutops* (Hidden Power Grass KOs), Slowking
Clefable
Type: Normal
Base Stats: 95 HP / 70 Atk / 73 Def / 85 SpA / 90 SpD / 60 Spe
Ability: Cute Charm / Magic Guard / Unaware
Why is this a threat?:
Crawdaunt
Type: Dark / Water
Base Stats: 63 HP / 120 Atk / 85 Def / 90 SpA / 55 SpD / 55 Spe
Ability: Hyper Cutter / Shell Armor / Adaptability
Why is this a threat?: Thanks to Adaptability, boosting its already strong Attacks, a relatively large base 120 Attack, Dragon Dance, and excellent coverage between Waterfall and Crunch, Crawdaunt is a huge threat to any stall team. In addition, Crawdaunt can run through many of the physical walls present in RU without much trouble.
Checks: Poliwrath, Torterra* (must watch out for boosted X-Scissor), Tangrowth, Rotom* (can only outspeed unboosted Crawdaunt, and can’t switch in regardless)
Electivire
Type: Electric
Base Stats: 75 HP / 123 Atk / 67 Def / 95 SpA / 85 SpD / 95 Spe
Ability: Motor Drive / Vital Spirit
Why is this a threat?: Electivire boasts amazing mixed attacking stats and has the movepool to abuse them with. Thanks to attacks such as Wild Charge, Flamethrower, and Cross Chop, it is capable of breaking down many of the common walls in the tier, and is extremely hard for most stall teams to wall. In addition, Electivire can even gain a free boost in Speed from any Electric-type attacks, and is bulky enough to not go down in a single hit from most attackers on stall teams. Finally, Electivire even has Meditate, to boost its already large Attack stat.
Checks: Cofagrigus* (Thunderbolt can hurt), Rotom, Sandslash* (must watch out for Hidden Power Grass or Hidden Power Ice), Misdreavus
Entei
Type: Fire
Base Stats: 115 HP / 115 Atk / 85 Def / 90 SpA / 75 SpD / 100 Spe
Ability: Pressure / Flash Fire
Why is this a threat?: Entei has one of the strongest attacks in RU, specifically Flare Blitz. With a Choice Band, Entei is capable of 2HKOing a huge portion of the Pokemon in RU, and most Pokemon not hurt severely by Flare Blitz can be dented by one of Entei’s other moves. In addition, Entei also can use an effective Calm Mind moveset, which many stall teams have trouble with. Finally, Entei can even use effective mixed and defensive movesets, which are easily capable of hurting many stall teams.
Checks: Cofagrigus* (Choice Band Flare Blitz can 2HKO), Gligar* (Choice Band Flare Blitz can 2HKO), Kabutops* (Hidden Power Grass can easily 2HKO or OHKO), Moltres* (must watch out for Stone Edge), Munchlax, Omastar* (Hidden Power Grass can 2HKO), Poliwrath, Qwilfish
Feraligatr
Type: Water
Base Stats: 85 HP / 105 Atk / 100 Def / 79 SpA / 83 SpD / 78 Spe
Ability: Torrent / Sheer Force
Why is this a threat?: With the release of Sheer Force via the Dream World, Feraligatr has gotten to become a huge threat. It has access to both Dragon Dance, which allows it to outspeed nearly every Pokemon on common stall after a boost, and Swords Dance, which lets it break down almost all of the common walls in the RU metagame. These factors, in conjunction with Feraligatr’s diverse movepool and solid offensive stats make it quite a threat to any stall team.
Checks: Cofagrigus, Dusknoir, Ferroseed* (must watch out for Superpower), Kabutops* (must watch out for Superpower), Omastar* (must watch out for Superpower), Poliwrath, Quagsire, Qwilfish, Rotom-C* (must watch out for Ice Punch), Uxie
Gallade
Type: Fighting / Psychic
Base Stats: 68 HP / 125 Atk / 65 Def / 65 SpA / 115 SpD / 80 Spe
Ability: Steadfast / Justified
Why is this a threat?: Gallade’s unique stat spread, in conjunction with useful offensive moves such as Close Combat, Drain Punch, Psycho Cut, Shadow Sneak, and Ice Punch, make it a threat that any team should be prepared for. In addition, Gallade also has many viable setup moves, such as Bulk Up and Swords Dance, that allow it to break through common stall cores, especially when used with Taunt, which Gallade also commonly packs. Lastly, Gallade is difficult for most common phazers to handle due to its diverse movepool and access to Taunt.
Checks: Cofagrigus, Moltres* (must watch out for Stone Edge), Qwilfish, Rotom* (has to be careful of Night Slash and Shadow Sneak), Amoonguss* (must watch out for Psycho Cut), Duosion, Weezing
Hitmonlee
Type: Fighting
Base Stats: 50 HP / 120 Atk / 53 Def / 35 SpA / 110 SpD / 87 Spe
Ability: Limber / Reckless / Unburden
Why is this a threat?: Hitmonlee has one of the highest base Attack stats in RU, along with some of the strongest moves in the tier in High Jump Kick and Double Edge. Reckless boosts the power of all of Hitmonlee’s recoil moves significantly, allowing it to easily power through almost all common Pokemon in RU stall teams. Unburden can allow Hitmonlee to outspeed most common Pokemon on stall teams capable of revenge killing it, and in general, its high powered STAB Fighting moves are hard for most walls to deal with, especially when backed by coverage moves such as Sucker Punch and Double Edge.
Checks: Cofagrigus, Dusknoir, Moltres* (must watch out for Stone Edge), Poliwrath* (repeated Hi Jump Kicks hurt), Qwilfish, Rotom* (Sucker Punch hurts), Rotom-C, Tangrowth, Alomomola, Drifblim* (must watch out for Stone Edge), Weezing
Kabutops
Type: Rock / Water
Base Stats: 60 HP / 115 Atk / 105 Def / 65 SpA / 70 SpD / 80 Spe
Ability: Swift Swim / Battle Armor / Weak Armor
Why is this a threat?: Kabutops is a significant offensive threat to most stall teams thanks to its solid type coverage between Waterfall and Stone Edge, decent resistances, and access to Swords Dance. Furthermore, Kabutops can use Rapid Spin, which rids the field of all of the entry hazards you’ve set up throughout the game. This, along with Kabutops’s ability to beat nearly all of the common spinblockers in RU makes it a prominent threat that any stall team must be prepared to face.
Checks: Cofagrigus* (must watch out for boosted Waterfalls), Dusknoir* (must watch out for boosted Waterfalls), Ferroseed* (must watch out for Superpower and Low Kick), Omastar, Poliwrath, Qwilfish, Rotom* (has to be careful of boosted Waterfalls), Rotom-C, Tangrowth, Alomomola, Torterra, Weezing
Lilligant
Type: Grass
Base Stats: 70 HP / 60 Atk / 75 Def / 110 SpA / 75 SpD / 90 Spe
Ability: Chlorophyll / Own Tempo / Leaf Guard
Why is this a threat?: Lilligant's ability to quickly boost with Quiver Dance makes her a lethal threat to stall. Despite her mediocre coverage at best, Giga Drain and Hidden Power can usually do some big damage, and because Lilligant's main STAB move is Giga Drain, it is often difficult to continually wear her down since Giga Drain just heals so much HP. Furthermore, Lilligant has Sleep Powder, which will put one of your team members out of commission until you have the time to wake it up with your cleric. Overall, her ability to easily switch into many common Pokemon on stall and set up a Quiver Dance or two means that she is not a threat to overlook.
Moltres
Type: Fire / Flying
Base Stats: 90 HP / 100 Atk / 90 Def / 125 SpA / 85 SpD / 90 Spe
Ability: Pressure / Flame Body
Why is this a threat?:
Omastar
Type: Rock / Water
Base Stats: 70 HP / 60 Atk / 125 Def / 115 SpA / 70 SpD / 55 Spe
Ability: Shell Armor / Swift Swim / Weak Armor
Why is this a threat?:
Sceptile
Type: Grass
Base Stats: 70 HP / 85 Atk / 65 Def / 105 SpA / 85 SpD / 120 Spe
Ability: Overgrow / Unburden
Why is this a threat?:
Sigilyph
Type: Psychic / Flying
Base Stats: 72 HP / 58 Atk / 80 Def / 103 SpA / 80 SpD / 97 Spe
Ability: Wonder Skin / Magic Guard / Tinted Lens
Why is this a threat?:
Typhlosion
Type: Fire
Base Stats: 78 HP / 84 Atk / 78 Def / 109 SpA / 85 SpD / 100 Spe
Ability: Blaze / Flash Fire
Why is this a threat?:
4. Types of Stall
- Full Stall
- Semi-Stall
5. Teambuilding Checklist
- Spikes
- Toxic Spikes
- Wish
- Heal Bell / Aromatherapy
- Rapid Spin
- Spinblocker
- Perish Song / Other endgame win condition
- Resistances to: Fire-, Rock-, Grass-, Fighting-, Electric-, Ghost-, Dark-, Flying, Water-
6. Sample Teams
7. Conclusion