Can't letch do that! (OU Stall)

[Spades789]

Team at a Glance

Some Pokemon you wouldn't regularly find on a stall team.
BTW this is my first post so tell me if I'm doing something wrong.

In Depth

Swampert@ Leftovers
Relaxed
252 HP/252Def/4HP
-Earthquake
-Ice Beam
-Roar
-Stealth Rock

Standard Swampert lead. Not much else to say. Roar over anything else because with the 3 types of entry hazards that I'll hopefully have going will really screw up the enemy. He has awesome synergy with Skarmory.
How Swampert fares against some common leads:
Roserade-Switch out to Drapion; Swampy just can't handle Roserade.
Metagross-Stealth Rock, then comes the tough desicion to either stay in and EQ, or switch out to Dusknoir and possibly taking Explosion.
Azelf-Another tough lead to face. I could SR, but they could Taunt. I could Ice Beam, but then I'd have to switch to Drapion/Dusknoir. Or I could automaticly swap out, but Drapion doesn't like Explosion and Dusknoir hates Fire Blast/whatever.
Infernape-I switch out here, as they usually carry Grass Knot. If not, then they probably have Endeavour, which still sucks. So in goes Dusknoir.
Aerodactyl- They'll taunt. I'll Ice Beam. They use rocks and I can usually finish them off with Ice Beam. If not, then Swampert laughs at EdgeQuake.
Smeargle-Drapion comes in and absorbs sleep.

Synergy:

> Skarmory, Drapion, Jirachi

Skarmory@ Shed Shell
Careful
252HP/32Spe/226SpD
-Brave Bird
-Spikes
-Whirlwind
-Roost

Specially defensive Skarmory comes as a surprise to most. It can still tank physical hits as well as some special moves, like Ice Beam, Aura Sphere, Grass KNot/Energy Ball, and mediocre SpA walls like Weezing. I was origanally planning to run Taunt over Brave Bird, but I decided to keep it because of one reason. Machamp. He can seriously take out my entire team bar Skarm and Brave Bird is my only effective move against it.
And Spikes and Whirlwind are to abuse entry hazards. The speed EVs are to outspeed Breloom with little speed investment and other base 70s. She has great synergy with Swampert.

Synergy:

>Swampert,Vaporeon

>Swampert

Drapion@ Leftovers
Careful
252HP/252SpD/4Atk
-Crunch
-Toxic Spikes
-Rest
-Sleep Talk

Drapion is another unexpected surprise, and to notice that it is specially defensive is equally shocking. Besides laying out Toxic Spikes(which is important to help take down bulky waters that harass my team), Drapion is a wonderful counter to Alakazam, Gengar, Porygon-Z, Porygon2,Azelf(non-lead), and a few other special threats. An immunity to Psychic and Toxic is an added boon, too.

Synergy:

>Dusknoir,Skarmory

>Skarmory,Swampert,Vaporeon

Vaporeon@ Leftovers
Bold
188HP/252Def/68Spe
-Wish
-Surf
-HP Electric
-Protect

Standard wish Vaporeon,who is very valuable to my team. Providing much needed wish support to Swampert, Jirachi, and Dusknoir when Pain Split won't work. Vaporeon is also my is my only counter to Gyarados, without whom would tear my team apart. Helps take down Tyranitar, Heatran, Hippowdon, and Flygon to name a few.

Synergy:

>Skarmory,Drapion,Jirachi

>Swampert

Jirachi@ Choice Scarf
Jolly
252Spe/252HP/4Atk
-Trick
-Iron Head
-U-Turn
-Gravity???

Jirachi is an odd bird(or star). He is a support Pokemon, crippling walls,paraflinchhaxing,and tanking hits off of his 100/100/100 defences.
However, without tricking off his scarf(or tricking it off it depends) Jirachi acts as a great revenge killer. You can't go wrong with U-Turn, but Gravity? I originally had it to strengthen the effectiveness of Toxic Spikes/Spikes, but up to date I have not gotten a chance to use it, and I seem to get by without it. The replacements I'm considering are: Ice Punch, Thunder Punch, Grass Knot(for Swamperts), or Light Screen. Your opinions?

Synergy:

>Swampert,Vaporeon

>Skarmory,Swampert,Vaporeon

Dusknoir@ Leftovers
Impish
252HP/28Atk/228Def
-Pain Split
-Focus Punch
-Shadow Sneak
-Fire Punch

Thre are three reasons I chose Dusknoir over the ever-common Rotom-A: One, it's unexpected and can still prevent the likes of Fortress and friends from Quickly Rotating. Two, significantly higher defences(albeit awful HP). And three, I can't get a Rotom-A until HG/SS comes out in Canada(I don't have Shoddy).Anyway,when you take a look at my move choices for Dusknoir,you are probably thinking "What?". Well, it for a good reason. Dusknoir attacts one thing in particular, Pursuit. And when we think of pursuit, we usually think of two pokes, Scizor, and Tyranitar. If Dusky can catch Tyranitar on the switch-it gets raped. Scizor also gets a knuckle-sandwich from Fire Punch, which also conviently hits Weavile, Fortress, and Heracross super-effectively. Shadow Sneak hits Starmie, Gengar, Rotom, and most Psychic types, and is all-around a helpful STAB/ priority move.Also, I've been considering Lum Berry over Leftovers for a couple of reasons. The first being that the lack of leftovers makes it easier to get more damage through Pain Split. The second being that Dusknoir is the glue that holds my team together,and he seems to be a status magnet.

Synergy:

>Drapion

>Drapion

Final Glance

So that's my team. I'm looking forward to reading all your thoughts and criticism. Thanks for reading!

 

[verycoolguy]

Swampert- Okay, the standard lead.

Skarmory- The reason why one would go Special Defensive with Skarmory is to make sure that Walls with less than average special attacks like 0 SpA Vaporeon or Blissey can't hurt him, and without Taunt, they can go and do whatever they want. Skarmory is in no way shape to take Special Attacks from Pokemon meant to Sweep, like Gengar or Jolteon. Machamp can be dealt with by Dusknoir, since it is immune to DPunch while you can heal off damage from his HP with Pain Split, while you pick him off with other attacks, and since Dusknoir will be slower, so Payback will only have a BP of 50, so it won't be as harmful.

Vaporeon- K

Drapion- K

Jirachi- I guess it serves as Trick fodder. With only 4 Atk EVs, and no item to boost his offense, and only Iron Head and U-Turn, I don't know how you are calling it an excellent revenge killer. You should probably replace Gravity with Thunderpunch, and let Dusknoir hold Gravity.

Dusknoir- Why Focus Punch? You're not behind a Substitute or anything. You can perhaps replace Pain Split with Gravity, then replace Focus Punch with DynamicPunch and use that to deal with Machamp, and replace Fire Punch with Will-o-Wisp and benefit from the perfect accuracy that Gravity gives.

Dusknoir attacts one thing in particular, Pursuit. And when we think of pursuit, we usually think of two pokes, Scizor, and Tyranitar.

Scizor doesn't really force Dusknoir to switch out though. Tyranitar will be a problem though, but if you predict him coming in you can just use Will-o-Wisp.

This entire team is weak to Pokemon built to sweep with Special attacks. Skarmory and Drapion won't be thick enough to deal with boosters or Specs/Life Orb. Blissey always works well in stall.

 

[Darkmalice]

Your team is weak to opposing stall teams. Five of your Pokemon are affected by Spikes, and you can do little to enemy phazers like Suicune like Skarmory. You need a Rapid Spinner. I suggest replacing Skarmory with Forretress:

move 1: Spikes
move 2: Toxic Spikes
move 3: Payback
move 4: Rapid Spin
item: Shed Shell
ability: Sturdy
nature: Careful
evs: 252 HP / 40 Atk / 216 SpD

Wish support from Jirachi will keep it alive, so the lack of recovery isn't troublesome. Whilst you do lose a phazer, Swampert can already do this.

It's already been pointed out that you lack a reliable answer to most special threats. For example, you have no way of dealing with LO Jolteon with HP Grass for Swampert. With Forretress acting as a Toxic Spikes set upper and handling Gengar and Latias (without HP Fire), Drapion is not needed. Hence I would replace Drapion with Blissey:

move 1: Aromatherapy
move 2: Softboiled
move 3: Ice Beam
move 4: Toxic
item: Leftovers
ability: Natural Cure
nature: Calm
evs: 252 HP / 40 SpA / 216 SpD

Aromatherapy support is great, because you have no status absorber, and no Pokemon immune to Will-O-Wisp. Like Rapid Spin, it minimises residual damage, helping out against stall teams. Toxic is for Flying and Levitating Pokemon immune to TSpikes. Ice Beam > Seismic Toss enables Blissey to counter Gengar (if it has HP Fire for Forry, it won't have Explosion).


Jirachi should have HP Ice instead of Gravity. Gravity on a Choice Pokemon is a no-no, as you'll be forced to switch out immediately, and its use is highly situational. Also, it requires a whole team built around it. Ice Punch acts as a secondary check to Salamence. Swampert requires a lot of HP to check Salamence, but it also has other important roles like checking Tyranitar. Hence it will often have too little HP to take a +1 LO Outrage. And of course, it hates Draco Meteor, but Jirachi doesn't. Use 252 Atk EVs in place of HP as well to power up Ice Punch.

Whilst I know you cannot obtain Rotom-H, it would really benefit your team if you could. A Ground-immune Pokemon is always nice (especially with Skarmory gone), and you need a reliable Lucario counter. Dusknoir doesn't have a surprise value save for Focus Punch, because everyone expects Dusknoir to be a Rapid Spinner. Rotom-H also counters Scizor extremely well; Swampert doesn't like taking U-turns, and Forretress does nothing to stop SD Scizor. So if you shoddy, use this Rotom-H:

move 1: Thunderbolt
move 2: Shadow Ball / Hidden Power Fighting
move 3: Overheat
move 4: Reflect
item: Leftovers
nature: Timid
evs: 252 HP / 44 Def / 212 Spe

Enough Speed to outrun Lucario. Rest of EVs go in defenses. Reflect for Ttar and other Pursuit users; don't use Will-O-Wisp, because TSpikes may render it useless. HP Fighting if you really hate Ttar, but otherwise, I recommend Shadow Ball. Overheat for Lucario and Scizor.

If you absolutely cannot obtain Rotom-H, then you'll have to use Fire Punch in place of Trick Ice Punch on Jirachi to check Lucario. Still doesn't help against CB Scizor though thanks to U-turn, but at least Forretress can take it (but if you switch Forry in as Scizor SDs, make sure you don't switch Jirachi in on a Superpower or Bug Bite).

 

[Spades789]

Thanks for the tips-I'm replacing Jirachi,Drapion and Skarmory with Fortress,Blissey and another poke. I'm thinking some sort of magnezone or machamp, or at least something with taunt.

 

[Corndog]

I actually recommend against replacing Skarmory, for a number of reasons, and here's a list:

Skarmory is a phazer. Phazers are incredibly valuable on stall teams, and if you replace Skarmory you will only have one phazer in Swampert, who lacks self-contained healing, and is therefore extremely unreliable. This could be a very major potential problem vs offensive teams.

Skarmory has roost. This ability to heal is very valuable on stall teams, and arguably is what allows them to function at all. With the suggested replacements, only Blissey and Vaporeon would be able to heal themselves, neither of which is that strong at taking physical hits. With no healing on any physical wall, you'll find yourself easily swept by physical threats that set up. You may be able to counter one with Swampert or Dusknoir, but after taking a +2 Close Combat/Crunch from Lucario, neither is going to be able to deal with the DD Mence they send out afterwards. Relying on your opponent to send out something walled by Vaporeon is a very risky endeavor.

It is my belief that replacing Skarmory would be dangerous for your team because of the lack of a physical wall. Since you're replacing three Pokemon from your team, it would be reasonable to add in Skarmory as the third, unknown replacement, or just any other strong physical wall.

Even with Skarmory, however, this team has a very serious lack of healing for a stall team. If you need so many Pokemon without a way to recover HP, I recommend you replace the suggested Blissey set with a wishpassing one (Wish/Protect over Aromatherapy/Softboiled), so your team doesn't fall quite so easily if Vaporeon breaks. Aromatherapy is a valuable move, but the lack of healing is a much more serious problem than status.

One other thing regarding playstyle - Drapion isn't weak to fighting, you don't have to switch him out of fighting-type attacks.

 

[Spades789]

Yeah I know Drapion isn't weak to fighting,I just left it there because I was lazy;but in my defence it was after I made this RMT.

Also, I need a reliable way to lay down TS and Spikes. I really need Blissey on my team to absorb Special Attacks(its really a wonder why I exculded her from my team in the first place), and that leaves only two open spaces on my team. So, I can either have one Spiker and one Toxic Spiker, or I could mesh them into one and have an open slot for something that can fill in the (kinda gapping) holes in my team.

 

[Sc4rfCh0mp]

I actually prefer keeping Drapion on the team since it can absorb foe T-Spikes which are a huge pain for stall teams.

Try replacing Wish Vappy with WishBliss, which can still take special hits well. Forry goes over Skarm (I prefer Spikes/RS/EQ/Payback, but its your call) and Dusknoir really falters at the sight of Tyranitar which means you can lose your spin blocker pretty early. I think that definitely getting a Rotom forme will be best here, but if you can't get it, try the following (which also stops last poke sweeps which your team doesn't like at all):

Mismagius (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/6 Spd/252 SDef
Calm nature (+SDef, -Atk)
Perish Song
Pain Split
Substitute
Shadow Ball

sub helps to prevent pursuit from nailing you and gives you easier time switching out of tar to swampert or Jirachi.

So overall the team would then be:

Pert
Forry
Drapion
Bliss
Jirachi
Rotom-A/Mismagius

I hope I helped.

 

[Spades789]

I don't understand what you guys mean about absorbing Toxic Spikes.
Machamp stops Tyranitar in it's tracks and Scizor can't do anything to it, so it automatically takes care of two major threats to my team. I'm thinking of running the lead machamp(without it being a lead) to stop stat-uppers and deal with threats.

 

[Showsni]

I don't understand what you guys mean about absorbing Toxic Spikes.

If a non flying poison Pokémon switches in to Toxic Spikes, it removes them.

 

[Spades789]

Really? I had no idea. That alone is almost enough to convince me to keep Drapion. 0_o
So something like this:

Swampert
Drapion
Dusknoir
Vaporeon
Machamp/whatever
Spiker