CAP 2 Playtest RMT
Stall Survives
In a metagame that is intensely offensive, with threats the likes of which stall in BW has had much difficulty coming to cope with, one Pokemon arrived that would by some miracle bring everything together. Stall Survives is my final CAP playtest team, and my most successful. With this team, I ascended to 2022 ACRE, which topped the playtest ladder of registered and non-provisional players. This means that using a stall team, I was able to not only handle the offensive capabilities of the current BW OU metagame, I was also able to handle the offensive juggernaut introduced to it: Necturna. Below I will explain how.
The team was constructed with most of OU in mind, and without too much consideration given to Necturna in itself. Necturna is easily covered by Pokemon I wanted in my team to begin with, and that meant that I had little to fear from it. Outside of that, I just had to deal with OU, and fortunately had a slightly... adjusted metagame within which to do it. You'll see what I mean.
Team
Politoed @ Leftovers
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 244 Def / 12 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Toxic
- Encore
Politoed was actually the first Pokemon on my team. I knew walking into this team that I would want to control weather, and would want the weather that not only best supports a Steel, but also best supports a Grass-type as well. Because I'm not running Jellicent as my spinblocker, this became even more important. Thus, Politoed was chosen. The defensive set is used to guarantee that it can come in as frequently as possible against any number of Pokemon that piss this team off, like Scizor using Bullet Punch and God knows what else this thing murdered in the playtest ladder. Rain also lets me control and dampen the spirits of rampaging weather threats like Venusaur and Landorus, who really like to rip my team up if they can set up. Lastly, Politoed serves as an efficient check to offensive Gliscor, which is otherwise a real asshole to this team if Dragonite's Multiscale has been broken. Oh, and defensive Gliscor is also a prick, so Politoed helps a lot of it can avoid getting poisoned into oblivion. Encore is used in the last slot because it helps against setup threats who like to try and pull shit against Politoed. It requires a lot of prediction, obviously, but I've been able to put it to very good use.
Necturna @ Leftovers
Trait: Forewarn
EVs: 252 HP / 248 SDef / 8 Spd
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Shadow Claw
- Rapid Spin
- Toxic Spikes
- Pain Split
Well, she's a lot more impressive in action than here, but this'll have to do. She spins, she blocks, and she sets up. Nothing else is like her, and she has been pivotal to both the success of this team and to making this team so effective by being in the metagame. One of the most powerful aspects about Necturna is that no one can anticipate what the Sketched move is, and so many assume by the defensive nature of my team that it's Recover or something along those lines. Because of Necturna's playstyle, she has never failed to spin at least once when I need her to. That's a big deal, and makes her worlds more reliable than any other Rapid Spinner in the tier. The other killer thing about Necturna as a spinblocker is that she beats every single spinner in the tier 1v1, or at least scares them out with the threat of her STABs. This is the set that I really wish Necturna had Night Shade for, but at the very least Shadow Claw is a good deterrent for Pokemon like Latias or Starmie who attempt to set up on or whittle down Necturna with super effective coverage (re: Ice Beam).
Blissey @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Softboiled
- Stealth Rock
- Seismic Toss
- Toxic
Blissey is kind of a big deal, and the primary response to many of the popular Pokemon used to defeat Necturna and other Pokemon on my team. Blissey is also probably the best user of Stealth Rock I've ever used, and as much as I wish I had other moves (namely Aromatherapy), I couldn't give up Stealth Rock for the world. After setting up Stealth Rock, Blissey serves as a bulky pivot to take on the likes of anything with Choice Specs or anything like Hydreigon and Heatran. I can't honestly say much more than Blissey other than it does its job well and I wouldn't give it up for the world. Also, for the record, I use Blissey over Chansey because I have little way of handling Trick (or Knock Off, which was surprisingly popular in the playtest) on my team, and my special wall can't be that vulnerable to it.
Latias @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Dragon Pulse
- Roar
- Reflect / Refresh
- Recover
Latias is an interesting Pokemon for my team, as you'd probably expect it to be redundant with Dragonite bringing up the rear. Latias is probably one of my favorite responses to non-weather and sun teams, as she can keep them locked and keep the team afloat with shuffling. I also really appreciate her capacity as a speed-staller because her fast Roar beats out fast Heatran Roar (which would've cost me a few games otherwise). She also doubled as a secondary check for special attackers that could set up on Blissey. The Pokemon on this list that might otherwise wreck my team include, but are not limited to, CM Reuniclus and SubCM Jirachi. Additionally, because of its Speed, I've actually used it as a means to deal with Choice Band Haxorus and non-Scarf Hydreigon. Reflect has helped me countless times against the likes of Scizor and Terrakion, as well as with Landorus and other such physical threats that don't necessarily boost, but hit like a truck regardless. It's also saved me against Lucario I don't know how many times. All around, Latias is probably the most replaceable member of my team, although it has performed so well that I'd be pretty remiss to lose it. I know throughout the playtest I never once thought of getting rid of it because of the situations it got me out of.
Skarmory @ Shed Shell
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 224 Def / 32 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Brave Bird
- Spikes
- Whirlwind
- Roost
Skarmory. Yes. Skarmory is so utterly critical to my team in so many ways that it is ridiculous. As my sole Steel, it serves the quintessential purpose of handling DD Haxorus, CB Haxorus, DD Dragonite, and pretty much every physical sweeper that lacks physical Fighting STAB or SD (re: Terrakion / Lucario, more on them later). It is because Skarmory is so important to the utter success of my team that I cannot afford to let the countless Magnezone running amok in this metagame take advantage of it. At the cost of Leftovers, Skarmory is immune to Magnet Pull with Shed Shell, and constantly comes back to haunt the likes of Dragon-types and physically inclined Necturna every day. The set is pretty standard, but Skarmory is that way for a reason; it does what it does pretty much the best that it can be done, and there's no reason to change what works. I would also like to venture that Skarmory in rain is probably the best check that exists to Necturna. Shell Smash Necturna packing Hidden Power Fire can barely 2HKO this buddy at +2 and is OHKOed in return by Brave Bird. CB Sacred Fire Necturna? Yeah, get out of here. Skarmory eats that shit for breakfast in rain (although burn sucks). Yeah, Skarmory is kind of a big deal to my team and to the meta in general.
Dragonite @ Leftovers
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 224 HP / 244 SAtk / 40 Spd
Quiet Nature (+SAtk, -Spd)
- Hurricane
- Dragon Tail
- Thunder
- Roost
Ah Dragonite. Where would BW OU be without you? Dragonite is so bloody important as a pressure Pokemon for my team that it isn't funny. He is so easy to keep at max HP with this bulk and his typing, is practically untouched by Stealth Rock thanks to the success of Necturna as a spinner, and can apply ideal coverage between Hurricane and Thunder. Granted, this usually requires I win the weather war, but that's where Dragon Tail comes in. Many a Ninetales or TTar have switched into Dragonite trying to weaken his attacks, only to find themselves eating massive hazard damage and getting shuffled to something that can't take Dragonite! This is a pretty weird set all things considered, as it's like MixNite, but not really, and is also like a rain sweeper, but is more focused on shuffling early and cleaning later. Oh, and did I mention that Gliscor is a prick? Fortunately, Dragonite wrecks him with that potent STAB Hurricane. Really, I doubt my team would be half as successful as it is without the pressure afforded by Dragonite. I had so many battles where enemies just couldn't switch into it and had to sacrifice to deal with it.
Threats & Discussion
There are few real serious threats to this team, but they exist. Because of my choice of Pokemon, I have problems with two Pokemon in particular. I've muscled through them time and time again using this team thanks to good plays on my part, but if they get a chance to set up, they pretty much cleave my team asunder. Those two Pokemon are SD Lucario and SD Terrakion. Lucario usually takes a decent hit from Latias's DPulse if need be, and can be dealt with by Skarmory if Jolly, but really murders my team otherwise at +2. I pretty much have to give it no chance to set up and play around predicting its switch-ins. Terrakion is largely the same, although Latias actually does a lot of damage with DPulse. Both can be dealt with if they switch into any of my Pokemon bar Necturna or Blissey. Terrakion is less of a threat because Blissey can Toxic it on the switch or be ballsy and Toxic it on the SD. Lucario is troublesome particularly because it doesn't give a damned about either Necturna or Blissey and eats their shit for breakfast. It is fortunate for me that the presence of Necturna in the metagame as a prevalent physical sweeper meant that these two Pokemon were a lot less common. This helped me take advantage of the metagame and use the Necturna bias to my advantage.
As for the team as a whole, I don't think it's the best it can be. I think Latias could probably be replaced with something else like Scizor (who better handles Reuniclus, doubles to help against dragons, and can priority the shit out of Terrakion and do a number to Lucario), but for the duration of the playtest she served me loyally and well. It served its purpose, which was to prove to me that I could make stall work exceptionally well in a metagame with Necturna, and that defensive Necturna in general could be a very interesting and rewarding set to take advantage of. Either way, it was good times, and I'm proud to have made it as high as I did on the ladder using this. Hopefully this will help document the metagame a little better for those of you who didn't get a chance to play it as much as I did. If you have any questions about how I handled certain situations or why I picked what I picked, feel free to fire away! I don't think suggestions to improve the team matter much, considering as this metagame no longer exists, but I'll hear them if you have them.
Cheers and thanks for making CAP 2 as much of a success as it was! Quack!