Ever so slowly I've been turning over to the world of walls and stall, and I've seen certain combinations of walls that work tremendously together. As common sense would tell you, these combos are generally consisted of one physical wall and one special wall, who cover one another's weaknesses. Here are some of the combos I've been seeing or using recently.
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Ah, everyone loves SkarmBliss. Whether Skarm's running Spikes Support, which it normally does, or if it's just there to stall, it fits perfectly with Blissey, who can run Wish support or status you all to death. Since Skarm's weaknesses, Fire and Electric, are normally seen in special form, you switch Blissey in on those (or any special attack for that matter) Skarm's Whirlwind all helps tremendously if you have a load of hazards up, and if you just so happen to Whirlwind a special attacker in, look who you have to switch to! :O
Ferrothorn + Jellicent, also known as FerroCent! I normally use Ferro as a special or mixed wall, but throwing it with Jellicent lets you use its higher Defense stat. These two cover each other's weaknesses perfectly, I believe! Let's see : Jellicent takes no damage from Fighting, and resists Fire, Ferrothorn's two weaknesses. Ferro resists Electric, Grass, and Ghost, making these two good to go! Ferro can run a Spikes Support set, a Leech Seed stall set, a Curse set, or even a Choice Band set! Jellicent just tanks the special attacks that get thrown at Ferro (namely Fire and Fighting attacks), and can even handle physical attacks on its own with Will-O-Wisp! 'Cent also gets the godly Recover, as well as Taunt to shut down other walls and set-up sweepers. FerroCent is the SkarmBliss of Generation 5!
My personal favorite wall combo, Gliscor and Tentacruel! Since the others have cool names, why don't we call these two..... GliCruel! No, lame. Perhaps..... TentaScor! I like that one :D I like a lot about this combo. One thing is the amazing synergy. Gliscor takes no damage from both of 'Cruel's weaknesses, Electric and Ground. Tenta resists of Gliscor's 2 weaknesses, Water and Ice. A problem with these two is Psychic attacks, most of which are special. Tenta is weak to them, and Gliscor takes neutral. However, unless it's something like a Psychic from Reuniclus, Tenta might be able to survive 2 or 3. Still, you'd most likely have something else on your team that resists Psychic. Gliscor is a Taunter, has Poison Heal which can be used to Toxic Stall the others with Tenta's TSpikes, and can also function as a Physical sweeper once any special-based threats are gone with Earthquake and Ice Fang! Tenta is commonly seen as a Spinner and Toxic Spiker, and along with those moves I run Scald to spread some Burn and Venoshock to take full advantage of Poison. Gliscor reaches 354 HP and 383 Defense with the right nature and max EVs, and Tentacruel has 364 HP and 372 SDef, with the same conditions. These two are so insane together, and I see no reason why this isn't as popular a combo as the two mention above. TentaScor for life! <3
Rotom-Wash and Heatran! It's not exactly perfect resistance coverage here, as Rotom takes neutral from Heatran's Fighting weakness, but nevertheless, it's still a great Defensive combo! Heatran takes 0.25 damage from Grass attacks, Rotom's only weakness, and Rotom in turn has Levitate to take in those pesky Earthquakes and resists Water. Rotom-W has Base 107 on both defenses, but only Base 50 on HP. It can make up for this with Pain Split! Bring this in with low health on a Blissey and watch your HP reappear! It also has a Base 105 Sp.Atk combined with Electric + Water STAB! If using these two together, I recommend making Rotom-W more physically defensive. This is because Heatran is almost always specially defensive. It can run Stealth Rock, Roar, Toxic, Subsitute, Lava Plume, Torment, and many more options! TormentTran has been declining in usage this Gen due to growing threats, but a good ol' Special Def 'Tran takes any special attacks that aren't Water, Ground, or Fighting.
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Ahh, the first of our lower tier combos. Cryogonal and Drapion. They both have a mediocre Base 70 HP. Drapion has 110 Defense, and Cryogonal has 135 Special Defense. It's not the type coverage that makes these two a good combo, because Cryogonal's pure Ice typing sucks. Not to mention Drapion is only weak to Ground! But I like these two in UU because they help one of my favorite strategies, Toxic stall. Drapion sets down the Toxic Spikes, and Cryogonal can Rapid Spin and stall with Recover once the poison is spread nicely. Cryogonal can ever fare well against some physical attackers for a little bit, but only if he's faster. Base 105 Speed seems pretty good. If the opponent is Toxic'd and you're faster, Subsitute as long as you can and Recover when you're low on health, then switch out because after one physical hit, you won't be staying long. If anything, this would just help stall out the Toxic on the opponent. Even if you max out Drapion's HP and Defense, it gets Agility and Swords Dance which you could use with Crunch and Brick Break! In my opinion, bulky sweepers are the best sweepers. The main point here is if you use these two, make sure it's a Toxic based team.
If you wanted, one could call these two "Umbrela"! I think in UU it's not so much the type resistance synergy that matters, but it's the actually use of the Pokemon. Tangela has Base 115 Defense, and Base 40 SDef. And on the Eviolite and you have defensive gold! One could choose to make Tangela a purely physically defensive wall, as with max HP, Defense, and Eviolite, it hits 334 HP and 541 Defense.Tangela has Base 100 Sp.Attack, Giga Drain, Leech Seed, Substitute and Regenerator, allowing it to slowly wear away at the foe's HP. Umbreon has amazing defensive stats with 95/110/130, making him one of the best mixed walls around! Even with a neutral nature and 0 EVs, Umbreon hits 225 Defense. With Max HP it has 394 HP and it also has 394 SpDef if it's max EVs and a beneficial nature. I'd use Umbreon as a purely support-oriented Pokemon, as it has options such as Heal Bell, Yawn, Wish, Moonlight, Charm, Confuse Ray, and Mean Look. The only things stopping these two from running rampant in UU and RU are the oh-so-common Bug attacks.
Cresselia and Ferroseed! I'm not sure if these two are allowed in RU, but I'll definitely be using them if they are. Either way, these two are a great pair for UU stall. Cresselia has, in my opinion, the best defensive stats in the game with Base 120 HP, 120 Defense, and 130 Special Defense. What I would do here is max out HP and Defense with a +Def -Atk nature, giving her 444 HP and 372 Def! Even with 0 EVs and this nature, which is neutral to SpDef, Cress has 265 Special Defense! I normally use her as a dual screener with Thunder Wave and Lunar Dance, because that's her best use IMO. Feel free to correct me by showing me something with better defensive stats that Cresselia! Ferroseed on the other hand, uses the Eviolite to boost his already decent stats. The 44 Base HP is a huge letdown, but the support options are what make Ferro great. Stealth Rock, Spikes, the rare Gravity, Leech Seed, Thunder Wave, Toxic (duh), Swagger, Substitute, and Ingrain are all options that Ferroseed has to offer! When paired with Cresselia, I'd have Ferro have max HP and Special Defense.
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Well, that's it for now! Please feel free to post any more combos like this, or even defensive cores consisting of 3 Pokemon! I will definitely be adding more to this when some suggestions come along. Also, I'll get to posting the most common sets I see for all of these whenever I have time and data!
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OU
SKARMBLISS
SKARMBLISS
Ah, everyone loves SkarmBliss. Whether Skarm's running Spikes Support, which it normally does, or if it's just there to stall, it fits perfectly with Blissey, who can run Wish support or status you all to death. Since Skarm's weaknesses, Fire and Electric, are normally seen in special form, you switch Blissey in on those (or any special attack for that matter) Skarm's Whirlwind all helps tremendously if you have a load of hazards up, and if you just so happen to Whirlwind a special attacker in, look who you have to switch to! :O
FERROCENT
Ferrothorn + Jellicent, also known as FerroCent! I normally use Ferro as a special or mixed wall, but throwing it with Jellicent lets you use its higher Defense stat. These two cover each other's weaknesses perfectly, I believe! Let's see : Jellicent takes no damage from Fighting, and resists Fire, Ferrothorn's two weaknesses. Ferro resists Electric, Grass, and Ghost, making these two good to go! Ferro can run a Spikes Support set, a Leech Seed stall set, a Curse set, or even a Choice Band set! Jellicent just tanks the special attacks that get thrown at Ferro (namely Fire and Fighting attacks), and can even handle physical attacks on its own with Will-O-Wisp! 'Cent also gets the godly Recover, as well as Taunt to shut down other walls and set-up sweepers. FerroCent is the SkarmBliss of Generation 5!
TENTASCOR
My personal favorite wall combo, Gliscor and Tentacruel! Since the others have cool names, why don't we call these two..... GliCruel! No, lame. Perhaps..... TentaScor! I like that one :D I like a lot about this combo. One thing is the amazing synergy. Gliscor takes no damage from both of 'Cruel's weaknesses, Electric and Ground. Tenta resists of Gliscor's 2 weaknesses, Water and Ice. A problem with these two is Psychic attacks, most of which are special. Tenta is weak to them, and Gliscor takes neutral. However, unless it's something like a Psychic from Reuniclus, Tenta might be able to survive 2 or 3. Still, you'd most likely have something else on your team that resists Psychic. Gliscor is a Taunter, has Poison Heal which can be used to Toxic Stall the others with Tenta's TSpikes, and can also function as a Physical sweeper once any special-based threats are gone with Earthquake and Ice Fang! Tenta is commonly seen as a Spinner and Toxic Spiker, and along with those moves I run Scald to spread some Burn and Venoshock to take full advantage of Poison. Gliscor reaches 354 HP and 383 Defense with the right nature and max EVs, and Tentacruel has 364 HP and 372 SDef, with the same conditions. These two are so insane together, and I see no reason why this isn't as popular a combo as the two mention above. TentaScor for life! <3
HEATWASH
Rotom-Wash and Heatran! It's not exactly perfect resistance coverage here, as Rotom takes neutral from Heatran's Fighting weakness, but nevertheless, it's still a great Defensive combo! Heatran takes 0.25 damage from Grass attacks, Rotom's only weakness, and Rotom in turn has Levitate to take in those pesky Earthquakes and resists Water. Rotom-W has Base 107 on both defenses, but only Base 50 on HP. It can make up for this with Pain Split! Bring this in with low health on a Blissey and watch your HP reappear! It also has a Base 105 Sp.Atk combined with Electric + Water STAB! If using these two together, I recommend making Rotom-W more physically defensive. This is because Heatran is almost always specially defensive. It can run Stealth Rock, Roar, Toxic, Subsitute, Lava Plume, Torment, and many more options! TormentTran has been declining in usage this Gen due to growing threats, but a good ol' Special Def 'Tran takes any special attacks that aren't Water, Ground, or Fighting.
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UU & RU
CRYOGION
CRYOGION
Ahh, the first of our lower tier combos. Cryogonal and Drapion. They both have a mediocre Base 70 HP. Drapion has 110 Defense, and Cryogonal has 135 Special Defense. It's not the type coverage that makes these two a good combo, because Cryogonal's pure Ice typing sucks. Not to mention Drapion is only weak to Ground! But I like these two in UU because they help one of my favorite strategies, Toxic stall. Drapion sets down the Toxic Spikes, and Cryogonal can Rapid Spin and stall with Recover once the poison is spread nicely. Cryogonal can ever fare well against some physical attackers for a little bit, but only if he's faster. Base 105 Speed seems pretty good. If the opponent is Toxic'd and you're faster, Subsitute as long as you can and Recover when you're low on health, then switch out because after one physical hit, you won't be staying long. If anything, this would just help stall out the Toxic on the opponent. Even if you max out Drapion's HP and Defense, it gets Agility and Swords Dance which you could use with Crunch and Brick Break! In my opinion, bulky sweepers are the best sweepers. The main point here is if you use these two, make sure it's a Toxic based team.
TANGEON
If you wanted, one could call these two "Umbrela"! I think in UU it's not so much the type resistance synergy that matters, but it's the actually use of the Pokemon. Tangela has Base 115 Defense, and Base 40 SDef. And on the Eviolite and you have defensive gold! One could choose to make Tangela a purely physically defensive wall, as with max HP, Defense, and Eviolite, it hits 334 HP and 541 Defense.Tangela has Base 100 Sp.Attack, Giga Drain, Leech Seed, Substitute and Regenerator, allowing it to slowly wear away at the foe's HP. Umbreon has amazing defensive stats with 95/110/130, making him one of the best mixed walls around! Even with a neutral nature and 0 EVs, Umbreon hits 225 Defense. With Max HP it has 394 HP and it also has 394 SpDef if it's max EVs and a beneficial nature. I'd use Umbreon as a purely support-oriented Pokemon, as it has options such as Heal Bell, Yawn, Wish, Moonlight, Charm, Confuse Ray, and Mean Look. The only things stopping these two from running rampant in UU and RU are the oh-so-common Bug attacks.
CRESSELOSEED
Cresselia and Ferroseed! I'm not sure if these two are allowed in RU, but I'll definitely be using them if they are. Either way, these two are a great pair for UU stall. Cresselia has, in my opinion, the best defensive stats in the game with Base 120 HP, 120 Defense, and 130 Special Defense. What I would do here is max out HP and Defense with a +Def -Atk nature, giving her 444 HP and 372 Def! Even with 0 EVs and this nature, which is neutral to SpDef, Cress has 265 Special Defense! I normally use her as a dual screener with Thunder Wave and Lunar Dance, because that's her best use IMO. Feel free to correct me by showing me something with better defensive stats that Cresselia! Ferroseed on the other hand, uses the Eviolite to boost his already decent stats. The 44 Base HP is a huge letdown, but the support options are what make Ferro great. Stealth Rock, Spikes, the rare Gravity, Leech Seed, Thunder Wave, Toxic (duh), Swagger, Substitute, and Ingrain are all options that Ferroseed has to offer! When paired with Cresselia, I'd have Ferro have max HP and Special Defense.
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Well, that's it for now! Please feel free to post any more combos like this, or even defensive cores consisting of 3 Pokemon! I will definitely be adding more to this when some suggestions come along. Also, I'll get to posting the most common sets I see for all of these whenever I have time and data!
Thanks for reading!
-JC
-JC