I'm not a super great player but I would like to take a stab at the stall question mainly based off of playing on the ladder and watching tournament (and playing to a very limited extent) games. Overall I think there are a few reasons that stall is better on the ladder than in tournaments. I think a lot of players on the ladder don't prepare for stall very well (after all offense is more common even on the High Ladder) and don't want to play long games when they do encounter it. I've seen many players on the ladder squander a winning position against stall due to impatience and a bad attitude.
In a tournament setting the stakes for the games are much higher and players are more likely to take their time and not lose their cool against stall. Also the fact that players know who their opponent will be beforehand (unlike on the ladder where you don't know who your opponent will be beforehand) tends to be more of a disadvantage to players who like to play bulky teams than those who play offense. This is due to the fact that there are fewer bulkier archetypes that are effective (there are only maybe 3 effective common stall teams right now for instance) than offensive ones so if a player is known to use stall a lot they are easier to prepare for than an offensive player. Tournament players also tend to be slightly more skilled than ladder players and they know how to maximize their opportunities to a greater extent against stall.
Tournament players that wish to use stall to counteract a certain opponent can obviously still have success. However it is very difficult. As an example here is a replay of Ben Gay vs. Flaming Victini from the World Cup of Pokemon
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-ou-175216
Ben Gay is a strong tournament player because he can play any play style with success and is very good at building innovative teams. Ben Gay actually got a pretty decent match-up looking at team preview (though not a free win by any means), seeing as he has multiple Manaphy checks (Clef, Goodra, Torn) and really only had to worry about a possible Banded Tyranitar which is checked at least decently well by Mega Steelix (though Superpower is an issue). However one missed toxic on Manaphy and it was all over. That's the risk with stall. Even if you think you can counter someone defensively it only takes one thing to go wrong for your whole team to be swept by a breaker.
In a tournament setting the stakes for the games are much higher and players are more likely to take their time and not lose their cool against stall. Also the fact that players know who their opponent will be beforehand (unlike on the ladder where you don't know who your opponent will be beforehand) tends to be more of a disadvantage to players who like to play bulky teams than those who play offense. This is due to the fact that there are fewer bulkier archetypes that are effective (there are only maybe 3 effective common stall teams right now for instance) than offensive ones so if a player is known to use stall a lot they are easier to prepare for than an offensive player. Tournament players also tend to be slightly more skilled than ladder players and they know how to maximize their opportunities to a greater extent against stall.
Tournament players that wish to use stall to counteract a certain opponent can obviously still have success. However it is very difficult. As an example here is a replay of Ben Gay vs. Flaming Victini from the World Cup of Pokemon
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-ou-175216
Ben Gay is a strong tournament player because he can play any play style with success and is very good at building innovative teams. Ben Gay actually got a pretty decent match-up looking at team preview (though not a free win by any means), seeing as he has multiple Manaphy checks (Clef, Goodra, Torn) and really only had to worry about a possible Banded Tyranitar which is checked at least decently well by Mega Steelix (though Superpower is an issue). However one missed toxic on Manaphy and it was all over. That's the risk with stall. Even if you think you can counter someone defensively it only takes one thing to go wrong for your whole team to be swept by a breaker.
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