pokemonisfun
Banned deucer.
Hello I'm pokemonisfun but call me pif. This thread is slightly more than just an RMT it is also a defense on why stall is the greatest play style in UU. First thing is first though, I am not going to use this team much anymore because it bores me. Technically it did not peak yet as I plan to maintain a rating with this team but whatever. It is currently ranked number one by a more modest margin and its been on the top for several weeks now; the team is very good. It is fair to say if you are on top of the UU ladder you probably have run into me more than once and lost at least once.
I'm done bragging, so here we go.
Team Building Process
I decide on a stall team as they are extremely stable and I am lazy, if I can make one good team I will definitely milk it as much as I can. Lickilicky comes in first because several reasons, it can cleric and Wish Pass and counter some Special Attackers just like Blissey except for the fact is has lower special bulk which sucks. It is my UU version of Blissey.
Roserade will be a dual Spiker because I like hazards, a lot, I plan on them being my main source of damage. Toxic Spikes will only sometimes come into play but they help Lickilicky beat things like Raikou really well so I am comfortable with it.
I am lacking physical bulk right now which Arcanine can patch up in several ways. First of all, it is primarily a physical tank because I run a defensive set. Secondly it can soften attackers by Intimidate and lastly it can dish out burns very easily with Will-o-Wisp which is very nice. A burned and Intimidated Scarfgon for instance can become set up fodder for Roserade.
There is very little doubt in my mind that Lickilicky will crumple to repeated special assaults, remember I use it primarily for its moves not its bulk. Seeing as I can't even touch Chandelure (something I am supposed to counter) I might as well add on the special bulk by using a specially defensive Milotic.
If I have hazards I need to keep them up. The only spinblocker that is really good is Sableye, Mismagius would be a waste as I already have a cleric and Dusclops is weak to Foresight. Nothing can take on stallbreakers like Sableye who has priority Taunt to beat up and other Sableye (speed creep ftw).
I need two things, Stealth Rock and a Spinner would be nice seeing as I am completely grounded and all my Pokemon are very weak to hazards. Claydol is a better Spinner than most people think because it can scare Chandelure a bit and it can easily predict Ghost switch-ins, Toxicing them or else setting up its own hazards. It has spun on teams with Sableye before.
Umbreon is basically a better LickiLicky. Technically I used quite a few replacements for Blissey but I think it would be pointless for me to show them, they contributed little (Audino for a couple battles, Clefable for a couple battles). All I really lose out on now is Yanmega which was rare at the time and handled decently by Milotic in exchage for beating out a whole lot more of special attackers. I still can cleric and Wish Pass.
My Product of Providence
Leftovers (Synchronize)
Careful: 252 HP, 4 Def, 252 SpD
~Wish
~Protect
~Payback
~Heal Bell
Out of all my Pokemon this one comes into play most often because it has so much utility, namely Wish and Heal Bell. Wish is fairly large coming from Umbreon healing at least half of all my Pokemon's health which is enough for the most part. The EVs make me extremely specially defensive allowing me to comfortably tank even Specs Kingdra and easily allowing me to Wish stall many things. It is extremely passive and allows many things to set up but between phazers and very solid walls they are not a big problem. Special attackers struggle to break through me even after set up (Mismagius at +2 cannot OHKO with a LO HP Fighting while Payback does over 95% to it).
Leftovers (Natural Cure)
Calm:252 HP, 112 Def, 136 SpD, 8 Spe
~Spikes
~Rest
~Toxic Spikes
~Giga Drain
This thing is my main power source, without it, I would be very hard pressed to do any damage. I will probably move the defense EVs in special defense soon but as of now they are pretty nice, helping me take stray U-turns and making switching in to Slowbro and Swampert a bit less scary. Dual Spiking may be better down with Roselia, I have used it before but I am going to stick with Roserade over that since Suicune is a threat she handles decently. Spikes are extremely powerful, over the course of the battle they can easily dish out a couple hundred percent worth of damage if it gets drawn out and I can set up early. Xatu is a problem of course but plenty of times I beat it by pivoting to Milotic and then Umbreon to Synchronize the Toxic. Roserade counters very little, it leaves most of the hardcore tanking to Umbreon, Milotic and Arcanine but if can ever get a safe switch in then expect it to start abusing hazards. Rest is an extremely powerful move on a defensive Natural Cure Pokemon as it lets me live for about forever while not needing to use Wish or Heal Bell. The main problem with Roserade is that it allows many Pokemon I hate acing to switch in or set up, like CB Flygon and CM Raikou. Both cannot break my entire team by themselves though so it won't ever be a team breaking problem.
Leftovers (Intimidate)
Impish: 248 HP, 236 Def, 16 SpD, 8 Spe
~Will-o-Wisp
~Flareblitz
~Roar
~Morning Sun
This has extrodinary defensive powers, more bulky than Hippowdon physically, it has two flaws one of which I try to patch up. It cannot function well with lots of hazards up so I have a spinner, the second is Sand sort of cripples me but sand teams are little threat in any case. The EVs allow me four Stealth Rock switch ins and gives me a nice 200 special defense which just looks better than 196. Very few physical attackers can break through me, including Adamant DD Kingdra, Waterfall does only 60% or so at +0 while I can burn it. Pretty nice Roar allows me some phazing potential and messes up Sub Kingdra who think they can set up on me (all of them) while Flareblitz gives me awesome power for a defensive Pokemon, and good neutral coverage. It does in frail sweepers pretty nicely. Arcanine basically walls physical anything just because of Intmidate including Cobalion, CS Flygon, Darmantian, Victini, and Heracross. Arcanine is just amazing.
Leftovers (Marvel Scale)
Calm: 252 HP, 164 Def, 64 SpD, 12 Spe
~Scald
~Dragon Tail
~Ice Beam
~Recover
Not truly a mixed wall since it is quite physically frail (which sucks if you're a bulky water but hey, Intimidate patches that up). This is just a back up special defender that tries to help out Umbreon by offering a different typing, phazing and more instant Recovery is nice too. It is very bulky on the special side, taking less than 40% from your standard defensive Roserade which is amazing considering it has 125 base special attack and is doubly effective. Milotic serves as a check to many things but as a counter to only a few, mainly it will be taking off pressure from my other defenders since attackers in UU are very strong compared to the defenders. Ice Beam is nice and nails Flygon if I need a hit on it while also doing decent damage to offensive Roserade switch ins which are dangerous for my team. Scald's burn rate has helped me win on more than one occasion, especially on things like Cobalion if it has reached end game and I can't effectively counter it anymore. Not much can set up on me in fear of Burn and phazing which is great for a stall team.
Leftovers (Prankster)
Careful: 252 HP, 104 Def, 136 SpD, 16 Spe
~Taunt
~Will-o-Wisp
~Foul Play
~Recover
Spinblocker number one, if you need one then this is your best bet. It acts very much as a fail safe on some attackers by burning rampaging CB Flygons and such (well 75% fail safe) while Prankster allows me to basically not invest in speed to focus on bulk. The little speed I do use is slowly for the very improtant speed creep and lets me not get destroyed by opposing Sableye (although my Arcanine can usually beat it anyways). Taunt allows be to stop plenty of things from setting up or that want to Taunt me first. As a spinblocker Sableye usually succeeds unless it faces something like Lum Kabutops in which case I am fairly screwed. I am thinking of adding more special defense to deal with Togekiss better but it might be pointless since it will probably NP sweep right through me anyways. Sableye offers plenty of support to the team mainly in just being a Ghost type but it still sees little play time which is too bad. It just isn't extremely bulky like everything else is but it is the best at what it does.
Leftovers (Levitate)
Bold: 252 HP, 252 Def, 4 Spe
~Rapid Spin
~Earth Power
~Toxic
~Stealth Rock
Another huge team player here but its still not very good, more like it is required since it has so many roles to fill up. Stealth Rock is the best move in the world so I have to fit it on the team and spinning is needed so my walls don't just crumple. Earth Power is used over Earthquake but I may use Earthquake to power through Raikou and Chandelure more easily. Not decided yet. Rapid Spin is an extremely important move and it can get past Ghosts by either killing them outright (Chandelure) or waiting for my team to kill them (in which case the Spikes are hurting me, but what can you do huh?). Toxic is a good utility move that cripples Sableye switching in which is pretty obvious while the EVs allow me to more easily take on Cobalion and friend (unless they run covragae moves). Physical defense is better than special defense because it allows me to abuse my resistances more and I can take a Scald still if I have to to set up Rocks because my chunky 120 base special defense. Claydol may not be the perfect spinner, Stealth Rock user or pivot, but it can still do them all which is nice.
Why it works
Importable
I'm done bragging, so here we go.
Team Building Process
I decide on a stall team as they are extremely stable and I am lazy, if I can make one good team I will definitely milk it as much as I can. Lickilicky comes in first because several reasons, it can cleric and Wish Pass and counter some Special Attackers just like Blissey except for the fact is has lower special bulk which sucks. It is my UU version of Blissey.
Roserade will be a dual Spiker because I like hazards, a lot, I plan on them being my main source of damage. Toxic Spikes will only sometimes come into play but they help Lickilicky beat things like Raikou really well so I am comfortable with it.
I am lacking physical bulk right now which Arcanine can patch up in several ways. First of all, it is primarily a physical tank because I run a defensive set. Secondly it can soften attackers by Intimidate and lastly it can dish out burns very easily with Will-o-Wisp which is very nice. A burned and Intimidated Scarfgon for instance can become set up fodder for Roserade.
There is very little doubt in my mind that Lickilicky will crumple to repeated special assaults, remember I use it primarily for its moves not its bulk. Seeing as I can't even touch Chandelure (something I am supposed to counter) I might as well add on the special bulk by using a specially defensive Milotic.
If I have hazards I need to keep them up. The only spinblocker that is really good is Sableye, Mismagius would be a waste as I already have a cleric and Dusclops is weak to Foresight. Nothing can take on stallbreakers like Sableye who has priority Taunt to beat up and other Sableye (speed creep ftw).
I need two things, Stealth Rock and a Spinner would be nice seeing as I am completely grounded and all my Pokemon are very weak to hazards. Claydol is a better Spinner than most people think because it can scare Chandelure a bit and it can easily predict Ghost switch-ins, Toxicing them or else setting up its own hazards. It has spun on teams with Sableye before.
Umbreon is basically a better LickiLicky. Technically I used quite a few replacements for Blissey but I think it would be pointless for me to show them, they contributed little (Audino for a couple battles, Clefable for a couple battles). All I really lose out on now is Yanmega which was rare at the time and handled decently by Milotic in exchage for beating out a whole lot more of special attackers. I still can cleric and Wish Pass.
My Product of Providence
Leftovers (Synchronize)
Careful: 252 HP, 4 Def, 252 SpD
~Wish
~Protect
~Payback
~Heal Bell
Out of all my Pokemon this one comes into play most often because it has so much utility, namely Wish and Heal Bell. Wish is fairly large coming from Umbreon healing at least half of all my Pokemon's health which is enough for the most part. The EVs make me extremely specially defensive allowing me to comfortably tank even Specs Kingdra and easily allowing me to Wish stall many things. It is extremely passive and allows many things to set up but between phazers and very solid walls they are not a big problem. Special attackers struggle to break through me even after set up (Mismagius at +2 cannot OHKO with a LO HP Fighting while Payback does over 95% to it).
Leftovers (Natural Cure)
Calm:252 HP, 112 Def, 136 SpD, 8 Spe
~Spikes
~Rest
~Toxic Spikes
~Giga Drain
This thing is my main power source, without it, I would be very hard pressed to do any damage. I will probably move the defense EVs in special defense soon but as of now they are pretty nice, helping me take stray U-turns and making switching in to Slowbro and Swampert a bit less scary. Dual Spiking may be better down with Roselia, I have used it before but I am going to stick with Roserade over that since Suicune is a threat she handles decently. Spikes are extremely powerful, over the course of the battle they can easily dish out a couple hundred percent worth of damage if it gets drawn out and I can set up early. Xatu is a problem of course but plenty of times I beat it by pivoting to Milotic and then Umbreon to Synchronize the Toxic. Roserade counters very little, it leaves most of the hardcore tanking to Umbreon, Milotic and Arcanine but if can ever get a safe switch in then expect it to start abusing hazards. Rest is an extremely powerful move on a defensive Natural Cure Pokemon as it lets me live for about forever while not needing to use Wish or Heal Bell. The main problem with Roserade is that it allows many Pokemon I hate acing to switch in or set up, like CB Flygon and CM Raikou. Both cannot break my entire team by themselves though so it won't ever be a team breaking problem.
Leftovers (Intimidate)
Impish: 248 HP, 236 Def, 16 SpD, 8 Spe
~Will-o-Wisp
~Flareblitz
~Roar
~Morning Sun
This has extrodinary defensive powers, more bulky than Hippowdon physically, it has two flaws one of which I try to patch up. It cannot function well with lots of hazards up so I have a spinner, the second is Sand sort of cripples me but sand teams are little threat in any case. The EVs allow me four Stealth Rock switch ins and gives me a nice 200 special defense which just looks better than 196. Very few physical attackers can break through me, including Adamant DD Kingdra, Waterfall does only 60% or so at +0 while I can burn it. Pretty nice Roar allows me some phazing potential and messes up Sub Kingdra who think they can set up on me (all of them) while Flareblitz gives me awesome power for a defensive Pokemon, and good neutral coverage. It does in frail sweepers pretty nicely. Arcanine basically walls physical anything just because of Intmidate including Cobalion, CS Flygon, Darmantian, Victini, and Heracross. Arcanine is just amazing.
Leftovers (Marvel Scale)
Calm: 252 HP, 164 Def, 64 SpD, 12 Spe
~Scald
~Dragon Tail
~Ice Beam
~Recover
Not truly a mixed wall since it is quite physically frail (which sucks if you're a bulky water but hey, Intimidate patches that up). This is just a back up special defender that tries to help out Umbreon by offering a different typing, phazing and more instant Recovery is nice too. It is very bulky on the special side, taking less than 40% from your standard defensive Roserade which is amazing considering it has 125 base special attack and is doubly effective. Milotic serves as a check to many things but as a counter to only a few, mainly it will be taking off pressure from my other defenders since attackers in UU are very strong compared to the defenders. Ice Beam is nice and nails Flygon if I need a hit on it while also doing decent damage to offensive Roserade switch ins which are dangerous for my team. Scald's burn rate has helped me win on more than one occasion, especially on things like Cobalion if it has reached end game and I can't effectively counter it anymore. Not much can set up on me in fear of Burn and phazing which is great for a stall team.
Leftovers (Prankster)
Careful: 252 HP, 104 Def, 136 SpD, 16 Spe
~Taunt
~Will-o-Wisp
~Foul Play
~Recover
Spinblocker number one, if you need one then this is your best bet. It acts very much as a fail safe on some attackers by burning rampaging CB Flygons and such (well 75% fail safe) while Prankster allows me to basically not invest in speed to focus on bulk. The little speed I do use is slowly for the very improtant speed creep and lets me not get destroyed by opposing Sableye (although my Arcanine can usually beat it anyways). Taunt allows be to stop plenty of things from setting up or that want to Taunt me first. As a spinblocker Sableye usually succeeds unless it faces something like Lum Kabutops in which case I am fairly screwed. I am thinking of adding more special defense to deal with Togekiss better but it might be pointless since it will probably NP sweep right through me anyways. Sableye offers plenty of support to the team mainly in just being a Ghost type but it still sees little play time which is too bad. It just isn't extremely bulky like everything else is but it is the best at what it does.
Leftovers (Levitate)
Bold: 252 HP, 252 Def, 4 Spe
~Rapid Spin
~Earth Power
~Toxic
~Stealth Rock
Another huge team player here but its still not very good, more like it is required since it has so many roles to fill up. Stealth Rock is the best move in the world so I have to fit it on the team and spinning is needed so my walls don't just crumple. Earth Power is used over Earthquake but I may use Earthquake to power through Raikou and Chandelure more easily. Not decided yet. Rapid Spin is an extremely important move and it can get past Ghosts by either killing them outright (Chandelure) or waiting for my team to kill them (in which case the Spikes are hurting me, but what can you do huh?). Toxic is a good utility move that cripples Sableye switching in which is pretty obvious while the EVs allow me to more easily take on Cobalion and friend (unless they run covragae moves). Physical defense is better than special defense because it allows me to abuse my resistances more and I can take a Scald still if I have to to set up Rocks because my chunky 120 base special defense. Claydol may not be the perfect spinner, Stealth Rock user or pivot, but it can still do them all which is nice.
Why it works
Considering how offensive UU is at the moment, you may be surprised to see a successful stall team, probably one of the most successful teams right now in UU. Laddering might be easy, but being at the top for two, three, reaching four weeks now by a pretty huge margin, fifty, sixty, at one point well over a hundred points has to mean something. I had no idea how it worked but it just did so I tried to find out by just looking very in depth to the team and the metagame it is in.
UU is not friendly to stall teams. It has no Chansey, it has insanely powerful attackers to the point where people often consider it about as powerful as generation four's OU metagame. How can it function when the defenders are not as strong as last generation? Relying on huge bulk is no longer possible, if you could make that work in last generation UU or OU, you can forget it now. Huge bulk by which I mean large defensive stats will change relative to the tier (Umbreon may be an extremely powerful unbreakable NU wall but it is not so in UU). I have experimented in the lower tiers making stall teams that peaked number one again for NU and RU. Obviously I am not going to have access to extremly bulky Pokemon so I have to rely on things that won't change. Here is some of what won't change; damage from hazards, power reduction from Burn, phazing's effectivenes on stopping set up, decrease in power from Intimidate, high healing from Wish, low damage from resisted moves, etc. If large bulk was still key, then you might see Cresselia still making it into stall; you don't.
I have been playing only since generation four but it is pretty clear to me the times have changed very much, offense is going to go crazy getting more power and coverage every single generation. Stall will never disappear as far as I can tell though because it has to rely on things outside of bulk now; tactics may change but the strategy will not. As long as stall can continue to adapt, stall will continue to work.
UU is not friendly to stall teams. It has no Chansey, it has insanely powerful attackers to the point where people often consider it about as powerful as generation four's OU metagame. How can it function when the defenders are not as strong as last generation? Relying on huge bulk is no longer possible, if you could make that work in last generation UU or OU, you can forget it now. Huge bulk by which I mean large defensive stats will change relative to the tier (Umbreon may be an extremely powerful unbreakable NU wall but it is not so in UU). I have experimented in the lower tiers making stall teams that peaked number one again for NU and RU. Obviously I am not going to have access to extremly bulky Pokemon so I have to rely on things that won't change. Here is some of what won't change; damage from hazards, power reduction from Burn, phazing's effectivenes on stopping set up, decrease in power from Intimidate, high healing from Wish, low damage from resisted moves, etc. If large bulk was still key, then you might see Cresselia still making it into stall; you don't.
I have been playing only since generation four but it is pretty clear to me the times have changed very much, offense is going to go crazy getting more power and coverage every single generation. Stall will never disappear as far as I can tell though because it has to rely on things outside of bulk now; tactics may change but the strategy will not. As long as stall can continue to adapt, stall will continue to work.
Importable
Umbreon (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Payback
- Heal Bell
- Wish
- Protect
Roserade (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 112 Def / 136 SDef / 8 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Toxic Spikes
- Giga Drain
- Spikes
- Rest
Arcanine (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 236 Def / 16 SDef / 8 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Roar
- Will-O-Wisp
- Flare Blitz
- Morning Sun
Milotic (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Marvel Scale
EVs: 252 HP / 180 Def / 64 SDef / 12 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Recover
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Dragon Tail
Sableye (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 104 Def / 136 SDef / 16 Spd
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
- Foul Play
Claydol @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Earth Power
Trait: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Payback
- Heal Bell
- Wish
- Protect
Roserade (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 112 Def / 136 SDef / 8 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Toxic Spikes
- Giga Drain
- Spikes
- Rest
Arcanine (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 236 Def / 16 SDef / 8 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Roar
- Will-O-Wisp
- Flare Blitz
- Morning Sun
Milotic (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Marvel Scale
EVs: 252 HP / 180 Def / 64 SDef / 12 Spd
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Recover
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Dragon Tail
Sableye (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 104 Def / 136 SDef / 16 Spd
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
- Foul Play
Claydol @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Earth Power
