Hello Smogon! I have been playing this team for weeks now. I have played over 150 games so far and I have tested about 50 different things on it xD Im posting here today because any help improving it would help a lot.
I have tested mostly on PS with some games on SkarmBliss at PO (I got banned from there tho, they dont like stall teams), and, after a lot of testing + fixing, I finally got a team that, while stalling, can usually win or lose inside the 20/21 turn limit.
Note: For thoses who are not awear of time limits at tournaments games will be forced to end at arround turn 21 (20 mins max, 1 min for turn max, means about 20/21 turns, maybe more).. At that point: whoever has more pokes wins, if its a tie: whoever has more HP% wins, if its a tie: whoever has more HP wins.
As you can see, I have both Double Team and Acupressure. Double Team lets me go to +6 Evasion in 3 turns thanks to Simple, while Acuppresure provides 4 to a random stat. While "random" may sound very luck based its not that much, I have 33% of doing something very useful (+SDef and +Def), 33% of doing something okey (+Spd and +Accuary are very useful on Sableye as he can abuse Snarl and W-o-W with them) and 33% of doing something that is not useful until the later stages of the game (+Atk is good on Shuckle but not until the late stages of the game, +SAtk is good on Sableye but, again, not until the late stages of the game).
Rest is my recovery move of choice (the only one at Shuckle's disposal) so is pretty much staple in there. The final slot is the attacking move of choice. Stone Edge is the best option for when I want to win under the 20 turn limit while Rollout is the best option for when I dont care about time. Rollout cant be PP stalled and cant be resisted by anything while Stone Edge doesnt need that much set up and can be easily PP stalled.
The EVs are quite simple. Max HP is staple and I maxed Def instead of a mixed defensive set because:
1) With Sandstorm I get maximise his mixed defensive powers.
2) The most used STAB Steel and Rock moves are physical (ie Bullet Punch, Iron Head, Stone Edge, Rock Slide, etc), and, since I wont be using Shuckle under Rain w/o Dry Skin, max Def counters Shuckle's weakness better.
He is fast as fuck so with a simple Sash and enought knowladge you can easily pull out the combo (in fact I pull this out 99% of times, only failing vs a combination of things such as Trick Room + Fake Out lead, followed by 2 attacks, one of them been super effective).
EVs are no brainer. Max Spd to abuse the 114 base and outspeed almost anything, the rest goes to defensive stats. Protect is needed to dodge a Fake Out lead and Dual Screens is the best support Swoobat can provide before dieing. Ideally, you use Skill Swap in the first turn, and during the second turn (if you didnt die during turn 1) you use the most needed Screen before (most likely) dieing. This means that you tanked at last 2 hits for Shuckle and provided both Simple and 1 or 2 screens.
I tested several builds but this one is by far the best. Thanks to Scarf I can outspeed and use Rock Slide on them, providing random flinches. Working as a pseudo Fallow Me, since, if they dont focus TTar, I may provide free turns for Shuckle anyways. Odds are about 45% of getting at last 1 Flinch and about 8% of getting both Flinchs.
Snarl allows me to provide a 75% SpA reduction instantly. Whenever he has 2 special attackers I would rather go for a consistent Snarl instead the unreliable Rock Slide. Stone Edge deals with certain pokemons such as Choice Spec Thundurus-T and Prankster Taunt Thundurus. Finally, Fire Punch is there because is a more reliable tool than Stone Edge at 1HKOing Abomasnow while also 1HKOing Scizor and Ferrothorn.
All EVs after maxing speed goes into HP since, past speed, the next more important thing is to survive as long as possible to provide all the support that could possible be provided.
Shuckle can also provide SpD and Def (making him impossible to kill outside critics), SpA (Turning Snarl into a quite powerfull move), Speed (allowing Snarl to be used before their special attackers attack) and Accuary (perfect accuary W-o-W please).
Prankster Psych Up is not the only toy he has, he also has no weakness and access to Recover, which means, once you give him the 6 Evasion and some Def and SpD, he cannot be killed unless with a critical move. However, odds of getting a Critical on a 7 Evasion Sableye are about once every 50 attacks.
And, if 2 powerful tools arent enought, he gets both Prankster W-o-W and Snarl. W-o-W shuts down any physical attack, and Critical cant bypass this, which means that once every 50 attacks is only from special attackers. While Snarl is a wonderfull SpA drop to both opponents while also been a STAB 41 Dark move that hits both. That may not sound that powerful but when you reach 255 after a single Accupressure, that becomes beasly.
Whimsicott is the fastest Taunter in the game. A Whimsicott + Swoobat lead shits on Taunt. I simply go Protect + Taunt, then, if Eject Button didnt trigger, I go Skill Swap + U-turn, inflicting some damage and providing Simple to Shuckle/Snorlax instantly. If Eject Button triggered I simply bring out Shuckle/Snorlax and go Boost + Skill Swap in the second turn.
I need to use him as a support whenever I cant use Tyranitar and
Charm + Light Screen makes him usefull past Taunt. Charm works as a pseudo Reflect and his role as a support is kind of a Dual Screener. The only thing I REALLY dislike about Charm is the fact that I cant Charm Metagross, who can hit with his STAB sooo hard to my poor Shuckle.
Double Team is standar, since, with just 3 boost I go to +6 Evasion under Simple. Stockpile is the other boosting move of choice. Simple allows Stockpile to bypass the 3 Def/SpD cap. Thanks to Simple and this 2 boosting moves, with just 6 set up turns (7 if I use Rest once, 10 if I have to Rest twice) I get my 6 Def-SpD-Evasion and Im ready to sweep.
I havent decide yet if I should rather have Last Resort + Lax Incense or Covet + Lum Berry. Im currently playing with Covet but, who knows. Also, Im playing - speed to be able to use him efectively against Trick Room teams. He wont be outspeeding anything with neutral nature tho, so why dont I just outspeed at last something.
If I dont care about the time limit I use Rollout over Stone Edge on Shuckle and this Jynx over Snorlax (I change the Eject Button from Whimsicott for a Lax Incense):
The idea is to start with Skill Swap on Shuckle, getting the nice combination of Eject Button + Sturdy. This means you can recyle Jynx, send out the 3rd support, do stuff, then bring back Jynx with Dry Skin up. At this point Protect can be used to get HP back from Dry Skin and to stall Sleep turns so you can Sleep again w/o fearing of dying when they weak up. Lovely Kiss is the obvious choice since Sleep is sick and Heal Bell weaks up Shuckle instantly, providing a pseudo Lum Berry on him.
I have tested mostly on PS with some games on SkarmBliss at PO (I got banned from there tho, they dont like stall teams), and, after a lot of testing + fixing, I finally got a team that, while stalling, can usually win or lose inside the 20/21 turn limit.
Note: For thoses who are not awear of time limits at tournaments games will be forced to end at arround turn 21 (20 mins max, 1 min for turn max, means about 20/21 turns, maybe more).. At that point: whoever has more pokes wins, if its a tie: whoever has more HP% wins, if its a tie: whoever has more HP wins.
The Team
Everything starts with Shuckle. He is my lead all the time except when I face a Taunt user (in which case I lead Swoobat + Whimsicott) or if he is using a Rain team and Im going with Snorlax over Jynx.
Shuckle @ Leftovers
Sturdy - Impish (+Def -SAtk)
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
- Stone Edge / Rollout
- Rest
- Double Team
- Acupressure
As you can see, I have both Double Team and Acupressure. Double Team lets me go to +6 Evasion in 3 turns thanks to Simple, while Acuppresure provides 4 to a random stat. While "random" may sound very luck based its not that much, I have 33% of doing something very useful (+SDef and +Def), 33% of doing something okey (+Spd and +Accuary are very useful on Sableye as he can abuse Snarl and W-o-W with them) and 33% of doing something that is not useful until the later stages of the game (+Atk is good on Shuckle but not until the late stages of the game, +SAtk is good on Sableye but, again, not until the late stages of the game).
Rest is my recovery move of choice (the only one at Shuckle's disposal) so is pretty much staple in there. The final slot is the attacking move of choice. Stone Edge is the best option for when I want to win under the 20 turn limit while Rollout is the best option for when I dont care about time. Rollout cant be PP stalled and cant be resisted by anything while Stone Edge doesnt need that much set up and can be easily PP stalled.
The EVs are quite simple. Max HP is staple and I maxed Def instead of a mixed defensive set because:
1) With Sandstorm I get maximise his mixed defensive powers.
2) The most used STAB Steel and Rock moves are physical (ie Bullet Punch, Iron Head, Stone Edge, Rock Slide, etc), and, since I wont be using Shuckle under Rain w/o Dry Skin, max Def counters Shuckle's weakness better.
Swoobat is the most disgusting looking pokemon released so far, probably tied with Sigilyph. However, if you can bypass this fact you would, in return, get the best Skill Swaper in the game.
Swoobat @ Focus Sash
Simple - Timid (+Spd -Atk)
238 HP / 4 Def / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
IVs: 0 Atk
- Skill Swap
- Protect
- Reflect
- Light Screen
He is fast as fuck so with a simple Sash and enought knowladge you can easily pull out the combo (in fact I pull this out 99% of times, only failing vs a combination of things such as Trick Room + Fake Out lead, followed by 2 attacks, one of them been super effective).
EVs are no brainer. Max Spd to abuse the 114 base and outspeed almost anything, the rest goes to defensive stats. Protect is needed to dodge a Fake Out lead and Dual Screens is the best support Swoobat can provide before dieing. Ideally, you use Skill Swap in the first turn, and during the second turn (if you didnt die during turn 1) you use the most needed Screen before (most likely) dieing. This means that you tanked at last 2 hits for Shuckle and provided both Simple and 1 or 2 screens.
TTar is one of my 2 "3rd pokemon". I use him all the time unless 1) they dont have special attackers, 2) I need Taunt or 3) they have Politoed, Ninetales or Tyranitar on their team.
Tyranitar @ Choice Scarf
Sand Stream - Jolly (+Spd -SAtk)
252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spd
- Rock Slide
- Snarl
- Stone Edge
- Fire Punch
I tested several builds but this one is by far the best. Thanks to Scarf I can outspeed and use Rock Slide on them, providing random flinches. Working as a pseudo Fallow Me, since, if they dont focus TTar, I may provide free turns for Shuckle anyways. Odds are about 45% of getting at last 1 Flinch and about 8% of getting both Flinchs.
Snarl allows me to provide a 75% SpA reduction instantly. Whenever he has 2 special attackers I would rather go for a consistent Snarl instead the unreliable Rock Slide. Stone Edge deals with certain pokemons such as Choice Spec Thundurus-T and Prankster Taunt Thundurus. Finally, Fire Punch is there because is a more reliable tool than Stone Edge at 1HKOing Abomasnow while also 1HKOing Scizor and Ferrothorn.
All EVs after maxing speed goes into HP since, past speed, the next more important thing is to survive as long as possible to provide all the support that could possible be provided.
Sableye is my 4th Pokemon ALL THE TIME. He is a sick supporter. Prankster Psych Up is a retarded thing to have when you have a +6 Evasion pokemon next to you.
Sableye @ BrightPowder
Prankster - Calm (+SDef -Atk)
244 HP / 132 Def / 132 SDef
IVs: 0 Atk
- Snarl
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
- Psych Up
Shuckle can also provide SpD and Def (making him impossible to kill outside critics), SpA (Turning Snarl into a quite powerfull move), Speed (allowing Snarl to be used before their special attackers attack) and Accuary (perfect accuary W-o-W please).
Prankster Psych Up is not the only toy he has, he also has no weakness and access to Recover, which means, once you give him the 6 Evasion and some Def and SpD, he cannot be killed unless with a critical move. However, odds of getting a Critical on a 7 Evasion Sableye are about once every 50 attacks.
And, if 2 powerful tools arent enought, he gets both Prankster W-o-W and Snarl. W-o-W shuts down any physical attack, and Critical cant bypass this, which means that once every 50 attacks is only from special attackers. While Snarl is a wonderfull SpA drop to both opponents while also been a STAB 41 Dark move that hits both. That may not sound that powerful but when you reach 255 after a single Accupressure, that becomes beasly.
"I will just use Taunt and get a free win"... no you wont ...
Whimsicott @ Eject Button
Prankster - Jolly (+Spd -SAtk)
180 HP / 76 SDef / 252 Spd
- Taunt
- U-turn
- Charm
- Light Screen
Whimsicott is the fastest Taunter in the game. A Whimsicott + Swoobat lead shits on Taunt. I simply go Protect + Taunt, then, if Eject Button didnt trigger, I go Skill Swap + U-turn, inflicting some damage and providing Simple to Shuckle/Snorlax instantly. If Eject Button triggered I simply bring out Shuckle/Snorlax and go Boost + Skill Swap in the second turn.
I need to use him as a support whenever I cant use Tyranitar and
Charm + Light Screen makes him usefull past Taunt. Charm works as a pseudo Reflect and his role as a support is kind of a Dual Screener. The only thing I REALLY dislike about Charm is the fact that I cant Charm Metagross, who can hit with his STAB sooo hard to my poor Shuckle.
Snorlax is the most recent addition to the team. I have been using Jynx to Skill Swap Dry Skin to Shuckle, autowinning against Rain, BUT is quite hard to do so under the 21 turn limit, so Im currently testing this Snorlax build to do so. Rain rarely have Fighting pokes (Only Hitmontop or Toxicroak are seen from time to time), and they cant really kill Snorlax after 1 boost.
Snorlax @ Lum Berry
Thick Fat - Relaxed (+Def -Spd)
252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
- Covet
- Rest
- Double Team
- Stockpile
Double Team is standar, since, with just 3 boost I go to +6 Evasion under Simple. Stockpile is the other boosting move of choice. Simple allows Stockpile to bypass the 3 Def/SpD cap. Thanks to Simple and this 2 boosting moves, with just 6 set up turns (7 if I use Rest once, 10 if I have to Rest twice) I get my 6 Def-SpD-Evasion and Im ready to sweep.
I havent decide yet if I should rather have Last Resort + Lax Incense or Covet + Lum Berry. Im currently playing with Covet but, who knows. Also, Im playing - speed to be able to use him efectively against Trick Room teams. He wont be outspeeding anything with neutral nature tho, so why dont I just outspeed at last something.
If I dont care about the time limit I use Rollout over Stone Edge on Shuckle and this Jynx over Snorlax (I change the Eject Button from Whimsicott for a Lax Incense):
She is very fast, which means I usually Skill Swap with no problem. Protect dodges Fake Out and also provides stall to abuse Dry Skin in mid game.
Jynx (F) @ Eject Button
Trait: Dry Skin
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Skill Swap
- Protect
- Lovely Kiss
- Heal Bell
The idea is to start with Skill Swap on Shuckle, getting the nice combination of Eject Button + Sturdy. This means you can recyle Jynx, send out the 3rd support, do stuff, then bring back Jynx with Dry Skin up. At this point Protect can be used to get HP back from Dry Skin and to stall Sleep turns so you can Sleep again w/o fearing of dying when they weak up. Lovely Kiss is the obvious choice since Sleep is sick and Heal Bell weaks up Shuckle instantly, providing a pseudo Lum Berry on him.
Suggestions Are Welcome.