Section 1: Team Preview
The team preview is one of the most vital tools to a stall team. Giving you time to figure out what pokemon are direly important to your win condition and an idea of how your opponent's team will function before the game begins is incredibly vital cannot be overstated. There are many ways to utilize this tool, though. Scouting an opponent's lead, identifying major threats to your team, creating match ups and getting an idea for what sets your opponent might have are all vital.
Identifying Threats:
When you built or imported the stall team you use, there was probably a threat list. Most stall teams have one, and it is incredibly important to read these before starting to use a new team. You probably have a way to deal with these threats, but need an idea situation. Spotting one of these major threats means you must play to not let that threat get too much of an advantage.
Threats can also refer to win conditions. Spotting a dragonite could easily suggest that it will be the end game dragon dance sweeper. Immediately, whatever check or counter you have to Dragonite becomes much more important and must not be foddered off as long as Dragonite is healthy. Setting aside a pokemon like Quagsire, Skarmory, or Slowbro is deal to make sure Dragonite has a hard time sweeping. Although a reveal of Charizard-X later on may make you believe that Dragonite has a choice band, guessing at a more common set means you'll be more commonly correct.
In the early game, it is best to have a check or counter set aside for every pokemon on your opponent's team. Finding secondary switches is also helpful. For example, a match between
Ash Borer and myself had a team preview as follows:
From the preview, the obvious notes such as Chesnaught being set aside for Aegislash and Quagsire for Tyranitar are both easy. Sylveon and Porygon2 both should be left to take on Thundurus, and Sylveon might assist in checking Tyranitar, if it isn't a mega. My Gyarados will counter Ash's Landorus, as my gyara is specially defensive. However, if Ash's Gyarados is a mega, Quagsire can't handle gyarados, so I have to keep Chesnaught healthy enough to take both. That means Porygon2 might have to assist with Aegislash. Ignoring Mew, which is probably a defogger/stall breaker set, the team is incredibly offensive. Skarm seems almost entirely useless outside of setting/clearing hazards and maybe deterring some attacks from Gyarados or TTar.
All of this I gather from the preview. Many things can be wrong with my assumptions. The Thundurus could be physical defiant, making another Chesnaught help. Aegislash could run flash cannon meaning Porygon2 is my best option against it. Landorus could be physical, making Gyarados almost useless. However, he has two stealth rock setter possibilities and Landorus rarely sets, so I'm confident that his mega is gyarados. This means Quagsire should handle TTar on it's own and hopefully help with Thundy one TTar is removed.
Picking Leads:
Leads are one of the hardest choice in a stall match. With a good choice, you'll achieve an important objective very early on and have an easier time getting ahead in the game and even applying some pressure. However, bad choices can lead to multiple turns where you are under pressure and unable to gain any sort of advantage against your opponent. There are two major ways to pick a lead when playing stall: You can lead with a hazard setter or you can predict your opponent. Both have individual merits and are seemingly easy concepts, but there is a deeper level of thought behind the lead choosing. TFL and Yuttt both have slightly differing opinions on picking leads from the team previews.
TFL stated that he leads with his hazard setter, Krookodile, unless he sees something that can break his
team (
TFL,
Showdown). The style forces the opponent to force TFL out if he wants TFL to not set hazards, and Krookodile's main checks are generally not hazard setters themselves. This means TFL will generally have hazards on the field regardless of what his opponent starts with. This method makes puts the opponent under hazard pressure almost immediately, which is incredibly useful to stall. For a team that can keep the hazards out almost indefinitely without letting them cleared once, this method is preferable. By setting hazards for your lead, you not only assume you can deal with anything your opponent does in that turn but you should be prepared to adapt a mentality of switching often and constantly pressuring your opponent's hazard clearer.
However, stall games are by no means short.
Yuttt prefers to lead with a pokemon that pressures his opponent not through hazard support but by choosing a pokemon that will counter his opponent's most likely lead or give his opponent difficulty (
Yuttt,
Showdown). This method is preferable when your rock setter isn't necessarily good against your opponent's rock setter or hazard clearer. The philosophy behind this lead is that you will eventually get your rocks up and the initial pressure by strong walls or bulky tanks makes it hard for your opponent to start developing a foothold against your team.
With Yuttt's style, you must first be able to recognize what your opponent will lead with. Common hazard leads such as Deoxys, Landorus-t, ferrothorn and heatran all try to set stealth rocks early in the game and have a high percentage of coming out. Your opponent might try to predict your lead, though, so recognizing all their potential leads is very important. <@Kirant, this would probably be where yours would go if you choose to write up on that section. We can adjust this intro a bit, too.>
Both styles leave some room for considering a major threat to the team. TFL even explicitly stated he only hazard led when he saw his opponent had nothing to break his team right away. If you see a huge threat to your team, leading with a check to that threat may be the best option. For example, Kyurem-black is a famous stall breaker and this generation gives the common VenuTran stall core a great deal of difficulty. While Kyurem doesn't generally lead, if your opponent's lead isn't obvious, leading with a check to Kyurem-black is a great option. While they may come out with a hazard lead or a pokemon that forces your kyurem check out, the momentum lost by simple hazards or being forced out turn one is a lot less than the momentum lost has Kyurem come in turn one versus a Heatran attempting to set up stealth rocks. However, this completely defensive style should only be used when your opponent's lead isn't somewhat predictable and a large threat to your team is present.
