..:: INTRODUCTION ::..
Hi y'all! It has been a long time since I last posted anything up here. After a long time of hiatus, I decided to make a comeback 3 months ago, experiencing different playstyles and making many teams. Among the teams, I am most proud of this Stall team that makes laddering a relatively easy chore. My highest peak is 1744 in OU Suspect Laddering, and the absence of Dugtrio (permanently now since Arena is now banned) makes the team shines.
..::: TEAM OVERVIEW ::..
..:: DETAILS ::..
Sableye @ Sablenite
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Knock Off
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
- Protect
Stall is annoying, and Mega Sableye Stall is even more ridiculously painstaking to deal with. While Mega Sableye isn't as broken as how it was during ORAS (blame the Tapus and Z-Nuke), he still plays a great part in a full Stall team due to its defensive stats and the gift of Magic Bounce.
EVs and Nature are standard to stand against Heatran's Magma Storm most cases, Mega Medicham, etc. Sets are pretty straightforward as well:
Knock Off means a loss of items, especially useful against stuff like Heatran and Celesteela as knocking their Leftovers as soon as possible mean they have a hard time to stay around.
Will-O-Wisp cripples physical attackers instantly as well as opposing defensive Pokemon such as Celesteela and Toxapex.
Protect means getting into Mega form safely, and it also serves to stall for turns as the team revolves around a lot of statuses.
Recover for self-sustaining, also help to stall out Heatran's Magma Storm so that it will be no more of a threat (Chansey and Toxapex hate Heatran which traps)
Chansey @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Seismic Toss
- Soft-Boiled
Ahh... the lovely pink blob... NOPE! Chansey has been known as an ultimate tank, and in fact, it's an important member of the team since she manages to tank most special attackers and spread the status for the team to stall out enemy effectively. On the defensive size, she's no joke as well thansk to the aid of Eviolite.
Her EVs and Nature are standard as a tanker. The movesets are set to fit the team more, and since we have her partner Clefable it isn't a hard decision on what to use:
Stealth Rock is an essential hazard layer that is effective for weakening the opponent's team, especially if their tankers like Heatran / Celesteela have lost their Lefties.
Toxic is for spreading statuses on the foes, especially rewarding if things like Landorus-T or Tapu Lele gets caught. The former LOVES to jump into Chansey to scare it away, while the latter has the annoying Psyshock that can actually 2HKO the blob if having Choice Specs / Life Orb and can wreck stall if not careful.
Seismic Toss is the most reliable way for Chansey to deal damage and cripple opponents. The high PP, fixed accuracy, and fixed damage that actually deals a lot against many glass cannon makes the move valuable.
Soft-Boiled is for self-sustaining, which is essential as a stall mon.
Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell
Pink Blob #2 of the team, Clefable is a great addition to the team especially against common setup Pokemon such as SD Mawile-M that lacks Iron Head, dual-dance Zygarde, DD Charizard-X and so on.
EVs and Nature are for best tanking versus physical attackers, and with Chansey, the utility can be spread out for the benefit of the whole team:
Moonblast is a good STAB and deals moderate damage against many things. It keeps things like Zygarde and Charizard-X at bay (the latter can be stalled out with the combination of Wish - Protect and weaken with Moonblast).
Wish is its way of recovery, which is great for stalling out PP of strong attacker such as Mawile-M's Play Rough. It can also be passed to other allies so there's that.
Protect is for stalling with Wish, and is also a great way to scout Specs Lele and to stall for Toxic damage.
Heal Bell cures all statuses for the team, great if many members are crippled with Burn / Poisoned or some haxy Frozen shenanigans... A good move for the whole team.
Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 192 Def / 64 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Haze
- Recover
- Toxic Spikes
Toxapex is a godsend addition to stall composition from Sun/Moon, and it's so hard to kills due to its access to strong move-sets for Stall. Basically a punching bag, Toxapex can jump in, take some damage, and either cripples with a possible burn from Scald or a layer of Toxic Spikes that cripples offensive teams. Toxapex and Clefable works together really well as they handle each other's threats.
Standard EVs and Nature gearing towards Physical Defensive as its typing can tank a lot of threats, and a bit of Special Defense to stay strong against common stuff like Shadow Ball Gengar or survive Earth Power from Heatran, though it is unwise to keep Toxapex against Heatran unless it is known to not carry Magma Storm.
Scald offers moderate damage and a 30% chance to burn which can turn an offensive threat to the level of manageable, such as Bisharp, Mega Scizor and Kartana.
Haze shuts down many set-up attackers, which is cool if they are things that Clefable cannot handle. On another note, it has great PP so if we end up in a PP stalling situation there's that.
Recover for self-sustaining. Recover + Haze can really help stalling out many setup physical attacker (unless Crit).
Toxic Spikes for giving a hard time to offensive team. Against a stall team, having Toxic Spikes up can pressure them to Defog or to neutralize with Toxapex, which gives an opportunity for Ferrothorn to lay another layer of Spikes.
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Impish Nature
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
- Knock Off
As Stall team is generally weak to Tapu Lele, Ferrothorn is a nice answer to it as it can tank both Psyshock and Moonblast with ease. Aside from that, its typing and stats are extremely sturdy, and its ability can hurt many U-turners which is great. Moreover, it works really well in tandem with Toxapex to pressure hazards upon opposing Stall team and is a great answer to Tapu Fini as well considering she carries Taunt and annoys other members a lot with Nature's Power. Another thing that it wishes to demolish is Mega Gyarados with Taunt as he is the rare one that can harm Toxapex and break through Clefable's Unaware.
EVs and Nature are standard against Tail Glow Manaphy and at the same time against Physical Attackers like Mega Mawile unless it has Fire Fang. As for the moves:
Spikes is a topping on top of all the layers to fully punish switches from the opponent. Work well with Toxapex's Toxic Spikes to pressure hazards against opposing Stall, unless they want to risk getting their Sableye-M getting poisoned.
Leech Seed is Ferrothorn's way to recover and to weaken those that decide to stay against Ferrothorn. An annoying move indeed.
Power Whip is its STAB with fair power to actually deal damages especially after they are sufficiently weakened on switch-in. It is a way to handle Mega Swampert in Rain team.
Knock Off makes Lefties no more, takes off Choice Specs / Choice Band on things, and scout for Z-Move on switch-in. A good move to offer a harder time for the opponent to stay relevant after its Item is knocked off.
Mandibuzz @ Leftovers
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 240 HP / 220 Def / 48 Spe
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Roost
- Foul Play
- Whirlwind
- Defog
Mandibuzz is so underrated right now it's not even fair. It is usually compared with its fellow bird-mate, Skarmory, which offer similar utility but a more "favorable" typing. However, Mandibuzz is super tanky and fits the team surprisingly well. In particular, it is the answer to Marowak-Alolan and Hoopa-Unbound which is an extremely powerful stall-breaker, which Skarmory fails in dealing against. Moreover, Foul Play is a mroe reliable way of sponging damage against physical Attacker compared to Counter. With this team, it offers Defog against pesky hazards which is not great against the team, and phazing method to shoo those Sub Attacker / gimmick setup attacker away and cripple switch-in with Hazard layers.
EVs and Natures are standard to maximize offensive prowess. Movesets are tailored to fit the team better, in particular:
Roost is for self sustaining, since Mandibuzz is weak against Stealth Rock so it needs some form of recovery after successfully defogging / taking damages.
Foul Play deals heavy damage against setup sweepers, such as Landorus-T, Garchomp, and many more. Thanks to its bulk, it can easily withstand one attack from them and deal back a ton of damage for a kill, though it must be wary of potential Z-moves from things that it is tanking form, such as Fightinium Z Kartana, Flyium Z/Rockium Z Landorus-T, Flyium Z Dragonite...
Whirlwind is really valuable in a team full of hazards, and is good against SubAttacker as they can be tough to deal with if left unchecked behind a layer of Substitute.
Defog may be counter-intuitive but is useful against opposing's hazard to keep the team healthy on every switch for a better tanking capacity.
..:: THREAT LIST ::..
: Very tough to deal with if it has Taunt and Psyshock at the same time. The only real way is to snatch a good opportunity to throw a Toxic at them on switch-in, weaken them with Seismic Toss on Chansey on the same turn that they taunt, or handle around with Ferrothorn. They have to be played around with care.
: It is very setup-dependent, so we need to check before actually tanking it since ThunderPunch can deal massive damage against Toxapex, Fire Fang can OHKO Ferrothorn and Iron Head can turn Clefable into minced meat. Luckily, they tend not to carry all 3 moves so it can always be played around with Toxapex / Ferrothorn / Clefable.
: Normally not a threat since we have both Chansey and Ferrothorn, but Z-Wild Charge can OHKO Chansey so play safe with Ferrothorn first.
: We are talking about Magma Storm variants here. If tank, Sableye-M can withstand Magma Storm, PP-stall it, as well as knock off its Lefties. If offensive, Chansey can deal with it normally.
: Their strong STABs usually wrecks our combo of Toxapex / Clefable, but can be handled by a single Mandibuzz so makes sure to keep him alive or there is absolutely no way to stop those monsters.
: Normally he is easily stalled by Chansey, but the recent rise to Rain Dance makes Toxic obsolete against him, and +6 Surf in Rain can actually 2HKO Chansey. Try to switch to Ferrothorn instead and kill him as fast as possible. If he fails to die after sacrificing Ferrothorn, use Clefable to continue since Rain Dance Manaphy lacks recovery. and should be sufficiently weakened by Ferrothorn's Power Whip.
BandedTar is actually wall-breaking against this team, and we have to fear for both of its STAB. Just play careful against him using Toxapex as a punching bag and handle accordingly with Ferrothorn if using Stone Edge, or Clefable if using Crunch.
: Congratulation, he's GONE, else Chansey / Toxapex is basically easy prey for him.
and Gangs: Prepare to play a really long game with full of stress on keeping Hazards on and at bay. No real way to actually counter this as we are playing full stall ourselves, so...
: Just cry that you are unlucky enough to face this gimmick blob that actually has no PP limit and can just take the best of your team for his and laugh at your suffering.
..:: CONCLUSION ::..
Annnnnd that's all! Honestly this team is relatively safe for me to grind through the ladder as it has fairly few weaknesses, but many times hax happens and that is something nobody has control over. Of course, this team is far from perfect, and if anybody has suggestions for improving the team or if anyone notices unmentioned threats, be my guest.
..:: IMPORTABLE ::..
Sableye @ Sablenite
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Knock Off
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
- Protect
Chansey @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
- Seismic Toss
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock
- Soft-Boiled
Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell
Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 196 Def / 64 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Recover
- Toxic
- Toxic Spikes
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Impish Nature
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
- Knock Off
Mandibuzz @ Leftovers
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 240 HP / 220 Def / 48 Spe
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Roost
- Foul Play
- Whirlwind
- Defog
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