Introduction
Hey guys, it's ebeast! With me is my Stall team, which mainly revolves around Zweilous phazing the opponent around and racking up damage quickly with Stealth Rock and Spikes. The idea for the team came about when I saw ium use a specially defensive Zweilous in one of his matches and I became curious about how well that set would work. I did some damage calculations and found some to be particularly impressive, such as how little Zwei takes from LO Haunter's Sludge Bomb or even LO Ludicolo's Ice Beam. Originally I had wanted to try Zweilous on a more balanced team, but found it to be kind of unimpressive without the team being properly based around it. At that point I kind of gave up trying to make a team around it until Blim contacted me about wanting to make a stall team for NUPL. I threw a few ideas out there and started liking where we were headed. A while later I made the team for us and was quite happy with how it turned out. I made a few changes along the way such as changing as incorporating both Roar and Dragon Tail on Zweilous and, with recommendation from ium, changing Metang to Psych Up with Defense EVs to take on SubBU Braviary and Sawsbuck. This team has weaknesses to some uncommon Pokemon such as Scraggy and Duosion, but I'm pretty happy with the end product as the team pulls it own against a big portion of the metagame. The name <Evioliters> comes from 4/6 of my Pokemon having Eviolite, and I thought it as a cute name that fit Zweilous. Stall actually happens to be the playing style I feel most comfortable playing next to Bulky Offense as the ability to wall a large portion of the metagame and feeling like you're in control of the match is easing to me. Anyways, without further ado here is: <Evioliters>!
At a Glance
Team Strategy
As a Stall team I try to beat as many Pokemon as I can while wearing them down with my entry hazards in the form of Stealth Rock and Spikes. Roselia and Metang set up all my hazards while walling relevant Pokemon such as Ludicolo, Zangoose, Sawsbuck, and Haunter. Misdreavus is an absolute asshole to slower teams and between Taunt and Will-O-Wisp can cause a lot of disruption. As a Ghost-type Pokemon Misdreavus also has the ability to block Rapid Spin, although the prevalence of such Pokemon have greatly diminished over time. Shell Smash Torkoal is seldom used now and Misdreavus beats standard Armaldo easily. Foresight Wartortle can Rapid Spin past Misdreavus, but just is incapable of having the right combination of moves to prove much of an issue due to how easy it is to wear down Wartortle. Regenerator Allomomola gives the team a reliable physically defensive pivot and a Wish passer that can easily keep the team healthy at all times. Zweilous is the star of the team and walls tons of Pokemon such as Charizard, Eelektross, Exeggutor, Cacturne, Shiftry, Rotom-S, Gardevoir, Kadabra, Musharna, and Ludicolo thanks to its great bulk with Eviolite and interesting Dark/Dragon typing. Between Roar and Dragon Tail it will spread around tons of damage via hazards and with RestTalk can prove to be a pain to the opponent if they can't dispose of it quickly.
Rather than just making my win condition: wear down the opponent with hazards until they go down, I added in Calm Mind Musharna as it not only provides another solid answer to Sawk and Sawsbuck but provides the team with a bunch of other benefits as well. Musharna has Heal Bell and removes status ailments from important Pokemon such as Alomomola and Misdreavus, while allowing for Zwei to wake up prematurely if need be. I find that Heal Bell support with Zwei is very devastating as it can keep spamming phazing moves and when it finally needs to Rest, it can be woken up and start causing havoc again easily. The addition of Calm Mind Musharna also means that I don't have to rely on wearing my opponent down with hazards as my only win condition. Calm Mind + Heal Bell Musharna makes for a great sweeper and hazards only help it by limiting the amount of times that Dark-type Pokemon such as Skuntank, Cacturne, and Shiftry can come in. Musharna's bulk is incredibly and it also doubles as another check to Piloswine and Sawsbuck, who just can't deal enough damage.
Rather than just making my win condition: wear down the opponent with hazards until they go down, I added in Calm Mind Musharna as it not only provides another solid answer to Sawk and Sawsbuck but provides the team with a bunch of other benefits as well. Musharna has Heal Bell and removes status ailments from important Pokemon such as Alomomola and Misdreavus, while allowing for Zwei to wake up prematurely if need be. I find that Heal Bell support with Zwei is very devastating as it can keep spamming phazing moves and when it finally needs to Rest, it can be woken up and start causing havoc again easily. The addition of Calm Mind Musharna also means that I don't have to rely on wearing my opponent down with hazards as my only win condition. Calm Mind + Heal Bell Musharna makes for a great sweeper and hazards only help it by limiting the amount of times that Dark-type Pokemon such as Skuntank, Cacturne, and Shiftry can come in. Musharna's bulk is incredibly and it also doubles as another check to Piloswine and Sawsbuck, who just can't deal enough damage.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Echo" The Zweilous ---Phazer and Special Defensive pivot
/
@ Eviolite
~EVs: 248 HP / 196 SpD / 64 Spe
~Nature: Careful (+SpD -SpA) ~Ability: Hustle
347 HP / 206 (309) Atk / 176 (264) Def / 247 (370) SpD / 168 Spe
- Rest / Sleep Talk / Roar / Dragon Tail
@ Eviolite
~EVs: 248 HP / 196 SpD / 64 Spe
~Nature: Careful (+SpD -SpA) ~Ability: Hustle
- Rest / Sleep Talk / Roar / Dragon Tail
Zwei was picked for its great resistances brought by its Dark/Dragon typing and awesome special bulk with Eviolite. Zwei's only being 2x weak to Ice-type attacks and having a neutrality to Stealth Rock puts it ahead of Altaria in my book. Zwei can take on powerful threats like Charizard, Ludicolo, Exeggutor, Cacturne, Shiftry, Eelektross, Rotom-S, Musharna, Gardevoir, Kadabra... you name it! With Eviolite and Special Defense investment Zweilous isn't even 2HKOed by LO Samurott's Ice Beam, which is quite impressive. While RestTalk isn't the most reliable strategy, Zwei is also supported by Heal Bell and Wish should it not be able to wake up in time to get off more Rests. Dragon Tail and Roar together make it very likely that Sleep Talk will allow Zwei to phaze out the opponent and have them take significant damage from Stealth Rock and Spikes. Outside of their shared Ice-type weakness, Zwei and Roselia have pretty good defensive synergy together and they can go back and forth between setting up Spikes and phazing out enemy Pokemon. While Hustle is usually undesirable due to the fact that it makes Dragon Tail's accuracy a very shaky 72%, when it hits Dragon Tail can do quite a bit of damage which also racks up alongside hazards. Luckily Hustle only affects attacks and support moves like Roar keep their normal accuracy, which is why I mainly use Roar to phaze opponents. However, I definitely like using Dragon Tail when my opponent has nothing to deal heavy damage to Zwei with and missing isn't a big deal, such as in the case of an Eelektross or Rotom-S, as the Hustle DTail damage helps rack up damage and finish games faster.
EVs: The 64 Speed EVs allow Zwei to outspeed uninvested base 60 Pokemon such as Tangela and Alomomola so it can Sleep Talk phaze or Rest before they can do anything. This works especially great for Alomomola, who otherwise could Wish before Zwei phazes and heal whatever gets send in. 248 HP and 196 SpD are enough to make Zwei a special defensive monster and using up 64 EVs for its Speed investment makes minimal difference in Zwei's overall bulk.
EVs: The 64 Speed EVs allow Zwei to outspeed uninvested base 60 Pokemon such as Tangela and Alomomola so it can Sleep Talk phaze or Rest before they can do anything. This works especially great for Alomomola, who otherwise could Wish before Zwei phazes and heal whatever gets send in. 248 HP and 196 SpD are enough to make Zwei a special defensive monster and using up 64 EVs for its Speed investment makes minimal difference in Zwei's overall bulk.
"Tuxedo Mask" The Roselia ---Spiker & Special Defensive Wall
@ Eviolite
~EVs: 248 HP / 236 SpD / 24 Spe
~Nature: Calm (+SpD -Atk) ~Ability: Natural Cure
- Spikes / Synthesis / Giga Drain / Sludge Bomb
Roselia brings to the table another way to deal with Water-type Pokemon and the extremely important Spikes. While Roselia's typing works better for taking on physical attacking Pokemon, Roselia sadly doesn't have the Defense to make it work as well as it could. Thankfully Roselia can go specially defensive and take on Pokemon such as Ludicolo, Haunter, and Tangela without much of a hassle and start setting up layers upon layers of Spikes. Giga Drain and Sludge Bomb provides pretty good coverage and hit decently hard off of Rose's base 100 Special Attack. While I dislike Sludge Bomb's 30% chance to poison, (Which absolutely sucks if you happen to get it on an important Toxic target like Musharna) Roselia sadly doesn't learn Sludge Wave and I need my Poison-type STAB to be able to hit Ludicolo hard or even hit Charizard on the switch. Venoshock could be used if to avoid getting a normal poison on Musharna and can work with my team having Toxic on practically everything, but the damage output without Venoshock's effect activating is incredibly disappointing. Overall Roselia is a very important Pokemon for the team as it helps Zwei beat special attackers and sets up Spikes for Zwei to start abusing. Synthesis over Rest is a personal preference, but I can also see how Rest would be beneficial on this team over Synthesis.
EVs: 24 Speed EVs allow Roselia to outspeed standard Exeggutor and Golurk sets so I can hit them with my STABs or Spikes if needed. The rest are there to give Roselia the most amount of special bulk as possible.
"Tsuna" The Metang ---Physical Wall & Stealth Rock User
@ Eviolite
~EVs: 244 HP / 236 Def / 28 Spe
~Nature: Impish (+Def, -SpA) ~Ability: Clear Body
- Stealth Rock / Meteor Mash / Toxic / Psych Up
Metang is a very bulky Pokemon capable of taking on the likes of Musharna, Sawsbuck, Gardevoir, Braviary, Swellow and even Zangoose. Its fantastic Steel/Psychic typing and great bulk with Eviolite make setting up Stealth Rock a breeze and Metang itself can inflict decent damage with Meteor Mash or stall Pokemon out with Toxic. Psych Up is an extremely uncommon move in NU, but Metang uses it to defeat the dreaded SubBulk Up Braviary. Although SubBU Braviary's usage has been on a decline, it's still a serious threat to this team. Psych Up has even helped Metang defeat Curse Rest Regirock and Bulk Up Scraggy before, which shows how useful it can be in a pinch. Metang's typing can be used as a pivot for a lot of Pokemon and alongside Alomomola make for a devastating physically defensive core. Between Alomomola's Wish and Metang, threats to stall such as Zangoose and Choice Band Braviary can be disposed of easily and without much trouble. Metang is my main answer to Musharna as it can easily take anything Musharna dishes out and cripple it with Toxic. If the opposing Musharna is Signal Beam then Metang just crippled Musharna for the rest of the match and Zwei can come in and remove its boosts with Roar. If things get out of hand and Musharna gets too many Calm Minds that Signal Beam could take down Zwei before it gets to phaze, Metang can even Psych Up the Calm Mind boosts and stall it out like that. If Musharna is Heal Bell then it means I have a free switch to Zwei everything it comes in to start phazing around Pokemon. Even outside of stall Metang has niches using an Adamant set with Attack investment that can deal heavy damage and tank heavy hits at the same time. Use Metang more people!
EVs: 28 Speed EVs are used speed creeps even the strongest of creeps which is generally going to be 24 EVs at most. This allows me to outspeed standard Golem, Regirock, Piloswine, and Regice so I can either set up Stealth Rock, Toxic, or Meteor Mash them. 244 HP and 236 Def with Impish give Metang a lot of Defense coupled with Eviolite to beat Pokemon like Sawsbuck easier.
EVs: 28 Speed EVs are used speed creeps even the strongest of creeps which is generally going to be 24 EVs at most. This allows me to outspeed standard Golem, Regirock, Piloswine, and Regice so I can either set up Stealth Rock, Toxic, or Meteor Mash them. 244 HP and 236 Def with Impish give Metang a lot of Defense coupled with Eviolite to beat Pokemon like Sawsbuck easier.
"Alice" The Misdreavus ---Spinblocker & Stallbreaker
@ Eviolite
~EVs: 248 HP / 220 Def / 40 Spe
~Nature: Bold (+Atk -SpA) ~Ability: Levitate
- Will-O-Wisp / Pain Split / Shadow Ball / Taunt
Missy is one of my favorite Pokemon to use in NU, it's insane how much disruption this cute little ghost can cause. Taunt and Will-O-Wisp by themselves can shut down a lot of Pokemon and prove to be extremely annoying for teams to deal with. Missy forces a lot of switches as well and makes great use of Stealth Rock and Spikes, while also keeping mine up on my opponent's side of the field thanks to Missy's Ghost-typing. Although Rapid Spinners aren't very common anymore, its always better to be safe than sorry and Missy is not on this team just to block Rapid Spin. Its amazing bulk and typing with Levitate make it a hard counter to Pokemon such as Pinsir and Sawk while its stallbreaking capabilities are excellent. Shadow Ball hits decently hard off Missy's base 85 Special Attack prevents Pokemon such as SubCM Gardevoir from attempting to set up it. Pain Split rounds out the set by giving Missy some recovery outside of Alomomola's Wish and makes it very difficult to take down. Even so, Wish support is awesome as Pain Split isn't the most reliable recovery and lets Missy keep switching into Pokemon to start disrupting teams. Musharna provides Heal Bell support to Misdreavus so that it's not the end of the world if it switches into a Toxic. Between Misdreavus, Musharna, and Alomomola I have any variant of Sawk completely covered, which is awesome.
EVs: 40 Speed EVs allow Misdreavus to outspeed Adamant Rampardos and everything under which includes Torterra, Garbodor, and opposing Misdreavus. By now you should have noticed that yes, I really do speed creep even when playing stall. 248 HP and 220 Def for maximum physical bulk, you get this by now.
EVs: 40 Speed EVs allow Misdreavus to outspeed Adamant Rampardos and everything under which includes Torterra, Garbodor, and opposing Misdreavus. By now you should have noticed that yes, I really do speed creep even when playing stall. 248 HP and 220 Def for maximum physical bulk, you get this by now.
"Kokoro-chan" The Alomomola ---Pivot & Wish Passer
@ Leftovers
~EVs: 100 HP / 228 Def / 156 SpD / 24 Spe
~Nature: Impish (+Def -SpA) ~Ability: Regenerator
- Wish / Protect / Waterfall / Toxic
Even though Emboar moved onto RU, Alomomola is still very good as its one of the most physically bulky Pokemon in the tier and can aptly beat Pokemon like Golurk, Golem, Samurott, Rapidash, and Kangaskhan one on one. Alomomola is also an excellent user of Wish and thanks to its massive 496 HP, it passes on 248 HP Wishes to my other Pokemon. Since my team is primarily composed of NFEs who have naturally low base HP stats, passing on a Wish of this magnitude to them is almost like giving them a full recovery. Thanks to Regenerator Alomomola also becomes an excellent pivot as it can just come into to scout and then switch out without many consequences due to Regen healing 33% upon switching out. Between Toxic, Wish, and Protect Alomomola is capable of stalling out a ton of Pokemon and can even beat Swords Dance Samurott this way. Even though Alomomola's base Special Defense is quite low, with massive HP of hers it actually doesn't take some special attacks too badly. It can come into annoying Pokemon like Charizard and start Wish passing to Zweilous or scout the attack and Regenerator out.
EVs:24 Speed EVs allow Alomomola to outspeed Golurk so it can hit it with Waterfalls before it can do anything or even get off a Wish faster. Remaining EVs give Alomomola an optimal spread for taking physical hits and some resisted special attacks.
EVs:24 Speed EVs allow Alomomola to outspeed Golurk so it can hit it with Waterfalls before it can do anything or even get off a Wish faster. Remaining EVs give Alomomola an optimal spread for taking physical hits and some resisted special attacks.
"Wretched Egg" The Musharna ---Heal Bell User & Setup Swepper
@ Leftovers
~EVs: 240 HP / 52 Def / 216 SpD
~Nature: Calm (+SpA -Atk) ~Ability: Synchronize
- Calm Mind / Moonlight / Psychic / Heal Bell
Musharna is one of the bulkiest Pokemon in the tier and with access to Heal Bell, it makes a perfect addition to my team. While other stall teams would just concentrate on winning with just damage from hazards, Calm Mind Musharna brings another win condition to the table while at the same time providing a powerful pivot for many situations. Musharna's bulk allows it to tank hits from dangerous Pokemon such as Sawk, Gurdurr, Sawsbuck, and Kangaskhan while being able to set up on common walls like Alomomola, Roselia, and Garbodor. Heal Bell means that not only can it support the team by removing status but also use it for itself to prepare for a sweep. Without having to worry as much about status, Pokemon such as Probopass, Seismitoad, Alomomola, Piloswine, and so on are easy targets for setting up Musharna on. Musharna is Zweilous's partner in crime as Musharna can come in and take a possibly Close Combat or Ice Punch from the likes of Sawk or even Heal Bell to wake up Zweilous when I desperately need it awake. Since Mushy has Psychic as its only attack it highly appreciates Zwei phazing around the enemy team to weaken Psychic-type resists and immunities like Skuntank, Bastiodon, and Metang.
EVs: 240 HP gives Musharna a Leftovers number while the rest give Musharna the most bulk as possible. A specially defensive spread is chosen to stand up to allow Musharna to pivot around some of the special attacking Pokemon in the tier.
EVs: 240 HP gives Musharna a Leftovers number while the rest give Musharna the most bulk as possible. A specially defensive spread is chosen to stand up to allow Musharna to pivot around some of the special attacking Pokemon in the tier.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tuxedo Mask (Roselia) (M) @ Eviolite
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 236 SDef / 24 Spd
Calm Nature
- Spikes
- Synthesis
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
Tsuna (Metang) @ Eviolite
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 244 HP / 236 Def / 28 Spd
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Meteor Mash
- Toxic
- Psych Up
Kokoro-chan (Alomomola) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 236 Def / 24 Spd
Impish Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Waterfall
- Toxic
Alice (Misdreavus) (F) @ Eviolite
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 220 Def / 40 Spd
Bold Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
- Shadow Ball
- Taunt
Echo (Zweilous) (F) @ Eviolite
Trait: Hustle
EVs: 248 HP / 196 SDef / 64 Spd
Careful Nature
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Roar
- Dragon Tail
Wretched Egg (Musharna) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Synchronize
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 16 SDef
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Moonlight
- Psychic
- Heal Bell
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 236 SDef / 24 Spd
Calm Nature
- Spikes
- Synthesis
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
Tsuna (Metang) @ Eviolite
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 244 HP / 236 Def / 28 Spd
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Meteor Mash
- Toxic
- Psych Up
Kokoro-chan (Alomomola) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 236 Def / 24 Spd
Impish Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Waterfall
- Toxic
Alice (Misdreavus) (F) @ Eviolite
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 220 Def / 40 Spd
Bold Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
- Shadow Ball
- Taunt
Echo (Zweilous) (F) @ Eviolite
Trait: Hustle
EVs: 248 HP / 196 SDef / 64 Spd
Careful Nature
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Roar
- Dragon Tail
Wretched Egg (Musharna) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Synchronize
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 16 SDef
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Moonlight
- Psychic
- Heal Bell
