[SET]
name: Stallbreaker
move 1: Taunt
move 2: Will-O-Wisp
move 3: Drain Punch
move 4: Stone Edge / Night Slash
item: Leftovers
ability: Steadfast
nature: Adamant
evs: 72 HP / 248 Atk / 188 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
<p>Bulk Up and Swords Dance Gallade have issues with Pokemon such as Qwilfish, Gligar, and Quagsire. This Gallade can get past all of them with the combination of Taunt + Will-O-Wisp, while also being an effective stallbreaker. Taunt shuts down non-attacking moves, and Will-O-Wisp halves the victim's physical attacking power. It helps that Gallade has a naturally high Special Defense stat, so it doesn't have to do anything to tank special hits well. Drain Punch helps Gallade recover health, while Stone Edge is for coverage. Drain Punch and Stone Edge have almost perfect coverage in RU, only missing out on Claydol, Golurk, and Gallade—who all hate Taunt and Will-O-Wisp. It's also useful to note that Stone Edge hits most Pokemon immune to burn, such as Moltres, Entei, and Guts Swellow, super effectively. If you're concerned about Psychic- and Ghost-types, Night Slash can be used to hit them harder than Stone Edge.</p>
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
<p>If the targets you need to Taunt or Will-O-Wisp against are faster than Gallade, this set wouldn't be nearly as effective. As such, using 188 Speed EVs is recommended as it allows Gallade to outspeed all common Qwilfish, Adamant Honchkrow, and minimum Speed Miltank. If you don't mind failing to outspeed some threats and would rather put the Speed EVs in bulk, a bulkier spread of 204 HP / 248 Atk / 56 EVs is effective. Substitute can fool the opponent into thinking that Gallade is the Bulk Up variant, and then they end up having their Gallade check crippled. Drain Punch isn't the strongest of moves, so Close Combat can be used to deal more damage. Unfortunately, Close Combat ruins Gallade's bulk thanks to the defense drops, and it doesn't provide the useful recovery that Drain Punch gives. Thunder Wave and Toxic can be used over Will-O-Wisp as a status move, but Will-O-Wisp is more threatening to most of Gallade's checks.</p>
<p>As for partners for Gallade, like always, Ghost-types such as Dusknoir and Cofagrigus give it trouble. Drapion and Spiritomb are great at getting rid of these Ghost-types with Pursuit and can also get rid of Psychic-types which can be annoying to Night Slash-less Gallade. If status manages to contact Gallade, it's severely crippled no matter which status it is, therefore clerics such as Lickilicky and Clefable are helpful. They also happen to synergize well with Gallade, and Lickilicky's Wish can come in handy too.</p>




























