Like the title suggests, I'm learning how to stall. I'm a very aggro player at heart all of my teams are very, very aggro. My biggest problem has been defeating stall teams, so I decided to try to learn stall. My hope is that if I learn how to play stall, then I will be better prepared to defeat stall. Here's what I've come up with.
.......
This isn't really your typical stall team as you can see. I don't utilize Toxic Spikes, I don't have a spin blocker, I don't have a spinner, and I have some offensive elements. With all that said, this team has been fairly effective for me. I don't really keep track of my record, but it really isn't important anyway. I'm not here to brag, I'm here for help. Let's take a closer look.
Hippowdon (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP/4 Atk/252 Def
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Slack Off
- Roar
- Earthquake
Hippowdon is a pretty standard lead for a stall team. He sets Sandstorm up ASAP which is the first part of my residual damage. He also sets up Stealth Rock on the first turn which helps me start racking up damage. He counters physical threats and phazes Pokemon out with Roar. The EVs allow me to be as physically bulky as possible.
Skarmory (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Keen Eye
EVs: 252 HP/200 Def/56 SDef
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Spikes
- Whirlwind
- Roost
- Brave Bird
Skarmory sets up the third and final part of my residual damage; Spikes. Skarm makes a great switch in to Scizor and many other physical threats and sets up Spikes with ease while staying healthy with Roost. Skarmory has a lot of great resistances to abuse them, I gave him some special defense EVs which works well in conjunction with the Light Screen that Cresselia sets up. I also opted for Leftovers over Shed Shell. Losing Skarmory to a Magnezone always sucks, but I'll take my chances with the extra recovery. I always Whirlwind the first turn that I send Skarmory out so I can scout for Magnezone. I'm thinking about running a Taunt Skarmory here. I have a problem with other stall teams and I've had Taunt Skarmory used against me with great success.
Vaporeon (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 188 HP/252 Def/68 SAtk
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Wish
- Protect
- Surf
- Hidden Power [Electric]
I really love Vaporeon. Once I get my entry hazards down, I can completely stall people out with Vaporeon. Vaporeon also provides some much appreciated Wish support for my team which keeps Cresselia and Scizor healthy.
Cresselia (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/200 Def/56 SDef
Calm nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Light Screen
- Rest
- Ice Beam
- Psychic
Honestly, I'm not 100% why I'm using Cresselia. She is probably the Pokemon that I use least and is more than likey going to be replaced. I'm thinking about running a Cresselia set that utilizes Trick because Pokemon with Trick have been giving me problems and I would like to have something to counter that. Like I said, I'm not really sure why she is here. She's just bulky, I guess. She doesn't provide any real synergy for my team and is probably just a waste of space. She does however, set up a Light Screen which gives me relief from Special attackers for a few turns. Cresselia is also my status absorber, albeit not a very good one. Meh, I don't think Cresselia is a great option for this team.
Scizor (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 246 HP/252 Atk/12 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Pursuit
- Superpower
I use Scizor on my offensive team as a backbone for my defenses so I thought it would work pretty well on my stall team as well. I was right. Scizor switches into a myriad of threats and forces them to switch out for fear of Bullet Punch. I also wear down potential counters with U-turn which deals heavy damage when paired with Stealth Rock and Spikes. Bullet Punch lets me clean up my opponent in the late game as well if things start to fall apart.
Breloom (M) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 44 HP/252 Atk/212 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Substitute
- Leech Seed
- Focus Punch
- Spore
Breloom is probably another Pokemon that is a waste of space. I bring Breloom in mid/late game and let him do it's thing. Spore a slower opponent and then set up a Sub. Then I subseed which causes alot of switches and allows residual damage to accumulate. I'm thinking about changing Focus Punch to Mach Punch because late game Lucario really messes me up. If I keep Breloom on my team, that is.
Well, there's the team. I've been pretty successful so far, but I have noticed some problems which I will outline now.
- TheDude
.......
This isn't really your typical stall team as you can see. I don't utilize Toxic Spikes, I don't have a spin blocker, I don't have a spinner, and I have some offensive elements. With all that said, this team has been fairly effective for me. I don't really keep track of my record, but it really isn't important anyway. I'm not here to brag, I'm here for help. Let's take a closer look.
Hippowdon (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP/4 Atk/252 Def
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Slack Off
- Roar
- Earthquake
Hippowdon is a pretty standard lead for a stall team. He sets Sandstorm up ASAP which is the first part of my residual damage. He also sets up Stealth Rock on the first turn which helps me start racking up damage. He counters physical threats and phazes Pokemon out with Roar. The EVs allow me to be as physically bulky as possible.
Skarmory (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Keen Eye
EVs: 252 HP/200 Def/56 SDef
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Spikes
- Whirlwind
- Roost
- Brave Bird
Skarmory sets up the third and final part of my residual damage; Spikes. Skarm makes a great switch in to Scizor and many other physical threats and sets up Spikes with ease while staying healthy with Roost. Skarmory has a lot of great resistances to abuse them, I gave him some special defense EVs which works well in conjunction with the Light Screen that Cresselia sets up. I also opted for Leftovers over Shed Shell. Losing Skarmory to a Magnezone always sucks, but I'll take my chances with the extra recovery. I always Whirlwind the first turn that I send Skarmory out so I can scout for Magnezone. I'm thinking about running a Taunt Skarmory here. I have a problem with other stall teams and I've had Taunt Skarmory used against me with great success.
Vaporeon (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 188 HP/252 Def/68 SAtk
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Wish
- Protect
- Surf
- Hidden Power [Electric]
I really love Vaporeon. Once I get my entry hazards down, I can completely stall people out with Vaporeon. Vaporeon also provides some much appreciated Wish support for my team which keeps Cresselia and Scizor healthy.
Cresselia (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/200 Def/56 SDef
Calm nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Light Screen
- Rest
- Ice Beam
- Psychic
Honestly, I'm not 100% why I'm using Cresselia. She is probably the Pokemon that I use least and is more than likey going to be replaced. I'm thinking about running a Cresselia set that utilizes Trick because Pokemon with Trick have been giving me problems and I would like to have something to counter that. Like I said, I'm not really sure why she is here. She's just bulky, I guess. She doesn't provide any real synergy for my team and is probably just a waste of space. She does however, set up a Light Screen which gives me relief from Special attackers for a few turns. Cresselia is also my status absorber, albeit not a very good one. Meh, I don't think Cresselia is a great option for this team.
Scizor (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 246 HP/252 Atk/12 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Pursuit
- Superpower
I use Scizor on my offensive team as a backbone for my defenses so I thought it would work pretty well on my stall team as well. I was right. Scizor switches into a myriad of threats and forces them to switch out for fear of Bullet Punch. I also wear down potential counters with U-turn which deals heavy damage when paired with Stealth Rock and Spikes. Bullet Punch lets me clean up my opponent in the late game as well if things start to fall apart.
Breloom (M) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 44 HP/252 Atk/212 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Substitute
- Leech Seed
- Focus Punch
- Spore
Breloom is probably another Pokemon that is a waste of space. I bring Breloom in mid/late game and let him do it's thing. Spore a slower opponent and then set up a Sub. Then I subseed which causes alot of switches and allows residual damage to accumulate. I'm thinking about changing Focus Punch to Mach Punch because late game Lucario really messes me up. If I keep Breloom on my team, that is.
.......
Well, there's the team. I've been pretty successful so far, but I have noticed some problems which I will outline now.
- The last Pokemon tend to give me problems if Scizor is gone.
- Special attackers run straight through me if they aren't named Gengar
- Opposing stall teams are hard because I have no way to get rid of their residual damage and I can't prevent them from getting rid of mine.
- Taunt Skarmory, although quite rare, gives me problems. I lost to one earlier today when I was up 5-1 ._.
- TheDude
