Hi everyone! After using this team for laddering during the last weeks and because of the interest of many watchers and foes to know about it, I've decided to introduce my favourite mons via RMT.
I've always enjoyed with defensive and stall builts because they are the ones that always give me better results. However, stall has lost too many members to be played the way it was done gen 7. Because of that I've done several twists to my primal Toxic Stall team to fullfill the team with surprises. With no more delay, let's introduce you my fav mons.
My Fav Hippo (Hippowdon) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Whirlwind
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Slack Off
Yea my fav hippo is a must in many of my teams. In my opinion is one of the best defensive rock setter together with Seismitoad. I like the pressure he puts in on pokemon like Excadrill or Bisharp, that can severely damage other members. It is an answer against set up sweepers and sub-set up sweepers, huge threats for my team. Hippo is my only dedicated special wall, but still can stomach physical damage due to the investment in HP and natural bulk.
My Fav Echinoderm (Toxapex) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Toxic
- Baneful Bunker
- Recover
The coral destroyer Alolan monster repeats in Galar and ofc it is in my team. This set of Toxapex CAN deal with zeraora 1v1, which is a thing you should keep in your mind. The key of course is Baneful Bunker here. Let's put in an important calc:
252 Atk Life Orb Zeraora Plasma Fists vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex: 205-244 (67.4 - 80.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
So if you start the 1v1 battle with Baneful Bunker and the Zeraora goes into it, it starts losing 12% HP. So you can stall him with Recover and Baneful to death due to the recoil damage of LO. However, if you keep members like Ferro or Hippo you can try Toxic, which is safer in case we are facing a Bulk Up set.
I recommend you to hide either Toxic or Baneful all the time you can because finding both on the Pex is not that common right now and you can catch some oppos off guard ( many U-Turn users hit my Bunker by surprise).
Be aware of Sub Set up sweepers which are around the meta all the time because they can set up into Pex with no fear and sweep the full team as we are not using Haze on this set.
My Fav Plant (Ferrothorn) @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Knock Off
- Body Press
- Leech Seed
- Iron Defense
My steel plant full of barbs is here too to complete the structural defensive core of the team together with Hippo and Pex. Again we go into a fully Phys Defensive set with some interesting things to detail. Apart from Leech and Knock off, which are standard and mandatory in Ferro, I opted for Body Press, a move which is raising popularity not only in Corvi but also in Ferro. We have to take into account that hitting with 397 points of "Atk" is always an option to consider for building this Poke moveset. With Body Press we literally Pressure other Ferros which otherwise can fill the team with Hazards ( I will talk about Hazards and Deffogers later on the Thread); and we also beat Excadrill and Bisharp as fast as possible, as both are very dangerous for the team. The last slot is for Iron Defense. I have tried almost anything here, including 3 Steel Attacks with no success because I can't threat Clefable with this Poke. So I focused on using Iron Defense on predicted switches (oppos already with the item Knock Outed which are re-sent to field) or to win set up wars against Phys Pokes (Bulk Up Corvi deserves a special mention here because you can threat Subs with a strong Body Press so you can stop the bird in conjuction with Leech Seed).
After introducing the Defensive Core of the team, let's be a little more offensive now.
My Fav Transformer (Ditto) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Imposter
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 0 Spe
- Transform
Nothing much to say about the Pink Transformer. Using those IVs to win Ditto wars in theory, a battle that has never hapenned to me during the 17 years I've been playing Pokemon. Ditto tries to be an scape option to punish sweepers and revenge killing mons.
My Fav Pixie (Clefable) @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 120 HP / 252 SpA / 136 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Flamethrower
- Calm Mind
- Soft-Boiled
This is when things become interesting. When your oppos are all prepared to a Defensive Cleff and you start sending Moonblasts like there's no tomorrow. Or you OHKO unprepared Ferros with Fire. This set outspeeds Conk and most of Clef and Corvi sets. Calm Mind is a response to the strong Special Attackers which can attempt to OHKO or heavily damage Cleff so the boost in Sp. Def protects you a bit while you respond with a very very powerful attack. This set CAN'T beat Toxapex if it carries Haze and Pex wins PP war, as after testing I decided dropping a coverage move for him. Be aware of Iron Head Corvi as, although you beat him in 1v1, you lose a lot of health in the process.
My Fav Lizard (Salazzle) (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Corrosion
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic
- Nasty Plot
- Flamethrower
- Sludge Wave
I have to admit, finding a 6th member for my team was HARD. Corvi, unaware Quagsire and Hatterene have been here, but they were not what I was looking for. So for introducing Salazzle I want to make a little comparison between 2 fire mons:
What makes Cinderance strong?? Awesome Utility moves in U-turn and Court while keeping strong offensive moves.
So here I attempted to make my own Cinderance but on the Special Side. While she can poison all with Toxic, she can get free set up opportunities in Nasty Plot with the conjuction of 2 STAB strong moves. I want you to evaluate her raw power and boosted as well with some calcs:
252+ SpA Salazzle Sludge Wave vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Hydreigon: 166-196 (51 - 60.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO. Pretty easy to bring him down to that HP range with Hippo Sand, Rocks and Recoil Damage of LO.
252+ SpA Salazzle Sludge Wave vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Dragapult: 96-114 (30.2 - 35.9%) -- 40% chance to 3HKO. Solid damage for being a switch-in.
252+ SpA Salazzle Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Corviknight: 284-336 (71 - 84%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252+ SpA Salazzle Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Toxapex: 130-153 (42.7 - 50.3%) -- 44.1% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Black Sludge recovery. The Pex cannot enter happily if it is boosted.
+2 252+ SpA Salazzle Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Seismitoad: 222-262 (53.6 - 63.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery. Same for Toad.
She hits all fairies pretty solid so I got a check to Cleff, Sylveon and not-scarfed Togekiss
I opted for a Modest Nature in a pre HOME meta, but now some pokes (Keldeo, Terrakion) are now into the range between Modest and Timid. I guess Timid is an option but for me raw power is OK. Boots is the item preferred as she wants to get in and out quite frequently because of her inexistent bulk.
Until here, the analysis of the team. Let's answer some built-up interrogants:
Why not using more hazards like in other Defensive/Stall teams?
In my opinion now the rise of strong Hazard removals like Cinderance or Corviknight, which are present in most of the teams, nullify the hazard abuse, so I opted for more dedicated sets into both offense and defense, finding other ways to deal damage.
If your statement above is correct, where is your Deffoger/spinner?
After testing Corviknight, I saw that the moments when I really wanted to Defog were few as many of my pokes do not suffer hazard damage (Cleff/Salazzle) or they almost don't care about ( the rest of the team). However, If I see that an oppo wants to stack hazards I opt for killing that mon instead of removing the trap. That's my approach with the team.
Threats
Despite my sucess with the team, it has a million of flaws and weak spots. Some of them have been mitigated with dedicated sets and strategies. Others... I guess no team is perfect.
-Set up sweepers. Special mentions to Hydregion ( if he NP only Ditto and to some extent Hippo can save you), or Kommo-o, which any set apart from defensive can be dangerous.
-Ground types. No ground inmunity and 2 pokes weak to Ground. Dugtrio users have an orgasm when they see this. Still, we can deal with Duggy with Ditto and keeping Salazzle safe on her pokeball. Or trying mind games to make duggy in while we sent an appropiate response. Up to you.
-Specs Aegislash. That thing is a Monster. Almost impossible to deal without trading mons. It puts a lot of pressure on Ditto and Salazzle because without them he sweeps us clicking Shadow Ball.
-Rotom Forms. Few ways of damaging them while they spread status, Tricks and Nasty Plots. Ditto and Salazzle again can help. Sometimes toxa takes the trade here by poisoning the rotoms but receiving a good hit in response.
-Calm Mind Magic Guard users. Mainly Clefable. We have to deal with him fast or give ourselves a break using Hippo's Whirlwind.
Proof of the Peak
Thank you for those who read this. Any opinion would be accepted for me and sorry if my English is not completely accurate (I'm Spanish what did you expect lol). Enjoy and see you around.
I've always enjoyed with defensive and stall builts because they are the ones that always give me better results. However, stall has lost too many members to be played the way it was done gen 7. Because of that I've done several twists to my primal Toxic Stall team to fullfill the team with surprises. With no more delay, let's introduce you my fav mons.
My Fav Hippo (Hippowdon) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Whirlwind
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Slack Off
Yea my fav hippo is a must in many of my teams. In my opinion is one of the best defensive rock setter together with Seismitoad. I like the pressure he puts in on pokemon like Excadrill or Bisharp, that can severely damage other members. It is an answer against set up sweepers and sub-set up sweepers, huge threats for my team. Hippo is my only dedicated special wall, but still can stomach physical damage due to the investment in HP and natural bulk.
My Fav Echinoderm (Toxapex) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Toxic
- Baneful Bunker
- Recover
The coral destroyer Alolan monster repeats in Galar and ofc it is in my team. This set of Toxapex CAN deal with zeraora 1v1, which is a thing you should keep in your mind. The key of course is Baneful Bunker here. Let's put in an important calc:
252 Atk Life Orb Zeraora Plasma Fists vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex: 205-244 (67.4 - 80.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
So if you start the 1v1 battle with Baneful Bunker and the Zeraora goes into it, it starts losing 12% HP. So you can stall him with Recover and Baneful to death due to the recoil damage of LO. However, if you keep members like Ferro or Hippo you can try Toxic, which is safer in case we are facing a Bulk Up set.
I recommend you to hide either Toxic or Baneful all the time you can because finding both on the Pex is not that common right now and you can catch some oppos off guard ( many U-Turn users hit my Bunker by surprise).
Be aware of Sub Set up sweepers which are around the meta all the time because they can set up into Pex with no fear and sweep the full team as we are not using Haze on this set.
My Fav Plant (Ferrothorn) @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Knock Off
- Body Press
- Leech Seed
- Iron Defense
My steel plant full of barbs is here too to complete the structural defensive core of the team together with Hippo and Pex. Again we go into a fully Phys Defensive set with some interesting things to detail. Apart from Leech and Knock off, which are standard and mandatory in Ferro, I opted for Body Press, a move which is raising popularity not only in Corvi but also in Ferro. We have to take into account that hitting with 397 points of "Atk" is always an option to consider for building this Poke moveset. With Body Press we literally Pressure other Ferros which otherwise can fill the team with Hazards ( I will talk about Hazards and Deffogers later on the Thread); and we also beat Excadrill and Bisharp as fast as possible, as both are very dangerous for the team. The last slot is for Iron Defense. I have tried almost anything here, including 3 Steel Attacks with no success because I can't threat Clefable with this Poke. So I focused on using Iron Defense on predicted switches (oppos already with the item Knock Outed which are re-sent to field) or to win set up wars against Phys Pokes (Bulk Up Corvi deserves a special mention here because you can threat Subs with a strong Body Press so you can stop the bird in conjuction with Leech Seed).
After introducing the Defensive Core of the team, let's be a little more offensive now.
My Fav Transformer (Ditto) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Imposter
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 0 Spe
- Transform
Nothing much to say about the Pink Transformer. Using those IVs to win Ditto wars in theory, a battle that has never hapenned to me during the 17 years I've been playing Pokemon. Ditto tries to be an scape option to punish sweepers and revenge killing mons.
My Fav Pixie (Clefable) @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 120 HP / 252 SpA / 136 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Flamethrower
- Calm Mind
- Soft-Boiled
This is when things become interesting. When your oppos are all prepared to a Defensive Cleff and you start sending Moonblasts like there's no tomorrow. Or you OHKO unprepared Ferros with Fire. This set outspeeds Conk and most of Clef and Corvi sets. Calm Mind is a response to the strong Special Attackers which can attempt to OHKO or heavily damage Cleff so the boost in Sp. Def protects you a bit while you respond with a very very powerful attack. This set CAN'T beat Toxapex if it carries Haze and Pex wins PP war, as after testing I decided dropping a coverage move for him. Be aware of Iron Head Corvi as, although you beat him in 1v1, you lose a lot of health in the process.
My Fav Lizard (Salazzle) (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Corrosion
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic
- Nasty Plot
- Flamethrower
- Sludge Wave
I have to admit, finding a 6th member for my team was HARD. Corvi, unaware Quagsire and Hatterene have been here, but they were not what I was looking for. So for introducing Salazzle I want to make a little comparison between 2 fire mons:
What makes Cinderance strong?? Awesome Utility moves in U-turn and Court while keeping strong offensive moves.
So here I attempted to make my own Cinderance but on the Special Side. While she can poison all with Toxic, she can get free set up opportunities in Nasty Plot with the conjuction of 2 STAB strong moves. I want you to evaluate her raw power and boosted as well with some calcs:
252+ SpA Salazzle Sludge Wave vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Hydreigon: 166-196 (51 - 60.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO. Pretty easy to bring him down to that HP range with Hippo Sand, Rocks and Recoil Damage of LO.
252+ SpA Salazzle Sludge Wave vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Dragapult: 96-114 (30.2 - 35.9%) -- 40% chance to 3HKO. Solid damage for being a switch-in.
252+ SpA Salazzle Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Corviknight: 284-336 (71 - 84%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252+ SpA Salazzle Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Toxapex: 130-153 (42.7 - 50.3%) -- 44.1% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Black Sludge recovery. The Pex cannot enter happily if it is boosted.
+2 252+ SpA Salazzle Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Seismitoad: 222-262 (53.6 - 63.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery. Same for Toad.
She hits all fairies pretty solid so I got a check to Cleff, Sylveon and not-scarfed Togekiss
I opted for a Modest Nature in a pre HOME meta, but now some pokes (Keldeo, Terrakion) are now into the range between Modest and Timid. I guess Timid is an option but for me raw power is OK. Boots is the item preferred as she wants to get in and out quite frequently because of her inexistent bulk.
Until here, the analysis of the team. Let's answer some built-up interrogants:
Why not using more hazards like in other Defensive/Stall teams?
In my opinion now the rise of strong Hazard removals like Cinderance or Corviknight, which are present in most of the teams, nullify the hazard abuse, so I opted for more dedicated sets into both offense and defense, finding other ways to deal damage.
If your statement above is correct, where is your Deffoger/spinner?
After testing Corviknight, I saw that the moments when I really wanted to Defog were few as many of my pokes do not suffer hazard damage (Cleff/Salazzle) or they almost don't care about ( the rest of the team). However, If I see that an oppo wants to stack hazards I opt for killing that mon instead of removing the trap. That's my approach with the team.
Threats
Despite my sucess with the team, it has a million of flaws and weak spots. Some of them have been mitigated with dedicated sets and strategies. Others... I guess no team is perfect.
-Set up sweepers. Special mentions to Hydregion ( if he NP only Ditto and to some extent Hippo can save you), or Kommo-o, which any set apart from defensive can be dangerous.
-Ground types. No ground inmunity and 2 pokes weak to Ground. Dugtrio users have an orgasm when they see this. Still, we can deal with Duggy with Ditto and keeping Salazzle safe on her pokeball. Or trying mind games to make duggy in while we sent an appropiate response. Up to you.
-Specs Aegislash. That thing is a Monster. Almost impossible to deal without trading mons. It puts a lot of pressure on Ditto and Salazzle because without them he sweeps us clicking Shadow Ball.
-Rotom Forms. Few ways of damaging them while they spread status, Tricks and Nasty Plots. Ditto and Salazzle again can help. Sometimes toxa takes the trade here by poisoning the rotoms but receiving a good hit in response.
-Calm Mind Magic Guard users. Mainly Clefable. We have to deal with him fast or give ourselves a break using Hippo's Whirlwind.
Proof of the Peak
Thank you for those who read this. Any opinion would be accepted for me and sorry if my English is not completely accurate (I'm Spanish what did you expect lol). Enjoy and see you around.
