OU Stall/Sweep team

[Artemesis]

Introduction

I have been playing around with stall teams and sweeping teams, but i have never really liked any of them. So i decided to make a team that can stall and yet set up to sweep if stalling dont work, or vise versa. I have been tweaking this team for a couple of days so it should be decent. However im new to team building so id like some tips.

The Team:

Azelf --- Forretress --- Latias --- Snorlax --- Rotom-H --- Gyarados

In depth

Azelf @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Atk/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Stealth Rock
- Explosion
- Flamethrower
- Taunt
---

The good old Azelf lead, i think it serves this team well, it can stop most leads from setting up with taunt and set up its own rocks. This lead works fine for the most part but when i see an Infernape or Aerodactyl i switch to a counter. I have a bit problem with Ttar and Hippodawn aswell since that means my sash will be useless. Between psychic and fire blast i found that fire blast have served me best on this team. In addition to a good lead this is a great switch in later in the game if i need to take out a threat with either explosion or fire blast.

Forretress (M) @ Shed Shell
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP/112 Atk/144 Def
IV: 0Spe
Relaxed nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Explosion
- Payback
---

I wanted a spiker that could use rapid spin aswell and Forretress does that awell as contributes to the team with good physical defence and can explode on sweepers that try to set up when im spiking. In addition Payback is awesome for ghost switch ins. If i want to stall this is the most importaint pokemon so i have to keep him alive by switching into counters when my opponent try to use fire attacks. I used Leftovers but when i meet teams with Magnezone its just too big a loss so i decided to use Shed Shell instead.

Latias (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/184 Spd/72 SDef
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Dragon Pulse
- Recover
- Hidden Power [Fire]
---

Latias is a good counter to almost any pokemon switching in on Forretress, it can also calm mind and recover to stall, even after one CM i survive ice beams with more than half my health left so i can keep calm minding and maybe even sweep. With HP fire i can KO most steel types that switch into me, and dragon pulse always KO's salamence after SR damage (i havent tried without cause i usually have SR up) If i get enough CM i can sweep very effectivly with it aswell. I tried using wish on Latias but altough it looked good on paper it didnt work out in practice as it took too long when i didnt plan on switching, so i decided to go with Recover.

Snorlax (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 SDef
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Crunch
- Body Slam
- Earthquake
- Selfdestruct
---

Snorlax is a great special wall that can take on allmost any special attackers, especially ghost pokemon that dont fear anything but then are KOed by Crunch. Snorlax can destroy many sweepers with body slam to paralyse them and then switch in to a counter or just take them on with Snorlax himself. I can do much damage with this set without fear of damage from special moves unless a pokemon with fighting moves come in, in which case i switch to either Forretress or Rotom-H.

Rotom-h @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/168 Def/88 Spd
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
- Overheat
- Will-o-wisp
---

Rotom-H is great to stop the opponent from spinning away my spikes. It can also make a quick work of Gyarados even after a DD. WOW is good for physical sweepers threatening with pursuit. Overheat is good for Scizor and other steels, but they usually switch out so i tend to just thunderbolt them and hope for a switch. I can take out slow ghost pokemon with shadow ball but when im faced with faster pokes like gangar i switch and let snorlax deal with them.

Gyarados (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/4 SDef
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Waterfall
- Dragon Dance
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
---

A rest talk Gyarados is great for my team, it resist most of the attacks directed at Forretress and is a good end game sweeper. Gyarados is weak to SR, but Forretress is usually able to get rid of the spikes before i send in Gyara. This set is really effective with spikes, i switch to Gyarados on resisted moves and set up dd and rest talk my way through the opponent team. I can switch to Gyara if i fear a sleep so i at least can use sleep talk and keep the opponent from setting up on me.

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My tactic changes after the opponents team, if i see i can sweep just fine i do that and if not ill try to set spikes and stall.


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Hope you enjoied this team, please tell me if i did anything wrong so i can correct it. (this is my first RMT)

 

[MrIndigo]

You should run Payback over Gyro Ball on Forretress, and Spikes over Toxic Spikes. Toxic Spikes are not all that useful in OU due to all the flyers/levitators and Steel types, so the only teams that use them are generally those that have setup sweepers which are foiled by Bulky Waters or Blissey. Payback is because you want to deal with the Rotom switch-ins.

 

[Smith]

Your Forretress has a 0 IV in speed, I hope. You didn't have it listed so I thought I'd mention it. Also, make sure all your pure special attackers have an attack IV of 0, for minimal damage during confusion.

Have you considered a Rest talk Gyrados? I find his ability to sweep and stall a perfect match for your team. I'd urge you to try the following set:
252 HP, 252 Def, 4 Atk Impish
-Rest
-Sleep Talk
-Dragon Dance
-Waterfall
With Intimidate, his physical defensive prowess is slightly surprising.

I'd second the motion to MrIndigo's post- Toxic Spikes in OU are not that amazing.

I love the Snorlax you're using- it's like an offensive Blissey. However, given that I just suggested a Resttalk gyrados, a different set might be better. If you were to take my suggestion about Gyrados, then I would alter Snorlax's set.
4 HP/ 252 Atk/ 252 SpDef
-Body Slam
-Selfdestruct
-Earthquake
-Crunch
Because most special attackers have higher spdef than def, a wall that obliterates things physically would be ideal. I would only change the set if you change Gyra's as well.

On Azelf, I'd run Flamethrower. Anything that you would decide to use it against (Scizor, Skarmory, Forretres) would still be obliterated by it, and the change of missing could be catastrohpic, espiecally against Scizor, who could Uturn or Pursuit.

That's it. Great team. :D

 

[Artemesis]

Thanks for suggestions, i made some changes based on them.

 

[jc104]

In response to an above post: I'd never thought about giving special aweepers an attack IV of zero (or close to zero for hidden power.) Obviously it is always going to be situational, but I suppose it carries few drawbacks. One equally situational point, however, is that it also weakens the power of your struggle! In your case however you are more likely to be confused than struggling, so this is in fact a good suggestion (for choiced sweepers this might be different)

 

[Iconic]

Howdy there!

This is a nice concept for a team, but I have a few suggestions. Firstly, I don't think your team benefits much from Azelf lead. Azelf is an excellent suicide lead for Offensive Teams who need to get up Stealth Rock fast, and want to shut down opposing Stealth Rockers. Seeing as you already have Forry to spin away potential hazards, I don't think a fast Taunter with SR will help your team significantly. To keep with the idea of a Stall/Sweep team, which in itself is hard to pull off due to its contradictory nature, I'd like to recommend a Swampert lead.

Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP/6 Atk/252 Def
Relaxed nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- Surf/Protect
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam

Swampert is one of the sturdiest leads you can come by, and would thus fit nicely on your team. It helps deal with your slight Tyranitar weakness, as Latias and Rotom are potential baits for Pursuit. You're still able to set up necessary Stealth Rock with this set, while also keeping a strong defensive base, since you might be needing Swampert later in the game. Surf is recommended over Protect, since you already have Rotom-H to take Explosions. However, if you wish to ease predictions, by all means use Protect (just don't be careless with it)!

With no Leftovers on Forretress, and Swampert and Rotom having no recovery, you could really benefit from Wish support. You can attempt this by either using Wish on Latias, or by substituting Snorlax for Wish Bliss. The choice is up to you, since using Blissey would be turning your team into an almost full-fledged Stall Team, which might not be what you're looking for. A Latias such as this might be more of what you want:

Latias @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
252 HP/6 Sp.Atk/252 Spd
Timid nature (+Spd, - Atk)
- Wish
- Dragon Pulse
- Reflect
- Hidden Power Fire / Reflect / Toxic

Again, this is entirely dependent on what you want. This Latias still has the ability to deal a respectable amount of damage, but nowhere near as much as a Calm Mind version. If you want to stick with an Offensive Latias, then a standard Wish Bliss should be considered over Snorlax.

Anyways just my two cents. Good luck with your team!

 

[Setsuna]

Hey, as a first note let me tell you that with the current status of the team you aren't running stall, I would prefer to classify it like "an attempt to be a stall". But well, from now I have some good ideas that will probably make this team more efficient ;)

First thing, your lead. Azelf isn't a lead for a stall team, at least not this offensive variant, instead I would start the show with Swampert, this set specifically:

Swampert @ Leftovers
Relaxed nature.
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Roar

If you look at the team's synergy you'll see Dark and Ghost types hitting you hard, so replacing Azelf with this so strong wall and splendid lead will just make start the things better for you. I don't think I have to explain how the poke works, but if that's not the case just let me know it.

Second, the team isn't like needing Rapid Spin that much, only Gyarados gets benefits from it, so I'll make another suggestion for this spot:

Skarmory @ Shed Shell
Impish nature.
EVs: 252 HP / 64 Atk / 176 Def / 16 Spd
- Brave Bird
- Spikes
- Whirlwind
- Roost

Keep in mind that Forretress is a pure-stall pokemon, or at least someone that you should hardly analyze before deciding if use it or not, and like I said before this team isn't acting like one. And that is why I am suggesting Skarmory, a pokemon able to take out such big threats like DD Tyranitar and Agility Metagross (for example), and also paired with Swampert make a good combo covering their weaknesses each other.
Also remember that Explosion is never a good idea in this type of teams, because the fact of loosing one member that brings support for the rest of the party could mean less effectiveness in general, and that's definitely bad.

Latias: I don't understand why does she have 72 special defense effort values when we are talking about a 130 stat base that uses Calm Mind, so I'd rather move them to SpA or HP.

Snorlax: Self-destruction now?? xddd. why not CurseLax? I see it working decently well here, you could give it a try. Here is the set:

Careful nature.
EVs: 168 HP / 120 Def / 220 SpD
- Body Slam
- Fire Punch
- Curse
- Rest

Pokemons like Starmie and Gengar are sometimes troublesome for this kind of teams, and a good special sponge like Snorlax means one or maybe two Curses in front of them (in the case of the last one if is not carrying Focus Blast). Not too much to add here, Fire Punch catches those pesky Scizors in the change so a well timed prediction could be awesome for this set success.

Rotom-h: I would strongly recommend the use of a Scarf set.
(Opinion) Having Swampert and Skarmory Rotom doesn't have to be so defensive but tricky. And before the suggestions I made, the best way you had at dealing with CM Suicune was exploding directly on it. Right now Suicune cannot set up on any of your mons which is great, but in addition Scarfing Rotom can be a second option if that unprovable moment gets to happen, I'm talking about this:

Rotom-h @ Choice Scarf
Timid nature.
EVs: 200 HP / 252 Spd / 56 SpA
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
- Overheat
- Trick

Simple use, its purpose is to work as a potential answer against threats like SD Lucario, CM Cune, SD Scizor... Rotom is like the revenge killer for those things.

For Gyarados I have no recommendations more than Roar instead of Dragon Dance, but that's just another aspect to consider while talking of effectiveness.

I have tried to not twist the team too much, but I felt that the changes that I made were necessaries or at least to put in consideration.

Hope to have helped and good luck.

 

[yond]

Something that really bugs your team is DD gyarados. It can just switch in to your gyara and get a DD possibly two up.

To deal with this problem its simple, ditch calm mind latias.

Instead run this set.

Latias @ choice scarf
timid / levitate
252 spA / 252 spe / 4 hp
-Draco Metoer
-Thunderbolt
-Surf / hp fire
-Trick / hp fire

This will give you one of the fastest pokes in the game and can help your team take care of DD mence and Gyara with ease

Also on gyarados scratch dd and give him roar. you need a phazer.

Lastly on snorlax give him pursuit over crunch so you can kill latias rotom and starmie. Also instead of leftovers use choiceband and give him an adamnt nature.

This will help you come in on specials and kill with pursuit even if theys witch