Stall Team (OU)

[Chickensandwichk]

So I stopped playing a long time ago (back when Garchomp was still OU) and I always used to play more defensively and stall like so when I came back just last month to playing, I thought I'd try a true stall team. I realize this team is almost exactly like Obi's stall team in the sticky but I'm posting this RMT because I need help countering Pokemon such as Machamp, Heatran and Lucario but I'll get into that later. Team building is one thing I'm TERRIBLE at so any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Hippowdon (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP/168 Def/88 SDef
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Roar
- Slack Off
- Stealth Rock
---
Like I said before, I'm terrible at building teams so the EVs are standard. They work well. Anyway, I use Hippo to start off because I need the Sandstorm to be set up early to help put the pressure on. That 6% damage does a lot. EQ for STAB, Roar to phaze and hopefully rack up some early stealth rock damage, slack off so that I can continue to stall and stealth rocks for passive damage. Slack Off is great since I've played a lot of battles where it might come down to a special sweeper who can do 50%-60% damage in one attack but if I keep Slacking Off then I can stall them out and allow the Storm to kill them. I was thinking of maybe using Ice Fang since Salamence seems to be attracted to my leading Hippo but idk what move to take off or if it's even worth it.

Blissey (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 Def/80 SAtk/176 SDef
Calm nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Wish
- Toxic
- Ice Beam
- Protect
---

Standard WishBliss. I think this is more effective than a regular Bliss with Softboiled and Aroma since Toxic has saved me so many times against the likes of Latias and Zapdos who don't have Refresh and Sub. WishBliss helps to heal Tentacruel, the only Pokemon on the time that can't heal themself, and it also allows for easy switching at times. I thought about taking Protect off but the mass amount of Explosion users make think otherwise. Trick users always screw this girl over though so that's something I need help on but that might be more of a prediction thing and less of a team building thing. I use Ice Beam over Flamethrower because Rotom and Hippo can generally take care of the Steel types even Scizor.

Skarmory (M) @ Shed Shell
Ability: Keen Eye
EVs: 252 HP/64 Atk/176 Def/16 Spd
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Brave Bird
- Whirlwind
- Spikes
- Roost
---

The spikes user. Again, standard EVs and moveset but still an essential one to the team. I tried Drill Peck for a few battles since I wanted to preserve my Pokemon as long as I can and the damage is pathetic compared to BB. BB has also allowed me to beat Latias 1v1. Whirlwind for phazing and stopping anyone who may try to stat up but I've found that I hardly have time to blow anything away since any free turns Skarm gets is used getting spikes up and no a days, there's hardly a physical sweeper that Skarm can actually stay in on. I used to use Forrey but I find that Skarm's ability to Phaze if I can and to recover outclasses Forrey as long as I have another Pokemon who can spin and set up toxic spikes, which I do. Shed Shell so that Magnezone doesn't stop my set up early and leave me with no offense.



Rotom-h @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/208 Def/44 Spd
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Will-o-wisp
- Thunderbolt
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
---

My spin blocker. I decided to go with this move set because WoW is great for those steel types that are hard to rack up passive damage on as well as crippling Metagross and Scizor, Pokemon that I hardly have a problem with because of this. WoW also allows me to stall out Bronzong if it comes down to that. The main reason to use WoW though is so that I cna actually switch out of Tyranitar. Thunderbolt for STAB and it hits hard. I don't use Discharge because i use WoW. RestTalk allows me to reuse this guy and that's a valuable asset seeing how my team is very reliant on this guy.

Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP/220 Def/36 Spd
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Perish Song
- Grass Knot
- Heal Bell
- Recover
---
My team was Gyara weak so I added in Celebi. I was sketchy at using Perish Song at first but it is so awesome. It's another way to force a switch and it's really my only answer to Kingdra. Heal Bell allows me to wake Rotom up or heal anyone who may be intoxicated. I hardly ever use Grass Knot so I was thinking of replacing that with something but I'm not sure yet. I used to use Leech Seed over Recover but with so many hard hitters out there, I need an immediate way to heal. WishBliss can handle healing the team's HP anyway.

Tentacruel (M) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Liquid Ooze
EVs: 252 HP/120 Def/136 SDef
Calm nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Surf
- Toxic Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Knock Off
---
The last one of my Pokemon who set up as well as my spinner. Tentacruel is used over other spinners because Infernape rips my team apart. Surf is for so that I can attack once I'm done setting up although this guy hardly gets to attack at all. Toxic Spikes is to put the pressure on the enemy by poisoning everything although I hardly set them up since I usually have to send this guy out early and I don't want to use Toxic Spikes when they may have Heracross. Rapid Spin is there because I do a lot of switching and even just Stealth Rocks will tear me apart. Knock Off over another attack because Choice Band / Specs users are also trouble. I was thinking of finding another Infernape counter and another spinner cause Tenta seems to be the weak link of the team.


Main Threats:
Infernape - Even with Tenta, if they get Rocks up and if Tenta has sustained one attack, or if Nape uses Nasty Plot, then he can pretty much destroy my team. I either force him out with Tenta early on but then it's hard for Tenta to come repeatedly or he Plots, kills me with the Grass Knot and then eventually dies to LO and Sandstorm damage. Infernape can usually kill at least 1 of my guys.

Lucario - SD Lucarios that aren't leads could sweep my whole team. If I see a Luke lead, I have to EQ just for the change of killing it since Hippo is the only thing that has a chance of taking him on however, a boosted CC OHKOs Hippo I believe. Crunch and CC kills my entire team.

Machamp - If Machamp has Payback then it's hard to deal with him since the Fighting + Dark combo kills me. Dynamic Punch's confusion makes it so that Hippo can't effectively deal with Champ and everything else on my team is 2HKO'd by Payback or Punches. My only move is to send in Rotom on a punch and burn him but WoW may miss and if they see Rotom, they may predict my switch in.

Salamence - I was thinking of adding Ice Beam on Tenta to deal with him since the way I usually deal with them is by switching to Hippo while they dance, then Roar while they Outrage but then I lost a lot of HP. I rely on SR to deal with them and mixed ones are hard to deal with since I have to have them waste the Meteor on something but that will OHKO anything that isn't Blissey.

Heatran - Sub versions kill me. Tenta can only come in on a sub version once since the EP will do 30% meaning they can 3HKO me due to Sandstorm and SR. My Blissey can't do anything to them and I actually end up relying on my Hippo or Rotom to take these guys down but that isn't exactly a good switch in.

Trick - Trick cripples me. I can predict it fine but I just don't know what to switch in.



Well thanks for taking a look. Any advice is appreciated!

 

[Solidus]

You probably don't need Ice Fang on Hippowdon as much as you think; residual damage from Sandstorm and SR is usually good enough at handling the likes of Salamence and similar Dragons. When the opportunity arises, you bring in Blissey and proceed to OHKO him with Ice Beam but staying clear of his normal range of attacks will help in avoiding her untimely KO.

However, Ice Fang may be useful at handling Salemence better but abandoning Roar will decrease your chances of wearing out your opponent via constant switches which consequently result in damage from SR. It isn't that big of a deal, but try Ice Fang and if it works better than stick with it.

Have you ever considered running Hidden Power Fighting over Will-O-Wisp on Rotom? Sure, this may leave you without a way to debilitate those physical attackers, but it also gives you a decent way to harm Darks, specifically Tyranitar and Weavile. However, from a stalling point of view that might not work.

A lot similar to Obi's team, a way to figure out your opponents reactions to your Pokemon and mainly scouting their team would be to drop Heal Bell and run U-Turn instead. If you haven't yet discovered Grass Knot's usefulness, it gives Celebi a way to hit Gyarados and Tyranitar. Even though you don't use Grass Knot often as you said, I definitely wouldn't take it out since it plays a notable enough role at dealing with said threats. Running Psychic might work since it gives you a way to hit Machamp hard and even allows you to hit Infernape on the switch in which in turn, KO's them, but it doesn't perform so great with your other moves.

As for dealing with Salamence in terms of handling his attacks, Skarmory is able to take Outrages and can take a nice chunk off his HP with Brave Bird. For those other speedier threats, you should realize that the main thing about stall teams is that you'll usually lack a fast threat that can quickly cause damage. Lucario and the others that you listed will be outrunning you on a usual basis but they also aren't the bulkiest Pokemon and will receive considerable damage from SE attacks.

Meh, just a few nitpicks.

 

[Chickensandwichk]

Thanks for the reply

I'll test out Ice Fang > Roar, thanks.

HP Fighting was suggested to me by someone else as well. I don't think it'd work well but I'll try it out. Should I rework the set or should I just go HP Fighting > WoW?

Yeah, I usually only use Grass Knot against Gyarados and that does warrant keeping it. I guess I somehow forgot that while posting, lol.

I wouldn't send Skarm in against Salamence though from fear that it could Dance on the switch and then just Fire Blast / Flamethrower. I only switch in Skarm when it's already raging about but then there's the problem. Am I doing it wrong?

 

[Wakalord]

I'd take a serious look at Charge Beam on Rotom, with WishBliss to heal your Rotom if need be, and WoW staving off most physical attackers, Resttalk Rotom has suprising durability. Charge Beam will start racking in more damage than you might think, and because this Rotom isn't acting as a sweeper I'd at least try it out.

I have to disagree about Salamence, however. I'd seriously consider Ice Fang on Hippowdon. Skarmory may be able to sponge Outrage easily but I've seen Magnezone on at least half the teams I'm up against, and if Skarmory goes down nothing is going to stop Choice Band Scizor from taking a chunk of health out of everything with U-Turn.

Most leads tend to be Metagross or Azelf. The former wont be killed off by an Earthquake in one hit, so both easily get Stealth Rocks down. Half the time Azelf is just going to Trick a Choice Scarf on Hippowdon anyways. Roar may be useful midgame but I would use Ice Fang, because it really looks like this team needs some Salamence insurance.

Edit: Why Heal Bell on Celebi? Resttalk Rotom can absorb status. If you have troubles with Lucario and Heatran, consider Earth Power or Thunder Wave. Leech Seed also allows you to easily outstall Machamp.

 

[Solidus]

@Chickensandwich: It's not necessary to rework the set because it's fine as it is. Simply drop Will-O-Wisp for HP Fighting and see if that works for you.

What I was referring to about Skarmory switching into Salamence, I meant you should ONLY switch in when he's locked into Outrage; otherwise you won't be safe, considering most Salamence will proceed to DD on the turn you switch out whatever Pokemon is currently in play, and even though Fire Blast won't actually be boosted he'll be faster, and a Salamence's Life Orb 24 SAtk Fire Blast will OHKO a 252 HP / 0 SpD Skarmory. After Skarmory get's KO'd, Salamence will have +1 Atk/Speed and he'll be able to put a big dent into one or more of your team members with Outrage. To be concise, you only switch in when he's in the middle of an Outrage then proceed to attack with Brave Bird.

 

[Chickensandwichk]

Ice Fang indeed.

I'll try out Charge Beam but I'm loving Thunderbolt. Rotom can deal with any type of Scizor but I do have trouble with him if Rotom goes down and Hippo gets damaged.

Against Metagross leads, I EQ then set up Rocks since they always set up rocks then switch. Yeah, Psychic types give me a lot of trouble. Any suggestions on how to deal with that?

Heal Bell because Toxic will kill me. I'll try taking it off for Earth Power, I didn't think of that thanks.

And yeah, I guess I misunderstood your post, Solidus, lol.

 

[Professor Dick Weed]

Your team appears to be built very well. I'm only going to recommend one thing, and that's to put a lum berry onto ur hippowdon. It will really make a large difference, as many leads rely on status to cripple opposing leads. After absorbing a hypnosis or spore, Hippowdon can lay down the rocks and be on his merry way.
Good luck with your team!

<--- love that guy!


BTW: Here's a back sprite of Rotom-H

 

[Chickensandwichk]

As long as I have Heal Bell, I'm not so much concerned with status and I'm not too concerned with Sleep since I have Rotom to absorb it in addition to this I've hardly seen any status leads unless Jirachi using Body Slam counts. If I see more status leads then I'll try it but I'll probably test it just cause I'm going to remove Heal Bell from Celebi, thanks.