Stall till they hit the wall and bawl

[Galco]

Overview

Introduction

I've been using fairly offensive teams lately and got bored. Decided to make a team to stall or generally annoy my opponent into submission. It's been an unexpectedly fun journey. This team abuses stealth rocks and toxic spikes, while still carrying toxic on a few pokemon in case things go wrong or in case I need to wall out a pokemon immune to tspikes. Then wish passing to heal up everyone that doesn't carry rest/does but couldn't use it.
Thanks to Brobat and Kitten for the changes so far :3.

Breakdown
BOLD means changes.
Hidden means replaced pokemon.

Whimsicott

Whimsitroll (Whimsicott) @ Leftovers
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature
- Encore
- Leech Seed
- Substitute
- Taunt

A fairly obvious set I think. Encore to force switches on substitutes and setup moves. Taunt to punish them if they're crazy enough to stay in, or to punish them if they switch into a taunter like crobat. Sub/seed because it makes me nearly immortal in the long run. Considering how many people have rage quit just because of this pokemon's priority abuse, I'm stunned it's RU.

Umbreon

MEDICCC!!!! (Umbreon) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Synchronize
EVs: 252 SDef / 252 HP / 4 Def
Calm Nature
- Heal Bell
- Wish
- Toxic
- Protect

Ahh good ol' Umbreon, literally the pokemon carrying my team on its back. Without Umbreon, toxic/para would demolish my team. It can take a crit dracometeor from a kingdra and live(if it's at full), and then laugh as its wish heals it back to half from 1 hp. All by itself it can stall out a game for 30-40 turns effortlessly if the opponent has nothing to take it out. He is ze cleric, the medic. The glue sir. The Sandvich to your heavy if you will.

Sableye

Y so srs? (Sableye) @ Leftovers
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 248 SDef / 8 Spd
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Night Shade
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover

Does exactly what Spiritomb did previously excluding the curse, but better because of prankster and its ability to recover. As well as being able to spin block it's another unbeatable taunter on the team. Also, don't tell anyone I'm running 8 spd EVs, or 12 spd EVs will become the norm. Nobody wants the battle of the prankster spd EVs xD.

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Spiritomb

Obvious (Spiritomb) @ Leftovers
Trait: Infiltrator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 96 Def / 160 SDef
Calm Nature
- Rest
- Curse
- Will-O-Wisp
- Shadow Ball

While Spiritomb can't take hits as well as the rest of my team, it's essentially guaranteed a chance to get a Will-O-Miss on any physical sweepers, or a curse on any walls that could draw the game out into a 200 turn strugglefest. Combined with its decent bulk and no weakness, it's a safe switch into pretty much anything. Then resting with it's not a big deal when Umbreon can heal bell anytime it likes.

Qwilfish

You dare?? (Qwilfish) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 Spd
Impish Nature
- Waterfall
- Spikes
- Haze
- Pain Split

Does more than my Poliwrath did, although I'm still shocked at Poli's bulk, it can't beat out Darkseid... I mean Qwilfish. Being able to reset stats on set ups and set up my spikes for free on Arcanines is pretty nice considering no one predicts the switch and goes for earthquake. One issue however, is that Shaymin comes in and gets a free sub on him as he can't do much to Shaymin.

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Poliwrath

WATAHHH (Poliwrath) @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 Def / 252 SDef / 4 HP
Impish Nature
- Circle Throw
- Ice Punch
- Toxic
- Rest

This guy, my oh my this guy. Not only can he survive about 5 CC's from a Heracross with his lefties without using rest, but he's also able to deal damage while forcing an opponent out. All in all, just an absolute beast at doing his niche for this team. Sure, maybe he's not as bulky as a suicune, but his resistance to bug type moves makes him the perfect pokemon if I ever face Heracross/Yanmega. I can just lock them into a bug move by sacrificing Whimsitroll, and wall them with Poliwrath. Yanmega more especially since he kinda wrecks my team.

Bronzong

BronzongBigDong (Bronzong) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 8 SDef / 252 HP / 248 Def
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Gyro Ball
- Earthquake

I'm shocked at how much I like Bronzong like this. Heatproofs to ensure I can get stealth rocks up even under the worst pressure. Toxic + Psychic gets the annoying bulky Hitmontops out of my arena, and to get them to stop messing with my rocks. They can't stay in, they'll die in about 3 turns after i've poisoned them, so they have to switch and I can go for SR again on that switch. EQ for me to do damage with if I feel like I have to fodder it off against a fire type.

Zapdos

Ohai Yanmega. (Zapdos) @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 236 SDef / 20 Spd
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Toxic
- Roost
- Roar

An amazing suggestion from Brobat to replace my Drapion. It still pushes pokemon out while being tankier and helping cover any ground weakness I have. All while roost stalling and getting rid of what used to be the bane of my team, Yanmega. Pretty awesome :P. Though he gets walled easily by things like Shaymin/Roserade.

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Drapion

I exist??? (Drapion) @ Leftovers
Trait: Battle Armor
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 156 SDef / 100 Def
Careful Nature
- Toxic Spikes
- Whirlwind
- Crunch
- Earthquake

There's a real flaw with this pokemon in that, despite being awesome, he's RU. Maybe, just maybe, it's out done by Nidoqueen. I frankly don't see it. The higher defense on this monster is pretty important. As the only threats to it, are frankly physical attackers like Arcanine. You can try to keep it away from physical attacks all you want, fact of the matter is, if you're going to get Tspikes up, you have to be a bit risky. I question whether nidoqueen can take the hits this guy can, while also being immune to psychic. Giving him a free switch, and potentially a free layer.

I still very much appreciate any further input into my team.
If you'd like to give it a go here's an easy import for ya :P.(You might wanna change the nicknames tho)

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Whimsitroll (Whimsicott) @ Leftovers
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature
- Encore
- Leech Seed
- Substitute
- Taunt

MEDICCC!!!! (Umbreon) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Calm Nature
- Heal Bell
- Wish
- Toxic
- Protect

BronzongBigDong (Bronzong) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 8 SDef / 252 HP / 248 Def
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Gyro Ball
- Earthquake

Ohai Yanmega. (Zapdos) @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 236 SDef / 20 Spd
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Toxic
- Roost
- Roar

Y so srs? (Sableye) @ Leftovers
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 248 SDef / 8 Spd
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Night Shade
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover

You dare?? (Qwilfish) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 Spd
Impish Nature
- Waterfall
- Spikes
- Haze
- Pain Split

 

[CoolStoryBrobat]

Hi Galco, quite an interesting stall team you've got here, from the looks of it, it's highly orignal, as you're actually rocking 4 Pokemon all straight out of RU on your team, so kudos for making something a bit closer to a breath of fresh air from most teams you see.

However, you also have some significant flaws that can be easily exploited through your team. Even though you're using RU Pokemon, can you really use all of them effectively without being outclassed in their role? Before I get down to things, I do want to tell you something about your EV Spreads. You seem to be maxing out Def and SpDef on some of your Pokemon...this is not recommended. This actually does not maximize your Pokemon's walling capability defensively. When I think of EVs on a defennsive Pokemon, I think of a brick wall. The EVs in the Defense are the bricks, but the HP is the cement that helps hold the wall together and keep it sturdy. Without HP investment, your Pokemon won't have much help sponging the hits they're meant to take. For instance, peep this calc:

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Assuming you'd run standard physically defensive Whimsicott, just use this as an example, a U-Turn from Choice Scarf Mienshao. (Really just choosing a random Pokemon off the top of my head here:)

252 Atk Mienshao U-turn vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Whimsicott: 120-142 (37.03 - 43.82%) -- 99.93% chance to 3HKO

Now let's calculate that again, for the spread you've chosen:

252 Atk Mienshao U-turn vs. 4 HP / 252+ Def Whimsicott: 120-142 (45.8 - 54.19%) -- 4.69% chance to 2HKO

You literally go from a guaranteed 4HKO if not a 3HKO to a guaranteed 3HKO, potentially a 2HKO. It might not seem that big a deal, but honestly, you NEED to run HP investment on bulky Pokemon, it goes without saying. Only a handful of Pokemon can get away with running more EVs in Defense than their HP, and a few examples are Chansey, Lanturn, and Snorlax. And that reason is literally because they all have titanic HP stats even without investment. Anyway, that's all I wanted to say on that part. If you want any more info on stat spreads for defensive Pokemon, either use Smogon articles on Pokemon, or at least take a look at this link: http://www.smogon.com/dp/articles/maximizing_defenses

For starters, as you stated, Yanmega is a disgustingly huge threat to this team. For this reason I'm going to recommend for my first suggestion that you run Specially Defensive Zapdos > Drapion. Drapion's capabilities as a (somewhat) special wall are let down by his lack of resistances to any special attackers in UU who aren't Psychic-type. Zapdos has a good few resistances and some durability on a stall team, as well as the ability to phaze with Roar. Try:

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Zapdos @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 236 SpD / 20 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Toxic
- Roost
- Roar

With this, you have a solid check to Yanmega who can also stall the opposing team a bit with Toxic and pseudo-haze with Roar while taking some hits comfortably.

Next, as kind of highlighted upon, I'd like you to change Whimsicott's EVs from 252 Def / 252 SpDef to 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpDef. This is for the sake of maximizing Whimsicott's physical defense, and I think it's pretty important Whimiscott be able to take hits if you're going to use it on a stall team. And though I don't think it's a mandatory change, I may also suggest U-Turn > Substitute on Whimsicott. Simply because on this team you can U-Turn out and maintain the switch advantage against foes who try to play around your Leech Seed. You also want Whimsicott to have some durability by not using up its HP on Substitutes, since this is a stall team after all. Encore + Taunt is enough for annoying the opponent in itself.

The next change, I honestly think you should put Sableye > Spiritomb. Some people despise Sableye's existence as being one of the most annoying Pokemon to ever face, but honestly, you have no reason NOT to be using it. It has the same typing as Spiritomb, functions as a spinblocker in the same manner, and it can break stall just like Spiritomb does with the following set:

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Sableye @ Leftovers
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Def / 132 SpD / 4 Spe
Nature: Bold
IVs: 0 Atk
- Foul Play
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover

Stallbreaker Sableye can handle opposing walls with priority Taunt (a great reason to use Sableye alone) and Will-O-Wisp to handle certain attackers. The EVs help to take some hits nicely from both sides of the spectrum, though I tweaked the EVs a little. The 4 Speed EVs guarantees you outspeed other Sableye to be able to always Taunt first since most people usually don't invest any Speed on their own Sableye. It's a bit of a niche surprise factor that can go a long way, as Sableye is a threat to most stall teams in general. The other benefit it has over Spiritomb is that it can recover reliably on its own without depending on Umbreon's Wish support.

The next thing I see that's a bit faulty, is Poliwrath. Poliwrath's reliability as a Heracross check is something along the lines of shaky at best.

252 Atk Heracross Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Poliwrath: 142-168 (36.97 - 43.75%) -- 99.76% chance to 3HKO

Even with max HP and Def, Poliwrah is 3HKO'd by Heracross' Close Combat after Stealth Rock, while the best thing you can do in return is Circle Throw, possibly actually giving the opponent more momentum in the event they end up sending out a Pokemon who can scare Poliwrath out. So I would actually like to suggest Qwilfish > Poliwrath. The biggest thing Qwilfish is banking off of is the great synergy he offers to your team as well as the ability to wall Heracross flat AND be able to set Spikes for your team. A Stall team in UU just isn't a Stall team without Spikes support, and having the following Qwilfish set will help you deal with a number of physical attackers:

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Qwilfish @ Black Sludge
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 Spe
Impish Nature
- Waterfall
- Spikes
- Taunt/Haze
- Pain Split

With this Qwilfish you get to lay Spikes, check a number of physical Attackers, and you can run Taunt to take advantage of Qwilfish's speed to handle other bulky Pokemon, or you can use an emergency Haze to save yourself from Pokemon who try to set up.

Last but not least, we have Bronzong. Bronzong's pretty cool on your team as is, but I recommend Gyro Ball > Psychic. It hits hard and prevents Bronzong from being setup bait to Pokemon like SubCM Mismagius, who despite being uncommon, actually step all over that set. Gyro Ball still answers Crobat, a big threat to stall teams, and it helps you deal with Flygon much more effectively. Honestly in my opinion I think you NEED Levitate on Bronzong, especially on a Stall Team. With no reliable recovery, even if you can tank Fire-type attacks, Pokemon like Chandelure, Victini, and Darmanitan aren't going to be OHKOed by Bronzong's Earthquake anytime soon without significant prior damage, meanwhile they can just freely spam their Fire move of choice until Bronzong is out of the picture. You also take Spikes damage with Bronzong if you run Heatproof, and you lose the ability to counter Flygon by being susceptible to Earthquake. Imo, this is enough reason to run Levitate > Heatproof on Bronzong. Also, change Bronzong so that is has 0 Speed IVs so that Gyro Ball packs maximum power. I'm not sure how effectively the mixed defensive spread is working for you, Bronzong usually likes being Physically (or specially) defensive with max HP and Def investment, but if the spread works for you I won't change it.

And with everything being said, I hope these critiques improve your team greatly, and I wish you the best of luck with Stall in UU, as it is a very viable playstyle! Now I'm gonna go dip my fingers in some cool water, it took me forever to type this, lol.

 

[KM]

If I were you, I'd follow every piece of awesome advice that Brobat gave to you. That said, I'd like to clarify and tweak a couple of sets so that they might be more applicable to you.

Now that you have Qwilfish over Drapion, Fire-type attacks (at least on the physical side) won't be as big of a deal as ground-type attacks, so Levitate on Bronzong is basically a must. In terms of his EV spread, I would just go all out and invest purely in HP and SpD. You didn't state a purpose for the EV spread as was shown, so I assume it was to not be 2HKOd by some Fire move with heatproof, but now that it's levitate I'd strongly suggest making Bronzong and Qwilfish your core of defensive pokemon. (A core, I might add, which works very well - Qwilfish's weaknesses to Ground and Psychic are absolutely lol'd at by Zong).

I also very strongly support the use of Sableye over Spiritomb, but I personally would give it full investment in Special Defence and Night Shade over Foul Play. Although Foul Play is useful for dealing more damage to some pokes than Night Shade, Night Shade is overall the much more reliable move. Add on to that the fact that you're running Will-o-Wisp, and Foul Playing a wisped opponent will do piddly. Will-o-Wisp is the same reason I suggest full special investment, as it allows you to have maximum special bulk as well as decent inherited bulk from Will-o-Wisp. As far as I know, the small investment in defense isn't going to allow you to take anything you couldn't already take from any physical attacker unable to be wisped - e.g. Megahorn from guts Hera, Flare Blitz from Arca/D-Tan, V-create from Victini. There's no point staying in to them anyway now that you've got qwilfish, so you may as well specialize him. Also, a little nitpick, I prefer running 8 Speed EVs to speedcreep Sableyes running 4 EVs (I know, it's an endless cycle, but still. Opposing Sableye can wreck this team, so you want to ensure that you outspeed at all costs.)

An important thing to notice is that Brobat's and my changes will very much ease up the pressure on your Umbreon, and make it more of a supporting role rather than the definitive glue of your team.

Other than that, this team is really cool, and it's awesome to see more people using stall in UU. Best of luck! :)

 

[Galco]

I love all of your suggestions Brobat except 2, and have already implemented them successfully.
Though I fear I must back away from sableye and use spiritomb again.

I can't do anything against Shaymin if I don't have either Tspikes, or curse. It'll just sub to prevent toxic, and I can't switch whimsicott in to try and lock it into leech seed because I have to fear HP ice.

Yeah spikes, rocks, and roar take its toll on shaymin. But getting seeds onto my Zapdos(on switch in)/wearing away at it with HP ice eventually takes its toll and it goes to walling me permanently.

Without Tspikes where I can just wall with Umbreon and watch it die, or curse, I fear I can't reliably counter Shaymin.
Though i'll think on this more in my free time.

Also, I don't care too much for U-turn on Whimsicott. It's kind of nice in a way that I don't have to sub against crobat to see what he's gonna do if I lead whimsi and they lead cro, but it's not so nice if I really want to troll stall with Whimsi, which means waiting until fire blast misses or I can survive overheat to seed by spamming subs :P.



EDIT: I feel kinda silly now, because in the games where shaymin has walled me, it's after I lost my bronzong, who according to damage calcs survive 5 seed flares guarenteed with just very little SpD investment, meanwhile he can possibly 3HKO shaymin.
I think i'll stick with Sableye a little longer and protect my bronzong better if I see my opponents carrying something he can take care of.

 

[CoolStoryBrobat]

One more thing, you mentioned Shaymin...sad to say, it has Natural Cure. So really, Shaymin doesn't care too much about status problems, and even then they often run Rest just to fully heal. It can be quite bothersome for this team, I'm now realizing...

If only there were a way to fit a defensive Arcanine on this...Hm...

 

[Galco]

A defensive arcanine might cover another weakness i'm noticing, which is ferroseed.
Something immune to toxic and leech seed, that's also able to set up spikes and stealth rocks.

Considering it can 2HKO shaymin, guarenteed, though life orb shaymin can 2hko it if it carries earth power.
And it can 1HKO Ferroseed.
I could swap Qwilfish for Arcanine.
The only problem I honestly see with that is Sharpedo. Whom can 2HKO him.

EDIT: After debating for a bit I'm going to try heatwave over toxic on Zapdos. Zapdos is a special wall anyway, so I typically want it in against Shaymin, and it's really not going to be affected going in against Ferroseed.
Heatwave might give me a real chance at killing them, since it's a Guarenteed 2HKO after Stealth rocks damage. If it hits :P.

The only other threat I can think of atm that might be pretty troublesome is Snorlax. I'm not sure who wins, him or bronzong in a fight. Offensive Snorlax wins by a small margin, otherwise it just depends on luck and how well snorlax is played