Inexpugnabilis
As some of you might know, I recently made it to the semifinals of the DPP OU Tournament hosted by ENZO and Steven_Snype. While all of the teams I used in that tournament were effective, this one in particular. As with most stall teams, it tries to cover as many threats as possible. I think this team does that fairly effectively, with very few threats that put me in a corner, and I have yet to encounter a Pokemon that can sweep my team clean. It also uses some uncommon Pokemon on stall, such as Roserade and Hitmontop.
---
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature (+SpD, -Atk)
- Lava Plume
- Earth Power
- Stealth Rock
- Roar
Stealth Rock is obviously necessary for any stall team to function. It's the most effective entry hazard available, hitting every Pokemon for at least 3.125% damage on the switch in, and hitting some of the most threatening Pokemon for a good 25% damage, and makes players avoid going to a Rock-weak Pokemon early in the game, which means that MixDragonite becomes much easier to deal with, as in the lategame it's not all that threatening anymore, as one Draco Meteor makes it easy to deal with. Heatran also usually manages to get up Stealth Rock against quite a lot of common leads, but unfortunately any Earthquake will force him out. However, Aerodactyl is easily dealt with by Hitmontop, bringing him down to 1 HP with Stone Edge, and finishing him off with Rapid Spin, also removing Stealth Rock. Against a Swampert, I can switch to Roserade, force him out and set up Spikes, or switch to Gyarados and then back to Heatran while they switch to a Grass- or Electric-type and set up Stealth Rock. Hippowdon is dealt with the same way, switching to Gyarados and then back to Heatran. Against Metagross, I switch to Gyarados, and then to Rotom in case of Explosion.
Later in the game, Heatran is an effective counter to most special attackers. SubRoost Zapdos and Life Orb Jolteon are easily counter by Heatran. While Blissey will fall to Zapdos with two layer of Toxic Spikes up, or when it simply has Toxic in its moveset, Heatran is immune to Toxic and takes 26.4% from a SubRoost Zapdos's Thunderbolt. He can simply Lava Plume to break its Substitute, and it will eventually burn when Zapdos has to Roost. I can also choose to Roar Zapdos out, which is great when the opponent switches. Heatran also is a great counter to Calm Mind Jirachi, who can otherwise be a great annoyance to stall teams. Jirachi won't be able to break Heatran with anything other than Superachi's Hidden Power Ground, which doesn't even KO. That way, I can scout for the Jirachi's set, and deal with it accordingly. SubCM sets are Roared out, while WishCM sets will be eventually burned by Lava Plume.
As for the moveset, Lava Plume is my main STAB move, having the benefit of accuracy, PP, and more importantly, a 30% burn chance. Earth Power provides coverage, and works great when predicting an Infernape or something like that switching in. Roar phazes out sweepers who could be troublesome, and racks up entry hazards damage. I've been considering Protect over both Earth Power and Roar lately, as it allows me to scout what Scarf Flygonand other Choice users will do and act accordingly, while also providing me with more Leftovers recovery.
---
Roserade @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature (+SpD, -Atk)
- Spikes
- Sludge Bomb
- Grass Knot
- Rest
Roserade provides the ever-important Spikes, hitting grounded opponents for good damage every time they switch in. He also completes my defensive Fire / Water / Grass core, and takes care of most offensive Water-types. He actually gets quite some opportunities to set up. He also beats Starmie one-on-one, meaning that I can send out Roserade against Starmie to set up Spikes, and reserve my hazards, forcing him to use Rapid Spin, while I OHKO with Grass Knot. Life Orb Ice Beam doesn't even 2HKO Roserade, meaning that even if he decides to Ice Beam twice, I can set up a layer of Spikes and Grass Knot for the KO, Resting off the damage later while I killed his spinner.
Roserade is also my main counter to offensive Grass-types. While Blissey deals with them well, Substitute variants pose a problem for Blissey, being unable to break 101 HP Substitutes, and Blissey doesn't enjoy Leech Seed either. Roserade has great special bulk as well, 4x resists Grass-type attacks, and can usually KO them with Sludge Bomb because they'll rarely be at full health. Even a combination of LO Seed Flare and a Hidden Power Fire after a special defense drop from Shaymin won't KO, while I KO back with Sludge Bomb.
The moveset and EVs of Roserade have changed a lot. First, I used Toxic Spikes over Sludge Bomb and Leaf Storm over Grass Knot. However, I noticed that Roserade rarely got the chance to set up both Spikes and Toxic Spikes, and if I had to choose I almost always went with Spikes. Therefore, I decided to drop Toxic Spikes for Sludge Bomb, which allows me to hit Grass-types hard, KOing them after Life Orb recoil or entry hazard damage. I also dropped Leaf Storm for Grass Knot because I didn't want to lower the power of Sludge Bomb when using Leaf Storm, nor did I want Roserade to become setup fodder. I'm considering Hidden Power Fire over Sludge Bomb to hit Forretress hard, but Sludge Bomb has been working very well for me and not being able to OHKO Grass-types like Shaymin and Celebi sucks. I started out with an EV spread of 252 HP / 136 SpD / 120 Def to outspeed 36 Speed Celebi, Zapdos, and Jirachi, as well as 252 Speed Jolly Tyranitar. However, the extra bulk I have with this spread allows me to beat the likes of Starmie and Shaymin much more reliably, which is why I changed it.
---
Blissey @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Wish
- Protect
- Seismic Toss
- Toxic
Blissey on a stall team is no surprise, it can take on a lot of special threats and provides my team with Wish support, which especially helps my Hitmontop and Rotom-W if I want to keep the advantage against opposing stall. I chose a Wish Blissey over a Cleric Blissey because of multiple reasons. First of all, Wish is in my opinion one of the best moves on defensive teams. You can Wish while they switch to their Blissey counter, switch to the counter to the Pokemon they send out, and lose no health at all, while they take entry hazard and Life Orb damage. Second, using Wish Blissey lets me use Stone Edge on Hitmontop instead of Rest. That way, I can use Stone Edge when I expect a Gengar switching in for the 2HKO, eliminating one of the largest threats to my team. Finally, being able to heal Rotom-W, and to a lesser extant Heatran, is very helpful seeing as Rotom-W gets rather easily worn down and it's one of the key players on my team.
Blissey does a good job at beating most special attackers. With Toxic, Wish and Protect it can outstall pretty much of all them that aren't Steel-types, and Heatran usually takes care of them. With Blissey, Heatran, and Roserade I have pretty much every special attacker covered. Gengar is the only one that can cause it some trouble, but I can usually play around it.
I'm using Protect over Softboiled because it allows me to Toxic stall more effectively, as well as scouting for Choice users. For example, if Tyranitar comes in I can Protect to see if he uses Pursuit or Crunch, and Toxic stall or switch to Hitmontop depending on the result. Seismic Toss provides consistent damage, and I use it over Flamethrower because it allows me to actually beat Heatran. While Explosion might KO me, Protect can avoid that. Even if he KOes me, Heatran is down meaning that he won't be able to pose a problem anymore. I have been considering Flamethrower though for allowing me to hit Gengar, but I'll probably stick with Seismic Toss.
---
Gyarados @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature (+Def, -SpA)
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Waterfall
- Roar
Another standard on stall, checks a lot of physical attackers rather easily with Intimidate, and absorbs status with RestTalk. He deals with most, if not all, Fighting-types rather easily. He's my first switchin into Lucario, with Close Combat not 2HKOing. However, some carry Stone Edge for Gyarados, so I usually switch to Hitmontop after, bringing them down to no Attack boosts, and with the threat of Close Combat I can force them to attack so I can switch back to Gyarados to bring them down to -1. Infernape, who can normally threaten stall teams with its mixed attacking stats, is also taken care of by Gyarados. Waterfall OHKOes while standard Infernape can't 2HKO with either Stone Edge or Grass Knot.
Gyarados is also one of the best phazers there is for stall teams. Simply alternating between Rest and Sleep Talk allows me to outstall whole teams once Suicune, Rotom-A or Celebi is gone. Offensive teams usually only have Suicune to take on Gyarados, which means once I bring in Gyarados, I can Roar the first time while they switch to Suicune, forcing them to take Stealth Rock and Spikes damage, and when Infernape or Lucario is brought back in, I can Waterfall as they will predict something or switch to Suicune again. That way, they will have effectively taken around 60% damage.
The moveset and EV spread is fairly obvious. I'm using a physically defensive spread because I need it to take on physical attackers more reliably. While a more specially-inclined would be cool to help against Heatran, Blissey can usually take it out with Seismic Toss.
---
Hitmontop @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature (+Def, -SpA)
- Foresight
- Rapid Spin
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
Hitmontop is my team's Rapid Spinner, which is in my opinion an absolute necessity for stall teams. Stealth Rock really hinders Gyarados and having to take entry hazards every time I switch to a counter is very hindering in general. Hitmontop was the best option to do that for this team, as together with Gyarados he can counter virtually every physical attackers, thanks to Intimidate being such a great ability. He is also almost guaranteed to get the spin off thanks to Foresight, and with offensive teams usually sacrificing their lead to get Stealth Rock up, I can usually play my battles without having Stealth Rock up.
Within Gyarados and Hitmontop, I can cover pretty much every phyiscal attacker. Most physical attackers that give Gyarados trouble are taken care of by Hitmontop, and vice versa. Hitmontop gets a lot of opportunitites to switch in thanks to this. For example, if Blissey uses Wish, I can switch to Hitmontop, Intimidating the physical attacker, and let Wish heal off the damage. I can then Rapid Spin while they switch, or Foresight + Rapid Spin if they have a Rotom-A.
The moveset is fairly standard. I'm using Close Combat over Low Kick because Low Kick hits a lot of things not hard enough, and I usually don't mind the defense drops because they usually switch out while I use Close Combat so I switch out after that regardless. I'm using Stone Edge over Rest for good coverage and to hit Flying-types hard, but mainly to hit Gengar on the switchin. Gengar is the main threat to my team, so if I can hit him with a Stone Edge on the switch, that makes my life much easier. I can then either decide to take the Shadow Ball and proceed for the KO, or Stone Edge next time I expect Gengar to switch in. I'm using a physically defensive currently, but I've been thinking about using 252 HP / 80 Def / 176 SpD with a Careful nature. However, it's not really all that helpful besides avoiding the 3HKO from Choice Scarf Rotom-A so I can spin easier, so I'm probably gonna stick with this spread.
---
Rotom-W @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Hydro Pump
- Shadow Ball
- Trick
Choice Specs Rotom-W is not commonly seen on stall teams, but I simply love this set. While RestTalk Rotom-A is an effective spinblocker, it's nothing more than a spinblocker. This set allows me to keep pressure against bulky offense teams. I can often bring everything in 2HKO range of Thunderbolt with hazards damage, so I can send Rotom out against Skarmory or something similar to get a guaranteed KO. My opponent then has to decide what Pokemon to sacrifice.
Rotom-W also gives me an edge against opposing stall teams. He doesn't have any real counter on standard stall teams besides Blissey, but they will be wary to switch in when I can Trick them to make them useless. Together with Hitmontop, I rarely ever have trouble with opposing stall teams. If they have a Tyranitar, I can double switch to Hitmontop to get a free Rapid Spin off, and I can almost always keep the hazard advantage.
Thunderbolt is Rotom's most powerful so it's a must. Hydro Pump is the second most powerful without a Special Attack-lowering effect, which I prefer because of it's better offensive typing and ability to provide a lategame-sweep. Shadow Ball is my secondary STAB move, and hits Grass-types like Celebi and Breloom hard. Trick is obvious for crippling Blissey. I'm using a Timid nature instead of a Modest one because I prefer the Speed over the extra power, and being able to outspeed Suicune and Heatran is pretty much necessary in my opinion.
