Introduction
Being introduced to competitive pokemon in the later era of Gen 4, one style of play that has struck me the most is stall. I found playing with a defensive mind set extremely fun but also strategically more difficult. Due to the lack of retaliation you can provide, a defensive player must rely on either an accurate sense of prediction or a great built team. And being not really the best player, I would like to bring you my first Gen 5 Stall Team, a team that attempts to capture the Gen 5 environment and aims to be flexible and adaptable to many situations while tuned to my own style of playing. Although not necessary the best style, I like to approach my defensive game with quicker momentum than usual and switch out a lot. This mainly allows my pokemon to focus on their strengths and have their weakness covered by others. Of course there is a risk of misplacing your pokemon against something that can exploit your one sided strength but the same factor with be applied on my opponent who will risk matching up with something that can completely shut it off. However, with the deadly dose of status(es) that stall teams carry, a wrong move for the opposition could be the difference between a victory and a loss. However, this strategy will not work as well against other stall teams which seems to always turn out different every time making stall vs stall one of my favourite type of battles. This team isn't flawless nor have I climbed the ladder in a magnificent winning streak, but I believe this team has great potential that can be further tapped with you fellow smogoners. So, enough of me blabbering, lets get down to business.
At a Glance
In Depth
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The Leading Duo
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Tentacruel (F) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Liquid Ooze
Evs: 252 HP/ 4 SAtk/ 252 SDef
Nature: Calm (-Atk/+SDef)
- Toxic Spikes
- Surf
- Rapid Spin
- Magic Coat
Leading off, my Tentacruel plays a crucial role in my team through setting up Toxic Spikes. To prevent clashing statuses, a pretty powerful STAB Surf was use instead of the popular Scald. My team doesn't really suffer from any specific entry hazard but never hurts to Rapid Spin if the chance does come. Now the last move is quite interesting. Playing in the Gen 5 Dreamworld OU for quite a long time, I've realize that the metagame has grown so big, its virtually impossible to have a lead that will succeeded 100%. Therefore, I have outlined some leads that Tentacruel has no problem setting up on and other that do.
The first set of leads are the weather bringers; Hippowdon, Tyranitar, Abomasnow, Politoad and Ninetales. With max SDef and Water/Poison typing, Tentacruel can take on Politoad and Ninetales easily. The way it would play out is both of them depending on their team will either switch or attempt to inflict status. I will always set up Magic Coat straight off to repel their status and if they do switch, it will tip me off that both of them are leaned to more offensive approaches. If they do switch out to resist a predicted attack from me or to attack me later, I am in no hurry to lay Toxic Spikes but will rather switch out to Hippowdon. With an enemy Hippowdon, I know it will always set up Stealth Rock which doesn't worry me much, so I will instead set up Toxic Spikes. With 1 free turn, I can easily set the second layer since Lead Hippowdon rarely have any attack evs invested and with neutral nature can only 3HKO me with Black Sludge recovery(46.7% - 54.9% damage without Black Sludge). Lastly is Abomasnow which I will stay in for one Toxic Spike and respond by their action. With Liquid Ooze, leech seed won't be a problem and the only thing that might cause me to switch is a Wood Hammer.
The second class of leads would be the taunters. Straight off the bat, they taunt and then set up. They can be either speedsters such as Deoxy-S or pranksters like Whimsicott. Annoying as they can be, Tentacruel can screw them up with a taste of their own medicine through bouncing their taunt back with Magic Coat. This is a good abuse of Tentacruels low speed as prankster have to take a taunt and Deoxy-S with its great speed with fall to a false sense that Tentacruel will only set up or attack.
Third up are the anti-leads. These are the most troublesome and can vary a lot, therefore I can't really make any pre-predictions. Mostly of the time I will respond by switching on to a special or physical wall to counter them but a mix anti-lead (pretty rare sight) will do a significant to me but being mixed, its fire power will be much smaller and shouldn't post a heavy threat.
Lastly, the baton passers. Most people will take the time to set up but upon seeing a baton passer, the first thing on the checklist for me is to break that chain because if you fail to, the consequences will be hard. Most of the time I would switch to my Hippowdon to spam Roars that they will have to take on the turn they BP. Soundproof and Suction Cup users will be a pain but the only thing I can do is put status on them and stall them until they have to BP again and Hippowdon will once again spam Roar.
Hippowdon (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sandstream
Evs: 252 HP/ 252 Def/ 4 SDef
Nature: Impish ( +Def/-SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Roar
- Slack Off
- Earthquake
Part 2 of my leading position lies in Hippowdon, the famous bulky sandstreamer. The purpose he serves depends on the actions of my opponent. With Stealth Rock and Sandstream as a second layer of damage, if my opponent leads with any pokemon that can't touch my Tentacruel, Hippowdon becomes my Stealth Rocker and physical wall, making appearances early and later in the game. However, if my opponent has a lead that stops my Tentacruel on its track, Hippowdon serves its second role as a damage absorber and phazer. The duo is deadly and nearly unstoppable, achieving perfect coverage between the two with Hippowdon taking Psychic and Ground for neutrality and Electric for an immunity. Tentacruel vice versa takes Grass for neutrality and resistance to Water and Ice. Furthermore, the duo fits like a jigsaw due to Tentacruels great special defense and Hippowdons great physical defense, narrowing any moves my opponent can make that poses a danger, even super effectives.
As a stealth rocker, I tend to speed up the pace of my game and go straight for the stealth rock. This allows me to quickly bring in my defensive core and I technically won half the game already since everything has fallen into place and my defensive core is out there with stealth rock, toxic spikes and a sandstorm running. Hippowdon can then join my defensive core as a physical wall and with reliable recovery, it can stall for many turns. Sometimes, I can use him as a lure or sacrifice to get a good match up for my core. Otherwise, Hippowdon strategy is to take hit, recover and attack when the chance comes.
However, if things don't run this smoothly and Tentacruel did match up with a disadvantage, Hippowdon will make an immediate switch to take a hopefully neutral or not very effective hit and being to phaze. Anything that doesn't pose a great threat to Tentacruel will be good enough for a switch back into Tentacruel and toxic spike. Hippowdon will probably be only used as a lure or sacrifice later on because he has taken damage. But I can still pass wishes to him if he is necessary to counter the opponent.
So, the duo can perform many planned moves with the aim of setting up the entry hazards. Nothing much can stop them but of course, nothing is perfect. For example, an uncommon but existing Rotom-W lead will be able to physically hit Tentacruel with Volt Switch and specially take on Hippowdon with Hydro Pump not to mention they might also be tricking a choice scarf. Under these conditions, I might switch onto my Blissey to force a switch on their part but since its early on the game, I enjoy letting everything roll out a bit just to make sure your moves won't have any devastating effects later on.
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The Defensive Core
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Blissey (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
Evs: 252 HP/ 4 SAtk/ 252 Def
Nature: Bold (+Def/-Atk)
- Flamethrower
- Heal Bell
- Wish
- Softboil
The very centre of my defensive core, Blissey serves as my specially defensive wall. By trying to match her against special sweepers nothing can really touch her. It aims to come in on special attacks and just stall them out. Flamethrower combined with Blissey's decent special attack denies any steel types from the false believe that they can crush my team since they are immune to toxic spikes and sandstorm. Heal Bell Keeps the team status free and with the new wish mechanics, wish will be passing a massive amount of HP to my teammates. I have both softboil and wish because I personally enjoy having more options which although shrinks my coverage ability, but my chance of making the right move as a cleric is higher.
Due to Blisseys horrible defensemy defensive core consist of another pokemon that does well coming in and rejecting any attempts at killing my Blissey, which is my Tangrowth. To further provide a reliable support, my Tangrowth can switch in a tank physical hits for Blissey while setting up leech seeds and with regenerator, he has even more surviving potential. However, Blissey doesn't just hide behind Tangrowth. As toxic and Tangrowths leech seed kicks in, the opposition will have little time to sweep and they usually go all out, Tangrowth in a pretty bad state. At this point, Blissey can come in a pass on 357 HP Wish, combined with regenerator can put him back to good health.
So Blissey really just shuts of special attackers and forces them to go all out which still probably won't achieve much. After taking a good wave of hits like a champ, she can pass on wishes or clear the team of status with heal bell. The only special attackers that can trouble Blissey are Psyshock users which are a pain in the ass. Against them, I tend to use use my Scizor in attempt to OHKO with U-turn or at least do a chunk.
Tangrowth (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Regenerator
Evs: 252 HP/ 252 Def/ 4 SAtk
Nature: Bold ( +Def/-SAtk)
- Leech Seed
- Giga Drain
- Rest
- Hidden Power Fire
The last part of my defensive core, Tangrowth is extremely fun to play with and probably has the most switch ins in the team. Able to fill in for Blissey and acts as a physical tank, he can ruin that one moment for the opposition to knock out a block of my defensive tower. Blocking leech seed, main common seeders really have trouble with him. Furthermore, with regenerator, his switching in isn't just meaningless stalling but in fact a recovery turn. The evs give him max bulk and defense and nature is minus Tangrowths attack which most people usually wield due to his access to swords dance. But in a defensive team, Tangrowth benefits much more with its SAtk since it can surprise with a HP Ice which also gives him the ability to handle dragon dancers really well (I also found that Gliscor users seems to always switch in Gliscor to handle Tangrowth, only to be OHKO).
Unlike the rest of this RMT, I simply can't give you a good overall view of how Tangrowth can switch in and react due to the fact that his job varies too much. Sometimes he doesn't even play into his defensive and take heavy SAtk hits. Depending on the type of pokemon I switch in, how Tangrowth reacts is differently. Against status inflicters, I will freely allow them to inflict them due to the fact that I have rest and heal bell on Blissey, so it doesn't bother me they waste a turn. For stallers, I'll tend to attack and leech seed to shorten their usually massive health. Sweepers, preferably physical will be walled by Tangrowth whilst I set up leech seed and go for Giga Drains that will hopefully return with a good amount of health replenish.
Tangrowth enjoys switching in and out a lot because of regenerator recovery and the fact that it has a horrible defensive typing. It doesn't really bother me but sometimes the grass type kicks in and your stuck knowing that you have to switch but it'll cause another pokemon to faint. In these situations, the "sacrifice" that you saved before will be great at stalling a bit.
The defensive core is overall the heart of the team and what runs this defensive stall team. However, being the heart, it is the strongest yet the weakest point of the team because if it breaks, the match is pretty much over. So once the core is set on its tracks, every move must be throughly thought out and the most important thing for me is to have a reason for every move. But once in a while, a powerhouse might get lucky on a switch and I tend to try and fix it by rematching and remaking my defensive core on the spot as the status quo is just to keep your core alive longer than the opposition.
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The Spinblocker
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Dusclops (F) @ Eviolite
Trait: Pressure
Evs: 252 HP/ 128 Def/ 128 SDef
Nature: Sassy (+Sdef/-Spd)
- Pain Split
- Taunt
- Skill Swap
- Night Shade
With the introduction of eviolite, Dusclops is hands down the best stall spinblocker available. It can switch in and hand common spinners like Forretress, Starmie, Donphan, Claydol etc. easily. None of them can hurt it nor can they set up because I will mostly always taunt them. This is a great way to force a switch and allow my defensive core to shine. I prefer this than rather eliminate the spinner because if the spinner is eliminated, this gives them a free switch in and I like to keep the game at a 50/50 switch matching contest plus the opposition will gain extra turns whilst Dusclops slowly grind them to death with her pathetic SAtk.
Dusclops can also switch onto boosting sweepers and taunt them. Night Shade isn't fantastic with Dusclops low SAtk but damage will always make a player consider switching. Pain Split works like a charm on Dusclops due to its great defensive in both spectrum and can reduce a sweeper to red health before my defensive core even gets in the action. Skill Swap is fantastic especially against weather teams. It prevents the opponents from abusing the weather with their abilities and sometimes completely shut of some pokemons with great ability like swapping water absorb on vaporeon and replenishing my health with its hydro pump. However, on a stall team, pressure is pretty awesome as well since my enemy can't hurt Dusclops with weak moves and stronger ones with deplete quickly.
Dusclops effectiveness is highly depending on how strong my core stands since firstly, its main role is to keep the core alive and secondly, Dusclops offensive fire power is low and without reliable recovery, it is nothing more than 284 HP of useless if the core fell.
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The Glue
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Scizor (M) Choice Band
Trait: Technician
Evs: 248HP/252Atk/8 Spd
- Bullet Punch
- U-Turn
- Pursuit
- Superpower
As recommended by 2sly4u, Scizor plays the role as the glue and somewhat of a scavenger. When the lead duo and defensive core is set, near the end of the battle, your opposition should have taken a scattered amount of damage. None of them are probably going to faint without taking your wore out core down however. So here, Scizor the Technician comes to fix everything. With Choice Band, his attack is already at +1, so he can easily come in a finish off anything that doesn't resist steel. His power is so fierce that even Ferrothorns that have been describe as "rape" couldn't handle.
Due to his massive power, this brings me up to Scizors second job, the scarecrow. Abusing his infamous status, Scizor can come in and scare away anything that slightly threatens the team like Latios who can't even set up Calm Mind in fear of being OHKO by U-Turn. And if they have Choice Specs,
Draco Meteor can only hit for maximum 52% which is pretty pathetic. So overall, Scizor takes the role as the man coming in and out to scare or even eliminate threats such as Latios. Later on the game, with wish support, Scizor will be replenished in HP and can being finishing off what is left through the stall grinder.
Offensive Threats
Aerodactyl - Magic Coat shuts it down since it usually taunts or stealth rock.
Archeops - Fragile, Scizor can handle it with Bullet Punch
Azelf - Magic Coat takes care of it but I do have to be careful of Psychic
Bisharp - Scizors superpower will OHKO it
Breloom - Will probably sacrifice Hippowdon as a spore victim than HP Ice with Tangrowth
Chandelure - Wall with Blissey
Cobalion - Wall with Tangrowth or Scizor revenge kill it
Conkeldurr - Roar it out for some entry hazard damage and prevent it from Bulking Up
Darmanitan - Stealth Rock and wall with Hippowdon/Earthquake from Hippowdon
Deoxys-S - Magic Coat to reflect taunt then switch
Dragonite - Wall it with Tangrowth then HP Ice
Druddigon - Hippowdon or Tangrowth can wall it easily
Eelektross - Blissey can handle a mix one and Tangrowth can take a full physical one since they won't have flamethrower
Electivire - Tangrowth can wall it
Emboar - Hippowdon can take hits from it and do decent damage with Earthquake
Empoleon - Wall with Tentacruel if its special and Tangrowth if its physical. Try to get a burn with Scald and wall till it faints.
Espeon - U-turn will take care of it or toxic stall it with Hippowdon. However it Hippowdon probably won't last long.
Escavalier - Lacks the speed to sweep so phaze it out before SD and revenge kill with Scizor when its weak.
Excadrill - Scizor can handle it find and Tangrowth can wall it as well.
Garchomp - Tangrowth can wall it with HP Ice to sweep.
Genesect - Blissey can wall it even with Focus Blast. Flamethrower can roast the metal bug.
Gengar - Blissey can wall it and kill with flamethrower
Golurk - Dusclops will be immune to its Dynamic Punch and use Night Shade to slowly kill it.
Gyarados - Tangrowth can wall it and leech seed it + Giga Drain before its high on DDs.
Haxorus - Tangrowth again can wall it and then use HP Ice
Heatran - If it has a balloon, Tentacruel can wall and pop it then Hippowdon will either kill it or scare it away.
Heracross - Stall it out a bit with rotations between Tangrowth and Hippowdon, then revenge kill with Scizor.
Hydreigon - Blissey can absorb wall it.
Infernape -As a lead, I will magic coat stealth rock away and Hippowdon can wall it.
Jirachi - Hippowdon makes a fine wall to it but does fear being Paraflinched.
Jolteon - Hippowdon can scare it away and Blissey can wall it.
Keldeo -Tentacruel makes a fine wall against it.
Kingdra - It is probably mix so I will wall with Dusclops and I can skill swap under rain to take its swift swim away.
Krookodile - Probably has moxie so wall it with Tangrowth and prevent it from sweeping.
Kyurem - Scizor can force it to switch and with stealth rock damage, Blissey can wall it even with Focus Blast.
Landorus - Tangrowth can wall and HP Ice
Latios - Scizor will scare it with U-Turn
Lilligant - Not much of a threat, just absorb its statuses, heal bell and stall it out.
Lucario - Depending on if its special or physical. Tentacruel makes a fine special wall and Hippowdon/Tangrowth will make fine physical.
Machamp - Dusclops will wall it in fear of No Guard Dynamic Punch
Magnezone -Blissey can wall it and kill with flamethrower
Mamoswine - A bit tricky since both Hippowdon and Tangrowth fear its Ice Shard, so I will alternate between the two with Tangrowths regenerator until Scizor can kill it.
Metagross - Hippowdon will wall it and so can Tangrowth if it doesn't have fire punch.
Mienshao - Dusclop to take the fake out and its too fragile to keep U-turning away under entry hazard so stall it out with Tangrowth.
Reuniclus - More difficult since its immune to passive damage. Scizor will scare it with U-turn but it has amazing bulk so Tentacruel can hopefully switch in on Focus Blast and Blissey on Psychic special attacks before Scizor comes in again.
Roserade - Use a sleep power sacrifice then easily wall it.
Salamence - Tangrowth can wall and HP Ice.
Sawsbuck - Statuses won't work will since it gets aromatherapy. So I will just wall it with Tangrowth and hit with HP ice.
Scizor - If it works well for me, it works well for others. So Hippowdon is the choice to wall it.
Scrafty- Prevent Bulk Up and Dusclops should be fine against it.
Seismitoad - Not a threat, Tangrowth can OHKO it.
Serperior - Skill Swap and it is pretty useless. Or wall with blissey.
Shaymin - Wall with Blissey or Tangrowth depending on if its special or physical. But its most likely special.
Sigilyph - Stealth rock and Blissey can stall it out.
Smeargle - Unpredictable so Scizor will go straight for the kill.
Starmie - Dusclops to check if its a spinner and Blissey if its a sweeper.
Terakion - Hippowdon can wall it well and so can Tangrowth. Both can hit it for super effective.
Thundurus - Stealth rock damage with Blissey can wall it and then kill with flamethrower(s)
Togekiss - In fear of paraflinch, will try to kill it quickly with Scizor.
Tornadus - Magic coat can bounce back taunts and Hippowdon is a best choice against this mixed sweeper.
Tyranitar - Tangrowth can wall it well and leech seed it but although rare, some Ttars carry flamethrower so I will have to be careful.
Venusaur - Skill Swap in the sun and stall it out till sandstorm does decent and revenge kill.
Victini - Dangerous pokemon to handle since it can be both physical and special. Will have to wall it with Hippowdon and hope that the stealth rock + earthquake is enough to scare it away.
Virizion - Tangrowth can wall this thing really well and hit back with HP ice.
Volcarona - Any team with Volcarona probably has a spinner so kill the spinner, then just phaze it and its pretty much gg for Volcarona since it carries 50% damage from stealth rock.
Weavile - Seen a lot less of it lately since stealth rock can break its sash and Scizor can OHKO it.
Zoroark - Usually up front, theres no way of telling that it is a Zoroark but my Tentacruel is special so I can wall it well.
Defensive Threat....Hopefully up soon.
Conclusion
This team stands quick strong and the aim is to keep my defensive core alive. The core is already hard to take down but when approaching a battle defensively, you will always lose to the immediate advantages since going through careful and slow procedures early on like entry hazards are paramount for your later success and even snatching the win. So, from here on, you Smogoners can help me polish this team and make it even better since right now although I am winning, the team is relying on some pre made predictions and plans that I have to run through everything but I guess that is somewhat an element of defensive play. Nevertheless, your feedback will be always appreciated.
Being introduced to competitive pokemon in the later era of Gen 4, one style of play that has struck me the most is stall. I found playing with a defensive mind set extremely fun but also strategically more difficult. Due to the lack of retaliation you can provide, a defensive player must rely on either an accurate sense of prediction or a great built team. And being not really the best player, I would like to bring you my first Gen 5 Stall Team, a team that attempts to capture the Gen 5 environment and aims to be flexible and adaptable to many situations while tuned to my own style of playing. Although not necessary the best style, I like to approach my defensive game with quicker momentum than usual and switch out a lot. This mainly allows my pokemon to focus on their strengths and have their weakness covered by others. Of course there is a risk of misplacing your pokemon against something that can exploit your one sided strength but the same factor with be applied on my opponent who will risk matching up with something that can completely shut it off. However, with the deadly dose of status(es) that stall teams carry, a wrong move for the opposition could be the difference between a victory and a loss. However, this strategy will not work as well against other stall teams which seems to always turn out different every time making stall vs stall one of my favourite type of battles. This team isn't flawless nor have I climbed the ladder in a magnificent winning streak, but I believe this team has great potential that can be further tapped with you fellow smogoners. So, enough of me blabbering, lets get down to business.
At a Glance
In Depth
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The Leading Duo
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Tentacruel (F) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Liquid Ooze
Evs: 252 HP/ 4 SAtk/ 252 SDef
Nature: Calm (-Atk/+SDef)
- Toxic Spikes
- Surf
- Rapid Spin
- Magic Coat
Leading off, my Tentacruel plays a crucial role in my team through setting up Toxic Spikes. To prevent clashing statuses, a pretty powerful STAB Surf was use instead of the popular Scald. My team doesn't really suffer from any specific entry hazard but never hurts to Rapid Spin if the chance does come. Now the last move is quite interesting. Playing in the Gen 5 Dreamworld OU for quite a long time, I've realize that the metagame has grown so big, its virtually impossible to have a lead that will succeeded 100%. Therefore, I have outlined some leads that Tentacruel has no problem setting up on and other that do.
The first set of leads are the weather bringers; Hippowdon, Tyranitar, Abomasnow, Politoad and Ninetales. With max SDef and Water/Poison typing, Tentacruel can take on Politoad and Ninetales easily. The way it would play out is both of them depending on their team will either switch or attempt to inflict status. I will always set up Magic Coat straight off to repel their status and if they do switch, it will tip me off that both of them are leaned to more offensive approaches. If they do switch out to resist a predicted attack from me or to attack me later, I am in no hurry to lay Toxic Spikes but will rather switch out to Hippowdon. With an enemy Hippowdon, I know it will always set up Stealth Rock which doesn't worry me much, so I will instead set up Toxic Spikes. With 1 free turn, I can easily set the second layer since Lead Hippowdon rarely have any attack evs invested and with neutral nature can only 3HKO me with Black Sludge recovery(46.7% - 54.9% damage without Black Sludge). Lastly is Abomasnow which I will stay in for one Toxic Spike and respond by their action. With Liquid Ooze, leech seed won't be a problem and the only thing that might cause me to switch is a Wood Hammer.
The second class of leads would be the taunters. Straight off the bat, they taunt and then set up. They can be either speedsters such as Deoxy-S or pranksters like Whimsicott. Annoying as they can be, Tentacruel can screw them up with a taste of their own medicine through bouncing their taunt back with Magic Coat. This is a good abuse of Tentacruels low speed as prankster have to take a taunt and Deoxy-S with its great speed with fall to a false sense that Tentacruel will only set up or attack.
Third up are the anti-leads. These are the most troublesome and can vary a lot, therefore I can't really make any pre-predictions. Mostly of the time I will respond by switching on to a special or physical wall to counter them but a mix anti-lead (pretty rare sight) will do a significant to me but being mixed, its fire power will be much smaller and shouldn't post a heavy threat.
Lastly, the baton passers. Most people will take the time to set up but upon seeing a baton passer, the first thing on the checklist for me is to break that chain because if you fail to, the consequences will be hard. Most of the time I would switch to my Hippowdon to spam Roars that they will have to take on the turn they BP. Soundproof and Suction Cup users will be a pain but the only thing I can do is put status on them and stall them until they have to BP again and Hippowdon will once again spam Roar.
Hippowdon (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sandstream
Evs: 252 HP/ 252 Def/ 4 SDef
Nature: Impish ( +Def/-SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Roar
- Slack Off
- Earthquake
Part 2 of my leading position lies in Hippowdon, the famous bulky sandstreamer. The purpose he serves depends on the actions of my opponent. With Stealth Rock and Sandstream as a second layer of damage, if my opponent leads with any pokemon that can't touch my Tentacruel, Hippowdon becomes my Stealth Rocker and physical wall, making appearances early and later in the game. However, if my opponent has a lead that stops my Tentacruel on its track, Hippowdon serves its second role as a damage absorber and phazer. The duo is deadly and nearly unstoppable, achieving perfect coverage between the two with Hippowdon taking Psychic and Ground for neutrality and Electric for an immunity. Tentacruel vice versa takes Grass for neutrality and resistance to Water and Ice. Furthermore, the duo fits like a jigsaw due to Tentacruels great special defense and Hippowdons great physical defense, narrowing any moves my opponent can make that poses a danger, even super effectives.
As a stealth rocker, I tend to speed up the pace of my game and go straight for the stealth rock. This allows me to quickly bring in my defensive core and I technically won half the game already since everything has fallen into place and my defensive core is out there with stealth rock, toxic spikes and a sandstorm running. Hippowdon can then join my defensive core as a physical wall and with reliable recovery, it can stall for many turns. Sometimes, I can use him as a lure or sacrifice to get a good match up for my core. Otherwise, Hippowdon strategy is to take hit, recover and attack when the chance comes.
However, if things don't run this smoothly and Tentacruel did match up with a disadvantage, Hippowdon will make an immediate switch to take a hopefully neutral or not very effective hit and being to phaze. Anything that doesn't pose a great threat to Tentacruel will be good enough for a switch back into Tentacruel and toxic spike. Hippowdon will probably be only used as a lure or sacrifice later on because he has taken damage. But I can still pass wishes to him if he is necessary to counter the opponent.
So, the duo can perform many planned moves with the aim of setting up the entry hazards. Nothing much can stop them but of course, nothing is perfect. For example, an uncommon but existing Rotom-W lead will be able to physically hit Tentacruel with Volt Switch and specially take on Hippowdon with Hydro Pump not to mention they might also be tricking a choice scarf. Under these conditions, I might switch onto my Blissey to force a switch on their part but since its early on the game, I enjoy letting everything roll out a bit just to make sure your moves won't have any devastating effects later on.
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The Defensive Core
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Blissey (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
Evs: 252 HP/ 4 SAtk/ 252 Def
Nature: Bold (+Def/-Atk)
- Flamethrower
- Heal Bell
- Wish
- Softboil
The very centre of my defensive core, Blissey serves as my specially defensive wall. By trying to match her against special sweepers nothing can really touch her. It aims to come in on special attacks and just stall them out. Flamethrower combined with Blissey's decent special attack denies any steel types from the false believe that they can crush my team since they are immune to toxic spikes and sandstorm. Heal Bell Keeps the team status free and with the new wish mechanics, wish will be passing a massive amount of HP to my teammates. I have both softboil and wish because I personally enjoy having more options which although shrinks my coverage ability, but my chance of making the right move as a cleric is higher.
Due to Blisseys horrible defensemy defensive core consist of another pokemon that does well coming in and rejecting any attempts at killing my Blissey, which is my Tangrowth. To further provide a reliable support, my Tangrowth can switch in a tank physical hits for Blissey while setting up leech seeds and with regenerator, he has even more surviving potential. However, Blissey doesn't just hide behind Tangrowth. As toxic and Tangrowths leech seed kicks in, the opposition will have little time to sweep and they usually go all out, Tangrowth in a pretty bad state. At this point, Blissey can come in a pass on 357 HP Wish, combined with regenerator can put him back to good health.
So Blissey really just shuts of special attackers and forces them to go all out which still probably won't achieve much. After taking a good wave of hits like a champ, she can pass on wishes or clear the team of status with heal bell. The only special attackers that can trouble Blissey are Psyshock users which are a pain in the ass. Against them, I tend to use use my Scizor in attempt to OHKO with U-turn or at least do a chunk.
Tangrowth (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Regenerator
Evs: 252 HP/ 252 Def/ 4 SAtk
Nature: Bold ( +Def/-SAtk)
- Leech Seed
- Giga Drain
- Rest
- Hidden Power Fire
The last part of my defensive core, Tangrowth is extremely fun to play with and probably has the most switch ins in the team. Able to fill in for Blissey and acts as a physical tank, he can ruin that one moment for the opposition to knock out a block of my defensive tower. Blocking leech seed, main common seeders really have trouble with him. Furthermore, with regenerator, his switching in isn't just meaningless stalling but in fact a recovery turn. The evs give him max bulk and defense and nature is minus Tangrowths attack which most people usually wield due to his access to swords dance. But in a defensive team, Tangrowth benefits much more with its SAtk since it can surprise with a HP Ice which also gives him the ability to handle dragon dancers really well (I also found that Gliscor users seems to always switch in Gliscor to handle Tangrowth, only to be OHKO).
Unlike the rest of this RMT, I simply can't give you a good overall view of how Tangrowth can switch in and react due to the fact that his job varies too much. Sometimes he doesn't even play into his defensive and take heavy SAtk hits. Depending on the type of pokemon I switch in, how Tangrowth reacts is differently. Against status inflicters, I will freely allow them to inflict them due to the fact that I have rest and heal bell on Blissey, so it doesn't bother me they waste a turn. For stallers, I'll tend to attack and leech seed to shorten their usually massive health. Sweepers, preferably physical will be walled by Tangrowth whilst I set up leech seed and go for Giga Drains that will hopefully return with a good amount of health replenish.
Tangrowth enjoys switching in and out a lot because of regenerator recovery and the fact that it has a horrible defensive typing. It doesn't really bother me but sometimes the grass type kicks in and your stuck knowing that you have to switch but it'll cause another pokemon to faint. In these situations, the "sacrifice" that you saved before will be great at stalling a bit.
The defensive core is overall the heart of the team and what runs this defensive stall team. However, being the heart, it is the strongest yet the weakest point of the team because if it breaks, the match is pretty much over. So once the core is set on its tracks, every move must be throughly thought out and the most important thing for me is to have a reason for every move. But once in a while, a powerhouse might get lucky on a switch and I tend to try and fix it by rematching and remaking my defensive core on the spot as the status quo is just to keep your core alive longer than the opposition.
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The Spinblocker
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Dusclops (F) @ Eviolite
Trait: Pressure
Evs: 252 HP/ 128 Def/ 128 SDef
Nature: Sassy (+Sdef/-Spd)
- Pain Split
- Taunt
- Skill Swap
- Night Shade
With the introduction of eviolite, Dusclops is hands down the best stall spinblocker available. It can switch in and hand common spinners like Forretress, Starmie, Donphan, Claydol etc. easily. None of them can hurt it nor can they set up because I will mostly always taunt them. This is a great way to force a switch and allow my defensive core to shine. I prefer this than rather eliminate the spinner because if the spinner is eliminated, this gives them a free switch in and I like to keep the game at a 50/50 switch matching contest plus the opposition will gain extra turns whilst Dusclops slowly grind them to death with her pathetic SAtk.
Dusclops can also switch onto boosting sweepers and taunt them. Night Shade isn't fantastic with Dusclops low SAtk but damage will always make a player consider switching. Pain Split works like a charm on Dusclops due to its great defensive in both spectrum and can reduce a sweeper to red health before my defensive core even gets in the action. Skill Swap is fantastic especially against weather teams. It prevents the opponents from abusing the weather with their abilities and sometimes completely shut of some pokemons with great ability like swapping water absorb on vaporeon and replenishing my health with its hydro pump. However, on a stall team, pressure is pretty awesome as well since my enemy can't hurt Dusclops with weak moves and stronger ones with deplete quickly.
Dusclops effectiveness is highly depending on how strong my core stands since firstly, its main role is to keep the core alive and secondly, Dusclops offensive fire power is low and without reliable recovery, it is nothing more than 284 HP of useless if the core fell.
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The Glue
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Scizor (M) Choice Band
Trait: Technician
Evs: 248HP/252Atk/8 Spd
- Bullet Punch
- U-Turn
- Pursuit
- Superpower
As recommended by 2sly4u, Scizor plays the role as the glue and somewhat of a scavenger. When the lead duo and defensive core is set, near the end of the battle, your opposition should have taken a scattered amount of damage. None of them are probably going to faint without taking your wore out core down however. So here, Scizor the Technician comes to fix everything. With Choice Band, his attack is already at +1, so he can easily come in a finish off anything that doesn't resist steel. His power is so fierce that even Ferrothorns that have been describe as "rape" couldn't handle.
Due to his massive power, this brings me up to Scizors second job, the scarecrow. Abusing his infamous status, Scizor can come in and scare away anything that slightly threatens the team like Latios who can't even set up Calm Mind in fear of being OHKO by U-Turn. And if they have Choice Specs,
Draco Meteor can only hit for maximum 52% which is pretty pathetic. So overall, Scizor takes the role as the man coming in and out to scare or even eliminate threats such as Latios. Later on the game, with wish support, Scizor will be replenished in HP and can being finishing off what is left through the stall grinder.
Offensive Threats
Defensive Threat....Hopefully up soon.
Conclusion
This team stands quick strong and the aim is to keep my defensive core alive. The core is already hard to take down but when approaching a battle defensively, you will always lose to the immediate advantages since going through careful and slow procedures early on like entry hazards are paramount for your later success and even snatching the win. So, from here on, you Smogoners can help me polish this team and make it even better since right now although I am winning, the team is relying on some pre made predictions and plans that I have to run through everything but I guess that is somewhat an element of defensive play. Nevertheless, your feedback will be always appreciated.
