Okay so I'm not the most awesome battler. Gen 5 I did do okay on the ladder, once I understood the meta game better. This gen I'm really struggling to understand what works, and I'm never going to jump onto the Charizard bandwagon (Yeah right).
I think I've used a dedicated stall team twice in my life and hated it both times. I much prefer smashing shit and winning playing with predicitons etc and not some 200 turn slug fest.
Started of with Lucario as I wanted to base my team around his mega evolution. Original set had sword dance
Due to how much I was seeing Mega Charizard I figured Dragonite would make a great counter, especially when at full health. Weakness policy set took my eye as something different and He complimented Lucario well by resisting his weakness', while Lucario was able to bullet punch those Fairy types. Both broke down physical walls to aid each other sweep.
Dragonite functions so much better at full health, so a hazard removal was needed. I decided I wasn't going to use rocks or other hazards myself, making defog the prime choice. Zapdos again compliments Lucario nicely, and offers ability to hit water types while offering some defensive basis to my team
Heatran was thrown in because he's been so consistent in every gen I've used him. Two already on my team take his weakness nicely with resistance (Zapdos is neutral to water of course). I ran a Magma storm set for a little variation, I believed it would be good for gaining momentum/setup chances by trapping and surprising others.
Espeon gave me a way of dealing with stall, and having the option to bounce back rocks aswell as dealing with the burns aimed at Lucario & Dragonite. On top of that Espeon's fast and has access to Fairy type in the form of Dazzling gleam, helps me deal with Conkledurr who has moves to threaten my whole team.
Azurmarill providing some extra resistance aswell as a switch in incase I don't fancy using up Dragonite's weakness policy in a toe to toe fight with another Dragon. He adds in some extra priority and with Belly Drum can apply tremendous pressure early should switch ins give me a free turn. Belly drum sweeps should never be the priority, but using it early helps damage and break into things that will prevent my physical sweeps later. Also great for taking on Charizard.
After using the team a little, I found the team to be rather slow. Zapdos was good, but he never packed enough power to break through stuff, and Heatran was getting continiously hammered and costing me momentum. I tried scarftran but it was only fractionally better for me. I move to Latias for defog, not only this but because healing wish was excellent allowing me to bring out sweepers and save them for later. Thundurus seemed wise for a scarf, volt turn provides so many great setup chances and he acts as insurance towards Skarmory should Espeon fall.
Lucario @ Lucarionite
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Bullet Punch
- Ice Punch
- Stone Edge
Originally ran sword dance, but Stone Edge helped me nail annoying Gyarados, Charizard of both variants and stuff like Pinsir who thinks it can come in full HP and EQ me. I never found too many sword dance opportunities that ever paid off, the extra angle of prediction I get from stone edge was all worth it for me. EV's are you standard thing.
Dragonite @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Fire Punch
- Earthquake
I love unusual sets. Hell, charge beam Blissey was the best thing I used all 5th gen (not shitting you here, was hilariously fun). It's vital this thing has full HP for multiscale. That way it can take a hit, dragon dance on the same turn and begin to blow stuff up. The ideal scenario is this thing forcing a switch, DD on the switch, DD again and get the weakness policy and then kill stuff. Outrage can be annoying but I prefer the power over dragon claw even if it's risky with fairy's around. The other two moves just look to fry usual switch in's and provide coverage. Standard spread. This things primary aim is never to sweep, but to be able to wreck my opponents call ins to physical attackers, providing it's full HP it nearly alwasy bags at least 1 kill and usually dents the 2nd mon.
Thundurus-Therian (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk
Naive Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Volt Switch
I needed something fast and powerful that wasn't physically based. Chucking a scarf on something with such high SAtk made sense, although while typing this I've noticed I've left out those crucial 4 spare EV's.....Volt switch is fantastic, it's so helpful at providing my team momentum and playing around my opponent. Thunderbolt's staple STAB although I only really use it later game. The other moves are for coverage, this is pretty much standard Gen 5 set. Oh Volt absorb is amazing, works nicely with Azurmarill.
Latias (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk
Timid Nature
- Defog
- Healing Wish
- Dragon Pulse
- Psyshock
So I needed defog as Dragonite is allergic to rocks. Latias offered some nice bulk to deal with hits, but healing wish was the main thing for me. It means I can give Dragonite a second life, or any of my other mons for that matter, meaning I can risk prediction earlier or work my opponent out and begin to take down the stuff that's going to stop me from winning. I was unsure on the 2 attacks so went for some balanced STAB to hit on both sides of the spectrum, EV spread I'm really not sure on. I wanted to be fast, bulky and deal damage all at once so couldn't decide haha.
Azumarill @ Leftovers
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 140 Spd / 252 Atk / 116 HP
Adamant Nature
- Belly Drum
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
This thing is great. Providing he is alive it basically prevents outrage every being used. He's really handy because he can deal with either variant of Charizard, hesne the Spd & HP in the EV spread, to help take a solar beam. Nah it's just because my team isn't massively defensive, most people just associate him with massive attack. Deals with ice/fighting/fire moves aimed at my 2 other physical powerhouses. Leftovers to aid survivability, helps him pivot early too.
Espeon @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Dazzling Gleam
- Calm Mind
I must admit I underestimated espeon, who is slowly becoming my favourite mon. Life orb gives him that extra power, he can hit on both fronts. Calm Mind was chucked in because I didn't know what else to us really. He's my answer to Will-o-wisp, and those annoying thunder waves which are far to accurate.
I've probably not explained my team very well, I find it hard to visualise the entire metagame in one go to explain my team like this. I don't have much against Talonflame (it causes me trouble) or M-Venasaur.
The other point about this team is defensively it's massively frail. It relies on my predicting correctly, not only for switch ins but for how my opponent will deal with certain situations. Generally one or two correct predictions in defensive situations give me enough momentum to win the game, but if I get it wrong it's usually a horrid end result. Dragonite has some bulk but as stated he needs to be on full HP to work properly the first time he comes in (so not switching into an attack) and Azurmarill isn't frail, but not huge bulk either.
I apologise for my medicore explaination of this team, it leaves a little up to you guys to see how it counters stuff, sorry. I'd really appreciate feedback, I spent some time putting this together haha.
(I'm also low on confidence after being pretty good at G5, and bad at G6)
I think I've used a dedicated stall team twice in my life and hated it both times. I much prefer smashing shit and winning playing with predicitons etc and not some 200 turn slug fest.
Started of with Lucario as I wanted to base my team around his mega evolution. Original set had sword dance
Due to how much I was seeing Mega Charizard I figured Dragonite would make a great counter, especially when at full health. Weakness policy set took my eye as something different and He complimented Lucario well by resisting his weakness', while Lucario was able to bullet punch those Fairy types. Both broke down physical walls to aid each other sweep.
Dragonite functions so much better at full health, so a hazard removal was needed. I decided I wasn't going to use rocks or other hazards myself, making defog the prime choice. Zapdos again compliments Lucario nicely, and offers ability to hit water types while offering some defensive basis to my team
Heatran was thrown in because he's been so consistent in every gen I've used him. Two already on my team take his weakness nicely with resistance (Zapdos is neutral to water of course). I ran a Magma storm set for a little variation, I believed it would be good for gaining momentum/setup chances by trapping and surprising others.
Espeon gave me a way of dealing with stall, and having the option to bounce back rocks aswell as dealing with the burns aimed at Lucario & Dragonite. On top of that Espeon's fast and has access to Fairy type in the form of Dazzling gleam, helps me deal with Conkledurr who has moves to threaten my whole team.
Azurmarill providing some extra resistance aswell as a switch in incase I don't fancy using up Dragonite's weakness policy in a toe to toe fight with another Dragon. He adds in some extra priority and with Belly Drum can apply tremendous pressure early should switch ins give me a free turn. Belly drum sweeps should never be the priority, but using it early helps damage and break into things that will prevent my physical sweeps later. Also great for taking on Charizard.
After using the team a little, I found the team to be rather slow. Zapdos was good, but he never packed enough power to break through stuff, and Heatran was getting continiously hammered and costing me momentum. I tried scarftran but it was only fractionally better for me. I move to Latias for defog, not only this but because healing wish was excellent allowing me to bring out sweepers and save them for later. Thundurus seemed wise for a scarf, volt turn provides so many great setup chances and he acts as insurance towards Skarmory should Espeon fall.
Lucario @ Lucarionite
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Bullet Punch
- Ice Punch
- Stone Edge
Originally ran sword dance, but Stone Edge helped me nail annoying Gyarados, Charizard of both variants and stuff like Pinsir who thinks it can come in full HP and EQ me. I never found too many sword dance opportunities that ever paid off, the extra angle of prediction I get from stone edge was all worth it for me. EV's are you standard thing.
Dragonite @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Fire Punch
- Earthquake
I love unusual sets. Hell, charge beam Blissey was the best thing I used all 5th gen (not shitting you here, was hilariously fun). It's vital this thing has full HP for multiscale. That way it can take a hit, dragon dance on the same turn and begin to blow stuff up. The ideal scenario is this thing forcing a switch, DD on the switch, DD again and get the weakness policy and then kill stuff. Outrage can be annoying but I prefer the power over dragon claw even if it's risky with fairy's around. The other two moves just look to fry usual switch in's and provide coverage. Standard spread. This things primary aim is never to sweep, but to be able to wreck my opponents call ins to physical attackers, providing it's full HP it nearly alwasy bags at least 1 kill and usually dents the 2nd mon.
Thundurus-Therian (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk
Naive Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Volt Switch
I needed something fast and powerful that wasn't physically based. Chucking a scarf on something with such high SAtk made sense, although while typing this I've noticed I've left out those crucial 4 spare EV's.....Volt switch is fantastic, it's so helpful at providing my team momentum and playing around my opponent. Thunderbolt's staple STAB although I only really use it later game. The other moves are for coverage, this is pretty much standard Gen 5 set. Oh Volt absorb is amazing, works nicely with Azurmarill.
Latias (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk
Timid Nature
- Defog
- Healing Wish
- Dragon Pulse
- Psyshock
So I needed defog as Dragonite is allergic to rocks. Latias offered some nice bulk to deal with hits, but healing wish was the main thing for me. It means I can give Dragonite a second life, or any of my other mons for that matter, meaning I can risk prediction earlier or work my opponent out and begin to take down the stuff that's going to stop me from winning. I was unsure on the 2 attacks so went for some balanced STAB to hit on both sides of the spectrum, EV spread I'm really not sure on. I wanted to be fast, bulky and deal damage all at once so couldn't decide haha.
Azumarill @ Leftovers
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 140 Spd / 252 Atk / 116 HP
Adamant Nature
- Belly Drum
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
This thing is great. Providing he is alive it basically prevents outrage every being used. He's really handy because he can deal with either variant of Charizard, hesne the Spd & HP in the EV spread, to help take a solar beam. Nah it's just because my team isn't massively defensive, most people just associate him with massive attack. Deals with ice/fighting/fire moves aimed at my 2 other physical powerhouses. Leftovers to aid survivability, helps him pivot early too.
Espeon @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Dazzling Gleam
- Calm Mind
I must admit I underestimated espeon, who is slowly becoming my favourite mon. Life orb gives him that extra power, he can hit on both fronts. Calm Mind was chucked in because I didn't know what else to us really. He's my answer to Will-o-wisp, and those annoying thunder waves which are far to accurate.
I've probably not explained my team very well, I find it hard to visualise the entire metagame in one go to explain my team like this. I don't have much against Talonflame (it causes me trouble) or M-Venasaur.
The other point about this team is defensively it's massively frail. It relies on my predicting correctly, not only for switch ins but for how my opponent will deal with certain situations. Generally one or two correct predictions in defensive situations give me enough momentum to win the game, but if I get it wrong it's usually a horrid end result. Dragonite has some bulk but as stated he needs to be on full HP to work properly the first time he comes in (so not switching into an attack) and Azurmarill isn't frail, but not huge bulk either.
I apologise for my medicore explaination of this team, it leaves a little up to you guys to see how it counters stuff, sorry. I'd really appreciate feedback, I spent some time putting this together haha.
(I'm also low on confidence after being pretty good at G5, and bad at G6)
