You mean he's not dead? [UU Stall Team]

[Flashstorm1]

Intro:

I've been gone for a while, as I'm sure most have been aware, and I want to get back into the UU metagame. Basically, I've been using this team even before I left, and I want to see if it can be updated to meet the standards of the current UU metagame. Some noticeable past achievements with this team include making the top 5 on the leaderboard, but it did pretty bad during the Smogon Tour due to a combination of hax and me being stupid.

My Team:

Cloyster @ Leftovers
Trait: Shell Armor
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SpA)
~ Spikes
~ Rapid Spin
~ Payback
~ Ice Shard

Cloyster has served as a handy Pokémon for matching up against other leads and laying down Spikes. When I considered a Pokémon for the lead position, I wanted something that could pair up well against the most common leads and, if possible, contribute to my team in some other way. Cloyster seemed to fit the bill perfectly, as it could 2HKO Froslass with Payback + Ice Shard or with two Paybacks and then spin away Spikes, while not really fearing Ambipom either. Now that Froslass is gone, Omastar might fit this slot better, but that's up to you guys to let me know. I mainly use Cloyster to KO the opponent's lead and set up Spikes whenever possible, but if I'm in a bad matchup, I'll switch and try to set up Spikes whenever possible. I use Arcanine to deal with the Grass-types that try to switch into this (as my opponent eventually realizes my strongest attack against them is Ice Shard).

Venusaur @ Leftovers
Trait: Overgrow
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Sassy Nature (+SpD, -Spe)
~ Sleep Powder
~ Power Whip
~ Sludge Bomb
~ Synthesis

I originally chose Venusaur for this slot because I needed something to handle Water-types and other special attackers like Raikou and Mismagius. Venusaur has served its role exceptionally, no doubt. Sleep Powder allows me to cripple incoming switch-ins, while Power Whip and Sludge Bomb offer exceptional coverage on both sides of the attacking spectrum. Steel-types do give Venusaur some trouble, but I can always switch to Cloyster or Steelix to set up, depending on the situation. Synthesis is pretty obvious, so no need to explain. Anyways, to demonstrate the effectiveness of the set, I've been able to 2HKO offensive variants of Mismagius and 3HKO Raikou with Power Whip, while both require a boost to stand any chance of 2HKOing me. I use Milotic and Steelix to deal with the Fire- and Flying-types that switch into this.

Arcanine @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 84 Def / 176 Spe
Jolly Nature (+Spe, -SpA)
~ Flare Blitz
~ ExtremeSpeed
~ Morning Sun
~ Will-O-Wisp

I chose Arcanine for the third slot of my team because I needed something that could switch into physical attackers and (hopefully) come out on top. The exceptionally bulky EV spread allows me to switch into Pokémon like Toxicroak and whatnot with little difficulty. Flare Blitz is useful STAB, while ExtremeSpeed allows me to kill weakened Pokémon that the rest of my team might not be able to outspeed. Morning Sun is obvious and it helps compensate for the Stealth Rock weakness, while Will-O-Wisp helps cripple incoming Rhyperior and Aggron (which are a pain in the ass otherwise). I forget what the Speed EVs let me outpace, but I'm sure it's important! I use Milotic to deal with Water- and Ground-types that switch into this.

Mismagius @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 200 SpD / 56 Spe
Calm Nature (+SpD, -Atk)
~ Shadow Ball
~ Taunt
~ Pain Split
~ Will-O-Wisp

Mismagius is probably my most favorite Pokemon out of the team, because it is so versatile and truly allows my team to function. Mismagius' most vital role is to prevent the opponent from clearing the field of any entry hazards, but it is also efficient at dealing with special sweepers like Alakazam since I can survive one Shadow Ball, even if Life Orbed. Shadow Ball provides useful STAB, and if a Normal-type switches in, I can just switch to Steeldicks. Taunt helps against opposing stall teams and generally forces switches. Pain Split simply ensures that I won't be going down without a fight. Finally, Will-O-Wisp helps with Dark-types like Absol that may try to Pursuit me. The EVs were taken from the analysis.

Steeldicks @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature (+SpD, -Spe)
~ Stealth Rock
~ Earthquake
~ Gyro Ball
~ Roar

Steel-types are very useful across every Pokémon, and in UU, I find Steeldicks to be the best Steel-type to fit my team. Steeldicks' original purpose was to deal with some very annoying set-up sweepers like Curse Umbreon and Calm Mind Raikou which could otherwise sweep me. Steeldicks also provides many useful resistances for the other Pokemon on my team, most notable to Ghost, Dark, and Electric. Stealth Rock is vital in providing additional residual damage. Earthquake and Gyro Ball provide decent coverage and allow me to deal with most of the sweepers that I switch Steeldicks into. Roar makes Steeldicks more of an ass since I force my opponent to keep switching, thus building up even more residual damage. The given EVs ensure I will always come out on top against special attacks; besides, it's not like Steeldicks needs any more Defense. Milotic serves as my switch-in to the Water-, Fire-, and Ground-type attacks aimed at Steeldicks.

Milotic @ Leftovers
Trait: Marvel Scale
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpA
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
~ Surf
~ Hidden Power Grass
~ Recover
~ Haze

Milotic is probably the best Water-type in UU and is a highly useful bulky Water tank that my team decided to utilize. Milotic's main task is to cover up some holes to types and sweepers that my team would otherwise lose against, such as Nasty Plot Houndoom and Dragon Dance Feraligatr. Surf provides useful STAB, while HP Grass allows me to deal with Feraligatr, Kabutops, etc. I don't use Ice Beam simply because I can switch either Venusaur or Arcanine into incoming Grass-types. Recover is self-explanatory, while Haze allows me to potentially outstall end game stat-uppers like Umbreon when the need arises. The EVs are taken from the analysis. Venusaur serves as my main switch-in to the attacks aimed at Milotic.

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Anyways, that is pretty much my team. You may recognize it if you've battled it on the ladder before. I'm open for any suggestions or comments. Thanks for reading!
​

 

[franky]

Hey Flash,

Nice to see you back and playing again. I think I remember you using this team in the tour. This seems like a solid stall team with your typical FWG core. With the current change of the metagame, I don't think its a smart idea to turn your Milotic to a physical wall. You'll be easily exploited to one of the more common strategies: Spikes + Fire-type (Moltres in this case). What you can easily do is make two changes. Switch Milotic's role to a special bulky water and go for the EV spread 252 HP / 80 Def / 6 Spe / 170 SpD with the nature Calm. This ultimately gives you a nice weapon against Moltres, Blaziken, and even Magmortar. With your current spread though, it might be a nice idea to go to Ice Beam now. HP Grass is mainly there to deal with Azumarill and Feraligatr, who can easily exploit Milotic's weak Defense now.

The other change to compensate for the loss of checking those physical waters is going for a physically defensive Venusaur. Raikou is not in the tier anymore so you don't need to pour in all of those EVs into Special Defense you can go for the EV spread 252 HP / 168 Def / 16 Spe / 76 SpD. This spread optimizes your ability to take physical hits from physical waters, while the rest is given to survive a +2 Shadow Ball with LO and outpace Adamant Aggron. Go for a bold nature with the moves Synthesis / Leaf Storm / Power Whip / Sleep Powder. This forces you to go all special and allows you to run the Speed you need to outpace Adamant Aggron -- a troublesome threat due to the lack of reliable check.

As for other options, look for 252 Hp / 120 Def / 136 Spe with Arcanine. This is a nice speed point to check beneficial Venusaur, meaning it won't sweep your entire team with an SD set. If any case, venusaur makes a fine check if you take my advice. overall gl.

 

[ToF]

Yeah since you're not running Chansey, I'd take franky's advice and run the EV spread he recommended on Milotic. On the flip side, however, you lose out on the ability to wall a lot of bulky waters, including Feraligatr and Azumarill. Might make even more sense to run a defensive Venusaur instead of Milotic to better take attacks from these troublesome Water-types.

Also I disagree with changing the spread on Arcanine. It lets you outspeed all variants of Toxicroak, which is important considering they run through his team otherwise.

 

[IronBullet]

Hi,

This is a nice team, congrats on your success. Since Froslass isn't around anymore, I'd recommend running Surf over Payback on Cloyster, which allows your to hurt Spin Blockers and Spinners alike. You could run a more Specially Defensive EV spread, which allows you to setup on weak special attackers, or keep your current spread with max Sp Atk instead.

Specially Defensive Milotic is a good idea, although you might want to try out Toxic over Haze or HP Grass, which allows you to deal with Bulky Waters better, as if you EV Venusaur to be physically defensive instead, it won't like switching into Ice Beams. You could always slap Toxic onto Arcanine to catch Bulky Waters on the switch in, though.

Great team, well done.