Operation Desert Stall (UU)

[ChoiceBandBlissey]

​

Prologomenon: Greetings! I am ChoiceBandBlissey and I have finally made an account after around two months of lurking around Smogon. This is my first Rate My Team (and first post), so please bear with me if you find my writing style quirky and idiosyncratic or if you find my personality bashful and timid. Find the reference to natures yet? Anyway, let's move on. From the beginning of DP and ever since the occurrence of the Physical-Special split, I have been intrigued by the idea of annoying an opponent. [Boring History]I once made an entire team out of Pokemon who used Confuse Ray[/Boring History]. Then I discovered Smogon, which led me to subsequently discover the phenomenon we all hail as Obistall. I quickly derived an interest in and became intrigued with the idea of stalling. I have engaged in Shoddy battles within the Uber tier (which I did fairly well in), but eventually got bored with the limitations and restrictions observed in said tier. I then moved on to the UU ladder, which I am now rapidly excelling at. I have yet to attempt OU or Suspect, but I will have a stab at them in good time.

Anyway, let me begin by saying that all of us have dictionaries embedded into our spirits. This is why all of us have different ways of looking at things. Some people look at abortion as an evil and cruel way of life, while others don't care. But we're not talking about abortion here, we're talking about the definition of the word I previously mentioned, stall.

COMPETITIVE POKEMON STALLING brought to you by ChoiceBandBlissey's Dictionary

Making full use of, and racking up, residual damage to consistently deplete the health of your opponent.

• Exploiting the effect of Poison to the fullest.
• A team with a reasonable number of recovery methods to keep stallers healthy while the stuff in bullet point #1 takes place.
• A team that may contain entry hazards and primarily consists of walls.
• A way to make your opponent very sad.

Those are my definitions of stall. In my heart, I know that all are important, but bullet point number four is and will always be my central goal. And winning, obviously.

Anyway, on to the team.

The Team: I made this team around a week ago, throwing in random Pokemon I believed were building blocks to UU stall. I didn't (and don't, as a matter of fact,) know much about the threats of UU and what the deal is with a lot of things down there, but for some reason this team has managed to fare well enough, especially for someone with mediocre team building and battling skills such as me.

A little about my method of Pokemon presentation. I analyze a Pokemon's base stats and select the areas I emphasize EVs into before providing an EV spread. Tentative choices are underlined. That means that everything non-underlined is what I'm currently using. "Decent" base stats are bolded.

Hippopotas @ Leftovers
Impish (+Def -SpA) - Sand Stream
"A Physical Wall of Sorts"

Base Stats: [68][72][78][38][42][32]
Emphasized Stats: [Hp][Atk][Def][SpA][SpD][Spe]
EV Spread: 252 Hp / 252 Def / 4 Atk

• Stealth Rock
• Earthquake
• Slack Off / Stone Edge / Toxic
• Roar / Stone Edge / Toxic

Analysis (Role) - If you asked me to be honest and tell you about Hippopotas, I will tell you right now that this is a pathetic excuse of a member of my team. This puny creature is a disappointment to all hippoes around the world, even, god forbid, this:

...let alone to Pokemon. The only reason I have it here, as some of you might pick up, is because of Sand Stream. After all, no one likes to make a stall team by equipping a Sandy Rock or whatever to a Sandslash or something and having it use Sandstorm every eight turns. It just doesn't work that way. Anyway, this thing just sets up Stealth Rock and gets the hell out of there. Its job is done, except when the need for phazing arises, ie, until another member of my team which you will see in a while Encores a Calm Mind Mismagius and I switch Hippopotas in to go for the Roar. For the moves - Stealth Rock is a staple here. Unfortunately, this thing is so weak that it might not even get them in, so I'll have to switch him back in later. Earthquake for moderately powerful STAB. Slack Off is what a wall needs, but Hippopotas doesn't exactly qualify as wall material, so I might switch that too. Again, Roar to Phaze, but I might switch that up too with your persuasion.

Analysis (Stat Characteristics) - Disappointing base stats that don't even exceed 80 makes even taking strong physical hits from hard hitters difficult.
Analysis (EV Spread) - Hp / Def all the way to "maximize" Hippopotas' defensive potential, if at all it has any. The only good thing about this thing is that it will always be slower than Abomasnow, confirming Sandstorm activation.

Shuckle @ Leftovers **Shuck You**
Impish (+Def -SpA) - Gluttony
"Supportive Annoyer and Double Wall-ish Thing"

Base Stats: [20][10][230][10][230][5]
Emphasized Stats: [Hp][Atk][Def][SpA][SpD][Spe]
EV Spread: 252 Hp / 208 Def / 48 SpD

• Toxic
• Encore
• Knock Off
• Rest

Analysis (Role) - Probably my favorite member of the team, since in Sandstorm and with enough Wish Support, he can exceed your expectations, and he certainly did exceed mine. One word: annoying. Another word: impenetrable. Well, to a degree. He can totally wall a majority of things in UU. Again, in Sandstorm, which is thankfully what I have. This is my first intoxicator, knocking off items whenever opportunities present themselves and Encoring the hell out of people stuff that dare to try to set up on it. Rest is a pretty poor recovery method, but it's pretty much all Shuckle has. He definitely likes to come in on Substitute-Setup Pokemon, go for the Encore, and allow me to switch into something else that can appropriately deal with the threat.
Analysis (Stat Characteristics) - Low Hp, but some serious defensive potential. Nonexistent attack doesn't bother me very much, as he can drive a lot of Pokemon to the brink of madness.
Analysis (EV Spread) - Hp is definitely maximized, while defensive EVs are stolen from Smogon's analysis - Shuckle's "Supportive Wall" set.

Armaldo @ Leftovers
Adamant (+Atk -SpA) - Battle Armor
"Spinner and Special Wall of Sorts"

Base Stats: [75][125][100][70][80][45]
Emphasized Stats: [Hp][Atk][Def][SpA][SpD][Spe]
EV Spread: 252 Hp / 4 Atk / 252 SpD

• Rapid Spin
• X-Scissor
• Stone Edge
• Rest / Earthquake

Analysis (Role) - A very gimmicky member of this team that works surprisingly well. Initially, I had a Foresight Blastoise here, but CMMismagius would own me, so I decided I needed something else. The only reason Cradily isn't here is because it lacks offense. Plus, I needed a spinner. With 252 Hp and 252 SpD Armaldo's defenses become 354 Hp / 388 SpD, which is very decent. Also, I used Adamant over Careful because 28 Atk more is sort of significant for me, but I might use Careful upon recommendation. Rapid Spin is straightforward, and Armaldo's two STAB moves are great to work with. Again, his only recovery method is Rest, which sucks. Earthquake is also an option so I can win prediction battles against Crobat. But all in all, I'm pretty proud of what he can do.
Analysis (Stat Characteristics) - Good stuff in my opinion. A very sturdy Pokemon. Low speed doesn't really matter.
Analysis (EV Spread) - Another simple spread, beefing him up with EVs in Hp and SpD.

Chansey @ Leftovers
Calm (+SpD -Atk) - Natural Cure
"Special Wall and Wishmaker"

Base Stats: [250][5][5][35][105][50]
Emphasized Stats: [Hp][Atk][Def][SpA][SpD][Spe]
EV Spread: 6 Hp / 252 Def / 252 SpD

• Toxic
• Wish
• Protect
• Seismic Toss

Analysis (Role) - Chansey! The Blissey of UU! Naturally! Chansey is specially bulky enough to come in on attackers from said offensive spectrum and intoxicate them or Wish to heal up members of my team or herself. With 252 Defensive EVs, Chansey can take some random physical hits too. My second intoxicator, paired with Wish + Protect, she can single-handedly sweep special Pokemon or intoxicate even a physical Pokeon, get out, and come back later to heal. Seismic Toss is Chansey's only acceptable way of dealing damage, lol.
Analysis (Stat Characteristics) - Massive Hp and Special Defense make her a Specially Defensive beast! That's all there is to say. The rest of her stats are truly and unequivocally..crap.
Analysis (EV Spread) - 252 Defense helps her take, again, I say, some physical hits. 6 Hp paired with EV investment in Special Defense is good enough to take on special hits all day (or maybe for a few hours).

Shaymin @ Leftovers
Bold (+Def -Atk) - Natural Cure
"Aromatherapist and Physical Wall of Sorts"

Base Stats: [100][100][100][100][100][100]
Emphasized Stats: [Hp][Atk][Def][SpA][SpD][Spe]
EV Spread: 252 Hp / 252 Def / 6 SpA

• 
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  

Analysis (Role) - Now when selecting my fifth team member I wanted to kill two birds with one stone. Firstly, I didn't like having Armaldo and Shuckle snoozing all day, making them prone to Substitutes and hits and unpleasant attacks, so I decided I needed an Aromatherapist. It would also help me cure Poison and the like after I've Rapid Spun with Armaldo. Next, Hippopotas, Shuckle, and Armaldo really hate Water attacks. Therefore, most of them are either directed to Chansey (if special) or Shaymin here (if physical). Deciphered the moveset yet? Seed Flare is Shaymin's signature move and no Shaymin would be complete without it! Next is Earth Power, which helps me attack some steels. I might swipe it for Air Slash though. Finally is Leech Seed, which really helps Shuckle, should something like Honchkrow decide to ruin Shaymin's party.
Analysis (Stat Characteristics) - 100 all = yummy.
Analysis (EV Spread) - Hp / Defense all the way to help take hits like Waterfalls and Earthquakes.

Gligar @ Leftovers
Jolly (+Spe - SpA) - Sand Veil
"Substitute Staller"

Base Stats: [65][75][100][35][65][85]
Emphasized Stats: [Hp][Atk][Def][SpA][SpD][Spe]
EV Spread: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 6 Hp

• Substitute
• Roost
• Swords Dance / Stone Edge
• Earthquake

Analysis (Role) - Sand Veil + Substitute is frustratingly difficult to defeat. The idea here is that Gligar will Substitute down until the opponent misses an attack, and with 295 Speed he can outrun quite a few threats. Roost heals Gligar up to produce more Substitutes, and once behind one, he can Swords Dance + Earthquake to sweep teams. However, this is too easily walled, so I might consider using Stone Edge. For now, though, all I can say is that I absolutely love this thing, especially when he Substitutes and Roosts while my intoxicators' Poison take their toll on my foes.
Analysis (Stat Characteristics) - Mediocre at best, but Speed must be exploited to the fullest to Substitute Stall. 65/100 is pretty good, but not great.
Analysis (EV Spread) - Speed is maximized to hit 295, which ties with a couple of other UUs. EV investment in attack boosts the power of STAB Earthquake.

 

[ChoiceBandBlissey]

Threat List

• Shaymin: Can be annoying, but non-Leech Seeders are walled by Chansey. Shuckle can take a few hits too, and Armaldo can X-Scissor.
• Mismagius: Very annoying. Shuckle Encores whatever, and Hippopotas Roars it away. If not, Chansey gets in, Wishes, switches to Armaldo and I start Stone Edging.
• Blaziken: Gligar walls Superpowers, and is faster. Shuckle takes hits.
• Roserade: Super hard to kill, but Chansey can keep Seismic Tossing, Shuckle can Encore while Gligar gets in there, etc
• Regirock: Gligar gets in there and uses a few Earthquakes to kill it. Shaymin Leech Seeds and Seed Flares. Chansey. and Shuckle Toxic and stall.
• Registeel: Gligar again, and Blissey's Seismic Tosses.
• Milotic: Shaymin and Chansey.
• Steelix: Shaymin, Shuckle, even Gligar to some degree.
• Crobat: The thing I hate the most. Armaldo basically. I might need Stone Edge on Gligar :(
• Ambipom: Shuckle.
• Hitmontop: Gligar substitutes up on it, Shaymin is faster than most, Shuckle can take a few hits, etc
• Honchkrow: Shuckle does very well. Gligar can Sub while Toxic takes its toll. Armaldo can Stone Edge.
• Spiritomb: Shaymin, chansey, Shuckle
• Arcanine:

-incomplete-

Rate ahead first

 

[Erazor]

I remember playing this team, you used it extremely well.

I'd just advise you to be careful when dealing with mix Blaziken - and not the 72 atk version. I'm talking about the original 236 Atk version. If played right, it can dismantle the team, however, you showed that you can play around this.

Crobat IS annoying, and so I recommend Stone Edge on Hippopotas(Crobat always Taunts Hippo, so it can be caught of guard), or fit Regirock into the team.
I'd replace Armaldo. You don't need a rapid spinner per say, as Toxic spikes are pretty uncommon, and you have no Stealth Rock weaks. It is bulkier than Armaldo on both sides of the spectrum, can decimate Crobat with STAB Stone Edge.

Watch out for Rain Dance teams. If you give Regirock Thunder Wave, you'll have some sort of defence against them, but apart from that, they can rip this team apart.

Overall, this is a good team. Hope I helped!

 

[BurtonEarny]

While a bit more on the gimick side... Rock Blast seems to be of more use to you than Stone Edge on Armaldo. If he is meant to hit CM missy and/ or Espeon, then he can break their sub and deal a good portion of damage in one turn. Also, Articuno and Moltress can no longer stall from behind subs.
THESE CALCS ARE DONE WITH 28 ATK. EV'S TO BREAK A 104 HP CROBAT SUB WITH ONE HIT
Damage Calcs:
All damage calcs with Rock Blast are only one hit(though it always hits at least 2).
Standard def. Stall Moltress:
*Stone Edge- you will likely never actually hit the thing unless it switches into Armaldo(not going to happen) between you likely missing at least once and sub + roost. It IS a OHO IF you hit it.
*Rock Blast- 32-37 percent. This means you break a sub and essentially make him have to roost if it hits 3 times. Meaning you can then hit it with EQ.

Articuno-
Not going to calculate SE as it likely wont hit Articuno anyway unless it switches in(they wont do that), and I know its a OHKO.
Rock Blast- 37-43. Same vein as moltress though EQ isnt as effective

Crobat (104 HP)-
Rock Blast- 25-29. This will always break the substitute and can Cripple Crobat with enough hits. It doesnt have pressure, but Stone Edge will still likely never amount to much. Rock Blast can beat Croabt.

CM Missy-
20- 23. Your not breaking subs with one hit, but you can still break them and hurt her in the same turn. And it cannot bost its stats high enough to beat you before it dies.

Espeon-
19- 22 Similar to missmagius. Still can be crippled by Rock Blast before he can kill you.

This provides a better solution to common Sub users than Simply roaring them away. The later pokes, while not as affected by Rock Blast are still beaten by the move, especially when trapped in encore. I ran 28 attack ev's to ensure you break Crobats sub with one Rock, but you do not particularly need it, and Moltress' and Arti's Subs will still be broken in one hit. Missy and Espeon will always require 2 hits without a good amount of investment in ATk., so the 28 I used is really not necessary. However, when they can come in and only take SR damage, they can do that a couple of times and still be a threat even without Leftovers recovery. I think Rock Blast is a bit better for this team as it has more PP than Stone Edge and can be used more often.

So I would run:
Rest
Rapid Spin
EQ
Rock Blast

Also, I dont like Seed Flare on Bulky shaymins as you may find yourself running out. Energy Ball can still do the job, and has twice the pp. But its simply a matter of what you prefer and is by no means a bad thing. Over all one of the more solid teams I've rated/ read (rating isnt really what I did) lately. Oh, and CBB (what I will call you in the future should we talk), the RMT was very enjoyable.

 

[Zepar]

and you have no Stealth Rock weaks.

Shuckle is SR weak and only has Rest.

 

[BurtonEarny]

Shuckle is SR weak and only has Rest.

and armaldo

 

[Peachfuzz]

Somewhat of an odd, but very interesting team.

First of all, I recommend a Roserade over Shaymin

Roserade (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP/252 SDef
Calm nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Sludge Bomb
- Energy Ball
- Spikes
- Rest

This Roserade brings several things to the team. A Toxic Spikes absorber. Even though many of your team members have Rest, immunity to Toxic Spikes, or Natural Cure, Toxic will severely limit the turns that they can stay in and do their job, either forcing them to Rest or switch out, giving plenty of opportunities for dangerous sweepers to come in. Roserade also combines well with Chansey walling and setting up shit on bulky waters and grass types. Spikes are used to heavily damage switch ins to many of UU's most offensive pokes, such as Blaziken, who may give your team lots of problems.

With the loss of Aromatherapy Shaymin, Aromatherapy can be placed on Blissey. I recommend switching Wish/Protect to Softboiled/Aromatherapy. Many of your other pokemon have recovery themselves, and with the all the Rest users, Aromatherapy will be very useful in waking them up.

Also with Shaymin goes a good physical water counter. Pokemon like Azumarill and Feraligatr will be able to punch holes through your water weak physical walls. I'm really not liking Armaldo as a Rapid Spinner and special defender. It seems like it does a very weak job at doing so. Over Armaldo, I strongly recommend Blastoise.

Blastoise (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/4 SAtk
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Surf
- Hidden Power [Electric]
- Rapid Spin
- Rest

Provides you with a great switch into Azumarill/Dragon Dance Feraligatr. You can wear them down with HP Electric. Rapid Spin is much more reliably done with a pokemon with no Stealth Rock weakness.

I'm not liking the Gliscor set. It seems caught between being a Toxic staller and a Swords Dance sweeper, while not accomplishing anything at all. Sub/Roost with Stone Edge seems like a very weak attacker, and SD over Stone Edge will leave you walled by anything with a ground immunity. Either try Sub/Roost/Toxic/Earthquake or Swords Dance/Roost/Stone Edge/Earthquake. The Toxic set will give you a very effective toxic staller that fits well with the rest of the team theme. The Swords Dancer will give you an effective sweeper end game.

Try out these changes. Hope I helped!

 

[Pocket]

You'll be surprised by Gligar's sweeping power if you give it Aerial Ace over Roost. You still got Wish support from Chansey, and Sand Veil would make it even easier for Gligar to get the 50% heal if it needs recovery. Give it Salac Berry and its sweeping capabilities are even more enhanced. Having salac activated while Gligar is behind a substitute and with Swords Dance boost is the sweetest thing. Admittedly it is a one shot thing, so it may not be appropriate for this stall team, but definitely give Aerial Ace a try and allow Gligar to actually sweep with the protection of Sand Veil.

 

[ChoiceBandBlissey]

I would like to begin by expressing my gratitude towards all those who have spent time rating this team, so thank you people! Next I will write my replies to your individual comments and suggestions:

Erazor - Thanks for the minor praise! Upon much encouragement I will replace Armaldo with Regirock to see how he fares. Maybe that will solve my Crobat problem too. Perhaps a Stone Edge/EQ/Toxic/Rest set or something. At least Regirock doesn't take 25% from Stealth Rock and has much better defensive characteristics than Armaldo. I will playtest immediately.

BurtonEarny - I very much appreciate your calculations, and will replace Rock Blast with Stone Edge (you have convinced me to some extent!) should I choose to continue to use Armaldo. I will playtest Regirock first though but if he doesn't do as well as I'd expect I will resume usage of Armaldo with your courteous suggestion of Rock Blast > Stone Edge. I hope to converse with you soon enough and I am glad you enjoyed my RMT.

Peachfuzz - You have suggested some very clever replacements / additions to this team. Replacing Roserade over Shaymin and Blastoise over Regirock will dramatically change the synergic ability of this team, but your suggestions are well worth the try. I don't believe I need a Blastoise though, as I have tried it and it...sucks to be simple. Toxic Spikes absorption (absorbption?) via Roserade is good enough, and I like the idea of being able to set up Spikes of my own. I will playtest Roserade as well. Also, I will make modifications to Gligar's moveset.

Pocket - I remember you. We were engaged into that stupid stall war :p (were we?) Aerial Ace could be a good way to reduce Crobat's Health a little while I EQ when it Roosts, but Stone Edge seems to be as attractive an option. Instead of replacing Roost I might replace Swords Dance though, as Gligar is, after all, meant to Substall!

Again, thank you, fellows! I will also be updating my threat list and will write up my team-building process and some other frequently asked questions which I meant to complete yesterday but due to a series of circumstances was unable to.