click on the sprites for the team!
The BH meta has been quite stale for me recently, with most consistent structures I've been building falling into either Sapblock 2-3-1 balances or Special based 1.5-3.5-1 balances. This is not necessarily a bad thing cause it allows for high consistency but it also gets rather boring after a long while. Thankfully, BH UU ladder came out and broke that cycle for me. Since it's a completely new meta, people haven't discovered much yet & thus I'd have a chance to spam foreign playstyles & learn how to build them along with learning how to play them without worrying about the quality of my team, and since I've built primarily unorthodox offenses (as opposed to what my RMTs would say) I wanted to try stall. Not that shitty semistall or whatever, I wanted to try actual (kind of) stall.
I chose this as the Wandering Spirit user due to being the only legal Mortal Spin + Knock Off immunity in the tier.
This immediately came to my mind as the bulkiest blob of bulk there is, & funny typing being a bane but also letting it check quite a bit.
Iron Valiant is everywhere and I've used my Arceus slot. You can guess what this is for.
Generic FC that somehow fell to BH UU to get used by evil hands like me.
Theorymon'd this as both a NDW check and a lategame cleaner, worked surprisingly well.
Imposter. I also changed Toxapex into a Toxic Spikes setter instead of RegenVest here.
Imposter had a bad MU into selfproof setup that techs specifically for Ting-Lu (stuff like Fairy Judgement NDW) and the Poisonceus matchup was awful, so Prankster Corviknight was added to alleviate both problems. (also made Giratina Dragon Tail > Infernal Parade to help vs. Take Heart Arceus formes)
1.1. Proof of peak
Unfortunately I didn't save the peak replay nor the screenshot of me on ladder at peak Elo. I did however screenshot this though.
(I would've gone further but the next match I DC'd into a tilt of 5 lost games in a row because of either more DC's or extremely ass MUs undoing 50+ games of progress so I've given up)
2. The team
Whitespace (Arceus-Steel) @ Iron Plate
Ability: Wandering Spirit
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Doom Desire
- Thunder Cage
- Strength Sap
- Ruination
Credits to Hallward for the original set.
So, this is their set, 100% copied into Steelceus instead of Dialga-O. With a combination of Thunder Cage, Doom Desire and Ruination, it can make progress stupidly well especially with Toxic Spikes or other hazards up. I chose specifically this because it was the only legal Knock Off + Mortal Spin absorber all in one. Iron Plate + Doom Desire is chosen over, say, Earth Plate Judgement because this already selfproofs - Imposter can't heal off the Thunder Cage + Ruination damage as efficient as you can.
Improof: Selfproofs, Giratina can soft-improof but only if Imposter doesn't have Wandering Spirit.
Hands of Time (Giratina) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Dragon Tail
- Mortal Spin
Giratina serves as the first Regenerator user & a Rapid Spin blocker in one slot. Knock Off & Mortal Spin makes progress into anything not named my Steelceus or random Sticky Hold bullshit. Dragon Tail racks up hazard damage & discourage slow setup users.
Improof: Steelceus, Corviknight also doesn't take any damage & blocks Mortal but gets knocked & doesn't block Regen healing.
Clock Strings (Toxapex) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Flip Turn
- Toxic Spikes
- Infestation
- Burning Bulwark
The second Regenerator user, Toxapex's typing synergies well with Giratina & Corviknight due to resisting Fairy & Fire respectively; it's Poison typing also removing potentially crippling Toxic Spikes while setting up them itself. Infestation semi-traps and chips down defensive walls & Imposter, which can amass up to very significant damage done with Toxic Spikes up (and the fact that they can't switch). Bulwark scouts out moves & stalls for even more chip damage.
Improof: Steelceus.
Artisan (Ting-Lu) @ Leftovers / Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Unaware
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Impish Nature
- Spirit Shackle
- Victory Dance
- Strength Sap
- Power Trip
When I made this set I actually expected this to just be a secondary wincon from Steelceus + Spikes that can also check NDW. I was actually wrong. This ended up straight up winning most games & Steelceus ended up just softening teams up for this guy to clean up. Spirit Shackle traps all of Imposter, passive setup users like Take Heart Thunder Cage Arceus-Poison or random physical setup guys who think they can break through you. Strength Sap is a burst healing option with 16PP and allows you to consistently win vs. previously mentioned physical setup & Imposter.
Improof: Selfproofs, Dondozo can live 1 hit if Imposter somehow hax through you with lowered Atk & reverse their boosts with Topsy.
Riddle Major (Dondozo) @ Covert Cloak
Ability: Fur Coat
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 SpA / 0 Spe
- Strength Sap
- Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Topsy-Turvy
The Big Fish serves as a general purpose catch-all physical wall. There's not really a lot to say here - Strength Sap capitalizes on the high Atk of physical attackers (who could've guessed), Spikes makes consistent progress into anything that doesn't run Magic Bounce, Rapid Spin removes hazards & Topsy-Turvy heavily deters setup attempts.
Improof: Anything that isn't Ting-Lu.
Witness (Corviknight) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Prankster
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Knock Off / Tidy Up
- Shore Up
- Parting Shot
- Haze
Most consistent mixed Steel/Flying option available (OU stole Celesteela thanks to Mega Garchomp). Blocks Mortal Spin, provides Ground immunity, does some other stuff I forgot. If you run Tidy Up over Knock Off you should preserve this for the direst of dire hazard removal as the team otherwise doesn't have stellar hazard control.
Improof: Ting-Lu for Tidy Up variants, Steelceus for Knock Off variants.
3. Threatlist
Since the team relies on checking individual metagame threats instead of having a catch-all special check, stuff that can break through the only consistent special wall in Giratina can get really bad.
+ Coverage for ToxapexCorviknight can't wall Iron Valiant, so if it techs for your only check in Toxapex you're kind of fucked. If it's Headlong you can maybe catch it with a Bulwark burn but if it's Luster Purge or Electro Drift your best bet is just hope they're overconfident and stay in on the turn Doom Desire procs.
4. Conclusion
CAN WE GET MUCH HIGHER (so high)
Overall, it was pretty cool peaking this high on an OMOTM. Would've been cooler if I got 9 more elo and overtook Clas but it is what it is.
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