Taylor
i am alien
Introduction
In DP I was most comfortable with offensive teams; the stall style was not my forte in such an offensive environment. I always found myself losing an important match to an unpredictable moveset when I used stall. Innovative MixTar, for example, can completely ruin stall if played intelligently. This kind of creative, yet unexpected technical advantage put me off stall, and I opted for bulky offence, standard or out-an-out offense to match my opponents like-for-like.
Garchomp was banned and could no longer Swords Dance + Outrage its way to glory; this undoubtably gave stall a boost. But once Platinum's additions were included, Trick perhaps became stall's biggest threat. After several attempts playing with stall in DPPt, I found that I wasn't prepared to outplay my opponent when they had Trick at their disposal; thus, I left stall out of the frame again.
The last problem I Encountered with stall was when it can be difficult as you intend to Rapid Spin opposing entry hazards when they have a Rotom form up their sleeves. They're everywhere and when you strive to clear yourself from Stealth Rock, in comes Rotom... we know the rest.
However, I have come back to this game and I've whitnessed stall being used effectively by all of your usual suspects; we know who they are. And after I magically thought of a way to deal with both Trick and Rotom, (albeit to a certain degree) I decided that I would once again give stall another chance.
Unique Addition
This involves: Tyranitar, Pursuit and Choice Scarf.
Now, I have found that stall is founded by five defensively orientated Pokemon; sometimes six, but more commonly the sixth member of a stall team is included to bail it out of situations, or is saved for a late-game sweep. I feel that five *can* hold their own to great effect, while the sixth member provides something different. In this case, that is Tyranitar.
Team Taylor Stall (TTS!)
Swampert (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/6 SDef
Relaxed nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Earthquake
- Protect
- Ice Beam
- Stealth Rock
Stealth Rock must be up as soon as possible to prevent opposing Salamence tearing this team apart. Protect allows Swampert to evade "suicude bombers", and allows me to scout enemy sets without taking any damage. Ice Beam and Earthuake offer some form of attack. I am considering Rest and Roar on this set, but Protect and another move must be sacraficed if that is to be the case. I feel Protect can be replaced because I can predict incoming Explosion and switch Rotom, so Protect is the most expendable move; it's the fact that either Earthquake or Ice Beam would have to be dropped in order to make room for Rest and Roar.
No nonsense EV spread. I wanted the maximum defence possible to be able to switch into physical attacks from your everday Tyranitar, et cetera.
Blissey (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 40 HP/252 Def/216 SDef
Calm nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Softboiled
- Aromatherapy
- Toxic
- Seismic Toss
Arguably the most integral cog in stall. Laugh off special attacks, and provide the team with cleric support. Aromatheraphy is why I consider using Rest without Sleep Talk on Swampert, and why I currently use this strategy with Rotom, by the way. Flamethrower is mainly for Forretress who intend to Rapid Spin my entry hazards, and Toxic in to catch off Infernape, Tyranitar and the like.
SAtk EVs grant a 2HKO on Shed Shell Skarmory (0 SpD) with Stealth Rock support.
Forretress (M) @ Shed Shell
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP/4 Atk/252 SDef
Careful nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Payback
- Rest
We're all familiar with Forretress and how it operates on the playing field. Set up Spikes when possible, and catch enemy Rotom off-guard with Payback; this allows Tyranitar to switch in and Pursuit afterwards. With this current set, I feel obligated to suppliment its survivability with Wish support; for now, I run Rest to further elevate Blissey's Aromatheraphy usefulness. Of course you need to Rapid Spin entry hazards and with Tyranitar taking care of Ghost-types, Forretress' objective is much easier to accomplish.
The EVs allow me to set up layers of Spikes/Toxic Spikes on bulky waters. Forretress' defence is considerably high already, so I opted for EVs in Special Defence.
Gyarados (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/6 Spe
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Waterfall
- Roar
Phaze out non-Hidden Power Electric Suicune? Yes, please.
I needed a Sleep Talk Pokemon and Gyarados can fill in just fine. Its attack is respectable at 286; it's amazing considering that this spread is without a beneficial nature or Attack EVs. Life Orb Lucario with Crunch nulifies my Rotom's attempts to keep it in check, so Gyarados will gladly fill in instead; note that there is however an alternative to Lucario, and that is Choice Scarf Tyranitar. Extreme bulk and carefully thought switch-ins make this variation a difficult addition to eliminate.
Intimidate, maximum HP and defence is absolutely amazing, and Gyarados' special defence is nothing to laugh at either. I followed the same prinicple as I did with Swampert: no nonsense 252/252. Out-an-out physical support is what I want from Gyarados, and I get it.
Rotom-w @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/96 Def/160 SDef
Calm nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
- Rest
As much as it irritates me in appearence and the fact that it mocks Rapid Spin, it's *that* good I have no choice but to use it myself.
With Stealth Rock, I can effectively take down opposing Gyarados without much fuss. The moveset allows me to hit enemy Tyranitar, Heatran, and a whole list of household names for super effective damage. Independant Rest without Sleep Talk because Blissey is not too far behind with Aromatheraphy. I enjoy having three attacks for one very important reason: it is very difficult to switch in Tyranitar on Jirachi (as much as it is suicide) when I suspect Trick, so Rotom is the safer option and can still remain a threat with Choice Scarf.
Testing out Calm with SpD EVs.
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Tyranitar (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 6 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
Normally if you're going to utilize Sand Stream on a stall team, you use Hippowdon. I don't take to the fact I am nullifying Leftovers recovery, so I tend not to reveal Tyranitar unless I suspect either one of the following: Rotom or Trick,; sometimes it's both both (which is even better).
Choice Scarf Tyranitar will happily swap like-for-like with Trick users because there is no downside to it (well, for me anyway). Trick is widespread amongst OU movepools and it can suddenly appear and indirectly damage your strategy, but there is little to boast about at their end when they recieve Choice Scarf back. Latias, Rotom, Gengar and Starmie, occasionally carry Trick, intentionally ruining your efforts to outstall and frustrate the opponent; ideally, for someone who is trying to elevate Tyranitar's importance, those who I listed are all hit for super effective with Pursuit/Crunch. This is what Tyranitar should do: switch in on Trick, and gain advantage by using Pursuit on their "spin blocker".
It's fair to say that Rotom is the most popular and effective "spin blocker" in the current metagame. To ensure that I can keep my team free from entry hazards, I follow this procedure: analyze their team as the game is in motion, and make an attempt to guess whether or not they're using Rotom (this can be done in a numerous amount of ways: if they stack up entry hazards, whether it be stall or not; have a particular weakness to certain Pokemon from what I have have seen so far, and expect them to have Rotom to help them in that department, et cetera). Should I suspect Rotom, I use Payback straight off (sometimes it's too risky to switch in Tyranitar on the Pokemon Forretress is setting up on). If I hit the intended target, I switch to Tyranitar to take the
Thunderbolt/Overheat/WoW and proceed with Pursuit. If they stay in and WoW, I hit with Pursuit for a second time and I will use Blissey's Aromatheraphy to clear the status to go again.
Tyranitar's set is standard.
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Conclusion
So, there you have it. It's not by any means a finished product, as admittedly my stall teams are not the most productive and this version needs to be refined.
I'm speculating if I should opt for Roar + Rest on Swampert, keeping Aromaptheraphy on Blissey. Alternatively, I could choose to go with the more familiar Wish set and support Forretress, et cetera. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, but it's finding the right balance and sticking to that method.
Changes
- Blissey's EV spread has been altered. Toxic has been placed over Focus Blast, as has Seismic Toss over Flamethrower.
- Forretress is now equipped with Rest over Toxic Spikes.
- Testing Rotom-w with SpD, et cetera.
- Gyarados now has 4 EVs in Speed
Please fix this mess.