GSC NU Stall 
GSC NU is a tier largely dominated by offense and occasional balance. That's for good reason, these play styles are very strong and match up well into most of the metagame. The extremes of tier, on the other hand, see little attention. "HO" -- or whatever that means in GSC-terms -- is not very common. These structures of boomspam, BP chains, growthpass, etc are seen as fishy. While I do think these strategies are much, much, better than many give credit, to a large extent it's true, as they typically have very unfavorable yet uncommon matchups that may make them not worth bringing. The other extreme is stall, which is a playstyle that is practically untouched. Not only do people not like playing stall, it also has had very little testing, experimentation, and theory-monning over the history of GSC NU, especially in recent days. However, as recent meta trends have brought "safe" Rest-reliant offense/balance structures to the forefront, stall, in my opinion, has become incredibly strong as it matches up nearly unbeatably into the most common structures today.
What does stall look like in GSC NU?
GSC NU stall has 4 critical components, but is actually incredibly, incredibly flexible. These four components are:
- Shuckle
- Rapid Spin
- Water + Electric Check
- Water + Ice Check
While these all have several pokemon and build strategies to go from (except Shuckle, he's mandatory), I'll use this thread as an opportunity to show the build process behind what is the best stall in my opinion, as well as give other options to fulfill each roll along the way. There are countless options here as many mons synergize very differently with each other!
Shuckle
Shuckle @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Rest
- Toxic
- Defense Curl
- Wrap/Encore/Flash/Rollout
Shuckle is the bread and butter of this team and is the reason it functions. In the current state of GSC NU, Shuckle hard-counters about 90% of the most common Pokemon, including but not limited to: Stantler, Weezing, Fearow, Xatu, Porygon, Rapidash, and Gloom, while checking many more important Pokemon like Flareon, Magmar, Primeape, Ninetales, and Hitmonlee. Wow that's a lot of role compression! And what Shuckle lacks, his 5 other team members try to make up for. His goal is to spread Toxic, waste important pp on the opponent like Fire Blast and Thunder, and generally do nothing, which is okay in GSC NU. If there's no Spikes on the field and the opponent is not threatening special attack boosts (1 niche set on Flareon) or SD + move Shuckle is weak to (there are a few, so don't do nothing versus them), there's really nothing wrong with doing nothing because Defense Curl has 61 pp and will outlast boosting mons using Curse, Meditate, etc. That's also why I prefer Wrap the most as a fourth move, as it has a lot of pp and forces the opponent to use pp instead of switching. The other options can work if planned accordingly, but they either lack in pp or consistency. Now, this is a big "if" in order to facilitate Shuckle's passiveness, so assembling a team that can help is crucial, particularly when it comes to Spikes.
Shuckle can do a lot, so naturally it has a lot of pressure on it -- pressure that can make it crumble with stuff like crits or paralysis. Not only do Shuckle's teammates attempt to counter the things shuckle can not outlast, but they also attempt to relieve this pressure by not having to use it as a check for everything, as you only have 16 rests. Before we delve into the next team slot let's remind ourselves of our three remaining necessities (Rapid Spin, Water + Electric Check, Water + Ice Check) while ALSO considering the many ifs and buts that will arise once you've reached the end of your building: below are several key issues that stall has that, when picking your other 5 pokemon, you want to check as many boxes as possible. It's near impossible to be perfect into each, but strengthening your team into what you most expect to play against is critical. They're listed in general importance to the structure within three tiers (top most bottom least):
| Having a win condition | Dugtrio answer(s) | Growth counterplay | Toxicing/removing Pineco (or Delibird) | Kingler counterplay | Primeape backup |
| Magnemite answer(s) | Help with strong fire moves (from Magmar, Ninetales, and Flareon) | Xatu backup | Thief/Hypnosis counterplay | Sudowoodo counterplay | Having enough Rests to outlast Toxics |
| HP Water Weezing backup | Have a lot of pp on something threatening | Don't get spinblocked | Pupitar backup | Resistance to weird/niche cheese (Poliwhirl, perish trap, 3 attacks waters) | |
Hopefully it's apparent why Shuckle struggles with many of these. Some of the upcoming partners to Shuckle may even compound these. That's why they're important to keep in mind when building out the rest of the squad. It may seem like a lot, but a lot of it fits together in the end, and no one has ever consistently won with a singular pokemon.
Rapid Spin
Hitmontop (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Sleep Talk
- Rest
- Rapid Spin
- High Jump Kick/Toxic/Hidden Power Rock
The preferred Rapid Spin user on stall isn't even considered NU. Hitmontop, the PU legend, has many qualities that make it the best stall partner over the other options. Top is a great blanket special defensive check to many of stall's bigger problems, such as Chinchou, Dewgong, and Magnemite. While Hitmontop will never be a sole check to these Shuckle threats, having another option to relieve pressure from the team is a huge plus. Hitmontop also sports a higher defense stat than Hitmonchan at the expense of speed and attack, which is generally more useful for situations where you might have to stay in on a Stantler or Dugtrio, etc. However, NU has no perfect spinner, and Hitmontop can actually lose the spikes game in the long run. This is because Pineco commonly runs toxic, which can force Rests while Spikes are up, allowing the pinecone an opportunity to explode with a bad rest talk role. Because of this, it's critical for another member to Toxic Pineco or give Hitmontop the ability to do this itself/use HP rock (HP rock also prevents being spinblocked from the rare Gastly). Otherwise, you may struggle to keep Spikes off, which is absolutely critical to most NU stalls, as they seldom can afford spikes of their own.
Hitmonchan (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Rapid Spin
- Sleep Talk
- Rest
- High Jump Kick/Toxic/Hidden Power Rock
Tentacool @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Toxic
- Rapid Spin
- Protect
- Surf/Hydro Pump
There are two other valid options for spinning on stall. The first is Hitmonchan, which does nearly the same thing as Hitmontop with worse defenses, except it outspeeds Delibird by one point, the only other spiker in the tier. Although uncommon, if you expect to fight the Christmas bird, Hitmonchan will provide you much better utility. Tentacool, on the other hand, serves a wildly different purpose. It still spins, but aside from that its main advantage is that it ALWAYS beats Pineco, similar to Tentacruel in OU (disregarding the presence of Gastly). It also has several other advantages, acting as a decent Dewgong check (although eventually you will get frozen) and strong special attacker. It massively lacks in the aforementioned rare Delibird MU however, almost certainly leading to a loss after being Thiefed. It also doesn't contribute as much outside of the spike war. While the hitmons may be able to help with Thunder switches and normal types, Tentacool worsens these matchups, requiring extra assistance in other areas of the team.
Finally, there are two rapid spinners that are fringe. Graveler can work with even a Rest set but stacks so many similar strengths and weaknesses with Shuckle that it's very redundant. Staryu can also potentially work with recover, but can easily be statused by Pineco. It can, however, work similarly to how Starmie does in OU vs Cloyster when poisioned. On the whole, though, I feel Tentacool serves this role better.
Water + Electric Check
Bayleef @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Synthesis
- Toxic/Razor Leaf/Hidden Power Fire/Hidden Power Rock
- Return
- Swords Dance
Bayleef @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Light Screen/Reflect/Growl
- Body Slam/Toxic /Growl
- Synthesis
- Razor Leaf
Yet another non-NU pokemon, Bayleef shines on stall. It's main purpose is countering HP Electric Octillery, while also helping vs Chinchou along with your spinner (although it doesn't enjoy paralysis). NU massively lacks good grass types, which is why stall sort of settles for Bayleef. The reason it's prefered, however, is its strong Spdef stat compared to other grasses, along with its access to SD. As it will mainly be stomaching special attacks with only 8 Synthesis pp, it's important to avoid pokemon like Tangela and Exeggcute, which may have better stats but cannot face Octillery with ease. SD is an extremely important aspect of Bayleef despite its average attacking stat. This is because it allows it to threaten the opponent, forcing pp usage of critical moves, and potentially win in the end game. Much of the time, it will SD but then be forced to switch from something like a Weezing pivot. However, it also may be able to start dishing out strong Returns if at +2 in front of an Oct or Dug, causing slow but steady progress with its massive pp. It's last slot is flexible, but something to pressure Pineco is great, or else its a free switch. Toxic is preferred as this option, as it also prevents rock types from walling Bayleef. Bayleef also helps stall a lot in the Dugtrio matchup, making it very doable for the stall player, as the grass dinosaur nicely checks it along with your water type.
Bayleef has another defensive set available, with stuff like Growl and grass STAB. This set does not attempt to be a threat, but instead prevent set-up and continue to counter Octillery. It may run passive and give the opponent too many opportunities, but it certainly is the right choice on many stalls that already have a win condition. Just be careful of GSC screens and defensive rollover with Shuckle!
Gloom @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Sleep Powder/HP Fire/HP Rock/Razor Leaf
- Swords Dance
- Sludge Bomb/Return
- Moonlight
Sunflora @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
IVs: 6 HP / 28 Atk / 24 Def
- Synthesis
- Growth
- Razor Leaf
- Hidden Power [Fire]/Toxic
Gloom is almost identical to Bayleef's offensive set, but provides a stronger stab attack and the option to status. This can poison or sleep Pineco, ensuring a strong matchup against spikes. It can also run Return for more pp or the same options as Bayleef for rocks/Pineco. The biggest differentiator is its poison typing, which can help versus non-Meditate Primeape, but is largely a hinderance in being an ineffective
Dugtrio check and no longer being useful in the Xatu MU. Gloom certainly has a strong role on stalls with better Dugtrio and Xatu match ups, however, as its statusing abilities shine through while also being immune to Pineco Toxic! Sunflora is the same concept in theory, but slower, as its boosting move only gives a +1. It's also frailer defensively, making Dugtrio scarier. However, it has a massive Special attack stat, allowing it to be more threatening immediately once the opponent has a poisoned Xatu/Fearow. This is an unexplored but certainly viable option.
There are a few more fringe choices. Parasect is similar to Bayleef but weak to Dugtrio's Rock Slide. It does have 100% accurate Spore and a greater attack stat, however. It also has the option for STAB on HP Bug. Dragonair is much more of an NU-mainstay while also countering Octillery. It is more immediately threatening too with moves like Thunder and Fire Blast. Its main issue, however, is that it lacks pp and is not a win condition. It's largely a do-nothing Pokemon in my opinion on stall.
Water + Ice Check
Your core is nearly complete. Your Shuckle, spinner, and waterelec check are likely walling 80% of the meta with ease. The most common hole that's on most teams that you're missing is now a switch in to Dewgong and Ice Oct. While your spinner is likely helping here (a hitmon or tent), they're not reliable enough to always win this interaction,
ESPCIALLY BECAUSE OF FREEZE CHANCE. This slot is required bc it's essentially a freeze sack/immune. Moreover, it's likely to help you in general for like, not losing against other common threats.
Dewgong @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Surf
- Ice Beam/Encore/Toxic/HP Electric
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
Dewgong is the easiest go-to for this slot. It's immune to freeze, can stall opposing Dewgong, and generally just helps against special attackers like Xatu. There's not much else to say. It's a really good Pokemon and helps build your fat. It even gives you backup into things like Fearow, Dugtrio, or Weezing. Where it's slightly faulty is it not being punishing against Pineco without Toxic, and not running 2 attacks really weakens your effectiveness against basically everything else. It can also be an easy opportunity for stuff like Kingler to get the set up on you without Encore. Encore is a nice option to prevent set up, but its awkward in conjunction with Rest and severely limits your pp. Overall though, it's the most solid pick for this slot.
Azumarill @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Surf
- Light Screen
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
Octillery @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
Hidden Power: Electric
- Surf
- Hidden Power [Electric]
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
Mantine @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Haze
- Surf
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
Tentacool @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Toxic
- Rapid Spin
- Protect
- Surf/Hydro Pump
This fourth slot is where your creativity can start to run wild. You're essentially just looking for a sturdy water type, so you have many options depending on what the rest of your squad is like. Azumarill is seldom thought of these days but does fit on stall. It's even more passive than gong though against things like Pine and Kingler, but it can compress some roles with Light Screen. Again, just be careful with this and Shuckle's stat rollover! Octillery is a more offensive option and is totally valid. It will actually win the Dewgong MU eventually rather than pp stall, and threatens Kingler and Pineco substantially. It's certainly a good choice. Mantine is passive but makes up for its passivity with Haze, at least not becoming free for Kingler. It's biggest advantage, however, is that IT'S NEARLY THE ONLY THING YOU CAN TECH TO ALWAYS BEAT GROWTH PASS. There's options like Roar tales and Haze Weezing, but these are weaker than a Haze Mantine, which completely stops Flareon in its track (they do not run HP Electric). The downside to this is that you are 4x weak to electric and not resistant to ice. With Mantine's massive spdef, this isn't an issue as much as it might seem vs Gong or Oct, but it still can wear you down against a good opponent. The electric weakness is the piece that holds me back more from recommending Mantine, however. This slot serves usually as a help vs Xatu, which is semi-threatening to stall with crits and drops, often requiring a pp stall by switching between Shuckle and several other allies. As Xatu often runs HP elec, this mon will become useless against the psychic bird, so you must shore up this weakness elsewhere if you wish to run Mantine. My last recommendation is Tentacool again with the same set as before. Having two spinners can never hurt, but it can get warn down by gong and oct without Rest and is also a victim to being bad into Xatu. As such, this requires strong support.
Your Other Two Goons 
For your last two spots, the world is your GSC NU oyster so long as you don’t stack weaknesses and are aware of what you are likely to face. Using the four that I’ve built within this thread, it’s useful to look at the table of stall issues I gave at the beginning and assess what needs addressing.
Currently, the following are the biggest issues I spot:
- Growth Counterplay
- Removing Pineco
- Magnemite Answers
- Fireblast Answers
- Primeape Backup
- Kingler Counterplay
Stall benefits a lot from poison type, usually Weezing, primarily as a check to Primeape but also another physical wall to ease pressure from Shuckle. Weezing in particular benefits from incredible variability in movesets and many options to stop Kingler, who’s access to SD and Surf/HP Rock threatens the existence of stall entirely.
Weezing @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Sludge Bomb
- Curse/Haze
- Rest/Pain Split
- Sleep Talk/Explosion/Thunder/Protect
Rest Talk Weezing is extremely uncommon in NU, given its mixed diversity for offensive options, but it fits perfectly on stall. In conjunction with STAB Sludge Bomb with the chance to poison Pineco and a move to prevent getting set up on, Weezing often gets the ability to sit on threats like Gloom, Kingler, and Primeape, who often try to whittle away at Weezing with repeated hits and status. The option between Curse and Haze is an interesting one. Mono Curse gives your stall a win condition if not already present while still stopping the likes of Meditate Primeape and Curse Gloom. Haze, on the other hand, gives stronger respite vs Kingler and potentially a last ditch hope against Growth Pass, although not reliable in the slightest. Other options using Pain Split as recovery, but this is far less defensive and risks longetivity.
Ninetales @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Flamethrower
- Toxic/Reflect/Roar
- Sleep Talk/Roar
- Rest
Ninetales fits nicely as the last Pokemon here, but in all truth nothing as the last will give you that perfect MU into everything. Ninetales helps with the holes Magnemite and fire types can deal to the current team, as well as offering another pokemon who doesn’t give free spikes to Pineco. Ninetales also shores up another Xatu switch, allowing Dewgong to more freely handle water types. Finally, Ninetales offers several remedies to big issues depending on its set. Reflect can help with Kingler and Primeape while Toxic can whittle away at them. Roar is a fantastic stop to Growth Pass, as Flareon is quite useless into it unless sleeping. This option has bad synergy with Sleep Talk, though, so some sacrafises most likely will need to be made here depending on your needs.
This is the final created team. While it doesn’t cover every possible base, it offers the most outs to possible situations in my opinion. Out of the issues that should be watched for, Growth Pass and Gastly (spin blocking) are its biggest roadblocks, but these can be changed with risk reward by adjusting movesets (Roar Tales for example). However, there are many, many more Pokemon who haven’t been listed that can fill ranks in the last four slots depending on how your team has shaken out. I’ll try to briefly yet succinctly describe their niche.
Lickitung @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Swords Dance
- Return
- Earthquake
- Rest
Lickitung offers a slow wincondition that can make use of the many doubles and passive play you’re likely to face when using a stall team. Abusing things like Gloom, Dragonair, and Chinchou are quite easy for it, especially with status and good rolls against sleeping Pokemon. It's also one of the rare decent leads on stall. Use this if you lack a wincon and could use some bulk.
Wigglytuff @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Curse/Charm
- Body Slam
- Sleep Talk
- Rest
Wigglytuff is similar to Lickitung insofar as it’s a normal wincon, but its much more defensively sound, acting as a decent check to stuff like Chinchou, Magnemite, and Dewgong that your team may need. Moreover, it can run an Umbreon-like set from OU with charm, albeit not nearly as good in its MUs, and spread status for allies. It's also a decent lead.
Pineco @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Spikes
- Rapid Spin/Hidden Power Grass/Rest
- Explosion/Protect/Reflect/Hidden Power Grass
- Toxic
Stall can fit spikes! Spikes are an amazing asset in GSC, and can act as your sole wincon on stall. While Pineco does gain access to Rapid Spin, it absolutely cannot act as your main spinner, as it cannot consistently beat other Pineco with any set whatsoever. It can be a backup spinner, however, and even act as a great way to trade Pineco by Toxicing the opponent or baiting an Explosion. It doesn’t check much else, but can break Dugtrio and Kingler subs, preventing potential set-up, making it a difficult but worthy add in a MU fish.
Stantler @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Return
- Earthquake
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
Stantler can do what it does on many teams and act as your offensive threat on stall. It switches into stuff like Magnemite, Chinchou, Gloom, and Weezing, and starts asserting offensive pressure. It’s similar to Wigglytuff, but it won’t necessarily shore up your weaknesses to any big threats like other options will.
Pidgeot @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Double-Edge
- Reflect
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
This thing isn’t great on stall because it compounds many of your issues such as Rock weaknesses and Elect/Ice weaknesses, but its offensive pressure, countering of Stantler, and access to Reflect can help against physical threats like Dugtrio and Kingler.
Gastly
Ability: No Ability
- Destiny Bond
- Thunderbolt
- Psychic
- Thief/Haze
Gastly is interesting on stall. It allows you to spinblock opposing enemies and pp stalls mono-normal attackers with Haze. Thats about it though aside from trading with Dbond. Also mono-normal resistance isn’t too great when you have a Shuckle who does nearly the same thing.
Porygon @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Double Edge
- Thunder Wave
- Recover
- Curse/Ice Beam
Porygon is just like Wigglytuff but can’t take status in exchange for having 32 recover pp. It’s much more threatening but also more passive and awkward to use.
Corsola @ Leftovers
Ability: No Ability
- Surf/Toxic
- Rock Slide/Toxic/Sandstorm
- Recover
- Screech/Curse/Harden
This thing can probably fit on stall because it has broken recover, but it’s kind of really hard and I haven't quite figured it out; it would basically do the same thing as Shuckle while getting stalled out by Curse users unless you’re packing Harden. Sandstorm stall could be interesting though and in some cases it could maybe even replace Shuckle??!
Houndour
Ability: No Ability
- Fire Blast
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Thief
If for some reason you believe your opponent is bringing Gastly. Otherwise it’s awful.
That should be nearly every Pokemon viable on stall aside from niche techs or uncharted territory. Now I’ll show how many options you have with stall considering this wide array of Pokemon, with the acknowledgment that you will be sacrificing your match up into some stuff depending on your build.
Final Remarks
Stall is a largely unexplored playstyle, but it’s shown me dividends in tournament play. It’s incredibly flexible and can be adjusted based on your opponent. Its main strength is the lack of prep for it in the builder, as well as current meta trends that heavily favor it. Because full offense and BP are not popular right now, stall enjoys a fantastic MU against bulky balance/offense. It's my hope that this post encourages people to look into this playstyle a little more in the builder, and add some more depth to this amazing meta!
