Sinistcha Hazard Stack Stall
Importable Paste - https://pokepast.es/de86c0fc9045d605
Proof of Peak -
Team Introduction -
This team began with me messing around in the teambuilder and coming to the realization that many other people had likely already come to:
The only defogger in the OU tier is
(which gets completely destroyed by 
, one of the most common mons in the tier) and the only viable sources of hazard removal in the tier came from 
and 
I know many people had already come to that discovery, but this struck a chord with me. I figured that if I could fit a ghost type onto a stall team, I could pressure opponents through hazards into not being able to perform the maneuvers necessary to break through the team.
Without further ado... the team!
Sinistcha
The choice of spin blocker came down to or . Despite being able to block Defog as well, I went with for 3 big reasons:
1.'s grass typing is much better suited to this role than 's steel typing is, as the two biggest spinners are ground types( and )
2. Said grass typing allows to check 
, a Pokémon that tends to give stall some trouble
3. Matcha Gotcha is a really awesome move
takes about 35-40 from Ice Spinner or Knock Off from and and can recover HP using Matcha Gotcha or Strength Sap. Opponent wants to go to or 
to stop Strength Sap? Shadow Ball does 70-80 ish to and about 60-70 to . All the while, it prevents Rapid Spin and forces hazard damage on anything not carrying Heavy-Duty Boots. I personally think is criminally underrated, especially on stall.
Gameplay tips for: be careful of having you Strength Sap stopped by or , and punish things like setting up in front of you with Foul Play. You generally don't want to Terastallize , only in extreme emergencies.
Gliscor
has become almost mandatory on Post-DLC stall. It is the best spike setter in the game, a fantastic Knock Off absorber once Toxic Orb has activated, has crazy passive healing and status immunity due to Poison Heal, and is currently getting suspect tested. Spikes, Toxic, and Protect are almost mandatory, and I threw in Knock Off to catch some opposing before their Toxic Orb activates or get rid of some Heavy-Duty Boots or Choice Items, since nothing else on the team has Knock Off.
EVs are optimized to prevent any rounding shenanigans.
Some playstyle tips for: You can stay in on most physical attackers to set up Spikes, including Ice Spinner Pokémon like , since they will only do about 70-75% and you can get 24% of that back by protecting the next turn. Squeeze as much passive recovery out of Poison Heal as you possibly can. You generally don't want to Terastallize .
Blissey
, on the other had, HAS been mandatory on almost every stall team throughout all of Gen 9. is the best answer out there to the multitude of special attackers in the meta, including , 
, and 
. Although it is not the team's primary answer to 
, it can also work as a check for it, especially if it is not under rain. It is also the Stealth Rock setter of the team. very much enjoys 's spinblocking support, as in this increasingly power-crept meta, it can often only afford to set up rocks once or twice during faster paced games. Tera Dark is there to handle Psyshock and Stored power Pokémon such as , , and . I used Shadow Ball over Seismic Toss on this set because has started running other options specifically to beat and otherwise the team becomes very weak to .
Gameplay tips for: Do everything in your power to prevent from being tricked a Choice item. This is especially relevant in the case of . If switches in and doesn't reveal an Air Balloon or Leftovers, go to first to scout for Trick, as a tricked is much more useful than a tricked .
Talonflame
provides crucial burn support for the team, especially against threats like Choice Band 
, Choice Band 
, and Tera Dark Black Glasses 
that has become increasingly popular Post-DLC. Flame Body's 30% chance to proc on any contact move can win games on the spot, and it often does. It also has Will-O-Wisp to spread burns manually and Defog to get rid of hazards, which is the sole reason is used over 
. U-turn is there to help against 
, as without it that matchup is almost hopeless.
Gameplay tips for: This should be your primary switch-in to , even before (unless gambit has already been burned). With , the biggest thing to be aware of is Knock Off. A 4x weakness to rocks is crippling, and keeping 's boots is pivotal. Generally against Choice Band mons you want to burn like , scout first with protect and then go to talonflame if they're not using Knock.
Dondozo
has been on almost every serious stall team for the entirety of SV. It has been able to tank endless amounts from all kinds of setup sweepers while not worrying about their boosts. counters the likes of , 
, 
, 
, 
, , 
with Swords Dance, and many more. Even though is not my primary check to , I chose to go with Avalanche over Waterfall/Liquidation because I don't want to take any chances with , as it already gives stall a fair bit of trouble. Additionally, it hits Pokémon like and for super effective damage instead of resisted damage and makes those matchups all that much easier.
Gameplay tips for: Avoid getting your boots Knocked Off. If your opponent is able to chip you down with hazards into a spot where they can kill you, that can cause you to lose the game on the spot to a setup sweeper. In addition, before most physical attackers set up, it is often better to attempt to burn them with so that has an easier time dealing with them. Tera Fighting is to deal with the best Pokémon in the tier, , especially the Black Glasses Tera Dark versions.
Toxapex
In the last slot, I was looking for both a Regenerator Pokémon and a Future Sight answer, as I did not have one yet., as a poison type, may not seem like a very good Future Sight answer. However, when you Terastallize to a Steel type, you will find that takes very little damage from Future Sight. In addition, it punishes seemingly risk free moves like U-turn from , 
, or 
and Flip Turn from 
and with Baneful Bunker. Toxapex also provides the team with a somewhat consistent answer to , especially if rain is not up. Toxapex is also the team's Volt Switch answer. While this moveset may look bad from the perspective that it can't do anything to Steel or Poison types, the rest of the team is very well equipped to handle those types and I have found this moveset to be perfectly adequate and it does its job quite well.
Gameplay tips for: is a super utility Pokémon for this team. Against 
(or any Future Sight Pokémon), pivot in as they use Future Sight. Use Haze as they switch out of use Chilly reception, and then Terastallize into a Steel type and Baneful Bunker. This can often catch a lot of physical attacker off-guard and hit them with a crucial poison. Additionally, vs any that has not revealed an item, go to first to scout for Trick UNLESS you need to absorb Future Sight. In addition, if you know for a FACT that lives a hit(like an Earthquake from a , for example), you can stay in and Toxic and then switch out and regain health over time with Regenerator.
Major Threats:
+ (Trick + Nasty Plot): providing the threat of Future Sight makes it difficult to justify switching into Trick, meaning that will take the Choice item and make it significantly more difficult to beat the Nasty Plot
: pretty much destroys this team unless you are able to predict their plays. While you do have U-turn to minimize casualties, is faster than all , which means something else will have to take the incoming Magma Storm. The only Pokémon on the team that can escape from it happens to be , which is not spdef invested and takes a lot of damage from Magma Storm.
: while does have a decent matchup vs , especially for a stall team, still does a ridiculous amount of damage with coverage moves like Ice Punch, and under Trick Room it can 2HKO
Tera Dark Black Glasses Fallen 5: While normally you should be fine between and , things can get dicey if you have to use your tera on something else and it gets off the tera and you don't have a burn on it.
Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1980525394 vs Future Sight and
and AND Tera Dark Black Glasses
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1977788298 vs Heatran (before I added U-turn over flame thrower to
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1981056743 vs CB Adamant with a grassy terrain team
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1977108076 vs THREE Choice Scarf users with trick. Yes, three.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1976729484 vs Rain, does its job and keeps hazards up
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1976355744 vs a team that was crazy fun to play against
Acknowledgments:
Much thanks to the entire Stall Empire discord server for helping me with the team, especially quacc and SupaGmoney for building advice and Vailorn(couldn't find their account
) for help testing.
Additional thanks to Highv0ltag3 for organizing and running the Stall Empire. Without that server I would still be stuck in 1600s. An invite link to Stall Empire you can find here: https://discord.gg/rJhJVv5f8v
And thank you SO MUCH to matte for deleting my post when I accidentally posted this when I only had Sinistcha finished. I owe you one.
Small note: If you prefer, you could replace with tera steel unaware spdef
with similar results. However, I prefer .
Importable Paste - https://pokepast.es/de86c0fc9045d605
Proof of Peak -
Team Introduction -
This team began with me messing around in the teambuilder and coming to the realization that many other people had likely already come to:
The only defogger in the OU tier is
(which gets completely destroyed by , one of the most common mons in the tier) and the only viable sources of hazard removal in the tier came from and I know many people had already come to that discovery, but this struck a chord with me. I figured that if I could fit a ghost type onto a stall team, I could pressure opponents through hazards into not being able to perform the maneuvers necessary to break through the team.
Without further ado... the team!
Sinistcha
The choice of spin blocker came down to
or . Despite being able to block Defog as well, I went with for 3 big reasons:1.
's grass typing is much better suited to this role than 's steel typing is, as the two biggest spinners are ground types( and )2. Said grass typing allows
to check , a Pokémon that tends to give stall some trouble3. Matcha Gotcha is a really awesome move
takes about 35-40 from Ice Spinner or Knock Off from and and can recover HP using Matcha Gotcha or Strength Sap. Opponent wants to go to or to stop Strength Sap? Shadow Ball does 70-80 ish to and about 60-70 to . All the while, it prevents Rapid Spin and forces hazard damage on anything not carrying Heavy-Duty Boots. I personally think is criminally underrated, especially on stall.Gameplay tips for
: be careful of having you Strength Sap stopped by or , and punish things like setting up in front of you with Foul Play. You generally don't want to Terastallize , only in extreme emergencies.Gliscor
has become almost mandatory on Post-DLC stall. It is the best spike setter in the game, a fantastic Knock Off absorber once Toxic Orb has activated, has crazy passive healing and status immunity due to Poison Heal, and is currently getting suspect tested. Spikes, Toxic, and Protect are almost mandatory, and I threw in Knock Off to catch some opposing before their Toxic Orb activates or get rid of some Heavy-Duty Boots or Choice Items, since nothing else on the team has Knock Off.EVs are optimized to prevent any rounding shenanigans.
Some playstyle tips for
: You can stay in on most physical attackers to set up Spikes, including Ice Spinner Pokémon like , since they will only do about 70-75% and you can get 24% of that back by protecting the next turn. Squeeze as much passive recovery out of Poison Heal as you possibly can. You generally don't want to Terastallize .Blissey
, on the other had, HAS been mandatory on almost every stall team throughout all of Gen 9. is the best answer out there to the multitude of special attackers in the meta, including , , and . Although it is not the team's primary answer to , it can also work as a check for it, especially if it is not under rain. It is also the Stealth Rock setter of the team. very much enjoys 's spinblocking support, as in this increasingly power-crept meta, it can often only afford to set up rocks once or twice during faster paced games. Tera Dark is there to handle Psyshock and Stored power Pokémon such as , , and . I used Shadow Ball over Seismic Toss on this set because has started running other options specifically to beat and otherwise the team becomes very weak to .Gameplay tips for
: Do everything in your power to prevent from being tricked a Choice item. This is especially relevant in the case of . If switches in and doesn't reveal an Air Balloon or Leftovers, go to first to scout for Trick, as a tricked is much more useful than a tricked .Talonflame
provides crucial burn support for the team, especially against threats like Choice Band , Choice Band , and Tera Dark Black Glasses that has become increasingly popular Post-DLC. Flame Body's 30% chance to proc on any contact move can win games on the spot, and it often does. It also has Will-O-Wisp to spread burns manually and Defog to get rid of hazards, which is the sole reason is used over . U-turn is there to help against , as without it that matchup is almost hopeless.Gameplay tips for
: This should be your primary switch-in to , even before (unless gambit has already been burned). With , the biggest thing to be aware of is Knock Off. A 4x weakness to rocks is crippling, and keeping 's boots is pivotal. Generally against Choice Band mons you want to burn like , scout first with protect and then go to talonflame if they're not using Knock.Dondozo
has been on almost every serious stall team for the entirety of SV. It has been able to tank endless amounts from all kinds of setup sweepers while not worrying about their boosts. counters the likes of , , , , , , with Swords Dance, and many more. Even though is not my primary check to , I chose to go with Avalanche over Waterfall/Liquidation because I don't want to take any chances with , as it already gives stall a fair bit of trouble. Additionally, it hits Pokémon like and for super effective damage instead of resisted damage and makes those matchups all that much easier.Gameplay tips for
: Avoid getting your boots Knocked Off. If your opponent is able to chip you down with hazards into a spot where they can kill you, that can cause you to lose the game on the spot to a setup sweeper. In addition, before most physical attackers set up, it is often better to attempt to burn them with so that has an easier time dealing with them. Tera Fighting is to deal with the best Pokémon in the tier, , especially the Black Glasses Tera Dark versions.Toxapex
In the last slot, I was looking for both a Regenerator Pokémon and a Future Sight answer, as I did not have one yet.
, as a poison type, may not seem like a very good Future Sight answer. However, when you Terastallize to a Steel type, you will find that takes very little damage from Future Sight. In addition, it punishes seemingly risk free moves like U-turn from , , or and Flip Turn from and with Baneful Bunker. Toxapex also provides the team with a somewhat consistent answer to , especially if rain is not up. Toxapex is also the team's Volt Switch answer. While this moveset may look bad from the perspective that it can't do anything to Steel or Poison types, the rest of the team is very well equipped to handle those types and I have found this moveset to be perfectly adequate and it does its job quite well.Gameplay tips for
: is a super utility Pokémon for this team. Against (or any Future Sight Pokémon), pivot in as they use Future Sight. Use Haze as they switch out of use Chilly reception, and then Terastallize into a Steel type and Baneful Bunker. This can often catch a lot of physical attacker off-guard and hit them with a crucial poison. Additionally, vs any that has not revealed an item, go to first to scout for Trick UNLESS you need to absorb Future Sight. In addition, if you know for a FACT that lives a hit(like an Earthquake from a , for example), you can stay in and Toxic and then switch out and regain health over time with Regenerator.Major Threats:
+ (Trick + Nasty Plot): providing the threat of Future Sight makes it difficult to justify switching into Trick, meaning that will take the Choice item and make it significantly more difficult to beat the Nasty Plot : pretty much destroys this team unless you are able to predict their plays. While you do have U-turn to minimize casualties, is faster than all , which means something else will have to take the incoming Magma Storm. The only Pokémon on the team that can escape from it happens to be , which is not spdef invested and takes a lot of damage from Magma Storm.: while does have a decent matchup vs , especially for a stall team, still does a ridiculous amount of damage with coverage moves like Ice Punch, and under Trick Room it can 2HKO Tera Dark Black Glasses Fallen 5
: While normally you should be fine between and , things can get dicey if you have to use your tera on something else and it gets off the tera and you don't have a burn on it.Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1980525394 vs Future Sight and
and AND Tera Dark Black Glasses https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1977788298 vs Heatran (before I added U-turn over flame thrower to
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1981056743 vs CB Adamant
with a grassy terrain teamhttps://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1977108076 vs THREE Choice Scarf users with trick. Yes, three.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1976729484 vs Rain,
does its job and keeps hazards uphttps://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1976355744 vs a team that was crazy fun to play against
Acknowledgments:
Much thanks to the entire Stall Empire discord server for helping me with the team, especially quacc and SupaGmoney for building advice and Vailorn(couldn't find their account
) for help testing.Additional thanks to Highv0ltag3 for organizing and running the Stall Empire. Without that server I would still be stuck in 1600s. An invite link to Stall Empire you can find here: https://discord.gg/rJhJVv5f8v
And thank you SO MUCH to matte for deleting my post when I accidentally posted this when I only had Sinistcha finished. I owe you one.
Small note: If you prefer, you could replace
with tera steel unaware spdef with similar results. However, I prefer .Attachments
Last edited:
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