phantom
Banned deucer.
Approved by molk
Introduction:
Nidoqueen's resurgence to the UU tier is nothing but good news for stall teams. Now that the most potent stallbreaker has left the tier, there are now many more options to consider when building a stall team. That's not to say that stall teams are now perfect, nor will they be able to counter every threat in the metagame. It is still necessary to play around certain threats in order to maintain your core and win the game, nevertheless the options are as plentiful as ever now. In this thread you are free to post Stall Cores and Stall Breakers that you have found effective. Make sure to include some reasoning as to why they're good at what they do.
Purpose:
Stall Cores:
Example:
Tangrowth and Slowking, otherwise known as Tangking, were a well-known stall core. These two pokemon together could wall a vast majority of the tier. This is all thanks to their ability, Regenerator. With Regenerator, both of these pokemon can frequently switch out and regain health, allowing them to fend off some of the most powerful pokemon in RU such as Kabutops and Entei. Like every stall core, they are not without their faults. Galvantula and Escavalier can break through the two of them easily, by virtue of their STABs alone. Despite this flaw in their defenses, through intelligent playing and switching, both pokemon can find ways to get around the two aforementioned threats. Tangrowth can either paralyze or put Galvantula to sleep, or hit both Escavalier and Galvantula with Hidden Power Fire. Slowking has an incredibly vast movepool and can use Fire Blast to roast those two bug types or nail both of them with Thunder Wave on the switch.
Other Cores
Alomomola @ Leftovers
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Waterfall
- Toxic
Roselia @ Eviolite
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Calm Nature
- Spikes / Toxic Spikes
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Rest / Aromatherapy / Toxic Spikes
Alomomola and Roselia pair quite well on RU stall, in fact, the vast majority of my RU stall teams have utilized this core or something very similar to it (such as Poliwrath>Alomomola). The two Pokemon support each other exceptionally well in my opinion, and together cover much of the metagame in two teamslots. Like the Cryogonal mentioned in the post above, Roselia's great at switching into the special Grass- and Electric-type attacks that Alomomola despises, taking them on with ease, and using some of them as Spikes/Toxic Spikes fodder (special Sceptile and hp rock Lilligant can't touch Roselia at all for example). In return, Alomomola can take on many of the physical attackers that Roselia's not bulky enough to handle, such as Entei, Absol, Druddigon, and Emboar, switching into them with relative ease and stalling with a combination of Toxic, Wish, and Protect. Furthermore, Alomomola can pass her massive wishes to Roselia, healing 267 or Roselia's 304 maximum HP with just one wish, pretty much fully healing her teammate. Because of Alomomola's massive Wishes, Roselia's much less dependent on Rest to restore her hp, and can sacrifice Rest for a third support move such as Aromatherapy or Toxic Spikes, or even for Hidden Power Fire to get the jump on Escavalier who try to switch in on her. Lastly, Roselia's Poison-type lets her switch into various Toxics that might be aimed at Alomomola with near impunity, while also absorbing Toxic Spikes that might cripple Alomomola and the rest of Roselia's teammates if left unchecked simply by switching in. If needed, some more defense can be run on Roselia to allow her to take some physical attacks from Pokemon mola might struggle with. For example: 200 Defense Bold Roselia can take a +1 Crunch from SubDD Crawdaunt from full HP and can OHKO in return with Giga Drain. Roselia still has enough special defense to check most of the threats she's supposed to check even with the extra defense investment, so the drop in special bulk isnt a huge loss. While Alomomola+Roselia is definitely a solid defensive core, it still struggles with a few threats, most notably special attacking Fire-types such as Moltres and Magmortar. Regirock serves as a good third teammate to cover these, being one of the few counters to Moltres and taking attacks from Magmortar admirably, although it has to watch out for Focus Blast+some prior damage. Regirock also serves to cover some Sigilyph varients, which pose a threat to Alomomola+Roselia as well, and sets up Stealth Rock for the stall team.
Stall Staples (offensive or defensive)
Cryogonal @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 168 Def / 92 SDef
Calm Nature
- Blizzard
- Haze
- Rapid Spin
- Recover
Rapid Spin is incredibly important on stall, probably more important than on any other playstyle in fact in my opinion, Stall teams generally dont hit nearly as hard as other playstyles and this makes it much easier for hazard setters to get multiple layers of hazards up against them, making it much easier for the user to break through the opposing team, making Rapid Spin pretty much a requirement on any stall based team, and Cryogonal's easily the best option for the job. Cryogonal matches up well against most of the spinblockers in the tier thanks to its good special bulk, Ice STAB, and reliable recovery, walling Rotom and Misdreavus with ease, while hitting the rarer Golurk and Drifblim with a super effective Ice Beam, Cryogonal even matches up decently against offensive Spiritomb, being able to take a CB pursuit for about 47% with the ev spread used above, making it harder for tomb to trap and eliminate Cryogonal early on. Aside from being a somewhat reliable Rapid Spinner, Cryogonal makes a cool special wall as well, being able to take a slew of Special Attacks from common Pokemon while recovering off the damage and either striking back with a decently powerful Ice Beam or using them as an opportunity to spin away hazards. Haze is very useful as well, allowing Cryogonal to wipe away stat boosts from things such as Quiver Dance Lilligant and Cosmic Power Sigilyph (which is actually pretty threatening to stall otherwise despite its somewhat bad rep of being critbait). before they get too dangerous, giving it significant utility outside of the Rapid Spinning role. Cryogonal isnt without its flaws, though, Ice-typing is pretty undesirable on a defensive Pokemon, only resisting itself (although a bulky Blizzard resist IS cool). while giving Cryo weaknesses to multiple common offensive attacks such as Fire Blast, Stone Edge, and Focus Blast, not to mention that although Cryogonal's special bulk is great, its physical bulk leaves much to be desired, making it vulnerable to almost every physical attacker in the metagame. All in all though, Cryogonal is one of the best Rapid Spinners in the tier and arguably the best option that stall has for getting rid of entry hazards, and while its flaws get in the way sometimes, it still pulls its weight the majority of the time.
Poliwrath @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
- Circle Throw
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Scald / Toxic
Poliwrath has a very useful set of resistances that stall teams need, and it also has the really cool move in Circle Throw. Poliwrath, while not much on the offensive front, can take hits from Pokémon such as Escavalier, Entei, Kabutops, and Aggron and retailiate. Unlike Slowking, Poliwrath has a very nice Fighting-type, so it actually resists their coverage moves or alternative STABs, and can therefore switch into them and then threaten them. It can hope to burn with Scald (or just hit them hard with Scald if they are weak to it) or phaze them out, ridding them of their boosts if they have them. This is all thanks to its unique set of resistances, which means that it sometimes can resist all but the weakest moves, or just straight up everything, on a certain Pokémon's moveset. Circle Throw can add up damage over time, especially when combined with entry hazards such as Spikes. While RestTalk is generally considered to be bad because it loses momentum, the fact that it is recovery for Poliwrath is a good thing, especially considering how Poliwrath can get rid of those sleep turns by staying in on a Pokemon that doesn't threaten it, which is a long list indeed.
Spiritomb @ Choice Band
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Pursuit
- Shadow Sneak
- Trick
Stall teams can't check every threat sheerly on the merit of defensive buffering. It should be made perfectly evident right now, since the number of powerful and diverse threats in the RU metagame prevent this from being wholly realistic. That being said, Spiritomb offers a decent "catch-all" for a plethora of weakened or generally frail sweepers, keeping them in check with a powerful Sucker Punch. Its typing and moderate bulk also makes it one of the best responses to Gallade in the tier (who I do agree is far and away one the biggest threats to stall as a whole, though Sub+Bulk Up sets are also really tough for Stall to play around), being immune to its dual STAB and threatening to deal upwards of 85% with Shadow Sneak / Pursuit (upon switching out). These attributes similarly allow it to threaten and either KO or significantly wear down Pokemon such as SubCM Uxie, Clefable, or Sigilyph, all of whom are otherwise huge headaches to any given stall team to face. What's more, the Pokemon it cannot check as comfortably (most Dark- and Steel-types for those unaware .-.) are all for the most part handled quite aptly by other stall "staples" such as Poliwrath and Steelix (which btw should both be getting big mentions :>). It even offers the utility of Trick, allowing it to cripple a key defensive 'mon in a match-up against opposing stall teams, ensuring it isn't dead weight. Lastly (and admittedly least), Spiritomb's Ghost typing allows it to soft-spinblock entry hazards, which while definitely not being as helpful as it might have been were the better spinners of the tier not designed to beat it does at the very least pressure the opposing spinner to not click Rapid Spin upon switching in safely, meaning that the stall team has a shot at preserving their hazards by forcing the spinner out with another 'mon as the spinner anticipates Spiritomb (ex: Poliwrath switching into Kabutops's SD / Cryogonal's IBeam expecting 'Tomb to come in and scaring them out with a Circle Throw)
Stall Breakers:
Example:
Choice Specs Moltres and Swords Dance Gallade are easily the most threatening Pokemon to stall teams. With their high base power moves, great coverage, and menacing offensive stats, it's no wonder why the would be such threats. For Example,
252 SpA Choice Specs Moltres Hurricane vs. 248 HP / 116+ SpD Slowking: 216-255 (54.96 - 64.88%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Gallade Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Tangrowth: 258-304 (63.86 - 75.24%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
One of the best special walls in the tier and one of the best physical wall are both cleanly 2HKO'd. Despite their raw power, both Moltres and Gallade have crippling weaknesses. Moltres has that nasty SR weakness along with two inaccurate STABs in Hurricane and Fire Blast, which makes sweeping difficult. Gallade on the other hand is quite frail, and the Close Combat defense drops only continue to augment this problem. This makes Gallade a pokemon that is easy to KO after a defense drop, not to mention that any status, be it poison, burn, or paralysis will severely cripple Gallade.
Other Stall Breakers
Absol @ Life Orb
Trait: Super Luck
EVs: 4 SAtk / 252 Spd / 252 Atk
Naughty Nature
- Night Slash
- Sucker Punch
- Superpower
- Fire Blast
Meet the monster. This is why most full stall teams have to run Poliwrath or Alomomola over Slowking as their bulky water of choice, otherwise, Absol will gut the whole core (hello TangKing). Fire Blast is the crux of this set, with it both Tangrowth and Steelix (the 2 other premier physical walls of stall) are both seriously mangled taking enough damage to be 2HKO'd by the next physical attack they encounter from Absol. Plus, carrying a fast mon or scarfer such as Cinccino to clean late game won't even work to stop it as it boasts the strongest priority in the game to stop such shenanigans. Don't bother with trying to run Thunderbolt or Psycho Cut in the last slot as neither will dent the the 2 bulky waters enough to justify losing to Tangrowth and Steelix.
Magmortar @ Expert Belt / Life Orb
Trait: Vital Spirit
EVs: 24 HP / 252 SAtk / 232 SpD
Modest / Mild Nature
- Fire Blast
- Thunderbolt
- Focus Blast
- Earthquake / Hidden Power Grass / Hidden Power Ice
Just like former RU stallbreaker Nidoqueen, Magmortar is capable of tearing through the majority of stall teams with ease using its high powered STAB moves and excellent type coverage. First off, Magmortar's Fire Blast is incredibly powerful, able to easily 2HKO any Pokemon that doesnt resist it at worst, and even some that do resist the move such as Qwilfish suffer the same fate. (fun fact: Modest Magmortar's Fire Blast is even stronger than Moltres's Fire Blast due to the nature difference). The fun doesnt stop there, though. Unlike most other Fire-types, Magmortar has a reliable way to get rid of all the bulky Water-types that can take its Fire Blast in the form of Thunderbolt, allowing Magmortar to easily blow past Poliwrath and Alomomola, and it even has the power to 2HKO Slowking after Stealth Rock, a feat only Moltres can rival when it comes to Fire-types, and it has to rely on the inaccurate Hurricane to do it, while Thunderbolt has no such accuracy issues. Focus Blast does serious damage to bulky Normal-types such as Clefable, Lickilicky, and Munchlax, while also 2HKOing Rhydon, who can take Fire Blast and Thunderbolt with ease. The last moveslot depends on what you think you need to hit at this point. Hidden Power Grass gets the OHKO on Quagsire and Seismitoad (although Life Orb Fire Blast gets a guarenteed 2HKO on Quaggy after Stealth Rock) while also giving Magmortar a way to hit Rhydon without having to rely on a 70% accurate move. Earthquake and Hidden Power Ice both allow Magmortar to get around threats that can still beat it even with its mighty coverage, for example: Earthquake gets an easy 2HKO on Lanturn after Stealth Rock damage while taking out the rare Flareon and Lampent as well, while Hidden Power Ice allows Magmortar to get rid of troublesome Dragons such as Druddigon and Altaria more easily, if Magmortar is using Earthquake, then a Mild Nature should be used instead of a Modest one to maximize damage output. Lastly, while a Life Orb maximizes Magmortar's damage output and makes it even harder to wall, Expert belt is also a perfectly viable option, as Magmortar's great coverage means it'll usually be getting the boost anyway, and it spares Magmortar from being worn down by Life Orb recoil over the course of the match, meaning the opponent will have a much harder time eliminating it just by playing around it.
Zangoose @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Toxic Boost
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Facade
- Close Combat
- Quick Attack / Night Slash
Oh jeez. After a Swords Dance boost, your stall team is screwed unless you can predict correctly. It even OHKOs Tangrowth for goodness sake, to give you perspective of how strong this this is! While offensive teams often don't give Zangoose a single turn because it is so frail, a Stall team's reliance on Toxic (which of course activates its ability) or Pokémon that are rather weak can let Zangoose actually get the Swords Dance boost. You may not actually need Swords Dance to kill stuff easily, but I am just emphasizing that Zangoose can get up the boost, even the bulkiest Pokémon fail at walling it, and then Protect stalling or really good switching takes it down (don't be too lenient of switching because Zangoose may get the boost on that turn). It goes down rather quickly, but the damage it can cause leaves you open to being cleaned up by a quick Choice Banded Pokemon or something along those lines.
Introduction:
Nidoqueen's resurgence to the UU tier is nothing but good news for stall teams. Now that the most potent stallbreaker has left the tier, there are now many more options to consider when building a stall team. That's not to say that stall teams are now perfect, nor will they be able to counter every threat in the metagame. It is still necessary to play around certain threats in order to maintain your core and win the game, nevertheless the options are as plentiful as ever now. In this thread you are free to post Stall Cores and Stall Breakers that you have found effective. Make sure to include some reasoning as to why they're good at what they do.
Purpose:
- To discover new stall cores and stall staples
- Find ways to beat common offensive threats
- Not to try and counter every threat
but learn how to get around them through
intelligent maneuvering - Build stall teams with a strong foundation
- Discover which pokemon threaten stall and
the most common stall breakers
How to start:
When building a team, you must always have a goal in mind. In this case, it is to outlive your opponents and gradually wear them down through entry hazard damage, weak attacks, and status inflictions. Stall matches are known to take an extensive period of time, as much as 40+ turns. The best way to get going is to build a stall core(2-3 pokemon) and use them to cover any gaping weaknesses in your team. The remaining Pokemon can either be an offensive core or an additional stall core. Keep in mind, that no stall team can defeat every threat, with every good stall team, there is one significant weakness that will likely bring the team down. In this thread, we will discover how to overcome these weakness and to strengthen your stall cores.
Stall Cores:
Example:
✰✰✰
✰✰✰
✰✰✰
Tangrowth and Slowking, otherwise known as Tangking, were a well-known stall core. These two pokemon together could wall a vast majority of the tier. This is all thanks to their ability, Regenerator. With Regenerator, both of these pokemon can frequently switch out and regain health, allowing them to fend off some of the most powerful pokemon in RU such as Kabutops and Entei. Like every stall core, they are not without their faults. Galvantula and Escavalier can break through the two of them easily, by virtue of their STABs alone. Despite this flaw in their defenses, through intelligent playing and switching, both pokemon can find ways to get around the two aforementioned threats. Tangrowth can either paralyze or put Galvantula to sleep, or hit both Escavalier and Galvantula with Hidden Power Fire. Slowking has an incredibly vast movepool and can use Fire Blast to roast those two bug types or nail both of them with Thunder Wave on the switch.
Other Cores
Alomomola @ Leftovers
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Waterfall
- Toxic
Roselia @ Eviolite
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Calm Nature
- Spikes / Toxic Spikes
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Rest / Aromatherapy / Toxic Spikes
Alomomola and Roselia pair quite well on RU stall, in fact, the vast majority of my RU stall teams have utilized this core or something very similar to it (such as Poliwrath>Alomomola). The two Pokemon support each other exceptionally well in my opinion, and together cover much of the metagame in two teamslots. Like the Cryogonal mentioned in the post above, Roselia's great at switching into the special Grass- and Electric-type attacks that Alomomola despises, taking them on with ease, and using some of them as Spikes/Toxic Spikes fodder (special Sceptile and hp rock Lilligant can't touch Roselia at all for example). In return, Alomomola can take on many of the physical attackers that Roselia's not bulky enough to handle, such as Entei, Absol, Druddigon, and Emboar, switching into them with relative ease and stalling with a combination of Toxic, Wish, and Protect. Furthermore, Alomomola can pass her massive wishes to Roselia, healing 267 or Roselia's 304 maximum HP with just one wish, pretty much fully healing her teammate. Because of Alomomola's massive Wishes, Roselia's much less dependent on Rest to restore her hp, and can sacrifice Rest for a third support move such as Aromatherapy or Toxic Spikes, or even for Hidden Power Fire to get the jump on Escavalier who try to switch in on her. Lastly, Roselia's Poison-type lets her switch into various Toxics that might be aimed at Alomomola with near impunity, while also absorbing Toxic Spikes that might cripple Alomomola and the rest of Roselia's teammates if left unchecked simply by switching in. If needed, some more defense can be run on Roselia to allow her to take some physical attacks from Pokemon mola might struggle with. For example: 200 Defense Bold Roselia can take a +1 Crunch from SubDD Crawdaunt from full HP and can OHKO in return with Giga Drain. Roselia still has enough special defense to check most of the threats she's supposed to check even with the extra defense investment, so the drop in special bulk isnt a huge loss. While Alomomola+Roselia is definitely a solid defensive core, it still struggles with a few threats, most notably special attacking Fire-types such as Moltres and Magmortar. Regirock serves as a good third teammate to cover these, being one of the few counters to Moltres and taking attacks from Magmortar admirably, although it has to watch out for Focus Blast+some prior damage. Regirock also serves to cover some Sigilyph varients, which pose a threat to Alomomola+Roselia as well, and sets up Stealth Rock for the stall team.
Stall Staples (offensive or defensive)
Cryogonal @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 168 Def / 92 SDef
Calm Nature
- Blizzard
- Haze
- Rapid Spin
- Recover
Rapid Spin is incredibly important on stall, probably more important than on any other playstyle in fact in my opinion, Stall teams generally dont hit nearly as hard as other playstyles and this makes it much easier for hazard setters to get multiple layers of hazards up against them, making it much easier for the user to break through the opposing team, making Rapid Spin pretty much a requirement on any stall based team, and Cryogonal's easily the best option for the job. Cryogonal matches up well against most of the spinblockers in the tier thanks to its good special bulk, Ice STAB, and reliable recovery, walling Rotom and Misdreavus with ease, while hitting the rarer Golurk and Drifblim with a super effective Ice Beam, Cryogonal even matches up decently against offensive Spiritomb, being able to take a CB pursuit for about 47% with the ev spread used above, making it harder for tomb to trap and eliminate Cryogonal early on. Aside from being a somewhat reliable Rapid Spinner, Cryogonal makes a cool special wall as well, being able to take a slew of Special Attacks from common Pokemon while recovering off the damage and either striking back with a decently powerful Ice Beam or using them as an opportunity to spin away hazards. Haze is very useful as well, allowing Cryogonal to wipe away stat boosts from things such as Quiver Dance Lilligant and Cosmic Power Sigilyph (which is actually pretty threatening to stall otherwise despite its somewhat bad rep of being critbait). before they get too dangerous, giving it significant utility outside of the Rapid Spinning role. Cryogonal isnt without its flaws, though, Ice-typing is pretty undesirable on a defensive Pokemon, only resisting itself (although a bulky Blizzard resist IS cool). while giving Cryo weaknesses to multiple common offensive attacks such as Fire Blast, Stone Edge, and Focus Blast, not to mention that although Cryogonal's special bulk is great, its physical bulk leaves much to be desired, making it vulnerable to almost every physical attacker in the metagame. All in all though, Cryogonal is one of the best Rapid Spinners in the tier and arguably the best option that stall has for getting rid of entry hazards, and while its flaws get in the way sometimes, it still pulls its weight the majority of the time.
Poliwrath @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
- Circle Throw
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Scald / Toxic
Poliwrath has a very useful set of resistances that stall teams need, and it also has the really cool move in Circle Throw. Poliwrath, while not much on the offensive front, can take hits from Pokémon such as Escavalier, Entei, Kabutops, and Aggron and retailiate. Unlike Slowking, Poliwrath has a very nice Fighting-type, so it actually resists their coverage moves or alternative STABs, and can therefore switch into them and then threaten them. It can hope to burn with Scald (or just hit them hard with Scald if they are weak to it) or phaze them out, ridding them of their boosts if they have them. This is all thanks to its unique set of resistances, which means that it sometimes can resist all but the weakest moves, or just straight up everything, on a certain Pokémon's moveset. Circle Throw can add up damage over time, especially when combined with entry hazards such as Spikes. While RestTalk is generally considered to be bad because it loses momentum, the fact that it is recovery for Poliwrath is a good thing, especially considering how Poliwrath can get rid of those sleep turns by staying in on a Pokemon that doesn't threaten it, which is a long list indeed.
Spiritomb @ Choice Band
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Pursuit
- Shadow Sneak
- Trick
Stall teams can't check every threat sheerly on the merit of defensive buffering. It should be made perfectly evident right now, since the number of powerful and diverse threats in the RU metagame prevent this from being wholly realistic. That being said, Spiritomb offers a decent "catch-all" for a plethora of weakened or generally frail sweepers, keeping them in check with a powerful Sucker Punch. Its typing and moderate bulk also makes it one of the best responses to Gallade in the tier (who I do agree is far and away one the biggest threats to stall as a whole, though Sub+Bulk Up sets are also really tough for Stall to play around), being immune to its dual STAB and threatening to deal upwards of 85% with Shadow Sneak / Pursuit (upon switching out). These attributes similarly allow it to threaten and either KO or significantly wear down Pokemon such as SubCM Uxie, Clefable, or Sigilyph, all of whom are otherwise huge headaches to any given stall team to face. What's more, the Pokemon it cannot check as comfortably (most Dark- and Steel-types for those unaware .-.) are all for the most part handled quite aptly by other stall "staples" such as Poliwrath and Steelix (which btw should both be getting big mentions :>). It even offers the utility of Trick, allowing it to cripple a key defensive 'mon in a match-up against opposing stall teams, ensuring it isn't dead weight. Lastly (and admittedly least), Spiritomb's Ghost typing allows it to soft-spinblock entry hazards, which while definitely not being as helpful as it might have been were the better spinners of the tier not designed to beat it does at the very least pressure the opposing spinner to not click Rapid Spin upon switching in safely, meaning that the stall team has a shot at preserving their hazards by forcing the spinner out with another 'mon as the spinner anticipates Spiritomb (ex: Poliwrath switching into Kabutops's SD / Cryogonal's IBeam expecting 'Tomb to come in and scaring them out with a Circle Throw)
Stall Breakers:
Example:
✰✰✰
✰✰✰
✰✰✰
Choice Specs Moltres and Swords Dance Gallade are easily the most threatening Pokemon to stall teams. With their high base power moves, great coverage, and menacing offensive stats, it's no wonder why the would be such threats. For Example,
252 SpA Choice Specs Moltres Hurricane vs. 248 HP / 116+ SpD Slowking: 216-255 (54.96 - 64.88%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Gallade Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Tangrowth: 258-304 (63.86 - 75.24%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
One of the best special walls in the tier and one of the best physical wall are both cleanly 2HKO'd. Despite their raw power, both Moltres and Gallade have crippling weaknesses. Moltres has that nasty SR weakness along with two inaccurate STABs in Hurricane and Fire Blast, which makes sweeping difficult. Gallade on the other hand is quite frail, and the Close Combat defense drops only continue to augment this problem. This makes Gallade a pokemon that is easy to KO after a defense drop, not to mention that any status, be it poison, burn, or paralysis will severely cripple Gallade.
Other Stall Breakers
Absol @ Life Orb
Trait: Super Luck
EVs: 4 SAtk / 252 Spd / 252 Atk
Naughty Nature
- Night Slash
- Sucker Punch
- Superpower
- Fire Blast
Meet the monster. This is why most full stall teams have to run Poliwrath or Alomomola over Slowking as their bulky water of choice, otherwise, Absol will gut the whole core (hello TangKing). Fire Blast is the crux of this set, with it both Tangrowth and Steelix (the 2 other premier physical walls of stall) are both seriously mangled taking enough damage to be 2HKO'd by the next physical attack they encounter from Absol. Plus, carrying a fast mon or scarfer such as Cinccino to clean late game won't even work to stop it as it boasts the strongest priority in the game to stop such shenanigans. Don't bother with trying to run Thunderbolt or Psycho Cut in the last slot as neither will dent the the 2 bulky waters enough to justify losing to Tangrowth and Steelix.
Magmortar @ Expert Belt / Life Orb
Trait: Vital Spirit
EVs: 24 HP / 252 SAtk / 232 SpD
Modest / Mild Nature
- Fire Blast
- Thunderbolt
- Focus Blast
- Earthquake / Hidden Power Grass / Hidden Power Ice
Just like former RU stallbreaker Nidoqueen, Magmortar is capable of tearing through the majority of stall teams with ease using its high powered STAB moves and excellent type coverage. First off, Magmortar's Fire Blast is incredibly powerful, able to easily 2HKO any Pokemon that doesnt resist it at worst, and even some that do resist the move such as Qwilfish suffer the same fate. (fun fact: Modest Magmortar's Fire Blast is even stronger than Moltres's Fire Blast due to the nature difference). The fun doesnt stop there, though. Unlike most other Fire-types, Magmortar has a reliable way to get rid of all the bulky Water-types that can take its Fire Blast in the form of Thunderbolt, allowing Magmortar to easily blow past Poliwrath and Alomomola, and it even has the power to 2HKO Slowking after Stealth Rock, a feat only Moltres can rival when it comes to Fire-types, and it has to rely on the inaccurate Hurricane to do it, while Thunderbolt has no such accuracy issues. Focus Blast does serious damage to bulky Normal-types such as Clefable, Lickilicky, and Munchlax, while also 2HKOing Rhydon, who can take Fire Blast and Thunderbolt with ease. The last moveslot depends on what you think you need to hit at this point. Hidden Power Grass gets the OHKO on Quagsire and Seismitoad (although Life Orb Fire Blast gets a guarenteed 2HKO on Quaggy after Stealth Rock) while also giving Magmortar a way to hit Rhydon without having to rely on a 70% accurate move. Earthquake and Hidden Power Ice both allow Magmortar to get around threats that can still beat it even with its mighty coverage, for example: Earthquake gets an easy 2HKO on Lanturn after Stealth Rock damage while taking out the rare Flareon and Lampent as well, while Hidden Power Ice allows Magmortar to get rid of troublesome Dragons such as Druddigon and Altaria more easily, if Magmortar is using Earthquake, then a Mild Nature should be used instead of a Modest one to maximize damage output. Lastly, while a Life Orb maximizes Magmortar's damage output and makes it even harder to wall, Expert belt is also a perfectly viable option, as Magmortar's great coverage means it'll usually be getting the boost anyway, and it spares Magmortar from being worn down by Life Orb recoil over the course of the match, meaning the opponent will have a much harder time eliminating it just by playing around it.
Zangoose @ Toxic Orb
Trait: Toxic Boost
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Facade
- Close Combat
- Quick Attack / Night Slash
Oh jeez. After a Swords Dance boost, your stall team is screwed unless you can predict correctly. It even OHKOs Tangrowth for goodness sake, to give you perspective of how strong this this is! While offensive teams often don't give Zangoose a single turn because it is so frail, a Stall team's reliance on Toxic (which of course activates its ability) or Pokémon that are rather weak can let Zangoose actually get the Swords Dance boost. You may not actually need Swords Dance to kill stuff easily, but I am just emphasizing that Zangoose can get up the boost, even the bulkiest Pokémon fail at walling it, and then Protect stalling or really good switching takes it down (don't be too lenient of switching because Zangoose may get the boost on that turn). It goes down rather quickly, but the damage it can cause leaves you open to being cleaned up by a quick Choice Banded Pokemon or something along those lines.
