Other Metagames Water Gun Stall (Gen 8 BH, Peaked #1)

[Onyx Onix 7]

Eons ago a Balanced Hackmons legend remarked, “if Scald is typically used over Steam Eruption for the extra power points in Balanced Hackmons wouldn’t it make more sense to use Water Gun over Scald.” I was bestowed upon the wisdom of our Lord and Savior Purple Frog from his disciple and constructed the Stall team to rule all other teams . . . Water Gun Stall. With the power of Water Gun Stall and Purple Frog on my side, I was absolutely unbeatable. I won game after game, ascended to the 420th worldly dimension, and finally topped the Balanced Hackmons ladder.

Here is the pokepaste for the team: https://pokepast.es/e43a93c45e01300c

Synopsis:​

As with any defensive strategy you want to minimize any risky plays. Usually, with this set-up, it's best to lead with Tapu Fini and use its pivoting to trigger all of the Toxic Orbs early and to get the almighty Water Gun abuser online. Once all three Toxic Orbs have been cracked the focus of the team shifts to whittling down the opponent's teammates . . with Water Gun and the wisdom of Purple Frog on your side, that should be a simple task. When you aren’t abusing Water Gun it’s almost always a good idea to use status moves such as Will-O-Wisp and Lava Plume liberally to spread burns across opposing teams, as that makes it easy to win in the long run. When in doubt always, click the protection moves or Water Gun if you can, since that helps scout out potential threats wastes the opposing player's power points. Once you've gotten into later stages of the game and have scouted most of the foes lineup, you can begin to abuse pressure points in the opponent's team such as weak hazard control or softness to Lunala's powerful hexes or Tapu Fini’s ungodly strong Water Gun. Once you've found the key pressure points you want to abuse to close the game, use them to close out the game.

The Team:

WORSTMONONTEAM (Umbreon) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Knock Off
- Rapid Spin
- Baneful Bunker
- Will-O-Wisp​

Poison Heal Umbreon serves this team as an excellent Ghost resist and a safety net against an Imposter Lunala. With Knock-Off and Will-O- Wisp, Umbreon can remove items from a myriad of foes and spread status moves around teams lacking Poison Heal or Magic Bounce. Rapid Spin is placed specifically on Umbreon to ease the team’s match-up against Imposter as if Imposter wishes to attempt to use Rapid Spin from Umbreon it risks getting its item Knocked-Off and getting burned.

Imposter-Proofed by: Itself.

ONLYVIABLEMON (Zamazenta-Crowned) @ Leftovers
Ability: Ice Scales
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Careful Nature
- Anchor Shot
- Shore Up
- Topsy-Turvy
- Knock Off
​

I determined Ice Scales Zamazenta was the way to go for the team for its massive 92/145 bulk that when amplified by Ice-Scales allows it to take the strongest special attacks in the game such as Xeneas’s Pixilate Boomburst and Eternatus’s Dragon Energy. Zamazenta in addition to its titanic bulk has the blessing of an absurd speed stat and steel typing which effectively allows it to abuse utility moves like Anchor Shot and Knock-Off to trap and annoy opposing pokemon.

Imposter-Proofed by: Itself.

UTTERGARBAGE (Dusclops) @ Eviolite
Ability: Prankster
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Parting Shot
- Shore Up
- Destiny Bond
- Topsy-Turvy​

Almost any team needs a safety net against set-up given it’s among one of the most common strats in Balanced Hackmons. Dusclops, with its excellent mono-ghost typing and Eviolite boosted bulk can perform that role exceptionally well, while also doubling as a spinblocker. Its move-set contains the utility moves Topsy-Turvy, Parting Shot, and Destiny Bond to flip boosts on common offensive powerhouses like Eternatus, efficiently pivot to other teammates while softening offensive pokemon, and to remove immensely threatening wallbreakers like Blacephelon.

Imposter-Proofed by: Umbreon, Regirock, and Tapu Fini.

JUST . . . NO (Tapu Fini) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
Level: 99
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Water Gun
- U-turn
- Baneful Bunker
- Spikes
​

With Water Guns' immense pp and absurd 50 base power, Tapu Fini is the team's offensive powerhouse, capable of taking on some of the most dangerous pokemon, like Palkia and Reshiram. The following calculations speak for themselves on how utterly broken Water Gun is:

1. 252 SpA Tapu Fini Water Gun vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Coalossal: 180-216 (42.4 - 50.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
2. 252 SpA Tapu Fini Water Gun vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Camerupt in Rain: 304-360 (88.3 - 104.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock and Steelsurge
3. 252 SpA Tapu Fini Water Gun vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Eviolite Rhydon: 180-216 (43.4 - 52.1%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock, Steelsurge, and 3 layers of Spikes

With the ability to ensure OHKOS on some of the most important pokemon, Tapu Fini’s Water Gun ensures the team won’t fall under any circumstance. Its other moves, while significantly less relevant, nonetheless have a role to play. Spikes are used to pressure teams that can’t block them and/or have insufficient hazard control and U-Turn is excellent for pivoting into the other Poison Heal pokemon to get their Toxic Orbs safely triggered.

Imposter-Proofed by: Umbreon and Itself.

UNSETS (Lunala) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Fur Coat
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Lava Plume
- Hex
- Recover
- Core Enforcer
​

While Lunala lacks the sheer power of Tapu Fini’s Water Gun, its ability Fur Coat grants it immense physical defense. With the combination of Lava Plume, Hex, and Core Enforcer Lunala can spread burns even through common Poison Heal pokemon, such as Regigigas and Tapu-Fini, and thus can force progress whilst also serving as a powerful physical wall due to the defense boost offered by Fur Coat. In the late game, Lunala really shines for its ability to pressure heavily weakened teams and efficiently close out games in a pinch with Hex.

Imposter-Proofed by: Umbreon,

COMPLETELYUNVIABLE (Regirock) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Rock Slide
- Body Press
- Will-O-Wisp
- Defog
​

Regirock rounds out the team with its Rock typing, which resists moves such as Regigigas’s Facade and HO-Oh’s V-Create. These resists are of utmost importance to the team as neither Dusclops nor Lunala can handle these threats effectively. Regirock’s move-set is designed specifically to force these two pokemon out as Body Press can threaten to 2HKO Regigigas and Rock Slide 2HKO’s Desolate Land Ho-Oh. Lastly, Defog was placed on Regirock to ensure that if an Imposter tries to use Regirock to remove hazards it risks getting burned and chipped by Body Press.

Imposter-Proofed by: Itself.

Replays:​

Unfortunately, I didn’t save any replays for the team when I was laddering as I didn’t anticipate it would get 1st on the ladder.

Here are some replays post-peak on another alt:

VS some high Elo person:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8balancedhackmons-1477105053-5uyn1eunud5uhbosvh08wl673l5kl8ipw

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8balancedhackmons-1477131286-1dwro22ljapniwcz9mzg6la72f59j0xpw

Vs a Random Low Ladder C-Team:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8balancedhackmons-1477114210-ardnlyu0p0di5y4je6uo3k0sng4r85mpw

Vs some other Low Ladders :
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8balancedhackmons-1477691622-te3cj238e4tg351lvpb1b82lc2q6tuepw

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8balancedhackmons-1477239664-1js659aq9h1buje56pqvhwfqr30nffipw

Proof of Peak:​

As one can see the alt that I used to ladder with this team was NihilisticNihil3go and I successfully got to 1st with an Elo of 1758 and with a 87.7% Gxe.

Additional Notes:
​

The rank #1 peak was achieved Pre-Court and Pre-Sleep ban, so I changed Court Change on Regirock to Defog and Safety Goggles on Zamzenta to Leftovers to make the RMT playable in the current Metagame.