(Mandatory introduction-song. Also included for maximum tilting potential. Make sure to link this to everyone trashtalking you for using Stall/Shedinja, after you beat them.)
Good morning ladies and gentlemen to a new RMT by me :)
Everyone who knows me a bit, knows that I'm an avid theorycrafter and stall player, and this is one of the teams I built for gen 7 that I am most comfortable with right now. As the title suggest, it is built around the one and only, the legendary, the omnipotent breaker of worlds, conqueror of galaxies and tilter of players:
No one stands firm under the soul-chilling gaze of its weary eyes, mighty heroes and armies alike are sent trembling with fear after it... Alright, alright, I'll stop.
Stall is in a bad spot compared to how it was in late ORAS OU (minus the short period where Zygarde-C Stall was reigning) due to the plethora of offensive powerhouses in the metagame right now, but I'm confident that Shedinja can help it become a more common and viable archetype again. Especially now, that the meta has settled a bit, we know what the most common and viable sets on the majority of threats are, hence the chance of Shedinja dying to random unexpected coverage moves is already greatly reduced, and its ability to hard wall many common threats like the ever-dreaded Pheromosa is invaluable.
I started off with Shedinja, so I knew I needed very specific teammates to support it in its quest to wall the world. Massive hazard control was needed to make sure it doesn't die right on the switch.
M-Sableye was a natural inclusion now that it is OU again, not only for its role as the prime hazard deterrent in all of Pokemon, but also for the many other things it does for Stall, like bouncing Taunt, Status conditions, being able to Knock Off items, spread Status itself, use boosting moves to become a sweeper itself, etc.pp. I already knew I wanted a defogger on top of M-Sab, but since I didn't know how my team was going to look like, I delayed that decision for later.
Dugtrio is another, almost mandatory, inclusion on Shedinja teams, and stall in general, and forms the dreaded "WonderTrio"-core (credits to Branflakes325 ). Apart from the "usual" things it does for Stall, like trapping and removing threats such as Stallbreaker Heatran, it also lets you forcefully PP-Stall Clefable in tandem with Shedinja (this is explained in detail later on).
Chansey is another stall-staple, and in a tier such as OU, where role compression is absolute king, there is no other Pokemon that can bring as much utility to a stall team like Chansey does. Apart from being a massive special wall, it can act as a rocks setter, cleric, status sponge AND spreader, wish passer and much more.
Now it was time to find my Defogger that I still had delayed... There are many great options for Defoggers right now, all with their own pros and cons. I considered Mantine, Mandibuzz, the "classic" Skarmory, and even Tapu Fini, but in the end decided on Zapdos. There were many reasons for that, mostly "I don't actually need the pro of mon X, so why use it OVER Zapdos?", but one MAJOR part was the fact that Zapdos beats about any form of Bisharp, which can be a massive threat to my team due to how often I want to Defog, and how easily it can punish me for it with Defiant. Bisharp is also a direct threat to my team in general, knocking off Eviolites, pursuit-trapping Shedinja, beating Sableye and Duggy 1v1, etc.
The last slot gave me quite a bit of headache, since there was still quite a lot I wanted to include. Alomomola was my first choice, since not only does it beat A-Marowak which can't be trapped by Duggy, but could add another status move to my team, provide Scald (which is always a good bonus), pass Wishes to teammates that were too weakened to still use their own recovery moves (or don't have any at all, like Duggy), etc. Also Regenerator is dope.
After a period of intensive testing, I decided against Alomomola though. The main reason for that was the fact that even with Shedinja, Toxic, stalling turns, etc., I was still very weak to setup sweepers and had no way of Hazing or PHazing them, so I really wanted an Unaware Wall. Quagsire was the perfect Pokemon for that, because it still beats A-Marowak (even though it takes quite a bit more damage from it than Alomomola), and could even act as a Sweeper on its own with Curse.
Now before I go into a few details of every Pokemon and its sets, I want to say several "general" things that apply to all or most of the Pokemon on this team:
- You will notice that all Pokemon that can be, are female. The reason for this is, while ScoliPass isn't too common right now, it's still a thing. Many Scolipedes use Attract to cripple Pokemon and net them extra Speed Boost turns, and since there are more auto-male pokemon in the metagame than auto-female, all of those Scolipedes are using Female themselves. And Attract doesn't work Female on Female (the LGBT community will propably disagree here, but hey, that's Gamefreak's problem, not mine...)
- All the EV spreads I use are optimized ones that don't normally follow the "standard" spreads you find on older analyses. I will try to explain each one in the Pokemon's details, but as a general guideline, you can already assume that all HP EVs are tuned in a fashion that gives them maximum recovery (Leftovers, etc.) with minimum residual damage from Hazards, Status, etc.
- The same goes for IVs. Generally, if I reduce IVs on a Pokemon, you can be sure it has a certain reason, that I'll also explain in the details. The only difference is stuff like reducing SpA on Pokemon that use only physical moves, which is just a tick of mine I guess.
Wonderwall (Shedinja) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Wonder Guard
EVs: 252 Atk / 156 Spe
Lonely Nature
IVs: 0 HP / 0 Def / 0 SpA / 0 SpD
- Baton Pass
- Protect
- Shadow Sneak
- Will-O-Wisp
Ability: Wonder Guard
EVs: 252 Atk / 156 Spe
Lonely Nature
IVs: 0 HP / 0 Def / 0 SpA / 0 SpD
- Baton Pass
- Protect
- Shadow Sneak
- Will-O-Wisp
Core Pokemon of this team. Wonder Guard makes it immune to every direct hit from not-super-effective moves, dies to everything that can hit it, and to every indirect damage. Sash lets it take a super-effective hit in dire situations, stall out another turn, and gives room for ONE misprediction in terms of coverage + switchins. Max Atk to hit as hard as possible, no investment AND no IVs in HP, Def and SpD for 2 reasons:
a) Even with full investment, Shedinja stays at 1 HP, you can not increase its bulk.
b) With this spread you will ALWAYS win the 1v1 vs Ditto as long as your Sash is still intact.
156 Spe is to make Shedinja ONE point slower than Clefable, letting you PP-Stall it with Duggy, as mentioned above.
Since Clefable can't harm Shedinja unless it runs the really rare Flamethrower, you can Slow-BP out of Clef after it moved, switching into Dugtrio, trapping Clef, and switching back to Shedinja. This is especially painful for your opponent if he uses Calm Mind on Clef to let it act as a sweeper.
Baton Pass is used to PP-Stall Clef like I mentioned already, and lets you switch out of Pokemon into more appropriate checks or counters. It also, IN THEORY, lets you take a status move to stall another turn, without Shedinja dying since it's not active anymore at the end of a turn. This forces you to use your Cleric to get rid of the status before using Shedinja once more, so it should only be done in really dire situations. Protect is used to scout for Coverage, Stall Status turns, abuse Choiced Pokemon, and net you extra turns. Shadow Sneak is reliable priority to finish off weakened Pokemon before they can hit you, and also hits Ditto. Will-o-Wisp is the best way to cripple the many physical Dark types that like to switch into Shed, and are immune to/not bothered by Toxic like Bisharp.
Sableye (F) @ Sablenite
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 SpA
- Knock Off
- Protect
- Recover
- Will-O-Wisp / Toxic
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 SpA
- Knock Off
- Protect
- Recover
- Will-O-Wisp / Toxic
"The horror of Gen6" as I like to call it. Prankster for the rare occassions where you prefer priority on status over Mega evolving. Knock Off cripples a ton of both offensive and defensive Pokemon by removing their item. Protect is used over Fake Out in gen7 because Fake Out has no effect if Tapu Lele was able to set up Psychic Terrain, meaning you would have to take a hit that turn. Recover is obvious, reliable recovery. Will-o-Wisp or Toxic in the last slot to cripple switchins that you don't have to knock off (anymore). EV spread is a full physical defensive one, because the main reason for the mixed spread of gen6 (112 Def/144 SpD) was to be able to switch into Utility Heatrans, but since those are handled quite nicely by Dugtrio or Quagsire, you can go full defensive.
Dugtrio (F) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
IVs: 20 HP / 0 Def / 0 SpA / 17 SpD
- Earthquake
- Reversal
- Screech
- Stone Edge
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
IVs: 20 HP / 0 Def / 0 SpA / 17 SpD
- Earthquake
- Reversal
- Screech
- Stone Edge
One of the most controversial mons and the best current way of trapping on Stall. Arena Trap is obvious, Sash is used to guarantee 200BP Reversals at 1 HP. Spread is just maxed out Attack and Speed to be able to hit as hard and fast as possible. 4 HP EVs + 20 HP IVs leave Duggy at 201 HP, allowing it to switch into, an tank 2 Seismic Tosses of Chansey, while still being at 1 HP for Reversal. The one free turn that this gives you is used for Screech, making sure you 1HKO Chansey with Reversal, regardless of her spread. Def IVs are reduced to both ensure you beat Ditto 1v1 as long as Sash is still intact, and also to guarantee you are brought to max BP Reversal range even by weaker attacks. 17 SpD IVs are a special breakpoint that allows you to live a max roll Lava Plume AND burn from Utility Heatran. You won't be able to OHKO it from full anymore if you get burned, but you a) don't die and b) can dent it pretty hard regardless. Earthquake is the best stab for Duggy (and propably in the game), Reversal is obvious, and Stone Edge is used over the common Pursuit from Gen6, because Gengar lost a lot of usage and popularity, and is also grounded. Pursuit is still an option if you're worried about Gengar though. Also Stone Edge hits a few things nicely, like a predicted Char-Y for example.
Chansey @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 244 HP / 252 Def / 12 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Aromatherapy
- Seismic Toss
- Soft-Boiled
- Stealth Rock
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 244 HP / 252 Def / 12 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Aromatherapy
- Seismic Toss
- Soft-Boiled
- Stealth Rock
"De Blob". Premier special wall of the OU metagame with insane bulk thanks to nice base stats and Eviolite. Natural Cure lets you sponge + remove status without much hassle, Aromatherapy to get rid of Status on your teammates. Some people might be surprised about me using Aromatherapy over Heal Bell, or even surprised about that there are actual differences, so:
The difference between those 2 moves is small, and almost negligible, but for every perfectionist like me, who enjoys min/maxing their teams, there are pros and cons to both moves:
a) While this strategy is rare to the point of nonexistence, there are still Pokemon who can use Imprison to block certain moves on your mons. And while there are 6 Pokemon able to imprison Heal Bell, none of them can imprison Aromatherapy.
b) On ther other hand, Aromatherapy is illegal together with Wish, so using Heal Bell will leave your opponent guessing if you run Wish or not.
There are other things to consider, like Soundproof and Sap Sipper, but those only apply to Doubles, so I did not take those into consideration for this team. My decision was to use Aromatherapy, because Wish sets on Chansey are so rare, no one expects those anyways, and I didn't want to lose to people who know me bringing random cheese to CT me in tournaments.
a) While this strategy is rare to the point of nonexistence, there are still Pokemon who can use Imprison to block certain moves on your mons. And while there are 6 Pokemon able to imprison Heal Bell, none of them can imprison Aromatherapy.
b) On ther other hand, Aromatherapy is illegal together with Wish, so using Heal Bell will leave your opponent guessing if you run Wish or not.
There are other things to consider, like Soundproof and Sap Sipper, but those only apply to Doubles, so I did not take those into consideration for this team. My decision was to use Aromatherapy, because Wish sets on Chansey are so rare, no one expects those anyways, and I didn't want to lose to people who know me bringing random cheese to CT me in tournaments.
Seismic Toss makes sure Chansey isnt complete Taunt-bait and does acceptable damage for a wall, without the need of any offensive investment. Lastly, I chose Stealth Rock because my only other real option for Rocks on this team was Duggy, which is very unreliable in that role. Also Chansey gets many Chance-y-s (sorry) to set them up during a game. The spread I use is an optimized one that reduces the damage you take from mixed attackers, pursuit trappers and physical coverage moves, while still denying the 2HKO from every Pokemon Chansey is used to check. It also lets you check weaker physical attackers in a pinch. 244 over 248 EVs in HP because there are no Leftovers (so no breakpoints), and both take the same residual damage.
Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 244 Def / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Discharge
- Heat Wave
- Roost
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 244 Def / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Discharge
- Heat Wave
- Roost
My defogger. Leftovers + Roost for recovery, Defog for the obviously mandatory hazard removal. Heat Wave lets me beat pokemon like Bisharp and Serperior who like to switch into Defogs because of their abilities. Discharge is used over Thunderbolt because on Stall, the increased Para chance is worth more than the few extra points of damage. Using Discharge also frees up EVs because you don't want the 68 SpA EVs anymore that are used to OHKO M-Pinsir (which you still check more than fine with this spread). 16 Spe EVs are used to outspeed max Spe Adamant Bisharp, and the rest is put in maximum physical bulk.
Quagsire (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Earthquake
- Recover
- Scald
- Toxic / Curse
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Earthquake
- Recover
- Scald
- Toxic / Curse
Swagsire making it rain on those ho's... (talking about Hyper Offense players of course, I'm not a pig after all...) Seriously though, Unaware is great for Stall to stop setup sweepers, especially since many of my Pokemon are very passive and give my opponent free turns to boost. Leftovers + Recover are once more used for reliable recovery, Earthquake is a great STAB move, and Scald is the obligatory move on every bulky water type in the history of mankind. Toxic or Curse are both fine in the last slot, and I still haven't quite figured out which one I like more. Curse gives me the option to use Quagsire as a setup sweepers to end games a lot "faster" (lul, Stall) than normally, but not having Toxic AT ALL in my team feels very weird... EVs are pretty standard, max physical Def all the way. The only real "highlight" here are the 252 HP EVs over the 248 I normally use on most mons. This is because Quagsire resists SR damage, so netting me an additional point of recovery with Lefties is preferred over taking less damage from an entry hazard I resist anyways.
=====
- Tapu Lele: That thing is a bit... *cough* It's a bit annoying. It hurts Stall a lot, and if it's Choice Specs + Psyshock you can click X on the spot.
- Threatening Setup Sweepers: Even though I have Unaware Quag, its stats aren't the best, so some setup Sweepers can muscle through it even without boosts just by sheer force (lol, Lando-I puns). You need to spot those early and start wearing them down with hazards + status or the game could take a very quick and uncomfortable ending.
- Sand and Hail: Volatile weather conditions kill Shedinja on the spot if you stay in for a turn. While this is usually not a problem, because you can play around the 5-8 turns (does anyone really run Smooth Rock anymore?), the real problem is if your opponent has both a weather condition AND a Pokemon that you can only check with Shedinja, because if he switches that one in while Sand or Hail are up, you can't use Shedinja to check it for that time.
=====
- Branflakes325 for coining the term "WonderTrio" in THIS RMT
- UltiMario for working out the optimized Chansey spread with me in my analyses thread
- ABR and Albacore for helping me when I started out playing competitive Pokemon and enduring hours of noob questions from me :P Also ABR for being a fucking god at this game.
- Isza for helping me with actual gameplay and helping me test many of my teams
- daddy's kisses for his quality content + help in many (not just my own) analysis threads
- "I liek pink mons" on PS for working out the core of this team with me.
=====
That's it, people. I hope you had as much of a blast reading as I had writing this, and now go out and spread the cancer!
Sart
Edit:
Shedinja @ Focus Sash
Ability: Wonder Guard
EVs: 252 Atk / 156 Spe
Lonely Nature
IVs: 0 HP / 0 Def / 0 SpA / 0 SpD
- Baton Pass
- Protect
- Shadow Sneak
- Will-O-Wisp
Sableye (F) @ Sablenite
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 SpA
- Knock Off
- Protect
- Recover
- Will-O-Wisp
Dugtrio (F) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
IVs: 20 HP / 0 Def / 0 SpA / 17 SpD
- Earthquake
- Reversal
- Screech
- Stone Edge
Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 244 Def / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Discharge
- Heat Wave
- Roost
Chansey @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 244 HP / 252 Def / 12 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Aromatherapy
- Seismic Toss
- Soft-Boiled
- Stealth Rock
Quagsire (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Earthquake
- Recover
- Scald
- Toxic
Ability: Wonder Guard
EVs: 252 Atk / 156 Spe
Lonely Nature
IVs: 0 HP / 0 Def / 0 SpA / 0 SpD
- Baton Pass
- Protect
- Shadow Sneak
- Will-O-Wisp
Sableye (F) @ Sablenite
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 SpA
- Knock Off
- Protect
- Recover
- Will-O-Wisp
Dugtrio (F) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
IVs: 20 HP / 0 Def / 0 SpA / 17 SpD
- Earthquake
- Reversal
- Screech
- Stone Edge
Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 244 Def / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Discharge
- Heat Wave
- Roost
Chansey @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 244 HP / 252 Def / 12 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Aromatherapy
- Seismic Toss
- Soft-Boiled
- Stealth Rock
Quagsire (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Earthquake
- Recover
- Scald
- Toxic
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