GSC triple stall

[WECAMEASROMANS]

Hello fellow Smogonites. I've recently joined Smogon, made several gimmicky teams, and started laddering with them. None of these won significantly more than it lost, and so i quickly became fustrated. Of course, I was using NUs and UUs pokes at the time ( for example my lead was a zangoose), so i reluctantly made a full OU team. My first two OU teams were full power offense, with the typical lead azelf and cb scizor. I was unhappy with these results, as they were still not the results I was looking for. I began questioning my battling skills, and even considered uninstalling Shoddy. However, I decided to watch some of the pros battle first, especially IPL and Kevin Garrett. I became fascinated my their unique style of battling, and so I decided to adopt their style and make my final team. This team helped me get to a rating of 1100 to 1200 easily in two days. Let me introduce to you the art of stall.

The Team:

Their Moves, EVS, nature, and quick summary:



swampert@ leftovers ( relaxed nature)
252 HP/ 252 def/ 6 spatk
-stealth rock
-ice beam
-earthquake
-roar

When I made a stall team, my first problem was deciding what lead to use. Two pokemon instantly came to mind: Metagross and Swampert. After some debate, I decided to go with Swampert as he can attack with both special and physical attacks, and can Roar. This set is pretty self-explanatory. Stealth rock early in the game, and roar to pseudo-haze or to shuffle entry hazards. Surf is not included because ice beam provides better type-coverage. The EVs are designed to give swampert the best defensive potential, while not weakening either of the attack stats, in the exchange of dropping its pathetic speed stat.



forretress@ shed shell (relaxed nature)
252 HP/ 114 atk/ 144 def
-spikes
-toxic spikes
-gyro ball
-rapid spin

Forretress, arguably the best entry hazarder in the game. It learns all 3 entry hazards, and is also able to spin. Spikes and toxic spikes work together with stealth rock. Spikes deals damage to any pokemon that isn't flying, while stealth rock hits flying types relatively harder than usual. Toxic spikes is used to cripple walls. Rapid spin is mandatory, and the nature, EVs, and a 0 speed IV help maximize gyro ball's power.


blissey@ leftovers (calm nature)
252 def/ 176 spdef/ 82 HP
- thunder wave
-wish
-softboiled
-seismic toss

I desperately needed a special wall, as the other two major walls of the GSC triple stall (forretress and celebi), were both physical. No other pokemon popped up in my head other than Blissey, and so here it is. 252 def EVs are here so Blissey doesn't automatically die to some pursuit user, and the rest goes to HP and spdef. Softboiled is chosen over protect because I don't have toxic, and I generally find Protect a cowardly and stupid move. Wish is extremely useful, as it heals not only Blissey but also any other wall in my team that is about to die. I remember one time when a Salamence outraged my blissey dragging it down to 40% HP, I wished, switched to Forretress who was about to die with 31% HP, survived outrage, and used wish to heal itself to about 50% HP. This also works with Celebi.


Celebi@ leftovers (bold nature)
252 HP/ 220 def/ 38 spe
-leech seed
-recover
-energy ball
-earth power

This is my favorite pokemon in this team and perhaps the most important one. Celebi has walled and won me countless matches with leech seed and recover, stalling out and fustrating numerous opponents. Not surprisingly, it has caused many rage quits. Leech seed is a deadly move with all the entry hazards in play. If you stay in, leech seed and toxic spikes will slowly destroy you; if you switch you suffer from stealth rock and spikes damage. Earth power and energy ball are here for some attacking moves if the opponent taunts or is low on health.



Latias@ leftovers ( bold nature)
252 HP/252 def/ 6 spatk
-calm mind
-recover
-dragon pulse
-hidden power fire

This is, by far, my favorite creation during my entire time playing Shoddy. When you first see Latias, what do you expect? Most of you would probably say amazing speed, amazing special attack, and an awesome special defense. Turning Latias into an all around mixed tank is both a costly surprise factor for the opponent, and also works quite well. The EVs are designed to help maximize defense, and 6 special attack is enough to do decent damage with dragon pulse, especially after some calm minds. Latias' special defense is already monstrous, therefore it does not need any EVs, but with calm mind its special defense is raised even higher. Hidden power fire is to hit steels who resist dragon pulse, namely scizor and forretress.




Gyrarados@ life orb ( adamant nature)
252 atk/ 252 spe/ 6 def
-dragon dance
-waterfall
-ice fang
-earthquake

The only sweeper in my team. After those horrific pokemon stalling you out, the last thing you would expect is a powerful, late game sweeper. Gyrarados was my top choice to fill this role. I considered using Lucario, however Lucario has no way to boost its mediocre speed, and extremespeed isn't powerful enough to KO some pokemon who are faster.
Gyrarados with dragon dance boosts both stats. Ice fang is chosen over stone edge due to better reliability and type coverage. Gyrarados is reasonably bulky, with Intimidate lowering foes attacks to damage its base 79 defense, and an above average 100 base special defense. 6 EVs are placed into defense so pokemon that do not get intimidated do not do as much. HP EVs are not recommended so you can minimize stealth rock damage.

 

[ARandomDude]

First off, Forretress should be using Payback over Gyro Ball to hit spin blockers. Also, don't bother with the attack EVs (according to the analysis, Gyro Ball would OHKO Weavile and Earthquake would OHKO Magnezone, big deal). Put those defensive EVs into defense or special defense, depending on whether you want a physically defensive or balanced Forretress.

Put the attack EVs for Swampert into defense or special defense, depending on whether you want to use him to take Salamence outrages or draco meteors.

Celebi, if you choose not to take calum's advise (I do support that Rotom by the way), should run HP Fire and Leaf Storm, to take out some common switchins (Scizor and Tyranitar).

Gyarados I would recommend you change to this spread:

Gyarados@Leftovers
216HP/160Def/132Spe Impish
-Dragon Dance
-Waterfall
-Rest
-Sleep Talk

Gives you a much needed Lucario check (believe it or not, your current Gyarados actually has a chance of being OHKOd by a +1 Lucario's CC after SR), speed to outrun Infernape after a DD, HP reaches a leftovers number, and the rest is in defense.

 

[Zach]

Forretress wants Payback to 2HKO offensive Rotom-a. Second, put all of Swampert's Attack EV's in Defense. He needs them to take +1 Outrages from Salamence, Choice Band Crunches from Tyranitar, etc. Third, Thunder Wave is out of place on a Stall team. Stall does not want to slow down threats, it just wants to suck their HP away. Replace Thunder Wave with Ice Beam to help against Mixed Salamence. Also, Wish + Softboiled is redundant, and Protect is much better to scout Pursuits and Explosions and guarantee a successful Wish. Celebi needs Perish Song so that the last Poke set up mon strategy doesn't defeat you. Replace Earth Power, and in the meantime also replace Energy Ball with Grass Knot to hit Tyranitar and Gyarados harder. I recommend changing Forretress' EVs to 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD so it can set hazards up on weak Special Attackers like Vaporeon; it takes Physical hits fine anyway. Finally, Stall teams want resttalk Gyarados, not offensive Gyarados. 252 HP / 200 Def / 40 SpD / 16 Spe Impish nature, Leftovers will do fine. Rest / Sleep Talk / Waterfall / Roar. This gives you a Lucario check and an Infernape check. Roar is useful to rack up Spikes / Stealth Rock damage and spread Toxic Spikes status.

Finally, no stall team is complete without a spinblocker.

Rotom-a
252 HP / 120 Def / 136 SpD
Bold nature
-Thunderbolt
-Will-O-Wisp
-Rest
-Sleep Talk

This set protects you against the likes of Agiligross, Stone Edge Lucario, DD Gyarados, etc. More importantly, it prevents the opponent from Rapid Spinning away your Stealth Rock / Spikes / Toxic Spikes.

Final product: SR mixpert / Forretress / Blissey / RestTalk Rotom-a / Perish Song Celebi / RestTalk Gyarados.

Good luck!

 

[zarator]

Even with a lategame sweeper, you incur in several problems against RestTalk setuppers like CroCune and CurseLax (especially the former, since even if you Dragon Dance alongside him, the Defense boost of Curse will bite you back in the end). When they are the last Pokémon on the opponent's team, they are free to set up in your face, since you can no longer phaze them with roar, Rest and sweep you. Which is why I recommend one of 2 things:
1) Put a TrickScarf Rotom somewhere on the team. It is much less durable than the RestTalker variant but at least gives you a sort of revenge killer. Still works fairly well as a Spinblocker.
2) Replace a move on Celebi for Perish Song. The better choice in my opinion. With Perish Song, you can make sure the last Pokémon on the opponent's side will die, regardless of Substitute, Rest and the likes. It also acts as a phazing move, with the only difference that the opponent gets to choose what comes in after.

 

[Olliert]

Would run max speed on Latias over the defence EVs and add roar. Reason being, on stall laias helps beat CMers such as Jirachi and Suicune and speed is one of latias's greatest traits when the rest of your team is slow as dirt (stall).

 

[ToF]

As of now, your team is weak to all kinds of Salamence, specifically Roost Mixmence, who doesn't have any trouble decimating this entire team. Additionally, you lose quite handily to other stall teams due to your lack of a spin blocker.

The simplest way to remedy both problems is to alter the EV spread on Latias and to replace Gyarados for Rotom. Someone suggested running a Roar Latias; not only would this give your team a phazer, but it would also rack up the passive damage that a stall team is suppose to do. Run 252 HP / 252 Speed / 4 Sp.Att. Do you think you're honestly gonna have enough time to Calm Mind up with a stall team? Run that spread to outspeed Salamence. I'd also suggest running Reflect somewhere as overall team support, but if you want to keep HP Fire I guess its alright.

You need a spin blocker, and Rotom is the best that is available at the moment. You are also quite weak to Swords Dance Lucario and CB Scizor, as Gyarados cannot continually come in with possible Stealth Rock and Sandstorm damage. Choice Scarf Rotom would ideally be the best option in this slot because it can check both of those problematic threats, though its survivability is significantly less than the RestTalk variant. I'd suggest runnning a bulky CS Rotom spread, to get a sort of mix between the typical offensive CS Rotom and the RestTalk variant.

Since Rotom's survivability to the team is important, I'd ditch Softboiled on Blissey for Protect. Protect isn't a 'cowardly and stupid move' as you say, that's just ignorance on your part. Wish + Protect lets you rack up Toxic Spike damage at times, and also is just a general scouting strategy. Wish is more important to this team because most of your members don't have instant recovery moves.

Last thing, on Forretress, run 252 HP / 252 Sp.Def / 4 Def with an Impish nature, and get rid of Gyro Ball for Payback. Payback lets you hit spin blockers in general harder, such as Rotom, and the extra Sp.Def EV's let you not be buttfucked by Substitute Gengar's and such.

Good luck.

 

[WECAMEASROMANS]

i changed the ev spread of swampert to 252 HP/ 252 def/ 6 spatk to give it more defense, by replacing the attack evs with defense.

i also changed forrey's nature from relaxed to impish, and i replaced gyro ball with payback.

i am considering replacing gyrados for scarf rotom-a, as it can kill gyrados late game and spin block. i put trick on it to cripple blissey.