Recently, I decided to explore the RU tier, having already played UU, OU and Ubers. With little to no prior RU experience, I decided to challenge myself by crafting a unique stall team, that was capable of tackling the myriad of wall-breakers present in the RU metagame.
Upon close examination of the RU viability rankings and some battle experience, I realised that Shedinja could have a very prominent and useful niche in the tier, being able to defeat difficult wall-breakers such as Toxicroak, Bewear, Crit Kingdra, Glalie-M, Linoone, CB Golispod, Snorlax and more. Thus, I decided to create a stall team that was capable of supplementing and synergising effectively with Shedinja and set forth to tackle the RU ladder, before taking a lengthy hiatus from PS.
Proof of Peak:
*Character name is LeSpaghetti. GXE is a bit low due to testing. Not really going to chase hjkhj for no.1 lol
Team at a Glance
Team-Building Process
RU has a very significant number of wallbreakers, but fortunately, many of them are checked and defeated by Shedinja, and its powerful ability 'Wonder Guard'. The downside of Shedinja is that it only has 1HP, which meant that I had to be extremely careful with its play-style. Furthermore, running Shedinja also meant that I had to be wary of hazards, weather and status moves that could cripple it. If well supported, this Pokemon can become extremely effective, but with poor support, it could easily become a liability.
In order to properly support Shedinja and help it reach its full potential, I needed Defoggers that could defog against common hazard users. I decided to first tackle the issue of special hazard setters such as Nidoqueen and Roserade. My options were either Articuno or Mandibuzz. Ultimately, I went with Articuno as Pressure + Defog was a very powerful strategy that stopped opponents from outlasting you with Hazards. Furthermore, Articuno had access to Heal Bell and thus wasn't worn down by Toxic. The downside of Articuno is that it's 4x weak to SR, but since I was going all-in on hazard warfare, this became irrelevant.
Next, I needed a defogger that could defog against many of the physical hazard setters, such as Rhyperior, Bronzong, Registeel etc. that Articuno could not defend against. The obvious solution was Gligar as no other Pokemon in the tier was capable of defogging effectively against these threats, especially against the constant onslaught of Toxics. Gligar also acts as an excellent physically defensive check to many of the powerful physical attackers in the tier, such as Marowak-A, Zygarde, Flygon etc.
You would think that this would be enough defoggers already, but there were a few more problems that I had to address. How do I defog against Froslass, Golisopods etc. Furthermore, Gliscor would not be able to take Liquidations and other hard hitting physical Ice / Water attacks. Thus, to solve these problems, I found my next solution in M-Blastoise. M-Blastoise, aside from providing additional Rapid Spin support, also provided an excellent pivot against powerful Water/Ice attacks with its bulky defense. M-Blastoise also has the capability of breaking through many common teams after their checks had been suitably weakened.
Finally satisfied with my hazard solutions, I delved deeper to explore what other underlying issues I had to resolve. I needed a Stealth Rock user and a switch-in for Rock Attacks like Head Smash. I also preferred something with mix bulk, so that I could rely on it to deal with powerful special and physical attacks when necessary. Therefore, I ended up using Registeel. I was a bit doubtful at first about its usefulness, but it has managed to prove itself many times as a solid addition to the team, being able to switch into powerful special attackers such as Specs Galvantula and also some physical attackers like Tyrantrum.
Finally, my team was almost complete. But I lacked wish support, which was essential to keeping Blastoise and Registeel healthy. I also ideally wanted another specially defensive Pokemon as I noticed a vulnerability to special Fire attacks. My options were limited to Vaporeon, Florges and Umbreon. I decided not to go with Florges due to its low HP and its passivity. Vaporeon was an interesting option, but I didn't want to be too weak to Rotom-H, so my final decision was Umbreon after some deliberation. And with this, the team was finally complete.
With the latest drops of Mantine and Arcanine, I realised that since the meta had changed somewhat, I had to rebuild the team to adapt for the new metagame. This time I used Arcanine as another extra physically defensive check to help out Gligar, and Mantine as a replacement for M-Blastoise. Mantine offered more utility to the team than M-Blastoise, and both these mons managed to fit excellently into the team, and allowed me to reach #2 on ladder. Both these Pokemon are weak to Stealth Rocks, but I have gone all-in on hazard control, so it doesn't matter.
The Team
Shedinja @ Focus Sash
Ability: Wonder Guard
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shadow Sneak
- Swords Dance
- Will-O-Wisp
- X-Scissor
The MVP of the show and check to many meta-game threats such as Toxicroak, Bewear, Kingdra, Scarf-Gardevoir etc. In regards to the itemization of Shedinja, I had a few options such as Focus Sash, Safety Goggles and Air Balloon. Safety Goggles would make Shedinja immune to weather effects such as Sandstorm/Hail and Air Balloon would make Shedinja immune to Spikes/T-Spikes. However, eventually I decided that none of these could really trump the effects of Focus Sash. Without Safety Goggles, I have to be a bit wary of using Shedinja against Gigalith and Abomasnow. I also have to be careful when attacking when opponents are likely to have Rocky Helmet as well as some Pursuit / Mold Breaker users. EVs are optimized for offense, since defense is rather useless in this scenario. SD allows Shedinja to become a very potent lategame sweeper and cleaner with Shadow Sneak.
Articuno @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heal Bell
- Roost
- Freeze-Dry
- Defog
Articuno acts as a specially defensive check to a large portion of the RU meta-game. With access to Defog + Pressure, Articuno is able to safely Defog against some of the common hazard setters such as Nidoqueen and Roserade. Heal Bell provides additional sustainability and support to team members, while also ensuring that Articuno is always in a health condition. Maximum Special Defense in combination with its stellar 90/100/125 defenses allows it to soak a very heavy amount of punishment. Unfortunately, Articuno does come with a 4x Weakness to SR, but since I run sufficient Hazard Removal on this team, this didn't prove to be an issue. Freeze Dry provides Articuno with some great coverage by itself, as well as a nifty freeze chance.
Gligar @ Eviolite
Ability: Immunity
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- Roost
- Defog
Gligar was a necessity for this team, as it was the only Pokemon capable of defogging effectively against the likes of Bronzong, Registeel, Rhyperior etc. as Immunity inoculated it against Toxic. The set is pretty standard in general, Max Defense allows Gligar to act as an excellent switch-in to physical attacks and Knock Off / EQ provide decent coverage and utility to threaten these common hazard setters. I'm not too concerned with switching Gligar into Knock Off if the situation proves necessary.
Mantine @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 96 Def / 160 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Roost
- Defog
- Air Slash
Mantine has replaced Blastoise as the third hazard remover on this team, since I really needed to win the hazard war so that Shedinja, Arcanine and Articuno were able to function appropriately. The EVs shown are for mixed defenses so I was able to handle punishment from both sides of the spectrum. Mantine is generally excellent for defogging against Golisopods and Froslass, as well as being an excellent check for Ninetales and Salazzle, both of which have become more popular in the current metagame.
Registeel @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Protect
- Seismic Toss
Registeel is an excellent switch in to Rock Type moves. I run it with specially defensive EVs so that it can take on powerful special attacks from Pokemon such as Galvantula or Yanmega. With Leftovers and Protect, Registeel becomes almost impossible to take down, especially with Heal Bell support. Toxic and Seismic Toss allows it to threaten most switch-ins it encounters and Stealth Rock allows it to take advantage of passive Pokemon such as Florges that can't really threaten it at all. I have to be wary not to let it get Knocked Off, as Leftovers is very important for this mon.
Arcanine @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Morning Sun
- Toxic
- Flare Blitz
Arcanine provides the team with another physically defensive resist, and is great against opposing Arcanines, Doublades, Machamps, Pangoros and Bewear, all of which have been on the rise recently, due to the utility provided by Intimidate. I run both Toxic and Will-O-Wisp as coverage status moves. Combined with Flare Blitz, this means that Arcanine can threaten any incoming switch-in.
Conclusions
Overall, this team was great fun to play, and it showed that many different types of Pokemon can be viable given the right support. Previously, I had hastily put together a FEAR Togedemaru Stall (https://pokepast.es/441732324633accd) that had managed to achieve great results in the recent RU suspect test, so it shows that our imagination is really our limit when it comes to viability. Overall, my assessment of RU is that it is slightly less difficult than higher tiers, but this is compensated for by the diversity present in the meta-game which meant that it took a little bit longer for me to adapt to the vast number of threats in this tier.
Personally, I believe this team is quite solid right now after going through various iterations and testing. But naturally, since I've only played RU for a few days, I'm also open to suggestions and feedback from other RU stall players on areas of improvement. I'll be taking a brief hiatus for a while so may not be able to test some changes for now. I have provided the importable and some replays below.
*Mirbro has also provided us with a nice and comprehensive threat list for this team.
Upon close examination of the RU viability rankings and some battle experience, I realised that Shedinja could have a very prominent and useful niche in the tier, being able to defeat difficult wall-breakers such as Toxicroak, Bewear, Crit Kingdra, Glalie-M, Linoone, CB Golispod, Snorlax and more. Thus, I decided to create a stall team that was capable of supplementing and synergising effectively with Shedinja and set forth to tackle the RU ladder, before taking a lengthy hiatus from PS.
Proof of Peak:
*Character name is LeSpaghetti. GXE is a bit low due to testing. Not really going to chase hjkhj for no.1 lol
Team at a Glance
Team-Building Process
RU has a very significant number of wallbreakers, but fortunately, many of them are checked and defeated by Shedinja, and its powerful ability 'Wonder Guard'. The downside of Shedinja is that it only has 1HP, which meant that I had to be extremely careful with its play-style. Furthermore, running Shedinja also meant that I had to be wary of hazards, weather and status moves that could cripple it. If well supported, this Pokemon can become extremely effective, but with poor support, it could easily become a liability.
In order to properly support Shedinja and help it reach its full potential, I needed Defoggers that could defog against common hazard users. I decided to first tackle the issue of special hazard setters such as Nidoqueen and Roserade. My options were either Articuno or Mandibuzz. Ultimately, I went with Articuno as Pressure + Defog was a very powerful strategy that stopped opponents from outlasting you with Hazards. Furthermore, Articuno had access to Heal Bell and thus wasn't worn down by Toxic. The downside of Articuno is that it's 4x weak to SR, but since I was going all-in on hazard warfare, this became irrelevant.
Next, I needed a defogger that could defog against many of the physical hazard setters, such as Rhyperior, Bronzong, Registeel etc. that Articuno could not defend against. The obvious solution was Gligar as no other Pokemon in the tier was capable of defogging effectively against these threats, especially against the constant onslaught of Toxics. Gligar also acts as an excellent physically defensive check to many of the powerful physical attackers in the tier, such as Marowak-A, Zygarde, Flygon etc.
You would think that this would be enough defoggers already, but there were a few more problems that I had to address. How do I defog against Froslass, Golisopods etc. Furthermore, Gliscor would not be able to take Liquidations and other hard hitting physical Ice / Water attacks. Thus, to solve these problems, I found my next solution in M-Blastoise. M-Blastoise, aside from providing additional Rapid Spin support, also provided an excellent pivot against powerful Water/Ice attacks with its bulky defense. M-Blastoise also has the capability of breaking through many common teams after their checks had been suitably weakened.
Finally satisfied with my hazard solutions, I delved deeper to explore what other underlying issues I had to resolve. I needed a Stealth Rock user and a switch-in for Rock Attacks like Head Smash. I also preferred something with mix bulk, so that I could rely on it to deal with powerful special and physical attacks when necessary. Therefore, I ended up using Registeel. I was a bit doubtful at first about its usefulness, but it has managed to prove itself many times as a solid addition to the team, being able to switch into powerful special attackers such as Specs Galvantula and also some physical attackers like Tyrantrum.
Finally, my team was almost complete. But I lacked wish support, which was essential to keeping Blastoise and Registeel healthy. I also ideally wanted another specially defensive Pokemon as I noticed a vulnerability to special Fire attacks. My options were limited to Vaporeon, Florges and Umbreon. I decided not to go with Florges due to its low HP and its passivity. Vaporeon was an interesting option, but I didn't want to be too weak to Rotom-H, so my final decision was Umbreon after some deliberation. And with this, the team was finally complete.
With the latest drops of Mantine and Arcanine, I realised that since the meta had changed somewhat, I had to rebuild the team to adapt for the new metagame. This time I used Arcanine as another extra physically defensive check to help out Gligar, and Mantine as a replacement for M-Blastoise. Mantine offered more utility to the team than M-Blastoise, and both these mons managed to fit excellently into the team, and allowed me to reach #2 on ladder. Both these Pokemon are weak to Stealth Rocks, but I have gone all-in on hazard control, so it doesn't matter.
The Team
Shedinja @ Focus Sash
Ability: Wonder Guard
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shadow Sneak
- Swords Dance
- Will-O-Wisp
- X-Scissor
The MVP of the show and check to many meta-game threats such as Toxicroak, Bewear, Kingdra, Scarf-Gardevoir etc. In regards to the itemization of Shedinja, I had a few options such as Focus Sash, Safety Goggles and Air Balloon. Safety Goggles would make Shedinja immune to weather effects such as Sandstorm/Hail and Air Balloon would make Shedinja immune to Spikes/T-Spikes. However, eventually I decided that none of these could really trump the effects of Focus Sash. Without Safety Goggles, I have to be a bit wary of using Shedinja against Gigalith and Abomasnow. I also have to be careful when attacking when opponents are likely to have Rocky Helmet as well as some Pursuit / Mold Breaker users. EVs are optimized for offense, since defense is rather useless in this scenario. SD allows Shedinja to become a very potent lategame sweeper and cleaner with Shadow Sneak.
Articuno @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heal Bell
- Roost
- Freeze-Dry
- Defog
Articuno acts as a specially defensive check to a large portion of the RU meta-game. With access to Defog + Pressure, Articuno is able to safely Defog against some of the common hazard setters such as Nidoqueen and Roserade. Heal Bell provides additional sustainability and support to team members, while also ensuring that Articuno is always in a health condition. Maximum Special Defense in combination with its stellar 90/100/125 defenses allows it to soak a very heavy amount of punishment. Unfortunately, Articuno does come with a 4x Weakness to SR, but since I run sufficient Hazard Removal on this team, this didn't prove to be an issue. Freeze Dry provides Articuno with some great coverage by itself, as well as a nifty freeze chance.
Gligar @ Eviolite
Ability: Immunity
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- Roost
- Defog
Gligar was a necessity for this team, as it was the only Pokemon capable of defogging effectively against the likes of Bronzong, Registeel, Rhyperior etc. as Immunity inoculated it against Toxic. The set is pretty standard in general, Max Defense allows Gligar to act as an excellent switch-in to physical attacks and Knock Off / EQ provide decent coverage and utility to threaten these common hazard setters. I'm not too concerned with switching Gligar into Knock Off if the situation proves necessary.
Mantine @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 96 Def / 160 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Roost
- Defog
- Air Slash
Mantine has replaced Blastoise as the third hazard remover on this team, since I really needed to win the hazard war so that Shedinja, Arcanine and Articuno were able to function appropriately. The EVs shown are for mixed defenses so I was able to handle punishment from both sides of the spectrum. Mantine is generally excellent for defogging against Golisopods and Froslass, as well as being an excellent check for Ninetales and Salazzle, both of which have become more popular in the current metagame.
Registeel @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Protect
- Seismic Toss
Registeel is an excellent switch in to Rock Type moves. I run it with specially defensive EVs so that it can take on powerful special attacks from Pokemon such as Galvantula or Yanmega. With Leftovers and Protect, Registeel becomes almost impossible to take down, especially with Heal Bell support. Toxic and Seismic Toss allows it to threaten most switch-ins it encounters and Stealth Rock allows it to take advantage of passive Pokemon such as Florges that can't really threaten it at all. I have to be wary not to let it get Knocked Off, as Leftovers is very important for this mon.
Arcanine @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Morning Sun
- Toxic
- Flare Blitz
Arcanine provides the team with another physically defensive resist, and is great against opposing Arcanines, Doublades, Machamps, Pangoros and Bewear, all of which have been on the rise recently, due to the utility provided by Intimidate. I run both Toxic and Will-O-Wisp as coverage status moves. Combined with Flare Blitz, this means that Arcanine can threaten any incoming switch-in.
Conclusions
Overall, this team was great fun to play, and it showed that many different types of Pokemon can be viable given the right support. Previously, I had hastily put together a FEAR Togedemaru Stall (https://pokepast.es/441732324633accd) that had managed to achieve great results in the recent RU suspect test, so it shows that our imagination is really our limit when it comes to viability. Overall, my assessment of RU is that it is slightly less difficult than higher tiers, but this is compensated for by the diversity present in the meta-game which meant that it took a little bit longer for me to adapt to the vast number of threats in this tier.
Personally, I believe this team is quite solid right now after going through various iterations and testing. But naturally, since I've only played RU for a few days, I'm also open to suggestions and feedback from other RU stall players on areas of improvement. I'll be taking a brief hiatus for a while so may not be able to test some changes for now. I have provided the importable and some replays below.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ru-786313592
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ru-786242001
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ru-786249906
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ru-786319762 (some misplays lol, but a great game regardless)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ru-786242001
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ru-786249906
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ru-786319762 (some misplays lol, but a great game regardless)
Gligar @ Eviolite
Ability: Immunity
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- Roost
- Defog
Mantine @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 96 Def / 160 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Roost
- Defog
- Air Slash
Shedinja @ Focus Sash
Ability: Wonder Guard
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- X-Scissor
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Sneak
Registeel @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Protect
- Seismic Toss
Articuno @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heal Bell
- Roost
- Freeze-Dry
- Defog
Arcanine @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Morning Sun
- Toxic
- Flare Blitz
Ability: Immunity
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- Roost
- Defog
Mantine @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 96 Def / 160 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Roost
- Defog
- Air Slash
Shedinja @ Focus Sash
Ability: Wonder Guard
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- X-Scissor
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Sneak
Registeel @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Protect
- Seismic Toss
Articuno @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heal Bell
- Roost
- Freeze-Dry
- Defog
Arcanine @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Morning Sun
- Toxic
- Flare Blitz
*Mirbro has also provided us with a nice and comprehensive threat list for this team.
Weaknesses:
In my opinion, any RMT needs the weakness part just to highlight your knowledge of the team (or at least how you deal with some threats). Thus, I think that me putting some efforts on this part will improve your RMT overall. I will highlight in red the Pokémons that can be very annoying, in orange the moderate ones and in yellow the slight ones.
Salazzle - This Pokémon is very annoying to any stall team in SM RU. Nasty Plot + Z-Poision hits a lot and very hard. The dual type it has makes this team to suffer because both Articuno and Registeel cannot stop it. The only one having an opportunity is Mantine that is 2HKO but can deal a lot of damage to Salazzle. Then Shedinja can deal with it if rocks are not set up. However, it is something to play carefully with.
Aurorus - Yes. This Pokémon is really rare but I found it in some matches. And it was terrible. Freez Dry + Rock Stab move and Earth Power kills the special defensive Pokémons + Shedinja. Gligar + Arcanine cannot help either if they have to switch in but Arcanine can fear it out.
MAmpharos - Mantine cannot do anything against it. Articuno at full HP can play against it but suffers a lot if it gets paralyzed or if it is at 75% or so. Registeel is the best choice but you must be aware of Focus Blast that can 2-3HKO Registeel. There are some rest sets that are really annoying to deal with. Shedinja cannot switch it out due to the ability Mold Breaker ( Replay :] ).
Hoopa - Hoopa is a very well-known stall breaker. Sub + NP + Z-Move can do a lot of damage. It can hit everything hard and also it can hit Shedinja.
Honchkrow - This depends on the set and how they play with it but Z-Taunt and Arcanine not at full HP or Gligar with knocked-off the Eviolite makes it very difficult to stop.
Bewear - This is not a totally threat because Arcanine + Shedinja can stop it. But it can hit very hard to Arcanine and some run Shadow Claw hitting Shedinja.
Feraligatr - This would not seem a threat because you have Shedinja. But, of course, some run Shadow Claw hitting Shedinja. Then, neither Gligar and Arcanine can stop its Liquidation.
Rotom-Mow - This Pokémon hits average but sets with Trick are really annoying and it can hit with weakness both Articuno + Mantine. Some WoW sets are also annoying for Shedinja. Thus, the best switch in is Registeel. However, Volt-Switch makes very difficult to deal with it at short therm.
Jolteon - In the same way as Rotom-Mow but adding the Shadow Ball as a trouble against Shedinja. You need to play carefully and try to guess which set it is and if it is running Choice Specs.
Machamp - Average annoying. Dynamic Punch is not very frightening but bothersome. Try to reduce its PP as fast as you can. But this with Knock Off, Ice Punch ... makes it to deal some holes in your team very fast.
Of course, as a Stall team that it is, Taunt users are bothersome. Lycanroc as a Stealth Rock + Taunt ( Replay :] ) can make the rocks stay in more than one would like. Try to kill it as fast as you can. The stall match-up it is not very bad due to both Shedinja and Pressure-Articuno but it will take a long process ( Replay :] ).
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