SM OU Blood Diamonds (OU M-Sab Stall)

[Malicious Account]

Stall is a consistent, reliable playstyle in the OU metagame. Generally, I try to update old teams from previous gens before going completely new and building another team. I found an old Stall team I built all the way back in early 2015, so I figured ''Why not have a crack with it on the Gen 7 ladder? After a few battles, it became clear that the team needed a big overhaul. So I went and built a new team and I came up with this (well, pretty much your standard stall team)

---------- THE TEAM ----------

-----------------------------------

Teambuilding process

Sableye was chosen as the Mega Pokemon, as it is one of the greatest gifts stall has ever received (that and it got unbanned lol).
Chansey was chosen next because it walls pretty much everything on the special side and it can act as a cleric.
Skarmory was chosen next as it can remove Hazards that could be detrimental to the team, and takes Fairy attacks that Sab can't.
Toxapex was then chosen as another strong wall, with Regenerator and 152 base defense it is great vs physical attckers and has good synergy with Sab.
Marowak has nice synergy with Toxapex and Skarmory, as it absorbs electric hits and is a great electric switch-in in general.
Clefable is a great way to beat opposing setup users. It also provides Wish support, important especially for Marowak.

---------- THE MEMBERS ----------

Diamante (Sableye) (M) @ Sablenite
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
- Recover
- Knock Off
- Will-O-Wisp
- Foul Play

Mega Sableye is one of the best Pokemon for stall teams. It reflects Taunt, phasing, status and hazards, all of which would normally hurt stall teams. Badly. Since Mega Gardevoir is unreleased (as of this post), it's even better. Sableye has Knock Off to remove enemy items. Against strong wallbreakers this is extremely helpful as you weaken them. I don't think I honestly need to explain what Will-O-Wisp and Recover are for. Foul Play in the last slot lets me punish physical attackers and setup. EVs and Impish make Sableye take physical hits extremely well.

the face of death (Chansey) @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic
- Soft-Boiled
- Seismic Toss
- Aromatherapy

Basically your standard Chansey here. With an Eviolite and max def investment Chansey can actually take neutral super-effective hits, especially when it only has one weakness. Toxic cripples sweepers by effectively putting a timer on them. Seismic Toss makes Chansey actually able to do damage Soft-Boiled keeps her healthy ESPECIALLY as she cannot use leftovers. Finally, Aromatherapy allows me to heal the team of status. Natural Cure also means that she herself can ignore Toxic.

Stuka Angriff (Skarmory) (M) @ Shed Shell
Ability: Sturdy
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Spikes
- Iron Head
- Defog

Skarmory is the first mon in my defensive core. It provides much-needed hazard control with Defog. Iron Head hits opposing Fairy-types for good damage, which is good as Sab cannot take fairies. Roost keeps Skarm healthy so it can keep on going and going. Spikes gives me a way to hit grounded pokemon as they switch. Shed Shell was chosen over Leftovers: as rare as Magnezone is, I still don't want to take that chance.

Arsenic (Toxapex) (M) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Recover
- Toxic
- Haze

Toxapex is the second mon in the defensive core. It has excellent synergy with all of the members of the team listed so far: It resists Fairy for Mega Sableye, Fighting for Chansey and Fire for Skarmory. Skarmory in return is immune to Ground for Toxapex. Moveset is fairly standard (Haze stops setup). I've gone for a physically defensive set here, and it works wonders. Regenerator is amazingly good, as you get free HP just by switchng, meaning you don't always have to go recover. Toxapex is awesome, 'nuff said.

AIM FOR THE HORN (Marowak-Alola) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Will-O-Wisp
- Fire Punch
- Shadow Bone

The last pokemon in the defensive core is Marowak-A. It soaks up electric attacks that both Skarm and Toxa are weak to, making it a very useful Pokemon. Since i have much more physical walls, I went for a special build here. Maro also has Wisp, allowing it to cripple enemy physical attackers (though I do wish there was a status that lowered opposing SpA as well). SR punishes enemy switches, something they'll be doing a lot because, well, it's a stall team. Dual STABs were added for some damage. Leftovers gives passive recovery.

Mercy (Clefable) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Protect
- Aromatherapy
- Moonblast

Last but not least in any way, shape or form, we have the infamous Unaware Clefable. Clefable's job on a stall team is simple: deal with setup sweepers. A cleric moveset of Wish + Protect allows for recovery, and Wish can be used to support Marowak as well. Aromatherapy gives me another form of status removal and Moonblast is there because I actually need an attack. It is physically defensive, and well, there isn't much to say here.

Problems

The team is very slow, meaning fast Taunt users can shut down a lot of my walls. Tapu Fini is especially problematic because of Taunt + Nature's Madness. I suppose i might be able to go Poison Jab > Scald on Toxapex, or maybe Whirlwind on Skarm. Other than that, this team is pretty solid.

Play with the team!

Diamante (Sableye) (M) @ Sablenite
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Impish Nature
- Recover
- Knock Off
- Will-O-Wisp
- Foul Play

the face of death (Chansey) @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic
- Soft-Boiled
- Seismic Toss
- Aromatherapy

Stuka Angriff (Skarmory) (M) @ Shed Shell
Ability: Sturdy
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 Spe
Careful Nature
- Roost
- Roar
- Iron Head
- Defog

Arsenic (Toxapex) (M) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Recover
- Toxic
- Haze

AIM FOR THE HORN (Marowak-Alola) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Will-O-Wisp
- Fire Punch
- Shadow Bone

Mercy (Clefable) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Protect
- Aromatherapy
- Moonblast

 

[Uberkong]

Hey man, I'm glad to see someone posting stall teams, as I thoroughly enjoy playing against stall with well-prepared offensive builds. Stall is obviously a very consistent playstyle, but there are some essential elements to effective stall teams that your team seems to be lacking:

1. A Trapping Element - Most Stall teams have little pressure they can put on their opponent offensively, and can fall victim easily to powerful boosted (or unboosted) sweepers. Having a pokemon that can use a powerful Pursuit, or a pokemon that can effectively trap and eliminate threats is pretty much essential on most stall teams. In the past, people have used Gothitelle (with Shadow Tag) to fill this role, however I think the most common and effective trapper in the current metagame is Dugtrio. You should heavily consider using Dugtrio, because your team has no way to handle Calm Mind + Psyshock Tapu Lele, and very little counterplay to Thunderpunch Mega Metagross.

2. A Clear Win Condition - This directly relates to the first point, where trapping the opponent's key threats is a win condition. You have no way to pressure your opponent aside from hazards + residual damage, which is really bad for a stall team. I think that putting Calm Mind on Clefable over Aromatherapy is a solid temporary solution, however it still lets any solid Clefable check come in for free (such as Metagross, Scizor, and both Mega Charizards) and threaten a KO or a large chunk of damage. You need to have a clear path to victory given a neutral matchup (that does not rely on status), whether it be trapping the opponent's only Pokemon that can break Chansey, or applying your own offensive pressure. If you do not do this, you will inevitably lose to strong Pokemon that can answer their defensive checks.

3. A Way to Safely Mega Evolve Sableye - Simply Put, you need Protect on Sableye. Tapu Lele is an amazing lead vs your team, and if it is a Calm Mind variant, you pretty much auto-lose, so Fake Out isnt an option. You need Protect on Sableye to scout the opponent's intentions, as well as mega evolve safely in front of strong attackers such as Tapu Bulu and Charizard Y, making it possible to block hazards later on in the game. If you cannot safely mega evolve, you are going to seriously struggle to handle offensive pressure + hazard stacking

These are the three biggest issues I see with your team, and I would say #2 (and by extension, #1) are the biggest flaws. You simply lose to common stallbreakers that carry taunt, as well as strong offensive Pokemon that threaten Toxapex + Chansey, because Skarmory and Clefable fail to pressure any pokemon with recovery, so your team is almost entirely reliant on using Toxic. If you are serious about using this team, you should ask yourself "how would I win my battles if I could not use status?" Looking at your team now, I think that you would rely a lot on Chansey basically seismic tossing everything to death, because there really isn't any way to deal out respectable damage to balanced teams carrying bulky pokemon like Heatran, Rotom-W, and Amoongus. While stall might be a viable playstyle, you still need a way to move the game forward.

Changes I would consider:
Zapdos - Zapdos could replace Marowak, allowing you to pressure pokemon such as Tapu Fini, although you would probably want to put stealth rocks on Chansey since you would have no rocks.
Calm Mind on Clefable - This is very self-explanatory; you don't really need two Aromatherapy users, even if you are facing another stall team. Calm Mind is a very solid use of this slot, although flamethrower is also viable to punish the opponent for switching in to metagross, scizor, kartana, etc.
Dugtrio - see point #1. You really need something to trap the opponent's stallbreakers, or I guarantee that you will lose.
Special Defense on Mega Sableye - There is simply no reason to run max Physical Defense, since you will lose 1v1 to some hazard setters such as Nihilego, as well as common offensive threats such as Latios. A specially defensive nature is typically preferred on Utility Sableye.

 

[Malicious Account]

Hey man, thanks for the ideas! I certainly tried out a few of them and the team is working much better now. What do you think of the updated team?

new team

Diamante (Sableye) (M) @ Sablenite
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Recover
- Knock Off
- Will-O-Wisp
- Protect

the face of death (Chansey) @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Soft-Boiled
- Seismic Toss
- Aromatherapy

The Legend27 (Dugtrio) @ Choice Band
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Sucker Punch
- Aerial Ace

Red Terror (Toxapex) (M) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Def / 24 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Recover
- Toxic
- Haze

Storm (Zapdos) @ Leftovers
Ability: Static
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Roost
- Heat Wave
- Thunderbolt

Mercy (Clefable) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Protect
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast

 

[Uberkong]

Seems good, but what do you think in terms of effectiveness over your last team? Have you battled much with the new version?
Also, my opinion is that Choice Band Dugtrio is less reliable than focus sash, although choice band is definitely viable, and very cool as it is uncommon compared to Scarf / Sash.

 

[Malicious Account]

In terms of effectiveness, a lot better. You were right with a lot of things. Tapu Fini isn't as much of a problem cause Zapdos, CM Clefable is great lategame and Dugtrio's trapping is a lot more useful than I thought. I might use Sash Dugtrio, it sounds interesting, especially with Reversal.

 

[seviper120p]

This team is good but it focuses on individual stalls. It can be better if it focuses on team stall i.e stalling with the abilities,effects and status attacks of all the pokemons in a team