Introduction
Under popular request, I decided to put my most recent and also most sucessful team, to be rated here and for those who couldn't tell, this is a stall team that is centered around Shedinja. While there are so many ways to deal with Shedinja to the point where most teams have an answers to it already, this team was designed to use fit Shedinja's niche of walling certain threats to stall with ease around the rest of the team to try and wall the reamining threats. While there are a few glaring holes (Which will be discussed later), nearly all of the common threats to stall can be actually dealt with by this team.
Results
For those people who only got this far and dislike the team already, its an extremely solid team on the ladder. I managed to peak #1 with this team on the OU ladder this week, with my alts being #2 and #3 which you can see from the image below.
The Team
Shedinja
Shedinja @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Wonder Guard
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Shadow Sneak
- Protect
- Secret Power
- Will-O-Wisp
The Pokemon: Shedinja was the star of this team, and the pokemon I decided to build around. Shedinja's ability Wonder Guard allows it wall many threats that Stall would usually struggle against, such as Mega Medicham in Terrains, Magearna with Pain Spilt, Z-Manaphy, Mega Mawile with Sucker Punch over Knock off and so on. Shedinja also doesn't need to worry about recovery as we all know it has 1HP, meaning i can run another move in that place. Finally having a pokemon that is immune to both Volt Switch and U-turn was also helpful.
The Item: My first choice for choosing an item was Focus Sash, as it allowed me to get emergency burns off if something went wrong, which was handy in alot of cases. It also allowed me to be more risky about switching Shedinja into Specs Lele or Magnezone, as if they did HP Fire, Shedinja wasn't gone for the remainder of the game. However, I didn't enjoy the 5v6 Matchups whenever my opponent had either Hippowdon, Tyranitar or Ninetales-Alola. When I realised that Shedinja was flat out immune most of the common threats on Veil Offense like Manaphy, and Zygarde, I switched the item to Safety Goggles which made the matchup a breeze since in further encounters.
The Spread: Since Shedinja doesn't need HP/Defence/Special Defence, I just decided to have it with a Jolly Nature and max speed and attack. The reason i opted for a Jolly Nature over a Adamant one, was because Jolly Shedinja outspeeds the standard Mega Mawile set with Swords Dance. This allows me to use Will-O-Wisp and cripple it for the rest of my team before dying.
The Moves: Initially I wasn't sure about having a contact move, since Garchomp, Ferrothorn and Rocky Helmet are just so common, but I settled on having it alongside Secret Power which is a non-contact move. Shadow Sneak main benefit is its 48pp, which allows Shedinja to outstall easily outstall setup Pokemon like Clefable and Mega Latias which can't touch it. Secret Power is a fantastic non-contact move for Shedinja due to its 30% chance to Paralyze Pokemon, but this effect changes with all the Terrains but Electric. For example Secret Power has a 30% Chance to sleep in Grassy Terrain, and having a Pokemon being put to sleep can help ease the Matchup. Protect is a obvious choice, as it allows Shedinja to scout and see what pokemon have a move that can hit through Wonder Guard. Will-O-Wisp is to cripple physical theats to make it easier to the rest of my team to handle.
Chansey
Chansey @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Seismic Toss
- Soft-Boiled
- Counter
- Heal Bell
The Pokemon: Chansey is generally the Queen of all my stall teams, and walls so nearly every Special Attacker that doesn't carry moves to target defence like Psyshock or Secret Sword with ease, while providing support to the team.
The Item: Not much to say about this, we all know that Eviolite is a Chansey's best friend and just increases her amazing bulk even further to wall with even greater ease.
The Spread: Since Chansey just has Absurd Special Defence to begin with, I didn't see any point in increasing that further. So i just put all the EVs into HP and Defence to allow Chansey to survive more physical attacks (more on that later). Bold Nature was used for the same reasons.
The Moves: Now just gonna say this outright to all the ones in shock; yes my Chansey does not run Stealth Rock. Why? Because I don't like running rocks on my Chansey. I prefer having Heal Bell on Chansey rather then Clefable because its much easier to get Chansey in if I need to cure a Status urgently. With that out of the way, lets move on to the rest of the moveset. Seismic Toss is for consistent damage to everything apart from ghost types, and Soft-boiled is the obvious choice for recovery, healing 50% with no drawback. Now for the least common of the moves used on Chansey; Counter. Counter is an amazing move for Chansey, because not only does it punish U-turns very hard on the next pokemon to come in, but its also an Option to deal with non SD Mega Mawile or Choice Band Tyranitar as neither OHKO (or do more then 70%) , allowing me to instantly remove the threat for the team. Having this option has been the difference between a win and a loss many times and I've found it much more useful then running Toxic or Wish.
Mega Sableye
Sableye @ Sablenite
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Protect
- Knock Off
- Recover
- Will-O-Wisp
The Pokemon: Shedinja is probably the pokemon that needs the most support on stall, and one of the easiest ways to remove Shedinja is Entry Hazards such as Stealth Rock or Spikes which prevents it from coming in for the remainder of the game until those Hazards are Removed. with Mega Sableye, pokemon like Ferrothorn are unable to set up Hazards because of Magic Bounce. This makes it easier to use Shedinja for the majority of the match. Prankster before it Mega Evolves is great for the people who don't learn not to switch out Lando-Therian Turn 1, allowing you to burn it.
The Spread: Sableye is Max Special Defence for the sole reason of walling Heatran. This spread does deal with other special attackers well like Ash-Greninja which prevent it from laying Spikes, but those are just added benefits as Mega Sableye is the only solid Heatran counter on my team, and needs to take 2 Magma Storms after Stealth Rocks.
The Moves: Well what can we say, Its the standard Mega Sableye moveset. Knock Off prevents pokemon like Heatran from having passive recovery with Leftovers and can also alert me if a pokemon is running a surprise Z-Move if no item drops. Protect is so Mega Sableye can Mega Evolve safely as it needs to be bouncing Hazards as soon as possible for Shedinja. Recover is for the recovery that all walls not named Shedinja needs, and Will-O-Wisp is for burns that to help the team take on Physical Threats better.
Tornadus-Therian
Tornadus-Therian @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 80 Def / 176 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- Heat Wave
- Superpower
- Defog
The Pokemon: Tornadus-Therian is probably the Defogger I love the most due to having an offensive presence with its stats and movepool. Regenerator allows it to Defog first, then to switch out and heal instead of having to Roost next turn like Zapdos. Having a Defogger was needed as if Hazards did get up by any means, then Shedinja would be deadweight without one.
The Item: Originally I had Leftovers on Tornadus-Therian, but I decided that having Flyinium to nuke pokemon was more productive, as Knock Off is just so common and I wanted a pokemon to take those hits that wasn't just Mega Sableye.
The Spread: Tornadus-Therian's Spread was made specifically to deal with Kartana. Nothing on my team wanted to deal with one after a SD, and I didn't want to risk losing Shedinja to a Knock Off Variant. The EV Spread allows Tornadus-Therian to living a Z-Giga Impact at +0 and then outspeed it the next turn to OHKO with Heat Wave or Hurricane.
252 Atk Kartana Breakneck Blitz (200 BP) vs. 252 HP / 80 Def Tornadus-Therian: 306-360 (84.5 - 99.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
The Moves: Hurricane is STAB, fanstatic against rain teams (due to not having 30% Accuracy outside of it) and just hits hard. Heat Wave is for pokemon like Kartana and Scizor, which threaten my team by setting up with SD. Superpower is to get the drop on Pokemon like Tyranitar and Heatran, to do a huge amount of damage. Defog is Defog and was discussed eariler.
Slowbro
Slowbro @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Foul Play
- Counter
- Slack Off
The Pokemon: Yes its not Toxapex. Slowbro does more for my team, and just from looking at the moves you can tell that Toxapex can't simply replace it. With the team now coming together, I noticed that I was extremely weak to Mega Charizard X and Mega Pinsir. I needed a Pokemon to tank physical hits and Slowbro was the first pokemon to come to mind that met all my requirements.
The Item: Rocky Helmet was a better choice due to all the physical attacks that Slowbro would switch into. Rocky Helmet also meant Pokemon were less likely to U-turn to prevent taking damage as Slowbro just healed off the damage with Regenerator or Slack Off.
The Spread: Slowbro's role was to tank as many physical attackers as possible, so Max HP and Max Defence was needed for this.
The Moveset: This is what will raise the most questions, as Slowbro doesn't really run moves such as Foul Play and Counter. So why do I run those moves? These moves came from my Favourite Slowbro Set (Will preach about that on a different RMT) and I found they worked extremely well on this set as well. Foul Play prevented pokemon like Mega Charizard X or Scizor wanting to setup in front of Slowbro to avoid Foul Play doing alot of damage. It also meant that Mega Pinsir died to Foul Play + Rocky Helmet Damage after +2 Return either the same turn or the turn after.
0 Atk Slowbro Foul Play vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Pinsir-Mega: 201-237 (74.1 - 87.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
As for for Counter, like with Chansey, Counter has worked wonders for punishing U-turns and also makes things more situtional for the opponent as they have to risk either the Scald burn or Foul Play if they try to set up, or dying with Counter if they go for an attack. Scald is for STAB damage and to try and spread burns, and Slack Off is for reliable Recovery.
Clefable
Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Wish
- Protect
- Stealth Rock
The Pokemon: I needed an Unaware Pokemon to deal with Setup Users like Mimikyu and Sub Zygarde. Since I already had a Water Type on my team and lacked Stealth Rock, I decided to go with Clefable.
The Spread: Max HP and Defence was to deal with physical threats such as SD Lando-Therian and Mimikyu. I didn't need Clefable to wall any Special Attackers that liked to setup as that was usually the Job of Chansey and Shedinja.
The Moveset: Moonblast is Stab Damage and hits everything Clefable needs to wall for netrual damage at least, Wish and Protect are used for semi-reliable Recovery and Stealth Rocks are if its possible to get Hazards up without them also getting their own Hazards up which prevents Shedinja from coming in.
If you've made it this far, its time to talk about some Threats
Excadrill
Excadrill is annoying because Mold Breaker ensures Stealth Rock goes up, and if the player is smart and avoids it getting burned or losing lefties, it can prove a real problem. Its not that the team can't deal with it, its just that Shedinja is hard to use in matches due to how easily Mold Breaker Excadrill gets Stealth Rock up.
Mega Diancie
Like Excadrill, Mega Diancie is a threat that Mega Sableye can't stay in on, allowing it to get Hazards up and prevent Shedinja from being used.
Tapu Lele
Tapu Lele is an odd one, as Shadow Ball is rare and Hidden Power Fire is Uncommon, meaning that Shedinja usually hard walls most Variants. Even with Hidden Power Fire, Lele still has to predict between Slowbro, Chansey and Shedinja if it has Choice Specs. The Team has never actually had a problem with Tapu Lele, but it is a pokemon to be vary around.
And thats everything! The pokepaste for those who want to try the team is here http://pokepast.es/173e26f97476276a. Thanks so much for reading and this is my first post on Smogon in general so excuse any obvious mistakes like this having way too much typing.
