Introduction
I've been trying to build a stall team ever since Crobat was banned from UU. Some people can live with checking five or six otherwise uncoverable threats with ScarfRotom, but I can't. It isn't so much a bad as a playstyle preference. I just have to have a solid counter for everything. This team doesn’t quite cover it all, but it comes pretty close in my eyes. It peaked at #1 on the ladder, probably more due to persistence than anything though.
Team Building Process:
With that out of the way, I started this team by deciding on the Spiker. Qwilfish, Cloyster, and Omastar are the only reasonably decent UU Spikers. I've never been a fan of the first two's defensive abilities: Qwilfish just has shit defenses, and Cloyster has a nasty 2x Stealth Rock weakness and doesn't counter anything useful. Omastar, however, provides me with a Normal / Flying resistance as well as the option of using Stealth Rock. I started off with it.
I then addressed Grass-types. This choice basically boiled down to preference. I wanted to use RestTalk Weezing because of its ability to check most of UU's Grass-types particularly well, regardless of whether they were specially or physically based. Additionally, it was not weak to Stealth Rock, and is one of the only reliable "counters" (in the loosest sense of the term) to all variants of Venusaur.
A Pokemon who dealt with Alakazam and Mismagius was necessary next, and Spiritomb fit perfectly, as it also doubled as a spin-blocker. Registeel would be redundant with Omastar, and Drapion isn't as specially defensive as Spiritomb.
I then needed a bulky Water-type to cover Fires. Milotic and Blastoise were my main choices, since I don't like using Slowbro or Slowking, as neither fares very well against Houndoom. I ended up choosing Blastoise because I wanted to condense my Rapid Spinner and bulky Water into one Pokemon and see if I could cover more with the extra slot on my team. I had tried this on another team, and it had worked out fairly well.
I had covered most of my hierarchy of needs at that point; however, I felt that I was weak to a few things. A well-played Rotom could dismantle my team, as Spiritomb was far from a foolproof counter. SubSeeders would be a pain, especially Sceptile; to me, relying on Weezing to out-stall them is not a very good method of handling them. Finally, I didn't like the idea of being helpless to LO Venusaur after Weezing took the sleep. The choice for this slot basically boiled down to Venusaur or Clefable, and I chose the latter for its ability to provide Aromatherapy support.
One more slot. I noticed I was weak to Swords Dance Blaziken, Curse Registeel, and Absol. Azumarill and Feraligatr would also be problematic with only Blastoise and Weezing able to check them. I ended up using a max Speed Milotic, even though I had specifically avoided using it by choosing Blastoise.
So, my team ended up as follows:
Omastar / Weezing / Blastoise / Spiritomb / Clefable / Milotic
After playtesting for awhile, I decided to give Milotic a more defensive spread and replace Blastoise with Hitmontop, reason being my huge weakness to CB Aggron.
Omastar / Weezing / Hitmontop / Spiritomb / Clefable / Milotic
I ended up covering most of the elements except for resistances to certain types (Electric), a Toxic Spiker, and a Toxic Spikes absorber, which has not adversely affected me that much. And with that, the rest is all play.
I've been trying to build a stall team ever since Crobat was banned from UU. Some people can live with checking five or six otherwise uncoverable threats with ScarfRotom, but I can't. It isn't so much a bad as a playstyle preference. I just have to have a solid counter for everything. This team doesn’t quite cover it all, but it comes pretty close in my eyes. It peaked at #1 on the ladder, probably more due to persistence than anything though.
Team Building Process:
When building a UU team, I usually just take one of my existing teams and replace Pokemon accordingly. I take note of the "key elements" each Pokemon possesses, on both the Pokemon I replace and the Pokemon that are replaced. For instance, to me, Registeel's key elements are a)resistances to Normal and Flying, b) resistances to Psychic and Ghost, and c) the ability to check most special variants of Venusaur. If I were to replace it with Rotom, I would have to keep in mind that I would need another answer to Mismagius, Alakazam, and Venusaur, although, I would gain a Fighting immunity in exchange.
Defensive elements
The following are the main key elements I try to cover within a team, in order of importance.
Flying / Normal-type resistance
Notable Threats: Swellow, Scyther, Kangaskhan, and Tauros
I tend to decide this position first because there are so few viable Normal / Flying resistances in the UU tier. If I want to make a stall team, then Omastar fills this spot, as it is the only Spiker with defensive utility fit for a stall team. Otherwise, I usually just default to Registeel / Steelix, changing to Rhyperior, Regirock, or Rotom if it is necessary later.
Grass-type counter
Notable Threats: Venusaur, Sceptile, Leafeon, and Torterra
This is second on the list because Venusaur is the most-used Pokemon in UU, and because of Grass's versatility. I have to find some way to cover physical Grass, special Grass, and SubSeeders. Additionally, Venusaur's ability to take out a check with Sleep Powder is a major issue. I almost always need at least two checks to Grass-types for these reasons.
Exorcist
Notable Threats: Mismagius, Rotom, and Alakazam
Don't know what else to call it. :/ Basically refers to the select few fragile-yet-lethal Psychic- and Ghost-types that populate the metagame. This is a relatively high priority for the reason that the Fire/Water/Grass circlejerk won't work on these Pokemon. This is not so high a priority if I used Registeel for a Flying resistance; if I didn't, I usually have to designate this slot for either Spiritomb or Drapion.
From here on out, almost every problem can be resolved just by sticking a bulky Water (read: Milotic) on the team. I find a bulky Water a necessity anyway (and I think most people do, judging from usage stats, anyway), so it's not much of a hassle).
Water-type counter
Notable Threats: Milotic, Azumarill, Feraligatr, and rain sweepers (Kabutops, Ludicolo, Qwilfish, Gorebyss)
These are handled either by a bulky Water-type or a bulky Grass-type. Rain is also an issue, since countering Ludicolo, Qwilfish, and Kabutops usually involves Pokemon far different from those that handle Azumarill and co.; however, it is a lower priority.
Fire-type counter
Notable Threats: Moltres, Arcanine, Houndoom, and Blaziken
All handled by the aforementioned bulky Water.
By this point, most offensive threats have been dealt with.
Method of dealing with stat-boosters
Notable Threats: Curse Registeel, Calm Mind Clefable, Calm Mind Spiritomb, Curse Cradily
Low priority since most are handled by Haze Milotic. Encore Clefable and a Roar user are alternate answers to them.
[remaining types] resistance
Notable Threats: Aggron, Manectric, Absol, Drapion, and Hitmonlee
Low priority because I usually have most other types covered by the time I get here. I do sometimes run into problems, though. Fighting, Electric, Dark, and Rock are the main issues; everything else is fairly unimportant.
Sleep Absorber
Notable Threats: Venusaur and Ninetales
Sleep is the reason why Venusaur is so good, and why the NU Ninetales can be such a pain. A RestTalker is handy to have around; however, this is a low priority: if I don't have enough wiggle room to include one, I just do without and play around sleep.
Method of dealing with stallbreakers
Notable Threats: Swords Dance Blaziken and Clefable
Read: some way of handling Swords Dance Blaziken, who ravages nearly all stall teams without Altaria. Low priority only because these threats are relatively uncommon.
Other elements
Not necessarily less important than the defensive elements; however, it didn't make much sense to include these with them. These are the factors that make a stall team a team rather than just six walls.
Spikes
Stealth Rock is more important, but seeing as SR isn't as exclusive, Spikes is more of a priority. Spikes are obviously important because of the basic nature of stall teams: force switches through countering opposing Pokemon, thus racking up entry hazard damage.
Stealth Rock
Important, but easily accessible.
Rapid Spinner
Mainly needed for opposing stall/Spike-stacking teams. As with Spikes, this is a high priority because of Rapid Spin's exclusiveness.
Spin-blocker
Ghost-type. I don't consider this as important as the previous elements because of a) Foresight Hitmontop's prominence and b) the fact that most Rapid Spinners are easy to wall / wear down, but it's still handy to have.
Cleric
It's nice, but unnecessary since status can be avoided with good play.
Toxic Spikes Absorber
It's unnecessary since Toxic Spikes is fairly uncommon due to Venusaur's prominence, but again, still nice to have.
Toxic Spikes
Venusaur's presence renders Toxic Spikes fairly ineffective, but if I can include it, it's rather convenient sometimes, although I can never include it.
Stallbreaker
A method of beating opposing stall comes in handy; however, it is hardly necessary since stall is fairly uncommon.
Defensive elements
The following are the main key elements I try to cover within a team, in order of importance.
Flying / Normal-type resistance
Notable Threats: Swellow, Scyther, Kangaskhan, and Tauros
I tend to decide this position first because there are so few viable Normal / Flying resistances in the UU tier. If I want to make a stall team, then Omastar fills this spot, as it is the only Spiker with defensive utility fit for a stall team. Otherwise, I usually just default to Registeel / Steelix, changing to Rhyperior, Regirock, or Rotom if it is necessary later.
Grass-type counter
Notable Threats: Venusaur, Sceptile, Leafeon, and Torterra
This is second on the list because Venusaur is the most-used Pokemon in UU, and because of Grass's versatility. I have to find some way to cover physical Grass, special Grass, and SubSeeders. Additionally, Venusaur's ability to take out a check with Sleep Powder is a major issue. I almost always need at least two checks to Grass-types for these reasons.
Exorcist
Notable Threats: Mismagius, Rotom, and Alakazam
Don't know what else to call it. :/ Basically refers to the select few fragile-yet-lethal Psychic- and Ghost-types that populate the metagame. This is a relatively high priority for the reason that the Fire/Water/Grass circlejerk won't work on these Pokemon. This is not so high a priority if I used Registeel for a Flying resistance; if I didn't, I usually have to designate this slot for either Spiritomb or Drapion.
From here on out, almost every problem can be resolved just by sticking a bulky Water (read: Milotic) on the team. I find a bulky Water a necessity anyway (and I think most people do, judging from usage stats, anyway), so it's not much of a hassle).
Water-type counter
Notable Threats: Milotic, Azumarill, Feraligatr, and rain sweepers (Kabutops, Ludicolo, Qwilfish, Gorebyss)
These are handled either by a bulky Water-type or a bulky Grass-type. Rain is also an issue, since countering Ludicolo, Qwilfish, and Kabutops usually involves Pokemon far different from those that handle Azumarill and co.; however, it is a lower priority.
Fire-type counter
Notable Threats: Moltres, Arcanine, Houndoom, and Blaziken
All handled by the aforementioned bulky Water.
By this point, most offensive threats have been dealt with.
Method of dealing with stat-boosters
Notable Threats: Curse Registeel, Calm Mind Clefable, Calm Mind Spiritomb, Curse Cradily
Low priority since most are handled by Haze Milotic. Encore Clefable and a Roar user are alternate answers to them.
[remaining types] resistance
Notable Threats: Aggron, Manectric, Absol, Drapion, and Hitmonlee
Low priority because I usually have most other types covered by the time I get here. I do sometimes run into problems, though. Fighting, Electric, Dark, and Rock are the main issues; everything else is fairly unimportant.
Sleep Absorber
Notable Threats: Venusaur and Ninetales
Sleep is the reason why Venusaur is so good, and why the NU Ninetales can be such a pain. A RestTalker is handy to have around; however, this is a low priority: if I don't have enough wiggle room to include one, I just do without and play around sleep.
Method of dealing with stallbreakers
Notable Threats: Swords Dance Blaziken and Clefable
Read: some way of handling Swords Dance Blaziken, who ravages nearly all stall teams without Altaria. Low priority only because these threats are relatively uncommon.
Other elements
Not necessarily less important than the defensive elements; however, it didn't make much sense to include these with them. These are the factors that make a stall team a team rather than just six walls.
Spikes
Stealth Rock is more important, but seeing as SR isn't as exclusive, Spikes is more of a priority. Spikes are obviously important because of the basic nature of stall teams: force switches through countering opposing Pokemon, thus racking up entry hazard damage.
Stealth Rock
Important, but easily accessible.
Rapid Spinner
Mainly needed for opposing stall/Spike-stacking teams. As with Spikes, this is a high priority because of Rapid Spin's exclusiveness.
Spin-blocker
Ghost-type. I don't consider this as important as the previous elements because of a) Foresight Hitmontop's prominence and b) the fact that most Rapid Spinners are easy to wall / wear down, but it's still handy to have.
Cleric
It's nice, but unnecessary since status can be avoided with good play.
Toxic Spikes Absorber
It's unnecessary since Toxic Spikes is fairly uncommon due to Venusaur's prominence, but again, still nice to have.
Toxic Spikes
Venusaur's presence renders Toxic Spikes fairly ineffective, but if I can include it, it's rather convenient sometimes, although I can never include it.
Stallbreaker
A method of beating opposing stall comes in handy; however, it is hardly necessary since stall is fairly uncommon.
With that out of the way, I started this team by deciding on the Spiker. Qwilfish, Cloyster, and Omastar are the only reasonably decent UU Spikers. I've never been a fan of the first two's defensive abilities: Qwilfish just has shit defenses, and Cloyster has a nasty 2x Stealth Rock weakness and doesn't counter anything useful. Omastar, however, provides me with a Normal / Flying resistance as well as the option of using Stealth Rock. I started off with it.
I then addressed Grass-types. This choice basically boiled down to preference. I wanted to use RestTalk Weezing because of its ability to check most of UU's Grass-types particularly well, regardless of whether they were specially or physically based. Additionally, it was not weak to Stealth Rock, and is one of the only reliable "counters" (in the loosest sense of the term) to all variants of Venusaur.
A Pokemon who dealt with Alakazam and Mismagius was necessary next, and Spiritomb fit perfectly, as it also doubled as a spin-blocker. Registeel would be redundant with Omastar, and Drapion isn't as specially defensive as Spiritomb.
I then needed a bulky Water-type to cover Fires. Milotic and Blastoise were my main choices, since I don't like using Slowbro or Slowking, as neither fares very well against Houndoom. I ended up choosing Blastoise because I wanted to condense my Rapid Spinner and bulky Water into one Pokemon and see if I could cover more with the extra slot on my team. I had tried this on another team, and it had worked out fairly well.
I had covered most of my hierarchy of needs at that point; however, I felt that I was weak to a few things. A well-played Rotom could dismantle my team, as Spiritomb was far from a foolproof counter. SubSeeders would be a pain, especially Sceptile; to me, relying on Weezing to out-stall them is not a very good method of handling them. Finally, I didn't like the idea of being helpless to LO Venusaur after Weezing took the sleep. The choice for this slot basically boiled down to Venusaur or Clefable, and I chose the latter for its ability to provide Aromatherapy support.
One more slot. I noticed I was weak to Swords Dance Blaziken, Curse Registeel, and Absol. Azumarill and Feraligatr would also be problematic with only Blastoise and Weezing able to check them. I ended up using a max Speed Milotic, even though I had specifically avoided using it by choosing Blastoise.
So, my team ended up as follows:
Omastar / Weezing / Blastoise / Spiritomb / Clefable / Milotic
After playtesting for awhile, I decided to give Milotic a more defensive spread and replace Blastoise with Hitmontop, reason being my huge weakness to CB Aggron.
Omastar / Weezing / Hitmontop / Spiritomb / Clefable / Milotic
I ended up covering most of the elements except for resistances to certain types (Electric), a Toxic Spiker, and a Toxic Spikes absorber, which has not adversely affected me that much. And with that, the rest is all play.
