ORAS OU Mega Slowbro Stall (Peak #26)

[Mango Smoothie]

Another Suspect Ladder Stall Team?

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Introduction
Whats up smogon? Its been a while since I've had a reasonable OU team to present (the last OU RMT I made was more than 1 year ago at the end of XY), but I think I've got something workable now. For those of you who don't know, I really like stall. And I really wish Goth would've been banned on the ladder instead of Sableye, because I wanted to go against sableye without goth. But I digress, I wanted to build around a CM sweeper, and I wasn't going to build a third CM Clefable team, so I opted for Slowbro since it's on pretty much every team I build anyways and MegaBro is adorable so why not (also no one can crit-hax their way past me now). I got reqs for the first time with this team (the 75th battle was stressful beyond measure), so that's something I'm proud of.

Proof of Peak

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Teambuilding Process

...In Here

I started out with CM Slowbro to help out VS offensive teams, and BU Talonflame to handle more defensive ones. Immediately I noticed an Electric-type weakness, also a general dislike of Toxic/residual damage.

Clefable was my next addition, handling electric-types and absorbing status like a champ. I wanted to see if SR Clefable was any good to test the 'centralization' effect of Sableye.

Chesnaught provides me a way to not get bodied by BD Azumarill, and handles Bisharp nicely since I anticipated having Defog on this team. It also handles sand offense that Slowbro can get pressured to deal with. Lastly, Leech Seed support is great.

First, I greatly appreciate that image of Chansey. Chansey was added as a catch-all special wall who can provide clerical support for my team. I wanted to have Wish support as well, but that would make it too passive (toxic is good).

Second bird because why not? Skarmory was added as another generic wall and helps wiith some more threatening Physical attackers (not to mention Rocky Helmet chip damage). It is also a good spikes stacker.

In-depth Analysis

Magic Conch (Slowbro) @ Slowbronite
Ability: Regenerator -> Shell Armor
Nature: Bold
EVs: 248 HP | 152 Def | 104 SpD | 4 Spe
Moves: Scald | Psyshock | Slack Off| Calm Mind
That is the unmovable face of a coldblooded killer, ruthlessly taking the names of those unable to withstand the terror that is Mega Slowbro. Slowbro stops this team from getting steamrolled by Charizard X and M-Medicham thanks to its absurdly high defense stat. The special defense EVs are to survive Hydro Pumps from Keldeo after SR, and I speed creep other Slowbros/Amoonguss. Scald is run because it burns everything, with Psyshock there so I don't have to rely on crits to beat opposing CM pokemon or Chansey lacking toxic, although the CM pokemon can't do much to me so its mostly to save PP/time. Slack Off keeps Slowbro healthy, and Calm Mind is for setting up. I've had countless games where I'm left with Slowbro against more than half the opposing team and it just carries me through, this thing is ridiculously hard to kill without some insane pressure.

Brave-ary (Talonflame) @ Leftovers
Ability: Gale Wings
Nature: Careful
EVs: 248 HP | 252 SpD | 8 Spe
Moves: Brave Bird | Roost | Taunt | Bulk Up/Will-O-Wisp/Swords Dance
So believe it or not, this is the first time I use Talonflame on a team ever. Its really hit or miss tho, sometimes it'll plow right through my opponents other times it'll get foddered off to waste a turn of weather/LO recoil or something. Brave Bird is powerful STAB that can pick off weakened offensive pokemon, which is complemented by Bulk Up to get through bulkier teams. Roost keeps Talonflame healthy, and Taunt lets me set up on a lot of slower pokemon like Gliscor, Chansey, Ferrothorn, non-Stone edge Heatran, and the like. Will-O-Wisp is also a cool move to burn incoming Lando-T, Garchomp, and Tyranitar, but it misses a reasonable amount making it kind of inconsistent. Lastly, I used SD a bit recently and it helps VS offense since defensive/stall is kind of rarer on the ladder, but it hasn't been much better than the other moves in terms of reliability. I still think Talonflame is overhyped, so I named it after the greatest bird of the 5th generation, Braivary.

Chansee (Clefable) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
Nature: Calm
EVs: 252 HP | 172 Def | 84 SpD
Moves: Moonblast | Fire Blast | Soft-Boiled | Stealth Rock
Kind of the exact opposite of Talonflame, I have used Clefable on every one of the teams I've built in the past 2 years (oh my how time flies). Clefable is perhaps my 2nd favorite pokemon to use, and gives me rocks and some way to deal with ferrothorn (I lower the IV to 6 outspeed Hippowdon and anything slower). The EVs are standard, letting me take on Lopunny, Starmie, KyuB, and other pokemon. If it ain't broke don't fix it, Clefable is extremely consistent and reliable, everything I like in a pokemon.

Use Ferrothorn IMO (Chesnaught) @ Leftovers
Ability: Bulletproof
Nature: Impish
EVs: 244 HP | 120 Def | 144 Spe
Moves: Drain Punch | Wood Hammer | Leech Seed | Spiky Shield
Please pretend that gif is of Chesnaught (there's only one good chesnaught gif out there). Chesnaught is pretty solid in the meta, even with Sableye gone it can take on some troublesome hazard setters like Ferrothorn and Hippowdon. The EVs outspeed max speed Azumarill, allowing for a swift KO with Wood Hammer after a bit of damage. The Defense EVs get the jump point, and the rest goes to HP. Drain Punch lets me deal with Bisharp, Wood Hammer hits Swampert, Kabutops, Azumarill, and other water-types for good damage. Leech Seed is handy in wearing down setup sweepers, and forces switches quite a bit. Spiky Shield lets me scout moves/get extra chip damage, and is generally a useful move to have (at least I like it better than Spikes).

Clephable (Chansey) @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
Nature: Bold
EVs: 4 HP | 252 Def | 252 SpD
Moves: Seismic Toss | Toxic | Soft-Boiled | Heal Bell
Its funny because thats what happens every time I see a Manaphy. Chansey is my foolproof special wall and if there's a time when I'm unsure what my opponent is going to do, I throw Chansey or Skarmory at it. Thundurus/Raikou setting up? Chansey. Clefable? Chansey. Want to sack something VS offense? Chansey. Seismic Toss is so Chansey can have some semblance of an offensive presence, although Toxic is where most of the damage comes from. Soft-Boiled gives you health back, and Heal bell removes status from other members (mostly paralysis because yellow magic is Satan, but burns and toxic sustained can also prove troublesome). All in all, I'm not the biggest fan of Chansey but it does what I need it to do (ie: stops non-RD manaphy from 6-0ing me).

CAW CAW (Skarmory) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Sturdy
Nature: Bold
EVs: 248 HP | 236 Def | 24 Spe
Moves: Spikes | Whirlwind | Roost | Defog
Skarmory is another one of those pokemon I run because I don't know what else to. EVs are the suggested ones from Showdown's teambuilder so they can probably be tweaked. Spikes because all aboard the hazard stacking train, whirlwind to rack up hazard damage (also stops some setup sweepers). Roost is to keep Skarmory healthy, and Defog lets me get rid of all hazards (usually sees use when my opponent's hazard setter dies). Skarmory is one of the few things that stops me from getting outright curb stomped by SD Garchomp and Excadrill, which is always appreciated.

Replays
Pretty much when Slowbro gets going there's no stopping him + stall team-esque stuff like Toxic Stalling and Chansey taking more damage from switching into SR than the attack.
VS Balance
VS Rain (game 75)
VS CM Clefable
VS Sand (and Rhyperior)
VS Sableye Stall (CroCune)
VS Balance Again
VS HO
VS Sand+MLop

Threatlist

- So I know we're in the middle of a suspect but can we please do something about this soon? I can't figure out how not to get smashed by RD TG (like most slower teams). Though 3 Attacks isn't too hard to beat if you can not get unlucky with scald burns (and toxic it in time).

- OK so apparently Chansey doesn't beat CM Clefable (or at least it hasn't been able to)? In seriousness if CM Clefable can get going early and talonflame is weakened enough/slowbro isn't simultaneously setting up alongside it, I have trouble stopping it.

- SD Weavile is capable of giving this team a good run for its money. But 4 Attacks isn't too bad.

/

- Since Slowbro has more special defense investment (and no leftovers), these hard hitting physical pokemon do give me trouble. Not unbeatable, but I sometimes trade Slowbro for Zard X if I fail to play well it (Skarmory does the Rocky Helmet recoil very well).

- Lol what switchins? LO trounces this team almost as easily as Manaphy.

- Leave me to consistently build teams weak to Gengar, though Slowbro can handle non-LO versions with Psyshock, sustaining a crapton of damage in the process. Talonflame can somewhat handle, and non-taunt struggles to do much VS chansey.

- If you get beat by Goth you deserve it for using bulky cancerous skill-less aids teams, play with a real team noob. If Shadow Tag isn't banned with >90% majority I'll honestly be surprised/slightly shocked. 89% is good enough for me

Changes/Considerations

(SR) +

(Cleric Blob)/

(Spikes)

(Unaware Cleric) +

/

(SR) This change gives me some more insurance VS setup pokemon (primarily Manaphy since I'm thinking more of a specially defensive variant, but also NP and Mixed Thundurus), but does open up a bit larger hazard/Rotom-W weakness. This could also involve dropping Spikes entirely, by moving SR over to Skarmory, but that compromises my ability to wear down opponents by solely forcing switches (but does open up room for different Clefable sets, maybe this will end up as my 3rd CM Clefable team).

Conclusion
This suspect has opened my eyes about so many things. Like Talonflame actually being a useable pokemon (could've fooled me). And how stressful decisive battles can be, because having to redo the grind to reqs with a stall team was not something I wanted to do a third time had I lost that 75th battle. But unfortunately, not much about the suspected pokemon I didn't already think to be true. Shadow Tag is stupid and should've been banned a long time ago with M-Gengar because that's what pushed it over the top. Sableye wasn't even available for use in the suspect test, which is a shame because pretty much everyone knew Gothitelle was going to get banned, but Sableye is the much more controversial suspect ban it so I can use my crappy Spinda team more effectively who I'm thinking no ban on. Good luck if you're stealing this team (please don't ditch nicknames because I worked pretty hard to think some of them up), and please leave any comments/suggestions you may have!

Importable

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Magic Conch (Slowbro) (M) @ Slowbronite
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 154 Def / 104 SpD / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Psyshock
- Slack Off
- Calm Mind

Brave-ary (Talonflame) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 Spe
Careful Nature
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Taunt
- Bulk Up

Chansee (Clefable) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Def / 84 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 6 Spe
- Moonblast
- Fire Blast
- Soft-Boiled
- Stealth Rock

Use Ferrothorn IMO (Chesnaught) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Bulletproof
EVs: 244 HP / 120 Def / 144 Spe
Impish Nature
- Drain Punch
- Wood Hammer
- Leech Seed
- Spiky Shield

Clephable (Chansey) @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Bold Nature
- Seismic Toss
- Soft-Boiled
- Toxic
- Heal Bell

CAW CAW (Skarmory) (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 236 Def / 24 Spe
Bold Nature
- Spikes
- Roost
- Defog
- Whirlwind

Thanks for reading and have a good day!​

 

[Sablenite]

Here is a Chesnaught spread that you might want to run it hits 178 Speed creeping the fastest standard set, and OHKOs after SR Azumarill's Bulkiest standad set too. 68 Atk Chesnaught Wood Hammer vs. 240 HP / 0 Def Azumarill: 354-416 (88.2 - 103.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock I'd also consider running thunder wave over fire blast on clefable

Chesnaught (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Bulletproof
EVs: 248 HP / 68 Atk / 136 Def / 56 Spe
Serious Nature
- Wood Hammer
- Drain Punch
- Spikes
- Synthesis

 

[Mango Smoothie]

I actually used to run a similar set in terms of speed, but I've found that outspeeding the occasional 252 speed (which seems to be a reasonable amount of them) ones beats the extra bulk most of the time (I don't know of any notable KO's I dodge with the added defense, but not having to worry about faster azumarill has helped several times in the past). Also, almost any chip damage (Skarmory's Rocky Helmet, SR) can bring even the bulkiest Azumarill into KO range of an uninvested wood hammer.

I tried out Thunder Wave over Fire Blast, and I didn't find it as useful most of the times. Ferrothorn/Scizor are real thorns in this team's side (haha puns) and Fire Blast gives me a reliable-ish way to handle both of them (6 speed IV gets me a 3HKO for gyro ball). Without Fire Blast, Ferrothorn gets more switchins to set hazards and Offensive Scizor can have a field day with the rest of this team. Not to mention, Slowbro is (and maybe chesnaught somewhat) the only one(s) who would be able to make use of the thunder wave support, but most things Clefable brings in are manageable without them being slowed down anyways (or are talonflame who spams priority).

 

[Ramses]

Hi

I have one suggest and that is to run more SpD on Clefable alongside Unaware. With 248 HP / 204 Def / 56 SpD with a Calm Nature you reliably take on Timid TG+RD Manaphy. This means you move Stealth Rock onto either Chansey or Skarmory to allow Clefable to rid itself of Status and imo using it on Chansey seems like the best way to go as this team really appreciates Hazard Stack's passive damage.

252 SpA Manaphy Scald vs. 248 HP / 56+ SpD Clefable in Rain: 153-181 (38.9 - 46%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

 

[Inflikted]

There is a very reliable way to beat TG+Rain Dance Manaphy on stall that you may run if you're desperate, and it's Calm Mind Blissey. With the moveset of CM | Thunderbolt | Ice Beam | Softboiled, it is almost guaranted to shut down the little monster. It is also less prone than Chansey to residual damage thanks so Leftovers; this might help against electrics that come in for free against Skarm or on Talon's forced roosts and can mindlessly click Volt Switch due to your lack of a ground type, forcing your Chansey to continuously take damage. Clef can help against Manectric / Raikou but i can see Mag being troublesome, especially if it's Specs, which has become somewhat more common lately. The Blissey set also helps a lot against Gengar!

Of course this comes with a cost: you have to fit Heal Bell on something because Slowbro needs it. You can try dropping Fire Blast on Clef. You actually seem to handle Fire Blast's targets acceptably, as you can burn the Ferrothorn and stop Leech Seed with MG Clef and Chesnaught. Skarm + Chesnaught should also be able to stop Scizor and Bisharp, and Fire Blast doesn't help anyway if any of these two gets to +2, and the team gives them quite a bit of opportunities to do so. Ot you can drop Ice Beam on Blissey if you opt to run it. I understand the concern about Ferro's Spikes if you drop fire blast, and Blissey doesn't have Chansey's sheer bulk, but at this point it's really about picking your poison I guess.

I hope this helped in some way

Ah I don't take credit for the blissey set, somebody posted it in the ou forum a while ago, even if I don' remember who it was

 

[Mango Smoothie]

Thanks for the suggestions guys, I won't be able to try them out for a bit because exams and final projects (10 more days until finals end), but I'll be sure to give them a go when I have the time.

To help with my M-Scizor/Ferrothorn problem as well, I'm thinking of replacing Whirlwind on Skarmory with Taunt, makes it harder to take advantage of by stall/bulkier pokemon like Ferrothrn (and whirlwind is kind of an "this has all failed help please" move, considering DD Dragonite and SD Garchomp are handled better by Unaware Clefable). Also, I foresee stuff like Rotom-W becoming a bit more problematic.