~N’s Castle~
Hello, fellow members of Smogon! I’m a new member here and this is my first RMT (and my first post). My team is a stall team inspired by N’s Castle. Each Pokemon on my team is nicknamed after one of the sages of Team Plasma in honor of my favorite evil team. I’ve done some testing with this team on PO and made it to 1400 points. My reason for submitting this team for critique is so that I can be prepared when I face the more skilled players later on. Keep in mind that this is my first stall team (but it’s not my first competitive team). So, without further ado, I present the team:
N's Castle From the Outside
As you can see, this team consists of many stall favorites along with two offensive Pokemon, Gengar and Excadrill. Hippowdon is my main physical wall that sets up stealth rocks and also functions as a phazer, all while supporting Excadrill and racking up residual damage with sand stream. Obviously, Blissey is my special wall, supporting the team with wish and heal bell. Tentacruel is my next wall and an excellent user of toxic spikes and rapid spin. My final wall is Ferrothorn, a great spiker with infuriating defenses. Gengar may seem too frail to be on a stall team, but anyone that has seen the sub disable set or the sub pain split set knows that it can survive quite a long time. Last but not least, Excadrill ties the team together with blistering speed that can finish off foes that have been battered by entry hazards. Now that you know the general concept of my team, let’s go more in depth…
Team Building Process
Gengar is the founding member of this team. He is one of my all-time favorite Pokemon so, when I heard his sub pain split set can wear down even the toughest special walls, I wanted to try it out for myself.
Once I decided that I would be using Gengar, I needed toxic spikes support to help break down walls more efficiently. I’m not a big fan of Forretress, so I immediately decided that Tentacruel was just the Pokemon for the job. As an added bonus, he can even use rapid spin!
Ferrothorn joined the team shortly after Tentacruel, due to their excellent synergy. Together, they can lay down both types of spikes while protecting each other from super effective attacks. He is just a fantastic wall all-around.
Now I had two walls with no reliable form of recovery to turn to. I needed wish support and Blissey fit the bill perfectly with her gigantic hp stat. She can also use heal bell to cure the team of any unfortunate status effects, making my Pokemon even more durable.
At this point, my team was looking more and more like a stall team. I had never made a stall team before, so I figured I might as well try it out. With Blissey as my special wall, I needed a physical wall and Hippowdon is what I came up with. Not only can he set up stealth rocks, but he can also use roar. Even more importantly, his sand stream ability helps against those offensive weather teams.
At this point, my team was looking more and more like a stall team. I had never made a stall team before, so I figured I might as well try it out. With Blissey as my special wall, I needed a physical wall and Hippowdon is what I came up with. Not only can he set up stealth rocks, but he can also use roar. Even more importantly, his sand stream ability helps against those offensive weather teams.
Although Latias was a fine team member, she was very susceptible to being taken out by Tyranitar, a potent threat to my team that I had a very hard time eliminating. Also, my team lacked a real powerhouse that could clean up after the entry hazards had battered the opposing team. That’s where Excadrill came in. His blistering speed during a sandstorm and raw power was perfect for finishing off weakened Pokemon.
The only major downside to replacing Latias was the lack of a solid Reuniclus counter. To compensate, I decided to give Gengar a sub disable set that prevents Reuniclus from touching him. It was a bit ironic that I changed the set that inspired the team, but whatever. Let’s get on with the in depth explanations…
N's Castle From Within
“Hurry and fall through the flowing sands!"
-Ryoku
Ryoku (Hippowdon) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Slack Off
- Roar
Ryoku is the Team Plasma sage found within the Relic Castle. Hippowdon represents him well by summoning a sandstorm much like the one that surrounds the ruins. This sandstorm supports the team in several ways. First of all, it causes residual damage that helps me stall out opponents. Secondly, it gives Excadrill his massive speed boost. Finally, it prevents sun and rain from getting the better of me. Hippowdon also supports the team with stealth rocks and roar, all while excelling as a physical wall.
Hippowdon’s prowess as a physical wall allows him to shut down many physical sweepers. One of my favorite ways to use him is by switching in on Toxicroak. Any Toxicroak that thinks it can set up on Ferrothorn is swiftly countered by Hippowdon, who threatens him with STAB earthquake, formidable defenses and a sandstorm. I can then proceed to roar and rack up entry hazard damage as my opponent tries to switch in a special sweeper. Hippowdon performs his role admirably and, for this reason, I have no intention of replacing him (although I’m always open to suggestions).
"Right now, I'm shivering. I'm suffering, but I'm alive."
-Zinzolin
Zinzolin (Gengar) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Disable
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
The sage, Zinzolin, hides out in an icy storage facility, a suitable abode for my favorite ghost, Gengar. Gengar is one of the most important Pokemon on my team because it shuts down several key threats to stall. First and foremost, it is a spin blocker. Obviously, my team needs a spin blocker because I use every type of entry hazard. Gengar also nullifies Reuniclus and Conkledurr, two serious threats to my team, with the combination of substitute and disable.
The substitute-disable combo is a seriously fun trick. It forces switches while I get another sub up, allowing Gengar to easily dispose of his new foe. Sometimes my opponent predicts the disable and switches into it. This would be a problem, but instead I can think of it as a fun challenge. For example, my opponent switched a Rotom-W into my disable. I simply countered it with Ferrothorn, forcing him to switch back to Conkledurr (who my Gengar had recently shut down). Then, I predicted his prediction by using leech seed while he used payback (expecting Gengar). Finally, I switched in Gengar on a drain punch, causing him to rage quit. In summary, Gengar is pure evil and suits my style perfectly.
"Now that the stage is set, we can seize people's minds and hearts.”
-Ghetsis
Ghetsis (Excadrill) @ Life Orb
Trait: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- X-Scissor
- Brick Break
Here we have the newest member of my team, Excadrill. He used to be named after Giallo, the sage that can be found in the forest, but I soon realized that the name Ghetsis is a much better fit (Giallo was Latias’s name anyway). Like Ghetsis, Excadrill is power hungry and dangerous. His job is to clean up the remains of my opponent’s team once the entry hazards had taken their toll. For this reason, I have opted to use four attacking moves instead of the swords dance set because Excadrill already has all the power he needs to finish enemies off.
The biggest problems for Excadrill are Gliscor, Conkledurr, and weather changers. Gengar can handle Gliscor and Conkledurr with disable, but if he’s not around I have to rely on my walls to kill them slowly. This can be a problem, so any suggestions on how to deal with it are welcome. As for weather changers, Politoed is set up bait for Ferrothorn and Ninetales is set up bait for Tentacruel. I can usually wear down my opponent’s weather changer with entry hazards because they switch in multiple times to change the weather back after Hippowdon stirs up a sandstorm. Overall, Excadrill receives sufficient support that allows him to perform well.
"Constant dripping wears away the stone.”
-Rood
Rood (Tentacruel) @ Black Sludge
Trait: Liquid Ooze
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Toxic Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Scald
- Hex
Here we have Rood, a Tentacruel named after the sage that can be seen watching the ocean. Tentacruel serves two extremely important roles on this team, rapid spinning and laying toxic spikes. Rapid spin helps keep my team healthy because I tend to do a lot of switching and toxic spikes wear down opponents, especially enemy walls.
Tentacruel also does well as a defensive Pokemon. Its ability, liquid ooze, makes it the perfect candidate to switch into a drain punch if Gengar has been weakened or is out of commission. Liquid ooze also protects it from leech seed, so it can safely rapid spin on enemy Ferrothorns and maybe even try to get a burn on it with scald. Hex is there because most enemies will be poisoned, so hex’s power will increase.
Tentacruel’s biggest threat is Reuniclus. As mentioned before, Gengar does a good job at shutting down Reuniclus. As for weaknesses, Ferrothorn covers Tentacruel’s weaknesses very well (except for ground, which Gengar covers). In exchange, Tentacruel takes fire and fighting attacks for Ferrothorn with ease. Together, they form a resilient spiking duo.
“Once more, we will test you to learn what it is you are.”
-Bronius
Bronius (Ferrothorn) @ Leftovers
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Def / 208 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Spikes
- Leech Seed
- Gyro Ball
- Protect
Ferrothorn is one of the most common Pokemon in OU and with good reason. He is a fantastic wall with a unique and exceptional typing. My Ferrothorn, named after the sage Bronius who lurks in Chargestone Cave, is the team’s spiker and a good one at that. He comes in to wall something like Politoed, and then sets up either spikes or leech seed with ease. Speaking of Politoed, Ferrothorn counters many rain sweepers. Toxicroak is really the only rain Pokemon that really threatens him and Hippowdon deals with him perfectly.
Ferrothorn also boasts an all-important resistance to dragon. This resistance, combined with his ability, hurts outrage users and tanks draco meteors. While dragon is his greatest resistance, his greatest weakness is fire. Tentacruel resists fire attacks, while Blissey also does a good job taking special fire attacks. Ferrothorn is the last of my entry hazard Pokemon, but not my last wall.
“The dreams you realize with your own abilities are the real dreams."
-Gorm
Gorm (Blissey) @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Wish
- Heal Bell
- Protect
- Seismic Toss
Blissey is the final wall on my team. She is named after Gorm because he appears in the dreamyard, a place that reminds me of Blissey. Her roles on the team are to keep my other team members healthy and to be a special wall. Wish and heal bell are the main moves here because the recover health and status, respectively. Protect stalls for toxic damage and wish healing, while seismic toss provides reliable damage if I need it.
Blissey’s biggest enemies are fighting types. Gengar covers them well, especially those that carry only two types of moves like Conkledurr. Tentacruel also resists fighting and punishes drain punchers. Physical sweepers that can hurt Blissey can also be dealt with by Hippowdon, who can roar them out if they start boosting their stats. Blissey is the glue that keeps this team together, so it is imperative that she stays alive. I just love it when a nearly dead Gengar is brought back to full health while coming in to block a fighting type move.
So, there you have it. My first RMT is finally complete. I hope you enjoyed it; I tried to present it as best as I could. Any help is appreciated. I’ve done fairly well with this team on the ladder, but there may be some glaring weakness that I missed… Thanks in advance!
