Peaked #1 (2059 ELO) – Quagsire Stall

This team was built by knexhawk and myself
https://pokepast.es/7cfed96068d9cb17
Table of Contents
Introduction
Proof of Peak
With this team, both knexhawk and I were able to reach over 2000 ELO multiple times on the Gen 9 OU Ladder and achieve the peak shown above.
This team also raised the GXE of my alt (OU G Herbo) from around 84% to 88%, and knexhawk reached 86% on a fresh account. If I had to guess, I would say I had an 88-89% GXE while using this team.
Peak Game: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2167978491-a4hyelx0vw8tdpad5ftakkco3yt9kv4pw
Team Members
has been absent from many top level stall teams, falling off in favor of
in the early DLC 2 meta. However, this has changed since, with
rising to A-rank in the Gen 9 OU Stall Viability Rankings recently. This is primarily due to the meta shift towards more Hyper Offense and Offense, which
excels against.
Toxic Spikes is the primary reason I chose
as the Regenerator for the team, as this guarantees wins vs. a large portion of teams that you will encounter on the ladder when used in conjunction with
to ensure they stay up.
With maximum special bulk,
lives a hit from practically any Pokémon, having favorable rolls to live attacks from even max attack
and Choice Specs
if necessary.
can do everything, such as trading HP for status on Pokémon like
and
so that the other walls on the team can stall them out easily.
is also extremely important for the
and
matchups, using Haze to prevent them from boosting.
can also take on everything from
and
to
in weather.
Finally, Tera Steel was chosen as an overall great defensive Tera type that can be used vs. Pokémon like
, Mixed
, Choice Band
, various Stored Power sweepers like
, and general Volt Switch / U-Turn spam cores. Tera Fairy is also an option on this set.
knexhawk’s version of the team ran mixed defenses to have more favorable rolls vs. Pokémon like
at the cost of not being as specially bulky. Both options are viable.
is another stall staple that needs little introduction.
excels in longer matchups by harassing passive and fatter teams to guarantee progress. However, unlike most stall teams, I have opted for a specially defensive spread. Without
,
must run Calm Mind. Therefore it is not ideal to run Protect on
for Future Sight.
is also not the best choice for this role, as although it can manage as a Future Sight absorber with Baneful Bunker, it takes significant damage in the process. Therefore, specially defensive
is the perfect choice.
already runs Protect by default, so there is no opportunity cost to include it here. Additionally, in this fast-paced offensive meta, the majority of
are running Thunder Wave or Toxic, which can be problematic for traditional absorbers like
or
. However, this means that our
can have its way with
, dissuading Chilly Reception pivoting or hard switching to a different breaker by threatening Knock Off or Earthquake on the turn before the Future Sight hits, then protecting the following turn.
Earthquake was chosen to deal with
,
,
, and
quickly to reduce the burden on
and ensure that no grounded Poison types remain to absorb Toxic Spikes from
.
Finally, we opted for Spikes and no status as
handles the majority of Toxic needs. Because this
is specially defensive, we also opted for enough Speed EVs to creep Modest
.
Tera Steel was chosen to completely blank even Ice Beam
or snipe a
that is about to use a Dragon-type move, and it is a solid defensive typing overall.
doesn’t use Tera often on this team however, so other Tera types like Fairy are viable.
Threats
As I always say, although this team is very tough to beat, it is not unbeatable.

Taunt
beats this team pretty easily. You need to ensure that Toxic Spikes stay up before
hits the field otherwise the game is over immediately. The only other way to remediate this would be to change to Counter instead of Toxic on
, which certainly has some merit outside of just this matchup should you choose to make this change. This is a very winnable matchup if
opts for Earthquake or Brick Break over Taunt however, and I have included several replays of this team beating
.

Not much needs to be said about
. It is borderline unwallable and has been a massive threat to stall since the day it was released. Your best counterplay is Toxic Spikes and Tera Steel
. You can also trade
or
with
depending on the matchup and the
set.
+ 
Normally,
+
is relatively easy for stall to handle, thanks to the tandem of
,
, and physically defensive Tera Dragon
. However, this team notably lacks all 3 of those options. As a result, this is a very difficult matchup, especially if Healing Wish support from
is involved. You will need to fight to get Toxic Spikes up and keep them up at all costs to win. A little bit of luck can’t hurt either.

This is probably the first and only stall team in history to struggle with this base 92 attack weakling. In a similar vein to
, the combination of Toxic Spike and Earthquake immunity, Body Press resistance, and availability of disruption options like Substitute, Taunt, and Encore make this Pokémon a potential nightmare for the team. If
or
are unable to Toxic
, you will likely need to use Tera Fairy on
to beat this and that may not be guaranteed depending on the set.
may also be able to take on
with Iron Defense + Body Press. Counter
is also an option here.
Replays
+ Choice Band
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2168145047-yrue7vgda1gq8p5n5aeaa3612fnirdopw?p2
+ Tera Ghost
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2168136824-js63gaxkwokylh9zj7pd3ttsc9yfxt7pw?p2
+
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2167978491-a4hyelx0vw8tdpad5ftakkco3yt9kv4pw
+
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2167948796-u0zxxfuc0trxrwrei2gcedqbg5ltkiopw?p2
+
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2167946672-s3cdkitrs7b6ibspf8xcar5426e8compw?p2
+
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2167935618-l57q5mjwhmq8nby98ma8m5y4w5fw4r0pw
Tera Ghost
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2165600291-us4qrodav9u218618tskmx9kle0syflpw
Tera Ghost Swords Dance
+
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2164801116-5tr28x8ekmncx27mwc2mzn1ttrgg0h2pw?p2
+
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2164252307-x5302xb4sy95cik2hjly6na9jcjtl8cpw
Explosion
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2163975909-j5bz5apiqpc8mynxhhjuv0q63ecvmqapw?p2
Dragon Dance
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2162218778?p2
Life Orb Nasty Plot
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2161055807?p2
+
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2159466305?p2
+
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2159403390
+
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2159394645
+
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2159385696
Calm Mind
+
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2159292704?p2
+ Rest 
1. https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2159237315
2. https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2163994153-m1qewz5woidj2jn5821e7x1zbbi3edopw?p2
Swords Dance
+ Psyshock
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2156833523?p2
+
+
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2156833346
+ Psyshock
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2156829042
Tera Dark
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2156823725?p2
+
+
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2168126671-ygtu7mjl2ylpvnu9bgvte5qtakrekvbpw
+ Boots
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2163989960-h2la1i8dige6so0r67yglbm2qrbzxp3pw
Boots
+
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2163976799-875pfvi1pull6ydjac5iedyyst74iovpw
+
+ 
1. https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2162709628?p2
2. https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2163990374-b3dmgj2yij5tuij4twczryxrvldml1vpw?p2
3. https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2166415379-9iqabgm5tuo5i5mrdy4hbm9ey9r2529pw?p2
+
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2161567686?p2
+
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2159398088?p2
+ 
1. https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2159233358
2. https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2159236631
Calm Mind
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2159229944?p2
Choice Band
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2159226672
+
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2158516250?p2
+
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2158100115
+ Trick
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2156830775?p2
Taunt
+
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2156811225
+
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2159874386?p2
+ Substitute
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2159877230
+ Mixed
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2159915742?p2
Bulk Up
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2163196245?p2
+
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2161748902
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2161466105?p2
+
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2167598046-gonu4vg488n3au10b83rtlayy3ov9r4pw?p2
+
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2167060603-7ajkoli3nnilgpdh0yz6dj59uf4nuhkpw?p2
+
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2164804486-j8dkh44xhxqpy0l0avywd5tzpml1twopw?p2
Levitate
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2164254509-2q6tw8vrr3wehhcuyk5rryr1ijbq63dpw?p2
+ Taunt
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2164248035-drmjyacpy8txn2tydwmb0nix8ctwdd4pw?p2
+
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2161584113?p2
+ Substitute 
1. https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2160271085?p2
2. https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2168120060-hdhzsgezndsdx1scfnwqdyqq57yxhgtpw?p2
Jaw Lock
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2159909190
Substitute
+ 
1. https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2159464646?p2
2. https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2159474368?p2
+
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2159316267?p2
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to everyone in the Stall Discord and Community. Everyone there is super helpful and passionate about Pokémon which in turn motivates me to build teams and ladder.
In particular, big thanks to knexhawk for helping me build & ladder with this team and write this RMT.
Finally, while this RMT is a great starting point, it is far from comprehensive. Feel free to ask me any questions about the team or specific matchups in the comments or on Discord. The link to the Stall Discord is here: https://discord.gg/MBZkXUXYdQ






This team was built by knexhawk and myself
https://pokepast.es/7cfed96068d9cb17
knexhawk’s Version: https://pokepast.es/2e798dd34e321a86
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Proof of Peak
- Team Members
- Threats
- Replays
- Acknowledgments
Introduction
Following the success of my Hydrapple Stall, stall has continued to perform well in the DLC 2 meta. Although the meta has become significantly more offensive since then, many of the common meta threats that my
Stall was designed to beat have stuck around. This has left little need for innovation with the core Pokémon, particularly
and
, both of which have been consistently S-ranked in the Gen 9 OU Stall Viability Rankings.
Bored of the status quo, I decided I wanted to experiment a little and try out some unorthodox Pokémon and builds. One Pokémon that had received some attention in the Stall Discord was
. Formerly a stall staple many generations ago,
has since fallen off in favor of its vastly superior cousin
. With its unspectacular bulk,
was one of the hardest hit Pokémon by the recovery PP nerf. In previous generations,
simply sat there spamming Recover and Toxic to make progress. However in a much faster paced meta and with half the Recover PP,
struggles to provide this kind of support in Gen 9. It is unable to take repeated hits from top meta threats like
, especially after Tera Dark or several fallen allies, and is deathly afraid of
. As a result,
has completely dominated the Unaware physical wall role in Gen 9 Stall.
Never one to back down from a challenge, I decided to give
a shot.
Early Test Game: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2156744493-js15qxf4al4khc2vn827v8nhoronwtqpw
Following the live debut, I was pleasantly surprised at how well a
+
defensive core worked in this meta.
Fellow Stall King knexhawk pointed out that the original test team was particularly weak to
and Knock Off spam, especially from Pokémon like Swords Dance
. Ordinarily, I would just drop
and slap on a
or
, but given the goal of using
stall, that kind of defeats the point. So, we swapped out
for
, and from there the team was born.



Bored of the status quo, I decided I wanted to experiment a little and try out some unorthodox Pokémon and builds. One Pokémon that had received some attention in the Stall Discord was









Never one to back down from a challenge, I decided to give

Early Test Game: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2156744493-js15qxf4al4khc2vn827v8nhoronwtqpw
Following the live debut, I was pleasantly surprised at how well a


Fellow Stall King knexhawk pointed out that the original test team was particularly weak to








Proof of Peak
With this team, both knexhawk and I were able to reach over 2000 ELO multiple times on the Gen 9 OU Ladder and achieve the peak shown above.
This team also raised the GXE of my alt (OU G Herbo) from around 84% to 88%, and knexhawk reached 86% on a fresh account. If I had to guess, I would say I had an 88-89% GXE while using this team.
Peak Game: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2167978491-a4hyelx0vw8tdpad5ftakkco3yt9kv4pw
Team Members

As the staple physically defensive unaware of Gen 9 OU Stall, Dondo… wait.
Naturally, you may ask “Why use
over
or
?”
excels in the role compression and flexibility it is able to offer to the team.
has an excellent defensive typing that matches well into the majority of physical threats in the meta. The Water type in particular is very useful and is something that
cannot provide.
However, the biggest differentiator for
is that it is able to use Recover, unlike
, who is forced to use Rest. As a result,
is significantly less passive and generates fewer free turns for the opponent. Unlike
, who may need a few turns to stack Curse boosts,
is able to immediately threaten most setup sweepers like
and
with Toxic and Earthquake. Additionally,
is much harder to abuse with switches to common answers like
and
as
can guarantee progress every time it hits the field by setting up Stealth Rock. This also frees up
to run additional coverage to hit Ghost Pokémon like
, meaning that
is also not required on this team. Although using Recover means that
is vulnerable to status,
,
, and
are able to pick up the slack as status absorbers.
Counter is also an option for
in place of Toxic or Stealth Rock to ensure better matchups vs. Choice Band threats like
that lock into Raging Fury / Outrage and late game
.
Tera Fairy or Dark was chosen to help vs. Tera Dark
or a Nasty Plot
that has gotten out of hand, as
will survive any one hit and be able to land a Toxic. These are also good defensive Tera types that can be used in a variety of situations depending on what the team needs, such as facing down an
or a Dragon Dance
.
Naturally, you may ask “Why use






However, the biggest differentiator for


















Counter is also an option for



Tera Fairy or Dark was chosen to help vs. Tera Dark






As usual, Calm Mind
is the team’s primary special set-up wall.
Because
runs Stealth Rock,
can opt for additional coverage instead of mono-Seismic Toss. Flamethrower was chosen to hit
and punish physical attackers like
and
that think they have a free switch-in to
. It hits pretty hard after a few boosts and prevents
from being completely passive against other Tera Ghost Pokémon. The 10% burn chance is an added bonus. Shadow Ball is also an option instead to hit various Tera Ghost Pokémon harder, such as
and
at the cost of slightly reduced damage and no burn chance.

Because














Toxic Spikes is the primary reason I chose


With maximum special bulk,













Finally, Tera Steel was chosen as an overall great defensive Tera type that can be used vs. Pokémon like




knexhawk’s version of the team ran mixed defenses to have more favorable rolls vs. Pokémon like


Although it may not seem like it,
is a crucial member of this team and perhaps one of the biggest contributors to its success. Because this team does not have
or
, it does not have the same longevity of traditional stall teams, especially vs. pivot-based offenses. Therefore, this team needs to be able to effectively limit switching and prevent breakers from getting multiple opportunities to hit the field and setup. WIth most Hyper Offense and Offense opting for
and
as their removal,
was the perfect choice.
can block Rapid Spin thanks to its Ghost type to ensure that the hazards set by
,
, and
stay on the field.
In addition to blocking removal,
walls most sets of
, which is otherwise a very dangerous threat. With Strength Sap and Matcha Gotcha,
is able to stay healthy vs. most
teams and use Foul Play to drop
with minimal chip should it use Swords Dance. Hex is another great option, capitalizing on the status that
and
are able to spread and also 2HKOing
if it has been burned by Matcha Gotcha, which is otherwise a very common switch-in to
.
also checks the notorious stallbreaker
.
The Tera choice for
was Fairy. This allows for better matchups into common Dragon-type sweepers, such as
, the increasingly common Scale Shot
, and Loaded Dice / Mixed
. However, this can also be swapped for other Tera types, such as Tera Dark for
and STAB Foul Play or Tera Water for Choice Band
due to Heatproof offering a 4x resistance to Fire after Tera.
Finally, 96 Speed EVs were chosen to creep Adamant
. I wouldn’t recommend going over this as it cuts into bulk significantly, but it can be done. Full HP and Defense investment is also justifiable as shown in knexhawk’s version, as you often will not have
hanging around to take hits from
except for late game or desperation scenarios, and the extra bulk can be useful for avoiding a 2HKO from Pokémon like Booster Attack
for example.










In addition to blocking removal,











The Tera choice for






Finally, 96 Speed EVs were chosen to creep Adamant


















Earthquake was chosen to deal with






Finally, we opted for Spikes and no status as



Tera Steel was chosen to completely blank even Ice Beam




Without
, this team was missing a rock-solid counter to
. As previously mentioned,
is unable to check
long-term and outright loses to 5 Fallen and / or Tera Dark.
and
are also shaky options, as Lum Berry or Tera Fire can throw a huge wrench in the plan. Therefore,
was the only choice.
is vastly superior to
for two reasons:
Firstly,
boasts the insanely valuable ability Pressure. This means that
can trade 1 Roost PP for 2 Kowtow Cleave PP per turn, as Kowtow Cleave only has 16 total PP. Once Kowtow Cleave PP has been exhausted,
is able to wall
with ease.
Naturally, as our primary
check, we have run enough speed EVs to creep even Jolly
. Under no circumstance can
be allowed to outspeed
. This is because fast
is able to switch in on a
that uses Swords Dance and set up an Iron Defense before
moves, thus taking neutral damage, or Roost off the hit if
uses Kowtow Cleave on the switch instead. With Iron Defense + Body Press,
is also forced to Tera if it ever wants to stand a chance, as Body Press OHKOs easily after one Iron Defense. Even Tera Ghost
cannot beat
as it simply gets PP stalled. Additionally, a
that has used Tera is now vulnerable to Toxic from
or Toxic Spikes on subsequent switch-ins. A statused
is a dead
vs. this team.
Secondly, unlike
or
,
offers Defog, allowing the team to win longer games vs. Hazard Stack teams. This is very useful for teams that use hazard pressure + Swords Dance + Knock Off
to break through bulky teams, as
keeps the hazards off for the rest of the team and PP stalls every Swords Dance variant of
. Although
does get hazards, the team already has other Pokémon who can set them.
Finally, unlike
,
is not deathly afraid of Knock Off and can absorb it in an emergency and still be functional without needing to always Defog. Thanks to Pressure,
also wins the long-term Defog battle vs. most hazard setters by swapping in on the turn the hazards are set.
Tera Fighting was chosen to better match into Tera Dark
and boost Body Press damage. Heavy Duty Boots were also chosen to ensure that
always stays at full HP when switching around.









Firstly,




Naturally, as our primary















Secondly, unlike







Finally, unlike



Tera Fighting was chosen to better match into Tera Dark


Threats
As I always say, although this team is very tough to beat, it is not unbeatable.


Taunt






Not much needs to be said about








Normally,







This is probably the first and only stall team in history to struggle with this base 92 attack weakling. In a similar vein to








Replays













Tera Ghost

Tera Ghost Swords Dance




Explosion

Dragon Dance

Life Orb Nasty Plot









Calm Mind




1. https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2159237315
2. https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2163994153-m1qewz5woidj2jn5821e7x1zbbi3edopw?p2
Swords Dance







Tera Dark







Boots





1. https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2162709628?p2
2. https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2163990374-b3dmgj2yij5tuij4twczryxrvldml1vpw?p2
3. https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2166415379-9iqabgm5tuo5i5mrdy4hbm9ey9r2529pw?p2






1. https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2159233358
2. https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2159236631
Calm Mind

Choice Band







Taunt








Bulk Up











Levitate







1. https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2160271085?p2
2. https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2168120060-hdhzsgezndsdx1scfnwqdyqq57yxhgtpw?p2
Jaw Lock

Substitute


1. https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2159464646?p2
2. https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-2159474368?p2





Acknowledgements
Many thanks to everyone in the Stall Discord and Community. Everyone there is super helpful and passionate about Pokémon which in turn motivates me to build teams and ladder.
In particular, big thanks to knexhawk for helping me build & ladder with this team and write this RMT.
Finally, while this RMT is a great starting point, it is far from comprehensive. Feel free to ask me any questions about the team or specific matchups in the comments or on Discord. The link to the Stall Discord is here: https://discord.gg/MBZkXUXYdQ
Last edited: