Hi everyone :)
Introduction
For a while now I've been really interested in the concept of "quickstall", which is a specific brand of stall basically exclusive to Ubers in 4th gen. The generally aim of quickstall, as opposed to full stall, is to get hazards as quickly as possible and then stall using annoyers and more offensively oriented pokemon using defensive sets. As the name suggests it also typically employs quicker pokemon. The tempo of the game as a result tends to be much faster than traditional stall and so this style gives the opponent much fewer opportunities to set up and can finish them off more quickly, although it is also riskier and more prediction reliant.
Even in Ubers, quickstall is a pretty rare strategy, but people like Bojangles and Theorymon have posted RMT's for the tier which show that it can be extremely successful. The main reasons it has been usually limited to Ubers are the Deoxys forms, which allow reliable and extremely fast Spikes; and the high BST's of the tier, which give pokemon like Mewtwo respectable defensive stats as well as outrageous speed and offense.
However, I think this style of play is still viable in OU, although from testing I think it has to focus more on disruption since there are so few legitimately speedy and bulky pokemon available.
That's where this team comes in. This isn't my most successful team; it tends to either win 6-0 or lose by the same margin, although it has a pretty good winning record overall. In fact, its only been in this exact form for a couple of days since I'm still trying to figure out exactly what works and what doesn't.
Basically, this RMT is a look at where I'm at in this ongoing teambuilding process. Any and all suggestions would be great as usual.
In Depth
Forretress (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Spikes
- Toxic Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Payback
Forretress leads off the team, providing great matchups against bulky leads while the pokemon it can't handle, such as Azelf, Heatran etc, are dealt with comfortably by the rest of the team. I will never leave Forretress in play early against something which can significantly damage it since it is the major source of hazards on my team and needs to be on decent HP to fulfil its functions later.
The moves and EV's are obviously standard for a specially defensive Forretress, which allow it to set up against the widest possible range of threats. Both sets of Spikes are absolutely essential to have at least one layer of to allow Rotom and Jumpluff do to their jobs properly. Rapid Spin is likewise incredibly important for handling offensive teams, since Jumpluff and Gyarados, two of the most crucial members, can't function properly with SR on the field. Payback is the best option for one attack, taking out things like Gengar and Rotom-A which can be nuisances.
It may seem like Forretress is pretty overloaded, but my other team members allows me to bring it into play consistently. Jumpluff's Encore and SubSeeding allow it to basically guarantee Forretress free passage into battle a couple of times; both Gyarados and Flygon lure bulky Waters and similar, and Flygon's U-turn is important too.
I try to avoid using Forretress defensively until he has laid sufficient hazards to win against offensive teams, but sometimes he has to tandem with Gyarados to take down Kingdra etc.
Jumpluff (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Leech Seed
- Encore
- Sleep Powder
Jumpluff is probably my most unorthodox member but it works amazingly well if given team support. She fulfils two main roles; first, using Encore and her other moves to ease laying hazards at the start of the game, and second, abusing SubSeed and Toxic Spikes to stall through the endgame.
The EV’s and moveset are pretty straightforward again, 252 Spe and Timid to tie with other base 110’s, and 252 HP to max out bulk. Substitute + Encore is one of the best combinations in pokemon, preventing any kind of offensive set up. Leech Seed heals me and my teammates, Sleep Powder is used for incapacitating team threats and in particular hazard using pokemon. The moves also let Jumpluff force out threats like Infernape.
Although Jumpluff is central to my ability to lay hazards quickly, she is also one of my most valuable offensive pokemon. With both Spikes down there are really so few pokemon which can even get rid of Jumpluff, and those which can are usually Encored and set up on by Gyarados or Rotom.
Tyranitar(M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- Fire Blast
- Stone Edge
- Pursuit
Tyranitar is one of the most underrated special walls in the game, easily taking even STAB’d super effective hits. For instance, LO Starmie’s Hydro Pump does a max of 59.9%, and of course Tyranitar barely feels a scratch from Heatran, Jolteon, Rotom etc (Choice Scarf Heatran’s Fire Blast does 11.6-13.9%). The damage calc vs Starmie is pretty important as Tyranitar along with Flygon are my only real ways of beating it.
EV’s simply max special bulk, Sassy nature because Tar needs both Payback and Fire Blast and won’t outrun stuff anyway. Stealth Rock and Payback are obvious, Fire Blast is there so I can nail Forretress, Skarmory, Lucario and so on which would otherwise use me as set up bait. Roar is helpful against some threats but serves mostly an offensive role in racking up hazard damage. I always like to have Roar on defensive pokemon where possible just to make sure that I can’t be swept.
On the other hand, Roar makes it absolutely impossible to hurt Heatran, and although Gyarados handles Heatran well and Flygon is a good check, the other three members of my team all despise Heatran, so I’m considering Stone Edge in this slot instead (or any other coverage move like EQ). Opinions would be great.
Rotom-H @ Life Orb *Currently testing out SubRoost Zapdos over Rotom
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 40 SAtk / 216 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Substitute
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
I actually started using this before SDS put it as part of his Rotom-A analysis in QC, but now they’re popping up everywhere. Anyway, Rotom is one of my key defensive pokemon as well as easily cleaning up late game. Most importantly he helps keep my hazards down which is getting even more important in the late stages of gen 4 with Starmie usage skyrocketing.
The EV’s and nature put him ahead of max speed Gyarados, while maxing his bulk as efficiently as possible and maintaining some damage output. Life Orb looks weird on a defensive set but its actually IMO better than Lefties here for maximizing Pain Split’s effect and because it lets Thunderbolt pick up some crucial 2HKO’s and OHKO’s (such as on 0 SpDef Heatran after Spikes or SR). SubSplit obviously keeps him healthy and makes a pretty great stallbreaker with Toxic Spikes down while WoW cripples physical attackers and lets me get some status on non-grounded mons.
Gyarados (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 156 HP / 60 Atk / 96 Def / 196 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Waterfall
- Taunt
- Bounce
- Dragon Dance
Gyarados is just an amazing pokemon and as usual is the most important defensive member of the team. Standard Bulky DDos with Taunt to break past stall and status attempts; Bounce because I have a slight issue with Grass types and to give me a free turn of Leftovers and poison damage. 196 Spd was a great suggestion by Smith which allows Gyara to outspeed Scarf Flygon at +2.
Offensively, Gyarados synergises well with the other members of my team, particularly Jumpluff who gives him the most ridiculous number of set ups. Tyranitar can normally take out the Scarfers and fast frail types who normally threaten Gyarados’ sweep, while Toxic Spikes let him break past most Water types if needed.
Defensively, Gyarados is just crucial because of Intimidate and its Flying typing which allows me to work around threatening pokemon. There’s not really a lot to say except that Kingdra, Dragonite, Lucario, Machamp, Breloom, Infernape, Heatran and others would be absolute monsters to this team without Gyarados on it.
Again, this is a lot of defensive responsibility for Gyarados, so it’s a pokemon I generally try to preserve as long as possible (which also leads to possible sweeps). For this reason its pretty crucial that Forretress manages to come into play regularly; its hazards cripple many of the pokemon Gyarados has to counter, and it also removes SR.
Flygon (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- ThunderPunch
- Outrage
Flygon is basically just glue for the team, keeping faster threats in check, providing valuable resistances, as well as providing extremely helpful U-turn support which racks up extra switches and hazard damage as well as providing me with numerous set up opportunities. There’s really nothing to say about the set; Adamant because it doesn’t miss out on outspeeding anything important and the power boost is really helpful; ThunderPunch because its simply a superior choice to Stone Edge for handling Gyarados.
U-turn also allows me to work past Starmie, Celebi and co. Grass types in general can be nightmares to get past without Toxic Spikes down, while Starmie I just need to kill off as quickly as possible.
------------------------------------------
Right, so that’s Team JumpStall. I think I can work around almost all threats with good play; however, there are a number of pokemon, usually in combination with each other, which give me issues.
Roserade is a major problem, absorbing my crucial Toxic Spikes and dishing out crippling status. Luckily its defenses are mediocre, although killing it forces me to abandon my strategy for a number of turns.
Starmie is one of the most threatening pokemon in gen 4. I rely on accumulative status and hazard damage to kill it, as well as Tyranitar and Flygon; but if it carries Recover with some bulk and the opponent realises Tyranitar doesn’t carry Pursuit it can really break my team. Luckily it has very few safe switch ins.
Celebi isn’t as bad because U-turn essentially cripples it. Offensive sets are complete bitches and I normally have to try and Encore it, since even with Toxic Spikes down lots of them carry Rest.
*After changing Rotom to Zapdos only Starmie has been giving me issues, and only from higher ranked players.
There are obviously a few more problem pokemon, but from testing these three are the most problematic. Any suggestions which could fix these problems, while maintaining the basic flavour of the team, would be fantastic.
Thanks for reading!
Introduction
For a while now I've been really interested in the concept of "quickstall", which is a specific brand of stall basically exclusive to Ubers in 4th gen. The generally aim of quickstall, as opposed to full stall, is to get hazards as quickly as possible and then stall using annoyers and more offensively oriented pokemon using defensive sets. As the name suggests it also typically employs quicker pokemon. The tempo of the game as a result tends to be much faster than traditional stall and so this style gives the opponent much fewer opportunities to set up and can finish them off more quickly, although it is also riskier and more prediction reliant.
Even in Ubers, quickstall is a pretty rare strategy, but people like Bojangles and Theorymon have posted RMT's for the tier which show that it can be extremely successful. The main reasons it has been usually limited to Ubers are the Deoxys forms, which allow reliable and extremely fast Spikes; and the high BST's of the tier, which give pokemon like Mewtwo respectable defensive stats as well as outrageous speed and offense.
However, I think this style of play is still viable in OU, although from testing I think it has to focus more on disruption since there are so few legitimately speedy and bulky pokemon available.
That's where this team comes in. This isn't my most successful team; it tends to either win 6-0 or lose by the same margin, although it has a pretty good winning record overall. In fact, its only been in this exact form for a couple of days since I'm still trying to figure out exactly what works and what doesn't.
Basically, this RMT is a look at where I'm at in this ongoing teambuilding process. Any and all suggestions would be great as usual.
In Depth
Forretress (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Spikes
- Toxic Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Payback
Forretress leads off the team, providing great matchups against bulky leads while the pokemon it can't handle, such as Azelf, Heatran etc, are dealt with comfortably by the rest of the team. I will never leave Forretress in play early against something which can significantly damage it since it is the major source of hazards on my team and needs to be on decent HP to fulfil its functions later.
The moves and EV's are obviously standard for a specially defensive Forretress, which allow it to set up against the widest possible range of threats. Both sets of Spikes are absolutely essential to have at least one layer of to allow Rotom and Jumpluff do to their jobs properly. Rapid Spin is likewise incredibly important for handling offensive teams, since Jumpluff and Gyarados, two of the most crucial members, can't function properly with SR on the field. Payback is the best option for one attack, taking out things like Gengar and Rotom-A which can be nuisances.
It may seem like Forretress is pretty overloaded, but my other team members allows me to bring it into play consistently. Jumpluff's Encore and SubSeeding allow it to basically guarantee Forretress free passage into battle a couple of times; both Gyarados and Flygon lure bulky Waters and similar, and Flygon's U-turn is important too.
I try to avoid using Forretress defensively until he has laid sufficient hazards to win against offensive teams, but sometimes he has to tandem with Gyarados to take down Kingdra etc.
Jumpluff (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Leech Seed
- Encore
- Sleep Powder
Jumpluff is probably my most unorthodox member but it works amazingly well if given team support. She fulfils two main roles; first, using Encore and her other moves to ease laying hazards at the start of the game, and second, abusing SubSeed and Toxic Spikes to stall through the endgame.
The EV’s and moveset are pretty straightforward again, 252 Spe and Timid to tie with other base 110’s, and 252 HP to max out bulk. Substitute + Encore is one of the best combinations in pokemon, preventing any kind of offensive set up. Leech Seed heals me and my teammates, Sleep Powder is used for incapacitating team threats and in particular hazard using pokemon. The moves also let Jumpluff force out threats like Infernape.
Although Jumpluff is central to my ability to lay hazards quickly, she is also one of my most valuable offensive pokemon. With both Spikes down there are really so few pokemon which can even get rid of Jumpluff, and those which can are usually Encored and set up on by Gyarados or Rotom.
Tyranitar(M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 SDef
Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- Fire Blast
- Stone Edge
- Pursuit
Tyranitar is one of the most underrated special walls in the game, easily taking even STAB’d super effective hits. For instance, LO Starmie’s Hydro Pump does a max of 59.9%, and of course Tyranitar barely feels a scratch from Heatran, Jolteon, Rotom etc (Choice Scarf Heatran’s Fire Blast does 11.6-13.9%). The damage calc vs Starmie is pretty important as Tyranitar along with Flygon are my only real ways of beating it.
EV’s simply max special bulk, Sassy nature because Tar needs both Payback and Fire Blast and won’t outrun stuff anyway. Stealth Rock and Payback are obvious, Fire Blast is there so I can nail Forretress, Skarmory, Lucario and so on which would otherwise use me as set up bait. Roar is helpful against some threats but serves mostly an offensive role in racking up hazard damage. I always like to have Roar on defensive pokemon where possible just to make sure that I can’t be swept.
On the other hand, Roar makes it absolutely impossible to hurt Heatran, and although Gyarados handles Heatran well and Flygon is a good check, the other three members of my team all despise Heatran, so I’m considering Stone Edge in this slot instead (or any other coverage move like EQ). Opinions would be great.
Rotom-H @ Life Orb *Currently testing out SubRoost Zapdos over Rotom
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 40 SAtk / 216 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Substitute
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
I actually started using this before SDS put it as part of his Rotom-A analysis in QC, but now they’re popping up everywhere. Anyway, Rotom is one of my key defensive pokemon as well as easily cleaning up late game. Most importantly he helps keep my hazards down which is getting even more important in the late stages of gen 4 with Starmie usage skyrocketing.
The EV’s and nature put him ahead of max speed Gyarados, while maxing his bulk as efficiently as possible and maintaining some damage output. Life Orb looks weird on a defensive set but its actually IMO better than Lefties here for maximizing Pain Split’s effect and because it lets Thunderbolt pick up some crucial 2HKO’s and OHKO’s (such as on 0 SpDef Heatran after Spikes or SR). SubSplit obviously keeps him healthy and makes a pretty great stallbreaker with Toxic Spikes down while WoW cripples physical attackers and lets me get some status on non-grounded mons.
Gyarados (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 156 HP / 60 Atk / 96 Def / 196 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Waterfall
- Taunt
- Bounce
- Dragon Dance
Gyarados is just an amazing pokemon and as usual is the most important defensive member of the team. Standard Bulky DDos with Taunt to break past stall and status attempts; Bounce because I have a slight issue with Grass types and to give me a free turn of Leftovers and poison damage. 196 Spd was a great suggestion by Smith which allows Gyara to outspeed Scarf Flygon at +2.
Offensively, Gyarados synergises well with the other members of my team, particularly Jumpluff who gives him the most ridiculous number of set ups. Tyranitar can normally take out the Scarfers and fast frail types who normally threaten Gyarados’ sweep, while Toxic Spikes let him break past most Water types if needed.
Defensively, Gyarados is just crucial because of Intimidate and its Flying typing which allows me to work around threatening pokemon. There’s not really a lot to say except that Kingdra, Dragonite, Lucario, Machamp, Breloom, Infernape, Heatran and others would be absolute monsters to this team without Gyarados on it.
Again, this is a lot of defensive responsibility for Gyarados, so it’s a pokemon I generally try to preserve as long as possible (which also leads to possible sweeps). For this reason its pretty crucial that Forretress manages to come into play regularly; its hazards cripple many of the pokemon Gyarados has to counter, and it also removes SR.
Flygon (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- ThunderPunch
- Outrage
Flygon is basically just glue for the team, keeping faster threats in check, providing valuable resistances, as well as providing extremely helpful U-turn support which racks up extra switches and hazard damage as well as providing me with numerous set up opportunities. There’s really nothing to say about the set; Adamant because it doesn’t miss out on outspeeding anything important and the power boost is really helpful; ThunderPunch because its simply a superior choice to Stone Edge for handling Gyarados.
U-turn also allows me to work past Starmie, Celebi and co. Grass types in general can be nightmares to get past without Toxic Spikes down, while Starmie I just need to kill off as quickly as possible.
------------------------------------------
Right, so that’s Team JumpStall. I think I can work around almost all threats with good play; however, there are a number of pokemon, usually in combination with each other, which give me issues.
Roserade is a major problem, absorbing my crucial Toxic Spikes and dishing out crippling status. Luckily its defenses are mediocre, although killing it forces me to abandon my strategy for a number of turns. 
Starmie is one of the most threatening pokemon in gen 4. I rely on accumulative status and hazard damage to kill it, as well as Tyranitar and Flygon; but if it carries Recover with some bulk and the opponent realises Tyranitar doesn’t carry Pursuit it can really break my team. Luckily it has very few safe switch ins. 
Celebi isn’t as bad because U-turn essentially cripples it. Offensive sets are complete bitches and I normally have to try and Encore it, since even with Toxic Spikes down lots of them carry Rest. *After changing Rotom to Zapdos only Starmie has been giving me issues, and only from higher ranked players.
There are obviously a few more problem pokemon, but from testing these three are the most problematic. Any suggestions which could fix these problems, while maintaining the basic flavour of the team, would be fantastic.
Thanks for reading!
