SV OU [UPDATED] PEAKED #2 (2134 ELO) – Cyclizar Stall

[SupaGmoney]

[UPDATED] Peaked #2 (2134 ELO) – Cyclizar Stall

NEW PEAK: ChrisPBacon was able to achieve a new peak of 2134 ELO using this team in OLT Cycle 1. More details in the comments below!

UPDATE 2 - OLT Cycle 4: I have also updated the team paste to reflect some changes I made during my run in OLT. For more information on why these changes were made, please refer to the Team Members section.



https://pokepast.es/908e3d58d0fcb4f6


Table of Contents:

• Introduction
• Proof of Peak
• Team Members
• Threats
• Replays
• Acknowledgments

Introduction:

Following the success of my first post-HOME stall team (https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/peaked-2-2107-elo-–-regen-stall.3722713/), I’ve been working on creating good stall teams featuring unorthodox and unique Pokémon. Pre-HOME, I created a team featuring which reached ~2000 ELO. Post-HOME, my stall team which was included as a bonus in my earlier RMT also fared well. I’m still working with , but that’s a story for another RMT.


Therefore, without further ado, welcome to my third RMT and second post-HOME Gen 9 OU RMT featuring .

has many desirable qualities that make it viable on stall. First and foremost, it has access to important utility moves such as Rapid Spin, Knock Off, U-Turn, Taunt, Dragon Tail, etc. However, what sets apart from Pokémon with similar utility kits such as and is ’s ability Regenerator. Regenerator allows it to switch in throughout the game and stay healthy without relying on Rest.

's niche on stall is no secret. Highv0ltag3 featured it one of his pre-HOME RMTs (https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/assault-vest-cyclizar-stall-peaked-1-2115-elo.3720401/). On that team, worked together with to keep hazards off the field entirely, allowing the rest of the team to run items other than Heavy-Duty Boots.


Although Highv0ltag3’s team was extremely successful at accomplishing its goal, a number of things have changed post-HOME that have invalidated this strategy.

Firstly, the introduction of renders obsolete because Ceaseless Edge is able to set Spikes through Magic Bounce. Therefore, can put tons of pressure on stall teams that do not run boots. Post-Home, in order for stall to run no boots, it is forced to run Mold Breaker , which can Defog through ’s Good as Gold ability, plus one or two more additional forms of hazard control. However, including multiple hazard control options comes at the cost of fewer defensive options. As I have discussed before, due to the imbalance between offensive threats and defensive countermeasures in the Gen 9 OU post-HOME meta, this tradeoff is not ideal. The end result is a team that, while viable, is not as consistent as 6x boots stall and simply loses matchups that 6x boots stall wins easily.


As a result, I knew that 6x boots would remain a necessity for stall. However, with the inclusion of , Tera Flying is no longer a necessity. Including additional Pokémon that are not weak to Hazards, such as , mitigates Hazard pressure even more.


I actually built this team in mid-June and was able to reach an ELO of ~2000 during my initial testing with an alternate account. However, I did not feel like I was able to achieve the consistency I desired at the time, so I set this team aside. However, a few weeks ago, a few members of the stall Discord were theorizing about ’s niche on stall post-HOME. I decided to share my team with them to explain my findings, and they achieved great results with it almost immediately.


As a result, I shared this team with SetsuSetsuna where it was publicly debuted in the Teams of the Week 29 here (https://www.smogon.com/forums/threa...izar-and-a-survey.3712009/page-2#post-9704809).


Following this debut, multiple members of the stall Discord have reached ELOs above 2000 with this team, with the highest peak being achieved by well-known stall aficionado knexhawk.


Proof of Peak - NEW!

Following the conclusion of Cycle 1 of OLT, ChrisPBacon was able to reach an ELO of 2134 and the #2 spot on the Gen 9 OU Ladder with this team.

Peak game: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1915904261

Old Peak by Knexhawk

With this team, knexhawk was able to reach an ELO of 2105 on the Gen 9 OU Ladder.

The proof of peak is a bit unorthodox for this RMT as I personally did not achieve this peak, so I am unable to provide direct proof of the ladder rating at the time of peak. However, I took these screenshots shortly after knexhawk had achieved this peak, indicating that this peak would have placed him at the #2 spot on the ladder.

I have also included a replay which confirms knexhawk did in fact reach an ELO of 2105 and is also where I got the above screenshot from. Therefore, these two pieces of evidence should be enough to prove the legitimacy of knexhawk’s peak.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1905250716-xjxe0zmy6w3oy3bc8rwzovrjph3hjtkpw

Team Members

To the surprise of absolutely nobody, is the team’s primary special wall. In contrast to my other teams, does not run Calm Mind on this team. Instead, runs Protect to beat teams that use Future Sight . Because of Natural Cure, does not have to worry about being poisoned by Sludge Bomb from on the turn it switches in and simply uses Protect on the turn after uses Chilly Reception.

Even without Calm Mind, easily beats most special attackers, such as , and . Even Pokémon like Nasty Plot must get to +4 to even attempt to threaten unboosted .

Once again, now runs maximum physical and special defense EVs, allowing to take less damage from U-Turn from Pokémon like . Tera Fairy is used to wall mixed .

is the star of the team and provides a plethora of utility and defensive options for the team. ’s primary job is to remove hazards when one or more of the team’s members have had their boots knocked off. threatens Pokémon like that try to deny Rapid Spin with Knock Off and Overheat. Knock Off is also great for forcing progress and removing annoying items like Leftovers and Rocky Helmet. Finally, U-Turn allows to pivot out to bring in other team members safely and regenerate for the next switch in.

Because is forced to run Heavy-Duty Boots instead of Assault Vest on this team, it must run maximum special defense and HP EVs. A Timid nature was chosen to outspeed Pokémon like and .


In addition to its utility role, is capable of providing defensive support as well. absorbs weak and resisted pivot attacks such as Volt Switch and U-Turn from Pokémon like and . also completes the double Regenerator core to help beat Pokémon like and U-Turn + Volt Switch cores.

excels in matchups versus opposing defensive teams. Pokémon like , , and have lots of difficulty making progress against and dislike staying in on 's attacks. especially hates matching up against because even if successfully blocks Rapid Spin, is still in danger of taking a big super-effective hit from since outspeeds it. Offensive is also 2HKO'd from full HP with a Knock Off + Overheat combo.


Finally, completely denies Pokémon that try and force progress through trapping moves like and Fire Spin thanks to Knock Off, Rapid Spin, U-Turn, and Regenerator. It can also be used in combination with Tera Ghost to ensure that even Pokémon like Tera Ghost + Block can never beat this team.

Tera Fairy is chosen to help versus Pokémon like Choiced .

still functions as the Knock Off absorber and Wish passer for the team. However, unlike most stall teams, Tera Ghost is used instead. As stated earlier, this ensures that trapping Pokémon will never beat this team.

Tera Ghost is also the best Rapid Spin Blocker in the meta since it can rely on Regenerator to stay healthy while denying Rapid Spin attempts from Pokémon like if and have been able to get up hazards. This can often be a win condition for this team, especially when facing bulkier teams.

is arguably the second best Pokémon on stall in Gen 9 OU post-HOME after . Once again, it walls almost every single set up physical attacker in the meta, such as , , and .

Because solves the problem, can once again run Body Press.

I also reverted to Tera Fighting to beat Tera Dark as this team's handles .

Prior to this RMT, had been absent from Gen 9 OU Stall post-HOME.

However, now that is not running Calm Mind, is required to fill the role of walling special set up sweepers. I resorted to my signature Amnesia set from my pre-HOME RMT (https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/peaked-1-2101-elo-–-hazard-stack-stall.3719401/).

Thanks to Amnesia + Unaware, walls almost every single set up sweeper in the meta, such as Nasty Plot and .

Thanks to its Ground typing, can also punish if it tries to Volt Switch and set up spikes or use Toxic on the subsequent turn.


Tera Steel is used to resist Stored Power and Psyshock from Pokémon like and while maintaining Fairy resistance. Toxic is run over Poison Jab to ensure greater consistency in inflicting status on predicted switches. However, both Poison Jab and Earthquake are viable options should you choose.


Some defense EVs are included to help survive attacks like Psyshock on switch-in and give the chance to Tera and Recover if necessary. It can also help against attacks like Earthquake from in the event that and/or cannot absorb Salt Cures.

Although these EVs are not optimized for any relevant matchup in this meta, this set beats almost every single set of . However, feel free to experiment with the exact EV spread on your own.


OLT Update: During OLT, I ran Poison Jab over Toxic on . This change is optional and Toxic can be used over Poison Jab depending on your preference. Pros of Posion Jab include increased PP, ability to break Substitutes and bypass Taunt. Pros of Toxic include increased consistency on inflicting status on predicted switches and allows to guarantee a trade of HP for status if necessary.

Truthfully, I have not been a huge fan of on stall in Gen 9 OU overall.

However, patches up a ton of defensive holes on this team and thus was a great addition.

First and foremost, beats thanks to Iron Defense + Body Press. 24 Speed EVs are included to outspeed most sets of . This set also outspeeds and sets up on most sets of and . As a result, sweeps through most Trick Room teams.


’s Steel typing also provides a Dragon resist, preventing Pokémon like Choice Band from spamming Glaive Rush with impunity. also beats most sets of mixed as well as Pokémon that are threatening to other stall teams, such as , , and .

’s Flying typing also provides a valuable Ground immunity to completely wall Pokémon like . This also means that is immune to Spikes and takes only neutral damage from Stealth Rock, and thus can act as an emergency Knock Off absorber versus Pokémon like . However, I would not recommend using as the primary Knock Off absorber on this team.


Iron Head is a nice move to catch by surprise and prevents from setting up for free on .

Tera Fairy was chosen as an all around good defensive type and a last resort option versus Pokémon like and .


Finally, runs Heavy-Duty Boots instead of an item like Leftovers or Rocky Helmet. This allows to switch-in infinitely on passive Pokémon like and to abuse Pressure throughout the game.


OLT Update: Following the suspect in which a Do Not Ban verdict was reached, 120 speed EVs are mandatory on to ensure that can always outspeed Adamant and and wall them with Iron Defense.

I also included a few optional changes. These were the addition of Defog as secondary hazard removal, since I noticed many teams during OLT that liked to stack hazards using without relying on to block removal. Therefore, Defog ensures that this team will be favored vs. non- hazard stack.

Finally, I included Brave Bird over Body Press to ensure that would still have a good matchup into and after losing Iron Head. Body Press is still a viable move that can run, as Iron Defense + Body Press can be a potential win condition. However, in my experience, I found that the increased coverage of Brave Bird was more useful. is still capable of stalling using Iron Defense and Pressure to drain Kowtow Cleave PP.


Threats

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




Because this team does not run Tera Flying , is a big threat to this team due to the combination of a strong Knock Off + physical Grass STAB. As a result, it can pressure both and . As a result, good prediction and HP management on is required to beat .




This team can handle most mixed sets and Choice Band sets of . However, without Tera Dark , Choice Specs is extremely threatening as it can theoretically 2HKO every member of this team with good prediction. Your best bet is to keep hazards up to prevent from getting too many switch-ins.


Replays

Because I primarily used this team on a separate testing account and did not achieve the highest peak with this team myself, I did not have many replays of my own with this team. However, thanks to the help of a few members of the stall Discord, I have been able to compile many 1900+ ELO replays with this team.

Big thanks to ownerfloor (blimaxdoesntpostLs), Weirdhamster, and of course knexhawk.


The game that Blimax “forgot” to post:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1904749660-0s66i2zxlonu5fgskcwjugtwql314ffpw


The King is no match for the Don:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1905354157-uelq9h5g1m8oky0sgguqapji4pylsrwpw


holds down the fort against Battle Bond + :
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1905408543-win26zzm7xnrttkqpf3ggg8u5k6gmcwpw


+ dismantle setup spam HO:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1905438749-1cys991l8ahbzqkz9qduw8igsw2t4jtpw


’s sacrifice ensures that + balance cannot progress against Tera Ghost + :
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1905437907-eqtmxywzib0ryfdplfxe4atqicb7c2rpw


stonewalls Nasty Plot :
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1905492560-cw5nf0aj12ssnz1t8txlpiob486ea5bpw


Every member of the team contributes to bring down Grassy Terrain HO:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1907365542-g20iz067sm0esrfmv6zy69yzr8x40uwpw


Long Game vs. + balance in the team’s public debut:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1903918041


puts in overtime to beat offense after gets Tricked:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1905686035


Why defense EVs matter on :
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1905465426-372f2xi3w4dz54vpxogbqr6liu5cwd4pw


+ shut down + :
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1905459629-xu7npuk0lr23h4cqydgxrykhh13ijatpw


Tera Fighting confines Choice Band :
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1905402697


Tera Fairy beats Mixed + Nasty Plot :
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1905417581-4pcvrac4o64rg9n9fwzm8og4pnhn2h9pw


Acknowledgements

Many thanks everyone in the Stall Discord and Community. This RMT would not even have happened if it weren’t for everyone there.

Thank you to everyone who interacted with my previous RMTs and used my teams. You all keep me motivated to continue making them.


Huge congratulations to knexhawk and ChrisPBacon for pushing this team farther than I thought was possible.


Thanks again to ownerfloor (blimaxdoesntpostLs) and Weirdhamster for sending some excellent replays.

Thank you to SetsuSetsuna for featuring my teams in Teams of the Weeks and the OU Room Samples.


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/5kesazdPxF.

 

[zReptar]

GOAT

 

[quacc]

This is probably one of the most consistent stall teams I've ever used, and it even has a way of dealing with Heatran! Definitely one of my favorites to use and I have lots of fun playing it (except if they have taunt on a special setup sweeper).

Anyways, what are your thoughts on dragon tail on Cyclizar? It allows you to use a jolly nature instead to make knock off stronger, allows you to get more chip with hazards up, and can help reduce the opponent's chances of attacking at the cost of not being able to force recovery on Gholdengo every time with an overheat and hit Corviknight super hard.

 

[matte]

Ain't no way SupaGmoney used revival blessing on stall. As much as I hate to admit it, This is a nice team.

(nice replay vs blimax btw)

 

[xqgwpafz]

So what does this team do against taunt calm mind resto chesto tera ground earth power enamorus exactly.

Just kidding, sick team, you seem to have a gift for solving OU like a math problem. Very cool to see all the little ways you've found to squeeze so much matchup coverage out of these 6 mons. You make tera look like a huge boon for stall.

I agree that special setup sweepers with taunt seem like somewhat of a problem but only with extremely niche sets. Maybe this team would be scared of voltturn archetypes with multiple knock off users. they would need removal and their own hazards of course. Based on what you say in the intro about 6x boots teams, do you think stall would still have a place in this meta if knock off was as widely distributed as it was last gen?

 

[Sagat92]

Boss

 

[knexhawk]

Ive used only stall since the beginning of the gen so ive feared tera grass heatran, since it has the ability to trap almost every stallmon and kill it, even ones that should beat it like ting lu, slowking, and gastrodon. Aside from air balloon ditto, cyclizar seems like the only other reliable switchin, and it actually provides a load of utility outside if it.

My main gripe with this team is the inability to deal with status however. In games with zapdos or moltres, cyclizar will get paralyzed or burned, cinderace will almost always burn alomomola, and often something like slowking g will paralyze corviknight. Along with the fact dondozo will be sleeping a lot, you can often lose to getting everyone paralyzed and then not attacking.

Also you instantly lose to sun without slowking or tera water blissey, and your rain match up if they have basculegion f is reeaaaaaly scuffed. You basically have to choose who to lose to.

 

[SupaGmoney]

This is probably one of the most consistent stall teams I've ever used, and it even has a way of dealing with Heatran! Definitely one of my favorites to use and I have lots of fun playing it (except if they have taunt on a special setup sweeper).

Anyways, what are your thoughts on dragon tail on Cyclizar? It allows you to use a jolly nature instead to make knock off stronger, allows you to get more chip with hazards up, and can help reduce the opponent's chances of attacking at the cost of not being able to force recovery on Gholdengo every time with an overheat and hit Corviknight super hard.

Dragon Tail is definitely one of the viable utility moves that gets access to. It is especially useful against Pokémon like and that need time to setup and don't hit very hard until they do. However, is quite frail even when invested, meaning that there are very few setup Pokémon in this metagame that wants to take a hit from. As a result, I've found that a move like Taunt is preferred to Dragon Tail since it denies setup without necessarily requiring that take a hit in the process. Also, in general, I find that and are more annoying to deal with for this team than Pokémon like and as the former prevent the team from making progress whereas the other two are more straightforward to deal with. With that being said, if you find that starts to become an issue when you use this team or you want a way to deny easily, then feel free to include Dragon Tail on .

Ain't no way SupaGmoney used revival blessing on stall. As much as I hate to admit it, This is a nice team.

(nice replay vs blimax btw)

Thank you for the compliments. That replay is from ownerfloor, so big thanks to him for piloting the team well.


As for Revival Blessing on stall, I don't think that it would be impossible to include a Pokémon like on a decent stall team as it does have access to Natural Cure, meaning it can use Rest as a reliable form of recovery. However, is quite frail, and unlike it doesn't provide the same level of utility. Therefore, I think it would be difficult to find defensive matchups that performs better in than other commonly used stall Pokémon. For example, while is a fine check to , both and perform better in this role and are more useful in other matchups as well. Also, in general, the entire gameplan of stall is to keep every single Pokémon alive until you are completely sure that a certain Pokémon cannot provide any more utility, at which point you can sacrifice it without really worrying about needing to revive it. I suppose Revival Blessing could come in handy if you lost a Pokémon like to a critical hit, so you would have to weigh the usefulness of Revival Blessing saving the game in a scenario like that versus the potential of having only 5 useful Pokémon in other matchups.

So what does this team do against taunt calm mind resto chesto tera ground earth power enamorus exactly.

Just kidding, sick team, you seem to have a gift for solving OU like a math problem. Very cool to see all the little ways you've found to squeeze so much matchup coverage out of these 6 mons. You make tera look like a huge boon for stall.

I agree that special setup sweepers with taunt seem like somewhat of a problem but only with extremely niche sets. Maybe this team would be scared of voltturn archetypes with multiple knock off users. they would need removal and their own hazards of course. Based on what you say in the intro about 6x boots teams, do you think stall would still have a place in this meta if knock off was as widely distributed as it was last gen?

Thank you for the compliments. I also think this is why I prefer stall as an archetype in general. I find it easier for me to understand defensive roles and synergies and how to counter offensive builds as opposed to vice versa. I also think that Tera is a huge benefit to defensive archetypes as a whole and it is why I am adamantly pro-Tera. Like I said, there is a big imbalance between offensive threats and defensive counterplay in Gen 9 OU. The only way for defensive teams to neutralize this advantage is defensive Terastallization because it provides defensive teams with the ability to counter more offensive threats than just what the 6 Pokémon on the team would ordinarily be able to. People have pointed to Tera as one of the reasons why stall has struggled this generation. As one of the premier builders and players of the archetype this generation, I wholeheartedly disagree. There have been many factors contributing to stall's challenges this generation, but Tera is not one of them. I can discuss this more if people would like to hear my thoughts on the state of stall and Tera.


I also think that it's tough to say what the state of stall would be if Knock Off were more widely distributed. The main reason that Knock Off is problematic this generation is because has made hazard stacking a very popular and viable archetype. However, this isn't the only reason that stall is required to run 6x boots. Many other archetypes also struggle with hazards simply because that there are very few Pokémon that can learn Defog or Rapid Spin, and most of these select few cannot meaningfully threaten . In fact, I've seen plenty of balance and BO builds use boots on Pokémon like and as well.

Here's Finchinator's thoughts on boots and hazard removal. Although it's not worth speculating too much on what the meta would be like with theoretical move distribution, I also think that while a larger Pokédex would increase the distribution of Knock Off, it would probably also mean a greater distribution of Defog and Rapid Spin, which would likely alleviate some of the hazard control issues teams are facing right now. However, if only Knock Off distribution was increased but Defog and Rapid Spin distribution were not, the resulting effect on the metagame may also mean that deserves a look at from a tiering perspective. We will really only know if the move distribution increases and what that effect will have on stall when the next DLC comes out.

Ive used only stall since the beginning of the gen so ive feared tera grass heatran, since it has the ability to trap almost every stallmon and kill it, even ones that should beat it like ting lu, slowking, and gastrodon. Aside from air balloon ditto, cyclizar seems like the only other reliable switchin, and it actually provides a load of utility outside if it.

My main gripe with this team is the inability to deal with status however. In games with zapdos or moltres, cyclizar will get paralyzed or burned, cinderace will almost always burn alomomola, and often something like slowking g will paralyze corviknight. Along with the fact dondozo will be sleeping a lot, you can often lose to getting everyone paralyzed and then not attacking.

Also you instantly lose to sun without slowking or tera water blissey, and your rain match up if they have basculegion f is reeaaaaaly scuffed. You basically have to choose who to lose to.

I definitely agree that is stall's best answer to at the moment. beats almost every set of and does not need to worry about preserving a one time item like Air Balloon the way does, meaning in the event that you do run into a matchup, you get the benefit of 's utility throughout the game while still being able to check .


Finally, while I do agree that the matchup versus extremely strong Water types like + and + can be difficult in some scenarios, it's rarely unwinnable. Usually in a matchup vs. , you will often have to use Tera against a different threat like or , and they will also need to use Tera on that threat to break something like or , so often times the matchup with and is pretty standard. Finally, in the event that or does become a problem, , , and can usually eat a few hits and stall out weather turns as necessary. This team also has other counterplay versus weather archetypes, such as getting up hazards, because and teams often lack hazard removal, or knocking off items with .


Finally, in the event that and matchups do become too problematic, it is also possible to change to Tera Water and to Tera Dark to deal with Mixed . This still preserves most of the defensive matchups for the team while providing better counterplay against and . Let me know if this is a viable solution based on your experiences with the team.

 

[SupaGmoney]

Kingambit Suspect Test Requirements Update


Using the original RMT team for every single game (https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/peaked-2-2105-elo-–-cyclizar-stall.3724910/), I was able to fulfill the requirements for the suspect test, proving that this team will perform well on any tier of the ladder. If you are having trouble getting requirements, I strongly recommend trying out this team.

I was also able to save almost every game that I played with this team publicly for all to view during my OLT/suspect run. Simply search for my OLT alt (LT101LK SupaGmoney) on https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/?0.6376140710271136 to find them.

Note: While I did not play every single game on my OLT alt with this team, I did play a significant portion of the games with it.

 

[SupaGmoney]

OLT Update - New Peak

Following the conclusion of Cycle 1 of OLT, ChrisPBacon was able to achieve a new ladder peak using my Stall Team.


Proof of Peak

With this team, ChrisPBacon was able to reach an ELO of 2134 and the #2 spot on the Gen 9 OU Ladder.

Peak game: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9ou-1915904261


Replays

Almost all of ChrisPBacon's replays are public and can simply be found by searching for his OLT alt (LT101LK Chris) on https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/?0.8148527043018925.

Thank you ChrisPBacon for taking this team even higher than before.


As usual, I'm happy to answer any questions about this team in the comments.