I can break these cuffs

[indent]The title is symbolic. The cuffs represent Latias' ban and how it hurt stall, especially my last team. With Latias gone I still managed to create a successful Stall team AKA breaking the cuffs. I really wanted to use SubRoar Tran after seeing it LD's recent suspect warstory. Here's the team:[/indent]


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Hippowdon (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Slack Off
- Stealth Rock

Sandstorm was pretty much a given on this team to get crucial secondary damage, which this team revolves around due to the lack of hard hitters. Stealth Rock is a staple on any team and Hippowdon's bulk nearly always ensures that Stealth Rock is down. Hippowdon is the bulkiest Physical wall in OU and checks threats such as DD Salamence, Tyranitar, and Metagross. Roar wasn't really needed on this set since I already have a phazer in Heatran, and really like the coverage Stone Edge gives for Gyarados and Salamence. I chose Stone Edge over Ice Fang for the stronger neutral hit as Ice Fang's neutral damage output is quite pitiful with only 65 Base Power. The EV spread is simple. Max HP maximizes overall Defenses. I then realized that by maxing Def, Hippo could usually defeat lead Champ who is always a pain. Since Hippo is a lead, he can't be expected to always be healthy late game, so another Pokemon with similar Defensive capabilities was needed.

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Gliscor (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Hyper Cutter
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Taunt
- Toxic
- Roost

There was no way Hippowdon would be at the full health needed to check Lucario if it came out late in the game so I needed a surefire counter. Aside from being a back up check to some of the threats covered by Hippowdon, the combination of Taunt and Toxic really puts pressure on Stall teams. The only real problem it faces then, is Ice Beam Blissey, and of course, other Gliscor. Max Speed means that at worst, I will speed tie with other Gliscor. Rotom is a big problem for this team as Roserade can't do enough damage thanks to Grass Knot's low BP on the formes, and ResTalk variants don't have much trouble resting off Heatran's Flamethrower damage. Unfortunately, Gliscor is also my only way of dealing with CurseLax and it's very shaky at that. Parahax from Body Slam can usually beat out Gliscor in the long run. Additionally, combos such as SD Luke and CurseLax could possibly be the end of me.

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Rotom-W @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Discharge
- Hydro Pump

Every stall team needs their trusty Rotom forme. Rotom provides some handy immunities to Ground and Fighting that are particularly useful against Infernape and Machamp. I opted for the Wash forme here. This team has trouble with some Variants of Heatran such as Sub Toxic and Specially defensive. Hydro Pump stops Heatran from getting a free switchin and 2HKOs while only Modest Specs Tran can OHKO me. Aside from Heatran, Gliscor, another big threat to any stall team, is checked perfectly. Toxic isn't a threat since I'm utilizing Rest and Sleep Talk. Even if Gliscor Taunts, it is taking up to 70% from Hydro Pump, so Rotom nearly always wins. As you can tell, physical threats aren't really a threat at all to this team with Hippowdon and Gliscor. It's for this reason that I run a more Specially defensive spread. running Max Sdef allows me to take only 56% max from LO Starmie's Hydro Pump, allowing me to stop its spinning efforts much easier while I KO with Discharge. Any combination of T-bolt/Ice Beam + Hydro Pump never 2HKOs even after rocks, so provided I predict right, Starmie will not be spinning. The biggest selling point though in my opinon, is the abilty to live a Draco Meteor from Salamence and do a hefty chunk with Discharge.

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Roserade (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Spd / 136 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Spikes
- Grass Knot
- Leech Seed
- Rest

It's ironic to see me using a Spikes Roserade. I've always seen it as outclassed by other spikers such as Skarmory (defensively) and Smeargle due to Spore. Spikes Rade actually finds a lot of time to setup. Many bulky Pokemon such as Vaporeon and Celebi can't touch this Roserade at all, and choiced Special attackers such as Rotom-H can't even 4HKO. The team was really dependant on Vaporeon's wish passing. Heatran in particular needed it, lacking recovey of his own. With the abundance of Rotom-A, I would be hard pressed to find an oppurtunity to spin. Roserade is also part of the main Fire/Water/Grass Defensive core. Sadly, it doesn't get the coveted Ground resist a lot of Grass types in the OU tier do, but Rotom and Gliscor cover that nicely. Leech Seed is great against other stall teams, and basically ensures that Suicune goes down. Also helps a ton against CurseLax whose high HP gives a lot of Recovery to the rest of my team. The EVs just let me outrun all the Pokemon that hang out at about 244-245 speed such as Zapdos and Celebi, and of course, Tyranitar. With Vaporeon passing wishes and the recovery from Leech Seed, I think Rest could be replaced with Aromatherapy, but I'd like some feedback on that.

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Vaporeon (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Wish
- Protect
- Ice Beam
- Surf

Vaporeon is the second member of my primary Fire/Water/Grass defensive core. I chose it for its abilty to check Nasty Plot Infernape, who would 6-0 me otherwise, and for its wish passing ability. Heatran doesn't have recovery of his own other than Leftovers and Vaporeon fixes that. Heatran can take any almost any attack directed at Vaporeon thanks to his high special defense, and Vaporeon can take almost anything directed at Heatran. Ice Beam is there for Salamence who can be threatening, It comes with the added benefit of htting incomign Grass types such as Shaymin who has proven he can be quite problematic. Since I run a SDef Rotom, LO Gyarados became kind of a problem. Ice Beam does 25% which is enough to wear down LO Gyara with Stealth Rock and Sandstorm in play. When/if Salamence gets banned I'll likely replace it with HP Electric.

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Heatran (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Spd / 92 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Flamethrower
- Roar
- Substitute
- Earth Power

This thing is a beast. I wanted to use this set ever since I read LoveDestiny's warstory with Earthworm (thanks for the inspiration). It fits quite well here. Roserade can easily get a layer or two of spikes up by coming in on something that threatens Heatran. When the opponent sends out their Heatran check again, it usually takes just one final Roar to ensure that they don't come in again. This set really fucks up stall teams that use Blissey or Snorlax as their primary Heatran check as both are quickly wore down by continuous phazing and attacks. The small Special defense investment basically ensures that things such as Zapdos and Rotom-H are completely helpless. It also lives a Focus Blast from Gengar and does a considerable amount back with Flamethrower. Weaker surf's from things like Vaporeon and Suicune don't even 2HKO while they are promptly roared out and forced to take more damage from Entry Hazards.[/indent]