For those not familiar with competitive Pokemon, there are three main playstyles. Stall, Balance (semi stall) and offense. The most notorious and infamous of the few being stall. Regarded by many as the best playstyle, stall has grown and developed among generations and this is my analysis of the playstyle.
The foundation of stall came about in order to counter the ever present offense on teams by having as many Pokemon to sponge attacks as possible. Some Pokemon are a necessity on stall teams, most notable is Chansey holding an eviolite in order to combine it's huge defense stat with it's boosted special defense and base 10 defense. Other Pokemon seen on many stall teams are skarmory with a monstrous maximum defense of 411, being what many regard as the “best defense tank in Pokemon”. Tangrowth with assault vest sponges special attacks and can heal them off with Regenerator and mega sableye is the staple of stall, with amazing defenses and magic bounce in order to stop Pokemon attempting to taunt toxic users or set up entry hazards.
While stall is very annoying and may seem unfair, it actually takes a considerable amount of skill to be able to use it effectively. “Stall is okay, a lot of threats to deal with though.” Said Rojo, an expert in stall and peaked around 2000 in ou. Pokemon such as trapper heatran and certain wall breakers pose a huge threat to stall teams, and if a certain Pokemon is defeated on stall the entire team could go down due to stall being very passive and unable to deal direct damage. However good players can sometimes overcome these obstacles and turn the tides in their favor.
Stall teams are very straightforward in the way that one would make a team and how they would function, however it does take skill and smart predictions in order to use it successfully, next time you encounter a stall team and lose, please keep in mind that they likely spent a lot of time learning how to use it and make correct predictions.
Article written by Ashkid848