How do I make my (Pokebank singles) OU stall team better?

Question

Toxapex (M) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 156 Def / 100 SpD
Calm Nature
- Toxic
- Haze
- Poison Jab
- Recover
I decided to use this mainly because it appeared near the top of the usage stats. Its ability makes it very nice for the start of battles when all I do is switch into attacks. I chose poison jab over the other attacks because it has high PP. I didn't teach it scald because I thought I would be poisoning most of my opponents, so scald would become useless over an attack with much higher PP. Haze has more PP than calm mind, so this is currently my only way to reliably beat calm mind sweeper Sableye.

Venusaur (M) @ Venusaurite
Ability: Chlorophyll
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Def / 84 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Synthesis
This is usually my lead because it's better to switch mega Venusaur into attacks than to use a regular Venusaur. I'm pretty sure there are better ways to choose leads, but I don't know them. It's just the basic toxic stall with STAB attacks. It works great on Tapus that aren't psychic type.

credit card (Mantine) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Scald
- Air Slash
- Roost
This is used mainly for defogging and switching into water attacks. It's also used to wear down bulky steel Pokemon and is my best way to defeat Kartana. It's not doing much at the moment, so I'd encourage you to suggest replacing this if anything.

paid by the hour (Chansey) @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Soft-Boiled
- Seismic Toss
- Heal Bell
This is an essential to most stall teams, as it can switch into almost any special attack. I use it to wear down special attackers that can't heal, such as Heatran, Magearna, and Greninja. Obviously, it's also used for hazards and status healing. I decided to teach stealth rock to this instead of Gliscor because toxic happens to be more useful on Gliscor.

Fairy Slayer (Skarmory) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Brave Bird
- Iron Head
- Roost
- Whirlwind
This is used for p-hazing, which Skarmory happens to be exceptionally good at because of sturdy and roost. It's also used to switch into attacks not resisted by the rest of the team, such as psychic, flying, normal, and dragon attacks. Because it can readily use whirlwind, it's my best way to defeat mega Scizor.

sidewalk (Gliscor) (M) @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Toxic
- Taunt
- Roost
- Earthquake
This is a wallbreaker and my go-to for just about anything that's slow or can't hit too hard. Taunt is my way of preventing Pokemon like Toxapex, Ferrothorn, and Clefable from healing. I also use it to PP stall steel flying Pokemon.

I'm missing pivots, thunder wave users, will-o-wisp users, and setup wallbreakers, which I will incorporate if I can do so without losing anything important. Overall, the team is weak to bulky offense teams, which may mean I'm doing hazard removal wrong. It's weak to Tapu Lele because thunderbolt destroys Skarmory and psyshock destroys Chansey. It's weak to mega Scizor because mega Scizor can boost its physical attack, is bulky and can heal, and is immune to toxic. It's weak to Ferrothorn because Ferrothorn is immune to toxic and can sometimes hit Gliscor so hard that Gliscor can't keep it taunted and heal itself at the same time. It's weak to mega Metagross and mega Charizard X simply because they can hit every member of the team really hard. If somebody can tell me how to check them while still keeping this a stall team, that would be great.

Comments

Mega Sableye is a stall team staple due to it's great typing , reliable recovery, high defenses, and fantastic ability, Magic Bounce, which is a godsend to any stall team. I'd recommend finding a slot for it somewhere in there. It may be beneficial to put Spikes on Skarmory in place of an attacking move to get some hazard stacking going. Additionally, Toxic Spikes is an option on Toxapex over Toxic is that's how you wanna roll.

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I have used mega Sableye before, and it worked great. However, this team has a lot of electric-weak Pokemon, so I think mega Venusaur would be necessary to switch into electric attacks.

Answer 1

I'll list off some of my thought as I read through the post. Note that I don't tend to play with stall teams much so my advice won't be of the same quality of someone who does play the archetype, but I'll offer my best insight.

• As much as Toxapex will likely lean toward Toxic as a means of applying status, Scald is almost always the preferable move over Poison Jab, unless there is a specific threat or Pokemon you had in mind when using the move. The ability to burn Pokemon gives the Pokemon further utility and gives it a means of threatening Pokemon that are immune to Toxic, which are plentiful in the current meta with Tapu Fini, Celesteela, Kartana, Nihilego, Toxapex, Scizor, etc. at its forefront. Sometimes you will want to burn Pokemon more than you want to poison them, and this applies especially to stall since you need a way to cripple your opponent's non-setup breakers. Haze won't help you against Choice Band or a base 140 Attack stat.

• Is there a specific threat you had in mind with the EV spread and nature you have on Toxapex? Generally it is most preferable have it focus mostly on either Defence or Special Defence and not really use a mixed defensive set -- especially in stall since you can fill any of Toxapex's defensive weak spots with other members on the team. I would focus on Defence here, since you have Chansey and many special attackers (Tapu Lele) destroy Toxapex no matter what.

• Toxic Spikes isn't as common on Toxapex, but you may find more utility in it on this stall team, especially since you have many other members that can already spread the status immediately. Maybe try it over Toxic since you have multiple other members that spread status. Also, don't worry so much about PP, yes it's stall but I highly doubt you will be spending 24 turns throwing off Scalds at your opponent. That could be half an entire battle just clicking the same move.

• Venusaur should be using Leech Seed in every one of its defensive sets. Replace Sludge Bomb -- it offers you no utility since you beat (most) Fairy-type Pokemon 1v1 anyway. This move is fantastic to allow Venusaur to wear down more Pokemon and can be a nuisance to switch into. It indirectly allows you to support and heal other team members as well.

• Defensive Venusaur does not care about moving first, use Overgrow instead as it may allow you to edge out a few move Pokemon in a difficult position. Chlorophyll is very situation on teams that don't run sun even if the set isn't defensive.

• Yeah get rid of the "this Pokemon is my lead" mentality. Instead, focus on what Pokemon will put you in a good position based on what you think your opponent will lead with. Mamoswine, Nihilego and the rare Smeargle are often dead giveaways. Pokemon you suspect will be using a momentum-gaining move (U-Turn, Volt Switch, Baton Pass etc.) or entry hazards are also safe bets. Your opponent may be thinking along the same lines and may try to predict Skarmory or Chansey due to Stealth Rock.

• I agree Mantine isn't a great fit in this case, your team collectively does what Mantine can do already and because it invites Xurkitree and Tapu Koko in. As JarJar mentioned above, you should absolutely be using Mega Sableye on stall because it allows you to beat other stall teams. It repels everything stall aims to win with. Calm Mind is the best variant for this. It fits even better on your team because it lacks a Pokemon to clean up the game, a role this Pokemon fits well.

• Heal Bell on stall is best used to remove Toxic (stall mons don't care about anything else because it doesn't really inhibit their ability to cripple the opponent). Half your team is immune to poison. Use a status move instead -- Thunder Wave is a good option because it stops Chansey from being setup fodder.

• I'm not really feeling Skarmory on your team. I feel like Celesteela is much better fit for your team, because it has Fire coverage which you need to clear away Steel-type Pokemon (unsurprisingly, most of the Pokemon you identify as problems to your team are Steel-type). Consider using that Pokemon instead -- it does special defence better than Skarmory does, and Skarmory's set-up removing and entry hazard capabilities aren't valuable to you since your team already does these things. Celesteela checks Mega Metagross, Scizor and Tapu Lele, and keeps the invaluable Steel-typing and Ground immunity Skarmory has. Definitely keep the specially defensive oriented spread you have on Skarmory.

• If you continue using Skarmory, replace Iron Head with Taunt or Defog. Defensive Pokemon do not need two attacking moves.

• Gliscor's not great in this meta, and if you use Mega Sableye, its Taunt abilities aren't as necessary. One of the main reasons you struggle against bulky teams is that your team is so passive. Nothing on your team has any offensive substance. As much as stall is intended to win with entry hazards and wearing down the opponent's team, it isn't always literally six wall/support Pokemon. I personally recommend incorporating an offensive Pokemon that can threaten Pokemon with some power instead of defence, and one that can remove entry hazards if possible. Some ideas are:

• Lati@s, which isn't a great fit for your team typing-wise but can Defog and fire off some threatening attacks.
• Excadrill, which can Rapid Spin, remove Poison- and Steel type Pokemon, maintain a similar typing to Gliscor and use Mold Breaker to break past extra Pokemon with its attacks.

• Clefable, which is very underrated at the moment, not sure how it ended up this way after its time at the forefront of Gen 6. Not as much an offensive Pokemon as the other two, but this Pokemon is basically a jack of all trades. Either of its abilities would benefit your team, and its typing and nearly any of its its movesets would too. A cleric set would heal your Pokemon and would help vs opposing stall, Calm Mind serves as a secondary wincon, Unaware means you have extra setup sweeper security and Stealth Rock can allow you to add Heal Bell back on Chansey. However, it lacks Defog or Rapid Spin.

• Stall teams don't need pivots. Pivots are supposed to tank hits, force out the opponent and therefore build momentum for offensive Pokemon to get an easy switch-in. Stall already tanks hits, has few offensive Pokemon and ditches momentum as part of its design.

• The three Pokemon I mentioned above can all check Mega Charizard X depending on their set.

Again I don't play stall so my decisions probably aren't the most informed as possible but hopefully this was useful nonetheless.

Comments

Thanks for writing the answer. Before I accept all of your advice, I want you to respond to this comment.
I didn't know much about Generation 7, so I thought maybe Venusaur would be faster on the turn it mega evolves on the rare chance my opponent uses sun. I always mega evolve before attacking, so overgrow is useless no matter what.
I don't want to have two mega stones on one team, so if I replace Mantine with Sableye, what should I replace Venusaur with?
Are you sure I should replace Skarmory with a Pokemon whose healing depends entirely on leech seed?
I taught taunt to my Gliscor so that it can stop Pokemon from boosting stats and healing, which is something mega Sableye can't do.
When I played stall in Generation 6, pivots were very useful to me. For example, I don't know when the opponent will switch to Clefable. If I switch Gliscor in after Clefable switches in, the Clefable gets one chance to use calm mind before I taunt it, so it becomes much harder to defeat. If I use a pivot, I can see the opponent switch to Clefable and I can switch in Gliscor and use taunt all before it gets one chance to use calm mind.

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Haha for whatever reason it mustn't have crossed my mind the Mega slot was taken. Sorry about that, I'll suggest some replacements for it. I considered suggesting a Venusaur replacement anyway (its trying doesn't offer much extra defensive coverage at all eg. Toxapex already walls Keldeo and such), so I guess it works out in a strange sort of way. (About Chlorophyll though, Gen 7 updated the mechanic so that the turn order is determined after Mega evolution, so if you always mega evolve on the first turn, you will never benefit from the ability, though the same applies for Overgrow as you said. Though it's still very situational, I guess it does offer some utility if there's sun and you need to move first, so yeah I'm wrong. Keep the ability, if you choose to keep Venusaur over Sableye.)
The replacement for Mega Venusaur should preferably have some form of hazard control, which is something your team lacks outside of a potential Mega Sableye which is not always a viable switch for that. Again, an offensive presence would also help (though Celesteela and Sableye would both do that to an extent). Looking that this, I feel like Excadrill and Clefable would do well as replacements for Gliscor and Mega Venusaur if you're keen. The two synergise very well, and with them your team resists every type in the game at least once and can control hazards more reliably. They may make your team cross into "semi-stall" in some respects, but I think they're worth it since they both fit very nicely in the team. Unaware Clefable would fit well in stall as its mere presence deters many set-up sweepers. Bulky Rapid Spin Excadrill is a viable set that works perfectly with Clefable's typing and support. You can also use Stealth Rock over the normal Toxic on bulky Excadrill to save a moveslot on another Pokemon -- that could be for Wish + Protect > SR + Soft-boiled on Chansey, an extra coverage move on Clefable, etc.
I'm definitely sure about Celesteela, its Fire coverage is very useful to your team. If you do decide to use Wish somewhere in the team, its healing is much less of an issue. Additionally, if you use the normal SpDef Celesteela set of Protect / Leech Seed / Flamethrower / Heavy Slam with Leftovers, its passive recovery does allow it to heal enough to justify its use, especially due to Protect (which you can use at any point at virtually no cost unless your opponent could set up on you -- and even then you have Haze and also Unaware Clefable if you do want to try it).
I said what I did about Taunt because it doesn't matter if your opponent attempts to heal off damage vs. Sableye, it still wins 1v1 because of Calm Mind just like Gliscor would because of Taunt. Boosting moves are also less of an issue if you have Haze around; again Clefable also helps with that if you want to try it out.
I'm not sure what you described with Gliscor is really "pivoting" (you said yourself in the OP that you have no pivots on the team anyway). I would classify that more as simply making a correct play, because you sent in Gliscor purely to counter the Clefable and use a passive move like Taunt or Toxic, thus killing any momentum gained. A "pivot" would instead maintain momentum with a correct double switch, a U-Turn or Volt Switch or by knocking out a Pokemon then switching or getting knocked out, which effectively gets a wallbreaker or setup sweeper in for free. Such wallbreakers and setup sweepers don't really exist in stall, so you don't need that momentum as such. You definitely need to make the type of plays you described in order to win some games, but you don't need dedicated pivots since the momentum they get isn't important to stall.
Again sorry I forgot about the Mega, hopefully what I've suggested above helps compensate (even though it replaces over half your team members x_o).

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So if I do use an Excadrill, what EV spread and nature should I put on it?

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Excadrill should run max HP and SpDef with a Careful nature, with the last four EVs in Attack. Though your coverage of SpDef is already very much satisfactory, physically defensive Excadrill plainly doesn't work in most cases since it's weak to so many common physical moves. Toxapex and Sableye -- if you use it -- should be your main switches for physical attackers.

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I forgot to say this earlier, but the main reason why I like Skarmory so much is that it stops setup sweepers with sturdy and whirlwind. If I replace it with Celesteela, how do I stop sweepers that can OHKO all of my Pokemon?

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Well, the only thing I see that has potential to potentially OHKO your entire team is Modest Tail Glow Xurkitree with Electrium Z though.

+3 252+ SpA Xurkitree Gigavolt Havoc vs. 252 HP / 84+ SpD Venusaur-Mega: 352-414 (96.7 - 113.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

+3 252+ SpA Xurkitree Gigavolt Havoc vs. 4 HP / 252 SpD Eviolite Chansey: 495-583 (77.1 - 90.8%) -- 25% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

+3 252+ SpA Xurkitree Hidden Power Ice vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Gliscor: 768-908 (216.9 - 256.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Scares out and sets up on Mantine and Toxapex (if you don't use Haze) and proceeds to nuke. Needs only 1 or 2 kills and it can easily obliterate your entire team. But of course, you won't let a Xurkitree set up so easily. But just showing a worst case scenario where Xurkitree successfully used Tail Glow on say Mantine or Chansey for example. Calcs are with Stealth Rocks up, but even without, Xurkitree can easily punch huge holes in your team if it manages to grab a boost.

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What if I accidentally let something like mega Charizard X or Tapu Fini set up too much? Did you do calcs for those?

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Haze on Toxapex should absolutely be enough to repel set-up sweepers, if it's not then it might have more to do with how you're playing against them. If your opponent has a Pokemon that could potentially sweep you, focus on shutting it down and keeping Toxapex alive, and think about how you're going to do that before they're setting up in front of you. (As in, Charizard should ideally be paralysed by Chansey and at 50% after rocks instead of at +2.) Skarmory is not perfect insurance against set-up sweepers; taking your examples, it cannot beat Mega Charizard X after any prior damage and loses 1v1 against the Taunt set for Tapu Fini even if it isn't using Calm Mind. Max Defence Toxapex can reliably tank +3 Dragon Claw through rocks/ wall non-Taunt Tapu Fini and Haze them both, and then you can switch to another Pokemon and cripple them.
+3 252 Atk Tough Claws Charizard-Mega-X Dragon Claw vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex: 226-267 (74.3 - 87.8%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Tough Claws Charizard-Mega-X Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Skarmory: 380-450 (113.7 - 134.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Skarmory isn't a bad Pokemon by any means, I just think Celesteela offers you more utility in this team. If you're not willing to switch that's fine, but I still recommend you try Celesteela as I feel it is the superior Pokemon in this case. Again, Skarmory's role at clearing set-up sweepers is filled by Toxapex, and otherwise its main asset is its typing/defences. So when Celesteela has the same typing, better special bulk and offers a unique role in the team, I feel it fits better.