The Ultimate Stall Guide

You like doing nothing, but for very long?
Nice, so this guide is for you !

introduction

Why would you want to play stall?

• It wins the game
  
• That's it

Army Building

What does a stall army need?

• Mutual defense → spam cheap king attackers
  
  
• Free kill/ infinite square control (one copy) (Ranger++ seems to be the best/ other Rangers +>+++>0/ Necromancer >other stuff (Alchemist/ PoisonMage [probably very bad])
  Nuances entropic based builds like Samurai spam and infinite square control is generally very valuable in order to dominate important squares;
  Mandatory to nuance Lich+++
  
• Finisher: NullMage and one expensive finisher (NullMage++ by far the best (NullMage+ seems good too [It goes ++>+>0>+++])
  Queen0/ Queen++/ +++/ Angel+++/ Vampire+++/ other Vampires)
  Ideally run NullMage++ and Queen/ Queen++ imo
  
  
• (optional) morale gain/ delete (NullMage/ Gemini/ Dryad/ Pride [very inefficient at that job; better at scare of trades, especially at 0])
  
  
• Anti free kill (Antimage (You didn't seriously consider this piece, did you?) Temperance0/ HauntedArmor0/ Lust+++/ Anything which is cheap and has at least range two (For Example Medusa0, Warrior++, Knight) / King attack with Knight teleport (e.g. Siren++-+++)
  
  
• Anti infinite control → you need to consider in army building, how you can bully away units like SoulKeeper++ or even the bad Pyromancer
  In order to do this you need at least some range two pieces. Unless you want to rely on fighting the game out on little space, in which case the Phalanx++/+++ and SoulKeeper++ combo could kill you
  

Minions:

• Your minions should be not entropic, which means they should be able to move backwards, to not get nuanced by free kill
  
  
• Choose the most op, since those will give you the most efficient mutual defense
  
  
• If exchanges happen in your games take one promotion minion.
  
• Use 1-3 expensive minions. (about cost 5) They are the most efficient at mutual defense and area control, but they suffer from the trade threats of cheap minions.
  The rest of your minions should be cheap (usually 1-2 cost [there are playable 0 cost options like Spider pair])
  
  
• (optional) One promotion minion (Duelist is a trade fodder and a promotion minion, so it's the best promotion minion/ Swordsman [Great hybrid of mutual defense and promotion; running multiple [up to like about 3] is fine]/ Dove+++/ Princess++)
  

In game strategy

• Try to force every possible move repetition.
  
  
• Slowly move up all your pieces together to get space. (-> Don't overextend single pieces and let others stand around in the corner doing nothing!)
  
  
• Exception to last point: If you make it tactically possible (Care to not blunder by letting your opponent forcing an exchange of your free kill piece) move out your free kill piece, to force the opponent to lose his minions. Especially entropic minions can easily be forced to overextend and run into the dead of your attack wall.
  
  Often you want and need to bully away enemy pieces, which could potentially trade your free kill first, this is most easily done with cheap pieces like HA0.
  
  
• The majority of your pieces is cheap and wants to up trade if possible.
  
  
• You want to avoid trading your free kill piece, especially if your opponent runs Lich or many entropic minions like Samurai.
  This however changes more and more with the minions getting thinned out.
  
• You usually want to avoid trading your NullMage or Queen, since they help you finish your game in move decay, tho up trades are often fine or even good.
  
• You finish the game by first nulling enemies pieces, which you start to threaten and do, once your opponent gets to a morale amount, which allows you do lethal him after the nulling[s].
  The main motif, which allows you to null stuff are forks with NullMage. A less common one is threatening to null pieces, which are pinned with your queen to the enemy king.
  

  A NullMage forking while at the same time threatening a pinned unit:

  
  If you null a very expensive piece like queen, fully sacrifing NullMage for that can be an option. The same applies to units which are some what expensive, and have a hard time forcing a trade, like nulling a ranger++ for losing NullMage.
  Nulling immobile pieces is indeed easier, and your opponent often cares less about minions getting nulled, so immobile minions like the extremes Nexus/TombStone or PikeMan are great targets to get nulled. Also entropic minions like Samurai. Also any kind of minion will be a free null after being forked with a champion.
  All the nulling usually doesn't start earlier than in decay. If no or little trades happened it can also start at move 60 to 80.
  Generally you prefer nulling units which have a hard time trading themselves away. A very extreme case of such a unit is Chastity.
  Another especially juicy target for nulling is GeminiTwin with its attached extra morale.
  Indeed if your opponent allows you like a free queen null earlier in the game, you don't say no, even if you sacrifice some material for that (like in the ten morale range of material).
  Last but not least you use your queen to perpetually threaten lethal and finally executing the lethal kill.
  

  Queen finishing even saw some occurence in Hoplite rush mirror:

  

Considerable minions

The bracket behind the piece suggests how many copies you should reasonably run, if it's starting with 0- this means, there's basically no scenario in which running any copies of it would be your best option in a stall army.

Notice that despite the word choice considerable, there are also listed pieces not really worth considering, namely the ones not recommended, they are just noteworthy by one reason or another.

Common:

Apprentice+++ (1)
Expensive minion
Don't ever use more than one copy.
Is a great option to have a trade fodder and burn points, if you have too much points by using Greed+++.
Make sure to make some use of its utility, like having Medusa0, which can use it to swap colours, or set up your Guardian+++ to guard your Vampire+++. (good)

Archer0 (0-2)
Two with a gap of one square between the Archers (so the one behind can protect the one in front), or one copy: can nuance some entropic minions (not recommended)


Axeman0/+ (0-8)
Gets nuanced by free kill; decent self synergy; like pawn weak when isolated or doubled; ok as a wall (not recommended)

Bomber+ (1)
Soft nuances Samurai and to some extend Comet and LifeStone; great at controlling crucial squares; gets nuanced by Mercenary0 and Snake0/+; free kill can bully Bomber away from its square of choice; passive makes it badly placed as defense to your king (great)

Duelist+ (1!-2)
Combines many aspects; great as a trade fodder, since it's cheap and very mobile; armor promotion and the high mobility make it a promoter as well; high mobility allows you to run it on or near the edge in army building (great)

Duelist0/++ (0-2)
Duelist++ is basically a worse + with the pretend of range 2 armor promote, it's still pretty ok.
Duelist0 seems pretty good, even though worse than Duelist+ and it's no more having the bonus of being good at promotion threats. (over shadowed by Duelist+)

Ghost++/+++ (0-2)
Counter intuitive to use transparency in stall; still solid king mover (over shadowed by RG++)

Militia0 (1)
Used to protect king, and usually not to be traded; nuanced by free kill; important not to stack with other morale penalty stuff; penalty a bit to high to be really viable even at one copy (ok)

Pawn0/+ (0-2)
Nuanced by free kill; high pseudo mobility and cheap price makes it indirectly control many squares by fork threats; to avoid free kill nuance accompany it with much mutual defense and never move it forward, unless it's tactically reasoned; column boundness makes it generally inflexible; some amount of self synergy makes it decent to play two connected, but it's easier to cover its down sides when running one copy (ok)

Penguin0
Pawn seems better. However this is a decent piece to use in the cage. It can retreat after it captured and having kind of Militia coverage is nice. However relying on the freeze can often be dangerous. (ok)

Penguin+++ (1)
Pretty awkward to only have Skeleton mobility at four cost.
If you run this as one of your high cost minions place it in the center, so it's not taking centuries to get it to control important squares; mainly used for space control (ok)

Spearman+ (1)
Some weird way to control some spaces; nuanced by free kill; similar to pawn don't move it forward and help it with your other pieces; can nuance LifeStone and Pikeman to some extend when starting close enough to them (ok)

Spider0 (2)
Ran in a pair as a trade fodder, which can't defensively protect squares; run them as far as possible from your king; make sure their corner doesn't get crushed by rush. (good)

Swordsman+++ (1-3)
High mobility forward only king mover; great at controlling squares, can threat up trades against champions; high mobility makes it a promotion hybrid; the mobility is kinda wasted in stall (over shadowed by RG++)

Tiger0 (0-1)
Minion-only trade fodder, takes many tempi to set up its potential up trade; no square control at all (over shadowed by Snake+)

Tiger+++
Fairly costed; king move with some additional coverage against minions; can threat up trades against most champions; gets bullied by lower high cost minions (over shadowed by RG++)

Rare:

Drake0 (1-3)
Great at controlling squares; high mobility enables quickly threatening stuff, enabling some move repetition or fork threats; enables some pseudo tempo plays against weak king positions; nuances LifeStone to some extend; functionally distinct enough to be considered with or instead of RoyalGuard++ as an expensive minion (also much more budget than RG) (great)

FrostMephit0 (2,4,6)
Great at controlling squares; often can't be captured by expensive units, even when unprotected, this allows for additional space gain
trade fodder
mutual defense
good at protecting king
considerable self synergy, since running multiple allows controlling both colors
If you run to many you run into nuance by Duelist+ and Mercenary0
to avoid the Merc nuance you can run the Mephits as your king guards and keep them out of the trading business
there might be specific situations in which running three or five makes sense too, e.g. three next to the king
nuances Lust (great)

FrostMephit+ (0-1)
I could see scenarios in which you use one copy for left over points or to nuance Lust+++ more heavily; the upgrade is kinda inefficient but the tier is still strong, the mobility isn't used well by stall (over shadowed by FrostMephit0)

Gnome0 (0-8)
Is in a weird spot, seems just over costed, but has a quite unique spot as a potent kill deterrent; has at the same time self synergy and anti self synergy; any amount of Gnomes feels inefficient (not recommended)

Pikeman++/+++ (1-2)
High cost option which can get nuanced by many compositions and can't be repositioned due to column boundness; offers a great amount of area control, which gets extended by fork threats; I'd rather run RG++/ Drake or any other king mover; best placed near or in the center (loses some of its coverage when placed on a/b/g/h) (ok; gets nuanced)

Princess++ (0-1)
Just mentioned since an army with 1-4 RoyalGuard++/+++s Queen0/++/+++ can be easily modified in a RG combo army; sacrificing control to have a pay off for trading isn't what we want to do in stall; pure promoter (not recommended)

Snake+ (1)
Pure trade fodder against minions; cheap champions not being able to kill it melee gives it some positive nuance against many armies; however doesn't control any squares; the passive allows you to run it at one copy despite having color bound mobility; in army building run it as far away from your king as possible and make sure to have the squares around its starting position not too under defended (good)

Sylph++-+++ (0-2)
This expensive minions get nuanced by opponent running stall as well, since you can't push when the push path gets blocked first, so Sylphs board control just isn't real, additionally it doesn't directly protect anything at ++ (not recommended)

Considerable minions

Epic:

Butterfly+++ (0-3)
Usually you will just ignore its ability, but in slow match ups getting it to left or right with the ability can be useful; same function as RG minus RGs passive, would be OP in vacuum (over shadowed by RoyalGuard++)

Mercenary0 (1-4 [2!])
Excellent trade fodder
good at controlling space
its passive makes it some what bad as direct defense
play it as far as possible in the center, so it can get every where as quick as possible
Don't run it in front of your king, or rely on it for your defense in general
two in the center is sure the best way to use Mercs
a pair can move around to bully champions
nuances FrostMephit0 by under cutting it and dominating its move set
(great)

Mercenary+
In itself not bad at two cost (over shadowed by Merc0)

Reaver0 (1)
An interesting choice to have a very cheap king attack minion (at 3 instead of 5 cost);
take the morale drain in consideration when trading using Reaver
Don't combine it with other morale self draining options
this is used instead of an expensive minion, consider this when deciding how many more expensive minions you want to run with it
great area control and part of your mutual defense
isn't able to reliable threat trades (good)

Reaver++ (1-2)
High cost minion
Despite being very different to it, I'd always run RG++ over this
offers great area control is able to protect many pieces at the same time
morale drain is massive
able to threat forks against champions
If you run 2 copies, then on c and f
generally best placed near the center in army building (ok)

Salamander0/+ (1+1)
Salamander0 at 0 cost is quite expensive for the coverage, while still being colour bound and entropic (You could get pawn for the same prize). Same disadvantages are true for Salamander+ at 3 cost (you could get the same coverage as cheap as 1 with Militia0 [+ penalty] or for 2 with Pikeman0).
On the other hand the fantasy of stopping any range one minion from approaching sounds great for stall. But with enemy free kill involved and cosidering Salamanders bad coverage this fantasy usually doesn't hold true.

But there is a real use case for Salamander! And that's using it as your cage. There nuancing approaching range one minions is huge. Especially when everyone is trying to nuance FrostMephit cage.
The Salamanders will just sit back and protect the king. This makes their vulnerability to free kill less relevant and increases the value of the move from start threat.
I like running Salamander0 on a, since it's the more cost efficient tier, and Salamander+ on b, to make sure that c3 doesn't get too vulnerable.
(good)

Legendary:

RoyalGuard++ (1-3)
High cost minion
great at area control and great support of mutual defense
can threaten up trades against champions comfortably
synergy with Queen, which you're likely to run anyway
passive generally offers some significant additional mobility, this makes RG++ quite flexible when having to over protect one side of the board within the course of a game (great)

RoyalGuard+++ (1-2)
See RoyalGuard++.
This is slightly less cost efficient.
can get worth including, if you have a few reasons to include the swap utility, like running color bound pieces like Medusa0 next to it, or fixing the structure of your minions with limited mobility and when there's much armor running around to be nuanced, especially a Phalanx++/+++ trying to pressure your king.
Ideally you'll see multiple of those reasons, before considering including this unit in your army.
(over shadowed by RoyalGuard++)

Considerable champions

Loosely ordered by viability down wards within the category.
Notice that it turns out with the several functions of your pieces, that it's basically never worth it to run two copies of any champion in stall.
King move here implies a cheap piece with king move.

Mutual defense:

Mutual defense is the basis of any stall army.
To make sure your line of mutual defenders bullies other pieces away instead of getting bullied away they need to be cheap enough to under cut other pieces.

Chastity0
king move; insanely cheap; additionally protects your whole back line; passive makes it not only completely incapable of forcing up trades with it, it also disallows it from being part of any significant space expansion; used as a direct protector of your king and stays there for the entire game (great)

HauntedArmor0>+
King move
the price is absurd
running to many copies of it or units like it makes you too inflexible in reacting against threats, by being over all to immobile
is also a great free kill nuance
nuances Ranger in the way that it can force an up trade against it, whenever Ranger comes to close to it
generally great trade fodder (great)

Pride0
King attack; kill deterrent and trade fodder bonus; considerable to be used as a king protector or in the center
(great)

Guardian+++
king move
synergy with Queen++/+++: This is offensively and defensively significant
pretty high mobility (This and the trigger synergy with Queen make it actually decent at fighting Ranger++ and alike, but not good at it)
(good)

Lich+++
king move
quite expensive for only king move
offers the additional power of infinite units
the spawned Skeletons can help controlling squares in several ways
gets nuanced by stall
At least we can decide to not spawn Skeletons at all whenever the self morale drain seems too suspicious, but then we circle back to the second point
It's easy to make yourself lose with hasty Skeleton spawns, this goes a bit against the core of stalling, since we want to avoid allowing ourselves doing mistakes at all cost
nuances Hoplites and other rushes when on the right side of the board
(good; nuance heavy)

EarthElemental0>+
king move; main distinction to better concurrence like Pride is having an option to specifically semi infinitely threaten the range 3 forward square in an unreliable manner; this could have use against some specific rush configuration (good)

WaterElemental0>+
king move; nice bonus pseudo coverage; heavily nuanced by NullMage (ok)

Siren++>+>+++
king move
at ++ becomes decent at pushing away Ranger
the gimmick sometimes turns out usable, usually not tho, if you want to make yourself lose fast charm a Samurai (good; over shadowed by Pride0 and Lust+++)

Taurus+++
king move
bit too expensive to under cut much stuff (ok)

Toad0
The cost sounds quite nice, under cutting everything, but it's attack mechanic is not reliable enough;
The board edge and units are restricting Toad in a similarly significant manner. (ok)

Wrath+
king move; very price inefficient (not recommended)

Prince
This is actually to expensive to under cut most stuff and also inefficiently priced; mentioned since it has the synergy with RoyalGuard++; even with a bunch of them it's not worth it to run this though
(not recommended)

Free kill piece/ Ranger++ Nuance:

Temperance0
Nuances specifically Ranger++ and Necromancer+-+++; this is done by bullying them away by directly threatening them with Temperance0 and/ or protecting the areas where they other wise would kill minions for free; doesn't offer defense against minions; The range 3 side ways attack is surprisingly often relevant in defense against rush armies.
(great)

Lust+++
Also part of your mutual defense (good)

Envy+
(Notice how the mobility of + is necessary in order to make it be able to get anywhere relevant fast enough)
similar functioning to Temperance0
additionally adds some infinite control against champions
doesn't offer any decent normal coverage
(good)

Medusa0
Generally good piece, under cuts Ranger++; has range 3 in 2 directions; isn't exactly reliable tho, if you aren't playing for it, since she can only threaten stuff on her color at range 3.
Additionally even is a quite cheap pseudo king attacker.
To make her reliable you can however play a pair of Medusas, breaking the one copy of champions rule. This is a quite viable option, but drives you slightly away from playing a pure stall army, since you invest an over average amount of pieces and points on board control.
(great)

Warrior++
Also part of your mutual defense; pretty budget (ok)

Knight0>+
Base is most efficiently costed, + allows to sometimes repeat chase the free kill unit, under cuts every free kill unit, offers average control around your basement (ok)

Legionary+
Similar to Medusa+ mutual defense; A bit too weak (not recommended)

Free kill piece and infinite control:

Ranger++>+>+++>0
++ offers a great amount of infinite control and very reliable free kill; this also allows for the typical move repetitions we thrive for; it can greatly threaten forks to allow further indirect control; the best
(up to great)

Necromancer0>++>+>+++
Does only infinitely protect the target squares vs. minions; More than Ranger this gets weaker the more minions are gone; so trading it will be more and more good for you with each dead minion
(up to good)

Minotaur+
Indeed not free kill; you can run this to infinitely control some squares against champions only at the cost of running another unit, which would have more efficient classic coverage; kill deterrent; over all just a bit too weak (ok)

PoisonMage+>0>++>+++
Very unreliable; on the other hand especially 0 is pretty price efficient; problem is, if you run this additionally to your main free kill, which you have to since it's unreliable and can't even target Lich's Skeletons, you lose a slot for mutual defense and for pieces which can actually threat up trades
(not recommended)

VoidMage
The whole leave morale stand around and pay concept makes the opposite of what stall wants
(not recommended)

Morale Manipulation:

NullMage++>+>0>+++
Prepares the finish by setting up null forks a few turns before the finish
the main disadvantage of NullMage is it having nearly no coverage
as a bonus to its morale endgame power NullMage has some serious swap utility
(great)

Gemini+>0>++>+++
Split for free extra morale; no/ very low coverage pre split
Running this additionally to NullMage makes your defense too weak; running this instead of NullMage makes you lose against NullMage in stalling
(ok; over shadowed by NullMage)

Dryad0>+>++>+++
Spam Trees a few turns before finish gets possible in order to increase your morale bank.
Currently under powered, also over shadowed since NullMage is currently better at preparing the finish than she could ever be. (not recommended)

Finisher:

Queen++>+++>0
The ultimate finishing piece; additionally it adds a great amount of board control and ++ being a solo mater also doesn't hurt; also RG++ synergy; also Guardian synergy (great)

Angel+++
Way more tricky to use than Queen: offers less board control and needs to be in position in order to guarantee the last hit; its bonus are the chances to go for check repetitions and the slight mobility especially with the range 3 swaps Angel offers; over all likely a bit worse than all relevant Queen tiers (good)

Considerable champions

Vampire+++>++>+
Makes your finishing come a few turns/ morale earlier
The low mobility makes Vampire very vulnerable and makes it harder for Vampire to access higher value targets for the finish.
Despite having no knight attack it can really help to use Guardian alongside Vampire.
The more the armies in the played pool lack agression, the better Vampire+++ gets compared to Queen++.
(up to great)

Patience+++
On a longer side note Patience0-++ have nothing to search in a classical stall army, not only are they denying you of a champion until they spawn, they also don't offer any usable payoff when getting online; you basically have to pray that their additional board control gives you something or that they can force an up trade, which they shouldn't can, as you came into the position with their slightly better coverage using a less point army.
Patience+++ has the obvious issue of not helping you get into the late game, since it's not a piece before turn 40; as proven by NullMage, which also has bad coverage that alone isn't an irrevocable problem. It does allow you to spend more points on other stuff, than if you would run a more classical finisher; here comes another issue though, since you want all the cheap king movers, you don't mind wasting many points into your finisher like in Queen; additionally Patience is straight worse at finishing than Queen; so overall this is not a viable option, but it's actually working ridiculously decent when your opponent uses neither rush nor stall (not recommended)

Bonus categories:

Mainly Trade Fodder:
You don't really need raw trade fodders in a stall army, but if they are simply costed efficiently they can't hurt either, after all they also automatically offer some amount of control over the board.

Fencer0>+ (good)

Mainly Board Control

You don't necessarily profit from controlling squares, which aren't nearby your pieces in stall, but pieces here are so cost efficient that I had to include them as an option.

Greed+++>++
Your casual free Rook at the cost of being an additional target during the whole game and especially as a finishing target
running Greed makes you automatically have more coverage than not running Greed
a less obvious issue with Greed than being a finish target is, that running Greed gives you spare points which you don't really want to pump into any of your other slots
Last but no least Greed is terrible at trading, which is the opposite of what a normal low cost piece would usually offer you.
(good)

AirElemental0
Offers a great amount of board control (push part area control isn't reliable but basically bonus; can't reliably force itself into trades due to short rook mobility being awkward. (good)

Taurus+-++
Good amount of board control and less awkward to maneuver than a pure short rook.
However part of the board control is some what unreliable (ok)

Army examples

Here are a few examples of stall armies which I am running or did run in the past:

FrostMephitSpam:

Back when I played it I mainly considered its vulnerability to rush of the king side as a possible flaw.
The army spamming one minion type isn't ideal, since minions like Duelist+, Snake and Mercenary0 can up trade against FrostMephits. Running nearly no one cost minions also reduces the chance that we can threat up trades, if the opponent runs minions like FrostMephit.

Royal themed army:

Using a promoter, which can't attack (Princess), this isn't a pure stall army.

Flaws:
Vulnerable to rushes on queen side (minions are too expensive on that side and having cornered queen does lose time against it too, since you have to swap it away with NullMage); Prince is an inefficient piece. The minion line is too expensive to trade well with the average minion line.

StallArmy

With taste and nuance involved there is no such thing as a perfect army.
This army is and its variations are what I would consider oscillating around a perfect stall army.
We have the Mercenary0 pair in the center, which can up trade against many minions and together can easily bully champions. King mobility is just absurd at one cost.
The army pretty much has all stuff mentioned in the guide.

VampireGreedStall

Quite an expensive army from collection perspective due to Vampire and Greed +++.
Is especially good when playing against other stall armies.
Struggles relatively more against heavy agression.

Now following there are a few army variations which were built under constrains of a limited collection, the further we go below, the smaller collection was and should be needed.

MedusaNoRoyalGuard

An army using Medusa instead of HauntedArmor.
The advantage of Medusa is, that it can bully away infinite control pieces from afar, given you only let them go onto Medusas color in the first place.
It's obviously not without a cost to waive on such a strong unit as HauntedArmor.
Given all the pseudo tempo plays and LifeStone nuance Drakes can create, it happens that double Drake0 actually feels better than running one/ two RoyalGuards. This however doesn't change that I believe that the ideal amount of RoyalGuard++s for a stall army is 1-3 and not 0.

DoubleMedusa

This army uses double Medusa and no HauntedArmor, by using another long range piece it's slightly going away from the stall direction, but the army still is stall at heart. In that regard it helps that Medusa is cheap and still has pseudo king attack.
Obviously a pair of bishop likes has nice synergy. As a pair they are also a more reliable Temperance substitute again by covering both square colours together.
Most importantly this army should have a better time than similar armies without double Medusa against Phalanx (++/+++) based armies, which try to claim space in order to move up a Phalanx, since the Medusas can keep away the Phalanxes from distance, such match ups are still pretty hard for the army over all tho.

DoubleDuelist

This army is a derivate of double Medusa.
Its main purpose is to be played while there are some Hoplite players around, to soft nuance them, since Duelist+s armor makes it great against Hoplites.
Notice that you should flip your army by 180° in some frequence when Hoplites or similar rushes are around to give you a chance to side nuance the rush players.
Legionary+ happens to be a worse version of Medusa, on which you can spend two more points.
Its practical main advantage is, that the pseudo range 3 bishop pair controls not only both colours, but can also be stacked at one colour.

CheapStall

Waives on the Guardian+++, Warrior++ is a really solid and easy to handle hybrid of king attack and decent enough range.

CheaperStallArmies

These armies go quite far away from optimized, since Dragon is straight up over costed.
This are examples of what one can build before having Queen++.
An occasional Pawn weirdly enough can catch people off guard.

BudgetNoNullMage++Army

With Wizard and Ninja we include two other slightly inefficient pieces.
The good thing is, that Ninja is super good to cheese, whenever people ignore its long range unblockable threats.
EarthElemental0 is a great king protector, especially if someone happens to neither have Pride0 nor Chastity0.
Not possessing a NullMage++ hurts the stall quite much, the mobility is very significant when it comes to NullMage properly doing its job in the end game.
This however is only visible, if the opponent is also playing stall, and uses a NullMage++.
Additionally you lose the ability to cheaply swap king far away against various types of rush


Enough budget.
Now there are a few variations of the stall army, which tried to fix minor specific issues with little changes at small costs:

MedusaInsteadOfTemperance

A double RoyalGuard++ army which doesn't use Temperance to avoid the self morale drain Temperance causes if you can't trade it away. The army isn't too reliable at dealing with stuff life SoulKeeper++.

LichStall

Again a take on trying to come along without Temperance. It's tempting to drain yourself to death with Lich+++.

NoChastityLichStall

Snake is really great at nuance stuff. e.g. its better at nuancing Samurais than Bomber+.
If playing Lich it makes much sense not to use Chastity.
Stuff like promotion and other base line shenanigans can easily be stopped with Skeleton spawns when needed.
Having Pride instead of Chastity has the obvious advantage that you have one more trade fodder you can actively move into the fight.

Knighty

Knights can also jump, not just Temperances!

PatienceStall

Consume at your own risk, you've been warned.

Replays

Here are some of my replays played with stall armies:
(seems like you have to tripple click to mark the replays for copying.)

RoyalArmy

Promotion in action or Phoenix+++ without setup sucks:
56,e3Gewinnt#1127,OMEGAULTIMATE#9847,3500,3500,v56_replay,226,45,34,11,1,6,0,206,8,43,31,29,20,0,White,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,NullMage3,FrostMephit,,,,,FrostMephit,King,Valkyrie3,FrostMephit,,,,,FrostMephit,Pride,Gemini4,FrostMephit,,,,,FrostMephit,Prince3,Envy,FrostMephit,,,,,FrostMephit,HauntedArmor,Envy,Duelist2,,,,,Princess3,NullMage3,VoidMage3,FrostMephit,,,,,RoyalGuard3,HauntedArmor,King,FrostMephit,,,,,RoyalGuard3,Ranger3,Phoenix4,FrostMephit,,,,,RoyalGuard3,Queen,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,53,43,12,26,62,53,5,12,53,44,26,35,43,34,12,19,61,53,4,12,53,45,11,20,50,41,3,11,57,50,0,24,49,42,24,34,42,35,14,21,35,26,19,10,34,33,24,27,26,19,11,19,44,43,27,28,45,36,28,36,63,62,13,22,51,44,36,43,44,35,36,59,54,45,36,4,59,51,20,27,51,44,19,44,35,42,12,20,43,51,19,28,42,35,28,29,45,37,29,37,51,37,4,3,44,37,7,14,51,44,10,17,33,26,17,24,26,45,24,48,58,40,8,17,40,24,17,24,35,28,21,28,44,28,20,19,37,28,19,44,28,19,2,19,60,44,19,20,44,19,20,44,45,44,3,27,62,46,1,12,44,36,27,11,60,53,3,10,53,44,19,20,44,37,14,30,37,28,20,28,36,28,30,38,46,42,24,33,42,49,33,42,49,42,12,17,28,20,17,42,50,42,11,10,20,19,10,9,19,10,9,10,52,25,10,9,25,16,9,1,16,17,1,2,55,10,38,29,10,2,11,4,17,1,29,27,2,3,27,9,1,28,9,27,28,21,27,13,21,6

This kind of deflection is quite typical in the cases of Princess really getting a chance to shine.

MedusaNoRG++

56,e3#8052,Leroy#4717,3500,3500,v56_replay,226,45,34,11,1,6,0,69,2,1,18,10,30,0,White,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,Patience2,FrostMephit,,,,,FrostMephit,King,Lust4,FrostMephit,,,,,FrostMephit,Chastity,Wizard4,Swordsman4,,,,,Drake,Medusa,King,Swordsman2,,,,,Mercenary,Temperance,Envy2,Samurai,,,,,Mercenary,NullMage3,Lilith4,Princess3,,,,,Drake,Guardian4,Antimage,Samurai,,,,,Bomber2,Ranger3,Queen,Swordsman4,,,,,Duelist2,Queen3,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,52,43,5,28,51,44,14,21,53,52,6,22,55,47,15,23,62,53,28,38,50,36,38,47,36,38,47,55,63,46,55,62,38,22,62,61,22,23,7,23,60,61,23,30,52,38,30,28,46,52,2,20,59,51,28,29,38,37,29,30,54,46,30,23,46,38,21,28,37,45,1,18,53,46,20,34,52,59,28,35,43,35,34,35,51,43,35,26,46,37,23,7,43,18,9,18,38,29,12,21,44,36,26,20,37,28,20,28,36,28,4,12,58,51,12,20,45,44,13,31,61,62,18,25,51,42,10,19,59,38,0,27,38,22,7,21,22,6,3,10,6,4,10,18,4,0,18,26,42,26,27,0,42,33,21,30,33,26,19,26,62,61,31,39,61,53,30,37,53,52,37,23,44,62,26,44,52,54,44,58,57,58
22nd March 2023
The funny charmed Duelist sequence.

DoubleMedusa against Phalanx++

56,e3#8052,TiDemieH#1031,3500,4500,v56_replay,226,45,34,11,1,6,0,226,45,43,11,1,6,0,White,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,Queen3,RoyalGuard3,,,,,FrostMephit,King,Lust,Samurai,,,,,FrostMephit,Chastity,Greed4,Pawn,,,,,RoyalGuard3,Guardian4,Crusader2,Pawn,,,,,Mercenary,Ranger3,Medusa,Samurai,,,,,Drake,NullMage3,Phalanx3,Mercenary,,,,,Mercenary,Medusa,Lust4,RoyalGuard3,,,,,Bomber2,Medusa,King,Militia,,,,,Duelist2,Queen3,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,54,45,13,21,53,44,8,17,51,43,11,27,55,37,6,23,37,46,1,8,61,54,12,19,62,53,8,16,45,37,21,22,46,39,23,6,52,38,6,21,59,52,10,26,52,45,4,18,44,37,27,35,29,21,18,45,54,45,19,28,53,46,5,12,63,55,0,10,50,47,17,19,45,52,9,18,30,23,22,23,47,39,19,20,39,30,21,22,30,22,15,22,38,22,14,22,31,23,7,3,46,39,12,13,23,30,22,23,60,62,20,29,30,12,4,11,55,47,10,20,12,19,20,19,62,54,19,20,39,60,13,22,60,51,23,30,47,62,30,38,54,51,28,37,58,59,38,45,54,61,45,52,61,52,16,25,48,41,29,36,51,49,2,9,52,61,22,29,57,48,29,38,62,55,5,23,55,53,36,45,53,60,45,52,59,52,38,52,60,57,20,36,61,52,52,45,61,45,36,57,49,57,9,16,57,60,23,20,60,45,20,28,61,45,37,46,60,59,46,53,61,53,28,31,61,43,31,63,59,58,11,12,43,45,16,8,43,52,35,43,52,45,53,62,45,63,62,63,48,49,63,62,58,42,25,34,42,34
As TiDemieH is a great player, I was going into a losing position despite the double Medusa tech.
He did an interesting and likely correct Medusa and Lust+++ for Ranger++ and Merc transform sac in that game, in order to remove my free kill, which makes especially his Samurais much stronger.
Part of what made me get a worse position was me trying to apply some fake pressure to the black king, and sacrifing minions in order to do so. Which turned out to not do much.
In the end I got lucky by Tid allowing me to Petrify his Phalanx, after which I was winning.

Replays

CheapStall

56,TiDemieH#1031,e3#8052,4000,3500,v56_replay,226,45,43,11,1,6,1,226,45,34,11,1,6,1,Black,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,Queen3,Duelist2,,,,,Duelist,Lust4,HauntedArmor,Bomber2,,,,,Militia2,King,Ranger3,Drake,,,,,Mercenary,Phalanx3,NullMage3,Mercenary,,,,,Samurai,Medusa,Temperance,Mercenary,,,,,Pawn,Crusader2,Warrior3,Drake,,,,,Pawn,Greed4,Chastity,FrostMephit,,,,,Samurai,Queen3,King,FrostMephit,,,,,RoyalGuard3,Lust4,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,52,36,11,20,51,44,2,11,63,46,9,17,53,37,11,18,59,45,17,26,50,42,26,35,42,43,18,19,36,28,19,11,54,47,10,18,60,42,1,9,56,41,11,10,41,32,9,16,42,10,0,10,32,42,20,29,42,33,33,42,58,42,8,26,46,36,12,20,43,35,29,28,37,28,20,28,36,35,13,27,42,26,10,26,35,26,25,26,44,35,27,35,62,35,26,27,35,51,5,19,55,42,4,12,47,38,27,35,51,55,28,27,61,59,19,26,38,29,12,19,45,31,27,34,42,50,19,27,29,22,15,22,31,22,3,7,55,39,26,12,22,29,12,21,29,21,7,23,29,20,6,5,20,27,35,27,39,34,23,19,34,17,3,12,50,18,19,27,17,9,12,20,9,10,20,29,18,27,21,12,10,50,29,21,27,19
Losing to Phalanx and stuff
Notice how Medusa and Crusader avoided any Ranger free kill.

BudgetStall

56,Alpha#6350,e3#8052,2000,2500,v56_replay,111,48,18,17,18,17,1,226,45,34,11,1,6,1,Black,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,King,FrostMephit,,,,,Axeman,King,EarthElemental,FrostMephit,,,,,Axeman,Comet,NullMage2,Pawn2,,,,,Axeman,Ranger3,Wizard,Drake,,,,,Pawn,Queen,Temperance,Duelist2,,,,,Pawn,Rook2,Ranger3,Drake,,,,,Axeman,Ninja2,Ninja,Bomber2,,,,,Axeman,Dragon2,Queen,Duelist2,,,,,Axeman,Paladin,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,52,36,14,22,51,35,5,14,50,42,3,17,53,45,22,30,55,47,14,22,36,28,22,14,28,20,6,20,60,20,12,20,62,52,14,21,61,53,21,35,53,44,4,12,52,34,12,19,44,36,17,18,36,18,19,18,58,51,21,12,51,44,30,37,44,36,20,28,36,44,18,19,44,35,13,27,57,19,9,18,35,43,12,20,34,26,8,17,43,27,17,26,59,32,1,8,32,40,19,43,42,43,26,33,40,41,20,27
(January 2023)
free kill

trapping one self with Comet sure is a thing

LichPride

56,Enderman19301#5285,e3Gewinnt#1127,2000,4500,v56_replay,30,6,44,19,19,1,1,226,45,34,11,1,6,1,Black,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,Queen3,Duelist2,,,,,Pawn,Rook3,Ranger3,Snake2,,,,,Pawn,Knight3,Lich4,Drake,,,,,Pawn,Bishop2,NullMage3,Mercenary,,,,,Pawn,Queen3,HauntedArmor,Mercenary,,,,,Pawn,King,Guardian4,RoyalGuard3,,,,,Pawn,Bishop2,Pride,FrostMephit,,,,,Pawn,Knight3,King,FrostMephit,,,,,Pawn,Rook3,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,49,41,11,20,58,49,12,21,52,36,4,12,54,46,10,11,61,54,1,10,51,35,0,1,57,42,8,17,59,43,17,24,60,56,9,16,53,37,10,17,35,27,20,19,48,40,17,9,36,28,19,27,28,21,13,21,46,38,12,19,54,46,1,0,38,30,21,22,62,45,19,26,43,36,5,29,36,51,2,10,42,43,10,19,43,26,19,26,55,39,29,38,46,54,22,31,45,44,15,22,44,38,31,38,51,52,38,31,37,29,6,13,29,22,13,22,63,60,0,10,58,44,9,18,54,55,11,19,41,33,26,34,49,14,10,14,33,25,18,26,44,36,34,42,36,4,3,4,52,4,14,4,60,4,42,59,57,56,42,57
Against some upgraded classic army.

PatienceStall

56,jcfrench#3219,e3Gewinnt#1127,2500,4000,v56_replay,74,12,44,18,18,30,1,226,45,34,11,1,6,1,Black,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,Patience4,RoyalGuard3,,,,,Princess4,Guardian3,Angel,RoyalGuard3,,,,,Militia2,SoulKeeper3,Chastity2,RoyalGuard3,,,,,Samurai,Guardian4,Ranger3,FrostMephit,,,,,Militia2,WindMage3,HauntedArmor,FrostMephit,,,,,Hoplite,Wizard3,Prince3,FrostMephit,,,,,LifeStone2,Guardian4,Chastity,FrostMephit,,,,,Militia2,FrostMage4,King,FrostMephit,,,,,Bat4,King,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,57,43,13,22,49,35,12,21,56,42,3,12,60,44,12,19,35,26,19,12,44,27,12,26,50,41,4,13,27,43,11,18,27,18,10,18,42,33,18,27,33,27,5,3,43,61,3,11,27,33,12,19,33,50,19,27,43,34,27,20,34,43,20,27,43,35,27,19,35,38,19,20,38,35,20,19,35,49,19,27,50,34,27,20,34,44,20,27,41,34,27,28,58,50,28,44,61,45,9,18,49,35,28,20,34,27,18,27,35,27,20,29,50,36,29,45,36,29,22,29,36,29,11,27,53,46,27,34,48,58,21,12,46,42,34,18,36,51,13,20,51,37,6,13,29,28,20,11,37,27,18,10,36,29,1,17,29,20,17,42,27,42,10,28,42,52,11,20,59,44,8,36,44,34,12,21,62,60,36,27,34,17,27,26,17,26,28,26,60,59,0,16,52,36,16,32,36,26,32,59,58,37,59,63

Free kill and repetitions as we like it, ohhh and look what's that, a weak back rank? nom