Approaches to UU Team Building

What sets you apart from other teambuilders? What strategies or practices make you a unique teambuilder?

I'm probably different from most builders because of two things: 1) I don't play the tier often at all, so I don't fall into some habits or patterns and 2) one of my main building strategies when I make UU teams is adapting teams that I like from other generations (mainly ORAS and BW OU). As a result, I often end up with cores that are not standard or niche and Pokémon that, in my opinion, are the best adaption of the Pokémon from the original team. Once the team is fully transformed, I take a look at the viability rankings and try to look if I covered everything and then make adjustments.

So you take an ORAS OU team and take each Pokémon and replace it with a UU Pokémon that has the same/similar function or role? Do you have an example of this strategy?

Yes, in the UUPL VI set dump thread.

Where do you draw inspiration from while teambuilding? You covered this earlier but expand on it if you can.

Well oftentimes it's revamping a team I liked using in the past. If I had a good feel with it and liked its overall strategy I try to replicate it in SM UU. Sometimes, what I also like to do is watch a lot of replays from the tier and either recreate a team or give my own spin to some teams ideas I liked.

How do you build around a certain Pokémon well and maintain the idea of the team and its goal?

I mean I have a general goal in mind when I build, and it influences my choices in Pokémon and movesets. It's usually because I know what kind of playstyle I want to end up with (defensive, offensive, balanced), and then other things (do I want Wish, a cleric, focus on hazards, etc) depending on the Pokémon I wanna use. Some factors will be emphasized or ignored; for example, in UUPL I used a Sub Suicune, and I knew I wanted Toxic Spikes support and a defensive team overall, and it reflected in the final result (game vs Gondra).

How do you define team synergy, and how do you foster that in your team composition?

I just try to cover the threats based on viability rankings and also avoid having 0 resistances to popular types. Don't wanna get owned by Choice users, although I may overlook the latter part in all-out offense and just rely on speed/momentum to overcome threats.

I more mean like synergy as in the team members working well together. You can put 6 Pokémon together and call it a team but if those members don't do anything for each other.

I don't really work like that in UU, I just have a list of things I wanna have on my team and find the Pokémon that can accomplish those things.

How do you approach building "outside" the meta/off-meta?

Well I'm just not afraid to not use things that are unconventional like I said earlier; again, a lot of my unconventional teams come from my building strategy aka revamping teams from literally different gens. I also like to use niche picks if they match up well vs the top guys of the tier like Inner Focus Umbreon in the Jirachi/Sharpedo meta and Arcanine in the Weavile meta. A lot of my picks also come from the wishlist I have in mind when building a team. I remember in one team I really wanted a Ghost that could take on Breloom, and the only Pokémon that filled this role was Gourgeist, so I went ahead and used it. Some of my ideas come from watching replays or reading the UU subforum; if I see things I like, I will write them down somewhere so I can consider them when I'm in a building session.

How do you support a Pokémon well and not deviate from the nature, whether offensive, defensive, passive, etc., of the team?

Hmm I can't recall a time where I built around a Pokémon in particular tbh, it's often more about an idea or a core, and like I said, from the get-go, I know if I'm gonna be offensive or defensive. So let's say I want a Latias check, well, in stall I'm gonna want the Latias check to last long, so I'll look at things like Blissey and Sylveon, but in balance, I'll prob want a mix of not having to sack a Pokémon every time but also remove the Latias from the game, because it's hard to cover every set with balance; so it could be a mix of Pursuit Krook + Sylveon or Mega Aggron + Krook. And on offense I'm more lenient; Pursuit + something to come in once or twice in the game is fine for me, but I'm not gonna put a Blissey on offense just because I need a sturdy Latias check; otherwise it sucks away the momentum and gives opening to my opponent.

EVing is a very important part of teambuilding. How do you choose what to EV and what not to EV? How do you choose what to EV certain things for and what is important?

Well I open the Speed tiers page, then I Speed creep for what I feel is appropriate, and then I invest in bulk or offensive stats based on the Pokémon. I don't play the tier enough to come up with more custom spreads, or if i have a particular scenario in mind, then I will adjust the EVs accordingly.

Well for anyone that doesn't play the tier enough, what's your advice.

Like, when I made AV Mienshao, I wanted it to tank Specs Draco Meteor from Hydreigon. If players are not familiar with the tier and its Pokémon, just take the Dex spreads and read why the EVs are the way they are, that's what I do. Then, when I play, I become aware of some scenarios and might adjust accordingly or think about them. When building the Dex is legit a great way to step into the tier, because every moveset or spread is explained, which gives you an idea of what you're gonna encounter.

How do you incorporate your metagame knowledge into building in UU?

No I don't have the most knowledge for sure; I don't play the tier actively at all, I get my metagame knowledge from watching games, usually the ones from tournaments. Between those and the viability rankings, I have an overall idea of what is common, both Pokémon- and playstyle-wise.

In the UU tier, Scizor, Mega Altaria, and Latias have been known to be the strongest and most centralizing Pokémon in the tier. How do you deal with these threats, and others, in team building? What do you consider to be enough for these Pokémon?

For Mega Altaria, my favorite answer is Amoonguss; with Regenerator, Clear Smog, Spore, and Rocky Helmet, it's easy to keep it under control. For Scizor I try to fit Fire coverage on the setup bait + bring a mix of checks/counters; depending on the sturdiness of the checks/counters I went for, I'll adjust the amount of Fire move presence on my team. For Latias it's a mix of checks/counters + Pursuit to remove it from the game. To go back to Alt, it's hard to keep every set in check, and I don't use Amoonguss on every team. I like to use Mega Aggron for Latias, especially with Wish support. Z-Moves make Latias a lot harder to check for my preferred defensive teams though; same with Scizor sometimes, but since it's slower it's a bit easier to keep under control.

Anything else you want to add that might help out people?

Hmm, have fun :p If you wanna learn about UU it's probably best to take some sample teams and go out there and play some games to get a feel of the meta; then, if you wanna use your own things, your experience will come in handy.

What sets you apart from other teambuilders? What strategies or practices make you a unique teambuilder?

I think what sets me apart is being comfortable with a shaky defensive backbone rather than pidgeonholing myself into using the same gluemons. A lot of UU teams are just subsets of the same top 15 pokemon, and people often sacrifice cohesiveness for a 3rd Scizor check. How many tooks have the same old Altaria/Scizor/Krookodile/Rotom-H core with 2 fillers?

When helping others build, I notice they often think in the worst case. What I mean is, they might have counterplay towards a certain Pokémon, but not a 100% true counter. So, they end up slapping a bandaid fix to be stronger against that Pokémon while sacrificing overall effectiveness.

An example would be "oh I lose to Scizor if it gets an SD with rocks up and my Amoonguss and Infernape both get chipped." Being comfortable with using positioning and proper play rather than reliance on the same gluemons is key to being a great builder.

Oh, and you don't need removal on every single team.

As for strategies, I don't have any checklist I go through, but I usually follow this process. I pick a single Pokémon I want to use, then find 1-2 offensive partners that work together with it. Then, fit hazards if I don't have it, and try to incorporate some UU must-haves with the last two slots. Every team needs a couple Pokémon that resist Bullet Punch, a Ground-type, a Draco Meteor punisher, something that outspeed Mega Aerodactyl, a Ground immunity, etc etc.

Where do you draw inspiration from while teambuilding?

Ngl I get some ideas from ladder LOL. They have some crazy sets, but there are teams on there that have cool cores. When dodmen played, I always loved his teams and would try to mimic his style. Other than that, I usually do most of my building on a notepad while at work.

How do you build around a certain Pokémon well and maintain the idea of the team and its goal?

I touched upon this before, but I start with an offensive Pokémon 99% of the time. Then, I find a couple offensive partners that in theory work well with it. For example, when prepping for Christo in Snake, I noticed he was often weak to Mega Houndoom, so I start with that. Then, I added Rhyperior + Togekiss to cover the Aerodactyl/Hydreigon/Krookodile weakness Houndoom brings to the table while also supporting it with Stealth Rock and Thunder Wave. Crippling an Aerodactyl/Nihilego goes a long way to let Doomer sweep.

I think limiting a team to a single goal is short sighted. Games are a lot more complicated than "weaken x for y to sweep." The goal of a team depends heavily on what your opponent brings. Sharpedo probably isn't sweeping if you end up against Krook + Sylveon, so maybe Scizor becomes the wincon and you play accordingly. However, when building I really try to avoid adding a Pokémon whose only role is checking something.

How do you define team synergy and how do you foster that in your team composition?

There's two aspects of team synergy in my opinion: type synergy and utility/move support (idk a better way to word this). The first part is self-explanatory: Scizor is weak to Fire-types, so that makes something like Latias a good partner. The second part is a bit more nuanced. It could be using a teammate as a lure to draw in a specific Pokémon that you can then punish. An example would be luring in Krookodile with Gengar to lock it in Pursuit, then sending in your Terrakion. Speaking of Gengar, it is a fantastic Altaria partner, since Altaria draws in Amoonguss, which gives Gengar the freest Sub of all time. Other examples are move lures. Thunder Wave Togekiss, for example, is a great lure to cripple Aerodactyl for stuff like Mega Houndoom, Infernape, etc.

How do you approach building "outside" the meta/off-meta?

Stuff that punishes high-usage gluemons is the best way to build with "off-meta" stuff. So, pairing this anti-meta Pokémon with a standard Pokémon that can't break through that gluemon is the way to go. Nothing earth-shattering here. Amoonguss is everywhere right now, so Sleep Talk Specs Hydreigon is a fantastic antimeta Pokémon that goes nicely with something like Terrakion. Rhyperior, which beats the most common Defogger in Rotom, is another good anti-meta pick.

EVing is a very important part of team building. How do you choose what to EV and what not to EV? How do you choose what to EV certain things for and what is important?

Does this Pokémon have a Speed tier > 80? Then run 4/252/252. Else, you can play around with what you need to defensively check. You want Nidoqueen to take two Hidden Power Ice from Mega Manectric, Scizor to take Mega Sharpedo's Crunch after SR or +1 Latias's Z-Thunder, etc. If there is nothing specific that I can EV my Pokémon to take, I give up and just creep something relevant and throw the rest in HP, lol. I don't think EVs are nearly as important as some people do.

How do you incorporate your metagame knowledge into building in UU?

Being able to picture in-game scenarios helps a lot with building. It allows me to be happy with certain matchups that on paper seem shaky. For example, look at this team: [URL]https://pokepast.es/1a09fbef16fb6d0b[/URL]. Scizor in theory can easily win, and I have no real CB Scizor switch-in. But I know that none of these 6 give Scizor a free switch in. The worst case is it comes in to revenge Togekiss or a weakened Latias. Knowing that allows me to look at this team and be comfortable, rather than make a shit change that compromises most matchups just to be better against Scizor.

In the UU tier, Scizor, Mega Altaria, and Latias have been known to be the strongest and most centralizing Pokémon in the tier. How do you deal with these threats, and others, in team building? What do you consider to be enough for these Pokémon?

For Scizor, 1 or 2 fast Pokémon that resist Bullet Punch. If you have only 1, then a slower Pokémon that can take a +2 hit and threaten it back is needed, like Mega Aggron or Amoonguss. You can also try teching for it via a resist Berry or Hidden Power Fire. For Latias, something faster that isn't a Mega Manectric + a Pokémon that resists Dragon. Pursuit is super helpful, but not a must unless you're running Celebi, Infernape, Lucario etc. For Altaria: Use Scizor or Amoonguss. Else, use something that either revenges +1 Altaria offensively, such as Mamoswine, Mimikyu, or Mega Aero, or defensively, like Cobalion, Aggron or Mega Steelix, Doublade, or Sylveon. I consider a team good enough against these 3 if they don't sweep immediately after one or two free turns. Note that this doesn't mean they can get as many free turns as they want and I still should have a winning chance. Sometimes one fail-safe is all you get, and that's okay. They're S rank for a reason.

You recently won UU Open, which is one of the toughest UU tours to win. What practicies did you put in place? What new teambuilding strategies did you use? How did your innovation peak during the tour?

I really really made sure I was not gonna lose to stall hahaha. Other than that, not much. I spammed my MMQ Spikes team in the later rounds and cycled through the same handful of teams that I knew to be really good in the earlier ones. It was tough to do any more prep, since most of my opponents did not build.

What sets you apart from other teambuilders? What strategies or practices make you a unique team builder?

Idk, it's hard to compare how I build to other dudes because I don't really know how everyone builds, but when I build I usually just have a visualized checklist in my head of things I need to have on my team and things I need to cover. Rocks, resistances to pretty much every typing, a Ground immunity, enough speed, hazard control if necessary, breakers, etc. I'll start out with a base concept for the team and go from there to achieve my goal of creating a sound team around said concept. For example, if I really wanted to build with SD Scizor, I'd build the team to cover its weaknesses, handle things it struggles with, break for it, bring 'mons that draw in things that let Scizor come in, etc. Another thing I do frequently is, when feeling inspired or bored, I'll look for new or fresh ideas that I think can work well in the current metagame. Whether it be a new set or an uncommon 'mon, I like to try to bring new and innovative things, because surprise factor is huge in Pokémon and innovating things that work well is extremely satisfying. Lots of misses, though. I frequently delete ideas before I even start putting a team around the 'mon.

When you have a checklist while teambuilding, some of the time you can't quite fit everything, because something doesn't work or go to plan. How do you overcome that, or how do you know when it's time to scrap and go back to the drawing board?

Depends on the metagame, honestly. If I think the team isn't able to cover the vast majority of relevant threats, I'll probably toss the team. The "checklist" isn't really that big, and things aren't absolute. It's not a black-and-white "every team needs this," but the vast majority definitely do. I.e., I don't think HO needs the same kinds of resists that a balance would. But I'm not going to roll up with a balance team that has no Water switch-in or Stealth Rock or anything of the sort. If I see a team can't reasonably fit resistances to every big typing or check the big threats, I'll absolutely trash the team and restart from the base concept, and if I think it's not possible to come up with something from the base concept, I'll just trash it altogether.

The second question is: Where do you draw inspiration from while teambuilding? You talked about feeling inspired in your answer, do you have a way of getting inspired or does it just happen randomly?

For me, it's most definitely entirely random. I have spurts where I really feel like teambuilding, and I have weeks where I have no real interest to. In terms of where I draw inspiration to make a team from, it's a few different places; 1) I'll scroll through the teambuilder and try to find cool ideas on my own or just think of things randomly that can be cool. 2) Seeing someone use something nice on the ladder or in tours. 3) Thinking of a set that was or is used in a different metagame or generation and seeing if it can translate to this tier. Even if there's something I think can be cool, I don't always feel like making a team with it. My inspiration to build comes and goes.

How do you build around a certain Pokémon well and maintain the idea of the team and its goal?

Teambuilding is a lot of trial and error. I'll start with one 'mon, put together two more, realize it's impossible to finish, and restart from the first 'mon again. It's hard to build a sound team around every idea I come up with, and a lot of times I'll follow super standard and typical builds around a certain mon (i.e.: starting point + Mega Steel-type / Florges / Choice Scarf Hydreigon / Water spinner / Scizor check). I value diversity a lot but I also believe the standard things are the best for a reason, so I like to strike a balance and branch out from them when I can. Typically when I teambuild for a specific purpose, i.e. a team tour, I'll come up with a handful of ideas, build a team, and if I feel there's another build possible around the mon/ or core I started with, I'll try another. I don't fill out sets, although I have a lot of specifics in my head. Here's an example.

For one week of Snake, I thought Swords Dance Haxorus was one of a few ideas that could work well, so I tried a few teams with it. You can see my process here.

Now if you followed Snake, you'll notice we never used any Haxorus team, because, well, I didn't like any of them. All of these have their own sets of issues, and I tried a bunch of different ideas because I thought Haxorus was cool for this game and would be unexpected, and the opponent at the time was a proponent of somewhat slow teams that could be blown open by Haxorus, as well as the fact it was a huge threat to stall on its own. Ultimately none of these teams were good enough to me ,so we used something else entirely, but the idea is here about how I go about building for a specific purpose, i.e. a team tour. You'll notice at the bottom I picked out the outline I laid out above as well as standard HO with Latias replaced by Haxorus.

If you want the more finer details as to how I go about building, typically you'll want to use a checklist of sorts, whether it be physical or mental, to cover as much as possible within the metagame while also being sure the big things are covered. Every team has a starting point, and it's important to keep it in mind and not sacrifice what it was while also covering as much as you can. This is moreso of a spectrum in terms of "cover everything" to "don't cover anything and use this", which leads to people ignoring common threats for the sake of trying to accomplish an "endgoal" of a team. It's important to strike a balance, because a team with, for example, a specific setup sweeper, like Nasty Plot Celebi, will need a lot of help to be sure it covers as much as it can, but it also can't forget to do what it's intended, which is have NP Celebi break / sweep / punch a hole. It's hard to strike a perfect balance in today's metagame with the abundance of super strong Pokémon, but it's important to find a balance.

If you look at the Swords Dance Haxorus teams I showed above, you'll notice the two teams at the bottom (5 and 6) really don't help with the "initial idea", which is SD Haxorus. It's just... SD Haxorus was thrown on, really. Not that the teams above perfectly cover, but they do an awful lot more than what the bottom teams do.

When I build for more general purposes, i.e. lower tier PLs, individual tours, ladder, or for fun, I'll typically only build one team at a time around a specific mon or core that has potential. As an example, around May, I made a few teams for general purposes. Could pass them to teammates for UUPL, use them myself, use them for other stuff, etc. Here are the teams.

I'll refrain from posting all of the details because they're not important, but the sets are:

1. Standard Tentacruel / CB Scizor / Block Toxic Aggron / Scarf Togekiss / Firium Z Rotom-H / SR Chople Krookodile
2. Standard Tentacruel / SR Mega Aerodactyl / CB Scizor / NP Infernape / Specs Togekiss / Scarf Krookodile
3. Protect Starmie / Head Smash Mega Aggron / Z Fire Rotom / Scarf Krookodile / Standard Amoonguss / AV Mienshao

If you played or actively followed UU Open, you may have seen some of these teams. I know my friends used the last one quite a bit, and I myself am a big proponent of it; I used it in UUPL vs Amane Misa. But to the point: for each of these teams I started with a specific mon or core I wanted to try out and went from there. At the time, I wanted to cover stall as well as I could while having a sound team, which is what led me to each of the start points. For the first I wanted to use Block Aggron, for the second I wanted to use SR Mega Aero + NP Infernape, and for the last one simply Regenerator Spam, which will be able to outlast or at least tie any stall team bar luck or heavy outplaying.

Overall, it's a challenge at times to use a specific 'mon and build a sound team, so a lot of the time I'll ditch an idea because I either can't make a team with it that I like, don't think the specific 'mon or core is capable of being on a good team, or simply find something better to use or build around.

How do you define team synergy and how do you foster that in your team composition?

I think team synergy is mostly like the balance I discussed in the previous question. Obviously, every team will need stuff like a Water answer, an Electric immunity, etc to ensure it covers the majority of 'mons in the tier, and that's something you'll have to tackle while building. You can give yourself a checklist or just be sure you cover everything with your final six. Going in depth on "hmm well I have to make sure I have a Ground immunity so I don't lose to Scarf Krookodile" doesn't seem like it'd offer much, so I won't go super in depth, but the "checklist" is something you can either write out or visualize in your head while building after getting experience. Covering a good portion of the metagame is crucial to making a good team, but it's also critical to not just have a team that has switch-ins to stuff with no real goal or win condition in mind. Not every team needs a setup sweeper or something, but every team needs a way to win. Balancing between covering your team's "goals" and covering as much as you can is something I explained in the last question.

How do you approach building "outside" the meta/off-meta?

I like to theorymon "new" and creative stuff every so often. I think innovative things have a big chance to shine in team tournaments, whether it be SPL, Snake, or UUPL, and it's very fun to come up with something and see it succeed. I come up with some ridiculous idea sometimes, partially in jest and partially seeing real viability in them, but a large amount of the time I'll axe the idea either because it's not possible to make a sound team with, because it's simply worse than another mon available, or because the idea is, well, just bad. Typically for more "creative" ideas I do a few things; 1) take an idea from another tier or a similar 'mon in a lower tier, 2) look at common builds and finding typing combinations that are good vs them. 3) look at 'mons I know have something "good" in their arsenal, i.e. moveset options, base stats, ability, or combination of them, or even 4) steal something from ladder. To name an example, Pearl and I preached Necrozma was really good for a good 6 months from the end of SPL to the start of Snake. The idea behind the set was mine, but it came to fruition from laddering and losing to the ladder set people used (SR / Photon Geyser / Heat Wave / Signal Beam @ Buginium Z), realizing it was super hard to come in on, and figuring maybe CM would be good as well. I still believe the 'mon to be good and very underrated, but maybe not as potent as it was before.

In terms of deviating from typical styles, it's a little more challenging. In UU, I feel the vast majority of times you'll need to follow a specific few rules and can't really deviate from them. To elaborate, I feel like every team 100% needs a Ground-type, two Water checks, a very good Fighting answer, a means of beating Latias, a Hydreigon switch-in, one sturdy Scarf Krookodile answer (immune to Ground preferred), two Scizor answers, one sturdy Altaria answer... and the list goes on. There's a lot of things you need to do, and this will lead to some 'mons being used frequently due to the small number of 'mons that fulfill a specific role. E.g., the only really viable Ground-types are Krookodile, Hippowdon, and Gligar, so I use them very frequently. Ultimately, deviating from traditional "builds" is very hard and will usually require you to be creative in your defensive picks. I don't think I really have any good teams that really deviate from the norm like this that aren't extremes like stall, HO, or joke teams. I feel like in this meta it's near impossible to not use the 'mons that are good to have actual switch-ins to things, because, surprisingly enough, they're good for a reason.

How do you support a Pokémon well and not deviate from the nature, whether offensive, defensive, passive, etc., of the team.

Well, I touched upon this a little bit in my previous two answers, but still some to say. I don't typically envision a "structure" of a team from the very first mon, but when doing this it's always going to be something from offense to semistall, never hyper offense or stall. For those kinds of playstyles I'll start with that in mind. For example, if I'm gonna build a team with Buginium Scizor, I'm not gonna be like "okay this is going to be offense", I'll just build with it and make a team I like with partners, and the end result is the end result. Sometimes there are specific mons that are typically only seen on the two extremes I mentioned earlier, such as stuff like Mega Sharpedo, Blissey, Haxorus, etc. then I'll start with a specific type of team in mind, i.e., Mega Sharpedo bulky offense, Blissey balance, etc, but they're special exceptions.

The biggest thing I focus on while building is handling the biggest things off of a "checklist" that need to be covered in the metagame, things every team needs (Stealth Rock, hazard removal, something fast, etc) and also keeping in mind the team's initial goal, i.e., what 'mon I built around, but rarely will I build and be like "okay I'm going to build a Scizor balance today".

EVing is a very important part of teambuilding. How do you choose what to EV and what not to EV? How do you choose what to EV certain things for and what is important?

Well, anyone who has teamed with me before knows that sometimes I have pretty wonky EV spreads that seem elaborate, but something I've learned over time is that trying to be overly cutesy with spreads is just stupid. There are times where adding bulk to certain mons can be useful and relevant, but there are also times the bulk added is arbitrary and you're much more likely to miss out on something with the loss in Attack or Speed. I'll give some examples.

This is the Aerodactyl spread I use on stall and some other teams:

• Aerodactyl-Mega (F) @ Aerodactylite
• Ability: Pressure
• EVs: 120 HP / 120 Atk / 16 SpD / 252 Spe
• Jolly Nature
• - Stone Edge
• - Earthquake
• - Pursuit
• - Roost

The EVs make Aerodactyl's bulk significantly better, which can be very relevant against a lot of things, such as Choice Scarf users, non-CB Scizor, and the like. It's proven useful to me many times, and on bulky teams such as stall, I don't find myself missing out on the Attack often and don't put myself in scenarios where I need the extra damage from say, a Stone Edge against an Amoonguss or something like that. But despite the spread looking complex, it's definitely not optimal on a lot of teams. More offensive teams really want all the power Aerodactyl can get, and taking much Attack, if any, out can do a lot of harm and suck when you fail to get a KO that you really needed at the expense of what is most likely going to be arbitrary bulk. Always run max Attack when using Ice Fang, btw.

• Blissey @ Leftovers
• Ability: Natural Cure
• EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
• Calm Nature
• - Stealth Rock
• - Toxic
• - Soft-Boiled
• - Seismic Toss

This is an example of something I think is overly arbitrary and impractical. For a while I ran 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 SpD with a Bold nature on Blissey to help ease my team vs Specs Primarina should it get into Torrent range, and using the above spread gives me 1 more hp, 2 less defense, and 20 more SDef. But, in reality, not using max Defense is just bad. The Special Defense seems nice on paper, but there are way too many instances where you want all the physical bulk you can get, such as facing Calm Mind Latias with Psyshock, all the Pursuits in the tier, Scizor U-turns, etc. It's way more important than the Special Defense, and I learned that any spread with any kind of SpD investment is just arbitrary and not worthwhile.

Ultimately, there are more examples. Taking EVs out of Speed on a 'mon in a relevant Speed tier, or even a common 'mon that usually runs max Speed, is also really dumb that some people like to do. Speed kills. I'm not one of those people who religiously subscribe to making everything run max Speed and a + Speed nature, but arbitrarily removing Speed is just silly. Don't cheat out your Speed. And don't use arbitrarily bulky spreads when your 'mon needs its Attack.

How do you incorporate your metagame knowledge into building in UU?

I mean, hard to really put this eloquently. I just do. I keep up with the meta by occasionally reading subforum posts or laddering or watching unofficial UU tours while also actively following the metagame in the big team tours and later stages of UU Open. I keep up with trends and be sure to keep them in mind while building.

In the UU tier, Scizor, Mega Altaria, and Latias have been known to be the strongest and most centralizing Pokémon in the tier. How do you deal with these threats, and others, in team building? What do you consider to be enough for these Pokémon?

I think Scizor is broken and should have been banned a year ago. It's pretty much impossible to have a team that has adequate anti-Scizor measures because of the fact that it really can only be taken on by Fire-types, pretty much all of which, bar Infernape, are weak to Stealth Rock. It can potentially beat pretty much every check in the game with a specific set, and if Stealth Rock is up, U-turn is quite free, as nothing can come in safely, and Fire-types will get screwed over. Building to handle it is quite hard. Every team needs something that can come in on CB U-turn and not lose 1v1 to most sets if it turns out to not be CB (like Amoonguss, Tentacruel, and Mega Aggron) and another good check to handle SD sets that can get by the initial check. Every team needs two mons dedicated to it; otherwise, the team is going to be straight up bad, with virtually no exceptions to this rule. Even with a team having two "checks", there's the fact Scizor that can get by the first with one of its sets, and the fact that the other is most likely going to be a Fire-type, thus weak to Rocks and without much longevity. Even then, you'll want to have 'mons that can still handle it or not let it set up, if at all posssible. Scizor is ridiculous.

Altaria is something I've always found people overrate really hard. Yeah, every team needs to have good answers to it, because it just wins if you don't have one out of a handful of Pokémon, but still, the 'mons that beat it are pretty good. Every team needs one of Scizor, Mega Aggron, Mega Steelix, Amoonguss, or Quagsire pretty much. Altaria + Magneton is really matchup fishy and unreliable, but it does mean if you rely on Scizor too often, you're likely to get punished for only relying on Scizor to beat Altaria. There's also the fact that things like CB Scizor can run into trouble vs Dragon Dance Altaria due to their lack of recovery. Altaria can definitely do work vs teams even with one of the 'mons I mentioned, but they're pretty much enough to handle unless you get outplayed, which is on you and not something that makes the 'mon broken.

Latias I feel has more options to cover than the previous two, but also, similarly to them, it can get around a lot of its counterplay. Pursuit is huge and should be used on the vast majority of teams, really. Between Scizor, Krookodile, Aerodactyl, and Bisharp, there's really no excuse to not use it in over half of your games, especially with how good the first two are. And that's not the only way to handle it—not that having one of those is a 100% surefire way of not losing to Latias. Pretty much every team needs a Fairy-type in the first place, to cover Hydreigon, but it also gives you a lot of room vs Latias. There's also Blissey, which will take the place of the Fairy (usually) and pretty much stonewalls Latias. The Mega Steel-types are also very good vs Latias and typically aren't required to be at full health against teams with Calm Mind Latias, thus giving you leeway to trade. Then there's the matter that Latias really wants to run like 7 moves on CM. Obviously Calm Mind is one. Ice Beam is huge to have a way to hit Krookodile that isn't lowering its Special Attack. Thunder with Electrium Z is incredible to nail Empoleon and Scizor. Draco Meteor is STAB and obviously offers a lot, but the fact that it's basically a one-time deal sucks, and using a Dragon-type Z-Move can be risky in a tier with so many Fairy-types. You really want Hidden Power Fire if you're not running Electrium Z to hit Scizor. Psyshock is extremely helpful, because it hits Fairies and Blissey and is a really useful STAB attack. And, well, Recover is absolutely vital in many matchups. Latias really wants so many moves and can't afford them, so there's always going to be something that'll stop it. There are a lot of solid ways to handle Latias in building; as long as you don't neglect it, it's very feasible to not have to worry about it in a game, bar getting outplayed badly.

Your teams are known for being very solid. How do you get from point A, the inception of your team, to point B, the final product. How do you perfect and tweak your teams?

Typically when I build, I have a specific purpose. I'll be building for myself or a teammate in a team tournament, I'll be building for Grand Slam, I'll be building for something to ladder with, I'll be building with a cool idea I came up with, or I'll be building something that just sounds fun. From there, I'll have a mon or two to start with, and I'll fill out the team to the best of my abilities from there. Keeping the team's initial purpose in mind is big, but covering as much as you can is extremely important. I'm not going to be satisfied with a team that doesn't properly handle the big and relevant threats and 'mons in the tier.

As an example, I'll build a team now with Swords Dance Buginium Z Scizor.

To start off, a few big things I like to do when building with this mon are; have a good Stealth Rock setter so the Fire-types can't come in freely, have 'mons that can exploit the typical switch-ins to Scizor (i.e., Aggron, Cobalion, Amoonguss, Rotom-H), and cover the big things every team needs (have a Ground-type, a Hydreigon switch-in, good Scizor counterplay, etc). To start, though, I'll go with SR Mega Aerodactyl, because it beats pretty much every hazard remover. After that, I 100% will need to use a spinner, so I have to pick between Starmie and Tentacruel. For now, I'll go with Starmie, but I might switch depending upon what I finish this out with. I'm definitely going to need a Choice Scarf user as well, so I think I'll go ahead and put Scarf Krookodile in, because I'll need a Ground-type no matter what, but I could potentially change that. Doubt it though. The last two 'mons definitely need to cover Scizor no matter what. A quick idea would be Amoonguss + Rotom-H, but I don't like the way this looks, as it's way too weak to Hydreigon, and Latias can also be troublesome, as I don't have a sturdy switch-in (bar risking Scizor, which is iffy). But I do think the base idea works. I'm going to change Mega Aerodactyl -> Mega Altaria, Scarf Krookodile -> Stealth Rock Krookodile, and bulky Rotom -> Scarf Rotom. This team feels much sturdier, and I feel like this covers all I want from it. So, the sets would be SD Buginium Z Scizor / DD Altaria / SR Krookodile / Protect + Leftovers Starmie / Scarf Rotom-H / standard Amoonguss.