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Welcome to Smogon! Take a moment to read the Introduction to Smogon for a run-down on everything Smogon, and make sure you take some time to read the global rules.
Welcome to the UnderUsed Old Gens Hub. This thread contains resources for the UnderUsed tiers of older generations - Black and White UU, Diamond/Pearl/Platinum UU, and Advance UU (or Generation 3 UU). This thread will also serve as a place to hold discussion about the older generations of UU. Each post contains Viability Rankings, sample teams, and a list of mechanics of the generation that is different from ORAS. Feel free to post your thoughts on a particular aspect of a generation, successful cores, underrated Pokemon, teams you want feedback on, and anything else related to old gens UU. We hope to bring these metagames more exposure.
Basic forum etiquette rules apply.
Old Gen Room Tournaments on Pokemon Showdown! (all times are EST):
Monday: ADV UU 5PM
Tuesday: DPP UU 6PM
Wednesday: BW UU 7PM
Thursday: ADV UU 8PM
Friday: DPP UU 9PM
Saturday: BW UU 12PM, DPP UU 8PM
Sunday: ADV UU 12PM, BW UU 8PM
Please note that ADV UU is not supported on Pokemon Showdown!. Select Generation 3 OU as the format for your battle.
No team preview, lead is the first Pokemon in your party/teambuilder
Dark and Ghost are resisted by Steel instead of neutral
Sleep lasts 1-4 turns
Hidden Power has a max base power of 70, and the base power depends on the Pokemon's IVs
Several other moves had different base power, PP, or accuracy (see BW entries)
Credit: Oglemi's DPP UU Viability Rankings S Rank: Reserved for the top threats in the UU metagame. These Pokemon are usually able to perform a variety of roles effectively, or can just do one extremely well with little to no extra support. Their use has low risk involved and high reward exerted. Pokemon in this tier have very few flaws that are patched up by numerous positive traits.
Top:
Milotic
Venusaur
Mid:
Mismagius
Low:
Arcanine
Moltres
Registeel
A Rank: Reserved for Pokemon that are outstanding in the UU metagame and can sweep, wall, or support the majority of the tier. These Pokemon require less support than other Pokemon to be used effectively, but still perform less consistently than the average S rank Pokemon. A rank Pokemon have few flaws that can be overlooked when compared to their positive traits.
Top:
Dugtrio
Hitmontop
Kabutops
Omastar
Qwilfish
Spiritomb
Mid:
Blaziken
Donphan
Leafeon
Rhyperior
Rotom
Uxie
Low:
Alakazam
Azumarill
Clefable
Cloyster
Houndoom
Mesprit
Sceptile
Scyther
Steelix
Swellow
Tauros
Torterra
Toxicroak
B Rank: Reserved for Pokemon who are slightly above average in the UU metagame. These Pokemon have more notable flaws than of those above it that affects how they function in the tier. Their positive traits still outshine their negatives, but they require a bit more team support to bring out their full potential
Top:
Absol
Aggron
Blastoise
Chansey
Hariyama
Hippopotas
Kangaskhan
Lanturn
Slowbro
Snover
Weezing
Mid:
Ambipom
Exeggutor
Feraligatr
Ludicolo
Manectric
Miltank
Nidoking
Tangrowth
Low:
Altaria
Entei
Espeon
Drapion
Electrode
Gardevoir
Gorebyss
Hitmonlee
Jynx
Magmortar
Primeape
Regirock
Skuntank
Slowking
C Rank: Reserved for Pokemon that have notable niches in the UU metagame, but have just as notable flaws that prevent them from being top tier threats. Pokemon in the C tier often require significant support to be as effective as higher ranked Pokemon in UU. C rank Pokemon tend to face a lot of competition with the more commonly used Pokemon.
Top:
Claydol
Cradily
Charizard
Dusclops
Gastrodon
Lickilicky
Medicham
Raichu
Typhlosion
Ursaring
Walrein
Mid:
Cacturne
Dodrio
Floatzel
Glaceon
Gligar
Linoone
Magneton
Nidoqueen
Poliwrath
Porygon2
Regice
Sharpedo
Shiftry
Victreebel
Low:
Ampharos
Bibarel
Camerupt
Crawdaunt
Golem
Haunter
Lapras
Lopunny
Muk
Ninetales
Quagsire
D Rank: Reserved for Pokemon that are below average in the UU metagame. These Pokemon often require very significant amounts of support with a relatively low reward compared to higher ranked Pokemon.
K Rank: This is Kangaskhan. It is the best. It can fit on every team and do work against every playstyle, depending on set.
Kangaskhan
S Rank: These Pokemon define the metagame, and are the best of the best. They will fit on most teams and carry few to no drawbacks.
Hypno
Omastar
A Rank:These Pokemon are extremely effective in the UU metagame. They can sweep, wall or support the majority of the tier. However, they may carry some drawbacks or flaws that prevent them from being useful on every team.
A+ Rank
Scyther
Gligar
Solrock
Walrein
Tentacruel
Lunatone
Nidoking
A Rank
Cradily
Ninetales
Fearow
Grumpig
Muk
Sharpedo
Blastoise
Aggron
Altaria
A- Rank
Vileplume
Lanturn
Golem
Electrode
Electabuzz
Manectric
Pinsir
Hitmonlee
Primeape
B Rank: These Pokemon have potential, but also have significant flaws that keep them from performing as well as those in the above ranks.
B+ Rank
Slowking
Sandslash
Nidoqueen
Granbull
Camerupt
Hitmontop
Quagsire
Clefable
Misdreavus
B Rank
Kabutops
Banette
Qwilfish
Meganium
Gorebyss
Ampharos
Shiftry
Linoone
Golduck
B- Rank
Feraligatr
Poliwrath
Shedinja
Magmar
Victreebel
Raichu
C Rank: Most of the time, there will be a better option, but they might fill a niche that lets them work on your team.
The thread is now open! Feel free to post anything from your thoughts on a particular metagame to sample teams you have (I'm always looking for more sample teams).
Might want to add a note regarding Thunder Wave and Powder mechanics changing from oldgens into 6th. ie; Electric-types can be hit with Thunder Wave in Gen 4.
Also no GSC UU? I know there isn't much of a market but I know Omfuga likes it and I've taken a couple looks at it myself.
Pretty cool team I've made based on Mesprit lead which is a decent lead that beats a lot of the common leads. It's sort of fat balance with some breakers such as Azumarill and Sceptile. Arcanine to counter Moltres whcih otherwise is a menace and Registeel for a solid wincon. Donphan is a good hazard removal on this team and I chose odor sleuth to get urgent spins vs spin blockers cuz arcanine needs it!
Houndoom @ Life Orb
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Pursuit
- Dark Pulse
- Fire Blast
- Sucker Punch
Primeape @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Vital Spirit
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- U-turn
- Close Combat
- Earthquake
Based of lead Cloyster which is a very underrated lead. It has a great movepool for a lead with access to rapid spin+spikes and tspikes, it also is a great late game spinner which is supported by Houndoom's spinblocking trapping. Aggron is a very solid Stealth Rocker with a funny combination of Shuca Berry + Magnet Rise which lets it beat things like EQ registeel and dugtrio with ease. Mismagius is the obvious spinblocker and is a decent stallbreaker aswell. Sceptile and Primeape were added because I needed a fast cleaners which take huge advantage of the hazard stacking. Pretty fun team and Cloyster is surprisingly very bulky on the special side with the evs.
Zoroark has the Xatu Icon in the BW Viability Ranking.
I think you guys shouldn't add all teams that are being contributed to this, a sample team thread should consist of teams that are good in the tier and are easy to use for people who are looking to get into it.
I don't want to say with this post that the teams that already were added to this thread are bad, just keep it simple, a sample team thread shouldn't feature 120912 teams, instead just maybe 5 teams that use good stuff and represent common playstyles in the tier.
I have ~200 BW UU teams dating back to 2013, but I think that it's best if I only post a few (three) I used over the course of the past two UUPLs.
This is a team I built around a dual Trick Room core that is intended to clean up against fast paced offensive teams, but it can also break balance fairly well.
Escavalier (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Swarm
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Iron Head
- Megahorn
- Pursuit
- Sleep Talk
-----
This is a fairly standard team I built around CB Durant that I used to hax the shit out of pearl. It's fairly synergetic and I think Durant is incredibly underrated in the metagame - worth trying out and it is well tested.
Donphan @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 96 Atk / 152 Def / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
Qwilfish @ Leftovers
Ability: Poison Point
EVs: 248 HP / 204 Def / 56 SpD
Impish Nature
- Waterfall
- Taunt
- Spikes
- Pain Split
Sceptile @ Life Orb
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Synthesis
My most consistent DPP UU team for the past couple of years. Pretty standard bulky offense - CB Scyther scouts and weakens Steels and Fires early game, hopefully paving the way for Sceptile to sweep later, and can clean up itself too with its nice Speed and consistent STABs. NP Houndoom busts balance cores, gets rid of Ghosts to make Donphan's job easier, and lures in Milotic for Qwilfish to take advantage of. Rotom is my main Flying + Normal check (i.e. Scyther, Swellow, Tauros, Ambipom), hence the heavy HP investment, and is a really useful Pokemon overall thanks to its immunity to Spikes and spin, great defensive typing, ability to stick around with Pain Split, and access to WoW to spread burns around to wear down the opponent. It particularly helps to weaken stuff like Registeel and Venusaur which aids Sceptile a ton. While the lack of SpA EVs means that Rotom doesn't hit particularly hard, with Spikes on the field it isn't too significant. Qwilfish and Donphan handle pretty much all other physical attackers (Hitmonlee, Arcanine, Azumarill, Kangaskhan, Rhyperior etc.) and have a ton of utility between them with Spikes, Taunt, spin and SR all covered. I don't have a dedicated check to special attackers but Sceptile's high Speed and priority of Scyther and Doom is generally good enough to handle the likes of Zam, Missy and Rotom. Feel free to try it out!
Considering that RBY UU is the ROApl ladder of the month, surely it deserves to be here? tagging North Gate because I know he's been messing with this meta a little, I'll also try and see if i can dig up any teams I have for this tier. Also I wonder what stance is gonna be taken for ADV UU? Will it be with the BL's that have been dropped? Or will it be "classic" so to say ADV UU? Just some thoughts!
It should be "classic" mostly because I think Rhydon is incredibly busted lol
I mean, we could probably introduce some other Pokemon to test them (because I think stuff like Slowbro/Venusaur/Swellow are great additions to the metagame), but that doesn't sound easy to gather interest for or make official in the first place :[
Team has been around for several years and hasn't lost its touch in the slightest. One of the earliest teams to use Swords Dance Heracross with great effect in BW UU. Many win conditions, the idea is to dismantle defensive cores with the help of SD Guts Heracross + E Belt Victini. Tornadus(Crobat) + either Band Flygon or Raikou alone should end the game.
You can use Tornadus or Crobat, Tornadus is slightly better.
Straight forward team to use, many avenues to win and newbie friendly, maybe that's why Ive done so well with it.
Alot of alterations can be made, team would still function well. During Gligars peak, I used Glaciate for instance and alot more spa on Victini, small things like that can help during metagame shifts, however with BW laid to rest, this works fine.
the omen (Bronzong) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Gyro Ball
- Toxic
- Earthquake
paper (Druddigon) @ Choice Band
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 152 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 100 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Superpower
- Pursuit
ive never really played bw uu all that often but i was bored and i liked the tier when i played it during like 2012 or something so i decided to make a team. ill go over the original team which i wont add an importable to but they are really just basic moveslot and item changes anyway.
i originally built this team around spikes qwilfish and sub cm raikou, since spikes makes it pretty annoying for typical raik switchins like pert, non rest lax, and rhyp. obviously its not beating them even with spikes up but getting chip damage helps a lot in the long run. i then added togekiss since with spikes up you can overload on typical raik checks, poops on spinners, and is a good answer to np cofag which is probably one of the biggest threats in the meta. i then added lax as a reliable answer to nidos and a soft check to most special attackers. i had twave > hbell on birdie and a tect set instead of curselax at this point because i thought it gave me a better mu vs offense, and twave was a nice thing to have against elecs, especially specsdos given that i have no elec immune. tect lax was nice cause scouting choice users like hera tini druddi etc is big in this meta and it helps me play accordingly, and added lefties recovery is never a bad thing. i added zong as my rocker because having a dragon + flying + ground resist adds a lot of utility to my team and toxic lets me deal with stuff like slowbro p2 stoise etc. its a decent check to sub cm raikou as well. druddigon is imo one of the best wallbreakers in the tier because there is not that many reliable dragon resists and all of them fear eq or superpower. having something else that can deal with fires that isnt qwilfish helps this team as well because qwilfish is going to be taking on fightings and if it dies things like mienshao become really fuckin threatening. sleep talk or dragon claw could be cool options in the last slot but pursuit trapping victini is never a bad thing
after playing a few games i realized that sub cm raikou really wasnt doing much lol. there were rarely any opportunities where i could actually set up a sub or a cm and without boosts raikou isnt that strong even with spikes up. mew and sableye also pretty much wrecked my team since nothing on my team liked taking a burn and taunt virtually nullified togekiss and zong. i decided to get rid of spikes for tspikes on qwilfish and change raikou to specs so that those 2 mons werent as much of a problem and raikou didnt suck up momentum in some situations. having volt switch is such a nice thing to have in this metagame and with the combo of raik + drudd softening up lax / toge answers it makes it a lot easier for them to clean late game. i changed lax to rest curse because beforehand i had a really shitty time dealing with fat squads with things like umbreon. i changed to hbell on togekiss in this instance as well so that lax isnt utterly useless when its asleep and as mentioned before this team hates status. there arent too many direct threats to this team but playing vs things like specs dos / rotom-h can be a little threatening and uncommon things like honchkrow can be hard to play around as well.
i have some less tested teams as well that probably suck but they have some cool concepts around them.
dwayne (Cobalion) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Hidden Power [Ice]
i felt like using rd lo kingdra mainly cause like drudd it can soften a lot of dragon resists although ferroseed is annoying. pretty standard team tho. tr + rd kingdra seems counterproductive but realistically theres not gonna be a lot of circumstances where it really matters lol. sd cobal is a pretty cool dark check as well
gia (Victini) @ Life Orb
Ability: Victory Star
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Blue Flare
- Focus Blast
- Grass Knot
- Psychic
presto (Ferroseed) (M) @ Eviolite
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Def / 208 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Spikes
- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed
- Gyro Ball
dont listen to finch honchkrow is somewhat okish. and it looks cool... honchkrow can fuck up certain teams if it manages to get a kill going late game. i paired it with mixtini and band gon to fuck up its usual answers, ferroseed + cofag + stoise is usual glue. zapdos can be annoying though...you can put twave > sr on ferroseed and replace stoise with tect pert (or toxic maybe but tect is good for scouting) so that depending on its hidden power u can fuk it up with eitherof the grounds. roost is an option on honch but suit is nice for trapping weakened slowbros and the like.
the hidden powers mite be a bit fucked up cause for some reason sometimes the teambuilder likes to change it to hp dark. i think i fixed it though. other ideas i had;
- espeed raikou
- melo-p
- nastypass togekiss + shark (im sure this has been done before)
- dusclops stall (theres no reason to use it over sableye but it looks cool :D )
- venomoth quiver pass + literally anything. shark / shaymin / mew / mixtini w/e. that thing is a threat and i hate facing it
- thunder nidoqueen in rain
- magic coat suicide lead mew (i have no idea if this is standard though)
thanks to choolio for helping me a lot with the raikou team and testing with me, same with Kushalos and PDC. shoutouts to Finchinator for telling me my team was fine.......i guess.........
i like sharing my teams but for those who are interested in the tier, id suggest making ur own teams because bw uu is a tier with a lot of expansive options for building and its cool to implement ur own ideas. thanks for reading
very late edit: quiverpass is banned. i did not know this at the time of writing but uh yeah.
This month's rotational Ruins of Alph ladder is Gen 3 UU! If you've ever been having a hankering to give Gen 3 UU a shot, now's your big chance - grab a sample team and hop on the ladder. Discussion about the tier and ladder is on the RoA subforum: http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/adv-uu-general-discussion-thread.3585923/
(Also even when the RoA ladder is no longer up, anyone who wants a gen 3 UU game can pretty much always PM me if I'm on Showdown - there's like a 90% chance I'm down for a game.)
A select council lead by old boss kokoloko voted on Chandelure and Hail after gen 6 began (vote happened sometime in 2014) and both ended up getting banned from bwuu by supermajority votes
I don't know if electrode should be A- in adv. I have just started playing adv uu so idk if I would be the person to make any noms. but should electrode really be up that high?
I don't know if electrode should be A- in adv. I have just started playing adv uu so idk if I would be the person to make any noms. but should electrode really be up that high?
Electrode is pretty threatening in late-game situations, thanks to the fact that nothing outspeeds it and it's still decently powerful especially considering it can blow something away with Explosion. It's not something that's going to win a game by itself like Kanga no doubt, but it has a huge safety factor attached to it that separates it a bit from Electabuzz and Manectric (which not only compete for a teamslot but also Speed tie each other and a plethora of other things in the tier, namely Scyther), which can be very appealing in tournament situations. You also have to consider the utility of being able to guarantee a Rain Dance in late-game situations for a teammate like Omastar or Gorebyss, and I think Electrode is worthy of its ranking, or thereabouts. Basically though, if you're trying to use it like Electabuzz or Manectric you're doing it wrong, it's a safety net with utility and breaking options rather than an overbearing special threat like the former two.
