Past Generations

This page contains all of the projects/tournaments/resources from the past generation. Feel free to look through them to learn BW NU!

Tournaments

NeverUsed Minitour 17: Viability Jam

Projects

Project NeverUsed is a project aimed to discover innovative and underrated sets. Effective sets that have been tested sufficiently will be added to the second post. Posting well here is a great way to get your name out there and to get more involved in NeverUsed!

NU Viability Ranking is a project designed to help those new to NU learn about what Pokemon experienced players find to be effective. NU players rank Pokemon based on how well they perform in the tier, which can be seen in the first post of the thread. Generally, good Pokemon will generate discussion about why they are good in NU and what sets or characteristics make them so potent. Likewise, for bad Pokemon, discussion within this thread help explain why they're not effective, why they fail, and the numerous issues they have, which will result in them being ranked lower.

Theorymon Sessions is a discussion thread about the "what ifs" of NU. How would NU be like if certain Pokemon dropped to NU, or if certain Pokemon left the tier? What would happen if a certain Pokemon received a useful move or ability that would help it perform better? There's many proposed questions to discuss and explore, and you could even raise a few points about questions of you own if you wish.

The Next Best Thing is a project in which people try to come up with creative sets (or "the next best thing") for each featured Pokemon. After a few days, people will vote on what they think is the best set. Whichever set is voted as the best will be featured under the Archive.

The NUcast is a live NU-based discussion hosted on Google Hangout. You can find past casts in the thread, and you can see what some of the best players in NU really think about the current metagame!

Research Group (#4) is a project that looks at underrated / unexplored Pokemon. A new Research Group is posted around every two weeks and usually four Pokemon are designated to be researched. Players can discuss and post sets that they think are effective or interesting. The Pokemon in the latest Research Group are Golbat, Munchlax, Mantine, and Sneasel. Research Group was the longest standing NU project, spanning from February 2012 to December 2012.

The Final Frontier is a project based around finding the best Pokemon for the sixth slot on a specific team. This project aims to get an idea of what really needs to be answered on a team in the last slot, what sacrifices can afford to be made, as well as making sure the last Pokemon synergizes well with the team in general. The project runs over a course of 7 days, with the new team being posted at the end of the 7 day period.

#NeverUsed Showdowns are daily IRC tournaments conducted by various different hosts. Each NU Showdown has a different theme made up by the host, with some popular themes reoccurring. Points are awarded to the winners and runner-ups depending on how many people participate. At the end of the month, whoever has the most points is the winner.

NU Pokemon of the Week is a project that serves as a discussion thread for prominent NU Pokemon as well as a resource for newer players. At the end of the week, a new Pokemon takes the old Pokemon's place as Pokemon of the Week and is discussed about.

NU Teambuilding 101 is the perfect place to go to if you have trouble teambuilding in NU. Every other week, three top NU players make a team of a certain playstyle voted on by the community. They will explain what went through their head as they were building the team. Not only do you get valuable insight regarding teambuilding, you even get some teams to try out yourself!

NU Survival of the Fittest is a project that provides two teams pitted against each other. From there, people try to figure out which team has a better chance of winning. There are multiple factors to consider between the two, such as weaknesses to opposing Pokemon, ease in prediction, and dependency on luck factors. At the end, the community can then nominate and vote on which NU players should use these teams and battle each other to see which team is the winner!

Resources

The August Usage Stats tells you what's hot in NU during the last month. It has data on the most used Pokemon and leads.

The NU Senate thread lists the current Senate members and details what they've voted on. In addition, it also explains how to get on the rotating council.

Guides

NU Speed Tiers - With so many viable Pokemon in the tier, it's hard to remember what Speed number whatever Pokemon has. Fear no longer, because this guide will help.

Using Sun in NU - Sun is an interesting brand of offense in NU. It needs quite a bit of support to be effective, and there are a few other factors that you have to keep in mind when building and using a sun team, which this article will talk about.

NU Teambuilding - Not sure what to use with all of the options? This thread will tell you what's good and what's... not so good. Do note that it is a work in progress so there is a ton of stuff that needs to be added, but the information it has so far is very helpful.

NU Threat List - This article is an amazing resource if you're new to the tier. It has a short overview about each Pokemon that explains why they are threats and what to watch out for from them.

NU Spikes and Toxic Spikes - This is a neat guide that explains the inner workings of how best to use and fight against Spikes and Toxic Spikes in the metagame.

Helpful Articles from The Smog

NU Baton Pass - While old, this article explains the best users of Baton Pass in the tier. Keep in mind some of the Pokemon referred to in the article are no longer in the tier, but other than that it's a good guide.

"Now Playing" Threads

"Now Playing" or np: threads are are the centerpiece of every round of the NU metagame. General discussion of each metagame will usually be found in the np: thread, and a new one is posted after every NU suspect test or significant changes in the metagame.

NeverUsed Mini-Tournaments

Mini-Tournament 1: Standard BW1

Winner: DestinyUnknown
Runner-ups: CrashinBoomBang and Zebraiken

The very first Mini-Tournament kept things simple and used the standard metagame at the time, BW1. DestinyUnknown, a player not known for his NeverUsed prowess, eventually managed to prevail over CrashinBoomBang and Zebraiken in the finals, both of whom are experienced and well respected in NeverUsed. Congratulations to DestinyUnknown!

Mini-Tournament 2: Round 0 Throwback

Winner: MMF
Runner-ups: Zebraiken and shnen

Due to popular demand, the second Mini-Tournament returned to everyone's favorite metagame, Round 0! Many Pokemon that now reside in RU were available including but not limited to: Slowking, Klinklang, and Lanturn. The presence of these and other very significant threats makes for a very different metagame, and players had to adapt as best they could. MMF was the eventual winner, prevailing over shnen and previous runner-up Zebraiken.

Mini-Tournament 3: Standard BW2

Winner: MMF
Runner-ups: Zebraiken and shnen

The release of BW2 caused much excitement, and what better way to capitalize on that than with a tournament! The standard BW2 metagame was used, with many new toys such as Regenerator Amoonguss and Skill Link Cinccino to use. MMF proved his last win was no fluke by winning again, but Zebraiken and shnen both fell short once more in a repeat of the last tournaments finals. Zebraiken has now lost in all three finals, but is he simply unlucky or prone to choking in important matches? Only time will tell.

Mini-Tournament 4: Shaking up NU

Winner: Sweet Jesus
Runner-up: New Breed

This tournament allowed seemingly random Pokemon to be tested in the metagame. At the beginning, Pokemon that were close to dropping were added to the tier, but near the end OU contender Forretress was added to the tier. Sweet Jesus picked up his first Mini-Tournament victory, triumphing over New Breed. Even though Ambipom was allowed for the majority of the tournament, it was not used to success. I guess it does suck in NU!

Mini-Tournament 5: fuk hazards

Winner: CrashinBoomBang
Runner-up: Sweet Jesus

It's arguable that entry hazards are one of the most important things that a team needs to have in order to succeed. This tournament decided to see how the tier would look if Spikes, Toxic Spikes, and Stealth Rock were removed from the tier. Unsurprisingly, Pokemon that are only NU because of entry hazards shined, with Articuno and Charizard being key players on many teams. In the finals, an early critical hit gave CrashinBoomBang an early advantage over Sweet Jesus; an advantage that was just too much to overcome with Charizard and Braviary waiting in the wings.

Mini-Tournament 6: Single Pokemon

Winner: FireMage
Runner-up: drakon136

In a departure from one of the core rules of 6v6 battling, Mini-Tournament 6 saw players fighting each other using six of the same Pokemon on each team. While seemingly very matchup based, the skill in this form of battling is to build your team in such a way that you can win almost every matchup. This can lead to many creative and unusual sets, as well as generally short matches. The final was contested between FireMage and drakon136, two relatively new users, and FireMage's choice of Cinccino triumphed over drakon136 and Ludicolo. It is also no coincidence that FireMage won, having been taught well by NU tutor Django.

Mini-Tournament 7: Ice Ice Baby

Winner: FLCL
Runner-up: DTC

With Snover unbanned from UU and being available for use in all lower tiers, this tournament tried to encourage the use of Snover outside of ladder play. While this standard tournament was made to see how potent hail teams were in NU, many people decided not to use Snover, unfortunately. The final match was a close one between FLCL and DTC, both experienced and well-seasoned NU battlers. DTC caught FLCL off guard with Choice Scarf Tauros, which proved to be a useful revenge killer. Unfortunately for DTC, Tauros barely missed out on a crucial KO, which left FLCL to come out on top in the end.

Mini-Tournament 8: Proper Counter

Winner: Valentine
Runner-up: Shining Latios

Everything was standard NU in this tournament, but with a little twist! Before playing, each opponent revealed their Pokemon to each other and were then allowed to change their sets accordingly. From Giga Drain Haunter to Hidden Power Ice Seismitoad to Bounce Sawsbuck (which cost Zebraiken the match), weird sets were being used throughout this entire tournament! The finals consisted of two players, Valentine and Shining Latios, both of whom are not NU regulars. With a lack of thorough understanding of the NU tier, both players decided to stick with their tried-and-true sets instead of trying any funny business. In the end, Valentine took the win with a huge 6-0 using a stall team.

Mini-Tournament 9: YOLO

Winner: FLCL
Runner-up: panamaxis

Imagine if Pokemon was like real life — where you couldn't recover lost health by using an item, or couldn't walk away to feel better. You could only live once. This held true for this tournament, as all recovery moves, items and abilities were banned. Long gone were Regenerators like Alomomola and Tangela, and rather Sawk, Gorebyss and hyper offense ruled the tournament. Seasoned battlers, FLCL and panamaxis, made it to the finals. Kangaskhan was used by both, however it was FLCL's Samurott that dealt the finishing blow on Kadabra, winning the tournament.

Mini-Tournament 10: Mechanic Chaos

Winner: shnen
Runner-up: Novaray

This mini-tour was a back-to-the-future theme, with everything from DPP NU free, along with B2W2 mechanics. With all Generation 5 Pokemon banned, users had to think outside of the box and back to the days of DPP NU. This meant Ninetales and Politoed were both free, however to keep things fair, both the combinations of Drizzle and Swift Swim was banned as well as Chlorophyll and Drought. shnen managed to make it to the finals to face Novaray, and after a close battle in the rain, shnen came out on top and won the tournament.

Mini-Tournament 11: NU Doubles

Winner: Axaj
Runner-up: Punchshroom

Double or nothing was the basis of this tournament. This tournament played similarly to Smogon Doubles, where two Pokemon were partnered up on each side in order to create unique strategies and matches. During the tournament all sorts of combinations were viable, such as Rage Powder Parasect paired with Shell Smash Gorebyss, as well as Musharna paired with anything that benefited from Trick Room. Punchshroom and Axaj made it to the finals, where after 15 turns of careful playing, Axaj won and was declared the NU Doubles champion.

Mini-Tournament 12: Standard NU

Winner: FLCL
Runner-up: Shuckleking87

With Jynx, Munchlax, Primeape and Scolipede recently freed, this mini-tour had no other option but to be Standard NU! Given that people were only just getting a hang of NU's new metagame, everyone was experimenting with different teams. Shuckleking87 and FLCL fought their way through the final, where their newly aquired knowledge of the metagame was put to the test. FLCL got an A grade on the test and ultimately won the tournament.

Mini-Tournament 13: RETURN from the dead

Winner: FLCL
Runner-up: Agent Dell

This tournament was based around the theme of everything that has ever been NU being free. With everything released there was a lot to prepare for, including favourites like Cinccino and Emboar. FLCL managed to yet again end up in the finals, and defeated Agent Dell to secure a back-to-back mini-tour win.

Trivia Clue #3
_ _ o _ _ _ _ h _ _ _ _ _ s _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ s
I heard XY is making a splash. How did Smogon handle all the research? Find a hub!

NeverUsed Challenges

Crisis Core v1

Winner: CrashinBoomBang
Runner-ups: Django and FLCL
Hosted by Raseri
Crisis Core was a challenge unique to NeverUsed, where players are presented with a core of two or three Pokemon by the host, and are tasked with coming up with a core of their own that can counter the hosts. Bonus points are awarded for doing so with a single Pokemon, as well as a number of other more trivial challenges. Participants are also encouraged to disprove their opponents attempts at countering the core, and this led to many heated debates in the thread. CrashinBoomBang was the winner after several weeks of intense competition, just narrowly edging out FLCL and Django due to a wild Skuntank appearing and docking points from all Psychic-type Pokemon used in the final round.

Crisis Core v2

Winner: melvni
Runner-ups: Punchshroom and FLCL
Hosted by Sweet Jesus

Crisis Core came back for a second time in March 2013. The challenge involved players being presented with a core of two or three Pokemon by the host, and were tasked with coming up with a core of their own that can counter the hosts. Bonus points were awarded for doing so with a single Pokemon, as well as a number of other more trivial challenges. Participants were also encouraged to disprove their opponents attempts at countering the core, and this led to many heated debates in the thread. Throughout the challenge there were many "sac a Pokemon then sweep with second Pokemon" cores, but Sweet Jesus countered that by reducing the amount of points for those cores. Reservations were also a contentious issue, as people started to get annoyed about not being able to post a certain Pokemon because it was reserved. Despite that melvni managed to come out on top and won the second version of the thread.

Ladder Challenges

Hosted by Treecko and skylight
Ladder Challenges was a series of different weekly challenges users had to complete in order to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. These challenges included scrabble, mono-type, randomly generated teams, generation 1-4 Pokemon only and teams where every Pokemon had to have a Choice Scarf, Choice Band or Choice Specs equipped.

NeverUsed Premier League

Winner: Blackthorn Braviarys
Runner-ups: Sootopolis Samurotts
Hosted by FireMage
The NeverUsed Premier League was a tournament hosted by FireMage where everyone who signed up was put into six teams. It was the first of its kind outside of Smogon Premier League, and the other tiers followed afterwards. The teams were the Blackthorn Braviarys, managed by FLCL; the Canalave Camerupts, managed by Zebraiken and Honus; the Dewford Dewgongs, managed by Raseri; the Lilycove Ludicolos, managed by CrashinBoomBang; the Sootopolis Samurotts, managed by Annoyer and the Safari Zone Sawsbucks, managed by Django. Over the course of five weeks each team played off against each other and won points for each victory, similar to how the Smogon Premier League works. Eventually the Sootopolis Samurotts made it to the finals with the Blackthorn Braviarys. The Braviarys managed to defeat the Samurotts and were declared champions of the first ever NU Premier League.

#NeverUsed Showdown

Winner: FLCL
Runner-ups: Raseri, MMF, and Zebraiken
Hosted by Django

Another event unique to NeverUsed, the #Neverused Showdown was a series of live tournaments held in the #Neverused IRC channel. Each tournament had a twist however, such as banning the top 20 most used Pokemon in NeverUsed. This forced players to think on their feet and build a new team to adapt to the rulset in the 20 minute time limit. Points are awarded depending on the players performance in the tournament, and after a month of competition and 22 live tournaments, FLCL ran away with the competition and won with 29 points. His nearest rival was Raseri on 20 points followed by MMF and Zebraiken on 15.

NUgget Bridge v1

Winner: FLCL
Runner-up: shnen
Hosted by Django

The NUgget Bridge was a pioneer of sorts, spawning similar challenges across many other metagame forums, and sparking activity in each one. The idea was as simple as the Nugget Bridge itself, beat five trainers in order and win a prize! Five of the best (or worst in Keiran's case) were chosen to defend the bridge against challengers, who were aiming to become the Team Rocket member at the head of the bridge and hold that position for the longest amount of time. shnen reached the end first, but couldn't stand up to FLCL who followed up his success in the #Neverused Showdown with victory here.

NUgget Bridge v2

Winner: FLCL
Hosted by Cherub Agent

FLCL was not only a Bug Catcher, but he also became the champion of the NUgget Bridge once again. He fought his way through players that were skilled at johning, such as EBeast and managed to become the Team Rocket member this time around, claiming his champion title back.

NU Ladder Racing

Winner: FLCL
Runner-up: Raseri
Hosted by Steamroll

The Ladder Race was just what its name suggests, a race to the top of the ladder. Players signed up with fresh alts and then spent every waking moment climbing the ladder. It took FLCL just 3 days to reach the very top (where 3 of his other alts already were...) to cement his reputation as the most consistent and dedicated ladder player.

The Dark Horse Challenge

The Dark Horse Challenge was a challenge based around using the lesser-used Pokemon while laddering. The Pokemon that qualified as "Dark Horse" Pokemon were those with 3.41% usage or less on the NU ladder. S-Ranked Pokemon were banned, and you could only have a few A-rank Pokemon, according to the Viability Rankings. This meant players had to get creative with their teams in order to be good enough to get into the Hall of Fame.

The NUlympics

Winner: Incon
Runners-up: CrashinBoomBang
Hosted by Keiran

The NUlympics were a series of 4 mini-tournaments. Each tournament had a different theme, such as Monotype or Triples. Like the Olympics, you received medals when you won; a gold medal gave you three points, silver medal two, and bronze medal one. At the end of the 4 mini-tournaments, the points were added up and Incon was crowned NUlympics champion, with CrashinBoomBang coming in 2nd, and shnen and DTC tying for 3rd.

The NeverUsed Sweet Potato Award

The Sweet Potato Award is an adaptation of a certain OU award with a similar name, in which posters in the NeverUsed sub forum are rewarded for making intelligent and insightful posts. Every week or so (the time period can vary) a user who has made a significant number of high quality posts is selected by the moderation staff and award the Sweet Potato for their efforts. Winning this award is a stepping stone to pretty pixels in your postbit (badges) and winning it multiple times will perhaps even lead to a badge itself.

Round 1

Winner: Full2Half
Posts: 1 2 3 4 5
Honorable Mentions: Xei Win Toh, FLCL

Round 2

Winner: EBeast
Posts: 1 2 3 4 5
Honorable Mentions: Elegy96, Sweet Jesus

Round 3

Winner: Sweet Jesus
Posts: 1 2 3 4
Honorable Mentions: Annoyer

Round 4

Winner: Annoyer
Posts: 1 2 3 4 5

Battle Logs

Double Feature: Deluged Dimensions featuring Tachycardia, by Punchshroom.

The battle occurred during the NU Doubles minitour and utilised strategies based around rain and trick room. Both Punchshroom and Tachycardia commented on the thrilling warstory, ending in a close 2-0.