UMotM Spotlight: Ubers UU
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Art by DaWolfKid.
What is the Unofficial Metagame of the Month?
Unofficial Metagames serve as a catch-all term for a wide range of formats that are cart-legal but otherwise do not stand on their own as a fully fledged format for any number of reasons. The UMotM serves to provide some of these metagames that can't support full year-round ladders with a monthly spotlight ladder. This month, the UMotM is Ubers UU!
What is the concept of Ubers UU?
It may seem contradictory to have these two terms put together, with Ubers being things too powerful for OU and UU being the things not quite powerful enough for OU. However, if one thinks slightly askew to the traditional single dimension of usage-based tiering, the existence of an Ubers UU, where things not powerful enough for Ubers can be used to great effect, becomes an intriguing prospect. After all, usage-based tiering doesn't limit Ubers to just Uber Pokémon, though some of the strongest in the tier are no doubt the OU bans that couldn't hack it against the best.
Ubers UU sits at a power level significantly higher than OU's, yet lower than Ubers. With most every Ubers staple gone, otherwise outclassed options such as some Arceus formes, Mewtwo, and Roaring Moon can find a tier that they excel in. While this provides some cool benefits, such as Palafin finally finding its home format where it stands as a legitimate threat, it also has some drawbacks that any other usage-based tier can emphathize with, specifically losing particularly notable tools to being used well in a higher tier. This leaves Ubers UU with a high-power format, where each turn can swing a game and the right prediction can make or break a strategy.
Threats In Ubers UU
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Arceus-Ice @ Icicle Plate
Arceus-Dark @ Dread Plate
Arceus-Poison @ Toxic PlateAs befitting the creator god of Pokémon, Arceus can serve a wide range of purposes in Ubers UU. While unable to access many of its typings due to usage in Ubers or tiering action, Arceus retains powerful options for offensive pressure on both sides of the binary, as well as the opportunity to make use of a more utility-focused role. With a wide range of coverage moves, utility options, and EV spreads, Arceus can either serve as a team's focal point or a flexible teammate adapting to a team's needs.
Arceus is near-mandatory in Ubers UU, with the primary three shared above, but other typings like Rock, Fighting, and Psychic cannot be entirely overlooked when considering formes to use and to have plans for. Incredible stats ensure that Arceus will rarely be outright OHKOed, ensuring that a player with a healthy Arceus has an opportunity to turn back the tide. Without proper preparation in the builder, Arceus in all of its guises can flatly block progress and even limit the viability of otherwise powerful Pokémon like Darkrai, Iron Valiant, and Ogerpon-W.
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Lugia @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Alomomola @ Rocky HelmetWith a surprising amount of useful defensive options being locked to Ubers or unable to hold up to the power level of Ubers UU, a few stand in defiance of the limitations of the format. While these three are not the only possible defensive options available, they stand out among the competition due to their kits. Without proper preparation on your opponent's part, they may find it difficult to properly break these Pokémon. With how offensive Ubers UU can be, having the ability to take a hit rather than just exchange revenge kills can help cover for surprise endgame techs or the reversal provided by a key reveal of Terastallization.
A consistent throughline in these Pokémon is an ability to self-sustain, whether it's a proper recovery move or something like Alomomola's Regenerator. Additionally, between options like Whirlwind, Parting Shot, and Rocky Helmet, these Pokémon manage to force a foe out or leave them in a position where switching out is preferred for them. Given the tier's tendency toward powerful setup sweepers or difficult-to-position wallbreakers, disrupting an opponent's rhythm can do more good than just the direct disruption of momentum provided by these Pokémon's presence. Booster Energy once consumed is impossible to get back, Multiscale can be hard to position as well as its first turn on the field, and setup turns are not so easily discovered once forced out the first time.
Psychic + Fighting
Ubers UU has very few defensively oriented Ghost- and Fairy-types, and those that do exist often find themselves with plenty of other tasks, such as Gholdengo's entry hazards-focused role. As a result, Pokémon like Great Tusk, Zamazenta, and the Urshifu twins have mostly free rein to spam powerful attacks, with a major bulwark against their recklessness coming from the tier's many Psychic-types. While Pokémon like Lugia and Solgaleo may have a more defensive bent, many of the most prominent Psychic-types—such as Mewtwo, Deoxys, and Arceus-Psychic—tend to be more offensively oriented.
As a result, teams can often find themselves packing one or more of each typing, bucking teambuilding orthodoxy that avoids stacking weaknesses. This can pay off in Ubers UU by putting outsized pressure on a wall capable of handling one Pokémon but leaving the other unchecked, or by weakening non-defensive checks early in the game to position the other for a late-game sweep. All well-constructed teams can handle one of Zamazenta or Great Tusk, or for Psychic-types, Deoxys or Mewtwo. However, when they partner up together, these reliable responses can find themselves unable to stand up to doubled offenses, leaving a team on the back foot for a sweep by either member of the duo or one of the other four Pokémon waiting in the back.
Speed Control
Given the presence of incredible Speed options such as Arceus, Mewtwo, Roaring Moon, and others, it can be important for a team to be aware of the options for priority and speed setup, two major parts of the Ubers UU metagame. Palafin is incredibly strong in this category, with Jet Punch coming off a monstrous base 160 Attack capable of dispatching most threats, though requiring a turn to throw away on switching it out of its base forme. Extreme Speed is powerful priority, wielded by Arceus formes, Dragonite, and Deoxys, though each of them finds some challenge in running the move on every single set. Other priority options do exist, such as, but not limited to, Hisuian Samurott's Sucker Punch, Rillaboom's nerfed-but-still-effective Grassy Glide, and Baxcalibur's Ice Shard. Lacking proper priority often means forgoing a reliable way of revenge killing a boosted Arceus, Dragon-type, or Lugia.
Choice Scarf may not entirely smother the Speed game in the way that priority does, but a number of Pokémon can reliably run the item to great effect. Landorus exchanges Life Orb boosts for unexpected Speed, often able to get KOs on weakened foes with a deep well of powerful coverage moves, while Pokémon like Chi-Yu and both Urshifu formes rely on a powerful kit to circumvent the type chart somewhat and hit hard despite resistances. Should another angle be desired, Booster Energy can provide a Speed boost to Pokémon like Roaring Moon, Iron Treads, or even Great Tusk, acting as the equivalent of a Choice Scarf with the drawback of being a one-time use, though the allure of switching moves can often be a worthwhile trade.
However, should one have the opportunity to take a turn to influence the Speed structure, Speed boosting and dampening is plenty available in the tier to Pokémon that may not have the priority or item flexibility to access speed control in traditional ways. Dragon Dance on Roaring Moon and Gouging Fire can turn a single free turn into a sweep, Agility sneakily hiding on a Lugia or Arceus can shift the entire math on how to handle such threats, even stuff like Espathra, in all of its cheesy glory, lurks waiting in the darkness to surprise unprepared teams with its runaway nature. Bulkier teams can rely on moves like Thunder Wave from Magearna or an Arceus forme to do something similar, choosing to debuff a foe's Speed rather than boost their own.
Final Thoughts
Ubers UU is a format unlike anything seen in Ubers or OU, or most any other format in the game. Regular salarymen like Great Tusk and Alomomola stand shoulder to shoulder with titans like Mewtwo and Palkia-O, resulting in a metagame where theorized competitive darlings of generations past and present can hold influence, unbothered by a power too great for the flagship OU yet unable to withstand many of the BST beasts that are box art legendaries or the overtuned "well Game Freak doesn't think about Singles" monstrosities each generation usually brings. Ubers UU is the UMotM for the month of February and can be found as a ladderable format in the Ladder Spotlight section. You can discuss it in the forum, the Unofficial Metagames Discord, and the Unofficial Metagames room on Pokémon Showdown! See you on the ladder!
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