UU Classic Coverage

By Ark.
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UU Classic Coverage

Art by Bummer.

Introduction

The UnderUsed Classic is one of four big UnderUsed tournaments, and its first iteration has been held this past winter. Emulating the format of the Smogon Classic, tournaments focused on past iterations of UU were held, and every win in any of these tournaments gained one points. The eight people with the most points advanced to a playoffs stage, and duked it out for the title of UnderUsed Classic Champion there.

The featured tiers were ADV UU, DPP UU, and BW UU, representing the three previous UU tiers. In the playoffs stage, a best-of-three featuring all of these tiers would be played for every set. As ORAS UU had just ended, it was excluded from this iteration of the UU Classic. RBY UU and GSC UU were not included, as they were not included in UUPL due to their small playerbases, making them largely irrelevant for UnderUsed as a whole.

The Tiers

The newest of the tiers is BW UU. While BW OU is known primarily for its weather wars, BW UU is primarily defined by hazards. As Defog did not remove hazards in Generation 5, and many of the viable Rapid Spin users are locked away in OU, many teams choose to forgo hazard control or use less reliable means such as Xatu to control hazards. Spikes users such as Qwilfish and Roserade are common, and their hazards help break down bulkier teams so that powerful offensive threats such as Choice Scarf Heracross and Speed Boost Sharpedo can sweep. Powerful wallbreakers were also plentiful, with Victini at the head of the crowd. Meanwhile, other powerful offensive threats such as Zapdos, Kingdra, Mew, and Snorlax offered great defensive utility as well.

DPP UU games often last long, as many teams are bulky, but not all are. While stall is common, mostly in the form of hail stall with Snover and Walrein, several prominent threats such as mixed Blaziken, Toxicroak, and Curse Registeel heavily pressure it, causing bulky offense and fat balance to be the primary playstyles. The lead match-up often opens up many games, with different variatons of Omastar, Mismagius, Moltres, Venusaur, and Uxie often being seen. As Milotic and Venusaur are considered to be the best Pokémon, with Arcanine and Moltres being S Rank as well, Fire / Water / Grass cores are very commonplace. There are several ways of breaking through defensive cores, which range from trapping key members with Dugtrio to busting through them with Calm Mind Clefable. Offensive powerhouses such as Alakazam, Sceptile, and Swellow often do not get many opportunities to break teams but only have few checks, all of which are exploitable in some form. This leads the this tier to have an interesting balance between offense and defense, causing it to be a fan favorite.

ADV UU is a tier from before the physical/special split existed. This extended to Hidden Power, which would be physical or special depending on its type and opened up a lot of coverage options for many Pokémon. ADV UU is ruled by Kangaskhan, whose expansive movepool, excellent bulk, and above-average Speed and defenses make it a great fit on almost every team. The prevalence of Kangaskhan also puts Omastar into the spotlight, with sky-high Defense and a Rock typing to take on Kangaskhan's strongest attacks, as well as access to the coveted Spikes. Other top-tier threats include Hypno, which can pivot into most attacks and pass Wishes or spread status, or even go offensive with Calm Mind and Baton Pass, and Scyther, whose Speed and power is nearly unmatched. With no sand or hail and no easy way to boost Speed, Endure or Substitute + Salac Berry is always a dangerous strategy, and all but the bulkiest teams must carry priority or risk being swept by it. Other fast offensive threats include the Electric trio of Electrode, Manectric, and Electabuzz, which share (or even exceed) Scyther's Speed while trading in raw power for great coverage. Other threats such as Ninetales, Gligar, and Tentacruel may not be as immediately threatening as Scyther or the Electric-types, but they make up for it in defensive utility and the ability to set up. For all these defensive threats, however, stall is still a very viable playstyle, often hinging around Altaria, whose impressive bulk, excellent typing, and access to key moves such as Heal Bell and Roar or Perish Song make it a key part of almost every stall team.

The Road to Playoffs

The BW UU Cup I

As soon as the year 2017 began, the signups for the BW UU Cup I went live and the tournament was soon underway. Many strong players signed up, and Round 1 already looked to be tough. The highlight match was definitely Pearl vs Star. These two players meeting early was unfortunate, but they played a good series. In Game 1, Pearl manages to narrowly clutch out a victory with his Suicune. Game 2 started out well for Star, as Pearl's Shaymin missed several Seed Flares, and he managed to play himself into an advantageous position from there. However, his Sableye missing a Will-O-Wisp on Pearl's Nidoking allowed for said Nidoking to clean his remaining Pokémon as opposed to getting stalled out, and the series concluded in a 2-0 victory for Pearl.

The tournament of course went on, and in Round 2, Finchinator and reachzero faced off against each other. Finchinator put on a dominating performance in Game 1, utilizing his Victini to gain an early advantage and pressing it, leading to his victory through Nidoqueen and Zapdos. Game 2 started out with reachzero using his Victini this time to gain an early advantage by removing Finchinator's Rhyperior, but Finchinator found his way back into the game with his Rotom. After Tricking reachzero's Cresselia, he was looking to take this game as well, but a full paralysis on Escavalier and a subsequent miss from his Mienshao allowed reachzero to emerge victorious. In Game 3, Finchinator used his Choice Band Druddigon to remove reachzero's Suicune early from the game and kept applying pressure until he eventually won with his Durant.

Round 3 passed by, and there were many good matches. Round 4 contained another highlight, again featuring Finchinator. This time, his opponent was Hogg. In Game 1, Hogg manages to remove Finchinator's Zapdos early, allowing him to apply pressure with Suicune and win with it. An early Scald burn on Finchinator's Escavalier in game 2 put Hogg in a great position, and after finding an opportunity to set it in, his Sharpedo finished the game in a clean sweep, ending the series 2-0.

By Round 5, the tournament only had the top 8 players left, and all of them were strong. The highlight of the round was PDC vs Pearl. Early on in game 1, PDC wears down Pearl's Blastoise, and thereafter sets up a layer of Spikes as well as Stealth Rock. This puts him in a great position, and Pearl attempts to fight back with SubCM Meloetta but fails, ultimately ending with PDC winning through a forfeit a short while later. Game 2 starts great for Pearl, as he manages to Pursuit trap PDC's Victini and then deal massive damage to Ferroseed with his Snorlax. After setting up to +4 with Nasty Plot Togekiss, Pearl Baton Passes these boosts to Cobalion, which then proceeds to use Rock Polish. However, it fails to sweep, and PDC manages to wear down the rest of Pearl's team and win, ending the series with a 2-0 victory.

In the semifinals of the tournament, KratosMana faces PDC while Rodriblutar has to take on Kushalos. In game 1 of KratosMana vs PDC, PDC uses his Mew to wear down KratosMana's Blastoise and keep up Stealth Rock. Once he has accomplished that, he wears down KratosMana's team with a combination of Porygon2 and Zapdos, occasionally using Heracross to claim a KO. The game ends with Heracross cleaning out KratosMana's weakened team. The series went on, and KratosMana managed to remove PDC's Qwilfish early in Game 2. PDC's In return, Roserade manages to get Toxic Spikes up and KO KratosMana's Snorlax. With KratosMana's Zapdos being worn down due to taking on PDC's Rhyperior, PDC's Offensive Trick Room Cofagrigus wears down KratosMana's Blastoise, allowing PDC's Sharpedo to clean, finishing the series.

Rodriblutar vs Kushalos starts off in a rather explosive fashion, as Kushalos's Durant's Iron Head flinches Rodriblutar's Rhyperior turn 1 and then KOes Sharpedo the next turn. Kushalos's Nidoqueen manages to KO Rodriblutar's Mienshao a few turns later, and his Zapdos is able to remove Rhyperior for good. Rodriblutar's Cofagrigus goes down to a combination of Nidoqueen and Snorlax, and he forfeits as he had yet to get a KO the whole game, and found himself in an unwinnable situation. In game 2, Kushalos manages to KO Rodriblutar's Nidoqueen and deal massive damage to Bronzong with his Virizion early on. Kushalos' own Nidoqueen crits Umbreon as it switches in, and removes it successfully. From that point onwards, Kushalos' Zapdos wins through a combination of Toxic, Thunderbolt and Roost, ending the series 2-0 in Kushalos's favor.

With that, only two players remained in the tournament. Kushalos and PDC both had come a long way, defeating many strong opponents on their path to the finals. While Kushalos had already qualified for playoffs, PDC needed the win or he would have to play a tiebreaker. Naturally, tension was high as both players prepared to battle, and the series finally took place on March 12th.

Finals Game 1 Analysis

At preview, we can see that PDC brought a team based around Qwilfish and its Spikes, which pressures Kushalos's team due to it having no hazard removal and five grounded Pokémon. Qwilfish does not have an easy time setting the hazard, though, as it can only do so safely against Durant and Snorlax. Meanwhile, PDC's team was weak to a potential Focus Blast Nidoqueen on Kushalos's side, and he would also need to be careful around Durant in case Qwilfish got worn down. Virizion may also be able to clean, but this would require significant amounts of chip damage on Mew as well as the removal of a potential Choice Scarf Heracross or Flygon.

The game starts with PDC leading Porygon2 while Kushalos leads Zapdos. Both use Toxic on each other, which is great for PDC because Zapdos is Kushalos's most reliable Heracross answer. They both switch out during turn 4, leaving us with Flygon vs Durant. Kushalos may have feared a Choice Scarf Fire Punch, so he switches out into his Nidoqueen. This puts him in a good position, as PDC did not want to lose his Flygon there and switches to his Qwilfish in an attempt to get Spikes up. Kushalos also learns that his Durant is faster than PDC's Flygon, as it switched out first. Nidoqueen uses Earth Power as PDC sends out his Mew. Both parties then trade Stealth Rock.

With the initial setup out of the way, Kushalos uses his Calm Mind Slowking to apply pressure to PDC. PDC attempts to remove Slowking with Zapdos, but an untimely Scald crit instead allows Slowking to emerge victorious and remove one answer to Durant's Iron Head. Flygon forces Slowking out, though, and Kushalos loses his Zapdos to Flygon's Dragon Claw. In an attempt to revenge kill it with Durant, he allows Qwilfish to start setting up Spikes, which could eventually help facilitate a Heracross sweep. However, in turn 24, PDC switches his Heracross into Slowking's Scald and gets it burned. As Choice Scarf Heracross usually run Moxie, this heavily crippled PDC's primary wincon.

Qwilfish manages to get up a third layer of Spikes in turn 33, and all of Kushalos's remaining Pokémon are grounded. The wallcore of Porygon2 + Mew does not hold up for PDC, though, as his Porygon2 is badly poisoned, and in an attempt to regain his bearing, he switches Flygon into Slowking's Scald. Just like Heracross, it gets burned, and PDC forfeits the match.

Finals Game 2 Analysis

PDC brings a more balanced team centered around Ferroseed's ability to get up Spikes and Victini's ability to wallbreak, opening up the game for a potential Kingdra or Cofagrigus sweep. Swampert can also set Stealth Rock and spam Roar after several layers of hazards have gone up, which would allow it to chip down much of Kushalos's team, as his only Pokémon that is not grounded is his Zapdos. Kushalos's team aims to apply pressure with Nidoqueen, Zapdos, and Bisharp until either Bisharp itself or Heracross can clean. Slowbro and Snorlax act as pivots, and they seem to be Kushalos's main way of handling Victini and Kingdra. As Ferroseed can set Spikes on both of these pivots, and Kushalos lacks hazard removal, he has to play smartly to prevent getting swept.

The game starts off with PDC leading Victini and using U-turn on Kushalos's Slowbro. Anticipating the Fire Blast, he sends out his Snorlax, which manages to trap Slowbro with Pursuit and remove it from the game. Nidoqueen threatens out the Snorlax and hits Ferroseed with Earth Power, and then removes it with Focus Blast to eliminate the threat of an early Spikes setup. Victini threatens out Nidoqueen and OHKOes Snorlax with a V-create crit. As Kushalos's Snorlax was most likely running Protect, it could have regained enough health with Leftovers to take another V-create and deal with Victini without a critical hit, but now PDC still has both his Victini and Kingdra, with their biggest answers being removed.

The rest of the game is just PDC claiming KO after KO with Kushalos being unable to prevent him from doing so. PDC's Kingdra manages to wear down Zapdos with Hydro Pump, and Snorlax later removes it. Kushalos's Bisharp sets up on Snorlax, but it gets traded for Swampert. PDC's Victini is then sent out, survives Heracross's Stone Edge, and OHKOes it with V-create. Afterwards, Kingdra comes in on Kushalos's last remaining Pokémon, Nidoqueen, and ends the game with its Hydro Pump.

Finals Game 3 Analysis

Kushalos brings the same team he brought Game 1, and similarly, PDC brings a team based around Qwilfish's Spikes. Again, Qwilfish can only spike on Durant and Snorlax safely. PDC's Lanturn has a good match-up, as it can deal with Zapdos and Slowking while Kushalos needs to choose his switch-in smartly. If he goes into Snorlax on a Volt Switch, he loses momentum. However, switching in Nidoqueen on a Scald would be devastating, and Virizion will also want to avoid a potential burn. Even if Virizion does come in, PDC has a Crobat in the back to deal with it.

The game starts with PDC leading Shaymin as Kushalos leads with Nidoqueen. Kushalos tries to catch Bronzong with a Fire Blast, but PDC switches his Lanturn in and removes Nidoqueen turn 2 via a surprising Choice Specs Surf. Virizion is sent out by Kushalos, and it manages to catch the incoming Crobat with a critical hit Stone Edge, KOing it. Bronzong manages to wear down Durant a bit and get up Stealth Rock, which could potentially help Flygon down the line. Qwilfish gets up a layer of Spikes, and PDC is looking to be in a good position, but Kushalos manages to use Toxic on Lanturn with his Zapdos, putting it on a timer. After being forced out into Durant, Kushalos double switches right back into Zapdos anticipating the Qwilfish and manages to heal up.

As Zapdos is looking to be in a great spot, Bronzong catches it with a Toxic, and Durant goes down to damage from entry hazards. Virizion manages to boost up with Swords Dance on Bronzong, remove it, it and then severely weaken Qwilfish. Snorlax comes in, and Kushalos is in a rough spot as Qwilfish reveals Pain Split. However, a Body Slam paralyzes it and a subsequent Earthquake takes it out, and Snorlax manages to remain healthy. PDC's Flygon forces Kushalos to give up his Slowking, but it gets confused after a two-turn Outrage. Shaymin is switched into Snorlax and attempts to wear it down with Seed Flare but misses. Zapdos comes in and forces it out again, but it is forced out by Lanturn afterwards. Snorlax Pursuit traps the Lanturn and leaves it with just a sliver of HP as PDC switched in Shaymin. Shaymin misses another Seed Flare and gets KOed.

PDC is now down to his last two Pokémon, a Choice Band Flygon as well as a worn down Lanturn. Meanwhile, Kushalos has his half health Snorlax as well as a worn-down, badly poisoned Zapdos that would only survive for another two turns. PDC sends out his Flygon, which KOes Snorlax with Outrage. As Zapdos is running max Speed investment, this comes down to a Speed tie, and the winner of said Speed tie was going to win the match and thus, the tournament. Kushalos' Zapdos goes first and defeats Flygon with Hidden Power Ice. Afterwards, it KOes Lanturn with the same move, and Kushalos emerges victorious, winning the first ever iteration of the BW UU Cup.

The DPP UU Cup I

A week into 2017, the signups for the DPP UU Cup I went live, and the tournament started a few days afterwards. As with the BW UU Cup, a lot of strong players entered and many of them faced off against each other. And as with any tournament, upsets happen. Arifeen managed to spectacularly overcome Isa in Round 1. After trapping Isa's Arcanine early on in Game 1 with Dugtrio, Venusaur is able to break through Isa's team with ease and Isa forfeits after losing his Leafeon. In Game 2, Arifeen manages to predict an incoming Grass-type with his Rhyperior and removes Ludicolo from the game. After a slew of aggressive plays, Isa's Kabutops is worn down and his Toxicroak loses to Mismagius. Uxie does not wake up early, and Isa forfeits the game.

As the Cup proceeded, more matches were played. In Round 3, Malekith and dodmen faced off. While the game starts off promising for Malekith, as he manages to paralyze dodmen's Moltres with Thunder Wave and then set up Stealth Rock, but dodmen managed to set up his own Stealth Rock and Spin Malekith's away. An Ice Beam freeze on Clefable puts Malekith in a great position, and he manages to take Game 1 with Milotic KOing dodmen's Aggron. In Game 2, dodmen sets up Stealth Rock and manages to remove Malekith's Donphan early via Tauros. He trades his Omastar for an additional layer of Spikes and is in a great position. Malekith and dodmen trade Pokémon until dodmen emerges victorious, with his Quick Attack Blaziken KOing Malekith's Toxicroak. In Game 3, Malekith brings hail stall and manages to set his Walrein in early. dodmen counteracts this with his Roar Blastoise, but it gets heavily worn down in the process. After Malekith's Glaceon KOes Venusaur and severely weakens Steelix, Calm Mind Uxie manages to corner dodmen, and Walrein manages to set up a Substitute after Moltres crits through Uxie, allowing Malekith to win the series.

The tournament went on, and in Round 5 several interesting matches happened. One of these was FAFUS vs FLCL. FAFUS starts off well by getting up Stealth Rock and weakening FLCL's Uxie via Pursuit, as well as getting up two layers of Spikes. While FLCL manages to remove these entry hazards, a Fire Blast miss on Moltres allows FAFUS to play the game out safely. In Game 2, FLCL brought a hail team. By removing FAFUS's Stealth Rock user early and setting up his own, FLCL finds himself in a good position. He trades his Milotic in exchange for stalling Clefable out of Thunderbolts, which lets Walrein win. Game 3 opens up great for FAFUS, who, after exchanging Stealth Rock with FLCL, manages to avoid having any key Pokémon trapped by Dugtrio while simualtenously weakening several of FLCL's. FLCL attempts to get back into the game by healing up Kabutops with Mesprit's Healing Wish, but after failing to catch Arcanine with Dugtrio a bit later, FAFUS manages to wear down the rest of FLCL's team and clutches out a victory.

By now, the tournament entered seminfinals and here, Star faces off against Foggi. Game 1 is decided early, as Star's Venusaur crits a Power Whip on Foggi's Chansey. Afterwards, Venusaur freely sets up Swords Dances and Foggi forfeits. Foggi removes Star's Qwilfish in the first turn of Game 2 with an Aerial Ace crit. Mixed Houndoom manages to KO most of Star's team, and even Mesprit's Healing Wish cannot bring Star back into the game as Foggi closes out the game comfortably. Game 3 also sees Foggi starting off strong, trading his Qwilfish for Moltres and catching Star's Slowking with Hariyama's Payback. An untimely Hidden Power Ice crit from Star's Sceptile removes Foggi's Venusaur, though, allowing Star to take the game with a combination of Donphan and Sceptile and advance into finals.

As three players remain, round robin finals are played. Star, Malekith, and M Dragon all made it this far, and they all have to face each other. The first to play are Star and Malekith. The series opens up with Malekith getting up Stealth Rock and catching Star's Registeel with Dugtrio. This allows Malekith to run through Star's team with Swellow, and, with the help of Yawn Blastoise, he easily takes the game. The second game starts a bit rougher, as a Fire Blast crit removes Malekith's Uxie. Without some initial setup, Malekith's rain team is unable to break through the combination of Toxicroak, Registeel, and Slowking, netting Star a victory. The final match starts off strong for Star, who weakens Malekith's Moltres and gets up Stealth Rock as well as three layers of Spikes in exchange for his spinblocker, Mismagius. Malekith manages to wear down Star's Milotic, Hitmontop, and Moltres with some aggressive plays with his Clefable, though, before removing entry hazards with Donphan's Rapid Spin. With Star's best tools to pressure Malekith gone, Malekith takes the game without much risk to win the series.

Star played against M Dragon next. Star starts off strong as he weakens M Dragon's Uxie and removes his Dugtrio with a Choice Scarf Drapion. As Star manages to set up Stealth Rock and paralyzes both Kabutops and Arcanine with Registeel's Thunder Wave, he is in a great spot and Registeel manages to beat most of M Dragon's team on its own, allowing Star to win. The next game starts off with M Dragon setting up Stealth Rock early. Star manages to wear down M Dragon's Scyther and put his Houndoom to sleep, which gives him an advantage. Star manages to remove Stealth Rock as well as the Stealth Rock setter with his Blastoise, but he lets Toxicroak set up. Toxicroak only goes down to missing Focus Blast, and Star manages to take the game from there with Venusaur. As Star has lost to Malekith but defeated M Dragon, this tournament comes down to the final series. If Malekith wins, he wins the Cup. If M Dragon wins, the bracket resets and all have to play again.

Malekith vs M Dragon game 1 Analysis

Malekith leads with Snover, revealing his team to be hail based. Meanwhile, M Dragon leads with Hariyama, giving him an immediate advantage. Pressing his advantage, he activates his Guts ability with his Toxic Orb and catches Malekith's Spiritomb on the switch. Due to hail reducing its recovery, M Dragon's Venusaur fails to take on Spiritomb. Malekith manages to use Donphan to set up his Stealth Rock up on Aggron, but the reveal of Magnet Rise forces a sack of Spiritomb. Aggron is defeated by Snover, which survives a hit with its Focus Sash.

At this point, M Dragon had not yet revealed any Pokémon that would not get oustalled by Walrein, a staple on hail teams. Meanwhile, Malekith lost what was likely his best answer to Hariyama, so M Dragon could pressure him with it. M Dragon decides to get up his Stealth Rock with Uxie on the weakened Snover, as this would allow him to pressure the Ice-types Malekith was sure to have. Malekith reveals a Curse Registeel that forces M Dragon to apply pressure with Hariyama, and Hariyama gets worn down in the process. Malekith finally finds an opportunity to send his Walrein in, and M Dragon tries to answer it with Uxie and reveals Energy Ball. Not fearing Uxie, Malekith stays in on its U-turn, which allows his Walrein to hit M Dragon's Milotic with a Toxic as it Recovers up.

Malekith wears down Milotic a little by switching to his Registeel, forcing it to stay in and rack up Toxic damage as Malekith switches back to Walrein. As M Dragon is forced to attack so as to not grant Walrein a free Substitute, Milotic goes down. Uxie attempts to take on Walrein next, but it fails, as it only barely outdamages Walrein's recovery. M Dragon is almost out of options at this point, leading him to attempt to Trick Walrein with his Rotom, but Registeel absorbs the move. Rotom gets worn down a bit as it gains a KO, but M Dragon has to give up Uxie and Hariyama to Malekith's Milotic and Donphan. While Rotom still manages to beat Donphan, it fails to KO Milotic and gets KOed in return, ending the battle.

Malekith vs M Dragon game 2 Analysis

The game starts off well for Malekith, as he scares out M Dragon's lead Rhyperior and tricks his Arcanine a Choice Scarf with Mesprit. This prevents Arcanine from functioning as a wall, which is a huge boon for Pokémon such as Moltres, Venusaur, and Rotom, potentially putting Malekith in a great position. Malekith manages to set up Stealth Rock and wear down M Dragon's Hitmontop with Tauros in exchange for half of Tauros's health and letting a Rapid Spin go through. M Dragon tries to absorb one of Tauros's Returns with Rhyperior, but Malekith sees this coming and switches to his Mesprit.

Milotic manages to use Recover in exchange for letting Stealth Rock go back up. A crit from Scyther manages to wear Rhyperior down, but Rhyperior still manages to take half of Donphan's health before switching out. Weezing attempts to take on the Donphan but uses Fire Blasts on Malekith's Houndoom, granting it a Flash Fire boost. Milotic switches in to deal with Houndoom and Malekith attempts to flinch it down, but it manages to Recover up. As that fails, Malekith next attempts to take Milotic on with Azumarill, but Double-edge fails to break it and Azumarill would only die to recoil in this exchange without accomplishing anything.

With his team revealed, it became clear that Malekith's team lacks a good way of pressuring Milotic. His best ways of beating it include fishing for a critical hit, flinching it down, or stalling it out of Recover somehow. Scyther attempts to break Milotic next, but the sea snake recovers and makes way for Rhyperior. By forcing Donphan in and double switching, M Dragon manages to Rest with Hitmontop to heal it back up. Scyther uses this opportunity to dent both Weezing and Arcanine, and Houndoom manages to grab another Flash Fire boost by absorbing Arcanine's Flare Blitz. Arcanine gets KOed by Pursuit, and Malekith tries to flinch down Milotic again, but he fails and switches out for Mesprit.

Mesprit hits the Milotic with Zen Headbutt twice, landing a critical hit the first time and flinching it the second one, ultimately breaking it. This allows Scyther to nab a KO on Weezing and force in Rhyperior. A little more chip damage on Rhyperior would allow Scyther to sweep, but Rhyperior reveals Rest. Houndoom manages to wear down the Rhyperior with Dark Pulse and Pursuit. M Dragon has to reveal his last Pokémon soon, Venusaur, and with Rhyperior and Milotic worn down, nothing stops Scyther from cleaning, allowing Malekith to close out this series and become the first winner of the DPP UU Cup.

The ADV UU Cup I

A short week had passed and the signups for the ADV UU Cup went live on a Sunday. The tournament started a few days later, and Round 1 already gave us a few strong match-ups, with bro fist facing off and beating Ice Tea, CrashinBoomBang triumphing over Meru, and DestinyUnknown taking out HANTSUKI. The highlight of the round was Tricking vs Mr.378, a rematch from last year's UUPL. In Game 1, Tricking manages to break through Mr.378's Kangaskhan and Lunatone with his Nidoking, but he loses his Hypno and Kangaskhan in the process. As these were his Electric checks, Mr.378 manages to sweep with Manectric. Game 2 has Tricking break Mr.378's team wide open with Dragon Dance Altaria and Kangaskhan. A path for Electrode to clean appears fairly easily, and Tricking wins with the Electric-type. The final match starts great for Tricking, as he manages to remove Mr.378's Qwilfish. Mr.378 manages to remove Tricking's Lanturn with PerishTrap Misdreavus, but Misdreavus gets worn down in the process. Mr.378's Blastoise tries to pressure Vileplume but gets hit by a Sleep Powder, which opens up the possibility of a Gligar sweep down the line. This occurs, and Tricking takes the series in a 2-1 victory.

Round 2 passes by with more interesting matches, and Round 3 sees us with an interesting series as bro fist meets ChillShadow. Utilizing his Electrode and Manectric, ChillShadow manages to break through bro fist's team, taking out Hypno, Kangaskhan, and Nidoking and severely weakening Electabuzz. Omastar gets worn down by Cradily, and with no Pokémon resistant to Flying remaining, Gligar manages to corner bro fist and eventually wins by beating Scyther. Game 2 opens up with ChillShadow's Kangaskhan wearing down Walrein in exchange for letting Omastar get up a layer of Spikes. As both players try to wear each other's team down, bro fist manages to heal up his Walrein by aggressively doubling into it as he forces switches. The combination of Walrein and Omastar overwhelm ChillShadow, allowing bro fist to take game 2. The final match of the series begins with ChillShadow's Nidoking removing bro fist's Omastar. ChillShadow's Hypno takes on Kangaskhan itself and allows Sharpedo to break through bro fist's team by Passing it a Substitute. As Hypno had succumbed to the shark, bro fist no longer had a reliable answer to Ninetales, which proceeded to wear down his team until Kangaskhan closed out the game for ChillShadow, winning him the set.

More matches occurred and the ADV UU Cup proceeded. Floppy and Level 56 were matched up in Round 5. Level 56 tries to break through Floppy's stall team with Nidoking, Gorebyss, and Scyther, but he seems to be failing. A critical hit on Floppy's Granbull opens up the match for him, though. As the teams wear down each other, Level 56 manages to OHKO Floppy's Hypno with his Scyther, denying the rest of Floppy's team Wish recovery. From here on out, Level 56 manages to wear down the rest of Floppy's team with ease and win. Game 2 has Floppy wear down Level 56's team with his Scyther. While Level 56's Solrock manages to remove an opposing Golem, his position is not great, as Reversal Scyther exerts a lot of pressure. When Level 56 attempts to KO Kangaskhan with Fearow's Return, it fails to deal any significant damage, as it somehow does not have high level of happiness. This makes it easy for Floppy to win with the help of Substitute + Petaya Berry Manectric. Game 3 sees us with both players bringing stall. Floppy manages to set up several layers of Spikes early and spread Toxic status, but Rest Lanturn and Heal Bell Altaria keep Level 56 in the game. Level 56 loses his Rapid Spinner early, and his Altaria is rapidly running out of Heal Bell, but he seizes his opportunity to apply pressure once Floppy's Granbull gets frozen by Altaria's Ice Beam. Kangaskhan manages to remove Granbull shortly afterwards, and with his cleric and best Kangaskhan answer gone, Floppy forfeits, allowing Level 56 to win this rather peculiar series.

As the tournament reached semifinals, four player remained. Level 56 managed to defeat ABR in an interesting series. ChillShadow faced off against KratosMana, and KratosMana won rather handily (Game 1 / Game 2). In the finals, Level 56 played against ADV UU veteran KratosMana to decide the tournament's winner.

Finals Game 1 Analysis

KratosMana opens with a Walrein lead against Level 56's Omastar, giving him an immediate advantage. Level 56 manages to scout with Tentacruel, though, and forces in KratosMana's Hypno. Hypno is answered with another Hypno; the Psychic-types then use Toxic on each other before trying to catch the other player's switch-in and only hitting each other. Both players switch out into Granbull afterwards, and Level 56 takes advantage of it by getting in his Omastar and laying down Spikes, which are crucial in this match-up, as they provide Level 56 the best way of pressuring KratosMana's team. Omastar does get worn down a bit, and Misdreavus takes on Granbull but gets hit by a Thunder Wave. This reveals that KratosMana is very likely running a bulky offense team to take advantage of paralysis, whereas Level 56 is running a full stall team.

The game proceeds with both players getting off a Heal Bell. KratosMana attempts to set up Spikes to pressure Level 56's team better, but Tentacruel can easily Rapid Spin them away. As the game progresses, KratosMana tries to find a hole in Level 56's team to exploit. His Hypno hits Misdreavus with a Toxic, which now fails at being a Granbull answer and allows the Normal-type to wear down Level 56's Omastar tremendously. Level 56 realizes he has to cure his team of volatile status conditions and gets off a Heal Bell with Granbull. Misdreavus gets paralyzed by a Thunder Wave this time, which allows it to take on KratosMana's Nidoqueen with the help of Pain Split. KratosMana eventually manages to get a layer of Spikes up, but with a second layer having gone up on his side of the field and him having traded his Omastar for a single Spike, he soon realizes he cannot break Level 56's team and forfeits.

Finals Game 2 Analysis

Level 56's Walrein lead does not pan out for him, as KratosMana opens up with Primeape. Primeape misses a Cross Chop on the incoming Vileplume, and a Camerupt is switched in to absorb Vileplume's Sleep Powder. Level 56 goes back into his Walrein and uses Toxic, correctly predicting KratosMana to switch and hitting an incoming Walrein. As KratosMana's Walrein carries Hidden Power Grass, it forces Level 56 to switch out. Level 56 manages to wear down Omastar with SubPunch Kangaskhan. KratosMana's Walrein gets down further and Primeape is hit by a Surf, bringing it down to half health. Vileplume attempts to take on Primeape but gets weakened, and predicting a switch, KratosMana brings out his Omastar as Level 56 sends out Fearow.

At this point, Level 56 seemingly has the advantage. His Walrein is a massive threat to KratosMana's team, as the only Pokémon capable of taking it on properly, Primeape, can not switch in anymore. As such, Walrein comes in as Omastar sets up a Spike. Omastar has previously revealed Protect and Surf, so Level 56 was probably expecting its last move to be Ice Beam. It is revealed to be Toxic instead, which hits Level 56's Walrein, stopping it from freely taking apart KratosMana's team. In a slew of aggressive plays, Level 56 forces Camerupt in and takes advantage of it by setting up a Substitute with his Solrock. KratosMana counteracts this easily with his Walrein, which cripples the Rock-type with Encore.

Omastar forces out Solrock but lets in Vileplume. While KratosMana attempts to answer it with Scyther initially, it reveals itself to be an offensive Sunny Day set. This causes KratosMana to take it on with Camerupt and remove it before it is able to do any significant damage. Solrock attempts to take advantage of Camerupt again, but it fails to KO KratosMana's Walrein at 18% health and gets KOed in return. The game looked to be over at this point and with the combination of Camerupt, Omastar, and Electabuzz, KratosMana comfortably wins.

Finals Game 3 Analysis

The last game of the tournament opens up with two Omastar facing each other. KratosMana's lands a Toxic while dodging one itself, and sets up a layer of Spikes as Level 56 reveals a Rapid Spin user in Hitmontop, which trades Toxics with Omastar. Level 56 switches to his Altaria on an incoming Surf and uses Heal Bell, but it is hit by an Ice Beam and takes heavy damage. It uses Rest to become healthy again as KratosMana opts to set up another Spike rather than pressure it with Ice Beam. Both players switch, and KratosMana's Kangaskhan is able to set up a Substitute. The now healthy Altaria has no trouble phazing it out with Roar, though. Level 56 soon manages to get off a Rapid Spin with Hitmontop and is looking to be in a strong position.

With a healthy Altaria, KratosMana needs to find a new avenue to break Level 56's stall team. KratosMana attempts to apply some pressure with Muk and Slowking and wears down the Omastar, but it does not accomplish much beyond that. Muk is especially potent, as the threat of explosion forces Level 56 to play around it carefully. Kangaskhan's bulk and access to Wish allow it to take on Muk. As Muk attempts to force Omastar to switch out with the threat of a Hidden Power Ground, Level 56 stays in and stacks up Spikes until he has three layers of it before forcing Muk to switch to Hypno. KratosMana's Gligar reveals Swords Dance, causing Level 56 to sack Omastar to get a safe switch into Altaria, but Omastar had done its job. Gligar had also been afflicted by Toxic so its staying power was limited. Meanwhile, Level 56 had a healthy team beyond the fainted Omastar as well as maximum entry hazards up, putting him in a great position.

As KratosMana's Omastar goes down, Hitmontop spins one last time before being sacked to Muk to keep Altaria healthy. Level 56 manages to force KratosMana to sack Kangaskhan with his own Kangaskhan and the help of Spikes, and Lanturn manages to heavily weaken Muk before going down. Gligar is able to take out Hypno but gets revenge killed by Altaria. KratosMana reveals his last Pokémon, Scyther, which finds no opportunity to set up and gets damage to a sliver of its health in exchange for KOing Altaria. This, however, leaves it easily picked up by Kangaskhan. In a hard-fought series, Level 56 emerges victorious and wins the ADV UU Cup I.

^ Return to main menu

Playoffs

As the three individual cups ended, the eight players with the highest number of points would enter a playoffs phase where they would face off against each other in a single elimination bracket. They would play a Best-of-3 of all UU Classic tiers, with the higher seed picking the first tier to be played and the loser of game 1 picking the next one. However, before playoffs could be underway, a tiebreaker had to be conducted between PDC, Star, and FLCL, who all tied for eighth place in points.

FLCL played against PDC at the earliest possible opportunity. They decided to start off with BW UU. FLCL brought an offense team with a dedicated lead in Smeargle, whereas PDC brought the Ferroseed Spikes team he used in Game 2 of BW UU Cup finals. FLCL manages to send Swampert to sleep via Spore and sets up Stealth Rock. From there, he uses Hidden Power Fire Empoleon to scare out Kingdra and beat Ferroseed, which could help him prepare a Lilligant sweep. Arcanine severely weakens PDC's Victini, and Smeargle is able to get up another Spike layer, as Victini has lowered Speed from continuously using V-create. Yanmega beats Victini and wears down Snorlax, and Hitmonlee removes Snorlax from the battle. Very little is in the way of a Lilligant sweep now, and PDC attempts to fight back with his OTR Cofagrigus. Cofagrigus gets KOed by Empoleon's Hydro Pump. Kingdra gets worn down by Hitmonlee, and PDC forfeits.

PDC picks DPP as the next tier to be played. He opens up the game with Venusaur against FLCL's Scyther. FLCL's Dugtrio manages to trap PDC's Registeel early, which should help Scyther, but PDC had set up Stealth Rock with Uxie already. PDC's Blaziken is trying to pressure FLCL's team, but Arcanine is reliably taking it on. FLCL uses Dugtrio to absorb a Sleep Powder from PDC's Choice Scarf Venusaur, and as PDC cannot switch out, he loses his Venusaur to this. Blaziken goes down to residual damage and Arcanine's Extreme Speed, and FLCL then trades his Arcanine for a Toxic on PDC's Milotic. Exeggutor forces out Milotic and deals massive damage to the incoming Uxie. At this point, PDC does not have much counterplay left to Exeggutor, but he manages to trade his Milotic for it. Kabutops manages to win the game for FLCL, though, as PDC reveals his last Pokémon to be Rhyperior.

After having won his series against PDC, FLCL played Star on the same day. They started off with BW UU again. FLCL brought a team based around Qwilfish's Spikes to help Sharpedo sweep, whereas Star brought a team based around Qwilfish's spikes to help Mienshao sweep. The game begins with FLCL's Qwilfish getting hit down to its Focus Sash in exchange for getting up a single layer of Spikes. This Qwilfish later manages to get up another Spike layer on Star's Qwilfish, which also gets up a Spike layer before Shaymin removes it. As the game progresses, FLCL finds an opportunity to set up Stealth Rock with Rhyperior on Star's Rotom, and a Sharpedo sweep is looking very likely. Star manages to remove FLCL's Cofagrigus, though, and set up his own Stealth Rock, which makes a Mienshao sweep a possibility. FLCL attempts to sweep with Sharpedo, but Star's Escavalier is still healthy and can take it on. Escavalier gets flinched by Sharpedo's Waterfall, though, allowing Sharpedo to win the game for FLCL.

Star decides to take on FLCL in DPP UU next. FLCL leads with Scyther again as Star leads with Moltres. Star's Registeel sets up Stealth Rock early on but lets FLCL's Cloyster get up a layer of Spikes as well as a layer of Toxic Spikes. FLCL also uses Registeel's passiveness to set up sand and Stealth Rock with Hippopotas. Star pressures FLCL with Moltres and gets FLCL's Clefable down to half health, and Star's Toxicroak also manages to absorb the Toxic Spikes set up by Cloyster earlier. Star finds himself unable to break through FLCL's wallcore of Clefable, Hippopotas and Cradily, though, and with the sandstorm and entry hazards causing residual damage, his team was starting to get worn down. While Toxicroak managed to remove FLCL's Clefable, Star lost his Moltres in an attempt to Roost on Hippopotas, which caught it with Earthquake. Sceptile attempts to recover up with a Synthesis nerfed heavily by the Sandstorm, yet it gets Roared out and will be forced to take entry hazard damage again. After sacking Rotom, FLCL manages to nab a KO with Scyther against Star's Slowking, and Star's last, Sceptile, loses to Cradily, ending the series in another victory for FLCL and securing FLCL's spot in playoffs. With this, the eight players remaining would face off as follows:

Malekith vs ABR

ABR faced off against Malekith first. They started off the series with DPP UU. ABR leads off with Glaceon, which lets Uxie get up Stealth Rock. Malekith then reveals a Typhlosion and catches a Slowbro with Toxic on the switch. Typhlosion uses Protect to stall for another turn of Toxic, and ABR switched back into his Glaceon sure that Malekith would switch as well. Typhlosion reveals Substitute and is now in a good position. ABR ends up losing his Slowbro to this Typhlosion but breaks its Substitute, letting Dugtrio trap it. Malekith's Uxie sets up Sunny Day and U-turns into Rhyperior, which proceeds to boost its Speed twice with Rock Polish. ABR tries to use Counter on it with Registeel, and Malekith brings it into Earthquake range with Megahorn and Stone Edge. Instead of letting Registeel go down, though, ABR sacks his Sceptile as Rhyperior goes down to Life Orb recoil. ABR's Registeel faces Malekith's Shiftry next, but it paralyzes it with Thunder Wave and flinches it down with Iron Head. Exeggutor takes on Registeel next and puts it to sleep with Sleep Powder before weakening it. Uxie uses this opportunity to set up sun, and after Registeel is sacked, Drapion is put to sleep by Exeggutor. Drapion wakes early, though, and manages to beat Exeggutor. Shiftry loses to Dugtrio's Sucker Punch, and after a Drapion sack to reset Dugtrio's Choice Band, Dugtrio finishes the game for ABR by Stone Edging Malekith's Moltres.

The next game is BW UU. ABR brings a fat balance team based around Ferroseed's Spikes, which looks threatening, as Malekith has five grounded Pokémon and no hazard removal. ABR's Blastoise weakens Malekith's Crobat early and reveals itself to be Choice Scarfed. A few turns later, Malekith manages to hit Blastoise with Victini's Fusion Bolt and punishes ABR's double switch to Ferroseed with V-create. ABR manages to set up Stealth Rock with his Gligar and beat Crobat with Raikou's Extrasensory as Malekith tries to scout its set by Roosting. Malekith gets up his own Stealth Rock by turn 14 and burns ABR's Mew with Slowbro. Victini is applying pressure to ABR's team, but Gligar can tank its V-creates and force it to switch. ABR attempts to slowly wear down Malekith's team, and in turn 26, Malekith's Rhyperior finds itself in front of ABR's Togekiss. Rhyperior gets lured in and removed with Grass Knot. Both players start trading KOs at this point, and it comes down to Malekith's 7% Heracross standing in front of ABR's healthy Gligar, allowing ABR to beat it with Earthquake and win the series.

M Dragon vs ChillShadow

M Dragon decided to start his series against ChillShadow off with DPP UU. His Omastar lead faced a Mismagius lead, which he managed to remove with Houndoom. However, ChillShadow's Mismagius used Destiny Bond and took Houndoom down with it. M Dragon goes back into Omastar after this to get his hazards, and ChillShadow sees this coming and tries to prevent it with his Taunt Qwilfish. Omastar, however, outruns the Qwilfish and manages to set up Stealth Rock anyhow. Qwilfish then sets up a Spike layer as M Dragon reveals Torterra, and Torterra subsequently OHKOes Qwilfish. ChillShadow sets up Stealth Rock with his own Torterra, but it takes two strong Wood Hammers in return and gets KOed. By now, ChillShadow is down to half his Pokémon and has Stealth Rock up on his side of the field. He did manage to set up a layer of Spikes as well as his own Stealth Rock, but M Dragon had a healthy Omastar, a worn-down Torterra, and three more Pokémon of his own, which put him in a great position. ChillShadow scares out Toterra with his Arcanine, but M Dragon has his Omastar absorb the Flare Blitz with ease. Clefable switches into Omastar, but it loses over half its health for doing so, revealing itself to be an offensive set. ChillShadow immediately switches out Clefable and reveals his last Pokémon, Registeel. Registeel manages to set up two Curses against the Omastar, but it is forced to Rest and lets it get up a layer of Spikes. Kabutops clears entry hazards for M Dragon as Registeel manages to boost itself further by Sleep Talking another Curse. M Dragon sacks his Omastar to get a free switch into Toxicroak, which Focus Blasts the Registeel and takes massive damage in return. Toxicroak has to hit another Focus Blast, but it misses and gets KOed by Iron Head in return. With Registeel boosted up this far, and M Dragon losing his main answer to a boosted Registeel, ChillShadow had managed to turn the game around. Life Orb Torterra is unable to break through it, and M Dragon's last reveals itself to be Scyther. Scyther manages to crit a Brick Break, but it gets KOed by a +5 Iron Head. WIth the critical hit bringing Registeel down to 8%, Kabutops manages to revenge kill it and clean out the game by KOing ChillShadow's weakened Clefable and Arcanine, allowing M Dragon to win despite missing a most important Focus Blast.

The ADV UU game was the next in the series, opening up with M Dragon leading Walrein against ChillShadow's Ninetales. ChillShadow forces Walrein out and double switches into his Kangaskhan, but M Dragon reveals his Granbull, prompting ChillShadow to reveal his Lunatone. This provides Walrein another opportunity to go in, and it deals some damage to ChillShadow's Kangaskhan before being forced out by Tentacruel again, this time making way for Hypno. Hypno tries to Toxic the incoming Kangaskhan, but it fails to do so. M Dragon attempts to set up Spikes with Omastar on Kangaskhan, yet Tentacruel manages to spin them away, and neither side managed to gain a clear advantage yet. ChillShadow manages to Baton Pass a boost to Tentacruel with Lunatone, and it is able to get Hypno into KO range with an aggressive Hydro Pump. M Dragon tries to sack his Omastar to get a switch into Scyther, but it dodges Hydro Pump and he attempts to switch Scyther into an incoming Giga Drain. Scyther gets hit to a sliver of its HP, as it is hit by a Hydro Pump instead. At this point, M Dragon sacks Omastar, gets Hypno back in, and takes advantage of its Leftovers to get it out of Hydro Pump KO range, but ChillShadow is in a better position. By Baton Passing a Calm Mind boost to Sunny Day Shiftry this time, ChillShadow is able to break M Dragon's Nidoqueen and KO his Hypno; ChillShadow's Ninetales manages to wear down the opposing Granbull, which, alongside Nidoqueen, then falls to Tentacruel. With only a weakened Scyther and a Walrein left on M Dragon's side, ChillShadow manages to comfortably clean out the game with a combination of Kangaskhan, Lunatone, and Ninetales.

The final game of the set was BW UU, where ChillShadow brought an Electric spam offense team while M Dragon brought a team based around Qwilfish's Spikes and Heracross. ChillShadow manages to severely weaken Rhyperior turn 1 by staying in with Zapdos as Rhyperior Stealth Rocks and hitting it with a super effective Hidden Power. As Umbreon is the obvious answer to his Zapdos here, ChillShadow switches into Gligar to take advantage of that and gets up his own Stealth Rock. With the help of Wish, Umbreon manages to get in Qwilfish safely, which sets up a layer of Spikes. This, however, allows Raikou to come in and set up a Calm Mind. With a Fighting Gem Aura sphere, it hits Umbreon, and even though Umbreon survives, it is all but removed from the game at this point. As Raikou managed to dodge a Toxic, it starts sweeping. By landing a critical hit on Heracross and then dodging Mew's Will-O-Wisp, Raikou puts M Dragon in a hopeless situation, causing him to forfeit. ChillShadow wins 2-1.

Level 56 vs Kushalos

This series starts off with ADV UU. Kushalos's Hitmontop lead forces out Level 56's Omastar, but the incoming Gligar forced out Hitmontop and hit Misdreavus with a Toxic. Level 56 went to his own Misdreavus, but Kushalos decides to double switch to Omastar. Knowing he would force out Misdreavus and expecting something weak to Electric-types, Kushalos switches out again, this time into his Electrode, and catches Level 56 on his switch to Tentacruel. Electrode Thunderbolts, but Granbull tanks it easily. Kushalos attempts to weaken Granbull by forcing it in against Electrode multiple times, but it heals up with Rest. Kushalos's Omastar gets up two layers of Spikes and blocks Tentacruel from Rapid Spinning with Misdreavus, but Misdreavus gets worn down heavily for this. Electrode manages to remove Gligar shortly thereafter with Hidden Power Ice, and Kushalos has his Omastar get up a third layer of Spikes before blocking Tentacruel from Rapid Spinning by sacrificing his Misdreavus. Electrode weakens Tentacruel but despite Kushalos' best effort, it cannot prevent the Rapid Spin from going through. Granbull removes Electrode but is picked off by an Electabuzz thereafter, leaving Level 56 with Hypno as his only answer to Electric-types. Kushalos's Hitmontop manages to wear down Level 56's Omastar, which gets up two layers of Spikes and then dies to its poison whilst allowing Kushalos' Hypno to heal up Hitmontop. Hitmontop pressures Level 56's team and removes Tentacruel. Kushalos's Omastar stalls out Level 56's Misdreavus and Toxics Hypno, and Kushalos manages to easily stall it out from there to close out the game.

Level 56 decides to play DPP UU next. His Omastar lead weakens an opposing Drapion lead with Earth Power before setting up Stealth Rock. Kushalos forces Omastar out with Venusaur and puts an incoming Weezing to sleep. Seeking to take advantage of the sleeping Weezing, Kushalos switches in his Milotic, to which Level 56 reveals his Clefable. Kushalos uses this opportunity to switch in his Hitmontop and catches Level 56's Spiritomb with Foresight, allowing it to Rapid Spin and clear entry hazards, but it gets punished by a Psychic. Both players switch as Kushalos reveals Moltres while Level 56 goes into his Weezing. Level 56 switches again and reveals Milotic, while Kushalos also switches and uses this opportunity to set up Stealth Rock with Registeel. Level 56 also gets his Stealth Rock back up with Omastar, and the game does not change much from here for quite a while. Kushalos tries to apply pressure by poisoning most of Level 56's team via Toxic, yet he finds no good avenue to break it. Level 56's Clefable eventually boosts up, and Kushalos sacks his Hitmontop to get a safe switch into Venusaur and force it out. Kushalos attempts to pressure with Moltres but loses it to Level 56's Milotic, although it takes down Milotic with it. While Kushalos does manage to KO Level 56's Spiritomb, Spiritomb was hardly necessary at this point of the game, and Kushalos still has no good way of beating Level 56. Meanwhile, Level 56 made Kushalos compromise his Milotic for a last attempt at breaking him with Venusaur. It does not work out, as he loses his Venusaur to Clefable, and thus he forfeits the game.

The BW UU match has Level 56 bring a Ferroseed Spikes balance while Kushalos brings the same Durant team he used in BW UU Cup finals. Kushalos forces out Level 56's Mew lead with his Durant and uses this opportunity to double switch to Nidoqueen and set up Stealth Rock on Level 56's Gligar. Level 56 switches into Blastoise and spins the entry hazards away, but this lets in Kushalos's Zapdos for free. Level 56 absorbs Zapdos's Toxic with Mew, which also poisons Zapdos via Synchronize and puts Kushalos's best Togekiss answer on a timer. Level 56 uses his Raikou to force out Zapdos, and predicting the Extrasensory, Kushalos answers with Snorlax. Level 56 reads the double switch to Nidoqueen and punishes it with Extrasensory, then switches out into Ferroseed on Kushalos's obvious Snorlax to set up his first layer of Spikes. The game slows down for a while, but Level 56 is eventually able to weaken Zapdos with Raikou's Volt Switch and finds an opportunity to set up two more layers of Spikes against Kushalos's Slowking. As Kushalos tries to regain his bearing, Level 56 manages to have Gligar set up Stealth Rock. Throughout the match, Raikou has forced Kushalos to give up his Nidoqueen, Zapdos, Slowking, and Durant. Level 56 loses his Gligar, Blastoise, Mew, and Ferroseed in the process, but his Togekiss manages to KO Virizion and wear Snorlax down into the range of Raikou's Thunderbolt, and the game results in a Level 56 victory.

KratosMana vs FLCL

The last pair to face off in the first round of playoffs was KratosMana and FLCL. They opted to begin with ADV UU. FLCL leads with Manectric against KratosMana's Qwilfish and uses Hidden Power Water to catch and weaken a switch-in. Qwilfish makes way for Camerupt, which gets OHKOed on the very first turn of the match, giving FLCL some immediate breathing room. In an interesting turn, KratosMana takes on Thunder Wave Manectric by absorbing the status move with his Lum Berry Kangaskhan and putting the Electric-type to sleep via Sing. Omastar takes advantage of Kangaskhan by stacking Spikes, but KratosMana uses this opportunity to set up Spikes with his Qwilfish. FLCL's Omastar and Scyther get worn down as he goes for a double switch but fails, and Altaria finishes off the weakened Omastar. Granbull forces out Altaria but gives Hitmontop an opportunity to spin away the Spikes in exchange for itself. KratosMana uses Rain Dance with his Omastar but doesn't get an opportunity to sweep as Vileplume stops it cold. FLCL sacks his Scyther to Altaria, which allows him to claim a KO on Qwilfish with Granbull. Omastar finishes off Granbull, but Vileplume now gets a chance to put in work and Leech Seeds KratosMana's Altaria, which lets FLCL bring in his Kangaskhan healthy despite the Spikes. Kangaskhan sets up a Substitute and can remove the opposing Kangaskhan with Focus Punch as a result. While Kangaskhan is forced out after this, FLCL sacking Manectric allowed him to set Vileplume in again and repeat the same Leech Seed sequence to bring in Kangaskhan safely. Kangaskhan then finishes the game for FLCL.

The DPP game opens up with KratosMana leading Mesprit against FLCL's Mismagius. KratosMana switches into Drapion on Mismagius's Taunt and proceeds to dodge a Will-O-Wisp and OHKO Mismagius with Crunch. Drapion then weakens Rhyperior with Aqua Tail before Blastoise finally manages to force it out. Mesprit attempts to set up Stealth Rock and Blastoise and pressures it with Grass Knot, but FLCL manages to keep Rocks off and switch in his Swellow on a Grass Knot. Swellow KOes an incoming Lanturn and heavily weakens a Mismagius with a critical hit U-turn. FLCL sets up Stealth Rock with Registeel while KratosMana also sets up Stealth Rock with his Mesprit. Registeel also Thunder Waves the Mesprit as well as an incoming Sceptile after a Drapion sack, and the combination of Venusaur and Registeel can now beat the rest of KratosMana's team. After Venusaur defeats Altaria and Registeel weakens Mismagius, KratosMana forfeits, granting FLCL the victory.

The first stage of playoffs was now over, and semifinals came next. ABR managed to overcome Malekith successfully to face FLCL, while Level 56 eliminated Kushalos to fight a ChillShadow that defeated M Dragon.

ABR vs FLCL

ABR and FLCL opened their series with ADV UU. ABR's Electabuzz lead managed to Toxic and wear down a Hypno after forcing out FLCL's lead Omastar. Lanturn forces out Electabuzz eventually as ABR pivots into Tentacruel to avoid a Toxic and then brings in his Cradily on a Thunderbolt. Lanturn avoids Cradily's Toxic while hitting Cradily with its own. FLCL reveals Altaria to take on Cradily but double switches into Kangaskhan as ABR goes back into his Tentacruel. Cradily, despite being poisoned, still takes on Kangaskhan well. ABR double switches to Ninetales, which scares Altaria out and ABR further switches into Kangaskhan on the incoming Lanturn. ABR's Kangaskhan manages to get up a Substitute, but FLCL reveals Hitmontop to reliably take it on. Neither team looks to be at a clear advantage, but ABR's Tentacruel manages to Hydro Pump FLCL's Omastar for massive damage. FLCL fights back by having his Kangaskhan hit Tentacruel and Ninetales down to half health. ABR's Electabuzz takes on Lanturn and forces it out at low health, but it loses most of its HP in the process and is picked off by Kangaskhan. ABR reveals Hypno, which attempts to Calm Mind up and potentially pass boosts but gets phazed by Altaria's Roar. Ninetales manages to burn and wear down FLCL's Hypno to about 15% of its health, and with Lanturn being worn down as well, this could open up an avenue for Tentacruel. Tentacruel gets passed a Calm Mind boost but then misses a Hydro Pump against Kangaskhan, which stops it cold. As both players pivot around each other and try to get into a good position, FLCL managed to find an opportunity to Rest with Lanturn on Cradily, which makes it impossible for ABR to win. With Roar Altaria preventing Hypno from passing boosts, FLCL easily manages to stall out the rest of ABR's team to win.

BW UU has FLCL's Roserade Spikes offense face off against ABR's Tangrowth bulky offense. FLCL sees that he can set up Stealth Rock early, so he leads with Swampert and sets it up on ABR's Snorlax. ABR forces Swampert out with Tangrowth and double switches to Rhyperior to catch FLCL's Xatu. Snorlax is sent out to scout for Xatu's Grass Knot and proceeds to wear down the incoming Swampert. FLCL's Roserade sets up two layers of Spikes on Tangrowth and Snorlax before being KOed, putting ABR in a bad spot, as he has no hazard removal. ABR's Zapdos manages to take out FLCL's Cobalion, though, courtesy of dodging a Stone Edge. Victini tries to revenge kill Zapdos, but it fails to OHKO it and takes massive damage in return. Snorlax finishes off Victini before going down to Weavile, but FLCL is lacking in good answers to Heracross's Megahorn at this point, and Heracross just sweeps the rest of his team.

The decisive battle of the series is the DPP UU one, and it starts with ABR leading Uxie while FLCL sends out Mismagius. ABR decides to let Typhlosion absorb Mismagius's Will-O-Wisp before doubling back into Uxie as FLCL sends out Arcanine, allowing him to set up Stealth Rock in exchange for letting Uxie take a Toxic. FLCL tries to Toxic an expected switch-in, but ABR uses this opportunity to set Sunny Day. Uxie takes a lot of damage to U-turn out and bring in Moltres safely, which fails to break Arcanine and gets poisoned for trying to do so. Exeggutor finally forces Arcanine out and puts the opposing Registeel to sleep. ABR uses this opportunity to switch in Typhlosion and set up a Substitute. FLCL initially tries sacking Leafeon but has to take on this Typhlosion with Arcanine. Typhlosion Toxics the Arcanine, which is likely to be FLCL's most sturdy answer to sun teams. FLCL takes advantage of Typhlosion to set up a layer of Spikes with Qwilfish. ABR's Typhlosion makes way for Shiftry, which loses to FLCL's Leafeon. ABR tries to apply pressure with Moltres again, yet he is stopped by Arcanine. This does give him an opportunity to set up with Typhlosion again, though, and Typhlosion wears down FLCL's Donphan, Qwilfish, and Mismagius heavily, although Donphan manages to set up Stealth Rock. While this would be fatal for ABR, the combination of Substitute and Protect on Typhlosion allows him to wear down a burned Mismagius into the range of his own Donphan's Ice Shard, which Rapid Spins all entry hazards on ABR's side of the field away thanks to FLCL's spinblocker now losing to it. ABR's Donphan also manages to take out FLCL's Leafeon before going down to FLCL's Donphan. Exeggutor manages to remove FLCL's Arcanine via Explosion and with the last Fire check out of the way, Sunny Day Moltres cleans the remnants of FLCL's team for ABR, allowing him to advance to finals.

Level 56 vs ChillShadow

The series starts with BW UU. Level 56 used a team based around Venomoth and its ability to wallbreaker and sweep. ChillShadow brought a team based around Roserade and its Spikes to support Kingdra. Level 56's Venomoth lead forced out ChillShadow's Roserade lead and put Togekiss to sleep. Venomoth Quiver Dances and beats Golurk, but it takes heavy damage in return. ChillShadow's Choice Scarf Heracross misses a Stone Edge on Venomoth and eats a Psychic, putting it at 1% health and causing Level 56 to switch out his Venomoth for Rhyperior, which gets up Stealth Rock. Roserade comes in on the Stealth Rock and gets up a layer of Spikes as Level 56 sacks his Venomoth to it. With Golurk going down early, by sacking Heracross on Level 56's Zapdos, ChillShadow gets a free switch into Raikou, which Volt Switches on Porygon2 and brings Roserade in. Roserade gets a layer of Toxic Spikes up and wears down an incoming Zapdos. Raikou is sent in against Level 56's Zapdos and is free to use Hidden Power Ice, strongly denting Level 56's Rhyperior switch-in. While Blastoise can force Raikou to switch and gets off a Rapid Spin, it has taken hazard damage and is now poisoned. ChillShadow has slowly been setting up a Kingdra sweep, but with Roserade going down in exchange for wearing down Arcanine, ChillShadow would not be getting any Spikes to help wear down Porygon2, and Kingdra instead revenge kills the Arcanine before going down to Zapdos. With only Raikou and Togekiss left, ChillShadow attempts to make an aggressive play by Volt Switching on Level 56's Rhyperior, but Level 56 knows he has no reason to switch and KOes Raikou with Rock Blast. With Togekiss asleep, Rhyperior has no trouble finishing the match.

For the next game, ChillShadow picks DPP UU as a tier. He leads Mesprit while Level 56 leads Snover, revealing that his team is hail based. Mesprit sets up Stealth Rock and U-turns on a Spiritomb. While Mesprit gets Pursuited, Clefable comes in safely and forces Spiritomb to switch out. Correctly predicting Level 56's Registeel, ChillShadow double switches to Dugtrio and removes the opposing Steel-type. Dugtrio weakens Level 56's Donphan but goes down to a Rapid Spin. Mesprit sets Stealth Rock back up and ensures that it will remain up by KOing Donphan with Grass Knot. Then, Mesprit gets removed by Spiritomb, but its job has been done, and Clefable attempts to pressure Level 56 next. It fails to break through Level 56's Milotic, so ChillShadow switches in his Registeel first before going into Blastoise. Blastoise Toxics Milotic in exchange for a bit of chip damage, and realizing he cannot win this match anymore as his Clefable answer is now on a timer, Level 56 forfeits.

Only ADV UU remained. ChillShadow leads Electrode against Level 56's Omastar and gets a Substitute as Omastar switches out, but Granbull easily takes on Electrode and forces it to switch. ChillShadow's Cradily and Level 56's Hypno Toxic each other, but Level 56 immediately cures Hypno with Granbull's Heal Bell and Rests up with Granbull to regain health. ChillShadow tries and fails to beat Granbull with Electrode and goes into Poliwrath instead. Poliwrath is immediately forced out by Tentacruel, which manages to catch an incoming Kangaskhan with Toxic. Level 56 uses his Omastar to set up a layer of Spikes on Kangaskhan as Electrode comes back in to answer Omastar, but it is walled by Granbull once more. ChillShadow attempts to heal his Kangaskhan up with Wish on Granbull, but Level 56 just sets up the final two layers of Spikes and beats it with Omastar. Electrode comes back in and this time baits out a Gligar, which forces it to switch, indicating it lacks Hidden Power Ice. Level 56 scouts for the move nonethless and switches into Granbull, which stands in front of a Gligar. Gligar Earthquakes into a Misdreavus, and Misdreavus 2HKOes ChillShadow's Cradily with the help of Spikes and a super effective Hidden Power. ChillShadow's Electrode manages to Toxic Level 56's Gligar, but with so many layers of Spikes up and most of his team worn down, the situation is looking bleak for ChillShadow. Level 56's Misdreavus manages to score KOs on both Poliwrath and Electrode before finally going down to Manectric. Manectric manages to wear down Granbull, but Granbull closes out the game by beating it as well as the Gligar in the back, leading to a sovereign victory by Level 56.

Only one set remained after this. Level 56 had defeated many strong opponents to reach playoffs, and he even won the ADV UU Cup. In playoffs, he defeated BW UU Cup winner Kushalos in a close series and, after struggling a bit in the BW UU game, also defeated ChillShadow in the semifinals, taking the final game in a dominant fashion. He was to face ABR now, who had not won a single Cup but made it past several rounds in both BW UU and DPP UU Cups while reaching the semifinals of the ADV UU Cup himself. In playoffs, ABR had to go through DPP UU Cup winner Malekith and FLCL to reach finals. After struggling through multiple tournaments for several weeks, only this one series separated either ABR or Level 56 from winning the whole event and proving they are the all-around best player of the UU Classic tiers. Being the higher seed, Level 56 was allowed to pick the first tier, and so the finals commenced.

Playoffs Finals Game 1 Analysis

ABR leads with Ninetales against Level 56's Omastar. As most Omastar would switch out fearing Hidden Power Grass, ABR uses this opportunity to set up a Substitute. Level 56, however, stays in and Protects to scout. Not risking his Omastar, Level 56 switches in Lanturn, which gets hit by a Will-O-Wisp. Ninetales Protects for some extra chip damage and then Flamethrowers as Lanturn Surfs to break its Substitute. Ninetales creates another Substitute on Lanturn's Toxic, and it is looking like Ninetales can wear down and win against the Water-type in front of it. Lanturn reveals Rest, though, and realizing Ninetales is unable to break past it, ABR switches in his Golem. Golem Toxics an incoming Hitmontop and Protects to rack up some extra chip damage but is forced to switch, and ABR brings in his Tentacruel. Level 56 anticipates a switch and goes into his Altaria, which has to switch out here again. Lanturn comes in, but ABR reads this and bring in Golem once more. Golem tries to apply pressure with what is likely Hidden Power Rock, but Kangaskhan comes in and hits it with Toxic while avoiding Toxic itself. ABR uses Kangaskhan to cure his team of status conditions with Granbull's Heal Bell. Meanwhile, Level 56 uses Granbull to get off a Heal Bell with his Altaria.

Level 56 has revealed he runs a stall team by now. Other than wearing down foes through the use of weak attacks and status moves such as Toxic, its main goal is to get up Spikes with Omastar and force as many switches as possible for damage. Meanwhile, ABR's team, while not fully revealed, seems to be a more offensive take on a team that uses Toxic liberally to wear down opposing teams, likely to set up a sweep for an unrevealed Pokémon. With Level 56 having a reliable Heal Bell user in Altaria as well as several ways of healing up all of his Pokémon, he had a large matchup advantage that ABR would be hard pressed to overcome.

As the match goes on, Granbull reveals Earthquake against Omastar, wearing it down a little. Even though it gets up a layer of Spikes, Tentacruel has an easy time removing it. ABR reveals a Wish Kangaskhan that takes on Lanturn, but it is forced out by Level 56's Hitmontop. ABR reveals his final Pokémon in Scyther, but it is forced to switch out immediately. ABR is deperately looking for a way to break Level 56's team, and his Tentacruel pays dearly for it by eating Lanturn's Thunderbolt to get off a Toxic. With Tentacruel worn down, Scyther is now the main answer to Hitmontop, but it also gets worn down quickly by a well-timed Hidden Power. ABR attempts to slowly heal his weakened Tentacruel back up by repeatedly baiting out Toxics it can switch in on and getting a bit of Leftovers recovery before switching out again, and he manages to chip Hitmontop down with Granbull a bit as Hitmontop opts to go for a Hidden Power Ghost on it. While Tentacruel becomes moderately healthy again, ABR still does not manage to break through Level 56's team and Toxics Lanturn again as Tentacruel eats another Thunderbolt.

Level 56's Kangaskhan eventually lands a critical hit on ABR's Granbull and, with a gutsy Wish, manages to recover off the damage it received in the exchange. With a worn-down Granbull, ABR loses one of his best pivots, and with Tentacruel worn down, he has to allow Omastar to set up a layer of Spikes. Soon realizing he has no chance of breaking through Level 56's team, ABR forfeits.

Playoffs Finals Game 2 Analysis

The second game of finals is the DPP UU one. Level 56 leads with Scyther and U-turns on ABR's Donphan. Donphan sets up Stealth Rock, but Level 56's Exeggutor forces it to switch out. An incoming Drapion is hit by a Sleep Powder, which Level 56 capitalizes on: expecting his opponent to switch out again, he aggressively Psychics and hits ABR's Moltres for massive damage. Moltres Air Slashes an incoming Arcanine, and both Fire-types heal up with their respective recovery moves. Level 56 tries to pressure Moltres with Flare Blitz, but ABR switches into Slowking, which Thunder Waves Level 56's Registeel switch-in. Registeel sets up Stealth Rock as ABR's Donphan comes in and Rapid Spins it away. This, however, gives Exeggutor a free switch in, and with Moltres being in range of Psychic, ABR has no choice but to answer it with his sleeping Drapion. Kabutops comes in on the Drapion and removes Stealth Rock from Level 56's side of the field as ABR reveals his Toxicroak. Arcanine absorbs Toxicroak's Sludge Bomb with ease and, expecting the Slowking switch-in, Level 56 double switches to his Scyther and gains momentum with U-turn. Arcanine was now facing Moltres again and this time, it revealed Toxic. ABR switches in Slowking, which is now on a timer.

ABR's team revealed itself to be extremely weak to Exeggutor, and Level 56 had revealed an answer to every Pokémon he had presented thus far, giving Level 56 the clear advantage. Exeggutor's Leaf Storm deals massive damage to Drapion, which fails to wake up but attempts to Pursuit trap the Psychic-type. With a clever switch to Scyther, Level 56 lures in Donphan and U-turns into Exeggutor, giving it another shot at breaking ABR's team. Knowing ABR would not want to lose his Drapion, Level 56 commands Exeggutor to Psychic, and it catches Moltres on the switch, removing the bird from the game. Despite burning through three turns of sleep already, Drapion does not wake up yet, either, and is KOed by a Leaf Storm. ABR revenge kills Exeggutor with Porygon2, but the damage had been dealt.

Registeel sets up Stealth Rock and Donphan switches in again, but this time it sets up its own Stealth Rock instead of removing the hazard from its side of the field, as with Moltres gone, limiting the number of times Scyther could switch in was of utmost importance. Scyther comes in on Donphan immediately, though, and 2HKOes it with Aerial Ace as it Rapid Spins away Stealth Rock from its side of the field. ABR's Porygon2 forces Scyther out, and the damage its Thunderbolt deals to Registeel reveals that it is an offensive set. Gathering it would likely be the Choice Scarf set, Level 56 hard switches his Dugtrio in. Porygon2 Thunderbolts into the Ground-type and ABR realizes he cannot win anymore and forfeits, crowning Level 56 the first ever UnderUsed Classic Champion.

Conclusion

The UU Classic was a tournament inspired by the official Smogon Classic. It showcased several old UU tiers and allowed veterans and newcomers alike to duke it out to prove who the best player across all featured tiers was. We saw Kushalos prove once and for all that he is great at BW UU, while Malekith has proven he is still a force to be reckoned with in DPP UU. M Dragon, KratosMana, and FLCL showed their prowess across many tiers once again, while ABR and ChillShadow have proven they are very capable at oldgens UU. Of course, the biggest takeaway from all of this is to never underestimate Level 56 and how quickly he can pick up tiers. Despite not having played classic UU tiers before this tournament, he overcame many trials and many veterans of the tiers week after week until he was eventually the only player left standing, winning it all. With Level 56's beautiful play crowning him a UU Tour Champion, we can all look forward to next year and anticipate the next Classic, as it will surely bring us many opportunities to play and a plenty of high levels matches to spectate. Will a complete newcomer take it all? Will a veteran prove they are still the greatest? Will another great tournament player pick up the tiers at lightning speed and breeze through the competition? Let's find out—in the next iteration of the UnderUsed Classic.

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