UnderUsed Policy: Resource, Tournament, & Project Guide

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Kink

it's a thug life ¨̮
is a Tutor Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
Welcome to the UnderUsed's Official Forum Guide

This thread is a Central Hub for all newcomers and veterans that want to participate in this tier. This thread indicates the current UU Staff Members, the UU Council Members, and important Contributors, all of whom can assist you. Furthermore, this thread will cover all types of resources, link all current projects/tournaments, and will provide introductory access for players to properly participate in this tier. Further questions beyond should be directed to one of the Staff members/council members/contributors listed below.

Please familiarize yourself with our standards, as this will save everyone time and grief. This includes taking the time to check out Smogon's Tiering policies and our Forum Rules so that you can be properly informed when joining the discussion. Note: any decisions we make regarding moderation actions are final.

The UU forum is currently moderated by the following Smogon Staff members:

- Hogg [Tier Leader]
- Pearl [Tier Leader]
- Kink
- Sage
- Eyan
- Amane Misa


The UU Council: check our Tiering Policies here! Check out the Smogon Tiering Policies here! Check out our current Metagame Thread here!

Our Community Contributors are here to help you! Here are a list of other important Contributors in the tier which can help answer your common questions:
- Shiba (Community Contributor, Room Owner, Battling 101 Staff)
- Accelgor (Community Contributor, Room Owner)
- vivalospride (Community Contributor, Room Owner, RMT Staff)
- A Cake Wearing A Hat (Community Contributor)
- Moutemoute (Community Contributor)
- pokeisfun (Community Contributor)

As for actual rules, all the rules that are applicable to the entire Smogon site also apply here. Additionally, take note of the following:

- We do things a little differently around here. Unlike what you're probably used to, tiering decisions are made pretty liberally in UU, so you will probably have strong feelings about it. Expressing your feelings regarding specific suspects in PM or in public is fine, as long as you do so in a calm and respectful manner. There is a posting guide written by Mazz listed below. Give it a read if you are new or need clarification of what constitutes as a high-quality post meant to contribute to the discussion.


- Do not make individual threads without UU Moderator Approval. Direct all new Project/Tournament requests to moderators Hogg, Pearl, Kink, Sage, Eyan and Amane Misa under this format: http://www.smogon.com/forums/thread...ournament-project-guide.3591789/#post-7176025

- Stick to UU stuff.

- Don't be an idiot. Respect each other.


Pokemon Showdown UU Policies:
WIP as of March 16th 2018, if you have any immediate questions contact a Room Owner
To all new users, we highly recommend checking out the Guide listed below:
Introduction & Posting Guide - by Mazz
This is mainly in response to the influx of threads featuring non-viable Pokemon in UU (ie; Mightyena, Wigglytuff, etc.). The purpose of this post isn't to call anybody out for making these threads; Underused is a very balanced tier where lower-tiered Pokemon can find success. In fact, the moderators here, as well as our more veteran members, encourage people to find things in lower tiers that work in UU. It's great for diversity. The purpose of this guide is to assist the newer (and existing if need be) members see what exactly we're looking for in a quality post. Whether you're posting a new thread, replying to another member, or defending your position, a quality post should have some or all of these elements in them, as not only do they make you look like you know what you're talking about, but they strongly reinforce your argument.


The Basics
  • Lurking is never a bad idea if you're brand new to the competitive scene. Take some time to figure out how members are posting and how the tier operates before you dive in.

  • Generic 'if' statements will rarely contribute to a topic, unless the point is directly connected to the topic at hand. For example: "... if Jirachi falls to UU, I'll start using x on y."

  • Your post / reply should never be rude, overly aggressive, or malicious. Nobody likes being insulted, and by putting someone down, you're not doing your arguments any favour. You just look dumb, and if you maintain this pace, you'll notice a lot of your posts / threads being deleted, and you may even face action from a moderator. If you can keep your posts clean, concise, and manage to avoid stepping on people's toes, you'll gain some credibility around here, and members will be more willing to read your arguments and take them seriously.

  • Dry wit / sarcasm / humour on occasion is great, as it can liven up a post and help prove a point. However, don't be a clown. After a while, people will stop taking you seriously. If you want to be funny, check out Firebot, but this subforum is primarily aimed at discussion, reason, and focused arguments.

  • Before submitting a reply (or even a post) you need to take a step back and ask yourself some questions, "does what I said make sense?", "is my argument valid?", "why is my argument valid?", and "will other people support my argument?". If you can easily answer the first two questions with ease, chances are, you've got a good post. Making that same post a great one however requires the third and fourth questions to follow suit. If you cannot prove what you're trying to deliver to us, or if nobody is willing to support it, your ideas won't get very far.

  • Avoid obscenely massive posts. I've been guilt of this before too, and at the end of the day, not too many members are going to want to read a page-long essay as to why something should be or shouldn't be. Don't cop out on your post either, but avoid writing an article for something that would only need a few paragraphs. If you must throw a wall of text at us, put a TL;DR statement at the top of your post summarizing your ideas. It's polite, and can save those certain members some time.

  • Lastly, your reply / post / thread needs to be reasonable. While Underused can be a very flexible tier in terms of lower-tier viability, not everything has its use. Before making a statement that may later on be considered wild, do some research. Try that Pokemon, strategy, whatever it is you're trying to make a point of out on the ladder. Do some calculations. Avoid going into your ideas without being able to support them. Knowing what you're talking about will make your ideas more likely to become valid.
Supporting Your Post
  • Whenever need evidence to showcase your ideas, Damage Calculations are an excellent way to get a point across. These give the community hard numbers to look at, and can greatly emphasize your point. The common practice regarding damage calculations is to target the common Pokemon in the tier. So if you were arguing for an offensive Pokemon, use the heaviest walls in the tier to emphasize your point, and vice-versa if you're arguing for a defensive Pokemon.

  • Battle Logs are a solid way to prove the effectiveness of cores, strategies, or individual moves / items on a Pokemon, as they're recordings of those things in action. If posting these, try to provide more than one, as the more evidence you can stack up to support an argument, the better. Don't go nuts with it however. Another common courtesy to consider is to indicate the specific turns when the topic in focus takes place, and should be a must for longer battles.

  • Logic and credibility, are huge. If what you're saying makes sense, and you're known for being sensible, your post will immediately gain traction. Having these behind a post, specifically logic, will inevitably make supporting an argument easier, as the post and evidence won't contradict each other.
We hope you enjoy your time with us and we hope you're ready to tackle the vicious world of our SubForum!
If you have any additional questions, direct them here.

That is all.​
 
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Resources - A current list of up-do-date resources designed to help you improve and socially participate - All of these threads are run and maintained by the UU Moderation Staff; please contact them for any questions or concerns.
Pokemon Showdown Chatroom
Click on the Underused Room to join our official discussion room for the Underused tier. A lot of detailed discussion and friendly/competitive matches take place here. It is heavily recommended that all users interested in Underused come here and join in on the discussions.

UU Discord
Our public Discord chat; less popular than our Showdown simulator, but this platform is good for communicating with more experienced UU players and casually talking about UU or other fun things. Note, this is more or less our IRC replacement moving forward.

UnderUsed Usage Statistics
The usage statistics show what's currently being used in Underused and how common it appears. A staple when teambuilding. Also shows playstyles and common movesets.

SM UU Tournament/Project Proposals & Schedules
This thread is meant to assist users that are interested in hosting a tour or running a project. All proposals need to follow the guidelines listed in this thread in order to be looked at. If you're interested in substantially contributing to the UU sub-forum, this is a good place to start.

USUM UU Viability Ranking Thread - run by Hilomilo and Sage
This thread collects the experience of the entire Underused community and transforms it into a list of most threatening Pokemon to least threatening. Another excellent teambuilding resource.

SM UU C&C Subforum
The Corrections & Contributions hub for 7th Gen UU Analyses to be posted on Smogon can be found here. Insight and knowledge of Pokemon is greatly appreciated for helping with in-progress analyses. Come lend a hand, or write your own!

USUM NP Thread
One of the main discussion threads regarding the Underused tier as a whole, with a vast degree of fundamental topics at hand. Tier shifts and suspect tests are commonly discussed here. This thread is taken rather seriously, and it is best that you check out our posting guide before making any sort of post.

SM Metagame Trends Thread - run by aim
A slightly more casual thread where you can discuss common metagame trends, ask questions about various aspects of the tier, and explore common UU Metagame topics as set out by the OP.

SM Sample Teams Thread - run by Amane Misa
The purpose of this thread is to archive successfu UU teams, intended to help new players get acclimated to the metagame and different playstyles. The subtle differences in each tier can make UU seem overwhelming, even to seasoned veterans of other tiers. Here, you can post your own team for archiving for new UU players to use.

UU Old Gens Hub Resource - run by dodmen
This thread contains resources for the UnderUsed tiers of older generations - Black and White UU, Diamond/Pearl/Platinum UU, and Advance UU (or Generation 3 UU). This thread will also serve as a place to hold discussion about the older generations of UU. Each post contains Viability Rankings, sample teams, and a list of mechanics of the generation that is different from ORAS. Feel free to post your thoughts on a particular aspect of a generation, successful cores, underrated Pokemon, teams you want feedback on, and anything else related to old gens UU. We hope to bring these metagames more exposure.

The USUM UU Teambuilding Compendium - run by A Cake Wearing A Hat and Hilomilo
This thread is a helpful resource to assist newer users and people getting used to the tier with teambuilding. The Role Compendium lets you know, at a glance, what Pokemon perform which roles in the metagame, and the Checks Compendium presents a list of offensive and defensive answers to a large portion of UU's viable Pokemon. The Checks Compendium is currently out of date, but the Role Compendium is up to date.

USUM UU Cores v2 - run by Stoward
Here's where to go if you ever want tried, tested, and effective cores (groups of 2 or 3 Pokemon that work well together towards a specific goal) to build your own teams around. This thread has cores of all varieties—offensive, balanced, and defensive—so you'll have plenty of variety to choose from. You can also contribute by posting your own proposals for effective cores, although only truly good ones will be featured in the main post.

UnderUsed Hall of Fame
If you've won an official UU tour, your name will appear here! Making it on this list is no easy task.

The Official 'Hax' Compendium Guide
In this guide you’ll be able to locate exact probabilities of in-game scenarios. We’ve detailed nearly every possible outcome you could find in a battle, all in neat categories for you to find quickly in the heat of a game. Never again will you not know the odds with this trusty manual at your side. Use this guide to help you make optimal decisions in battle or to conduct extensive post-game analyses to see what your best option could have been. This guide is not intended to tell you your odds of things happening on a turn-by-turn basis; rather, it is intended to help you calculate odds from a turn-zero position or a chain-of-events perspective.

USUM UU Speedlist - run by Moutemoute
This thread will be a quick-access Speed list of all Pokemon in the UU Metagame (that includes any in RU and even NU who happen to have analyses) based on the Speed stats of their sets. If you want to Speed creep something, use this thread as a reference on what you need to creep, you creeper.

SM Creative/Underrated Sets Thread - run by Amane Misa
A thread dedicated to creative or underrated sets that have a viable niche against a decent portion of the metagame. Be sure to carefully read the rules before posting a set; it's very easy to confuse a gimmick with a creative set. Contributions to this thread are appreciated, although the standards are very high. Feel free to consult the Project Host or a Community Contributor to see if a team is worth posting.

Global Smogon Rules
The boring part of the forum, but these rules, and knowing who not to provoke, are a safe bet to becoming a positive presence on the subforums.


Tournaments - A current list of ongoing official Underused Tournaments - unofficial tournaments will not be listed here, and instead will be listed here, along with the request forms.
If you are curious as to our which of our current official tournaments is active, please check the post DIRECTLY under this one.

Underused Hall of Fame
This is our official Hall of Fame list. Click here to review the winners of previous prestigious UU tours. Do your best to join the list of elites!

SM UU Tournament/Project Proposals & Schedules
This thread is meant to assist users that are interested in hosting a tour or running a project. All proposals need to follow the guidelines listed in this thread in order to be looked at. If you're interested in substantially contributing to the UU sub-forum, this is a good place to start.


Projects - A current list of ongoing Underused projects designed to help you participate. All of these threads are run and maintained by known UU contributors; please contact the appropriate project leader for any questions or concerns. Old projects or projects that have recently ended will NOT be listed here.
UU Teambuilding Lab V3 - run by Amane Misa and vivalospride
Hello, everyone. Throughout our time in UU, we have noticed that many newer players struggle to build effective teams. In an effort to rectify that, we have joined forces with several experienced UU players to host the UnderUsed Teambuilding Lab. Here, users can post Pokemon sets or cores that they would like the Lab staff to build a team around. The Lab staff may then reply with their team and the team building process they used so that the client can see our thought processes, and, as a result, better develop their ability to build their own teams in the future.

UU Break This Team - run by Scizorphobic and Estarossa
Welcome to Break This Team: USUM UU Edition! This project follows a simple layout, with the submission and voting stages taking place on a week by week basis. Most metagame-defining teams may seem perfect on the surface, but they all have their undeniable flaws, and this project aims to help point out those weak links. Each week, I'll post a team that was built by someone invested in the metagame, and the participants will then try to break this team with a core made of just two Pokemon.

UU Brain Teasers - run by pokeisfun and many others!
Are you bored or burned out from constant competition in tournaments and laddering? Do you find yourself mindlessly clicking Scald every game to fish for burns and switching back and forth with U-turn and Volt Switch? Do you want to spend some time sharpening those cognitive skills of yours? Then this project has a solution for all your problems! Introducing UU Brain Teasers. This is a super friendly project where each session, a host will entertain a live audience in the PS UU room with UU related brain teasers.

UU Matchmaking - run by Moutemoute
Like in real life, the purpose of UU Matchmaking's project is to find every week the best partner for a certain Pokemon. Every week, a certain set of a Pokemon will be given, and you have to post what you think is the best teammate for it. At the end of the week, the person with the most votes gets their core put in the archive!

SM UU Tournament/Project Proposals & Schedules
This thread is meant to assist users that are interested in hosting a tour or running a project. All proposals need to follow the guidelines listed in this thread in order to be looked at. If you're interested in substantially contributing to the UU sub-forum, this is a good place to start.

USUM UU Team Bazaar - run by Sickist
This thread will serve as a more casual way to drop new teams you've been building and recieve feedback or just share cool stuff you've been using. This is intended to be a more relaxed version of the RMT subforum to post teams you don't want to do a full RMT for, so feel free to post teams you'd like advice on. Make sure you include some level of quality to the teams you post in here, test all teams that you post, include sprites of your team, and provide an importable of the team.

SM UU Battle Replay Thread - run by Underused Moderation Staff and Shiba
See the top minds and skills in the UU subforum duke it out for forum glory!

OldGens UU Team Bazaar - run by Mazz
Welcome to all battlers, new and old, to the OldGens UU Team Bazaar! This resource is going to function like an amalgamation of the USUM UU Team Bazaar, USUM UU Cores, and USUM Creative and Underrated Sets threads with a strict focus on OldGens metagames. This is a more casual place to bring teams, cores, and individual sets into the eye of the UnderUsed community in order to grow past metagames. This thread will house teams, cores, and sets from all across the OldGens Board. GSC, ADV, DPP, BW, and ORAS submissions are all welcome!

There may be other lesser known tournaments / mini-projects not on this list that are running on our subforum.

If you have a question about any particular project contact the Original Poster / Project head.

If you have any questions about becoming a Project head for a new project contact Kink, Hogg, Pearl, Sage, Eyan, and Amane Misa and see the project proposal form below.

If you have any additional questions, direct them
here.
 
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UNDERUSED OFFICIAL TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE - 2019/2020
  • WINTER: UnderUsed Masters I (January)
  • SPRING: UnderUsed Ladder Tournament (April)
  • SUMMER: Smogon Grand Slam VIII - UnderUsed Open (June), UnderUsed Classic III (July)
  • FALL: UnderUsed Majors IV (October)
  • YEAR END: UnderUsed Championships III (December)
UNDERUSED UNOFFICIAL TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE - 2019
  • TBA

------

How do I submit a tournament proposal?
  • Hosts must PM their proposal to Kink, Pearl, Hogg, Sage, Eyan, and receive approval before posting. Use the template below to submit your idea.
  • The entire tournament, including sign-ups, all rounds, and results should be posted in the same thread (i.e. no posting each round in a separate thread).
  • Deadlines must be adhered to. Extensions may be granted as necessary, but rounds should be posted on schedule. Post unfinished pairings when extensions to games are given (ex: [player 1 vs player 2] vs player 3). The maximum length of a round is one week, but three or four days is good enough for smaller tournaments.
  • Hosts are expected to be active throughout the duration of their tournament in order to update pairings and make substitutions when necessary.
PM subject: UU Forum Tournament Proposal

PM body:
  • Briefly describe the metagame that will be played: (BWUU with the following Pokemon also allowed: Infernape Donphan etc etc)
  • Tour format: (single elimination, double elimination, brackets of 4, teams of 3, etc)
  • Pokemon Showdown/Smogtours format used: Gen 5 OU
  • Have you read the UU forum tournament hosting rules: (yes)

The schedule for tournaments will be updated as new tournaments are approved. Note that due to scheduling constraints, there may be some delay in when your tournament will go live; please do not submit a tournament proposal if you will be unavailable to host after a short delay.

If you have any questions or feedback on these changes, please direct them via PM to Kink, Pearl, Hogg, Sage, Eyan
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How do I submit a project proposal?
  • Any user that wants to create or take over a project must PM their proposal to Kink, Pearl, Hogg, Sage, Eyan and receive approval before posting. Use the template below to submit your idea.
  • The project, including Hall of Fame, Archives, and subsequent rounds should be posted in the same thread (i.e. no posting each round in a separate thread), unless specifically instructed otherwise.
  • Projects need to be regularly maintained and reviewed. Rounds should be posted on schedule. Extensions for project rounds can be granted on an as-needed basis, with moderator approval.
  • Project Hosts are expected to be active throughout the duration of their project in order to update the project and keep it active. Projects will be reassigned if it is found that you are not updating your project regularly.
PM subject: UU Forum Project Proposal

PM body:
  • Pick one of the following options that best fits the Project Request:
    • (1) Teambuilding (example: Compendiums)
    • (2) Cores (example: Underrated Sets)
    • (3) Challenge-Based (example: Iron Chef)
    • (4) Competitive Based (example: Battle of the Week)
  • Project Format - How will this Project work?
    • Breakdown of the project and the way it will be run.
    • Please include a sample OP if you have developed it.
  • Have you ever participated in hosting a UU SubForum Project?
  • Please provide several posts indicating that you are invested in the metagame and have some basic knowledge as to how it works (NP thread, VR thread, etc.).
Note that due to Project redundancy and other miscellaneous issues, there may be some delay in when your project will go live; please do not submit a project proposal if you will be unavailable to lead the project after a short delay. All submissions will be reviewed carefully. Submissions are not guaranteed to be approved.

If you have any questions please direct them via PM to Amane Misa, Kink, Pearl, Hogg, Sage, Eyan
 
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This system is on hold until further notice. Please contact a moderator with any questions.

Hello!

The UnderUsed forum moderation team and I have been developing a points system regarding projects in the UnderUsed forum. Hard work, dedication, and persistence now result in immediate rewards! For participating in various forum projects you can earn Voice* status in the UnderUsed room on PS!, a Pre-Contributor badge, and finally, a Community Contributor badge!

How exactly does it work?
Through participation in threads in the UnderUsed forum like the Viability Rankings, Sample Teams, and Dark Horse projects, you can acquire points. By acquiring and collecting points you get rewards. You can also acquire points by hosting projects. Pretty straightforward, right?

For a total of 20 points, you can be awarded Voice status in the UnderUsed room on PS!
For a total of 40 points, you can be awarded a Pre-Contributor badge!
For a total of 60 points, you can be awarded a Community Contributor badge!

What's the purpose of this policy?

The purpose of the policy is to encourage activity in various forum projects. Certain projects like the Dark Horse project and the UU Ladder Challenge wear out too quickly, despite being amazing projects that do a lot for new and veteran users.

The following list explains what projects grant what rewards, and how they grant the rewards:
  • Viability Ranking & Discussion Threads – Forum Moderators can nominate a post for being worth 1 point.
  • Sample Teams – For every team that gets accepted, the poster will be awarded 3 points.
  • Creative and Underrated Sets – For every three accepted sets a poster submits, they will be awarded 1 point.
  • Good Cores – For every three accepted cores a poster submits, they will be awarded 1 point.
  • Research Week – For every week won, the winner will be awarded 2 points. Good, effortful, non-winning posts may be awarded 1 point at the discretion of the project hosts and Forum Moderators.
  • Team Bazaar – For every two good teams a poster submits, they will be awarded 1 point
  • Teambuilding Competition – For every week won, the winner will be awarded 1 point.
  • Teambuilding Compendium– Particularly good accepted suggestions are granted 1 point each on a case-by-case basis.
    • People who work on the Teambuilding Compendium are granted 1 point per update worked on.
  • Teambuilding Lab – For every team posted, the builder will be awarded 1 point.
  • Brain Teasers – For every session won, the winner will be awarded 1 point.
  • Break This Team – For every week won, the winner will be awarded 1 point.
  • What's Their Last? – For every week won, the winner will be awarded 1 point.
  • Matchmaking – For every week won, the winner will be awarded 1 point.
  • Lure That Threat – For every week won, the winner will be awarded 1 point.
  • Victim of the Week – For every week won, the winner will be awarded 1 point.
  • Iron Chef – For every week won, the winner will be awarded 1 point. (Currently not running)
  • Ladder Challenge – Getting 200 ladder challenge points awards you 2 forum points, and getting 250 ladder challenge points awards you 3 forum points. (Currently not running)
  • The Next Best Thing – For every week won, the winner will be awarded 1 point. (Currently not running)
  • Dark Horse Project – A-rank finish: 3 points; B-rank finish: 2 points; C- and D-ranks finish: 1 point. (Currently not running)
  • Subforum Tournaments – A 1st place finish will result in a 3 points reward. A 2nd place finish will result in a 2 points reward.
  • Project Hosting – The host of a project (or projects) will be awarded 2 points for each project that runs for a month.
  • Tournament Hosting – Hosting a tournament from start to finish grants 2-3 points depending on the tour size.
*The UnderUsed roomstaff has the privilege to immediately devoice anybody who violates the PS! room or global rules.
 
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Hey, everyone!

All aspects of UnderUsed—the forum, the room, and the discord—are banding together to develop to be the best they can with a combination of transparency and user feedback! The leaders and prominent figures of every aspect of the UU community will be making an effort to listen to you! Don't be afraid, they won't bite.

What does this mean? We're giving community members an avenue to have their comments, concerns, and feedback heard. Feel free to contact any of the prominent community members below by starting a Smogon conversation with one or more of them if you have anything you think we can improve on, be it in the PS room, the forums, or the discord! Every real suggestion will be considered, and we will respect everyone who has feedback to give. The relevant parties will make concrete improvements based on the feedback we get whenever they can.

List of community members you should PM suggestions to:
A Cake Wearing A Hat
Accelgor
Sage
Kink
Amane Misa
 
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