I've been through the roof with excitement about the USUM UnderUsed tier in light of its return to the ladder through RoA Spotlight this month. I had played the format in casual games with friends and in room tournaments in the past, but never had a chance to ladder the format before. Despite this, the impression that USUM UU left on me has been phenomenal, and I've long considered it to be my 3rd favorite metagame. However, prior to this point, much of my teambuilding had been theorycrafting - only playing against a few people, I didn't get that deep of an understanding of how to build for the tier. So, after playing and losing several matches on the ladder, I decided that I was starting to get a clear enough picture of what a team needs to go forth and create a more informed build.
The Team
Altaria-Mega @ Altarianite
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Return
- Earthquake
- Roost
One of the reasons I fell in love with this tier was because it gave me my first taste of the glory that is Altaria-Mega. It's definitely one of my favorite singles mons ever. Going into this, I knew I wanted to build around the core of Scizor and Latias, which form what is essentially a more stable version of the Tyranitar-Latios dynamic from Black and White OU. Altaria-Mega synergizes beautifully with both of them, thus making it the de facto choice for this team. I experimented with defensive variants at first, but found that Altaria-Mega is able to check the most opposing threats when it is, itself, and offensive threat.
Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 164 HP / 252 Atk / 92 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Pursuit
Of course, it's my favorite Pokémon, and arguably #1 in the tier. What can I say, I really like priority attackers, and Scizor has been the de facto mascot of the archetype since Generation 4. Here I opted for the Choice Band set, since I was already using offensive setup moves on both Altaria-Mega and Latias. I needed something with immediate power, as soon as it hit the field.
Latias (F) @ Dragonium Z
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Roost
Just as stock-standard as the other two picks so far, Latias is one of the top Pokémon in the metagame, and has great synergy with Altaria-Mega and Scizor. Not a whole lot to say here. These three together check a huge number of threats in the metagame, mostly on the offensive side of the spectrum.
Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Scald
- Toxic
This is where the picks start to get more interesting. I didn't want to go fully offensive with the team, so I started looking for Pokemon to form a strong defensive backbone for the team - particularly ones that can set and/or clear hazards. I experimented with a few different options, but it did not take long for me to decide I really liked what Swampert brought to the team. In addition to being a reliable bulky Rocks setter, it also defensively checks a wide swath of threats in the metagame. Steel-types in particular prove problematic for the Altaria-Scizor-Latias core, and Swampert tends to match up well into them, often resisting their attacks and hitting back supereffectively, or even just fishing for burns with Scald.
Rotom-Heat @ Wiki Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 236 HP / 20 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Volt Switch
- Overheat
- Toxic
The main reason Rotom-Heat is chosen for this slot is because of its access to Defog. Though there are better hazard removers, Rotom-Heat synergizes the best with the team and especially with Scizor. Rotom-Heat is a defensive presence that still hits fairly hard, keeping up the pace but also helping flesh out the team's defenses. It has great synergy with Scizor, as it helps deal with Steel- and Fire-types that Scizor struggles with, while also forming a VoltTurn core.
Blissey (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Seismic Toss
- Toxic
- Soft-Boiled
- Heal Bell
Finally, Blissey helps the team go the distance in longer games. Heal Bell is a particularly helpful tool in this metagame, as Toxic is a very common move (it even appears on three members of this very team). This is especially important for this team, since it has two setup sweepers, both of whom are terrified at the thought of Toxic or paralysis preventing them from cleaning in the late game. Blissey also blanket checks a huge swath of Pokémon the team might otherwise struggle with, and its presence places this team closer to the "balance" archetype than anything else.
Mildly Problematic Matchups
Swords Dance users are generally problematic for this team, as it is overall rather slow and thus has a tendency to get outsped and cleaned by fast Swords Dance users.
Though not too hard to take out, Terrakion is likely to deal a lot of damage to the team before it goes down. If it predicts your switch and Swords Dances, you could be in a lot of trouble. Try to keep Scizor alive, as you may need to make a sacrifice to get it in and then revenge kill with Bullet Punch.
Bisharp is quite scary for this team, as it can come on on a fainted ally and Swords Dance on your switch. Nothing on this team matches up particularly well into Bisharp after it gets a Swords Dance, largely because Altaria-Mega, the only Dark resist on the team, gets absolutely flattened by Iron Head. The best way to deal with it, realistically, is to play Sucker Punch mindgames with it. I've thought about dropping Toxic for Will-o-Wisp on Rotom-Heat, though given Wisp's accuracy and the possibility of Bisharp simply opting for Knock Off, it doesn't seem like it would make that huge of a difference.
Compared to the other two, Cobalion is somewhat easier to deal with, simply because it doesn't hit nearly as hard as the other two. Keep Swampert healthy and try to keep Rocks off of your own side.
Most Problematic Matchup
Yeah, this guy is kind of a problem. In this section I'll walk through the ideal line of play against Feraligatr depending on which of your team members it switches in on.
Feraligatr requires at least one dedicated sacrifice to deal with. Get Swampert in with a free turn to set up hazards early, usually on a double-switch or as a lead. Then try to keep Swampert and Scizor healthy - this means playing aggressively in the early game with Latias and Altaria and pivoting with Rotom-Heat. Try to set up DD with Altaria any time you bring it in, so that if Feraligatr switches in you outspeed it. Both sides having Rocks up will be better for you than neither, so unless your opponent brings Spikes/TSpikes support, avoid Defogging away hazards once you get yours up. Eventually Feraligatr will come in.
Rotom-H can Volt Switch out to Swampert or Scizor, which can then clean it up.
If you are confident it will not double-switch out, click Devestating Drake. If you are not confident of that, or you have already burned your Z-move, drop a Draco - but you are kind of screwed if you miss. Then sacrifice Latias to get either Swampert or Scizor in safely.
Ideally Altaria-Mega already has a Dragon Dance up - in that case, Return is guaranteed to OHKO after Rocks and has a >50% chance to OHKO without Rocks. If Altaria does not already have a DD up, it will need to be sacrificed, and you'll probably also lose Swampert. Return once to chunk Feraligatr, which will probably set up a DD of its own. Then sac Altaria and bring in Swampert - see the Swampert section.
If it comes in on Blissey, hard switch to Swampert, then move forward to that section.
If it comes in on Swampert, use whatever combination of Toxic and EQ makes you feel comfortable until Swampert dies, then bring in Scizor.
If it comes in on Scizor, U-turn to Swampert which is then likely to win the 1v1, but if it does not, Scizor can come back in after it dies to clean up.
If at any point Feraligatr switches out, just be sure to keep Scizor healthy in the back to potentially finish it off with a Bullet Punch. However, it is much less threatening once already weakened, as at that point it may not be safe to set up a Dragon Dance, and thus Latias also becomes a safe revenge killing option.
Strengths and Conclusion
Though weak to setup sweepers, this team generally has an answer to almost every other common threat in the metagame, both offensively and defensively. The interlocking cores of Altaria-Scizor-Latias and Swampert-Rotom-Blissey allow the team to adjust the pace of the match on the fly depending on what is least comfortable for the opponent in the moment, and also offer a large breadth of solutions to nearly any problem.
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