USM UU Ladder Tournament Discussion Thread

Amane Misa

Bring Them Home Now!
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
approved by the UU forum moderation team

Introduction

The UnderUsed Ladder Tour (UULT) is currently underway, and many players are hitting the ladder! There are 4 ladder cycles in total. During these cycles, there are a limited number of qualifying spots. Players sign up for any cycle they please and aim to ladder to as high of a ranking as possible to earn a qualifying position. Players who successfully earn one of the available qualifying spots will then have the chance to compete in the playoffs of UULT. For a more thorough explanation of how the individual cycles work, please refer to this thread and any future ones.

As for this thread, its purpose is to discuss the UULT ladder metagame, trends, player experiences, ladder advice, popular teams and why they are popular, and any other information players feel like discussing! I will be following UULT closely and updating this thread accordingly with any trends I notice, a list of individuals who qualified for each cycle, and so on. There will be plenty to discuss during the duration of UULT. I'd love for this thread to be fun and hope to see players share their thoughts and experiences during each cycle.

After each cycle ends, I will be writing an overview for them each. These overviews will be archived and linked in the second post for easy access, along with any notable posts from individuals/UULT participants who take the time to share their thoughts.
 
Last edited:

pokemonisfun

Banned deucer.
168222

Let's discuss how cute and clean this is :)

All but Scizor are probably considered naturally cute Pokemon. Blissey has a fat reputation but Misa fixed that up and made it cute by adding the little wink. Scizor of course is nice to include as the king of UU. The banner is very thread specific as it says it's for the discussion thread. Altaria is extra cute next to Latias and Scizor, which only include the head, because Altaria includes the entire mini body and looks super fluffy.

Anyways the one thing that confuses me is the bars. Does that indicate a ladder? Its a nice design but I think it's open to interpretation which is nice.
 

Amane Misa

Bring Them Home Now!
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
View attachment 168222
Let's discuss how cute and clean this is :)

All but Scizor are probably considered naturally cute Pokemon. Blissey has a fat reputation but Misa fixed that up and made it cute by adding the little wink. Scizor of course is nice to include as the king of UU. The banner is very thread specific as it says it's for the discussion thread. Altaria is extra cute next to Latias and Scizor, which only include the head, because Altaria includes the entire mini body and looks super fluffy.

Anyways the one thing that confuses me is the bars. Does that indicate a ladder? Its a nice design but I think it's open to interpretation which is nice.
Thanks!

The design is inspired by Bloo's design, who hosted the ORAS OU Ladder Tournament! I won't answer what do the bars indicate since the idea isn't originally mine, but since I doubt Bloo would able to see this and answer since they're banned, I would just say that it's open to interpretation!
 

Amane Misa

Bring Them Home Now!
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
Cycle 1 Qualifiers

Rank: #1 | ELO: 1828 | GXE: 86.2% | Record: 82W-23L (78.10%)
Rank: #2 | ELO: 1828 | GXE: 85.4% | Record: 84W-27L (75.68%)
Rank: #3 | ELO: 1825 | GXE: 87.8% | Record: 85W-26L (76.58%)
Rank: #4 | ELO: 1823 | GXE: 83.8% | Record: 97W-40L (70.8%)


Cycle 1 Overview

  • - Scizor remains the best Pokemon in the tier, with usage on most of the qualifying teams. This cycle also shows how well-diverse Scizor is; from Choice Band to Offensive Swords Dance and to Life Orb + Swords Dance, Scizor definitely put in a lot of work in the majority of the games.
  • - Mega Altaria continues to gain more usage and recognition from higher-level tournament players, both in SPL X and in UULT, and is undoubtedly one of the most dangerous Pokemon in the metagame. Both tormented and RedEmption used it in their hyper offense teams, together with Latias, to form a Dragon-spam breaking core. Furthermore, tormented used the infamous DragMag core with Mega Altaria + Magneton, which allowed Mega Altaria to have an easier time sweeping with Scizor gone, as shown in this replay, and SilvioGuacamole used the very same Mega Altaria + Magneton in the semi-stall team he used.
  • - Straightforward stallbreakers and balance breakers like Togekiss, Haxorus, Substitute Gengar, Choice Band Crawdaunt, and Substitute + Protect Suicune, respectively, have seen usage in the qualifiers' teams to deal with the wave of stall that comes with every ladder tournament.
Notable/Popular Cycle 1 Teams
Below are some popular teams used during Cycle 1. These show some of the trends discussed above and provide some insight into the type of builds people were using to compete with. I may have missed a few, so please feel free to mention any teams you feel were popular during the cycle and I will add them. Note, replays were a little tedious to find, so if there are better ones people have in mind, please let me know and I'll include them as well.
  • - Used by SilvioGuacamole, this is a pretty good way of exploiting the limited answers there are to Choice Band Crawdaunt backed up by a bulkier build, Pursuit-trapping support, and Spikes.
  • - Used by SilvioGuacamole and robjr, and makes a comeback from robjr's game versus Pearl in SPL X. A very solid bulky offensive team that features Mega Slowbro which has started getting more usage after this SPL, and proves to be a dangerous sweeper against common builds.
  • - Used by SilvioGuacamole and originally built by Christo for SPL X, this team takes advantage of the limited counterplay to Mega Altaria + Magneton that are backed up with a common core used in stall teams and Scizor.
  • - Used by Kebab mlml and was built by Ark last UUPL, it takes advantage of Substitute + Toxic Suicune's good matchup against slower teams. It also shows that Devastating Drake Latias is still a huge threat, despite the surge in BoltBeam Latias's usage!
  • - An interesting hyper offense team used by RedEmption, which features Azelf, which was pretty much forgotten as most hyper offense teams have been opting for Froslass + Kommo-o/Terrakion as the hazard setters, as well as an offensive Rhyperior variant.
  • - Another interesting hyper offense build, this time used by tormented. This build takes advantage of the forgotten OTR Stakataka's great matchup against offense and Haxorus's great matchup against slower teams to potentially sweep with Mega Altaria that is backed up by Magneton's trapping capabilities or Scizor. It also features Empoleon, which is a never-seen Pokemon on hyper offense teams.
Tagging the qualifiers; feel free to post your thoughts on the cycle or to share the teams you used so others could use!
 
Last edited:
I'd like to throw some shade on Redemtion. In the last minutes of the cycle he decided to get a match even though he was well within top 4, I presume in hopes he would catch a competitor trying to climb past him. He then proceeded to timestall me past the deadline once he realized he was gonna lose. Truly sneaky. But what else can you expect from a soulless frenchman:blobshrug: Broken system..
 
Last edited:

pokemonisfun

Banned deucer.
I'd like to throw some shade on Redemtion. In the last minutes of the cycle he decided to get a match even though he was well within top 4, I presume in hopes he would catch a competitor trying to climb past him. He then proceeded to timestall me past the deadline once he realized he was gonna lose. Truly sneaky. But what else can you expect from a soulless frenchman:blobshrug: Broken system..

Can you at least post the replay of you beating him for us to watch and shame him then?
 
[15:05] Spare Me Mint: may I ask whats with all those UULT2 guys
[15:05] Spare Me Mint: they seem to be french

Also anybody else notice how balance and big breakers seem to have popped up big when this kicked off?
I think it's to counteract stall, I've only seen a handful people of using stall because of it which is pretty nice. I think the most notable pokemon i've seen on the ladder is Nasty Plot Infernape, Stealth Rock Z terrakion, Togekiss and Lucario. They're all fantastic balance/wall breakers, along with Drag Mag being used a lot. The one mon I haven't encountered a bunch while laddering is suicune, it's super good because of it's ability to wear teams down, however, some players have been running taunt jellicent or even volcanion which shuts it down. I think the best set right now for cune is probably roar.
 

Amane Misa

Bring Them Home Now!
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
Cycle 2 Qualifiers
Rank: #1 | ELO: 1823 | GXE: 80.7% | Record: 45W-14L (76.27%)
Rank: #2 | ELO: 1805 | GXE: 84.3% | Record: 73W-20L (78.05%)
Rank: #3 | ELO: 1798 | GXE: 87.4% | Record: 48W-7L (87.27%)
Rank: #4 | ELO: 1792 | GXE: 87.5% | Record: 95W-28L (80.51%)


Cycle 2 Overview

  • - Hyper offense teams remain to be a popular pick this UULT due to the effectiveness of the playstyle. The variety in leads the playstyle has to offer was also noticed, as the team Bebo used utilized the good old Azelf lead, while the team soTsoT used utilized the core of Froslass + Terrakion to get up both Spikes and Stealth Rock.
  • - Again, Mega Altaria proves itself to be one of the most effective, if not the most effective, Mega Evolution in the tier. This time, the team Christo used to beat Lycans in SPL made a comeback thanks to Pradhaaan, and so did Mega Altaria but on a full stall team!
  • - Straightforward balance and stall breakers make their debut once again! While Celebi and Crawdaunt have already seen a good usage lately, interestingly, Talonflame and Honchkrow were also being used. Bebo used an old team of mine that utilizes Honchkrow as the main breaker together with Scizor and Mega Sharpedo to clean late-game, and soTsoT used a team that is similar to a team Pearl used against Robjr in SPL that utilizes Talonflame! The return of the birds!
Notable/Popular Cycle 2 Teams
Below are some popular teams used during Cycle 2. These show some of the trends discussed above and provide some insight into the type of builds people were using to compete with. I may have missed a few, so please feel free to mention any teams you feel were popular during the cycle and I will add them. Note, replays were a little tedious to find, so if there are better ones people have in mind, please let me know and I'll include them as well.
  • - Used by Bebo and was built by me really long time ago, this team utilizes an unorthodox balance breaker, Honchkrow! Beside it are the common hyper offense staples, including Scizor and Mega Sharpedo to complete the physical attacking core of the team. Lucario improves the team's matchup against full stall teams and Choice Scarf Latias helps with the revenge kill of various threats like Infernape, Mega Manectric, and Mega Aerodactyl, and helps with healing back up its mates with Healing Wish.
  • - Used by Pradhaaan and was built by Christo in SPL, this team continues Pearl's legacy of not using a Steel-type on stall! It takes advantage of that the main stallbreakers nowadays like Crawdaunt and Infernape are walled by Mega Altaria and it also utilizes Nihilego, which was used by pokeisfun on various stall teams but is still not that common on stall teams to wall other stallbreakers like Togekiss and Chandelure and to absorb Toxic Spikes.
  • - Used by various players this week and by SilvioGuacamole last week, this is a pretty good way of exploiting the limited answers there are to Choice Band Crawdaunt backed up by a bulkier build, Pursuit-trapping support, and Spikes.
  • - Used by soTsoT and is similar to a build Pearl used in SPL, this team shows that Talonflame is still a very viable pick this meta! It also utilizes the hazard setting core of Froslass + Terrakion, which I personally used myself on hyper offense. The team is then patched up with 3 hyper offense staples in Scizor, Mega Sharpedo, and Latias.
  • - While nobody qualified using that team, I, personally, have seen this team this week too. Originally built by Christo for SPL X, this team takes advantage of the limited counterplay to Mega Altaria + Magneton that are backed up with a common core used in stall teams and Scizor.
Tagging the qualifiers; feel free to post your thoughts on the cycle or to share the teams you used so others could use!
 
Last edited:
Just a nitpick but i didnt actually use the silvio team. I had infernape over hydreigon and hippo over gligar. Ill admit my version was heavily inspired by the drei/glig one after facing it on the ladder tho. It basically plays the same. Sd ape with gunk lures prim and alt kinda like steelium drei lures alt, difference is I trade a weakness to volcanion for a better sciz mu.
 
Cycle 2 Qualifiers
Rank: #1 | ELO: 1823 | GXE: 80.7% | Record: 45W-14L (76.27%)
Rank: #2 | ELO: 1805 | GXE: 84.3% | Record: 84W-27L (78.05%)
Rank: #3 | ELO: 1798 | GXE: 87.4% | Record: 48W-7L (87.27%)
Rank: #4 | ELO: 1792 | GXE: 87.5% | Record: 95W-28L (80.51%)


Cycle 2 Overview

  • - Hyper offense teams remain to be a popular pick this UULT due to the effectiveness of the playstyle. The variety in leads the playstyle has to offer was also noticed, as the team Bebo used utilized the good old Azelf lead, while the team soTsoT used utilized the core of Froslass + Terrakion to get up both Spikes and Stealth Rock.
  • - Again, Mega Altaria proves itself to be one of the most effective, if not the most effective, Mega Evolution in the tier. This time, the team Christo used to beat Lycans in SPL made a comeback thanks to Pradhaaan, and so did Mega Altaria but on a full stall team!
  • - Straightforward balance and stall breakers make their debut once again! While Celebi and Crawdaunt have already seen a good usage lately, interestingly, Talonflame and Honchkrow were also being used. Bebo used an old team of mine that utilizes Honchkrow as the main breaker together with Scizor and Mega Sharpedo to clean late-game, and soTsoT used a team that is similar to a team Pearl used against Robjr in SPL that utilizes Talonflame! The return of the birds!
Notable/Popular Cycle 2 Teams
Below are some popular teams used during Cycle 2. These show some of the trends discussed above and provide some insight into the type of builds people were using to compete with. I may have missed a few, so please feel free to mention any teams you feel were popular during the cycle and I will add them. Note, replays were a little tedious to find, so if there are better ones people have in mind, please let me know and I'll include them as well.
  • - Used by Bebo and was built by me really long time ago, this team utilizes an unorthodox balance breaker, Honchkrow! Beside it are the common hyper offense staples, including Scizor and Mega Sharpedo to complete the physical attacking core of the team. Lucario improves the team's matchup against full stall teams and Choice Scarf Latias helps with the revenge kill of various threats like Infernape, Mega Manectric, and Mega Aerodactyl, and helps with healing back up its mates with Healing Wish.
  • - Used by Pradhaaan and was built by Christo in SPL, this team continues Pearl's legacy of not using a Steel-type on stall! It takes advantage of that the main stallbreakers nowadays like Crawdaunt and Infernape are walled by Mega Altaria and it also utilizes Nihilego, which was used by pokeisfun on various stall teams but is still not that common on stall teams to wall other stallbreakers like Togekiss and Chandelure and to absorb Toxic Spikes.
  • - Used by various players this week and by SilvioGuacamole last week, this is a pretty good way of exploiting the limited answers there are to Choice Band Crawdaunt backed up by a bulkier build, Pursuit-trapping support, and Spikes.
  • - Used by soTsoT and is similar to a build Pearl used in SPL, this team shows that Talonflame is still a very viable pick this meta! It also utilizes the hazard setting core of Froslass + Terrakion, which I personally used myself on hyper offense. The team is then patched up with 3 hyper offense staples in Scizor, Mega Sharpedo, and Latias.
  • - While nobody qualified using that team, I, personally, have seen this team this week too. Originally built by Christo for SPL X, this team takes advantage of the limited counterplay to Mega Altaria + Magneton that are backed up with a common core used in stall teams and Scizor.
Tagging the qualifiers; feel free to post your thoughts on the cycle or to share the teams you used so others could use!
just a correction. shouldn't it be 73 wins and 20 loss for me?
 

Attachments

Amane Misa

Bring Them Home Now!
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
Cycle 3 Qualifiers

Rank: #1 | ELO: 1837 | GXE: 85.7% | Record: 94W-29L (76.42%)
Rank: #2 | ELO: 1823 | GXE: 88.4% | Record: 81W-19L (81.00%)
Rank: #3 | ELO: 1818 | GXE: 84.4% | Record: ?W-?L (Unavailable)
Rank: #4 | ELO: 1811 | GXE: 90.7% | Record: 62W-11L (84.72%)


Cycle 3 Overview

  • - Offensive Water-types like Mega Sharpedo, Mega Blastoise, and Crawdaunt have been seeing a lot of usage this round, too. Whether be it Mega Sharpedo's and Crawdaunt's ridiculous damage output or Mega Blastoise's crazy coverage, offensive Water-types have been proven themselves to be a great choice in the current metagame, being able to offensively check the ubiquitous Scizor and to threaten the majority of teams with their great force. They are also usually paired with Spikes, as they help limit the checks to the aforementioned Water-types, including Grass-types like Amoonguss, and Fairy-types like Sylveon and Florges.
  • - Similarly to previous rounds, straightforward balance and stall breakers have seen a lot of usage in order to take advantage of slower playstyles being very common in the ladder.
  • - why do people still use my old Honchkrow team?
Notable/Popular Cycle 3 Teams
Below are some popular teams used during Cycle 2. These show some of the trends discussed above and provide some insight into the type of builds people were using to compete with. I may have missed a few, so please feel free to mention any teams you feel were popular during the cycle and I will add them. Note, replays were a little tedious to find, so if there are better ones people have in mind, please let me know and I'll include them as well.
  • - Used by Pierrick. Unfortunately, there's not much information on this team, but it looks like a pretty standard build that focuses around supporting Slowbro with wallbreakers like Scizor, Terrakion, and Nidoking in order aim for a good matchup against the common checks of Slowbro.
  • - a really cool team that was used by Ktütverde. It focuses on supporting Decidueye to pull a sweep with the help of Steel- and Dark-types checks like Mega Blastoise, Infernape, and Klefki and with the help of Spikes.
  • /
    - the protagonist of the anime "UUはしごトーナメント2019", FUMA HI-FI, returns with two very spooky and similar teams that utilize Mega Sharpedo and friends like Klefki and Doublade to defeat the evil forces of the UU ladder. Seems like our hero had a hard time between choosing whether should he bring Cobalion or Scizor but he managed to figure that out.
  • - Nobody qualified with it but I saw it quite frequently on the ladder.
    It was built by me a really long time ago, this team utilizes an unorthodox balance breaker, Honchkrow! Beside it are the common hyper offense staples, including Scizor and Mega Sharpedo to complete the physical attacking core of the team. Lucario improves the team's matchup against full stall teams and Choice Scarf Latias helps with the revenge kill of various threats like Infernape, Mega Manectric, and Mega Aerodactyl, and helps with healing back up its mates with Healing Wish.
Tagging the qualifiers; feel free to post your thoughts on the cycle or to share the teams you used so others could use!
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 1, Guests: 0)

Top