UnderUsed Hub Archived Research GroupsUnderused Research GroupsWith the lower tiers having more inactive ladders and subforums, the idea of research weeks was born to promote activity on the ladder and in the tier. The Underused Research groups are one of the subforum's biggest attractions, seeing many Pokemon from the depths of UU, RU, and NU surface to become top-tier threats. It also allowed for players to experience the tier first-hand by showcasing Pokemon that were not as successful in the tier, and give all who participated a real feel for the tier. MK I - hosted by kokolokoRound 1Winner: PsYch071c Featured Pokemon: Rotom-C, Suicune, Aerodactyl Under the ladder alt of PsychoTest, PsYch071c was capable to win the first Research Group featured in the Underused tier. Peaking at 1502 on the Smogon PO server, he found success using Rotom-C on a team consisting of Rhyperior, Hitmonlee, Togekiss, Darmanitan, and Sharpedo. He also used Aerodactyl during the initial stages of the Research Group, but discontinued its use due to Aerodactyl's mediocrity. Round 2Winner: undecided Featured Pokemon: Magneton, Crobat, Rotom-H Because of inactivity, no winner was proposed for the second Research Group, although the unofficial win goes to PsYch071c, as he provided a screenshot showing him capping at 1478 on the Smogon PO ladder. Taking advantage of Magneton's Steel-trapping abilities, he was able to abuse attacking threats such as Kingdra and Lilligant to find success. Round 3Winner: undecided Featured Pokemon: Gallade, Kabutops, Arcanine No winner was available for this Research Group since the ladder had reset near its final days. No records of a high ranking were available either, leaving this round moot. From comments derived from the thread, Kabutops performed as one of the better spinners in the tier, and Gallade functioning much like an inferior Medicham. Round 4Winner: FlareBlitz Featured Pokemon: Porygon-Z, Zoroark, Venomoth After two consecutive rounds without an official winner, Flareblitz was able to find success under the ladder alt of IllusionFlare. Peaking at 1379 with a team of Chandelure, Heracross, Swampert, Zoroark, Mew, and Flygon, Flareblitz was able to take the win and the second title of the Research Groups. Other entrants made mention that Porygon-Z and Venomoth were both viable and dangerous Pokemon that need to be considered when making a team in the Underused tier. Round 5Winner: FlareBlitz Featured Pokemon: Yanmega, Slowking, Galvantula Being the first player to take consecutive titles in any Underused subforum event, Flareblitz took control of another Research Group under the ladder alt of FlareCouldUsePants. Thanks to the exploits of Slowking, Flareblitz was able to take that peak. However, limited discussion and the lack of team and ladder ranking postings left Round 5 shallow and short. Round 6Winner: undecided Featured Pokemon: Cofagrigus, Aggron, Lilligant Due to another ladder reset, Round 6 was determined to have no winner. However, with a much more diverse participant pool and increased discussion in the thread, Cofagrigus was discovered to be the best spinblocker available to the Underused tier, while Aggron and Lilligant were deemed to be usable threats, but needed to be backed by certain levels of support to be successful. MK II - hosted by kokoloko and RT.Round 1Winner: undecided Featured Pokemon: Ditto, Scrafty, Cresselia, Mienshao, Amoonguss Much like the first series ended, the second series began with no determined winner. However, Pokemazter was the unofficial winner, peaking at 1924 on Pokemon Showdown! with his Scrafty team, despite the few ladder malfunctions, which were resolved. This group focused mostly on the newest additions to the tier, Scrafty and Mienshao, and other Pokemon that gained new toys from the transition to BW2; Ditto and Amoonguss. Cresselia was also featured, but was found to be rather mediocre despite its impressive bulk. Round 2Winner: RT. Featured Pokemon: Sceptile, Nidoking, Xatu, Honchkrow, Golurk After another sporadic period of no official winners, RT completed the challenge that was Round 2, finding success with Nidoking, as it was capable of 2HKOing the majority of the tier with the right moveset. However, discussions and team postings were limited, leaving Round 2 with next to no results regarding the other Pokemon; Honchkrow was the only other Pokemon of the 5 to be discussed. Round 3Winner: undecided Featured Pokemon: Zangoose, Rotom-H, Braviary, Eelektross This group was one of the 'sadder' of the Underused Research Group, as kokoloko stepped down from his position of leading the event, passing the torch onto RT, the winner of the previous Research Group. No winner was revealed, but discussion was moderately increased in comparison to the previous week. Zangoose was identified to be a top-tier threat that could pack a very strong punch. Also, this week is currently the only week to feature a repeat Pokemon: Rotom-H. Round 4Winner: Detroitlolcat Featured Pokemon: Klinklang, Weavile, Cinccino What many refer to as the revitalization of the Research Groups, Round 4 not only had a winner, but a vast amount of discussion regarding Weavile, Cinccino, and Klinklang. Detroitlolcat, one of the veteran Underused members, was able to summit this round under the ladder alt of Sir Cattington. His usage of Cinccino, a better Ambipom, is what he defined as his trump card, being fast and powerful enough to smack around other top-tier threats, such as Heracross or Azelf. Round 5Winner: Undecided Thanks to the ladder being reset, there was no winner for this Research Group. In this Research Group, a decently effective offensive Ambipom set was discovered by FlareBlitz: Fake Out / Low Kick / Beat Up / Return. It combines the few positive traits that Ambipom has and makes it into a somewhat competent offensive Pokemon. Beat Up may seem like a weird option, but it can actually do some impressive damage to various common UU Pokemon, most notably Slowbro. There was little to no discussion about the other Pokemon. MK III - hosted by PokemazterWinner: Undecided After months of inactivity, Pokemazter brought Research Week back to the UU subforum. In a lackluster first round, there was only minor participation and discussion, and no one posted ladder rankings. This is especially disappointing given the initial promise of the Pokemon in the round. Zoroark and Escavalier looked to be very effective in the metagame and both had support from players who had used the two previously. Poliwrath saw little to no attention. Winner: Warb The second Round of the 3rd edition of Research Week saw a little more participation than the first, but in the end only one player submitted his ranking. Even so, Warb tested Tornadus's abilities well. He used a non-traditional Tailwind set on a Hyper Offense team to overwhelm and break through opposing teams. A few other players posted about other Tornadus sets, but no one discussed Lanturn or Cresselia. |