stolen pretty hard from smogon When BW UU was created over two years ago, I'm fairly sure nobody would have envisioned the metagame that we play today. The tier has gone through a ton of changes (apparently Latias and Terrakion were UU?), with all sorts of fluctuations due to suspect testing, falls from OU, and players trending toward and away from certain Pokemon and playstyles. So with X/Y coming up within a month (!), I'd like to gather the playerbase and get some reflections and analysis of the tier as whole. Some people have been playing UU since its inception; others only started mere weeks ago, with a lot of us (myself included) falling somewhere in the middle. Getting responses from all of these types of players would be a great way to chronicle the ending of the tier. These questions serve a guideline; you can answer all or pick and choose, and feel free to post your own thoughts on the tier as well. 1. When did you start playing UU, and what spurred you to start? 2. Which metagame stage do you believe was the most balanced/healthiest? The least balanced/healthiest? 3. Which metagame stage was your favourite? Your least favourite? 4. What Pokemon do you believe have had the biggest impact overall on the tier? Which Pokemon do you feel were/are the most dangerous? 5. What metagame trends have you noticed pervading the tier since you started playing the tier? What playstyles and Pokemon have come and gone in and out of style? 6. What do you feel should have been banned? What do you feel shouldn't have been banned? 7. What's the toughest match you've had? Logs or replays would be cool as well. 8. What are your personal highlights from BW UU? I'll answer these myself at some point as well. Looking forward to seeing all of your thoughts!
1. When did you start playing UU, and what spurred you to start? Before it was an official tier, back in 2010. Me, koko and others played unofficial UU matches using PO's monthly stats for fun and to see what'd the metagame look like. I guess we did that because we liked DPP UU. 2. Which metagame stage do you believe was the most balanced/healthiest? The least balanced/healthiest? The most balanced is probably the current metagame, easily. Sure running stall is hard as fuck, but nothing is blatantly broken, the "problem" is the huge number of offensive threats. The least balanced would be Moody metagame. God fuck, fucking trolltrillery single-handed made UU shit. 3. Which metagame stage was your favourite? Your least favourite? The one with Kyurem, BRemu was just fun to use for no particular reason. Least favorite is the ass Moody metagame. 4. What Pokemon do you believe have had the biggest impact overall on the tier? Which Pokemon do you feel were/are the most dangerous? Victini would be my first choice for the first question. It went from zero to hero as soon as it got V-create, and since that day it has evolved from "Scarf V-Create all the things" to what it currently is now. The most dangerous was Octillery. Shit would beat Magic Leaf Technician Roserade (DW, don't judge me) in a 1v1 more often than not, it was THAT gay. 5. What metagame trends have you noticed pervading the tier since you started playing the tier? What playstyles and Pokemon have come and gone in and out of style? Offense (HO, Bulky Offense, etc) has always been and will always be a popular playstyle. It's simpler to run than any other playstyle (In UU, at least) and it isn't as risky as Stall / Balance. Stall used to be really common in the past (Roserade / Lax / Slowbro / [Heracross counter] cores were everywhere), but that playstyle had problems keeping up with all threads that emerged and now is really difficult to see a well built, successful UU stall team. 6. What do you feel should have been banned? What do you feel shouldn't have been banned? I don't think anything that is currently allowed should have been banned. However I don't think Blissey should have been banned, but meh I did what the majority wanted. On an additional note, I believe Smeargle should be retested in the current metagame and I'll try to make this happen in the near future. 7. What's the toughest match you've had? Logs or replays would be cool as well. I really don't know. If I had to pick one, I would pick a match in which I beat koko with Specs Lanturn and Whimsicott 8. What are your personal highlights from BW UU? Getting to be the first UU tier leader of PO, that's my person highlight because that opened many doors to me (Look at me now!) and showed me how satisfying contributing can be if you like what you are doing.
1. When did you start playing UU, and what spurred you to start? January 2011- OU was full of shitty weather wars, and I've always liked lower tiers more than OU, so I started to play it. 2. Which metagame stage do you believe was the most balanced/healthiest? The least balanced/healthiest? I think the most balanced Metagame was either immediately after the Hail ban (before Kingdra and Chandelure dropped for the first time) or the Sand testban metagame. The least balanced would have to be when Vulpix and the Deoxys formes were allowed. Also, Moody, but that was shit everywhere. 3. Which metagame stage was your favourite? Your least favourite? I'm partial to the Latias + Terrakion metagame, simply because that core was so beautiful in UU. But my favorite will probably have to be the Roserade meta before it was banned. Despite the various problems that Spikes brought to the metagame, I had a fantastic team that I loved using. My least favorite was the Sand dominated metagame. Followed closely by the terrible era of Baton Pass. 4. What Pokemon do you believe have had the biggest impact overall on the tier? Which Pokemon do you feel were/are the most dangerous? I'd probably give that award to Heracross. It's been really influential for almost the lifespan of the tier, even though it only got Moxie about halfway through it. Though obviously, Abomasnow and Hippowdon get the reword for when they were allowed with their abilities. The most dangerous Pokemon would probably have to go to Chandelure. Not only does it have a pretty decent set of resistances and "good" bulk, but an amazing 145 SpA, which managed to get itself suspected but not banned. Obviously there are things like Deoxys that can take the award, but of the things that weren't obviously broken, Lure is probably the most dangerous. 5. What metagame trends have you noticed pervading the tier since you started playing the tier? What playstyles and Pokemon have come and gone in and out of style? When UU was just starting HO was dominant with Sun and whatnot, over time it became more stally as things were banned, with Balance dominating until around November 2011, when after Rose was banned and Hail became a huge force, Stall became extremely popular, and continued through the Sand ban, when Balance took over again. Deo-D's popular uprising brought HO and back to the limelight, and after the ban the metagame became increasingly Offensive, to where we are today. 6. What do you feel should have been banned? What do you feel shouldn't have been banned? Terrakion. As for things that shouldn't have been banned, I personally think that UU's "strict" banning policy early in the metagame was a good thing, I don't know if this makes me ban-happy, but I felt that the bans helped shape UU into a balanced metagame quicker, making it an overall better tier than if fewer things would have been banned. This is all my opinion of course. The only ban I really had/have a problem with is Froslass. 7. What's the toughest match you've had? Logs or replays would be cool as well. Every single time I face Swagger Sabeleye. 8. What are your personal highlights from BW UU? UU is where I posted enough to be allowed to lead LU, so I guess that. Also it's the only lower tier I haven't been the leader of (yet).
1. When did you start playing UU, and what spurred you to start? If I remember correctly, I started playing BW UU a short time before Roserade first got suspected. I was getting tired of only playing OU, and wanted to try something different. 2. Which metagame stage do you believe was the most balanced/healthiest? The least balanced/healthiest? Of all the metagames I've played... probably when Hydreigon was allowed. It kinda just wrecked everything. 3. Which metagame stage was your favourite? Your least favourite? I like the current metagame, it's pretty well balanced nothing really stands out as broken. Worst meta to me was the time when sand got really popular. The combination of Stoutland, Sand Veil Pokemon like Cacturne + Gligar and the residual damage was extremely annoying to play against. 4. What Pokemon do you believe have had the biggest impact overall on the tier? Which Pokemon do you feel were/are the most dangerous? Lots of Pokemon have made a big impact on the tier, I'm not really sure I could name the one that has made the biggest impact overall. Obviously, the things that ended up banned like Hydreigon, Froslass and Deoxys-D were very significant but there's also several Pokemon that have never been banned that have had a hand in shaping the metagame. Heracross for example is something that everyone that has had to adapt to because it completely destroys teams that are not properly prepared for it, especially if it can get a Moxie boost or two in. I personally feel that Heracross is the main reason Trick Room Cofagrigus got so popular as it's one of the very few Pokemon that can switch into Heracross with very little risk (only fearing the extremely rare Night Slash). The most dangerous Pokemon in UU, I think, is Kingdra. It has the potential to utilise a special, physical or even mixed set, all of which are just as viable as eachother and if you don't have Empoleon on your team, you may end up losing a Pokemon if you predict the wrong set. Specs is a nuke machine that even Snorlax has trouble taking hits from (especially in rain), Dragon Dance can sweep at a moments notice and it's one of the best cleaners in the tier with rain support, which it can easily set up itself. 5. What metagame trends have you noticed pervading the tier since you started playing the tier? What playstyles and Pokemon have come and gone in and out of style? Main one I've noticed is the rise of specially defensive Rhyperior. It took a while to truly catch on, but it seems that people have finally realised how good Rhyperior really is. Being able to check physical fire types like Victini and Darmanitan, electric types like Zapdos and Raikou and flying types like Crobat and Honchkrow with just one Pokemon is hard to pass up. I've also seen more people running HP Grass on Zapdos/Raikou in response to this. Some Pokemon have changed the sets they most commonly run. When Mienshao first dropped to UU it was usually using a LO set with Fake Out, but nowadays Choice Scarf is the most common item seen for it. Raikou seems to have moved away from it's SubCM set a bit, and tends to run a Specs set more often. I'm sure there's other examples people have, but those two are what I thought of from the top of my head. 6. What do you feel should have been banned? What do you feel shouldn't have been banned? The banlist we have now is pretty good overall, I think. Maybe Smeargle could have been given another chance as it has existed in Smogon's UU for a long time with very few complaints but other than that, I don't really have any problems. As I said previously, the tier is pretty balanced so there's nothing that I feel deserves to be banned that isn't already. 7. What's the toughest match you've had? Logs or replays would be cool as well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBfZmJ0plfQ 8. What are your personal highlights from BW UU? Hmm, probably getting the chance to play UU for Spartak Stunfisks in POCL 2. It was the first time I joined an 'important' tournament and it gave me the chance to prove myself against some good battlers. I may have lost in the semi finals tiebreaker match, but I was satisfied with my performance overall.
1. When did you start playing UU, and what spurred you to start? Right at the beginning of the tier, when things like Terrakion, Drought Vulpix, Deoxys-N, Latias, Chansey etc were in the tier. I was pretty new to PO overall and UU was the very first meta where I felt like I could really have a say about what was going on. I stand to this day that Terrakion wasn't broken in UU at the time. 2. Which metagame stage do you believe was the most balanced/healthiest? The least balanced/healthiest? I honestly feel like UU is currently at the most balanced/healthiest that it's been. While offense is still the primary strategy in UU it has been really easy for other playstyles to blossom, and UU has the most healthy and effective anti-meta capabilities of all the tiers IMO. I feel as though the least balanced/healthiest was actually the "Roserade/Donphan/Mismagius on every team" meta - like while early UU had some patently broken as hell shit (hi, Kyurem) we didn't really have an entire meta built around the same goddamn teams over and over. That Roserade meta was incredibly horrible to play for a long time. I also really didn't like Sand meta in UU. That just was bs, lol. 3. Which metagame stage was your favourite? Your least favourite? Pretty much same answers as in question 2, really. 4. What Pokemon do you believe have had the biggest impact overall on the tier? Which Pokemon do you feel were/are the most dangerous? Even though the meta has been hugely offensive for forever, I really do feel like the defensive pokemon have really helped define the meta. Their versatility is what kinda made the tier to me. Snorlax, Slowbro, Rhyperior, Zapdos, Cofagrigus, etc. Re most dangerous, Raikou and Victini I feel are 2 of the most dangerous pokemon in the tier at the moment, and both of them have been insanely dangerous for a long time. Cofagrigus' ability to wall and sweep offensive teams on a whim I think makes it one of the most dangerous pokemon too. 5. What metagame trends have you noticed pervading the tier since you started playing the tier? What playstyles and Pokemon have come and gone in and out of style? While in BW/BW2 Offense has easily won out in basically all tiers, UU has been one of the few places where Stall has managed to keep itself alive. Or at least a bit alive. UU is in my opinion the Gen 5 tier with the most anti-meta capabilities which is why it's one of my favourite tiers. Bulky Offense was the main thing forever in UU and I think that playstyle has been the main one in shaping the tier. 6. What do you feel should have been banned? What do you feel shouldn't have been banned? I don't feel like anything around right now needs to have been banned, nor do I think we made mistakes with any bans at their time. I am hoping for a Smeargle retest soon, and possibly a hail one as well. 7. What's the toughest match you've had? Logs or replays would be cool as well. Can't think of any off the top of my head. 8. What are your personal highlights from BW UU? Watching it grow + shape thanks to the leaders that we've had over the years. I don't feel like there's much PO can look on fondly in Gen 5 but UU is definitely one of those things.
1. When did you start playing UU, and what spurred you to start? Feb 2012, I'd got bored with OU and Ubers, so I turned to UU for a new metagame. 2. Which metagame stage do you believe was the most balanced/healthiest? The least balanced/healthiest? Most balanced I would say after they originally banned Sandstorm for the first time. It meant the plethora of Sandstorm teams now had to change, and people were experimenting a lot more. Least balanced would be when Hydreigon and Kyurem-B came down - if they got a free switch in, something died. 3. Which metagame stage was your favourite? Your least favourite? Answered in question 2. 4. What Pokemon do you believe have had the biggest impact overall on the tier? Which Pokemon do you feel were/are the most dangerous? Heracross, Victini and Mienshao. Once Victini got V-Create, it became one of UU's elite Pokémon. Heracross has always been a star ever since it dropped out of OU. Mienshao gave the tier a revenge killer, wallbreaker and physical sweeper all in one go. 5. What metagame trends have you noticed pervading the tier since you started playing the tier? What playstyles and Pokemon have come and gone in and out of style? Stall is virtually dead. No complaints from me I fucking hate that playstyle. Offensive is king, and with such heavy hitters like Darmanitan, Victini, Heracross, Chandelure, Porygon-Z etc. it's no wonder. As for Pokémon, I'd say Nidoking. Everyone raved about its Sheer Force boosted movepool for a while, but then it just kind of fell off. 6. What do you feel should have been banned? What do you feel shouldn't have been banned? Permanent Sandstorm should've been banned much sooner than it was, but it did get banned eventually. Shouldn't have been banned? No I can't really think of anything. I would've liked Staraptor to get another go, but it's probably for the best. 7. What's the toughest match you've had? Logs or replays would be cool as well. When Kyurem-B first fell down and I didn't know at the time. Ran into someone who had it, and they just demolished my team. 8. What are your personal highlights from BW UU? Getting into the top 50 in mid 2012.
1. When did you start playing UU, and what spurred you to start? A couple of months after the US release of Black and White, so somewhere around early 2011. I got tired of OU and its weather wars in literally every battle, so I wanted to try a different tier to test randomly-generated teams with. 2. Which metagame stage do you believe was the most balanced/healthiest? The least balanced/healthiest? The post sand/sand testban meta and the current meta are definitely the more balanced stages in my opinion; I wasn't there at the time to really play it, but probably early BW UU with all of the crazy shit roaming around like sun, Moody, etc. For a meta I actually played, I would probably say the sand meta. 3. Which metagame stage was your favourite? Your least favourite? The sand testban meta; The sand meta. As you could tell I really fucking hated sand teams. 4. What Pokemon do you believe have had the biggest impact overall on the tier? Which Pokemon do you feel were/are the most dangerous? Probably Heracross. It's always been here, and while it had multiple counters, it was almost always one of the first pokemon you needed to look out for when building a team due to it being such a huge threat, even without Moxie being released for it at the time. Kyurem-B and the several other banned dragons are pretty obvious for the most dangerous, but outside of banned pokemon I could name a few outside of Heracross like I mentioned. Chandelure is by far the hardest-hitting special attacker in the tier, and even its common "counters" could be taken down if played correctly. Kingdra is a very versatile threat that would wipe out your team if you incorrectly (or even correctly) guessed what set it was going to run. Victini is in the same boat as Kingdra, especially after people realized that scarfed Victini isn't the only viable set. Stoutland in the sand meta was by far one of the best revenge killers and late-game cleaners; Sand Rush made running scarfed pokemon pointless as it still outsped and 1hko'd them with banded Returns/Frustrations. 5. What metagame trends have you noticed pervading the tier since you started playing the tier? What playstyles and Pokemon have come and gone in and out of style? The more offensive teams have typically become the norm in BW in general, and in UU the few times Stall started gaining popularity it quickly diminished since it typically involved more stall-based pokemon that were considered broken like Chansey, Blissey, Deoxys-D, etc. Balanced and Bulky Offensive teams were the more common/effective playstyles in the tier imo. Sp.Def Rhyperior has become a staple in many teams due to it being able to tank attacks on both sides of the spectrum. Victini has been considered usable ever since it got V-Create, and now it's even more popular now that more and more players have been realizing that scarfed Victini isn't the only viable set. LO+Regenerator Mienshao has pretty much been replaced by the Scarf+Reckless set, which has been a common threat in the tier. While it still hasn't dropped, the god-awful Ambipom has finally started getting a much lower amount of usage in the tier; shame it's taken the whole UU metagame for that to happen. 6. What do you feel should have been banned? What do you feel shouldn't have been banned? I don't know anything still in the tier that really HAD to be banned, although if I had to choose something that was closest to that level I would maybe say Chandelure. I never opposed any bans that have happened, although I currently think Smeargle should have been retested as well. 7. What's the toughest match you've had? Logs or replays would be cool as well. Oh man. I've had many really tough matches against some really good players in UU such as MeowMix, TIWSS, and Orcelot to name a few, but I would probably say my toughest match would be against my friend Professor Croak in the first POWC, mainly because I believed we were around the same skill level in the tier at the time which wasn't saying much, plus it was my first big tournament match with a team captain vs a team captain, which put me under a lot of pressure. Those first several turns I had in the match were amazing though. Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hkDrrKXxsA Starts at around 5:32 8. What are your personal highlights from BW UU? On the top of my head, winning my first ever big tournament match in the POWC as mentioned. Also me winning a scripted event tournament on the server from the loser's bracket against an [Eon] clan player, not because of the victory itself, but because 30+ players were going apeshit crazy in celebration of said victory (since a bunch of people hated that clan.) I guess I can also say watching how much the UU tier and its community has grown since I first started playing it. I've made a lot of friends and gained tons of experience from playing this tier in the process, and it's the tier that kept me playing Pokemon-Online for so long before I recently quit.
1. When did you start playing UU, and what spurred you to start? I started playing UU extensively in 2012 once I got bored with all of the cookie-cutter teams in OU iic. I played a bit in 2010 but not as much. That being said I had no real experience with past suspects/playstyles, although I do know what happened. 2. Which metagame stage do you believe was the most balanced/healthiest? The least balanced/healthiest? The current format we are in now (the one BEFORE Dugtrio because we just started that) seemed to be the best. Nothing was considered too overpowered at the time and everything can be stopped equally. As for bad metagames, I wasn't here for the Kyurem-B or Haxorus testing, but I understand the pain everyone had to deal with...so much Outrage...so much... 3. Which metagame stage was your favourite? Your least favourite? Read above. 4. What Pokemon do you believe have had the biggest impact overall on the tier? Which Pokemon do you feel were/are the most dangerous? Victini was the definition of a metagame changer. As I remember, Victini was "okay" at first, being a very interesting-at-least Pokemon to use with competition from other Fire types like Darmanitan and Chandelure. Then, V-Create and Fusion Bolt were released and all shit broke loose when Choice Victini took the stage. Every team had to shift their playing style just to be sure that they could stop the dreaded V-Nuke. Just to watch us all scramble more, Gamefreak decided to give it Bolt Strike!! Once the set was finally adapted to and checks were set, people decided to throw another curveball and use Mixed sets so we don't know what will come up when we fight a Victini. Victini was easily the biggest wildcard in UU and can be considered (one of) the best Pokemon in UU. 5. What metagame trends have you noticed pervading the tier since you started playing the tier? What playstyles and Pokemon have come and gone in and out of style? Defensive teams have had a total roller coaster ride in UU. Being from mostly OU, I haven't seen many of them due to the insane offense. In UU, I was surprised to see how bulky everything was and that changed how I saw battling. I don't know how they did it, but when a new threat entered the tier, they just kept bouncing back somehow! Victini? Slowbro and Rhyperior. Roserade? Crobat. Heracross? Nidoqueen. If you want to try defensive tactics in Pokemon, go to UU, because unlike OU, no matter what you'll find a way to get a team to work. 6. What do you feel should have been banned? What do you feel shouldn't have been banned? Roserade retest was just fine. Heracross and Chandelure, from my experiences, are stupidly overrated. I hate Zapdos and Suicune, but they aren't that bad in the tier. If I had to answer what Pokemon should be banned if it could, I'd probably say Victini. I already made my points on Victini above when it comes to both power and unpredictability, even though it can be defeated, it's always with the cost of at least one Pokemon because you could predict wrongly and lose the entire game because of that. I'd put down Mienshao, but I am really unsure. When it comes to what SHOULDN'T have been banned, Smeargle makes some sense and Froslass should never return. I'm going to be honest and say that the Blissey ban was very premature. While I don't think the ban as a whole was unjust, the reasons were all the same: "can wall any special attacker," "best supporter," "broken cores." The problem with those reasons were only the first one in right; the others are over-exaggerated judgements. Blissey was a great supporter, but it was nowhere NEAR the best (Umbreon had a lot more utility). Broken cores is a terrible excuse because they weren't broken. QwilBliss, CofagriBliss, AloBliss, and BlastBliss, four cores that I can think of, ALL lose to Mismagius, Sableye, Spikes, Toxic Spikes (not QwilBliss), and most Dark Types as a whole. Blissey also had horrible, and I mean HORRIBLE moveslot syndrome, as well as no power, speed, or resistances to function well enough and, don't deny it, even with 255 Hp, its defense SUCKS, especially in a physically-inclined environment. I thought a ban would happen, but not so early with downright flawed reasons. 7. What's the toughest match you've had? Logs or replays would be cool as well. Don't know about toughest fight, but I can still remember my favorite. A long time ago, I was using a really old UU team (I remember it was UU because it had Milotic in it), and I saw my next opponent's team on Team Preview: it was literally Ash's Team. I am not kidding. Bulbasaur/Squirtle/Charizard/Pikachu/Butterfree/Pidgeotto. I thought "this will be easy," and I dropped my jaw when I realized that the entire team was entirely competitive. Choice Scarf Pidgeotto, BellyZard, Standard Butterfree and Pikachu, even the Squirtle and Bulbasaur were competitive with Eviolite!! I lost half of my team because I wasn't expecting this! Even though I won the battle, it was still the most creative and effective team I ever faced against to this day. Really wish I had a log of it :x 8. What are your personal highlights from BW UU? (13:14:45) ±Porygon: Your rank in Wifi UU is 57/20731 [1337 points / 416 battles]! (13:14:45) ±Porygon: Your rank in Wifi UU is 57/20731 [1337 points / 416 battles]! (13:14:45) ±Porygon: Your rank in Wifi UU is 57/20731 [1337 points / 416 battles]! Your arguments are all invalid.
1. When did you start playing UU, and what spurred you to start? I started playing UU last November / December 2011, when Eternal hosted the first-ever Pokemon Online YouTube Tournament. 2. Which metagame stage do you believe was the most balanced/healthiest? The least balanced/healthiest? 3. Which metagame stage was your favourite? Your least favourite? I'll pertain these two questions with one answer. Well, the pre-Dugtrio period is actually one of the most balanced/healthiest metagames I've ever experienced, because I don't know how Dugtrio would impact greatly in the metagame as of yet. Of course, the least favorite of mine would be the least healthy/balanced among the metagames. It was the time when Kyurem-B and Haxorus dropped to UU because it's too overcentralizing to pack a certain Pokemon to block Outrages; once that Pokemon is down, the team that uses the Haxorus have better chances of winning. However, albeit Haxorus running rampant at that time, the Patapon team was born. 4. What Pokemon do you believe have had the biggest impact overall on the tier? Which Pokemon do you feel were/are the most dangerous? Victini, especially the Choice Banded ones. Well, most of the UU players attest to the sheer power Victini deals, and it is definitely one of the most integral Pokemon to build a team with. 5. What metagame trends have you noticed pervading the tier since you started playing the tier? What playstyles and Pokemon have come and gone in and out of style? Offense is relatively increasing across the stages until Blissey shuts it down, thus defensively-inclined teams is a rollercoaster ride for them. 6. What do you feel should have been banned? What do you feel shouldn't have been banned? Well, I'm happy with the metagame right now, and I don't see any Pokemon that should be banned. However, Hydreigon shouldn't have been banned from the metagame (Luck and I are the only ones that voted for no ban, I remember!) despite the fact that it can be unpredictable at times (fuck Superpower) because Snorlax and Umbreon will ultimately wall even the most powerful of Draco Meteors with ease. It serves to be the glue to most of the teams, and everyone can attest to that. 7. What's the toughest match you've had? Logs or replays would be cool as well. Well, I have faced several pro UU players--ThatIsWhatSheSaid and SOMALIA included. The reason why I mentioned these person is because when I face these guys, I feel so nervous and honored to play against them. Well, I don't have the logs, but a lot of battles against these guys are very tough for me. 8. What are your personal highlights from BW UU? >> I started playing UU again during the first-ever Pokemon Online World Cup. I had a 4-1 W/L record for the whole of the World Cup, beating Twisted Cosmos, Shadowheart, and Metta World Peace, and lost to (now-known-as) BIG BAD BLINGAS. >> I beat ThatIsWhatSheSaid's UU Gym TWICE. ThatIsWhatSheSaid, the Barcelona Blaziken manager at POCL 2012, testifies the innovative and interesting sets I use in the UU ladder. At one point: >> I patented the SubDisable Venomoth set, and it was featured in one of the teams that belonged to the Team Showcase. >> When the Roserade Retest and Ladder Reset has initiated, the Patapon team peaked to #1 in just a few hours. Good thing I touched the pinnacle before going down.
1. When did you start playing UU, and what spurred you to start? I started playing UU about 15 months ago on the PO UU ladder. I wanted to start playing because the OU metagame in late B/W 1 was really stale and I felt another tier would be better for some time. Although I was still a ladder player back then and was somewhat noobish (peaking 1600 or so in OU, with no other experience), I formed a volturn team that was built to: A) get up hazards, B) volturn spreading hazard damage while blocking spins with mismagius, and C) sweep with Cobalion late game. Here's the team: http://pastebin.com/TRU6aUte . Eventually, it peaked top 5 on the ladder and somehow beat TiWSS's gym. After that, I didn't play UU much as the BW2 shift kept me busy in OU, same with POCL 2. However, since my POWC team needed a UU player, I relearned the tier and now play it very seriously. So, sorry for the long boring answer, but there's some detail / history involved and felt I should state it. 2. Which metagame stage do you believe was the most balanced/healthiest? The least balanced/healthiest? The current metagame (ever since Blissey was banned, specifically once Reun left) is very balanced, in my opinion. It doesn't really have anything that pops out as broken although there are plenty of powerhouses. Pokemon like Victini could be looked at, but still - it seems balanced! As for the worst, it was either early BW1 when pokemon like Terrakion, Celebi, Landorus, etc. were apparently UU (I didn't play back then), or for the short stint when Haxorus or Kyurem-B dropped UU before they were banned. 3. Which metagame stage was your favourite? Your least favourite? My favorite is the current. My least favorite being kyurem-b / haxorus meta. 4. What Pokemon do you believe have had the biggest impact overall on the tier? Which Pokemon do you feel were/are the most dangerous? I believe that Heracross probably the one most impactful pokemon in the tier. The fact that it's the most common, is probably the best scarfer, and got a new toy in moxie with BW2, Heracross is just a beast in UU. Some honerable mentions would have to be Victini, Rhyperior, Chandelure, Zapdos, and Raikou. The most dangerous pokemon is Victini, sometimes beating it is like a guessing game. However, Bulky NP Togekiss is also a potent threat to slower teams. 5. What metagame trends have you noticed pervading the tier since you started playing the tier? What playstyles and Pokemon have come and gone in and out of style? Hyper Offense is always the most common and 'trendy' playstyle. Specifically, spike stacking with pokemon like Deoxys-D, Froslass, Crustle, Scolipede, Acceglor, Roserade, etc. Ghosts like Cofagrigus, Chandelure, and Mismagius inhabbit the tier which makes spinning hell. Also, there are plenty of options for synergetic offensive cores with love hazard support. Overall, pokemon like Mienshao were really good in earlier BW2, or whenever it started in UU until a few months after - when Heracross got moxie. Heracross getting moxie and other things stole Mienshao's thunder. It's still a great pokemon, but I believe it's the second best UU fighting type, second best scarfer, etc. 6. What do you feel should have been banned? What do you feel shouldn't have been banned? I personally think Froslass was fine, but I understand why it was broken and I’m fine with that. Also, we should’ve banned Reuniclus, in my opinion. However, it eventually got moved-up via usage so it’s ok. 7. What's the toughest match you've had? Logs or replays would be cool as well. http://pastebin.com/72KFr3WE POWC Playoffs. Team was down 4-2 and we were down 0-1 in the UU games and I was scheduled to play the remaining two. This was the second game, definitely one of the tougher matches I’ve ever played. This tied it at 1, and then I won game 3, http://pastebin.com/x12Y7vGD, somehow. Sadly, Sir ghosted danilo, so we lose adv. Then, we had a bit of bad luck / choke in OU, so we lost to Canada who went on to win it all. Good memories 8. What are your personal highlights from BW UU? My personal highlights all branches off of POWC. As I stated before, I didn’t play a ton of UU for a few months prior to that and I basically just took up that metagame. I went 8-3, with a couple of BS losses (to Nikitas and ShakeItUp.) Anyway, enough bragging and salt. Learning the tier and understanding the key threats and playstyles in the metagame over the process of preparing for POWC was really a highlight. I believe that UU is the best Generation 5 metagame and it’s been a pleasure playing it in general. Pointing out specific moments wouldn’t be able to sum up the fun I’ve had playing it. Edit: This probably goes off-topic, sorry in advance. Also, I spelt a million things wrong :c
1. When did you start playing UU, and what spurred you to start? I originally started in the summer of 2011, but I truly got into UU in the fall. I never had that much ability to keep up in the OU tier, so I decided to try UU. It felt right at home. 2. Which metagame stage do you believe was the most balanced/healthiest? The least balanced/healthiest? I liked it when Froslass was still around, but before Metagross. There was some significant emphasis on Spikes being a powerful hazard in UU, which made both semistall teams with spinners or hyper offensive teams with hazard setters quite prevalent. I felt that was the most balanced, though the tier was still relatively offensive. The least balanced was arguably before the Sand Rush Stoutland ban, as Stoutland + Sandstorm pretty much wrecked the entire tier. 3. Which metagame stage was your favourite? Your least favourite? The one after the sandstorm ban, but prior to the froslass ban was my favorite (because my team seemed to fit every scenario just fine). My least favorite was the period right after the Froslass ban, but before Roserade was freed. 4. What Pokemon do you believe have had the biggest impact overall on the tier? Which Pokemon do you feel were/are the most dangerous? Mienshao is arguable the most dangerous, alongside Heracross. With a choice scarf slapped on either, they can give the entire UU team a giant amount of trouble. 5. What metagame trends have you noticed pervading the tier since you started playing the tier? What playstyles and Pokemon have come and gone in and out of style? As I said before, I feel UU is a generally offensive tier, with some exceptions. In the earlier UU, I noticed the Ghost+Bisharp combo being supremely effective, but countered by a Bulky Water + Umbreon combo . Generally, there is SemiStall and offensive in UU. Stall teams are not as popular, it seems. 6. What do you feel should have been banned? What do you feel shouldn't have been banned? As you can gather from my post, I feel Froslass was unrightfully banned. It's an excellent lead, but also has its downfalls, as a team with a dedicated lead generally is more predictable. Froslass definitely doesn't like Xatu, or Scarf Mienshao, who can U-Turn straight to a Xatu. As for bans, I'm not sure if any Pokemon on the current list should be banned. Every Pokemon has their strengths (especially those Fighting Pokemon), but they can be beaten. I also am aware of the outcry for a Chandelure ban, but I do not feel it is reasonable either, as there are enough counters against Chandelure, and combined with its frailty, Chandelure won't have much of a long life if not scarfed. Even then, it is taken out by Choice Scarf Flygon. 7. What's the toughest match you've had? Logs or replays would be cool as well. Don't have any prior to the new PO v2, due to not being sure how replays work for the mac. Will check again later. Sorry. 8. What are your personal highlights from BW UU? Arguably the most fun metagame. Not as hectic as OU, and definitely as fast paced. You can have a battle done in less than 10 minutes flat, provided people don't stall.
1. When did you start playing UU, and what spurred you to start? Something like July 2012, because I had just remade my HGSS OU team and I found that most of the Pokes were UU, so I started with that. 2. Which metagame stage do you believe was the most balanced/healthiest? The least balanced/healthiest? This recent one (before Dugtrio) was pretty good, most of the stages were balanced except when certain dragons were in the tier. Kyurem-B stages was probably the worst I’ve experienced. 3. Which metagame stage was your favourite? Your least favourite? I didn’t like Sand, probably because I was new and didn’t know how to beat it (although I did discover priority Will-O-Wisp in Sableye, so that was cool). Favorite is when Gastro dropped but after Haxorus was banned cause Gastro and Metagross were fun. 4. What Pokemon do you believe have had the biggest impact overall on the tier? Which Pokemon do you feel were/are the most dangerous? Probably Mienshao. Most dangerous are Chandelure, Victini, and Kingdra imo. 5. What metagame trends have you noticed pervading the tier since you started playing the tier? What playstyles and Pokemon have come and gone in and out of style? I did notice a high rise in Mienshao after Kyurem-B was dropped because they were using it as a perfect revengekiller for any set not behind a sub. Also noticed a use of Queen > King and a rise and fall of stall (nowadays I don’t see stall, a few months back I saw it everywhere) 6. What do you feel should have been banned? What do you feel shouldn't have been banned? I agree with all the bans so far. 7. What's the toughest match you've had? Logs or replays would be cool as well. Don’t have logs but when I played Fille in a UU subforum tour our matches came down to literal 50-50s, so I remember those well. 8. What are your personal highlights from BW UU? I’ve hit #5 on the ladder (lol) and just being able to hold my own against the best UU players is good enough for me.
1. When did you start playing UU, and what spurred you to start? DW UU: Early 2011. Was a very good tier. Wifi UU: Autumn of the same year. Started to play it cause DW UU was dying and to abuse Metagross, who fell to UU at that time. 2. Which metagame stage do you believe was the most balanced/healthiest? The least balanced/healthiest? The current one probably is the most balanced. The least balanced ocurred when Kyu-B dropped. 3. Which metagame stage was your favourite? Your least favourite? Most favourite: when Sand was in the tier. I didn,t use it, but all my teams could deal with it and with most playstyles too. And my team was a Monochoice. It was really a challenge to beat a Sand Team and it was very interesting. I think it wasn,t the right decision to ban Sand Stream. The least favourite one was when people realized that mienshao was good ( autumn 2012, I think) and started to use it A LOT. And there was no Sand at that time too. 4. What Pokemon do you believe have had the biggest impact overall on the tier? Which Pokemon do you feel were/are the most dangerous? Donphan was in all teams until it rose to OU. Then Flygon took its place. Chandelure has a ENORMOUS impact due to having only 3 counters. Kyu-B and Haxorus also changed a lot the tier. Heracross changed the Teambuilding when it got Moxie in BW2. Roserade was also an importat Pokemon. 5. What metagame trends have you noticed pervading the tier since you started playing the tier? What playstyles and Pokemon have come and gone in and out of style? Balanced is and was the most common style. At some point, everybody was using Sand ( and seemed not to like it). When Kyu-B went to UU, Stall nearly dissapeared. 6. What do you feel should have been banned? What do you feel shouldn't have been banned? Chandelure is the only mon who i think should have been banned. Sand Stream shouldn,t have, it wasn,t abussing. 7. What's the toughest match you've had? Logs or replays would be cool as well. Don,t have any, Had a lot, but in BW1. 8. What are your personal highlights from BW UU? November 2012: top 1 in the ladder. A lot of tours won. Top 3 with Monochoice. Won one UU battle in the POCL of 2012.
1. When did you start playing UU, and what spurred you to start? Around January 2012, wanted to try it coz yk, seems cool. Didn't start seriously ONLY laddering UU before like August, but then it was exclusively UU :] 2. Which metagame stage do you believe was the most balanced/healthiest? The least balanced/healthiest? Possibly before the fighting types conquered the tier and after sand left. Tho I must admit that I liked the sand, Registeel really shined :/ 3. Which metagame stage was your favourite? Your least favourite? HYDREIGON! It was really awesome, really good check/counter to Chandelure! It could switch in on it once and threaten it out really well! A scarfLure couldn't 2HKO, while SpecsLure was outsped! First time I peaked #3 on the ladder :] 4. What Pokemon do you believe have had the biggest impact overall on the tier? Which Pokemon do you feel were/are the most dangerous? Impact? Heracross I guess, I think it was the start of the Fighting type revolution. What were the most threatening... I'm not really sure :s The metagame was really balanced before, tho Hippo+Stoutland was OP. Currently, I feel like Chandelure is one of the biggest threats (SpecsLure). Nothing can switch in safely on it, baring Zweilous and Snorlax (Both has to be specially defensive, and none of them likes to be tricked). I feel like Mienshao is underrated also :/ Like too many people using Hera>Shao :/ 5. What metagame trends have you noticed pervading the tier since you started playing the tier? What playstyles and Pokemon have come and gone in and out of style? The metagame has (IMO) gone from rather balanced to a more offensive metagame. Of course we have introduced new walls like Gligar that was barely used before, but we have slowly become more offensive. Now even I run HO from time to time ! Registeel had a period before, but it's over now I guess. Don't know why. Slowbro definitely has got more usage than before. Heracross is obviously more used rofl. 6. What do you feel should have been banned? What do you feel shouldn't have been banned? I feel like Chandelure should be banned. Read above, no safe switch ins WHATSOEVER. Hydreigon was a good switch in to it, but as much as I love it, it probably was a bit OP with it's all out attacker sets. But if Chandelure shouldn't be banned, then Staraptor shouldn't be either. It's not as strong, it withers itself down, and actually has a few safe switch ins ike Bronzong, Metagross and Rhyperior. Not as bulky as Chandelure either, tho it has a nice 100 speed tho. 7. What's the toughest match you've had? Logs or replays would be cool as well. Wow. Uhm. I wish I had a log or something of this. Me vs -Emvee-, clanwar between [Hero] and [MVP]! I was down 3-6 before I got a nice comeback! I had no clue the first 40 turns what I was supposed to do! Pastebin: http://pastebin.com/w2MPXRR4 I also really enjoyed a match for the UU subforum tour (1st one) against Windblown, where the first match was up to a speedtie. Unfortunately, I can't find logs of that one, and I'm kinda afraid of picking the wrong one and showing off one where like he pwns me with a synthesis Virizion or something o.O 8. What are your personal highlights from BW UU? I guess it was Mid-October, when Lasen asked me to join [Hero]. I wasn't really sure at first, but decided to do so. I had to ladder to join, so I just used my most succesfull team til then, and laddered for 2 hours and hit 1450. the day after I hit #3 with 1450-1500 points. after that I've hit #3 with 2 other alts, been playing some major "wars" and "tournaments" I guess, and lost to alot of people. Best part would probably be all the cool people I've met through the tier tho! I assume they know who they are :o
1. When did you start playing UU, and what spurred you to start? I started playing about December 2012 or something, simply because I was rudely kicked out of your channel, user MeowMix. I heard that everyone there was great at UU or something, and I decided that I would be able to make it there if I managed to to super well in the tier. I never succeeded at that, but for some reason if I'm not there seconds after coming onto the server, you give me an invite. 2. Which metagame stage do you believe was the most balanced/healthiest? The least balanced/healthiest? I dunno, me no pay attention to those things. 3. Which metagame stage was your favourite? Your least favourite? Question 2. 4. What Pokemon do you believe have had the biggest impact overall on the tier? Which Pokemon do you feel were/are the most dangerous? I believe, and will always believe that Medicham Heracross is the greatest Pokemon in UU. A base 85 speed isn't great, but 125 base Attack and two 120 base power moves are pretty damn amazing. Add that to Moxie, and it starts to feel like the move Rollout. It even has the chance to miss! curse you and your 85 accuracy Megahorn. Choice Scarf was a great set, but I will always love Substitute. also windblown you lied band flygon is terrible 5. What metagame trends have you noticed pervading the tier since you started playing the tier? What playstyles and Pokemon have come and gone in and out of style? You can't honestly be expecting Madrigal to be paying attention to things around them. 6. What do you feel should have been banned? What do you feel shouldn't have been banned? I dunno, I think Mienshao should've been banned. It's too flippin' fast, and with so many viable sets, it's super unpredictable. At least with Heracross all you have to do is throw in Gligar or something. Mienshao hits your Gligar with Hidden Power Ice =( We should let Froslass back in by the way. 7. What's the toughest match you've had? Logs or replays would be cool as well. I don't really remember any of my matches, the only one I remember is that one against Orcelot. I'm just going to say that. meowmix throw the log in here ok? 8. What are your personal highlights from BW UU? Almost winning an event tour thanks to the almighty Substitute Heracross, trying futilely to use Medicham in the tier, losing to Orcelot, and... not much else really.
requested by someone <3. 1. When did you start playing UU, and what spurred you to start? I started playing it when vulpix with drought could be used, just because it looked pretty fun. 2. Which metagame stage do you believe was the most balanced/healthiest? The least balanced/healthiest? After the auto-weather ability mons got banned, it just made so many other pokes viable. And the least balanced has to be, imo, when drought was still on the metagame. 3. Which metagame stage was your favourite? Your least favourite? When Haxorus was allowed, because even though it was op, it was pretty funny to use. Least favorite has to be when auto-weather mons could still be used. 4. What Pokemon do you believe have had the biggest impact overall on the tier? Which Pokemon do you feel were/are the most dangerous? Chandelure. It's just really good since it can stop every single rapid spinner(doing a lot of damage on toise, enough to revenge with something or he dies to hazards), and is really strong. It also has a lot of sinergy going for it, as well as Trick. 5. What metagame trends have you noticed pervading the tier since you started playing the tier? What playstyles and Pokemon have come and gone in and out of style? Stall. It was even used with sandstorm, also being pretty hard to beat. Hyper Offensive is really just getting it's chance in the current tier imo, it was not really that common. Also Umbreon was really rare. 6. What do you feel should have been banned? What do you feel shouldn't have been banned? Chandelure, just because of the strong pressure that he makes during a battle. Smeargle and Roserade were suppose to be back in the tier ages ago imo. 7. What's the toughest match you've had? Logs or replays would be cool as well. I remember one in where i had to hit like 4 moves with 85% accuaracy to win, otherwise i would lose a lot of points of laddering. Not really intense, but i guess it's the best i got. 8. What are your personal highlights from BW UU? I peaked #1 on UU, went 6-2 on POWC, am currently on a 9-0 streak in a group tournament from other forum.
1. When did you start playing UU, and what spurred you to start? Since August / September 2011, but I was very inexperienced at the time. I started playing again majorly January 2013, as I wanted something different from Wifi Ubers and Wifi OU both times. 2. Which metagame stage do you believe was the most balanced/healthiest? The least balanced/healthiest? Probably the current one, it seems balanced enough and players can have loads of options on what specific team they are looking for. For the latter, when Kyurem-B, Haxorus, Hydreigon or Blissey was in the tier; it just ruined the tier. 3. Which metagame stage was your favourite? Your least favourite? My favourite was probably when Reuniclus was in the tier, because even though it seemed pretty broken to me, it was fun using TR and seeing that <4% usage really did surprised me. :O My least favourite was probably when Blissey was in the tier, it could tank any Special Attacker and prepare to stall it out with Toxic and recover with either Wish or Softboiled. 4. What Pokemon do you believe have had the biggest impact overall on the tier? Which Pokemon do you feel were/are the most dangerous? Currently, I think Victini has the biggest impact on the tier; it can almost 2HKO in the entire UU metagame with the power V-Create (equipped with Choice Band, is a huge problem to face). Other Pokémon such as Chandelure, Heracross, Mienshao, and the bulky Water-types also. 5. What metagame trends have you noticed pervading the tier since you started playing the tier? What playstyles and Pokemon have come and gone in and out of style? I liked to mix between Offense and Stall at first, however I was leading to Offense more at the end, and I ended up getting addicted into the TR playstyle, especially quite recently when Reuniclus came in to the tier to abuse it. 6. What do you feel should have been banned? What do you feel shouldn't have been banned? I feel that Purrloin should have been banned. Purrloin may be weaker and more frail, however it could abuse Eviolite (even though I prefer Lefties over it) and still use the Assist+Roar Gimmick Strategy. I feel that Froslass shouldn't have been banned because even though it has many traits, the defenses and SR weakness is unappealing, but that's just me. 7. What's the toughest match you've had? Logs or replays would be cool as well. Facing JeyThe(colo(u)r) on the ladder for the first time, I got absolutely annihilated (didn't catch logs) but it was fun! I'm actually really good friends with him now. :D 8. What are your personal highlights from BW UU? •Abusing Reuniclus in BW UU and beating many top players. •Building a team with SOMALIA. •Participating in the BW UU Livestream. •Being accepted in the 14001500 channel and making friends with many top players! I'm looking forward to Generation 6 and participating a lot more!
1. When did you start playing UU, and what spurred you to start? I played in 2010 when it came out. UU wasn't too popular with everyone using Excadrill and Blaziken in OU. It was fun to test things like Abomasnow and Mandibuzz. 2. Which metagame stage do you believe was the most balanced/healthiest? The least balanced/healthiest? I couldn't answer this, when I was co-leading the tier I had a very defensive mindset which wasn't necessarily the right mindset, suggesting anything which hit too hard to be looked at. E.g. Heracross. Right now it looks pretty healthy, but personally, I am still not happy with Kingdra, but thats just me. 3. Which metagame stage was your favourite? Your least favourite? BW1 towards the end. Slightly less powerful which is what I prefer. No Kingdra (I think?), no Chandelure, Cofagrigus had no usage, less Victini. 4. What Pokemon do you believe have had the biggest impact overall on the tier? Which Pokemon do you feel were/are the most dangerous? Heracross. It is and has been a top tier pick since the day UU came out. Just overall really strong STABs, not terrible defensive typing with good coverage and is in the top 3 Choice users in the metagame. 5. What metagame trends have you noticed pervading the tier since you started playing the tier? What playstyles and Pokemon have come and gone in and out of style? Less stall. 6. What do you feel should have been banned? What do you feel shouldn't have been banned? Kingdra and Chandelure. What ever happened to Shadow Tag Chandelure? :confused: 7. What's the toughest match you've had? Logs or replays would be cool as well. Can't remember any, probably the matches in the first POCL. 8. What are your personal highlights from BW UU? Probably holding no.1 on the ladder for most of 2011 using Slowbro/Snorlax core.