• Hi all. We have had reports of member's signatures being edited to include malicious content. You can rest assured this wasn't done by staff and we can find no indication that the forums themselves have been compromised.

    However, remember to keep your passwords secure. If you use similar logins on multiple sites, people and even bots may be able to access your account.

    We always recommend using unique passwords and enable two-factor authentication if possible. Make sure you are secure.
  • Be sure to join the discussion on our discord at: Discord.gg/serebii
  • If you're still waiting for the e-mail, be sure to check your junk/spam e-mail folders

How can you utalize Unown competitively ?

Status
Not open for further replies.

WaterTypeStarter

Well-Known Member
Given it only gets Hidden Power as well as a
struggle. And has not the best stats. How can you use an Unown competively? For instance, if you have Normal type Hidden Power.
 

Sceptile Leaf Blade

Nighttime Guardian
You can't. Unown is the least viable fully evolved pokémon in any competitive format in the history of pokémon. With only Hidden Power it just doesn't even have a movepool to surprise anyone with anything unorthodox. Unown simply doesn't have any redeeming factors competitively. Its stats are horrid, its movepool is literally the worst in all of pokémon, its typing is nothing spectacular, and its ability is no Wonder Guard either.

To put it quite simply, if you somehow managed to enter a level 100 Unown into a level 50 format, it still wouldn't be all that great. Unown is simply so terrible that even at double the level of everything it's fighting it still can't do too much.
 

NeganTheSavior

Well-Known Member
According to Smogon, you can organize a team of them to spell "YOUWIN" or "ILOSE!"

In other words, it's probably not the best Pokemon to use competitively.
 

Orphalesion

Well-Known Member
Unown is really the one Pokemon they could permanently remove from the rooster and nothing of value would be lost.
 

WaterTypeStarter

Well-Known Member
Many are responding from a competitive point of view. But what if you wanted to make a team that was unique and wanted to use an Unown not that it was the best choice but just to show that it could be used in some way competitively? Just like people in real life choose to do risky stunts for the sake of the excitement.
 

Orphalesion

Well-Known Member
Many are responding from a competitive point of view. But what if you wanted to make a team that was unique and wanted to use an Unown not that it was the best choice but just to show that it could be used in some way competitively? Just like people in real life choose to do risky stunts for the sake of the excitement.

Well I'm not a competitive player, but I'm not sure what you are expecting. It has one attack, useless stats, an ability that does nothing more than protect it from ground moves. That's it. There's nothing else to the Pokemon.

I suppose you could bring it out against a Ground type and hope that said ground type only knows ground type moves, that your opponent has no other Pokemon he can switch in, and then whittle down the ground type with, preferably with a grass, water or ice typed hidden power.
That way, I guess, you could win a fight with an Unown, if those very specific conditions arise.
 

Orphalesion

Well-Known Member
It does not have to be the only Pokémon just to make clear. If you have five other Pokémon to back it up it may be possible.
I was working under the assumption that you had a full team of other Pokemon, because you need them to defeat your opponents Pokemon that aren't ground types with only ground moves :p
In any other situation a team of six Pokemon with an Unown in it just basically turns into a challenge where you only have five Pokemon. You could of course use the other five pokemon to reduce the HP of your opponent's last Pokemon to the red, then change in Unown and whittle down the last few HP, then you technically have won using an Unown.
 

WaterTypeStarter

Well-Known Member
Unown does not have to be the last standing. It could have contributed to the battle some other way. In other words, winning by a team effort.
 

NeganTheSavior

Well-Known Member
Unown does not have to be the last standing. It could have contributed to the battle some other way. In other words, winning by a team effort.

There's really not a whole lot you can do to utilize it no matter how you play, unfortunately. It only knows one move (hidden power, which all Pokemon that can learn TMs are able to learn) and has weak stats. It has levitate, but so do Gengar, Eelektross and Hydreogon, which are all much better choices. But if you absolutely insist, maybe use it to deliver the finishing blow when another Pokemon in your party has whittled down your opponent's health.
 

Sceptile Leaf Blade

Nighttime Guardian
Unown is really the one Pokemon they could permanently remove from the rooster and nothing of value would be lost.
Unown was literally the only non-mythical to be effectively banned from all of Gen 7 VGC series because it doesn't exist with gen 7 origin, and most people never even noticed. So your post is quite literally true.
 

Captain Jigglypuff

Leader of Jigglypuff Army
Simple change I think could benefit Unown but not make it overpowered is giving it a new line up of moves it can learn. I’m thinking by level up it will naturally have Cosmic Power and Stored Power And as for TM/TR, have it be able to learn Wonder Room, Magic Room, And Trick Room to showcase its reality bending powers without it becoming too strong.
 

TheWanderingMist

Paladin of the Snow Queen
Unown is really the one Pokemon they could permanently remove from the rooster and nothing of value would be lost.
If only they gave Unown its anime abilities of creating worlds and being a terrifying alien hivemind.
 

Divine Retribution

Conquistador de pan
Simple change I think could benefit Unown but not make it overpowered is giving it a new line up of moves it can learn. I’m thinking by level up it will naturally have Cosmic Power and Stored Power And as for TM/TR, have it be able to learn Wonder Room, Magic Room, And Trick Room to showcase its reality bending powers without it becoming too strong.

It would still be totally outclassed by other Stored Power users (Sigilyph, Clefable, etc). Unown would need drastically higher stats in addition to a wider movepool (or some kind of gimmick like Hidden Power being reintroduced as a signature move for Unown that always hits super-effectively) in order to have any use competitively.

Unown does not have to be the last standing. It could have contributed to the battle some other way. In other words, winning by a team effort.

Yeah, well, that's the thing is there literally is no way for Unown to contribute to a battle in a way that any other Pokemon couldn't do better. That is to say there is no meaningful competitive difference between an Unown and a level 1 Magikarp. They're both useful for exactly the same sole thing; sacrificing to give another Pokemon a free switch. Technically speaking you could build a solid team of 5 Pokemon and stick Unown in the 6th slot and win with it, but Unown will never really contribute anything more than sac fodder to any game.
 
Last edited:

KillerDraco

Well-Known Member
I think this thread has run its course. The question has been answered pretty thoroughly; there is no role than Unown can fill that another Pokemon can't do better. It is outclassed by literally everything. It has one move and garbage stats. It has no hidden niche or surprise usage that someone just hasn't stumbled upon yet because of the aforementioned one move. As DR mentioned you could craft a team of 5 other Pokemon that get the job done with Unown on the team as the 6th, but that team would be winning in spite of Unown, not because of it.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top