Hoopa-U finds itself a niche as a powerful wallbreaker that leverages its STAB moves and coverage to decimate defensive Pokemon like Toxapex, Gholdengo, and Alomomola. Hyperspace Fury is a spammable option with Choice Band that ensures Pokemon like Alomomola and Gliscor cannot scout safely, as it bypasses Protect, leaving them unable to properly check Hoopa-U. Drain Punch targets foes like Kingambit and Heatran while increasing Hoopa-U's longevity. Gunk Shot eviscerates Clefable and Tapu Fini, which would otherwise check Hoopa-U. Knock Off is another option that can remove key items from foes like Landorus-T, Zapdos, and Moltres. Hoopa-U can run an Adamant nature to get guaranteed OHKOs on Toxapex with Zen Headbutt and Slowbro with Hyperspace Fury. However, this means it gets outsped by foes like defensive Landorus-T, offensive Heatran, and Timid Raging Bolt.

Hoopa-U is used on bulky offense and balance teams, as they value its ability to pressure common defensive cores including Pokemon such as Gliscor, Toxapex, and Heatran. However, Hoopa-U is very frail and provides little defensive value, so it appreciates teammates like Alomomola, Landorus-T, and Corviknight that can help it safely pivot into Pokemon it does well against, such as Gholdengo and Gliscor. Hoopa-U is also vulnerable to faster threats with U-turn like Landorus-T and Mega Lopunny; therefore, it appreciates defensive pieces that can take a hit such and provide slow pivoting such as Corviknight and Alomomola. Hoopa-U also has a very middling Speed tier, leaving it outsped by Pokemon like Mega Medicham, Volcarona, and Tapu Lele. Therefore, teammates like Iron Valiant, Garchomp, and Mega Scizor are appreciated to help offensively pressure them. In return, Hoopa-U handles Pecharunt, Slowbro, and Clefable for them. Hoopa-U is vulnerable to Pursuit trapping from Pokemon like Kingambit and Mega Tyranitar that target its weaker Defense stat; thus, Pokemon that can check them such as Zamazenta, Corviknight, and Great Tusk make for good partners. The latter two also provide crucial entry hazard removal to maintain Hoopa-U's longevity. Galarian Slowking is another partner that can get Hoopa-U in safely via Chilly Reception and set Future Fight to assist with breaking through bulkier teams while also being a solid check to foes like Iron Valiant and Tapu Koko, which force out Hoopa-U.

Hoopa-U's outstanding offensive stats make it an excellent wallbreaker against foes such as Toxapex, Galarian Slowking, and Gholdengo. With Assault Vest, Hoopa-U's improved special bulk lets it trade against other wallbreakers such as Raging Bolt, Mega Latios, and the aforementioned Gholdengo, bolstering its matchup against offensive teams. Knock Off serves as a spammable STAB move, removing items such as Heavy-Duty Boots from Alomomola and Moltres, while Psychic Noise shuts down the longevity of Pokemon such as Gliscor, Clefable, and Mega Scizor. The latter also prevents Landorus-T or Fighting-types such as Zamazenta and Great Tusk from switching directly into Knock Off. Drain Punch hits Dark-types such as Hisuian Samurott, Kingambit, and Mega Tyranitar while improving the longevtiy of Hoopa-U. Thunderbolt damages Alomomola, Moltres, and Corviknight, preventing them from pivoting in and enabling revenge killers as easily. Gunk Shot snipes Fairy-types, such as Clefable, Tapu Fini, and Tapu Koko, that would otherwise switch in and take out Hoopa-U. Hyperspace Fury is a stronger Dark-type move against Ghostium Z Gholdengo and Mega Latios, additionally being able to OHKO Mega Medicham after a layer of Spikes. It is also able to break through Gliscor's and Alomomola's Protect, shutting them down as reliable checks. However, the reduced Defense cuts into Hoopa-U's survivability. 252 HP EVs and 56 Special Defense EVs let Hoopa-U survive a Never-Ending Nightmare from +2 Gholdengo when at full HP. 64 Attack EVs let it OHKO Kingambit with Drain Punch after Stealth Rock, and 16 Speed EVs let it outspeed Adamant Kingambit. The rest is dumped into Special Attack, letting Hoopa-U OHKO Kommo-O after a layer of Spikes with Psychic Noise and giving it a chance to 2HKO specially defensive Moltres with Thunderbolt.

Hoopa-U's sheer power and trading capabilites make it a decent option on bulky offense and offense teams. Although Hoopa-U can fight against a lot of special attackers, it struggles heavily against physical blows. This makes physically defensive Pokemon such as Landorus-T and Alomomola very valuable teammates, especially against faster foes such as Mega Lopunny and Weavile that may try to revenge kill Hoopa-U. These two teammates can additionally pivot, providing Hoopa-U safe entry against foes it does well against, such as Zapdos and Gholdengo, while Alomomola in particular can make up for Hoopa-U's lack of recovery with Wish support. Despite having Drain Punch, Hoopa-U struggles heavily with Dark-types, especially Ting-Lu, since it is unable to damage Ting-Lu significantly. This makes Fighting- and Fairy-type teammates, such as Zamazenta, Mega Lopunny, and Mega Diancie, useful allies, since they're able to punish and break past Ting-Lu with ease; the latter can also prevent entry hazards from being set up, which improves Hoopa-U's longevity. In return, Hoopa-U is able to break past Poison-types such as Toxapex, Galarian Slowking, and Pecharunt, which these teammates don't like dealing with. Great Tusk has good synergy with Hoopa-U, since it removes hazards for Hoopa-U and can handle Dark-types such as Kingambit and Mega Tyranitar, and both can overwhelm shared checks such as Clefable and Alomomola. Additionally, Great Tusk, alongside Ferrothorn and Heatran, can set up hazards to help Hoopa-U break through Pecharunt and Landorus-T more easily, while they appreciate it removing Heavy-Duty Boots off of foes such as Moltres and Tornadus-T. Furthermore, Ferrothorn and Heatran help against Fairy-types, such as Iron Valiant and Tapu Lele, making them more appreciated. Gholdengo and Volcarona also check these Fairy-types while appreciating Hoopa-U's wallbreaking power, which allows them to clean late-game more easily. Volcarona, alongside Rocky Helmet users such as Landorus-T and Garchomp, can punish U-turn users that force out Hoopa-U, such as Mega Lopunny and Choice Scarf Landorus-T.