1-3-1 is a powerfull tactic vs all guard teams. Those all guard teams lack rebounding most of the time, but are very strong in outside shooting and outside defense.
If you dominate them in rebounding then you can choose for a 1-3-1 as Joe says. But a 1-3-1 hurts your rebounding a lot, so if you play vs teams who can rebound, it might sometimes be better to play a 3-2 zone instead.
Your outside defense will increase less, but your rebounding will be higher as well.