Reproduction steps:
1. Open the attached “IN-94398_Anim2DAssertBugReport.zip” project
2. Click Edit > Project Settings… > Graphics
3. Set “Default Render Pipeline” to “Assets/New Odd Pipeline.asset” pipeline
4. Observe the Console Window

Expected results: No errors are thrown
Actual results: NullReferenceException is thrown because {{UniversalRenderPipeline.asset}} returns null as long as the “Default Render Pipeline” is set to something other than an URP asset

Reproduced with: 10.1.4 (6000.0.36f1, 6000.1.0b6, 6000.2.0a3)
Could not test with: 9.1.3 (2022.3.58f1, there’s no access to URP assets in this version)

Reproduced on: Windows 11 Pro
Not reproduced on: no other environment tested

Notes:

* Full error:

{noformat}NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object
UnityEngine.U2D.Animation.SpriteSkinUtility.IsUsingGpuDeformation () (at ./Library/PackageCache/com.unity.2d.animation@494a3b4e73a9/Runtime/SpriteSkinUtility.cs:51)
UnityEngine.U2D.Animation.DeformationManager.HasToggledGpuDeformation () (at ./Library/PackageCache/com.unity.2d.animation@494a3b4e73a9/Runtime/BatchedDeformation/DeformationManager.cs:134)
UnityEngine.U2D.Animation.DeformationManager.Update () (at ./Library/PackageCache/com.unity.2d.animation@494a3b4e73a9/Runtime/BatchedDeformation/DeformationManager.cs:125)
UnityEngine.U2D.Animation.DeformationManagerUpdater.LateUpdate () (at ./Library/PackageCache/com.unity.2d.animation@494a3b4e73a9/Runtime/BatchedDeformation/DeformationManagerUpdater.cs:25){noformat}