DetroitLolcat
Maize and Blue Badge Set 2014-2017
First of all, I'll be announcing the slate at 1 AM EST. Rest assured that every spread submitted will be considered for slating regardless of the time it was slated (unless it's like 12:59 or something x__x).
I'll be editing this post with more commentary on spreads. For one-on-one discussion or a live-time open forum, head over to #cap now plz :D
Back to my quest to evaluate every spread while allowing everyone time to make adjustments/argue their points!
The Reptile- You need to edit in fully fleshed-out justifications for your stat decisions before being considered for the slate. Furthermore, I'm puzzled as to how 102 Speed is beneficial for the Pokemon, as it seems to undercut Latios while outspeeding the Therians, which doesn't seem to be rooted in the concept. I like the high HP stat and the degree of customization going for it, though.
erisia- Bold move with the Base 170 Special Defense! Although the number seems ridiculous, I like how you curb the stat with low Defense and HP. The only concerns I have is that the low Physical Defense turns the set into a liability and that your set is less than beneficial from an optics perspective. On the flip side, the quality of your analysis is impeccable- you do a great job of outlining your spread's goals and your calculations demonstrate that your spread does what you ask it to do. I'm a bit concerned that your spread gives us absolutely no latitude to invest meaningfully in Physical Defense, but outside of the concerns mentioned earlier your analysis is spot-on.
Qwilphish- Your spread is reasonable, but does little to distinguish itself. However, that's not a real problem since there's no problem with playing it safe. I like that your Speed hits the "sweet spot" between Politoed and Heatran, as that's one of the most concept-friendly Speed stats posted so far. You give it the Physical bulk to take hits it should take, but I'd like to call attention to one point you made. In your "Physically Bulky" section of calculations, you gave it 252 HP and 0 Defense...the same Physical bulk as your Specially Defensive calcs. Could you go into a little more detail about how the Physical bulk affects the concept? Other than that, I've got no complaints!
Imanalt- Hmm, a lot of these spreads are starting to look a bit similar. However, your Special Defense is targeted around Latias, not Latios, so there's no question your Special Defense serves a specific purpose! However, is it all that necessary to take +6 Dragon Pulses from Latias when your spread has one of the highest Attack stats around? You also claim that avoiding the 2KO from Specs Latios is unrealistic, yet many of the spreads competing with yours do just that. 76 Speed is definitely an intelligent point, as it trolls Heatran while partially removing Politoed's desire to Speed creep you. The rest of your claims seem great, but I'd really like to see some responses to the points I've raised above.
nyttyn-Please expand your points a little more, as the deadline is approaching and your post is devoid of calculations and enough analysis to communicate your points. While you're at it, be sure to mark your spread as a Final Submission (this goes for every non-finalized spread!) Your spread does a good job of balancing Speed with Special Defense, as you realize that Special Defense is less of a priority as long as CAP5 outspeeds its counters. I'm not sure, however, if dying to strong neutral Physical attacks is beneficial, so could you please address that in your post? Also, you said your spread "2hko every lati set except calm mindn" (sic), but isn't it a bad idea to leave a Latias set able to theoretically Recover stall you? Though you can rely on Crunch defense drops to help you out, remember that the slightly lower Special Defense you have compared to the competition is going to limit your Crunch opportunity. The points raised in your bulleted list are legitimate and valid, but I'd like to see a little more analysis :D.
Admiral_Stalfos- The pros and cons of your spread are very similar to the ones above. The elephant in the room on your spread is the 130 Speed which is leagues above everything else posted, and I fail to understand why anything above 111 is necessary. I assume it's so you can invest in bulk instead of Speed, but you ride the Special Tankiness limit. I cannot fathom why you need that extra Speed, so please fill me in on that. Is outspeeding Scarf Politoed all that important when you're tanking its hits well from that massive Special Defense? Furthermore, Base 75 Attack borders on nonviable without extreme investment, as even an invested Crunch can fail to 2KO some Latias sets. The Special Tankiness is definitely a benefit to your spread, but I'd like to see you better flesh out the Attack and Speed stats.
Agile Turtle- Your post gives me a little insight into what you were thinking, but a little more reasoning would be nice. Remember (everyone), there's more to fulfilling the concept than beating Lati@s, and there are more Physical attackers in OU than the low-usage Conkledurr. Any particular reasons your spread rides the Special Tankiness limit when other spreads accomplish specific goals without riding the limit? There are definitely reasons why maximized Special Tankiness is beneficial to the concept, but I'd like to hear why 111 HP and 133 Special Defense are the answers to our concept dilemma. There's no doubt that this Pokemon needs to wall Specially and that maximizing the Special Tankiness does that, but there are other ways to do so and I would like to better understand why your spread is the way to go.
Legend13- I like that your spread gives us the ability to pass Wish should CAP5 get it, as that has been a personal preference of mine. I'd like hear some explanations to the claims you're making such as "Def allows CAP5 to take uninvested or resisted hits, but is still KO'd by physical attackers" (sic), and calculations would make that argument so much stronger. You have some good ideas, and your spread could be great if you added the the explanations.
Engineer Pikachu- 115 Attack is rather high, so I'd like to see some reasons as to why CAP5 could use the Attack boost, especially when your spread has ample Special Defense. Do you expect people to invest in Attack, and would you personally run a Physically offensive spread if your spread became the official spread for CAP5? The defenses seem pretty bog standard for what the rest of the community has posted, so please direct your explanation to that piquant Attack stat. Also, be sure to mark your spread as a Final Submission and add some analysis to have a chance of making the slate!
I'll get to the last three spreads in a moment, just let me get a little something to eat first :P
Korski- Ooh, another fast spread! I haven't seen 114 Speed before, but the rationale for it was impressive since we can preserve bulk while not cutting into Speed. Unlike most fast spreads that emphasize maximizing Speed, this one allows us to use Speed to better deal with slow counters. That's a good thing, since this spread is rather average in the bulk department. I usually criticize fast spreads for having to choose any two of Speed, power, and bulk, but the 252 Attack/252 Speed spreads and 252 HP/252 Attack spreads (or comparable bulky and fast spreads) seem to take care of business. One of your calculations did alarm me, however, and that's 252 Atk LO Mamoswine cleanly 2KOing us despite Mamoswine not being a theoretically great counter to the spread. Other than that, you do a great job of balancing the Special defense assuming an offensive set as evidenced by the Ninetales and Heatran calcs. This set does a good job of losing to the intended counters while defeating Pokemon that they should beat, but the lack of Physical defense to handle resisted Earthquakes startles me a bit.
Nyktos- Sorry for not responding to this one, I guess I didn't catch it when running through the Final Submissions. Which was a bad thing, as this is a spread I like. Right off the bat, you demonstrate that the Physical attack is where it needs to be, as there are no excuses for not 2KOing the Lati twins on a slow spread. Fortunately, your 105 Attack accomplishes this. The high degree of HP allows for specialization and in turn that allows the user of the Sun team to tailor CAP5 to the team's needs. 44 Speed seems nice theoretically, but is 44 Speed the way to go? It lets our expected counters defeat us, but also turns CAP5 into a major liability against a momentum-grabbing Pokemon like Scizor because now CAP5 can't even lop off the last 12% or so with a resisted Crunch, nor can CAP5 even get off a last-minute Wish or Rapid Spin, etc. 44 Speed is by no means a bad selection, but I'd like to hear why 44 Speed was selected over some marginally higher alternatives.
srk1214- Your spread is very solid. 90/130 hits the sweet spot of Special bulk, as evidenced by your myriad calcs. The spread doesn't have a ton to distinguish itself, but it's also not lacking in any major categories. To be honest, I waited a while to commentate this spread because I didn't have a lot to say about it that wasn't said in your post, so good job on developing your argument.
toshimelonhead-Ooh, a high attack spread! I see most of your offensive calculations involve Horn Leech, but not any of the other Physical Grass attacks. Given the massive Special Defense your spread has, 100% investment in HP and Special Defense is not a guarantee, so it's possible that this Pokemon could be converted into a bulky sweeper if we're not careful with the movepool. Though your spreads work well with Horn Leech and Crunch/Sucker Punch, it's unlikely that those moves are the entirely of our Physical STAB. Other than that, however, the rest of the stats are tailor-made for the concept, so good job on that front!
I'll be editing this post with more commentary on spreads. For one-on-one discussion or a live-time open forum, head over to #cap now plz :D
Back to my quest to evaluate every spread while allowing everyone time to make adjustments/argue their points!
The Reptile- You need to edit in fully fleshed-out justifications for your stat decisions before being considered for the slate. Furthermore, I'm puzzled as to how 102 Speed is beneficial for the Pokemon, as it seems to undercut Latios while outspeeding the Therians, which doesn't seem to be rooted in the concept. I like the high HP stat and the degree of customization going for it, though.
erisia- Bold move with the Base 170 Special Defense! Although the number seems ridiculous, I like how you curb the stat with low Defense and HP. The only concerns I have is that the low Physical Defense turns the set into a liability and that your set is less than beneficial from an optics perspective. On the flip side, the quality of your analysis is impeccable- you do a great job of outlining your spread's goals and your calculations demonstrate that your spread does what you ask it to do. I'm a bit concerned that your spread gives us absolutely no latitude to invest meaningfully in Physical Defense, but outside of the concerns mentioned earlier your analysis is spot-on.
Qwilphish- Your spread is reasonable, but does little to distinguish itself. However, that's not a real problem since there's no problem with playing it safe. I like that your Speed hits the "sweet spot" between Politoed and Heatran, as that's one of the most concept-friendly Speed stats posted so far. You give it the Physical bulk to take hits it should take, but I'd like to call attention to one point you made. In your "Physically Bulky" section of calculations, you gave it 252 HP and 0 Defense...the same Physical bulk as your Specially Defensive calcs. Could you go into a little more detail about how the Physical bulk affects the concept? Other than that, I've got no complaints!
Imanalt- Hmm, a lot of these spreads are starting to look a bit similar. However, your Special Defense is targeted around Latias, not Latios, so there's no question your Special Defense serves a specific purpose! However, is it all that necessary to take +6 Dragon Pulses from Latias when your spread has one of the highest Attack stats around? You also claim that avoiding the 2KO from Specs Latios is unrealistic, yet many of the spreads competing with yours do just that. 76 Speed is definitely an intelligent point, as it trolls Heatran while partially removing Politoed's desire to Speed creep you. The rest of your claims seem great, but I'd really like to see some responses to the points I've raised above.
nyttyn-Please expand your points a little more, as the deadline is approaching and your post is devoid of calculations and enough analysis to communicate your points. While you're at it, be sure to mark your spread as a Final Submission (this goes for every non-finalized spread!) Your spread does a good job of balancing Speed with Special Defense, as you realize that Special Defense is less of a priority as long as CAP5 outspeeds its counters. I'm not sure, however, if dying to strong neutral Physical attacks is beneficial, so could you please address that in your post? Also, you said your spread "2hko every lati set except calm mindn" (sic), but isn't it a bad idea to leave a Latias set able to theoretically Recover stall you? Though you can rely on Crunch defense drops to help you out, remember that the slightly lower Special Defense you have compared to the competition is going to limit your Crunch opportunity. The points raised in your bulleted list are legitimate and valid, but I'd like to see a little more analysis :D.
Admiral_Stalfos- The pros and cons of your spread are very similar to the ones above. The elephant in the room on your spread is the 130 Speed which is leagues above everything else posted, and I fail to understand why anything above 111 is necessary. I assume it's so you can invest in bulk instead of Speed, but you ride the Special Tankiness limit. I cannot fathom why you need that extra Speed, so please fill me in on that. Is outspeeding Scarf Politoed all that important when you're tanking its hits well from that massive Special Defense? Furthermore, Base 75 Attack borders on nonviable without extreme investment, as even an invested Crunch can fail to 2KO some Latias sets. The Special Tankiness is definitely a benefit to your spread, but I'd like to see you better flesh out the Attack and Speed stats.
Agile Turtle- Your post gives me a little insight into what you were thinking, but a little more reasoning would be nice. Remember (everyone), there's more to fulfilling the concept than beating Lati@s, and there are more Physical attackers in OU than the low-usage Conkledurr. Any particular reasons your spread rides the Special Tankiness limit when other spreads accomplish specific goals without riding the limit? There are definitely reasons why maximized Special Tankiness is beneficial to the concept, but I'd like to hear why 111 HP and 133 Special Defense are the answers to our concept dilemma. There's no doubt that this Pokemon needs to wall Specially and that maximizing the Special Tankiness does that, but there are other ways to do so and I would like to better understand why your spread is the way to go.
Legend13- I like that your spread gives us the ability to pass Wish should CAP5 get it, as that has been a personal preference of mine. I'd like hear some explanations to the claims you're making such as "Def allows CAP5 to take uninvested or resisted hits, but is still KO'd by physical attackers" (sic), and calculations would make that argument so much stronger. You have some good ideas, and your spread could be great if you added the the explanations.
Engineer Pikachu- 115 Attack is rather high, so I'd like to see some reasons as to why CAP5 could use the Attack boost, especially when your spread has ample Special Defense. Do you expect people to invest in Attack, and would you personally run a Physically offensive spread if your spread became the official spread for CAP5? The defenses seem pretty bog standard for what the rest of the community has posted, so please direct your explanation to that piquant Attack stat. Also, be sure to mark your spread as a Final Submission and add some analysis to have a chance of making the slate!
I'll get to the last three spreads in a moment, just let me get a little something to eat first :P
Korski- Ooh, another fast spread! I haven't seen 114 Speed before, but the rationale for it was impressive since we can preserve bulk while not cutting into Speed. Unlike most fast spreads that emphasize maximizing Speed, this one allows us to use Speed to better deal with slow counters. That's a good thing, since this spread is rather average in the bulk department. I usually criticize fast spreads for having to choose any two of Speed, power, and bulk, but the 252 Attack/252 Speed spreads and 252 HP/252 Attack spreads (or comparable bulky and fast spreads) seem to take care of business. One of your calculations did alarm me, however, and that's 252 Atk LO Mamoswine cleanly 2KOing us despite Mamoswine not being a theoretically great counter to the spread. Other than that, you do a great job of balancing the Special defense assuming an offensive set as evidenced by the Ninetales and Heatran calcs. This set does a good job of losing to the intended counters while defeating Pokemon that they should beat, but the lack of Physical defense to handle resisted Earthquakes startles me a bit.
Nyktos- Sorry for not responding to this one, I guess I didn't catch it when running through the Final Submissions. Which was a bad thing, as this is a spread I like. Right off the bat, you demonstrate that the Physical attack is where it needs to be, as there are no excuses for not 2KOing the Lati twins on a slow spread. Fortunately, your 105 Attack accomplishes this. The high degree of HP allows for specialization and in turn that allows the user of the Sun team to tailor CAP5 to the team's needs. 44 Speed seems nice theoretically, but is 44 Speed the way to go? It lets our expected counters defeat us, but also turns CAP5 into a major liability against a momentum-grabbing Pokemon like Scizor because now CAP5 can't even lop off the last 12% or so with a resisted Crunch, nor can CAP5 even get off a last-minute Wish or Rapid Spin, etc. 44 Speed is by no means a bad selection, but I'd like to hear why 44 Speed was selected over some marginally higher alternatives.
srk1214- Your spread is very solid. 90/130 hits the sweet spot of Special bulk, as evidenced by your myriad calcs. The spread doesn't have a ton to distinguish itself, but it's also not lacking in any major categories. To be honest, I waited a while to commentate this spread because I didn't have a lot to say about it that wasn't said in your post, so good job on developing your argument.
toshimelonhead-Ooh, a high attack spread! I see most of your offensive calculations involve Horn Leech, but not any of the other Physical Grass attacks. Given the massive Special Defense your spread has, 100% investment in HP and Special Defense is not a guarantee, so it's possible that this Pokemon could be converted into a bulky sweeper if we're not careful with the movepool. Though your spreads work well with Horn Leech and Crunch/Sucker Punch, it's unlikely that those moves are the entirely of our Physical STAB. Other than that, however, the rest of the stats are tailor-made for the concept, so good job on that front!