CAP 12 CAP 1 - Concept Poll 2

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reachzero

the pastor of disaster
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We are now much closer to knowing what our Concept will be for CAP 1! Our finalists are Admiral_Korski's Momentum, capefeather's Weather Slayer, and DarkSlay's "Lead"-ing a New Generation. The Concept for CAP 1 will be selected from these by means of a Bold Vote; the details of how a bold vote works can be found here: http://www.smogon.com/cap/process/process_rules . Please vote for one, and only one, concept. As a reminder, the three concepts remaining are:

Concept: Weather Slayer

Description: This Pokémon exploits weaknesses in a team built around any weather condition to pose a large threat to the opposing team as a whole, analogously to the way in which offensive lead Machamp was used to exploit the lead metagame in Generation IV.

Justification: Weather is probably the most controversial subject in this generation today. A Pokémon created with this concept could contribute to metagame diversity by making teams that don't necessarily exploit a weather condition more viable. As well, this concept could allow the community to explore how "weather teams" can be checked effectively, and how "weather teams" can adapt to a threat like CAP 1.

Questions To Be Answered:
  • Will a "weather slayer" allow strategies not dependent on weather to be more effective?
  • Which threats should a "weather slayer" concentrate on checking or countering directly?
  • Which lesser-used Pokémon become more relevant and viable with a "weather slayer" in the metagame?
  • Which OU Pokémon can best use the help of a "weather slayer" to their advantage?
  • How effective is the "weather slayer" outside of checking opposing weather-based strategies?
  • Can less common weather-based teams use the "weather slayer" to counter other weather-based teams to become more viable?
  • Are all weather conditions worth "slaying"?
Concept: "Lead"-ing the New Generation!

Description: A good, balanced Pokemon that can both excel in the lead position and have decent synergy with its teammates in said position.

Justification: The advent of the Wi-Fi clause created a lot of controversy when it was first revealed. Many speculated that it would be the end to leads as we knew them from Generation IV, creating an era of counter strategy when it comes to team positioning. Now that Generation V has come about, Wi-Fi clause pretty much has fulfilled this prophecy, and teams now tend to focus not on leads but rather six-Pokemon strategies such as Sand, Rain, and Stall.

However, while all of this said is true, leads have yet to be proven as useless. Certain Pokemon still are balanced enough to lead the team in most situations (Machamp, Infernape, and Metagross are still very useful in their original roles as leads, for example, as well as new leads such as Mienshao and Thundurus). What if we were to create a Pokemon that could gain a great start for most teams regardless of the opponent's positioning of his/her team? This Pokemon could open the door towards a more stable metagame, allowing teams that do not employ "six-Pokemon strategies" to succeed as well as turning the Wi-Fi clause not into some useless, but much harder and more strategic to use. Also, as a result, this Pokemon could also re-introduce the "lead core" theory with decent synergy, such as HeatChamp in Gen IV.

Questions To Be Answered:
  • Are the terms "Lead" and "Anti-Lead" still viable in a metagame where both players are aware of the opponent's team, via Wi-Fi clause?
  • What is the definition of a "Lead"? Has it evolved into something more than what leads once were, or can they still play a similar role as in the past?
  • How will the metagame be affected if stable leads were re-introduced into the environment? Can leads be consistent in the fast-paced Generation V metagame?
  • Is the term "Lead" subject to just one Pokemon by itself, or can two Pokemon coexist as a lead core for teams? What other Pokemon will be able to lead if we introduced a stable lead?
  • Are leads that employ entry hazards, such as Spikes and Stealth Rock, still useful a metagame that relies heavily on mid-game hazard walls and tanks, such as Ferrothorn? Or has the term "Lead" changed into a constant "Anti-Lead"?
  • What can we stand to learn from the Wi-Fi Clause? Will this Pokemon enable us to study the advantages and disadvantages of this new clause?
Concept: Momentum

General Description: This will be a Pokemon that can be utilized to gain or regain momentum for a player's team at any point in the match as its primary function.

Justification: Gen. 5 is a very powerful metagame. As such, most battles are won by the smarter strategist who can best maneuver around his/her opponent's onslaught to gain even a single turn's advantage, potentially clinching them the match. This process of gaining and regaining momentum is most often the defining element that makes a winner and a loser out of a single Pokemon battle. Any top player in this metagame should agree that momentum is the most crucial element in any given match; however, "momentum" itself is a rather vaguely defined term that is never really explored in concrete terms. Is it keeping opposing teams on the defensive? Forcing switches? Good prediction? Spamming U-turn? These have all been approaches to achieving momentum, but they are also player-side and largely synonymous with "strategy," as opposed to Pokemon-side and regarding a Pokemon's role on the team. Certainly there are threats like Ferrothorn/Gliscor (defensive) and Scizor/Latios/Voltlos, etc., etc. (offensive) that can achieve momentum as we know it, but there is no current niche for a "momentum Pokemon" because the concept has been purely delegated to players and not to Pokemon.

Questions to be Answered:
-How do we define momentum in terms of competitive Pokemon? What factors make current Pokemon able to achieve momentum and how can we incorporate that information into a successful CAP?
-How do different styles of play (Weather-based offense, stall, bulky offense, etc.) use momentum to achieve their goals and how can our CAP play to those strategies in an effort to take their momentum away?
-What type of traditional role (sweeper, tank, wall, support) would a Pokemon like this most resemble? Would it have to be able to fit more than one of these roles to fit in a variety of teams?
-How will the different playstyles be affected by the addition of a Pokemon that can regain offensive/defensive momentum at any given point? Will offensive teams play more conservatively? Will defensive teams play more recklessly? Will everything simply adapt to a new threat and move on normally?
This poll will close in 24 hours. Choose carefully!
 
"Lead"-ing the New Generation!

I feel with weather in a sort of flux right now, it doesn't really make sense to base a CAPmon around weather that might not even be there by the time CAP1 sees the light of day. Momentum feels far far too vague as a concept. Where would we go once we decide on it. It doesn't really give us a direction at all. No hint at what typing should be, nor physical/special bias. Basically, the concept just says "make a good Pokémon." The lead option is my favorite. There's no denying that the lead metagame has changed drastically from Gen IV to Gen V. It's to the point that when I see an Aerodactyl lead, I know the battle is going to be easy because my opponent doesn't have much experience with the new generation. Anyway, I think we stand to learn a lot about the lead meta AND explore exactly how Team Preview influences lead choices (if you use CAP1 on your team, will you ever choose to lead with something else if the opponent is packing a counter?).
 
momentum
much more interesting as a concept, sounds like it could be fun to make, and you'd learn a lot from it
not that it wouldn't be the same for the other ones just this particular concept more so than the others.
 
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