CAP 18 CAP 18 - Part 1 - Concept Submissions

Status
Not open for further replies.

jas61292

used substitute
is a Community Contributoris a Top CAP Contributoris a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnus
Okay CAP participants, have at it! The first CAP of Gen 6 has really started - what should we try to learn about in this sparkly new fairy-dusted mega-infested metagame? Lots of things have changed since our last project so I hope you all have exciting ideas to share here.

---
NEW: We will not be creating any Mega Evolutions for a new CAP during that CAP's process. Essentially, there will be no process set in place where a MEvo will be created alongside of a CAP. All concepts that require a Mega Evolution are be banned. To read an explanation for this decision, please see the relevant Policy Review thread.
---

This is where we discuss the general goal of the next Create-A-Pokemon project -- CAP 18. The Concept will be a guiding force throughout the ensuing project, to ensure the the final result is a cohesive competitive pokemon. Any discussions, suggestions, or submissions in later topics, that do not support the spirit of the Concept, will be moderated.

Concepts must be presented as high-level descriptions of a general idea. They cannot be detailed Pokemon designs. Since we have polls to determine each aspect of the Pokemon, we cannot allow any specific features of the Pokemon to be determined by the details of the Concept.

We intentionally have many rules regarding Concept Submissions. If you are not prepared to read and understand all the rules, then don't bother making a submission. These rules are made to help narrow the field of concepts down to those that have been carefully designed. This is not meant to be easy for everyone -- a good, legal Concept requires a lot of thought and careful wording.

The following rules must be followed when submitting a Concept:
  • One submission per person. You may edit your Concept, but you may not change the fundamental premise after it has been posted. If editing your concept, please edit the original post instead of posting a new revision. Do not bump your Concept after you have posted it. If people do not comment on it, so be it.
  • Do not duplicate or closely-resemble Concepts already posted by others. It is your responsibility to read through all previous submissions in this thread to ensure you are complying with this rule. Ignorance or laziness is not an excuse.
  • Specific Pokemon types or type combos cannot be included or excluded in a Concept.Nor can other characteristics of the Concept specifically result in in the inclusion or exclusion of Types. For example, the following phrases would be illegal:
    "This is a Fairy pokemon with..."
    "The pokemon should be immune to Ghost attacks..."
    "The pokemon should have at least 7 resistances..."
    "The pokemon should get STAB on Thunderbolt.."​
  • Specific Abilities are not allowed.This applies to existing abilities and new abilities. Do not attempt to circumvent this rule by mentioning specific battle effects that can only be achieved by the implementation of an ability. For example, the following phrases would be illegal:
    "This pokemon should have a defensive ability like Intimidate or Marvel Scale..."
    "This pokemon has an ability that steals the opponent's held item..."
    "When this pokemon is switched in, all weather conditions are nullified..."​
  • Movepools or lists of moves are not allowed. A specific move can be mentioned if it is the basis for the entire concept. For example, the Concept "Rapid Spinner" would obviously mention the move Rapid Spin.
  • All concepts that require an evolution, a Mega Evolution, or multiple formes are not allowed.
  • Specific stat bias, base stats, or base stat ratings are not allowed. It is acceptable to use descriptive phrases like "fast", "bulky", "strong attacker", etc -- since there are a variety of ways a pokemon can fit those descriptions without specifically requiring certain stats. But, do not use overly-specific descriptions that would narrowly constrain the pokemon's base stat spread.
  • Indications of Physical/Special bias are discouraged, but acceptable if it is essential to the Concept.
  • Do not refer to any part of the pokemon's artistic design.For example, the following phrases would be illegal:
    "This is a bright blue pokemon..."
    "The pokemon looks like a..."
    "The pokemon uses its long tail to..."​
  • A Concept Submission must be submitted in the proper format. The format is described below. If the proper format is not used, the moderators will not evaluate the submission, regardless of content.
Concept Submission Format
Use this format for all concept submissions:
Name: (short name)
General Description: (See rules below. No more than a sentence or two here.)
Justification: (See rules below.)
Questions To Be Answered: (See rules below.)

Explanation: (Whatever you want to say here.)
Here is the format with tags. Just copy/paste this into your post, and fill it out:
Code:
[B]Name:[/B] (short name)
[B]General Description:[/B] (See rules below. No more than a sentence or two here.)
[B]Justification:[/B] (See rules below.)
[B]Questions To Be Answered:[/B] (See rules below.)

[B]Explanation:[/B] (Whatever you want to say here.)
  • Name - Don't get too clever with the name. If the essence of the concept is not intuitively obvious in the name, then you are hurting your chances of people understanding it. If the essence of your concept cannot be expressed in a few words, then you need to seriously re-evaluate your concept.
  • Description - This is the official description of the concept, and must follow ALL the content rules listed above. Do not make this a long description. Long descriptions are invariably too specific or too convoluted. Keep it short. Any more than a sentence or two is TOO MUCH. Do NOT include your Explanation of the concept in the Description. See "Explanation" below.
  • Justification- A few sentences describing how the concept satisfies one or more of the following:
    • Has a positive effect on the metagame (e.g Fidgit’s Pure Utility)
    • Allows us to learn more about the metagame (e.g Tomohawk's Momentum)
    • Introduces a new niche in the metagame (such as Mollux's Extreme Makeover: Typing Edition)
    Do not make up your own categories for justification. If you cannot justify your concept against at least one of the three requirements above, then your concept is illegal for the CAP project.
  • Questions To Be Answered - The purpose of the CAP project is to learn new things about the metagame, and each concept submission is a proposed "experiment". List out a few interesting competitive questions that should be answered after properly implementing your concept. At the conclusion of the CAP project, these questions will be revisited to see how well we implemented the concept. If your questions are not significant, relevant to your Justification, and well-written -- then your concept will be rejected.
  • Explanation - This can contain just about anything. This is where you can explain your concept without restraint. You may make suggestions, even specific suggestions, regarding the possible implementation of the Concept. This explanation should help facilitate discussion of the Concept -- but the Explanation is NOT part of the Concept and will be omitted from the polls and any future use of the Concept. Since your explanation is non-binding, regarding future polls and threads, it will not be evaluated for purposes of determining if your concept is legal or illegal.
It is the submitter's responsibility to figure out how to make a legal submission within the rules listed above. Do not complain about the difficulty of making a submission in this thread. There are many, many legal concepts that can be presented within the rules. Here are few examples of good and bad Concepts from previous projects:
Good Concepts from Past Projects
"Pure Utility Pokemon"
"Anti-Ghost Rapid Spinner"
"True Garchomp Counter"
"Great Lead Pokemon"
"Ultimate Weather Abuser"
"Status Counter"

Bad Concepts from Past Projects
"Ice-Resisting Dragon"
"Super Luck User"
"STAB Explosion Glass Cannon"
"Auto-Stealth Rock Remover"
"A Pokemon with Special Intimidate"
"Pyrokinetic Pokemon (Fire/Psychic)"
"Special Guts"
"Typing Means Nothing"​

Here's a sample of a legal concept post from Gen 5:
Korski's Concept from CAP 12 (Tomohawk) said:
Name: 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?

Explanation: This concept should teach us just as much about the metagame during its creation process than through actual playtesting, especially in the Concept Assessment, where the community should be looking to the metagame as a whole to analyze how successful teams and players gain, regain, and maintain momentum. Since momentum has largely been defined at the discretion of the battling community and takes many forms, so too could this CAP. Scizor, Blissey, Skarmory, Magnezone, Celebi, Jirachi (Celebi and Jirachi are great examples, due to their versatility), Heatran, Balloon Heatran, etc. can all achieve momentum according to their strengths, yet all are very different. Now, I'm not about to suggest that this CAP should be able to check everything in the metagame; that's not the goal here. What it should be able to do, though, is pose a reasonable threat in some manner to a good chunk of the metagame, enough to make opponents think twice about staying in or at least think very hard about what to switch into this Pokemon. A Pokemon with almost no offensive presence can do this just as well as a blunt instrument kind of Poke.
Please try to remember that we are simply pointing the project in a general direction. We are not trying to decide anything right now. We have several weeks of polls ahead of us where EVERYTHING about this Pokemon will be dissected, discussed, voted, and decided. The Concept is a very basic guide for the creation process. It is hard to provide solid concept descriptions without basically designing the entire Pokemon right off the bat. Submissions should be written and chosen very carefully, to avoid these problems.

CAP 18 so far:

Leadership Team:

DetroitLolcat - Topic Leader
PttP - Ability Leader
jas61292 - Typing Leader
ginganinja - Movepool Leader
srk1214 - Stats Leader​
 
Last edited by a moderator:

DetroitLolcat

Maize and Blue Badge Set 2014-2017
is a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a CAP Contributor Alumnus
Hey everyone, I'm DetroitLolcat, this project's Topic Leader. The first step of Gen VI CAP 1 (and Gen VI CAP as a whole!) is where we choose a concept that's going to drive the next two months of discussion. Paradoxically, I've always seen this step as both the most important and least important step in the process because we're going to spend so much time assessing and executing the conclusion of this set of threads. However, this thread has little effect on how successful our final product is; a poor concept choice doesn't matter if our discussions are enjoyable and insightful. Likewise, we can choose a great concept, rally around it, and still end up with either a poor process or a poor product if we're not careful. Many CAPpers were enthused by Cawmodore's (Gen V CAP 6) concept at the beginning, but finished the project weary of fitting an odd move like Belly Drum onto a viable OU Pokemon. Regardless, we stuck it out, analyzed Belly Drum from myriad perspectives, and finished with both a process and a product we can be proud of. On the other hand, Aurumoth's (Gen V CAP 4) concept was praised during the selection stage, but its great concept didn't save us from a product and process that could have been improved upon.


What I mean by that is that we need to finish this stage with a concept we all like, a concept we all want to accomplish together. We can be as ambitious or as cautious as we want. We don't need to select something groundbreaking, we don't have to explore a new mechanic, we don't have to conform to any expectations that come with this being the first CAP of the generation. The only expectation I have with the concepts you're all about to submit is that you analyze your concept from as many perspectives as you can, that you understand your concept inside and out. We can explore new game mechanics such as the Fairy type, explore old features that have changed from previous generations, or invent a new role for a Pokemon in the current OU metagame. As long as we finish this step with a fun concept that's conducive to a new discovery about the OU metagame, Concept Submissions will be a success.


This step isn't only for submitting concepts, it's also for discussing and giving feedback the concepts that have already been submitted. If you can't think of a cool concept or someone else has already posted your idea, don't worry, you're still invited to this thread! I need your feedback because I need to hear which concepts everyone wants to execute. I'll also be giving ample feedback through this stage and all future stages. Most feedback I give isn't to criticize or disparage what you're all posting, but to look at the concept from a different perspective and to implore the submitter to look at it in a way that they might not otherwise. Furthermore, expect a large slate to come out of this thread. Not only will this give people the chance to join the “I've Made More Slates Than the TL” club, it's important that we end up with a concept we all agree on. The best way to ensure that is to give many people a chance to duke it out in the polls. However, remember that we're all on the same team here. In the end, the winning concept will be remembered far more than the person who won the concept poll, so please keep it civil! :)


In short, what I'm looking for in this stage is a concept that:


1. Will teach everyone something that we don't currently know about the OU metagame, be it by exploring something new or expanding on an existing mechanic.

2. We will all enjoy completing.


You'll notice that I'm intentionally vague about what sort of concepts I'm looking for. There are concepts such as Cawmodore's and Necturna's that involve fitting a new move, typing combination, or ability into the OU metagame. There are concepts such as Tomohawk's that involve exploring something more abstract about the metagame. There are concepts like Krilowatt's and Voodoom's that involve creating a new role for a Pokemon. I've watched plenty of concepts come and go during my time in CAP, and I've seen all kinds of concepts succeed. Therefore, I don't intend to be partial to any particular type of concept and I definitely intend to let all sorts of philosophies into the first Concept Poll. Just throw out the best ideas you can, and the slate will take care of itself.


One last thing: I'm going to be out of town (read: away from a computer) until Tuesday afternoon, so although I'll be keeping up with the thread and IRC as best I can with my phone, it'll be difficult to respond to individual concerns.


Go forth and submit concepts! It's finally time to kick off Gen 6 CAP!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Concept: Low Priority

Description: A Pokemon that can handle most relevant priority moves and comfortably check and/or counter their users

Justification: In the current state of the OU metagame, priority is everywhere. The introduction of Talonflame and Mega Pinsir have given rise to extremely powerful Flying-type priority, Aegislash has brought Shadow Sneak to OU, and everyone now has to worry about taking Azumarill's powerful Aqua Jets thanks to its increased viability. These are but a few examples of the numerous priority moves available, and most OU teams have multiple priority users. Curbing priority in some way would allow many different Pokemon to breathe easy due to reduced fear of easy revenge-killing and show us exactly to what degree the large influx of priority has impacted the metagame.

Questions to be answered:
-Would a metagame with reduced priority show an increased reliance on Speed?
-Would the relevance of certain playstyles, like Stall or Hyper Offense, change with reduced priority?
-Which Pokemon benefit most from a reduction in priority?
-Which specific priority moves or priority users should an anti-priority Pokemon be able to handle?
-What is the best role for an anti-priority Pokemon?


Explanation: While this concept may imply a physical wall, seeing as how most priority moves are physical, this doesn't necessarily have to be true. A physically defensive route seems the most obvious, but what role does it take? Does it straight-up wall priority users? Is it a pivot? Does it have just enough bulk or a good typing to act as a revenge killer? These are the roles that come to my mind when I think of "anti-priority", and I don't doubt that there are several other roles that a Pokemon could take to counter priority or turn it against the enemy.
 
Last edited:

Quanyails

On sabbatical!
is a Top Artist Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnus
Concept: The Safety Net

General Description: A Pokémon, while not immediately a threat to the opposing team, acts like a failsafe for its own team, allowing it to recover from an otherwise unsalvageable situation.

Justification: Say you have a competitive match that was going well early on; you're up 4 - 3, have the advantage of momentum, and your team members can outplay the opponent's. However, the battle is fluked; you mispredict the switch and lose one member of your core, your opponent swindles you into boosting his or her sweeper to +2/+2, or the Random Number Generator sends you a miss when you least need it. Either way, the match you have had an advantage over suddenly falls in favor of your opponent, likely costing you the win. What if you could take a mulligan on that last turn? The Safety Net would be able to halt and neutralize any further damage against your team, letting it recoup and regain a fighting chance. The game would resume as a clash of strategies instead of an unforeseen upset, allowing the match to more likely end well-fought, balanced, fun, earning satisfaction for both players.

Questions to be Answered:
  • How do checks and counters influence the teambuilding process, with and without a Pokémon that acts as a Safety Net?
  • What roles would a Pokémon take on a Safety Net, and what type of teams benefit the most from it?
  • Would a Safety Net benefit a team more than another Pokémon meant to give the team flexibility in other situations, or can a Safety Net keep a flexible role while carrying out its primary duty?
  • Do teams that depend on a Safety Net use it more as insurance or as an integral necessity?
  • Does the strength of a team rely on the threat of individual Pokémon or strategies as a whole?
  • How do teams change and adapt when they cannot depend on a keystone Pokémon or tactic?
Explanation: There are multiple ways that a Pokémon could act as a failsafe for its team. DetroitLolcat has mentioned Focus Sash Alakazam as being guaranteed to take a hit or status and return one. Alakazam can be used as an offensive Pokémon outside of these situations for its team. If priority doesn't allow a Pokémon to hang on, using priority back could be an option. Crippling the opponent with a Prankster Will-O-Wisp or Destiny Bond is what Mega Banette does as its niche--an alternative way of handling unchecked threats beyond brute force. Two of the three options above fail, though, if opponent's team has the advantage of a Substitute. I don't think any Pokémon in OU uses priority moves with Infiltrator. Crobat sets a good standard with its speed and its capability to inflict a never-missing poison (except for immunities). That could be a direction to expand on the concept.
Dealing with defensive barriers, however, requires different strategies. Wallbreaking is one of them, but whereas a Fighting-type would have an advantage against Blissey, it would lose readily if the opponent's wall is Latias. There are few 'catch-all' strategies (and, for that matter, Safety Nets). After a long time, I thought of TrickScarf as a mostly-reliable strategy, only failing against Gen. V's mono-attacking Latias, as it can carry Substitute. With a Choice Scarf, the Pokémon can make some dents in the opponent's team and/or revenge kill, while it guarantees stopping one wall when its own team requires it.
 
Last edited:

nyttyn

From Now On, We'll...
is a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a CAP Contributor Alumnus
Name: Power for a Price

General Description: A Pokemon that requires a sacrifice to be used, but is considerably more effective then usual.

Justification: In competitive Pokemon, the concept of sacrifice has always been a key part of playing the game. From using Rapid Spin to clear hazards but sacrifice momentum, to even moves that flat out KO the user such as Destiny Bond or Healing Wish. However, there has never been a Pokemon that absolutely requires sacrifice to be used, as even Pokemon who use moves such as Healing Wish or Rapid Spin will often only do so when absolutely necessary. As a result, while the concept of Sacrifice is topic that has been, to some degree, explored within OU, it has never been absolutely mandatory for a Pokemon to succeed.

Questions To Be Answered:
  • Can a Pokemon be desirable to use, even if it requires a sacrifice? Will being forced to make a sacrifice heavily influence its desirability?
  • What can a Pokemon afford to sacrifice to be successful? What amount of sacrifice is too great?
  • What types of teams would this Pokemon be able to fit on? Will being forced to make a sacrifice significantly influence the number of team compositions it can fit in?
  • How does forced sacrifice impact how a Pokemon plays?
Explanation: I would like to note that we should try to avoid 'sacrifice' from a "is a glass cannon that's hard to switch in" approach, as slow U-Turns and double switches can completely negate any need to sacrifice. Instead, we should be looking at moves like Draco Meteor, Explosion, or Head Smash, or abilities like Flare Boost or Reckless. Moves and abilities that have a significant cost to them, be it recoil, status, or even the pokemon's consciousness (in the case of moves such as Memento). Though recoil moves or abilities that inflict self-harm would be the easiest way of accomplishing this, it would also be possible to approach this project from a momentum-sacrificing standpoint, with moves that carry enormous momentum costs with them such as Overheat, and even Hyper Beam.
 
Last edited:
Well, this is my first major contribution to CAP, I participated a bit in Malaconda but that was just a few Ability posts. I plan to see CAP 18 all the way through from start to finish, so I figured I may as well start with this.

Concept: Backlash

General Description: A Pokemon that turns recoil into an advantage.

Justification: Across all tiers we've had major threats that burn themselves out quickly due to a reliance on recoil moves. We've also had Pokemon that ignore recoil through Rock Head. With all of these, and I'm looking at Talonflame as the main suspect here (BRAVE BIRD EVERYTHING), recoil has been a sort of necessary evil because they needed the power, but it always leads to them killing themselves in the end. My idea here was to use the same mindset early on, then switch to a different strategy that takes advantage of the low health the recoil moves left it with. It is somewhat specific, but also allows for considerable flexibility in both the recoil moves and the secondary moves as well as ability and item choice in that one can choose to focus on reducing one's own health to a certain level or taking more advantage of it when it gets there.

Questions to be answered:
  • Would the introduction of such a Pokemon see an increase in Priority?
  • Would the introduction of such a Pokemon see an increase in one or two particular typings to counter it?
  • Can abilities, moves and items interact in such a way that they turn a negative into a positive?
  • Will the addition of such a Pokemon see a rise in WishPassers to support it? Does this become a necessity to run this Pokemon effectively?
Explanation: I can't really think of anything else to say that would explain this better. Basically, my concept is a Pokemon that turns recoil effects into an advantage in some way.
 
Concept: Never Seen Before!!

General Description: A Pokémon that plays a role in XY OU (through typing, stats, abilities, or a combination thereof) that no previous Pokémon has played/is capable of playing in this generation.

Justification: With almost every CAP, we try to achieve something new in the metagame through the creation of a Pokémon. With this concept, we can not only choose a possible role and make it better (see Cawmodore as a belly drum sweeper) but we can create a Pokémon that is entirely different from anything we will see this generation. There is a plethora of choice scarf Pokémon to choose from, bulky walls, hazard setters, spinners/defoggers, but how often do you see bulky ghosts using curse with sitrus berry to break walls? Or Heart Swap users, as popularly seen in Balanced Haxmons, to steal boosts? We can truly go in any direction with this concept.

Questions To Be Answered:

-What makes certain strategies more viable than others?
-What makes Pokémon inherently different from each other?
-What are then intangibles of a Pokémon that let you know the best way for it to be played?
-What is unique in XY OU?
-How would a completely new role affect the metagame?


Explanation: Pokémon has almost gotten stale for me in a sense because every team, even if differing in Pokémon choice, is still inherently the same in many ways. A completely new role for a Pokémon would shake up the metagame to an extent and hopefully liven it up.
 
Name: Vantage Point Creator
General Description: This will be a Pokemon which can create an opportunity for players to succeed at any point in the battle by molding to the unique play style of the one who uses it.
Justification: As Generation VI is relatively new, the meta is still finding its true form, and it is often very balanced between offensive and defensive. Therefore, in this delicate balance, battles are often won based on the advantages that players can gain for themselves using their own strategies and styles of play. This Pokemon will allow us all to learn more about the CAP meta, as well as Generation VI's meta overall. This Pokemon can teach us how battles are won or lost, and how some strategies can be born and find unprecedented success, while others can be reused to the point of death. It also teaches about the individual properties of each player a person battles, allowing a person to alter their strategy in battle to accommodate for their foe. This Pokemon will teach us about the meta overall by showing us what defines a battle-winning strategy, and by demonstrating how the meta changes over time through the strategies players choose out of the various possible ones of this Pokemon over time.
Questions To Be Answered:
-What defines an advantage in a battle? Can an action taken by a player in one battle be a great advantage, while if this player takes it in another it would be the player's downfall?
-Is there an optimal typing for a Pokemon that gains a player advantages through the properties of the types? If so, what types would benefit such a Pokemon?
-Is there a specific stat distribution that would help a player gain advantages over another? How would a bulky distribution be different for gaining a vantage point than a speedy or offensive one?
-If a Pokemon with multiple strategies for gaining advantages is created to accommodate for several different types of players, which strategies will be widely used and which will fall into disuse?
-How will a Pokemon that allows for use in rosters of players with different play styles affect the rest of the team building process, if at all?

Explanation: In my CAP experience, I find that battles are often won based on how a person gains the upper hand using their unique strategies and ideas, sometimes without the other player noticing it. I often win battles because I adapt my own strategies to those of my opponents, while still using my unique ideas. I, being relatively close to the top of the CAP ladder, find that the main quality of those who are great CAP players is that they are able to make strategies their own in order to create an aspect of their team that is largely unique to them. This Pokemon will embody this spirit of CAP battling, being able to be a part of the player's team which can assist its team in one of several possible ways to be decided later on, should this be the winning application. For example, this Pokemon could support its team through methods such as Disabling threatening opponent moves, lowering their stats to a non-threatening level with a move like Memento (which isn't seen all that often), Hazing the foe to eliminate stat boosts, or even Baton Passing to a Pokemon that can't set-up for itself very well. These possibilities are obviously examples of what would happen if the CAP community took the status-based move pool approach. This Pokemon could also give its team advantages by eliminating the threat of the foe by using Frost Breath to bypass improved opponent defenses or the lowered stats of this Pokemon, using multi-strike moves to bypass Substitute walls (like Malaconda), or even by using brute force to eliminate a foe, should the CAP community take a head-on approach to support. Note that I am not trying to make an overpowered "jack-of-all-trades", but rather a Pokemon that diffuses several common threats in order to support its team (the "well-explored" or "outclassed" moves were just to give a few examples of the types of ways this Pokemon could support). To provide extra examples, this Pokemon could function something like a Vivillon I use to get the upper hand from fairly bleak situations. It supports its team by putting a foe to sleep, then setting up with a Quiver Dance and taking out a large threat on the opposing team, often a Cyclohm. After taking out the Cyclohm, Vivillon is often unable to survive another turn, but it completes its duty of allowing Cawmodore to set up and sweep. This Pokemon would function something like this; neutralizing top threats to support the team, often a member the players knows will find issues with checks and/or counters preventing it from setting up often, allowing/forcing the players to be more strategic in battling and team building. This would teach us more ways to play CAP than using (and wasting team slots to counter) often-used Pokemon (like Cyclohm and Blissey). This will make CAP an even more interesting meta to play, as people would be able to discover new ideas by giving their Pokemon (this one) a role on their team that could hand them the advantage and develop their team building creativity and adapting-to-strategies skills in many battles (while fighting this Pokemon), as has already made CAP and its unique properties enjoyable for me and many in the CAP community.

Note: Edited for grammar and clarifying the explanation. I'll now leave the rest up to all of your imaginations to think of what this Pokemon could do for and mean to you.
 
Last edited:

Da Pizza Man

Pizza Time
is a Pre-Contributor
This is my first real contribution to CAP, so feedback is appreciated

Name: Nostalgic Playstyle

General Description: A Pokemon who uses or encourages the use of a playstyle similar to a viable Pokemon or a group of viable Pokemon from a previous generations OU metagame

Justification: Over the past 15 years (18 if you count the Japanese versions) the game of Pokemon has changed a lot, espically in the competitive scene. Each generation has brought something new to the game and no generation's OU metagame is the same or even similar for that matter. Many types, moves, abilities, playstyles, and even Pokemon who where considered to be viable in generation are considered to be a complete joke in another. With CAP 18 we could see if we can bring a certain playstyle of a pokemon from a previous generation and create a way to make it viable in this generation.

Questions To Be Answered:

  • How excatly has the metagame changed with each new generation of Pokemon?
  • What is the defenition of viable?
  • What types, moves, abilities, playstyles, and Pokemon that where considered to be viable in one generation are no longer considered to be viable in this generation?
  • What types, moves, abilities, playstyles, and Pokemon that where considered to be not viable in one generation are now considered to be viable in this generation?
  • Would it be possible to make a viable playstyle from a previous generation to be viable in this generation?
Explanation: These playstyles do not need to be from any specific generation and can be from any generation except our previous one. When refering to playstyles, I mean by certain sets on individual pokemon (Like RestTalk and Perish Trapping) or the entire basis of a team itself (Like Rain and Stall)
 
Last edited:
This is my first big CAP contribution, so let's go!
Concept: Itemless?
General description: A Pokemon that functions well only without an item.
Justification: Items are a big part of the competitive battling metagame. A Pokemon without one would gain critical weaknesses, but with this concept...
Questions to be answered:
*Will this Pokemon be able to work without an item?
*Will this Pokemon be more offensive, of defensive?
Explanation: Some moves and abilities work well without items. Will they work on this?
 
Concept: Ability Neutralizer

General Description: This will be a pokemon that can successfully switch and limit pokemon that are based solely upon their abilities.

Justification: Many opponents use pokemon that really only find themselves in upper tiers because of unique abilities that boost their otherwise mediocre power to viable levels. Pokemon like azumarill, mawile, and medicham all benefit from these, but are lackluster otherwise. The advantage of adding a pokemon that can cancel abilities is that it can cause teams to be built more warily with pokemon that are in the tier because of their niche roll rather than a single ability pushing them to the top. This can severely affect pokemon like protean greninja, or pranksters like klefki, whimsicott, and sableye. Along with this, it allows us to analyze how play styles adapt without abilities being a factor. Pranksters could be more or less apparent, or pokemon like azumarill and mawile could be knocked down with the potential of weakened attack stats. Pokemon like Gliscor would also be greatly hindered as they take damage from their toxic orb instead of heal. Ultimately, this pokemon should be capable of neutralizing pokemon that completely depend on their ability and turn the battle in the users favor.

Most importantly of this, a new niche is introduced into OU as a pokemon that is capable of ruining obnoxious sets like ParaFlinch or Belly Drum + Aqua Jet, as well as stallers like chancey who use Natural Cure to increase their longevity.

While some may say that cofagrigus already fills this, but when faced against strong special sweepers or stall pokemon, his cancelling is all but worthless. So, this pokemon would be able to set itself apart by neutralizing threats regardless of attack. In this way, it can set up offensively or defensively to halt all progress the opponent is making, or gain massive amounts of momentum for your team. There is also Gardevoir that carry the ability trace, which allows them to copy the opponents ability on the switch in. While this carries its own weight in being able to use the opponents ability, it fails to hinder your opponent in any way, other than possibly gaining an immunity from abilities like flash fire or volt absorb.

A primary concern with the concept is why is it not viable right now. In terms of moves like Gastro Acid and Worry Seed, there are almost no pokemon that are currently in the OU tier that can learn either move, or use them to their full effect. With moves like Role-Play and Skill Swap, all of the pokemon that can learn it already have incredibly useful abilities that they would not want to change.

Another issue is, why would the opponent not simply switch out? That in itself is the point of Gastro Acid and Worry Seed. If the ability on the pokemon is truly its defining feature, and it cannot properly do its job without it, the opponent is going to switch out. The goal with this strategy is to halt the opponents momentum and allow you an opportunity to put the battle in your favor by stalling the opponents progress.

With moves like Skill Swap the opponent would also be forced to switch out, but in conjunction this CAP could benefit greatly from the ability it has taken. This move, as well as Role-Play, focuses less on "neutralizing" the opponent, but boosting yourself and possibly hindering the opponent. Though they could always switch out, you now have a great stolen ability, and they are forced to stop progress for a turn.

Questions to be answered:
  • What pokemon are greatly hindered without their abillity?
  • Is it feasible to have a pokemon be able to "reset" abilities mid-battle?
  • Should this be a pokemon that relies on their weakened allies for an offensive opening?
  • Should this be a pokemon that relies on forced switches to defensively prepare?
  • Would the concept of eliminating abilities affect how other teams are built knowing that certain pokemon could become useless?
Explanation: I've always been curious how moves like Gastro Acid could affect the metagame. It would be, and certainly is prevalent in doubles for unique pokemon like slaking. However, in a competitive standpoint, this could prove useful to greatly hinder pokemon that are so dependent on abilities, like levitate pokemon or those that need skill link or huge power.

One might consider how they would go about "neutralizing" an ability. Well, there is a wide array of moves out there that prevent abilities from activating, as well as abilities like Mummy that activate on physical contact or mold-breaker, which while ignoring abilities, only is effective for the current pokemon in.

These moves can be used in numerous ways as well: The CAP could be a pokemon with a generally terrible ability, but is able to use skill-swap and gain a large advantage while the opponent now suffers. The same could be done with entrainment, though that would be trickier to execute as you would not want your pokemon to have a poor ability for the whole match.

Another way to consider "neutralizing" is by using the opponents ability to your advantage, which comes in the benefit of Role-Play. In theory, this CAP has the potential that can run a multitude of sets, but has the core of role-play (or skill-swap) to take opponents with "niche" abilities and turn them in your favor. This pokemon could have access to a large offensive or utility movepool, then use these moves to further enhance their abilities. This could lead to an unpredictable pokemon as it can run a large majority of sets, and you won't know what it wants to steal.

A CAP that utilized role-play or skill swap would be feasible in this metagame due to their capability of adapting to most any situation. When switched in, this pokemon (could be a tank) would be able of switching, then using the opponents power against them, like copying huge power or no guard, which gives it infinitely more use as it can use less accurate moves, but either hit harder or have a guaranteed hit. Other abilities, like natural cure and levitate allow this pokemon to gain an immunity and eat statuses without an issue.

Other common OU abilities come in the form of magic guard, multiscale, and iron barbs. These three abilities (when copied) allow the user to increase its longevity on the field as it can take hits and dish easy damage. However, these three abilities (when switched) creates an easy OHKO dragonite, a ferrothorn where there is little to not risk of physical attacks, and pokemon like alakazam and clefable that can now be damaged from status and weather.

Ultimately, a pokemon like this could find its niche in the OU metagame from being a bulky defensive CAP with mediocre attack stats at best, but using rarely seen moves like Role Play or Skill Swap to boost its otherwise worthless attack stats to actually viable levels. When it cannot pull of switches like this, the pokemon can easily run more supportive sets that focuses on weakening the opponent by constantly swapping abilities and forcing switches. This could lead to a large variety of sets and unpredictability as the pokemon could run a mixed offensive/supportive set, or risk running a hyper offensive at the chance of not getting a supportive ability. This could be a fantastic learning experience to see how many roles a pokemon can fill, since the role that is determined for the battle is based off of the opponents team.

The problem with pokemon that can currently use skill swap and role play is that they are often used for only one role (that does not include skill swap), have too good of an ability to want to trade. This CAP could find itself in a unique situation where it has a mediocre ability, and can fill multiple roles so that there is little risk in switching abilities if your opponent does not have desirable ones. This is because swapping abilities may not boost your stats, but it will hinder the opponents livability or longevity on the battle field (see scizor without technician). In essence, this CAP would have no need to rely on your opponent having a good ability, as it can function with or without stealing the most desirable ability.

This raises the question of what ability could be found on a pokemon who focuses on changing/getting rid of/neutralizing the other pokemons ability. This is where the split comes in. If this pokemon focused on skill swap, it would not want a good ability, but a rather middling ability so that it can always hinder the opponent on the switch, and have the potential of boosting itself. However, if the pokemon only had the moves gastro acid or worry seed, its ability could be something more beneficial to neutralizing abilities like prankster, which would allow it early suppression, which could save you from a KO.

Two other "neutralizing" moves come in Gastro Acid and Worry Seed. These abilities have been deemed worthless in singles, but are still useful in doubles as they can give partners like Regigigas and Slaking the key to unlocking their full power. The same could be done in singles, but instead of giving power to the player, it takes it away from the opponent. In a sense, a utility pokemon (or tank) could utilize these moves to create openings for stalls, setups, or simply force switches.

Though hard-hitting pokemon (primarily haxorus and excadrill) are able to use mold-breaker to deal damage to levitating pokemon and others who gain immunities from abilities, they only do one job: hit hard. The advantage of this CAP would be that it could focus more on utility or tanking to force switches or boost otherwise mediocre stats to higher levels through swapping and neutralizing.

Edit: Fixed some spelling issues, everything is still the same.
 
Last edited:

Mowtom

I'm truly still meta, enjoy this acronym!
is a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributor
Name: Hazard Control

General Description: A Pokemon who can effectively control all of the entry hazards that are on the field.

Justification: This concept would allow us to learn more about the metagame. Gen 6 has introduced a new hazard, Sticky Web, and a much easier way to get rid of hazards, Defog. With these two big changes, this concept would allow us to learn whether entry hazards are still as viable as they were last generation, and if so, which ones. It would also let us learn about how Sticky Web affects the metagame, if at all.

Questions To Be Answered:
  • How have Defog/Sticky Web changed the viability of hazards?
  • Would Sticky Web be better if there was a better setter/abuser?
  • Can Defog and hazards work well on the same Pokemon? Is Rapid Spin a better option?
  • How has the viability of spinblocking changed?
  • Has the usefulness of Taunt increased, as it can stop both Sticky Web and Defog?
  • Have Spikes and Toxic Spikes been rendered unviable by Defog?
  • Will Pokemon such as Bisharp become more common if Sticky Web does?
  • What type of team needs hazard control the most: offense, balance, or stall? Why?
Explanation: This Pokemon could be approached from many ways. It could be a fast hazard setter/taunter (to block Defog), a bulky spinner/setter, a spinblocker that can set hazards and more. It is a shame Sticky Web wasn't introduced before Defog made getting rid of hazards so much easier, but it is a very interesting move nonetheless. I think that hazards, a metagame-defining aspect since Gen 4, deserve to be studied in a CAP.

EDIT: As DetroitLolcat mentioned, this CAP would almost certainly have 4mss. This may not be a bad thing, however. If CAP 18 gets all of the hazard-related moves, it won't be able to use them all, but this could make the opponent uncertain of what will happen. Send in Bisharp, predicting Defog? CAP 18 just used Stealth Rock. Send in a ghost, trying to spinblock? CAP 18 just Sticky Webbed or Defogged. Send in a Taunter? CAP 18 might Rapid Spin. While it obviously can't do everything, I could see CAP 18 usually running one or two hazards, a hazard clearing move, a phazing move, and possibly something else as well.
 
Last edited:
Name: One Mind

General Description: A pokemon that fills one role and one role only, but does it well.

Justification: Almost every pokemon has some sort of surprise factor, whether it's small, like changing Hidden Power types, or big like Pokemon like Mew and Jirachi. If a Pokemon was made that did one thing, it would help us learn just how important that surprise factor is.

Questions To Be Answered:
  • How much surprise factor do most OU Pokemon use?
  • How much surprise factor do most RU and NU Pokemon use?
  • Is there a distinct difference in the surprise levels of different tiers?
  • How much more powerful would CAP 1 have to be to balance out its predictability?
  • Would teams evolve to always have a counter to CAP 1?
  • Would CAP 1 end up using lesser used moves just to have some surprise?
Explanation: This pokemon could have any role, but would have to be completely tailored to this role, like Gen 4 Wobbuffet, which everyone knew the strategy for, yet was still Uber. Dedicated walls are easy to make, just slap on some 230 defense stats, while a dedicated attacker with one set would be more interesting to me. I think the typing of the Pokemon is very important, especially for an attacker, as its STAB moves will probably one of its 4 viable moves. Ability would probably not be as important, as abilities can have many special cases which lead to various surprise factors.
 
Name: Ultimate Baton-Passer
General Description: A Pokémon with massive boosting capabilities and the baton to pass them
Justification: In Gen V OU, I ran a Baton Pass based team and thought: "What if I could get the same wonderful passing effects from half as many passers?" I feel that Baton Pass has fallen out of style simply because there was a no good way to abuse it. Smeargle has the moves, but it stats force it to pass before it can really shine, plus having to rely on Spore to stay alive, removes a move slot. the point of an Ultimate Baton-Passer is to bring back the Baton Pass strategy to X/Y OU.
Questions To Be Answered:
  • What makes a good Baton Passer?
  • What are the most effective Baton Pass counters?
  • How can this CAP deal with usual Baton Pass counters?
  • Could Baton Pass actually work in X/Y OU?
Explanation: Baton Pass is a personal favorite of mine and has always been a cool concept in my opinion. I would love to see it reintroduced into the OU metagame. Baton pass has had many uses ranging from making already power sweepers stronger, to making less viable Pokémon into major threats. Seeing what affect it could have in X/Y OU would be interesting.
 
Name: Universal Tank Buster

General Description: A Pokemon who takes a new role of focusing on breaking down defensive based Pokemon.

Justification: It is a pain to try and counter an annoying wall or damage sponge, and unless you have the right typing with the right physical/special distribution, you can safely accept defeat. If you do not have a strong physical attacker still alive, then Chansey can safely stall your entire team to death. If you lack a fire attack to burn down Ferrothorn, you might as well accept the Leech Seed execution on whatever remains of your team. Unless you have the proper coverage for one of these walls, than you might as well surrender and accept defeat, as you will never make a dent in your opponent's wall. That is where CAP 18 comes in. Have an annoying tank that needs to be eliminated? No problem for our friendly neighbourhood tank buster. He will swoop in to save the day, focusing more on movepool and abilities over typing and physical/special reliance to take out uber-bulky threats. A niche which I feel the OU meta needs.

Questions To Be Answered:
  • What qualifies a Pokemon to be a threatening tank?
  • How can a Pokemon successfully annihilate tanks without becoming too much of a threat to Pokemon who do not fill defensive roles.
  • Through what combination of moves/abilities can we successfully bust these tanks without trying to rely on the safety net that is typing/stats.
  • Can we successfully bust tanks?

Explanation: I really hate Chansey. This could be a laughable submission to some of you, but I have always had trouble with Chansey. All I have left are two or three Pokemon that are not strong on the physical side, and the battle is pretty much over, no matter how few Pokemon the opponent has left. I was trying to think of a way to get around this, without falling back on the classic Focus Sash/Endeavour Rattata (Because face it, if a Pokemon is defensive based, it is not going to hit hard enough to warrant the use of a Focus Sash.)
 
Name: Return of Weather

General Description: The OU scene has changed A LOT this time. It has reduced the once ever popular weather team to near extinction due to the restriction. Much like the Dinosaurs or Dodo, let's work to save this strategy from the brink by bringing it back with a powerful, effective user of Sandstorm, Hail, Rain, and Sun though either a moveslot, or ability.

Questions To Be Answered:
  • What makes the most effective user of weather?
  • Can weather still work in X/Y OU?
  • What type would be best for this CAP to do it's job effectively?
  • Would it be a pivot or a weather sweeper?
Explanation: Personally, I wasn't even a big weather user and find it justified that many weather-reliant pokemon are dropping in tier. However, that doesn't mean I want it to disappear completely. I'm still curious to see if it's possible to revive weather and keep it alive as a viable strategy.
 
Name: "Electric-Stopping Jack of Trades"

General Description: "A pokemon which can fulfill many roles well from sweeping teams to breaking walls to supporting a team but excels at one thing best - walling electric types."

Justification: "Electric typing has always been a great boon throughout the generations. Many key pokemon this generation, such as Talonflame or Azumarill, are hindered by electric types due to their one weakness. Even ground types can usually be handled by electric types due to items, abilities, typing and/or movepool. Also, most of the key pokemon only run a few sets and thus are quite predictable. Unpredictability is very useful in giving pokemon the edge over opponents with an example being Mew.

Questions To Be Answered:

  • "What makes a pokemon able to run a multitude of sets well?
  • "What makes a pokemon able to handle most pokemon with a specific typing?"
  • "How can the above be achieved without making a pokemon too powerful or too much of a niche?"

Explanation: I believe that running strange sets on pokemon can prove to be very advantageous because few expect it. Also, I find that electric types are definitely one of the better types, and many of the electric type pokemon that made it into OU have ways to take out ground types, thus providing another option would help balance that aspect.
 
Name: Stats and typing vs Abilities

General Description: A Pokemon with either incredible stats or typing and a terrible ability, or a Pokemon with terrible stats or typing but a wonderful ability.

Justification: Slaking, Regigigas, and Archeops are Pokemon with great stats and terrible abilities, but they all end up in the lower tiers except on teams specifically designed to support them, and are generally regarded as failed attempts at balancing an overpowered Pokemon. Shedinja is the opposite, a Pokemon with an incredible ability but terrible stats. CAP 18 will be the first balanced version of this type of Pokemon, and will help us understand the relation between abilities, stats, and typing that creates a good OU tier Pokemon.

Questions to be Answered:
  • What type of ability will truly balance a Pokemon with godly stats or typing?
  • What stats or typing will balance a Pokemon with a godly ability?
  • Is it possible to create a Pokemon that meets this criteria without it being over or under powered?
  • If we create such a Pokemon, will it be versatile, or will it be one dimensional?
  • Would this Pokemon's movepool have an effect on balancing it?
  • In order to create this type of Pokemon, will it be necessary to create a new ability, or will existing abilities suffice to balance this Pokemon?
Explanation: I loved the ideas behind Slaking, Regigigas, Archeops, and especially Shedinja, but was disappointed by their subpar performance. I would love to understand where Gamefreak made their mistakes, and would love to finally have a pokemon of this type to use.
 
This has been edited, as I decided to add more to the explanation. All updated parts are in italics.
Name: Pilot Fish (or Scope Out)
General Description: A Pokemon made to "test the waters" and see what the opponent can really do, yet is not just a sacrifice play.
Justification: In the OU metagame, much of the competition is trying to guess things about your opponents and strategize based on them. Over the battle, you learn their abilities, items, movesets, base stats and strategies. There are now Pokemon with passing ways to figure this out, either with volt-switch to find out a move, abilities, etc, but no real Pokemon made as a "Pilot Fish" (this is not a description of looks but for anyone who doesn't know what this is, it is a fish often used to indicate danger, mainly sharks). What if we could fill that niche with a Pokemon that may not, at initial glance, be a huge threat to the other team, but closer to the beginning of the battle could allow the user to figure out enough about the other team to have a major strategic advantage? This would also help us explore further in the metagame not simply new ways to increase a team's viability as a team, but help us explore a way to better the ability to strategize and study the effects of increased strategy on the metagame.
Questions To Be Answered:
  • What would the ability to increase a team's strategical superiority allow a team to do that it otherwise could not?
  • Would saving a spot on a team to better understand your opponent be more useful than putting together a well-meshed 6-pokemon team?
  • What ways can people find to use strategy after the battle has started, rather than during team creation, to truly change the direction of the battle?
  • Can knowledge of an opponent's team and aspects of it early-on reverse the outcome of a battle?

Explanation: In my mind, this Pokemon would use some combination of moves, ability, and item to discover things about the opponents team. I could see it having potential abilities that may tell it the item the opponent is holding, the user's ability, or a dangerous move. Moves that do the same, as well as moves that consistently cause the opponent to switch or moves/types that help the "Pilot Fish" from being hit, thus revealing move of the opponents moveset, would also be useful. Another potential idea would be to add something which would help to keep an opponent from setting up, although this could be done with forced switches. This Pokemon would most likely need to be more defensive than offensive, as it would need to survive long enough to discover the opponent's sets and strategies while not actually harming the opponent too much over all. This Pokemon would probably be fairly weak move wise, unlike other scouts, and may have lesser-used abilities meant to scout the opponent. This Pokemon may also have access to switching moves itself, but I personally feel it would be more interesting to fully discover an opponent's overall strengths, weaknesses and counters rather than having this simply switch into another Pokemon to take a hit all the time, as those with volt switch and U-turn do. More than discover the abilities and moves of a single Pokemon, this is meant to discover the opponent's strategies and team makeup as a whole.

When I was newer to the competitive scene of Pokemon, I always wished there was something that would allow me, rather than wasting a move or an ability on an otherwise purely offensive Pokemon or on a Pokemon mean to fill some other purpose, to figure out my opponent's strategy. It would be interesting to both new players and veterans alike to see what increased strategy could do for them. For new players, they could better know what to expect and be able to more easily counter it, while for veterans, they could use this to create a strategical high point in battle and cause even higher levels of out-prediction. Prediction is already a huge part of the metagame that I've always thought myself good at, despite not knowing the common movesets too well, and I'd like to see that taken even further. I've also always loved the idea of pilot fish, similar to the coal-mine canary (which I did not use for this as a coal-mine canary dies at danger, and this SHOULD NOT be a simple sacrifice) and thought it would be interesting to insert a concept like this into Pokemon. Pokemon always take ideas from the most interesting real life animals and myths, and I think this would make something very unusual. Stat wise, this would probably be defensive or speedy, but not necessarily. I also PERSONALLY don't think this should literally be a fish, and enjoy new typings as well.
 
Last edited:

Yilx

Sad
is a Top Artist Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnus
Resubmitting. Again.

Name: The Big Dipper
General Description: A wallbreaker that focuses on breaking your opponent's core through other means outside of brute force.

Justification: In the current meta, there exists many ways to "break" your opponent's core. This mon specializes in dismantling your opponent's core and neutralize it.

There are many ways to do it, like using a Lure Set or through Sheer Power alone. Baiting Rotom-w and then hitting it with something that hits it, or just destroying things with very powerful moves come to mind.

Instead of using brute force, this mon breaks your opponent's core by neutralizing parts or all of it before they notice or by forcing your opponent into a situation that they have to sacrifice part of it in order to prevent themselves from losing the game. Kyurem-B does this very well in the current meta, able to destroy cores that focus around the ever popular Rotom-W very well.

We will be exploring if there be other ways to run a "Wallbreaker" outside of outright brute force. Maybe through status? Misleading your opponent into a false sense of security?

Basically, it's a wallbreaker that does not utilize huge attacking stats with high powered moves to break through your opponent's team core, but rather through other means; by the time your opponent knows their core is broken, they are already dead.

Questions To Be Answered:
  • What defines a "core"? Some people have tried to define it with certain combinations of mons like FWG/Rotom-W + A Defensive Steel type, but we do not have a standard "definition" for one. Is it just a triplet of Pokemon that work together very well in unison, or a pair that has perfect coverage on the meta?
  • What defines "Wallbreaking"? Most think of this as just using things like Rock Gem SD Terrak to break through Gliscor or using LO Mamo to just punch holes in your opponent's walls in general. However, can we do more past that?
  • How will a specific Pokemon get around rigid defensive cores or switch into strong offensive cores? Good typing and stats? Or perhaps a specific movepool that allows it to do both?
  • Can we do this without turning the mon into "just another" setup sweeper? Or is that one good way of doing this?
  • How will this Pokemon preserve it's "surprise" factor even when people prepare for it?
  • Is there a way to cause your opponent to be "losing" without them knowing it? Like bluffing a Expert Belt Scizor as a CB Scizor through the match and setting up SD to get a clean sweep when the time is right?

Explanation: For most teams, the moment a key mon in a specific core goes down, the rest of the team falls apart very easily because of their pivot or specific wall being gone. Because of this, most people would try to keep their core alive as much as possible; be it through good plays and prediciton or just using as much recovery as they can.

However, if there was a mon that specialized in taking these "cores" apart, people would have to prepare for it. However, preperation and guessing can only get one so far; not everything in a match will go according to what one predicts. Putting hax aside, surprise factors and gimmicks are called so because that is their limit. It will be interesting if there was a mon that could turn it's "gimmicks" into deadly ways to puncture your opponent's team.

 
Concept: Why so slow?

General Description: A Pokemon that uses a combination of stats, typing, ability, and movepool to be able to set up the Sticky Web entry hazard consistently throughout a match, threaten the common Pokemon that could remove Sticky Web from play, and take advantage of Sticky Web itself.

Justification: Sticky Web is an interesting new entry hazard introduced in the recent games X and Y. It lowers the opponents Speed stat by one stage when they switch in, unless they are a Flying-type Pokemon or they have the ability Levitate. This has massive potential, particularly to aid a sweeper. So why is it rarely seen in OU? To put it simply, the only Pokemon that can learn Sticky Web have vast amounts of flaws. Smeargle can learn every move, but it is incredibly frail and therefore can not set up the hazard consistently throughout a match, allowing users of the moves Rapid Spin and Defog to clear the hazard. Galvantula has a good offensive typing, but like Smeargle, it is also frail and lacks switch-in opportunities. Shuckle has almost nonexistent offensive presence. Leavanny has a crippling 4x weakness to a common offensive typing. Ariados, Kricketune, and Masquerain are just plain unviable in OU. In order to explore the potential of Sticky Web, it requires a user of the move that can take advantage of it to the fullest.

Questions to be Answered:
  • What determines the reason why a Pokemon can not set up a hazard consistently? Is it because of low defensive stats and typing, or the fact that it doesn't force Pokemon out from an offensive point of view.
  • What sort of Pokemon would benefit from the presence of Sticky Web on the opponents side of the field?
  • What levels of Speed would a Pokemon need to have to benefit from Sticky Web itself, while also not being "fast enough already"?
  • Would this increase the viability of the common offensive Pokemon that are "slow" be metagame standards?
  • What does it take to potentially prevent the use of Rapid Spin or Defog, that one Pokemon can do within itself?
  • To threaten a user of Rapid Spin or Defog, will it do it in an offensive manner? The word "threaten" is somewhat ambiguous, however, will threatening a Pokemon defensively result in an inability to prevent that Pokemon from removing the hazard?
  • What Pokemon severely suffer from Sticky Web on their side of a field; what Pokemon require their specific Speed stat so much that being lower than it decreases their viability immensely?
Explanation: The presence of a Pokemon that uses Sticky Web to all of its possible advantages is a great way of exploring the usefulness of Speed stats as a whole. The most common users of Rapid Spin are Excadrill, Starmie, and Forretress. The most common users of Defog are [Mega] Scizor, Latios, Latias, and Gliscor. Now, there are many possible ways of threatening a Pokemon. For example, you could take advantage of type coverage. Starmie, Latias, and Latios are weak to Dark-, Ghost-, and Bug-type moves. Excadrill, Forretress, and [Mega] Scizor are weak to Fire-type attacks. Gliscor is weak to Ice-type attacks, and has poor Special Defense. Then there is the possibility of not threatening the Pokemon with attacking moves, but simply preventing it from using Rapid Spin or Defog. Immediately, a Ghost-type comes to mind as it prevents the usage of Rapid Spin, but Defog is becoming more and more popular now, and while there are very few ways of preventing this, there are ways of making an opponent weary of using it. Defiant and Competitive work well in this regard, as they risk the possibility of a Pokemon sweeping their team at the price of removing the hazard. In terms of specific Speed benchmarks for this Pokemon to take advantage of Sticky Web itself, this is something that needs to be researched, weighing in the benchmarks that specific Pokemon sit at, and seeing which is the point where things are considered "fast" and "very fast". Finally, ways of ensuring that this Pokemon can set up Sticky Web consistently is an important aspect of this Pokemon. High defensive stats is a simple option, but ability and movepool can also be helpful is this regard, specifically the ability to "force switches", guaranteeing setup opportunities in most cases, or the ability to switch in consistently without fear of being worn down. Recovery is also an option in this scenario.
 
Concept: Major Third

General Description: A Pokemon that forms an effective offensive or defensive core with two lesser-used OU Pokemon.

Justification: Cores have always been an integral part of the metagame, whether you're running Talonflame/Staraptor to brute force everything, Slowbro/Amoonguss/Heatran for Regenerator-Leftovers stalling, or a whole team of Dragons + Magnezone. We've previously explored what it takes to make a successful partnership in CAP11 (Voodoom), but the metagame (and the simulator!) has changed dramatically since Voodoom's creation. I would also like to up the ante a little bit: Instead of just one, can we now take TWO Pokemon and find their missing piece? Whether we opt to build on an established two-Pokemon partnership or choose two previously unrelated Pokemon and put them together, I think that we can certainly find a Voodoom for a more offensive time.

Questions to Be Answered:
  • How do effective cores in the current metagame differ fundamentally from the cores of previous metagames, if at all?
  • Is synergy as important (relative to power) in the current metagame as it previously has been? (That is, has power creep rendered synergy unnecessary?)
  • What differences are there between tailoring a Pokemon to two others and tailoring it to one? What else must be considered besides weaknesses and resistances?
  • How does the addition of a Pokemon to a core change what other Pokemon can be effectively run alongside the core?
  • Does Team Preview make running cores more difficult?
  • Is it possible to create a core uncounterable by a single Pokemon? (For example, Celebi/Heatran/Jellicent was a very effective BW core that got slaughtered by Tyranitar. Can a core force opponents to counter it with another core?)
  • Tagging onto the above, what is required to "counter-core" a core? What combination of offensive and defensive characteristics among "counter-core" members achieves this?
Explanation:
The hardest step in creating this CAP would almost undoubtedly be choosing which two Pokemon to pair up. Personally, I've enjoyed running Gourgeist-Super and Scarf Rotom-H together, but I haven't yet found a Water-type that can totally complete the two. The closest I've gotten is probably either Tentacruel or Gastrodon. Something that can handle Tyranitar, Mega Venu, and Specially Defensive Heatran equally well would certainly be nice here, but Tentacruel just isn't bulky enough (or maybe I just don't get lucky enough with Scald burns, idk) and Gastrodon is totally crippled by Toxic (and Mega Venu) and can't actually hit Tyranitar that hard. In turn, any core with a specially-oriented cleric (say Sylveon/Tyranitar or even Blissey/Tyranitar) can handle this core- but none of them can do it alone. (Sylveon and Blissey can be Tricked a Scarf, Ttar and Mega Venu can be Burned by WoW/Scald, Heatran can't stay in on the Water-type and won't enjoy a Scarf, either.) That's the kind of thing I'm going for.

Heck, we could even pick two random 'mons (e.g., Diggersby and Mega Gyarados) and try and make them work if we want more of a challenge. The majority of the customization of this CAP will probably come from the partner-choosing step; once we've settled that, the rest should be fairly straightforward. The one thing I absolutely want to avoid, though, is a third core member that can be run very reliably outside of the core. For example, if you were running Voodoom without either Zapdos or Togekiss, you weren't using it correctly. On the other hand, you can easily run Heatran outside of JelliCeleTran and have it perform really well.

Also, I think "lesser-used OU" should both include some upper-tier UUs/BLs (such as Kyu-B, Slowbro, and Metagross) and exclude anything above about #30 on the ladder (Volcarona). This way, we don't end up building something that makes, say, Tyranitar/Excadrill/CAP unwallable or Rotom-W/Gliscor/CAP unbreakable.
 
Name: Movin' Out!
General Description: A Pokemon which exploits weaker moves with unique effects to win an edge in battle.
Justification: With X and Y came a slew of new moves with odd and interesting effects (Fell Stinger, Parabolic Charge, Infestation, etc.) However, many of these moves were completely ignored, mainly due to their low base power. Ones that did receive attention tended to be only exploitable by a small group of Pokemon or used simply to set up (Lookin' at you, King's Shield and Power-Up Punch) As well as this, some older "odd" moves have never been used to their full potential, possibly due to their weak power or small movepool (252+ Atk Choice Band Technician 100 Base Attack Storm Throw vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Filter Mega Aggron on a critical hit (Anyone who knows Storm Throw understands the critical hit): 216-256 (62.7 - 74.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO) However, if a Pokemon were available to use the "odd" moves effectively, they would be able to gain a large competitive edge.
Questions To Be Answered:
  • What makes particular moves "odd" moves?
  • Which particular moves are both not commonly used and competitively viable?
  • Are there other ways of increasing the power of certain "odd" moves, bar Technician and stat raises?
  • What stops this particular Pokemon from using competitively common moves?
  • What stops common and viable sets for Pokemon already capable of this (especially Scizor) from using these "odd" moves?
  • How can a Pokemon exploit very weak (i.e. 20 power or so) moves effectively?
Explanation: Quite frankly, there are only a handful of moves which can be commonly used in the OU metagame. While it is easier to adjust strategies accordingly, things soon become stale, with Pokemon that use different moves seen as "weird". This could change that. And, honestly, I hope it does. But for that to happen, this has to get voted in, run smoothly, not fail (cough, Aurumoth, cough) and be accepted, so... yeah. But I can still dream ;)
 
Similar to the Pizza Man and a few others above me, after awhile of lurking, this is my first true contribution to the CAP process. Therefore, if you're willing to give feedback it would be much appreciated. Anyway, my submission:

Name: True Persistence

General Description: A Pokemon that can take any hit you throw at it, while still being able to hit you right where it hurts, a grand total of one, two, three, four, maybe even five times.

Justification: As many of us likely know, the concept of Pokemon such as the Minccino family or Cloyster being able to hit (and hit hard, mind you) your opponent over and over, and over again can be quite alluring. You can 'Choice' 'em, 'Sash' 'em, even give it a Quick Claw to hold, and in the right conditions, you might just come across one of most unique ways to sweep an entire team, not to mention break 'Sturdy's, 'Sub's, pop balloons, and much, much more. However, most Pokemon that are able to legitimately utilize moves that just keep coming, usually have a common defect. This being, the matter of fact that often, 'mons that rely on these kinds of moves are neither strong nor sturdy, meaning with the right kind of tactics and preparation (in some situations, even brute force), the utilize-rs in question can be easily worked around. This isn't to say that a Pokemon with this suggested concept would be an invincible powerhouse, capable of razing cities. Just that it would be something able to take a few strong/priority moves (i.e., Vacuum Wave, Mach Punch, Gale-Wings Brave Bird, all very common, fast, and strong nowadays), or do more than 2% damage with a hypothetical "Bullet Seed".

Questions To Be Answered:
  • What kinds of competitive aspects would be best in making this kind of Pokemon 'capable of taking hits'?
  • How would the balance between the effective-ness of multi-strike moves and their power best be kept?
  • Would the new presence of a 'hard hitting force of repetition' cause an increase in counter-walls/self-sacrifice-rs in order to dispel this concept? If so, how could this be anticipated in a constructive manner?
  • What Pokemon are most reliant on strategies based around having to attack late, due to setup or speed loss? How effective is this concept against those in question?
  • What other niche strategies collapse in the face of Pokemon utilizing repetitive attacks? How can these best be exploited and defeated by users of this strategy?

Explanation: One of the main reasons behind why I suggested this concept, is due to the matter of fact of how useful, overall, I believe the idea of Pokemon such as Cinccino, who utilize this strategy are. Since I'd first gotten into the games, seeing opponents use moves such as Bullet Seed and Rock Blast seemed incredibly unfair, and yet alluring somehow. While 99% of any Pokemon I've used in-game in any game up until now, have taken 3% or less damage from these kinds of moves, I still saw from years past how unique and interesting these moves could be, and how they could be exploited. The thought of something with this kind of moveset, possibly with the 'Skill Link' ability, or some other form of assistance towards it's movepool, being able to successfully Tail Slap and Arm Thrust away at unprepared opponents, feels like a dream come true.

In addition, I realize that a few others before me have mentioned the overwhelming presence of priority in this new gen, for which I apologize in repeating a few aspects of others' posts. However, I believe that alongside this concept, it should be noted that powerful, Fighting-type, physical, priority moves such as the above mentioned 'Vacuum Wave/ Mach Punch' have been pretty much the bane of most multi-strike move users in the past. Looking at you two, Cloyster and Cinccino. Not to mention, all the Fighting-types such as Emboar and Heracross who are able to use some of these moves this gen, get wrecked by Talonflame, so... yeah. That's cool. Regardless, with the most accessibility so far in the series to these kinds of moves (As well as Water Shuriken being added this gen), seeing a CAP Poke made around this concept feels like a great idea in my opinion.

Edit: One last thing I would like to clarify, as in response to DetroitLolcat's suggestion, is that this concept I feel I didn't explain well enough in my first draft of this. The kind of route that I was trying to go with the whole Cinccino example, is that a Pokemon with this concept would be a kind of Pokemon built to seem like a 'gimmick', however would be able to use this gimmick well, without being a total garbage 'mon, as per Cinccino. For example, something able to utilize the 'Skill Link' ability, yet be fairly defensively bulky, and resist some powerful priority moves, would fit this criteria. In retrospective, using such a specific example to illustrate this idea, was likely a bad idea, however to anyone still interested in this concept, this is what I was basically trying to say with-in it's contents.
 
Last edited:

Vryheid

fudge jelly

Name:
The Robber Baron

General Description: A Pokemon designed around stealing an opponent's resources and taking advantage of them

Justification: Is a seemingly "average" Pokemon entitled to threaten an opposing team?

'No,' says the Salamence, 'this belongs to the sweepers.'
'No,' says the Chansey, 'this belongs to walls.'
'No,' says the Ferrothorn, 'this belongs to utility mons.'

I rejected those answers. Instead, I chose something different. I chose the impossible. I chose...

The Robber Baron.

Far too often in Gen 6, we see players who "put all their eggs in one basket" and set up overpowered sweepers or tanks they can't deal with themselves. It's led to a metagame that feels biased towards teams which are loaded with overspecialized Pokemon but aren't adaptable enough to deal with a variety of situations. It's this kind of environment where one unlucky crit or miss rather than intelligent strategy can routinely decide the outcome of battles. As a master of deceit, trickery and woe, The Robber Baron forces players to think more intelligently about team synergy and not bank on any one Pokemon to carry the entire match. This Pokemon depends on stealing an opponents strengths, not using its own intrinsic power, to both cripple and threaten an enemy team and potentially turn around a match.

Questions To Be Answered:
  • Does the threat of having a Pokemon's strengths turned against them cause players to teambuild more conservatively?
  • Which potentially stolen resources do players value the most, and how will they respond to protect those resources?
  • Can the moves used to steal an opponent's resources be intelligently predicted by an opponent and taken advantage of?
  • Is the turn of setup involved for these moves too much of a crippling factor for them to function competitively?

Explanation:

This Pokemon holds a unique niche in that it is not like Ditto which simply copies an opponents resources (by "resources" we mean stat boosts, inherent stats, items, support moves, etc). It must be able to effectively take those resources, both crippling the opposing Pokemon and using those resources against them. This can be accomplished through a number of moves and abilities, many of which are already used in game but only on Pokemon which do not have the stats or abilities to take advantage of them. This Pokemon must be designed so that it's not only safe to use these abilities but very rewarding to do so. Smart team synergy should be its primary weakness- one on one, it should be able to cripple the vast majority of Pokemon in the metagame, but two or three Pokemon with good synergy should be able to work around its moves fairly consistently. I imagine that fast, hard hitting priority moves would also give it problems.

One example of how this could be executed is very bulky Pokemon with extremely low attack and special attack, but access to Prankster, Me First and Power Split. It could come in, for instance, on a Garchomp using Swords Dance, average the opposing stats as it uses Outrage, and then hit back hard with priority Me First to knock it out. Suddenly, not only has the opponent lost a sweeper, but now The Robber Baron can threaten to deal heavy damage to the rest of the team as well. If they try to beat it through status? That's cool too, it has Magic Coat to bounce those abilities right back. Another setup that might work is one that uses moves that have a severe stat lowering effect that can be traded to the opposing Pokemon. Leaf Storm, for instance, cuts special attack in half, and when combined with Power Swap it can cripple incoming Pokemon which might otherwise try to power through it.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 1, Guests: 0)

Top