Birkal
We have the technology.
This thread is open for WIPs, comments, and final submissions for the design of CAP 23. Important considerations that will come into play over the course of this thread are base stats and abilities. Please see the process guide for clarification on the timing of these decisions and for the timing of the closure of this thread. Warnings will be posted multiple days ahead of submission closure.
***All material in both the main design and supporting material must be your own. Using another piece of art for inspiration is allowed, but blatant plagiarism will result in warnings or bans depending on the severity.***
Collaborative material (such as work made by multiple artists or a vision and art direction by a non-artist and execution by an artist) is not permitted.
Final Submission Post
All artists must make a final submission post conforming to the following rules, including those for the Main Design, in order to be included in the art poll.
By making a final submission, an artist gives the CAP project permission to use the submitted art for CAP and related projects. The artist also consents that the design can be interpreted by other artists for the CAP project and for other promotional purposes.
Artists cannot submit any artwork that has been previously or that is currently used by another project not affiliated with CAP. The winning CAP artist agrees to not later use the winning design for another project or contest not affiliated with CAP.
Main Design
The main design is intended to follow the same general posing and layout as the "Official Art" for existing in-game Pokemon. It must be suitable for display on the CAP PokeDex section of the CAP Website and any other CAP propaganda where a picture of the Pokemon is needed.
The comparison to 'Official Pokemon Art' is only applicable to the basic content of the main design; it does not imply any standards or guidelines regarding artistic style or rendering technique.
The following rules of content must be followed for the Main Design:
The rules for main designs will be strictly enforced. Do not make comparisons to in-game Pokemon designs or to past CAP designs to determine if your design is in compliance with these rules. Some in-game Pokemon designs and past CAP designs do not conform with the current CAP art submission rules, and emulating those designs is not an acceptable excuse for breaking the strict interpretation of the current rules.
Supporting Material
There are almost no rules when it comes to supporting material. Action scenes, movement studies, interaction with other Pokemon, animations, sculptures, and cartoon strips are all allowed. Non-art supporting material is also allowed. This includes detailed descriptions of the art, background data, stories, etc. All supporting art and information must be related to the main design in some way.
Posting Rules
Intentionally or unintentionally, thread-hogging tends to be more prevalent in the art submission thread compared to other CAP threads. In order to ensure that everyone has a reasonable chance to showcase their designs and air their opinions, thread-hogging will be moderated. If you wish to add new comments or art, but don't want to hog the thread, please consider editing your most recent post to add new content.
Posting Rules: Artists
Posting Rules: Commenters
Additionally, please do not suggest names for your or other peoples' concepts, as it may bias the name poll. Everyone should have a fair chance to suggest a name during the naming stage.
Art Polls
All art polls will contain the Main Design and, if applicable, a link below it titled "Supporting Material". This will link to the artists final submission post, if applicable. All final submissions conforming to the rules above will be slated.
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CAP 23 So Far:
Typing: Dragon/Ghost
Concept:
Typing Leader: HeaLnDeaL
Ability Leader: LucarioOfLegends
Stats Leader: reachzero
Movepool Leader: cbrevan
***All material in both the main design and supporting material must be your own. Using another piece of art for inspiration is allowed, but blatant plagiarism will result in warnings or bans depending on the severity.***
Collaborative material (such as work made by multiple artists or a vision and art direction by a non-artist and execution by an artist) is not permitted.
Final Submission Post
All artists must make a final submission post conforming to the following rules, including those for the Main Design, in order to be included in the art poll.
- The post must have "Final Submission" (in bold) as the first line, with the Main Design included in image tags below that, and supporting material (if applicable) below the Main Design.
- All supporting art must be included as links or as linked thumbnails no larger than 150 pixels in either dimension. Do not include full images of supporting art in the final submission.
- Only make one (1) final submission post. Artists are welcome to work on multiple designs and get feedback from the community, but only one design can be submitted for final consideration. If you wish to alter any aspect of your final submission, then edit your post. Do not make a new one, even if you delete your original post. Any deleting and re-posting will be treated as bumping and is subject to moderation.
By making a final submission, an artist gives the CAP project permission to use the submitted art for CAP and related projects. The artist also consents that the design can be interpreted by other artists for the CAP project and for other promotional purposes.
Artists cannot submit any artwork that has been previously or that is currently used by another project not affiliated with CAP. The winning CAP artist agrees to not later use the winning design for another project or contest not affiliated with CAP.
Main Design
The main design is intended to follow the same general posing and layout as the "Official Art" for existing in-game Pokemon. It must be suitable for display on the CAP PokeDex section of the CAP Website and any other CAP propaganda where a picture of the Pokemon is needed.
The comparison to 'Official Pokemon Art' is only applicable to the basic content of the main design; it does not imply any standards or guidelines regarding artistic style or rendering technique.
The following rules of content must be followed for the Main Design:
- It must consist of a single Pokemon on a plain white background with no parts of the Pokemon cut off by the canvas.
- It must not include offensive or obscene imagery, or be intended to mock or insult the project or other users.
- No props, action effects, move effects, or additional objects can be rendered on or around the Pokemon. If a prop is part of the Pokemon's basic design (ie. Conkeldurr's pillars), then it is acceptable.
- Any 2D digital or scanned traditional drawing may be used. It must be in full color. 3D media and photos are not allowed.
- The design must be colored lineart with an distinct outline on the entire subject in contrast to the subject and background. Colored outlines are allowed but must not obstruct the clarity of the design.
- No part of the design can be blurred into the background or blended into the background in any way.
- The maximum allowed image dimension is 640 pixels and the minimum is 320 pixels. The maximum allowed image filesize is 200 kB.
- It must be in jpg, png or gif format and must be hosted on a reliable image hosting service (such as imgur or puush). Do not use the forum's 'Upload a File' feature. Do not use Iaza or Ezimba.
The rules for main designs will be strictly enforced. Do not make comparisons to in-game Pokemon designs or to past CAP designs to determine if your design is in compliance with these rules. Some in-game Pokemon designs and past CAP designs do not conform with the current CAP art submission rules, and emulating those designs is not an acceptable excuse for breaking the strict interpretation of the current rules.
Supporting Material
There are almost no rules when it comes to supporting material. Action scenes, movement studies, interaction with other Pokemon, animations, sculptures, and cartoon strips are all allowed. Non-art supporting material is also allowed. This includes detailed descriptions of the art, background data, stories, etc. All supporting art and information must be related to the main design in some way.
Posting Rules
Intentionally or unintentionally, thread-hogging tends to be more prevalent in the art submission thread compared to other CAP threads. In order to ensure that everyone has a reasonable chance to showcase their designs and air their opinions, thread-hogging will be moderated. If you wish to add new comments or art, but don't want to hog the thread, please consider editing your most recent post to add new content.
Posting Rules: Artists
- Artists can post any work-in-progress (WIP) artwork in order to solicit feedback or to help develop ideas. WIP artwork does not need to conform to the standards of a Main Design. It can be in any medium or stage of completion, but it must be related to an original art design by the poster.
- Each post should contain no more than one (1) full sized image which is no larger than 640 pixels in either dimension with a filesize no larger than 200 kB . Artists should post links to additional art or use linking thumbnails. Each thumbnail can be no larger than 150 pixels in either dimension. Any number of thumbnails can be included in a post.
- The use of hide tags does not circumvent or alter any of the image posting rules.
- Images must be in jpg, png or gif format and must be hosted on a reliable image hosting service (such as imgur or puush). Do not use the forum's 'Upload a File' feature. Do not use Iaza or Ezimba.
- Out of courtesy to users with lower bandwidth, artists should not post links to images with filesizes exceeding 500 kB. You must include a warning if you do.
- Do not post inconsequential updates to designs. Only if you have made a significant change should you post an update in the thread.
- Do not post to state your intended design. You may not reserve an idea for yourself.
- No bumping art or begging for feedback. If no one comments on your design, consider the silence to be your feedback. Also, check out the CAP Discord channel or the CAP PS Room for open real-time discussion on CAP art.
- Do not post questions asking for help in making art. For art resources on Smogon, check out Smeargle's Studio.
Posting Rules: Commenters
- Please DO post constructive feedback for artists.
- Do not post ideas or images to serve as inspiration for artists or attempt to commission an artist in the thread to render your idea.
- Do not declare any artwork as "the winner" or make similar comments to that effect. Such posts are insulting to all the other competing artists.
- Do not comment that a design does or does not "look like a Pokemon/Digimon". There is no artistic style guide for Pokemon and therefore such comments are unable to be substantiated or refuted.
- Do not repost images from the thread. When quoting a post, remove any images.
Additionally, please do not suggest names for your or other peoples' concepts, as it may bias the name poll. Everyone should have a fair chance to suggest a name during the naming stage.
Art Polls
All art polls will contain the Main Design and, if applicable, a link below it titled "Supporting Material". This will link to the artists final submission post, if applicable. All final submissions conforming to the rules above will be slated.
- - - - -
CAP 23 So Far:
Typing: Dragon/Ghost
Concept:
Topic Leader: snake_rattlerName: Wait! It's a Trap Move!
Description: A Pokémon that can make effective use of semi-trapping, fully trapping, or self-trapping move(s).
Justification: Trapping is a somewhat polarized mechanic in the current SM metagame. In terms of ability-based trappers we have Dugtrio, perhaps one of the most hated (or most loved, really depends on the situation) Pokémon thanks to its ability Arena Trap. There is also the occasionally seen Magnezone that uses Magnet Pull to lure in and decimate Steel type Pokemon. All trapping effects are ignored by the Shed Shell item or simply by being a Ghost type. However, this is not the kind of trapping I want to focus on. Focusing on abilities leaves few options, and the general mechanics are the same: Lure, Trap, Destroy. Nothing much new is to be found there.
So, instead, I would like this concept to focus on trapping moves. For those unfamiliar with the term, there are a few types of trapping moves which I will make an attempt to explain here. A semi- or partially trapping move prevents the opponent from switching out for a set number of turns while also usually doing a set percent of damage. Example moves would be Whirlpool, Fire Spin, Infestation, and Magma Storm (but don't use that last one, it's legendary exclusive!). There are also what I like to call fully trapping moves, moves that prevent the opponent from switching not for a set number of turns, but instead until the Pokémon who used the move leaves the battlefield. This category includes moves such as Block as well as the brand-new Gen 7 moves of Anchor Shot and Spirit Shackle. Also are what I call self-trapping moves, which is just Ingrain to my knowledge. This move (and if any similar ones come about) lock the USER into battle. Lastly, just to make sure I cover all my bases, Fairy Lock is an interesting trapping move that prevents any Pokémon, friend or foe, from leaving the battlefield on the following turn only (Barring the usual exceptions).
This concept fits in the Actualization and Archetype categories. Trapping moves are exceedingly rare in their usage. The most effective in OU currently is Magma Storm Heatran, but this is by far not its only nor its best set. Expanding our gaze slightly we may find the strange Stall-Trap or Perish-Trap strategies in use in varying parts of the ladder. Even further? Ok then, in Ubers you can find an excellent example of self-trapping in Ingrain Xerneas, which helps prevent the opponent from forcing Xerneas out after it has set up its boosts. In addition, one could look at SD Trapper Decidueye that sets up with Swords Dance after trapping a helpless opponent via Spirit Shackle. Dhelmise can also use Anchor Shot, though I'm not terribly sure as to how that set works... Regardless, that makes about four solid examples of trapping moves across four different tiers, and none of the sets are by any means the only or most effective sets those Pokémon can run (Except maybe Dhelmise. Is there an RU player here who can help me out with that thing?). Overall, the relative rarity of these moves in competitive play when contrasted with the seemingly powerful effect of locking in the opponent begs a variety of questions about the nature and use of said trapping moves. To best explore these moves, designing a Pokémon to use and abuse them makes the most sense for understanding how to properly use them (whatever that would mean).
Questions To Be Answered:
(Base) Is there a 'best' way to utilize trapping moves? If so, what playstyle does it most align with?
(Base) Is there a 'best' type of trapping move overall, or are they each truly viable in their own ways?
(Base) What is the value in trapping the opposing Pokémon? Are certain traps better than others? Why?
(Base) What synergies work well with trapping moves? Why do they have such a great synergy, and how can that be expanded or dealt with in the process of teambuilding?
(Comparison) How do trapping moves compare against trapping abilities? Are there any inherent benefits and disadvantages and if so, what are they?
(Metagame) Are there any particular archetype matchups in which a trapping-move Pokémon would have an advantage? A disadvantage? Why is that?
(Metagame) What has contributed to the lack of presence of trapping moves in our metagame? Is it a plethora of other options, a lack of viable abusers, or something else?
(Metagame) How does the trapping mechanic interact with the value of switching out?[/SIZE]
Typing Leader: HeaLnDeaL
Ability Leader: LucarioOfLegends
Stats Leader: reachzero
Movepool Leader: cbrevan
Last edited by a moderator: