bugmaniacbob
Was fun while it lasted
Current Pool:
~41 Types
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Look at all the pretty colours...
Right so I was originally going to go through each type combination individually and judge their individual merits, the same way I did with the concept submissions, but given that there have been no less than 41 individual typings suggested already, I'm pretty sure that would take far too long and be far too repetitive for people and everyone who didn't get chosen would just disagree with me and demand further explanation. As usual. So, I'll just tell you what I AM liking so far, and then if I haven't mentioned you then you can rage, storm and flail to your heart's content until I answer you (not literally, of course. You'll be infracted if you actually rage, storm and flail).
Anyway a lot of you are, not to put too fine a point on it, completely missing the point. This is largely due to the emphasis on risky moves that, while I agree with it, am actually starting to regret adding to the OP. Having STAB on a notable risky move is meant to be the icing on the cake, not the cake itself. My main concern with the typing is not STAB or anything like that, but how easy it is to switch in and out, rather than how easy it is to do anything once in - any Pokemon can have risky options when it is already in
Now, I'm not fond of Dark-types. This might take a bit of explaining, and I'd like to urge you to please listen to what I have to say before crying foul. The Dark-type gives us two weaknesses to two resistances and one immunity, which is not really the amount that I particularly wanted, but more importantly gives a weakness to Fighting-type moves - particularly Mach Punch - that I definitely didn't want to see, as per my note on priority moves in the last thread. In addition, it really has very few powerful, usable STAB attacks, which I consider imperative to a sweeper that adequately rewards its user - no reliable ones over 85 BP, anyway - which leaves its sole bonus as a typing with STAB Sucker Punch. Now, Sucker Punch, whatever its virtues in the lower tiers, really isn't sweeping anything in OU, regardless of its admittedly considerable general utility outside of that. What evil, nasty Pokemon would we be using it against? Well, only those that tend to attack and only those that outspeed, which generally falls into the realm of revenge killers - which are, typically, stuff like Scizor, Breloom, Genesect, and Terrakion (good luck using Sucker Punch on Terrakion, by the way). Which leaves Sucker Punch's main use in picking off very much weakened, faster threats, which you really do not need STAB on Sucker Punch for. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that a nonSTAB Sucker Punch is a far riskier construct. Remember that just because it isn't Dark-type does not mean that Sucker Punch is automatically disallowed.
I will grant that STAB Pursuit is a very good deal, as that is a particularly risky move that I wouldn't mind seeing more of. But, well, I am personally of the opinion that other failings outweigh it - and Dark isn't the best typing for a trapper, given all the Psychics and Ghosts insisting on running Fighting-type attacks. Not to mention that other roles, decided upon, take precedence over that of trapper.
I am slightly surprised to see people championing so many Fighting-types, when I had thought that 4 CAPs had taught us that Fighting was a very, very good offensive and defensive typing indeed (and that's not even saying anything about that Dragon/Fighting submission), and as such one of the least risky around. Rock I definitely do not want to see, as it really doesn't have any good attacking moves at all, without relying on an ability. Steel resists both sandstorm and Stealth Rock and gives many more opportunities to switch in than otherwise; Ground is entirely vanilla, except for the fact that it also resists Stealth Rock and sandstorm. Nearly all other typings are equally standard, or slightly on the wrong side of the fence, except for, in my view, Bug, Psychic, Grass, and possibly Ice.
Importantly, I'd like a typing that was both realistic as well as good for the concept. This means that, yes, it should be able to make for a sweeper that outclasses others when set up with no fuss, but which is much less effective if the battle doesn't go one's way. It should be able to act as an effective wallbreaker if the user acts intelligently, but much less so through button mashing. It should also be used because of the risk posed, rather than despite it; to this end, it should not be usable purely for the sake of its typing, giving it its own niche. Hence my favourites are as follows:
BUG / PSYCHIC is the combination of my two favourite individual typings and, it has to be said, is my overall favourite at this particular time. Defensively, it has six weaknesses and four resistances, so is difficult, but not impossible, to switch in, and incorporates two STAB attacks that cannot realistically be fired off indiscriminately on their own, but do have the virtue of largely covering for each others' weaknesses, despite the inability to bypass Steel-types - though this could be considered a plus point, as there is the risk that if Steel-types are on the field, this Pokemon is useless (hence a very specific, importantly, prerequisite for this Pokemon's effective use). Bug and Psychic both provide important weaknesses and resistances, alongside either powerful or reliable moves. Psychic is noteworthy here because of its massive span of power versus reliability attacks, with Psychic against Stored Power for boosting sets, as well as the additional virtue of Psychic vs. Psyshock (note that I have excluded legendary exclusive moves). To my mind, this is the perfect typing, though there are some very good alternatives as well.
BUG / DRAGON is another typing that I am interested in, for entirely different reasons to the above. Now, I know that I said that Dragon-types were probably the worst Pokemon that we could put down for a Risk/Reward based concept, and yes, the fact that Dragons are some of the least risky Pokemon to use in the game lends colour to that view. However, after discussion with the good gentlemen of #cap and a few hours' pacing up and down my room I have come to the conclusion that the idea has merit. Possibly it's just my wondering if it is possible to make a Risky Dragon (which isn't named Druddigon, I mean) - hence, there is a great deal of challenge here. Regardless, Dragon has a good deal of potential - what many people don't seem to have addressed in their posts is that Bug/Dragon is pretty much the worst typing for any Dragon in OU (takes the most damage from entry hazards of any Dragon bar Kyurem), and as this isn't exactly going to be at pseudo-legendary level (or if it is, it'll have limits elsewhere), will be almost unusable outside of its own niche - the risky niche which we are to give it. The fact that Dragon has some pretty risky STAB moves is nice, but not the main point, in that this is a typing where the onus is on the role to provide the reward, rather than any sort of intrinsic merit, which I sort of like, in a way.
On an unrelated note, we also have BUG / DARK, BUG / GHOST, and BUG / GROUND in the Bug-type department, which I personally find to be an excellent typing for CAP4 in its own right, but in the interests of fairness I would rather restrict the Bug-types to the two that I think would give us the best Project from here on out, while giving some other type combinations a chance to shine.
As for other typings I like... I suppose ELECTRIC / PSYCHIC would come quite high up on the list, as it does have nearly everything I am looking for, including a difficulty switching in - my only gripe with it would be its lack of SR weakness, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. GRASS / FLYING is alright but I am wary of the specifics of Flying attacks (and I don't want to make this very predictable by going for a glass cannon Brave Bird + Wood Hammer combination). GHOST / FLYING is the same, for similar reasons.
As a final note, I'd say that if your typing is weak to either Fighting or Steel, I am unlikely to slate it, as then the risk to the user is very largely dependent on whether the opponent happens to have a Breloom or Scizor, respectively; hence, I'm sorry to all you Ice-type fans, but it's a bit of a dead duck.
EDIT: Whoops! Almost forgot. A 24 Hour Deadline from the time of posting of this thread is now in effect, in which time you may make your entreaties for your favourite typing known, and I will extend the deadline if I feel there is more to be discussed. Carry on.
Code:
BUG/DARK
FIGHTING/ROCK
ICE/FIGHTING
DARK/ICE
BUG/DRAGON
FIRE/ELECTRIC
BUG/PSYCHIC
ICE/PSYCHIC
ICE/STEEL
PSYCHIC/DARK
DRAGON/GRASS
ICE/ELECTRIC
FIRE/WATER
BUG/GHOST
DRAGON/FIGHTING
ICE/GHOST
GRASS/FLYING
BUG/GROUND
PSYCHIC/FLYING
ICE/ROCK
NORMAL/GROUND
ELECTRIC/DARK
NORMAL/ROCK
NORMAL/ICE
NORMAL/DARK
FIRE/PSYCHIC
ELECTRIC/PSYCHIC
ELECTRIC/GROUND
ROCK/DARK
GRASS/DARK
POISON/FLYING
ROCK/GROUND
FIRE/ROCK
GHOST/FLYING
ICE/FIRE
DARK/FIRE
FIGHTING
DRAGON
PSYCHIC
BUG
NORMAL
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Look at all the pretty colours...
Right so I was originally going to go through each type combination individually and judge their individual merits, the same way I did with the concept submissions, but given that there have been no less than 41 individual typings suggested already, I'm pretty sure that would take far too long and be far too repetitive for people and everyone who didn't get chosen would just disagree with me and demand further explanation. As usual. So, I'll just tell you what I AM liking so far, and then if I haven't mentioned you then you can rage, storm and flail to your heart's content until I answer you (not literally, of course. You'll be infracted if you actually rage, storm and flail).
Anyway a lot of you are, not to put too fine a point on it, completely missing the point. This is largely due to the emphasis on risky moves that, while I agree with it, am actually starting to regret adding to the OP. Having STAB on a notable risky move is meant to be the icing on the cake, not the cake itself. My main concern with the typing is not STAB or anything like that, but how easy it is to switch in and out, rather than how easy it is to do anything once in - any Pokemon can have risky options when it is already in
Now, I'm not fond of Dark-types. This might take a bit of explaining, and I'd like to urge you to please listen to what I have to say before crying foul. The Dark-type gives us two weaknesses to two resistances and one immunity, which is not really the amount that I particularly wanted, but more importantly gives a weakness to Fighting-type moves - particularly Mach Punch - that I definitely didn't want to see, as per my note on priority moves in the last thread. In addition, it really has very few powerful, usable STAB attacks, which I consider imperative to a sweeper that adequately rewards its user - no reliable ones over 85 BP, anyway - which leaves its sole bonus as a typing with STAB Sucker Punch. Now, Sucker Punch, whatever its virtues in the lower tiers, really isn't sweeping anything in OU, regardless of its admittedly considerable general utility outside of that. What evil, nasty Pokemon would we be using it against? Well, only those that tend to attack and only those that outspeed, which generally falls into the realm of revenge killers - which are, typically, stuff like Scizor, Breloom, Genesect, and Terrakion (good luck using Sucker Punch on Terrakion, by the way). Which leaves Sucker Punch's main use in picking off very much weakened, faster threats, which you really do not need STAB on Sucker Punch for. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that a nonSTAB Sucker Punch is a far riskier construct. Remember that just because it isn't Dark-type does not mean that Sucker Punch is automatically disallowed.
I will grant that STAB Pursuit is a very good deal, as that is a particularly risky move that I wouldn't mind seeing more of. But, well, I am personally of the opinion that other failings outweigh it - and Dark isn't the best typing for a trapper, given all the Psychics and Ghosts insisting on running Fighting-type attacks. Not to mention that other roles, decided upon, take precedence over that of trapper.
I am slightly surprised to see people championing so many Fighting-types, when I had thought that 4 CAPs had taught us that Fighting was a very, very good offensive and defensive typing indeed (and that's not even saying anything about that Dragon/Fighting submission), and as such one of the least risky around. Rock I definitely do not want to see, as it really doesn't have any good attacking moves at all, without relying on an ability. Steel resists both sandstorm and Stealth Rock and gives many more opportunities to switch in than otherwise; Ground is entirely vanilla, except for the fact that it also resists Stealth Rock and sandstorm. Nearly all other typings are equally standard, or slightly on the wrong side of the fence, except for, in my view, Bug, Psychic, Grass, and possibly Ice.
Importantly, I'd like a typing that was both realistic as well as good for the concept. This means that, yes, it should be able to make for a sweeper that outclasses others when set up with no fuss, but which is much less effective if the battle doesn't go one's way. It should be able to act as an effective wallbreaker if the user acts intelligently, but much less so through button mashing. It should also be used because of the risk posed, rather than despite it; to this end, it should not be usable purely for the sake of its typing, giving it its own niche. Hence my favourites are as follows:
BUG / PSYCHIC is the combination of my two favourite individual typings and, it has to be said, is my overall favourite at this particular time. Defensively, it has six weaknesses and four resistances, so is difficult, but not impossible, to switch in, and incorporates two STAB attacks that cannot realistically be fired off indiscriminately on their own, but do have the virtue of largely covering for each others' weaknesses, despite the inability to bypass Steel-types - though this could be considered a plus point, as there is the risk that if Steel-types are on the field, this Pokemon is useless (hence a very specific, importantly, prerequisite for this Pokemon's effective use). Bug and Psychic both provide important weaknesses and resistances, alongside either powerful or reliable moves. Psychic is noteworthy here because of its massive span of power versus reliability attacks, with Psychic against Stored Power for boosting sets, as well as the additional virtue of Psychic vs. Psyshock (note that I have excluded legendary exclusive moves). To my mind, this is the perfect typing, though there are some very good alternatives as well.
BUG / DRAGON is another typing that I am interested in, for entirely different reasons to the above. Now, I know that I said that Dragon-types were probably the worst Pokemon that we could put down for a Risk/Reward based concept, and yes, the fact that Dragons are some of the least risky Pokemon to use in the game lends colour to that view. However, after discussion with the good gentlemen of #cap and a few hours' pacing up and down my room I have come to the conclusion that the idea has merit. Possibly it's just my wondering if it is possible to make a Risky Dragon (which isn't named Druddigon, I mean) - hence, there is a great deal of challenge here. Regardless, Dragon has a good deal of potential - what many people don't seem to have addressed in their posts is that Bug/Dragon is pretty much the worst typing for any Dragon in OU (takes the most damage from entry hazards of any Dragon bar Kyurem), and as this isn't exactly going to be at pseudo-legendary level (or if it is, it'll have limits elsewhere), will be almost unusable outside of its own niche - the risky niche which we are to give it. The fact that Dragon has some pretty risky STAB moves is nice, but not the main point, in that this is a typing where the onus is on the role to provide the reward, rather than any sort of intrinsic merit, which I sort of like, in a way.
On an unrelated note, we also have BUG / DARK, BUG / GHOST, and BUG / GROUND in the Bug-type department, which I personally find to be an excellent typing for CAP4 in its own right, but in the interests of fairness I would rather restrict the Bug-types to the two that I think would give us the best Project from here on out, while giving some other type combinations a chance to shine.
As for other typings I like... I suppose ELECTRIC / PSYCHIC would come quite high up on the list, as it does have nearly everything I am looking for, including a difficulty switching in - my only gripe with it would be its lack of SR weakness, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. GRASS / FLYING is alright but I am wary of the specifics of Flying attacks (and I don't want to make this very predictable by going for a glass cannon Brave Bird + Wood Hammer combination). GHOST / FLYING is the same, for similar reasons.
As a final note, I'd say that if your typing is weak to either Fighting or Steel, I am unlikely to slate it, as then the risk to the user is very largely dependent on whether the opponent happens to have a Breloom or Scizor, respectively; hence, I'm sorry to all you Ice-type fans, but it's a bit of a dead duck.
EDIT: Whoops! Almost forgot. A 24 Hour Deadline from the time of posting of this thread is now in effect, in which time you may make your entreaties for your favourite typing known, and I will extend the deadline if I feel there is more to be discussed. Carry on.